“Huh?” Erza turned a deeply confused gaze toward Cain.
Was there actually something wrong with her body?
How come she didn’t know about it?
Cain was instantly struck by how incredibly adorable she looked, tilting her head with a genuinely puzzled expression.
Seeing Cain staring at her without saying a word, Erza had no choice but to ask again, “Is there really something wrong with me?” “Oh, right!” Blinking himself out of it, Cain quickly cleared his throat and looked ahead, desperately trying to mask his awkwardness.
“There are actually quite a few issues with your body.
For instance, years of high-intensity forced labor have left you with a lot of hidden internal injuries, and a prolonged lack of basic nutrition has left you severely malnourished.” As he spoke, Cain aggressively cursed his past-life otaku brain for being so easily distracted.
Erza, on the other hand, nodded quietly.
She understood what he meant.
After all, she had spent the past several years working as a slave in the Tower of Heaven; being thrown a stale piece of bread to keep from starving was the absolute best treatment she could ever hope for back then.
Shaking off his embarrassment, Cain assumed a serious, professional demeanor.
“Of course, those physical setbacks are relatively minor.
I can easily brew up some nutrient supplements and handle the internal healing myself over time—there’s no need to trouble Granny Porlyusica for that.” “The primary issue we need her for…
is your right eye.” “My eye?” Erza gently reached up, her fingers tracing the thick bandage covering her right side.
This wound was the result of their failed escape attempt back at the tower.
After the breakout was crushed, the cult guards had singled her out, dragging her to the torture chambers where they permanently blinded her right eye.
But now, Cain was implying that Granny Porlyusica actually possessed the power to cure it.
Meeting Erza’s suddenly wide, hopeful gaze, Cain gave her a firm, reassuring nod.
“Granny Porlyusica’s medical expertise is unmatched.
She can definitely fix your eye.” His unwavering certainty immediately caused a spark of intense anticipation to bloom within Erza’s chest.
Before long, the duo arrived in front of the massive hollowed-out treehouse clinic.
Cain stepped forward and familiarly pushed the wooden door open, calling out loudly, “Granny!
I brought someone to see you!” An irritated, sharp voice immediately barked from the inner room.
“There is no need to shout at the top of your lungs.
I am not deaf yet.” “Hehe.” Cain simply smiled, completely unfazed by Porlyusica’s signature hostility.
Porlyusica stepped out from the back archive, shot a brief look at Cain, and then shifted her sharp gaze to the slightly stiff, nervous Erza standing beside him.
“You brought this child out here to have her eye examined, didn’t you?” Porlyusica knew better than anyone just how absurdly robust Cain’s physical constitution was.
Looking at the young girl he had brought along—with her dull, brittle hair, pale face, and dangerously thin frame—it took a single glance to see severe, chronic malnutrition.
Coupled with the thick layer of bandages wrapped around her face, it didn’t take a genius medical mind to deduce who the patient was.
“Wow, Granny, you’re amazing as always,” Cain praised smoothly, immediately launching into a detailed summary of Erza’s condition and medical history.
Porlyusica completely ignored his flattery.
She walked straight over to Erza, and with a soft hum, a bright, emerald-green magic circle flared to life beneath the girl’s boots.
After completing the diagnostic scan, Porlyusica nodded slowly.
Cain’s evaluation was perfectly accurate—severe internal bruising and deep-seated malnutrition.
Her repetition wasn’t due to a lack of trust in Cain’s skills, but rather a reflection of her absolute responsibility as a veteran physician to her patient.
“Come over here and sit down.” Porlyusica guided Erza to a wooden stool and began carefully unwinding the layers of gauze wrapped around her head.
As the final layer fell away, the raw, jagged scarring left behind by the brutal trauma was fully exposed to the room.
The wound was heavily mangled and severe, looking deeply unsettling.
Porlyusica’s expression didn’t change at all as she leaned in to perform a meticulous examination.
Watching the stoic, silent woman inspect her face, Erza’s hands nervously clamped together, her small fingers twisting anxiously.
Cain quietly stepped up to her side, reached out, and gently took her trembling hand in his, offering her a warm, reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry.
You’re safe.” With the warmth of Cain’s grip anchoring her, the suffocating tension draining from Erza’s posture, and she gradually relaxed.
About ten minutes passed before Porlyusica finally stepped back, concluding her examination.
“The underlying structural damage is severe, but it is not entirely untreatable.
I can offer you two distinct medical solutions.” Hearing that her eye could actually be saved—and that there were two separate paths to do it—Erza turned a purely ecstatic, glowing look toward Cain.
Cain smiled back, feeling genuinely thrilled for her.
“First option: we completely surgically extract the ruined ocular tissue, and I will forge a high-tier artificial prosthetic eye for her to wear.
For all intents and purposes of daily lifestyle, the prosthetic will look completely indistinguishable from a normal eye.” “However, because it is an inanimate object, her visual reflexes will lag slightly when tracking hyper-fast targets, and the artificial eye will be entirely incapable of producing tears.” “Second option: we preserve the damaged eye.
I will brew a specialized medical solution to continuously stimulate the optic nerves, forcing the tissue to naturally regenerate over time.
The massive benefit of this path is that her right eye will recover to be completely identical to a biological eye.
However…
the natural regeneration process is excruciatingly painful.” Erza didn’t hesitate for a single second.
She looked straight into Porlyusica’s eyes and declared firmly, “Granny Porlyusica, I choose the second option.” Porlyusica didn’t try to argue with her choice.
She simply gave a slow nod of approval before turning her sharp eyes toward Cain.
“The second method will require your absolute cooperation, brat.” Cain blinked, slightly puzzled, but he didn’t deflect.
“Just tell me what needs to be done, Granny.” Porlyusica explained, “I possess the vast majority of the rare ingredients required to brew the optical regeneration elixir here in my archives.
However, we are entirely missing the single most critical catalyst, and you will need to harvest it yourself.” “The catalyst is a crystallized drop of celestial dew, known as the Nectar of Heaven.
It only crystallizes within extremely sub-zero, volatile polar environments.
If it isn’t properly harvested and immediately stabilized using magical preservation techniques, it loses its medicinal properties within seconds.
Because of its volatile nature, I don’t keep it in stock, and it’s virtually nonexistent on the commercial market.” “Leave it to me, Granny.
Consider it done,” Cain promised.
Porlyusica knew exactly how capable Cain was in a wilderness environment, which was the only reason she was willing to assign him such a high-risk extraction task.
“I’m coming with you,” Erza blurted out, her expression fiercely determined.
Cain stared at her serious little face for a second, then let out a gentle laugh and nodded.
“Alright.
We’ll tackle it together.” Seeing the two kids immediately turning to leave, Porlyusica barked sharply, “Hold your horses, you impatient brats.
I am not finished speaking yet.” “Once the optical regeneration elixir is successfully introduced into her eye, it will require a continuous, delicate application of your unique magic to warm and nurture the regenerating tissues.
Only with the constant soothing reinforcement of your element can her eye fully recover without collapsing.” Hearing this final condition, a sudden realization struck Cain like a thunderbolt.
Ah…
so that’s why the Erza of the original timeline had to settle for a prosthetic eye.
In the original timeline, there wasn’t a single member of Fairy Tail who possessed Holy Light Magic.
Without the purifying, nurturing properties of his unique element to actively soothe the cellular regeneration, even if Porlyusica had successfully brewed the elixir, Erza’s body wouldn’t have been able to handle the strain, leading to total structural failure.
Because of that baseline limitation, the original Porlyusica had been forced to settle for a prosthetic eye instead.
After saying their goodbyes to the old physician, the two children decided to head back to town to properly pack their gear, planning to set off for the frozen northern mountain ranges first thing tomorrow morning to hunt for the crystallized Nectar of Heaven.
Walking along the forest trail, Erza stole a glance at the boy beside her.
She hesitated for a long moment before whispering softly, “Cain…
thank you so much.” Cain laughed, waving his hand in a carefree, fluid motion.
“Oh, come on, stop with the heavy thanks!
We wear the exact same crest on our arms.
We’re companions in the same guild—and more than just companions, we’re a family.
If I ever hit a brick wall or found myself in a tight spot, I know for a fact you’d jump in to help me without a second thought, right?” Hearing his words, Erza nodded fiercely, her eye shining with absolute resolve.
“Mhm!
I definitely would!” Upon returning to the bustling streets of Magnolia, the two hit up the local market together to purchase a heavy set of insulated winter clothing before parting ways to finalize their packing.
Walking back toward his estate, Cain’s mind couldn’t help but wander back to the anime’s early episodes, recalling how Natsu and Lucy had eventually trekked up a massive blizzard-swept mountain to rescue Macao from a Vulcan.
Honestly, he thought humorously, how did they not literally freeze to death wearing such thin clothes up there?
Oh, wait…
Natsu is a Fire Dragon Slayer, so his body is basically a human furnace.
Never mind.
But what about Lucy?
She literally climbed a sub-zero peak wearing a tight sleeveless top and a denim miniskirt!
I mean, sure, her figure looked absolutely spectacular, but she was practically turning blue up there.
Before today, Cain had naively assumed that possessing high levels of magic power would act like the internal cultivation arts from martial arts novels, naturally granting a wizard absolute immunity to extreme weather conditions.
But living in this reality, he discovered he was dead wrong.
While it was true that his body was overflowing with dense magic, the ambient environment was also heavily saturated with natural magical energy.
This environmental resonance meant that freezing regions became unnaturally, brutally cold, while volcanic zones became overwhelmingly, suffocatingly hot.
This ecosystem is basically a joke, Cain grumbled internally.
My baseline stats got a massive magical buff, but the environment’s environmental hazards got the exact same buff.
When both sides are amplified equally, it literally means the net advantage is zero.
What kind of balanced mathematics is this?!