Shinji Matou at Your Service-Chapter 860 - : Fiore’s Anomaly

At this moment, Arcueid's voice came through the loudspeakers outside the train car: "This train is about to depart. Passengers, please board as soon as possible."

"Please depart. I won't be getting on," Fiore called out.

"Then I'm closing the doors—Mystic Eyes Collection Train, onward!"

With the princess's energetic voice and the loud sound of the train whistle, the train slowly started moving.

"Goodbye, Caules. Goodbye, Luvia. I'll visit you if I get the chance," Fiore waved repeatedly from outside the train, and Luvia and Caules inside did the same.

"Goodbye, Fiore."

"Goodbye, Sister."

The surrounding area had turned into a desert, with nothing to obstruct the train's path. The train moved much faster than before, and soon, the siblings who had been waving goodbye could no longer see each other.

Caules lowered his arm and said worriedly, "Will Sister be okay all alone in a place like this?"

"She'll be fine," Luvia replied, her attitude far more optimistic than Caules's.

"Fiore is strong."

"I know my sister is strong, but that was in the past," Caules sighed.

"Now she doesn't have her magic circuits. The fact that she can walk freely means she had her leg circuits removed. With that, she probably doesn't even have a tenth of her previous strength. I'm really worried."

"Removed her magic circuits?"

Luvia's expression changed.

Caules was stunned, and then his face also changed as he asked in a trembling voice, "You didn't know?"

"I didn't know," Luvia shook her head.

In the next moment, both of their expressions became strange.

Caules had assumed that given Fiore's close relationship with Luvia, she would have known about the removal of Fiore's magic circuits—perhaps she had even helped arrange the surgery. Removing magic circuits is a highly difficult procedure that most magus simply can't perform. Considering the Forvedge family's expectations for Fiore, it was unlikely they would have willingly crippled their strongest prodigy.

But it turned out that Luvia was completely unaware of this.

As someone who had supported and taken care of his sister since they were children, Caules was certain that Fiore and Luvia hadn't known each other before. The Forvedge and Edelfelt families had no significant interactions, only a basic awareness of each other's existence—such as the fact that each had produced a genius heir and that Fiore had run away from home.

From a rational magus' perspective, the most likely reason why the future head of the Edelfelt family, who wielded significant influence in Finland, would be so close to a runaway like Fiore was that she recognized Fiore's potential. After all, before Fiore left home, she was somewhat famous in the Clock Tower, a genius who outshone her peers.

However, the Edelfelt family didn't know that Fiore had already lost her talents. It was highly likely that Fiore had used some method to deceive the Edelfelt family. Caules's accidental revelation of this secret might lead to Edelfelt seeking revenge, which was why his face had paled and his voice had started to tremble.

The second reason for his fear came from Luvia's earlier response. If she didn't know that Fiore's leg circuits had been removed but still said she was strong, that meant Fiore still possessed formidable strength despite being able to walk freely. Whether she had found a way for her magic circuits and leg functions to coexist, or whether she had encountered some other extraordinary event after removing the circuits, these were things Caules couldn't imagine—especially since the Forvedge family had exhausted every possible method to heal Fiore's legs, only to conclude that removing the circuits was the only solution.

For Luvia, it was simpler. At first, she was surprised by the information Caules had revealed. The Fiore she knew didn't seem like someone who had lost at least half of her magic circuits.

Then came the mention of "a tenth." If Fiore now only had a tenth of her previous strength, just how terrifying had she been at her peak?

The students of Lord El-Melloi's classroom were all intelligent. After their initial emotions subsided, they quickly grasped each other's thoughts.

Luvia proposed, "Caules, how about we exchange information? We each know things about your sister that the other wants to know."

"I have no reason to refuse, nor do I want to," Caules nodded, his curiosity growing stronger—Sister, what exactly happened during the time you were gone?

"Good. Who'll start?"

Luvia crossed her arms. Caules raised his hand slightly.

"Ladies first."

"Then I won't hold back—why did she have her magic circuits removed?"

"Because my sister's magic circuits had mutated. As long as the circuits were active, her leg function would be impaired, essentially paralyzing her lower body."

"Mutated?"

Luvia propped up one hand, resting her chin on it.

"Mutations can be either good or bad. If she could still be considered the heir of your family, it must have been a positive mutation."

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"Yes. The reason my sister was called a genius was because of those mutated circuits. If those circuits were removed, her magical aptitude might be worse than mine—which is why I said what I did earlier."

"She gave up her crest and ran away from home to remove the mutated circuits?"

"Yes," Caules didn't hide anything.

"My sister was very determined to walk on her legs. Even though there are many magical ways to compensate for the loss of leg function, she still wanted to stand on her own two feet."

"For a magus, that's an irrational obsession. But—those of us with fully functioning limbs will never understand how she feels, so I don't know how to judge it."

"That's the answer my sister would most want to hear. Now I understand why you two get along so well."

At this point, Caules finally showed a slight sense of relief.

"Meeting you was my sister's good fortune."

"It was my good fortune too. I've always been lucky."

It was easy to see from Luvia's smile that her relationship with Fiore was genuinely strong.

"One last question. You mentioned earlier that if your sister removed the circuits in her legs, she wouldn't be as strong as you in magecraft. But the Fiore I saw was much stronger than you. Can I assume she found a way to balance her magic circuits with her leg function?"

"That's what I'd like to know as well—Miss Luvia, when did you meet my sister?"

"About a year ago. When I met her, she was already the way she is now," Luvia not only answered but also provided the information Caules wanted to know.

"So, you didn't help her with the circuit removal."

"No."

It seems the secret lies somewhere between her leaving home and meeting Luvia.

Fiore, what exactly happened to you?

As the two fell into silence, Fiore stopped in front of a forest drained of all life.

She closed her eyes as if sensing something.

"This is the place, but... it seems like there's a battle going on inside. Should I go in?"