Puppet Soldiers of the City at Night

Puppet Soldiers of the City at Night

“H o ho! So you’ve decided to accept! I’m grateful, truly grateful, indeed!” Blubbering with delight,

Mr. Tarim continued barbecuing his roast. (He became Mister Tarim once we’d taken the job. You can’t call your sponsor by his first name. Everybody knows that.) He occasionally brought his cigar to his mouth, giving it a couple of puffs for punctuation.

How can he even taste his food after that thing’s been in his mouth?

We were sitting around a table in the mansion’s back­yard, talking about the job.

“This is highly reassuring, I must say. Now I can sleep at night without worrying about Daymia and his ridiculous assassination attempts,” he said, smiling. In fact, had that smile been any wider, it would’ve eaten up his whole face.

“I don’t mind you feeling safer, but don’t use it as an excuse to take any foolish risks, okay?” I warned. “How long do you expect to keep us on?”

“Ah, yes. Details! The new chairman will be elected in two weeks. Things should settle down after that. Until then, you’ll be paid daily, plus expenses.”

The amount Mr. Tarim was offering was even more than I’d expected, and I’d expected quite a bit. After all, if he hadn’t coughed up some serious money, it would be like he was telling us he didn’t think we were worth top coin. And you don’t want your bodyguards to think you don’t have any faith in them.

Of course, when you considered that taking on Mazoku was part of the job description, well, then the fee looked a little low. But I wasn’t going to complain.

We wrapped up our negotiations and decided to have a better look around the place. Knowing your surroundings is an important part of any security job. You might want to write that down.

“Sightseeing?” A mocking voice called out to us from the house’s first floor as we were our way to the second.

With arms folded and gazing at us with contempt, it was none other than Lantz.

“Oh, good. It’s you,” I replied, expressing my displeasure.

“We’re inspecting, not sightseeing. If there’s an attack, we’ll do a lot better knowing where to fight and where to pull back. But I shouldn’t expect someone who can’t keep his hands off a girl’s butt to be evolved enough to grasp strategy,” I said, glaring at him. I figured Lantz’s nose would be bleeding from a tear like that, but he was unfazed.

Damn.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect to see a little girl and her pet goon wandering around un-chaperoned in a place like this.”

Little girl?! Grrrr!

All right, yes: I’m a little shorter than most people. That’s a fact, but I can’t stand having it rubbed in my face!

“Oh, I get it, you’re into little girls’ butts. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can be friends.”

“Sheesh…” Lantz was momentarily speechless.

Got him.

“What’s that? Did I hit a nerve, Lantz? You don’t have any friends, do you, butt-lover?”

“Sh-shut up!” He was taking me seriously. I gave him a couple of exaggerated nods.

“Well, it figures, with that personality.”

“Yeah, you’d better fix that personality real quick,” Gourry added.

Yeah, Gourry! That’s some snappy comeback there, genius. “If you don’t, you’ll end up with someone like Lina.” THWACK! I introduced his head to the corner of the railing.

I hope that hurt.

“What the hell was that?” I demanded. “Whose side are you on?!”

Gourry looked at me with a pained expression, scratching his head.

“Well, I wasn’t really thinking…”

“Clearly!” I said, and turned to the other buffoon. “Okay. Lantz, was it? First of all, Mr. Tarim figures we’re able to cut the mustard—and Rod does, too. Do ya think they’d hire a couple of strangers if they weren’t sure we could do the job? Do ya?”

“I dunno. Maybe,” Lantz replied like a sullen child. “Look, you were there when I defeated Daymia’s sorcerer, weren’t you?”

“What? All you did was ram him into the mud. That doesn’t prove anything except that your opponent was an idiot.”

Argh!

Okay, clearly my opponent had been an idiot—I couldn’t argue with that. But obviously Lantz was still holding a grudge because of that unfortunate incident at the restaurant with his groin and the corner. He was still upset over that? What a crybaby!

“All right, how about this? I’ll show you what we can do,” Gourry said, casually drawing his sword.

Gourry! What are you thinking?!

“Fine!” answered Lantz.

“Guys, guys, now calm down….” Too late.

Lantz drew his sword and retrieved a gold coin from his pocket, his hands shaking. He held it in his right hand, pointing it skyward. With his left hand, he placed the gold coin on the tip of the blade, and then… he balanced it there.

Nice.

It was the kind of trick that could have been performed by a talented amateur, but I was still impressed.

“Ha!” Gourry swung his sword directly before him as he shouted. Then came two light, metallic chimes and… Lantz and I both were agog.

The gold piece had fallen onto the mat, split perfectly in two—right down the middle! In a single motion, Gourry’d bisected the coin while it was balanced on the tip of Lantz’s sword. The skill, speed, and force required for that little stunt were unimaginable!

“I—I don’t… that’s incredible!” Lantz’s voice echoed with genuine admiration.

I moved several steps up the stairs.

Having satisfied his pride, Gourry sheathed his sword and turned to follow me.

Time to crack him on the skull, methinks!

My flying knee smash sent Gourry tumbling. His forehead made a dull, wet thud against the floor.

“Why did you do that to big brother?!” Lantz yelled at me while helping Gourry up from the floor, his eyes brimming with concern.

Big brother?! Since when did Gourry become that guy’s big brother?

“Hey, that hurt! Wh-what was that for?!” Gourry asked as he came to, rubbing his forehead.

“That—” SMACK! “—was for—” SMACK! “—wast­ing—” SMACK! “—money!” SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! I may be a sorceress, but I come from a family of merchants, and no merchant worthy of the name would ever stand by and let a coin be treated so poorly.

What can I say? My parents were big on fiscal responsibility. Neither my sister nor I went into the family business (she’s a waitress) but hey, it’s in our blood. The bisection of a gold piece triggered indignation from deep, deep within me.

“Wait!” Gourry protested. “No more hitting! If the coin I cut’s still useful, am I forgiven?”

“Sure. But how?”

Gourry sat on the floor and picked up both pieces as Lantz and I watched.

“I’ll come up with something,” he promised. “I split this pretty good, if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, we’re all impressed. Now—”

“You know, I don’t usually show off to people like that,” he interrupted, “but Lantz, how’d you like this for a lucky charm? Say fifty leebs.”

A leeb is worth a tenth of a gold piece.

Seems Gourry has a little merchant blood somewhere in him, too.

“Sold.” Lantz glared at me with enmity as he placed the cut gold piece in his pocket with the utmost care.

“What can you do?” he asked. “I assume you’ve got some skills to back up the way you treat big bro, here. Or maybe you’re just a little toy, brought along for show?”

A toy?!

“Oh, I’ll show you what I can do, alllllll right!!!” And I began chanting a spell.

“Daaaaah! Stop! Lina! I’m begging, could you please, stop!” In an act of supreme mercy, I stopped casting my Dragon Slave spell. But only after listening to Gourry’s pathetic, heartfelt pleas.

You were this close, buddy.

“If I’d known it was gonna be so crowded around here…” I muttered as I moved on, determined to continue our inspection.

Lantz gave me a look like, “Yeah, right.”

Grrr.

* * *

We finished inspecting the Tarim mansion and moved on to exploring the city. Lantz, who’d taken quite a liking to Gourry, was playing tour guide.

Apparently, everything beyond the marketplace was considered “downtown.” And back where we were—close to the castle—things were pretty quiet during the day.

“We’re here, big bro,” Lantz said, and stopped.

Stately mansions surrounded us. The one that Lantz was pointing to was very much like the Tarim residence, but bigger. It was only three stories high, but its massive breadth made Tarim’s seem cramped by comparison.

“So this is it… Gourry sighed.

“The Daymia residence,” Lantz whispered ominously.

“Why’s it so big?” I wondered aloud.

“Do I look like an information desk to you?” Lantz snapped at me.

What’s with that attitude?!

He was holding a grudge! I knew it!

“Er, Lina…” Gourry stammered, trying to distract me before I started a fight.

“You wanna go check it out?” I asked.

Both men raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

“Check what out?”

“Daymia’s place.” Duh.

“No!” Lantz shrieked like a girl. “Are you serious?! We can’t break into someone’s house in broad daylight!”

“Now, who said anything about breaking in?” I replied. “We’ll go in through the front door like civilized folk and have a little chat. If we’re polite, they have to behave reasonably or else the neighbors will catch wind of it. We’ll be fine.”

“Uh, I’m not so sure about this,” Gourry said, folding his arms. “According to Mr. Tarim, Daymia’s not a fair-and-square kind of guy. And if something does happen, the city will definitely take the word of a respectable citizen over us, and we’ll look like the bad guys.”

“Mmmm…” I sounded through closed lips. I was a little surprised to hear Gourry laying it out so thoroughly. I’d almost forgotten he could contribute sharp insights from time to time.

“Good point,” I reluctantly conceded. We were going to have to come up with another plan. “Okay, let’s keep going. Next up: Chairman Halcyform’s place…”

Knock, knock. I used the dragon-head door knocker twice. It was pretty cool.

Mr. Tarim had said that an assistant named Rubia was still living in the chairman’s desolate mansion, on the off chance that he might return.

Surely she must know something, right?

No answer.

“Maybe she’s not home?” I looked up, quietly admiring the architecture.

“Yes?” At last a voice came from inside the house.

Wait a second! That voice…

She unlocked the door, and when she opened it, I couldn’t help but stare.

Hair the color of the setting sun, eyes filled with sadness…

It was her—the girl I’d met on the street. The one who told me not to get involved, then vanished. Yes, it was definitely her.

She opened the door and regarded us with undisguised suspicion.

“What may I do for you?” she asked, as if we’d never met before.

Oh, so that’s how it is, huh? Well, two can play that game.

“Miss Rubia, is it?”

She nodded.

“A pleasure to meet you. We’re investigating the chairman’s disappearance…” I lied to her face.

Her expression changed ever so slightly. “I’ve told the Guild Council everything I know. I have nothing more to say. Please leave me in peace,” she said, and started to close the door.

“Just one question!” I barked out, thrusting my shoe in the doorway. I came to get a real answer to the question that left Mr. Tarim speechless and I wasn’t leaving without a lead. “What was the chairman researching?”

She shuddered. It was exactly the same reaction that Mr. Tarim had.

For a moment, she looked directly at me. “Life… research. I can say no more.” She dislodged my foot and slammed the door.

“What’s with that woman?!” Lantz said, a pout on his face.

In peace, huh?

“What are you grinning about?” Gourry asked.

“Oh, nothing…” My mantle fluttered. “It’s just that… this is getting interesting.”

* * *

I tossed and turned insufferably.

I was crashed out in one of Mr. Tarim’s guest rooms. Gourry and I were supposed to be taking turns resting while our things were being stored at an inn, but I was having a hard time getting any shuteye.

Assassins prefer to operate at night, for obvious reasons. So bodyguards can’t exactly take the night off and get the job done. As for why we left our things at the inn? Well, as long as we were under contract, protecting Mr. Tarim had to be our top priority. If, for example, his mansion caught on fire, we’d never be able to escort him out and keep our belongings safe.

It may seem like a silly precaution, but among my possessions were various irreplaceable magical items— priceless objects for any traveling adventurer. It was one thing to sell my services, but quite another to put my entire livelihood on the line. Sorcery’s an expensive business!

Of course, the inn where I left my possessions could always burn down, but you’ll go crazy trying to prevent every remote possibility.

Anyway, it wasn’t concern over my belongings that disturbed my sleep. It was… a premonition, of sorts. I get them sometimes. That’s just how it is.

I was tired, but I couldn’t stay asleep for long. I felt certain that assassins were going to strike that night—and I was right!

I awoke atop the covers in a fairly extravagant single bedroom. It was a little too extravagant for a guard, perhaps, but Mr. Tarim laughed it off, calling himself a “hedonist.” Gourry was sleeping with the other men when he wasn’t out on watch.

I got out of bed and found my slippers. My clothes were about the same as during the day, except that I’d left my mantle by my bedside, since it would have interfered with my already-elusive sleep.

I was fully prepared to deal with intruders at any time.

Just to be on the safe side, I took my sword out of my sword belt and left the room.

It wasn’t that I’d noticed anything suspicious; I just had to use the bathroom.

A number of men were sleeping in the corridor. Whether standing or lying on their sides with blankets over them or on guard duty their swords never left them.

I made my way down the hall, careful not to step on anyone.

Though it was fairly warm during the day, Atlas City nights were chilly enough to require a mantle. No point putting it on for such a short jaunt, though.

“Brrr… cold…” I grumbled, and stopped. I’d noticed a suspicious silhouette against a nearby door. Somewhere out back, a hinge squeaked. There was a strange presence closing in.

Scratch that. It wasn’t a presence, exactly. More like an ambiance.

About ten men were standing guard outside, but of course, they didn’t notice anything unusual. Something more than the cold gave me goose bumps. I sensed some kind of alien aura outside the door.

A moment later, an icy sensation crept up my spine, telling me to run.

There!

I heard a sound. Something like scraping metal—that was enough.

“Rise and shine! Everybody up! We’re under attack! This is not a drill, boys!”

After rousing the men, I shot outside through the nearest door. I could smell blood in the air. The casualties came quickly. Naked blades danced in the darkness, lit only by sparks and moonlight.

When fighting in the dark, the most fearsome threat is one’s own allies. There could be no “Oops, sorry” for anyone attacking Gourry or Rod by mistake. I chanted several lighting spells over the area.

Then, I saw them: the grotesque band of assassins making the attack.

There were ten giants in all. I don’t mean giant as in tall, either; the problem was their bulk. Their arms were every bit as wide as my waist. With that kind of muscle power, they could swing maces as heavy as carts in one hand and wield executioner’s swords in the other. Imagine how effective that kind of strength is in battle. I didn’t think we could physically take these guys.

The strangest part was that every one of them had the exact same face. They were all about twenty-two years old, and not one had a hair on his head. Their faces were entirely expressionless. No joy, no rage, no nothing.

If I had to guess, they were combat homunculi constructed by Daymia.

Just as Mr. Tarim had suggested, if someone in the practice of constructing drones like these were to become chairman, Atlas City would fall into ill repute in every corner of the world—from Zephilia in the north to the Keln Federation in the south! But I didn’t have time to ponder the consequences just then.

Those giants weren’t the only ones in the room set on bringing carnage. The red dots I’d seen glowing in the darkness were revealed under the lighting spell to be the cruel eyes of huge wolves covered in velvet scales and countless thick spines. Between the wolves and the drones, our enemies numbered fourteen.

In number, our side had the advantage; we were at a horrific disadvantage, however, in brute force. The might and morale of mercenaries working for a little extra pocket change was no match for that of an enemy who lived only to wage war.

No matter how many reinforcements came from inside the mansion, Daymia’s grotesques would not show fear, nor would they retreat.

Of course, we had a few worthy warriors on our side. Rod emerged from the darkness at a full sprint. With one hand drawing the sword off his back, he charged the lead giant. As the drone responded, bringing his great sword to the front, Rod abruptly changed course, attacking the giant’s right flank.

The executioner’s sword futilely sliced through air, while Rod’s naked blade lashed out from his back—the glitter of lighting spells reflecting off it like faerie dust. The two men passed one another; the giant’s mace made a heavy sound as it rolled onto the ground, and fresh blood spurted from his side. In a single pass, Rod had severed the giant’s mace-wielding arm and dug a deep crevasse in his flank. However…

The giant howled and raised his sword up once more. Though his wound was deep, he neither shrieked nor flinched, but commenced with his counterattack. Is it possible that he can’t feel pain? Can’t grieve his missing limb?

As the giant made a single swinging attack at head height, Rod ducked into a crouch, then sprang up in an elegant motion, his blade now glistening with blood. The giant’s body cleaved in two from a single, vertical cut.

Gourry entered the fray, drawing his long sword lazily and choosing his first opponent seemingly at random. The unlucky drone raised his sword. Twin silver flashes blurred together in a chorus of clicks and clacks. At the first opening, Gourry hacked his blade through the giant’s forehead to deep into his chest.

The now-corpse trembled, then collapsed.

“Whoa there!” Gourry bounced back, startled. Something shot through the air, headed for his face. Gourry’s sword glittered again, shunting it down to the ground. It was a small spike.

The velvet scale-covered wolf had projected one of its spines like an arrow. The wolf (Was it a wolf?) breathed deeply, gathering its strength for another volley of attacks.

A moment later, a storm of spines rained toward Gourry. The average soldier would have been a pincushion. Happily, Gourry was well above average.

“Uh-uhhh!” he yelled as he hit the ground and rolled to evade the attack. Once clear, he hopped to his feet and sprinted toward the wolf.

It sucked in its breath once more.

Gourry, determined not to give it a second chance, stared it in the eye—almost as if to say goodbye—and then dipped between its knees, shooting up with sword in flesh, bisecting its body with a long, slow pull.

The wolf popped like a balloon as it blew apart in all directions.

Lantz was a more capable soldier than I expected. He charged straight for the throat of one of the giants, holding his bastard sword with two hands. His weapon met his enemy’s with a shrill scream. Spinning away from the clashing swords, Lantz lunged just inside the giant’s reach. His right hand released the sword, and with his left, he slammed it up into his opponent’s lower jaw. The giant’s head snapped back noiselessly. Lantz stepped forward.

A moment before the giant could regain his poise, Lantz clipped him from the side. The blow hit home. The drone buckled where he stood, tumbling to his knees. Lantz finished him off with a single thrust through his brain, and, just for good measure, moved behind and used the hilt of his sword to pound his hindbrain into soup.

Lantz’s style mixed classic sword fighting with bare­knuckle beer brawling.

“C’mon, you bastards!” Lantz screamed. “Let’s have ourselves a dance, shall we?!” As Lantz shouted his weird war cry, a wolf stepped up to block his path.

“I was—uh—talking to the other fellas, actually. The giants…” Lantz muttered under his breath.

Of course, I wasn’t just standing around watching while all of this was going down. I might have liked to, but the assassins wouldn’t let me. One of the wolves standing near me began a long inhale.

Not good!

I frantically searched for just the right spell, while the wolf fired every spine on its body in a single volley!

“Diem Wing!” I shouted, and the air condensed around me, sending a shock wave back toward the wolf. It was just a weak wind spell—not even strong enough to knock an opponent off balance—but it was powerful enough to shoo the spines back from whence they came. With only the scars of its spines remaining, all the wolf could do was whine and gawk.

“C’mon!”

“There!”

“Take that! And that! And that!”

A squad of allied mercenaries released their fear and fury on the impotent wolf with a flurry of gashes and kicks.

While observing that charming spectacle, I caught sight of an errant shadow—a giant behind me! I spun aside, escaping the fall of the executioner’s sword by the width of a hair. That pissed me off.

Take this, you backstabbing cheater!

I began casting a counterattack. Crouched and pressing my palms to the earth, I chanted, “Bephis Bring!”

It was a spell originally used to call upon an earth spirit to dig a tunnel. I cast it directly under the giant’s feet.

In the next moment, his form was sucked into a deep hole, his hands clawing toward the sky. The hole wasn’t deep enough for the fall to kill him. However, neither was it shallow enough for him to climb back out.

“You guys take this one from here!” I yelled to a couple of nearby mercenaries.

“You got it!” they shouted back.

I didn’t know whether they’d stone him to death or douse him in oil and light him up, but if I’d had time, I’m pretty sure I would have felt sorry for the big dumb drone.

Just as that thought entered and left my mind, I felt someone watching me—I turned.

I could just make out a silhouette of a figure leaning against a white wall near the main gate. It was wearing a white mask.

Seigram!

I took off toward the white-masked Mazoku.

“So, you have chosen to disregard our message? Just as well… ,” Seigram muttered quietly.

I stopped directly in front of him and noticed something I’d missed before. Sensing it, I could feel my insides shrivel.

Maybe it was because I’d been the tiniest bit drunk the night before, but I’d somehow failed to realize during our first encounter that this demon foe before me was of a rather high rank.

I’d imagined that I’d beat Seigram easily—by virtue of superior power. But now? For a mountain of reasons, I figured I might be lucky enough to scrape by with a win.

Of course, I was sure I could obliterate Seigram with my secret spell. But that was dangerous… and a little excessive.

If I did use it, I stood a good chance of turning Atlas City into a crater. I’d have been fine if I could have used the anti-individual attack spell, Ra Tilt—which destroys an opponent from the astral side—but I couldn’t use that spell. That is to say, I hadn’t studied it!

See, I was never in a position to use it before, and… well… it wasn’t very showy! Dragon Slave was so much flashier; I learned that one instead

No time for regrets now! I have to do this, one way or another! “So, half-mask took the day off?” I asked. I was fairly sure the one called Gio was around here somewhere, but I couldn’t see him.

“Gio Gaia. It is not my place to participate in this. I have been ordered merely to observe the results of this battle.”

“By Daymia the Blue, huh?”

Seigram responded to my words with silence.

While summoning Gio didn’t require much talent, summoning a demon like Seigram—that required a sorcerer who was more than passably competent.

We stared at each other in silence.

Who goes first?

Cold sweat dripped down my back. Then…

“Need a hand?” A completely unconcerned voice called out from behind me. I knew who it was, even with­out turning.

“How’s it going over there, Gourry?” I asked, as I continued to stare at Seigram.

“Oh, Rod’s over there, so they’ll manage without me. Plus, you got yourself a demon person here.”

A demon person? Nice phraseology.

I backed up a bit so that I was standing beside him.

“And you came to help li’l ol’ me? Why, Gourry, you’re too kind.”

Even if I couldn’t use the big stuff, Gourry’s weapon was a fair bit of firepower. But before I could mentally hammer out a plan…

“I regret that I cannot cross swords with you at this time,” Seigram purred calmly.

“You what—?” Gourry and I responded simultaneously.

“I’ve been ordered to observe the outcome of this battle. As I have not been ordered to fight you, I have neither reason nor intention to do so.”

“What the hell are you saying?” I yelled, spitting mad. “You come here, launch a surprise attack on us with berserk homunculi and chimera wolves, and then you have the balls to say you don’t want a fight?! Well, maybe you don t, but we sure as hell do!”

“I see. Then I have no choice,” said Seigram, as he took a single step forward. Gourry and I instinctively took a step backward. Then…

The white-masked Mazoku leapt from the ground and rose into the sky. In the next instant, his form vanished altogether.

He’d tricked us with a feint and made an easy escape!

“Oh, no you didn’t!” I dove through the gateway, following that black mantle.

“Hey! Lina, wait!” Gourry called after me and then joined in the chase.

We were making our pursuit in the dead of night. Silence ruled the city. With clouds covering the moon, the only light came from enchanted lamps and ambient lighting spells.

Seigram swam rapidly through the cold nighttime air. His mantle somehow made no sound as it fluttered.

All Gourry and I could hear was our footsteps and the steady rhythm of our own breath. A thought occurred to me unexpectedly as I was absorbed by the chase: It was like trying to catch a dream.

The Mazoku didn’t melt into the darkness like he had the night before. Perhaps he’d figured that while our abilities might be a match for Gio, we were nowhere near his threat level. Or perhaps…

He was luring us somewhere. A trap?

Maybe Gourry was thinking the same thing… or maybe nothing at all. I couldn’t tell from his expression either way.

The path Seigram chose was odd. Rather than try to lose us in the alleyways, he fled down a main road.

Then I got it.

We’re headed for Daymia the Blue!

Seigram’s form vanished as the silhouette of a mammoth old mansion rose up before our eyes.

Just as I thought… the estate of Daymia the Blue!

Though there were no guards on duty in the compara­tively small courtyard, quite a bit of light filtered out through the mansion’s windows.

I didn’t like it. It was too predictable. Anyone would see this as a clear and obvious trap.

“I thought we’d end up here,” I said to Gourry.

“You know this place?”

Groan…

I fell to my knees at Gourry’s reply. “You were here during the day today, you dolt! Remember? Lantz was showing us around?”

“Really?” He crossed his arms, deep in thought. “Huh. Things sure look different at night, don’t they?” he asked in complete seriousness. “So… what is this place, anyway?”

“D-a-y-m-i-a-’s P-l-a-c-e,” I said slowly, through a jaw clenched tight.

“Ah ha!” Gourry audibly palmed his fist. “Just as I thought!”

“Do you think this is funny? Is that it? Are you trying to play some kind of weirdo practical joke on me? Because seriously, Gourry, I’m not in the mood… now, let’s go!”

“Go where?”

Someone else be his partner for me! Please?!

“D-a-y-m-i-a-’s P-l-a-c-e,” I replied, on the verge of exploding.

“Uh, but—” Gourry started with a serious look on his face. “I think this is a trap.”

“I know that!” I yelled back. “Of course it’s a trap! But trap or no trap, led here or not, we don’t know what their intentions are, now do we?! And there’s only one way to find out! Maybe it looks stupid to you, but letting fear and caution dictate our every move strikes me as a lot more stupid!” I rose indignantly to my feet and ranted over my shoulder as I walked off.

Gourry laid a hand gently on that same shoulder.

Huh…?

“Lina…” He gazed deep into my eyes and spoke in a quiet voice.

N-now wait just a minute. He should be losing his cool, not getting all serious on me like this.

“Now, Lina. I want you to listen good…”

“Wh-what? What are you doing getting all… serious?” Even I could hear the nervousness in my voice.

“Lina, listen to me: Making a big ruckus at night is going to get us in trouble with the neighbors.”

My silent punch exploded into his jaw.

Smartass.

* * *

“So, for sure it’s a trap?”

“Yeah… it’s a trap.”

We exchanged witty banter while moving through a deserted corridor, keeping our voices low. We’d made it inside Daymia’s premises, but based on the lights we’d seen from outside, we were pretty certain that the guards had been pulled back in for an ambush. Yet…

We hadn’t seen a soul.

A row of doors flanked the corridor. They probably lead to the guards’ bunks. We opened some of the doors, but we only found simple storage cubes.

If Daymia were capable of sending assassins like that after us, would he be stupid enough to leave his place unsecured?

Of course not.

That left only one possibility: We were being led… somewhere.

We wandered around for so long that a strange thing happened: I started to get bored. You’d think that we would have arrived somewhere for something at some point, but that mansion was just one huge maze.

It looked big enough from outside, but now that we were actually snaking our way through it, it was even more insane than we’d thought.

The first strange thing I noticed was that the stairs just inside the entrance went straight up to the third story attic. People don’t build houses like that. Sane people don’t, anyway.

Of course, sane people don’t build homunculus armies, either.

In any case, after wandering around for an incredibly anticlimactic period of time, we finally came to a huge, metal-plated door of a ward with a pentagram inscribed onto it. It was obviously a room used for conducting magic.

I sensed a human presence on the other side.

“This… it?” Gourry inquired in a low voice.

“This is it,” I replied. “I know it’s a trap, so we’re going in. You ready?”

“No reason I would be…”

I glared at him. “Don’t back out on me now!”

“Why should I keep following you to hell and back on your every whim?”

“Because it’s good for your blood to do something injudicious every once in a while?”

“You call this injudicious?!”

“Not bad,” I replied with admiration. “You don’t know what injudicious means, do you?”

“No! I don’t! But I thought I could fake it.”

“Okay, shhh…” I said in a small voice. It wasn’t a good time or place to be making a fuss.

“Look, are you with me on this or not?”

“Not! We can’t mess this up, Lina.”

“Are you calling me reckless?!”

“Well, yeah! All right: What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when I open this door?”

“I dunno. Maybe toss in a couple of fireballs?”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! First of all, we might have this thing all wrong—”

“I know that! Look, Tarim had an odd reaction when I brought up Chairman Halcyform, right? Well, I’m going to have to talk to Daymia to find out what Tarim’s hiding!”

“Really?” He stared at me dumbfounded. “I-I really wish you’d said that earlier.”

Sheesh, we can’t back down after coming this far!

“Shhh, Gourry!”

“What?”

I pressed my ear to the door.

“What is it?” He didn’t seem to know what I was up to.

“Our only option is to go right in.”

“Now?!” He looked around nervously, but there was noth­ing to see. The only presence was the one behind that door.

He looked at me with doubt in his eyes.

“All right, if you’re sure. Let’s go!” he said, and kicked the door in.

See? Him and me? We’re joined at the hip.

Gourry’s eyes narrowed.

The two of us stood in the doorway, side by side.

It was like peering into an enormous circus tent. The room was humongous and perfectly round. It probably accounted for half the mansion’s size! A giant warding pentagram was inscribed on the floor, the tip of its star pointing north.

A Rune Breaker…

Pentagrams are used to create a field that interferes with and weakens all magical power within it. A characteristic peculiar to this spell is that the field’s power increases not only in proportion to the skill of the spellcaster, but also, to the overall size of the field.

In other words, if it were big enough, a ward could even seal my powers, no matter how amateur the sorcerer who created it. Of course—not that I’m bragging, but— even at that size, I wasn’t exactly shaking in my boots.

There was some kind of altar on the opposite side of the room, and a lone man stood before it, a creepy-crazy smile slashed across his face. He was balding, with dark hair and a mustache. He had big, shifty eyes that were constantly in motion, and—he wore a blue mantle.

“Mr. Daymia, I presume?” As I called out to him, the man recoiled.

“Tarim’s assassins!” His already-large eyes popped wide open as he shrieked at a deafening pitch. We both flinched.

“Well, uh… I suppose we are in a manner of speak­ing,” Gourry frankly—and stupidly—replied.

“I knew it! Ha! I knew he would, that toad! From the very beginning, I knew he meant to kill me as soon as I’d done it!” Daymia continued. “I knew it, I knew it! I knew it from the very start! From the word go! Did he really think I wouldn’t know?!”

Gourry and I exchanged glances.

Uh…

“This guy’s a nut job,” I whispered.

“Hey, you’re the one who got us into this! You’re the one who took the job!” Gourry responded supportively.

On the other side of the room, Daymia continued with his maniacal rant, eyes bulging, teeth grinding—yet still smiling. Seriously, he was scary.

But…

One thing Daymia said bothered me: “I knew he meant to kill me as soon as I’d done it!”

After he did what?

“Wait! We have no intention of hurting you!” I shouted. As hopeless as it seemed, I needed to press for more details.

Daymia stopped speaking and stared at both of us.

“Freak… show,” Gourry muttered in a sing-song manner. Then he made that little whistling noise that sounds like “cuckoo, cuckoo.” I ignored him.

“You’re not assassins?” Daymia asked, turning his bugged-out frog eyes our way.

“That’s right. We are not assassins.”

After a pause, Daymia began to laugh his crazy-person laugh once more.

“I see. I see, I see then—I know!! I understand completely! If you’re not Tarim’s assassins, then—you’re here to steal my pretty chimeras!”

Uh… nope.

“Well, try as you might, you will not have them! They are my precious children! You will not have them! You will not!!”

Um… Earth to crazy guy…

“Mister! We are not here to steal your chimeras either!”

“You’re… not?” Daymia took a long, hard look at us once again. Then again with the laughing.

Oy.

“I see—ha HA!—I know! If you’re not robbers, then you must be—Tarim’s assassins!”

Aaaaaahh! I held my head in both hands.

“So much for the talk-to-him plan,” Gourry said grimly. “Yeah, my bad,” I replied. “Okay, we’re going to have to capture him. We can ask him about stuff later. Go easy on him, okay?”

“Me? I’m always easy. You go easy on him.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” I said, waving and stepping forward. Daymia recoiled abruptly. “S-s-stay back! Don’t come any closer! D-d-do you intend to harm the f-f-flesh of Daymia the Blue?! You shall not! You shall do no such thing!” How come nothing is ever easy, huh?

We continued to the other side of the room, ignoring his pleas and threats and… psychotic babbling.

“Stay back! If you come any closer, just one step closer, I’ll…”

“And if we do? Then what? What are you gonna do about it, huh?”

“Th-th-this!” Daymia grabbed a rope and pulled.

THWOOP! The giant magic symbol beneath our feet quickly became a giant, magic symbol-shaped hole in the ground. Oops.

“Uh-oh…”

Oh! Now I get it!

“Lina!” Gourry shouted. He grabbed onto me as we fell into the abyss.

“Use your magic!” he shouted.

Like I hadn’t thought of that! I’d already started.

“Levitation!” I exclaimed.

My levitation spell could normally lift a fully loaded wagon without a problem. Although Daymia’s ward had dampened some of my power, the effect shouldn’t have been too severe. Our fall would have quickly come to a… uh… How come we’re not stopping?

We weren’t exactly in a freefall, but we were definitely still falling, descending into a pit so deep that it seemed as if there were no bottom.

“Hello, Lina! We’re still falling!”

“I know that! Don’t worry!” I’d already guessed the reason, but now was not the time to explain. “It’s enough for one person’s weight!” I said.

Horror spread over Gourry’s face. He hugged me tightly, squishing my breasts.

“Hey, now! Don’t get fresh!”

“Lina! Let’s die together!!”

“What?! I was kidding, Gourry. Jeez! Just—hey! Don’t do tha—whaaaaa!”

My midair balance was thrown off; we were definitely plunging full-speed into the darkness below.

KER-SPLOOSH! With that great watery trumpet, an enormous wave rose up… I think.

I’m guessing, because by that time, I had lost consciousness.