What rotten luck.
Mashina gazed at the boy lying in a pool of dark red blood before her and let out a gentle sigh.
Her sigh drifted through the silent labyrinth, carrying a hint of helplessness.
She and Ruby had come to this maze outside the city especially to search for a hidden level.
But as for him, he probably stumbled into it by mistake.
They’d already advised him to drop out, and now he’d ended up like this.
Even if he hadn’t triggered the hidden level, what was an alchemist—someone who can’t even truss a chicken—doing venturing into the maze alone?
Even more reckless than before.
Mashina sighed again.
“Ruby.”
“I’m here.”
“Run home now and bring back the Tears of the Spring. I’ll wait for you in the room near the entrance.”
The pink-haired girl, also wearing the Zerion school uniform, looked troubled and nervously twisted the hem of her clothes with her fingers.
“But…”
Mashina’s voice remained gentle.
“No buts, just go. I’ll explain everything to the family head later.”
“I understand.”
Mashina crouched down and, after confirming Merlin was still faintly breathing, let out a breath of relief.
She reached into the pool of blood, ignoring how the already half-congealed blood would dirty her hands and brand-new uniform.
“Miss… let me do it.”
Mashina only looked at his face and shook her head.
“Go quickly. I’m afraid there’s no time.”
“Yes.”
She carefully lifted the boy’s body, her movements gentle as if cradling a strand of moonlight.
Every action was as tender as could be, for fear of deepening his wounds.
By the time she’d finally picked him up entirely, blood had already stained the front of her blouse.
She didn’t care that her clothes and shoes were smeared with sticky red. She simply held him tightly in her arms.
“Miss… this… this…”
“Mm…”
“The Tears of the Spring isn’t supposed to have this effect, right?”
Mashina and Ruby stared at the girl breathing steadily on the bed.
If only someone had swapped the person, but Mashina and Ruby had both seen, with their own eyes, the Tears of the Spring drop onto the boy.
Well, as long as she’s okay.
Mashina let out a relieved sigh.
“First, help her change clothes, then go inform the Headmaster. I’ll take her back afterward.”
“A dress is okay too?”
Mashina smiled.
“Of course.”
Merlin stared up at the blank ceiling.
Just now, I was…
While gathering herbs deep in the labyrinth, my shoulder accidentally hit a hidden switch in the stone wall.
I triggered a hidden level.
In that completely sealed environment, there was no way out…
And then—nothing.
“You’re awake?”
A calm, middle-aged gentleman woke Merlin.
It was Headmaster Jack, whom he’d seen on the first day of school.
Mashina was there too? That pink-haired one should be her maid; he’d seen her at the opening ceremony.
Jack shouted excitedly.
“You’re an alchemist and you snuck into the maze alone? What were you thinking? If anything happened to you, how would I explain to Ophelia? She’d kill me!”
“Sorry.”
“Hm?”
“Ah ah ah ah ah~”
The girl on the bed sensed something strange about herself, making sound after sound as if to confirm it.
“Here, see for yourself.”
That’s Lucia’s maid, isn’t it?
She rolled over a standing mirror on wheels to Merlin’s bedside.
The girl sat up, her movements clumsy as if she’d just been born. The pure white dress wrapped her slender body like freshly-bloomed petals enfolding the heart of a flower.
As she moved, the loose collar slipped, revealing a stretch of skin so pale that faint blue veins could be seen.
Merlin’s eyes widened, the icy blue irises opening just a little more.
Deep blue and sky blue swirled within them.
Her long lashes trembled lightly like butterfly wings; every blink seemed to send stardust floating down.
When she tilted her head, her long hair flowed over her shoulder like water, the color gradient shifting from sky blue to pale blue, finally melting into a deep, mysterious blue at the tips.
In the hazy morning light, her hair seemed to possess a life of its own. Several strands hung by her cheeks, making her skin look as clear as fresh snow.
And… pointed ears.
An elf?
Merlin stared at the elven girl in the mirror, at a complete loss. When Merlin opened her mouth, so did the girl. When Merlin glared, so did she. What’s going on?
“Merlin!”
A panicked shout rang out as the heavy mahogany door was flung open with a bang so loud everyone inside instinctively shrank back.
A purple-haired elf woman burst inside, her hair cascading like a waterfall. Normally dignified and graceful, now her hair was disheveled, her chest heaving, and tears still glistened at the corners of her eyes.
“Merlin! You’re awake?”
“Mother…”
Guilty, Merlin timidly called out to her mother.
Ophelia rushed to Merlin’s bedside and, without hesitation, grabbed the tip of her pointed ear, pulling hard up and down.
She knew this was an elf’s universal weak point—if this child was really an elf.
In an instant, Merlin screamed like a cat with its tail stepped on, tears bursting from her eyes.
“Ow ow ow, stop pulling, I’m wrong, it really hurts!”
“Now you know what pain is? Didn’t it hurt when you were beaten bloody? Didn’t it hurt sneaking into the labyrinth?”
Merlin’s friends in the slums had pulled her ears before, but never so painfully as to bring tears.
“I was wrong! I really was wrong! Please, stop pulling my ears!”
The elf girl in front of her clutched her ears with both hands, her delicate little face scrunched up, and big crystal tears rolled down her cheeks. The look of her pleading pitifully through tears was truly devastating.
Ophelia softened, letting out a sigh.
If she were still a boy, Ophelia would definitely not have calmed down—she would’ve dragged him out and given him a beating.
Ophelia quietly regarded the elven girl before her, her hair shimmering with dreamy blue hues. Seeing the frightened, deer-like eyes, any words of reproach stuck in her throat.
Merlin, as if granted amnesty, quickly shielded her burning red ears with both hands, sniffling and gently rubbing them.
“So, why did I turn into a girl… and an elf?”
Jack cleared his throat a few times and averted his eyes.
“Don’t look at me, ask your mother. If even she doesn’t know, then I’m powerless.”
Merlin turned to look at Ophelia, whose anger hadn’t fully subsided.
A long silence…
“To put it simply… you were always a girl. You were always an elf.”
“What!? That’s impossible!”
With memories from a previous life, Merlin instinctively denied it.
I was a boy in my previous life, and when I woke up in this life, I had a boy’s body too. I never doubted that. How did I turn into a girl?
Ophelia gazed at the confused Merlin, her expression meaningful.
“You’ve only just started school—you haven’t learned this yet. For elves, the body’s appearance is determined by the soul. Eight parts soul, two parts body. I suspect your soul was damaged when you were young, so your body was expressed incorrectly.”
Merlin looked blankly at Jack, Mashina, and the two maids. They all nodded.
“Then how did I…”
“You met with an accident in the labyrinth. Mashina saved you and used the Tears of the Spring on your dying body—you’ve heard of that, right?”
The Tears of the Spring—a single drop is worth a year’s taxes from a duke’s estate, priceless beyond measure.
Its greatest effect is ‘resetting the body.’
Whether you’re missing an arm or leg, or a lady wanting to preserve her beauty and remove scars—
Just one drop, and your body is fully restored.
That’s why it’s treasured among the nobility, regardless of gender.
“So that means…”
Merlin lowered her head, looking at her now slightly curvier figure, and closed her eyes in despair.
“This is… the original version?”