When Eugene woke back up, it was in the bed he had been using for the past few days. Nina, who had been waiting at his bedside, let out a startled gasp and was about to call for someone, but Eugene immediately raised his hand to stop her.

“Please, keep quiet,” Eugene groaned.

“A-allow me to call someone for assistance,” whispered Nina.

“No, it’s okay,” refused Eugene. “Just stay still.”

Nina let out a confused noise, “Huh?”

“Stay still and don’t say anything,” forcing out these words, Eugene clutched his aching head.

His memories weren’t clouded, and Eugene clearly remembered what he’d been doing just before he collapsed and the contents of his conversation with Tempest.

But that still left him with a throbbing headache, along with a hollow feeling of emptiness inside his body. This would have been an unfamiliar sensation for the thirteen-year-old Eugene if not for his memories as Hamel. This feeling was mana depletion. He had managed to squeeze out what little mana he had until there had been nothing left.

‘...This is all because Tempest just had to show up in person.’

All his mana had been sucked dry just by opening the door to the spirit world. From...