PROLOGUE

A Howl Signals the Beginning

01

The moon was out.

The perfect circle floated in the cloudless night sky. It freely lavished the world below with light so bright it almost might have made you think it was daytime. However, most of that light was obstructed by thick trees, and it only slightly illuminated the open road as it filtered through the branches.

The forest trees, seemingly full of life in the middle of the day, stood out black in the moonlight, and the tips of the branches that extended to the road looked like the figures of people stretching their arms out to embrace travelers, their bodies writhing in anguish. In truth, these branches blocked the path of carriages resembling iron boxes that careened through the forest in the summer. It was as if they were trying to provide prey to the monsters in the forest.

This was the Fell Forest, an area crawling with beasts. In these woods, which remained dark even in daytime, the shadow of death loomed darker still than the silhouette of trees in the moonlight.

Two cavalrymen and three armored carriages rushed between the trees of the Fell Forest, cutting through the darkness.

These were the armored carriages of the Black Iron Freight Corps. Its members had traversed this road countless times. The cavalrymen and carriages would run through the forest, shaking off pursuing monsters and striking down only those who blocked their path.

That was how they always did it.

However, this time was different.

“Maaan, these monster-warding potions are craaazy effective! There’s hardly any monsters on our tail,” said Lynx from atop a raptor. This time, they had monster-warding potions at their disposal. No particularly strong foes typically appeared on the road connecting the Labyrinth City and the imperial capital—just forest wolves, black wolves, goblins, and an occasional orc or orc general. If only a handful of these creatures showed up, B-Rank adventurers could handle them with no trouble. However, since they attacked in large numbers both day and night, you’d need to be A Rank in order to travel through the forest alone.

The Black Iron Freight Corps employed two cavalrymen serving as outriders, who forced their way through with their thick armor, so slow monsters like goblins and orcs presented no problems. Instead, lupine monsters like forest wolves and black wolves proved to be more trouble. They chased the Corps in packs and relentlessly attacked the raptors’ legs and weak points in the carriages’ armor.

However, after the Corps gave the monster-warding potions a try, lupine monsters sensitive to the odor stayed away. Sometimes, a goblin unfamiliar with the smell would end up falling down in the road and be splattered into bits by the carriages.

Until now, dealing with these lupine monsters had been incredibly time-consuming, and a trip through the Fell Forest would take the Corps two and a half days. More recently, however, they’d made it through within two. Now that the heavy equipment they’d been using was no longer necessary, they’d lightened the carriages’ armor and their own equipment for the return trip. As a result, the Corps traveled faster and faster, and they were set to complete the trip in a day and a half and arrive in the Labyrinth City that evening.

“Don’t get careless, Lynx. The monster-warding potions only work on small fry. Once you’re talking B-Rank monsters, they won’t work even on whelps.” The other cavalryman, a dual wielder named Edgan, spoke up.

“Ugh, Ed, you jinxed us. Look, now we gotta fight these rare ones.”

The two cavalrymen, Lynx and Edgan, increased their speed and slashed at the three dark red masses that came rushing at them from the front. Edgan took on two, and Lynx one.

One of Edgan’s swords caught the mouth of a monster baring its fangs and snapping at him and sliced it open from the palate to the back of its head. His left-hand sword firmly stabbed at the other monster, but it used the sliced body of its kin as a foothold to bound past his attack.

Lynx’s foe dodged three of the five daggers he threw at it and bit into the fourth one. The fifth grazed its body, but the dark red miasma coating the creature’s skin prevented the blade from landing a mortal blow.

“Whaaa…? It dodged ’em?”

Lynx jumped down from his raptor and confronted the monster. It would be easier to fight this way. The raptor rushed back to the iron carriages.

“Bring it on, pup. I’ll finish you off in no time.”

The monster snarled.

Though it looked like a large wolf, the surface of its body was completely covered by a dripping, dark-red vapor, which made it look like it had been dipped in gore. When the oozing miasma came in contact with the ground, it wriggled eerily like buzzing newborn flies before disappearing. The creature’s bloodshot eyes darted around as if quivering in fear, making it impossible to know what it was looking at. Its mouth, oddly large compared to its body, contained sharp fangs across multiple rows, and bloody saliva dribbled from it.

A black death wolf.

The evolved form of a black wolf that had consumed human flesh.

Come to think of it, Lynx heard a foolish merchant from the imperial capital had entered the Fell Forest about a month ago without sufficient equipment and been annihilated. He’d taken several slaves with him instead of guards.

So these things had eaten their corpses…?

At Lynx’s provocation, the largest of the three black death wolves bared its fangs. It turned to face Lynx and rushed at him like a powerful wind.

Chomp.

The black death wolf’s gaping maw took off Lynx’s head and left shoulder in a single bite, and in that instant, Lynx’s body vanished in the creature’s shadow.

“GROAR!”

The wolf, which should have had Lynx in its jaws, let out a yelp, and its entire body shook. Countless daggers sprouted from its belly to its back.

Lynx rose from the shadow of the convulsing body as it fell to the ground.

“Nice work, Lynx. You’ve upped your game,” said Edgan, who’d safely dealt with the remaining black death wolf.

“It’s not good enough, Ed. I wanna be able to beat one with just my sword, without using skills. Uh, whoa!” Lynx, who’d replied casually in one moment, jumped two yards back the next.

Edgan retreated at the same time.

“Yikes, now we’ve got one of these things? No way I can take it down. How ’bout you, Ed?”

“I can’t either. I’d die.”

What had appeared in front of the pair was a wolf, tall as a bear, walking on two legs. A werewolf. An A-Rank monster.

Moreover, it seemed to be the evolved form of a black death wolf, as its entire body was hazy with the dark red miasma rising from it.

“GHHHAAAAA……”

Although it possessed vocal cords more like a human’s than a wolf’s, its howl sounded as if it came from a beast writhing in a fire. The air, even the moonlight itself, seemed to warp from the screeching cry.

“How many people d’you gotta eat in order to turn into that?”

“Hell if I know. I bet they’ll even eat each other. Look, it’s doin’ that now.”

Although they both cracked jokes, cold sweat dripped down their backs, and their legs wouldn’t move, as if sewn to the earth. They couldn’t tear their eyes from the werewolf, which now devoured the black death wolves they’d taken down. If it considered those things prey, B-Rank individuals like themselves wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Ed, wanna try fightin’ it just a li’l?”

“Pass. Wouldn’t even last a second.”

“Yeah, why bother.”

““Caaap, you’re up!””

The two of them shouted in unison, and the door to one of the armored carriages opened to reveal a single man. Neither fear nor agitation showed in his movements as he descended from the carriage.

“You got it,” he replied. The strongest member of the Black Iron Freight Corps, the A-Rank adventurer Captain Dick, alighted from the armored carriage.

With a single black spear in hand, Dick approached the werewolf. His armor was a similar black hue and worn in. Brimming with silent bloodlust as he calmly approached the beast, the captain was the very embodiment of the phrase “Black Iron.”

The Black Iron Freight Corps made a lot of money in their line of work. Over half of the Corps were former members of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. They didn’t look like merchants, but transporting cargo was their job. They contracted goods for distribution the yagu merchant caravans couldn’t provide at a high price. Because of the highly dangerous nature of their work, they paid up front for the cargo when they received it before delivering the goods to a preassigned buyer.

Over the course of three days, the crew had taken turns riding the raptors through the forest.

Things were just getting a little boring with nothing but small fry.

Grinning broadly, Dick pointed the tip of his spear at the werewolf.

“Sorry to interrupt your meal, but we’re in a hurry. You can continue enjoying it in the afterlife.”

Hooowl.

The werewolf, who’d just been on all fours like a beast while devouring the black death wolves’ remains, vanished, then immediately reappeared right in front of Dick and swung its claws downward.

“Too slow!”

However, the werewolf’s claws glanced off the tip of Dick’s spear. No matter how many times it swung at him with both arms, his spear kept the beast at bay, never letting those claws reach him.

With a wham, Dick’s foot struck the werewolf’s stomach. The creature staggered backward.

“You know you can’t stay on your feet forever, you mutt.”

“RRR, GHHHAAAA……”

Dick’s taunt made the werewolf’s hair stand on end. With both hands on the ground, miasma rose from its quivering body like a vortex. The corners of its mouth spread open so far that its entire upper body looked like just one disgusting maw. New fangs sprouted and pierced the torn corners, and a dark red liquid that was neither blood nor miasma trickled out of its mouth.

The werewolf lunged toward Dick and closed in on him in less than the blink of an eye to try and sink its teeth into his left shoulder. Dick dodged half a step to the left before lopping off its right arm as it passed by.

“RRRRRRRAGGGGHHHH……”

As if having no sense of pain, the werewolf didn’t appear to flinch from losing its arm, but instead launched itself at Dick again as soon as its feet touched the ground. In an instant, the flesh at the end of the severed arm bulged, and even the wound itself ripped open and sprouted fangs like a mouth that could tear into him at any moment.

The werewolf grasped Dick from the front with its fangs. The strange severed arm-mouth had sprouted enough sharp fangs over its entire surface to devour a large man in a single bite, and there was no doubt it could overwhelm any sword or even a spear. The werewolf’s remaining left arm and the severed arm-mouth both rushed at Dick, trying to pierce him anywhere they could.

However—the black spear penetrated the werewolf’s arm-mouth. Dick’s single lance pierced the creature’s arm-mouth, torso, left arm, and both legs at the same time as if he were attacking with an entire fleet at his disposal. He was much faster than the werewolf’s healing capabilities, and not a moment later, the creature was rendered into lumps of meat. Finally, he pierced its heart and called to Lynx and Edgan, “I’m done!” as if he’d just finished up some chores.

“That’s our captain,” Lynx marveled with sincerity. “Too bad Amber’s not here to see this. She’d totally fall for ya.”

That last part was pushing it, though.

“Amber already knows how good I am. She ought to,” replied Dick, pausing in an odd spot.

“So you’re sayin’ you tell her to ‘watch my spear technique’ at night?”

“Huhhh……?”

“Hold up, you serious? He actually said that?”

“Geez, captain! Come on! That’s gross!”

As he teased the captain, Lynx quickly recovered the materials from the fallen werewolf. He aspired to be like Dick someday. Lynx found him competent, including the way he could take in insult, even if it was just a joke. Today he got to see the captain fight for the first time in a long while. The way he handled his spear and felled the werewolf with such ease—it made Lynx proud to be a member of the Black Iron Freight Corps.

He harvested a suitably large magical gem from the werewolf. The creature was relatively small for an A-Rank monster, probably because it hadn’t been very long since it had evolved. The three black death wolves also had magical gems, and he was able to procure a certain material from the one he’d defeated.

“Ooh, a ley-line shard. If we were anywhere else, it’d be worth something, but not here.”

Ley-line shards were transparent, pale golden fragments about the size of a fingernail. On rare occasions they could be found in relatively strong mid-grade and higher monsters and sold at a high price as materials for special-grade potions. Supposedly, they got their name from how they immediately shrank and disappeared when taken too far from the ley-line region they were drawn from. As there were no alchemists in the region, these shards weren’t worth much in the Labyrinth City, but rather were purchased for cheap by the Aguinas family as research materials.

If the Aguinas family was just going to drive a hard bargain for it, giving it to someone who’d be delighted by such a “pretty stone” would be much better.

“Guess I’ll give this to Mariela as a souvenir.”

Lynx tossed the shard into the air, caught it, then casually tucked it into his pocket.

Just a little longer until they reached their destination.

After burning the corpses of the werewolf and black death wolves, the Black Iron Freight Corps resumed their journey to the Labyrinth City.

02

Malraux, lieutenant of the Black Iron Freight Corps, recalled a lone girl his group had once encountered as they neared the Labyrinth City.

It was autumn now. The Fell Forest had completely changed colors over the last three weeks, but soon they’d emerge at the spot where they’d first met her.

Dick originally mistook the girl named Mariela for a “forest spirit,” but Malraux felt it was a surprisingly apt expression. And not just because of the grass skirt she’d been wearing when they’d met her.

The girl had used a monster-warding potion on mere forest wolves.

Given the scarcity of potions, it was an unthinkable decision.

The ley line in the Labyrinth City’s region had been the monsters’ domain ever since the Stampede, and alchemists could no longer connect to it through a Nexus. The resulting lack of potions had been a major concern during the post-Stampede restoration, and the margrave overseeing the City at the time responded to this problem with the development of magical tools. The margrave had the remaining alchemists create a large quantity of potions that were then maintained in a giant storage facility.

If the Labyrinth could be destroyed, the Labyrinth City would become the domain of humans once more. Alchemists would be able to connect to the region’s ley line with a Nexus and provide potions again.

It was said that the vault had been constructed to store a large number of potions, enough to destroy the Labyrinth, as estimated by scholars at the time.

In general, magical tools for storing potions delayed their deterioration by means of an engraved magic circle. So as long as you didn’t open the stoppers, these tools prevented any deterioration from taking place for several days at a time, even when they were taken outside the region they had been created in. The magic circle engraving made the tools a bit expensive, but wealthy families owned them as “substitute medicine kits.”

Naturally, a potion’s efficacy couldn’t be preserved for more than a hundred years.

On the other hand, Malraux had heard that the storage facility, developed over a period of about ten years, was a substitute that incorporated many magical tools. It managed to suppress the deterioration of potions by convecting the source of the potion’s magical effects, Drops of Life, inside of the facility, while continuously dispensing something similar to the alchemic skill used at the final step of making a potion, Anchor Essence. The amount of magical crystals required for this storage was huge and not something that any one person could possess.

The Aguinas family, who had been the head alchemists in the Kingdom of Endalsia, managed the potions in the Labyrinth City. The potions they supplied to the army on a regular basis were extremely expensive in order to cover the storage facility’s high maintenance costs. Other influential families residing in the Labyrinth City such as the margrave’s family or the aristocracy had their own small-scale potion storage facilities, and they regularly replenished their supplies from the Aguinas family.

Apart from that, rumors abounded of potions buried in the Fell Forest.

It was more of an urban legend for children: Over a century ago, the alchemists who’d filled the storage facility with potions had disappeared. Apparently, some eccentrics used to live in the Fell Forest during the time of the Kingdom of Endalsia, and some say the alchemists followed suit and fled to the forest after becoming fed up with all the potion-related bureaucracy in the Labyrinth City. Rumor had it, they built a storage facility like the one in the City while living in the Fell Forest and left potions there for future generations.

Surely the idea of “buried treasure” in the Fell Forest was just a story to entertain the minds of young children. Even if alchemists had lived in the Fell Forest, what would they do about the magical gems needed to maintain the storage facility? Not to mention such a place couldn’t be maintained without management at a city level.

However, against the backdrop of this urban legend, a certain phenomenon was taking place: The types and quantities of potions regularly provided to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces and aristocratic families had increased.

And, at that time, Mariela had used a potion that ought to have been scarce.

03

“I need money, so I was on my way to sell them.”

Malraux didn’t buy that explanation. Why did she have potions in the first place, and why had she purposely used one for the Black Iron Freight Corps as if flaunting it?

When Dick had offered to buy them all, she’d readily accepted, as if she really had meant to sell them. Her clothes were worn and covered in dust, and the way she looked, spoke, and acted was no different from other girls in the area. Could a girl like that have stumbled on the treasure of Fell Forest?

She’d shown disapproval when Dick proposed half the market price for them, so it wasn’t as if she didn’t know their value.

Everything she’d told Lynx after they purchased her potions seemed to indicate she wasn’t a resident of the Labyrinth City. She said she lived in the Fell Forest. Given the way she’d turned pale at the sight of the ruins of the old city, it looked like she was seeing place for the very first time.

Was it really true that a bunch of world-weary alchemists had secluded themselves in the Fell Forest over a hundred years ago? Maybe this girl was their descendant; someone who didn’t know how to use the potions those alchemists had left behind, but had inherited them and was now in charge of them. If that was the case, she undoubtedly had more than what she’d sold to the Corps.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Malraux directed Lynx, who was close to Mariela’s age, to keep watch over her.

Even if she looked like a normal girl, she’d lived in the Fell Forest. She might have special abilities. Malraux was sure she must have come out to meet with the Black Iron Freight Corps after learning they had connections in potion sales.

But Malraux had been reading too much into things.

“Sell him to me!”

Mariela had demanded to buy a dying slave with half the money she’d received from selling the potions. It was plain as day that the likes of mere low-grade potions would do nothing to improve his condition. Was she using him for information? It couldn’t have been a simple act of compassion. And even if it had been, wasn’t she being a little too hasty?

Somehow, she’s a lot like Dick. How interesting.

Malraux had grown tired of exchanges rife with trickery. He had little interest in nimbly evading questions or trying to discern the other party’s true motives. It only brought the most unseemly people into stark relief and left him feeling empty. However, Dick wasn’t like that. He was straightforward, simplistic, and to put it plainly, foolish. Dick didn’t have a cunning bone in his entire body. His pure might, honest ambitions, and ability to know his place made Malraux come to believe perhaps that’s how people should be.

Dick wasn’t the type to simply watch from the sidelines, but comrades with the ability to enjoy life were difficult to come by.

Perhaps Mariela and Dick are cut from the same cloth. Just as Dick possesses incredible strength, she most likely has some sort of merit as well…

After arriving at the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion, Malraux had proposed a business deal at what seemed to be a suitable time after Mariela had finished gathering whatever information she’d needed, and the discussion had progressed without a hitch.

There were probably all sorts of people who would have tricked her into telling them where she’d stored the potions before swiping the whole stock, but the Black Iron Freight Corps was not a band of robbers. Things acquired through force would be subsequently taken away by those with greater power; that was how the world worked. Potions had that much value. Acquiring a good business partner seemed like it could be reward enough.

Mariela agreed to the deal under three conditions:

First, she would decide the types of potions sold.

She couldn’t sell stock she didn’t have, so that was reasonable.

Second, she would occasionally need part of the compensation paid up front in the form of goods.

A girl who’d been living in the Fell Forest probably required special items. In exchange for goods that were hard for her to come by, she’d supply potions, thus further solidifying business relations between her and the Black Iron Freight Corps. If anything, this was desirable.

Finally, assistance from the Corps should her secret ever be exposed.

Anyone who couldn’t provide this service shouldn’t be dealing with potions in the first place.

From Malraux’s point of view, Mariela’s stated conditions were a matter of course. He even felt uncomfortable that they hadn’t started with price negotiation up front.

“Then, isn’t a thirty percent commission too low?”

“Eh?”

And yet, Mariela had suggested a price reduction.

She’d said she wanted strict confidentiality and extra support in the unlikely event her secret was leaked. Perhaps she was just a prudent person by nature, or maybe this was a bribe. Either way, both Dick and Malraux were a little tired of their life of back-and-forth trips through the Fell Forest.

This odd girl who brought omens of change with her gave Malraux the vague feeling that things were going to get interesting.

04

It was evening when the Black Iron Freight Corps arrived back in the Labyrinth City.

They’d reached their destination an entire day earlier than usual. The city’s outer walls were bathed in the light of the setting sun, and combined with the purplish-red bromominthra growing around its environs, it gave the impression that the City was on fire. As those making their return to the Labyrinth City were full of a sense of security, it reminded them of the ephemerality of peace in this town at the same time.

As always, when they requested the southwestern gate to be opened, a Labyrinth Suppression Forces soldier who was a former subordinate of the two men was waiting to greet them.

“Lord Dick, Lord Malraux, the general urgently requests your presence at his estate.”

Perhaps it was a matter concerning potions. The general must have ordered the guards to lead Dick and Malraux there as soon as they arrived.

After asking Grandel and Franz of the Black Iron Freight Corps to deliver the goods, Malraux and Dick urged their raptors to the estate of the Gold Lion General, Leonhardt Schutzenwald.

Aside from the young Lynx, as well as Franz and Yuric, whom they’d met in the imperial capital, all the members of the Black Iron Freight Corps were originally part of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. Malraux had called people together under so-called special circumstances to form the group.

The Gold Lion General, Leonhardt Schutzenwald, was deeply trusted by his men. Despite their differing social positions, he treated Malraux and Dick, who were close to his own age, as friends. Even when this pair of commanding officers had no choice but to leave the army, he spared no effort in helping them form the Black Iron Freight Corps. And even after they’d left, they hadn’t broken ties with Leonhardt. Rather, when the Black Iron Freight Corps received a request from the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, they would undertake it even at the expense of other jobs.

Leonhardt was the eldest son of the current Margrave Schutzenwald. Along with his younger brother, Weishardt, he managed the Labyrinth City and strove toward subduing the Labyrinth.

Margrave Schutzenwald’s family had vowed to seize control of the Labyrinth. Regardless of the ups and downs of succession rights, those with brawn battled the monsters, and those with brains focused their efforts on stabilizing affairs within the Labyrinth City. Because they were born and raised under the fear of death from the nearby Labyrinth and Fell Forest, they spent no effort on pointless matters such as fighting over succession, and thus had been able to govern the area over the last two hundred years.

Even among generations of Margrave Schutzenwald’s family, Leonhardt possessed especially superior fighting ability and was an incredibly popular general. He’d dared to subjugate the Labyrinth countless times, and his younger brother often supported him with his exceptional wisdom.

The suppression forces would probably soon reach the fiftieth stratum. Based on the damage done by the Stampede two hundred years ago, scholars had estimated this would be the Labyrinth’s final level.

The Labyrinth became exceedingly difficult after the fortieth stratum. The deeper levels were full of terrifying, formidable monsters, but the Gold Lion General Leonhardt was undoubtedly capable of taking them down. Surely the Labyrinth would be destroyed in his lifetime, ushering in a new era for the Labyrinth City.

The Labyrinth Suppression Forces—no, everyone who lived in the Labyrinth City believed as much.

“This way, please.”

A genteel white-haired old man led the way through the margrave’s Labyrinth City estate. By all rights, Malraux and Dick shouldn’t even be there given the state they were in: still in their traveling clothes and without a bath for several days. However, no one stopped them, and they were shown to Leonhardt’s bedchamber.

“Malraux, Dick, it’s good to see you.”

Both Malraux and Dick stared wide-eyed, flabbergasted at the sight that greeted them. No— It couldn’t be—

The Gold Lion General Leonhardt was stretched out on his bed, half his body petrified.

“How… How did you, of all people…?”

At his older brother’s side, Weishardt explained a basilisk had gotten the best of Leonhardt.

Basilisks were formidable foes. They possessed thick scales, powerful claws, and a terrible petrification curse. This curse was so powerful that it persisted even after the basilisk that inflicted it had died. Healing magic would cure an ordinary petrification, but in a case like this, only two solutions existed: a high-grade potion especially for removing curses, or a spirit-assisted curse-removal rite in the land where the victim was born.

The latter option wasn’t feasible since Leonhardt was born in the Labyrinth City region where humans couldn’t communicate with the spirits endemic to the area. The only way to save him was to use a potion.

The petrification’s slowness was thanks to the healing spells cast by Weishardt and other sorcerers. If they stopped using this magic on him, Leonhardt would very soon turn completely to stone.

“Let’s head to the imperial capital immediately,” proposed Malraux. If they could get there, they could obtain a specialized potion for curse removal.

“There’s no point, Malraux,” replied Leonhardt. “We already confirmed with the capital that they don’t have enough materials. Besides, even with more healing magic, this body of mine only has about a day left.”

Weishardt clenched his teeth.

“Don’t despair, Weis. We’re taking over the Labyrinth. We should’ve assumed something like this would happen and planned accordingly. I’m passing the reins to you. Dick, I know you’ve got Amber to think about, but come back to the Suppression Forces. We don’t have the leisure of letting someone with A-Rank chops go idle. You, too, Malraux. Weis’ll pull some strings for your family.”

Malraux and Dick looked grief-stricken as Leonhardt continued.

“Listen up. The Labyrinth Suppression Forces are on stratum fifty-two right now. Turns out that Labyrinth’s a den of evil beyond fifty strata.”

It couldn’t be.

Malraux and Dick’s eyes bulged from their sockets in shock.

No labyrinth in existence went beyond fifty strata. That was impossible.

The deeper the labyrinth, the stronger the boss monster residing in its utmost depths. The biggest labyrinth said to be manageable by people is fifty strata. Any more than that and the labyrinth boss is beyond anyone’s capabilities. Hence, this was why every labyrinth was checked thoroughly for its boss’s location, and depending on the labyrinth, it might be sealed off to prevent it from becoming overgrown with monsters. Then, before the labyrinth can grow to fifty strata, the boss was defeated, thus destroying the place entirely.

Originally, a fifty-strata labyrinth in itself was considered enormous and rarely seen in history. Scholars estimated it as the largest of its kind based on the scale of the damage inflicted on the Kingdom of Endalsia.

To think the Labyrinth was deeper than fifty was madness.

“The potions you guys gave us were a godsend. Without those, we would’ve been slaughtered. I was just too eager for success and let the basilisk get the best of me. Malraux, Dick—bring the army some potions. House Schutzenwald’s supply is mostly gone, even the other clans’. The Aguinas family only gives us new medicine and other low-quality stuff. It’s likely their storage facilities are running low, too. After all, no one expected the Labyrinth to go beyond fifty strata. I know it’s not nearly enough in terms of compensation, but I’d like to arrange a reward for the owner of your potions.”

“Wait, General.” Dick let Leonhardt finish his speech before speaking up. “There may be a curse-removal potion.”

“Impossible!” retorted Weishardt.

Curse-removal potions required special materials, things like rare moss that grew only in particular environments, or the petals of a flower that bloomed once every one thousand days.

None of these rare materials—particularly the moss—ever appeared on the market even in the Labyrinth City. If they could just gather the materials and hurry them through the Fell Forest, then perhaps it might be possible to save his brother. Weishardt clung to a shred of hope, desperate to find a way. The Labyrinth City storage facility itself had had only around ten specialized curse-removal potions, and those had been used decades ago. But what if there were still some left?

“I don’t want to get your hopes up too much, but I can’t just give up like this. Please, give me at least one more day.” Dick bowed deeply.

Looking slightly concerned, Leonhardt simply replied, “I’ll hear your answer tomorrow, then.”

(Lynx, can you hear me?)

Malraux contacted Lynx via telepathic communication, a skill used to convey information to prior registered parties. Once a connection was established, both parties could communicate back and forth, but the transmission could only be initiated by Malraux. Though a bit inconvenient, this skill proved very useful in the army, something only few people possessed.

(Loud and clear, Lieutenant.)

(We are heading to Mariela’s location immediately. It’s likely we’ll be followed, so create a diversion.)

(Roger. Mariela’s in the center of the northwestern district, in a house with a sacred tree growing in the yard.)

Malraux and Dick mounted their raptors and departed the Margrave Schutzenwald estate, heading southwest toward the Labyrinth City.

The night sky was strikingly different from the previous night: It was cloudy and moonless. The two riders, including their raptor mounts, were black like shadows. The southwestern gate to the Fell Forest was already firmly shut. As they passed by, the pair dropped their speed a little and then headed for the west gate, a small one, perhaps to exit from there.

The person following them was on foot, yet didn’t fall behind the speed of the raptors, staying closely on their tail. After reaching the west gate, the two riders continued to the northwestern, north, and northeastern gates in turn before entering the Black Iron Freight Corps’s usual lodging, the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion.

The lights of the inn illuminated the two raptors, revealing their bare, riderless backs.

While the raptors and the person tailing them had been making the rounds in the Labyrinth City, Malraux and Dick reached Mariela’s shop on foot.

The shop had long since closed for the night, but they knocked on the front door.

“What could someone want at this hour?”

Siegmund, now so muscular they barely recognized him, emerged from inside. He’d previously been part of the Black Iron Freight Corps’s “cargo,” and Mariela had saved him.

“This is urgent business. We would like to speak with Miss Mariela.”

After leading the two of them to the tearoom corner of the shop, Sieg went to get Mariela.

“Welcome back, Captain Dick and Lieutenant Malraux. Glad you’re both all right.” Mariela, as easygoing as always, greeted them with a smile.

“Actually, Miss Mariela, we—”

“A basilisk put a petrification curse on General Leonhardt, and he’s dying. Our need is urgent. Would you provide us with a curse-removal potion?” Dick cut straight to the heart of the matter before Malraux could explain the situation.

Mariela placed her forefinger on her chin and went “Mm…” as she pondered for a moment. “A high-grade specialized curse removal? Sure thing. Just give me a minute or two, okay? Hey, Sieg, I’ll need some help.” She withdrew to the inner part of the shop with Sieg close behind.

I cannot believe she would have even something like a curse-removal potion…

Malraux was flabbergasted. What kind of storage facility did this girl have?

Mariela was probably changing clothes before heading to her storage facility in the Fell Forest to retrieve a curse-removal potion. Even if she had a monster-warding potion, the sun had already set. That slave Siegmund would be an insufficient escort just on his own. If Malraux and Dick also accompanied her, they might learn the location of the storage facility.

Malraux surveyed the shop interior, slightly hopeful. It resembled neither an apothecary nor a teahouse. It seemed the pair had disappeared into some sort of living area.

She sure is slow. For someone who is merely changing clothes, she’s taking entirely too much time. Unbelievable!

Malraux’s mind spun with worry: Did she leave the two of them behind so they wouldn’t find out where her storage facility was? Or could she have run away? Mariela had cheerfully received them just moments prior, but not only had they shown up in the middle of the night fully armed and armored, they’d urged her to hand over a rare potion without sufficient explanation. Perhaps she felt such boorish behavior wasn’t fitting of a business deal and planned to hide out.

I have to stop her! If she doesn’t give us that potion, General Leonhardt will…! He is indispensable to both the Labyrinth Suppression Forces and the Labyrinth City. We cannot lose him……!

In a panic, Lieutenant Malraux stood up with such force he knocked over his chair and rushed toward the back of the shop where Mariela had disappeared.

“H-hey, Malraux!” Captain Dick followed him.

When he opened the door at the back of the shop, which continued to the living area, he found a corridor with a door to the rear garden at the end, and stairs to the second floor to the left of it. He rushed up to the door to the yard and noticed signs of life coming from the second floor.

Am I too late?

Malraux muffled his footsteps as he hurried up the stairs.

He could hear voices coming from a room at the end of the corridor on the second floor.

General Leonhardt’s life depends on her. We cannot afford to let her escape.

Driven by his sense of duty, Malraux forgot himself and threw open the door.

“Anchor Essence, Enclose. Aaand done!”

And taking place in that room was something that shouldn’t have been possible in the Labyrinth City—potion transmutation.

“…………???! Whaaat?!” Malraux’s mouth gaped as wide as the open door at this seemingly unfeasible spectacle.

“Whaaa—? Eeeek?! S-Sieg, hide it, hide it!”

Mariela was pretty flustered herself. She figured Malraux had deduced she was an alchemist Pact-Bearer, but it was still confidential information. She’d gone up to this room to make the potion in secret just as a precaution, so she couldn’t help being flustered at the sudden intrusion.

What’s more, the room was also in considerable disorder, and in her discombobulated state, Mariela couldn’t decide which aspect was more embarrassing for him to see.

“Geez, Malraux! I said to wait, didn’t I? The room’s a mess, so please, don’t just barge in here like you own the place!” Mariela chided, huffy and upset for all the wrong reasons.

Only Sieg—who was diligently tidying up changes of clothes Mariela had scattered across the floor along with abandoned cups and recently used gadgets left in place—shot a meaningful look at the man who’d entered without permission before promptly evicting him from the room.

05

Led by Siegmund, Malraux and Dick returned to the first-floor shop.

Malraux ruminated as he drank his tea. I’d thought we’d been talking circles around each other back then, but…

He’d first picked up that something was off when she’d suggested a discount. After that, she’d repeated the same kinds of self-effacing lines: “Even if the prices go down, I’m just happy I can help out.” “Potions are consumable goods. If I need money, I can just sell a lot of them.”

The Labyrinth City’s only potions had been manufactured and stored over a hundred years ago, and their quantity was limited. That’s why they were so rare and were valued as assets.

So if we take this to mean she can make as many as she likes…?

Malraux had thought Mariela owned a large quantity of potions in a storage facility somewhere in the Fell Forest. Turns out that hadn’t been the case. Indeed, she’d also spoken of procuring housing and money as fixed assets rather than potions.

Because she could make potions.

It wasn’t the potions that were rare and valuable, but rather Mariela herself. He could understand why she would go as far as offer a discount to ensure her personal safety and prevent her secret from getting out.

If she simply possessed potions, at worst she could just relinquish them. The potions themselves, not their owner, had value, so if she escaped, her personal safety would be assured.

However, if an alchemist who could make potions existed in the Labyrinth City…

Her value was immeasurable. If it ever came to light, she would be pursued relentlessly.

“You remember the details of the contract, yes?” Sieg, who’d seemed eager to say something ever since Malraux had trespassed on Mariela’s workshop—no, ever since he’d requested the potion—spoke up.

“Yes, of course I remember.”

The confidentiality was a given, and in the unlikely event information leaked and Mariela was exposed to danger, the Black Iron Freight Corps would take it upon themselves to resolve the problem and, depending on the circumstances, even aid her in escape.

Of course Malraux remembered their agreement.

My goodness. A condition like that isn’t worth a mere 10 percent increase of the handling fee. Shouldn’t we be introducing someone as extraordinary as an alchemist to General Leonhardt?

However, they were bound by a magical contract. They couldn’t tell a soul that this girl was an alchemist. The Black Iron Freight Corps alone wouldn’t be able to get her out of a fix should her secret get exposed. And even if they helped her escape, where could she go?

I suppose that means we’ve been utterly and completely duped…

Malraux drank the rest of his lukewarm tea and looked at Dick.

“Dick, she’s—”

“Mm? Yeah, she was an alchemist after all.”

“What? Had you noticed?”

“Well, that guy… Sieg, was it? If she weren’t an alchemist, she couldn’t have saved him, right?”

It was true. Sieg was a slave who’d been brought to the Labyrinth City to die before his fellow slave cargo, to serve as an example so that they wouldn’t want to perish like he had. That was the agreement made with the slave trader, Reymond. Even the price negotiation in front of the other slaves had been nothing more than a part of the entire stunt.

Sieg’s wounds had been too deep to be cured with cheap potions alone, and his body was so weak that healing magic would have proved ineffectual. Heaven knows how much the cost of treatment would be. Few people would go that far to heal a penal laborer. It would’ve been cheaper to just buy a new slave. If an alchemist hadn’t taken a lot of time to carefully treat him, he wouldn’t have recovered as well as he had.

Even Dick had noticed, yet I completely—

Mariela entered the shop carrying a small bundle.

“This white potion is a high-grade specialized potion for removing curses, and this one is a cure potion. It’s high grade, so if he drinks it after the curse is nullified, then it should cure the petrification, too,” she explained. “These here are high-grade Regen pills. Make sure he takes these if he’s been petrified for a while; the lasting strain on his body will linger even after it’s been cured. I’m giving you a three-day supply. They taste bitter, so tell him to swallow them whole.” Once she finished explaining, she put the valuable potions in a paper bag and handed it over. “Be sure to get your money’s worth! These are pretty valuable, you know.”

As expected, she did not name a price.

I’ll bet she wouldn’t complain even if she got only a few gold coins out of the exchange, thought Malraux. She’s probably willing to sell us her potions just so long as we don’t mark them up by a ridiculous margin. Mariela understands her own worth as well as the value her potions have in this town, yet she still wants to sell them at a normal price.

Malraux glanced at Dick.

They really are the same. I suppose I ought to be pleased with this interesting turn of events.

In which case… Malraux thought it pointless to try to negotiate with Mariela, but he offered her a proposal despite being well aware that she was the kind of person who wasn’t so satisfied with the way things “should” be.

“Miss Mariela, General Leonhardt wishes for potions.”

“Which kinds and how many?”

“A large quantity, I’m quite sure.”

“I wonder if I have enough materials…”

“If we arranged for the materials, could you make us as many as we wanted?”

“As many as my magical reserves will let me, sure. Ah, but I might not have enough potion vials.”

“But the prices may be low. It’s possible that you’ll sell them at the same cost as potion in the imperial capital.”

“Oh, that doesn’t bother me.”

“Miss Mariela,” Malraux said calmly. He paused for a moment, then looked at her. “Would you work under General Leonhardt with us?”

Leonhardt, the most influential person in the Labyrinth City, would be the next margrave. There was no place safer than under his protection. However, Mariela considered for a little while and then replied.

“I want to live a nice, quiet life here in the city. I’d like it if we came up with a way for me to stay here while still supplying potions.”

Not even a month had passed since she’d come to the Labyrinth City, but she’d made a lot of acquaintances. She had customers who came every day to enjoy tea and bask in the sunlight. She wanted to try gathering materials in the Labyrinth and the Fell Forest, too. The thousand-night flowers Ghark had showed her were beautiful. Finding unusual foods in the market to cook and eat with Sieg was fun as well.

If she were under General Leonhardt’s protection, maybe she wouldn’t need to hide the fact she was an alchemist anymore. She’d probably spend her days holed up all safe and secure in a cage making potions.

Mariela recalled her little cottage in the Fell Forest. She’d only lived alone there for a few years, but she’d made potions in a room all by herself in total silence. That in itself wasn’t terrible; she’d always been the type to get completely absorbed in something.

But once in a blue moon, in that room that grew completely dark by the time she’d finished working, a certain thought would suddenly occur to Mariela: Geez, I’m so alone! Even when the room was a complete mess, nobody tidied it up for her, and nobody got mad at her for it, either. She’d spend her meals among the mess, shoveling food into her mouth before crawling into her disheveled bed. For some reason, she always felt so cold at bedtime and would sleep curled up in a ball.

Mariela imagined a life under General Leonhardt would be pretty similar.

She liked her life the way it was now.

In recent days, Sieg had become a tad strict. He would pick up stuff Mariela had tossed onto the floor and ask, “Is this burnable trash? Or trash for the slime tank? Which is it?” then insist she choose one or the other. But even this contributed to make every day pleasantly joyful and comfy.

After considering Mariela’s reply for a short while, Malraux answered, “Understood. Let’s come up with a proper strategy, then.”

Ahh, I thought as much.

Malraux chuckled to himself—half exasperated, half sincere.

The future was almost certain to bring annoyances, tribulations, difficulties, and some interesting things, too.