CHAPTER 1

Peaceful Days

01

“Ugh, so cold…”

Mariela awoke as she always did: with every single blanket she’d piled on herself fallen onto the floor, save for one. Of course she was cold.

After getting dressed, she headed for the medicinal herb garden in the backyard. Sieg was already up and had just finished his morning training. The two of them picked herbs and watered the plants. It was said the stronger the magical elements, the easier it was for typical medicinal herbs to propagate. They could even grow outside of human domains, such as in the Fell Forest and the Labyrinth.

“Is it all right to pick this many?” Sieg asked. Mariela was freely harvesting herbs to the point where they were getting sparse.

“Yeah, it’s fine. These varieties will grow back in a few days no matter the season. I’m grateful not to be short on materials, but if herbs grow this fast, the Labyrinth City really does feel like a region of monsters even with all the people living here.”

She gave water infused with Drops of Life to the sacred tree. Of course, she’d prepared it inside and put it in a watering can so as not to catch anyone’s attention. The tree seemed to love magical water; it dropped a ton of leaves for Mariela the first time she tried giving it some. At first, she’d panicked—“You’ll wilt! You’re gonna go bald!”—but the trunk and leaves had somehow turned glossy, so ever since then she’d been preparing Drops of Life–infused water for the sacred tree and receiving leaves as thanks.

Once they’d finished tending the garden, Sieg and Mariela had breakfast. Afterward, the two of them divided up the cleaning, laundry, and shelf displays, then opened up the shop.

They sent items needed for urgent injuries and illnesses to healers and set aside emergency supplies such as salves and smoke bombs for the Adventurers Guild shop. Citizens seeking medicine, adventurers on their days off, and regulars wanting to bask in the sun visited Mariela’s shop. Although the foot traffic in and out of the shop never really slowed down, time still passed at a leisurely, comfortable pace. Mariela spent the day affixing labels to salve tins and placing wrapped pills in bags while enjoying tea and chatting with her customers.

Incidentally, she’d received a tea set from Malraux as a gift celebrating the shop’s opening. It included a card that read “My utmost apologies for intruding on your room.” The set had an excessive number of cups for two people, leading Mariela to believe it was actually intended for her business.

I keep telling people it’s not a café!

Mariela wanted to grill Malraux about the gift more than his barging into her workshop.

She drank tea with Merle of Merle’s Spices and Amber from the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion until just before noon. The spice shop had a dedicated delivery person—why had Merle herself shown up?

“Mariela, ever since you started serving my tea here, my sales have increased, too! Oh, this one’s a new product. I decided to try using tea leaves that enhance beauty.”

“Beauty?! Ela, I’d like to try it, too!” Amber exclaimed. With that, they formed a new ladies’ group.

Merle seemed to be influential among the housewives in this neighborhood, and Mariela started gaining more customers through word of mouth. And since Mariela’s apothecary was so popular, it didn’t seem out of place when she received deliveries of medicinal herbs and alchemic materials from all over the place.

At lunchtime, Lynx came to visit.

Or rather, almost every day the shop was open, he would bring food he’d bought at the market and eat lunch at Mariela’s shop, Sunlight’s Canopy.

Not long after Mariela provided the high-grade petrification removal potion, the Black Iron Freight Corps had constructed a base in the Labyrinth City and stationed three of its members there. The base was located near the outer wall’s west gate, an area not so popular with everyday citizens since it faced the Fell Forest—but the rent was cheap, and many novice adventurers lived nearby. Everyone in the Black Iron Freight Corps knew how to fight, so the location wasn’t a problem for them, but since it wasn’t a very safe area, Mariela had been told not to visit.

With the monster-warding potions Mariela supplied, the Corps could now lighten their carriages’ armor, and they didn’t need raptor-mounted guards. Of course, they lightened the armor in a discreet enough way so that no one could tell they were using potions, and their formation remained the same: two riders, three armored carriages. Since they were able to reduce their fighting power, the Corps also purchased three slaves who could drive carriages to replace the three members who remained in the Labyrinth City.

Those three Corps members alternated on a regular basis, and currently it was Lieutenant Malraux, Lynx, and the dual wielder Edgan. Dividing up the team meant the group staying behind could gather the cargo to be shipped next in their base’s warehouse while the transport group was away, thus shortening the trip back and forth and increasing profits. At least, they were working under that pretense.

Mariela had signed a confidentiality agreement regarding potions with all members of the Black Iron Freight Corps, aside from the new slaves. Although the fact she was an alchemist hadn’t been explicitly stated, Lynx appeared to have figured it out.

“This isn’t a café! And no outside food, either. Excuse me, sir, you’re disrupting business.”

The “no outside food” rule sure made the place sound like a café, though.

“Don’t be so stuffy, Mariela. Look, I bought some cockatrice egg galettes. Let’s eat ’em together.” Lynx handed a bundle containing souvenirs to Mariela, who was pouting.

“Guess I can’t say no. Siiieg, we got galettes! Let’s have an early lunch. Oh, Lynx, this is a new soap we just got. Take it with you.”

“Want me to cook some sausages, too? Are you okay with fruit juice?”

“Ooh, yeah, sausages. Thanks, Sieg.”

They obviously couldn’t eat in the shop, where there were other customers, so the three of them sat and ate at a table in the adjoining kitchen. The fact that this area used to be a restaurant wasn’t such a bad thing after all; this setup allowed Mariela to quickly tend to any customers who came by. Mariela threw the galette packaging into the slime tank. Slimes digested things like food scraps and paper with grease stuck to it without leaving any trace. They were very convenient.

“Oh right. Here’s your souvenirs. There’s been a lotta commotion since I got back, so I forgot to give ’em to ya,” said Lynx as he fished something out of his pocket. “Gotcha an eye patch, Sieg. Kinda nifty, don’cha think? This’s for you, Mariela. It’s got a trick to it. Ya just do like so, and see, the locket opens.”

Apparently, Lynx had brought them souvenirs from the imperial capital as a token of his gratitude for the cookies she’d made. He handed an eye patch to Sieg and a locket with an unusual contraption to Mariela.

“Huh? How’d you do that? I can’t get it to open at all…”

The locket had been precisely crafted into the shape of a teardrop, designed to be opened by moving several parts like a three-dimensional puzzle. Opening it revealed the spherical hollow inside.

“I toldya, like this, and then do this. See? Open.”

As Mariela went “Errm” and cocked her head in confusion, Lynx produced a pebble about the size of a fingertip.

“Here’s a li’l bonus for ya. Real pretty, right?”

“A ley-line shard?! You can use these in special-grade potions!”

Lynx offered her the ley-line shard he’d obtained from the black death wolves the Black Iron Freight Corps had encountered on their way back to the Labyrinth City. It had been inside the largest wolf, which Lynx killed.

“Whoaaa, incredible!” Mariela exclaimed starry-eyed. A flicker of mischief crossed Lynx’s mind.

“Ya put this ley-line shard into the locket, and ta-daa, it’s sealed. Do your best to get it open.”

“Hey, I didn’t even get a good look at it yet! Urgh! It won’t open! Lyyynx!!”

“Ha-ha. Well, good luck! Sieg, don’t you dare help her!”

After hanging the drop-shaped trick locket around Mariela’s neck, Lynx helped himself to the soap and chuckled happily as he went home.

From that point until closing time, Mariela ignored her customers as she struggled with the locket’s trick. She’d wanted to take her sweet time inspecting the ley-line shard, but the locket just wouldn’t open. At any rate, she couldn’t make special-grade potions yet. The locket itself was pretty cute, so she decided to completely give up on prying it open and forget about its contents.

The shop closed after afternoon tea. Mariela and Sieg went to the Adventurers Guild to deliver goods and buy any necessary materials. They also stopped by the wholesale market to scope out any interesting bargains.

The Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ expedition had ended about a week ago, but there were rare consumables and potion ingredients still to be found, so she couldn’t let an opportunity pass her by.

The two of them returned home after buying ingredients for dinner, which Mariela cooked. All the recipes in the Library were extraordinary, certainly on par with what the owner of the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion could make. When dinner was over, Mariela shut herself in her atelier to make medicine and potions while Sieg trained.

It would soon be time.

Mariela and Sieg headed to the cellar.

The cellar had three rooms linked sequentially. When they waited in the room at the very center, they could hear a faint noise coming from deep underground.

Bang, bang, bang.

It sounded like something striking a stone far away.

Clang, clang, clang-clang.

They hit the metal door with a fixed rhythm in return.

After a little while, a knock came from the door to the third room that ought to have been a dead end. They confirmed it was the beat they’d decided on ahead of time, and then Sieg unlocked the door to the third room.

“Hey Mariela, Sieg, good evening.”

“Are these today’s goods?”

Lynx and Lieutenant Malraux stood in the third room, which nobody should have been in.

“Man, they really widened this thing all right,” said Lynx, sounding both impressed and surprised. The cellar wall originally filled in by the carpenter Gordon had been demolished again, and a path had been opened to the underground Aqueduct.

They’d devised this method of trade so no one would realize Mariela was the source of the potions.

Medicinal herbs were necessary for her to do her job. The kinds she could harvest in her garden were limited, and to make large quantities of potions, she had to buy the materials in bulk, including rare ones. She bought the items that wouldn’t be strange for a chemist to want a little at a time from different merchants and had them delivered during the apothecary’s business hours. Since the people delivering the goods usually enjoyed some tea before leaving, it was difficult for observers to figure out why they’d come.

The Black Iron Freight Corps bought up rare medicinal herbs and materials and gathered them in their base’s storehouse—nothing out of the ordinary for a transportation group. At night, they carried the materials into Sunlight’s Canopy’s cellar through the underground Aqueduct, and left with potions in exchange.

Any needed potions and materials were either discussed during a meeting in the cellar or written in a memo hidden in a paper bag containing Lynx’s lunch. These memos were tossed into the slime tank and decomposed by the slime, leaving behind absolutely zero evidence. The “soap” Mariela gave to Lynx was the signal that the potions were ready to be traded. Though it resembled a package of soap, inside was a mid-grade monster-warding potion.

A large number of slimes had been appearing in the underground Aqueduct. Slimes were weak monsters, but since they had no sense of smell, low-grade monster-warding potions and incense had no effect on them. If there were only a few slimes, you could get through by trampling them underfoot, but since the slimes had been strangely multiplying, you would now have to wade through their acidic liquid. Without a mid-grade monster-warding potion to keep away high-ranking orcs and lizardmen, not to mention slimes, making it through the underground Aqueduct was almost impossible.

The ingredients for a mid-grade monster-warding potion were bromominthra, daigis, and the leaves of a sacred tree, all of which Mariela could obtain from her herb garden.

There was always somebody or other in Mariela’s shop while it was open, and after it closed, she only walked through the town with Sieg. Late at night when the gates to the Labyrinth City were shut, neither of them left the house. People who thought the potions were brought from a storage facility somewhere probably turned their attention on the Black Iron Freight Corps, and even in the unlikely event they focused on the goods being brought to and from Mariela’s house, there was nothing unusual about those items to tip them off. So, the odds of them suspecting Mariela and Sieg were low, and they would probably quickly lose interest in the two.

“These are the bones from a bone knight, as you requested. You can use these to make high-grade specialized potions for healing fractures, yes?”

Malraux set down a box packed with humanoid bones. They made a dry rattling sound as they bumped together.

“I can, but I don’t recommend potions like that. If you use one incorrectly, the bone might heal in the wrong position.” Mariela hid behind Sieg as she answered and looked at the bones.

Those things are freaky! What if they come back together and attack me?!

Lynx figured out what she was thinking and took a bone in one hand and imitated the monster from behind Malraux.

“That will not be a problem. The Labyrinth Suppression Forces are staffed with medical technicians.”

Medical technicians—yet another new term. Sensing that providing Mariela with a full explanation would just add to her confusion, Malraux gave her a simple one.

“Since magic and potions are both finite resources, a medical team is responsible for managing the effective use of healing magic and potions. They have a thorough knowledge of the human body and perform treatments that use the minimum possible amount of these finite resources.”

“I see,” Mariela replied, ignoring Lynx, who was trying to scare her with his bone knight imitation. Malraux had a thorough knowledge of her, too, which is why he gave her the minimum possible explanation.

She handed over what they’d ordered—a hundred high-grade specialized potions for healing damaged muscles—then received the fee, empty potion vials, and materials she’d asked for.

“See ya tomorrow, Mariela, Sieg.”

Lynx and Malraux picked up the box of potions and disappeared into the underground Aqueduct.

02

Finding the route through the underground Aqueduct had been somewhat of an accident.

It had been around ten days ago. Mariela went with Sieg to the Merchants Guild to let them know about the opening of her shop. Elmera, the chair of the Medicinal Herbs Division, was absent, so they were greeted by the vice chairman, Leandro.

“Goodness, that’s quite a lovely shop by the sound of it. Ms. Elmera has been anxious to visit. Maybe I’ll swing by some day, too. Ah, here’s a letter of introduction for the Adventurers Guild shop. Ms. Elmera entrusted me with it.”

When Mariela came with presents and an assortment of samples from her shop, she was given a letter of introduction for the Adventurers Guild shop on the spot.

I’m grateful and all, but isn’t this coming together a little too fast? Is it really okay?

Mariela felt a little lost, so Leandro added, “You and Ms. Elmera can discuss medicinal herbs over tea when she comes to visit,” to alleviate some of the awkwardness.

How did this whole café thing reach all the way to Leandro…? I mean, it’s not a bad thing, but…

Sieg and Mariela departed the Merchants Guild and approached the wholesale market to find it extremely crowded. They discovered upon getting closer there was a Kraken Dissection Show going on. Countless giant mollusks as big as carriages were being unloaded, and men with huge knives prepped every last one of them, slicing them up and thrusting skewers through their bodies before finally cooking them. The cost—just one copper coin per skewer!

It was frighteningly cheap. At a price like that, Mariela just had to buy some. That settled tonight’s dinner.

The marketplace bustled with throngs upon throngs of people: those who came to buy uncooked skewers, those who came to buy them cooked, and those who simply came to watch the show.

“Incredible! Where’d they find so many krakens?”

“I heard there were tons of ’em on the thirtieth stratum.”

“I thought krakens lived around the fortieth?”

“Listen, we’re in the middle of taking over the Labyrinth, and apparently adventurers are all gathered on the thirtieth stratum.”

“So you’re sayin’ someone defeated these things? If this much meat, that’s gotta mean there were a crazy number of ’em, yeah?”

“I hear the Lightning Empress showed up.”

“Really? Aw, wish I coulda seen her!”

“Ha-ha-ha! I saw Lightning Empress Elsee! Only from a distance, though.”

“Damn, I’m jealous. She as gorgeous as people say?”

“I said it was from a distance. Only thing I could see was the flash of light.”

“What? Get outta here.”

Mariela and Sieg listened to the conversations of people around them as they stood in line for the kraken skewers.

Lightning Empress Elsee appeared to be a young A-Rank adventurer within the Labyrinth City bestowed with powerful lightning magic under the protection of the god of thunder.

She wore a suit made of special material over her shapely body, and her long, pale, electrified hair seemed to billow out behind her. Along with the perfectly fitted suit and hair emitting a bright light, the tinted glasses she wore to protect her eyes meant no one could tell who she was. However, the red lipstick coloring her mouth that curved cheerfully upward was bewitching. The powerful electric shocks she sent out from her graceful limbs most certainly earned her the title of Lightning Empress. The fact she was rarely seen in public and nobody knew her identity only increased her appeal. “I want her to zap me with one of her electric shocks!” seemed to be a common sentiment among her fans.

A-Rank adventurers were greatly admired in the Labyrinth City; S-Rank adventurers were treated as legendary heroes.

“She sounds incredible, Sieg. I’d like to meet her, too!”

“This city’s pretty small, so you just might.”

All sorts of interesting things were taking place—just what you’d expect during an expedition period.

After buying their skewers, the two headed behind the dissection show. There was something Mariela wanted.

“Excuse meee, I’d like to purchase some kraken innards!”

“And just what’re you gonna do with somethin’ like that, young lady?” asked the shopkeeper with a quizzical look. “If it’s fillets you’re lookin’ for, you can get some for cheap over there.”

Mariela babbled an incoherent explanation. “Oh, uh, they have all sorts of different uses and stuff…”

“…………Are they tasty?” the shopkeeper asked with a bewildered expression, to which Mariela dodged the question by giggling, “Heh-heh-heh,” and he packaged up the intestines she needed. Mariela and Sieg took the bag full of the kraken innards and hurried home. Behind them, the shopkeeper picked up a piece of intestine, put it in his mouth, and violently spit it out.

“Mariela, those intestines aren’t for eating, right?” Sieg fearfully asked after they’d gotten home. Mariela had just pulverized the organs, turning them into a muddy, viscous liquid.

“This here’s the good stuff. Kraken entrails are hard to come by, let alone ones this fresh. Heh-heh-heh!”

Mariela divided the gooey liquid entrails into small bottles, putting on a show for Sieg. She purposefully placed the bottles down low and poured the liquid into them from high above, making the room smell a little briny. She meant to imitate a waiter in a fancy café, but clearly this wasn’t the time or place for it.

After dividing the liquid entrails into ten or so small bottles, Mariela and Sieg headed to the innermost room of the cellar.

The two of them looked quite ridiculous in their getups.

They each wore two large creeper rubber sacks: one as pants, another over their heads with only a hole for their faces. A cord was tied around their waists, and they’d smeared lard over their exposed faces until they gleamed, then put goggles over their eyes and masks over their mouths. The goggles and masks were cheap items sold by the Adventurers Guild for novice adventurers, and their design emphasized functionality while completely disregarding appearance, so they only enhanced the pair’s oddness.

“Well?” Sieg, clad in the same bizarre attire, pressing Mariela for a reasonable explanation. He held a pickax she’d given him.

“We’re going to catch slimes in the underground Aqueduct. Now, destroy the wall, if you please.”

Operation Slime-in-a-Vial—biosynthesis—had begun.

03

A Slime-in-a-Vial was a synthetic organism occasionally found in alchemy shops and the like.

The viscous liquid from a kraken was even higher quality than snapping clams and ghost clams, which were components of Regen medicine. It could be used in their place or in special-grade potions. The fluids had already been drained from the krakens in the wholesale market, and krakens themselves were quite rare, so the material was difficult to get ahold of.

Some alchemic materials were only formed inside monsters’ bodies. Things like ghost clams and snapping clams were relatively easy to obtain, but it was difficult to get a steady supply of scarce materials that only came from rare and powerful monsters like krakens.

Slime synthesis was devised to solve this kind of problem.

Despite the complex-sounding name, transmuting these organisms didn’t involve any advanced forms of sorcery. The method used a slime’s own recovery abilities, and it was believed an alchemist invented it when she happened to witness a slime nucleus that had fallen into a puddle of blood absorb the blood around it to regenerate itself.

Making it was simple. After removing the nucleus from a slime and inscribing it with a Magic Circle of Subordination, you simply transferred it to viscous liquid made from the tissues of the monster in question.

Because the regenerated slime would have all the characteristics of the material and become stronger than the original, the Magic Circle of Subordination was indispensable to safely keep the creature. If you dripped your blood into the carved magic circle, the slime wouldn’t attack you, recognizing you as its master. Also, the creature would weaken and die if not given magical power from its master for a few days, so there was little fear of it becoming a problem even in the unlikely event it escaped.

Taking care of the slime was simple, too. You kept it in a glass vial with a valve at the bottom to retrieve its secretions. The container was equipped with a three-legged platform inside so the secretions accumulated at the bottom. The slime sat on top of the platform, and the secretions were collected at the bottom of the vial from the gap between the platform and the container. Though a slime was gloopy, its internal nucleus was solid, which meant the creature couldn’t pass through anything its nucleus couldn’t. Since the outer shell was gummy, it was extremely vulnerable to magic absorption. So if you covered the area around the vial’s lid and valve with a mesh cage woven from the ivy of the magic-absorbing daigis plant, the slime would quietly stay around the center of the vial.

Slimes themselves were widely used throughout town to decompose and purify things like wastewater and garbage, but there were also many uses for the acidic liquid they secreted. Giving them special feed to stabilize this liquid allowed it to have a wide range of applications. For example, it could be a means of attacking monsters, a component in the manufacturing process of a variety of goods, or a way of removing stains from clothes and tableware when diluted with water. Some merchants even specialized in breeding slimes, and containers for slime breeding were sold over the counter.

Of course, not just anyone could buy them, but when Mariela showed her chemist approval letter issued by the Merchants Guild, they were readily sold to her.

Although the population of slimes synthesized with the tissue of other monsters was small, in a big town they were handled similarly to regular slimes that produced acidic liquid. The Magic Circle of Subordination inscribed on the nucleus was simple, and since its difficulty was the same as magic circles inscribed on high-grade potion vials, it was not hard as a skill.

However, its success rate was extremely low.

Approximately 70 percent of slimes died when their nuclei were removed. When the Magic Circle of Subordination was carved into a removed nucleus that was still alive, there was an 80 percent chance that the slime would die. When the blood of the human who wanted to be the slime’s master was dripped onto the carved nucleus, another half of the slimes had a negative reaction and died. Even if you skillfully transferred a slime nucleus with a magic circle into the viscous liquid of the creature you wanted it to fuse with, the odds of it being able to regenerate as a slime were less than 10 percent.

Collecting several hundred slimes was the most difficult part of making a Slime-in-a-Vial, but an ideal place for this existed underneath Mariela and Sieg’s house.

The underground Aqueduct.

After breaking the previously repaired underground wall, Sieg and Mariela descended.

The border between the cellar and the sacred tree’s roots was a gap large enough for one person to pass through, and it continued as a steep slope. They used the tree’s roots and the soil between them as footholds as they went down. The masonry thought to be the ceiling of the underground Aqueduct had crumbled and a hole big enough for people to go through gaped open. The roots of the sacred tree extended into the water supply and the pair continued to use them as footholds on their way down. Illuminating the place with light magic revealed that this appeared to be a small stream—something too narrow to be called a giant waterway. They also saw a path built for people to travel along the canal, maybe for maintenance purposes. The footpath had crumbled in several places, and cracks had formed in the walls. They could tell the underground Aqueduct was an old structure.

Mariela and Sieg saw no trace of the sacred tree or slimes in the part of the underground Aqueduct directly below the house. Sediment that appeared to have fallen when it had caved in also seemed to have been cleaned up by the carpenter Gordon, as it had been collected against one of the walls, and the water current hadn’t been clogged up from its debris.

The pair advanced downstream, and after traversing the approximate length of several houses, they saw an overabundance of slimes up ahead mushed together on one end of the stream as if a line had been drawn that they couldn’t go past. Maybe the sacred tree’s divine protection went no farther than that. The slimes had probably been attracted to the spot in reaction to the presence of Mariela and Sieg. They rapidly gathered not just on the floor, but also on the walls and ceiling, too, and even the canal. It was revolting.

Even though they were weak monsters that died if you stepped on their nuclei, there were too many of them. If you went into a place like this, slimes would cover your entire body in an instant and you’d suffocate or be crushed to death. Even if you wore protective clothing, they’d get into the gaps and dissolve your body until not even your bones remained.

Sieg took position at the very edge of the boundary so as not to leave the protection of the sacred tree, and then he seized a slime using bags made from creeper rubber as gloves. He then plunged his hand into the slime’s soft body, pulled out the nucleus, and handed it to Mariela behind him.

Some of the slimes sprayed their acid at him, but his protective rubber clothing kept him safe, and as long as it was washed at regular intervals with water magic while he worked, there would be no problem. Any slime that leaped at a limb extending beyond the sacred tree’s protection had its nucleus pulled out in midair, and Sieg then dropped its soft body onto the ground where it became food for its cohorts.

Sieg worked in silence as he tore nuclei from slimes.

What impressive dexterity! Sieg’s practically a professional slime nucleus remover! He’s like one of those guys in the kraken dissection show.

Mariela was deeply impressed as she checked the nuclei. Of course, there was no such thing as a slime-nucleus-removing pro.

“Dead… This one’s no good, either… Oh, this one’s alive…or it was, until I broke it with the magic circle.”

She flung dead nuclei in the direction of the slimes. Since there were so many of the creatures, even Mariela, who had no hand-eye coordination, could hit them, and it was kind of fun to see them spurt out acid in response.

By a stroke of luck, the Slime-in-a-Vial was successfully created on slime number 273. But rather than decreasing, the number of slimes gathered outside the protection of the sacred tree had only grown.

“Mariela, they may be slimes, but isn’t this many a problem?”

“Ugh, definitely.”

The underground Aqueduct must not have had much in the way of food as this accumulated a large number of slimes. Although they were small fry, it probably wasn’t a good idea to let them be.

“Feels like a bit of a waste, but…” Mariela took several potion vials out of her bag and dumped the contents of one into the canal.

The entire body of water quivered, and the slimes lurking within died instantly before floating downstream.

“Whoa, mid-grade monster-warding potions are that effective on slimes?!”

When Sieg used wind magic to spray a mid-grade monster-warding potion, the slimes on the wall, floor, and ceiling squirted out liquid and shriveled up as if wilting, then dropped to the floor and died.

Mid-grade monster-warding potions keep orcs and lizardmen and the like away, so Sieg had sprayed one thinking it would scatter the slimes. But the creatures, with their mucous membranes, had seemingly absorbed it into their bodies, and this potion demonstrated its excellent effects on them. Even the survivors scattered and fled in an instant, leaving the Aqueduct clear once again.

Since so many slimes had been in one place, it would probably be best to wash the walls and floor, and they couldn’t let the slime corpses clog the canal. After putting the successful Slime-in-a-Vial in a breeding container to keep in the cellar for the time being, Mariela and Sieg sprinkled a mid-grade monster-warding potion on themselves and went to inspect and clean the underground Aqueduct.

The waterway under the house was seemingly just a tributary after all. It traveled downstream for a while before branching off and connecting to a roaring canal worthy of the name “the underground Aqueduct.” The sheer size of it was akin to that of a channel. There was no path for people to take; perhaps it had been washed away long ago.

More than half of the sewage and rainwater in the Labyrinth City must have flowed into this gigantic canal.

As for where the water was headed, it was beyond what the pair could see.

“Mariela, we can’t go any farther.” She had been leaning forward to try and get a better look, but Sieg held her back. He seemed to be saying this wasn’t a good place to give in to curiosity.

“Guess you’re right.”

The two of them left the giant canal with its thunderous water and returned to the tributary junction. Most of the water running through it had been designed to flow into the canal. But the tributary itself continued downstream as if it was a channel that had been set up to prevent any flooding from heavy rain. Just to be on the safe side, they followed it downstream to check it out. Trench drains flowing from houses and forks running into the giant canal repeated at regular intervals in the tributary. Sometimes the channels from the tributary to the giant canal intersected, conveying a sense of the vastness of the underground Aqueduct.

Mariela and Sieg examined the tributary they were following, but no matter where they looked, nothing in terms of structure or deterioration seemed to have changed much, and no monsters approached them due to the mid-grade monster-warding potion they’d applied. Although a lot of slimes had appeared just a short while ago, there seemed to be no particular problems. Just as she thought about turning around, she saw a faint light ahead in the channel.

It was the exit.

“This used to be the edge of the Citadel City. Oh, and over there—isn’t that the west gate to Labyrinth City?”

The channel stretched from the west gate of the Labyrinth City to a little way into the Fell Forest. The Fell Forest now engulfed the far reaches of where the Citadel City had once spread. The grating at the channel’s exit was half rotted, and although it had a hole big enough for people to slip through, the daigis and bromominthra growing thickly there apparently prevented monsters from intruding.

The underground Aqueduct seemed to have drainage channels other than the tributary Mariela and Sieg had followed. Almost all the drainage flowed through the giant canal, but there were probably other channels that connected outside of the Labyrinth City.

The city faced the Fell Forest and had a Labyrinth at its center. A great waterway crawling with slimes flowed underfoot and even went into the Fell Forest.

The Labyrinth City’s full of people, but maybe life in the Fell Forest isn’t so different, Mariela thought.

04

After receiving the high-grade potions from Mariela, Malraux and Lynx followed the underground Aqueduct downstream. Thanks to the outstanding effects of the mid-grade monster-warding potion, they didn’t even come across a single slime. The pathway was old and crumbling in several places, not to mention wet and slippery, but it didn’t particularly bother them. They were only careful enough to make sure the potions they carried didn’t break, and they hurried to the exit without stopping.

(Edgan, how are our surroundings?)

(No problems here, Lieutenant.)

Malraux and Lynx quickly slipped through the open west gate after checking in with Edgan. Nobody used this gate, which was adjacent to the Fell Forest. It was usually closed, and guards patrolled it at fixed intervals. As long as one avoided those patrols, it wasn’t terribly difficult to go in and out. The Black Iron Freight Corps’s base lay just beyond the gate.

Upon reaching the base, Malraux and Lynx transferred the potions, which had been sloppily packed along with a sorry excuse of cushioning material in the wooden box, into expensive and portable potion cases, then packed each case into the box. After loading the box onto a raptor newly purchased for transport within the Labyrinth City, they headed to the base of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces.

What a clever little trick we discovered.

Malraux thought back to the underground Aqueduct.

He had known about the Aqueduct itself, including how it was overrun with slimes. No one would think they would consume rare mid-grade potions to pass through, and even in the unlikely event they were followed, their pursuers couldn’t go anywhere without one of those potions themselves. Although it was just a short distance from the underground Aqueduct to the Labyrinth City’s west gate, it required going through the Fell Forest. Nowhere could they be easily followed without a monster-warding potion.

It probably didn’t take long for others to figure out that the Black Iron Freight Corps possessed potions, but no one knew where they came from. Anyone who kept an eye on the iron carriages couldn’t follow them through the Fell Forest. Even on the off chance the carriages were attacked, Dick rode in one of them. And he was not a man who could be defeated without a fight.

Their base’s defenses were sparse, but even if it was raided, there were only ordinary goods to be found inside. The Black Iron Freight Corps delivered the potions to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces immediately upon receipt, and there were no documents to prove they carried potions in the first place. Any extraneous documentation was disposed of in slime tanks, so even if the base were searched end to end, it would appear no different from an ordinary distribution facility.

In any case, the potions were headed for the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. No fool would rob the Black Iron Freight Corps out in the open. Even if someone did manage to sneak in, the Corps was accustomed to skirmishes. After catching the perpetrator, they’d hand him over to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, who would skillfully deal with the problem. As long as Mariela didn’t get captured, there were all sorts of ways to handle any issues that arose.

Malraux and Lynx arrived at the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ base on the southeast side of the Labyrinth under the pretense of delivering goods brought from the imperial capital. People seemed to be buying their story that they were delivering small quantities of luxury items from their base to the Force’s top brass. Malraux and Lynx had already delivered potions several times by now, and they were led in a familiar fashion to the underground storehouse.

“Been expecting you. Today’s delivery is the high-grade specialized kind for muscular tissue, I believe.”

A man around forty years old with black stubble and a sharp glint in his eye was waiting.

He had helped Malraux and Dick in the past, and to this very day, they still owed him a great debt.

“Medical Technician Jack Nierenberg. This is today’s delivery. Please confirm the contents.”

Malraux handed Nierenberg the box, and the man’s subordinates inspected it nearby.

“With tomorrow’s specialized potions for bone fractures, we’ll be able to heal a great number of soldiers. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect for a shipment this large,” mumbled Nierenberg. He seemed to imply they’d be able to heal those wounded in the expedition a few days prior.

When Leonhardt was hit with a petrification curse by a basilisk, the Labyrinth Suppression Forces teetered on the edge of annihilation. The front lines had been on the fifty-third stratum, a hellish place rife with S-Rank monsters. The Forces stormed the area with over a hundred units, but more than half the soldiers were B Rank and no match for these enemies. It was largely the effect of the Gold Lion General Leonhardt’s inherent skill, Lion’s Roar, that enabled the Labyrinth Suppression Forces to advance that far.

Lion’s Roar boosts all the abilities of Leonhardt’s forces by 50 percent, raising their powers to the equivalent of an A-Rank force and thus making it possible to advance in the stratum where S-Rank monsters lurked.

And then Leonhardt fell.

His body suddenly began to turn to stone before their eyes, and the army’s abilities that his skill had raised decreased. Healing magic couldn’t handle petrification of such speed. What saved Leonhardt were the high-grade cure potions that had been brought in just before the expedition. Applying one to petrified areas healed them, and drinking it slowed its progression. Petrification from a basilisk was in the form of a curse, so no matter how many times a potion removed the condition on the surface, it would start to advance again. Although they’d managed to defeat the basilisk that had inflicted the curse and thus weakened its progression, the curse was not removed.

They used healing magic to slow the progression of the petrification, and they used high-grade cure potions when it had progressed too far. Meanwhile, the army gradually retreated.

How many soldiers had fallen?

It was most likely thanks to Leonhardt’s younger brother Weishardt’s precise instructions and the soldiers’ diligent daily training that the Forces were able to survive until the Adventurers Guild’s guildmaster Haage’s party came rushing in. Nierenberg’s medical team continued their desperate treatment amid the melee. They couldn’t let the soldiers die. Those who’d achieved B Rank and were skilled at coordinated fighting were valuable. Their legs may have been torn off, their arms may have been shredded, but if the limbs were picked up, they could be put back together later.

A healer’s magic was required to remove Leonhardt’s petrification. Only a little could be spared to heal the soldiers. The bare minimum healing needed for them to survive was achieved with potions. The new medicine provided by the Aguinas family was used liberally. The supposedly mid-grade red potions were weak, while the black ones, claimed to be high grade, varied wildly in their effectiveness.

The new medicine supplied by the Aguinas family wasn’t nearly enough on its own. With the sixty potions Malraux and Lynx brought, the forces were just barely able to survive.

Those potions worked so well, it was astonishing. The high- and mid-grade ones had been exhausted, and they had relied on low-grade ones that had even saved soldiers’ lives.

The low-grade monster-warding potions clearly weakened the monsters’ pursuit. They really were incredibly effective—practically freshly made.

Nierenberg felt it was a miracle that with how much damage they’d sustained, only a small number of people died. Many had hands and feet torn off, bones broken, flesh gouged, and organs ruptured, but they’d managed to keep them alive. Their torn-off limbs were reattached just enough so they wouldn’t rot.

And they’d even received the proper amount of potions needed for treatment.

If healing magic was used for bone fractures, it would consume a lot of magical power, and only a few patients per day could receive it before it ran out. However, if they received a delivery of high-grade specialized potions for bone fractures, this wouldn’t be a problem. It would probably allow many people to be healed.

Now then, we’ve got the specialized muscular tissue potions. Time to begin treatment.

Medical Technician Nierenberg grinned.

We’ll start with the one with the busted-open stomach. The damaged organs were treated with healing magic, but without enough stamina, the patient’s flesh remained torn, and only the surface was closed up. If we reopen the wound and clean it out, then we can probably get away with using just a little bit of the specialized potion to heal it nicely. Many young healers balk at reopening wounds, so I’ll need to show them precisely how it’s done. We can’t expect to have magical power for healing spells or potions in spades forever. If we don’t prepare for future battles or gain experience, we’ll be in serious trouble.

Medical Technician Nierenberg envisioned the various treatments he was about to perform and gave a low chuckle. He seemed to be enjoying this.

“We’ll save a lot of soldiers thanks to the potions you two brought. They’re truly invaluable. All the more reason for you to exercise sufficient caution.” And with that, Nierenberg left to tend to patients.

“Hey, Lieutenant Malraux, I’m not sick or nothin’, but I’ve kinda got a biiit of a stomachache.”

“It’s all right, Lynx. I do, too.”

Nierenberg had “taken thorough care” of Malraux and Dick back in their military days.

They had him to thank for still having all their limbs and being healthy despite repeated injuries. However, the way he grinned while administering treatments was still the stuff of soldiers’ nightmares. To this very day, they tensed up in his presence.

As for Dick, he would have been able to see Amber every day if he remained on their base in the Labyrinth City, but upon hearing he would also have to meet Medical Technician Nierenberg just as often, he immediately elected to accompany the transport group.

Nierenberg’s subordinates nodded with “Uh-huhs” as if they agreed, and then they took the potions and followed him.

05

Someone watched Malraux and Lynx from a window as they departed the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ base.

It was the Gold Lion General Leonhardt and his younger brother, Weishardt.

“And you’re fine with all this, Weis?” Leonhardt asked.

The day after he’d had an audience with Malraux and Dick, the two visited him again with a high-grade curse-removal potion—and a high-grade cure potion to undo the petrification and high-grade Regen medicine, which wasn’t readily available even in the imperial capital.

Malraux and Dick conveyed the following to Leonhardt, who had just barely escaped death. “We cannot return to the army. Our potion supplier is willing to cooperate with the Labyrinth Suppression Forces but wishes to provide potions behind closed doors. Because we are bound by a magical contract, we cannot disclose the identity of our supplier. However, we remain willing to serve as an intermediary between the dealer and the Labyrinth Suppression Forces.”

Their expressions were steadfast, unwavering.

And yet, when Leonhardt asked what types and quantities of potions were available, the two answered that they had a vast number of potions high-grade and below. When he suggested all potions made by this cooperative supplier be brought into the city, they replied the dealer would need more potion vails to transfer them. When he requested them to be transported in storage tanks instead, the two retorted that it wouldn’t be possible to bring them here.

Malraux’s vague explanation didn’t paint a complete picture; it made him sound evasive. Leonhardt had no desire to doubt the men who were still loyal despite having left the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. Still, they were capable of putting an end to the Forces’ current crisis. Leonhardt’s younger brother, Weishardt, had to calm him down as he shouted, “Do you understand how scarce potions are?!”

“That shouldn’t matter. You owe this individual your life, Brother. Malraux, you said that your supplier is willing to give us potions, that if we just supply potion vials, we’ll receive as many of the potions as possible. You’re certain, correct?”

“I am,” answered Malraux. Weishardt thought for a moment as he looked in the other man’s eyes.

“Call on us if there is anything you need, be it soldiers or supplies. We won’t hesitate to assist,” he offered. “But please let us purchase the potions at the same price they sell for in the imperial capital. We will also pay the same amount for the Black Iron Freight Corps’s transportation expenses and the fees for the supplier’s protection. And let us know when your inventory is down to half.”

Leonhardt hid his shock as he searched Malraux’s and Dick’s faces. The pair didn’t appear surprised by the cheap price and simply replied, “Thank you for your understanding.”

Starting with the day after Leonhardt’s life was saved with the removal of the curse, Weishardt had the army gather empty potion vials they’d been keeping and ordered the head of the medic unit, Nierenberg, to draw up a list of potions needed to quickly heal the soldiers injured in the latest expedition. He was to appropriate only as much money as they’d need for it, disregarding availability and profit.

They had thousands of potion vials in storage. The Aguinas family stored their potions in tanks, so empty vials were required when the family supplied the potions. Potion vials were made using Drops of Life, so they couldn’t be taken out of the region of the ley line they’d been created in. The vials themselves degraded extremely slowly, didn’t require any special management, and could be remade by a glassmaker even if they broke. Needless to say, vials were highly valuable since only an alchemist could create the specialized glass they were made from. The army often used potions on the front lines and couldn’t retrieve the vials from the battlefield, so their number had dropped significantly.

After Medical Technician Nierenberg submitted the potion list, Weishardt organized it in order of priority, rounded the quantities up to units of one hundred, and handed it over to Malraux and the others. He told them to bring as many as possible starting from the ones at the top.

Very few people knew of this transaction: Leonhardt, Weishardt, a trusted confidant in charge of the budget, Nierenberg, and his subordinates who administered treatment. Those under the budget manager were made to take an oath of confidentiality—a magic-bound oath, of course.

For each transaction, the person in charge of the budget paid the fee for the potions directly to the Black Iron Freight Corps. In accordance with the arrangement by Weishardt, the fee was calculated from the potions’ selling price in the imperial capital, and the same amount was paid to the supplier and to the Corps. The total cost for such a large quantity of potions was not insignificant. If they continued to buy them at this pace, they would most likely also need to reconsider the army’s expenditures.

However, as compensation for scarce potions, it wasn’t an adequate price.

Weishardt had kept Leonhardt in check when he told him “You owe this individual your life,” but wasn’t it discourteous to this gracious individual to ask for so many potions at such a price?

But there was a reason for Leonhardt’s question: Any underground potion stores we locate should be managed by the army regardless of scarcity or strategy. Of course, we’d give the owner a proper reward. Paying the entire amount at once would probably be difficult, but they should be provided with social position and honor, as well as a pension for generations.

“Let’s say, Brother, that the owner of these potions showed us where they’re kept and offered us the entire stock. What would we do with them?” Weishardt asked.

“First, we’d treat our soldiers,” the elder Schutzenwald replied. “They’re accomplished warriors with whom we’ve shared many years of joys and sorrows. We can’t afford to lose them.”

“And once the soldiers were treated?”

“Fill our potion storage facilities, naturally. And provide some to our allied noble families. If we could afford to be more generous with our portion stores, we’d be even closer to taking control of the Labyrinth.”

“Is that not exactly what we’re doing right now?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he replied. “I’m in no mood for this back-and-forth,” Leonhardt’s gaze seemed to tell Weishardt.

“Brother, we must defeat the Labyrinth to survive in this land. And only now do we have someone who can do it, the strongest person in the past one hundred years: you. However, we still cannot reach even the innermost depths of the Labyrinth. We’re not in a position to be frugal with potions if we want to defeat the strata bosses. The situation is not one that can be overcome by begrudging the use of potions.”

Weishardt had created the current structure of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. The deeper they went into the Labyrinth, the stronger the monsters became and the casualties were without end. The offensive ability of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces would not increase simply because the monsters’ did. It would only increase by surviving, continuing to fight, and not dying. A soldier who was killed or injured and withdrew from the battlefront must be replaced by two inexperienced soldiers. Naturally, offensive ability would decrease both individually and as a group.

To confront powerful monsters with limited fighting power, it was necessary to place importance on not letting soldiers die and continuing to fight for a long time. They had to guard against attacks from higher-ranked monsters and shave off their life force little by little. It was a long-term conflict with monsters that surpassed the soldiers’ abilities. As casualties continued to pile up, healers’ magical power wouldn’t last if they’re the only ones treating the wounded. In a long-term battle, soldiers’ stamina also decreased, and healing magic might not be effective enough. Also, in this case it would be a disaster if the healers were injured.

Weishardt had solved these problems by organizing medical teams consisting of healers and “medical technicians.” The medical technicians probed a person’s body to assess the condition of injuries, then directed the healers to employ the most efficient treatment. Permission to use potions was given to the medical technicians, and after performing treatment that didn’t use up magical power, medicine, potions, or healing magic was administered as needed.

By aiming for the optimization of healing magic, the length of time the Labyrinth Suppression Forces could fight and the depths they could reach in the Labyrinth increased.

However, it ended here. They’d reached the limit of this method.

As they were right now, they couldn’t break through the fifty-third stratum.

They didn’t have enough firepower, defensive capacity, or basically anything else, and none of these things were easily to obtain. They’d managed to get to this point by incorporating weapons and armor into the equation.

It’s now or never. My brother’s skill, Lion’s Roar, is powerful. There’s hardly a fault to be found in either his military prowess or his charisma. No one has seen a man as outstanding as Leonhardt within the past century—not even in the mighty Schutzenwald family. Our soldiers, too, are highly trained. We’ve nurtured them for many years.

A person’s prime was short lived. Leonhardt might have escaped the petrification curse, but he could only maintain his current fighting power for another ten or twenty years.

If they didn’t conquer the Labyrinth during that time, there would be a pervading fear of another Stampede from the Labyrinth or the Fell Forest, and they would continue to send soldiers into the Labyrinth to kill monsters or be killed.

“I thought our fates were sealed when I witnessed your defeat in the Labyrinth, Brother.”

But salvation had been close at hand. The potions brought in just before the expedition had miraculously saved many lives and even removed the petrification curse. The Labyrinth City wasn’t doomed.

“We are at a deadlock. Any potions at our disposal must be used to advance as far as we possibly can. We can reward the supplier for their meritorious contributions after we have conquered the Labyrinth.”

“All the more reason we should take possession of them, yes?” replied Leonhardt.

He was talking about every last one of the buried potions—and their owner, too.

“Brother, do you recall how the seventh emperor protected the endangered unicorns?”

Unicorn horns were a rare, secret medicine that could be used in special-grade cure medicines. As a result, unicorns, whose numbers were already few, became overhunted and were in danger of extinction during the time of the seventh emperor.

“Mm… He walled in every forest they inhabited, didn’t he?” Leonhardt appeared suspicious of his brother for suddenly changing the subject.

“Precisely.”

Unicorns were such delicate creatures that only purehearted maidens could approach them. All the ones who were kept in enclosures for their protection had died.

No matter how large or elegant the enclosures were, they couldn’t save the unicorns. So, the seventh emperor walled in the entirety of the forests in which they lived to protect them from poachers and monsters.

Conserving the unicorn population cost exorbitant amounts of money but proved to be worthwhile. Their numbers gradually increased little by little, and their horns eventually regrew to the point that there was enough to meet demand.

Alchemists who could create special-grade cure potions were always few and far between, even in the Empire. With a fixed amount of unicorn horns on the market, the scarcity of special-grade cure potions became due to the alchemists rather than the material itself—the horns. Even now, the killing of unicorns and the unlawful possession of their horns warranted a severe penalty. However, hardly anyone targeted these creatures now that they were no longer scarce, which therefore meant they were not worth the risk. These days, unicorns were said to live comfortably in their natural forest habitats.

“A metaphor that rare things require a suitable environment.”

Weishardt’s statement brought Leonhardt to a single conclusion. “You can’t mean— No, impossible. But…thinking about it, I agree.”

Even though Malraux’s group hadn’t said as much explicitly, Leonhard could understand why they might be able to deliver potions in large batches at prices as low as those in the imperial capital…if a certain thing were the case.

But, even if their guess was correct, would leaving things in the Corps’s hands prove to be an issue?

As if sensing Leonhardt’s misgivings, Weishardt answered him. “Malraux and Dick came to you with a curse-removal potion. Is that not your answer right there? They may have left the Forces, but they are still your soldiers.”

“I suppose so,” Leonhardt agreed.

“If we need a unicorn pen, if that’s the price for life in this town, that is a road we must follow again.”

If that were the case, they would have no choice but to meet Leonhardt’s demands. After all, he was the one who governed the Labyrinth City.

06

“Sieg, Sieg, what do we do?!”

Mariela grew flustered upon peeking into the bag with the potion payment Malraux had given her.

“It’s full of gold coins! Every day! Every day we’re swimming in gold coins!”

Sieg looked at Mariela as if he wanted to say, “Geez, what am I gonna do with this girl?”

The payment for the curse removal set Mariela had given Malraux probably included a finder’s fee, because it was way too much as compensation, but the contract had been reviewed since then and she was now getting the same amount for potions as they would sell for in the imperial capital. Considering how rare they were in the Labyrinth City, you could say this was highway robbery, but high-grade potions had never been cheap to begin with.

In the imperial capital’s markets, a normal high-grade heal potion was one large silver coin, while a high-grade cure potion was one large silver coin and two silver coins. The price of specialized potions changed depending on the scarcity and cost of the materials, but it was two to three large silver coins. She made a hundred of those every day. Purchasing all the ingredients for the potions would cost about 30 percent of the total price. Mariela, however, used less than 30 percent for materials because she used inexpensive substitutes even though it took some time.

Under normal circumstances, distribution costs, shop and employee costs, taxes, and other fees were added in addition to material fees, but in the Labyrinth City, taxes were a fixed amount of the houses’ rent, so a variety of expenses weren’t necessary in this kind of transaction. Moreover, the Labyrinth Suppression Forces seemed to be paying the Black Iron Freight Corps’s share separately, so the entirety of the potion payments went to Mariela.

Mariela was losing her mind at receiving the amount of gold a whole family could live on for one to two years every single day.

“Alchemy’s a really big deal, huh?” she mused.

“You’re saying that now?!”

Around ten days ago, when Malraux and Dick paid them a visit in the middle of the night, Sieg had a feeling this would prove to be a nuisance. Something as rare as a high-grade curse-removal potion doesn’t just appear by coincidence. Furthermore, the receiving party was the general of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. He probably already knew of Mariela’s existence.

What’s best for Mariela? How can I protect her? Sieg wondered.

His own personal strength was meaningless in the face of an entire army. They needed a lot of allies.

That’s why he deliberately allowed Malraux, who hadn’t known Mariela was an alchemist, into her workshop. He knew from their interactions up to that point that Malraux still hadn’t realized.

I couldn’t let them have potions and take them to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces the way things were. I had to make Malraux understand he’s in a position to protect Mariela, an alchemist. They’re bound by a magical contract. And he’s an intermediary for the Labyrinth Suppression Forces and the general himself. Mariela doesn’t dislike the act of making potions. And Malraux’s not a fool—he surely has to realize there’s some common ground there.

Sure enough, Siegmund’s calculations bore fruit. Up to now, Mariela had been able to enjoy a carefree life while providing potions.

That in itself was good, but…

“Whoaaa, processing bone knight bones requires slime fluid. I’ve got money, so maybe I should just go all out and collect every kind of slime there is.”

“You can’t just take in every creature you find. Collect only the ones you need.”

Mariela’s tone was sarcastic as she glanced at him, so Sieg played along and replied like a parent would.

Wasn’t she freaking out just moments ago? Sieg sighed in exasperation at Mariela’s carefree demeanor.

“Mariela. If…if the Labyrinth Suppression Forces came to the shop and told you to come with them, what would you do?”

“Hmm? I’d go with ’em.”

Sieg caught his breath at Mariela’s lackadaisical reply. “…You wouldn’t run away?”

“How? They’re an army; no point in trying to run. Besides, I’m an alchemist, so I have to make potions. I hate the idea of being shut up in a dark room, constantly churning out potions for free, so I’m glad I’ve been able to make ’em here. And I get a ton of money for it. I dunno what Malraux and the others said about me, but I’m grateful.”

If Mariela had said she’d run away, Sieg had thought he’d go with her anywhere she went. However, her response baffled him; she seemed to imply she would worry about it when the time came.

“It’s okay, Sieg. You’re plenty strong now. Plus you’ve got your own sword, so nothing awful’s gonna happen to you like before,” Mariela said with a smile in response to Sieg’s troubled expression.

Did Mariela give me this sword because she knew the situation I was in? She knew what could happen to me, and she did this so I wouldn’t find myself in dire straits if anything were to happen to her…

A lump formed in Sieg’s throat.

“I am your sword, Mariela. I’ll always be by your side,” he finally answered, to which Mariela beamed and replied, “Thanks.”

Then she added: “So, wanna smash some bone knight bones?”

“It’s late. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

Mariela couldn’t move the bones because they were too heavy. And since Sieg wasn’t going to carry them for her, Mariela gave up for the day and withdrew to her bedroom.

07

“Haaaah!”

Mariela’s gallant shout and the whoosh of the weapon in her hand cutting through the air echoed in the Labyrinth.

The girl who had lamented her own helplessness made great strides through the power of love, courage, hard work, and potions, and her sword attained the swiftness of a seasoned hero… Not.

The weapon in Mariela’s hand was a thin stick, and since it was light and bent easily, the only splendid thing about it was the sound it made. It would’ve been a little better if the stick had at least caught an enemy, but it had merely been slicing through the air for a while now.

“Seriously, it takes real talent to not even land a single hit! Here, next target’s a big one!”

Laughing, Lynx sent the next monster at Mariela. Sieg, too, laughed as he cheered her on: “Don’t worry! If you watch their movements carefully, you’ll hit them.”

Mariela readied her stick, thinking this time for sure she’d finish off the monster.

Her approaching opponent toddled along—because it was just a mushroom. Yes, Mariela and the others were in the middle of gathering mushrooms.

The fifth stratum of the Labyrinth was a hazy forest called the Sleeping Wood.

This forest, covered in a thin mist, had trees and mushrooms so massive they made you feel like you’d shrunk. The inhabitants weren’t giants the size of trees or the kinds of charming beings one might associate with the forest, but rather mushrooms as tall as a person’s knees. The drifting mist was actually spores, many of which induced sleep, hence the name the Sleeping Wood. Anyone who inhaled the spores and fell asleep was doomed to become plant fodder and never wake up. Wearing a mask attracted the mushrooms to try and defeat you themselves; the fifth stratum was nothing more than a bonus floor for mushroom hunting.

Normally, defeated monsters in the Labyrinth disappeared. But in this stratum, the mushrooms had somehow transformed into monsters, so defeating them simply turned them back into giant mushrooms again. The poison ones were greater in number and variety than the edible ones, but there were a large number of the kinds used as alchemic ingredients, making the Sleeping Wood a much safer and more efficient location for collecting mushrooms than the Fell Forest.

“Yaaah!”

Mariela’s stick whooshed through the air.

“Warrior Mariela! Once again you’ve sliced open an invisible enemy!”

Lynx guffawed annoyingly. One gutsy fungus had collided with Mariela’s right knee and sent itself flying. Even though it was a monster, it was still a mushroom at the end of the day. It was so light and soft that it ended up killing itself, never mind Mariela injuring it. Maybe she would do better to just stand in place holding a pot lid rather than swinging a stick around.

Some of the more dangerous mushrooms were poisonous to the touch; several had thorns or fangs; others had heavy, tough stumps. Sieg and Lynx eliminated those types without fail.

“Mariela, do you have all the mushrooms you need?”

“Yeah, but I wanna stay a little longer!”

On this day, they had come to gather mushrooms she was going to use as part of a substitute for treant fruit in high-grade potions. The substitute was made by blending thirteen different ingredients, but it required only two kinds of mushrooms, neither of which were rare, so she’d gathered more than enough. They’d all run into Mariela and killed themselves.

Mariela wanted to persevere until she had at least brought down one by herself, to which Lynx laughed, “Sheesh, fine,” and held up her right arm.

“Mariela, you’re overdoin’ it. Just a light tap’s good enough.”

Lynx faced a mushroom that was rambling toward them, its cap shaking side to side. Together, he and Mariela raised the stick overhead.

“All right, now!”

“Hiii-ya!”

Pa-tup. With a feeble sound, Mariela’s stick cleaved the mushroom’s cap right in half.

“I… I beat it! I beat it, Lynx!”

“Wowww, that’s great, reaaal great. Okay, let’s head back. I’m starved.”

Mariela clutched Lynx’s hands in great delight. Observing this, Sieg suggested, “Mariela, let’s defeat one more, you and me!” but Lynx spun Mariela around and pushed her toward the exit.

He’d come along because she said she wanted to go mushroom hunting, but he never imagined she’d be this clumsy. How many hours had they spent just on these mushrooms? It would’ve been way more efficient just to purchase them. Both Lynx and Sieg were strong enough to handle themselves in deeper strata, so it would have been more profitable if she’d pestered them into gathering more expensive materials.

“We got a lot of mushrooms, so I’ll make a feast! Mushroom risotto, mushroom stew…”

“That ain’t gonna cut it for my appetite. Add some meat to it.”

“I’ll cook meat, too! I’m gonna splurge.”

Mariela was on cloud nine. Lynx wondered how she could be so happy about this.

“I know we got all these mushrooms, but you sure you won’t you end up in the red if we add some meat?”

“Huh? We had fun, so why not treat ourselves?”

Only little kids unfettered by life’s worries find having fun with good friends satisfying. An adventurer’s work wasn’t fun; their future was uncertain. In the Labyrinth City, meeting someone could be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and everyone tended to be selfish about the unknown future.

Lynx realized what Mariela was trying to say—that being able to enjoy themselves in the moment should be carved into their memories and celebrated. In this life where no one knows what the next day will bring, Mariela is cherishing the time we’ve spent together.

“Then I’ll take a huge helping!”

If that’s the case, I’m glad, Lynx thought as he gazed at Mariela, who giggled merrily.

08

Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble.

Mariela boiled apriore fruit in a large pot in the kitchen to remove its astringency. She could have done it with alchemic skills, but that would take a lot of time, so she processed it in the kitchen during Sunlight’s Canopy’s business hours.

Back in the shop itself, Mariela chatted with the regulars while sorting out apriore fruit. This had been harvested by children from the orphanage, so it was much cheaper than buying it in stores, but there was worm-eaten or rotten fruit mixed in with the good stuff. Mariela bought a heap of it, since the money was used to keep the orphanage in operation. Plus, sorting the fruit was a perfect way to pass the time when the shop wasn’t busy.

Once its astringency was properly removed, apriore could be used as a potion ingredient, and kneading it into cookies gave them a delicious, crispy texture. Though it slightly increased the time it took to remove the astringency, she was coarsely crushing them before processing today in case she wanted to use it as an ingredient in sweets.

“Hello, Mariela.” Elmera from the Merchants Guild visited the shop just after noon. The soap Mariela sold was Elmera’s favorite, and every now and then, she came to buy some during a lull in her busy schedule. Today she had brought someone with her.

“Are you Mariela?”

It was a girl about the same age as Mariela who looked to be the picture of royalty. She had a dollish beauty with large, bright eyes that indicated a strong will, a shapely nose, and full lips. Mariela greeted her in kind as she wondered who this girl was.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mariela. Um, Ms. Elmera, may I ask who this is?”

“She’s a chemist like you. She doesn’t have her own store, but she’s quite talented. Her wares are top sellers in the Adventurers Guild shop. I brought her along thinking I might introduce you since the two of you are close in age.”

Upon Elmera’s introduction, the beautiful young lady performed a lovely curtsy and introduced herself. “My name is Caroline Aguinas. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

How did it come to this…?

“Such a cozy little shop, isn’t it? It’s quite pleasant.”

“My, tea that enhances beauty? A new product from Merle’s Spices? I should buy some to take home!”

Caroline and Elmera sat in the tea corner and grinned as they sipped their tea. The more women in the shop, the more glamorous than usual it became. The old men who gathered had their own charm, but they didn’t hold a candle to the likes of pretty ladies.

Wait, no. She’s not just a “pretty lady”—she’s an Aguinas! That’s not a name you hear every day. She’s not from a different Aguinas family, right? It’s the same Aguinas family in charge of the Labyrinth City’s potions, right? What’s an esteemed young woman like her doing drinking tea in my shop? Did she come here to do some sort of on-site enemy reconnaissance? I don’t get it.

Caroline addressed the confused Mariela. “Are these apriore? There seems to be bad fruit mixed in.”

“Oh, the kids from the orphanage collected those. It takes time to sort through them all, but the money goes toward supporting the orphanage, so I just thought I’d use these wherever I could.”

“My, that’s wonderful. I see you have an interest in charity work. Speaking of which, Ms. Elmera’s father’s enterprise, the Seele Company, supports the employment of women in their genea cream manufacturing. I would like for my own family to do something similar, but when it comes to my elder brother…” Caroline’s willowy fingers gently pinched a worm-eaten apriore as if it were a fancy pastry and nonchalantly tossed it into the trash can.

“The Aguinas family has been researching potions for generations. Isn’t that a wonderful thing in itself?”

Elmera also began to pick up the apriore all while leaving her gloves on. “This one’s fine,” she remarked as she placed them in the container with the others that had passed inspection.

“But we have nothing to show for it. I think developing better medicine without fussing over potions would prove far more beneficial for the Labyrinth City.”

With a sigh, she sipped her tea and stretched her hand toward another pastry, no, another apriore. She skillfully chucked fruit into the container, then the trash, then the container again.

“That’s why you work so hard to produce medicines, isn’t it, Lady Caroline?”

Toss-toss-toss-toss-toss, toss, toss, toss-toss. Elmera was incredibly fast at sorting.

“Indeed. However, I have reached the limits of what I can do alone. When I heard a lady chemist close to my age had opened an apothecary, I felt I must speak with her.”

Caroline turned her beautiful face toward Mariela, who was listening to the conversation as the apriore continued to go plunk, plunk.

Crap, I’m in a fix here! Sieg, help meeee!

For his part, Sieg had gone completely unnoticed as he added more apriores to the decreasing unsorted pile, changed out the trash and container, and then quietly disappeared into the kitchen.

Oh, yeah, right. Sieg is my sword, but he’s not my shield. I mean, here I was not paying attention, and he somehow added more apriores and even emptied the sorting container! That’s using both his strength training and magic, right? He’s making full use of the techniques he learned from Haage, right?

No help would come.

“Um, I’ll speak for as long as you want, if you’ll have me?” she responded in defeat.

“I am so glad. I’m certain we’ll become fast friends!” said Caroline, smiling.

“Oh, this salve is mixed after extracting components from the medicinal herbs, correct?”

“That’s right. Lady Caroline. Because some parts of medicinal herbs inhibit healing.”

“Please call me Carol. And the ‘lady’ part is quite unnecessary. We are friends, after all.”

“But still…”

After a bit of back-and-forth, they settled on an odd mishmash of title and nickname: Lady Carol. They also decided Mariela didn’t need to speak so formally if there were no other nobles around.

Is this really okay? It feels really wrong so I’m gonna speak as politely as I can. I’m not that good at it, but I feel like I should at least be decent enough to get by.

At first, Mariela was worried whether a young female aristocrat was even allowed to enter a commoner’s shop alone and eat there, but an escort seemed to be waiting for her outside. No wonder customers weren’t coming in. Mariela asked her to have her escort join her inside whenever she visited in the future.

“Gosh, just look at the time!”

Once they’d finished their tea, Elmera and Carol reluctantly went home.

Mariela had thought they’d come to probe about potions, but all they’d talked about was medicine.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t wonder why someone from the Aguinas family had visited, but she’d enjoyed chatting with Carol and felt sad to see her go.

“Please come back anytime!” Mariela said, to which Carol replied with a smile, “Yes, I certainly will!”

Thus Sunlight’s Canopy acquired another regular customer.

And not that it mattered much, but she’d made incredible progress in the apriore sorting.