Chapter 164

01 “Ooh, what’s that? Let’s go see! C’mon, hurry up!” “Hey, stop! If you run like that, you’re gonna get lost!” The noisy voices of a master and pupil echoed down the main road of the Labyrinth City. Freyja looked around, regarding everything with a great curiosity and chatting away in high spirits, while Mariela followed after her, completely exhausted. “You’re so slow, Mariela. Don’t you need to work on your stamina? It’s because you’re such a shut-in, day in and day out.” “…Whose fault is that?” It had been a little over a week since Freyja descended upon the Labyrinth City. The week had a rocky one for Mariela and Sieg. Mariela had been hard at work making potions under her master’s tutelage, while Sieg had gone out on an escort mission, also under Freyja’s guidance. Today was a day off at the red-haired woman’s suggestion, saying it wasn’t a good idea to keep working past the point of fatigue. However, Mariela’s stamina had been pushed well past its limit with her master having dragged her clear across the City all morning. Sieg, who’d had the toughest week physically speaking, walked behind the pair. He was burdened with a large amount of baggage. Nierenberg and others had expressed concerns about Mariela’s escort having his hands so full. Freyja had quickly settled the matter by saying, “It’s fiiine. If anyone shows up and starts causing trouble, I’ll just burn him.” Leonhardt and Weishardt knew well the abilities of this person who’d come to the City from deep within the Fell Forest, conjuring many fire pillars along the way. They valued her almost too highly. “No matter how foolish the ruffian, it would be excessive to turn him into cinders,” Leonhardt determined, and so Labyrinth Suppression Forces soldiers hid in civilian clothes everywhere Mariela’s group went in order to avert danger. Today’s outing was extremely safe. “Mariela, Mariela. Frozen dessert!” Freyja cried, running toward a street stall. The vendor was making frozen sweets by pouring fruit juice into molds made from metal sheets and freezing it with ice magic. The molds seemed to be very well made because when the juice was poured into a single spot, it immediately and evenly spread to multiple reservoirs. They also had holes at the top for inserting sticks, and the finished frozen sweets resembled particularly aerodynamic arrows. They were small, but the juice was poured in and frozen after the fruit was minced and inserted, and the price of one copper coin each was reasonable considering the cost of the ingredients. Children who’d received their allowance sometimes went to buy one and then walked around licking it. “Why don’t you buy one, pretty lady?” The young boy selling the sweets saw Freyja eyeing them and called out to her. She was certainly pretty, but his bold words made him seem like he had a good head for business. “Mm, okay, I’ll take three. By the way, those molds are really well made.” “The Labyrinth Suppression Forces sold them off. My dad told me it was hard to get them. He said they were the molds used to make holy arrows to defeat the King of Cursed Serpents! Mom got mad at him for buying something so silly. She said we couldn’t afford to decorate the house with something like that no matter how great it was. So, I’m using it for a little business. My family owns a fruit shop, so it’s perfect, right?” Freyja lightly touched the mold as the boy spoke with pride about his little enterprise. “The way they smelted the metal wasn’t bad, either. Looks like it could be used for baked sweets, too. If you take good care of it, it’ll last you a long time.” “Baked sweets! That’s a good idea.” The boy was delighted at the prospect of being able to make something to sell in the winter. Freyja taught him a simple, but no less delicious, recipe. It was a type of pastry with a high-class feel, containing the minced flesh of chestnuts from the Labyrinth. It would retain a fantastic flavor and texture even if you were frugal on the quality of the other ingredients. A fruit shop could probably obtain the chestnuts on the cheap, too. “As thanks for the idea, these are on the house!” Holding three frozen sweets in one hand and waving to the boy with the other, Freyja walked back toward the other two. Exasperated at the sight, Mariela muttered, “Master, you got something else?!” “Ahh, it’s pretty good. Here, Mariela, Sieg, try one.” Mariela’s group stuffed their faces with their respective frozen treats just a short distance away from the street stall where the red-haired woman had procured them. It had been like this all day. They had admittedly given Freyja a little spending money, but it’s not like they’d emptied their accounts for her. Rather than spend the money, the woman would teach somebody something useful and get something in return, which added to the ever-growing pile of things Sieg was carrying. There were also people who greeted her, “Oh, hey there, Frey!” as if they’d known her all their lives. She’d only just come to the Labyrinth City; it was too early for her to have good friends. Although they were supposed to be shopping for her, they kept getting stuff they didn’t need. Freyja made Sieg defeat a giant mantis monster that had appeared near the protective wall first thing this morning. Since this saved the crops from being damaged, they’d received a bundle of freshly picked vegetables, and she made a farmer who said he wanted the monster’s sickles trade a large amount of freshly collected eggs and milk for them. When she gave some of the eggs and milk to an adventurer who said his sick child needed nutritious food, the man gave her a beautiful bird he said he’d caught, along with a cage, in recompense. She later traded the bird to a noble’s servant who said his master wanted a pet. In exchange, she got a bundle of rare fruit that the servant couldn’t carry home. At lunchtime they stopped by a rather popular shop. As soon as the shopkeeper spied the three, he said, “I’ve got so many customers now thanks to those spices you told me about,” and he gave them a free lunch. Still, Freyja gave him some of her vegetables and fruit for the freebie, and in return he gave her a few cuts of meat. Mariela had no idea when her master had found the time to make friends with the people in the City. But similar events continued to unfold during the day, and all the girl could do was stare, her jaw hanging open. The girl’s master said, “I wonder if there’s anywhere I can get some booze,” as she popped another frozen dessert into Mariela’s open mouth. The young alchemist looked to Sieg for help, but he seemed to misunderstand her intention. He responded, “It’s fine. I’ve done a lot of training, so I can still carry more.” Sieg oozed with mysterious self-confidence as he ate his dessert. Mariela could’ve done without him being so helpful in this situation. Freyja confessed to going a little overboard after having managed to spin her various bits of luggage into bottles of spirits. The woman showed such little attachment to anything besides alcohol that it came off as disinterest. If there was anything else that truly grabbed her attention, it was asking for food. Even when it came to things like clothing, she appeared content trying to borrow Mariela’s pajamas and even her spare underwear. But then, underwear aside, she was on the verge of borrowing Sieg’s shirts and tops because she said Mariela’s didn’t fit her chest, and Amber, quite embarrassed, went out on a hurried shopping trip for her. In any case, Freyja seemed to not have material attachments and appeared quite fine with just the clothes on her back. For the time being, she was living comfortably with the daily necessities Amber had assembled and the adequate amenities in the house. Two hundred years ago, when Mariela lived with her master, she owned nothing, and anything she did get was from her master. That’s why she’d somehow gotten the idea in her head that her instructor knew everything and had everything. However, since the two had reunited, her master amazingly wanted nothing but drink from her newly independent pupil. Freyja seemed so unconcerned that Mariela felt like she was seeing some other side of her master. Even so, Freyja was still a woman. After two hundred years she probably wanted a new set of clothes, so they’d gone out shopping today. However, she was having an extremely good time sightseeing in the City while steadily accumulating anything but clothing. Incidentally, although Freyja had been in suspended animation for two centuries just like Mariela had been, her clothes didn’t have even a single loose thread. They could’ve been mistaken for brand-new. Mariela’s cloak was an excellent item specially made from woven daigis fibers that absorbed faint magical power from the atmosphere to repair itself, so she’d taken good care of it. But her other clothes had been extremely worn and she’d been forced to buy new ones. In order to make cloth from daigis fibers, you had to pick young, tender ivy that sprouted in the spring on the night of a full moon. The atmosphere contained the most magical power on such a night, so the young and weak ivy was apparently less likely to wither. Then you removed the leaves from the gathered vines, dissolved them in various types of liquid medicine, rinsed them, and removed the fibers. The fibers taken from the young ivy were thick, and when woven together, they were more like string or rope than thread. If you made them into cloth as is, they wouldn’t make for a cloak that’d match well with cute clothes. Rather, they’d go well with a grass skirt and probably make for a fairly good primitive look. Even though Mariela and Freyja were from two hundred years ago, they’d worn normal clothing by modern standards back then, too. They weren’t usually found wearing grass skirts and tearing into monster meat with their teeth. Well, as far as monster meat, they did tear into it both now and back then, but in a slightly more modern fashion. So in order to complete the elegant look of the cloak, Mariela had lightly tapped the removed fibers with a wooden mallet to thin them, and stretched them out narrow and wide. She splashed them with Drops of Life again and again while she hummed a mysterious song with her master, and somewhere during that and the hammer tapping, the fibers had become intertwined and made a truly impressive cloth. “I skipped the thread-making step and made cloth! I didn’t even have to weave it together!” Mariella had exclaimed when she was little. “Looks like you’re learning. We sang a song together, right? These fibers grew with your magical power, Mariela. They’ve adapted to it. If you sew a magic circle into it a little at a time, you’ll be able to use it forever.” Her master had said something to that effect back then. After Master left, I tried to make this kind of cloth again, but it didn’t work. I wonder if the singing was important somehow? Recalling memories from before their long hibernation, Mariela gazed at Freyja’s clothes. Although Mariela’s cloak was made of rare cloth, it wasn’t a material that was impossible to come by. She’d never heard of singing a song to make it, but apparently it was something artisans with high level spinning and weaving skills could create. Other than the self-repair, its functions were lackluster for something made with high-grade manufacturing, and for the price, it had no dazzle, so it wasn’t all that popular. Freyja’s clothes were made from a substantially different material than her pupil’s cloak; that much was certain. They looked fairly high class. Freyja preferred fire magic, so doubtless her garments were made of a mysterious material that wouldn’t burn up from a little heat. Even if she was satisfied with her current clothes, and desired no others, was there really nothing else she wanted? As Mariela savored her frozen juice treat, Freyja had taken the stick from her own, having finished first, and made a pinwheel using grass from the edge of the path. She then gave it to a nearby baby having a crying fit to stop its fussing. The grateful mother gave the mage some hard candy as thanks, and so the number of things Freyja owned continued to increase with each passing moment. Although she wondered a bit about her master’s sense of values, Mariela finished her ice treat, held out her stick, and said “Master, I want a pinwheel, too,” and Freyja readily acquiesced. It wasn’t as if the girl’s master had no interest in anything in this world of two hundred years later. In her spare moments between the difficult training she’d subjected Mariela to, Freyja had apparently made friends with the regulars at Sunlight’s Canopy and wandered around the Labyrinth City, seeing the sights. It was great Freyja was enjoying herself, but Mariela found herself more than a little surprised at how easily she’d taken to this new world. When had Mariela awoken, it was a great shock to learn the Kingdom of Endalsia had been destroyed, two hundred years had passed, and everyone she’d known previously was long gone. She’d had to work hard to carve out a new place for herself in this Labyrinth City. “Master, weren’t you surprised that the Kingdom of Endalsia was destroyed?” Mariela asked out of the blue as she watched the pinwheel her master made catch the wind and spin around and around. Freyja merely replied with a hum at the question, and she pondered a little before answering. “Is the name of the country so important? People pass away eventually, don’t they? They die from age, or from illness, or from injury. The fires of war take some; monsters take others. Death can come at the hands of humans or the fangs of beasts. No one, old or young, man or woman, can escape it. Many people have been born and died through the ages. Of course, the Stampede those many years ago was a great tragedy. But looking at it centuries later, there’s hardly a difference between people dying off one by one or dying all at once. What’s more important is that, although many people and monsters alike lost their lives that day, a human city has been built here. Mariela, look closely at the fabric of the clothes everyone’s wearing. It’s woven from much, much finer thread than back then. They’re made from threads of uniform thickness; they’re thin and light, yet far more durable. It’s not just things that are easy to understand like magical tools. The thickness of glass, their way of stacking stones, the workmanship of metal. Each and every one of these things has improved. Although every individual will die someday, people as a whole have been steadily moving forward for a long time. No matter what kind of disaster has befallen them.” The pinwheel in Mariela’s hand began to turn in the breeze. It spun round and round in place. People are born, people die, and more people are born. The speech she just heard seemed like this pinwheel, but only somewhat. Although people had existed in the same place over the past two hundred years, they had made a lot of progress. “Everything, no matter how tragic, has some kind of significance or positive aspect. The difference is whether you can see it. Yes, some of them may be too close to you to see, but you’ve come here from so far away. Look for the good all around you and enjoy the time you have.” Mariela hadn’t known much about the world of two hundred years ago, and most of what she’d seen and heard since coming to the Labyrinth City was new to her. She didn’t know enough to say whether this was due to the centuries of progress, but what did this world look like to her master? Oh yeah, she noticed the structure and metal of the mold… Mariela considered her master’s sense of values, her master’s gaze, and realized she only ever saw things that were already right in front of her face, missing the important things. She decided she wanted to look at the future as her master did. “I guess you’re right, Master. I need to expand my horizons more, too.” “Yeah. That’s a good attitude to have, Mariela. Well then, shall we go watch the crowd lose their minds at the first potions in two hundred years?!” “Whaaat?!” Freyja suddenly grinned. By “going to watch the crowd,” she meant rubbernecking. She’d completely ruined the mood of her own speech. Mariela grumbled, “You’re gonna be a nuisance, stop it.” Freyja answered, “We can’t miss such an important event!” She pulled her pupil along and headed for the current hottest place in the Labyrinth City: the Merchants Guild. 02 The Merchants Guild was on the northeastern main road of the Labyrinth City, just a little way from the Labyrinth. While the Adventurers Guild was the hub of activity for adventurers to accept quests and sell materials, the Merchants Guild was the base for merchants and city residents. The Merchants Guild also undertook community work from the house of Margrave Schutzenwald, such as managing residences in the Labyrinth City and prepaying taxes on goods taken out of the City. Although its product lineup was more or less geared toward merchants, the guild’s shop was open to the public, so it was a place familiar not just to merchants, but to the residents of the City as a whole. That said, normally only a few residents were there at any given time, and each staff member was busy with their own work. However, the day Mariela and the others visited, the Merchants Guild was so packed that the crowd had flowed out of the building and onto the street. The mass of people was all heading for the Residential Affairs Division. Of course, there was no way that many people were suddenly looking for a new home. The assembled throngs forming a long line had their sights on potion vouchers that had begun to be distributed a few days ago. The Residential Affairs Division managed the census in the Labyrinth City, so the only way to distribute the vouchers evenly to everyone was to check their registers. As one might have expected, there was no way the one division alone had enough hands for this, and the guild as a whole had been busy dealing with it. The scene seemed quite chaotic. “Vouchers have been prepared for everybody, so please don’t push. You over there, please take your argument outside.” “Okay, the next thirty customers, please proceed to conference room four.” Although it was a briefing for residents as a whole, the Labyrinth City had many adventurers, who tended to be a little wild no matter their gender. They cut in line, pushed, and stepped on toes. Even when they were standing in a queue, the quarrels were endless. If this were the Adventurers Guild, whose staff members were skilled at having a “talk” with people using body language, the residents might have behaved a little better. However, the staff members of the Merchants Guild kept all communications purely verbal, which made things rather difficult to understand with all of the ambient noise. “Whoa, it kinda looks like a festival.” Arriving at the guild with her master, Mariela stared in amazement at the great hustle and bustle. Sieg, arms still quite full, proved to be something of an obstacle for the people around them. But it was easy to guess from his sharp glare at the folks surrounding him, the way he carried himself, and the quality of the armor he wore that he was a high-ranking adventurer, so no one picked a fight. Such calculations were typical of a Labyrinth City resident. “How long do you intend to make me wait?! I’ve been in line since this morning. Hurry up and let me in!” “Can we even get potions in the first place?! Don’t give us these scraps of paper; hand over the real thing! “Yeah, that’s right!” Noon had long since passed, so anyone who’d been in line since morning was surely hungry, which would only worsen their mood. It might be inevitable for them to lose their patience and cause a scene, especially as a group that was already short-tempered and quick to resort to violence. However, one woman working for the Merchants Guild had been pushed past the limits of her patience even more than those waiting in line, and she became extremely belligerent. “I haven’t been able to go home! For days!!!” Crackle-crackle-crackle! “Ag-g-g-gh!” The shocking electric attack came with a hoarse, reverberating shriek. “Anyone else want to act out of line?!” Elmera was in Lightning Empress mode, crackling from head to toe with electricity, as she forced a violent resident to pipe down. “Ohh, I’ve been waiting for this!” “That’s good stuff, do it again!” “Eee, the Lightning Empress is so cool!” What happened to all the curses and complaints from just a moment ago? Applause and cheers broke out. Everyone was extremely happy at the rare opportunity to see the A-Rank adventurer Lightning Empress Elsee up close. A man who reached out to shake her hand in the confusion of the moment let out a scream from the intense static electricity that hit him, but after the pain faded, he smiled happily along with the man who’d been hit with the electric attack. Incidentally, the last person to make a high-pitched shriek was Freyja. She’d already met Elmera once before, so she knew her true identity as the Lightning Empress, but she loved this kind of atmosphere. Elsee being Elsee, she gave a conspicuous wink to Freyja and Mariela when she noticed them. The woman then withdrew into a back room, probably the Medicinal Herbs Division. What is it with these people…? Freyja and Elmera were both intense in their own ways. Leaving Freyja aside, it was odd to see Elmera so worked up. At first, she had provided support as “Elmera Seele,” chairwoman of the Medicinal Herbs Division in her usual attire: a blue dress and hair in a tight bun. She’d been forced into organizing everything and keeping business under control. However, no matter how much she did, the briefings on personnel organization lasted from the morning into the evening. The filing of vouchers ran from the evening onward and never seemed to end, despite everyone at the Merchants Guild working together. At any rate, there had been a far more disputes and document falsifications than were initially expected. Thanks to the crowds that continued to loudly squabble, despite the best efforts of the guild’s staff members, Elmera didn’t even have the time to get to her own overtime work, let alone actually go home. So, on the second day she’d activated Lightning Empress mode and brought down her judgment on the badly behaved residents to make them pipe down. She’d followed the example of the Adventurers Guild and given them a “talk” with body language. Every day, her husband, Voyd, came with their children to bring provisions and a change of clothes, so Elmera still went relatively easy on the residents with her anger. However, adventurers were starting fights on purpose because they wanted to be zapped by the Lightning Empress—a figure who rarely made public appearances—so there was still a show at regular intervals. With the efforts of the Lightning Empress, it took a far less time to bring arguments under control, but it remained unclear whether the disputes themselves increased or decreased in number. Either way, Elsee’s punishments were the sole form of entertainment for the residents who were tired of standing in line. Unfortunately for Elmera, the Merchants Guild’s briefings looked unlikely to end for at least another week, judging by the size of the crowds. The briefings were regarding the commencement of potion sales and the distribution of vouchers. There was no doubt that the stream of people who complained, got rough, forged documents, or tried to get more potions than others would be going on for a while. “Since we’re already here, let’s give the food Master got to Elmera and go home…” A little worried about Elmera’s stress levels, Mariela when to visit the Medicinal Herbs Division with her master and Sieg like she was meeting an actor who’d come down into the green room. “…Mariela, I’m sorry you had to see that…” “Ohh, Ms. Elmera, that was wonnnderful. Especially that wink you did at the end. Ah, please appear on stage again in one hour.” In the Medicinal Herbs Division—which was not a green room—Leandro had taken to managing Elmera’s performance schedule. Elmera was at her wit’s end from her own high voltage earlier. “Elmera, you’ve been working hard. Um, here, I hope you enjoy this food.” “Elsee, good job. Ooh, you looked so cool. You’ve made me a fan!” “Master, please be quiet!” “Ugh. When this work is over and done with, I’m absolutely taking a paid holiday.” While Mariela silenced her gleeful master and consoled Elmera, Sieg handed the large quantity of ingredients Freyja had been accumulating throughout the morning to Leandro. “Ohh, this is a big help. None of us have been able to go home. Ah, the cooking? You can do it in the dining hall. You say you’ll carry it for us? Ahh, many thanks. It’s this waaay.” Sieg never said he would haul anything to the dining hall, but Leandro began leading the poor man anyway. Exactly as one would have expected from a person who was so pushy in their handling of people. But then, Leandro was a man who never neglected to follow through, and he let Sieg have plenty of the ingredients as his way of expressing thanks. “We confiscated these from the people in line. We suspected alcohol was part of the reason the crowds proved so difficult to quiet. We mustn’t drink it, either, so your timing is perrrfect.” Completely inexplicably, beyond all reasonable assumption, Freyja got her bottles of alcohol. Incredible. With a faraway look, Mariela watched the red-haired woman hurry home in the highest of spirits with Sieg in tow, carrying the bottles. The young alchemist reflected on the week that had passed since her master arrived. 03 The day after Mariela’s master, also known as the Sage of Calamity Freyja, came to the Labyrinth City, a written invitation quickly arrived from the house of Margrave Schutzenwald. Freyja, who stood out even under normal circumstances, had arrived and declared she was the master of Mariela, the sole alchemist in the Labyrinth City. Figuring the invitation included both master and pupil, Mariela saved herself the hassle of making dinner and accompanied her instructor and Sieg through the underground Aqueduct to visit the estate of the margrave. Perhaps Nierenberg, who’d come to Sunlight’s Canopy first thing in the morning as he always did, had observed the many empty alcohol bottles and sent a report to Weishardt; the spread of food and copious amounts of high-class alcohol that greeted them was even more wonderful than last time. Leonhardt and Weishardt, the leading go-getters of the Labyrinth City, personally welcomed the trio. Three of those assembled talked about the Labyrinth subjugation and the origins of the Labyrinth City, interwoven with conversations about aristocrats in distant places. Mariela was apologetic about the money they had spent on the particularly expensive drink even though it was her second time there, Freyja partook deeply of the food without restraint, and downed the expensive spirits with reckless abandon. “Lady Freyja. I have heard your name before. You have told us how you came to be here and that you are Mariela’s master. Are you the same Sage of Calamity Freyja who incinerated the flood of high-ranking monsters from the Fell Forest during the Stampede and scorched the whole surrounding area?” Weishardt asked her, seeing that she’d had a lot to drink and guessing this was as good a time as any to ask. “Whoa, my name’s passed through the annals of history, eh?” Freyja readily confirmed she was the figure known as the Sage of Calamity two hundred years ago. “I knew it! This could truly be an act of divine providence! Lady Freyja, we’d be grateful if you would lend your power to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces so that we may subjugate the Labyrinth!” After exchanging glances with Weishardt, Leonhardt had asked Freyja for her support. However… “Impossible. I can’t help you the way you want me to,” she answered, as if she’d discerned the nature of Leonhardt and Weishardt’s request. “I don’t understand what you mean. You cannot help us the way we want you to?” Weishardt didn’t appear to take offense at Freyja’s rather presumptuous statement. Rather, he was more confused than anything. “Lord Weis, was it? I can’t fight the way you’re expecting. You heard about my person-finding spell, right? Or did you think I didn’t notice?” Weishardt’s eyes wavered just a little at Freyja’s straightforward manner of speaking, though he was still not taking any insult from it. He had indeed listened to the exchange between the powerful mage and Captain Kyte through skills and magic, but Weishardt thought she hadn’t noticed. Eavesdropping on conversations and such was a common practice in aristocratic society, which was why so many people put up safeguards against it. The eavesdropping itself was obfuscated by multiple layers of magic so as not to be easily discovered. Those were the types of skills and magic he’d employed yesterday, and Weishardt was confident it was not a method that was so readily seen through. If she’d noticed but still used magic in front of Captain Kyte, that meant she was letting Weishardt hear it on purpose. The spell she’d chanted no doubt reached him. “…That was inexcusable behavior on my part. You have my apologies. I have never heard that spell before.” Weishardt met Freyja’s golden eyes as he apologized. Making a false or awkward excuse to this person would be a poor move. “I’m not trying to criticize you for the Wind’s Whispers. It was a natural course of action. Anyway, that spell was spirit magic.” Freyja’s tone suggested she didn’t mind the snooping. However, upon hearing her explanation, Weishardt’s expression visibly faltered. “Spirit magic?! It can’t be… That art is said to be lost… However, it would explain a lot. Why there were so many flame pillars at once…” Freyja smiled happily seeing the man wear such an expression of shock for the first time. Weishardt was a nobleman who excelled at strategy, but he was also a scholar with a deep knowledge of magic. Freyja was pleased at how quickly he took an interest in her words. “It’s because few people could use it to begin with. But that’s not the problem. Spirit magic borrows the power of the spirits. So, in the Labyrinth where their power is weak, the magic wouldn’t have much strength at all. Down there you’d probably be able to overpower me, Lord Weis.” Mariela glanced repeatedly at her master while muttering, “Spirit magic.” She wasn’t familiar with the terms. Mariela had no idea at all her master could use such a thing. As if repelled by a shield, Mariela and Sieg found themselves unable to break into the suddenly serious conversation the girl’s master had created. That was all well and truly good, however. Mariela didn’t want to be involved in the first place. Leonhardt and Weishardt sat across from Freyja and Mariela at the dinner table. Just like the last time the young alchemist had visited, the cuisine was offered buffet-style so they could enjoy the selections freely. Although a seat had been prepared for Sieg as well, he declined to sit this time, since he was Mariela’s escort. Fortunately, his refusal was met with no resistance; even though it was Margrave Schutzenwald’s house, they seemed to have prepared the seat with regard to Mariela’s wishes. He took up a position behind her. In other words, not only could Mariela not keep up with the conversation, she couldn’t even exchange looks with Sieg, so all she ended up doing was single-mindedly devouring her dessert. In contrast to Mariela, who didn’t even show an interest in joining the conversation anymore, Leonhardt paid careful attention to the course of the discussion while also considering possible solutions. Since Weishardt’s stoic facade had been broken by honest surprise, the ability to use spirit magic probably wasn’t something to be regarded lightly. However, after disclosing this fact, Freyja had said it wouldn’t translate into the kind of strength they needed in the Labyrinth. Leonhardt pondered whether or not the woman was implicitly saying, “I don’t want to help you.” If so, then why reveal an ace up her sleeve like spirit magic? No, this is the woman known as the “Sage of Calamity,” after all. It would be rude to infer her intentions. If the woman called Freyja sitting before Leonhardt and Weishardt truly had S Rank–equivalent abilities, they couldn’t expect her to help after entertaining her just one time. Leonhardt himself had dealt many times with riffraff who wanted to be acquainted with an S-Ranker. An S-Rank individual was said to have the strength on the scale of an entire battalion or army division. The large gap in their estimated strength was because so many S-Rankers chose seclusion over a life in the public eye. As such, the knowledge of their true strength was little more than a rumor. Now that one such person had truly appeared, in the form of the alchemist’s master, Leonhardt couldn’t shake the feeling this was destiny in the guise of coincidence. Just establishing a relationship with this woman would be a substantial victory for the moment. With that in mind, Leonhardt asked Freyja a question after watching Mariela silently pick at a confection on her plate. “You say you wouldn’t contribute much, but I’ve heard you’re Mariela’s master. If so, would master and pupil together, as alchemists, be able to offer any help to us?” Mariela’s support had already been secured, of course. Even without S-Rank fighting power, if Freyja agreed to help even a little as a master alchemist, it would probably be enough. Considering this alternate route, Leonhardt glanced at Mariela for a moment. The girl had seemingly grown a bit overwhelmed from eating too much dessert, as she was busy drinking tea to help swallow the powerful sweetness of a cream that was overwhelming her mouth. “Ah, about that. I can only make up to mid-grade potions.” “Pfaw! Master?!” “What?!” Mariela spit her drink everywhere at the shocking revelation from her master. Leonhardt and Weishardt immediately froze, as if they’d been affected by a petrification curse. A flustered server brought out some dishcloths, and Sieg wiped Mariela’s mouth while the server cleaned the table. Pushing past her own outburst, Mariela continued. Her master’s startling confession had destroyed the serious air of the conversation—it had even momentarily broken through Mariela’s own common sense “Whaaat?! Are you serious? Mid-grade… How? You’re a master, right?!” To say the red-haired woman’s pupil was surprised was an understatement. Obviously, her master had taught her all sorts of things, from the important to the inconsequential, but this was the first time Mariela heard that mid-grade potions were the highest her instructor was capable of. Of course, her explanations had been verbal, and she’d never demonstrated any of it in front of Mariela, but this was still totally, completely unbelievable. “Hmm? Did I never tell you? Well, even if I can’t make something, it’s fine as long as I can teach it, right?” “Th-that’s not the problem here, you know? Ah, could it be from when I made a Pact with the ley line?” Mariela recalled the time she’d forged the supernatural contract with the ley line and used up a large amount of her master’s experience in the process, and for an instant she panicked. “Naaah. It’s always been this way. After all, with alchemy you have to make those small, fiddly potions one at a time. All that hard work doesn’t agree with me. That’s why my level didn’t go up much.” “Huuuuuuuuuh??!” Mariela couldn’t believe it. Was she serious? That was the reason? It was certainly in keeping with her teacher’s character. Mariela’s jaw hung open, and the Schutzenwald brothers remained stiff and still. The pair’s mouths were slightly agape, and their well-groomed faces looked ridiculous. Weishardt in particular wore an idiotic expression no one had seen him make before, and his usual poker face was nowhere to be found. It was a catastrophe. Freyja gazed with amusement at the trio’s silly expressions, then drained her glass of its contents with zest. “I want to talk to the margrave about something,” she said with a complacent smile. 04 Mariela’s master had a completely honest conversation with Leonhardt and Weishardt about how Mariela could make four or five times the number of potions she was currently making. Some of the problems plaguing the Labyrinth City were actually fairly simple. Kill the Labyrinth. Even if they couldn’t improve the situation in the strata, people could prevent the Labyrinth’s growth by going in and defeating monsters. Originally, this is all they’d done. However, because the Labyrinth was a fifty-layer-plus den of evil, they were overwhelmingly short-handed. Even if the Labyrinth Suppression Forces continued to their best efforts to keep the Labyrinth under control, it was doubtful they could prevent its growth. The Labyrinth City itself had a labor shortage. No matter how much they wanted to send incursions into the maze below, they were prohibited by a simple matter of numbers. And the Labyrinth City’s lack of population, particularly adventurers, was due to the high rate of mortality and serious injury endured by the adventurers who went into the Labyrinth. The inconvenience of the main road connecting the City to the imperial capital did little to help things as well. These two problems could be greatly alleviated with potions. If potions were sold at the same price as in the imperial capital, they would greatly reduce adventurer mortality rates, and even just monster-warding potions would make it easier to travel to and from the imperial capital through the Fell Forest. Both the Labyrinth Suppression Forces and the Black Iron Freight Corps, who used Mariela’s potions, had proved that. Up to now, Mariela had been supplying the Labyrinth Suppression Forces with the equivalent of a hundred high-grade potions a day. Even if all the Forces did was work to slow the expansion of the Labyrinth, there would be potions left over. Potions were used sparingly because of their value, but Mariela’s potion-making abilities had already surpassed the amount used by the Forces. The young alchemist’s master asserted that her pupil had the spare energy to make several times the current amount. “That’s the card you’ve been dealt. How will you play it?” Freyja compared her pupil to a game piece as she grinned broadly and asked her question. She and the Schutzenwald brothers exchanged looks. Leonhardt and Weishardt no longer wore the friendly expressions they’d had until now; instead, their eyes reflected the spirits of influential people entrusted with the well-being of the Labyrinth City. If Mariela used her full power to make potions, she could supply not just the Labyrinth Suppression Forces with them, but civilians, too. With that, adventurer injury rates would decrease, and Labyrinth exploration would increase. They would probably be able to weaken the Labyrinth more than they ever had before. Moreover, if monster-warding potions were sold on the market, people would be able to travel on the main road through the Fell Forest and trade with the imperial capital. No one would have to worry about weak but persistent monsters like forest wolves attacking in large numbers. Even regular merchant caravans would be able to travel through the forest with a comparatively small armed escort for handling larger monsters. Since materials from the Labyrinth could be transported cheaply to the imperial capital, the Labyrinth City’s economic conditions would improve, and above all, low-to mid-level adventurers wanting to make a name for themselves could be readily invited to the City. For the house of Margrave Schutzenwald that governed the Labyrinth City, it would be unthinkable to hear this information and not sell potions on the open market. The question of how to play this card was hardly a question at all: Mass-produce the potions and supply them to the citizens. It went without saying that this was an advantage they desperately needed. However, Leonhardt carefully thought it over before answering. “Certainly, this has the potential to greatly alter our situation, but it’s not a decision for us to make.” Upon hearing Leonhardt’s answer, the corners of Freyja’s mouth turned up in apparent satisfaction. “You pass. Not bad. I suppose I could let you borrow her.” I knew it… A sense of relief washed over Leonhardt knowing he’d been able to deduce the correct answer. The woman known as the Sage of Calamity sitting before him could use spirit magic, yet she couldn’t offer any martial strength within the Labyrinth. She was the alchemist’s master, yet could only make up to mid-grade potions, and she repeatedly said and did extremely thoughtless things. At a glance, she looked like a loud, imprudent young woman, and she spoke and acted accordingly. It made whomever she interacted with feel relaxed, but maligning her would invite her scorn. She was testing me. As far as Freyja was concerned, Mariela belonged with her as her pupil, but the house of Margrave Schutzenwald wasn’t Mariela’s employer and had no rightful connection to the girl. An S-Ranker wasn’t going to bow down to the likes of a margrave, or even an emperor. The fact that all the S-Rankers aside from Leonhardt had concealed themselves and chosen seclusion was proof enough of that fact. As a person with power, she wasn’t going to allow the alchemist to be treated like an object. Leonhardt understood this was what she was getting at. If he had simply treated Mariela as a card to be played by the hand of the margrave’s family or that of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, the Sage of Calamity might’ve spirited her away to a place beyond his reach. To Leonhardt, the person before him seemed for all the world like a blaze in human form. If he reached out a hand toward her, the flames would burn him to a crisp. He couldn’t grasp flame in his hand; blazing fire vanished in an instant once it completely consumed its fuel. The only way to keep the inferno where it was, was to offer fuel as compensation. “What’s your price?” When Freyja had offered to lend her student, she’d probably meant, “I’ll help you through Mariela.” It was an unexpected but no less welcome offer. Before the fickle tongues of fire could spread somewhere else, Leonhardt asked what kind of compensation he could offer. “Mariela’s secret, the one we discussed earlier.” “Understood. I will pledge to keep her name secret.” The two signed a contract. No special techniques were used in its forging, but breaking it would be an absolutely unforgivable course of action. At least that was the impression Leonhardt had. “I see… In this case, could we also expect a revitalization of the economy…?” Weishardt, who had held his tongue until Leonhardt and Freyja completed the contract, understood the significance of the “compensation” Freyja had suggested. If Mariela made a large quantity of potions as an alchemist who didn’t belong with the house of Margrave Schutzenwald, this would generate costs. Even now, the copious profits from the potions sold thus far lay in the cellar of Sunlight’s Canopy. The whole City would see benefits if everyone used the money; keeping it buried would invite economic stagnation. Freyja didn’t want money as compensation for the large quantity of potions that would be created from here on out. Rather, she wanted the secret that Mariela had impossibly high magical power for an alchemist and that she had the ability to make potions to remain well guarded. Likewise she desired Mariela herself to remain protected. She had probably intended to lend her aid from the start, so long as she could judge Leonhardt and Weishardt’s strength of character by revealing Mariela’s secret. They didn’t call her a sage for no reason… But still, this all seems just a little too convenient for us, though… Although Weishardt felt impressed deep down, he also harbored just a little bit of doubt. Of course, this didn’t mean he objected to his brother Leonhardt’s decision. Weishardt would just as likely have given the same answer, as there was no other option. Just what is your goal, Sage of Calamity? The words of this woman enjoying alcohol in front of him were all he had to go on; there was little else he could determine from watching her. Currently, we have no other course but to accept her help… We should look to do so in the most optimal way. Weishardt sought for a way to minimize the burden on the young alchemist while somehow also maximizing the number of potions made. He had no intention of simply forcing her to work, but if not even the price of a single vial was required as compensation, it would probably be better to divide as much of the labor as possible among residents of the Labyrinth City and compensate them as well. Distribute potions to citizens and return the proceeds to the Labyrinth City via the many residents in charge of the materials and interim processing. Gold coins circulating through the streets could only help the City’s commerce. “As I should have expected from one with your title, I must confess I underestimated you.” The Schutzenwald brothers praised the fiery woman. The master, in an extremely good mood, helped herself to another glass of expensive alcohol. The three of them were in the process of forming some kind of agreement, but Mariela was the only one without a clue what they were talking about. She was utterly left out. All I can tell is that they’re talking about me, and that it’s nothing good! Mariela was fine with only understanding that much. It was the same as always. She pretended to follow along and simply nodded in agreement. Thus, Mariela remained in the dark amid the upheaval, and the potion mass-production plan was set in place. 05 Weishardt crushed the obstacles standing in the way of potion sales one after another. Even if Mariela could make an absurd number of potions, they were supplying the entirety of the Labyrinth City. If they didn’t allocate work to other people to relieve her, they definitely wouldn’t be able to put potions on the market. Transportation of medicinal herbs, potion vials, and materials; divvying up the manufacturing process; distribution and marketing of the finished products; and above all, the alchemist’s personal safety. The documents piled as high as a mountain, but with Weishardt’s shrewd skill for such work, he handled them in the blink of an eye. “An atelier will be established in the cellar of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ base as a manufacturing site for potions. Not only is the location well guarded from the outside, but the alchemist can move to and from it safely by using the underground Aqueduct. We will secure sales channels for the completed potions through the Merchants Guild. As for the crucial matter of the alchemist’s true identity, we will spread rumors that the Aguinas family has established a method of manufacturing potions. Since Robert resigned from his position as head of the household and is out of the public eye, it’s perfect. Many will interpret this in a way that is favorable for us.” Weishardt explained this to Leonhardt as he handed him the approved documents. The number of guards stationed around Sunlight’s Canopy had long since been increased. Almost all the troublemakers in the Labyrinth City had been crushed over the past half year, but with the arrival of Freyja, an extremely conspicuous adventurer, those who didn’t exactly understand their place had begun popping up again. However, unlike Mariela, Freyja was extremely aware of the people around her and could use powerful magic to boot, so the measures taken to protect her and the others in Sunlight’s Canopy were more to prevent Freyja from lighting up the City with fire pillars. No one knew exactly how, but the red-haired woman had the habit of occasionally finding troublemakers faster than the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ intelligence unit did. She’d burn the tips of their cloaks or the hairs on their heads juuust enough. This kept the soldiers guarding Sunlight’s Canopy on their toes while they blended in with the citizens or pretended to be patients. When someone smelled like they were burning, the soldiers had to quickly seize them and put out the fire. A burnt corpse in the middle of the City would be no laughing matter. “Mariela’s master is quite outrageous! To say she’s lively would be greatly underselling her character. But it’s thanks to her that I’ve grown so thin and beautiful. Intelligence work is difficult for an attractive woman.” These were the words of Merle, an agent of the intelligence unit. Incidentally, neither Leonhardt nor even Weishardt could tell in the least what part of her had gotten thinner. The amount of attention she received was exactly the same as before, too. So it didn’t seem like her work was really all that hindered. Of course, as clever and capable bosses, the Schutzenwald brothers did not mention this fact. Instead, they offered a bonus to thank her: “Thanks for your hard work. We’ll have special-order pastries delivered.” It was an extremely busy few days, but Weishardt finished off the mountain of documents and set his sights on potion production. “If only the Walking Mountain of Fire could be defeated this easily…” As he grumbled about the large difference between the two mountains, Weishardt brought the approved documents to Leonhardt, who paused while signing them to ask a question. “Have you talked to the young woman of the Aguinas family?” “I have not spoken to L…Lady Carol yet……” Leonhardt stared intently at his younger brother. Weishardt wouldn’t meet his gaze. “This isn’t like you. Lady Caroline is probably the one in the most danger from this plan. In any event, I’ll talk to her.” “Please wait, Brother. I do not want her to misunderstand the decision as one of policy only. I will make sure to talk to her as soon as I have taken care of some urgent business, so I hope you will grant me an extension until then.” Leonhardt reflexively smiled at this human side of his brother who calmly, intelligently, and perfectly controlled even his own feelings for the sake of his objectives. “Don’t delay.” Part of him wanted to give Weishardt the leisure to nurture his budding feelings, but he probably didn’t have that kind of time. Instead he only urged his sibling to hurry. Before unforeseen malice creeped in and plucked the beautiful flower. Flowers that bloom in spring may fall and wash away in a sudden rainstorm. Whether or not he knew what his brother was thinking, Weishardt calmly nodded. “Understood.” 06 Medicinal herbs were the first things to be prepared. Potions that people had wanted but weren’t previously available would now be sold. Chaos was expected, and they needed to distribute the potions to everyone in the Labyrinth City. Thus the potions to be sold at first would be limited to two types, monster-warding potions and low-grade healing potions, which could be mass-produced with a small amount of magical power and whose materials were easy to obtain. Low-grade monster-warding potions would be effective for traveling along the main road through the Fell Forest, but they’d have no effect on slimes, so they couldn’t be used in the underground Aqueduct that Mariela and the others traveled through. Mid-grade potions were required for that. In that respect, you could say these two types of low-grade potions were safe choices. The needed medicinal herbs were curique, bromominthra, and daigis. Each grew throughout the Labyrinth City and were also easy to cultivate. They had such a high growth rate that if you left just a sparse amount after harvesting them, they’d grow back in two or three days. So, by doubling the trade-in price, you could get as many slum residents and children wanting some pocket money to collect them for you as you wanted. Unlike during the uproar a while back, nobody pulled up the herbs by the roots. The buyout was such a roaring success that in the confusion, unneeded weeds were mixed into some of the bundles people brought, but a sufficient quantity of the herbs was collected. It was the processing and quality control after the collection of the medicinal herbs that was the problem. Each plant was distinctive, but it was difficult for amateurs to distinguish them if weeds were mixed in. As for the processing that followed, bromominthra was less effective if you didn’t remove its roots and flowers first, and the same for curique if you didn’t remove its stems. Both the leaves and vines of daigis were usable, but the long fibers of the vines were wanted for rope and other uses. A person with alchemy skills could use Dehydrate and Pulverize, but each medicinal herb had a different processing method, and could the chemists of this city who hadn’t developed their alchemical skills at all do work like removing weeds and foreign objects? Besides, if potions began to appear on the market, their medicine may not sell anymore. The processing price, roughly double the usual amount, and quantity of medicinal herbs Weishardt offered was enough to compensate for a decline in medicine sales, but a backlash was also expected as the medicine the chemists worked so hard to make stopped moving off the shelves. Weishardt contacted the Medicinal Herb Division chairwoman, Elmera of the Merchants Guild, with these concerns. The reply was a curtly worded message that arrived bearing her seal: “Leave the chemists to me. I will take care of it.” In fact, the chemists’ reactions were largely as Elmera expected. Those who listened to the lecture in their usual seats in the study group looked at the documents handed to them about medicinal herb processing methods, then began to whisper to one another. “Aren’t these techniques exactly the same as the ones for the salves and incense we’ve been making?” “From what I’ve heard it didn’t sound like alchemists of old went to all the trouble of removing the flowers from bromominthra for cheap potions like monster-warding ones. I thought it was done for normal medicine just because its effects are weak. And I thought only our little lady could do that kinda detailed work.” “Hey, anyone ever told you how insensitive you are? That’s why you can’t get a date.” “Uh? What’s ‘insensitive’ got to do with anything?” “It’s got to do with our little lady.” Realizing something, the chemists exchanged looks with one another. “I’ll do it.” “Me too.” They nodded, unanimously agreeing to take on the processing of the herbs. Mariela hadn’t shown up to the Merchants Guild’s seminars since Lynx died. Caroline had been busy ever since production of the pest-control dumplings began, and she also hadn’t come today. The chemists knew Mariela had been in low spirits ever since her friend died in the Labyrinth, and they all wanted to cheer her up somehow. None of the assembled chemists seemed to object to undertaking the task. “Anyone got a problem with it? If so, a little friend of mine will go to your shop and have a ‘talk’ with you.” “The guy who put daidara snail juice on himself? What a persistent jerk.” “Hey, wasn’t it you who sent him?” “Ugh, don’t bring that up.” “Ohh, you were the unsung hero of the stylish tea parties, weren’t you?!” “Ha-ha-ha, you could say it was all thanks to me. Go ahead—you can praise me.” “I’m not gonna praise you, dumbass.” As the chemists exchanged idle chatter, it was clear they were of the same mind. “Even so, our little lady is—” “Hey, don’t say anything stupid. Weren’t you told that when the lady at the florist’s dumped you? We don’t know anything.” “Huh? But I know—” “I said, shut up. If you say anything uncalled for, I’ll stuff huge bugs in your medicine vials!” “That’s right. If anyone decides to be a jerk here, I’ll put your label on ointment tins full of mud!” “I’ll sic a hooligan with daidara snail spots on your shop!” Unfortunately, things quickly turned into a revelation of past misdeeds. Elmera was the one to quiet them down. “I certainly don’t know what you’re talking about, but I will be ‘speaking to’ anyone who spreads unfounded rumors. I hope I have made myself clear.” “Yes, ma’am. Sorry.” Elmera, chairwoman of the Medicinal Herbs Division, wore a very cheerful smile. Lightning seemed to flash from her fingertips for an instant, and the chemists all straightened up at once. In the end, the chemists had readily accepted the request without questioning the situation too much. They bought the three kinds of plants gathered from within the City at the normal price, processed them correctly, and delivered them to the Medicinal Herbs Division of the Merchants Guild. After the dried and pulverized herbs were inspected at the Medicinal Herbs Division, they were transported to the newly built storehouse at the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ base. Their alchemy skills remained low, and they couldn’t use their skills to distinguish medicinal herbs or process them very well. However, they could look with their own eyes, discern scents, and touch with their fingers to process the herbs correctly. They supplemented their lack of skills by using specialized magical tools. The chemists had been provided with the proper knowledge regarding the necessary bits of vegetation. With elementary-level plants like these, each of the assembled members of the team could easily pick up on how to prepare the mixture, and they understood exactly which parts of the herbs were effective and which parts weren’t. The chemists of the Labyrinth City had improved their knowledge and skills so well that Weishardt had been worried for nothing. All they’d learned had been acquired over the past half year. The young lady alchemist “from the imperial capital” had taught them. “You can think, ‘Pain, pain, go away’ as you put magic into it.” The girl called Mariela had said that as she knead-knead-knead-knead-kneeeaded the medicine. The simple task seemed rather fun, and it was enjoyable to watch. No doubt anyone who used the medicine she made would feel happy, too. She’d taught them how to make medicine and become friends with them even though they’d been so cruel to her. The purpose of teaching them was to help the chemists themselves, but it had also been because she couldn’t supply medicine for the entire Labyrinth City on her own. In any case, she’d saved the Labyrinth City’s adventurers and citizens alike from injury and illness. And surely, she would this time, too. While they had no proof, none of the assembled apothecaries thought otherwise. Having learned in the same study groups with Mariela, they wanted to help her and make her life easier, even if just a little. Some of them probably assumed that if what they suspected was true, and they cooperated now, they could become alchemists themselves after the Labyrinth was defeated. Whether from good intentions or self-interest, the end result of their cooperation in accordance with the Labyrinth City’s objective was the same. With a unified interest among the many pharmacists, they established their supply system without giving the Lightning Empress her chance to shine, unfortunately. 07 As for the potion vials, producing new ones was essential. The problem was the source of materials, and Mariela’s treasured sandpit behind the waterfall wouldn’t provide nearly enough. The securing of a sandpit and the construction of a glass workshop were cited as indispensable. “We received valuable monster-warding potions from His Excellency, General Leonhardt! This is an important task! Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to show what the City Defense Squad is made of! We’ll clear a way through the Fell Forest and recapture the sandpit we lost in the Stampede!” Telluther was in high spirits. His official position was as an adviser, though, and giving speeches wasn’t one of his functions. It would be problematic if the Squad heard his speech as an order, but hearing it as idle talk was somehow encouraging. There was no real harm in it, everyone let him do as he liked. The area where Mariela and Sieg once used the remains of a glass atelier to make plate glass for the skylight in Sunlight’s Canopy was near rivers that flowed into an underground water vein, and even now the place was an excellent source of sand, a deposit of large quantities of the small particles. Although the spot had long since been swallowed by the Fell Forest, it was close enough to the Labyrinth City that one could reach it by yagu within a few hours. Because much of the reclamation of the forest had been done in the interest of food production, information about the pit had been lost to time. However, armed with knowledge of the location from Mariela and Sieg, Weishardt drafted a practical plan to retake it. Leonhardt himself had sent the order to reclaim the section of the forest up to the sandpit to the City Defense Squad. “This is an important task. It would be no exaggeration to say the future of the Labyrinth City rests upon this operation. Clear the land leading to the site of the glass atelier as soon as possible. We’re counting on you.” Telluther, who tagged along with the current colonel and Captain Kyte to receive the order, was so moved by Leonhardt’s words his heart trembled. Though that was hardly a rare occurrence. “Valuable monster-warding potions by the barrel. And several barrels, to boot. Such precious items! We will absolutely fulfill your wishes in this most important task you have entrusted to us!” Telluther’s secret desire to be worthy of Leonhardt’s trust was hardly secret at all. Leonhardt had spoken true about the matter being an important mission, but these potions were a piece of cake for Mariela to craft. She’d literally made them before breakfast. “Easy peasy squeezy in the morning. Fresh and juicy, whoo!” The young alchemist and her master had sung strange songs together while Mariela had been working on them. Leonhardt, who knew the truth, felt a little guilty over Telluther’s excitement about the potions. “I’m looking forward to hearing the report of a successful campaign,” he said by way of compensation when he issued the mission, clapping Telluther on the shoulder. Telluther’s idol had not only addressed him directly but even given him a friendly pat! The delight was almost too much for him. His face flushed with excitement, like a youth who’d just been given his first sword. Moreover, an adventurer was dispatched as an escort for this reclamation venture. It was the one-eyed young man who had once saved Telluther from a giant slime. “Ohhhhhhhh! It was you! Back then! Thank you! Thank you! You’ve come to help me again, haven’t you?!” Telluther was on cloud nine. This was surely the beginning of his personal golden age of life. He grabbed Sieg’s hand tightly and pumped it up and down. His palms were incredibly sweaty. Sieg’s hand was getting wet, and he feared his grip on the bow might slip, making the weapon even harder to handle. After all, his skills had yet to fully return. Sieg’s forced smile didn’t falter, however, which was exactly what one might’ve expected from the man Freyja had deemed “dark.” It was perhaps a mature response. Personal connections were particularly helpful for an adventurer like him who was only ever called on for his sword arm. Moreover, Sieg still had the muscle memory of a slave. Understanding this, he squeezed Telluther’s sweaty hands in return. Perhaps Siegmund was a little more “sullied” than Mariela thought. Incidentally, Freyja had been the one who’d used her authority and dispatched Sieg, after seeing him practice the bow in the rear garden. “Huh? What’re you doing against an opponent that doesn’t move? Well, this’s good timing. If you’ve got time to mess around, go be an escort for the reclamation mission. You can live off the land. Don’t come back until they’re finished.” With that said, she promptly kicked Sieg out of the house. Moreover, she confiscated the mythril sword Mariela had given him, leaving him with only a bow, a large supply of arrows provided by the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, and Lynx’s short sword. “I’m Mariela’s—” “I’m here, so there’ll be no problems. Hey, Marielaaa. Sieg says he’s going hunting for orc king meat.” Sieg had scrambled to find a foothold, but Freyja pushed him off. He tried for Mariela—his last perch before he “fell”—but Freyja had gotten there first, calling for her. The young alchemist came running from the back. Her eyes sparkled just a smidge. “Wow, Sieg, you’re gonna hunt orc kings for me?! I’m so happy! It’s perfect since we just ran out! I can’t wait!” Her smile lit up her whole face. His final stronghold in this battle had already been surrendered to the enemy. Even more so because Freyja had eaten the last of the orc king meat Mariela had carefully set aside. “By the way, he’s also going to be an escort for the City Defense Squad, so he’ll be out for a little while. But you don’t mind, right, Mariela? He’ll be in a shallow part of the Fell Forest, and the City Defense Squad will be with him, too, so he won’t be in much danger.” “Okay! Be careful, Sieg! Oh, take a bunch of potions with you!” She seemed to possess no small understanding of Sieg, either. He couldn’t say he disliked seeing such a lovely smile on Mariela’s face after so long. “Yeah, Mariela. I’ll make sure to bring home orc king meat!” Thus he headed for the Fell Forest with only a bow and a short sword for equipment. Sieg’s difficult mission of serving as an escort for a reclamation operation while also providing meat for himself, the City Defense Squad, and any serfs that came along, began. Of course, meals were provided for those participating in the operation, but the serfs in particular had poor diets lacking in nutrients. They would need meat, even if only a little, in order to be at full strength. Although Siegmund set out on this venture to make Mariela smile, his heart was heavy. It was the nightmare of the Ahriman Springs all over again. He was suddenly confronted with days of training without Mariela. However, it certainly wouldn’t last a month this time. Freyja was with Mariela, but the woman’s personality was worrisome. Rather than keeping her student out of trouble, it was much more likely she’d get her into it. Sieg would have to return to Sunlight’s Canopy before Mariela became Chubby-ela again. Even as Siegmund fidgeted and continued to worry, no doubt the tentacles of sugary temptation were creeping toward Mariela, and Sunlight’s Canopy might be awash in drained bottles of spirits before long. It may be paradise for the alchemist master and pupil, but from the outside it would look like the very picture of hell. He resolved to return to Sunlight’s Canopy at all costs before the situation could deteriorate that far. Lynx and Edgan had both been with Sieg at the Ahriman Springs. For him, those days had deepened their friendship and were dear and glorious memories. However, Lynx was gone now, and Edgan hadn’t returned from the imperial capital yet. If Sieg opened himself up now, the only one who would come and try to make friends with him was Telluther. It was hard to hate the rather high-strung man. He wasn’t a bad person, but he was much older than Sieg, and they wouldn’t have anything in common to talk about. Every time he looked at the short sword Lynx gave to him, Sieg succumbed to feelings of longing for the time he spent with his late friend. One week! No matter what I’m going home in one week! Siegmund focused his mind. This was no time to be pondering such needlessly complicated things! He hunted monster after monster, mostly edible ones, while guarding the group of people working hard to clear the land. He wasn’t hitting much with his bow. Even when he decided to hide in the shade of a tree and aim from there, the arrows missed or merely grazed their targets. Each time, his quarry would thrash and attack, enraged. But if Sieg missed, he could just fire again. He had his short sword as well for when they got close, and he could always stab them with an arrow if he needed to. Fortunately, he had a large number of potions, and he’d also brought his basilisk leather armor. The monsters in the area weren’t strong enough to pierce it, and he needn’t worry about the small scrapes he got here and there. It didn’t matter whether he could hit them with an arrow, or whether he was skilled or unskilled. Thanks to the monster-warding potions, the creatures largely stayed away from the others anyway. If the man’s arrows failed to strike true, the angered creatures would head for him, which was a good thing. Sieg was going to need to hunt lot of them. He had to let the serfs eat more so they got stronger. Siegmund quickly became a hunter who didn’t spare a thought for anything but the pursuit of his prey. By the time everyone in the reclamation unit began calling him “Meat Man,” he was at last able to fell quarry with his bow. After releasing himself from superfluous thoughts, Sieg’s body remembered the hunter style he’d learned as a child and the archery skills that his body once knew so well. All the while, Telluther was fired up about the glorious task he’d been given. Not only had he received trust and potions from his idol, he’d also managed to reunite with his savior and high-ranking adventurer, Sieg. To work together with such a man delighted Telluther beyond belief. Monster-warding potions were no longer scarce in the Labyrinth City. In fact, it was more difficult to gather the medicinal herbs needed than to make the potions themselves, but Telluther didn’t know that. Even if he did, doubtless Telluther would still be brimming with a sense of purpose. And his passion outstripped every other impulse he had. He shone with a light of inspiration. And this time, it wasn’t the light reflecting off his head. There seemed to be an aura about the man, and it gave powerful Empathy to the people around him. “Huuuooooooooh!” The soldiers of the City Defense Squad were filled with a sense of motivation and purpose thanks to the skill Telluther had very conveniently evolved. The soldiers, the serfs rounded up for the reclamation operation, and even the slum residents hired for the job were uncharacteristically passionate as they cleared the way through the Fell Forest to the ruins of the atelier where Mariela and Sieg had once made plate glass. “We’ve got monster-warding potions! I don’t fear the likes of those Fell Forest monsters!” “Those creatures won’t dare show their faces while we’ve got these! The Fell Forest ahead of us is just a bunch of trees!” several soldiers of the City Defense Squad shouted with confidence. The Fell Forest was vast, and if they went into a deeper layer, they would encounter powerful monsters the warding potions wouldn’t work on. But perhaps ignorance was bliss in this case. Telluther also saw fit to greatly exaggerate Sieg’s strength when he talked about the man who’d saved his life, which spurred the confidence of the group even further. Emboldened with a sense of invincibility, they downed trees, stripped them of branches on the spot, and made crude stakes to line both sides of the opened road. They wound rope made from daigis around the stakes and planted daigis and bromominthra around them. The scent of the plants would help keep unsavory creatures away. Those who could use earth magic softened the ground, and the serfs and yagus worked together to dig up stumps and large stones. The soil was made of fine particles, so no matter how smooth and compact they tried to make it on its own, wagons would leave divots in the earth. To combat this, the company would smash large stones into gravel of a variety of sizes. They then laid the crushed stone on the soft dirt. In this way, they could construct a temporary road that, while not as good as a paved one, could withstand the passage of carriages. No matter how much magic they could use, the City Defense Squad was below even second stringers. Although yagu could cover the total distance in a few hours, clearing the path wasn’t easy work. They dispatched what few monsters did appear, and if someone ran out of magical power, a substitute tagged in. The task was exhausting, and everyone was bathed in sweat as they worked. Although they should have been drained well beyond their limits, everyone had smiles on their faces. Telluther’s Empathy had terrifying power. The meat they had their fill of every day was delicious, and hunger made it all the more so. Work well, eat well. Influenced by Telluther’s zealous sense of purpose and the fundamental human joy of food and manual labor, everyone cleared the way to the sandpit near the site of the glass atelier in just one week. The transportation of sand to the Labyrinth City was a success. Incidentally, although Telluther’s skill had evolved at a truly beneficial time, he was still unable to consciously control its activation. No one, not even the man himself, had even noticed the transformation of the skill. It didn’t augment an individual’s abilities; all it really did was enable them to tackle their work in an extremely good mood. However, the sense of accomplishment they got from finishing a great task with their own hands gave the City Defense Squad and the serfs participating in the reclamation a huge boost in confidence. The people of the Labyrinth City admired the bravery they saw in the City Defense Squad soldiers who made for the Fell Forest with such self-assurance, and the Squad became more and more popular. Although the actual effect was rather negligible, a Telluther-like skill may have grown within the Squad when its forces received words of praise from His Excellency General Leonhardt a few days later. 08 “Whoaaa, are all of these medicinal herbs? Wow, they’re even pulverized! That’s great; they’re perfect!” “Ohh. They took care of my part, too. Impressive.” Around the time Sieg and the others began their efforts in the Fell Forest, Mariela and her master were busy praising the alchemy workshop that had been established in the cellar of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ base. The base also connected to the underground Aqueduct, and there was a secret passage between the base’s cellar and the second stratum of the Labyrinth that was paved with daigis fibers to keep slimes from approaching. Of course, because it connected to the entire underground Aqueduct, which was not paved with daigis, the Black Iron Freight Corps had carried potions through the tunnel until Mariela came forward. The Labyrinth Suppression Forces outfitted the largest cellar near the entrance to the underground Aqueduct as Mariela’s temporary workshop. It was originally a storehouse where they kept emergency rations. The shelves that had been packed with food were now packed with large quantities of processed medicinal herbs, and a great number of wooden barrels with engravings for temporary storage were stacked in a corner. In the center of the room, a plain but well-made couch and table had been placed on a rug, with wooden crates and barrels next to them. It was a rather dreary setup, but it had been thoroughly cleaned. And, above all, there were so many medicinal herbs that it didn’t seem like an amount that was possible to amass in just a few days. The Forces had done a fantastic job getting all this ready since the agreement was struck during the dinner with Leonhardt. “Leave the transportation of medicinal herbs and barrels to us, Lady Alchemists. Everyone has made a vow not to pry or disclose information regarding either of you. Everything will be done in accordance with your instructions.” The three youths of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, who were on standby in the room, greeted them politely. In a fight, those from the Forces appointed to perform odd jobs were weaker than second-string soldiers. But youths with good manners had been chosen for the tasks. One out of the three was a woman, perhaps in consideration of Mariela and her master. “Okay, Mariela, I’m leaving the potions to you. Hmm, you over there. The curly-haired one. You’re gonna be my assistant.” After confirming her demands had been met, Freyja plopped down on the couch and invited the young man with gentle features and chestnut-colored curls to sit next to her. She took a bottle of alcohol out from a wooden crate (or perhaps a barrel?) next to the table and immediately had a drink. This was the “my part” Freyja had referred to. Although her curly-haired assistant was taken aback, he graciously poured the alcohol. “Ahhh, I could get used to this feeling; it’s refreshing. When you pour alcohol, do it so the label’s showing. Oh, the bottle opening shouldn’t touch the glass. Hold on, you do it like this. Pour it a little lower. Hee-hee, let me teach you all about it.” Mariela’s master was certainly feeling pleased. Despite her appearance as a young woman, her words and actions were just like an old man’s. Despite Sieg’s worries, Mariela didn’t overindulge in sweets. She even tried to keep her master’s drinking firmly under control, or at least limited to one bottle a day. Despite the effort, Freyja still took advantage of Mariela’s ignorance of alcohol and chose to drink the strongest spirits, like whiskey and brandy. One bottle of that per day was by no means a small amount. The way Freyja downed her drinks with the young soldier on the base of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces was mortifying and irritating to Mariela. She was quite embarrassed that such a useless adult was her master. “Master, you’re horrible. I’m gonna make potions as fast as I can and then take you home. Excuse me, please take all the curique from there to there. Oh, step back a bit more and open the bag.” Since it had come to this, Mariela put all her energy into making potions so she could finish her work and confiscate her master’s alcohol. She asked the remaining two soldiers to line up large bags full of medicinal herbs. “Form Transmutation Vessel.” Mariela created a vertical, cylindrical Transmutation Vessel with more capacity than a bathtub. Although this cellar was large, the shelves, barrels, and her teacher were in the way, so she couldn’t create a vessel any larger than this. It was most certainly an unconventional size, but a girl like Mariela didn’t know what a “normal size” was. She filled the container with Drops of Life, and the soldiers’ eyes widened in surprise at the faintly shimmering water gushing forth like a fountain out of empty space. Even when combined with water, Drops of Life didn’t lose their characteristic pale light. “Please put the herbs in it. Oh, the Transmutation Vessel is there, so lift them a little higher. Yeah, plop them all in. When you’re done with that, line the barrels up over there,” Mariela instructed, and the soldiers complied. “Extract Essence.” Shaking was the normal way to do the extraction for a small quantity of elementary potions. Normally, the contents of an airtight Transmutation Vessel would be shaken like a cocktail, which dissolved the components more quickly. However, both the space and magical power required to shake a bathtub-size Transmutation Vessel made that option a no go. Instead, she had to move the solvent: the water mixed with the Drops of Life. The alchemy skill Extract Essence would cause the medicinal herb components to begin to dissolve, so how the Transmutation Vessel moved was largely based on the image in the skill user’s mind. What came to Mariela’s was an image of many rods with stirring blades attached to them rotating in the center of the vessel. It was like one of the contraptions she’d made with the chemists. The shape of the stirring blades was their main attribute, and they rotated up and down in the center of the liquid to make it swirl like a whirlpool. The chemists and medical engineers had given a fervent speech about how many prototypes they’d created to develop these blades. Mariela hadn’t memorized them down to the exact shapes, but she remembered well the movement of the liquid being stirred. She used this image to blend the Drops of Life–infused water and the medicinal herbs. Her mental image wasn’t of the stirring blades, but the water itself. She created an eddy at the center of the Transmutation Vessel and moved it from the top to the bottom so as to incorporate the plants into the mixture. When the swirling reached the bottom layer, it slowly spun around the outer circumference of the vessel as it floated upward. This was to break the medicinal herbs uniformly into small pieces and spread them out. It was a large amount of liquid to mix. The Transmutation Vessel also needed sufficient strength to withstand the pressure. Thankfully, circular and spherical shapes are resistant to internal force. Compared to making plate glass however, which required high temperatures, this was far easier. Hurry, hurry—make the current stronger. Mariela, who had the know-how for this, rapidly intensified the water current, and churned the solvent mixture around and around as if in desperation. When Mariela chanced glances at her master, Freyja was busy making comments like “Oh! Is this ten-year-old Otarre?! I want this one. On the rocks.” Perhaps because of this, Mariela’s refining seemed to grow more fervent. When Extract Essence was finished, she used Separate Dregs to isolate the plant matter. It was fine to do this with filtration in the case of low-grade potions. The alchemist would place filter paper in the funnel and pour the mixture from the top. It was simple and easy to reproduce with alchemy skills, but the process was slower when there was a lot of the stuff. The method was the same as usual, but with a quantity like this, it seemed probable the medicinal herbs would clump up in layers even if skills were used to separate them. It’d be better if the pressure built up. She sealed the Transmutation Vessel and moved the filter upward to scoop up the herb dregs from the bottom. This, too, was made with magical power like the Transmutation Vessel. That way, the young alchemist could adjust the dimensions to match the size of the vessel at will. The transparent filter moved from the bottom of the equally transparent vessel to the top as it filtered out the solids. For the two guards attending Mariela, it was a mystical sight they’d never seen before. “Hwwwwwah!” With groans and grunts, Mariela lifted her hand. Squelching sounds issued from the invisible container in answer, as the filtration surface followed her movements up to the top. It was a surprisingly dramatic bit of action considering it came from Mariela, who always kneaded and mixed things in more unassuming ways. The vigorous exercise had seemingly squeezed the dregs of the medicinal herbs into a tightly packed clump. “Ohhh. Even alchemy’s effects increase when you put your strength into it,” came the impressed voices of the two soldiers. “Wellll, the pose doesn’t really add a whole lot. It was just a spur of the moment thing,” Mariela replied with an embarrassed giggle. For a moment, the guards were flummoxed. They looked at Mariela, and then glanced at the red-haired woman busying herself with drinking. This pupil was trained by that instructor? the two were likely thinking, though Mariela took no heed. I feel a bit better after moving around. It’s kinda fun to waste a little magical power and refine potions with a “hoo!” or “ha!” every once in a while. Mariela’s mood improved just a little. Next came Condense and Anchor Essence. She released the pressure from the Transmutation Vessel and heated it enough to maintain the efficacy. It wasn’t hot enough to boil water, but bubbles appeared within the liquid, and the volume steadily decreased all the same. She was in a cellar, so if she didn’t return the released water to its magical source, the other would get damp and go bad. This was also a process unique to mass production. And finally, after she anchored the efficacy, she would be done. It was a large amount, but at the end of the day, they were very simple potions. Although producing so many so quickly had eaten into her magical power, the creation itself wasn’t a big deal. She finished refining the potions in the blink of an eye and poured them into the barrels. She glanced at her master and saw she’d already emptied a bottle of alcohol. Grrr. Master, you’re too fast! Her drunken master was trying to get the curly-haired soldier to drink while he was still on the clock. “Next! Please bring the remaining bromominthra and daigis over here, and put the curique over there!” Mariela was getting into the rhythm of the work. Even large quantities were no problem. Now that it had come to this, she would do both groups of herbs at the same time. She wasn’t going to let her master drink any more than she already had for today! The young alchemist was on a roll, and the two soldiers ran around carrying various bags and barrels of ingredients. The curly-haired soldier either wanted to help or just wanted to get away from Freyja, because he kept glancing over at the others. Alas, he was stuck. Hang in there, Mr. Curly. I’ll take Master home soon! With a completely different goal in mind than she should have had, Mariela completed the low-grade monster-warding potions and low-grade heal potions with astounding speed. With her magical power all but gone, she wobbled on her feet and grabbed on to Freyja for support. “Mariela, that was greeeat. I never thought you could get it done that fast! You’ve really grown!” “Ugh, Master……” Freyja waggled her fingers as she reached for her student’s head, but Mariela shook off her hands and put a slight distance between herself and her master. This was Imprint protection. She was happy to be praised, but she could do without the Imprint. Besides, her master had polished off three bottles of alcohol despite Mariela’s efforts. Freyja was very drunk and very happy. “Okaaay, see you tomorrooow. Mitchell, right? Be here tomorrow!” Taking advantage of the distance Mariela put between them, the red-haired woman took two bottles of alcohol from a wooden crate, and then Mariela led her back toward Sunlight’s Canopy. Dang it! Tomorrow, I’ll make sure she doesn’t drink as much! A crushing failure. Mariela had been utterly beaten today. Her master just drank too quickly, but she couldn’t lose like this. When she got home, she would need to conduct a one-person postmortem session. The girl lamented the absence of her adviser, Sieg. Mariela walked through the underground Aqueduct in a mood while she dragged along her flame-haired teacher, who seemed liable to tumble into a gutter at any moment. Mariela wasn’t cruel enough to hope the woman would get swept down some waterway, but even if such a thing did happen, she was Mariela’s master. And Freyja would probably make it back just fine, and then washing her sopping wet clothes would become Mariela’s job. Even at the best of times, her master fell asleep without scrubbing her face, scattered her clothes so vehemently her left and right socks ended up on opposite ends of the house, and was generally very untidy when she drank too much. Without Sieg, Mariela had the heavy responsibility of both looking after her master and doing the housework, and it was unbearable how quickly the place became a mess again after she cleaned it. Moreover, her master was an annoyingly chatty drunk. Mariela was just glad that the two of them safely made it back to Sunlight’s Canopy. Her instructor, however, was completely sloshed while the sun was still high, and she started to strike up a conversation with Nierenberg of all people. “Doooc, you got a huuuge crease between your eyebrows. It’s a freakin’ chasm. Cleavage. Butt brow?” She cackled as she stretched her arms toward Nierenberg’s forehead. The soldier of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces—who was guarding Sunlight’s Canopy under the guise of getting a medical examination—shuddered at Freyja’s fearlessness in the face of this man. Perhaps Nierenberg had received a strict order from Weishardt not to be rude to Freyja in the least, because the crease in his brow deepened even further as he replied to her like an adult scolding a child. “Isn’t it a bit early in the day to be drunk?” Nierenberg’s patience was in vain, as Freyja produced a toothpick and yelled “Haaah!” as she jabbed it at him. “Look at that, Mariela! The toothpick’s stuck in his brow! Wooow, it’s staying put even after I let go!” Freyja doubled over in hysterical laughter. She was gleeful. She was awful. “Master? Didn’t I tell you not to cause trouble for others? You know I did.” “Ahhh, Mariela, you’re scary when you’re mad.” “You haven’t even seen scary yet! If you don’t splash yourself with water and sober up right now, you’re not getting dinner!” Mariela angrily dragged her master to the bathroom and threw her into a cold bath, and at last, the woman returned to her senses. In her irritation, Mariela had thrown her into the water fully clothed, increasing her laundry load anyway. Drunk Master is such a nuisance! Two hundred years ago, her master wouldn’t come home some days—where had she gone while she was being the utmost nuisance possible? “I need more soldiers to help me tomorrow!” Mariela made a personnel increase request to Nierenberg, who understood the situation all too well. If there were a lot of people carrying alchemic ingredients from shelves and putting them in the Transmutation Vessel or stuffing them into barrels, she could finish making the potions in a shorter amount of time. Tomorrow’s the day I won’t let Master get drunk! Mariela’s determination was firm. The next day, a total of five soldiers were deployed as Mariela had requested, including the curly-haired Mitchell. There were less of the three herbs used for low-grade potions, as expected. Instead, materials and tools for high-grade potions had been prepared. “Mariela, make high-grade potions one at a time.” “Sure. And you can use this tiny cup, Master.” “A smaller vessel is gonna slow me down.” “Exactly.” Master and pupil smirked at each other. Their fated showdown was about to begin. “All riiight, Mitchell, let’s drink. Ah, you over there, you’re cute, too. Come here and help out your big sis.” Freyja and the others immediately shifted to merrymaking mode. Although it was only the second day, Mitchell had a look on his face as if he’d achieved enlightenment. And even though they’d gone to the trouble of increasing the number of soldiers by two, Freyja had hijacked one of them. Grrr. Mariela shot a glare at her master, then set herself to brewing potions with all her might until her magical power was nearly exhausted. 09 The efforts of Mariela and the soldiers proved to be in vain, as day after day the fire that was Freyja continued to consume the free liquors provided to her. Sieg felled an orc king and safely returned home in a week’s time, but he only had a short while to catch his breath with Mariela in front of the living room fireplace before he had to leave again. To fulfill Freyja’s dinner requests, Sieg had gone to the Fell Forest the day before. Today he went to the Labyrinth. Day in and day out it was like this. The difficulty levels of her quests seemed to be quite high. Sieg didn’t suffer any serious injuries, of course, but he was run completely ragged every day, and he was lucky to come home the same day he departed. Mariela, too, had her hands full putting out her master’s fires; she was given no chance to come to Sieg’s aid. Day in and day out, Sieg went monster-hunting in the forest, and Mariela traveled through the underground Aqueduct to make potions. “Stupid Master always wallowing in her drink, I wish she’d fall into the Aqueduct and get washed away!” Mariela’s inner thoughts slipped from between her pursed lips. If her teacher ever was swept away in the Aqueduct, Mariela had a hunch that she would drift ashore in the deepest part of the Labyrinth and subjugate it without any trouble. That would be just her luck. Freyja loved the bottle more than anything, and down in the Labyrinth, there wouldn’t be anyone to give her any drink. On second thought, perhaps she would have more trouble down there than Mariela imagined. Setting aside that wild idea, Mariela realized Freyja must have made a deal with the Schutzenwald brothers to prepare free alcohol for her. They were having a complicated-sounding conversation, so I had no idea! I completely fell into her trap! Once again, Mariela wore a mortified expression on her face as she took her drunken master back to Sunlight’s Canopy today. “What’s wrong, Miss Mariela? Did you eat something sour?” Nierenberg’s daughter, Sherry, quietly offered her sweetened tea. Mariela’s expression, oozing with displeasure, apparently made her look like she’d eaten something bitter. Sherry’s guess at the reason for the look on her face should have been all the more embarrassing, but an offer of sweetened tea completely placated her. “Tomorrow! Tomorrow’s the day Master’s going to be complaining that she didn’t get enough to drink!” Mariela tightly gripped the candy bar Sherry had given her to go with the tea and renewed her determination. Luckily, Sieg returned before sunset, and Mariela’s variety of comedic expressions helped to relieve his fatigue. While Freyja was gripping a bottle of alcohol and imitating her pupil, he approached and whispered a question in her ear. “Lady Frey, why haven’t you been offering guidance to Mariela?” Freyja glanced at Sieg and muttered, “So protective,” before giving a proper response. “But I am! Hee-hee, you don’t look convinced. Being overprotective doesn’t help anything, Sieg. Let me tell you something. Do you know how a person’s limits are determined? Of course, their natural talents play a role, but potential is where you find the true limits.” Maintaining her mischievous attitude, Mariela’s master spoke loud enough for only Sieg to hear. Sometimes, her flippant words and deeds gave way to truth. “And people decide their own potential. Your growth stops at whatever limit you think you have. You experience a different degree of difficulty with a given job depending on whether you think it’s easy or hard. So I don’t tell Mariela how much she can do. She’s got more than enough alchemy knowledge, but she doesn’t understand how advanced it is. See, she’s pouting, but she’s having a lot of fun, right? Right now, she’s obsessed with beating me at this game. That’s the best way for Mariela to grow.” Taking responsibility for yourself to reach new heights was incredibly difficult to do. According to Freyja, that difficulty came from the fear of the precipitous road to reach those new heights. Sieg finally understood that Mariela was unknowingly, but no less quickly, chasing her master up a steep mountain road and enjoying the climb. “Sieg, reach the other side with your own efforts. That’s the only way to move forward alongside Mariela.” After leaving him with those words, Freyja walked over toward the children and asked them, “Have all of you done your homework?” Emily, who’d received a candy bar from Sherry; Pallois, who was helping make tea; and Elio all looked up at the sound of the woman’s voice. The children had gathered in Sunlight’s Canopy again today, and the acclaimed after-school daycare was open for business. The Labyrinth City was buzzing with the sales of potions. Although a far less common topic of conversation, a school had been opened in the Labyrinth City around the same time as the potion sales announcement happened. The City’s school was modeled after educational institutions in the imperial capital, but unlike those, which served the upper classes, this targeted the middle class and below. Its purpose was to reduce the mortality rate of young people who would become future adventurers or soldiers who descended into the depths of the Labyrinth. A practical curriculum had been put together to teach not only the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the characteristics and weaknesses of monsters, and how to gather and handle materials, including medicinal herbs. The school also featured training for skills such as weapon handling and self-defense. Three schools had been opened: the Warrior School, overseen by the Adventurers Guild and meant for children with combat aptitude; the School of Commerce, overseen by the Merchants Guild and meant for children with aptitudes for production or business; and a balanced intermediate school, which invited experienced private tutors from wealthy families to be teachers and was overseen by the house of Margrave Schutzenwald. Although there were differences in the details and distribution of the practical skills and classroom learning at each school, even the School of Commerce offered combat training. It was very characteristic of the Labyrinth City. Ideally everyone in the Labyrinth City would be able to pick up a sword and defeat at least a goblin or similarly ranked creature. This educational policy was based on the ideology of people who tended to be more brawn than brains. The balanced intermediate school gave an impression of ambiguity. In reality however, it was meant for middle-class families so that even if they didn’t have tutors, they could give their children a more advanced education. Even students of the other two schools who were found to have worthy talents could be admitted. Some children had to build their livelihood from scratch with their own abilities, while others could take advantage of their heritage, and each group needed to learn different skills. Raising skilled children and giving them a good education was the best way to solve the lack of human resources in the Labyrinth City. Each one of the schools was in session for a short time and only during the morning. Many young children in the Labyrinth City worked, so it was necessary to provide them with the needed education in a short time. In a way, this specialized school system took the unique situations of the City into consideration. Sherry and the other three children attended the intermediate school. Nierenberg’s daughter, Sherry, had a private tutor, and Elmera’s sons had received more than enough education from Elmera and Voyd, so they didn’t really need to go to the intermediate school. However, there were many things to learn from interacting with children around their own age. Emily’s father was once an adventurer, but his daughter resembled her mother; she had no talent for combat, and ability-wise she was an ordinary city girl. However, she was bent on inheriting the Yagu Drawbridge Pavilion someday, and she’d been studying reading, writing, and arithmetic from Amber and regular customers since she was little; she had enough knowledge to enroll. Other than her fondness for “uni-corn,” she was a ten-year-old with a promising future. The four children, who got along well and did homework together, and the alcoholic sage made for quite a group. Freyja helped the kids with things they didn’t understand by teaching them a combination of necessary, unnecessary, and advanced information. Whether she liked children or simply had a similar mental age to them, she seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit. Thanks for looking after Master, kids! Mariela was grateful to Sherry and the others from the bottom of her heart. She was a little more worried than excited about how the children would turn out, but she also had to replenish ingredients for Sunlight’s Canopy. She needed time to herself. If you took the medicine out of Sunlight’s Canopy, it would be a combination of a self-service teahouse, Nierenberg’s clinic, and an after-school daycare. Was Mariela’s presence even necessary? The status of landlady might be nice, but she already had a ton of money. She hardly needed unearned income. “Salves, painkillers, antipyretics, stomachache medicine. After that, smoke bombs and three kinds of soap!” Away from public eye, Mariela used alchemy to make several products simultaneously in her atelier on the second floor. In the past, her speed would have been unthinkable, but Mariela had been too busy competing with her master to notice. 10 “At last, at last I can go hooome!!!” At the Merchants Guild, Elmera let out a cheer. Had it really been ten days since the briefings on the sale of potions had started? Whenever someone forged documents to try and secure as many potions as possible, the response was to share the sales method for adventurers who didn’t have a home. “Take a voucher at the entrance to the Labyrinth, then go to the twentieth stratum to buy potions.” With that, the matter was settled. This information was released because prospects had improved for manufacturing potion vials. Currently, people were limited to one low-grade healing potion and one low-grade monster-warding potion each, but it was a much better deal than potentially getting involved in a crime. Traveling to the Labyrinth’s twentieth stratum cost magical gems, but they could use the Teleportation Circle. If they really needed to, it also wasn’t impossible to get there on foot. A certain alchemist had run the distance to lose weight, so most people in the Labyrinth City could likely make the trip without a problem. They could buy countless potions in the time they would spend in jail for forging documents or extortion, so going to the Labyrinth was much more profitable. Should they use the stairs to go back and forth, or save time with the Teleportation Circle? Since they’d gone to the trouble of traveling down to the twentieth stratum, they could also collect medicinal herbs. The trade-in price of lunamagia was going up, so it seemed prudent to collect some to diversify their investments in case the potions couldn’t be sold at a high price. Weishardt’s method of solving the shortage of lunamagia, an ingredient in high-grade potions, turned out to be a successful one. There was a safe area around the Labyrinth stairs where no monsters approached. Many people couldn’t fight in the twentieth stratum but could come and go without issue via the stairs. Going all the way there for two potions was hardly worth it, but it was perfect for earning extra money if they also took on contracts to transport medicinal herbs and other materials. In short, adventurers and chemists were also working to collect lunamagia on the twentieth stratum because not only would it save them time transporting it, the trade-in price was high. Incidentally, monster-warding potions were also being sold at the southwestern gate of the Labyrinth City and at the entrance to the Fell Forest. However, these were in normal, consumable vials, which were ineffective for preserving the concoctions. They were being sold solely for merchant caravans who needed them for traveling through the Fell Forest to the imperial capital and back again. A stand selling monster-warding potions had been constructed at the entrance to the Fell Forest on the imperial capital side, and second-string soldiers from the Labyrinth Suppression Forces were stationed there to run it. The Black Iron Freight Corps had been contracted to transport monster-warding potions to this stand. “Hiya, appreciate your business. Here’s your new supply of monster-warding potions.” “Edgan, perfect timing. The Bandel Company wants an escort for travel to the Labyrinth City. They’re waiting in Vantoa Village. Can you handle it? They’re apparently with a customer.” “Okeydokey. You said there’s a customer with them?” “Yeah, seems to be a mediator for the Bandel Company.” “Whoa, Mr. Bandel’s working hard.” While Edgan and the soldiers were exchanging information, the slaves Newie and Nick finished unloading. The barrels of monster-warding potion stacked in the three carriages were a rather large number to be unloaded by two people. Thanks to that and the early summer heat and humidity, the pair of slaves were dripping sweat like waterfalls. The soldiers, unable to just stand by and do nothing, helped them out. The Black Iron Freight Corps had gone through big changes since losing Lynx. Dick and Malraux, who’d respectively served as captain and lieutenant, returned to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces and had handed the reins over to Edgan. Of course, Dick had paid back Amber’s debt and didn’t have a reason to keep on with the Corps. Plus, over the past half year, Mariela’s defense system had been strengthened, and a procedure for safely producing and selling potions had been established. So, the Black Iron Freight Corps might have ended up like this sooner or later anyway. The other current members were the animal tamer Yuric, the healing magic user Franz, Donnino, who maintained the armored carriages, and Grandel, who was almost too thin for a shield knight. Together with the slaves Newie and Nick, the group made for a total of seven people. Franz normally wore a mask to hide his demi-human features, and Yuric’s accent and hair color were unusual in the imperial capital and the Labyrinth City. Both of them would rather live on the road with the transportation group than settle down in one place. Donnino and Grandel originally had belonged to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces, but since their abilities weren’t suited to Labyrinth subjugation, they’d joined the Black Iron Freight Corps. Simply going into the Labyrinth wasn’t the way to get revenge for Lynx anyway. They chose a path for the Black Iron Freight Corps that would benefit the Labyrinth City. Newie and Nick didn’t have the authority to decide their courses of action, but they seemed pleased to accompany Grandel and Donnino, who’d shown kindness to them. And then there was Edgan. “Without me, you guys won’t have enough strength to survive.” No one saw the need to fight it, and he took over as captain. “Grandel? Why’d Ed quit the Labyrinth Suppression Forces in the first place?” “That’s a fine question, Yuric. The Labyrinth Suppression Forces no longer needed him. He’d been making passes at the female soldiers one after another. Oh, that was a rough time.” The traveler of love, Edgan, whispered sweet nothings to many women at the same time without discrimination, from a beautiful woman too good to be a soldier, to a muscular woman rumored to be a female orc or troll. He seemed to have lost his refuge at the end of a difficult journey. The gentlemanly Grandel told Yuric a poetic story, but the end result of Edgan’s two-timing, or three-timing, or more-timing, may or may not have involved a stabbing while they were making camp. “My soulmate just wasn’t in the Labyrinth Suppression Forces. But she might be in the imperial capital, so that’s why I joined the Black Iron Freight Corps.” “Has your gear of fate broken? I like making repairs.” With a sigh, Edgan’s longtime friend Donnino compared destiny to a spinning mechanical part. “My gear is spinning just fine, like any wagon wheel. Everybody loves it!” “A wheel’s not a gear. It’s got no teeth, so there’s no way for it to mesh with another gear…” As a wheel, Edgan apparently had little friction and was extremely popular. His comrades of the Black Iron Freight Corps, meanwhile, supported one another as they moved forward, but unfortunately, they were not destined to complete each other. “Edgan’s soulmate wasn’t in the imperial capital either, right? And he’s still a wanderer.” Edgan joined Yuric and Grandel’s conversation with theatrical gestures. “Wanderer… I like the sound of that. Yeah! I’m a wanderer of love!” “Lost child is more like it,” Yuric retorted coolly. “Well, seems the preparations are complete. I hope you can make it to Vantoa Village before sunset without losing your way.” “Righto, Grandel. I may be a lost child of love, but I always know where I’m going!” “Is the summer heat getting to him? I wish Edgan would wander off and never come back. The raptors can find their way with or without him.” “Yuric, that’s enough.” Unable to simply watch, Franz stepped in with timely help to stop Yuric’s overly abusive language. Yuric stuck out his tongue and then boarded a carriage with Franz. After traveling through the Fell Forest and delivering the monster-warding potions, they stayed overnight in Vantoa Village before making their return. Their cargo was a load of people bound for the Labyrinth City…along with a suspiciously large quantity of alcohol ordered by the house of Margrave Schutzenwald. It was rather obvious who the drink was for. These days, there was work in the Labyrinth City for people who couldn’t even fight, and still more for those around the strength of an intermediate-level adventurer. Moreover, monster-warding potions that allowed much safer passage to the City than ever before were being sold. The news of this had spread not only to the imperial capital, but to neighboring villages as well.