CHAPTER 5

Released

01

When Caroline awoke, she was in a gloomy room made of stone.

The air around her was a bit chilly for someone so used to the summer heat. Both the stone pedestal beneath her and the nearby stone wall were damp. She could hear rain from far away; perhaps that was the reason for the chill.

“I see you’re awake, Carol.”

The voice that greeted the young woman when she sat up belonged to someone she knew all too well.

“Brother…”

Robert sat in a corner of the narrow stone room, and Caroline wasted no time in probing him.

“Brother, I would like an explanation.”

“You’re remarkably composed, Caroline, given those people were after your life.”

Robert’s remark was shocking, but Caroline hardly cared as she took in her surroundings. It was an old room. Judging from the stonework, it may have been built around the same time as the estate where Estalia had slept. The pedestal Caroline was on seemed to be where luggage and other such things would’ve been placed. It was long enough for her to lie down on, but it was narrow, and if she’d turned over in her sleep, she would’ve met the floor.

Some sturdy boxes had been placed carelessly along the ground, and Robert was seated on one of them. The stone pedestal might be where those boxes normally belonged.

Was this room a secret storehouse? A magical tool for illumination provided the only source of light, there were no windows, and Caroline could see steep stairs behind her brother. Perhaps this was a basement?

“I didn’t know our house had a secret cellar.”

“I learned about it directly from Uncle Ruiz. Father doesn’t know about it.”

Robert tacitly told her that no help would come. The young lady felt just a little relieved.

If this is my brother’s secret place, and it’s related to the Aguinas family, no one else will be here.

Caroline understood her brother’s character and made this conjecture.

Although Robert was brilliant, he had rather strong fixations and a troubling disposition. For example, he was obsessed with everything related to the alchemists. Alchemists were a subject the Aguinas family had protected for generations, and Robert hated allowing outsiders to interfere with such things. Even in the development of the new medicine, he made the alchemists he summoned from the imperial capital help him bound by black magic.

This place, connected to the alchemy the Aguinas family so closely protected, was a personal space for Robert. A place he allowed only his supporters, or those he could completely control, to enter.

He said their father, Royce, didn’t even know about this cellar. If this was truly such an important place to Robert, he really wouldn’t have wanted to hold someone, even Caroline, here. In other words, Robert had no other place, no other person, he could depend on.

My brother has had no friends for a long time…

Caroline thought if she asked him about it, she might embarrass him and encourage him to start rambling on for an hour about his theories. She knew her brother quite well.

He was extremely brilliant, and that was probably why he was so confident in his own solutions to problems. If he thought something would work, he’d barrel ahead with his plan. Robert would likely have been open to other ideas had he talked to more people, but he was too awkward for that. Despite his troublesome pride, he was actually a very kind man.

“You saved me, didn’t you, Brother?”

“You…you shouldn’t simply go along with people so easily…”

Robert likely expected his sister to be upset as his words, but she only gave a gentle smile. Perhaps emboldened, he continued, “To think you were a scapegoat for the alchemist the Labyrinth Suppression Forces seized… Moreover, they’re selling potions on the market. What is the house of Margrave Schutzenwald thinking?!”

“My, my. You must have read my letters,” Caroline replied, gazing affectionately at her indignant brother.

“How can you be so cheerful?! Do you even understand what’s happening?” Robert cried. “Forcing the alchemist to make as many potions as possible to sell on the market is exploitation! It goes too far! Doesn’t the army know the alchemist isn’t just some tool?! They were too quick to start selling potions in the first place. No one considered a production or sales plan. The yagu merchant caravans have created a structure of vested interests, and this upsets the whole order. Do you understand?! It’s out of the question for a civilian to be in military employ!”

The alchemist herself had continued to mass-produce potions at an unthinkable rate, but she hardly saw potion-making as a problem. Mariela got mad at her master, laughed with Sieg and her friends at Sunlight’s Canopy, and spent her days happy and healthy. Robert had assumed otherwise, but that was his own bias. However, as befit the former successor to a family that had managed potions for so long, he had a point about the problem of selling the concoctions on the market.

Over the last two hundred years, the Labyrinth City had entrusted the transportation of all goods across the mountain range to the yagu merchant caravans, and the cost was enormous. This had brought a large amount of profit to the many territories on the merchant caravans’ route. The villages along the main road flourished as relay stations, and trade between territories prospered through the use of the established main road. Places like the territory of Countess Beratte, located at a junction of roads leading to the Labyrinth City, the imperial capital, and the family of small nations, flourished as transit points. They grew not only as spots of commerce between the Labyrinth City and the imperial capital, but for transporting high-quality weapons and armor made by Rock Wheel to the borderlands protecting the Empire from the wars of the small nations as well.

The distribution of arms by the Rock Wheel Autonomous Region, which sat closest to the Labyrinth City—and farthest from the imperial capital—would probably continue through the territory of Countess Beratte. However, if the Labyrinth City’s merchant caravans were able to travel through the Fell Forest, those profits would start on a steady decrease. The sale of potions would completely rewrite the vested-interest structure brought about by distribution up to this point. Although reorganization was profitable for the Labyrinth City, it was highly unlikely that those with investments in ventures outside the City would remain silent much longer.

“The alchemist is a thorn in the side of anyone who benefits from the yagu merchant caravans, Carol. To them, both the defeat of the Labyrinth and that reborn alchemist will cause nothing but trouble.”

Caroline knew that her brother was a kind man. Robert was extremely angry, but not for himself. He was indignant because the alchemist and Caroline had been put in danger.

“Yes. I agree, Brother,” Caroline replied, her smile unbroken. Robert seemed hesitant as he continued.

“You wanted to protect the alchemist, didn’t you, Carol? That’s the true spirit of an Aguinas, and as your brother, I’m proud of you. However, it’s not the alchemist you’ve volunteered to protect, but the image and honor of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces.”

If the Forces had control over the alchemist, they would remain constant in protecting her no matter what kind of assassins went after her. Even if they shut her up in a tall tower or a deep cellar as a result. But if they did that, the house of Margrave Schutzenwald might go down in infamy for inhumane treatment. That’s why they needed to make it known inside and outside the City that Caroline, who shouldered the role of “the alchemist,” was acting freely and had chosen cooperation with the Labyrinth Suppression Forces.

Caroline’s desire to protect the alchemist was exploited not to ensure Mariela’s safety, but rather to safeguard the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ honor. That, above all else, was something Robert couldn’t tolerate.

“I truly appreciate your concern, Brother. Nevertheless, I want to carry out this duty.”

Neither Caroline’s facial expression, nor her intentions, had changed one bit thus far. Although she was a calm, graceful, beautiful young woman, her stubbornness was reminiscent of another member of her family.

“Carol, there’s no value in putting your life at risk.” Robert searched for the words he needed to stop his sister. However, Caroline looked at him with eyes full of powerful intent and continued, undeterred.

“Brother. Our lineage protects the alchemists. Of course we must bear the full brunt of this. If I draw the eyes of the public, and someday the Labyrinth is destroyed, creating a new world brimming with alchemists, then the one who survived the Stampede will finally be able to live as an ordinary person.”

Yes. That was Caroline’s wish.

Someday, she wanted to make potions with Mariela in Sunlight’s Canopy, and if it was no longer unique as the single potion shop in the City, she wouldn’t mind.

No matter how many rival stores there might be, they would never make potions any better than the ones she and Mariela would make. There would never be a day when people didn’t come to bask in the warmth of that place.

Mariela was a rare and special alchemist, but she was also a commoner. If she were used as a political tool and put on a pedestal to draw the public’s attention, it was unlikely she’d be able to live freely.

Protecting the alchemist was the duty of the Aguinas family, of Caroline.

“Carol, you…”

For the first time in their conversation, Robert understood what his sister meant.

He knew Caroline had assembled a variety of magical tools and herbs to make medicine. When Robert was a child, his sister would follow him everywhere. He thought she’d aspired to be like him. But he’d been wrong. She’d inherited the blood, the will, of the Aguinas family, and Caroline herself was no doubt an alchemist of some fashion. Of course, she hadn’t actually made a Pact with the ley line, so she had no skills to make potions. However, skills were an embodiment of one’s body and soul.

If there were no potions, she would make medicine instead. It was a logical conclusion for one with the spirit of a true alchemist.

How could Robert oppose his sister’s decision? Caroline seemed more worthy of being called an alchemist than anyone else.

“…I understand, Carol. If that’s the case, I will help you, as a fellow bearer of the Aguinas name.”

“Thank you, Brother!” Caroline was overjoyed from the bottom of her heart.

I don’t have much longer to live. But at least let me protect Carol.

Robert now understood how his sister felt. Though neither had moved, the space between them felt smaller. It was time to marshal all the power the Aguinas family had acquired governing potions and alchemists over these past two hundred years. Robert gripped the flame seal carved onto his hand and prayed. The seal of the capricious sage who liked to play with fire was a useful, but time-limited item. It didn’t reduce one’s life span, or anything like that, however.

Unfortunately, Robert still misunderstood one crucial thing.

“Incidentally, Brother, where are we?”

“Our family’s hidden storehouse in the forests east of the Labyrinth City.”

The violent rain didn’t seem likely to stop, but after Caroline insisted that she should notify everyone of her safety before the sun set, the pair crept out from their hiding place.

The top of the steep staircase leading from the basement was black and sooty like the inside of an old furnace. Emerging outside from a half-crumbled entrance, the surroundings seemed to be the ruins of a place once used for making charcoal.

The slope of the foot of the mountain had been used to build three charcoal-making kilns made of stone and mud side by side, and the interior of the rightmost kiln connected to the hidden storehouse.

All of them were ancient, and any chimneys that hadn’t collapsed were choked with ash and soot. Charcoal wasn’t currently used much in the Labyrinth City, but long ago, dwarven master blacksmiths had used it in the process of making steel, so it was no wonder that the forest contained the remains of a place that produced it.

Seems our ancestor was fond of tricks like the hidden door to our family’s cellar and this hidden storehouse. I’d like to show Mariela sometime.

Although it was an elaborately hidden storehouse, the only things inside were some boxes, one of which Robert had used as a chair. They’d been scattered around on the floor, and he’d even sat on one, so perhaps they weren’t storing anything particularly valuable.

While Caroline considered such things, she followed behind her brother along an animal trail.

The cloak Robert had borrowed from the Labyrinth Suppression Forces was waterproof, so it protected Caroline from the downpour, but the road was muddy with rainwater. It was very hard for Caroline to walk in her thin heels.

Robert had offered to carry her, and perhaps she wouldn’t have minded if she were unconscious. But the idea of a mature young woman being carried by her older brother was too embarrassing. It was absolutely out of the question.

That reminds me—I became very sleepy after I had my tea…

Caroline had begun arguing with Robert as soon as she woke up and spotted him, so she’d had no time to recall what happened before she was abducted.

I am unharmed, and my brother was the one who did it, so Father and my escorts should be safe as well, but…

Perhaps due to her fatigue from the difficult trek back into the City, Caroline began to fuss at Robert, though it was against her better judgment.

“Brother, you are terribly unkind. We could have talked like we just did and settled the whole thing; there was no need to resort to something as vile as sleeping powder…”

But Robert’s reply went against Caroline’s expectations.

“I didn’t use sleeping powder. I admit to sneaking into the base to look for you, but when I arrived; the escorts, Father, everyone was asleep.”

“What…?”

“I was able to get you out of there thanks to the power of this seal. That, and my luck reaching you just a little before the bandits would have.”

“Brother, is…is Father… Is he all right?!”

“I didn’t confirm it myself, but I think he’s probably fine. I didn’t have time to take Father with me, but there were many escorts around him, and I left the door to the guesthouse open to make it easy for someone to notice something was wrong.”

A young girl would be more effective than an aged man, whether she was used as a hostage or murdered as a warning to others. That was why Robert had prioritized securing Caroline’s safety in what little time he’d had.

Robert had no way of locating their enemy, but he was certain someone had been lurking nearby, ready to abduct Caroline. The seal burned into Robert’s left hand was strong. By putting his magic energy into it, his presence, magical power, and even his physical stature seemed to be perfectly hidden. It hadn’t made him transparent, but instead he appeared insignificant to others, like a stone on the roadside. After experimenting with the seal’s effects against a few street dogs and cats, Robert concluded that the magic would maintain the same effect if one was holding an unconscious person. The effect was weakened if holding a conscious body, however.

Luckily for both Robert and his sister, Caroline had been drugged and then passed out. He was able to outsmart the very people who’d schemed to kidnap her.

Someone else had drugged Caroline and was about to take her away. This revelation filled her with fear. When she’d woken up, Robert had been the one with her, so although she was surprised and confused, she had also been somewhat relieved. He had strayed from the path and turned to the dark arts, but to Caroline he was still her kind and beloved sibling. Speaking with him had allowed them to understand each other, and he had come to her rescue. There was no misunderstanding, and Robert had saved and hidden her before the real villain could close their grip on Caroline.

She should have been prepared—Caroline knew that now.

But even armed with that knowledge, the thought that someone had come after her made her chest tighten in fearful anguish.

02

“Sieg, call Mariela back.” Freyja’s sharp voice reverberated in the rear yard of Sunlight’s Canopy, cutting through the constant sounds of the rain.

Sieg rushed to the young alchemist’s side, put his hands on her shoulders, and called her name.

“Mariela!”

Whether or not she heard, he was unsure. But Mariela turned her face toward the one-eyed man with an unsteady movement.

“Mariela, come back. You found her, right? You can come back now!”

There was no clear reaction to Sieg’s plea. Her eyes were vacant.

At that moment, Sieg became aware of something for the first time.

Though he’d often looked into Mariela’s eyes, he’d only now realized they were the same golden color as Freyja’s.

Her eyes didn’t reflect Sieg’s face peering into them, but instead a faint, fleeting light shone from their depths, disappearing as quickly as it had come.

Drops of Life? No, isn’t it the color of the ley line Mariela told me about?!

He knew the color of Mariela’s eyes, and it hadn’t changed. Yet there was no reflection to them. Her body was here, but her spirit was in a faraway place.

“Mariela! Come back! Mariela! You can hear me, can’t you?!”

Sieg refused to part with her, refused to let her go. He gripped Mariela’s shoulders, calling louder and louder to her, wherever she had gone.

But her golden eyes reflected only a river of light with an unknown source. Sieg wasn’t sure if his voice could reach her.

“Mariela…! I made a promise, didn’t I?! Fruit, pastries, and orc king meat! I haven’t gotten them all for you yet! You have to come back! Mariela! Mariela!!!”

Sieg searched her eyes for the girl he knew. He called to her with everything he had.

Perhaps his screams, his feelings of longing, reached out through the air and rain to reach Mariela before she could spread too wide and thin into the earth below.

“…Meat?”

“Mariela?!”

Or perhaps it was only Meat Man who had called her back.

In the middle of the pouring rain, Mariela, the girl Sieg knew well, giggled and stood with meat—with Sieg reflected in her eyes.

The man didn’t know whether to sigh in relief or disappointment.

He could feel the deathly chill of Mariela’s body. Her spirit had returned from a harsh journey beyond his comprehension. Even so, Sieg made a diligent effort to swallow his feelings and speak to her as he always did, now that her golden eyes held their familiar smile again.

“…For now, take a bath, and then you can have some fruit.”

“And the meat?”

“Next time.”

“But you promisssed!”

“Ahh, I’ll keep the promise. Next time, I’ll definitely bring some back. So for now… Welcome home, Mariela.”

“Okay, I’ll be looking forward to it. I’m glad to be back, Sieg.”

And after that exchange of greetings, Mariela and Sieg headed back into the house. Neither of them realized that the distance between them had shrunk, ever so slightly.

After a moment of regarding the two with a warm expression, Freyja said, “All right, today we’ll have orc meat roasted in oil!” and followed them into the house.

03

“I’ve identified the components of the sleepin’ powder!”

The appraisal of the drug, which they thought would take only a matter of moments, had taken hours.

There were a variety of materials containing sleeping toxicants, but it was possible to narrow down the possibilities to a certain extent by looking at the condition of the affected soldiers and Royce, as well as the remaining tea. After that, if they tested the possibilities one by one, they could hopefully ascertain the type of sleeping powder and find a lead from there.

This wasn’t particularly time-consuming work. Provided the materials in question could be gathered in the Labyrinth City.

Ghark had identified the powder as something that couldn’t be found in the Labyrinth City, however—an important clue in its own right.

“This is a sleepin’ powder often used in the small nations.”

The substance was mixed not as a curative to insomnia, but to tranquilize people. It dissolved easily in water and was colorless, tasteless, and odorless. It also decomposed and disappeared over time. Since it wasn’t a potion, its effects were slow and short lived. It was a strategic medicine that, if used repeatedly, could cause serious side effects.

If Ghark’s appraisal had been just a little later, the sleeping powder would have decomposed beyond recognition.

His answer caused a small commotion in the council room.

A country somewhere in the family of constantly warring small nations, or a territory of the Empire that traded with the family of small nations, had acted to hinder the sale of potions in the Labyrinth City.

For what purpose?

Had the change in routes truly troubled them so?

Realizing the answer, Weishardt called Malraux over and whispered some sort of instructions to him. Malraux nodded silently and left the council room.

Meanwhile, Nierenberg, having been involved with the interrogations, wore an expression of comprehension.

The Aguinas family had been attacked three times today, and the result of the interrogations established that the crimes were by three completely different groups. After the culprits had been captured, it became clear there was a clear gap in the capabilities of the groups that attacked the atelier, the Aguinas estate, and the base. Speculation suggested that the first two attacks were by independent criminals or hired diversionary units.

First were the three thin raiders who’d attacked the atelier. They were slaves of the merchant who’d been on the scene. Given the merchant’s performance in the whole charade, he was apparent thinking, “I’ll save them from an attack by villains to make them indebted to me. Then I can break into the potion business.” Apparently, the three slaves forced to play the role of the assailants had been promised their freedom if they acted threatening and then ran away. Of course, the merchant was not willing to leave free and living witnesses, so he’d planned from the beginning to make his unsavory escorts kill the poor trio.

Malraux had felt something was off before the assailants lost consciousness, and he designated the slave trader, Reymond, as their interrogator. Through him, the trio of slaves were coerced into breaking the Order from their merchant master.

The interrogation of the merchant father-son duo was simple. With Nierenberg’s gentle questioning, they told him everything, and there appeared to be no falsehoods in their testimony. The only remaining uncertainty was the fact that the attacks happened one after another all on the same day. Both the merchants and their escorts said they’d decided the day of the attack themselves, and they had no acquaintances in this city to help them. The merchants were independent criminals and had no relation to the other attackers, nor had they been hired by anyone.

Next was the group that had attacked the Aguinas estate. They appeared to be a gang of thieves who’d operated out of the imperial capital.

Although they were a gang of thieves, it didn’t mean they were pros at kidnapping. As a somewhat high-caliber group, they were stubborn and resistant to pain, but according to Nierenberg, who had been a medical engineer in the Labyrinth City without potions for a long time, “The soldiers of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces have far more backbone.”

Nierenberg had a thorough knowledge of the human body and could inflict very precise and acute pain, and his face as he did so was terrifying enough to bend beasts to his will. Among those who considered it common sense for injuries to be treated with healing magic and potions, Nierenberg seemed like a demon performing his dissections.

The assailants immediately revealed what they knew to Nierenberg, but they had been hired through an intermediary and didn’t know anything about their true employer. Their orders had been to abduct Caroline. Negotiations were carried out in the imperial capital, and detailed instructions were delivered by letter to the Labyrinth City inn they were staying at the night before the deed. The house where they were supposed to detain her was empty, and Nierenberg couldn’t gain any information about their employer.

Two interrogations had been dead ends, but the invaders Freyja had captured at the base were considered to be the best chance the Forces had. Among the three Freyja had knocked out and caught, two of them woke up and immediately committed suicide with poison they’d prepared. The remaining member was prevented from killing himself, but even with Nierenberg’s questioning, nothing was revealed.

Yes, even the fearsome Nierenberg got nothing.

The intruders Freyja had apprehended were a part of some top-notch covert force accustomed to pain. Given this, it seemed probable that this faction had come from the family of small nations.

Strife was constant in that region. It was whispered that groups who made a living off war had taken root and arranged things so the disputes would never end. Professional spies with sleeping powder had snuck all the way into the base of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. They had to have been extremely skilled—professionals who charged a high price.

As Nierenberg watched Weishardt give instructions to Malraux and whisper with Leonhardt, the doctor felt his conjectures were at least close to the truth.

However, Weishardt’s expression remained clouded, and he didn’t issue an order to dispatch the Labyrinth Suppression Forces.

It was safe to assume not everyone in this group of spies had been apprehended, either. Whoever put the medicine in the tea at the guesthouse and taken Caroline away hadn’t been caught. The doors to the base were closed, and although they searched every nook and cranny inside, they could find neither Caroline nor anyone resembling an intruder.

Whoever they were, they’d most likely made it outside the base.

By now this mystery person could be anywhere. Hopefully Malraux would turn up something wherever he’d been dispatched to.

The room was thick with tension.

Perhaps I was too lenient in my interrogation…?

If Nierenberg did any more than he had already, it was possible the intruder wouldn’t be able to be returned to normal, even with the use of a potion. Nierenberg hadn’t been instructed to perform such severe questioning, but the clock was ticking. He should’ve been able to shake up the intruder with the information they just obtained about the sleeping powder and squeeze more out of him somehow.

The face of Nierenberg’s daughter, Sherry, suddenly came to mind, but he deliberately shut it away in the innermost depths of his heart and left his seat, determined to make the captured spy confess.

It was right about that time when—

“Reporting in! We have a messenger from the alchemist. She said she knows where the young woman is!”

Dick had arrived, and he’d brought Sieg with him.

04

A group of cavalrymen ran through the downpour.

Even the rain pelting them parted as they charged forward. The wind did little to slow their progress. It appeared that the weather was on their side, but in actuality, they were allowed passage because Weishardt was riding in front and using wind magic to cut through the air.

He wouldn’t allow the likes of a storm to stop him now.

“Weis, take the third unit with you.”

Leonhardt had listened to the information Sieg brought and appointed Weishardt to lead Dick’s unit to rescue Caroline.

“My master ordered me to save the young lady Caroline without fail. Please take me as well.”

With that, Sieg joined the tail end of the group. Mariela had indicated Caroline was in the forest east of the Labyrinth City. She had seen worn charcoal kilns near her abducted friend, and there were a great many of those in the eastern woods. However, Mariela’s vision had also provided them with the knowledge that these kilns sat at the edge of a slope that lead up a mountain. That was enough for the Forces to get a rough idea of where Caroline was.

Their destination wasn’t terribly far from the Labyrinth City. Even though they dismounted at the forest entrance to walk the rest of the way, the forest was shallow. They could get there in under two hours.

However, fate would not make their task so easy. When they arrived at the place the young alchemist had described, Caroline was already gone. Fresh footprints on the muddy ground followed a trail about halfway, then turned to enter the forest and disappeared.

“Split up and search! She can’t have gone far! These footprints show someone else is with her! Hurry!”

At Weishardt’s instructions, the soldiers split into groups of three and pushed into the forest.

“Found you.”

It was around the time Weishardt arrived at the charcoal kilns when Caroline heard the voice. Robert was the first to react. The words carried an accent from a foreign country. Robert spread a smokescreen curse around himself and his sister, grasped Caroline’s hand, and broke into a run. Together they fled deeper into the forest.

If it had still been raining, the fleeing siblings would have been at least somewhat concealed. However, the downpour had since stopped, and the ground underfoot was soggy and damp, which made running even more difficult for Caroline. Her entire dress was heavy from the water it had soaked up, and the forest vegetation became natural snares that grasped at Caroline and her brother.

“It’s useless, shaman.”

A man in black dispersed the curse, sauntering toward Caroline and Robert in a demonstration of his superior strength. This was probably the one who’d used the sleeping powder in the guesthouse. His lightweight, black clothing and concealed face told them he was a spy or something like it. This person could have easily made himself disappear in the trees, yet he purposefully revealed himself, drawing nearer very much like an animal cornering its prey.

“Rgh.”

Robert tempered a curse to try to keep the approaching hunter at bay. At the same time, he desperately sent magical power into the seal on his left hand to try and conceal his and Caroline’s presence. If his sister had been unconscious, he probably could have taken advantage of the slightest opening to hide them both. After all, Robert had already slipped past this spy once when he’d taken her out of the guesthouse. However, since she was conscious, their presence would remain faintly detectable, no matter how powerful the seal was.

“Admirable concealment. That information is valuable, heir of the Aguinas family.”

Had he noticed the seal? Or did he assume it was Roberts own spellcraft? The spy’s hungry gaze fixed on Robert, his prey.

“The circumstances have changed. I cannot take two people. Therefore—”

“Carol! Run!”

Guessing the situation, Robert pushed Caroline deeper into the forest and jumped in front of the spy.

“I told you, your efforts are futile.”

“Brother!”

Robert charged at the unknown man, but the spy sidestepped with practiced grace. The mysterious agent closed on Caroline in just a few steps and raised a sword he’d drawn from its concealed place of rest.

“Carol!”

Robert screamed his sister’s name and stretched his hand out toward her. The dream the alchemists had left to him had slipped through his fingers before, and so had the love of his life, Estalia. Was this hand so stained in sin that it could not even save the life of his own sister?

Was this his true punishment for seeking the power found in dark curses?

Robert’s eye caught the seal of flame emblazoned on his outstretched hand. For the briefest moment, the image of the incarnation of fire who had given him the seal crossed his mind.

He was certain she wasn’t of this world. If he desired a miracle above what he’d already been given, he would have to give up not just the hope for a peaceful life, but the hope for a peaceful death as well.

Does that even matter anymore?

If he couldn’t hold on to anything and simply lamented his own powerlessness, there was no meaning in life or death.

He would give his life, his soul, everything, without exception. He pleaded with anyone who might hear him for the life of his sister.

When he was ensorcelled by the black arts, dropped from the family inheritance, and shut away in that place where the world had frozen, Caroline’s letters had been the only things that made time move forward for him.

Even after she’d seen him in his current state, she still saw him as the same brother she’d always had.

Fwsh.

Just then, a single arrow was loosed.

It was half by accident that Siegmund found Caroline and Robert. Freyja had summoned Sieg frequently—every time the alcohol was gone, or when she wanted a snack, or when they were out of toilet paper, or when other extremely inconsequential chores needed doing—but instead of using a bell, she used magical power. Over time, Sieg felt like he could sense the direction from which Freyja sent the magic signals.

Mariela was insensitive to the magical power of others, and no matter how much Freyja sent to her, the girl took no notice. So the master would simply call to her pupil in her own voice. If Mariela couldn’t hear her or wasn’t around, Freyja would signal for Sieg to relay the message. It was something that had progressed beyond a simple manipulation of magical power. The lady sage made heavy use of advanced magical skills for utterly pointless things.

The other half of the reason Sieg had found Robert and Caroline was his skill as a hunter. Being thrown into the Fell Forest day after day at Freyja’s decree had forced him to remember his former huntsman ways without even realizing it. So as soon as he turned his attention in the direction of the magical power he had sensed, Sieg was able to find Caroline and Robert despite how far away they were.

When he saw the spy approach Caroline, Sieg drew his bow on reflex. It was a fluid movement as natural as breathing.

Ever since he’d taken up archery again in the Labyrinth City, Sieg thought back to when he still had his Spirit Eye with each pull of the bowstring. Back then, he’d always made the best possible shot, as if an invisible hand were guiding him on where to aim and how to nock the arrow.

I want to shoot like how I used to. I want to be as skilled—more skilled—than I was back then.

Every time he thought like that, the correct stance, the correct movements, it all became unclear to him. It got harder to tell what he was doing wrong. Sieg’s archery became a reflection of his own hesitation, and his arrows missed their mark.

When Freyja made him hunt in the forest, he’d had no time to think about things like hitting or not hitting, skillful or unskillful. He secured meat by throwing stones or even by killing with his bare hands if it was necessary, then returned home to Mariela. Perhaps it had been good for Sieg to lurk in the grass, or to hide in the canopy of the trees, and fire his bow at prey without the luxury of second-guessing himself.

His body remembered the correct motions and postures he’d repeated countless times in the bygone days of his Spirit Eye. Sieg hadn’t lost the hunting knowledge he’d carried with him since he was a child; it had been lurking within him this whole time.

The Spirit Eye was powerful. It showed him his prey’s weaknesses, taught his body the correct movements, corrected the trajectory and power of his fired arrows, and strengthened Sieg himself. It covered his own failings.

But he didn’t need the likes of the Spirit Eye anymore.

His hesitation, mistakes, and weakness had been laid bare many times over, but Sieg had overcome them all.

I won’t let anything else important to Mariela be taken away!

Siegmund readied an arrow. The correct posture, the correct movements, and his steadfast heart would lead his shot to the target.

The arrow flew straight and true.

A shot like this would have been impossible even with magic, but Siegmund’s arrow pierced the spy’s arm.

“Gaaah, where did that come from?!”

An arrow had struck the spy from so far away that he couldn’t even detect its origin. He dropped his sword and scanned the area.

The forest was dense and thick; the idea that there was an opening an arrow could weave its way through was already a miracle, and that was to say nothing of the actual aiming. Had the trees themselves made way for the projectile?

Whatever it was, it wouldn’t happen again. There was no path an arrow could possibly travel here.

The trees had provided the spy with cover, protecting his vital areas from the first missile. It was his right arm that had been pierced, meaning the spy was victorious. The man yet lived, and still had use of his left arm. The assassin was confident he had time enough to kill the young woman and take the shaman away.

Moving to draw another of his weapons, the assassin suddenly found his body no longer moved.

I’m being frozen…?! Where is that coming from?

Assessing that the mysterious archer wasn’t his only cause for concern, the spy immediately surrounded his body with magical power. If he used magic to force his steadily freezing body to move, it would probably result in injury, but that was acceptable as a temporary solution. Failing his mission meant certain death anyway; injury was a preferable alternative.

Finding the source of the cold that had crept up unnoticed, the spy threw three needlelike daggers at the same time. They had been dipped in poison many times over, and their surfaces were corroded so as not to give off a visible shine. The little things were almost indistinguishable from the shadows of the trees in a forest like; they were nearly impossible to see.

For most opponents, at least.

“Ice Shield.”

All the deadly projectiles were parried effortlessly, and a young noble with an icy look in his eyes appeared from between the trees.

For Weishardt, who had fought higher-ranking monsters in the dim light of the Labyrinth, dealing with this assassin slowed by the cold was simple. Batting the knives away was like swatting a bug.

“Did you really think you could buy time with such an amateurish attack?” Weishardt asked, voice as chill as the grave. The noble’s outline appeared blurry to the black-robed spy, who had prepared to launch his final attack the instant he sighted Weishardt.

“…Contemptible vermin.” It was unclear whether the nobleman’s voice reached the assassin.

Weishardt’s magic Ice Field, encased the spy’s body completely, leaving him transfigured into a statue of pure ice. Weishardt threw a hateful glare at his enemy, then rushed over to Caroline.

“Carol! Are you unharmed?!”

“Lord Weis…”

After running through an unfamiliar forest on a rough animal trail and being threatened with a weapon, Caroline understood that she was safe at last now that she could see Weishardt’s face. As if all the strength suddenly left her legs, the young lady of the Aguinas family began to collapse to the ground.

“Carol!”

Flustered, Weishardt reached out and caught her in his arms.

“U-um, Lord Weis. I… I am sorry you must see me like this…” Caroline bashfully averted her gaze.

Although her cloak had warded off the rain, it had done little to stave off the rest of the day’s miseries: She’d been drugged, taken to a hideaway in the forest, and traveled along an unpaved path in the middle of the forest during a storm. Water dripped from the tips of her hair, and her thinly applied makeup had long since come off. Both her shoes and the hem of her dress were in terrible shape from rain and mud. Even her face was stained with wet dirt.

For a young lady who experienced emotional upheaval over the thickness of her lashes, the length and curliness of her bangs, and every single one of her freckles, Caroline hardly considered herself presentable at the moment.

But from Weishardt’s point of view, Caroline’s alabaster skin was beautiful, no longer concealed beneath makeup and now even paler after her ordeal. The rain dripping from her long lashes and bangs seemed to sparkle more radiantly than any jewel. Caroline’s cold hands on Weishardt’s arm as he supported her trembled gently. Even though they both lived in the Labyrinth City, her life was so very different from his own. Weishardt confronted monsters and felt death breathing down his neck every day. How terrifying facing that must have been for a young lady who saw the future as full of hope and promise.

Caroline’s quivering hands, buckling legs, and pale face were proof enough of that. No one would have judged her for clinging to Weishardt and crying in relief at being saved. However, without shedding tears or losing her composure, Caroline put what strength remained into her shaking legs.

So strong and beautiful…

The sight of her standing by herself without clinging to anyone touched Weishardt’s heart.

“Carol, you don’t need to stand alone. You don’t need to bear the burden alone. I would bear it with you. I will stay by your side.”

“Lord…Weis…?”

Weishardt firmly grasped both of Caroline’s hands to hold her up, then went down to his knees on the muddy earth.

“Caroline. I will be your support. I will remain with you for as long as I draw breath. I wish to be with you.”

“Lord Weishardt…”

They were not beneath a beautiful starlit sky, nor in a beautiful rose garden. The rain had stopped, but the ground was muddy, and they were surrounded by decaying plant matter and moss-covered trees. What stood in this “garden” wasn’t a beautiful marble statue, but an assassin, frozen in ice.

It would be hard to say the scene was romantic, but the two saw only each other. Nothing else mattered.

“Yes… Yes! Lord Weishardt. I…”

Caroline’s cheeks were a rosy shade of red as she accepted Weishardt’s proposal.

After it had been decided Caroline would be the Aguinas family’s heir, she had been prepared to welcome someone connected to the family of Margrave Schutzenwald as her husband. The Aguinases were an ancient line and had once held rights to potion-related matters. Now that their potions had run dry, they had neither land nor much income, and they became a family valuable only for their political influence.

Robert’s disgrace only complicated matters further. No matter what kind of person she was to be married off to, Caroline was not in a position to rebuke them. Even her previous fiancé had been an alchemist from the imperial capital more than twenty years her senior whom she’d never met. For her, a political marriage was the only option that there had ever been.

But, as Weishardt came to Sunlight’s Canopy time and again bearing sweets or bouquets of flowers, Caroline eventually found herself thinking, If only it could be him.

It wasn’t that she was drawn to Weishardt’s appearance or lineage. For Caroline, Weishardt’s high popularity among women and his good looks were offset by the fact that he was a soldier. Caroline had worked as a chemist for a long time, and she felt soldiers were more stubborn than adventurers, and couldn’t use healing magic and potions properly because they thought they could solve anything simply through blind effort alone. However, Weishardt understood the one advantage medicine had over potions was that they could be used anywhere. He endorsed Caroline’s view that even regular medicine had its uses, even if it wasn’t as powerful as an alchemical curative.

Besides, Weishardt supported his older brother and had a strong sense of purpose in his desire to defeat the Labyrinth. He and Caroline both hoped for a similar kind of world after the Labyrinth. To her, Weishardt walked a similar path, and he was a person she could respect. She couldn’t have wished for a better person to be her spouse.

“Let us protect the alchemist together, Lord Weis!”

Caroline accepted the proposal with a smile that lit up her entire face, and although Weishardt’s expression remained unchanged, his heart crumbled at her answer.

…I… I see. At the end of the day, this is nothing more than a political marriage of convenience for Carol. Of course she would think of it as a measure to protect the alchemist and the potions…

Weishardt’s had captivated ladies of both the Labyrinth City and the imperial capital, but he was not prepared to find his princely advances meant nothing in the face of sheer obliviousness. A feeling of dejection washed over him. It was as if Weishardt were gazing up from the bottom of the earth at a high peak far above him. He shifted his focus, following Caroline’s glance to the frozen assassin who had taken an arrow.

If that single shot hadn’t bought him time, would Weishardt have made it…? His thoughts strayed to the one who had loosed the arrow and that hunter’s master.

Well, Caroline and I have made more progress than those two. I’ve passed a hurdle. I just need to be patient as things move forward.

Weishardt’s thoughts were as one might have expected of the lieutenant general of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. He’d overcome many hardships that had tempered his spirit like steel. He quickly recovered, and after getting up off the muddy earth, he offered Caroline his hand.

“Now then, Lady Carol. Actually, would it be all right if I called you Carol? Let’s return to the Labyrinth City.” Weishardt gave a kind smile, and in her eyes, he was more attractive than ever before. As if slightly bewildered by this, Caroline spoke with hesitation.

“Um, Lord Weis.”

“Yes?”

“Um…my dear brother rescued me. He may have committed a crime by escaping, but…if he had not rescued me, surely you and I could not have met again.”

“Ahh, is that right? So everything he did was to save you.”

“Yes, that’s why—” With her head down, Caroline swallowed hard. Clearly having focused her resolve, she continued, “Would you release my dear brother? He’s frozen over there.”

A few steps behind the assassin, Robert, too, had become an ice statue. He was frozen in a pose that seemed to say, “If you want to kill my sister, you’ll have to go through me first!”

It was an extremely dangerous position for Robert to have taken. Despite the bravery of the stance, Robert’s physical abilities didn’t even come close to being enough to block the assassin. He hadn’t been a wall at all. His position relative to the spy made this very clear. The assassin had pushed well past him by the time the two had been encased in ice.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

Although Weishardt had trapped the two, it was just to stop them from moving. He needed them alive for interrogation. In particular, Robert was hardly a threat in a fight, and he had only needed a thin layer of frost to halt his movements. Stuck in that extremely awkward pose, Caroline’s brother had heard—with perfect clarity—the entire proposal.

What manner of hell is this?!

No one heard Robert screaming thoughts of discomfort. All he could do was cry internally and alone. Was this his penance for making a deal with the flame devil? Could this have been the result of giving up a peaceful life and death? His sister was safe of course, but…

After Weishardt freed him, and Dick and the others came running to take him away, Robert looked like his soul had left his body.

“I can summon a carriage to the edge of the forest. Can you walk that far?”

“Yes, Lord Weis.”

Following Weishardt, Caroline moved leisurely through the forest.

“Lord Weis……”

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Am I going a bit fast?”

“No, no. It is nothing.”

Caroline turned her eyes away and didn’t see Weishardt’s caring expression as he looked back at her.

What’s the matter with me?

Despite being known as an ice user, Weishardt’s hand clasping hers was large and warm. As a daughter of the Aguinas family, Caroline had to conduct herself with resolve, yet all she could think about was their linked hands. Her heart pounded in her breast.

Lord Weis proposed to me as a political partner… But, I…

One could only wonder when Caroline would realize the true nature of the feelings that had taken hold of her, or if Weishardt ever noticed that the heart of the girl gazing passionately at his back, was pounding.

The forest remained slick and swampy after the storm, and the steps of the pair walking hand in hand were awkward.

The sunlight shining through a gap in the clouds cast glittering shades on the droplets clinging to the branches. Others who saw Weishardt and Caroline on their journey home seemed to be wishing the best of luck to the pair.

05

“Thank you for coming, Lord Kunz Marrock.”

Kunz Marrock—master of the dwarven Rock Wheel Autonomous Region—arrived in the Labyrinth City precisely two days after Caroline’s attempted abduction, just as his message had said.

Leonhardt, who welcomed him, had prepared a two-person feast for the man. Marrock was known to dislike formal gatherings.

“I’m grateful you’re sparing me some of your time despite my sudden visit. Dwarves don’t pay any attention to details unless they’re making something. I only realized a few days ago that I’d failed to send notice of my visit. Good gracious, I’m honestly ashamed.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ve maintained a good friendship with the Rock Wheel Autonomous Region for over two hundred years. Its lord has graced us with his presence, so I’d like to offer a heartfelt welcome. I’ve prepared plenty of alcohol. I hope you’ll greatly enjoy yourself.”

“In that case, I’ll avail myself of your kind offer. Only half of the blood running through my veins is dwarven, but it’s no less a nuisance. I’ve got a weakness for a good drink. Good gracious, I’m truly embarrassed. Ohh, this is an eight-year-vintage that the imperial capital just started offering for sale. The merchant caravans going through the Fell Forest must be doing extremely well if you were able to get your hands on this.”

Marrock grinned and picked up the bottle.

He may have been using words like “embarrassed,” but his behavior didn’t hold the slightest bit of humility. If anything, he was rather brazen. Marrock’s blood was half dwarven, so he had the characteristic solid, short build and thick beard and eyebrows of a dwarf. Though a little taller than the average dwarf, his race was still immediately obvious; he was a very dwarven man in his fifties. However, most dwarves grew out their beards as a source of pride, but Marrock had trimmed his short, and even his eyebrows had been kept neat. His hairstyle was clean as well, giving him a gentlemanly, fresh appearance.

His tone, too, was calm and shrewd, giving whomever he spoke to the impression that he was a noble who had been doing business for a long time. Above all, his large eyes gave off a sense of noble birthright to others. Even as he laughed happily and relished his drink, they betrayed nothing of his true feelings to any observers.

A half-dwarf lord whose heart of hearts was well-hidden—that was Kunz Marrock.

“Every bottle of alcohol from the imperial capital is a quality item. I’ll make arrangements to have the merchant caravans who travel along the mountain roads transport it,” Leonhardt said to Marrock, who tilted his cup back in an elegant motion.

Leonhardt had broached this subject to say that the merchant caravans who traveled through the mountain roads would still exist even after people began using the road through the Fell Forest. It was likely that the only reason for Marrock’s visit at this stage was that the Fell Forest had become traversable now that potions were offered on the market.

“That’s very kind of you,” Marrock replied, his expression unchanged. “However, the sentiment is enough. Well, the part about sending the alcohol, that is. Good gracious, the alcohol makes it a terribly attractive proposal. Honestly, I almost forgot my original reason for coming. That is also one of the reasons I came here, of course, but what I want is something different.”

He got to the point faster than I thought he would. Does this frankness mean he’s already accepted the reality of what’s happening…?

As he gazed at Marrock’s large, unreadable eyes, Leonhardt’s expression remained neutral as well, and he urged him to continue.

“I see. Then what is your request?”

“Oh, it’s nothing big. With merchants far and wide going to the imperial capital, our Rock Wheel Autonomous Region has also started its own company. We can’t presume upon other people carrying goods for us forever. So we’ll transport them to the imperial capital ourselves and sell them. Good gracious, dwarves involved in the likes of business—it must seem like child’s play to you. Go ahead, you can laugh at how slow we are to catch on.”

“No, not at all! There’s no need to be so humble. It’s a joint venture with the Bandel Company. Nothing escapes our notice.”

Grin, grin.

Though the mouths of the two men mouths smiled, their eyes didn’t at all.

The Bandel Company was a major medicinal herb distributor in the Labyrinth City and specialized in exporting via yagu merchant caravans traveling along the mountain roads. They had the foresight to quickly switch to the Fell Forest route once the sale of potions promised to reduce the flow of medicinal herbs from the Labyrinth City. It was probably a natural outcome for the Bandel Company to have its eye on Rock Wheel weapons and armor as goods to replace medicinal herbs.

“Good gracious, just as I’d expect from the renowned general. Honestly, you have sharp ears. Well then, we’ll establish a branch in the Labyrinth City. I take it you won’t mind.”

“Of course, Lord Marrock. I believe the Bandel Company has already prepared a location for it.”

Grin, grin.

Leonhardt had a general idea of the goings-on in the City. At his response, Marrock continued.

“You could say the sale of potions is a revolutionary turning point for the Labyrinth City, couldn’t you? Good gracious, bearing witness to such a historic moment is more of an honor than I deserve. You’ll be inundated by crowds of people, and you’ll never have enough artisans. Rock Wheel is willing to offer its support. Changing our traditional sales outlets to go through the Labyrinth City is proof enough of that. However, we dwarves are inexperienced in business matters. We won’t last if we don’t have some sort of help.”

“What are you talking about, Lord Marrock? It takes one week to travel from the Rock Wheel Autonomous Region to the Labyrinth City, and six days from the Labyrinth City to the imperial capital for someone familiar with the route. Going to the imperial capital from the Rock Wheel Autonomous Region through the mountain roads takes three weeks. Traveling to the capital by first coming here is the faster route. I have nothing but the greatest admiration for your keen insight in seeing the opportunity to make profits along the way.”

Dry laughter reverberated in the room. Even if Leonhardt and Marrock were having an entirely unenjoyable conversation, adult laughter shouldn’t have been so dry. At this rate, their throats would be left parched.

After gulping down his drink, Marrock flashed a smile at Leonhardt and said, “Ohh, this really is some good alcohol.”

In the end, all Marrock was requesting was for people from Rock Wheel to be allowed to travel to the imperial capital via the shorter Fell Forest route.

Of course, Marrock was meticulous enough to insert himself into a company that had roots in the Labyrinth City so he wouldn’t be refused. He also brazenly made mention of preferential treatment, if possible. Though he probably already knew that would be turned down. Since even the Labyrinth City couldn’t refuse Marrock’s proposal, he’d settled for “good alcohol.”

This discussion was just one of the possible scenarios Leonhardt had anticipated, one of the most reasonable at that.

The Rock Wheel Autonomous Region was located far from the imperial capital and was much smaller than the Labyrinth City. Despite all its residents being dwarves who devoted themselves to craftsmanship, Marrock had acquired information on alcohol that had just begun to be sold in the imperial capital.

Although Leonhardt wasn’t able to obtain any intelligence suggesting that Marrock was involved in the kidnapping of the Aguinas woman in the Labyrinth City two days ago, it was very doubtful the half dwarf, who had paid a visit to the Labyrinth City right around that time, knew nothing about it.

Dwarves may have spoken the same language as humans and possessed the ability to bear children with them, but they were, ultimately, a different kind of people.

They found meaning in craftsmanship itself, not in where those crafts ended up. They didn’t care if their own weapons spread both to the Empire and to the countries that opposed it at the same time. Dwarves operated under different morals. Understanding each other’s differences was the way to coexist with them.

Knowing this, Leonhardt had said something very specific to Marrock. It was a magic phrase that had been passed down from the head of the family for generations: a kind of friendship spell.

“We, too, look forward to the day when Rock Wheel achieves ‘the ultimate sword.’ When that day comes, I would like to ask for a swing.”

The ultimate sword.

That was the only thing the dwarves of the Rock Wheel Autonomous Region sought. The home of the dwarves didn’t produce orichalcum; they wanted to cast steel that surpassed it in order to forge the ultimate sword.

How many artisans, how much time, and how much money would be needed for such a blade?

Marrock sold dwarven weapons and armor on a large scale for no other reason than to see that goal fulfilled one day.

The half dwarf was an unparalleled lord. He’d been blessed with both business ability and an aptitude for politics. His heritage also ingrained in him the fundamental desire for the ultimate sword.

However, his blood also left him ill suited for smithwork. He himself was unable to work toward the ultimate sword. Although he understood that, his desire for the weapon was like an obsession.

Marrock knew the dwarven ideal and acted accordingly as best he could. Leonhardt wanted to be a good neighbor, and his words made him an individual in Marrock’s eyes for the first time.

He was no longer one person in a multitude of humans, but “Leonhardt.”

“By the way, I believe your younger brother, Lord Weishardt, got engaged recently. What a happy occasion. We haven’t yet achieved the ultimate, but the next time I come here, let us celebrate the best sword of the present age.”

That was only two days ago… Marrock truly is a shrewd one…

Leonhardt was astonished at the speed of the half dwarf’s information. The engagement was still largely unknown, even among the nobility.

“To the ultimate sword.”

“To the prosperity of the Labyrinth City.”

The toast didn’t taste too bad to either of them.

06

After much work, it was determined that the mastermind behind Caroline’s abduction was from a merchant clan. The clan had acted independently of any other larger groups. The execution of their crime had been clumsy and amateurish. If there had been any other points of contact, the scheme likely would’ve been exposed rather quickly.

The greedy merchant father-son pair charged people wanting to go to the Labyrinth City a travel fee to take them there. Of course, it was common for merchant caravans to transport people and items if they had the space in their wagons. Likewise, visitor inspections were easily conducted in the Labyrinth City. No one except extremely suspicious people were monitored, and once they entered the City, it was unknown where they went.

“There’s no reason for adventurers with valuable combat skills to come to the City during this season, right?”

Telluther had made this comment as he cut his nails. He was referring to a man with black hair and greenish-blue eyes in his late twenties with the air of a civil official. Normally, this man would have been overlooked, but thanks to Telluther’s remark, the Labyrinth Suppression Forces had become aware of him as a person of interest.

A number of territories suddenly attracted great importance to the Forces because the people who’d attacked their base were spies from the family of small nations. Malraux was well acquainted with one of them, and he had a clue as to who the man with black hair and greenish-blue eyes was.

“It has been a while. Is my wife doing well, Steward?”

Right around the time Weishardt had set out to rescue Caroline, Malraux, his orderly Rhet, and soldier slave Taros were visiting a room where a man with the air of a civil official was staying.

“M…my lord. It has been a long time. I was just thinking I might come to visit you tomorrow…”

Doubtless he hadn’t expected Malraux to come calling. Although the steward of Countess Beratte’s family was taken aback by a visit from his master, whom he should have been serving, he offered a token show of manners.

“Enough with the facade. You certainly made a profit from smuggling weapons to the smaller nations, didn’t you? I can’t imagine hiring so many spies could’ve been cheap.”

“Wh-what are you—?”

“We captured a spy who snuck into our base. He’ll tell us everything before long.”

Malraux’s attitude was indifferent. There was no sign he was agitated or that he desired remorse from the steward, who was a member of the family in a way. The glimpse of Malraux’s heart visible in his blue eyes showed resignation, and a most profound anger. To Rhet and Taros, who had come here with him, the silent rage in his eyes also appeared somewhat sad.

“D-damn it, if you had just…if you had just died on the road in the Fell Forest…!! Do you know what it’s like to watch another man claim my own child as his?!”

The steward, having guessed the situation from Malraux’s words and actions, flung off his pretense and drew his sword. Countess Beratte’s husband was his master, but the hostility he felt was clear in his words and his blade. This was what Malraux had expected. Why would this man expressly visit the Labyrinth City? Why had Malraux’s group been attacked on their way back to the base from Caroline’s atelier?

Malraux thought the man’s remarks were selfish. He stared down the steward of Countess Beratte’s family as the man slashed desperately at him.

This steward had an immoral relationship with the countess, and she’d taken Malraux, who had similar blond hair and blue eyes, as her husband in order to continue that relationship behind closed doors. His hair had been dyed black in an attempt at disguising their association.

If he hadn’t been dragged into such a foolish trick, Malraux would have been able to live peacefully in the Labyrinth City. This man probably didn’t even try to imagine the grief and hardship Malraux and his love had been forced to endure from being used and separated.

His sword is terribly slow.

The blade of a steward possessing no combat ability was mere child’s play to Malraux. Even if he didn’t dodge the blow, the extra armor he was wearing under his clothes would probably have prevented any serious injury. Surely he could afford to allow the man a single blow.

“No!”

“Taros…”

It was Malraux’s soldier slave, Taros, who stood in the way and caught the steward’s attack.

Malraux hadn’t known this taciturn giant for very long. Ever since what had happened to Lynx, Malraux had started treating slaves as such, and one couldn’t say he was an especially good master. But serving and protecting one’s master in and of itself goes without saying for some, and Taros naturally came to his master’s defense as he had in the previous attack. Malraux wasn’t an especially bad master, either. After all, he’d allowed the steward to carry on as he did despite the impropriety of his behavior. Taros’s words and actions quelled his reckless thoughts and returned him to his senses.

“Let me go, let me gooo!” the steward screamed as Taros pinned him to the floor.

What it’s like to be unable to claim his own child…

Malraux could understand that much. But then, the steward’s current situation was something he’d brought on himself. Considering what he’d put Malraux through, there was little room for sympathy now.

“If your only purpose was to hinder the sale of potions, there was no reason for you to come to the Labyrinth City. Did you want to take my place that badly?”

The steward remained silent at the question, but the answer was clear. He had indeed come to kill Malraux.

“If so, then I can at least grant you that.”

Malraux was calm as he had the last word, and the steward lost consciousness.

Once Malraux knew the facts, the matter was extremely simple.

In order to rally the family of Countess Beratte, who had fallen into financial difficulties due to a string of reckless political endeavors, the steward had smuggled weapons and armor to the family of small nations by diverting them to the Rock Wheel Autonomous Region’s sales channels. Not only was Countess Beratte’s territory on the way from Rock Wheel to the imperial capital, but it was also a crossroads that led to the family of small nations—the perfect setup for such a business.

However, the family of small nations was hostile to the Empire, and selling Rock Wheel weapons and armor to them on a large scale was treasonous in the eyes of the Empire. The steward had to have understood the risks. He may have intended to rally the territory’s government as quickly as possible and then stop smuggling.

But the sale of potions in the Labyrinth City began before Countess Beratte’s territory had recovered.

The Rock Wheel Autonomous Region would probably also transport weapons via the Labyrinth City due to the cheaper cost. Which meant the number of yagu merchant caravans would drop sharply, and even the profits brought by merchant caravans would be lost. The smuggling could be done inconspicuously only because of the large volume of goods in circulation. If the main flow of merchandise went through the Fell Forest instead, continuing the illegal trading would be near impossible.

So the steward employed spies and assassins from the family of small nations and planned to abduct the alchemist to stop the sale of potions. The spies were talented, but in the worst-case scenario, the mastermind would be easy to surmise. In an attempt to cover himself, he’d hired a gang of thieves from the imperial capital at an exceptional price, and they weren’t given any information as to who they were working for. The merchants’ attack itself was merely a fortunate coincidence. The steward had realized the merchants’ plan when he slipped into the Labyrinth City during their visit, and had analyzed their movements so that he could set his plan to be executed on the same day.

He’d hired spies from the family of small nations for no small fee. Whether or not the steward of Countess Beratte’s family was in the Labyrinth City probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome of that operation.

The steward had indeed come to the Labyrinth City in the hopes of taking Malraux’s place.

If Malraux suffered an injury serious enough that he could no longer serve in the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, he could be brought back to the house of Countess Beratte. Likely confinement, or death, awaited him on his return. Afterward, the steward would return his dyed hair to its original blond color and live openly as Malraux. After a wound so severe, no one was likely to be suspicious of abnormalities in his face, voice, or memory. Countess Beratte had even sent Malraux a letter to act the part of a loving wife. Perhaps it was sent only for the expectation that multiple people would notice it during inspections, lending strength to the alibi.

It was for this personal reason that Malraux and his two followers had been attacked in the alleyway.

Two groups of visitors came to the house of Countess Beratte a few weeks after the attack on the Aguinas family.

The first was a group of soldiers from the Labyrinth Suppression Forces bringing Malraux, who they’d reported had suffered a grievous injury. “Malraux” had been injured so badly that only his sparsely remaining hair and greenish-blue eyes could distinguish him, most likely a result of intense pain. His injuries had been treated countless times with healing magic and potions, and reports claimed that it hadn’t been possible to heal this “Malraux” any further than this in the Labyrinth City.

Countess Beratte started insisting this man wasn’t her husband after seeing that he wasn’t eating enough or even speaking. Walking unassisted was impossible for the so-called Malraux. However, a soldier that accompanied the broken man took a potion from his breast pocket and used it on the man and Countess Beratte’s son to prove they were related by blood. This was a blood relation potion used to expose faithlessness. Up until recently, it hadn’t existed in this ley line’s region. It was an item that became available after an alchemist had appeared in the Labyrinth City.

“Father? Are you really my father?”

Although he’d been away from home for a long time, the father was very dear to his son. The young boy cried in sympathy for his so thoroughly altered parent. After the blood relation potion was used, Countess Beratte seemed to understand the situation.

Offering only the words “If you use several special-grade potions, you might be able to expect some amount of recovery,” the Labyrinth Suppression Forces soldiers promptly departed.

Soon after, came the second group of visitors.

“Countess Beratte, we wish to speak with you about the smuggling of weapons to the family of small nations.” It was a group of inquisitors from the Empire.

“The territory of Countess Beratte’s family was seized, but she and her family apparently escaped capital punishment. It’s clear Malraux had nothing to do with the smuggling, and the steward, the principal offender, is unaccounted for. Your house has been acquitted. It seems that three people are now barely scraping by on ‘Malraux’s’ pension,” Dick commented to the blond-haired, blue-eyed man.

“Hmm, is that so?” the man answered with a distinct disinterest.

“There’s a rumor that, despite the treason toward the Empire, the emperor was deeply moved by the countess’s devotion to her paralyzed husband and saw fit to show them mercy, Malraux.”

“Mercy, huh…?”

The steward’s wish, to be called “Father” by his own son, was sure to be granted now. However, could a mother and child so accustomed to luxury really be happy in a life of poverty with an unsightly man who could no longer move? How would the man who lived with such a wife and child feel?

The pension given to the other Malraux was three gold coins a year. The best they could do with that amount of money was have enough to eat. Buying new dresses was a thing of the past for them now.

Then there were the words the Labyrinth Suppression Forces soldiers had left with them, “If you use several special-grade potions, you might be able to expect some recovery.”

If there had been no possibility, they probably would have accepted it. But would a wife who didn’t work really arrange for special-grade potions for her husband when his pension was barely enough to feed her?

No matter how much his wife and child might come to loathe him or were cruel to him, the pension would only be paid to “Malraux.” They wouldn’t be able to send the man away.

“It’s a vicious punishment,” said Malraux, now just a commoner, before parting ways with Dick and heading for home.

If you worked in the intelligence unit, your existence would need to be erased sooner or later, so Malraux had no regrets in handing over his name. In return for turning in the information he’d gotten from the steward to the imperial capital, no fault was found with Malraux’s parents or his family. For him, it wasn’t a bad way to put an end to things.

Considering the crimes the family of Countess Beratte had committed, one might’ve said the emperor’s judgment was unusually lenient.

However.

“Welcome home, dear.”

“Welcome home, Father.”

Warm light shone through the Labyrinth City at dusk. Malraux returned to the home where warm food, his wife, and daughter waited for him.

The husband earned good money, and though the wife and daughter weren’t furnished with expensive attire, they were happy and waiting for him. It was a comfortable house where steam rose from well-prepared meals and the cleaning was scrupulously done. The home welcomed Malraux as a gentle, respectable husband and father who did honest work. It was the life Malraux had made for himself. He deserved to enjoy it.

But if—

He shut the thought away as quickly as it had come. Any more than that would be an affront to the wife he loved. The wife who’d given birth to and raised their daughter in poverty, alone.

“I’m back,” Malraux said, and quietly closed the door to his home behind himself.

07

“I realized something,” Mariela muttered after Sieg had left to rescue Caroline.

“What’s that?” Freyja asked, more quietly than usual.

“Hmm. A lot of things. But I guess the biggest thing is about Drops of Life,” Mariela said, and headed to her atelier on the second floor of Sunlight’s Canopy with her master.

She picked out dried lunamagia. Then curique, mandragora, and ogre dates; the usual materials she was familiar with.

“Form Transmutation Vessel, Water, Drops of Life.”

Without saying anything, Mariela expanded a Transmutation Vessel and dissolved Drops of Life into magically created water. At the same time, she expanded another Transmutation Vessel and joined the two with a thin tube. The shape resembled the ordinary vessels she’d used many times to make high-grade potions.

“Nozzles are easy, so that’s good.”

Up to now, Mariela had ordered a great number of nozzles to make high-grade potions.

The simplest type that sprayed only water had a small hole at the end of the tube, and the hole had a distinct shape. When they got a little more complicated, the path of the water zigzagged and the water pooled right before the nozzle, or there were several pathways for the water that created whirlpools through different water speeds. For the types that sprayed water and air together, a water tube ran through the very center and an air tube ran along the vessel’s circumference.

Mariela had reproduced nozzles with Transmutation Vessels, but quickly discovered the water was being stirred up by water and air from other channels and scattering near the nozzle’s outlet. So if the young alchemist changed the current of the water and air and scrambled the nozzle’s outlet, she could probably create a finer spray.

However, that method used too many controls, and Mariela felt like it wasn’t the correct way to go about it.

That day, she made a straightforward and familiar nozzle in the Transmutation Vessel that simply sent water and air in the proper way. As she sent the water in a free fall, she blasted it with air. With this, she could freeze the water droplets while easily mixing it with finely powdered lunamagia. However, the water droplets were too big and created a diluted extract.

“There was…no need to approach it from only the outside,” Mariela muttered and put magic energy into the Drops of Life dissolved in the water. Drawing up Drops of Life used magical power. There was no reason she shouldn’t be able to work on it after the Drops had been drawn up. Mariela wondered to herself why she hadn’t noticed something like that earlier.

With a popping sound, the water droplets spraying from the nozzle burst open and scattered, finer than mist.

Since they were very small drops, their bursting wasn’t very loud. But Mariela’s attention was fixed on each and every little liquid bead. To her, the little sounds of bursting water were as lively as bells.

Pop, pop, pop. Tinkle, tinkle, ring-ring.

The mist shrouded the interior of the Transmutation Vessel that Mariela had created in the blink of an eye. She cooled and stirred it, turning it into something like fine powder moving in a high-viscosity liquid. It was as if the mist was gathering together with a mind of its own. Then the now pure white mist touched the lunamagia powder, turned slightly yellow, and then collected at the bottom of the vessel like light rain.

“…I did it. It was so easy.”

Although Mariela would have neither thought of it, nor had the skill to make it possible until now, she had finished the lunamagia extraction with so little effort it seemed absurd that she hadn’t been able to do it before.

“Mariela. Don’t stop until you’re completely done.”

“Okay, Master.”

The obstacle in making the high-grade potion had been the lunamagia extraction. Having accomplished that, the rest was easy. Carrying out multiple processes at the same time, Mariela completed a high-grade potion using only alchemical skills.

The Library opened.

To an alchemist, the feeling was like noticing a door that had always been closed was now suddenly open.

Some had also regarded it as abruptly being able to see color in a world of only black and white. In a world without blue, after all, you wouldn’t be able to read words written in ink of such a color.

Mariela followed the newly opened knowledge and was about to search for the one potion she wanted.

“Don’t be impatient, Mariela. Start with the basics first: a normal special-grade potion,” Freyja reminded her pupil, who had immediately started searching for a potion to heal eyes.

“…Okay.”

Mariela knew how to make special-grade potions, though that knowledge had come to her only recently. But although she vaguely understood how to make a special-grade specialized potion for the eyes, the instructions became blurry and nebulous as soon as she tried to read them. As her master had said, the ability to make basic special-grade potions was her first priority.

“Oh, Master, the materials.”

“Yeah, we’ll have the Labyrinth Suppression Forces prepare them tomorrow. There’s no one who’s been using them anyhow. They probably have about a hundred years’ worth stockpiled. Mariela, you did great today. You learned something else, too, right? It’s something very important. You can start working on special-grade potions tomorrow. In any case, you won’t be able to make them right away. Today you should just take it easy.”

At Freyja’s unusually tender demeanor, Mariela finally realized her master had sensed her intentions. Her teacher really was an incredible person.

08

Several days after the attack on the Aguinas estate, Sieg officially became a free man.

It was in recognition of his exemplary deeds as an adventurer and his service in rescuing Caroline. Sieg was happily released from the bonds of slavery and became recognized as an A-Rank adventurer at the same time.

Since his master was the alchemist, several conditions were added to the terms of his release, including continuing to serve as Mariela’s escort. However, they were all what Sieg wanted anyway, so the formalities were carried out without issue.

The day of the contract annulment ceremony that would free Sieg, Mariela ran around like a chicken with its head cut off starting first thing in the morning. Although they were just going to the slave trader Reymond’s company, she showered Sieg with different clothing. He was forced to change every five minutes as Mariela changed her mind about what he should wear. She polished his shoes and armor until they sparkled, wondered if he’d forgotten anything, and pulled snacks from her bag to pack for him until he stopped her and told her she didn’t need them. Then Mariela stuffed Sieg’s bag with every kind of high-grade potion imaginable for any worst-case scenario until he turned them down. “There won’t be any danger,” he reassured her.

Naturally, it wasn’t a day Mariela could spend making potions, so today was a break for her in that regard. She wasn’t able to make normal special-grade potions yet, let alone a special-grade specialized potion for eyes, and Mariela apologized to Sieg countless times, saying, “I wasn’t in time, I’m sorry.”

Despite Mariela’s restlessness as she awaited Sieg’s release, the slave liberation ceremony was surprisingly simple.

“Ahh, it’s just about undone. Contract Annulment. There, we’re finished.”

“Huh? That’s it?”

“…I don’t feel any different, but…”

Mariela had assumed it would be similar to when they’d formed the contract and Reymond would make fire dance, wind swirl, earth heave, and water drip from a cup while shouting things like “Your blood is now your own!” However, Reymond merely touched the slave brand on Sieg’s chest over his shirt like a button and then—yup, all done.

There weren’t any spectators. Sieg and the one he escorted, Mariela, passed through a room that seemed to be a reception office, and after they signed a document, Sieg was released as easily as pressing a stamp on paper.

One might’ve suspected Reymond of being unwilling, but that wasn’t the case. The man looked back and forth at Mariela and Sieg with a happy smile the likes of which the two had never seen before.

“The fact you felt no different was most likely because the Contract of Servitude was almost gone. I could feel very little of Mariela’s magical power in Siegmund’s slave brand. I wonder, did you refrain from giving him many Orders?”

“Um, yeah.”

Come to think of it, Mariela had only given one Order to Sieg way back in the beginning: “Don’t tell anyone I’m an alchemist.” Mariela and Sieg’s daily life had never needed things like Orders. That was a matter of course for Mariela, but to Reymond, and most others, it was a rare thing.

“Ohh. That’s wonderful. A mark of subordination is artificially conferred. It’s not natural. Therefore, if the master’s magical power isn’t periodically transferred into it, its effect will dilute and weaken. If you make holes in your ears to put earrings in but then don’t wear earrings, the holes will eventually close, right? It’s the same as that.”

Was it really okay for a Contract of Servitude to be that simple? If you didn’t give Orders and it weakened, couldn’t the slave liberate themselves or run away and cause practical issues?

Reymond continued as if to answer Mariela’s unspoken question.

“The binding forces in a Contract of Servitude doesn’t only function when the master consciously puts magical power into Orders. The everyday words you speak have magical power in them, too, albeit just a little. Words released to make the other person obey or make them listen to what you say pass through the mark of subordination and bind the slave’s words and actions. The more out of character the words are for the slave, the more powerful they are. And the Contract of Servitude becomes more deeply rooted.”

Reymond paused for a moment. He wore a look that seemed to suggest he was staring at something off in the distance, then returned his gaze to Mariela and Sieg and continued.

“This is my theory: Orders don’t just bind words and actions. I think they distort the slave’s will itself, aligning their heart to their master’s to change their actions. Little by little, it distorts who they are.”

Reymond’s tone was calm, but Mariela felt the powerful feeling behind it. Perhaps they, too, were infused with magical power. When Mariela happened to glance at Sieg sitting next to her, she saw that he was listening intently to Reymond’s words. Likely Sieg had his own thoughts on all this.

“But there’s nothing of that in Siegmund. With all due respect, when I enacted the Contract of Servitude, I could feel considerable distortion from the influence of his previous master, but I can no longer sense that. Probably because the relationship between the two of you is filled with mutual affection. If you’re joined by a far stronger bond than a Contract of Servitude, the likes of that magical bind has no meaning whatsoever.”

Although a slaver by profession, Reymond perhaps had some good in him. He seemed extremely happy to see Mariela and Sieg formed a connection stronger than the Contract of Servitude. Mariela was somehow very embarrassed at being told it was filled with affection, but when Sieg answered, “Yes. I will continue to protect Mariela from here on out,” she went bright red all the way to her ears and looked down at her feet.

After casting a gentle look at Mariela, Reymond said, “By the way…,” and his expression stiffened as he faced Sieg. “Here. This is a copy of the record of charges against Siegmund’s previous master, the merchant.”

Siegmund took the document offered to him and quickly began to scan over it.

The merchant father and son, Sieg’s previous masters, had attacked the Aguinas family atelier in the Labyrinth City and were arrested. That alone was a serious crime. Moreover, due to the condition of the debt laborers they’d brought with them, many other infractions had come to light after an investigation of the abuse of the merchant father and son’s slaves. Other offenses were discovered as well.

Specified among the other crimes was a false claim brought against the slave who’d rescued the merchant’s son. The fraudulent accusation asserted that the slave was responsible for the failed merchant caravan plan to travel through the Fell Forest as well as for putting the merchant’s son in danger.

The plan of going through the Fell Forest without potions had resulted in the death of a large number of debt laborers. Despite their positions, they still had rights as people. The botched attempt had jeopardized the merchant’s position.

“One of our slaves tricked us. We’re victims, too. Because of that slave, even my son suffered serious injury.”

A large sum of money helped grease the right palms for their laughable excuse to pass. Most would have raised an eyebrow at conveniently pinning the crime on a dead slave, but fortunately for the merchants, one had survived. To improve matters for them, the slave was stricken with a high fever and dim consciousness.

That slave had been Siegmund.

“The charge against you has been verified as false. Reparations were going to be paid from the merchants’ own funds, but their cash flow seems to have deteriorated significantly ever since the failed merchant caravan plan, and even their visit to the Labyrinth City was meant as a get-rich-quick scheme. Since there were many other victims, such as the slaves who were almost forced to die in the recent assault, I wouldn’t expect much in the way of satisfactory payment.”

The news about the charges was likely more important to Reymond than the money.

A-Rank adventurers earned good money, but honor and reputation couldn’t be so easily bought back.

“Don’t worry about my reparations. Please divide them among the slaves who were almost killed. It’s enough that my innocence was proven,” Sieg replied calmly.

“Is that so? By the way, that father-son merchant pair became penal laborers and are here at my business as we speak. Would you buy them? Take your revenge? You can return all your sufferings onto them. The humiliation, terror, and the unmanageable resentment.” Reymond’s words sounded like a test.

The fact the record of charges against the merchant father and son was prepared here; that Reymond offered to sell Sieg’s former owners to him; that the merchants’ other crimes were investigated; and that Sieg’s name had been cleared may have all been planned by Weishardt. Rewards for Sieg saving Caroline, no doubt.

However, Sieg’s reply was decisive.

“No, thank you. I’ve wasted too much of my time on them already. I don’t want to give them another thought.”

“Is that so? I apologize if I overstepped my bounds suggesting it. If you ever require manpower, by all means, make a request here.”

The slave trader courteously bowed his head. Sieg was no longer a slave. He was an A-Rank adventurer, which was more than sufficient to be a customer at Reymond’s establishment.

“Let’s go home, Mariela.”

“Okay!”

Free at last, Sieg said the same sort of thing he always did to Mariela, and the young alchemist happily gave her reply.

“Ah, but there’s somewhere I want to drop by first.” Mariela cast a few quick glances at Sieg. Her attempts at feigning nonchalance were distinctly unnatural.

“The Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion?”

“Y-yeah. That’s right, but…?”

Mariela mumbled as she made a terrible attempt at being sneaky. Sieg had found out she was planning a surprise party for him at the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion to celebrate his release. What had cemented it was when Freyja, who always stuck close to Mariela, left with a cheery expression while saying, “I’m going on ahead, so hurry up!” It was so obvious that there would’ve been something wrong with him if he hadn’t noticed.

Reymond saw the two off with a “We’ll be awaiting your next visit” as he warmly watched the pair return home. The two still had the same distance between them as when they’d arrived.

Sieg spoke to Mariela on the way to the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion. The sun had started setting since they’d left to join the surprise party, and the pair’s shadows stretched along the road.

“Mariela… You know, Lynx…”

“Mm…”

Mariela gazed at the long shadows as the pair slowly walked side by side. It was just like when she’d first come to the Labyrinth City and she and Lynx walked together.

“Lynx loved you, Mariela.”

“Mm…”

Lynx had said that when he became an A-Ranker, he would tell Mariela how he felt. So as the one left behind, and an A-Rank adventurer himself now, Sieg felt the time was right to tell her. Mariela stared fixedly at the shadows at her feet. He couldn’t tell what her reaction was.

“Mariela. I…also love you.” Sieg laid out his own feelings as well. Surely, he had to tell her now.

“Sieg…um. You know, the day I followed the Drops of Life to find Lady Carol…”

In response to his confession, Mariela hesitantly strung her own words together, bit by bit.

“After I looked and looked for Lady Carol, and found her somehow, you know, I…sank into the ground with the raindrops.” Since she’d achieved her goal of finding Carol, she hadn’t needed to keep returning to the air anymore. Mariela had fallen with the pouring rain and soaked into the earth, like Drops of Life returning to the ley line.

“Right then, I thought something. I wondered if I could meet Lynx if I went to the ley line.”

Sieg quietly gasped in hushed reply. “…Did you meet him?”

Mariela had so wanted to see him again—someone precious to her, someone she’d lost. It was a beautiful sentiment.

“No. I didn’t. But, when I thought maybe I could, I kept sinking down, down, down toward the ley line.”

Mariela had spread her existence thin, and both her memories and emotions had grown extremely hazy in that state. Distinct intentions and thoughts, such as not being able to return if she had continued like that, or that she had to save Carol, were far from her mind as she’d plummeted deep into the earth. They had been left behind with her body, and she’d hardly felt aware of them anymore. The only thing filling Mariela enough for her to sink deep down was a floating calmness like being on the verge of waking from a nap.

“But you know, then…I heard you.”

Sieg’s voice had reached her in that deep place.

“I thought, ‘I want to go home.’”

That was probably the best answer Mariela could muster right now. For some reason she felt extremely embarrassed for having said “meat” back then, but…

Mariela had realized how she felt in that moment. However, she didn’t know what she wanted to do about it yet.

Sieg thought Mariela was still looking down at the shadows, but the alchemist had turned to look at him. The evening sun illuminated her embarrassed, smiling face.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Perhaps Sieg was satisfied, even with that answer. The two of them resumed their walk to the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion.

They could see the door in the distance, and it was wide open. Freyja, Haage, and Captain Dick drunkenly staggered out and waved with bottles of alcohol in their hands. Even though the man of the hour hadn’t arrived yet, they had apparently been unable to wait to start drinking. It was a predictable outcome.

“Whoa, they already started! Sieg, let’s hurry! The food’s gonna run out,” Mariela said, and the two of them broke into a run. The setting sun shone warmly on the pair.

09

A little while later.

A piece of information was brought to Sieg, who was still happily enjoying the same life in Sunlight’s Canopy. Seemingly, there were meddlesome people in this city who were concerned about him.

It was a report about the merchant father and son who had attacked the Aguinas family’s atelier. Detailed within was an account of how a man who used to be their slave had bought the father and son who were now slaves themselves. The man, who had been ordered to attack the Aguinases’ atelier, had been kept in slavery longer than his original term thanks to the merchants’ wicked designs. He was said to have been freed thanks to the crimes of the merchants being exposed.

“There’s nothing left for me anymore,” the man had said as he departed from the slave trading company. No one knew what on earth had happened to him for him to say such a thing.

People said the man took the merchant father and son he’d bought into the Labyrinth. Thereafter, not a single person saw any of them ever again.