“Phew. As expected, after running a dark guild for so many years, he had quite a bit of valuable information,” Soulgros said, wiping her forehead and exuding a sense of accomplishment. While she was busy meddling with Luscelt’s brain, I had moved to a slightly distant location with Lucil.
I couldn’t let a child witness such a gruesome scene, after all.
Though we moved away, we could still hear Luscelt’s maniacal laughter turning into screams, which made Lucil’s face turn pale. Away from the chaos, Lucil and I discussed what lay ahead for his guild.
With Apollo, Ligg, and Pelorro dead, Lucil’s guild now only consisted of him and Lucika. The two of them alone couldn’t meet the requirements to maintain the guild. Although I offered to take them in under Yerkchira’s banner, Lucil refused.
“I want to keep that guild going, even if those guys are gone,” he said.
I couldn’t force him to accept my offer. As I pondered how I could help, Krankheit proposed an idea. She suggested integrating Ild, who was under her illusion magic, into Lucil’s guild. With his strong illusion magic, he would not only bolster their numbers but also add significant strength. The issue was whether Lucil could accept this arrangement.
At first, he was hesitant, but Krankheit’s magic revealed that Ild had never truly supported Heinichen’s activities. This revelation led Lucil to agree to take Ild in. Although I felt uneasy about bringing someone from a dark guild close to us, Krankheit assured me that she would thoroughly manipulate his memories, which eased my worries.
With this decision made, we returned to Soulgros. Krankheit, Schwarte, and the others had already returned to the guild headquarters. Vampille protested loudly, but Schwarte dragged her away.
“To think that we came searching for the Elixir and ended up in this situation… It’s been a whirlwind,” Lucil murmured, his gaze distant.
“Yeah. I never imagined things would turn out like this either.”
“In any case, I’ll need him to let me help with the search for the natural Elixir for a while longer.”
“Really?! You mean it?!” Lucil exclaimed.
“Of course. The request Soulgros and I accepted was to find a natural Elixir, after all. Besides, Apollo entrusted me to look after you.”
“Apollo…” Lucil choked back his tears, just as Soulgros quietly approached.
“By the way, I happened to find something that might be the Elixir,” she said.
“What?!” Lucil’s tears seemed to vanish instantly at her sudden revelation. I was equally surprised; I hadn’t noticed at all.
“Where did you find it?!” Lucil asked eagerly.
“Ah, that would be…” Soulgros began to respond.
At that moment, I felt a familiar presence approaching.
“Master!”
I turned to see a smiling girl with fluffy green hair fluttering in the wind. It was Laladie, an alraune and a member of my guild.
“Not just Vampille and the others, but Laladie too… Today is a good day.”
As Laladie waddled over, I went to meet her halfway, and she jumped into my arms.
“Ahh… It’s been so long since I’ve had my Master fix… That damn ninja kept dragging you around, making it hard to find you,” Laladie pouted, sniffing repeatedly.
“So, she missed me that much, huh? I’m kind of happy to hear that.”
“You’ve arrived,” Soulgros muttered softly.
“Hmm? What does she mean by ‘arrived’? Laladie?”
“Yes, Laladie-dono has the natural Elixir,” Soulgros said calmly, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, yet it was a shocking revelation.
“What…?”
“Eeeeeeeeeh?!” Lucil’s scream echoed loudly.
“Whoa! What the heck is wrong with you to be yelling all of a sudden? You little runt!” Laladie snapped back.
Lucil’s reaction was understandable. Anyone would be shocked to hear that an adorable girl like Laladie possessed a natural Elixir.
“Wait, Laladie has the Elixir?”
“The Elixir…? Yes, I have it. Here it is,” Laladie responded nonchalantly. She showed off a large flower nestled in her green hair to me.
“The nectar from this flower is the Elixir. It’s the one Master always enjoys drinking,” she explained casually.
“Eeeeeeeeeh?!”
“Wait, really?! Didn’t you think it important to tell me such an important fact!”
Laladie had occasionally given me some of her nectar to drink, but I had no idea it was the Elixir. Without knowing, I had been drinking an immensely rare and valuable Elixir in large quantities.
Have I been selfishly consuming something so precious, depriving those who need it most? Could this be why I haven’t aged much? Because of Laladie’s Elixir?
No, that can’t be it. I didn’t age much even before meeting her.
“I’m sorry! I have a favor to ask! Please hear me out!” Lucil suddenly rushed over and knelt down before us with incredible speed, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Whoa! What’s with this kid? I’ll kill him!” Laladie growled, clinging tightly to me and glaring at Lucil.
“Well, Laladie, you’re not exactly big enough to call him a ‘runt’ either.”
“Please share some of that Elixir with me! My sister… Lucika needs it!” Lucil begged, pressing his head to the ground. In response, Laladie…
“Huh? No way. I refuse,” she said, glaring at Lucil with terrifyingly cold eyes.
Well, I kind of expected this.
“Please! I know how rare it is!” he pleaded again.
“Huh? Why should I give my bodily fluids to your sister? Absolutely not. I only give it to Master,” she declared firmly.
Despite his desperate plea, Laladie refused to budge.
Hmm… I can’t really push too hard on this. Before meeting Yuuto and Maho, Laladie had given me some of her nectar in the flower garden, and it was clearly a painful experience for her.
I do worry about Lucika and want to help, but not if it means causing Laladie pain. However, I do sympathize with Lucil’s situation.
“Laladie, I’m sorry to ask, but could you spare even a few drops of the Elixir for Lucil?”
“Uh… Hmm… If Master asks, I have to consider it…” Laladie grumbled, then started to seriously ponder my request. Lucil swallowed nervously, waiting for her decision. After a while, Laladie clapped her small hands together.
“Oh, I remember. I have some lower-grade Elixir that I wasn’t planning on giving to Master. If that works, you can have it,” she offered.
“R-Really?! That’s fine! Please share it with me!” Lucil pleaded, crawling closer in desperation. Laladie clung to me, looking disgusted.
“Laladie, you’re showing too much on your face. It’s really contorted right now.”
“Fine… I guess I have no choice.” She sighed.
Laladie summoned a flower from the ground with her ability. As its petals unfurled, a small vial filled with a glowing liquid emerged.
“Here, take it,” she said.
“Th-Thank you! Really, thank you so much!” Lucil carefully took the vial from the flower petals, holding it as if it were a precious treasure.
“Thank you, Laladie. Thank you for listening to my request.”
“It’s Master’s request, so of course I listened! Besides, it’s just a failed Elixir, so it’s not that important,” Laladie said, rubbing her cheek, marked with our guild’s crest, against mine.
“A failed Elixir? I wonder if it’s still effective.”
Soulgros answered my unspoken question. “Even if Laladie-dono calls it a failed Elixir, it’s still far superior to any artificial Elixir.”
“I see. So, there are successes and failures even among natural Elixirs.”
“The nectar I produce for Master has various benefits beyond the usual. It makes your skin smooth and even leaves a mark that shows it’s from me…” Laladie added with a hint of pride.
Is she a housewife?
Since Laladie spoke so confidently, I decided not to make any trivial comments.
“Thank you so much! Now I can save Lucika…” Lucil said, tears streaming down his face.
“Actually, you should be thanking Laladie. I didn’t do much. Let’s help with the burial of Apollo and the others, and then we’ll head back to the guild. Is that okay?”
Lucil nodded immediately, “Yeah! They would be happy if you, Master, helped with that.”
“Well then, Laladie-dono, you can return now. Your task here is done,” Soulgros said.
“It’s a shame. Laladie and Master have fused, so we can’t be separated. You should be the one to return to the guild,” Laladie retorted.
“Huh? I need to stay to pay my respects to Apollo-dono and the others.”
“You’re lying. You don’t care about them at all,” Laladie snapped.
“All right, Soulgros and Laladie, let’s not fight.”
And so, our search for the Elixir came to an end.