In response to the questions from the master and disciple, Yustisa calmly withdrew her hand. Her calm movement was full of confidence.
"I have just helped him temporarily stabilize his magic circuits and magic seals to prevent them from further deteriorating. The next step is to restore his magic circuits based on the information remaining in his body and then reconstruct them. According to my current spiritual base and the magic power that Shinji can generate, it will take about a week to reconstruct a magic circuit. Kenneth El-Melloi has forty-five main circuits and twenty-seven auxiliary circuits. Including the time for observation, calculation, and experimentation, it will take at least two years."
"Two years." Shinji stroked his chin, his eyes moving back and forth between Yustisa and Kenneth, as if calculating something. "I know it's going to be troublesome, Yustisa, do you think it should be treated or not?"
If it was the old Yustisa, she would answer "It's all up to Shinji to decide."
But now, when she was becoming more and more like a human being, when Shinji and Scathach told her to make her own decisions, she tried to think, tried to judge.
"Shinji, will curing him help us?"
"Well, how should I put it... It is useful to me and the Matou family, but it has no direct connection with your wish. I value his knowledge, as well as his connections and power as the Lord of the Clock Tower. In the long run, he can help the Matou family to achieve greater development, but this will take five, ten or even longer years. I can't guarantee whether this development can help purify the Holy Grail."
Shinji's answer was not biased, it was just the most basic analysis and the truth, but it was enough for Yustisa.
"Helping you is helping me. Our fates are linked. I will design a suitable treatment plan as soon as possible."
Shinji was touched by Yustisa's decision. Since the time they first met by chance, she had been helping him silently. He might not express this friendship out loud, but it would be engraved in his heart for the rest of his life.
"Please, but don't rush. The most important thing right now is the Holy Grail War. Let's talk about treatment after the war is over."
"Well, then I—"
Yustisa nodded slightly and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Scathach.
"Lancer and that woman are back."
Shinji winked at the two of them, pulled up his cloak, and activated the cloak's concealment effect, completely concealing his figure and breath.
At the same time, Scathach and Yustisa also dematerialized and used runes to eliminate all traces.
A few minutes later, Sora, a girl with short red hair, walked into the factory. She placed the plastic bag in her hand on the bedside table, took out a towel, wet it with water, and began to wipe Kenneth's body.
There was sarcasm, sympathy, ridicule, and relief in her eyes when she looked at her fiancé, but there was no heartache and tenderness like a wife looking at her husband. Although her wiping movements seemed very careful, there was a perfunctory touch in the details, as if she was doing it for someone to see.
Maybe it was because the movement was too heavy or because Yustisa's magic had played a certain role, but Kenneth woke up from his coma.
"here it is?"
"—Looks like you're awake."
Kenneth was completely awakened by his fiancée's voice. He subconsciously struggled to sit up, but found that his chest and waist were tightly bound by belts and he could not move.
"Sora? What the hell... me, why am I here?"
Sora seemed not to notice Kenneth's struggle and just asked back calmly.
"Don't you remember what happened?"
This sentence seemed to be a switch, and the memories before the coma were revived bit by bit.
"I... was hit... I used the Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid to defend myself... but..."
But his memory was interrupted there, and he only felt a sharp pain. When he woke up, he found himself lying on his back.
"What's wrong with my body?"
"Your magic circuits all over your body showed signs of going out of control. It's a miracle that you didn't die on the spot. Anyway, I only had time to regenerate your organs and some nerves. Even if you gradually recover in the future, I don't know if you can walk. And—"
Sora's words made Kenneth feel that despair was gradually approaching him.
Self-injury caused by the runaway magic power is a desperate situation that accompanies every magician at all times. Although Kenneth always thought that he would not make such a low-level mistake, he knew clearly what it meant.
"Besides - your magic circuits are destroyed. You can no longer use magic."
"I...I..."
The man who was once called a "child prodigy" and given the name "Lord El-Melloi" shed tears.
He didn't understand how this could happen to him, when the whole world was blessing him. His genius had destined him to an unlimited future and glory.
Everything that Kenneth believed in was ruthlessly destroyed, crumbling in front of him with a sound of shattering. Faced with this cruel fact and incomprehensible current situation, he could only cry timidly. Now, he was like a toddler who had just experienced what terror was.
This is exactly what Shinji wants to see. If he doesn't knock Kenneth down to the dust, he will never experience the preciousness of the clouds. When he feels enough loss and fear in the dust, he will hold on to every life-saving straw, even if the straw is stained with poison.
So now is not the best time to give Kenneth hope, because he has not lost the last glimmer of hope.
"Don't cry, Kenneth, it's too early to give up."
Sora whispered in a soothing tone while caressing his cheek. Her tenderness towards her fiancé always came later than when he really needed it.
"The Holy Grail War is still going on, and we have not lost yet. If the Holy Grail is really an omnipotent wish-granting machine, it shouldn't be difficult to restore your body to its original state."
"...Sora?" Unconsciously, Kenneth's tears stopped.
"Kenneth, you are indeed a genius. You added your own design to the original contract system, separating the supply of mana from the power of the Command Seals. You control the Command Seals, and I provide mana to Lancer like another Master. As long as I am still here as the source of mana, Lancer will continue to abide by the contract with us. As long as we win, as long as we become the final winner with more Holy Grails, everything will return to normal."
Sora's words gave Kenneth great encouragement and hope.
Kenneth loved his fiancée deeply, and for him, the encouragement she gave him was more courageous than anything else.
But why at this moment, there was an indescribable uneasiness that quietly passed through his chest like the wind.
Perhaps because she saw Kayneth's doubts, Sora smiled like a loving mother and held his right wrist. His hand could not move, and there were still two Command Seals on the back of his hand.
"So, Kayneth... give me this Command Seal, and I will take your place as Lancer's Master, in order to bring you the Holy Grail."