The three-day wait was torture. Every hour felt like a week. Lady Reisya Hellyasa barely slept, her elegant face growing thin with anxiety. Keysa remained strong, but Kenzo could see her constantly wringing her hands.
On the morning of the third day, exactly as Kenzo had predicted, the crisis reached its peak. Aron, who had merely been feverish and shivering, suddenly began to convulse violently. His eyes rolled back, and pained groans escaped his chapped lips.
"He's dying!" Lady Reisya screamed, lunging forward. "Your medicine isn't working! It's poison!".
"No!" Kenzo blocked her, his voice calm but firm. "This is the process. This is the final battle between the medicine and the disease. We have to trust it.".
"I can't!" Lady Reisya sobbed.
As Aron writhed in pain on the bed, Lina ("Mina"), who had been standing silently in the corner, stepped forward. She looked frightened, but her pity was greater. Hesitantly, she stretched out her small hand and placed it on Aron's seizing arm. It wasn't active magic. It was just a touch.
But like magic, Aron's most violent convulsions suddenly eased. His body still trembled, but his gasping breaths became slightly calmer. Keysa and Lady Reisya stared at the scene, stunned.
And then, the shaking stopped completely. An eerie silence filled the room. Aron lay still, drenched in sweat. For several agonizing seconds, no one breathed.
Suddenly, Aron took a deep, steady breath. The fever-sweat began to recede. Slowly, his eyes opened. The fog of delirium was gone. His eyes were clear.
He looked at Lady Reisya.
"...Mother?" his voice was hoarse, but it was his voice. "...I'm thirsty.".
Lady Reisya froze. Her son's voice, which she hadn't heard clearly in months. She covered her mouth, and the long-held sob of relief finally exploded. She lunged forward, hugging her bewildered son. Keysa turned to Kenzo, tears streaming down her cheeks, an incredulous smile on her face.
That night, after Aron was fast asleep for the first time a healing sleep, not a feverish stupor Lady Reisya summoned Kenzo to the Baron's study.
She no longer looked at him as a refugee. She saw him as a savior.
"Kenta," she said, her voice still trembling with emotion. "You saved my son. You also saved my daughter... you are this family's savior, even saving this family from the Church's extortion. The Hellyasa family owes you its life.".
She pointed to a small chest filled with pouches of coins on the desk. "Gold, status, land... just name it.".
Kenzo shook his head, refusing the gold for the second time. "Lady Hellyasa, I don't need gold. I need... knowledge.".
Reisya and Keysa looked confused.
"We have a common enemy," Kenzo continued, his voice low. "The Church. To be honest... They are hunting me and 'Mina'. To protect her, I must understand this world. I must know my enemy. I need access to your library.".
Keysa immediately exclaimed. "Of course! Anything you need!".
She immediately grabbed Kenzo's arm and pulled him out of the room, toward the large library at the end of the hall. "You can read anything you want.".
She opened the carved door, revealing thousands of books. Enthusiastically, she grabbed a thick volume from the shelf. "This one! This is 'The History of the Luminous Path,' the standard book on the Church.".
She handed it to Kenzo. Kenzo took it, but only stared at the cover, his fingers tracing the embossed letters he couldn't recognize.
"Keysa," Kenzo said softly, making a crucial admission. "I can speak your language. But... I cannot read or write it.".
Keysa froze. Confusion, then pity, flashed in her eyes. "You're... illiterate?". But then she remembered the recipe she had written. "Of course... you had me write it down.".
Her gratitude defeated her shock. She smiled. "In that case, I'll read it to you while teaching you. We can start with...".
"No," Kenzo interrupted her gently. "My learning method... is different. I don't need to learn it. I need to record it.".
"Record it?".
"This will sound very strange," Kenzo said. "Can you read for me? Not the stories. Just the alphabet. The sound of each letter. Then a few basic words, while pointing to the writing. I only need to hear it once.".
Although it was the strangest request she had ever heard, Keysa had watched this man perform miracles. "Alright," she said. "Let's begin.".
They sat. Keysa opened a children's alphabet book.
"This is 'A'. It sounds like 'ah'.".
In Kenzo's mind, Prometheus worked. [Building phonetic-visual correlation. Symbol 'A' = audio data 'ah'.].
"This is 'B'. It sounds like 'beh'.".
[Symbol 'B' = audio data 'beh'. Continuing...].
Keysa spent the next forty minutes reading the alphabet, syllables, and simple words. Kenzo just sat still, his eyes closed in concentration.
Finally, Kenzo raised his hand. "Enough. I think... the data is sufficient.".
"Sufficient for what?" Keysa asked, confused.
"To 'process'," Kenzo said. He stood, his face slightly pale from concentration. "I'll be back.".
He left a bewildered Keysa in the library.
In their room, Lina was playing with a small cloth doll a servant had given her. She looked up as Kenzo entered, sensing her brother's tension.
'Prometheus,' Kenzo thought. 'You have the data. Do it.'.
[Tragam-Written Linguistic Model is 97% complete. Sufficient for extrapolation. Initiating integration into visual cortex and language center...].
Just like the spoken language installation, Prometheus gave him a warning.
[WARNING: This procedure is similar to the spoken language installation. There is an 8% risk of permanent visual disorientation, severe headaches, or neurological seizures.].
Kenzo remembered the battle at the village. The hunters' shouts he couldn't understand. He would never let ignorance blind him again.
"Do it.".
The process was different from the first one. The spoken language installation felt like a silent lightning strike. This one felt like hot needles stabbing behind his eyeballs, trying to forcibly remap how his brain processed visual symbols.
Kenzo flinched, gripping his temples and gritting his teeth, holding back a groan so as not to scare Lina.
But Lina was already scared. Seeing her "brother" in pain, she ran and gripped his hand tightly, just as she had done by the river. That simple contact became an anchor. Kenzo breathed out, focused through the pain, and stabilized the chaotic process. Slowly, the burning sensation faded.
An hour later, pale and exhausted, Kenzo opened his eyes.
He returned to the library. Keysa was there, anxiously tidying the alphabet book.
"Kenta! Are you alright? You look so pale!".
Kenzo didn't answer. He walked past Keysa, past the table where the children's book lay. His eyes scanned the shelves. He stopped, pulling out a thick, leather-bound book at random. The title: "A Treatise on Noble Bloodlines and Mana Affinities.".
He opened it to a random page. And in a calm, smooth, and clear voice, he began to read aloud:
"The basic elemental affinities Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth are passed down patrilineally, while the rare Light or Shadow affinities appear to emerge randomly outside of known bloodlines...".
Thud..
The alphabet book in Keysa's hand fell to the floor. Her mouth hung open.
"That... that's impossible," she whispered, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and horror. "I... I just taught you the alphabet... an hour ago.".
Kenzo closed the book. He looked at Keysa, then at the sea of knowledge around him.
"My learning method is different," he said. "And now, I have a lot of work to do.".
[Data acquisition initiated,] Prometheus's voice echoed in his mind. [Priority:magical structures, and political geography.].