Prologue

Spheres—these gemstones were embedded into the right hand of adventurers, bonded with them, and drew out their full potential. They were the power that humans had attained in order to combat the threat of monsters. Their introduction had brought about significant change. Society, rights, influence, beliefs, fear, threats—all of these had been broken, twisted, turned on their heads.

The stones changed color as their holder’s journey progressed, and there were no two identical colors in existence. Someone had said long ago that these changes mirrored the holder’s soul.

What did it mean for a young woman to have a stone with a deep emerald color? For a woman to have a stone with a complex pattern? For a young man to have a stone of a deep obsidian, so dark that it seemed to suck in any and all light?

Chapter 3: What It Means to Kill

Kobolds weren’t uncommon sights in large towns; some were even well-trained enough to work as waiters. Occasionally you saw fairies beside maintained flowerbeds searching for nectar or clean water. Messenger pigeons were positively commonplace, trained to deliver letters at high speed. Weak monsters like these, that required little mana to survive and posed a low threat, could exist in human settlements. And yet...

“Hey, mister, can I have one red and one white, please? Do you want any, Hakura? I’ll pay.”

It was morning and we’d just left the inn. As soon as Leen had spotted a food stall by the side of the road, she’d dashed right over to it and spoke to the man running it.

“I’m fine,” I replied after a pause.

“You sure? You better not ask for something later.”

“We just ate breakfast. I swear, Leen...”

“Yes?”

She stared at me with a puzzled expression. I looked back, unable to accept what I was seeing. The reason was plainly evident.

“Don’t you have any reservations about eating that?”

Before Leen could respond to my question, the man running the stall reached into a container full of ice.

“These were supplied by Miss Cormeca herself, so they’re guaranteed to be juicy,” he said.

The owner had pulled out the two quivering things. An icy chill wafted off from their mysterious not-quite-solid, not-quite-liquid forms. Humans knew these creatures as...slimes.

One slime was a deep red and the other was a light milk color. Each was about the size of two fists. The stall owner then picked up a massive cleaver and hacked off some slices before cutting them into chunks with no hesitation. The slimes that had been sliced apart merely wobbled.

“Here ya go. One lilberry and one eriché. That’ll be thirty ennies.”

He put Leen’s orders into a container alongside a toothpick before handing it over to her. After counting the money and saying thanks, he returned to his hawking. It was already time to find the next customer.

“Huh? What do you mean? Slime jellies taste great,” Leen said.

She was judging the chewiness of her food with an expression that indicated she didn’t understand my question.

“What I’m getting at is this—you are aware of what you walk around with every day, right?” I said.

Unless I was missing something, Leen was chowing down on one of her companion’s kin—a companion with whom she had forged such a strong bond that it called itself her “knight.”

“Oh, Hakura,” Leen replied. “Blue is Blue, and a slime jelly is a slime jelly. Plus, I’m thirsty, and I was in the mood for something sweet.”

“And what about you? You fine watching a fellow slime get gobbled up like that?”

I wasn’t sure if I could call Leen’s slime an acquaintance, but ever since we met and I saw how it had its own ego, I felt an aversion to eating this popular snack (which I had never particularly liked to start with). I wondered what this slime thought about when its master was eating its own kind.

“No, lad. You see, I am different from your average slime,” Leen’s slime explained as it jiggled in her arms, just like the slimes that had been sliced up. “I am a knight and they are mere livestock.”

“Well, if you’re satisfied with that...”

“It’s not as if I’m the one being eaten.”

“Blue isn’t very yummy anyway,” Leen chimed in.

“Uh... Have you tried to eat it before?”

“O-Only when I was a little girl!”

We had found a nearby bench to rest on. Leen pierced the slime—firm thanks to the ice—with her toothpick. The red piece quivered on its skewer as she popped it into her mouth without a second thought. It made a satisfying sound as she bit it. Even from my position beside her, I could tell they had a good mouthfeel.

“What do you even need to do to make those things edible?” I asked.

Slimes were, in my eyes, nothing more than annoying monsters that I’d seen melt and digest a whole number of different things in my lifetime. I felt an aversion to eating one, even if these ones were classed as livestock...

“Well, you know slimes are omnivores, right, Hakura?”

I nodded. Slimes’ two primary traits were an abnormal resistance to physical attacks and the ability to eat anything they could melt. They varied in size, but they always possessed a core somewhere in their bodies—destroy that and they would die. They were weak to changes in temperature, so the main ways you dealt with them were either by melting them with fire, or freezing and then smashing them. Naturally, wizards were often crucial in slaying them. This was about the extent of what I knew about slimes in terms of extermination.

“Slimes’ bodies are made up of the substances they consume. Slimes that only eat metals turn into metal slimes. Slimes that eat a lot of poisonous mushrooms turn into poisonous slimes.”

This was beside the point, but flexible metals were highly valued in alchemy and smithing, so you could earn a pretty enny by capturing a metal slime and selling it. This wasn’t an easy job, as not only were they rare to spot, they were tough and quick little buggers. Anyway, back to the conversation.

“If a slime only eats fruits, then their bodies will gradually change color and start to taste like the fruits they’re eating. Once the flavor has ripened enough, you can slice off a piece and serve it up as slime jelly, which contains none of the slime’s digestive juices. As long as the slime retains its core, it will return to its original size. Plus, if you feed the slime more fruit when it has a smaller body size, then the flavor will get even richer. Some people say there’s nothing tastier than aged slime jelly!”

“And from the slime’s point of view, it’s in a living hell.”

I wasn’t the kind of guy to sympathize with monsters, but I couldn’t imagine being forced into that kind of situation where I was simply kept alive for my meat.

“Oh, sweet Hakura,” Leen said after a gulp, elongating her final vowels, “slimes don’t have feelings or ego.”

“Can you see why I was so freaked out when your slime was on my arm?!”

“Well, I am special,” the slime said.

“Would you like some, Blue?”

“Hmm, very well.”

“Isn’t that...cannibalism?” I said.

“I told you that I am different from them. In many ways.”

The scene of this blue slime consuming a red kindred was quite bizarre. I guessed Leen’s slime was special. It could talk and had two cores instead of the usual one. Slimes wouldn’t be able to maintain their bodies if their cores were destroyed—in other words, they died—but what would happen if one of this slime’s cores was destroyed? Would it be able to survive with just the one? Well, not that I could test this theory.

“On a serious note, slimes have been domesticated for food for a long time. Giving them fruit to eat will provide them with the perfect flavor. You wouldn’t get something this tasty if you snatched a wild slime and did the same,” Leen said.

“I guess you wouldn’t know what it’s eaten,” I replied.

“Exactly! Plus, this is a form of symbiosis, Hakura. Slimes supply their jelly in return for being allowed to live, and people get a delicious treat out of that act. Thanks to that, I get to enjoy this right now!”

Leen had devoured the red slime and moved her toothpick into the white one. Before she picked it up, I watched from beside her as she puffed her cheeks in displeasure.

“Fine, fine. But just one bite!” she said.

I wasn’t sure how she’d misinterpreted my actions this much, but Leen thrust a cube of slime in front of my face. I watched it quiver in the air.

“Huh? Aren’t you going to eat it?” she went on.

“I didn’t ask for—”

“Aren’t you going to eat it?”

From the way Leen was holding the toothpick, it seemed like she wasn’t handing it over to me. She wanted me to open my mouth. I caught a smirk at the corner of her mouth.

She’s serious!

Leen slowly drew closer as I slowly backed away. I knew as soon as I opened my mouth I’d be done for. A pointless tension was tightening my muscles. And the very next second...

“Ngh...”

...I felt a twinge of pain in the back of my right hand—where my black Sphere was—that caused a chill to run up my spine. I’d never felt anything like it before. Upon turning around to figure out what was happening, I saw someone.

“My, oh my, you two seem awfully chummy.”

It was a woman. She had a hand over her mouth as she chuckled.

I didn’t recognize her. I glanced over at Leen and she shook her head—not an acquaintance of hers either, it seemed.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties. She had dark-red hair in thick plaits that fell over her chest. Her gray robe had long sleeves, and was of the type favored by magically inclined folk. The stains on the cuffs indicated that she was a more practical than fastidious sort. All together, she had an appearance that indicated she distanced herself from the world at large.

I glanced down at her right hand. Sticking out of a hole cut into a glove was an agate color Sphere with an intricate pattern within.

Noticing my gaze, the woman waved her hand at me.

“I’m not suspicious,” she clarified. “I just saw you eating my creations with such happy smiles that I couldn’t help myself!”

“We look chummy, you said? I’d suggest you get your eyes checked,” I said.

At the mention of “creations,” I looked over at Leen’s jelly. Still quivering in the air, she tutted and popped it into her mouth.

“I modified the slime jelly you’re eating right now. How do they taste?” the woman asked.

The hawker did say that he had ordered them from somewhere.

“Are you Cormeca?” I said.

“Indeed. I’m Cormeca Esma and, well, I’m an alchemist. Pleasure to meet you.”

An alchemist... This was a job that had begun from a desire to transform lead into gold to discover what existed in this world, why it existed, and what transformations would take place. It was a study that sought to unveil the secrets of all matter in the world.

They were known for modifying crops, constructing new metals, and developing useful tools. Having created all sorts of items that were essential to everyday life, alchemists were people we adventurers had an unavoidable relationship with. After all, many parts of the kits used to combat monsters had been brought into existence by alchemists. In addition, they were constantly in need of materials that were rich in mana for research use, such as monsters’ claws, scales, or pelts. People often said that over sixty percent of the available quests in the guild were from the local alchemists.

This woman, Cormeca, didn’t let her smile falter. For Leen’s part, she took her sweet time as she slowly chewed on the piece of slime jelly in her mouth.

“Ahem,” she said after swallowing. “Yes, they are very juicy with a nice bite to them. I very much enjoyed them. I can see why the stall owner was so keen to recommend them.”

Apparently feeling no discomfort at being appraised by Cormeca, Leen gave a broad smile as she spoke. She was utterly honest when it came to food.

“I’m so happy to hear you like them,” Cormeca replied. “I only wish my main work was so well loved. Oh! Don’t misunderstand—I came here to give my thanks.”

“Your thanks?” Leen repeated.

Cormeca put her right hand to her check and said, “Yes. After all, you found Allen.”

I saw her eyes sharpen in that moment—or so it seemed to me.

Every adventurer needed to share everything they’d learned during a quest to the guild once it was completed. The guild then collated the info and publicized it as a report containing what they thought necessary to share. In our case, this was to prevent adventurers from haphazardly heading to Leston and to inform people that some living dead might still be lurking in the area.

Any deceased adventurers would have their names listed on a piece of paper that was posted in the guild at the end of the week. If you hadn’t seen someone in a while but their name wasn’t there, you could breathe a sigh of relief. The opposite often happened too, of course.

“Allen and I were in the same party. Although it disbanded,” Cormeca said with a slightly pained smile. Her eyes were back to normal.

Was it my imagination?

“After he broke up the party, saying he was going to get married, I didn’t see him all that often. But he was a precious member of my party. I wanted to give my condolences.” Cormeca stared at the ground with a somber expression before apologizing. She pulled herself together and looked back at us. “Which is why I’m grateful to you both. I’ll be visiting his grave before too long. So thank you.”

“I didn’t really do anything,” I said. “You should thank her.”

I turned to Leen, and then she suddenly spoke.

“What’s the matter?”

The problem was that she was talking to thin air.

“Oh?”

“Huh?”

Cormeca and I muttered at the same time. As we looked at Leen with confused expressions, she shook her head at us.

“Oh, sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t talking to you, Hakura.”

“Then who?” I asked.

“Uh, well, you don’t need to worry about that. Just myself.”

“You’re kinda freaking me out... What are you?”

“A jaw-droppingly beautiful young woman!”

“Not what I was asking.”

“You’re saying I’m not beautiful?!”

“Your personality sure isn’t!”

I held Leen back with a single hand as she charged at me; Cormeca started to chuckle watching us.

“If I may ask an unrelated question,” she said. “Are you two lovers?”

“Don’t even joke,” I said.

Cormeca’s suggestion sent a horrid shiver down my spine so I rebutted her immediately. As soon as I did, I felt a hard smack on the back of my head.

“OW!”

“Don’t respond that quickly! You’ll hurt a poor maiden’s feelings!”

“You hurt a poor guy’s head!”

“Well, hmph! I’d never ever date someone who’s this rude!”

“What a coincidence—me too.”

I thought our shared agreement was something to celebrate, but Leen gave me a quick kick, which caught me by surprise. The force of her steel-toe-capped boot sent a jolt of pain through me.

“That hurt! Why’d you do that?”

“Because I’m allowed to ignore you whenever I like, but you’re not allowed to give me the cold shoulder!”

“Come on, there’s gotta be a limit to your selfishness...”

I heard a weird sound and turned to see Cormeca with a hand over her mouth, stifling a chuckle. It couldn’t be contained for long, and she broke out into hysterical laughter. What was I meant to do here?

After half a minute or so, she finally calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes. Was it really that funny...?

“Ahh... So silly... Ha ha...” Cormeca calmed her breathing and apologized again. With downcast eyes, she went on, “Remember this. You never know when a friend or ally of yours will disappear. You might take tomorrow for granted, but who knows what day you’ll be pulled apart without warning.”

“Right...”

Leen glanced at me. She wasn’t acting in her usual insolent manner, and she looked really awkward.

“If you want to say something, why don’t you say it clearly?” I said.

“I was just thinking how painful it’d be if your ally were to suddenly disappear, Hakura. I was thinking how sad you’d be.”

“I wouldn’t care. I’d just look for my next employer,” I said.

I placed a hand on my sword, and Leen shifted away from me. It wasn’t as if I could say much. It had happened to me and it was why I was here now.

“Anyway, have you two picked out your next quest?” Cormeca asked.

“Not yet,” I replied.

It had been two weeks since we’d returned from Leston, and in the meantime, we’d taken on a number of quests that could be wrapped up in a day. It was about time to think about taking on something big that would have a nice payout.

“Well, I’ve actually partially retired from the adventuring business. This is what I’m putting my efforts into.”

Cormeca opened her bag and pulled out a miniature canvas—just big enough to fit in her palm. On it were two cartoonish slimes, one red and one white. I could tell it was an oil painting, but that was about as far as my knowledge went. Leen, on the other hand, let out a gasp of awe with her mouth half open.

“These are very well painted. They’re so cute!”

“Thank you,” Cormeca replied. “I thought this painting would make a nice little feature to draw attention to the stand. I wonder if people will like it.”

I realized that this was why she had approached us. She was free until the guy at the stand had finished serving customers.

“I’ve got a little exhibition running here in Esma,” she went on. “Although I’ve not had as many visitors as I’d like.” The stains on her sleeves suddenly made more sense. They must be paint. With a smile still on her face, she slumped her shoulders to show her displeasure before continuing, “I’m more well known for my alchemical work. I only began this trade to try and whip up some pigments that weren’t sold on the market. And I only became an adventurer to collect the materials I’d need.”

Cormeca sighed. With her party disbanded, she couldn’t head out quite as far as she once did. All the same, the situation wasn’t quite so dire that she wanted to find a new party. Her motivation for adventuring had run dry. Regardless of your situation, the guild would send you a notice about retirement if you spent too long not taking on any quests. It seemed to me that Cormeca didn’t care if that happened to her.

“So, uh, what do these slime jellies gotta do with your paints?” I said.

Slime jellies were cheap snacks. As soon as I asked my question, though, Cormeca’s face brightened up.

“If you give a slime fruits that are the color you want, you can boil down the slime and squeeze it to get a wonderfully clear paint that is easy to layer with.”

I imagined the slime being cooked up then squeezed to make paint and felt a knot form in my stomach. Well, I didn’t care how much some domesticated slime was mistreated, but it didn’t feel good to hear someone talk about it with such little care.

“I see. So this slime is painted with materials made from a slime! I can see how you managed to get this realism,” Leen said, evidently unfazed by Cormeca’s methods.

“The fly in the ointment is that flies, and other bugs, are attracted by sweet scents,” Cormeca said. “Anyway, back to the subject. If you aren’t doing a quest at the moment, could I bother you with collecting some large-spotted venomous moths?”

“Hold on a sec! Explain yourself,” I said.

Interestingly enough, we had encountered a large-spotted venomous moth, or at least the larva of one. Leen had used the little caterpillar to win over a giant mole and get it to bully Rudolf back in Rydea. Like their name suggested, they turned into venomous moths whose scales could cause headaches, vomiting, or even paralysis if inhaled. As they always flew out of sword range, they were tricky monsters to deal with. If you ventured into their habitat, then you’d need antidotes at the ready.

“Explain myself? I want to mix their scales with oil to make a beautiful purple paint,” Cormeca replied.

“Yeah, and won’t anyone who comes into contact with that paint get poisoned?”

“Ha ha... No, no, the poison won’t spread once the paint dries. And I’ll make sure to coat the work in varnish afterward.”

So it would be fine then? No, this seemed dangerous and a pain in the ass. What mattered was if the cost was worth it. In my opinion, I wanted to hurry up and leave Esma and get to Clovel. Unfortunately, it was Leen who called the shots now.

“Hmm, I see,” Leen said.

I wanted Leen to just decline right away, but it looked like she was mulling something over. I wondered if she thought that playing assistant to an alchemist was better than heading back to the guild and having an annoying quest forced on her by Erifell.

“If you have any quests, could you please issue them via the guild?”

My concerns were washed away in an instant. A clear, calm, and well-pitched voice cut through the air. It was the person in question: Erifell.

Erifell wasn’t in the typical hooded apron that the guild receptionists wore, instead wearing, to my surprise, a smart dress—that I imagined was something personal of hers. It only made her shabby leatherwork necklace seem even more out of place.

“Oh, hello, Erifell. How are you?” Cormeca said with a smile and a wave to Erifell, who had appeared out of nowhere and made no attempt to hide her displeasure.

“Good morning, Cormeca,” Erifell replied. “You seem well.”

“Of course. You, on the other hand, look rather tired. Are you doing okay? You should relax at home if you ask me.”

“I don’t need your concern. More importantly, were you just trying to issue a quest without going through—”

“Yes, yes, I know. I wasn’t going through the proper channels. We were just making small talk. Should I go and issue the quest properly now, hmm?”

Erifell didn’t respond.

“Oh, what a dreadfully terrifying expression! I’d rather you not give me that look. I want to get along with you.”

Whew, talk about scary...

Erifell radiated indifference when she worked through tasks, but now I could sense hatred for Cormeca. Why else would her eyes look so cold? For the third time today, I felt a cold chill down my back. If someone stared at me like that, I’d probably run for the hills. The fact that Cormeca could stand strong under Erifell’s gaze was pretty impressive. All I could do was keep my mouth shut and avoid the sparks while praying that Leen didn’t say anything stupid.

“Oh! Are you two friends?” Leen said.

“Does nothing scare you?”

My prayers were all for naught.

“Yes, we are. Erifell was often at the reception when my and Allen’s party took on quests,” Cormeca said. “She even prioritized quests for us and said that Allen shouldn’t keep taking on quests to Leston out of personal fe—”

“Could you not bring up pointless things?” Erifell said in an evidently angry tone.

“Who cares? I’m just reminiscing. Or would you prefer I didn’t?” Cormeca looked up to the sky wistfully. “Will you not even permit me to remember him and honor his memory that way?”

Erifell again fell silent.

This wasn’t good. A fight was brewing from an angle I hadn’t been expecting. I didn’t know what their history was, but I didn’t want to get involved. I carefully began to stand up, trying not to be noticed, when Leen grabbed my sleeve. What was she doing?

“Yes, it was quite a shame...” Cormeca said.

“What do you mean?”

“The incident in Leston! What a tragedy. It was like a second home to me. I’m serious! I went there so often, after all.”

“This has nothing to do with you.”

“Don’t be so disheartened. But it is quite the task ahead. Who knows what will happen unless they purify that place? They’re going to light up the whole village and burn it to ashes, aren’t they? I’d love to see it once they’re finished. I think it’ll really stir up some inspiration! I’m sure I could make a great painting out of it. Oh, I know, I’ll title it The Tragic End of the Village of Leatherworkers...”

“Is that all you wish to say, Cormeca?” Erifell cut off Cormeca with a single sentence. “If you want to issue a quest, go to the guild. That’s all I have to say.”

“Is it really?”

“What else would there be?”

“You seem awfully out of breath, and your little knight isn’t with you! Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Why are you speaking of someone who isn’t here?”

Both the women fell silent and glared at one another for a good half minute. One was expressionless, the other was smiling—but both of their eyes were cold.

“Hm?”

It wasn’t either of them or even Leen or I who broke the silence. It was a slight rumbling. I readied myself, wondering if it was an earthquake, but then I noticed it was the bench we were on that was shaking. It quickly stopped and didn’t start up again. Leen shifted her body weight from side to side to check the bench.

“This bench must be getting old! Maybe a screw came loose. I’ll tell the authorities later,” Leen said.

“Pfft...” Cormeca spluttered another laugh again—she must have found Leen’s statement funny—then looked at us and bowed. “Sorry, sorry. The mood just got so serious! I’ll be leaving now.”

“R-Right,” I said.

“Do you know the Parapetter store? My exhibition is being held there, so drop by if you have the time. I’d love to see you there.”

I had zero reason to keep her here so I just nodded in response. I hadn’t heard of that store and didn’t feel any need to go. My thoughts were only focused on the fact that I’d finally be free of this awkward atmosphere.

“Oh, right,” Cormeca said, stopping as she passed Erifell.

“Huh?”

Cormeca suddenly poked Erifell’s forehead. Erifell, being a regular person, couldn’t react to the swift movements of an adventurer quick enough. She tipped over slightly, but didn’t lose her footing. When she looked up again, placing a hand on her forehead, Cormeca was already walking away, waving as she went.

“Let me warn you,” Cormeca said. “I wouldn’t do whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, Erifell. No one will benefit from it and it’ll be dangerous for you.” As she said those last words, she turned around and sneered. “Get plenty of rest, okay? Bye.”

Erifell was unable to say anything in response and merely glared as Cormeca walked away.

Left in this awfully tense atmosphere, I didn’t know what to do. It was painfully awkward.

“Wanna make a run for it?” Leen whispered.

“I wish,” I said back.

As for Erifell, after making sure Cormeca was gone, she took a number of deep breaths. She then turned toward us and bowed deeply.

“I apologize for showing you such an unsightly side of me,” she said.

“You said it,” Leen replied. “I was a bit scared! Oh, would you like a bite, Erifell?”

“Just what goes through your head?” I muttered. Why would Erifell want to eat something that Cormeca had been involved with after that? However, Erifell’s expression didn’t change.

“Thank you for the other day,” she said, completely ignoring what Leen said.

“The other day?” Leen replied.

“The quest in Leston.”

“Oh, right. Why bring that up now? Usually you say, ‘I appreciate your work, but I will not thank you. Receiving payment for services tendered is natural in a job. If you require thanks, then talk to your client.’”

Erifell maintained her stony expression as she fell into a momentary silence. She adjusted her glasses.

“Do I say such heartless things?” she said after a pause.

“Well, yeah!”

I was surprised that Leen was bringing this up now, of all times, but to be honest, I was on her side on this one. Erifell fit the image of a receptionist who—for better or worse—was cold and levelheaded, bureaucratic and official, fair and unequivocable with her adventurer clients, working solely on reason and fact.

“I see... Well, I suppose you’re right.”

“I am right! Please be kinder to me! I’d like a job that isn’t a hassle. Or one delivering goods overseas.”

“It’s my responsibility to make sure appropriate jobs are given to the appropriate adventurers,” Erifell said, adjusting her glasses after brushing off Leen’s requests. “By the way, are you familiar with an adventurer called Jiray Esma?”

I was surprised to hear his name be brought up, and it seemed Leen was too from the sound that escaped her lips.

“Jiray? I met him recently and spoke to him once or twice. How about you, Hakura?”

Stupid Leen, pushing the conversation onto me. I wanted to ride out this whole thing in silence! Erifell also looked at me. She readjusted her glasses and affixed me with her reddish-brown eyes. It would be weird for me to stick to my silence.

“Yeah, I know him, but we’re not close enough that we, like, keep in contact or anything.”

“I see. Another adventurer said they saw you talking to him in the guild before. If you’re not all that close, then don’t worry.”

In my opinion, Erifell should know more about Jiray than myself as he used to do odd chores for the guild. But, well, the guild in Esma wasn’t small by any means, and Erifell didn’t deal with adventurers below B rank. I supposed that there were things you didn’t see in your everyday life—not that I knew much about the receptionist life. He was still a rookie and the fact that she’d brought his name up meant...

“Has he not returned from a quest?” I asked.

Fledgling adventurers often went on their first quest with gusto, only to never return. Whatever quest you took, you couldn’t dare assume that it would be a breeze. It could cost you your life. Even if you yourself made no mistakes, the unexpected could suddenly happen, and simple bad luck could lead you to your demise. It was such an everyday occurrence that I was surprised a guild receptionist would bring it up.

“No, not that,” she replied.

I was relieved to hear this wasn’t news of his death, but Erifell suddenly clammed up.

“No, my apologies. This doesn’t concern you, so don’t pay it any more heed.”

“You’re just going to leave us hanging? This is going to bug me all day!” Leen said.

Despite Leen closing in, Erifell didn’t budge in the slightest. I guessed that Erifell’s will was strong enough to withstand Leen’s brazenness. Adventurers often got violent with their words, so it made sense that you needed to have an iron will to work with them.

“Say something, Hakura!”

“Well, I’m a bit concerned, but I don’t wanna get involved with stuff that’ll be a hassle.”

“Why don’t we hear her out, and then if it sounds fishy, we can pretend we didn’t hear anything!”

“What’s wrong with you? If we find out he’s in trouble, then we have to go help him!”

Leen and Erifell suddenly looked at me wide-eyed. Having two pretty ladies staring at me wordlessly made me feel uncomfortable.

“What?” I said.

“I was just thinking, Hakura, you... Oh, forget it,” Leen replied.

“Finish that sentence, c’mon!”

“You don’t want to get involved if it’ll be a hassle, right?”

“Are you implying you were about to say something that’d be a hassle for me to hear?”

“May I continue?” Erifell said, sighing as she adjusted her glasses.

“Your glasses seem to be the wrong size,” I said.

Erifell was readjusting her glasses way too much. I’d never seen her do this at work.

“Yes. And?”

“What do you mean ‘and’?”

Even with the small motions of her mouth moving from talking, I could see her glasses gradually migrating down her nose. I wondered if she was acting on pure reflex when she pushed them back up.

“To confirm, neither of you are currently undertaking a quest, are you?” Erifell asked.

“Why are you asking? You should know.”

At the moment, Erifell was pretty much in charge of Leen. Any jobs we did were chosen by her. The reason Leen complained but wasn’t outright rejecting it was because all of the quests were tricky ones that only Leen could solve; others would have to resort to more violent methods. Erifell was really skilled at picking out the perfect quests for our monstermancer here. I wondered if things could have been solved a little more peacefully when we were going to Rydea if Erifell had been in charge when we received the quest.

“Is it another weird quest?” Leen asked.

All the same, Leen hated being forced to work hard each time. She shot daggers at Erifell, who accepted them like a breeze as she shook her head.

I continued to keep quiet since I was merely Leen’s aide. The only time I was needed was when discussing the appropriate reward. Or so I’d thought.

“No, this time, I need you, Hakura Istilla,” Erifell said.

“Me?”

“Not as an adventurer...but as a witch hunter.”

As soon as she said this, a switch flicked in my brain. I felt my blood run cold and a chill seep into my head. My hands clenched in reaction.

“N-No, you can’t do that! Hakura’s my bodyguard right now! You need to ask me to— Huh?”

I put my hand on Leen’s shoulder to stop her protests.

“Sorry, Leen, but this is my job.”

If someone needed me, then my job was simple: kill a witch.

“Tell me more, Erifell.”

Erifell nodded and cast a glance at Leen before readjusting her glasses.

“What will you do?” she asked her. I imagined she was checking if Leen would be taking part.

“Grrk...” Leen forced out a groan as her face turned bright red. After a moment’s silence, she stamped onto the pavement. “I’ll come! Of course I’ll come!”

“Ow!”

In her rage, she’d kicked my shin again. Come on, why?

“Then follow me.”

Erifell didn’t pay much heed to our conversation and moved to lead the way, when suddenly...she fell over. With a tumbling sound, she hit the ground, her glasses clattering away. She remained there, unmoving. It didn’t look like she’d slowed her fall at all and had collided with the ground face-first.

“A-Are you okay?” I asked. She’d fallen with enough intensity to cause concern.

“Pay me no heed,” she said after a pause, slowly pulling herself to her feet. She had grazed her nose, but she didn’t appear to be injured. It was a small mercy, but I wasn’t sure if this was merely a case of bad luck.

“Ha ha ha!” Leen burst out laughing, clapping her hands, as soon as she realized Erifell wasn’t badly hurt. Seriously?

“Wow, I can’t believe you have a clumsy side! That’s news to me!” she went on.

The smug grin on Leen’s face shone with the ugly resolve that she would abuse this weakness as much as possible now that she had discovered it. I had to wonder just how much suffering Erifell had caused Leen before she met me. This kind of glee didn’t come from your average grudge.

“I don’t mean to be so clumsy,” Erifell said, still without a single trace of emotion on her face, as she checked that her glasses weren’t broken.

“How did you fall over? There’s nothing to fall over!”

“This doesn’t happen normally. I imagine it’s just exhaustion from work. My days have been rather long recently.”

“Well, a whole village was wiped out, so that would wear you down.”

“Yeah...” I muttered.

After we’d submitted our report about Leston, it had been slated for extermination. The only things left at that point were corpses and the shells of a former life. The church would do a proper examination at a later date and probably burn everything down to cleanse it. Any future maps wouldn’t bear the village’s name anymore. Even if a new one were to emerge from the ashen remains, it wouldn’t be Leston. And that would be a long time from now.

Erifell reaffixed her glasses and shifted her body up and down without rising to her feet.

“Erifell?” Leen asked, but there was no reply. It seemed that she couldn’t get up.

“Fine, fine,” Leen said, holding out her hand with an absolutely wicked grin.

For Erifell’s part, she deliberated for a moment, but ultimately clasped Leen’s hand.

“Whoa!” Leen shouted, looking shocked. “Erifell, are you okay? Your hand’s burning hot!”

“Don’t worry about me...” she said.

That wasn’t possible. Looking at her now, her fatigue was obvious. She was wheezing and her skin was covered in beads of sweat. Her face was red, but her neck and fingers were drained of color. Even her lips were almost blue. I was surprised that she managed to rage so much at Cormeca in this state. I wondered if she didn’t want to show vulnerability to someone she didn’t like or if there was another reason.

“Hmm...”

Leen placed her hand on Erifell’s forehead and squinted as she assessed her temperature. From Leen’s expression, it didn’t look good.

“Should we call a doctor?” I said.

“No, I’ll look after her. Let’s take her home. It’s close by,” Leen replied.

Leen gave her staff to me and lifted Erifell onto her back after getting permission to do so. Leen appeared small, but she was an adventurer with a Sphere. She could easily give a piggyback to a grown woman. She carried her staff all the time, but it would be difficult to continue holding it, so I was in charge of carrying it for now.

“I didn’t know you knew where she lived,” I said.

“I’ve been a few times,” Leen replied.

“You don’t seem close enough for her to invite you over...”

“No, it was for scolding and complaining. Or scolding and griping.”

“Uh-huh...”

Leen walked slowly, most likely out of concern for Erifell. I wished she were this thoughtful usually.

“Hey, Hakura?”

“Yeah?”

“Looks like we’ve gotten involved in something that’s going to be a hassle.”

I wanted to quip that she spoke as if she weren’t the one currently holding a sick person, but I couldn’t because she was helping to carry said sick person. Dammit all...

◆

Erifell’s apartment was located on the second floor of a three-story complex, not too far from the guild.

We (obviously, Leen) took her key from her skirt pocket and opened the creaky door. Apparently the building wasn’t in too good shape.

“Hm?”

I could’ve sworn I saw something inside there moving at the corner of my vision. Must’ve been my imagination.

“Down ya go!”

Leen was first to enter, and as soon as she located Erifell’s bed, she didn’t hesitate to chuck her right down on it. Our patient bounced a bit before slumping down onto her face. Just what had caused her momentary spurt of kindness earlier...?

“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll take good care of her,” Leen said. “Blue, if you please.”

“Of course. It has been a while since I last was an ice pack.”

The slime had been riding atop Leen’s head while she was carrying Erifell, but now it leaped down onto Erifell’s head. It wobbled as it expanded, growing to cover not only Erifell’s forehead but the whole top of her head. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that she was about to become its meal. If Erifell herself were conscious to witness this, she’d probably scream.

“This isn’t good, my lady. Her temperature is rather high. All I can do is delay the worst.”

It was clear that Erifell’s condition had deteriorated. This was no longer a simple case of her feeling under the weather, but just well enough that she could hide it. It seemed more like she was cursed or something...

“That will be fine, Blue. Oh, Hakura? Turn around for a moment. I need to change her clothes.”

“Sure. I’ll be outside.”

“Could you boil me some water while you’re at it? I need to wipe her down.”

“Gotcha.”

I hated the feeling of trespassing in someone’s house, but the logical part of my brain decided that it would be best to follow Leen’s reasonable request and turn on the tap. Water was provided to all residences from a tap in the garden—as long as you paid for how much you used, of course, and it wasn’t super cheap. I had internal reservations about cranking up someone else’s water bill, but this was for her benefit, so I’d hope she’d forgive us later.

As the water poured from the tap, a small mechanism to the side started to turn as the cost ticked up. I filled up the bucket about halfway, pulled out a small red stone from my pouch, and tossed it inside.

“I can charge her for this later, right?” I murmured to myself.

Firestones were a type of processed mana crystal, and handy items that reacted to the liquid and easily heated it up. Even a small stone could heat up this much water in about five minutes. It saved the hassle of burning wood, but they were pricey little things and usable only once. Once used, you would get an inert piece of mana crystal.

“Man...”

While the water boiled, I scanned the room. It was pretty spacious and represented its owner well with how well clean and organized it was. Everything seemed to be where it ought to be. Upon a shelf was a large number of books neatly arranged by volume. The other things that caught my eye were a few decorations and leatherwork wall ornaments hanging up on pins.

It went without saying that an adventurer without permanent residence had few personal belongings. While they might have a number of possessions when staying at one location for an extended period of time, most adventurers could fit everything they owned into a bag on their back. I wasn’t sure, but this was probably the reason I felt so uncomfortable being in a room where the owner’s personality was so on display. It was a strange kind of persecution complex where I was being shown all these things I couldn’t have—heightened by the fact that she was a single woman.

“We entered without her permission, but we didn’t really have a choice, did we?” I said.

I heard the rustling of fabric coming from the other room. It was impossible to feel calm when I imagined what was happening in there.

“Oh!” After a few minutes—about the time the water had been boiling—Leen let out a cry.

“What’s up?”

“Look at this, Hakura!”

If she wanted me over, then she’d probably finished changing Erifell’s clothes. When I entered the room with a bucket in one hand, I saw porcelainlike skin completely drained of blood. In other words, I saw Erifell...with nothing covering her top half but her underwear.

“H-Hey...!”

The shock of the situation meant I couldn’t look away. I should’ve known, but, man, was she stupid?!

“Ohh... I thought it wasn’t likely...”

Leen was pointing at Erifell’s chest. In particular, to a mole on the right side of the soft mounds covered in white fabric. Actually, it was a bit too big to be a regular mole. And the shape was weird too, like three hooks lined up to form a circle...

“I’m pretty sure this shape is of Beelbel, but there’s no distinguishing feature to it, so it’s probably from a lower level... Does this look familiar to you, Hakura?”

Leen gave me a puzzled expression as she asked this. She looked at Erifell then back at me. Erifell, me, Erifell, me. Eventually she got mad.

“What are you looking at?! Don’t stare, you perv!”

“You are being so absurd right now!”

“Ugh! Go away!”

This situation was so unfair that I would’ve fought back under normal circumstances, but I felt so bad seeing Erifell like this that I couldn’t react as I usually did. Confusion plugged any words shut. I decided to look away, only to suddenly hear a bang. The door had been flung open.

“What?!”

The person at the door was a tough-looking guy with a sword at his waist. His clothes were clean and well-kept, but his muscular frame and chiseled face bore a number of scars that suggested he was a warrior. That face was twisted in anger as he glared at us.

“Ngh...”

I felt another rush of heat from my Sphere. My senses were awfully acute today.

“What in the world are you two doing?” he said in a powerful voice that suited his appearance. A palpable rage bubbled underneath. His trembling hand suggested that his anger had reached a peak.

“Um...”

I was about to ask who the hell he was, but I bit my tongue.

Both Leen and I had assumed Erifell lived alone. Or at least that she wasn’t married. Thinking about it now, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have family members or a partner. The man in front of us could be a brother who lived elsewhere, or even her boyfriend. Looking at the situation from an objective standpoint, we were the criminals who had snuck into someone else’s house and partially undressed the owner. That was enough for him to put a hand on his weapon.

“Step away from her. Immediately.”

“Hey, we’re just—”

“I said get away from her!”

I tried to explain, but he wasn’t in the mood to listen. The room creaked underneath his booming anger. The atmosphere was positively prickly; I knew if I moved one inch, he wouldn’t hesitate to draw his blade.

Ugh, what a pain...

I didn’t know this man’s relation to Erifell, so I couldn’t dare harm him. But I wouldn’t sit and take it if he attacked me. Judging from the lack of holes in his stance, it was clear that he was a battle-tested warrior. I glanced at his right hand; the lack of a Sphere indicated that he wasn’t an adventurer. All the same, I didn’t want to eat an attack from someone that big head-on.

“Oka—”

“SHUT UP!”

I was about to start negotiations and tell him that I got it and wanted him to calm down, but Leen yelled.

“We have a sick person here and you’re both being far too loud! Shut up! Be quiet! Hakura, where’s my hot water? And you, mister! Don’t just stand there—bring some towels!”

“Mister? Wait? Me?”

“Who else is here?!” Leen shouted back.

With our conversation so abruptly interrupted, I looked at the man, who was just standing there, dumbstruck. Leen was being terrifying today, so it seemed that, for now at least, both of us would have to follow her instructions without knowing who each other was.

The twinging pain in my right hand had vanished by now.

◆

Cleaning Erifell’s body, redressing her, and cooling her head must have had some positive effect, for although her condition wasn’t great, it was better than it had been earlier. In return, Leen had rummaged through her drawers, but that wasn’t my fault. Unfortunately, her fever hadn’t gone down, so the slime continued to play the role of ice pack. Handy little thing.

“I’m sorry. I had merely jumped to the rash conclusion that something had happened to Miss Erifell.”

“Well, some stuff did happen, I guess...”

After we explained the situation, the man seemed to accept it, and he sheathed his sword. We had put down our weapons and spoken to one another, which led us to now. It would be best for the patient to give her some space, but we decided to stay as close as necessary just in case her condition improved.

“My name’s Derg Luanton. I’m a third-class church knight.”

A church knight—in other words, a holy knight who worshiped Saphirism. They were powerful warriors on par with adventurers and played a big role in helping the church maintain its global influence. They were ranked into ten classes, with tenth being lowest and first being highest, but it was rare to meet anyone fourth or above. A third-class church knight was an elite, probably around B rank if judging on the same scale as the guild. Thank goodness I hadn’t attacked him on sight.

However, Leen seemed more intrigued by his name than his rank.

“Luanton? Isn’t that where the Church of Saphir is based?”

The four continents of Tomitoa, Lirabell, Corsueny, Altarina—the eastern, western, southern, and northern continents—and the islands that linked them all had their own nations and cultures. The towns and villages were, in turn, run by each nation. In other words, the people governed themselves.

There were independent organizations that weren’t affiliated with any nation. The only ones that could come close to rivaling the might of a nation were the guild and the church. As for the latter, if normal people mentioned the “church,” they were usually referring to Saphirism or any of the institutions under its purview. If adventurers were the ones who maintained control over the guild, it was the population of believers who maintained the church. The church was the world’s largest monotheistic religion that worshipped the goddess Saphir.

Both the guild and the church had many members all across the world. However, this was the only thing they had in common. They held vastly different viewpoints and, well, to put it simply, they didn’t get along.

“Really?” I asked.

All I knew about Saphirism was that getting involved with them would inevitably give me a massive headache, so I had no knowledge of their myths or their doctrine. I was more surprised that Leen knew about them.

“It’s right next to where I’m heading,” Leen said. “Luanton Cathedral lies at the farthest tip of human civilization, right before the northern reaches of Chromrorm. There are no human settlements beyond that.”

“Huh. You came pretty far, then,” I said to Derg.

With a home name like that, Derg here must have been born nearby the cathedral, traversed the tundra, journeyed across the continent, and made his way here. Hold on. Did Leen just say she was heading to the northern reaches?

“It isn’t so strange to leave home,” Derg replied.

Derg already had a serious face, and the wrinkles that crossed it now told me that this was a topic he’d rather avoid. I wasn’t particularly interested, so I didn’t intend to pry.

“And your names?” he asked.

“I’m Hakura.”

I paused for a moment before replying, deciding not to give my home name. I didn’t need to tell someone affiliated with the church. Luckily, unlike Leen’s slime, Derg didn’t inquire further.

“Oh, and I’m Leen Stonabel. You can call me Leen.”

“Mister Hakura, Miss Leen, it’s a plea— Huh?!”

I immediately collapsed down onto the carpet.

“Don’t mind him! Hakura has a strange illness where he randomly falls over.”

“No! I! Don’t!”

I sprang up and grabbed Leen’s shoulders.

“Say that again! Say it!” I shouted.

“Eep!”

Evidently surprised, Leen’s eyes swam as she ummed at me in confusion.

“I said...you have a strange illness where you randomly fall over...”

“I didn’t mean that! What did you say before that? About your name!”

“Are you two really an adventuring party?” Derg asked, eyeing us with suspicion. Shut up, man! I’ve got something important to ask here!

“I told you that my friends call me Leen, didn’t I?”

“Wasn’t that information so supersecret that you needed to piss me off back in that forest?!”

“That was because, Hakura, you— Ahem.”

My anger wasn’t settling, but Leen suddenly groaned to herself. She then looked over to Erifell and groaned again.

“Let’s set that aside. Right now, we’ve got something more important to deal with.”

“I ain’t taking that for an answer, just so you know.”

“I know, I know, I’ll explain properly later.”

I continued to glare at Leen, but she had a point. The problem at hand was Erifell’s condition...and the strange mark on her chest.

“What I’d like to ask about first is your relation to Erifell. How did you get in?” Leen asked.

“Ngh...”

We seemed like untrustworthy adventurers to Derg, but from our perspective, all we knew was that he had some relation to Erifell. He didn’t seem like her brother, so he was probably...

“I’m a friend. She had given me her key beforehand,” Derg replied.

“Not her boyfriend?” Leen asked.

“Just a friend.”

“A friend who wants to be more than that?”

“I said I’m just her friend! Is this really the most important thing to be discussing right now?!”

“No, but my curiosity got the better of me.”

“Don’t derail the conversation,” I said.

“Ow!”

I gave Leen’s head a little poke. She glared back at me but must have realized she was in the losing corner here, for she didn’t strike back.

“I have a reason for entering here with a weapon,” Derg said, pulling out a thin slip of paper. “Miss Erifell had briefed me beforehand. She always slips this piece of paper in the door frame when she goes out. In other words, if this paper is lying in the corridor, that means that someone else has opened her door.”

I glanced over at Erifell, who was breathing deeply. I didn’t realize she did this during her off time. It was basically an alarm system that let her share if there was an emergency or not. It made sense that he got angry when he saw that something was amiss, came in, and witnessed an unclothed Erifell surrounded by two strangers.

“Well, it’s easy to make enemies in her line of work. It wouldn’t be surprising for a bad-hearted adventurer to ambush her after losing their temper,” Leen said.

“I wouldn’t dare let that happen.”

Derg’s tone was strong.

That was the kind of guy he was, I supposed. I didn’t really get him, but he was free to do as he pleased. To be honest, I wasn’t all that interested in Erifell’s personal life. But still...

“Aren’t the guild and the church enemies? You happy with this?” I asked.

Due to cultural and historical reasons, the church and the guild were on really, really, really bad terms. More accurately, the church hated the guild. Even if Erifell weren’t part of the equation, it wouldn’t be strange for Derg to cut me down for no reason.

“Well, Miss Erifell isn’t an adventurer. There’s no rule that prevents fraternizing with guild employees,” Derg said. However, the slightly annoyed huff from his nose betrayed his actual thoughts.

“Uh-huh! I see, I see. That’s how it is!” Leen said with a shit-eating grin on her face as she looked over to the unconscious Erifell. “Well done, Erifell. You made moves on a church knight of all people!”

“Please don’t say things that could be misconstrued!” Derg yelled as he stood up.

Leen merely put a finger to her lips and shushed him in response. First she riled him up, then she admonished him. She was a real character.

“Ngh... F-First of all, such comments are rude to Miss Erifell. Misunderstandings of that nature will harm her reputation,” he said, clearing his throat awkwardly as he sat back down. “The reason Miss Erifell and I know each other is because she had something she wanted to discuss with me.”

“A request?”

Derg nodded, and his grave expression grew more intense. “You may have heard of this, as you are adventurers,” he said. He scanned the area and spoke in a hushed voice despite there not being anyone else around. “There was an incident in Leston just recently. It—”

“Oh, yes. We were the adventurers on that quest. At Erifell’s request. She said the church folk were too busy to do anything about it immediately or something.”

Derg’s shoulders slumped almost audibly. To him, he was probably revealing quite sensitive information, but Leen, in typical Leen fashion, had cut him off with her knowledge of the matter. Of course, she didn’t hesitate to add a dash of cruelty to her remarks. He himself was a “church folk” so it was only natural for him to grimace.

“Then you are aware of the breadth of the matter. Miss Erifell believed that the incident in Leston was the work of a witch.”

“Yeah, I thought so too,” I said.

Why else would Erifell ask for my help as a witch hunter? She must have had proof. Unfortunately, we couldn’t ask her anything in this state. Actually, wait a second... Maybe she was in this state because of what she knew.

“I had begun preparations to indict this witch.”

As soon as Derg said this, the air grew tense. Indicting a witch was quite the heavy act.

“Well, this is serious, huh,” I said.

The reason being that if someone indicted a witch, then either the accused or the accuser would be killed.

“Hmm, witches aren’t so commonplace that they just show up anywhere,” Leen said, arms crossed and evidently unconvinced. “But the fact that Erifell’s cursed means that one must be involved.”

“Yeah, if there’s a curse, then a witch must— Hold on, what did you just say?!”

I had the impression that Leen had again just said something I couldn’t dare ignore.

“Like I said, Erifell’s sudden condition is because of a witch’s curse. Someone who had been in tip-top shape wouldn’t fall over so suddenly like that.”

“Huh?! And what proof do—”

“I showed you! On her chest. Look.”

Leen pointed at the top right of her own ample bosom with a serious expression.

“There was an inverta right here. That’s proof that someone’s been cursed by a witch. Putting aside the question of whether this witch was involved with what happened in Leston, I know for certain that there’s a witch who wants to kill Erifell.”

I recalled the black mark on Erifell’s skin that Leen had—purposefully or not—shown me earlier.

◆

The War of the Witches—also known as the Bellum Maleficarum—took place a thousand years ago and was so violent that the archipelago that stretched out toward Tomitoa was wiped off the map. The majority of humankind vowed never to repeat this mistake. However, there were a few who thought: “If I become a witch, I can attain that level of power.”

The centuries that followed were filled with indictments and executions.

Everyone suspected their neighbor. Even the smallest seed of doubt was enough to accuse them and push them into a witch trial. Back then, executing a wicked witch was the highest honor for a church knight, and there was a worldwide ostracization of witches. It was an era that became characterized by witch hunting. Every woman was suspected and often indicted.

At that point in time, the adventurers’ guild didn’t yet exist. That was perhaps one reason no one had the power to stop the church.

Young women from villages to towns, churches to noble homes, were suspected of crimes they hadn’t committed. Without even being afforded a fair trial, they were subjected to all sorts of terrible torture and painted as witches.

Public opinion was too powerful. Even in the cases where enough objective evidence had been presented to warrant a non-guilty verdict, the woman would still be shunned by society at large and persecuted by vigilantism. Even those who passed the verdict were subject to violence with the ridiculous reasoning of “If she was indicted, why didn’t you just kill her anyway?”

Amid this atmosphere, those passing judgment found themselves unable to issue non-guilty verdicts. They bent to the shouts of the mob and abandoned justice to protect themselves. It was a hellish period for these women where many guilty verdicts were passed with the logic of: although she’s probably not a witch, it would be bad if she were one, so let’s kill her just in case.

After many years passed and everyone who’d experienced the War of the Witches was long gone, the fervor cooled down and people returned to their senses. This was about 130 years ago.

Since then, the rules regarding indictments became more strict and rigorous. Now the logic behind an indictment of a witch by the Church of Saphir of today was incredibly simple. If the one indicted was a witch, then they would be executed. If they were not a witch, however, then the one who made the accusation would be executed instead as punishment for making a false claim. If you were to indict someone, for whatever reason, and label them a witch, then you needed to be prepared to take on the accompanying risk. Once an indictment was passed onto the church, it couldn’t be retracted.

These changes were why indictments were rare nowadays. If you wanted to accuse someone, you would need irrefutable proof. There had to be a big reason if most people knew a witch was the culprit behind an affair.

“As you know, Hakura, witches have a stigma somewhere on their bodies,” Leen said.

Similar to how Spheres were an indicator of someone being an adventurer, witches also had a physical mark on their bodies called a “stigma” that identified them as a witch. In other words, even if a woman was behaving suspiciously, if she didn’t have a stigma, then she wasn’t a witch.

“As for Erifell, she has a mark on her body that indicates that she’s been cursed by a witch,” Leen went on. “This is known as an inverta. As the name implies, it is an inverse depiction of a witch’s stigma.”

“Huh, news to me.”

“News to you? Aren’t you a renowned witch hunter, Hakura? How do you not know that?”

“Well, the witches I killed had already been identified as such.”

It had been my job to dispatch witches who went on a rampage after the indictment and trial stuff had already happened. By the time I was called in, all the preliminary stuff had been checked over and locked down. This inverta stuff was worth remembering. Hm? Is it me, or did Leen’s glare get even sharper?

“Back in the old days, people thought that an inverta was the sign of a witch. Many women were sent to the chopping block due to these false accusations. We cannot let a lack of knowledge lead us to incorrect conclusions. Nowadays, there is proper protocol to verify whether a mark is actually an inverta or not,” Derg said, using the wealth of knowledge on this subject he had as a church knight to add on to Leen’s remarks.

Two marks: one that identified a witch; one that identified someone cursed by a witch. They were similar, but opposites.

“So why... Ah. Guess that makes sense,” I said.

Erifell was making moves to indict a witch and make sure she received just punishment. That meant that the witch wanted to eliminate Erifell. It was more than logical enough reason for her to be cursed. I kind of wished she’d told us about the little paper trick with the door if it was a measure to protect herself from a witch.

“Hey, Leen? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Funnily enough, I think I am.”

“Wh-What? Tell me,” Derg said, confused.

Leen chuckled and gestured to me to explain. It would be a pain, but I didn’t want to waste time by pushing the responsibility onto her only for it to be pushed back to me, so I explained the long and short of what happened today.

“So there was an adventurer who held clear disdain for Miss Erifell... Yes, that is rather suspicious,” Derg said.

Erifell had collapsed moments after Cormeca had given those suspicious and threatening parting remarks and left. It was almost so obvious that I started to wonder if I was misunderstanding something.

“Did you hear any details from Erifell?” I said.

“I was actually supposed to talk to her about it today. She had gathered the evidence and made sufficient preparations. All that was left was to call the Carbuncles. This was to be our last meeting to—”

Suddenly there was a rattling noise. The cupboards and the vase started shaking violently—similar to the shaking back on the bench. I stood up and reached for my sword on the carpet. Leen, however, didn’t seem bothered.

“Must be the wind,” she said.

“Uh, the window’s not open,” I replied.

“Well, it’s not rare for furniture to shake suspiciously.”

“Yes, it is! Why are you acting like this is totally normal?”

All the same, a minute or so went by without any further disturbances. Seeing no point sitting in silence, I turned back to Derg.

“The Carbuncles are currently stationed in Lilliette, right?”

Before we’d set off for Leston, I recalled Erifell saying something to that effect. Lilliette was a large town to the west of Esma. I’d actually had my base there before coming to Esma. Well, it’d be more accurate to say that, due to various things happening there, I had been forced to leave...

“I’m not sure if this is lucky for us or not, but the main forces are stationed there and didn’t leave even after the witch trial there wrapped up. However, if we can compile all the evidence, they can reach Esma five days afterward.”

“Which means...she’s probably with them...”

Leen suddenly raised her hand. “Um... What are the ‘Carbuncles’?”

Both Derg and I fell silent. Leen had shot me a cutting glare earlier, so I now returned the favor. Derg looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Under our gazes, Leen could only speak with a high-pitched, flustered tone.

“Wh-Why are you giving me those looks?! I know it’s some kind of church-affiliated group, but I just don’t know the specifics, okay?!”

I was surprised she’d managed this long as an adventurer without knowing...but I supposed they were a group you wouldn’t come into contact with often unless you were involved in witch trials.

“The Carbuncles are a specialized group in charge of witch trials. When the church officially runs a witch trial, they will be involved,” Derg said.

“Huh? Why’s that?”

Leen looked utterly confused. I supposed that was to be expected.

“It’s protocol. After all, a witch trial is conducted after an indictment. And an indictment will result in one person being executed.”

“Yes, it seems that way... At least according to the current rules...”

“It’s easier said than done. After all, it’s an execution. Their job is to both run the trial and kill whoever comes out as guilty,” I said.

If the witch was exposed, then she’d have no reason to hide her identity any longer, and would likely fight back to avoid getting executed.

“You can’t kill witches with mere authority. A second-class knight is needed at the very least. Sometimes even a first-class knight will get involved.”

Knights of these grades were above Derg—and me as a B-rank adventurer—so they were the super elite. People of their level were required for the process, and if things went really bad, the full force of the church might be called upon. But to be honest, the most troubling and common scenario was that the one indicted wasn’t a witch.

“Right... So the trial can’t begin until these carbonara uncles, or whatever, come?”

“In short, yes,” Derg replied.

I glanced over at Erifell’s neat desk and didn’t see any paper on it. The drawer was, naturally, locked. It would take too long to pry it open and rifle through her stuff, and there was no guarantee we’d even scrounge up the info we needed. Erifell was prudent enough to have the paper sign in her door—it was highly likely that she had kept the pertinent proof elsewhere.

A witch trial was carried out thoroughly under the church’s jurisdiction. That meant Erifell had enough evidence to use Derg’s authority to call out the Carbuncles. The church wouldn’t act on unfounded claims such as “she’s suspicious!” I was sure they would rush to Esma if they knew Erifell had been cursed, but the question became who was the culprit? Without an answer, we would only go in circles.

“Hmm...” Leen poked at the slime on Erifell’s head, one brow furrowed. “It will take them five days to arrive, right?”

“Y-Yes,” Derg said with a nod. “If I use the church’s communications network, I can send out a request at any time. Five days will be enough for the carriage carrying the vanguard to arrive.”

“That will be too late.” However, Leen gave an emotionless response. “At the pace the curse is progressing, Erifell’s body will only last three or four days.”

Both Derg and I stood up, confused sounds escaping our mouths.

“Then what do we do?!” Derg asked.

“It would be better if there was a bishop in the Esma church. They can use Purilifa or Healifa, which would halt the progression of a witch’s curse.”

Purilifa was a type of purification magic that could restore a target back to its normal state. Healifa was a type of healing magic that could cure the wounds of a living thing. Saphir Church bishops were adept at both spells. They were capable of dealing with undead monsters and removing impurities from corpses thanks to their ability to work with tainted mana.

“Can’t you use Purilifa, Leen?” I asked.

“Not as well as a professional... What I can use is Aqualifa, which allows me to purify liquids. I can make river water or swamp water drinkable, but working with spells that affect living creatures is very difficult.”

It was a useful spell for journeys, but I supposed if she could do more, then we would’ve been able to resolve the incident in Leston a little more easily.

“A third party can only remove a witch’s curse without the involvement of the witch in question by first removing the curse with Purilifa and then recovering the damage on the victim’s body with a powerful Healifa spell. Is there anyone in Esma capable of that?”

Receiving Leen’s glance, Derg responded through gritted teeth. “There isn’t a high-level priest in Esma who can do that. Our people who can use Purilifa are currently on their way to Leston to purify the land and bodies there.”

If corpses lived on tainted land for a long time, it would become a hotbed of pestilence and mana, becoming a new home for monsters. One of the church’s jobs was to purify areas and return them to their previous state in order to prevent this from happening.

“The other way to remove a curse is—”

“To kill the witch who made the curse. Right?”

Leen nodded to my interjection.

“That’s right,” she went on. “If you cut off the curse’s power source, then the symptoms will improve.”

The problem was pinpointing who the witch in question was. With Erifell rendered inactive, we had no evidence. With no evidence, we couldn’t call the Carbuncles. Without the Carbuncles, we couldn’t hold a witch trial. Ugh, this witch picked a great time to work her curse...

“I’ll do what emergency measures I can, but don’t expect too much,” Leen said.

“Miss Leen... You seem rather knowledgeable about witches,” Derg murmured. His remark seemed like a way of him airing out his frustrations.

“Well, I am an expert, after all,” Leen said, glaring at Derg while puffing out her cheeks. “Oh, but you won’t find a stigma on me. Care to look?”

“No, my apologies, forget it. I just realized that we are fighting with the clock.”

Derg fixed his posture, faced me and Leen, held out a hand, and bowed his head.

“I beg of you—please lend me your aid. This situation is too much for me alone and...”

I didn’t need to hear what else he had to say.

“Huh?”

Which is why I didn’t let him finish. I already had my answer.

“No need to ask. Witches are my enemy, so I’ll gladly help you.”

“Thank you,” Derg said, giving a deep bow.

However, Leen cut him off with her chiming voice.

“No.”

Yep, she spoke without any hesitation.

Derg lifted his head, but before his lips could twist into displeasure, Leen gave him the most beaming smile.

“You’re wrong, Derg. We’re not helping you—you’ll be helping us!”

“Excuse me?”

“This whole incident began in Leston. We were dealing with it first and you showed up later!” The world’s most self-centered woman stood up with her arms crossed. “So, if you ask nicely to help us out, I might consider saying yes.”

◆

After raiding Erifell’s room and turning up nothing useful, Leen finally shouted: “I’m hungry!” We had been at it for a while now, but I was a bit surprised that she’d mention food now, of all times.

“All right, then you may rest and refuel. I’ll watch over Miss Erifell. Also, I would appreciate it if you could bring some food back with you.”

Derg’s sudden comment dragged me out of my exasperations. We headed to the nearby local food hall and managed to get seated in ten or so minutes. However, during that short time frame, it became so packed that there wasn’t even a single chair at the counter free. I supposed we arrived at the perfect time.

I spotted a few adventurers, but most customers seemed to be people who worked regular jobs here in Esma. Leen, with her eye-catching looks, drew the attention of everyone inside as soon as we entered. If the hour was later, I would bet at least one or two people would try and chat her up, but fortunately those shooting her glances had work to get to after lunch.

The waitstaff said they had some fresh shrimp in, so we both ordered the seafood gratin. I dug in, heaps of melted cheese clinging to my fork which you ate on top of some toasted bread here. Most people would do this as a way to cool off each mouthful, but the woman sitting in front of me seemed to lack any trace of common sense. Even as the cheese still bubbled on top of her bread, she shoveled it into her mouth, eating with a satisfied grin on her face, no trace of discomfort from the scalding temperature.

“So it’s not just your stomach but your tongue too that’s messed up...”

“It tastes best when it’s piping hot! And look at yourself, Hakura. What’s with that timid, overly feminine way you’re eating?”

“Nothing ticks me off more than having the way I eat be nitpicked by you.”

I stirred my food to try and cool it down before bringing little forkfuls to my mouth. Even without the burning temperature, I wasn’t all too hungry.

“So do these carbohydrate-whatevers have a priest who can remove a curse?” Leen asked.

I was surprised she’d bring up the topic in public, but fortunately the chattering customers, the shouted orders, and the clatter of cutlery drowned her voice out. I doubted anyone would be able to actually eavesdrop on us like this. I thought about her question before shaking my head.

“No, I don’t think so. Their job is chiefly conducting witch trials. Aside from the official church knights, any member is tasked with exclusively helping with the trials.”

As for the church knights themselves, their main areas of expertise were fighting and guarding. Taking care of and curing people was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Priests who could remove curses—by simultaneously using their purification and healing magics—were highly valued anywhere you went, but wouldn’t be stationed with the Carbuncles and their own dirty work. And even if they did have someone who could do this with them, there was the problem of whether they would be able to make it to Erifell in time.

“I see. Hmm, that’s not good, is it,” Leen replied, her fork not stopping as she wolfed down the gratin.

“I’m surprised you can eat at a time like this.”

This was a pretty tense situation if you asked me, but Leen’s appetite seemed unchanged—eating everything in sight while being ready to snatch any food if she was still hungry. I wondered if she didn’t think I’d notice her gaze already glancing over at my barely eaten gratin.

“I’m just on edge thinking about if Erifell’s gonna kick it while we’re out eating lunch,” I went on.

“Don’t worry. Derg is with her, as is Blue.”

While puffing out the steam of her food, she twirled her finger in the air as she spoke. I realized that with the slime acting as an ice pack and guard, this was the first time Leen and I had been truly alone together.

“The curse on her isn’t all that powerful either,” Leen continued.

“Seriously? Erifell’s fighting for her life right now.”

According to what Leen had said earlier, she only had three or four days left at that.

“If this was the work of a powerful witch, Erifell would be dead right now,” Leen replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “If I’m being honest, we’re dealing with a low-level curse that needs all that time in order to kill her.”

I could only sit there, dumbfounded, while Leen drained her glass and ordered a refill—all with swift motions to satiate her hunger—and continued her explanation.

“Think about it. It makes no sense to curse someone and leave the inverta as evidence. I suppose that was a sign of how much she was rushing to get the job done.”

I didn’t want to borrow Derg’s wording, but it seemed that Leen was far more clued in on witches than I had thought. I supposed that was to be expected considering her position as the true successor to the first witch Lingreen. Leen must have sensed the meaning behind my stare for she spoke up before eating the shrimp that was speared by her fork.

“Hmm... All right, Hakura, time for a little lesson. Considering the situation, it’s time that you learned about witches in more detail.”

“In detail, huh...”

In all honesty, I couldn’t be bothered. My style of witch hunting worked when killing someone who was already marked as a witch. All this stuff about indictments and curses was, sorry to say, all sorted before I got involved. Leen glared at me, as if rebuking me for my attitude.

“It actually terrifies me just how little you know about witches, Hakura! I’m surprised you earned the title ‘witch hunter’ without even knowing what an inverta was! I’m so shocked that I might just order a second gratin.”

“That’s your ravenous appetite talking.”

“It really did shock me.”

“Well, sorry.”

If she was going to take issue with this, then I wanted to chime in that I was surprised someone who called themselves a descendant of a witch didn’t know who the Carbuncles were, but, well, they were the kind of group you wouldn’t really involve yourself with unless you bumped into them.

“Or, Hakura, are you the type of adventurer who does zero research before taking on a monster-slaying quest?” Leen paused before continuing, “Oh! Sorry, I forgot that you are that kind of person! You were almost killed by a mutated hydra after all. I apologize for getting us onto this weird topic, so just forget it...”

“You really know how to piss a guy off...”

I wanted to smack her once, but she was the one who’d saved a stranger from said hydra, so I decided to be the bigger person.

In all accuracy, though, it wasn’t that I hadn’t done my research, it was more so that learning about witches was linked to wanting to become one. Of course, the church didn’t leave any documents around for the picking, and ever since the War of the Witches, any relevant literature had been deemed taboo. There was pretty much zero way for an adventurer like me to see the originals. The church’s monopolization of all the available information was a way to prevent vigilantes from carrying out extrajudicial witch trials, apparently.

I clucked my tongue and sighed.

“Are you telling me that it’s necessary?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s something that you should know, Hakura.”

Leen’s joking tone from earlier had disappeared and she now wore a serious expression on her face. Just like when she was explaining the living dead or the dangers of cannibalistic kobolds, this was the expression she made when she was in monster expert mode. If my employer said it was necessary, then all I had to do was listen.

“Fine. Speak away.”

“I greatly appreciate you being so understanding.” Leen nodded, satisfied, then took a napkin from the table. “Let’s first begin with some definitions. A witch is a woman who has made a pact with a demon.”

“A demon?”

I pondered for a moment. People used the word “demon” as a general insult—I could use it for a certain someone in front of me—but I didn’t know what a demon actually was.

“You were thinking something rude just now, weren’t you?”

“A demon isn’t an imp or gremlin, right?”

I decided to ignore Leen’s comment and gave the names of a few monsters that I thought were similar. They were commonly found in ruins and had horns, leathery wings, purple skin, and bodies similar to children’s. They seemed like the type of monsters that were most comparable to the demons in picture books.

“They’re not demons, but a type of malignant kin. A type of monster that managed to get close to demons.”

I wasn’t sure what the difference was, but I imagined Leen would explain.

“Demons are...creatures that live in a different world than us.”

A different world? I squinted at Leen quizzically, and she waved the napkin in front of me.

“Listen. The world that we live and breathe in is this side of the napkin. However, demons live on this side,” Leen explained as she turned over the napkin, pointing with a pale finger to the reverse side. “They live in the world of the other side. Witches call it the hinterworld, as it lies on the reverse of our world.”

I couldn’t even reply.

“Don’t make that face like you didn’t follow a single thing I just said! You have to accept this or I can’t go on!”

“It’s not my fault! But fine, I kind of have to accept it.”

“And...nom!”

“Hey! Don’t steal my shrimp!”

“Every time you take an attitude with me, you will lose one shrimp.”

“You thief!”

Apparently that was the rule now.

“Now then, the world that we inhabit has people, monsters, animals, plants, fire, water, wind, earth, stones, air, the sun, the moon, the stars... So much stuff I can’t possibly list them all. It has lots of things. But.”

“But?”

“The hinterworld has nothing but mana. Every concept is created with mana. As a result, everything is unstable, and the laws of physics and logic are completely different than in our world.”

Leen, very uncouthly, swirled her fork in the air as she spoke.

Mana was something you couldn’t avoid as an adventurer or even just as a regular citizen. The firestone I’d used back in Erifell’s house was a mana crystal—in other words, a processed crystal that had been touched by the influence of mana. For monsters, mana was akin to air. That was why—differences between species aside—there were many monsters in mana dense places. On the other hand, mana was poisonous to us humans. Due to this, a natural boundary formed where monsters and people lived in places with differing amounts of mana. However, only alchemists or wizards who made mana research their focus could explain what it was. It went without saying that I wasn’t able to.

“Now then, young Hakura.”

Leen raised a finger with me, having fun being in teacher mode.

“What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say ‘mana’?”

This was a habit of Leen’s when she got talkative. If I couldn’t answer, she’d proudly explain what the right answer was. However, if I could answer, then she’d either be over the moon or get sulky.

“Well, monsters and magic.”

“A perfect answer! I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it!”

“You cheeky so-and-so!”

Apparently I’d landed on her happy mood this time. As she was applauding me, I took the opening to stab my fork into her gratin and claim my prize.

“Hey! My shrimp!” Leen exclaimed.

“My rightful reward for getting the answer right.”

“Stealing is a crime, you know?”

“You started it by stealing from me!”

I put my guard up, ready for her to go full-on glutton and steal my entire meal, but she just tutted and glared at me. Although that in itself was pretty terrifying.

“Hmph... Anyway, your understanding is pretty much accurate. Monsters are creatures that have transformed due to the influence of mana. Magic is the ability to conjure up phenomena at will by transforming mana. It is used in a variety of ways in key industries like alchemy and manufacturing. It’s a crucial part of everyday life.”

Leen safely moved her plate out of my fork’s range. Tch...

“Now, onto a key part of adventuring life: Spheres.”

Leen’s emerald Sphere glinted in the sunlight streaming in through the window.

Spheres were the key reason we adventurers could stand our own against monsters. Affixed to the back of our right hands, they embedded themselves into our nervous system, becoming a part of our bodies. They served as proof of our status as adventurers, and changed color the longer we held them. I glanced down at my own: an obsidian Sphere that gave off a dull, black glimmer. It looked completely black at some angles, but holding it up to the light, I could see that the part that was farthest from my skin let some light through.

Spheres were proof of your identity. They allowed you to take on quests and receive payment, deposit and take out money... They were a literal lifeline that played a role in every aspect of admin life. But naturally, their biggest benefit was that they increased our strength.

“The physical boosts we receive from Spheres are also thanks to mana. Spheres allow you to safely take mana into the body, after all.”

Everyone who wanted to buy a Sphere from the guild received this explanation. We were told that the reason we could fight monsters was because the source of our strength was the same.

“Back to demons. Demons are existences that gained sentience after spending a long time immersed in mana in the hinterworld.”

Leen took another napkin and pulled out a fountain pen filled with ink (it looked to be pretty pricey) from an inside pocket. Around the top of the napkin, she drew a small triangle. This wasn’t all that important, but we’d be charged for this paper napkin later...

“In the beginning, there was one demon. Its name was Lucilfer Halpuanikwavelapifelnilkeles.”

“Huh?” I squeaked.

I’d been in listening mode, but my brain couldn’t parse the sudden weird string of sounds Leen had just uttered.

“Like I said, Lucilfer Halpuanikwavelapifelnilkeles. Can you repeat after me?”

“No freakin’ way! I’m surprised you managed to say it!”

Plus, some of those sounds didn’t even seem possible for me to make.

“If you get hit in the head every time you stumble over your words, then you’ll be able to pronounce it eventually.”

I fell silent again. This was surprising coming from the usually confident Leen. She wasn’t even bragging this time, speaking as if this were the most normal thing in the world.

“Over a very, very long period of time,” Leen said, as she drew a circle in the triangle, “the first demon Lucilfer absorbed the mana of the hinterworld and grew huge. To the point that all the mana in the hinterworld was Lucilfer. However, Lucilfer grew so big that problems started to arise, so it decided to slice off bits of its body and form new demons. Those demons then started their own demonic lines. These Seven Great Demons are known as the Hepta Maligna.”

Leen then drew a large pyramid that covered the whole napkin with the little triangle at its tip. Underneath the triangle, she drew a trapezoid, to form a new level underneath that. In it, she drew seven more circles. She then drew lines linking the seven circles to the one at the top of the pyramid.

“These Hepta Maligna too grew and ended up slicing off bits of their own bodies, from which formed new demons. This pattern of replication is the cycle of life in the hinterworld.”

The pyramid grew downward as Leen drew more trapezoids with their own circles inside them, which, in turn, had lines that linked them to the circles directly above. The bottom of the pyramid had reached the bottom of the napkin where the circles had become tiny dots.

Then, Leen poked small holes in the napkin.

“Like I said, witches are women who have formed pacts with demons living in the hinterworld. Every time a witch forms a pact, a small hole is opened between the two worlds from which mana flows into our world. As I explained, mana in the hinterworld is demons, so this process invites demons into our world.”

Leen peered at me through the holes made by her pen.

“In short, the truth behind a curse is that a witch has drawn a demon from the hinterworld into their own bodies so that they can use them as a catalyst to utilize the rules of the other world.”

After this long-winded explanation, I finally understood the connection between witches and demons. Witches formed pacts with demons—that was how they got their power. It made sense.

“Hooowever...” Leen said before chomping on her food.

She gave the impression of a carnivore, but she ate a lot of veggies too. With a pen in one hand and her fork in the other, she was really multitasking here. One would usually choose to either eat or talk, but that choice had an outcome that involved not eating, which apparently was unacceptable.

“A pact seems simple enough, but it’s actually very difficult. Demons are from a completely different world, so their values and moral system are fundamentally different to those of us people. The resources needed to break down the border between worlds, the details of the contract, what will be given up in response, what will be gained...”

Leen shoveled dressing-covered salad into her mouth, and while she chewed, I patiently waited for her to continue.

“Phew... These are all things that need to be worked out, even though communication with demons is difficult. It’s like a person trying to understand what a monster is saying.”

This was an impossible task for anyone other than a certain monstermancer. Actually, I supposed that Tetna and Rudolf were an exception, but they were mostly communicating via emotions and not through actual spoken language.

“In order to combat this, the most mainstream and effective method was to temporarily fuse with the demon. They share body and thoughts, or rather merge their consciousnesses...”

After a long pause, I said, “Isn’t that dangerous?”

Leen had spoken with zero hesitation, but if demons were creatures (if they could be called that) that were entirely made of mana, it seemed to me like inviting one into your own body was nothing but danger.

“Of course it’s dangerous. You might never regain your sense of self, or your body might die from the strain. It was painful when we inserted our Spheres to render our bodies capable of interacting with mana, right?”

“Well, yeah...”

It was really, really damn painful. I’d never do it again. It was why adventurers were uncharacteristically kind to newbies like Jiray.

“There used to be a manual in order to reduce losses, but even in that case, it’s difficult to form a pact that goes exactly how you want. Even two people speaking the same language will still have misunderstandings and disagreements. It’s much worse when with a demon,” Leen said.

You couldn’t even talk to a demon, but in the case you could, you weren’t sure if the meaning was being carried across. Well, yeah, that was risky. However, people still became witches despite those risks. I wondered why.

“Once someone has overcome those dangers and successfully forged a pact, then a stigma appears on their body. That is the sign that a witch has finally been born,” Leen continued.

“Yeah... Stigmas are key in witch trials, right?”

A stigma was an implicit mark that someone was a witch. Without it, you were in the clear. A witch trial mostly rested upon the presence of one. That meant you needed the know-how and ability to identify them. However, this wasn’t all that easy. Wizards and the like engraved runes on their bodies to fortify their magic, and certain cultures utilized tattoos. This made identifying a stigma a difficult task. These people had been falsely accused of being witches and subsequently executed due to such misunderstandings. Wizards would naturally try and fight back, but resistance would invite retaliation and result in one or both parties being injured.

There were many valuable runes that had been lost due to this back in the era where it was difficult to identify specialist magic and witches’ curses. Lixeel, the wizard in my former party, had complained about this. Due to this history, the relationship between Saphirism and wizards was terrible. But this was all beside the point.

“By the way, if you try to burn or cut it off, it will move to another part of the body, so you can’t get rid of it via physical means,” Leen said.

“I see, that makes sense.”

I supposed if you could get rid of the evidence, then witch trials wouldn’t even function.

“All right, now we’ve finally hit the main part of the lecture where we discuss more about the history of witches and how they came about. So, demons have a rank and their own lineage.”

“We weren’t in the main part before?”

“Everything I just told you was preliminary stuff. But don’t worry, we’re almost done.”

Leen pointed at the circle at the top of the napkin and drew her finger down the pyramid.

“Demons cannot defy any demon that exists on a higher level than them. This is known as their rank.” Leen next pointed at the lines underneath the row of circles. “The line of demons born from each of the Seven Great Demons is known as their lineage. A demon’s rank and lineage will allow you to identify what powers it has and what level it is.”

“For such a lengthy explanation, I’m surprised that it has such a basic system.”

“They simply multiply individually, you see. The living dead in Leston were similar, right? The one from which the others spawned has authority. It’s a common system.”

“This isn’t a topic meant for lunchtime.”

However, Leen didn’t pay any heed. She put her napkin down and wiped up what remained of her gratin with her bread.

“I explained before that living dead were fungus-based monsters, right? The demon that’s most adept at controlling plants is the one of second rank—in other words, the third of the Hepta Maligna: Beelbel and that lineage. Do you want me to go through the other demons one by one?”

“No thanks. It sounds like a pain, and I doubt I’ll be able to remember them all.”

She’d apparently expected this response, for she didn’t seem dissatisfied. In return, I felt her gaze on my hand—like a cat eyeing its prey.

My food had gotten a bit cold and what little appetite that I had had run dry; I pushed my plate over to Leen. She made an excited sound and stuck her fork in without hesitation.

“Judging by the scale of the destruction in Leston and Erifell’s condition, I think that the witch in question made a pact with a demon on the thirty-fourth rank or thereabouts,” Leen said in between chews.

“R-Right, thirty-four, huh...”

She only had space to draw five levels on her napkin. I didn’t think that there were so many levels below that, so I let out a weirdly high-pitched response again.

“Is that high? Or low?” I asked.

“On the lower end. A witch’s powers get stronger the higher the class of demon they’re forming a pact with, but...”

Leen made a slightly troubled expression as she continued to chow down on my gratin.

“But?”

“The witches born after the War of the Witches have only been able to form pacts with lower rank demons.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because the demons learned how pacts with humans work. The Lingreen family bears some responsibility in this.”

Despite said responsibility, Leen didn’t look all too apologetic.

“My ancestor Lingreen, the first witch who made the first ever pact with a demon, made a terribly unfair contract.”

“Which means?”

“It had an absolutely ridiculous term that the contracted demon would share all their abilities and that the contract could be succeeded. It’s something unfathomable in the eyes of all the witches who came after. This was the first time a demon had made a pact with a human, so it ended up signing without knowing anything and agreeing to such preposterous terms.”

“That’s textbook scam work!”

“If we compare it to my nine-to-one offer to you, Hakura, it was way worse. What the first Lingreen gave up as payment was the honor of being the one to sign a pact with the demon.”

I felt like I’d gotten a glimpse into the roots of Leen’s insolent and heartless nature. Actually, wait—so she did realize that she’d tried to give me a bum deal! She’d better watch out...

“Back then, our world was an unknown frontier to the demons. They, too, had a desire to form pacts with humans, so they chose the demon with the highest rank of all. However!” Leen said, turning her hand over so the palm faced up. “After the first boom of contracts, they began to realize that they weren’t getting much in return. And so they began to scrutinize the details of the pacts they were being given. It was from this point that the scales tipped, and it was people here who wanted the powers of a witch to themselves. The demons of higher ranks soon realized that they could just let the demons below them form pacts and provide something in return.”

This took a sad turn all of a sudden.

“The result of all this was the War of the Witches. The world was saturated with witches who had successfully formed their pacts. That leads us to today where witches are still the ones who want to form contracts with the demons.”

“Are there any decent demons left to form pacts with?”

“There are. People now have to form pacts with super bottom-of-the-barrel demons, which was unthinkable if you lived centuries ago. Even if you got a manual from a thousand years ago which told you how to contact a high-ranking demon, you wouldn’t be able to form a pact based on the same terms of the time.”

Leen paused her meal, took a sip of water, then heaved a deep sigh.

“That’s why...I thought it was unlikely a witch was involved.”

“If you ask me, witches can be found everywhere.”

That was the difference between my estimation and Leen’s on this affair. It was true that I was far less knowledgeable about witches than her, but I was the one who’d suspected a witch at the start whereas she didn’t even consider it probable.

“I’ve encountered one or two incidents a year where a witch was involved. Each had a high number of casualties to boot,” I went on.

Without a witch, there would be no one to hunt and I wouldn’t have gotten the title of “witch hunter.” Leen, on the other hand, folded her arms, cocked her head, and kept up her skeptical expression.

“Hmm... The main reason I thought there wasn’t a witch behind what happened in Leston was because the cleanup was so sloppy.”

If the witch in question heard this, they would probably be fuming. The way Leen phrased it made her seem like a teacher asking a student how they failed something so simple.

“If she had made a pact with a mid-rank Beelbel lineage demon, then the power to control the living dead would never have remained with Krauna. Those living dead weren’t controlled by the witch—no, they were abandoned because she couldn’t control them. If the witch were a bit higher, then no one would have realized anything was wrong in Leston.”

“So you’re saying because it came to light, a witch couldn’t have been behind it.”

“I admit my terrible failings now that all is said and done. I’d like to rescind what I said, but...”

“But?”

Leen turned over the napkin with the pyramid on it and began scribbling something. I was surprised at the speed at which she was writing, but I didn’t recognize the alphabet she was using so I couldn’t even read any of it.

“There are three chief ways of removing a demon’s curse. The first is to get the witch who cast the curse to remove it. The second is to kill said witch. The third is to find out the true name of the demon, which the witch formed a pact with.”

“The demon’s name?”

“Indeed. But it must be its full name. For example, the true name of Beelbel, one of the Hepta Maligna I mentioned, is Beelbel Swiswoswiswaswoswuswo.”

“Repeat that?”

I thought Leen had said a tongue twister with that Lucilfer, but I was amazed she could say this name with such ease.

“Names are important for witches and demons. Whether cursing someone, giving power, or forming a pact, nothing is more important than names, names, names. If you get the demon’s true name wrong during a contract, then you’ll incur a huge penalty. That’s how important it is.”

“Uh-huh... I see?”

“That’s why demons have difficult names to pronounce. It’s to trip you up.”

“Why are they so sneaky?!”

“Ask the demons, not me!”

Leen cleared her throat and returned to the napkin.

“Each demon has a unique stigma. Of course, each lineage has its own features, so if you can find the inverta, then you’ll be able to work out the demon’s true name. Or you should, at least...”

Leen had been talking so quickly, but now she slumped her shoulders. It almost seemed like her bouncy hair slumped in response too.

“The lower the rank of the demon, the lesser their strength and the fewer defining features in the stigma, making it harder to identify them! If she’d formed a pact with a higher rank demon, this would have been far easier!”

“So there is some benefit to making a contract with a weak demon...”

This witch must have realized that even after cursing Erifell and leaving an inverta on her, it would be fine as the demon wouldn’t be able to be identified. That or they hadn’t had enough knowledge or awareness and had simply used their powers without thinking while we were running in circles completely by chance. They’d be evil if it was the first, but it would be terrible if it were the second.

“Hmm... A witch will do her best to make sure that no one finds out the name of the demon with which she forms a pact. It would be disadvantageous to cast a curse on the one that suspects them...”

Leen had touched on something I’d been thinking about myself. She continued to write on the napkin.

“Is that right?”

“If another witch comes along who’s formed a pact with a demon that was a higher rank than hers, then the other witch can completely take over her contract.”

Was this the reason Leen had been so damn hesitant to give her name when we’d first met?

“Would the witch be in trouble if people found out her name too?” I asked.

“Yes. A witch’s name is a necessary element when dealing with the authority she possesses. Even I, descendant of the first Lingreen, am no exception.”

Leen’s pen came to a stop with a scratchy flourish. I saw that the napkin was completely covered in small letters. She was pretty dexterous to write all this without ripping the napkin.

“Leen Stonabel, the name that I signed up to the guild with, isn’t my real name, obviously. I chose the name of a village near my hometown. Are you happy now?”

Fine—I was satisfied with her reason for giving this name when talking to Derg. It was a logical, adventurer-like thing to do if you had a name you didn’t want known. But still...

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t use this fake name when you first met me,” I said.

After a few seconds of silence, Leen giggled, tilting her head as she stuck out her tongue.

“Sorry. My desire to tease you just won out.”

“I’m totally gonna indict you as a witch!”

“Well, you’ll be the one executed, Hakura!”

“Why’s that?”

“Because a stigma only appears on the body of the witch who formed the pact. I inherited my contract, so I don’t have one! You can even strip me to check. I won’t mind.”

“I would mind!”

We found ourselves in another little spat. Did she hear herself? I’d like to believe that the loudness of the room was drowning out our conversation. I had this concern earlier, but this really wasn’t the sort of conversation to be having out in the open.

“Anyway, what’s the difference between forming the pact and inheriting it?” I said, lowering my voice. The fact that Leen had noted the distinction meant that there was a difference. I’d come this far, so might as well see the journey through.

Leen sighed. “There are a number of benefits to being the one to form the pact. For example, as a successor to the Lingreen line, I cannot use curses. I know how though.”

“Is that right?”

“Part of the reason is because in order to inflict a curse, you need to use your own body, which you used in the contract, as a catalyst. What I inherited was the right to tame all monsters.”

Leen didn’t even bother asking for permission anymore and stole my bread. Whatever...

“For a demon, when the witch uses a curse, they are able to affect this world from the hinterworld. Stuff about a successor has no benefit to demons. That was why it was dealt with first and foremost. It was truly a witch from long ago that put this into the contract.”

In contrast to her never-ending appetite, Leen paused and groaned after her long speech. She then picked up the napkin and waved it in front of me.

“Back to the topic, I think it’s one of these demons that made the contract with our witch. If we can work out their true name, then we can undo the curse, but...”

“But?”

“Erifell’s body won’t survive if we try them all. It’s a violent method.”

“What the hell does this involve?”

I imagined it would cause pain to Erifell, but who knew what actually happened.

“By the way, how many possible names do you have?” I went on.

“About three hundred. Want me to go through them?”

“N-No thanks.”

How many demons were there for her to have narrowed the list down to three hundred? Just like how I’d been practicing the sword since I was a kid, Leen must have been stockpiling her knowledge since she was young.

“Oh, there’s something I’ve been wondering,” I said.

There was no point in imagining someone else’s childhood. I changed the topic; Leen looked at me, wondering what I was about to ask.

“Is it not possible...for a guy to form a pact with a demon?”

People told tales of witches that were exclusively women. It would sound strange, but I’d never heard of a “male witch” and, obviously, a wizard referred to something else entirely. I hadn’t really given much thought to it, but I wondered why this gendered word was used when referring to “someone” who had formed a pact with a demon. Was there a reason only a woman could do this?

“Oh...” Leen looked away and made a confused sound, as if to avoid the topic. “Yeah... Only women can.”

“Why’s that? Is there some kinda special reason?”

Suddenly Leen became awfully evasive. Why was she acting so shifty now?

“It’s, um, well, something only women can do.”

“I get that, but I wanna know why.”

Her face turned redder and redder. I heard a groan from her throat.

“Because in order to form a pact with a demon, you have to share your body and mix your thoughts together, becoming one...”

“Yeah, you said that...”

“Well, that’s why.”

“Huh?”

I raised my eyebrows, wondering why her voice had gotten so quiet—and that’s when she suddenly slammed both hands to the table and stood up, her ears beet red.

“Because only women who are virgins can form a contract with a demon! You can’t do anything naughty!”

“Whoa, keep your voice down!”

I suddenly felt stares from every direction. Most of them returned to their meals, but we’d been the center of attention and pegged as weirdos. This was not pragmatic.

“Hakura, you pervert! Making me say that! You’re gross! Disgusting!”

“How the hell am I the bad guy? And, uh...why?”

“Don’t ask me! I said this before, but it was the first Lingreen who made the pact, not me!”

I felt awkward and turned away. Leen, blushing profusely, had managed to skillfully shout at me without raising her voice. After some deep breaths, she grabbed my cup and downed the water.

“Hey, get your own!”

“It’s punishment for embarrassing me!”

What stupid logic... Was Leen’s ancestor really a witch or actually some kind of thief?

“That’s why I said the chief way of forming a pact is by momentarily fusing with them.”

“And I didn’t think that you’d be implying that stuff with that wording!”

Man, that was something I definitely didn’t know. I guess that was reason enough for them to be called witches.

“So if we can’t work out the true name of the demon from the stigma, then we need to find the witch.”

“Exactly.”

If that was the case, then there was something I needed to check.

“Hey, Leen?”

“What is it?”

“Is the witch Cormeca?”

At this point, the most suspicious character was definitely her. She had a personal connection with Erifell, and the symptoms of the curse got worse the moment she touched Erifell. It didn’t answer the question of why she would’ve been so brazen in front of us, but there was probably a reason.

Leen fell silent at my question. She looked down and covered her mouth with her hand. Probably so that I couldn’t read her expression.

“She is suspicious, but I have no evidence one way or the other.”

That wasn’t enough to check for a stigma on her, then.

“I see.”

By the time both our plates were clean, the restaurant had gotten even busier. The waitstaff who had brought over the food for Derg gave us a look that silently said, “Get out,” so we stood up, paid the bill (or Leen did), and left the restaurant.

◆

“Honey, sugar, and...hmm, I suppose we’ll need jam too. I think her condition should improve if she drinks some mixed in with hot water...”

As Leen kept remembering more things she needed to buy, I followed, thinking about my own things.

“Hakura, I’m going to buy some bottled products, so I’d appreciate it if you could wait and... Hakura?”

Leen turned around, evidently concerned I hadn’t answered, and her locks of hair danced after her a beat later.

“Hey, Leen, I’ve got a request...”

“Which is?”

“I’m thinking of going to Cormeca’s.”

“Excuse me?”

Leen did a full tilt to the side like a broken scarecrow, unable to believe what I’d just said.

“Are you serious?” she went on. “What are you going to do if Cormeca’s a witch?”

“If she is, that speeds things up. I kill her and everything is fixed. If she’s not...well, it was a simple waste of time.”

I was pretty certain. I remembered that smirk she’d given when she walked away earlier. The way the corners of her mouth had twisted up and how she’d sneered, as if she were looking at something beneath her, worthy of stepping on. I knew that expression well. It was exactly the same as the one that woman I wanted to kill more than anyone else made.

Leen closed her eyes and fell silent. She then took in a deep breath, held it for a good few seconds, then slowly let it out. She opened her eyes once more.

“Listen. If Cormeca were a witch and you decided to skip a witch trial and personally sort things out, do you really think you would get off scot-free after all that?”

I couldn’t say anything. I knew the answer: I wouldn’t. It went without saying, but murder encroached on the laws of every nation. As well as the guild’s own rules.

“In my eyes, there’s a ninety percent chance that Cormeca is a witch. She is a really fishy person. However, we cannot deal with this independently. You understand why Erifell and Derg are waiting for the Carbuncles, attempting to do this the right way, don’t you?”

Leen laid her words thick, as if scolding an unruly child.

“Because I don’t have the authority to do it myself.”

A witch trial needed to take place under the eyes of the law.

The Carbuncles were a specialized organization that held witch trials. The reason they could conduct trials and executions across national borders was because of the overwhelming influence of the Church of Saphir. Another huge reason for their presence was to stop extrajudicial vigilante trials that were kicked off due to people’s misunderstandings or prejudices.

If I decided to ignore this and slay a witch—even if she was a real witch—then I would be the one getting punished. I knew that. I, too, was an adventurer who worked under the rules and protocols set by the guild. Killing a witch was not permitted unless you received an official quest that requested it or if a witch revealed her identity and was in the middle of wreaking havoc.

All the same...

“If we sit around twiddling our thumbs, then Erifell’s gonna die. This witch set quite the smart trap for us,” I said, my words laced with sarcasm.

We were running out of time, and she was preventing anyone from gathering the necessary evidence against her. If the witch made sure there wasn’t a trial, then there would be no one to testify against her. I was pretty certain that the witch had taken into account the fact that Esma’s priest was on the way to Leston as part of this whole damn plan. This witch was acting with precision, ruthlessness, and pragmatism to be one step ahead at every turn.

“In my opinion...if there’s a witch going around cursing and killing people from a safe spot, then she deserves to be killed, even if it means I’ll die too,” I said.

“Is that because you were raised in a witch’s den?” Leen asked, eyes narrowed.

“Yeah,” I replied without skipping a beat.

The witch’s den of Istilla, ruled by a witch also named Istilla. She was known as the Cruel Mistress and with white hair, white skin, and white eyes, she lacked any and all color.

I was born and raised there, alongside many other children who had faced a similar situation. I had friends. I had peers. I had close friends who were like my brothers and younger sisters. And...they were probably all dead.

“So Leen, I think you should drop out.”

“Excuse me?”

“From here on out, I’ll act alone. I won’t get you, Erifell, or Derg involved. Taking care of this on my own is the most logical and efficient way.”

The number one priority right now was killing the witch. The longer we neglected this, the worse the situation would become. I needed to act now, before Erifell’s energy ran out, and kill the witch. Well, it’d end up with me choosing to break my and Leen’s contract. Whenever I put lives on the scale, I always made sure to balance them against mine and mine alone.

“If you play dumb when they ask questions, then you won’t need to get involved any more than you have already,” I went on.

“If I may, Hakura?”

I thought I’d given a pretty fitting conclusion, but Leen stopped walking, turned around, and grabbed my arm. I felt a spark of annoyance and scratched my head. There wasn’t any further need for debate.

“What?”

“I’m asking this, just in case. Just in case! I want to confirm things just in case I misheard something, misconstrued something, or if some kind of misunderstanding has cropped up, but...are you serious?”

Leen really laid the words on thick, and I couldn’t hide my disdain. Why did she need to confirm this?

“Well, yeah. Huh? Whoa!”

Before my anger could properly turn into words, Leen had grabbed my hand and resumed walking. We weaved our way between the stores as she marched onward. Her pace was too fast for me to find a moment to shake her off. Only after I was pulled into a small alley off the main street was I finally freed.

“What are you—”

Before I could say “doing,” a smack echoed through the air. Leen’s hand, which a moment ago had been pulling me along, collided with my cheek. She wasn’t all too muscular, but an unexpected slap from a Sphere-wielding adventurer was enough to make me see stars. That was why I was unable to stop her from dropping her staff, squeezing my cheeks with both hands, and pulling my face in front of hers.

As Leen took a deep breath, all I could do was watch.

“Hakura, you IIIIIIIIDIIIIOOOOOT!”

I was unable to respond to her scream, louder than I’d ever heard her before. I was dizzy from the slap and now I had a full-on assault on my ears. It felt like all my senses had been thrown out of whack.

Even as Leen panted, she didn’t let go of my face. Those green eyes of hers forced their way into my wavering line of sight.

“After all this, what was that about?! Are you stupid? No, you don’t need to tell me—you are stupid! Otherwise why would you spout the kind of idiotic drivel that you’d say when you accidentally missed a target and shot a passerby instead?!”

“L-Leen, calm dow—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence—my tongue had no space to move. Unable to fight back, I simply watched her. With her eyebrows raised, teeth bared, no trace of hesitation, it was clear to me: Leen was well and truly furious.

“Am I misunderstanding something? I told you, didn’t I? That we were dealing with this affair?!”

I did remember—she had said that in order to get Derg’s cooperation for the witch trial.

“And you said in front of Krauna’s gravesite that you didn’t like how it all ended. That if a witch was behind all of this, then you wouldn’t forgive them!” Leen stopped talking. Not because she was trying to calm down, no—she was preparing to continue her tirade by taking in another deep breath. “Of course I feel the same way! I’m the one who met and spoke to Krauna! I’m the one she showed around Leston! I’m the one who couldn’t do anything because it was already too late!”

I couldn’t say anything.

“I’m the one who didn’t see this cowardly, evil, and underhanded method done by a weak witch who couldn’t control her own authority! And I’m the one who couldn’t lift one curse!”

Leen must have exhausted herself from her screaming and shouting, for she loosened her grip before she punched me in the chest. I felt it ripple right through my body.

“Despite that, you’re telling me you can’t forgive a witch to the point that you’d break the law! So why won’t you rely on me? I know more about witches than anyone in this world! Hakura, shouldn’t you be asking me to help you and lend my knowledge?!”

Leen was a short-tempered person. She often flew into rages. We would be having a normal conversation and she’d suddenly get into a huff and kick me. She’d start squealing and complaining if I stole a piece of bread from her plate. She was selfishness personified, illogical to her core.

“I’m the one! Who’s most angry!”

But her anger now? It made complete and utter sense. Dammit all...

“All right.”

I wasn’t sure if my words came out clearly or not, but I knew they needed to be said. I had realized that the thing I thought I needed to do...wasn’t something I alone had been thinking. It made perfect sense in hindsight, but I wondered why I never realized Leen might be thinking the same way as me.

I had never considered relying on someone. No one had ever relied on me for help. I had always thought about myself and had always taken on my own responsibilities. That had been the normal and logical way an adventurer should be. I had always felt that there was no one who would involve themselves in my problems.

“I was wrong,” I went on.

That was why I had never paused to consider what Leen might be thinking. Her job was to maintain the balance between people and monsters. She didn’t just help monsters, no—she helped people too. So when a witch abused her power over monsters to wantonly destroy a village? Well, there was no way someone as proud, selfish, arrogant, and prideful as Leen would let it slide. Of course she would want to see revenge served.

“Do you really think that?” Leen glared at me.

“Well, I can say that asking you for help is a hundred times better than making you mad.”

I wondered if my words would reach her heart.

I saw her cheeks slowly puff out in anger. Crap. Did I say the wrong thing? Just as I was readying myself for a tirade, she let the air out.

“If you understand, then good,” she said. “By the way, Hakura?”

As my gaze finally settled, I noticed Leen’s eyes glance up at me. I saw that deep green color that seemed like it gripped my heart, never to let go—a curse in and of itself.

“Don’t you have something to say to me?” she asked.

“Yeah...”

I wished she would let stuff like this just slide. The fact that she made me promise things out loud was a real pain.

“Leen, I can’t let this witch get away with what she’s done,” I said. She had destroyed Leston, killed Allen, trampled all over Krauna’s dreams, and now she was trying to take Erifell’s life to protect herself. “I can’t let her roam free. Please, lend me your help.”

It was only then that finally Leen smiled and gave a satisfied nod.

“D’aw, fine, if I must!”

Leen gave me a few tough pats on the back as her face positively glowed.

“Seeing as you’re asking!” she went on.

“Yeah. I’ve also steeled my resolve.”

This thought had come to me from the start, but I had crossed it off as a possibility out of consideration of Leen’s position.

“If you’re agreeing to get involved, then I actually have a hidden trick I can use,” I said.

“Excuse me?”

I ignored Leen’s confused expression and started to walk back to Erifell’s house.

○

By taking in air, circling it around my body, and expelling the heat I took in from Miss Erifell, I was able to maintain the room’s humidity levels while also functioning as an ice pack. This was a nursing technique I had learned from looking after the Lingreen women, including my lady. When I thought about my main mission, I concluded that it wasn’t good for me to be away from her side, but the lad was with her right now and the situation didn’t exactly permit me to leave my spot. He was still yet immature, but he had promise.

“Ungh...”

“Hmm...”

Miss Erifell’s groans occasionally permeated the air. Although she was in no state to move her body, her consciousness drifted between sleeping and awake. I was sure that she had little sense of what time it was. Mister Derg made sure that she had sips of water while she slept, but this task was akin to tossing water onto a burning stone. Unless the curse was lifted—in other words, unless the witch was defeated—her condition would not improve. I understood the severity of the situation, but I could do nothing to solve it. A painful reality for a slime.

Miss Erifell’s weak panting filled the air.

Now, then. This was something I had dealt with for a long time, but I was always careful when choosing who to speak to. The fact that a slime could talk was something that often-frightened people, so problems arose unless the person I was speaking to was a broad-minded or fearless sort.

Perhaps in part due to the fact that some slimes were domesticated by people, pragmatic adventurers accepted me quickly, reasoning that it was a waste of time to question the reality before them. However, I still needed to be careful with who I chose to speak to as many people followed the logic that monsters needed to be killed.

On the other hand, the people I tried to make sure never saw me talking were those from the church. More than a few times they’d tried to capture me, reasoning that a talking monster had to be an underling of a witch. They weren’t wrong, so I struggled to give a decent excuse.

That was the heart of my present concern. I was unsure whether I should say anything in front of Mister Derg, who stood before Miss Erifell with a terribly concerned expression.

“I’m so powerless... You worked so hard, yet I cannot bring about justice for you!”

For a while, he remained next to her, his hands clasped together in prayer. A groan escaped from his clenched teeth as he was unable to hide his bubbling anger.

“But I won’t let you die... I can’t!”

He fell to his knees, and then took Miss Erifell’s limp hand and brought it up to his own forehead. This was a polite gesture that church knights did to demonstrate their allegiance as well as their resolve to put their life on the line. After a few seconds, he returned her hand, lifted his head, and stood up.

Just as I was about to tell him to consider the matter carefully, Miss Erifell raised herself upright and spoke.

“Please...wait...”

I was still on her head, so as I swayed to the side, I decided to remain quiet a bit longer.

“Miss Erifell!” Mister Derg shouted.

Miss Erifell glanced over at Mister Derg and continued in a breathless voice, “This is...my room... Isn’t it?”

“Two adventurers carried you here after you collapsed,” Mister Derg replied. “Oh, how should I explain all this...”

A witch had cursed her, she had collapsed, a night had passed since then, her life was in danger... Most people would struggle to explain such a situation. However, Miss Erifell, despite her ragged breathing, stared up to Mister Derg with a cool head.

“Don’t worry... I understand...the situation. Derg...take that decoration...”

Miss Erifell was pointing to a leatherwork piece on the wall. It seemed like a fine decoration to me, but as soon as Mister Derg handed it to her, she started to pull out the threads with quivering hands. This was something that Mister Derg should have been doing, but the overwhelming impact of her resolve must have left him unable to act. Miss Erifell undid the two stitched-together pieces of leather and a small key fell out. Mister Derg, noticing she couldn’t take it herself, picked it up from the duvet.

“Wh-What’s this?” he asked.

Aha, so a key was hidden. I was impressed at her savviness, but I decided to remain unmoving.

“It’s for my locker...at the guild... Show my colleague...Heelmey... She’ll know what to do.”

“I-I understand! It’s all there, isn’t it?!”

“Yes... Proof...that she’s a witch...”

“Great job! Incredibly well done, Miss Erifell! We’ll be able to summon the Carbuncles now!”

Perhaps she was relieved to hear this, for Miss Erifell let out a sigh before slumping back onto the bed.

“Miss Erifell!”

“Derg... How long...until the Carbuncles arrive?”

At this question, the corners of Derg’s lips curled, his eyes squeezed shut. He gulped and forced out the words.

“They are currently stationed in Lilliette. If I utilize the church’s channels, then I can get in contact immediately. It’ll take four...no, three days!”

A far more optimistic estimate than what he’d given my lady. However, even if they did arrive so quickly, there was still a high chance that the curse would eat away at Miss Erifell and she would perish before then.

“Is that...right...”

I couldn’t say if she was aware of this. When people pushed themselves to their limits, the thing keeping them going had a tendency to break once they had passed on their final wishes.

“If I...end up wasting away...” Miss Erifell cut Mister Derg off. She lifted up her head with a wheeze and looked right into his eyes. “Then can I...leave this to you?”

It was clear what she was asking: for Mister Derg to put his life on the line and indict the witch. A wish for him to act in her place if she could no longer.

“Of course. I will be there to attest to your bravery.”

Accepting this was a fitting action for a knight. I looked away as the pair held hands and stared into one another’s eyes.

As someone who couldn’t move or speak, this was all I could do. I just hoped that my lady wouldn’t return at this moment.

“Hey! Derg! We’re back!”

Alas, that hope was shattered in an instant.

A loud banging came from the other side of the door.

Lad! Please, lad! Stop that!

However, there was no way for him to hear words that weren’t voiced. Mister Derg and Miss Erifell stared at the door in silence for a while before they uncurled their fingers from each other’s hand. Mister Derg then awkwardly made his way to the door.

“Welcome back...”

“Yeah. This is for you,” the lad said.

“You have my gratitude. May I ask why this sandwich bag is not only covered in mud but also squashed?”

“Because a certain someone dropped it when she smacked me.”

“D-Don’t blame me! Fine, would you like for me to take responsibility and eat it?” my lady suggested.

“N-No, enough of that. Can you please keep your voices down?! Miss Erifell has woken up!” Mister Derg said.

“Huh?! She regained consciousness?”

Things had devolved into chaos. Troubled by the noise, Miss Erifell shifted her body up with a cough before she glared over at the group by the door.

“Come in...you’re disturbing the neighbors...”

“Okay...” the three replied as they awkwardly shuffled in with bowed heads. The atmosphere from earlier had completely disappeared.

“Apologies, Erifell, but do you mind opening your mouth for me? Like, ahh!”

“A-Ahh...?”

“Hmm, her throat is swollen, and her mucous membrane is inflamed.”

My lady made use of the fact that Miss Erifell was still lying down as she performed a little checkup. It was quite the rare sight to see Miss Erifell, lacking the energy to fight back, do exactly as my lady asked.

“Anyway, I will use my authority to summon the Carbuncles. Can you two head to the guild and fetch the evidence that Miss Erifell gathered? It’s a bit difficult for me to go in. We will organize our evidence until the Carbuncles arrive and then...I will indict her.”

This was a proclamation from Mister Derg, his way of showing that he was ready to put his life on the line. It communicated wordlessly that he was aware that Miss Erifell might not last until the Carbuncles arrived.

“Oh, Derg, about that,” the lad said with a quizzical look.

“Yes?”

“Use my name in the indictment.”

“Explain.”

“There’s a chance that it’ll get the Carbuncles here faster.”

Mister Derg, my lady, Miss Erifell, and I—none of us could understand what the lad meant by this.

“Derg,” the lad went on, “tell the priest in charge of communications this, and exactly this. ‘Hakura Istilla is indicting a witch in Esma. He requests that the Scarlet Star arrive as soon as possible so as to prevent a repeat of the witch trial in Lilliette.’”

Mister Derg gasped. It didn’t mean anything to me, but Mister Derg’s eyes went wide and he was standing on guard.

“Um... What’s the Scarlet Star?”

Fortunately my lady also shared my confusion. The lad had a complicated expression. He crossed his arms tightly and closed his eyes. Despite how confidently he’d spoken, his posture indicated just how much he hadn’t wanted to take this measure.

“It’s the title of the person responsible for all the Carbuncles. The leader of all the witch trials they preside over.”

As the lad spoke, I witnessed an expression of utter disgust that far exceeded the look he had given when my lady had first made her proposition to him.

“The Scarlet Star is Ruvy Miaspica, one of the six special-class knights in the entire world. She is the quickest witch hunter that I know of.”

○

Mister Derg headed to the church to begin preparations for the summoning of the Carbuncles and the lad went off to the guild to fetch Miss Erifell’s collection of evidence. Thus, it was only my lady, Miss Erifell, and I who remained in the room.

Miss Erifell had managed to regain consciousness earlier, but now she was slumped back onto the bed. As she drifted in between sleeping and waking, she let out pained coughs. It was difficult to breathe, and each cough sapped her strength away. Her condition worsened with each passing minute.

My lady considered something for a moment before she lifted me up off Miss Erifell’s head.

“Blue, can you turn red for me? Oh, and you can speak now,” she said.

“Of course. Are you certain?” I replied.

“Considering the state she’s in, I’m sure she’ll just think it’s a dream.”

I split off a section of one of my cores and moved it to the edge of my body. My lady grabbed at that portion of me with no hesitation, pulling away a three-centimeter-wide piece. It (or rather, I) turned red, and if you looked closely, you could see it quivering slightly. Well, the only person in this room to notice was my lady.

In between Miss Erifell’s coughs, my lady thrust that piece of me into her mouth. She forced open her half-closed mouth to make sure it got in.

“Urk...”

“Very good, now swallow! Guuulp!”

“You seem to be enjoying yourself a bit too much, my lady.”

“I’m taking care of her, so I’m allowed to!”

“Ngh?!”

That chunk of me slipped down Miss Erifell’s throat and toward her stomach. It must have been quite painful for her, but a few minutes after some coughing and spluttering, her breathing calmed significantly. There were a few small coughs here and there, but she was probably feeling a lot more comfortable than before.

“How is it?”

“As you estimated, my lady.”

Right now, in simple terms, there was a fungus inside Miss Erifell’s body. The spores from the mosslike fungus spreading through her lungs and stomach were infecting her body, physically preventing her from breathing properly. The small piece of me was working hard inside her to remove this fungus while also hydrating her throat and preventing inflammation.

“Lilberry juice is good for the throat. I’m glad I gave you some of the slime jelly this morning,” my lady said.

Yes, I was capable of modifying my body based on what I ate. Miss Erifell might be saddened that I had used a slime jelly that Miss Cormeca had made for this, but such was the situation, so I would appreciate her understanding.

“I wanted to do this earlier, but...”

Even my lady realized that stuffing a piece of slime in front of Miss Erifell’s mouth while Mister Derg was present would have been a problem. It was slightly ironic that saving him from this scene had instead caused him a bit more pain in seeing Miss Erifell suffer. All the same, what we were doing was a temporary measure, not actually a permanent solution to the curse. Although I (or a part of me) was getting rid of the hyphae inside Miss Erifell, there were many organs that could not be accessed from her airways, so my range of action was limited. This wouldn’t extend her life all too much.

“But, my lady...”

“Hm? Yes?”

“There is something I would like to confirm,” I said as my lady moved to pick me up and place me back onto Miss Erifell’s head to resume my work as an ice pack. “Is it true that you didn’t suspect a witch was behind this affair?”

Suddenly my lady froze. I didn’t need to breathe to survive, but if I could I would probably let out a deep sigh right now.

“So it was out of concern for the lad.”

My lady could only grumble in return. A clear indicator that I had hit the mark.

A localized case of living dead could be brushed aside as an inexplicable natural occurrence, but the destruction of Leston was too well planned. Just like how the lad had assumed there was some nefarious plot under the surface, my lady, the monstermancer, was fully capable of piecing together the strange elements at play. There was only one reason I could think of for her to keep quiet when she expected there was a human hand at play in the disaster.

“The truth is,” my lady said, as she resumed her motion and placed me onto Miss Erifell’s head, “I wanted to secretly sort this all out on my own.”

In a single motion, my lady slid down onto the floor, with her back leaning against the bed. Her mind had been hard at work all day, so I could see traces of exhaustion on her face.

“Hakura looked so disgusted when I asked him his home name, so what do you think would’ve happened if I asked him to help out with a witch hunt? Oh, and did you see his eyes when I said I was a Lingreen?! They were super scary!”

“Yes, you’re not wrong there.”

I wasn’t sure what the lad himself thought, but when we’d first met him, I could sense fear, doubt, and bloodlust. In the end, he was unable to fight back, so my lady was able to successfully negotiate.

“It’s not like I can casually ask him what happened in his past!”

“Wonderful, my lady! I am proud that you’ve finally learned some common courtesy.”

“At the same time, I thought he’d totally suspect me if I showed how much I knew. Then when I decided to be kind and explain things to him, he then goes and says he’ll sort things out on his own! Of course I’d punch him after that! I’ve been working so, so hard to be kind to him and yet that stupid Hakura...!”

Oh no, I’d accidentally caused her to start airing out her grievances.

“Yes, but you yourself were ready to tackle this on your own.”

“Gack...”

“I hope you understand that there is no great difference between what you and the lad were trying to do.”

“I was trying to settle things peacefully! But Hakura was rushing into it in a self-destructive way! We are not the same!”

Oh no, I’d failed at my little lecture.

“N-Now, now, my lady. You know who the witch is, correct?”

At times like these, it was advisable to get her to talk about things she was knowledgeable about. My lady huffed at my question. Who had Miss Erifell touched before suffering from her curse?

“The curse afflicting Erifell, Dini Dura, is one that turns the body into a seedbed, and it requires physical contact.”

We had all witnessed the scene, and so my lady had made her conclusion already. The reason she hadn’t said anything back then was because she wanted to prevent the lad from running off on his own to try and kill the witch. However, the situation had changed. Erifell had regained her consciousness, if only temporarily, and now with the securing of the evidence, the witch’s identity would be revealed. There was no need for my lady to hide it anymore.

“It acts instantaneously, and the curse can be left alone after being activated. In this instance, the only one who could have cursed Erifell was Cormeca. She is the witch.”

◆

I wondered what fixation could cause one person to work with this kind of precision.

After bringing back Erifell’s documents, we spent the whole night combing through them, and I couldn’t help but think this. Erifell had been truly, truly thorough, giving a highly detailed report of Cormeca’s activities. She had recorded when Cormeca had spoken to people, where she had gone, and what she had done, all down to the minute. Erifell’s records spanned from the day that the abnormality had occurred in Leston (or was believed to)—in other words, from the day that she lost track of Allen’s whereabouts—right up to a few days prior. Any witness statements were sourced from multiple people for absolute objectivity, and she even made sure to record the names of the people Cormeca spoke to. And then there was a trove of information that I doubted Erifell had managed to get firsthand, from the details of Cormeca’s purchases to the records of her carriage journeys. I expected that she had used her authority as a guild receptionist to engage in somewhat illegal forms of research.

You could summarize her documents like this: Allen and Cormeca borrowed a horse and headed to Leston. Afterward, Cormeca returned alone. This time frame overlapped with when contact with Leston had become lost.

“Erifell had been sitting on all this until Leen came back, huh...” I muttered.

Living dead cropping up in a village was reason enough to dispatch church knights right away, but Erifell had hid this fact from the guild. Her reasoning was obvious—she feared the church’s propensity to use fire to purify everything while burning every possible scrap of evidence in the process. These documents and the indictment itself were proof that Erifell had gone above her duties as a receptionist and conducted an illegal investigation. While it was true that there was enough evidence here to summon the Carbuncles and indict Cormeca, ultimately, it was highly likely that Erifell herself would be found guilty.

The question of why she had gone this far could be answered on the final line of her documents, penned in a script that looked as neat as the text in a common language textbook, alongside a seal in blood.

Erifell Leston.

A mad obsession had possessed this woman. She’d lost her hometown and everyone she had ever known there.

“Can we say that Cormeca’s motive was romantic problems...?” I asked.

“The documents do seem to suggest that,” Leen replied.

Cormeca had feelings for Allen. However, Allen left her side and got engaged to Krauna. Filled with rage, Cormeca enacted her own revenge.

When summarized this way, it was a pretty run-of-the-mill story. However, the methods Cormeca had chosen and the damages she had caused were enormous.

The sun had come up by the time we’d finished reading through the documents, and so Leen and I were heading back to the inn for a quick nap. Things would be at a standstill until the Carbuncles arrived. Well, there was a chance that Cormeca might try another nasty trick, so we left Derg and the slime with Erifell to keep her safe.

“What did you do to get the Carbuncles to come here quicker?” Leen asked.

“Oh yeah, I never explained that, huh,” I replied.

There was a reason my name would expedite the five-day journey of the Carbuncles, but in all honesty, it wasn’t too terribly interesting.

“The five-day arrival estimate refers to when all members of the Carbuncles unit come to Esma on carriage through other intermediary villages. However, that’s not a problem if I get just the one to come running.”

“Excuse me?”

It was truly a rare moment—Leen eyed me as if she didn’t understand what I was saying. I decided not to answer the doubts I could imagine were on her mind and looked up at the sky to try and get a moment of escape from reality. It was a beautiful blue.

“It was a measure I wasn’t willing to resort to. After all, she’s the leader of the Carbuncles. One of the few truly mighty people within the whole of the Church of Saphir.”

With little time remaining, there was a reason I had hesitated on going through with the plan despite it coming to my mind first.

“And I wonder...what would happen to a descendant of the Lingreen line if she were found by such a powerful person in the church...”

Leen paused for a good long moment. “Won’t that be dangerous for me?”

“You said you’ve got some bad memories with witch trials, right?”

“I did!”

“So, yeah, I wanna apologize. She’s the toughest witch hunter I know, so I dunno if I can protect you from the sort of chaos that might unfurl. Sorry.”

“Hold on! Please don’t summon someone like that so casually!”

“You’re the one who said I should rely on you, so I did.”

“I didn’t say to do that without telling me anything in advance!”

“Well, I doubt she’ll cut you down, no questions asked...I think.”

“H-Hakura, you idiot! What am I gonna do?! Actually, wait a second...”

“Yeah?”

“Why would she come here right away at the mere mention of your name?”

Leen’s question was completely apt. A bunch of stuff had happened before we met.

“Oh, yeah...” I said. “There was a witch trial in Lilliette, right?”

“Yes. Erifell mentioned it. It happened before we went to Leston.”

“The Carbuncles are directly under the church’s authority and are in charge of witch trials.”

“Yes, I know. That’s been mentioned many times before.”

“When they identified the witch in Lilliette, well, the witch in question went on a bit of a rampage.”

Once someone had pegged you as a witch, there was no reason to not do such a thing if it meant preventing your certain death. And in the case of Lilliette, it was unfortunate that the second-class knight in charge was so inexperienced. Luckily no one died, but that ignored everything that happened during. It was nothing short of a scandal.

“She was a slippery one and managed to escape from the Carbuncles. So the guild got involved before things got out of control.”

“Meaning...?”

“The church didn’t want to lose to the guild, so they brought in the Scarlet Star. However, as soon as she arrived in Lilliette, I had already killed the witch. Ha ha ha...”

“‘Ha ha ha’? Seriously?”

I often looked on at Leen with shock, so it was rare for the reverse to happen, which was why I let slip an awkward laugh.

Basically, not only had the Carbuncles messed up, but the church’s enemy, an adventurer, had cleaned up their mess. It was nothing short of shameful. The long and short of it was that the Carbuncles hated me. The reason I convinced my party, despite them not being totally on board, to leave Lilliette and come to Esma was because it’d be too awkward to bump into the Carbuncles in town.

“Hmm... Sounds pretty unreasonable of them to me.”

Leen’s comment was correct. But that was exactly why it came in handy now.

“They are very much aware of that, which is why they won’t ignore this affair. Or at least I think so.”

This was a matter of emotion, not reason, and of the church’s pride. If it so happened that I was at another witch trial they were dealing with and they ended up letting the witch run off only for me to kill the witch again, then the whole existence of the Carbuncles would come into question. The easiest and speediest way to solve this was to send the Scarlet Star, who would come without delay. I needed her to.

“Which is why I wanna double-check... You really don’t have a stigma, do you?” I asked.

“Like I told you! I don’t!”

If Leen said so, then I’d believe her. And I could use this in an argument if need be.

“So if someone ends up indicting you, you’ll be okay. That’s a relief!” I said.

“What do you mean?! If someone indicts me, then they’ll end up dead!”

“Guess so.”

“I’m in a delicate position where I need to make sure no one indicts me at all! If I do anything witchlike, then I’ll get suspected, after all. That’s why I always make sure Blue is transformed!”

Leen seemed like she would be moaning for a while, so I turned away and started walking. The next second, I heard a familiar voice.

“Oh! Hey, Hakura! How’s it goin’?”

“Oh, Jiray. It’s you.”

The one standing there was the rookie adventurer to whom I’d given a knife: Jiray.

Jiray was standing underneath the eaves of a nearby building. Although he had a broom in hand, the way he slouched against it indicated that he had zero intention of sweeping the street. The Sphere on the back of his right hand was still pale and almost totally transparent, but I could see a faint blue starting to form. The kid was working hard.

“What do you mean ‘oh’?!” Jiray snapped. “Lucky you, Hakura. While I’m at work, you get to go on a date with a pretty lady...”

I ignored Leen, who snickered gleefully at being called pretty.

“By the way, Jiray. Yesterday, Erifell... Uh, the scary receptionist at the guild was looking for you.”

“Really? Did I do something wrong?”

From what I could see, it didn’t seem like Jiray had any idea what Erifell wanted. With Erifell herself out of action, we would have to wait until all of this was sorted before we got any answers.

“I dunno either, so I thought you might tell me. Anyway, you’re working, you said?”

“Yeah, just helping with the shop. I wanna go and take on a quest, but granny grabbed me and put me on duty.”

Jiray glanced elsewhere. I followed his gaze and saw an old building that didn’t seem like it had been given the TLC it deserved, with an equally shoddy-looking sign. The text was so old and faded that I couldn’t read the name of the store. I assumed it sold miscellaneous goods, but I hadn’t been in it before, that was for sure.

“Ha ha, you’re still not suited to the adventuring life,” I said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re not looking at things logically enough yet.”

The fact that Jiray was choosing to man the store instead of doing a quest which paid more meant that he was still a fledgling in the biz. Adventurers were people who lived and breathed with logic and pragmatism—like me. As I was thinking this, I felt a pair of eyes boring into my back. I turned around to see Leen staring at me with an astounded expression.

“If you got something to say, then spit it out,” I said.

“No, no... Simply reaffirming the fact that I don’t get people at all.”

I wanted to snap back that I didn’t get her at all, but I successfully managed to keep the words to myself.

“Oh yeah! Listen to this, Hakura. I saw something incredible!”

Jiray must have reached a lull in his important work, for he started to make small talk. Personally, I wanted to hit the hay as soon as possible, but I decided to be kind and reply without letting my utter lack of interest show.

“Which was?”

“A reaaally beautiful lady!”

Lo and behold, he started bringing up something I didn’t care about in the slightest. I shouldn’t have asked.

“More beautiful than me?” Leen asked.

Of course she’d jump in and compare herself. Jiray must have sussed out what was on Leen’s mind, for he clenched his fists even more than before and started explaining himself.

“She was really amazing, trust me! Not only did she have this long, red hair, but she also had super shiny armor!”

“Hold on...” I muttered.

“And she had these nuns with her too! I wonder if she was a church knight. Who knows!”

A beautiful woman with red hair, shiny armor, and some nuns in tow... This was bad. I totally knew who Jiray was talking about, but this was too fast! Way too fast! Derg had only gotten in touch yesterday!

“Where’d they go, Jiray?!”

“Oh, over there, I guess...”

It was still early in the morning, so the main street was filled with craftspeople and merchants heading to work. If she had taken this route, then she might have gone to the church or maybe to meet up with Erifell and Derg...

“Are you...searching for someone?”

I heard a voice from behind me. Despite being out in town, I was slightly on guard, yet somehow someone had approached me from behind. Her words trickled into my ear. They were cold—as if someone were pouring icy river water from a winter morning right into my ear—and so clear that she was making no attempt to hide the antagonism in her voice. It was a voice I knew very well. Leen’s and Jiray’s shocked expressions were directed at her behind me.

I fearfully turned around. I knew who it was, but I couldn’t help it. The woman standing behind me was about a head shorter than I was. She had a slender frame, girlish features that hadn’t shed her childishness, splendid silver armor, and a commanding aura that shattered any weakness her appearance might suggest.

“It has been...a while, Hakura Istilla,” she said.

If I could sum her up in a word, it would be: red. She had short scarlet hair that looked like fire spun into thread, so blazing in its appearance that it seared itself into my brain. Then there were her ruby eyes that glittered with a fierce flame as if she were eyeing up her prey. Like Leen, she was a woman you wouldn’t forget, but for completely different reasons.

“H-Hello, Ruvy Miaspica...”

If my memory served, Ruvy was the youngest ever special-class knight, having been appointed when she was only thirteen years old. She had spent the past four years incessantly striking witches through the heart, earning her the reputation of the fastest witch hunter around.

After muttering her name, I took a step back, but she grabbed my left arm without hesitation.

“Now, why are you...running away? You’re the one...who called me here,” she said.

“Yeah, but...”

“Heh heh... And asked for me...specifically. Ha ha ha...”

I wasn’t sure if the strange creaking sound coming from my arm was my imagination. I hoped it was. Unfortunately, reality wasn’t so kind. Her grip sent a dull pain through me.

“Yes... You called a special-class knight in... You chose...to call in...the Scarlet Star... You must be...awfully important. Are you...an archbishop? A cardinal? Or maybe...the pope himself?”

“Oh crap... She’s mad...”

Ruvy was chuckling, but her eyes and mouth showed no trace of a smile. All I could see was an attempt to restrain her rage. Despite how much smaller she was than I, I was losing this strength battle—I couldn’t shake her off. Was I going to die before the witch trial even began?! I had to change the subject!

“I didn’t think you’d arrive in half a day after calling for you. You must’ve really been dying to see me,” I said.

“What?”

The strange creaking sound got louder as Ruvy increased the pressure in her fingers. She was about to snap my arm in two!

“I was already...on my way to Esma. It was mere coincidence...that the neighboring village...had a message stone.”

Message stones were mana crystals that had been processed to relay one’s voice across long distances. Many large institutions used them—including the guild and the church—but they were very expensive. Regular folk like me never really got a chance to use them.

“Plus...the vanguard...was already in Esma,” she went on.

“I see.”

Wait a second. Did this mean that the Carbuncles would’ve arrived in time without needing to call them? I didn’t have to brave the danger of riling up Ruvy to get her here?

“Excuse me!” Leen said as she popped her head between us. “Let go. Hakura belongs to me.”

I wanted to raise an objection at her assertion, but it was probably best to remain quiet.

“Hmm?”

Leen’s green eyes and Ruvy’s red eyes met. If you could see the tension in the air, you would see sparks flying.

Ruvy was short, but Leen was even shorter. This might have looked like a spat between two girls, but the atmosphere right now was incredibly tense—like a pile of tinder ready to burn as soon as a match was struck. It was truly terrifying to see these two women with vastly different beauty aesthetics stare daggers at each other. Just as I was wondering how to get through this without provoking anyone, Leen cocked her head.

“Hmm? You’re...Ruvy, correct?” she asked.

“Yes, I am... And...what of it?”

Ruvy couldn’t help but furrow her brow at the expression Leen was making, which contained more interest and confusion than antagonism. She looked at me as if silently asking what Leen’s deal was, but I wanted her to let go of me first.

“Hmm... Excuse me...”

Ruvy’s arm was covered by a gauntlet, but the hand upon my arm was only wearing a thin glove. Without any hesitation, Leen reached out and stroked the back of Ruvy’s hand.

“Eep?!”

A strange sound escaped Ruvy’s throat as she evidently struggled to process this sudden act. As for Leen, she continued to stroke Ruvy’s hand with confusion.

“You don’t have a Sphere?” she muttered.

“Of course...I do not!” With suspicion in her voice, Ruvy swatted away Len’s hand and moved some distance away from her. “Don’t...lump me together with you adventurers! Of course I don’t...have a disgusting stone in me!”

“Hmph...”

Ruvy’s brusque tone had rubbed Leen the wrong way, and their glaring match resumed.

This was good for me. I was growing more detached from the conversation.

“No matter... Anyway, the topic...at hand,” Ruvy said.

I wasn’t so lucky. Their antagonism hadn’t lasted long and I was brought back into the spotlight. Ruvy’s scarlet eyes glared at me. That simple action caused the tension in the air to ripple once more.

“The witch trial will be held in three hours...at Esma’s Claré Church.”

“Three hours from now? Isn’t that too soon?!”

Evidently Leen hadn’t expected the trial to be held immediately after Ruvy had arrived. Despite her surprise, Ruvy continued with a cool tone.

“We have a victim...who has been cursed, do we not?”

Dammit, Derg! He told her everything! Actually, wait a sec...

“Which means a witch...is definitely nearby. He added...that he would put his honor as a third-class knight on the line...to validate the evidence. We will...respect his resolve.”

Things started to make a little bit more sense.

“Also, I’d rather not...give the witch time to escape.”

Ruvy would have rushed here even had Derg not given her my name. Hearing that Erifell was cursed—in other words, that a witch definitely was lurking—would have been enough to bring her here running. What the hell was the point of my and Leen’s fight and reconciliation?

“One of my subordinates is...on her way to Derg...to collect the evidence. The indictor,” Ruvy said, glaring at me with those ruby eyes before I had a chance to regret my choice, “is you, Hakura Istilla. Is that right?”

All right, all right... I’d told Derg to use my name, so I needed to take responsibility here.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I lifted my arm slightly. I wouldn’t act so roughly to get her hand off of me, but it would be enough to show my defiance.

“If I’m wrong, then you can personally chop off my head. Lucky you, huh?”

As soon as I said this, I felt a concentrated force of hostility shoot from Ruvy’s eyes, causing a chill to run up my back. It was the type of authority that caused your body to freeze up—the primal fear that made you want to scream.

“We’ll see each other again at the trial, Ruvy,” I said.

At times like these, you needed to pretend everything was normal. You needed to huff through your nose and act cocky. Or so an old peer of mine had once told me.

“I really do...hate you.”

Suddenly the pressure on my arm let up. I felt Ruvy’s opinion of me plummeting to rock bottom. With these parting words, she turned around, causing her scarlet cape to flutter behind her. It wasn’t like the material we adventurers used to keep us both defended and warm—it was designed to show the prestige of her position. It was horribly beautiful and understandably ostentatious.

After about one minute of silence after Ruvy left, Leen spoke up.

“Hakura?”

“What.”

“You two seem like such good friends. I’m happy for you.”

“Shut it...”

Ruvy had hit me with rage-filled thorns, so it was no surprise I had no energy right now.

“Hey, Hakura?” Jiray chimed in. “Couldn’t you shake her off? That pretty lady wasn’t an adventurer, was she?”

Just as I was telling myself that it would be better to just stay up instead of napping, considering the trial was in three hours, Jiray asked a question with some confusion.

“Have you ever met a church knight before?” I asked.

“Huh? No, never. I don’t really have anything to do with them.”

“Then remember this... While it depends on their rank, the church knights are as strong as us adventurers even without Spheres.”

Mana had the power to enhance the qualities of objects. Magic was a way to wield it in whatever way you desired, and swords sharpened by mana stones could become extra sharp. By the same logic, living organisms that absorbed mana would become stronger. However, due to the fact that mana was poisonous to the human body, if you merely took it in, all sorts of complications would arise. The conclusion of this was that if the poisonous qualities of mana could be weakened and the body could overcome the damage the mana caused, then they would be able to acquire the benefits.

In the age before the guild—and consequently, Spheres—the church searched for ways that a single person could fend off monsters. After much effort, they managed to create the church knights, who had strength beyond that of the average person. The reason Saphirism flourished as the largest religion on the planet was because they monopolized these methods and kept them secret. Until the War of the Witches came to a close, they ruled supreme.

Eventually the guild developed Spheres. This was way, way before I was born so I didn’t know the details, but thanks to these little stones, regular people could attain the same power that church knights held. However, unlike church knights, they didn’t need to spend months or years training their minds and bodies, they didn’t need to show their devotion to Saphir through deeds or donations, and didn’t need to be acknowledged by a higher-up and receive their baptism into becoming a knight. They could skip this lengthy process.

The emergence of the guild signaled an end to the period of rule dominated by the Church of Saphir. That was why they hated adventurers and Spheres, along with us. In their eyes, their power was the culmination of their hard work and diligent study, earned through their faith to the church. To them, we seemed like some shallow fools who had skipped all that and still achieved the same power anyway. Many regular members of the clergy hated adventurers too, meaning that this hatred could become the source of many fights in daily life.

Derg was a third-class knight, so he was an elite member of the church. If Erifell hadn’t been involved, then I would never have spoken with him.

“If you pick a fight with them, you’ll end up bloody and bruised,” I warned.

Then Ruvy was the cream of the crop: one of the six special-class knights who were specially chosen and stood above all the other knights. In adventurer terms, she was S rank—a living legend who someone like me couldn’t hold a candle to. This was the reason I had well and truly hoped I wouldn’t see her.

“You were totally trying to pick a fight with her,” Jiray replied.

I couldn’t reply. I’d tried to give him a warning, but my warning ended up being shot down.

“Listen, Jiray. Don’t turn out like Hakura!” Leen quipped.

“Dammit! I hate that I can’t even deny this!”

I wasn’t trying to pick a fight with Ruvy. And the reason I was taking on the witch trial was because I’d assumed Erifell’s evidence would increase the chances of success.

What I was worried about was what would happen if Cormeca decided to use everything at her disposal to flee after she was cornered and had her identity exposed. Who knew, maybe she had already sniffed out that a witch trial was imminent and was trying to make her escape.

“Hmm...”

“What is it?” Leen asked.

“Oh. Nothing.”

Cormeca was a witch. My gut and the logic in front of me said so. So why did I feel like something was off? I felt uneasy, but I wasn’t sure why.

“Anyway, let’s head back to Erifell,” I said.

“Agreed. Bye, Jiray,” Leen said.

“I dunno what you guys are doing, but good luck,” Jiray said.

We left Jiray behind and headed back the way we came. I forced down the exhaustion bubbling up.

“Hey, Leen?” I said after the store had disappeared from sight.

“Yes, what is it?”

“If a stigma can’t be identified anymore, it moves to somewhere else on the body, right?”

“That’s right...”

“What happens if you try to cover it up?”

It seemed like Leen got what I was trying to say. She stopped walking.

“Hmm... It should move if you do something like try to cover it up or change its appearance with a tattoo. However, I doubt this would happen if you used makeup or paints. Why are you asking?”

“Well, Cormeca’s an alchemist, right? Can’t she make some paints that would blend with her skin and be difficult to wash off?”

Leen looked elsewhere.

“I’ve never seen someone try it before, but are witch trials really so sloppy that they would miss something like that?”

“Well, no, but...”

It was the duty of a knight and nun under the Carbuncles to investigate the woman who was indicted. It was highly likely that all the witches who had been previously suspected had tried all sorts of measures to try and evade punishment. I supposed that almost every witch had considered hiding their stigma somehow and the Carbuncles would be on the lookout for that. We even had Ruvy, the organization’s best, here to make sure nothing would be overlooked.

“Please keep it together, Hakura. You’re not getting scared, are you?”

“I...wish I could say I’m not.”

I was fully on board with putting my life on the line. If I decided to do it, then I was aware that it was my responsibility. All the same, I just couldn’t explain why I felt so uneasy. Was I really scared...?

“No, sorry. I’m fine. I’m just a bit nervous, I guess,” I went on.

“It’ll be fiiine!”

“Whoa!”

Just as I looked down to try and keep it together, I felt a powerful smack on my back.

“In my eyes, Cormeca’s definitely a witch. No doubt. I guarantee it.” Leen didn’t look scared in the slightest and gave me a broad smile. “You gotta be confident when you say it. Be like, ‘The witch...is you!’”

“Uh-huh...”

The strange feeling in my head didn’t completely go away, but for some strange reason, it felt a lot lighter. Hearing Leen say this with such conviction made me feel like she might just be right.

“Okay, if I die, then I’ll totally haunt you,” I said.

“It would be too much if you did that too, so I’ll have to say no thanks.”

All right, all right, unfeeling so-and-so...

◆

By the time we arrived back at Erifell’s apartment, there were four people standing by the entrance. One was Derg. He was dressed in his proper outfit as a church knight, clad in heavy armor which was made of silver. He already had quite the stony face, but now it was more serious than before. Another was Erifell. She had put on a simple dress. Her face was still pale and was leaning against Derg, but she was standing on her own two feet.

“Hey, hey! Erifell! Are you okay?!”

Leen dashed over to the group, waving her arm, and I followed close behind.

“Excuse me. Do you need something from us?”

Before we could get to Erifell, two women blocked our path. They were young, likely in their early teens, and although I didn’t recognize either of them, their Saphirist robes revealed their affiliation.

“You two are from the Carbuncles,” I said.

Ruvy had mentioned that she would send her subordinates to meet up with Derg, and it looked like we had met them at exactly the same time. As I wondered if we should introduce ourselves properly, the pair of them glanced at one another and spoke in some whispers. Then the one that was on my right, the one with light pink hair in plaits that looked like twist bread, stepped forward and glared at me.

“You have quite some gall to show your face in front of us, Hakura Istilla!”

“Huh, guess I’ve become quite famous...”

Being subject to such blatant hatred, I could only slump my shoulders in exhaustion. It wasn’t just Ruvy but the whole organization of the Carbuncles that I’d thrown mud in the face of, so it made sense for them all to resent me. Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.

“Let Erifell lie down,” I said.

Even glancing at her from this distance, I could tell that she was quite worn out. However, the twist bread girl glanced back at Erifell then glared at me.

“That cannot be done. She will be participating in the witch trial,” she said.

“Excuse me? I’m the one who called you lot here.” I’d clarified that I’d be the one to indict Cormeca.

“We looked at the documents and checked with her too. It appears that the reason your name came up was to bring Lady Ruvy here quickly.” Suddenly the twist bread girl clenched her fists and a frown creased her brow. “How dare you...use such cruel...rude language against her!”

Apparently the method I’d employed to bring Ruvy to Esma was frowned upon. Ruvy and her subordinates seemed pretty pissed. It was no surprise. Considering Ruvy’s position, it was like I’d just picked a personal fight with a noble. The girl had more to say, but she held back her words and looked up at me.

“The Carbuncles are an organization that carries out witch trials, adhering to proper protocol. We do not allow misjudgments, and this includes improper indictments.”

“Your leader was rudely accusing me of being the indictor just a minute ago...”

“Does your rudeness know no limit?!”

Oops, I was stirring up unnecessary trouble. What they said made sense, though. Right now, there was someone else I needed to prioritize.

“You’re happy with this, right, Erifell?”

I called out to Erifell from between the two nuns. Erifell was still leaning against Derg, her breathing rough. Although her voice was faint, I saw her give a confident nod as she said, “I apologize...for the hassle...”

“Miss Erifell, please don’t strain yourself!” Derg said.

Erifell coughed. “It’s fine... I need to give...my thanks.” She let go of Derg and came over to us with quivering footsteps. Then she lowered her head very deeply. “Thank you for your cooperation. Without your help...I would have died, unable to do a thing. It is because of you...that I can fight her.”

The key figures in this whole affair were Erifell and Cormeca.

“Leave the rest...to me.”

If Erifell was conscious and willing to take on the trial herself, then we were nothing more than outsiders at this point. We had no way or reason to stop her.

“Please wait! I’m coming with!”

Leen’s shock caused her to chime in. We had been so involved up until now, so I bet she didn’t want to be treated as irrelevant after all that. I understood how she felt.

“An adventurer? Come to the church? Don’t make me laugh!” The girl with twist bread hair spat as she glared at Leen’s emerald Sphere with disgust.

“Uh... Huh?!”

Leen could only open and close her mouth wordlessly. Rage prevented any words from coming to her. As she boggled, she wore an expression I’d never seen before. Her hands that gripped her staff—which was a family heirloom despite how awfully she treated it—were so tight that it started to make some troubling sounds. It looked like I might have to stop her anger from transforming into violence.

Fortunately for me, that didn’t come to pass. Leen’s sense of reason worked overtime to keep her patient, but the brain overload caused her body to simply freeze up.

“We’ll be leaving then,” the twist bread hair girl declared, deciding that the matter was settled. The two nuns bowed at us before walking by with Derg and Erifell in tow.

As they passed us, I caught Derg’s eye. He nodded slightly as if telling me that the rest was in my hands, so I raised a hand in response.

◆

“Well, we did pretty good, no?” I said.

Without Leen’s care, Erifell wouldn’t have been able to get back on her feet, and if I hadn’t called for the Carbuncles, then she wouldn’t have been able to attend the trial. Considering how much work we put in, we’d pretty much been doing charity work, so it irked me that we wouldn’t be able to attend the trial. This was a frequent occurrence as an adventurer—you couldn’t do anything at the end, right at the conclusion.

“It’s best for Erifell to end things herself. She’s the actual one involved in this,” I went on.

I wasn’t fully convinced either, so I was saying this out loud for my benefit too.

“No way it is!” Leen snapped.

Of course Leen didn’t have the capability to sense this kind of subtlety. Well, I supposed this angry outburst was half directed at those nuns.

“And Erifell shouldn’t be moving, but she was forcing herself to!”

“You used your slime to fix her up, no?”

Leen had looked so happy describing how she forced a piece of her slime into Erifell’s mouth while she was barely conscious.

“I temporarily eased her symptoms, I didn’t actually cure her! She needs bed rest! It’s weird that she’s capable of walking around on her own two feet.”

If Leen said so, then it was weird. I wondered if it was hatred for Cormeca that propelled her onto her feet.

“Ngh... I wanted to laugh at Erifell and tell her it was all over when she woke up!”

“That’s what you’re mad about, huh...”

I wondered why I had even bothered racking my brains with her and getting smacked about.

“My lady, you’ve returned.”

Erifell’s window up on the second floor slid open. Through the gap, the slime squirmed through and hopped out onto the paving stone below. In a single action, it bounced off the ground and into Leen’s arms.

“Blue! How could you let Erifell go?!”

I wanted to chime in and say that she should praise her slime for working so hard as an ice pack instead of moaning, but the slime in question didn’t seem all too bothered as it jiggled about.

“I had no other recourse. You can imagine what would happen to me if I spoke up in front of a church knight and nuns. Not to mention, they weren’t completely wrong.”

“Yes, but couldn’t you have tangled yourself up in Erifell’s hair and given her a hairdo that she wouldn’t dare to leave the house with?!”

“Are you sure you’re not a witch?” I muttered.

Normal people didn’t have these kinds of thoughts. I wondered if she was missing a cog that was crucial in making you function as a human being. Despite being pummeled and squished, the slime seemed utterly unfazed.

“She has put her life and her resolve on the scales. You cannot stop her unless you mean to trample all over that resolve.”

“Grr!”

I thought the slime was speaking a lot of sense, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to convince Leen. She threw her slime down on the floor, and it bounced toward me at full speed. Wait. It bounced at me—?!

“Bweh!”

“Gwuh!”

“Oops.”

Having dropped my guard, I was unable to dodge. Eating a slime to the face, I tumbled backward onto the pavement.

“I-I’m sorry. I got carried away,” Leen said.

“Apologies, lad. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“I swear to...!”

I voiced my rage as I pulled myself up. Leen had evidently let her anger get to her, but even she looked guilty, aware that maybe she’d overdone it this time.

“Jeez... You’re an adventurer, so I wish you’d be a bit more pragmatic...” I chided.

I understood how Leen felt. However, we were adventurers. At this point, it wasn’t logical to be kicking up a fuss when there wasn’t any benefit to it.

“Hold on...”

Adventurers... Logical... What I’d just said stuck in my brain for some reason.

“Hakura?” Leen said, cocking her head, concerned that I’d stopped talking so suddenly.

“Oh! It’s nothing. Let’s get some grub, then head back to the inn. I’m pretty tired too.”

We were exhausted and our brains were tired too. When Leen was in such a foul mood, it was best to feed her some food to cheer her up and then put her to bed.

“Agreed! I want something with meat in it!”

“All right, eat as much as you want,” I replied.

Our agreement stipulated that Leen was paying, after all.

◆

We stopped by the nearest restaurant to Erifell’s apartment and after Leen wolfed down some lamb, soup, salad, and bread, her frustration disappeared from her demeanor. The huge stack of bones on her plate seemed like the required sacrifice to get her to behave normally again. I prayed the sheep would rest in peace.

“Phew...”

Leen rubbed her eyes as she emitted this strange sound, most likely due to the increased exhaustion after such a big meal. I pulled her along and headed back to our inn. I had gone up and down this street countless times over the last few days.

The reason I stopped walking wasn’t due to anything big. It was something small. We had passed by the store that Jiray was manning earlier, and I’d noticed he wasn’t there. That was all. Or maybe it was something else that caused my feet to stop. Maybe I wasn’t ready to accept that the day was over and felt unsure about heading back home already.

Whatever it was, it was an inefficient action that I wouldn’t have done normally.

As I paused in the street, I couldn’t help but look at the sign for the store that Jiray had been manning. Upon closer inspection, it was written in the common script and the words had faded. While I couldn’t read it this morning, something pushed me to want to try and read it now.

“Para...petter...?”

Independent stores like this were usually named after their owner. I didn’t know anyone called “Parapetter.” But why did it sound so familiar? I had the feeling someone had uttered that word not too long ago...

“Do you know the Parapetter store? My exhibition is being held there...”

Cormeca’s words from that shifty scene suddenly came back to me.

“Cormeca’s exhibition,” I muttered.

“Mmm... Hakura? What’s up?”

Leen was still in a daze from her drowsiness and full belly, so she hadn’t noticed.

I kept silent. The witch trial was probably starting about now. There was nothing we could do, and if I brought it up, I risked ruining Leen’s mood. Thinking about this logically, there was no reason for me to step inside.

“Leen, I’m just going to head in here,” I said.

“Hm? Sure...”

In spite of that, my feet carried me inside the store. I noticed that at the back of the room, full of shelves with goods on them, sat an old woman.

“I’m here for the exhibition,” I said.

She wordlessly pointed at the room next to her. I slipped between the cluttered rows of goods and headed inside. It was a dark, windowless room, dimly lit up by the mana crystal lamps on the walls.

Oil paintings inside frames that weren’t all too old but weren’t all too fancy either hung on the four walls of the room, which contained furnishings that weren’t cheap but weren’t that impressive. Some paintings depicted landscapes, some did sculptures, while some chose stones or flowers as their motif. I didn’t have the knowledge to tell if they were good or not. I’d never had any connection to art since the day I was born, so I didn’t even know what value these paintings had.

However, my gaze was inadvertently drawn toward the two eye-catching paintings on the back wall. The first was of a young man in light armor who posed with a kind and manly yet bashful smile. It was clear he wasn’t used to being a model and I could tell he had been nervous. His expression was rendered in a lifelike way with a soft touch. Even an insensitive person like me could tell what she’d been thinking as she painted this. The title was short: My Dearest Love.

However, this wasn’t the issue at hand.

Over the past few days, my Sphere had twinged with pain, but now it was too big to ignore. Now I immediately knew why.

“I see... Cormeca saw this, huh?” Leen muttered.

She had joined me and was looking at the painting beside the portrait too. The layered colors of it reflected in her green eyes, giving them a vivid hue.

This painting...didn’t seem like a landscape painting. There were no people, no subjects in it—the colors were merely layered atop one another. There were red, orange, blacks, and blues. The sky was burning. It was the embodiment of rage and despair. Unless you spat out blood that had simmered in utter hatred and boiled it down into a pigment, I doubted you could ever whip up such a terrifying color.

I didn’t have an education, so I didn’t know what made a good or a bad picture. But even I could tell immediately what emotion this painting evoked. It was hatred. The strongest hatred and loathing that a person could squeeze out of their heart. The wail of the soul that caused someone to throw their entire life aside and give themselves up to a demon...

“This is...”

—Ahh! Ahhhhh!

—That’s mine! It’s always been mine!

—Shut up! Shut up! Who would dare agree with that?!

—Give it back! Give it BACK!

Despite the room being perfectly quiet, I felt I could hear someone’s wailing. One that rivaled my own feelings toward witches...

“Hakura.” I heard Leen’s voice. “Just relax. It’s okay.”

Her voice was calm, peaceful—the polar opposite of that enraged screaming. Her slender fingers stroked my Sphere.

“Did something happen to me?” I asked.

“I think your Sphere was resonating with the hatred in these paintings.”

“Excuse me?”

“Black Spheres often are like this. They’re particularly capable of sensing power that we cannot see. You’ve been bothered by it a lot recently, haven’t you?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“I think it’s reacting to anger or resentment. You don’t need to be so on guard.” Leen spoke to me as if placating a small child. “It’s proof that your Sphere is finally bonding with you. It’s a good thing, so don’t worry about it too much.”

“R-Really?”

I wasn’t convinced. I wasn’t a newbie like Jiray. My Sphere had long since developed its color, so why would it finish bonding so late?

“All right.”

All the same, I decided not to pursue the matter and accept what she said. I turned back to the painting. This time, I wasn’t visited by head-splitting screams, but I thought that it was pretty grim to have this painting right in the middle of the room.

“We shouldn’t have come here,” I muttered.

What was on display here was one person’s life. The life of a woman who was going to be put on trial and then executed due to irrefutable evidence.

“Hm?”

As soon as my thoughts drifted to the trial, my Sphere twinged again. This time, it wasn’t due to the painting. It was me. It was ringing alarm bells about something inside of me. Something wasn’t right.

“Hey, Leen?” I said as she continued to stare at the painting.

As soon as the words left my mouth, a loud rattling filled the air. I readied myself for another earthquake, but I realized that it wasn’t the room that was shaking. No, the frames of all Cormeca’s paintings were rattling on the walls, growing steadily louder. Soon, the frame of the creepy black and red painting started rattling louder than the rest. Come on, this isn’t normal!

“Wait a sec...!”

This was Cormeca’s personal exhibition. It wouldn’t be out of the question for her to have set up a trap to get rid of anyone who was prying into her affairs!

“Enough of that,” Leen said.

Leen tapped her staff onto the ground, stopping my thoughts there and cutting the thread of my caution. It felt like a sudden calm breeze blew through the room.

“Quiet down,” Leen went on.

That was all it took for silence to return, as if the wild rattling had been nothing but a figment of my imagination. I stared at Leen wordlessly. She knew something or was hiding something at least. Despite my wary stare, she seemed to pay me utterly no heed.

“I might as well ask. What was that?” I said.

“Hmm...”

I didn’t think I’d get a decent response, but it was worth a shot.

“I suppose you could call it a part of my job as monstermancer,” Leen replied after a little thought.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

To no one’s surprise, her reply didn’t explain anything. It was barely an answer and I wasn’t satisfied by it. All the same, Leen didn’t seem to think the random rattling was much of an issue at all. I could continue to hound her into slowly explaining herself in dribs and drabs, but by her disinterested reaction, she must have deemed this unworthy of the effort right now. It irked me, but accepting my employer’s wishes was part of my own job.

“Fine, I won’t ask then. Whatever,” I said.

“Hee hee...”

“What’s with that face?”

“I’m just so haaappy that you fiiinally understand what I wanna saaay,” Leen replied in a sing-song voice.

“Oh, shut the hell up!”

I shouldn’t have taken this damn detour...

“We should have come here at the start. I get the picture of what happened now,” Leen said before yawning and rubbing her eyes, no longer interested in the paintings. “It’s too much too late now though, with the trial already going on.”

“Yeah... All we can do is—”

The documents and evidence that Erifell prepared were for the purpose of calling in the Carbuncles—only important in the decision of whether a witch trial should be carried out or not. With the Carbuncles here now, the evidence was no longer of any importance. All they needed to do was find a stigma. And they should. Cormeca was no doubt a witch. Various factors had led both me and Leen to believe so, and Erifell’s evidence was objective proof too.

However, something had stopped me from finishing my sentence.

“Hakura?” Leen said as I fell into silence.

She looked concerned and she filled my vision. Her green eyes. Her right hand clasping her staff. The stone on the back of that hand, a marker of her role as an adventurer...

“Erifell was investigating the identity of the witch. And that was why Cormeca, who’d caught on to what was happening, cursed Erifell. Right?” I said.

Leen nodded, her expression seeming to ask why I was checking this stuff so late in the whole affair. “Well, yes, I suppose so?”

If Erifell had stayed unconscious due to the curse, then no one would have ever found the evidence and consequently the Carbuncles would never have been called. It was this sneaky behavior that had caused me to conclude that the only way of solving this was to just skip the whole trial and deal with Cormeca on my own (albeit, it had resulted in Leen bullying me into backing down).

However, things had changed because Leen and I had gotten involved. Thanks to her and the slime’s care, Erifell had regained consciousness, even if still weak, and the Carbuncles made it to Esma, which was partially due to the fact that they were on their way here from Lilliette to begin with. In other words, things had moved a lot quicker than they would have without us.

The witch’s plan to subdue Erifell with a curse had fallen apart, and all we had to do was let the trial sort her out. The main reason that Leen and I had stepped aside was because it didn’t matter who indicted Cormeca, so it would be fine for Erifell to deal with it herself.

But was this really the case?

It was clear as day that Cormeca was the witch and she had used a pragmatic approach to dispatch Erifell. However, there was one aspect of this whole affair that lacked any pragmatism.

“Leen, if someone suspected you of being a witch, would you go out of your way to curse them?” I said.

“Huh?”

“And right in front of the two people who’d dealt with the situation in Leston? Cormeca should be aware that it’s utterly obvious she’s the crook here. So why the hell would she decide, in this situation, to curse Erifell and implicitly inform everyone that a witch was involved in what happened in Leston?”

A witch trial was designed so that once one was already underway, it wouldn’t end until one of the two parties were sentenced to death. The result of this was that the Carbuncles would not easily accept a trial request if the evidence was shoddy or if there was room for doubt.

The reason Cormeca’s trial had been organized so speedily was because the existence of a witch was proven by Erifell’s inverta. By cursing Erifell, no matter what happened, it was inevitable that Cormeca would be suspected eventually and would risk being indicted. That wasn’t logical!

“Well, because she thought that things would sort themselves out if she could silence Erifell?” Leen said.

“No. Cormeca knew about Derg. She would’ve realized that he considered indicting her out of revenge if Erifell passed away.”

Cormeca had referred to Erifell’s “little knight.” She knew who he was affiliated with and what his relationship with her was.

My mind returned to the evidence. I’d thought that it would’ve been lost forever if Erifell died, but she had placed it in the care of a colleague at the guild. Erifell was the careful type. She had probably taken precautions to ensure her position was explained in the event that she passed away. If it were me, I would’ve made sure they got into Derg’s hands even if that were at the funeral. It was clear to anyone that Derg had feelings for Erifell. If the object of his affection was killed due to a curse, there was no way he would take it lying down. It was very possible that he’d do what I’d try to and skip the whole trial to deal with the witch himself.

The short of it was that Cormeca’s actions weren’t distancing her from risk. In the best case this would buy her a little time, but the cost of it was the creation of indisputable evidence: the inverta.

“It’s just not possible,” I said. “Cormeca’s an adventurer. There’s no way she’s not basing her actions on logic and pragmatism!”

Cormeca was an alchemist, a painter, a witch, and also an adventurer. This might be a lot of titles to have, but I saw her reddish agate Sphere. You wouldn’t get a color that well defined after just a year or two. She had fought, honed her skills, underwent trials and tribulations of her own, and experienced all sorts of things as an adventurer.

“No matter how cornered, how self-destructive she may seem, Cormeca will always choose the most logical path. She would never have survived this long as an adventurer otherwise,” I said.

There was a consensus that an adventurer was a perfectly logical being. Those who chased after temporary fame, or risked everything out of greed, would sooner or later end up dead somewhere. If you lived in this world, survived in this world, then you would learn how to fight, think, and behave. Your actions would be efficient, wasteless, and adhere to reason. Ever since the guild was founded, we adventurers have stood upon the bodies of those who came before us and pooled together our knowledge, hoping to avoid that fate. This was the beast that we called logic.

“What’s with that face?” I said to Leen, who was silently staring at me.

“I was just thinking that you should maybe look in the mirror, Hakura...”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?” There weren’t many adventurers who were as logical as me. “Anyway, Cormeca’s behavior isn’t normal considering she’s both a witch and an adventurer.”

This was the thing that had been bugging me for some time. I was well aware that the world wasn’t a simple place where everything fit together perfectly like a puzzle, but my gut was telling me something was wrong.

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to do with this information...” Leen said. “Hey, Blue? Why don’t you say something?”

“Hmm...” At Leen’s suggestion, the slime opened its mouth(?). “Let us consider the situation from a different viewpoint then, lad.”

“Meaning?”

“What reasons would make Miss Cormeca’s actions logical?”

“Well...”

If we were working under the assumption that Cormeca was definitely a witch, then after she had killed Allen, whom she secretly held feelings for, she had laid waste to Leston. Then Erifell, having lost her home, had gathered evidence to run a witch trial and get revenge against Cormeca. However, with Erifell having thoroughly investigated her recent activity, Cormeca realized that she was the prime suspect and thus decided to silence Erifell. However, the result was that she had created irrefutable evidence that a witch was involved, and she was subsequently indicted.

If all of this wasn’t because she had been clumsy and pulled the noose around her own neck, then...

“I’ve got it backward...?” I muttered.

In a witch trial, either the accuser or the accused would be killed—no exceptions. This had been Erifell’s goal. Because she knew Cormeca was a witch, as long as she could get a witch trial to occur, then she would win. This had been our assumption as well. We had thought that Cormeca would be operating under the same conditions, trying her best to prevent a trial from occurring.

However, what if Cormeca had the same goal as Erifell? What if her short-tempered, irregular, and antagonistic behavior had all been calculated? What if she had purposefully left evidence, a trail, clues, for Erifell to find? What if Cormeca also wanted a witch trial? It didn’t matter how suspicious you were, what your motive was, how much evidence was stacked against you; in a witch trial, the presence of a stigma was everything. All that groundwork was for the purpose of holding a trial—it was worth nothing during the actual event.

If Cormeca could successfully hide her stigma, then she would be cleared of all suspicion. She could sell her Sphere and retire from the adventuring life with a bag of cash. She could start a new life, continuing to paint in peace while providing alchemical help to people. After all, no one would dare indict a woman who had already been proven innocent in a witch trial.

The question was where Cormeca was hiding her stigma. If she simply tried to paint over it, it would be discovered. Whether she dug it out or burned it off, it would simply move to somewhere else on her body. But I’d thought about this problem just a little while ago. Many witches in the past had probably tried to hide their stigmas. The Carbuncles had expert know-how on how to identify a stigma. There was no easy way to keep it hidden.

So how had Cormeca done it? Where could she have hidden it?

Another twinge of pain in my right hand stopped my train of thought. I looked at my Sphere. It was obsidian, black as night. It had no decoration and was so unpretty that it probably wouldn’t earn me very much if I sold it in the future.

“Leen, a stigma needs to be in a visible place on someone’s skin, right?” I said.

“Y-Yes. It does. It has to,” Leen replied.

“What counts?”

“Uh?”

“Where on the skin counts?”

Leen looked at me with puzzlement. She then closed her eyes and groaned as she processed what I had to say.

“Oh!” Leen had realized too. “But that’s never been... No, maybe... H-Hakura!”

“Yeah, we stumbled upon this by chance...”

If my prediction was correct, Cormeca would be able to get out of the witch trial alive. There was a way for her to have a visible stigma, but escape punishment. We couldn’t know how the trial would go in reality, so...

“Let’s go, Leen! We gotta get to the church!”

“A-Are we running?!”

“Of course we are!”

“But I just ate!”

Leen did have a point, but luckily for me, my lethargy and exhaustion were completely gone.

◆

There were a few churches in Esma, but Claré Church was a small building located on the outskirts of town. It was common for witch trials to take place in secluded, rural locations to avoid rubberneckers or casualties in the event that the witch went on a rampage after having their identity exposed. We had already lost time as we needed to dash into the guild to check a map of Esma to find out where we needed to go.

Running for as long as we had was enough to make even an adventurer get a little out of breath.

“There!” I exclaimed.

Up on a little hillock sat a small, one-story church all by its lonesome. In front of the door was the nun with twist bread hair.

“I-It’s you two!” she said as we approached.

Evidently she hadn’t forgotten us in the past few hours. She guarded the door to bar us from barging in.

“The witch trial is currently underway! No one is allowed inside! Please leave!” she went on.

“Awesome, we made it in time! It’s not over yet!” I said.

“I said you can’t go in, so plea— Hey!”

The worst-case scenario would’ve been if everything had already concluded, but it looked like we still had some time. I pushed the twist bread girl aside and grabbed the handle of the old and thick door. It merely rattled with a heavy sound.

“Heh, it’s locked from the inside with a bolt! No one can open this door until the trial has finished!” the twist bread girl said, evidently proud of herself. The church was old and was locked in a suitably old-fashioned way.

“Leave this to me, Hakura. My lineage has a traditional unlocking method that can cause even the toughest door to pop open as easily as a well-boiled killer shell!” Leen declared confidently before she walked to the door.

“Great,” I replied.

“Gwah!”

I knew very well what the twist bread girl was going to do, so I grabbed her collar and pulled her aside.

“H-Hey! Ow! What are you—?!” she protested.

Her question was answered with Leen’s actions.

“Leeet meee iiin!” Leen shouted.

Leen had grabbed onto the bottom part of her supposed family heirloom and everyday partner, then performed an incredible swing, done so smoothly that I could tell this wasn’t her first time. The end of her heavy staff smashed right through the door, bolt and all, as the hinges clattered to the floor.

“How was that, Hakura? It is very open now,” Leen said.

“Shame you had to damage a historic building.”

“Don’t quibble about it; what’s done is done. Let’s look to the future.”

“That is the one thing the vandal shouldn’t be saying.”

Well, it was open, so whatever. It would’ve been a pain for me to do it and a blunt object was the best measure here. Her staff was like a damn battering ram.

On the other side of the door was a thin lobby with a door at the very back of the room. The witch trial was being held beyond it, in the chapel.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you DOIIIIIING?!”

To no one’s surprise, a certain someone was furious. I was sure Leen had tried to do this without any door pieces hitting anyone, but well, no one was perfect.

“Y-You broke this holy space’s door! This will be a problem between the guild and the church, mark my words!” the twist bread nun said.

“Nah. We’re not here on a quest,” I stated.

“Yeah. Let’s chalk this up to a...personal mistake,” Leen said.

If things got really hairy, we’d have Erifell and Derg take the responsibility. There were worse things that could happen than this turning out to be a case of bad paranoia.

“You are not getting off the hook! I told you that you weren’t allowed inside! If you dare to go in there, then you will be punished by—”

“Punished by who? For what?”

I couldn’t be bothered with her anymore. I raised my voice a bit and tried to give her the coldest stare I could.

“Huh? Like I said, the church rules state—”

“Then you stop me. Let me warn you,” I said, looking into her eyes as I placed a hand on my sword, “I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a kid or a girl.”

“Ngh...”

After I saw her quivering shoulders and blood-drained face, I proceeded inside.

“Wasn’t that overkill?” Leen whispered.

“What choice did I have? I didn’t want her wailing any more than that!” I hissed back.

I sighed. I wasn’t in this to be liked.

We walked over the sooty carpet, now so brown and blackened that I couldn’t tell what color it had originally been, and was about to place a hand on the door when something stopped me.

“A-An adventurer...cannot go inside...without permission,” the twist bread girl said, looking up at me.

Both her voice and her hand, clutching my sleeve, were shaking.

Inwardly, I reevaluated her for her guts, but now wasn’t the time for that. At this point, I readied my hand near her forehead...and gave it a light flick.

“Urk!”

I’d tried to hold back, but adventurers were stronger than your average person. She gave a little squeak before she fell over onto her behind.

“Lad...”

“I know, I know, I’m the one in the wrong! But you can’t blame me!”

I didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, but I did feel bad.

Now, I needed to hope that the situation wasn’t bad behind this door.

I put my hand on the handle. It wasn’t locked, so we wouldn’t need Leen’s special door unlocking technique. As it opened with a creak, I heard a woman’s husky scream.

“No... This can’t be!”

◆

In the back of the chapel, with the statue of the goddess in the center, was a simple cloth partition. In front of it was Cormeca, wearing a red robe and a glove, just like the other day, Ruvy, who had her arms crossed, another nun, and also Erifell, supported by Derg.

“If you’re not the witch...then who destroyed Leston?!” Erifell said. She was on her knees as she shouted at Cormeca.

“Who goes there?!”

It was the other nun, whose name I didn’t know, who noticed us and spoke up first. Some kind of precautions must have been taken so that sound wouldn’t go in or out of this room.

“It’s you...”

Ruvy’s indignant glare bored into us. We were adventurers and shouldn’t be here. However, her thoughts lasted only a short moment.

“Radia,” she said to the nun by her side. “Head outside and check on Crescen.”

Radia nodded and dashed past us to head outside. I heard a cry, but Leen closed the door and all outside sounds were muted.

I wondered if Ruvy had chosen not to force us out because I was the one who had picked a fight in the first place. Or maybe she thought we were allowed to see the trial’s conclusion.

“Hello, you two. It’s been a few days,” Cormeca said.

Unlike Ruvy, she flashed us an amicable smile. From the way that she chuckled with confidence, she didn’t seem like someone who had just been deemed a witch.

“The checks have just finished,” Cormeca went on. “Right, lady knight? Why don’t you tell them the result.”

Encouraged to reply, Ruvy gave a slow sigh before speaking. “I could not...find a stigma...on Cormeca Esma.”

“Uh-huh,” I said.

I’d feared it might be like this, but the situation was dire. Maybe I should be happy we made it here before anyone was killed.

By the way that Ruvy’s brow was furrowed, it looked like she wasn’t completely convinced herself.

“I-I know you went to Leston that day!” Erifell forced out.

“Yes, and? Allen and I went by horse. Then when we came back, I returned the horse. I thought I could earn some money so I even gave the stable owner a cooling medication for the horse. You can ask him, if you’d like. I am certain he’ll remember me.” Cormeca effortlessly rebutted Erifell’s remarks. She even opened out her hands as if she gladly welcomed the suspicion. “However, I then left Allen and went home alone. That’s all!”

“Grr...”

At this junction, forced into a corner as she was, Erifell had probably realized that she’d been played. All the evidence she’d gathered to prove that Cormeca was a witch had been left behind by Cormeca herself so that it could be easily gathered.

“It’s utterly embarrassing to have your body searched, you know? Never before have I had to endure such shame, having someone strip me down, then stare at my body from head to toe! I was awfully wounded by what you did,” Cormeca said before taking a step toward Erifell, looking down at her exhausted state. “Yes, I loved Allen. It hurt that he left me. My thoughts did drift at times.” Cormeca looked up at the ceiling as if remembering something before looking back down again. “However, that is no reason to suspect me of killing him!”

Cormeca’s words were the expression of her victory as well as a brutal rebuke against the person who had threatened her life with a witch trial.

“It was because I loved him that I wanted to celebrate his new life. That’s normal! You’re the one with the problem, unable to accept his death!” Cormeca stroked the glove on her right hand lovingly. “You let your imagination run away with you and accused me of something as evil as destroying a village along with his fiancée! And as a result, I have to put up with this.” Cormeca’s agate Sphere glittered from the hole in the glove. “I supposed you wouldn’t back off unless you put your life on the line, right, Erifell?”

“Search her again, Lady Ruvy!” Derg said, unable to stay quiet any longer. “This woman is hiding her stigma! Please, search her once more!”

It was natural for Derg to request this, but Ruvy merely shook her head.

“We have made her endure...such shame once already. I will not...do it again.”

“But!”

“However...if you truly wish it,” Ruvy said, striking Derg and Erifell—who was leaning on him—with her scarlet gaze, “then you must...indict her once again...now.”

Derg could only grunt in response.

No one would indict a woman who had been deemed innocent of being a witch. It was nothing more than suicide.

Derg bit his tongue and paused momentarily. He juggled whether he should believe Erifell, whom he had been protecting all this time, or accept the truth handed to him. Or maybe he was wondering whether he should put his life on the line.

In the gap in the conversation, I spoke up, breaking the spell between the glaring parties.

“I’ll answer your wishes for you. The witch...is you, Cormeca Esma!” I said, pointing my finger at her. “You’ll perform the check once more, right, Ruvy?”

Ruvy paused for a moment and placed her hand on her sword. “You understand...what this signifies?” she asked.

There was no taking back what I’d said here, during this witch trial.

“Very well, then speak up. What proof do you have...to call her a witch? After she has been checked...and no stigma was found?”

My answer could cause my head to fall from my shoulders in an instant. But what came next wasn’t my job.

“You happy, Leen?” I asked.

Leen nodded gleefully next to me. I couldn’t believe she’d made a guy put his life on the line.

“Explain,” Ruvy said.

“I’ll be demonstrating the proof,” Leen declared. “Hakura’s just here for the ride.”

“Hey!”

I objected, but I couldn’t change the fact that she was right.

Leen put her slime in my hands and stepped forward. As everyone looked suspiciously at her, she spoke unbothered in a clear voice.

“Cormeca, I have a question,” she said.

“And what might that be, young lady?”

In Cormeca’s eyes, Leen was someone who had no relation to anyone in this trial. Her puzzlement as to what Leen could possibly say was evident on her face. However, Leen’s next comment caused her expression to totally change.

“Cormeca, please tell me why you have the glove that Allen made.”

On her right hand was a leather glove with the back cut out—just the one glove.

“What are you talking about? I bought this,” Cormeca said after a moment of silence. She had tried to give off a normal vibe, but it only made things seem more suspicious.

“No. Allen made it,” Leen said without any hesitation. She then went on, not allowing Cormeca to question her. “In Leston they have a tradition where a man will create a pair of leather gloves for the woman he has feelings for. If the woman accepts the pair, then they will become married. Allen quit being an adventurer and studied leatherwork in Leston. He was close to finishing the pair that he wanted to give to Krauna. We buried one glove in Allen’s grave, however...”

This was the thing I’d noticed. It was a simple statement: gloves come in pairs.

“We were unable to find the other glove. Not on Allen’s body nor in Krauna’s home,” Leen said.

“Excuse me? That’s hardly enough evidence to claim that this glove of mine is his! Why would Allen make a hole in a glove if he were giving it to Krauna? Even your boyfriend there has a similar pair!”

I wanted to quip that I wasn’t her boyfriend, but I worked very, very hard to keep my words under control.

“Well, you simply made the hole yourself. You can do that without issue, right?” Leen said.

It didn’t make sense for Cormeca to own a glove that Allen had made. The gloves were for Allen’s sweetheart—there was no way that he would have given them to Cormeca. So for her to have this glove must have meant that she’d stolen it.

“What nonsense! And so what? A single glove isn’t any evidence!” Cormeca rebutted.

When I’d first seen Cormeca’s glove, I’d noticed that it was awfully similar to the one we’d found near Leston. However, I didn’t have any proof of a connection, and I didn’t think that anyone would flaunt evidence like this, so I’d dismissed my concerns.

Leen continued to speak, unfazed as ever.

“There’s no doubt about it because the person in question is saying so.”

“Huh?”

No one in the room could understand what on earth Leen meant by this. Cormeca let out a confused sound on everyone’s behalf.

Leen lifted her index finger up and twirled it around. I had witnessed this gesture countless times over the past few days—it was what she did when she was lecturing someone.

“A witch is born out of a desire. A contract with a demon is not the goal. It is merely the means to an end,” Leen said as if singing, tapping out a rhythm with her staff. “People crave the power of a witch when they have a goal they cannot attain by themselves and wish for a method to achieve it that goes beyond a normal person’s potential. You are a pragmatic adventurer. I doubt revenge was the first thought that sprang to mind.”

Revenge against Allen for not picking her; revenge against Krauna for stealing Allen. This was the assumption we had made because it was such an obvious motive and made sense when looking at the results.

“You became a witch in order to win Allen over. You wanted to overwrite his heart and make Allen yours, not Krauna’s. In other words,” Leen said, her spinning finger finally stopping as it pointed at Cormeca, “you tried to steal Allen’s heart, didn’t you, Cormeca?”

As everyone stood speechless, a memory came back to me. After our battle when we laid him to rest, I couldn’t help but notice: Allen’s chest had a huge hole where his heart should have been.

“Wait, no way... You’re kidding...”

I couldn’t stop the words from slipping out. Leen couldn’t be serious. This must’ve been a joke!

Leen had said this about demons: They were from a different world, so their value and moral system was fundamentally different from ours. It was extremely difficult to communicate with them; until you broke the taboo and offered up your purity to a demon, getting them to bond with you, it was difficult to tell a demon what you wanted.

When Cormeca told the demon that she wanted Allen’s heart, had they not stolen it in a metaphorical sense, but a literal one? Could something so ridiculous really happen...?

I heard the grating sound of Cormeca grinding her teeth. That was our answer.

“Having killed Allen, you realized that you had done something irreversible. With a hole in the chest, his corpse would have drawn suspicion. The destination was Leston, so if Allen never arrived, then someone from the village would have noticed something was wrong. That was when you came up with an idea.”

The power that had caused Allen’s heart to rot and could control fungi was the power to control the living dead.

“The target of Allen’s obsession was Krauna,” Leen went on. “Even as a living dead, you wouldn’t be able to control him. In that case...”

Cormeca had killed the one she loved more than anything and couldn’t turn the clock back. Even his corpse wouldn’t look back at her. At that point, she might as well kill them all. Allen was gone, so why not Krauna, everyone in Leston? She knew that there was already a quest to deal with a living dead. If she made it look like an accident, then no one would find out what she’d done. It was a truly pragmatic, adventurer-like decision.

“How long are you going to allow this slander?!” Cormeca yelled, cutting Leen off. Her words were directed at Ruvy. “My innocence has been proven. There was no stigma on me. That’s all you need! This witch trial is over.”

The special-class knight kept her hand on her sword as she appraised Cormeca with her ruby eyes. Cormeca flinched under her wilting gaze. After a few seconds, Ruvy shook her head, then turned her focus to Leen.

“What was your name?” Ruvy asked.

“Leen. Leen Stonabel.”

“Right...”

Ruvy unsheathed her slender sword and pointed it at Leen. If she wanted, she could slice off Leen’s head before she even had time to blink.

“If she is a witch...there should be a stigma...somewhere. I looked...and found...nothing,” Ruvy said.

“Are you confident that you didn’t overlook anything? You do realize she is an alchemist. She could have covered it up with an irremovable paint.”

Leen suggested the exact same possibility that I’d had and she’d denied. What a frustrating person she was.

Ruvy answered Leen’s question with an action. She snapped the fingers on her left hand and a ball of flame suddenly poofed into existence by her face.

“My Flarelifa can burn away...all impurities from the skin. You cannot game a witch trial...with such tricks.”

Flarelifa was a fire-based purification magic that could return an object to its natural state. Ruvy was a professional when it came to witch trials, so she would burn away any attempts to hide the truth.

“You’re saying you did a thorough check and concluded that there was no stigma, correct?” Leen asked.

“That’s...what I’m saying,” Ruvy replied.

The glaring match between the two of them continued. I couldn’t get involved or even put my own hand on my sword out of fear of sparking an altercation, so I stood frozen.

“However,” Ruvy continued, looking past her sword, “I haven’t yet heard...your answer. Why do you say...the glove was the victim’s?”

“Lady knight!” Cormeca yelled.

She wasn’t as relaxed as earlier. She was panicking, worried. Ruvy ignored her.

“Hakura Istilla,” she said.

“What.”

“You placed your life...on the scales. You gave up everything...for this girl’s answer. Am I...correct?”

If I were to choose whether this situation was good or bad, I’d pick the latter with no hesitation. But I was too deep in now, so I needed to see this through.

“Yeah. My life is in her hands,” I said, clarifying my position.

“Good. Then...Leen Stonabel,” the Scarlet Star said, looking at Leen. “Why do you say...that Mister Allen made that glove?”

“I told you! Because she’s been telling me!” Leen shouted.

Leen hit the carpet with her staff again with a loud thud. In the next instant, the gemstone of the staff emitted green particles that spread throughout the room.

“Cormeca, your biggest mistake was not finishing the job,” Leen said.

Suddenly a rattling sound filled the room as the old candlesticks, tables, and chairs started to shake.

“If you’d been able to form a pact with a higher rank demon...”

None of the windows were open, but a tepid wind started to blow through the chapel.

“...then you would have been able to capture a person’s soul.”

Leen struck her staff to the ground once more and the rattling suddenly stopped.

“Give it back...”

All of a sudden, another woman appeared in the air between Leen and Cormeca.

“That should have been given to me.”

Yes, she was floating. Her feet weren’t touching the floor...not that they would if she had any.

“Allen showed me so many times. He measured my hands, my fingers, and said that they would be ready soon...”

She glowed with a pale light, and I could see right through her. She didn’t have a physical body.

“You stole it. From Allen’s inner pocket. I saw you!”

Despite that, her face, expression, and emotion were evidently there.

Cormeca swallowed. Ruvy, too, was staring with wide eyes.

“Krau...na...?” Erifell said.

“Exactly. This is Krauna,” Leen explained, most likely for Ruvy’s benefit, as she didn’t know what Krauna looked like.

“Give it back! Give them back! Allen... Everyone in Leston... You killed them all, Cormeca!”

“She is the victim who lost her life at the hands of this witch.”

○

There is a creature known as a wraith.

While a living dead is naught but a moving corpse, a wraith is a corpse without a body. When a creature passes away and still harbors strong emotions, it bonds with the mana around it to form this type of evil spirit.

Normally, a wraith does not possess clear memories of when they were alive. In almost all cases, they don’t even retain the form they once had and instead appear as a pallid, glowing, human-shaped specter. Their regrets, lingering emotions, vengeance, or anger from their previous life spur them to indiscriminately attack people.

They are weak to sunlight, holy water, and hymns, and it is one job of the church to exorcise them. Without a solid form, neither swords nor magic are effective against them.

They can be categorized as monsters but also as a natural phenomenon. Where people died, wraiths would emerge. This was an unavoidable part of the natural cycle.

The fact that my lady could tame this wraith indicated that she still maintained a singular sense of self. One benefit, or perhaps one spark of hope, among the tragedy of Leston was the fact that despite turning into a living dead, Miss Krauna had still possessed her reason. Though she had accepted her death, the powerful regret and anger she still bore had turned her into a wraith.

Of course, the soul of a deceased person cannot linger in the world of the living without cost. I imagined that was why Miss Krauna had been floating around attached to my lady, haunting her, without any sense of who she actually was. It was thanks to the confrontation with her sworn enemy, the indictment, and my lady’s abilities that allowed her to temporarily bring her consciousness and memories back into this world.

In other words, this was an indictment from the deceased victim herself.

Miss Krauna slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was strong, containing her sense of reason. Her denunciation was about to begin.

◆

A monstermancer—a descendant of the Lingreen line who had the power to tame all monsters.

When Leen had given me the lecture on demons, there was something she hadn’t touched on: What demon had the first Lingreen made a pact with?

Considering her ability, the answer naturally revealed itself. This first Lingreen must have formed a contract with the progenitor of all demons, the first demon to be born into the hinterworld: Lucilfer. If so, it was no surprise her powers were so incredible—this demon’s rank was above all else’s.

Whereas Cormeca could only create living dead and leave them to their own devices, Leen had been capable of fishing out an individual’s existence and replicating the ego they had lost. If Krauna had been a run-of-the-mill wraith, howling insults and curses like any old monster, then the situation wouldn’t have been as taut as it was now. The wraith before us, Krauna, behaved with the intellect of a living, breathing human.

“You followed Allen to Leston...and you laughed! You laughed as Allen killed me and everyone else! You laughed! I remember it so clearly!”

“Eek!”

Krauna didn’t allow Cormeca, who could only retreat, any quarter. With each word that came out of Krauna’s lips, the whole room shook.

“Wh-What are you doing?” Cormeca managed to ask. “You’re a church knight, aren’t you?! That’s a monster, no matter how you view it, so exterminate it! Now!”

For her part, Ruvy was frozen to the spot. It was as if she couldn’t see Cormeca or Krauna. Her eyes were focused on the inciter of this scene: Leen.

Cormeca followed Ruvy’s line of sight and looked over at Leen too. Then, as if having realized something, she gasped.

“I-It doesn’t matter what you have to say, my innocence has already been proven! There’s no stigma on me. Therefore I’m no witch! Surely that girl over there controlling a monster is the witch!”

Cormeca wasn’t wrong. Leen had controlled a wraith right in the middle of a witch trial. It made sense to suspect her.

“Then go ahead and indict me,” Leen said. Her lips were still fixed in a big smile, and she seemed to be greatly enjoying herself. “If there is a stigma on me, then no one will hound you anymore.”

In the face of Leen’s calm demeanor, Cormeca couldn’t respond. Her gaze was locked on one spot—on the emerald Sphere that glowed among the particles of her staff.

That was the moment my suspicions became clear.

“Ruvy!” I called out.

At my voice, Ruvy seemed to regain her composure as she looked at me.

“Cormeca’s stigma is in her Sphere!” I went on.

Cormeca flinched and quickly hid her Sphere with her left hand.

When a Sphere bonded with an adventurer, it embedded itself in their nervous system, becoming a part of them. This fact was so obvious to every adventurer that mentioning it was almost a waste of breath. You wouldn’t so easily forget the kind of pain that made it impossible to sleep upon getting it; you wouldn’t forget how it felt in your hand. However, I wasn’t certain if those within the Church of Saphir knew this, considering how much they hated adventurers. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t consider someone’s Sphere as their “skin.”

Cormeca’s Sphere was a translucent reddish, agate color with a complex design within it. No one would notice a small black mark mixed in within all that. She didn’t need to paint over it, cut it off, burn it away. Who knew there would be someone who could go to their own witch trial confidently baring their stigma in plain sight?

“I know you didn’t curse Erifell in order to get this witch trial going,” I said.

Erifell was a guild receptionist—she knew all about Cormeca, and that included the details of her Sphere.

“And when you saw Leen bring Krauna out before all of us, you weren’t able to indict her. Why? Because you saw Leen’s Sphere and thought that maybe she was hiding her stigma in the exact same way you were,” I went on.

Cormeca, therefore, needed to keep Erifell pinned down. She needed to curse her, render her unable to speak, kill her, then get Derg to carry out the indictment in her place. It was clear to everyone that Erifell was dogged enough to corner Cormeca and almost had her.

It didn’t matter if she said this was a false accusation—at this stage, it was easy to find out if Cormeca was innocent or guilty. All she needed to do was show us her right hand, allow her Sphere to be checked, and we’d see if the black mark within it matched Erifell’s inverta.

“Show me your hand, Cormeca Esma,” Ruvy said.

Yes, all she needed to do was to answer Ruvy’s command. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

With bloodshot eyes, Cormeca shook her head furiously.

“No! No, no, no! This isn’t—! I’m not—!”

Suddenly a flash cut through the room.

“If you won’t...cooperate...” Ruvy said.

This wasn’t something that you’d blink and miss. No, it had been impossible to even follow with my eyes.

“...I’ll have to investigate...myself,” Ruvy went on.

Before I knew it, Ruvy was already sheathing her sword, and Cormeca’s right hand was flying through the air.

“AAAAAGHHH!”

Cormeca screamed—was it due to the pain, or was it some deeper reason?

Krauna managed to catch Cormeca’s hand. She lovingly removed the glove and tossed aside what was inside it, not paying it any further attention.

“Ohh... Allen... Allen!”

She cradled the glove and shed tears from eyes that no longer had physical form.

“G-Give it back! That’s mine!” Cormeca said.

As she reached out her arm, blood poured from the wound, staining the old carpet.

“Oh... Her stigma...”

It was Erifell who noticed first. There was a shape on the back of Cormeca’s left hand that was a mirror image of the inverta on Erifell’s body. If a stigma were cut off from the body, it would appear elsewhere. It was irrefutable evidence that one could never escape from.

“Ngh... Grh...”

Cormeca was hunched over, groaning in pain. She spun her head to glare at everyone in the room.

“Wh-What a farce! Do you KNOW how much I loved him?!” Cormeca howled to the heavens, as if cursing the world itself. “Allen was mine! I was always with him. You were the one who stole him! You stole him from me! What’s wrong with taking back what was mine?!”

That portrait with the bashful smile came back to my mind. As did the painting that was full of anger and hatred, where the subject killed her lover and was left with nothing. Both of these represented Cormeca Esma. She harbored love and hatred in equal parts, and that was what had caused her to stray off the right path and become a witch.

“If only you’d never appeared then Allen would’ve been mine! I killed you! So why?! WHY?!”

Krauna accepted Cormeca’s vengeful wailing and faced her. “Allen said that he wanted you to paint a picture. He wanted to display it at the wedding. Because you meant so much to him as his ally.”

Those words washed away every emotion on Cormeca’s face. Her pain, her anger, her despair disappeared and nothing remained.

“I know that... He told me,” she muttered. Heavy drops of blood fell to the floor. “We were riding a horse together, my hands around his waist, when he asked.”

By the time Cormeca had raised her hand, Ruvy had already acted—Cormeca’s head flew into the air. There was no hesitation. She was a witch, so an execution followed.

“A witch...must be killed,” Ruvy stated.

She was standing in the same place as before. That wasn’t to say she hadn’t moved—no, she had moved, cut off Cormeca’s head, then returned to her original spot in the blink of an eye.

“How fast is she?” I muttered.

I couldn’t even register the speed at which the world’s fastest special-class knight, Ruvy Miaspica, had moved.

An instant later, Cormeca’s head landed on the carpet with a thud as her body slumped to the ground.

It was over. The trial, everything.

“Ngh... Gaaaaah!”

“Miss Erifell!”

As soon as the tension had left my shoulders, Erifell had started to scream. In the next moment, she began to vomit a scary amount of blood.

“Huh?!” I said.

“Heh heh...”

A strange laugh filled the air. It was a taut kind of sound, as if someone were sucking in air while trying to make a sound. Cormeca’s severed head was laughing!

I could see a fungus-like mycelium covering the site of the cut. Her stigma had moved to her forehead. Her body swelled, and from it came a number of tendrils.

“What’s going—?” Ruvy said.

“Don’t touch it! The hyphae will spread!” Leen warned before she could do anything.

At the same time, I understood what Cormeca was trying to do and what Leen had meant.

Cormeca couldn’t inflict her curses without touching the person. If you spun that on its head, then that meant that all of the fungi sprouted by the seedbed within her body could carry her curse. These spores could steal your heart. That was true even now as Cormeca was still alive, albeit just a head.

“Zwill li swica...”

Words I’d never heard before came out from Cormeca’s mouth with a unique rhythm. It had to be the incantation.

“Ruvy!” I shouted.

“Hmph!”

A half second before I spoke, Ruvy had leaped into action. I heard a trio of cries as Erifell on the floor, Derg who was supporting her, and Leen nearby, were hoisted up by Ruvy and taken out of the room. As she passed me, I caught that ruby-red gaze, just for a moment. The sight of her guilty expression was seared into my own eyes.

“Well, can’t blame her,” I mused.

No matter how fast Ruvy was, her body wasn’t all too large. Considering our positions and the fact that she had three people already in her arms, no one would blame her for opting to not bring me too.

“Deeni dahnee!”

Those final words had most likely completed the incantation. All of a sudden, the fungus from Cormeca’s body exploded out in all directions. Those curse-filled spores covered everything in the chapel including me.

“Hya ha! Ha ha ha ha! HA HA HA! Time to die! It’ll be over in an instant! Your heart will rot and fall out! So die, die, DIE! I’ll kill every last one of you!”

Despite having been reduced to a mere head, Cormeca continued to scream and shout. I was surprised she could survive for this long without a body. I wondered if witch trials from here on out would end up with the judge crushing the witch’s head instead of merely slicing it off. Witches were truly an unpredictable bunch.

“Heh heh heh ha ha ha! Hah hah...?”

While Cormeca cackled, the spores that had clouded our vision started to settle. Through the haze, she must have spotted me.

“Well, I suppose it’s the Carbuncles’ fault for not spotting your stigma right away,” I said.

She must have seen me walking right toward her.

“But, well, Ruvy saved Leen and the others, so they’ll probably call it even. Or maybe it’s sixty to forty in our favor?”

She must have noticed how, just like with Leen’s staff earlier, black particles were emerging from the back of my right hand and covering my entire body.

“Huh? What?!”

Bewilderment, shock, confusion... A number of emotions crossed Cormeca’s face before vanishing. I was surprised that someone who had exploded her body from the neck down could still be shocked by things.

“Are you fine, lad?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you and Krauna are all right,” I replied to the slime.

“Indeed. That is because I do not have a heart.”

I was holding Leen’s slime in one arm, partially because it would’ve slowed her down. Then there was Krauna who was fine because she was a wraith. She looked down at Cormeca with an awfully pained expression.

I couldn’t afford to leave the room in this precarious state forever. It was time to end things.

“Why? Why doesn’t my curse...affect you?”

“Who knows? Why do you think?” I replied.

I wasn’t expecting her to answer. I had no intention of discussing it at any rate.

“No! NO! Why? Why did I turn into this... I joined with that monster, so why must it end like this?!”

I took my sword and stabbed right through the head.

“Why, you ask?”

I struck with enough force to crush what was inside, but that skull of hers was empty except for a mass of hyphae. They puffed into the air before disappearing.

“How the hell have you not realized?” I muttered.

It’s because you started this whole thing. That’s what it means to kill.

◆

“I know now. The demon that’s capable of using spores as a medium to transmit a curse is the thirty-fourth ranked demon in the Beelbel lineage: Zwini Dahni!”

“That’s way too late!”

With Cormeca’s death, Erifell’s inverta disappeared. Some color returned to her and her coughing finally stopped. The whole thing had taken a toll on her and she was currently unconscious. We decided that it wouldn’t be ideal to move her right now, so she was asleep in a bed in a room in the church that had been safe from the fungus.

We were in a separate room ourselves waiting for the Carbuncles to give their verdict. Things went a bit differently than normal, but a witch trial had taken place, so the public result of this would affect how we went forward.

“I’m so ashamed of myself. I was unable to do a single thing,” Derg said as he sat into a chair and slumped his shoulders.

Leen shook her head in response. “That’s not true. Without you, Derg, we wouldn’t have been able to actually get the witch trial underway,” she said.

“But when it mattered, I was useless...”

“If you say that, then look at Hakura! He only made the accusation and left everything else to me!”

“Hey! I was the one who realized she might’ve been hiding her stigma in her Sphere!” I snapped.

“Are you sure you’re all right, lad?” the slime said from Leen’s arms.

In the confusion during the cleanup, the slime had ended up talking and was heard by Derg. Fortunately, due to the chaos of the trial itself, Derg had accepted it and hadn’t asked too many questions.

I scratched my head and decided there was not much point hiding it.

“Well, witches’ curses don’t seem to work on me,” I said.

I didn’t know why, but my body seemed to reject their curses. For some reason, when a witch tried to curse me, my Sphere would emit those particles and protect me of its own will. That was part of the reason the guild had foisted so many witch hunting jobs on me.

Anyway, myself aside...

“Hey, Leen?” I said.

“Yes?” she replied.

“How long has Krauna been with you?”

“This whole time. Since we got back from Leston.”

“This whole time?! Right next to us?!”

“Yes. I didn’t want it getting out if she appeared in town, so I put her on standby in the same low-energy mode I use with Blue. Anyway, it took a while for her sense of self to be reconstructed, so she only became able to talk again recently.”

“Explain this stuff earlier!”

“But if I said I was bringing a wraith around you’d be freaked out!”

She had done this out of some sort of concern for me, her traveling companion, but I wasn’t grateful in the slightest upon hearing this sudden bombshell being dropped.

“That was why I knew right from the start that Cormeca was the witch!”

“Then you should’ve said so!”

What was the point of all the thinking and questioning we’d done?

“Was it okay to summon Krauna right in front of the Carbuncles like that?” I asked.

“Honestly, no. I’ll be in trouble if they question me about it.”

Leen wouldn’t just be questioned; she’d done something that a witch would do. If I’d been some adventurer who hadn’t known better, I might’ve indicted her there and then if I’d stumbled upon the scene. It was a pain to think that it was all in the Carbuncles’ hands...

“Excuse...me...”

Just at that moment, the door was opened without so much as a knock. There stood two women belonging to the church. One had red, puffy eyes, almost as if she’d been crying. I wondered what sort of terrifying experience she’d undergone. I was just feeling sorry for her, when they both shot me the most withering glare. What was with them?

After a short while looking at each other—or, rather, receiving a one-sided stare down—the twist bread girl spoke.

“Lady Ruvy requests your presence. Your friend has regained consciousness.”

All of us looked at each other.

◆

Ruvy was standing in front of the room Erifell was in.

“Geh...” I muttered.

After rebuking me for my uncontrolled response, Ruvy heaved a truly deep sigh.

“Hakura Istilla. Leen Stonabel,” she said.

“Wh-What?” I asked.

I glanced back at Ruvy only to find that she was on her knee with a bowed head.

“If you two hadn’t been present...I would have given...an incorrect verdict,” she said.

Wow, I didn’t think she’d actually genuinely apologize.

“On behalf of the Carbuncles, I extend my apologies,” she went on.

“Heh heh! That’s right! I hope you reflect on this. It was very, very close!” Leen said.

Of course Leen wouldn’t hesitate to act cruelly toward someone who was acknowledging their misstep. However, I noticed from her eyes that she was serious.

“Your decisions can decide who lives and who dies, after all,” she went on.

I wondered just how many times in the Carbuncles’ long history someone had managed to successfully hide their stigma. Who would take responsibility if an innocent person had ended up being wrongly executed in the witch’s stead? If they were a decent organization, I expected that this event would result in them revisiting their past records to reflect and consider.

Well, even Leen didn’t know whether an adventurer had become a witch in the past, so I could only pray that the Carbuncles of the past hadn’t made any mistakes until now.

“You’re quite right,” Ruvy said.

Ruvy was one of only six special-class knights in the world and evidently had no rebuttal to this.

“The person we need to make things up to...is Erifell Leston. Now...Sir Derg?”

“Ma’am!”

After slowly getting back to her feet, Ruvy called for Derg. This was a direct summons from someone in a far, far superior position to him. He immediately fixed his posture and answered in a clear voice. Considering how much taller he was, it was an amusing sight.

“I will contact you...later about this. It does not...seem right to do so now,” Ruvy said.

“Understood!”

After a nod, Ruvy bowed before leaving.

Thanks to their own error of judgment, she didn’t touch upon the whole Krauna thing. That was a relief. After waiting until Ruvy was out of sight, Derg knocked on the door.

“Miss Erifell, it’s me, Derg. How are you feeling?”

However, there was no response.

“Miss Erifell? Miss Eri—”

“Coming right through!”

Leen brushed Derg aside, who was about to knock again, and opened the door with zero hesitation. It creaked open, and the sight awaiting us surprised me.

“I can’t believe you! Brute forcing your way into a church? What were you thinking?”

“I-I’m sorry, Erifell... Wait a second. Why am I apologizing even though I’m in this state...?”

“I’m making you apologize because you’re like this! If you’ve passed away, then hurry along to heaven. What are you doing with lingering regrets? You were buried with Allen, weren’t you?”

“W-Well, yes, I was, but... I was worried about the glove...and you, Erifell.”

“I suppose you’ve grown up if Useless Krauna is the one worrying about me. Have you improved at your leatherwork since I saw you last?”

“I told you not to tease me like that! Hmph!”

The sick patient was sitting up in her bed, berating a wraith. What on earth was this scene?

“Hello, Erifell. Nice to see you’re doing well,” Leen said, choosing not to read the room.

Realizing we’d lose our chance to get inside if we didn’t move now, Derg and I followed after her. Finally, Erifell noticed us. She bowed her head slowly.

“I apologize for the hassle I caused you,” she said.

“You bet! We worked so hard for you!” Leen replied.

“Do you not know what modesty means?” I muttered. Although Leen wasn’t wrong that we’d done a lot.

“She’s right. Without you two, I would never have been able to win against Cormeca. Hakura Istilla, Leen Stonabel, thank you so very much,” Erifell said, adjusting her glasses. “I never thought I’d get to speak to Krauna again.”

“Oh! Erifell, your glasses...” Krauna said, clapping her hands together as she noticed something. “They’re the ones I made for your birthday... You use them?”

Krauna seemed overjoyed, but Erifell’s response was curt.

“Only in my private life. They’re useless at work. They don’t fit my face at all!”

“Don’t be so mean, Erifell...!”

Erifell ignored Krauna’s sniffles and turned to Derg.

“Derg... I don’t know what to say.”

“Y-You don’t need to say anything. I was, um, fulfilling my, er, duty as a church knight... Yes...”

Krauna’s tears vanished in an instant, and she started laughing at how stiff Derg had become. She no longer seemed like a wraith. That intense aura from when she’d appeared was gone, and now she seemed positively human.

“I will pay you back. No matter what it takes,” Erifell replied.

“N-N-No, it’s okay! I don’t need anything, I, uh, yes...”

It was amusing to see Derg act so flustered, but a part of me wanted to receive some kind of payment too.

“Huh? Give us something too! Where’s my reward!” Leen said.

“Do you not know the meaning of constraint?” I said.

“If there’s a reward, then you should take it!”

Erifell merely sighed. “That goes without saying. I owe you two my life. I will prepare something for you,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“You don’t sound very grateful,” Leen replied.

“Well, I am, very much so.”

From her curt tone, I could tell Erifell was back to her normal self. It seemed she was on her way to recovery.

“Anyway,” Erifell said, giving a light cough before looking up at the floating Krauna. “What are you going to do now, Krauna?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Look at you. I doubt you intend to stay like this. Or do you want to end up the subject of some horror stories in Esma’s future?”

“Talk about harsh...” I muttered.

However, I was curious as to how this would be sorted. I glanced over at Leen.

“Hmm... How would you like to accompany us to Chromrorm, Krauna?”

I had assumed as much from the conversation with Derg, but it seemed like her destination was the northern reaches. I did want to chime in and ask about this “us” part. Our contract was only until Clovel, wasn’t it?

Krauna pondered Leen’s question for a while. Soon, she slowly shook her head.

“Thank you, Leen. I appreciate your kindness. But I think I’ll go to sleep. I’m already dead, after all! And I can’t leave Allen on his own.” She seemed a bit sad, but there was a brightness in her tone that suggested she had no regrets. “Oh! You said your name was Stonabel, but you told me it was T—”

“That name is a secret between us, Krauna,” Leen said, holding her index finger to her mouth and letting out a shush.

It seemed like she had realized what Krauna’s response would be, so she made no move to keep her here.

“Okay. Our little secret, hee hee,” Krauna said.

After that, the boundaries of Krauna’s body started to glimmer with a pale glow before gradually disappearing. As if melting away, Krauna turned into small particles of light that filled the room.

“Thank you, Erifell. Thank you for doing so much for us.”

“You should thank everyone else here. I wasn’t able to do a thing.”

“That’s not true!”

“She’s right. If you hadn’t been here, then no one would’ve thought to indict the witch,” Leen said, not reading the room as usual. This time, though, she was right.

“I agree, Miss Erifell. We were able to achieve this result thanks to your bravery in standing up to the witch,” Derg said.

Erifell’s step forward had propelled Derg into action, leading us to help out, which had, in turn, brought Krauna back to this world to finally indict Cormeca. Erifell had been the one who had set this all into motion. In fact, if she hadn’t sent Leen to Leston, then we would never have realized this whole affair had occurred.

“Krauna...”

“Yes, Erifell?”

“I...wish...”

“Yeah?”

“...you hadn’t died...”

It seemed to me like Erifell had finally realized the role she had played.

“I wanted to see you get married. I wanted to see the happy future you and Allen would have achieved together. I wanted to sew your wedding dress. I wanted to see you toss the bouquet for us to catch.”

It was natural for Erifell’s emotions to finally burst.

“Why did you have to die, Krauna? I...”

Those emotions spilled forth into tears.

“I loved you two so much. I wanted you to live a happy life together...”

Apparently it’d been Erifell who had sent Allen on his job to Leston. I had my own theories as to Erifell’s thoughts behind this, but there was no way for me to know exactly what was on her mind.

“Erifell,” Krauna said, as her body gradually disappeared. “You were the most beautiful woman in our village, so please...smile for me. If you can do that...then I can leave without any regrets.”

As a gentle gust passed, Krauna vanished. In the final moment, I felt like I could see someone taking her hand as she left forever—but that was probably just my imagination.

◆

Then, three days later...

“Good morning, Erifell.”

Leen approached the guild’s counter and called out to the receptionist who had successfully returned to work and was calmly organizing some documents.

“Good morning. Are you here for a quest?” Erifell replied.

She was back on form and was wearing her work glasses. No matter how much she may move around, they wouldn’t budge at all from the bridge of her nose.

“I am! I’d like a job that’s easy, pays well, and won’t be a pain!” Leen replied.

“What about your job as a monstermancer?” I chimed in.

“With all the excitement recently, I’d like to fit in some nice, easy work to relax with!”

She wasn’t wrong, so I wasn’t going to counter that argument.

Erifell pulled some documents off the shelf and spread them out before us. From the top was a quest to collect a gryphon’s egg, quelling a group of goblins supposedly led by a troll, solving some turf wars between three types of monsters, et cetera, et cetera...

“All of them seem like a real pain,” Leen moaned as she browsed the selection.

“My job,” Erifell said, not changing her expression and without blanching in the slightest, “is to provide the appropriate job to the appropriate adventurer.”

“Ugh, you’re such a meanie, Erifell,” Leen groaned.

After glaring at the selection of quests, Leen looked up at Erifell, sticking her tongue out before giving a nasty smile.

“That necklace really doesn’t suit you,” she added.

It was an old necklace, a round piece of leatherwork that was worn by its years of use, a tired item that wasn’t all too well made even if you were being generous.

Erifell clutched it and chuckled before replying with a smile, “I know.”

Chapter 4: What It Means to Apologize

“I hate you, Hakura! Go away!”

None of the kids gathered there were related by blood, but as I was relatively older than most, they looked up to me like an older brother.

The girl in front of me had gray hair, reddish-brown eyes, and her cheeks, puffed out like two ripe tomatoes, expressed her discomfort.

She was only a kid, but so was I. She had shouted at me, so I remembered that I shouted back: “Well, I hate you too.”

It was as if those two tomatoes were suddenly crushed—tears started pouring down her cheeks as she began to wail.

I couldn’t remember exactly what I said back then, but I could still remember her crying face.

“Hakura.”

Soon enough, they came. They had smooth black hair, deep-blue eyes. With a concerned look knitting their brows, they laughed in exasperation, sat down beside me, and gave a look that asked if I’d made this kid cry again. It was so long ago now that I couldn’t remember what the reason was. All that I could remember now was that something happened, their expression, and how I felt.

Arguments were all too common, and because I was older and taller, I often made her cry. It was something that just happened, so I could never find myself being honest.

“Well, whatever happened, there’s only one thing to do, Hakura.”

Whenever I made someone cry, they would come in between us and create an opportunity for me to apologize.

“If you made a girl cry, then you need to give her a proper, sincere apology.”

They were a friend, a sibling, a confidant, a family member.

“After all, what comes next is scary.”

They always were popular with the girls.

◆

I wasn’t fond of reminiscing on my past, but the reason my thoughts drifted was because I was in quite some trouble. Maybe one of the top five worst situations across my whole life. Human instinct pushed you to find a solution, any solution, during times like these, so that was probably why I’d been thinking of the past.

The situation? I’d royally pissed Leen off.

It happened last night. Erifell had given us a quest to bring back a gryphon egg from its den, a quest that even most seasoned adventurers would find difficult, and we had just returned to Esma. Leen was in good spirits—she’d even been humming a little tune on the way back—because of the huge payout. As usual, she’d eaten a shocking amount of food, even devouring some dessert. She was sitting in a sleepy postmeal daze. My mistake was probably exacerbated by the fact that there had been a little alcohol in the cooking.

Right now, Leen and I were staying in the same inn, but, naturally, we had separate rooms. As I watched her eat, I’d feared that if she kept up this pace, I’d end up having to carry her back. Then I’d have to endure the knowing smile of the reception lady. I wanted to avoid that at any cost.

I’d been just as full and sleepy as Leen after our feast. Yet after every quest, she was the one who got to lazily droop her head and fall asleep at the table. My annoyance had been stockpiling over the past days, which had led me to pull a little prank. I’d only intended to surprise her. Honest to goodness.

My blunder had been made even worse by the fact that her golden hair was just dangling there, touching the table while avoiding any of the plates.

I was well aware that this sounded like an excuse, but I honestly wanted to just lightly tug on her hair, give her a little shock. I swear on the goddess, or whatever, that I did not put much strength into that tug.

But...but...

I’d heard a terrible ripping sound.

Leen yelped as she shot up straight. She looked at me and saw in my hand—small though it was—some of her hair. Her expression froze, and she silently stood up. She then silently paid the bill, then silently walked back to the inn. I followed her, feeling awfully guilty, but I didn’t manage to speak one word to her.

The next morning, I knocked on her door. It then flung open, so soon after I’d knocked that I thought it was broken. Leen appeared and threw her slime at my face. It ricocheted off of me, bounced off the walls, and floor to hit me again for a painful combo.

“Hakura, you ASSHOLE!”

She yelled, and then slammed her door on me, making an explosive sound, and locked it behind her.

That was the long and short of how I’d angered Leen.

It was clear to me that there was no room for excuses. I wasn’t sure if Leen’s anger would subside or get worse if I let things be...

“This is a warning based on my experience, lad. If you don’t show some sincerity before evening, your life is forfeit,” the slime said, hopping back toward me.

I couldn’t stop a sigh from slipping out of my mouth.

“I bet...”

“My lady is a selfish one, but she isn’t petty. If you offer a genuine apology, then I believe a conversation will be possible.”

“What a pain...”

I was well aware that I was in the wrong, so that made it harder to confront her honestly. It was true that Leen’s guard had been fully down in the restaurant last night, but I could’ve just shaken her shoulder to wake her up or something. My impudence was eighty percent at fault here.

“Slime?”

“Yes?”

“How do I...fix Leen’s mood?”

“If she is only mildly upset, food will satiate her, but judging how she seems after a night’s sleep, words alone will not remedy the situation.”

“Meaning?”

“You need to physically show your apology. In other words, you need to get her a present.”

I couldn’t reply. I was screwed. I’d never bought a girl a present in my life.

◆

“We’ve got some croll steel weapons from Lillielsa! Just delivered! You won’t beat our bargains!”

“Hey, mister, how about this, eh?”

“We’ve got the latest designs, popular in the west, before anyone else! Come have a look, young ma’am!”

Esma was a large town, with Clovel being the only nearby town that surpassed it in size. It was a key trade spot, meaning that the market was always bustling. I walked a short distance to the plaza where rows of stalls and stands stood shoulder to shoulder. Unlike specialist brick-and-mortar shops, the stores here sold knickknacks and items where it wasn’t readily apparent what their use was. Prices didn’t dictate what was for sale, rather the merchants put out the things they wanted customers to buy.

There were all sorts of products available at the market and you’d hit upon a dud just as often as you’d find a real gem. I didn’t have a very discerning eye, so I didn’t come all too often, but it was the ideal place to find something good, even if you didn’t know exactly what you were looking for.

The slime had refused to be held in my arms, so it was currently riding on my head with no intention of getting off. Stupid slime...

“A present that’ll cheer Leen up... Has to be food, right?” I said.

Leen ate anything if it looked appetizing, but that only made it harder to figure out if she had any actual favorites. I couldn’t think of anything that jumped out...

“Hmm... Not an ideal stratagem, lad. She’s been to most stalls in Esma, so she has already finished her own ranking of the foods here.”

“Right...”

Whatever the case, food from stalls was tastier when you spotted it while walking around and ate it fresh. There were fresh bacon sandwiches, fruit-filled crepes... I hadn’t eaten yet today, so I was quite hungry.

“So, uh... Jewelry, maybe?”

I hadn’t really noticed since Leen wore a high-quality robe and cape, but she didn’t really wear all too much jewelry. Going through the brush or wading through marshes was part of the job, so any purely aesthetic accessories would only get in the way, but they didn’t seem like a bad choice for a present.

I ended up in a section of the market with trinkets and charms and spotted a few potential choices.

“Oh, this looks good. It’s a ring that will light ten meters ahead of you even in the dark,” I said.

“I wouldn’t advise it, lad.”

“Really? Oh, how about this one. It’s an earring that can detect sources of water. It lights up if there are any within twenty meters!”

“Not that either, lad. The design is atrocious.”

“C’mon...”

Whatever I thought might be good, evidently the slime thought would be a bad choice. I was picking out something that would improve Leen’s mood, so I’d intended to take its opinion into account, but from its expression (if I could even call it that), my selections were off the mark.

“If you will permit me to give a modicum of advice, I would advise against buying something based on practicality.”

“Hwuh?”

“In times like these, you shouldn’t focus on simple usefulness. Choose something that she’d be happy to receive.”

I went silent for a moment.

“Why have you clammed up, lad?”

“Uh, how do I choose an accessory not based on practicality...?”

“Oh, dear...”

This had been a real shock to hear. Jewelry got in the way, after all. An adventurer only equipped things that would be useful in some capacity during a quest. A simple necklace you wore in your off time could easily get caught on a tree branch, for example.

“Eep!”

“Whoa!”

Just as I was mulling over how to tackle this excessively difficult task, I felt someone bump into my back.

“I-I’m sorry, are you okay?” came the voice.

It was a common occurrence in the busy marketplace. She didn’t need to apologize. It felt to me that she’d bounced off me after walking into me. I turned around to say sorry.

“I’m fine. Are you oka— Geh...”

“Ahh! It’s you! Hakura Istilla!”

How could this be? I expected to never see her again. Her apologetic tone vanished and she immediately went on high alert, glaring at me as if I were an enemy.

“T-Twist bread girl...!” I muttered.

“Wh-Who are you calling ‘twist bread’?!”

Today she wasn’t wearing her robe, but regular clothes. However, her pink hair was unchanged, in a triple braid that looked like twist bread. She was one of the Carbuncles members who’d blocked us during the witch trial, and I’d made her cry.

“Well, I don’t know your name,” I said.

“It’s Crescen! Crescen Lillielsa!” she replied.

I didn’t really care about her name, but she told me anyway. Her home name of Lillielsa was on the eastern side of Corsueny. If I remembered correctly, it was a sister town of Lilliette. I’d never been, but I’d heard they had quite the big church or school there. Anyway.

“Okay, right, then I’ll see you later,” I said.

I didn’t want to really chat with her and neither did she want to talk to me. Just as I turned on my heel to leave...

“Wait...Hakura Istilla,” a voice said.

Barring my path was a figure with a striking red color scheme.

◆

Although the one who spoke to me was dressed in a similar leather dress as the twist bread girl—the nun called Crescen—her red hair and red eyes gave her away instantly. It was the special-class knight: Ruvy Miaspica.

“Why’re you two here?!” I shouted.

“This part of the market is for women’s jewelry! It’s weirder for you to be here!” Crescen barked back with fangs bared, dashing to hide behind Ruvy.

I couldn’t really fault her there.

“Are you...alone today?” Ruvy asked, glaring at me from the top of my head to my fingertips as she looked around. Her gaze was as intense as ever, and although I felt my nerves wilting, I told myself that I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I should just stand proud. I assumed the reason Ruvy didn’t have her armor or sword was that she was off duty today.

“Stuff happened, you know,” I said.

I felt a strange rattling from above as the slime pounded me on the head. It caused my own head to shake, but I couldn’t really talk to the slime while two ladies from the church were present, so I ignored it.

“Hmm...” Ruvy said.

I felt a strong stare, but fortunately they didn’t comment on me carrying around the slime. You really stood out when you had a slime on your head...

“No matter,” Ruvy went on. “Now then, Hakura Istilla...”

“Wait. There’s been something I’ve been wanting to tell you,” I said.

“What?”

“Don’t call me by my full name.”

“Fine, fine. Now, Hakura.”

I hated hearing my home name said out loud, but it also felt weird being referred to so directly. However, Ruvy’s next words put those thoughts aside.

“Apparently you...did something terrible...to her,” she said.

“Ohh, I dunno. Who could say?” I said after a long pause.

I turned my head, averted my eyes, even twisted my body to try and walk away, but just like what had happened the other day, I felt my wrist being grabbed.

“Don’t try and play dumb!” Crescen said. “Lady Ruvy, this man said that he would physically harm me if I didn’t accede to his demands! And then he turned violent and inflicted great pain to my head!”

“I tried to deal with things in a peaceful way!” I said.

I’d just given her a full-on glare and then flicked her forehead after she wouldn’t back down!

Ruvy nodded as Crescen spoke and I felt her increase the pressure around my wrist. Crap, I can’t shake her off...

“Now then... Why don’t you join me...at the church?” Ruvy said.

“What, somewhere with extraterritoriality?!”

“Your sincerity will decide...whether you leave in one piece.”

“I don’t consent to any unlawful investigation!” I shouted. I was pulling my arm with all my might, but it didn’t budge. I needed to take desperate measures, so I went on, “It was thanks to your subordinate’s little sacrifice that the trial didn’t end with a false verdict.”

“Ngh...”

The Carbuncles had to avoid verdict mistakes at any cost. Cormeca had been a tricky character, so if we hadn’t showed up who knows what would have happened.

“If that had occurred, then it would’ve been a huge blow to your honor. You shouldn’t be berating me, but thanking me.”

Both of us were in the wrong, but one of us was more so. Ruvy bit her lip, aware of her position as the leader of her organization.

I was happy to have finally silenced her, but then Crescen chimed in.

“You’re an adventurer. Could you not have thought of another way to get a nun to stand down without flicking her on the forehead?”

“I’m not talking about logic and reason right now,” I said.

“Then what are you talking about?!”

“About my own damn safety!”

“Fine, fine,” Ruvy said after a big sigh. She let go of my arm. “It is as you say. This time...our verdict was wrong. You were...correct.”

“Glad you get the picture.”

“I apologize, Crescen. Please...be strong.”

As the pair spoke to one another, I felt a rush of gratitude for the release of my arm. I felt a little guilty, but I didn’t mind if it meant I could be free. All I needed to do was skedaddle and... Hold on.

“Hey, I have a request for you two,” I said.

“What?”

Ruvy eyed me with the utmost suspicion, most likely surprised to hear the word “request” come out of my mouth. Her well-shaped eyebrows were knitted as closely as they could. Come on, don’t be that surprised...

“It’s nothing big,” I said. “Think of it as recompense for the other day.”

“The one who should be receiving recompense is Erifell Leston, not you,” Crescen said.

“Like I said, I’m not talking about logic and reason!”

I didn’t know how to explain things to Ruvy, who was evidently distrustful of me, so I decided that maybe it was best to just be honest.

“I upset Leen, so I wanted to get something to cheer her up, but I dunno what sorta thing she’d like.”

“Huh?”

“I thought, well, you two are girls and close in age. You must have things you’d like, so I thought you could give me some ideas.”

Ruvy and Crescen looked at one another before whispering among themselves. It didn’t sound like they were bad-mouthing me... After a little while, Crescen stepped forward and looked at me with an expression of exasperation and pity.

“I’m not sure what I think about asking a girl to help you get a present for another girl...”

“How many times do I need to say that this isn’t about logic and reason!”

“Yes, but isn’t the most important aspect that you choose something and show your sincerity? The item itself is secondary, I’d think.”

“Quit hitting me with logic. I have no damn reply!”

“Why don’t you go to a proper jeweler and get her an engagement ring instead of rifling around these stalls?”

“And quit it with the horror stories too...”

An unpleasant chill ran down my back just at the thought. I felt the slime shaking on top of me. It was probably laughing at me. Dammit...

“If you’re not putting any sincerity into your choice, then you can show it by buying something expensive.”

This Crescen really spoke her mind. What I was doing was apparently insincere to begin with so I couldn’t really quip back. I needed to change tactics.

“Heh, I see. So basically this is a task that a special-class knight can’t solve. I guess I shouldn’t have asked,” I said.

“H-How dare you insult Lady Ruvy...!”

Crescen was furious, but I saw Ruvy’s eyes go cold.

“Huh? Of course...I can answer you,” Ruvy said.

“Please, Lady Ruvy! Don’t let him rile you up!”

“If I back down here...that would bring shame upon...Archbishop Corranda, who appointed me a special-class knight... Isn’t that right, Crescen?”

“W-Well, maybe, but maybe not!”

Heh. Luckily for me, she was so easy to wind up.

“I am the head of the Carbuncles...and preside over many maidens. Of course I know...what a young woman would like!”

As Ruvy muttered this, her expression was as serious as it had been during the witch trial. She wandered off around the stalls and returned after a few minutes with a triumphant smile on her face and her chest puffed out with pride.

“How about this? I found a useful ring...that can light ten meters ahead of you even in the dark!”

“Uh...”

“Or perhaps an earring...that can detect water. There was also...an accessory that makes your shoes lighter...”

“That’s enough, thank you, Ruvy. Accept my gratitude for looking around.”

Ugh, she was no better than me. Or, alternatively, perhaps I was correct in my initial assumptions that they were good choices.

Crescen tugged Ruvy’s sleeve as she made a disappointed face.

“Lady Ruvy, if I may?”

“Yes, Crescen?”

“You shouldn’t buy presents based on practicality. Also, the designs were atrocious.”

“Really...?”

“Really. I hate to break it to you.”

Watching this little exchange, I wasn’t sure who was looking after who here. Without changing her expression, Ruvy slumped her shoulders to express her dissatisfaction.

I felt more shaking from above me. I guessed the slime was laughing once again. I gave it a little smack, and it merely wobbled on my head even more violently than before.

“Ugh...” Crescen said. “What did you do to upset her anyway?”

“I, uh, tugged her hair and pulled a clump out...”

“Maybe you deserve death...”

“As I’ve said again and again... No logic and reason here...”

Crescen held her own twist bread hair close to her as she gave me a look of utter disgust. As for Ruvy, maybe because she had short hair, she merely cocked her head, somewhat confused.

I’d expected to achieve at least something by asking them, but this conversation had just ended with me getting exhausted. It’d be most pragmatic at this stage to just say goodbye. I doubted they wanted to waste much more time with me, and this was a good place to end the conversation.

“Right, anyway, I know not to ask you about this kinda stuff again. See ya,” I said.

I turned around and raised a hand as I walked away. I’d wasted a whole bunch of time and mental energy.

“Ow!”

But then I suddenly felt pain in the back of my head.

“What’re you doing?!”

I spun around and gave the only reasonable retort. I saw Crescen sticking her tongue out at me. They were already far away, and soon enough they disappeared into the crowd.

“Dammit... The hell did she throw at me?”

“This, lad.”

The slime extended its body to show me what that nun had chucked at my head. Apparently it had caught the object. The slime was holding a tin. No wonder it hurt. My bubbling anger vanished the moment I saw what was written on it.

“Maybe you should say thank you, lad?”

The can read: Honey-based hair cream. Guaranteed to make your hair shine! I’d damaged Leen’s hair, so maybe I should give her something to help it.

“Yeah, maybe...”

It was a logical and sensible idea.

◆

I’d received a little hint as to what I should get, so after a bit more wandering around the market without finding anything decent, I figured it was about time for me to head somewhere else.

“Hey, mister! I’ve got a humdinger of a deal for you! Mind stopping to listen?”

“Hmm?”

Someone called out to me as I was walking past a stall in the corner of the plaza. It was a short but slightly chubby young man. He was wearing a flashy fur coat with a number of gaudy gold rings on his fingers. This merchant stood out like a sore thumb at the market. I looked around me and there was no one else apart from people rushing by, so he must have been calling out to me.

“Like I said, I’ve got a real juicy deal for you, Mister Adventurer.”

He was grinning as he spoke. His voice seemed friendly, but I could tell it was affected. It was pretty obvious what was going on here—he was fishy as all hell. I wanted to ignore him, but I was in just the sort of dire situation where I thought there was a small chance that he might have something that would win Leen over, so I gave him my time.

“You have splendid luck. These things don’t happen every day. I’ve got a great story for you that I can’t keep all to myself, so I was just looking for someone to share in the good favor.”

The man’s stall was a simple wood design, without any products on display or any signs to draw in customers. This wasn’t encouraging in the slightest, but all the same, he gave a grin at the joy of having snagged a customer.

“There’s something I’d like you to buy from me,” he went on.

“Do I look like I have money?” I replied.

“Don’t say that, Mister Adventurer! I know people in your trade have a fair bit of savings.”

“Get to the point.”

“You’re rather impatient! But of course.”

The man placed a leather bag onto the stall and presented to me what was inside. I wasn’t expecting much. Maybe some kinda shady magic tool or a knife with some sort of drawback—basically some half-decent kit that he couldn’t sell and wanted to get rid of by persuading a passerby. It was the MO of many merchants. However, I was shocked for words when I saw what he’d pulled out.

“How about it? Not something you see every day, is it? I can guarantee its quality,” he said.

In the merchant’s hand was a very small stone. It didn’t look like it had been cut or processed yet. However, the way that the stone gleamed with a beautiful orange light was enough that I’d believe someone if they told me it was a fragment of the sun itself, fallen from the heavens.

“A-A Carbuncle Stone?!” I said.

The merchant gave a smirk as I identified the stone in his hand.

There were mainly three types of gemstones that were used for jewelry. The first was Color Stones. These were repurposed from the mana crystals alchemists produced—such as the firestone in Erifell’s house or the lightstones that were used in streetlamps—and they were used for aesthetic purposes once their mana had depleted. They were as their names suggested: stones with a nice color to them. They were the cheapest and most popular of the three types of gemstones. Although their colors weren’t all too vivid, they were easily obtainable in places where people lived, so it was said they were popularized by merchants who didn’t know what else to do with them.

The second was Spheres. These gemstones took on a deeper color the more experience an adventurer racked up and each had a unique color depending on the individual. The knowledge that there would be no other gemstone with the same color carried an allure for most people. A Sphere’s price depended on its color and clarity. Black Spheres like mine didn’t seem like they’d have much purpose, so they wouldn’t earn all too much, but Spheres like Leen’s, with its clear emerald glow, could fetch quite a pretty enny. The fame of the adventurer brought with it its own premium too. It was common for an adventurer to sell their Sphere upon retirement to fund the rest of their days or to process one into an engagement ring or the like. Some adventurers went into the business with the eventual goal of selling their sphere.

The third and final type was Carbuncle Stones. As their name suggested, these gemstones could be found embedded in the forehead of a monster known as a carbuncle. They were really, really expensive.

It was extremely difficult to even encounter a carbuncle. These monsters were about the size of a kitten but only thrived in areas with extremely dense mana, such as the hydra’s den where Leen and I had first met. Even then, it was extremely rare to bump into one. And if you did, they were agile creatures. They weren’t just quick on their feet; they could vanish the second you took your eyes off of them. Even if you were standing within arm’s reach, it would still be difficult to catch one. You would need an absurd amount of luck to not only encounter one, approach it without it noticing you, then get close enough to catch it.

A Carbuncle Stone glittered with such a dazzling light that you could identify one even before it had been treated. Even a complete amateur like me could tell that this little stone was one. Gemstones, fundamentally, were valued based on scarcity. Unlike Color Stones and Spheres, which, despite being limited in number, were produced by, at the end of the day, natural means, Carbuncle Stones hardly ever went on the market. For an adventurer, capturing a carbuncle would be like capturing pure luck itself—a way of earning a fortune in a moment. Of course the shape, size, and color would alter the market value, but from what I’d heard, one of these little things could net you millions of ennies.

In short, a Carbuncle Stone wasn’t the sort of item you would just whip out from a bag in the open at a market like this. You would lock it away in a secure safe with specialized watchguards to boot.

As worries and doubts crept into my mind, the merchant spoke up.

“So, how about it, mister? This gemstone is awfully rare. A little piece of heaven itself! A teardrop of sunlight! Imagine it affixed into a ring. You could steal any lady’s heart—your very own sunshine princess!” He was an awfully smooth talker. His words didn’t do much for me, but then he finished up with, “I’ll give you a special deal for this gemstone, mister. How about one million?”

“Excuse me?”

My concern finally materialized in my voice.

“This is truly just between you and me, Mister Adventurer. I’m offering you this humdinger of a deal because I’ve taken a shine to you. You must be aware that this kind of deal doesn’t just come walking along any day of the week. You could gift it to a special someone or you could sell it—either is fine!”

I could earn double or triple his offer if I took this somewhere like Clovel with its constant influx and outflux of ships.

“As if I could buy something as fishy as this,” I said.

I could list a million reasons why—it made no sense to sell a Carbuncle Stone for less than half its market value in a random marketplace; I didn’t have the money to actually spend. In my mind, the conversation was over. Just when I was bemoaning the fact that I’d wasted even more time, the merchant groaned in an affected way as he clasped at his head.

“All right, all right... You strike a hard bargain. I’ll answer your haggle,” he said.

“Wait, that’s not—”

“How about five hundred thousand ennies? That should—”

“Why’d you suddenly halve the price?!”

I didn’t want to bother with him anymore, but I found myself exclaiming. Ugh, why am I getting involved?

“Shh! Don’t shout, Mister Adventurer!”

“Fix up your fishy appearance and sales pitch before doing your stupid scam!”

“Y-You’re killing me here, mister! But I understand! How about three hundred thou—”

I realized there was nothing I could possibly be doing that would be more of a waste of time than this conversation, so being the pragmatic adventurer I was, I left as quickly as I could.

◆

“What the hell was with that idiot?” I mumbled.

“But, lad...” the slime said, wibbling and wobbling on my head.

“What?”

“He said that he would sell it to you for three hundred thousand... Isn’t that a bargain?!”

“Who the hell’s gonna save me if you end up getting infected with stupid too?!”

Well, not that I wanted to be saved by a slime, but it was Leen’s guardian, so I’d rather it stay sane.

“That was totally a scam. What a waste of time.”

There had been countless attempts in the past to create fake Carbuncle Stones and just as many suckers who’d bought into the scam.

“And your proof?”

“I was the one who called it a Carbuncle Stone. The merchant didn’t say a word about it being one.”

Whereas I didn’t have the know-how to identify gemstones, I imagined that the merchant had polished up a Color Stone and was using it to try and catch the eye of a stupid adventurer. The impact of the reveal would make you think it was the real thing. Once you bought it and realized your mistake, the merchant could just say: “I didn’t say a single word about it being a Carbuncle Stone. Who in their right mind would sell a real Carbuncle Stone for that cheap?” All the same, I thought that he should work on his scam a bit more.

“Are you sure? In my eyes, it seemed like a genuine piece.”

“Where even are your eyes?”

I glanced up at the slime, and its two cores—that may look like eyes at first glance but aren’t—wobbled in its body.

“What a waste. If my lady were here, she would have been able to identify it.”

“It wasn’t a waste. Even if it is the real thing, there’s bound to be some kind of catch.”

Maybe they were trying to sell stolen goods. If someone was trying to get rid of items that could be tracked if they went through the proper channels, then the simplest way was to sell it for upfront cash. No matter how you sliced it, this seemed like a sketchy deal. It was my ironclad rule to not bother poking anything I couldn’t work out properly.

“And anyway, I don’t even have three hundred thousand ennies.”

“The world is a tough place...”

Your average working citizen earned around thirty to forty thousand ennies per year, with differences due to situation and occupation. As for a mid-ranking B-rank adventurer (in other words, me), you needed to earn triple this amount—around one hundred or one hundred and twenty thousand—in order to make a living when you factored in equipment, supplies, bed and board, travel, food, et cetera. I had a few personal reasons why my savings weren’t all too large. The final amount that the merchant had offered wasn’t exactly impossible for an adventurer who was a high earner, so he had made a rather good deal on paper.

“Hmm... It says something that he called to you, I think.”

“He probably looked at the color of my Sphere.”

This didn’t apply to every case, but you could roughly gauge how much experience an adventurer had racked up by looking at their Sphere. My own was a deep color, so he probably thought I had money despite what the rest of my appearance would suggest.

As an aside, the smallest room in the cheapest inn would cost you around one hundred ennies per night. However, due to Leen’s unflinching request that we stay at a place with hot water on tap, ours cost us a whopping seven hundred per night. It was part of the contract, but factoring in that she was paying for that and all of our food, I wondered just how deep her pockets were.

“Anyway, I gotta find something...” I said.

The can that Crescen had thrown at me was pretty much empty. It would do as a hint, but even I knew if I gave this to Leen, I probably wouldn’t be able to see the next sunrise.

“At this stage, you just need to throw yourself at the problem.”

“I feel like I’ll end up broken in the process...”

“Perhaps... My lady does like to throw things around. If things go poorly, she’ll probably throw her staff or stones if I’m not around.”

“Is it really okay to throw that staff?”

Leen’s super tough staff had a huge jewel on its end and was evidently made of wood from an ancient tree, so I wondered if she should really be swinging about such a valuable item.

“It’s a precious and valuable staff passed down the Lingreen line since the first Lingreen. I feel like fainting every time I see her mistreating it.”

“What’ll she do if it snaps?”

“The staff has been subjected to similar treatment since the second Lingreen, and yet it has never broken.”

“So...that’s how you’re supposed to use it...?”

I wondered if it was so tough because it was a magical item... At any rate, if I didn’t cheer her up, then there was no guarantee I would live to see tomorrow.

“Hey there, mister!”

People were calling out to me so much today. I decided to learn from my earlier mistake and vowed to ignore the voice and keep walking. However, I did not. One reason was the delicious smell wafting from the building nearby. I realized then that it was near midday. I’d headed out without breakfast and had ended up walking past a restaurant without thinking—it was my fault.

I turned around toward the voice and saw a charming hawker outside the store. She had long brown hair tied into a ring and was flashing a pleasant smile to attract customers.

“Have you eaten yet? We have some seats available, so I can get you seated right away,” she said. She must have been calling out to people without much thought, so it seemed like she had only just clocked my appearance. Her smile froze as she saw the slime sitting on my head, and she carefully chose her words. “That sure is a unique hat...”

“They’re all the rage in Clovel. A recent fashion trend of slime hats.”

“Ohh! Wow! It’s so cute!”

I made sure my Sphere was visible as I spoke, but she either believed me or simply didn’t care, for she didn’t question me any further and pointed at the signboard which read the Ram’s Hoof.

“So how about it? We’ve got a super tender lako-lako lamb stew today. It’s only eighty ennies, and you get bread and salad with it. Sounds good, right?”

If Leen were here, she would’ve been leaping for joy at this. It was pretty cheap too, so I thought I’d stop by.

“Can I order takeout too?”

“If you let us know beforehand, then of course. I’d recommend our meat pies!”

I’d crossed off the idea of buying food for Leen, but I realized that food along with my apology gift was a great idea. It also covered my losses in case I came back empty-handed. And I was hungry, so this would be a good opportunity to rest and refuel while seeing if any useful hints cropped up.

“All right, I’ll stop by.”

“Great!” She opened the door and called, “One customer!”

I followed the girl inside, her long skirt fluttering as she walked. The restaurant was clean and seemed relatively new. Unlike the cheap taverns that adventurers frequented, which served big portions of simple food for low prices, this place looked like it was frequented by mostly regular folk. It was designed so that customers could have a little privacy and chat during their meal, because there were dividers between the tables.

“I’ll have the stew and a meat pie to go. And...”

I remembered the slime on my head. Leen always fed it bones and the inedible parts of the food she ate.

“I’ll take two grilled lamb chops,” I went on.

“Thank you for your order! Hey, boss, one stew and two chops for table number three!”

“You got it!” came the voice from behind the counter. “Can you bring these to table six?”

“Right away, boss!”

The girl called Sharney replied and dashed away to the kitchen with energetic footsteps. When she was gone, the slime, which had remained stuck to my head, jumped off and sat(?) opposite me.

“Hmm, to think you’d be so generous as to order food for me too.”

“Who cares? That’s just how this thing turned out,” I said. In honesty, it felt weird to eat on my own and just give the leftovers to the other person with me. “Plus, well, I didn’t imagine going out for lunch with you.”

“Indeed, I feel the same.”

It was a bit late to say this, but I’d pretty much gotten used to the idea of a talking slime. Not that I was any closer to finding out why it could speak.

“Hey, seeing as we’re here, I’ve got something I wanna ask,” I said.

“Of course. Depending on the question, I may need to ask my lady for permission.”

“If you can’t say, then I can just ask Leen straight. I wanted to know where you two were heading. Leen said to Krauna that you were going to Chromrorm.”

Chromrorm was in the northern reaches that lay even beyond the northern continent of Altaria. It was the farthest wastes where life didn’t take root; the ends of the earth. I’d heard of the place, but I’d never thought to go.

“Yes, our destination is indeed Chromrorm.”

For what it was worth, if you looked at the map, Esma was on the northwestern edge of Corsueny. If you headed to the east, you’d reach Clovel from where you could cross the seas to another continent. However, no ships traveled to Chromrom, so you’d first have to head west to Lirabell. From there, you’d head north to cross the continent, traveling over the mountains, and take another ship even farther north to Altaria. It exhausted me just thinking about it. If you took the most direct route, it would take you a good decade or two by foot.

“So what’s in Chromrorm? You’re not visiting a gravestone or anything, are you?”

“In order to explain, I’ll need to go back to the first Lingreen,” the slime said, extending its body upward before falling back into its normal shape. “My lady told you about witches and demons, did she not?”

“Yeah, during a real long lecture.”

“Then were you not intrigued? To know why the first Lingreen formed a pact with a demon to become the first witch?”

“Well...”

I had thought about it, but the main topic that day was learning about the history of witches and demons, so I didn’t really pry into that part of the story. Leen said that witches were born out of a desire for something. So what did the first Lingreen want?

“You remember the story of the first Lingreen, do you not?”

“For the most part. Lingreen went to slay a rampaging black dragon, right?”

“Accurately speaking, she did not slay insomuch as seal it.” The slime interrupted me as I drew my hazy memories to the surface. It went on, “Spoken of in fairy tales, the first creatures to be born into this world were the five dragons. Among these, the black dragon Chromrorm was the most avaricious, the most powerful, and the most wicked. The truth is that Chromrorm still lives to this day.”

A black dragon bearing the same name as the northern reaches. No, that wasn’t right—considering how places were named, Chromrorm must have been named that after the dragon that was sealed there.

“Chromrorm was a living calamity that did not believe any other creatures deserved to live. If it were to awake from its slumber and see how many more living things now populate this world, I doubt it would so readily accept things. That is why the Lingreen family of monstermancers have fulfilled their role over the past two thousand years to this very day.”

“Uh-huh...”

It wasn’t great, but this was hardly a relatable story for your average adventurer. To be honest, it felt like Leen was getting involved in way too much pointless stuff for someone with such a grand role.

“Lad, you don’t believe me, do you?”

“It just feels kind of surreal.”

“I will have you know that without the Lingreens of the past, this world would have long since been destroyed. It would behoove you to show a little more respect.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thank you kindly. If that’s true, shouldn’t she stand out a bit more?”

If Leen was on a journey to protect the world, then surely she ought to make a big show of it and receive support from the various nations she passed through. That would make the process a lot smoother in my eyes. A journey that would take over ten years on foot could be done in a flash with an airship. But the slime shook its head(?).

“That would not work in this present age, where none are aware of the threat of Chromrorm. If the Lingreen family were to suffer due to political maneuvering, swaying influences, or even the authority of individuals, then the world would surely perish. There are those who understand her circumstances and lend their aid, however.”

“Well, I guess...”

Even I, someone who had been with the strange person that was Leen, couldn’t really swallow all this sealing dragon stuff, so I supposed the average person would struggle to relate too. I imagined that compared to some unknown threat from two millennia ago, people would find someone who could tame all monsters far more threatening—and also useful. Everyone in this world in a position of power would want someone like that.

“That is why a monstermancer’s role is to maintain balance. She cannot let personal feelings weigh too heavily on one side of the scales. I hope you understand the difficulty of her position a little more now, lad.”

“Uh, Leen seems to act based on her feelings a lot, in my eyes...”

“Ha ha ha... Yes, all the Lingreens were like that.”

So that means the world’s balance is totally out of whack! I thought, but made sure not to say aloud. I needed to steer the conversation back on track.

“Anyway, it’s pretty impressive they managed to seal away this Chromrorm if it was so strong.”

“It was too avaricious, and that was its demise.”

“It got greedy?”

“Indeed. Chromrorm tried to devour all of the mana in this world.”

“Excuse me?”

“All the mana that flowed throughout the world...it tried to hoard it within itself. You understand what that entails, don’t you?”

In general, monsters with more mana were stronger than those with less. Adventurers were much the same. Our Spheres bonded with us, and through our careers, the Sphere would accumulate more and more mana.

“The other dragons realized too late to try and emulate this—over half of the world’s entire mana supply had been devoured by Chromrorm at that point. In order to combat the black dragon, the other four dragons shared the remaining half of mana. As a result, the world was drained dry.”

If that was the case, just how strong of a monster did this black dragon become? No, wait a second—although too much mana was poisonous to people, we needed it. While more human settlements would grow with the loss of mana, mana crystals and other resources necessary for life and production would be lost. Magic would become unusable, so infrastructure that used purification magic to treat wastewater would cease to function. I didn’t know the exact details, but the natural world would see huge implications too.

“And yet, Chromrorm’s tyranny did not end there. It sought further power and thus wrought open a hole to the hinterworld and ate the demons there.” As the slime said this, it shook more than it had been before. “This was not like the contracts witches made with demons where they merely borrowed their strength. This was one-sided exploitation, utter pillaging. Chromrom consumed the second-rank demon and one of the Hepta Maligna, Vellzevuv Vevivelvavev, attaining unrivaled power. No one could subjugate this dragon; none could fight back. Even with all the dragons combined, they couldn’t scrape off a single scale. It was the birth of a veritable demonic lord.”

“Yet another name I’d bite my tongue trying to say!”

I was surprised that this slime, too, could say these names with a straight face, just like Leen. Not that the slime had a tongue to accidentally bite.

“But, lad, this greedy consumption was Chromrorm’s biggest mistake. You know why, don’t you?”

The slime asked me this as if it were testing me. I thought back to Leen’s lecture. Witches, demons, ranks, lineages...

“You said that Chromrorm consumed a second-rank demon, right?”

“I did.”

Then the answer as to why Lingreen formed a contract was clear. There was one way to combat the indomitable black dragon, and it was through a weakness that had been born out of its greed.

“A demon cannot defy a demon of a higher rank. That was why the first Lingreen formed a pact with Lucilfer, the only first-rank demon.”

Leen had even said that the mana in the hinterworld was Lucilfer. That meant that the black dragon had placed itself on a lower rank than Lucilfer by consuming a demon of a lower rank. It had accepted the laws of a different world and had paid the price for it.

“That is why the only one in this world who can control Chromrorm is the monstermancer. Every century, she must undergo a long journey to perform a rite at the location with the seal before returning home.”

A journey from the far south to the far north. Factoring in both ways, it was tantamount to circling the globe. And considering her route, Leen had barely progressed from her starting point.

“I see. That does sound tough,” I said.

I understood the purpose of Leen’s journey. It seemed pretty damn grandiose, but when things got serious, I would be long gone. If her journey failing meant the end of the world, then I prayed it’d succeed.

“Don’t speak as if this doesn’t concern you.”

“It doesn’t concern me.”

My and Leen’s contract was only until Clovel. I hadn’t thought about what came after, but I wouldn’t accidentally end up joining her all the way to the northern reaches. I wasn’t obligated to, and I also had things I wanted to achieve.

“Heh heh...”

“What’s with that knowing laugh?”

“I was just thinking that the others who joined the previous Lingreens in their journey also said the same thing.”

“Oh, quit it. I’m not joking.”

From what I’d heard about these other monstermancers, it seemed like Leen’s abnormal personality wasn’t all that abnormal. If all of her ancestors were like this, then those previous travelers must have experienced their fair share of struggles too. I wanted to quip back to the slime, but someone interrupted me before I could.

“Sorry for the wait! Here’s your stew and lamb chops!”

Along with this cheerful voice, the hawker from earlier arrived with our food. My stew was still sizzling in a little metal pan that looked like it had just been on the heat. Packed with cubed meat and vegetables, it was a big portion, served alongside two large pieces of bread. Considering you got all this for eighty ennies, it was quite the deal. I could see why this place was so popular.

“By the way, mister, who were you talking to? Or was I just imagining it? Orrr were you talking to your slime?” she said.

“How much did you hear?” I said.

I should’ve asked her what on earth she was on about, but considering what we’d just been talking about, I couldn’t help but respond that way. She just shook her head.

“I didn’t hear anything really, just that you were talking about something. Oh, you mentioned the Lingreen fairy tale, right? I loved that one. My mom often read it to me.”

“Sounds like you heard a lot to me...”

The slime had frozen up and kept silent since she came over, but she must’ve heard its voice. I supposed I should be grateful she wasn’t making a huge fuss about it.

“Work somewhere as loud and busy as here and you develop good hearing to catch people’s requests over the noise.”

“I suppose so.”

“Don’t worry. Our house rule is not to get involved in anything our customers talk about. Unless it’s some sort of shady dealing, of course! Although no one like that comes to our restaurant.”

She had a point. If you were going to plot and scheme, then you’d choose somewhere without many people around. It was exactly because of the noise that the slime and I had been chatting about whatever. Wait a second, I thought. From an outsider’s perspective, it looked like I was the sort of lonely guy who walked around with a slime as a pet that he talked to... Ugh, that was not how I wanted to be seen.

It was then that I realized something. Right in front of me was a young lady—a regular person, not a tasteless church knight or a cheeky nun. I felt bad asking while she was on her shift, but I couldn’t let this chance slip through my fingers.

“Hey, er, waitress?”

“I have a name, you know! It’s Sharney Kreyon.”

I hadn’t heard the name Kreyon before. It didn’t sound like a town in Corsueny. Anyway...

“Right, Sharney... Have you ever gotten a gift that you just loved?”

After I asked this, her eyes went as round as dinner plates, and I heard a stifled chuckle as she gave an amused but derisive smile.

“Are you hitting on me?” she said.

“Not in the slightest.”

Crap, was that how my actions had been interpreted? I glanced over to the slime and saw that it was shaking with laughter yet again, the asshole.

“I accidentally angered the girl I’m traveling with, so I’m looking for a present, but I’m in need of some kind of hint.”

“Isn’t it a bit weird to ask a girl for advice on a present for another girl...?”

“C’mon, don’t hit me with logic and reason...”

Was this the common response from women to my question?

“Hmm... A present’s not something you just give them and that’s it. The situation’s important too, you know?” Sharney said in a smug tone as she hugged herself. “Like, I dunnooo...being proposed to in front of Esartella Church?! Eek! Okay, lemme share! I’m getting married in three days. And guess where? At Esartella Church!”

Esartella Church was an old church located on a cliff just outside of Esma. Even though it was in an area where monsters lived, it had fabulous stained-glass windows and an old statue of the goddess with historical value, so it was still a common tourist destination. People would hire protection when looking around or even get married there. At the bottom of the cliff was a hazardous zone that the people in Esma took care to avoid, but I supposed there weren’t any monsters around there that could scale that cliff.

“All right, I hear you loud and clear. So, mind sharing some of that happiness with me?” I said.

“Hmm, okay, I’ll give you a hint when you come and pay. Enjoy your meal!” Sharney said with a sweet smile before returning to work.

“What a lively young lady,” the slime said with a wobble after seeing that she’d left. I put the plate of lamb chops in front of it, and it immediately consumed one and started to dissolve it. Yup, that was a slime’s dinnertime...

“It wouldn’t be bad to get a hint...” I said to myself.

I dug into the stew and was surprised to see just how easily my fork went through the meat. I scooped up some and took a bite. The heat of oil and spices filled my mouth. I imagined that its slightly heavy flavor was counteracted by the vegetables and the bread, so I ripped off a chunk of the still-warm, freshly-baked bread and chased down the stew with it. I wondered what mix of spices created this unique flavor, but it was perfectly balanced by the meat and veg for a real depth.

This was really good. If Leen were here, she’d get seconds and thirds, for sure. I felt that simply taking her here would do a lot to improve her mood. Unlike her, my tongue could actually detect temperature, so my pace slowed as I let the stew cool down, although this process took time due to the pan the stew was served in. When I ate by myself, I usually got through the meal as quickly as possible and left just as fast, but today I was taking my time.

“I’m sorry, mister, we’re pretty busy today, so do you mind if someone else shares your table?” Sharney said.

Sure enough, while I’d been eating, the place had gotten a lot busier. I was a bit annoyed. There was too much stew left, and it was still too hot for me to just gulp it down and take off.

“Sure, that’s fine.”

I wasn’t the sort of person to say no when I was sitting here letting a slime use up one of the seats. Fortunately it had finished its meal, so I picked it up and put it beside me.

“Thank you! Over here, brother!”

The one that Sharney showed to the seat opposite me was a tall adventurer. His functional and mobility-focused robe was enough to give this impression, but if that wasn’t enough, the Sphere that glittered on the back of his right hand was the cincher.

“Sorry about this, I appreciate it,” he said.

“It’s fine. I’m almost done,” I replied.

“You’re happy with the regular, right, brother? And thank you, mister! I’ll throw in an extra favor later as thanks,” Sharney said before returning to work.

By the way she referred to this man and their appearances—from their hair to their eyes, they were startlingly similar—it was clear they were siblings.

“My name’s Tiesel Kreyon. Sharney’s older brother,” he said.

With him introducing himself unprompted, manners dictated I needed to do the same.

“I’m Hakura,” I said.

It wasn’t very polite to refrain from giving your home name, but many adventurers didn’t want to disclose their personal details and Tiesel didn’t pry at all either.

Tiesel’s ruffled hair was quite striking, but I didn’t think I’d seen him before. Esma was a big place with a number of different guild buildings, so there were many adventurers I’d never encountered. As I was thinking it wasn’t all too weird for neither of us to know one another, Tiesel spoke up.

“I recognize you, though. Your hair’s hard to forget and you go around with that cute girl.”

It seemed like Tiesel knew Leen, and we stood out quite a bit.

“I’m not going around with her; she’s the one who drags me around,” I said.

“Apologies. You always seem to get along so well. Are you two an item?”

“Enough with the terrifying jokes, please...”

It was spine-chilling to even think about. Working with her was all well and good, but if I ever developed feelings for her, it’d be over for me. I glanced over to see, yet again, the slime laughing its ass off at me.

“So then...were you trying to sweet-talk my sister just now?” Tiesel asked. He’d been smiling politely, but with these words, his gaze took on a cold edge.

“No. I wasn’t meaning to, at least.”

“Really? When she’s as cute as she is?!”

Sharney did seem like the type to have tons of admirers, but I doubted she’d feel anything in particular for some guy she had called out to try and stop by the restaurant.

“Then tell her not to work somewhere like this! There must be all sorts of guys who buzz around her.”

Tiesel gave a flat laugh before pulling a terribly bright smile.

“One guy has already come buzzing. She’s getting married soon.”

“Yeah, she literally just told me.”

“He’s a good fellow, I’ll admit it. I can’t think of anyone else I’d let my sister marry. Yeah, I’ll admit it, but still...stiiill...!”

“You don’t look ready to admit it.”

I didn’t care about people’s private lives all that much, and I’d just about finished off my stew, so I was about ready to get up and leave. However, just as I was about to stand up, Tiesel stopped me.

“By the way... You’ve had a little fight with your friend, haven’t you?” he said.

“Where and when did you hear that?”

“From Sharney when she showed me in.”

“Why’s she sharing details about a customer’s personal life...?”

“It’s part of the favor she said she’d give you. I’ve got the perfect thing for a present,” Tiesel said before pulling something out from a pocket and placing it on the table. “How about it? I think anyone would be over the moon to receive it as a gift!”

The item he’d placed before me was unmistakable—a glittering orange Carbuncle Stone. This wasn’t like the one that shady merchant offered me, no, it was set into a silver ring—a proper piece of jewelry. This would cost a hell of a lot if I were to buy it at a proper store. It wasn’t the sort of thing you just plopped on the table.

“Hey... Are these in vogue in Esma right now, or something?” I asked.

Tiesel merely cocked his head. “Whatever could you mean?”

“A shifty merchant grabbed me earlier today. Is this actually the real deal?”

I hadn’t had the money to buy it even if it were a real Carbuncle Stone, but it wasn’t the type of thing you’d just try and sell to a stranger. At this point, I was on high alert, but Tiesel put a hand to his lips.

“That Hallabey... Or wait... Maybe...?”

“Sorry, but I’m going now.”

I scooped up the slime in one hand to hol— Ugh, of course it wanted to ride on my head. What a weird day this was turning out to be. Anyway, I left the seat, and Tiesel didn’t say anything more. I took my takeout for Leen and paid the bill, but just as I was exiting the restaurant someone hurriedly called out to me.

“I’m sorry. Did my brother say anything weird to you?” Sharney said, looking a little worried.

“Not really. I finished my food, so it was time to leave.”

“It seemed a bit awkward, no?”

“You don’t miss anything, huh...”

I couldn’t keep a wry smile from escaping, but I had just turned down his proposal. This wasn’t totally uncommon among adventurers.

“We weren’t talking about anything important, so don’t worry about it,” I said.

“Well, I’m going to! I took advantage of your kindness to get my brother to share your table,” she said.

This Sharney was quite the character, that was for sure.

“Okay, then mind giving me a hint on a present? That’d be the most helpful right now.”

“If you’re happy with that, then sure. But...who is the person in question and what was your fight about?”

I told Sharney about Leen’s general appearance and a very abridged version of what I’d done. Her charming face twisted into quite the incredible expression.

“Wow... You’re terrible... Even I’d be angry at that,” she said.

“Yeah, and I’m trying to create an opportunity to atone for what I did.”

“Ah! Then I know!” Sharney motioned for me to come closer. I did so, and she leaned right up against my ear. This close distance might have been something she did with anyone or maybe it was something she’d learned how to do when trying to get into people’s good books when drawing them to the restaurant.

“How about it?” she said after speaking into my ear.

I was very grateful for the hint, enough for me to slap my thigh in victory. However—today had been a terrible day, but I hadn’t realized just how terrible it could be. I should have known that Leen wasn’t the sort of person to spend half a day cooped up inside at home. I should have known that she would have thought it too awkward to bump into me at one of our regular haunts and would have gone somewhere she didn’t usually go. However, all the same... How was I meant to know that Leen would come to this exact restaurant right at the moment Sharney was whispering into my ear and witness everything?!

Sharney, for her part, looked incredibly embarrassed, sensing what had just gone down. I hadn’t done anything to be guilty of. I was free to do whatever I pleased. So why did it feel like ice was running down my back as panic and awkwardness filled me?

“L-Leen, I can explain...”

Before I could go on, Leen came up to me, grabbed the slime from my head, then glared up at me with a sharp expression. Then she looked over at Sharney and said, “Are there any seats available?”

“U-Um, right now, you’ll have to sit oppos— Ah, no, I think we can get you a seat on your own!”

Some other customers had just come out of the restaurant. They eyed us strangely as they walked away. Having heard what she needed to hear, Leen didn’t cast a second glance at me as she stomped into the restaurant.

I wondered if she hadn’t resorted to violence because people were around or if some other emotion had eclipsed any aggressive urges.

As I wondered what I was going to do with the meat pie now, all I could do was stand stupidly in front of the restaurant.

◆

Leen and I weren’t together every hour of the day. Because my contract said she’d pay for my food and lodging, we often were together during these times, but when we had downtime before the next quest was picked, we’d naturally have alone time where we’d fix up our equipment or do whatever else we wanted. That was why it wasn’t all too odd for us to do something on our own once a day or two. However, yesterday had been really tough to get through. In the end, I went the whole day without even speaking to her. I’d eaten my cold meat pie for dinner, thinking that I’d need to do something tomorrow or the awkwardness would suffocate me to death.

Now that it had been two days since I’d pissed Leen off, I needed to get my head into gear and apologize to her through physical means. Fortunately, Sharney had given me a great hint to go off of, so all I needed to do was make use of it. That was why I was here at the guild. It was common knowledge that the guild and the tavern at night were the two best places to find things out. It made logical sense to go to a specialized store when buying something, so I needed to find out where the store I was looking for actually was.

“Hey, Erifell,” I said.

I had sought out Erifell today because not only did she seem like she’d know, she was the best person for me to ask a favor from.

“You came at the perfect time. There’s a quest I would like you to take on,” she said.

However, she was playing the role of the ideal guild receptionist. Before I could even mention anything, she had beat me to the punch and started talking.

“Wait a sec, I’ve got something I need to ask you,” I said.

“Is it important?”

“Utmost importance.”

“Fine... What is it?”

I told her the situation as well as what I was looking for. As I spoke, Erifell’s face went white as a sheet. What’s with that face? I thought I was the one who’d saved your life...

Erifell gave an exasperated sigh and retreated behind the counter. She came back bearing a rolled piece of paper, which she unfurled to reveal a local map of the area with the guild at its center.

“Head south from here, then take the first left with the Zynee equipment store in front of you. On the third block of Lewon Street, you’ll find a store called Celiera. What you’re looking for should be there.”

“Thanks for the quick explanation.”

“This request is solely in Leen’s field of expertise, so I’d appreciate it if you could patch things up quickly for my sake.”

“Ah, right, that makes sense...”

Quests for me were few, such as the one we’d done just recently.

“Will you be able to take it on?” Erifell asked.

“I’ll have to check with Leen first, but...what kind of quest is it?”

“You’ll have to ask the client for details, I’m afraid. It would save time if you could head to the designated meeting spot once you’ve made amends with her. You can find out more information about the quest and the reward there. If you decide to turn it down, it won’t affect your ranking, but please come by the guild to let me know.”

“This seems pretty roundabout,” I said.

The reason proper, aboveboard quests were important was because all of the management, from the details of the quest, the reward, and communication, was undertaken by the guild. All the adventurer needed to do was agree to do the quest and get it done. This simplicity was a great boon for us. However, in this case, although she’d issue the quest to us, we needed to go to the client in order to find out the details and the reward. Not only that, but our rank also wouldn’t be affected if we failed. That meant...

“This is quite the tricky quest, then?” I said.

“Yes... I don’t believe it to be possible for a regular adventurer to complete,” Erifell replied.

That must have been why she’d claimed this was something that only Leen could do.

“All right, I’ll try and sort things out as quickly as possible then head to the client,” I said.

“Thank you so much.”

I said goodbye to Erifell, then headed to Celiera.

I reached the store in around half an hour of walking, but I saw a number of young women inside browsing the goods, making it awkward for me.

“I hope this will do...”

Luckily for me, I found what I was looking for immediately. I bought it and prepared to head back to the inn. Unfortunately, things hadn’t gone to plan. I’d hoped I could talk to Leen and give her this gift as an apology and then use this new quest as a way to patch things up with her, but she wasn’t in her room.

I asked the owner and she told me that Leen had headed out early this morning. With an utterly disappointed face that ticked me off to no end. Anyway, I didn’t know where Leen was and the meeting time was approaching. Not that I trusted what this whole thing might be about.

“Oh well,” I muttered to myself. I didn’t feel good imagining the client hearing that I’d flaked on them after telling Erifell I was going, so I decided to head to the agreed meeting spot. If this was worth our time, then Leen wouldn’t be too mad.

I’d been walking around a lot this morning and realized, belatedly perhaps, that having someone to talk to made a big difference. I could shoot the breeze with the slime and when Leen was around things got noisy, but they were never boring. I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing to get used to being with other people.

I thought of Aglora, Ramond—my old party members—and realized that we never spoke about anything mundane. We spoke about what was necessary for the required amount of time. We never wasted time; we didn’t do anything that wasn’t pragmatic. While it wasn’t nicer, it was easier in the sense that I never needed to think about anything irrelevant. I couldn’t even remember what I used to think about when I was on my own back then.

“Is that it...?”

The meeting spot with the client was a little house outside the residential area, a two-story building that didn’t look all too big. It was a bit old but was well taken care of.

“Enough jokes! This conversation’s going nowhere!”

“Hm?”

Just as I was walking up to the building, I heard shouting before a slightly chubby man came storming out. He had an unfashionable fur coat and gaudy rings... It was the merchant who’d called out to me in the market yesterday.

“How much does he think I’ve invested into this?! That stupid brat takes me for a fool!”

Today his shoulders were shaking with rage and his face was scrunched up; he looked like he was ready to kill someone.

It was no surprise that the two of us—going in two directions to and from the same place—would bump into each other.

“The hell are you?! Get out of my way!”

Before we hit, he waved his hand as if to shoo me out of the way. It seemed like he didn’t remember he’d been trying to sell me a gemstone just yesterday. I silently moved out of his way and he huffed before stomping away.

As the man left, I didn’t think much more of him—apart from the wry joke that Esma was home to not only kobolds but orcs as well—and then knocked on the door. After a short moment, it opened with a creak and a young man stepped outside.

“Hallabey, how many times do I—”

As he looked at me, his eyes went wide, and I was sure mine did too. The client, Tiesel Kreyon, gave an awkward smile and welcomed me inside.

◆

I stepped into the living room. Inside was a wooden table, a little old but with fine decorations carved into it, surrounded by four chairs. It looked a little expensive for just one person, but I supposed it wasn’t too weird if you were an adventurer with a fixed base in Esma.

“Are you a tea or coffee person?” Tiesel asked.

“Neither, really,” I replied.

“All right, then I’ll put on some coffee. Milk? Sugar?”

“I’ll have it black. Anyway, I wanna get down to the matter at hand.”

Ignoring my comment, Tiesel headed to the kitchen and started to carefully pour coffee from the pot into two mugs. I hadn’t expected to be welcomed in hospitably let alone receive some coffee, so I felt a bit on edge.

“You’re an adventurer to your core, aren’t you?” Tiesel said with a wry smile, before placing two identical mugs onto the table. “It’s not poisoned, so take whichever you like.”

“Thanks.”

I chose the mug on the right and took a sip after seeing Tiesel drink some first. Mm-hmm... Bitter. I would have felt bad about asking for milk and sugar, so I hadn’t, but coffee was a luxury I didn’t get to have often, and I wasn’t used to the taste. How annoying—if Leen were here, she would’ve filled the mug with both.

Tiesel’s eyes wrinkled with pleasure; evidently, he drank this stuff all the time. What a sweet little life he had.

“Sorry for asking you to come all the way here,” Tiesel said.

“It’s fine. It’s part of the job.”

I was playing the role of messenger pigeon today. I hadn’t heard much of the details of the quest, so I didn’t know what awaited us. I was itching to get into the nitty-gritty. I steeled myself and downed my bitter coffee.

“Whew... I was told to ask the client for the details,” I went on.

“Yeah... All right, let’s talk business.” Tiesel put his cup down, and his smile disappeared as his face took on a serious expression. “First of all, I want to apologize. This has to do with the gemstone I tried to sell you.”

Tiesel bowed his head slightly, and then pulled out the ring from yesterday and placed it on the table. The ring was finely made, and the gemstone glittered with an astounding light. Looking at it and then at Tiesel’s Sphere, it was clear just how different they were. Although the colors were similar, the gemstone on the ring seemed to pour out light itself. It was obvious that Tiesel was a decent adventurer, but even the deep hue of his Sphere paled in comparison to the gemstone on the ring. If I hadn’t been told a thing, I would say that it was a Carbuncle Stone without question.

“So...it’s a fake, then?” I said.

“No. It’s real,” Tiesel said, a smile appearing once more as he tossed the ring like a coin. “But it’s not got that much value. No, it’d be better to say it’s lost its value.”

I didn’t know what he meant.

Tiesel got up and led me upstairs. At the end of the short hall, there were two doors. I wondered if Sharney lived here too. Tiesel must have realized what I was thinking, for as he opened the door nearest to us, he said, “Sharney’s room is the one at the end of the hall, though no one’s using it right now.”

“What’s that mean?”

“She’s been living with her fiancé for the past half year.”

“Ah, I see.”

I could sense a flush of anger as Tiesel had said “fiancé,” but I decided to ignore it for his benefit. I followed Tiesel into the room. There was a bed, a bookshelf, and a desk all crammed inside. It wasn’t all too big, but fine enough for one person. On top of the desk...

“Mi...foo...”

...there was a carbuncle, fast asleep.

This was the first time I’d ever seen one—they were rare creatures, and that was why Carbuncle Stones accrued such value. However, I’d heard stories of carbuncles from people who’d seen them and had even seen a painting of one before. They had long, wide ears like rabbits, and their bodies were covered in soft fur. They were like—how to put this—slightly scruffy but fluffy cats. The one on the desk was small enough to hold in both hands. Its fur was fully black, aside from the ends of its ears and its paws, which were white. And there, on its forehead, like I’d seen a number of times today and yesterday, was an orange Carbuncle Stone.

“Mifoo... Mii...foo...”

The carbuncle’s breathing was labored, and it wiggled its paws every now and then before going still once more. Even I could tell that this monster wasn’t well.

“Explain,” I said.

“I found him about a year ago during a quest.”

Tiesel placed his hand upon the tired carbuncle’s head, gave it a stroke, and it wheezed once more with a “mifoo...” It seemed a little more relieved when he did so.

“I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world,” he went on. “There were so many costs with Sharney’s wedding, so I thought if I could hunt this guy, then I could make a killing.”

This didn’t seem to be the attitude to display toward a creature you were stroking, but to be honest, if I’d found a carbuncle during a quest, I probably would’ve thought the same thing. Even someone not very smart like me could tell it was cute, but that was another matter.

“I fired off a quick magic spell from behind, but he dodged it. I thought I’d fumbled my chance and lost him for good, but...”

“But?”

“For some reason, he came over to me, wagging his tail. I was a bit confused, but he wouldn’t run even when I reached out. When I picked him up, he started squeaking with this ‘mii mii’ sound.”

“And you felt sorry for it and took it home?” I said.

This emotion was completely foreign to me, but it seemed like an odd decision for an adventurer who prioritized pragmatism.

“No, I actually tried to see if I could strangle him, but he dashed off as soon as I showed any ill will.”

I’d like to rescind my earlier statement—he was an adventurer to the core.

“But even then, he wouldn’t leave my side. I tried throwing him some food and he ate it up,” Tiesel went on.

“Food...?”

“Yeah, look. Fetur!”

As Tiesel said this word, his Sphere glowed with a pale light, and a small ball of flame appeared in thin air. This was a pretty orthodox but useful form of fire magic called Flarema. The fire disappeared in an instant, and all that remained was a number of particles, orange like his Sphere, hovering in the air. These were similar to the green particles Leen’s staff could conjure, albeit on a smaller scale.

In the next moment, the carbuncle opened its mouth and the particles zoomed toward it. After taking them all in, it let out a little burp, before sighing with another “mifoo.” It looked like it had calmed down, and its breathing had settled.

“This thing eats mana particles...?” I muttered.

Mana could be transformed into a variety of different states—magic was the ability to control this. You used catalysts that could give mana different affinities, used spells or runes to affect or alter them, and then used tools to bring it all together. There were many steps required to activate magic, but due to the various boons it provided, it had been something that people had studied for ages and applied for use in various fields.

Adventurers such as Tiesel, who were wizards, could engrave magic into their Spheres allowing the Sphere itself to be used as a catalyst, casting magic with a single registered word. When this happened, the mana remnants that were used in the spell would change color due to the influence of the user’s Sphere. Basically, just as Leen and Tiesel had both demonstrated, when magic was used, colored particles appeared. Tiesel had used his fire magic just now to create mana particles to feed to this carbuncle.

As for the particles that I’d created when neutralizing a witch’s curse...I still didn’t know.

“That’s not all. You came at the perfect time. Look,” Tiesel said.

“Mifoo, mifoo... Mii...foooo...”

I looked over to see the carbuncle shaking its head, and suddenly the Carbuncle Stone dropped from its forehead.

“Whoa...”

A hugely expensive gemstone...just dropped off?! Huh, who knew you could get one without ripping the carbuncle to bits.

“Mifoooo...”

The carbuncle slumped onto the desk, maybe because the act had been tiring. Where the stone had once been I could see the beginnings of a new gemstone starting to form.

“The ring I showed you earlier and the Carbuncle Stone you were shown in the market yesterday...were both made by him,” Tiesel said.

“No way...”

Tiesel’s “pet” carbuncle had been producing Carbuncle Stones for free! This was like a literal golden goose! No, maybe even more valuable than that. It was a limitless source of money, an ultimate form of alchemy. Tiesel shook his head, evidently seeing from my expression what I was thinking.

“It didn’t go quite so smoothly. You should know exactly why.”

“Ah.”

As soon as he said this, I realized—I myself hadn’t bought the hugely discounted Carbuncle Stone.

“He can produce one per week. At first, I made a lot of money. A hell of a lot. Even with merchants involved, I came away with a small fortune.”

“I bet.”

I imagined the first sales went by without issue, earning Tiesel a lot of profit. However, the problem was that he was dealing in gemstones.

“This guy can only make the same color of Carbuncle Stone. So because I couldn’t offer anything different, I got fewer and fewer sales. People want something that no one else has, you see.”

Carbuncle Stones were valuable due to scarcity in the market. Thinking about this logically, it was chiefly the wealthier class who wished to flaunt their vanity or nobles that would buy gemstones like these. If everyone had the same thing, then people would stop being as interested. Therefore he’d tried to sell them for way below market rates, but this had the effect of convincing people that they were either counterfeit or came with a catch, thus resulting in no one buying any. How ironic it was that he’d been unable to sell these because they were too valuable.

“Was that beefy orc-like guy one of your merchants? He seemed pretty pissed off,” I said.

“He was the only one I could rely on at the beginning. I regretted my first dealings with him, but I couldn’t just fire him halfway...”

“You should choose your associates better.”

“Agreed. But that’s why things got so complicated...”

Interestingly enough, the slime’s estimation that the gemstone was the real deal and my own opinion that there was more to it than meets the eye were both correct.

“But...I don’t care about that anymore. I know how this sounds, but I’ve earned more than enough from him.”

“Mifoo...”

“He’s fine after I give him food, but after a while, he’s in pain again. He wasn’t like this at the start.”

The carbuncle put its head onto Tiesel’s hand and started purring blissfully. Looking at them like this, it was like watching a pet and its beloved owner.

“That was why I asked Erifell if she knew anyone knowledgeable about monsters, and that’s how you ended up coming today.”

“I see,” I said.

A rare monster was in pain. Sure enough, the only one you could really ask was a monstermancer at this point.

“If you’ll look at him, I’ll happily give you the ring I just showed you. If you sell it in Clovel, then I’m sure you can still fetch a lot of money. The rumors have started to spread, so you’ll have to be quick.”

“Talk about a good deal.”

Now that I knew where they were coming from, this didn’t seem like a bad deal. They were bona fide Carbuncle Stones and I was sure they could be sold for their proper price outside of Esma.

“What are you gonna do once the carbuncle gets better? Make some more gemstones?” I asked.

To be honest, I was really against telling Leen about this. I didn’t care in the slightest if some carbuncle was worked to death, but considering Leen’s policy, I expected she would fly into a rage if she saw a monster be used for human greed. Given that I’d come here through Erifell, I couldn’t really keep it a secret anymore, though...

“If possible...I’d like to return him to his home.”

Tiesel then stood up and began rifling through his shelf. From the back he pulled out an old, locked box. It wasn’t covered in dust, so I imagined it was opened regularly. Before I could ask what it was, he opened it up.

“You wouldn’t know this, but the Kreyon family are former nobles from the Kanyma Kingdom in Lirabell. We lost a political war and our family was dismantled, but my sister and I managed to escape east to Corsueny.”

Inside the box was something that glittered with such radiance that I thought I was seeing things: it was a tiara. The silver frame had decorations so fine that even I could tell were impressive. However, what caught my eye were the Carbuncle Stones inlaid all across it. It wasn’t just one or two—no, there were dozens of gemstones that glittered with the light of the sun, all created by the sleeping carbuncle on the desk. It was a high-quality piece that would make you laugh at the trifling matter of the Carbuncle Stone market collapse in Esma. The thing was that items like these, decorated with multiple same color Carbuncle Stones, were worth a huge amount. Even ignoring that, I doubted there was another piece of jewelry in the world that used the same number of Carbuncle Stones as this.

This was so expensive that no one person could ever hope to afford it. It was a special crown on par with crowns made for countries who wanted to flaunt their power without a care for the cost.

“The symbol of the Kreyon family was a sunstone, so the tiara passed down in our family was said to have gleamed like the sun. Unfortunately it was lost during the political power struggle...”

“Mm... Mifoo...”

The carbuncle continued to make its silly sounds. I wondered if it was having some kind of dream. Tiesel gave another wry grin and stroked its head once more.

“The fact that my Sphere turned out this color and the fact that this little guy came to me when Sharney got engaged seemed like fate. I thought that maybe I could re-create our family tiara with enough Carbuncle Stones.”

“And now that you have, you don’t need the carbuncle anymore?”

“Yeah. I realize I pushed him really hard so that I could complete the tiara in time for the wedding.”

Tiesel’s smile hinted at the guilt he felt. Or that was the best way I could think to interpret it.

“The pragmatic part of me tells me that I should simply dispatch him now that I’m done with him... Or rather keep on forcing him to make Carbuncle Stones until he dies.”

I watched Tiesel close the box and return it to the shelf.

“But after a year with him, I’ve developed an attachment. And I’m grateful, of course. That’s why I want to fix him up before returning him home. If I send him as he is, he won’t be able to move and might get gobbled up by another monster.”

“Yeah, it does seem to be having a bit of trouble sleeping...”

What Tiesel said made sense and I could understand it, but still...

“Can I ask something?” I said.

“Of course.”

“You’ve told me a lot, but you mentioned stuff that you could’ve kept secret. All that about you being a former noble or your sister getting married doesn’t really mean anything to me.”

Tiesel could’ve just asked me how to cure a sick carbuncle. Of course, it was the client’s choice to disclose as much as they wanted to, but all the same...

“Also, you didn’t need to show me the tiara,” I said. “What would you have done if I set my eyes on it?”

An adventurer used their skill and respect as a guarantee for their work, but this tiara had enough worth that those things didn’t matter—it was well worth stealing. I could’ve taken it, traveled far away, and made a fortune selling it. That was the kind of item we were dealing with here. I’d intended to tell Tiesel my pragmatic reasoning on the matter, but he stared at me wide-eyed and placed a hand on his mouth before bursting out into laughter. He could barely keep it in, and it was so raucous I was afraid it would wake up the carbuncle. It flapped its legs before falling still and falling asleep again.

“The hell are you laughing about?!” I said.

“Ha ha ha... Come on, Hakura. You were thinking so hard about what to get a girl as an apology gift that you asked a waitress at a restaurant! No way you have the guts to do that!”

“If you’re itchin’ for a fight, I’ll take you here and now.”

Stealing this tiara and giving it to Leen was on the cards.

“I’m joking! You’re an upright adventurer. Pragmatic and capable. I’m well aware of how difficult it’d be to steal this tiara and keep your identity hidden the whole time.”

“Tch...”

Tiesel was a fellow adventurer, but he was also my client, so I couldn’t sock him. Erifell had issued me the quest, so if she found out I’d turned into a thief, then I’d have more problems than just going on the run.

“Yeah, but telling you about the carbuncle was a big risk too, no?” Tiesel said. “I just...”

“Just?”

“I just wanted to show off the amazing thing I’d made for my sister.”

“Right, I see...”

That was the real reason he’d prattled for so long. I wanted to punch his stupid, smug face, but I refrained from doing so out of respect for Sharney and her upcoming wedding.

“Anyway, I get the picture now. But I’ve got a little issue of my own,” I said.

“Which is?”

“The monster specialist isn’t me, but my friend.”

“...The one who you’re in a fight with right now?”

“Well...I thought she might put it aside if she took on a quest...”

However, I was utterly terrified of talking to her now, two days after pissing her off originally. I could only pray the slime had smoothed things over on my behalf, but if she still wasn’t on speaking terms, I might not see the next sunrise.

“Do you have a plan for how to make things up to her?”

“I bought a present on the way here...but I dunno if she’ll like it.”

I thought that Tiesel, with his sister, might have some useful advice, so I showed him what I’d bought. He looked at it for a while, then nodded after some thought.

“It’s not bad. I suppose it’ll depend on her taste whether she likes the design,” Tiesel commented.

“You think?”

“Want me to make it a bit more fashionable?”

“Huh?”

“I’m the one who made the tiara, you know? I’m quite good with my hands.”

I ruminated on his proposal. I wanted to increase my chances of fixing Leen’s mood as much as possible. Therefore I went with the pragmatic option and took Tiesel up on his offer. I handed the item over.

◆

The next day.

I had left Tiesel’s house with the assurance that we’d come back the next day at the same time and place, but since Leen didn’t return to the inn until late, I spent another day without managing to talk to her and smooth things over. That made three whole days since the incident. It was getting to the point where if I didn’t fix this soon, it would become much worse. We needed to get on the same page. With this thought in mind, I knocked on her door at around nine o’clock—the time we usually convened.

“I’ll be right there.”

I hadn’t expected a response, but Leen’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Good morning, Hakura,” she said, opening the door.

Leen was the sort of person who ate as much as she wanted and slept as much as she wanted. She was definitely not a morning type, but to my surprise, she was ready to go, wearing her usual gaudy robe that seemed ill-suited for adventures. In her right hand was her staff, and in her left arm was her slime—like always.

“This is about the quest, right? Erifell told me about it yesterday,” Leen went on.

I couldn’t sense any anger in those green eyes of hers as she stared up at me. I could only stand there stupefied as she cocked her head.

“What’s wrong? We’re going to see our client, aren’t we?”

She was acting as if everything were normal.

“Y-Yeah,” I replied like an idiot before Leen walked past me.

What in the world was happening? Had she had a sudden change of heart? Without me having to do anything? Had time healed her wounds and caused her to no longer be bothered by it? Or perhaps the slime had managed to convince her to put her anger aside for now? No... Leen wasn’t such a reasonable person.

It was a whole new level of terror to see her acting completely normal right now. The most likely explanation was that her rage had reached such heights that she’d just completely forsaken me. I couldn’t say for sure and could only theorize as I followed behind her.

After we left the inn, Leen suddenly stopped. I did too. She turned around and asked, with confusion, “What are you doing?”

I flinched, terrified of what she might do.

“I, um...”

Leen puffed out her cheeks as I flustered. “I don’t know where the client’s house is. You need to lead the way.”

“Oh, y-yeah, right...”

There was nothing to be scared of. Leen was my boss and I was her worker. If she wanted a more businesslike relationship, then that was fine, right?

Leen led the way most of the time and so I followed her too. It felt weird to take the lead for once. My legs were longer than hers, so I needed to keep checking behind me to see if she was falling behind.

“Hm, hm, hmm...”

When I looked over at her, she seemed happy. She was even humming a little tune. There was a skip in her step. If I didn’t know better, I would think she was tremendously excited for something.

I was putting to work parts of my brain that I never used when suddenly Leen’s slime jumped from her arm and landed on my head.

“Whoa...!”

“Lad...”

The slime spoke as it wobbled atop me. It was a strange feeling to have a voice transmitted right into my head. I supposed it was using vibrations to communicate to me without Leen overhearing. This was a private conversation between us.

“Hey... What happened with Leen after you left? I know I’m in no position to be saying this, but she’s acting super weird.”

“Things have escalated, lad,” the slime answered after a long pause.

“What happened?” I asked after an equally long silence.

“After my lady went into the restaurant yesterday, she was in the worst mood I have ever seen. Think a volcano about to erupt, a river about to break its banks.”

After hearing the slime’s metaphors, I didn’t want to hear the rest. I didn’t want to, but I needed to in order to get out of this.

“Miss Sharney smoothed things over. She used every ounce of sincerity in order to do so.”

“Sharney did?”

“She reasoned that my lady was the one with whom you had an altercation with, lad. And so Miss Sharney told her that you were in the midst of preparing a wonderful present.”

“What?” I said after too long a silence.

“She said that it would be a present that my lady was sure to love, guaranteed. That you even asked Miss Sharney for advice. That she should wait until the right time. It was a thoughtful and scrupulous explanation.”

I was dumbstruck. No, no, no, no—hold on! What was Sharney doing, blabbing about all this stuff?! Why was she making my job harder? W-Well, I supposed I did have something, but I wasn’t confident I’d be able to meet her cranked-up expectations!

“After that, we went to see Miss Erifell who told my lady that you were looking for a store to buy said present from. Due to this, my lady grew ever more interested in what you could have prepared for her.”

I still couldn’t speak. The chill that ran through my body felt like I’d been assaulted by a blizzard, fell into an icy river, had scrambled out, and was being whipped by the wind while my body was still sopping wet. I finally understood what situation I was in. Leen’s anger wasn’t gone—no, it had merely been put on hold with the excitement that came from the knowledge that I had gotten something for her. If she didn’t like what I’d picked...would I die?

“Do not worry yourself, lad. I also did what best I could too.”

“Meaning...?”

“I told her how you had rushed around the marketplace and had really worked awfully hard. With a bit of embellishment, of course. I successfully raised my lady’s excitement to its absolute zenith!”

“You absolute asshole...!”

This coward had left me all alone in the lurch! The whiplash from Leen’s “good mood” if I upset her would be fatal for me!

“It was a wise move to not jump right into handing over the present first thing in the morning. My lady is looking forward to what sort of situation you will create to heighten the gift-giving process. Don’t miss your chance now, lad.”

“Why did you have to add so much unnecessary crap to this?!”

As if to indicate it was finished saying what it needed to, it leaped from my head back into Leen’s arms. She caught it with ease and increased her pace to walk next to me.

“What are the details of the quest? Erifell told me to ask you,” she said.

“Oh, right...”

Before I could fully process the bombshell that slime had just dropped, the conversation had already moved on. I kicked my brain into gear and explained the details of our quest.

“From what I could see, the carbuncle looked pretty exhausted,” I said.

“I see, I see, so that’s how it is, huh...”

I didn’t bother telling Leen about Tiesel and Sharney being former nobles or about their private lives and only mentioned the stuff that was relevant to the carbuncle’s poor health. It seemed like what I’d said had been enough for her to get the picture.

“Do you know what’s wrong with it?” I asked.

“I do. I need to see him before reaching any definitive conclusions, but I believe I’m correct.”

I’d feared Leen might snap and ask what sort of idiot would take care of a carbuncle, but she didn’t seem mad or even bothered by this—she spoke in a perfectly flat tone. If we could solve this without issue, then that would be great.

After some walking, Tiesel’s house came into view.

“Is this the client’s house? It’s rather nice,” Leen said, appraising the building as she approached the entrance.

I was happy to leave things to her if she was willing to engage with the quest.

“Hm?”

However, the next second I sensed something amiss—a sharp pain shot through the obsidian Sphere on the back of my hand. I stopped and looked around. Tiesel’s house was on the outskirts of Esma, so there was no one around. All I could see was the empty road we had just come down. Even so, I felt like we were being watched.

Ever since that strange sensation when I’d viewed Cormeca’s paintings, my Sphere had become particularly sensitive. I hoped it was just my imagination. Unfortunately, this sense seemed to function on instinct so I couldn’t really describe it with words. It was a bit annoying.

“Hakura? What is it?” Leen called out.

“Nothing. I’m coming,” I replied.

As I joined up with her, Leen lightly rapped on the door with her staff. Lazy so-and-so...

“Hellooo!”

The volume of her voice had been high enough to bring out the person inside, as Tiesel poked his head out before too long.

“Hey! Been a whole day!” Tiesel said as I raised a hand. He bowed at us, giving an awkward smile, and then looked at Leen. “I was waiting for you. My name’s Tiesel Kreyon. You’re the monster expert, are you?”

“I am. My name’s Leen Stonabel,” Leen replied with a curtsy.

Tiesel glanced over at me for a moment. It was clear what that look said: Did you two make up? I could only shrug and shake my head.

“Come inside. I’d like to treat you, but I want you to look at him as soon as possible.”

“Agreed. There will be ample time for tea later.”

I suppressed my thoughts of how shameless Leen was and followed Tiesel inside. In the living room, the carbuncle from yesterday was on the desk. It seemed like Tiesel had brought it down for today.

“Mi...foo... Mifoo... Mii...”

I’d thought it was looking better yesterday, thanks to the mana snack, but it seemed even weaker than before. Its breathing was shallow, and it appeared to be having trouble moving.

“He’s been like this since yesterday. I gave him some mana, but it’s not working,” Tiesel said.

“Mii...” The lethargic carbuncle let out a weak sound. It tried to move its limbs and mouth, but was barely able to. Even I thought it was a painful sight.

“Hmm... Excuse me,” Leen said as she picked up the carbuncle.

“Mii...” it cried weakly. Even with its body supported, it didn’t seem to be doing well.

Leen flipped it over and touched its stomach. It didn’t even resist, only letting out small breaths as it squeaked “mii.”

“Does he have a name?” Leen asked.

“No. I decided not to give it one as I didn’t want to get attached. Still happened though.”

For some reason, Leen seemed to smile happily at this. However, her expression clouded over once more.

“This is really difficult for me to say,” she said.

“Is the prognosis bad?” Tiesel said, worried.

Leen folded her arms and groaned, her eyebrows knitted together.

“This is kind of awkward, but...he’s just very overweight.”

“Oh, he’s just... Wait, what?”

Both Tiesel and I stared at Leen with our jaws wide open.

“Like I said, the reason for his poor health is because he ate too much!” Leen said with an awkward smile. “If you compare him to any other carbuncle, he’s positively round!”

“I’ve never seen a normal carbuncle before!” I couldn’t help but snap at Leen’s tone that this was an obvious thing.

Although, looking at the carbuncle, she did have a point... It wasn’t particularly sleek and was kind of bulky...

“Mifoo... Mifoo...”

Its breathing was quick, and it was gasping with an open mouth. It did look like it was in some pain, but apparently this was akin to an overweight and unfit person gasping for breath...

“So, uh... I was raising him poorly?” Tiesel said.

“Mifoo?”

It seemed like the carbuncle’s owner(?) felt guilty for having raised it incorrectly. He looked down with an apologetic expression at the carbuncle; it simply looked up at Tiesel and cocked its head.

“Anyway, a carbuncle isn’t the sort of monster that can survive in a human settlement,” Leen said. Her expression was halfway between exasperated and amused. She raised a finger as she always did. “Carbuncles are mana eaters. They are a rare type of monster that consumes mana as their primary source of food despite having a physical form. The reason they live in deep forests or in underground caves is because there is a lot of mana there for them to eat.”

Leen poked her finger at the chubby carbuncle’s belly. It flapped its limbs in protest but did nothing more. It was kind of like a beetle on its back...

“Here, where people live, the mana is thin, so he can’t breathe properly. I suppose he feels like he’s been underwater for a long time,” Leen went on.

“Hey, how long did you say you’ve been keeping this carbuncle?” I asked.

“About a year...” Tiesel said.

“Miiifoo... Miiifoo...”

After a few seconds, the carbuncle’s light resistance came to a halt. It seemed like it was having trouble breathing still—something that made a bit more sense with Leen’s explanation.

“So how’d he get so fat?” I asked.

Leen poked the carbuncle’s forehead—where the Carbuncle Stone had just fallen from yesterday—then indicated Tiesel’s right hand.

“I think it was a real lucky coincidence, but this carbuncle and Tiesel have a strong affinity for one another,” Leen said. “Have you noticed that his Sphere and this Carbuncle Stone are the same color?”

Now that she mentioned it, I noticed that the tiny Carbuncle Stone forming on the carbuncle’s forehead—still pale, but due to deepen—was the same orange as Tiesel’s Sphere; a sunstone. Although the carbuncle’s gemstone glittered more radiantly, the hue was pretty much the same.

“The mana particles that are created from Tiesel’s Sphere are a delicious snack packed with nutrients—so much so that he would put up with breathing problems to enjoy them.”

“Hold on...” I said.

If I remembered correctly, Tiesel had used fire magic to try and defeat the carbuncle when he first encountered it, but the carbuncle dodged in time. The carbuncle must have noticed the colorful mana particles from Tiesel’s spell and given them a nibble, only to discover they were incredibly tasty. That explained why the carbuncle stuck around Tiesel.

“Basically...this little thing’s just a damn glutton?” I went on.

“In simple terms, yeah!” Leen replied.

“You gotta be kidding me!”

There was Tiesel, who wanted the carbuncle’s gemstones, and the carbuncle, who wanted to gobble up Tiesel’s mana. As luck would have had it, they had found one another and could give one another what they needed.

“You can’t blame him for wanting a lot of mana,” Leen went on. “While he’s eating, it feels like he can breathe. Unlike fairies or spirits, whose bodies are made of mana, a carbuncle is a type of monster who digests the mana and converts it into body mass.”

“So...because this carbuncle’s in a human settlement, it can’t breathe properly. Therefore he eats the mana because it’s tasty and allows him to breathe easily, which resulted in it getting so fat...”

“Exactly. But no matter how you slice it, this little fellow has eaten far too much. He’s taken in so much mana, the production of Carbuncle Stones can’t keep up. He is very unhealthy.”

“Mii...foo... Mii...foo...”

The carbuncle opened its mouth again as if trying to endear itself to Tiesel. I supposed he would have normally given it some more mana, but now he turned to Leen. She shook her head and made a cross with her arms.

“He’s fine. He’s just a glutton,” she said.

“Come on, man...” I muttered.

This carbuncle had become overweight and couldn’t move. It asked Tiesel for food so he gave it some out of pity, and it got even more fat... I could see what had led to this cycle. Tiesel had to bear some responsibility for improperly raising the carbuncle, but it was the carbuncle’s fault for tagging along in hope of receiving more food. Were both of them at fault, then...?

“What should I do with him? Put him on a diet?” Tiesel asked.

“Don’t worry,” Leen replied with a bright smile. “I’ve got a more desperate measure I can use to help, but if we return him to his pack then he’ll have to work off the excess weight. If you want to keep him, then things might be a bit different.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m now fully aware of how little I know about him.” Tiesel had said he’d developed an attachment for this carbuncle, so there was probably a reason for that. He stroked its head as he went on, “I’ll take him back home. That’s for the best.”

His answer evidently pleased Leen.

“Then our work is just beginning,” she said.

“Hm?”

Leen smiled and peered close at the carbuncle. “Myumyu mii! Mii myumi!” she said, telling it that it could go home (or so I imagined).

I wondered what was up with the carbuncle, as it wasn’t reacting, when suddenly it lifted up its chubby body and started smacking the table with its little paws. Was it having a tantrum?

“Mi?! Myumyu mifoo! Myuumyu mii! Miimii!” it replied.

“Mi mifoo mifoo... Myuu, miimyuu, miiii mi!”

“Mi! Mi... Mifoo?”

Leen ignored me as I stood in confusion at the scene unfurling before me. She continued an intense debate with the creature. In stark contrast to its lethargic state earlier, now it was trying to explain something desperately to Leen.

“Miifoooo miifoooo! Myuu miiii mi?” Leen said.

“Mi?! Mii... Mifoo myumyu mifoo!”

“Miiiiyu. Myufoo miifoofoo, mi! Myumyumyu miimi!”

“Myumyu mifoo, mi, mifoo, mi.”

“Mifee...”

Uh, it seems like it’s agreeing? I think?

Tiesel quietly approached me and whispered, “Can she speak with monsters?”

“According to her, she can,” I replied.

I was still a bit on the fence about this ability, but seeing the carbuncle slump its shoulders, I felt like she probably could communicate with it.

Leen sighed and looked over here with a face that indicated the questioning was done.

“He will return to his pack,” Leen said. “But he doesn’t know the way, so we’ll need to take him.”

“By the way, what did you say to it?” I asked.

“He said that he was in the perfect world where he could eat delicious food and laze around all day without anyone scolding him for it. He was moaning about having to go home, so I made sure to give him a good telling off,” Leen replied.

“Tiesel, your parenting methods need work,” I said.

“Yeah... I was wrong. I apologize,” Tiesel said.

“Mifoon!” the carbuncle chimed in. Even I could tell this little guy was saying, “Seriously?!” It was smarter than I gave it credit for.

“He said he was thinking about sneaking back to you, but I advised him not to. I told him that you’d visit him if you wanted, Tiesel, and that would be safer.”

“Is that really all right? Wouldn’t it be bad for that balance stuff you talk about?” I asked.

Leen didn’t scold Tiesel for keeping a carbuncle or for raising it poorly. I was more worried about this “balance” than the carbuncle’s well-being.

“Hmm... If he had been hunting down lots of carbuncles, then it would be a different matter. This carbuncle chose to tag along and stay with you, Tiesel. Not only that, no one knows how best to take care of a carbuncle. Not even me.”

“Is that right?”

Leen’s job was to maintain balance, not to prioritize people or monsters. The carbuncle’s gluttony had led to this situation, so that was that, I supposed.

“I think the economic balance is a bigger concern with all the Carbuncle Stones flooding the market. I’m glad things settled before they got out of hand,” Leen said.

“You care about that stuff too?!”

“Who do you take me for?!”

The market had been affected in Esma, but it was just a blip when you looked at the bigger picture, so I guessed things would work out.

“I’m sorry, but tomorrow’s my little sister’s wedding day. I’ll have a lot of preparations to do, so I’d like to return him today if possible. Could you accompany me?”

I looked at Leen and nodded. We didn’t have a reason to say no.

◆

There were a few areas around Esma known as hazardous zones due to their high mana levels and the dangerous monsters that lurked there. One example of this was Galachera Woods, the place where the hydra I had slain lived and where I had met Leen. Another was Esartella Gorge, a vast forested ravine located behind Esartella Church, where Sharney was due to be married. Tiesel had bumped into the carbuncle here on a material-collecting quest.

“We’d formed a party just for the job, so we hadn’t gone too deep,” Tiesel had explained.

We took a carriage and arrived there in a few hours. There were specialized services that took adventurers to specific destinations, so we saved time instead of having to walk.

“All right, I’ll be back in six hours, so try and wrap things up by then,” the carriage driver had said before disappearing.

We took our first steps into the trees at the edge of Esartella Gorge. The canopy was thick with branches so it was dark despite it being the middle of the day. Even the light that did filter through was weak.

“I didn’t think we’d be back here again so soon,” I muttered.

“Hm? You’ve come before?” Tiesel replied.

“Yeah, three days ago.”

We had been to this very same ravine for the gryphon egg fetch quest on the day I pissed Leen off. Leen had led the way, but we’d gone quite deep into the woods.

Gryphons were carnivorous monsters with the head and wings of an eagle and a lion’s body. They had sharp eyesight and often attacked from the skies. They were probably the most dangerous thing in the ravine. Any careless adventurer would be gobbled up in no time. Even I wouldn’t fight one without ample preparation. It went without saying that stealing an egg and taking it home was tantamount to suicide. It had been a super high difficulty quest, but Leen had gone into the nest as if it had been no problem at all, talked to the parent, and received the egg without issue.

I’d merely been watching from a distance, but was still on edge through it all. The gryphon’s chicks were nearby and eyeing me as if I were a delicious meal waiting to happen. They made chirping sounds as if asking their parent if I really was off the menu.

“Miiyoo... Myumyu...”

The carbuncle seemed upset for a different reason to me as we neared its home. It wasn’t on board with this at all and was flapping its limbs in Tiesel’s arms, evidently upset.

“What’s it saying?” I asked.

“‘I don’t wanna go home! The elder’s gonna shout at me!’ Or something to that effect,” Leen replied.

“They have an elder...?”

“Carbuncles live in groups. If any appear in front of humans, then they’re usually loners or made some sort of mistake.”

“And this one...?”

“Made a mistake because of its greedy nature.”

“Right...”

So this was completely the carbuncle’s fault, huh.

As we made our way along, Leen bushwhacked the trees out of the way and we made easy progress.

The thing about hazardous zones like these was that I wouldn’t hesitate to head there if I had a clear goal and destination, but if there was no reason for me to come, then I wouldn’t even step foot here. Different monster territories were next to one another and any trails that someone else had previously made grew over in a month. You didn’t know what was a monster den and what wasn’t, and there were so many natural traps. Heading into places like these meant you always had to be on guard, which was utterly draining. There was no real path and what might seem to be the easiest route through the trees was actually where a large monster often traversed.

All the same, Leen only stopped for small moments at a time and made quick decisions before changing her direction with ease.

“You’re walking at quite the clip. Do you know the way?” Tiesel said, intrigued by what was going on.

Leen liked answering questions, so as usual, she held up a pointer finger and waved it as she explained.

“Places thick with mana like here have a master,” Leen said.

“A master?” Tiesel replied.

“Basically the strongest monster in the area. They often monopolize the spot that’s thickest with mana. And doing this allows them to get even stronger. By the way, the ‘master’ of Esartella Gorge is the gryphon Hakura and I met the other day.”

“Wait, so we stole an egg from this area’s master?!” I said.

“We were given it after some peaceful negotiations, thank you.”

I didn’t realize peaceful negotiations could lead to you giving up an egg, but anyway...

“Strong mana can affect the local environment and create traps or warps in the trails, basically rendering the area advantageous for the master and difficult for their prey. Hazardous zones are easy to get lost in, especially the deeper you go,” Leen explained further without stopping her footsteps at all.

Leen continued to clear the undergrowth as she advanced in a straight direction. Before long, we came to a large clearing.

“I can work out the route through a labyrinth created by monsters. It’s part of understanding a monster’s lifestyle,” Leen said.

The trees here were thinner than the rest of the forest, and there were more spots where sunlight reached the forest floor. It seemed like the perfect place to take a break.

“Is this the carbuncle’s nest?” I asked.

“No, carbuncles don’t have a fixed nest as they constantly move around. However, I know that it’s somewhere around here. So I’m going to need some help finding it.”

“Help from who?” Tiesel and I said in unison.

Leen chuckled knowingly. She went around and started tapping on nearby trees with her staff. Soon enough, there was a cacophony of strange noises that didn’t sound like language to me but reverberated in my head. From behind the trees, a bunch of small monsters toddled out to her.

“Are those...dryads?” Tiesel asked.

They were thirty to forty centimeters tall and covered in bark. Their heads were made of leaves and branches from which came a faint glow of mana. As he said, they were dryads.

Dryads were a type of spirit that lived among the trees. They were cute monsters and wouldn’t harm you if you weren’t hostile to them. From an adventurer’s perspective, they posed no danger at all.

“Wait a second... Ahem...” Leen said, tapping on her throat. In the next moment, she started to make the same strange sounds as the dryads. Odd noises that I couldn’t even tell were words. It was strange to hear this language I had no way of understanding. She later told me how the conversation went.

“Can I ask you something, children of the forest? I’m looking for his friends,” Leen said (apparently) while holding up the carbuncle. The dryads exchanged glances and began to whisper before turning back.

They made some strange squeaky sounds in return, but Leen summarized their comments for me: “Want stone.” “Something shiny.” “So bright.”

“Do you have a Carbuncle Stone?” Leen asked Tiesel.

“Sure do,” he said. A bit confused as to what was happening, he pulled out a Carbuncle Stone from a small pouch and handed it to Leen.

“Thank you,” she said before passing it along to the dryads while speaking that strange language again. They gathered around her and held up the stone with joy.

“Yay!” “So shiny!” “Do best!” was apparently what they were cheering as they threw the stone, rubbed it on their faces, and licked it... I didn’t know what exact value it had for them, but it had been a fair enough trade, apparently. They bustled off into the woods once more.

“What language even was that?” I asked.

“The language of spirits. It’s quite difficult to pronounce. I’m pretty amazing, huh?” Leen said.

It was more than amazing—I didn’t know how a human’s vocal cords could make those sounds.

“Let’s wait a little while until they find the nest,” Leen said, clearing away some leaves at the base of a tree before sitting down.

If she told me to wait, then that was all I could do. I leaned next to a tree near me.

“Hakura?” Leen said.

“What?” I replied.

“Not that tree. It’s a treant.”

“Whoa?!”

The tree I’d been leaning on rustled. I slowly turned around and saw the tree turning around to look at me too. It shook its roots that had been deep in the ground and rustled its branches. It fixed two holes that looked like eyes at me as if saying “What’re you doin’?!”

Treants were monsters that looked like trees. There were individual differences, but as they were tree monsters, they were often big and strong. If I bumped into one, I’d have trouble fighting it. They often lured in prey who were resting against them (like I’d done). I’d let my guard down today, most likely because my focus was a bit off due to Leen being here today and the weird scene I’d just seen.

“I’m sorry, he didn’t mean it. May we rest here?” Leen said in the common tongue. The treant seemed to tut as it shook its big body before disappearing into the forest.

Tiesel and I stood agog as we watched the monster leave.

“Ha ha ha! Hakura, your face! Gah ha ha ha!” Leen burst out in laughter as she clutched her stomach. The carbuncle joined in with its own squeaky “myu myu” laughter.

“Ugh,” I muttered.

What the hell was I doing? We were in a hazardous zone trying to return a carbuncle to its nest, we’d asked dryads for help, and I’d just pissed off a silent treant... It seemed like Tiesel couldn’t believe it any more than I could, as he looked at Leen and then me with utter shock on his face.

“Wow, that was a surprise... When that treant emerged, I thought we were done for,” he said.

“Funnily enough, me too,” I said.

“Ha ha ha! Goodness, this is the funniest thing! Right?”

“Myuu!” the carbuncle squeaked.

“Gimme that stupid carbuncle! I’m gonna throw him to the wolves!” I snapped.

“Myuu myu myu myu!” it continued to laugh.

“I know you’re laughing at me! Stupid ball of fluff...”

The slime wouldn’t talk in front of Tiesel, so I couldn’t rely on it to stop Leen’s cruel laughter. I’d been eyeing up the carbuncle to grab it by its stupid tail, but Leen kept a close hold on it so I couldn’t get a chance to. Dammit all...

“By the way... You gave a Carbuncle Stone to those dryads, but is that something useful for them?” Tiesel asked as he sat on the ground and started to unpack something.

“What’s that stuff?” I asked.

“It’s a portable tea set. A necessity for any adventure!” Tiesel explained as he swiftly unpacked and assembled it. I didn’t realize this domestic pursuit was such a big hobby.

Tiesel used a firestone to prepare some hot water in a large metal mug, put some teabags in some cups, then brewed some black tea for us all in no time at all. It felt weird smelling the fragrance of tea here deep in a hazardous zone.

“Wow, thank you!” Leen said, taking a cup without any reservations.

Ah, well, I thought. I was pretty thirsty too, now that he mentioned it.

Leen took a sip of tea, sighed, then answered Tiesel’s question.

“Dryads and all monsters really love Carbuncle Stones. They’re a crystallized form of mana, after all,” she said, pointer finger raised as usual. “Carbuncles use pockets of mana deep in hazardous zones as their feeding grounds. They’re able to hop around to places where other monsters won’t notice or can’t fit into, such as small holes.”

The carbuncle was lying spread out on the ground. It had collapsed as soon as we began our break. This was despite the fact that it had been carried the whole way here and hadn’t done any exercise at all.

“As carbuncles consume mana, it accumulates in crystal form on their heads; as Carbuncle Stones,” Leen went on. “A similar phenomenon to what happens with an adventurer’s Sphere takes place with Carbuncle Stones too, which is why each carbuncle produces a stone of a different color. When the next Carbuncle Stone is ready to come through, the old one simply falls off the carbuncle’s head.”

“Yeah, that happened yesterday when Tiesel was stroking it,” I said.

“It did. I was so surprised the first time it happened,” Tiesel said.

“It’s similar to keratin in humans, like how people’s nails grow longer. Carbuncle Stones are a valuable source of mana for many monsters. How do I put this... It’s like a little snack!”

“A snack?” Tiesel and I chorused.

I didn’t know how many times we had spoken in sync since coming into the hazardous zone.

“I mentioned this earlier, but carbuncles live in packs. Carbuncle Stones often fall on the trails that they travel, so monsters often pass by to try and find them. The carbuncles don’t even realize what they’re doing, but it plays a role in giving mana to monsters like dryads who don’t fight over territory.”

“So those dryads...”

“Were probably overjoyed to receive a stone. They seemed like they were over the moon to me.”

Carbuncle Stones could fetch millions of ennies (even if there weren’t any buyers left in Esma...), but out here in the wild, they were regarded as a tasty treat. What a weird world we lived in.

“That’s why you shouldn’t hunt down packs of carbuncles. They supply mana to places you wouldn’t think about. Although, well, a single missing carbuncle won’t make too huge a difference.”

I’d thought that Leen had been overly understanding of Tiesel, but this was what lay behind it. Sometimes adventurers were lucky enough to hunt down a carbuncle, but individual losses like these weren’t enough to completely disrupt the natural cycle.

“I’ve really learned a lot,” Tiesel said. “Ignorance is definitely not something to be proud of.”

The man in question seemed genuinely remorseful. The fact that he’d wanted to return his carbuncle to its pack indicated that he was a good person at heart. Unlike a certain someone.

“Hakura?” Leen said.

“Why are you so damn sharp when it comes to a little bit of criticism?!”

“Let me just remind you that my anger toward you has merely been put on hold.”

It was very typical of Leen to state this outright. I’d thought that she’d been rather docile today, but I wasn’t sure exactly how she would react when her anger returned and the present didn’t meet her expectations. It would probably be more terrifying than even a gryphon.

“I’m asking this because I’m genuinely curious,” Tiesel said. “Leen, I acknowledge how incredible you are, but how on earth did you manage to negotiate with a gryphon to get it to give up an egg?”

“I was wondering that too...”

Leen was a monstermancer, and although that meant she could tame monsters and get them to listen to her, she had always offered something in return—whether that was the orthruses from when we’d first met, the giant mole during the hunt for a kobold’s nest, or even the dryads from earlier. We’d been lucky that Tiesel had a surplus of Carbuncle Stones now, but if we hadn’t, then it would’ve been difficult to answer the dryads’ request. If listening to the other party was key in maintaining balance, then what had Leen put on the scales to get a monster to give up one of its young—something that any creature would value more than anything?

“That wasn’t all too difficult. The master of this area is quite the powerful monster, but that led to her creating too many children. You saw how many chicks there were in the nest, right?” Leen said.

“Yeah, they were all pecking at me, thinking I was their dinner...”

“A female gryphon takes care of her brood, but she usually only has two or at most three chicks per season. That gryphon had four chicks and three additional eggs to boot. I merely explained to her that it would be difficult to raise so many young.”

“And that was all it took to receive an egg?”

“Gryphons are known to knock eggs out of their nest or feed them to their other young when they realize they cannot raise the entire brood. I merely said that being able to live with humans would be a better fate for the child.”

That made sense—Leen relied on the gryphon’s maternal instincts. Gryphons were like birds and imprinted on the first creature they saw after being born. This meant that it was possible to create a gryphon that would be taken care of by humans and live in harmony alongside them. Gryphons were used by people as steeds to carry them through the skies, whether as a courier or a warrior in battle. They were a rare sight, and this meant that gryphon eggs carried high demand too. As Leen had said, that went doubly so for a child of the “master” of this area.

“It’s not an easy job to raise a brood of hungry chicks. Gryphons eat a lot. They are another type of monster that would benefit from as many Carbuncle Stones as possible in their parenting.”

“I’ve got an idea, then,” I said. “Let’s chuck this fluffy idiot into the gryphon’s nest.”

“Myuu!” the carbuncle squeaked.

It rolled over to my feet and started smacking me with its forelegs in protest. Those soft paws didn’t hurt, but I could sense it was mad, so I lifted it up by its tail.

“Myu myu myu myu mii!”

“No! He doesn’t like that, Hakura!” Leen shouted.

“It needs exercise, right? Let it flap its legs like this for a while,” I said.

“Isn’t there a more peaceful method?” Tiesel asked.

Of course, the carbuncle’s owner would be more sympathetic. I tossed the creature down. After it landed, it could only flail about helplessly in protest with its four legs in the air.

“Please, stop it with that! Any more and you’ll end up being burned for it!” Leen said.

“By Tiesel?” I asked.

“No! By the carbuncle!” Leen exclaimed, standing up. “You see, these monsters can—”

Just as she approached me, I noticed something. I supposed it was my honed instincts that caused me to. That or I’d been a bit more on edge despite the conversation because of that little incident with the treant. A thin something was flying toward Leen.

“Hmph!”

“Eek!”

I knocked it out of the way with my fist. Before I could even check what I’d sent hurling to the ground, Tiesel moved into action.

“Fetur!” he called.

This wasn’t the same little spell he’d used when giving food to his carbuncle—no, he’d summoned a huge fireball around five meters across in the blink of an eye and sent it hurtling away before I could even register it. The fireball ripped through the trees in its way, singing the undergrowth as it went, when suddenly some figures leaped out from its pathway: three men wielding a crossbow, sword, and spear, respectively.

All of the men had face coverings so it was impossible to tell what they looked like. They were similar in height and build, and I assumed they had paired them together to make it hard to tell each of them apart. I did know that it was the one with the crossbow who had shot at Leen. Their matching gear was black, light, and tight, allowing for ease of movement. It was clear that they weren’t a party of upright adventurers—they had made sure to hide their right hands so that no one could identify them by their Spheres. This was an ironclad guild rule that they had broken.

The man with the sword muttered from behind his cloth mask, “Kill the men. We take the girl and the carbuncle alive!”

The three of them moved into action immediately.

“Get back, Leen!” I said.

“A-All right!” she responded.

The chief reason Leen had hired me was that although her skills as a monstermancer allowed her to be essentially untouchable by monsters, that did nothing against people with violent intentions.

Most adventurers, myself included, hadn’t devoted our entire selves to the guild. However, since we had acquired our Spheres and had been granted power thanks to them, we still lived in line with their rules and were thus associated with them. That was just how it was. Despite this, there were still adventurers who used their Spheres for their own selfish ambitions, choosing to not stay under the guild’s control. They were stung by the slings of society and chose to ignore all sorts of taboos and laws—simply put, they were outlaws.

The outlaw swung his sword without so much as a rallying cry, and I swiftly evaded it. A spear thrust awaited me from behind, which I deflected with my sword. There was no emotion in their acts—it was honed teamwork that was designed to kill me quickly. They were good.

“Dammit...”

They had the numerical advantage and a crossbow user—I couldn’t afford to stop moving. However, with Tiesel behind me, I couldn’t let them push me back either—our options would be restricted with less space to work with. Unfortunately they had the most annoying array of weapons to fight against, as they’d covered all possible ranges.

The fact that they’d followed us this deep into a hazardous zone with that equipment to ambush us indicated that they were a skilled bunch, but they really were good at this type of combat.

“Fetur: Meduglare!”

While I was keeping them occupied, Tiesel let out a shout. With his extra incantation, the fireballs cut two thin, complex routes through the air as they soared toward the enemy. At the same time, I saw him scoop up the carbuncle to safety. He was good.

“Tch,” the man with the sword said. He leaped backward and slashed at the fireball, causing it to fizzle out.

“Huh?” Tiesel said.

“Anti-magic equipment... They’ve come prepared, the bastards,” I said.

The enemy and I confirmed our distances as we prepared for the next clash. However, this was the ideal range for the crossbow user. I quickly hid behind a tree to avoid being assaulted by crossbow bolts since I had no way to defend myself.

“Wh-What’s with these people?!” Leen squealed.

I hadn’t noticed that she was hiding behind this tree too. She’d been watching the fight, but honestly it wasn’t good.

“Did Hallabey hire you?!” Tiesel shouted, but the men didn’t answer.

I could sense the distance between us, and also them slowly shrinking.

“Who’s Hallabey?” I said.

“I mentioned him earlier. He’s the merchant I tasked with selling the Carbuncle Stones,” Tiesel replied.

“Oh yeah, the orc-like guy.”

“I didn’t think he was stupid enough to take such drastic measures.”

The carbuncle tilted its head with a “mii?”, evidently unsure of what was going on. Tiesel stroked its head, clucking his tongue in displeasure.

“Why the hell did you team up with someone who was so obviously a bad guy?” I asked.

“A variety of reasons. After we were driven from our home and fled to this continent, we were helped out by...”

I didn’t realize Tiesel owed the guy. That made sen—

“...his master!”

“Wait, someone else?!”

“Yeah, Hallabey had been their disciple, but he said he wanted to go solo. He was apparently opening a big store, and I didn’t really have anyone else I could ask to sell them, so...”

“Come on, man, be a little more careful... Your life is in literal danger right now!”

“Yeah, I do feel like an idiot for getting involved with him. It was my own misjudgment of character.”

I remembered the unease I felt when Leen and I had arrived at Tiesel’s house earlier today. This lot must have been tailing us since then.

The reason the Carbuncle Stones weren’t selling anymore in Esma was because they had supplied too many to the wealthy classes. This didn’t mean that they had to give up—no, they could merely continue the scheme elsewhere and make a killing until it reached the same point there. I imagined that this lot had wanted to repeat this forever, hopping from town to town and racking up a fortune. However, Tiesel had brought a swift end to their scheme before they were ready to call it quits. That was why they’d resorted to desperate measures.

There were countless adventurers who’d gone to a hazardous zone and never returned home—if they dispatched us here, then they could wash their hands of us without leaving any evidence. They would then be able to take the carbuncle for themselves, recruit another adventurer who could use magic, and restart the scheme. That was what they had planned, unaware of the particularities about carbuncles.

“That means we don’t need to capture these guys alive,” I said.

The guild stated that any outlaws who broke their contract needed to be hunted down and their Spheres retrieved, but they didn’t care whether these criminals were brought in dead or alive. However, if we were to prove that these fellows had a connection to that orc-like Hallabey, then we needed them alive. This was proving to be a real pain in the ass.

“Tiesel Kreyon,” one of them said. “We know your sister is due to be married tomorrow.”

Tiesel froze up.

“If you follow our demands, then we’ll let you return alive. Come here with that carbuncle now.”

They’d taken a family member hostage? What a blatant threat. It seemed like they’d gotten a good read on our combat abilities from our little scuffle. Having failed to ambush us, they’d realized that a fight would lead to injuries or death, so they’d decided to smooth talk our side into relenting to reduce our numbers. They were quick on their feet, and it was incredibly annoying.

I pondered what my next move should be. Tiesel and I had only known each other for a day. I didn’t know what he was going to prioritize.

“Listen here,” Tiesel said. He usually spoke in such a mild-mannered tone, but now it had dropped a full octave. “Don’t you dare lay a single finger on Sharney. If you do, I swear I’ll burn you from head to toe before destroying your eyes.”

“Talk about scary,” I muttered.

“Eep!” Leen squeaked.

Tiesel’s gaze had become a terrifying glare at the mention of his sister. Even from the side, Leen and I were shaking at the transformation his facial expression had undergone.

“If you care that much about your sister, then it would be wise to comply with our demands,” one of the men said. “Go.”

“Right,” came a reply from one of the men.

I sensed one of them breaking from the group. I doubted they would let their long-range combatant move from an advantageous location, so it was probably the one wielding the spear. Or maybe they had more in hiding.

“Tch...”

If they were bringing Sharney into this, then they should’ve changed tack as soon as Tiesel had told them he wasn’t going to supply them with Carbuncle Stones anymore. But the reason they hadn’t done that was because killing or kidnapping someone in Esma would have garnered far too much attention. The guild would have sprung into action to bring in the outlaws. This was a measure they couldn’t have used otherwise. It was thanks to us being here in this hazardous zone with no one else around that they could resort to violence without worry.

It would be easy to just brush aside their comments as a bluff, but if we let that spear-wielding outlaw get to Esma before us, then that threat would become real, and they’d end up with the upper hand.

“You’re adventurers, so think about this pragmatically. Your lives are a cheap price to pay for your sister’s safety, no?” the man went on.

The quickest way to secure my and Leen’s own safety was to immobilize Tiesel and render him unable to betray us. Unfortunately that would leave us outnumbered...

“Hakura?” Tiesel asked, staring at me pointedly. “We need to eliminate them immediately then chase after the one that ran away.”

“Agreed.”

“As soon as I give the signal, close your eyes. You too, Leen.”

“O-Okay, I will.”

We were quick to put a plan into action. Tiesel and I leaped out from behind our trees—I was on the right, he was on the left.

“Tch!”

The crossbow-wielding outlaw focused on me. He must have been ready to fire the moment one of us moved, for the bolt came whistling my way as soon as he clocked me.

“I dunno about the other two, but you’re an idiot,” I muttered.

I grabbed the bolt in midair and threw it to the ground. This was no issue for me. I’d been able to avoid getting hit by Leen’s random attacks, so dealing with an attack I knew was coming was easy.

“It doesn’t matter who’s wielding it, a crossbow’s only so strong.”

They were easier to operate than bows, but they were machines that fired bolts automatically. Therefore they didn’t receive the physical boons that a Sphere gave.

As soon as the enemy realized that his crossbow wouldn’t work, he threw it to the ground and drew a dagger from his waist. Perhaps this was his main weapon. He lowered his stance and lunged at me.

The sword-wielding outlaw quickly closed the gap with Tiesel. He jumped into action to prevent another Flarema spell from coming his way. I glanced over and saw Tiesel’s lips move.

“Columina,” he muttered.

I followed Tiesel’s command and closed my eyes. I caught a brief glimpse of an incredible amount of light spilling forth from his Sphere. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell that it was powerful enough to blind you if you looked directly at it. I wondered what happened to the outlaw who got a full serving of this blinding light.

“GYAAAAGH!”

By the time he had seen what was going on, it was too late. When I opened my eyes, I realized that he’d dropped his sword, flung his hands over his face, and was on the ground writhing in agony.

“I told you I’d destroy your eyes. I just didn’t say I’d do it first,” Tiesel said, his voice thick with bloodlust. His face was still as terrifying as earlier.

Light magic was called Luminari. It wasn’t simply the kind of handy, inoffensive magic that could provide light in a dark spot or something—it had the level of firepower to blind humans and monsters alike. Light, too, possessed heat, and so even I felt a wave of warmth despite not being right up close to Tiesel. That outlaw’s eyes had not come out of this unscathed.

“Ngh...”

Whereas the crossbow-slash-dagger-wielding outlaw hadn’t received a direct hit, he’d instinctively reacted to the light and had turned his face away from Tiesel. It was more than enough time for me to strike.

“Gyaaagh!”

For how quiet they’d been, their screams were unrefined. I watched his right hand thud to the ground before I put away my sword.

“Right, let’s tail him!” I said.

The spear-wielding outlaw shouldn’t be too far away. With Leen, who knew the quickest route through this place, we’d be able to catch up to them soon.

However, my Sphere started ringing an alarm bell in my brain. Something was coming from above.

“Tiesel!” I shouted.

Just as Tiesel reacted, a man wielding a hand axe came crashing down from the trees above. Crap, there had been another! He must have been hiding in the trees and reduced the efficacy of Tiesel’s Luminari spell.

“Ngh!”

Tiesel managed to dodge forward and avoid the attack just in time, but he tripped. The outlaw then put a boot on Tiesel’s back and raised his axe.

Can I throw my sword from this distance? No, I need to try—

“Hakura, get down!” Leen shouted.

It was a miracle that I reacted in time. I crashed to the ground, and a split second later...

“Miiii...FOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

...a beam of light shot through the trees!

This wasn’t like a Luminari spell, which spread light in all directions—this was a laser-thin beam of light that was directed at one spot. It traveled at the speed of light and razed right through the outlaw’s shoulder.

“GWAAAGH!”

The outlaw’s arm went soaring into the air, axe and all. The flesh was singed and burning; the blood evaporated as soon as it poured out. Neither the outlaw nor Tiesel understood what had just happened. I myself was facing away from Leen and had only barely caught what had happened.

“What just ha— No way!”

Tiesel’s voice was filled with shock. I looked in the direction of his gaze.

“Mi mi miii!”

“H-He’s skinny?!” Tiesel and I exclaimed in unison.

The creature waiting for us wasn’t the chubby carbuncle that we knew well. What leaped from Leen’s arms cut such a sharp figure that I wouldn’t have thought it was the same monster. With quick paw steps, it jumped into Tiesel’s lap and nuzzled into him with a satisfied sound. Tiesel was sitting up and neither of us could follow what had occurred.

“What just happened?” I said.

“That was a carbuncle’s lightray attack. They can store mana in the gemstone on their forehead and fire out a compressed beam of light. All excess fat is consumed in the process, so this carbuncle’s attack ended up being quite powerful.”

“Oh, it can fire a lightray... Are you serious?!”

“Many people don’t realize this since carbuncles aren’t all too aggressive, but these monsters live in mana-dense places...and they’re incredibly powerful.”

We had a carbuncle on our hands that had packed up so much mana that it had gotten fat... Leen had said that I’d end up getting “burned” if I continued to bully the carbuncle, but that was a huge understatement—if I was unlucky, I’d be killed on the spot.

Before a single drop of blood could touch the floor, the outlaw’s wound had carbonized and was smoking. It probably hurt like hell, but they’d come to kill us—they’d long lost any chance of sympathy.

“We lost the spear-wielder, though... Leen, is there a way we can catch up to him?” I asked.

Having Leen here to guide us through the hazardous zone was a real boon. If the spear-wielder was struggling to escape from here, then we could quickly find him.

“No. It’s already over,” Leen said bluntly.

“Huh?”

Just as I was about to ask what she meant by that, we all heard something.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Accompanied by a scream and the crunching of branches up above, the spear-wielder came crashing down from the sky.

“Gurgh... Ngh...”

Well, he didn’t so much as “fall” as seemed to have been violently thrown here, I supposed. There were vines tangled up around his legs, and as we followed them to their source, we saw it.

“Th-The treant?!” I exclaimed.

“Yup. Thank you for catching him!” Leen said to it.

Was this the same one that I’d accidentally leaned on...? I couldn’t identify the differences, but whatever the case, this treant had delivered the outlaw right back to us.

Leen stroked its trunk, and it shook its body (in glee, maybe, I didn’t know) and some leaves fluttered down.

“When did you ask it to do that? And how?” I asked.

“Heh heh. I’m a monstermancer. Communicating with monsters is all part of the job.”

As she puffed out her chest in pride, she pointed. I followed the direction of her finger. Some dryads popped their heads out from between the branches of the treant.

“There!” “Shiny!” “Glowy!” (or so Leen claimed they said.)

“Treants and dryads live in harmony with one another. I had the dryads deliver my message to the treant nearby,” Leen said. A dryad hopped onto her hand and she gently petted it. “While I was hiding behind the tree, I asked the dryads for assistance. I told them that I needed help catching someone, since there were some bad people who were messing up the forest.”

“Easy!” “Did best!” “Yahoo!” they shouted.

“So you didn’t even need us,” I said.

“No, no, without you, Hakura, I would’ve been squished flat! Like a pancake!”

“I guess so. Well, we can say we’ve made up now and—”

“I can’t waaait to see what you got for me...”

I wouldn’t be let off the hook so easily it seemed.

Anyway, it was about time to calm down Tiesel. He was still kicking the collapsed outlaws in his anger.

“Cool it, Tiesel. We need at least one of them alive,” I said.

“Then I can do what I want with the other three?!” he replied.

“Yeah. It’ll be too much of a pain to carry all of them.”

I spoke in a voice loud enough for all of them to hear and noticed each outlaw flinch in response. One had his eyes burned out, one had lost his hand, one had his arm razed off, and one probably had all of his bones broken. Their fates were pretty much decided at this point, but from our standpoint, we needed at least one alive to prove that they were in cahoots with the merchant. We could just take the Spheres from the others and deliver them to the guild.

“W-Wait...!” the sword-wielder said in a feeble voice, a hand still covering his eyes. “I’ll talk! So please, have mercy...”

“On who?”

“On...all of us... Please.”

“You do realize that when we hand you over to the guild, you’ll be getting the death penalty, right?”

If an adventurer resorted to robbery or murder for their own gain, they would be punished with the most severe method in the guild’s rule book. Either they would have their Spheres ripped out and be sentenced to the chopping block, or they’d be transferred to the nation’s own judicial services. Violent theft and murder were treated pretty similarly wherever you went.

“We can negotiate! We have...important intel...”

“Hmph...”

Well, I supposed it was a hassle to kill them ourselves. We’d leave the rest to the people whose job it was to sort out these issues. The question we needed to ask was clear.

“Who ordered you to come here?” I asked.

I asked the obvious question and received an obvious response.

◆

We finished stripping away the outlaws’ weapons and equipment, removed their Spheres, then tied them up. Now we were able to get back to the main mission. We’d come here to return a certain carbuncle.

“Mi...foo...!”

The black carbuncle was all tuckered out from its attack, so it was spread out on the ground as if it wanted us to leave it be. I wanted to smack the cheeky thing, but then the dryads started to yammer once again to Leen.

“Found them!” “Brought them!” “Praise!”

The dryads were jumping about, and in the next second, a chorus of squeaks erupted.

“Myuu!” “Myu?” “Mimimimi!” “Mi, foo, mifoo!” “Mii mii!” “Miifoo!” “Myum, myum...” “Mi...!”

A whole group of carbuncles suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Whuh?!”

The outlaws’ attack had put me on high alert, but I hadn’t detected the carbuncles’ presence until they suddenly appeared. It was as if they’d just popped into existence.

“W-Wow, there are so many of them!” Tiesel said. Even though he had been living with one for the past year, he seemed surprised.

There were white ones, light-blue ones, yellow ones, red ones—all of them had different colored fur, with no two alike.

“They’re...thinner than I imagined,” Tiesel said.

Yeah. If I were to choose my words, they were pretty slender creatures. I’d thought that Tiesel’s carbuncle had slimmed down a lot after firing off that lightray, but it was still chunkier than the others. Apparently it hadn’t burned off all of its fat just yet.

“Mi, miiii!” Tiesel’s carbuncle squeaked.

The horde of carbuncles surrounded Tiesel’s black carbuncle and began a fluffy pawed beatdown.

“Myu myu myu myu myu mii!” they chorused.

“Mi... Miifoo?!” Tiesel’s carbuncle replied.

I didn’t need Leen to interpret this for me. The group were asking where this one had gone and Tiesel’s carbuncle was apologizing. Or something like that. Probably.

“Mi... Foooon...”

While the carbuncles all ganged up on Tiesel’s one, another carbuncle spoke up as it padded to the group with heavy, fluffy pawsteps. This carbuncle was three times bigger than the rest and was covered in perfectly white fur. It was bigger than the black carbuncle in a different sense and had thick, fluffy fur that covered its eyes. My impression was that this was the elder.

“The elder!” Leen said.

“So I was right, huh.”

“Mii... Foo? Mifoo?” the elder said, cocking his head as he looked up at Leen.

“Myu. Miiimyumi, miimi,” Leen replied, pointing at Tiesel and the black carbuncle. She was probably giving the explanation.

“Mifooooo...”

The elder carbuncle thudded over to Tiesel’s carbuncle.

“Myu...?” the black carbuncle said, lifting up its head with trepidation.

“Myuuuuun!” the elder shouted before performing a full body tackle.

“Myuu?!” the black carbuncle said. It crashed to the ground and did three rolls before it bonked into a tree. It came to a halt, all of its limbs splayed out.

After that, the elder turned toward us and bowed his head. He said, “Myuuumyu... Mifoon...” Was he apologizing...?

“Myu myu,” Leen replied. (“Don’t worry!”, apparently.)

“Myu...” the black carbuncle murmured. It tottered over and stood in front of Tiesel. It raised its forepaws up to him and said, “Myumyumii myumi!”

“Yeah. Thank you too,” Tiesel said.

They’d lived together for a whole year. I imagined that they could just about work out what the other wished to say. The carbuncle was probably saying goodbye. The other carbuncles squeaked and one by one, the gemstones on their foreheads started to glow.

“Whoa!”

The light enveloped them, and in the next instant, they began to disappear, one after the other, including the elder, as if they’d never been here. With a chorus of squeaking, they all vanished, until finally the black carbuncle did too with one last “mimyuu!”

The woods had been so lively, but they fell into silence once more as if none of this had happened.

“Hey, Leen? Can carbuncles just vanish and appear outta nowhere...?” I asked.

“Yes, when moving, they use special ‘paths’ that fairies and spirits use which humans can’t detect. They escape through them the second they sense danger, making them tricky to find.”

“Right... I see.”

“If you try to chase one, they’ll run away or use their lightray, so you need to be careful.”

“Yeah, I learned that today.”

I accepted what Leen had said, but I didn’t fully understand it. All I could do was nod along. Anyway, our quest was over. We just needed to drag these outlaws home.

“I’m glad we returned him back safely. If I’d come here alone, I probably would have died,” Tiesel said, turning to face us. “I owe you both my life. Thank you.”

“I was just doing my job,” I said.

“C’mon, Hakura, you don’t need to be so moody! Just accept his thanks!” Leen said.

I looked down at my feet and saw a whole pile of glittering Carbuncle Stones. Not just the ones of the same color that had flooded Esma—there were red, blue, purple, and more stones from the whole diverse range of carbuncles that had just been here. If we took them home, we’d earn enough to build a house on the spot.

“Wow!” “So many!” “Yay!”

The dryads had come close and were enjoying the gemstones with excitement. The treant which had captured the spear-wielder also reached out a branch to pick up a stone and throw it into one of its notches. Even a monster as big as it wasn’t hoarding all the Carbuncle Stones for itself and was choosing which it would like.

“A snack for monsters, huh...” I muttered.

It was people who had decided to give these things value and sell them for money, and they had been led astray by their artificial worth. As this thought came to mind, everything started to feel so stupid.

“So how about it? Shall we take one home too?” Leen asked, popping her head in front of me, as if she had read my thoughts.

“Nah. I’m sick of gemstones,” I said with complete honesty, before we began the journey back.

△

Hallabey Salwarlay was the name he gave, but this was not his real home name.

Salwarlay was the name of the largest business city in the world, and Hallabey believed that flaunting that he had once called the place his home would improve his chances as a tradesman. In truth, he was born in a small, impoverished village located in a rural part of Corsueny that only locals would have heard of. Perhaps that was why he ended up latching onto the dream of becoming a merchant and making it big. He would wear luxurious clothes, wear the finest jewelry, live in a splendid manor, have a beautiful wife, and achieve everything he wanted through his own grit.

One may view these aspirations as shallow, but it was a fact of life that the world ran on money alone.

When Hallabey found out about this infinite supply of Carbuncle Stones, he thought he found the gateway to unlock all of his desires. That has-been-noble brat had warned him that selling the entire stock at once would result in a devaluation of the product, but the kid didn’t know that you needed funds to start a business! He didn’t know the first thing about economics. He was an amateur who shouldn’t stick his neck where it didn’t belong, and he should know that he owed Hallabey everything, especially for saving him and his sister. Hallabey had initially wondered what point there was in saving some stupid blue-blooded kids who didn’t have any ennies to their name, but he later realized that his master must have foreseen the future windfall when he told him to help out.

All the same, Hallabey viewed his master as a fool too.

“You’ll never be an honest merchant!” his master had stated before kicking him out. Hallabey assumed that his master had done this out of fear of the potential of his trading. After all, those brats had asked Hallabey for help. A successful merchant needed good connections and even better luck. He had wanted to become a bigshot, so he had taken on debt to purchase land, a store, selling rights, and nice clothes to help with negotiations. That was why he had sold as much as he could. And where was the harm? He had the stock, so getting rich off of it was better than letting them get dusty.

As time passed, they stopped selling, and the pile of inventory only grew. Hallabey had made his investments with the assumption that he would sell through all of his stock, so he’d never really worried about this possibility. After all, he had quickly worked out what he needed to do: if they weren’t selling in Esma, then all he needed to do was find pastures new.

The problem was the damned guild.

When one sold Carbuncle Stones, the rule was that you needed to go to the guild to have them appraised and get proof that they were genuine items. Those busybodies wanted to know who and where they were sourced from, what routes they had taken. They were incorrigible. How the hell was he meant to do business this way?

Hallabey didn’t like adventurers. They were constantly broke yet thought they were better than everybody else. To top it off, they had the gall to quibble with him during sales! They should just pay the damn price and leave—why the hell were they whining about minor problems like his products being “defective,” his information being incorrect, or him “swindling” them?! Who cared what the difference between bronze and iron was? As long as the sword was hard, why did that matter?

Another problem was that Tiesel was the one supplying the Carbuncle Stones. Hallabey regretted not stealing the damn carbuncle and hiring a wizard to feed it the mana it needed to keep producing Carbuncle Stones. He should’ve been more careful and kept everything under his own watch. Why hadn’t he realized this earlier? While he had been annoyed at how much it would’ve cost to secretly hire some outlaws to do his dirty work, that wouldn’t have mattered once he got his hands on the carbuncle. At the end of the day, he would finally have his golden goose in the palm of his hand.

Speak of the devil, Hallabey thought as he heard a knock at the door. He’d paid those outlaws a handsome sum, yet they’d sure taken their sweet time. He didn’t mind, though. If things went as well as he envisioned them going, then there was no harm in being generous on this one occasion. He might be working with them for some time.

Hallabey opened the door with a smile—he needed to show his best face when doing business, after all. As the expensive double doors gave way, the beautiful evening light shone in, as if reflecting the glittering future that lay ahead of him...

◆

Laws differed between countries and lands, but one common rule was that hiring someone to commit murder was worthy of imprisonment. If that involved hiring outlaws to do the dirty work, then the adventurer’s guild wouldn’t sit idly by and allow its authority and trust to be jeopardized.

“E-Enough of this nonsense! Where’s your proof?! I don’t know a thing! Nothing!” the orc-like Hallabey roared at us.

We had taken the outlaws back to Esma with us, and based on their testimonies we were able to capture Hallabey without much effort. Esma’s local guard and the guild’s own staff would work together to investigate things, and once his crimes had been proven, he would be punished. Whether he received capital punishment would be decided in the days to come, but as the one whose life had been on the line, I wouldn’t give a toss if he rotted in a cell for the rest of his days.

“Thank you for your hard work, Hakura,” Erifell said.

“Yeah, you too,” I replied.

The person who’d taken charge of everything had been the proficient guild receptionist, Erifell. We had returned from Esartella Gorge, handed over the outlaws, explained everything, then headed home.

I’d been thinking that we’d done all we could for this whole debacle, and I was considering when to apologize to Leen when I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I found Erifell at our inn, and she’d asked me to accompany her. That was where I was now.

Erifell had questioned me about the finer details of the events as well as verified the identities of the outlaws, among other things. Leen was still fast asleep this early, and Tiesel (who normally would’ve been the one to come) needed to prioritize Sharney’s wedding, so being the only one with free time, I was chosen to be questioned.

“I think we should be able to sort things out smoothly now. Thank you again,” Erifell said in a quiet voice as she glanced over at Hallabey’s back (who was nearby and still whining loudly).

“Hey, there’s something I wanna ask,” I said.

“Which is?”

It was Erifell who had asked me (or more specifically, Leen) to help with Tiesel’s situation. Tiesel himself had also claimed that Erifell had told him about Leen when he came to her about his problem.

“The guild was worried about the whole Carbuncle Stone market crash, weren’t they?”

“Yes, that’s true,” Erifell stated, as if this were public information. “The guild’s responsibility is to ensure that adventurers complete their goals.”

An adventurer might be lucky enough to acquire a Carbuncle Stone as a trophy after a difficult quest. I had heard stories from my seniors, people at the tavern, and even the person in question about how obtaining one and the subsequent riches had changed their life. Everyone prayed they’d be lucky enough to find one for themselves. That was why the guild couldn’t stand to let such treasure be devalued by this whole affair.

“Tiesel didn’t come to you, did he? You’re the one who worked out that Tiesel was the source of the Carbuncle Stones in Esma.”

“That’s correct. He didn’t do anything warranting punishment, but I had to make several requests in order to convince him to stop what he was doing.”

Capturing a carbuncle and raising it wasn’t against the law, which meant that no one could forcibly prevent him from what he was doing. However, Tiesel was an adventurer. If the guild opted to fall out of favor with him, then his future career would be impeded. And if the guild really did get angry with him, then he was well aware that there wasn’t much he could do to stop them. Fortunately Tiesel had just completed the tiara for his sister, so it had been the perfect time to weigh up everything on the scales. Or at least I imagined so.

The problem had been with that stupid orc’s plans and tenacity.

“One condition was that Tiesel wished for someone to take care of the carbuncle. But I didn’t realize just how...plump it had gotten,” Erifell said before bursting into laughter. She’d been laughing that day when she gave me the request too. The scene of the chubby carbuncle must have really amused her. Erifell coughed before lowering her head. “Excuse me. Maybe I should have told you everything at the start.”

“Nah, it’s fine. At any rate, Leen’s the one who decides things, not me.”

Erifell cocked her head as if she’d suddenly realized something.

“About Leen... Have you managed to patch things up with her?” she asked.

“I’m just about to try...”

Yeah, I still hadn’t done it. I’d spent enough time here, so Leen would likely be waking up soon.

Erifell sighed. “Is that right...”

She looked at me as if asking what the hell I was doing while I headed back to the inn.

◆

When I got back, Leen was just coming out of her room, rubbing her eyes drowsily.

I readied myself, wondering if I should just get things over with, but my paranoia that this wasn’t the right “situation” that Leen wanted stopped me in my tracks.

“I’m hungry. Let’s get some food,” Leen said, deciding what was to come.

We headed to the Ram’s Hoof—Sharney’s workplace. Leen had said she’d seen some items on the menu the other day that she wanted to try. It was still a bit early for lunch, but I’d gone without breakfast so I agreed.

“I’m jealous, though. I really wish I could’ve gone to the wedding!” Leen said.

“Yeah, why didn’t they just get married at Esma Church?” I said.

It seemed like a waste of time and energy to head to Esartella (the church this time) two days in a row. Not only that, I’d only spoken with Sharney once, so there was no real point for us to come since we weren’t friends.

“Huh, I didn’t realize you were interested in weddings like a normal person,” I said.

“Of course I am! You get to wear a beautiful dress and have everyone fawn over you unconditionally!”

At that moment, I wondered if my apology and gift would even work on someone who thought like this.

“Did Tiesel tell you anything about the wedding? Like who the groom is or what design Sharney went with for her dress?”

“I ain’t that interested in someone’s sister, but... Oh yeah, he showed me the tiara he made for her.”

I remembered that luxurious tiara he’d shown me after sharing his heavy family story. It had completely slipped my mind. This was Tiesel’s own private life and had nothing to do with the quest so I had forgotten to mention.

“Wow, what was it like?”

Leen asked me, so I thought I might as well reply and tell her without much care what I’d seen.

“It was made of silver. It was pretty fancy and had dozens of Carbuncle Stones made by his black carbuncle over it. I dunno if it’d be worth much here, but I bet you could sell it and get enough money to build a huge house, huh?”

It was a symbol of Tiesel’s former noble family, so I doubted he would sell it.

“Hakura,” Leen said after some silence.

“Yeah?”

“What did you just say?”

Leen had stopped walking. Something was off. She looked deathly serious. Was she worried? Panicked? A trail of sweat coursed down her cheek. It was the sort of expression one gave when you’d made an unfixable mistake.

“Well, I, uh, Tiesel made Sharney a tiara and...”

“Tell me! You said that the tiara was decorated with Carbuncle Stones, right? Lots of them?!”

“Y-Yeah! It was modeled after his old family heirloom and... Hey, Leen?!”

Leen had turned around and started running. I dashed after her as passersby yelped in surprise and leaped out of our way.

“H-Hey, where are you going? What about lunch?!”

“Now’s not the time for that! We need to hurry!”

Not the time for lunch? She wasn’t just acting off—this must have been an emergency.

“You don’t have to stop running, but tell me what’s going on!” I said.

“Ugh, were you listening yesterday?!”

“Yeah, but you said so much that I can’t sift through it all!”

“Like I explained, Carbuncle Stones are a vital source of mana for monsters!”

“Yeah, and... Oh... Oh no!”

Esartella Church was located in a beautiful spot atop a cliff that overlooked Esartella Gorge... I felt the blood drain from my face. I finally got what Leen was hinting at.

When Leen finally stopped, we were in front of the exclusive carriage service for adventurers.

“This is an emergency! We’ll pay as much as you need, so please give us a ride in your fastest carriage to Esartella Church!” Leen pleaded.

The staff acted quickly and indicated a carriage for us to get into. Leen grabbed my hand and dragged me inside.

“As fast as you can! Please!”

“You got it! Today’s that wedding, right? Overslept, huh?”

The driver made small talk as the carriage departed. Leen and I rattled around in the back as if we were nothing more than simple cargo. There wasn’t anything we could do until we arrived except pray that we made it in time.

☆

The peals of the old bell reverberated out into the open sky, celebrating the union of the bride and groom.

From the nearest pew, Tiesel Kreyon was watching his darling sister as she held a colorful bouquet in her arms, wearing a pure white dress with a sparkling tiara atop her head that glittered sunlight. The groom was a bashful and pleasant-looking man. If Tiesel was being honest with himself, he had many thoughts on the man who was to steal his sister away from him, but seeing them smiling together, holding each other’s hand while everyone congratulated them, this jealousy seemed to fade away to be replaced by a warm gratitude.

Ever since the Kreyon family had fallen, their lives had been nothing but struggle. Sharney was a noble woman who shouldn’t have had to work as a waitress in a restaurant. All the same, she never once complained. She always smiled to the point that Tiesel felt bad for making his sister worry about him with all the danger he got into as an adventurer.

So the fact that she found her life partner at the place where she worked seemed like fate. It was almost as if the goddess herself had blessed her. Now all that Tiesel wanted was for his sister to be happy. Although, seeing her now, he realized that wasn’t quite right. In this moment, she was the happiest she had ever been, so Tiesel instead wished for her happiness to last forever. He wanted to support their happy lives—with this thought in mind, he let the tears flow and put more energy into his applause.

“Thank you, everyone!” Sharney said, tears glinting in her own eyes. “And to my big brother, Tiesel... Thank you! I’m so happy right now, and this happiness will last for the rest of my life!”

At this point, his vision was almost completely blurred. He wished he could engrave this image in his mind and capture it forever. He sniffed to clear his nose, wiped a few tears away, then clapped even louder.

“Congratu—”

However, before Tiesel could wish his sister happiness, a fierce wind ripped through the room. From the back of the church, the side that faced the gorge, it appeared.

Alongside an earsplitting screech came a monster with an eagle’s head, a lion’s body, fierce talons, and wings: a gryphon. This wasn’t any regular gryphon either. It was the master of the hazardous zone known as Esartella Gorge. Two times larger than your average gryphon, it bore scars all over its body, speaking to the fierce battles it had been through.

Such a specimen was rare, so the guild had detailed this particular gryphon thusly: A living calamity that brings fierce winds in its wake, a great gryphon known as the Scarred.

◆

“Waaaaagh!”

“Are we too late?!” I shouted.

As soon as we arrived at Esartella Church, a high-pitched scream cut through the air.

“No way! A gryphon’s attacking the church!” the driver had said, drawing a sword and leaping out from his perch. We’d explained the situation on the way, and thankfully he’d listened to us.

Esartella Church was next to a hazardous zone, so there should have been adventurers here on guard to protect the guests. However, things weren’t looking good. The Scarred—the gryphon that was master of this area—was circling the air as it screeched. As soon as the adventurers—wielding arrows and magic—came into formation, the Scarred plunged toward them at breakneck speed.

“Waaagh!”

The adventurers were hit by the ferocious attacks from its claws and beak. If this wasn’t bad enough, the mighty flaps of the gryphon’s wings caused arrows and adventurers alike to be blown away.

With another screech, the Scarred rose high up into the sky. It was clear what it was looking at.

“Sharney!” I roared. “Get rid of the tiara! It wants your tiara!”

Sharney was being protected by Tiesel and a man whom I assumed was her groom. Atop her head was the tiara covered in Carbuncle Stones. To the gryphon, it probably looked like a delectable feast for the taking. With such festivities being held right above its nest, it was only a matter of time before it would have come.

“N-No! Tiesel made this for— Ngh!” came Sharney’s reply.

“This isn’t the time for that! Dammit! Leen?!” I said.

“Give me a little time! Just three minutes!” she replied.

Leen was tapping the ground with her staff, causing green particles to scatter through the air.

“Think you can do it?” I said.

“I will! So please, just keep her at bay for a little while!”

“You’re asking me to stop that?!”

Apparently a monstermancer was granted the special privilege of not being attacked by monsters in addition to the ability to talk to them. This only applied to Leen, so her presence wouldn’t stop the gryphon from going for the tiara. The only way for us to stop it would be to calm it down and bring it into a state where Leen could reason with it.

“And make sure you don’t kill her! Without her, the balance of power here will fall apart!” Leen added.

“Ugh, you and your extra requests...”

We were atop a cliff which was the ideal terrain for a gryphon. This was not going to be easy.

While Leen and I were talking, the Scarred screeched again and distanced itself. I could tell that it was preparing for another diving attack. I needed to buy time, which meant my next move was clear.

“Tiesel!” I shouted. “When the Scarred comes back, can you fire off a Luminari spell?!”

Tiesel, who was still protecting Sharney with his body, glanced over at me.

“Y-Yeah, I can, but the guests will get caught in it!” he said.

“I just need you to blind it for a moment! Slime, you there?!”

“What is it, lad?”

The slime leaped from Leen’s arm and bounced toward me. Only now did it dawn upon me that it had spent all of yesterday silent in front of Tiesel.

“I need your help. Don’t you dare move from there!” I commanded.

“What?!”

The Scarred was readying its claws. Less than a minute had passed, but it was already bearing down on us.

“Close your eyes, everyone! Columina!”

Tiesel’s light spell brought further brightness to the area already lit up by the light of the sun. It wasn’t as strong as the variant he’d used against the outlaws, but gryphons had good sight so it should be effective. If it completely lost its sight, it might crash into the ground. So I was pretty certain that a little shock would cause it to head back up instead...

“Slime, get ready for my feet!” I said.

“Right! Wait...?!”

“Bounce me as hard as you caaaan!”

“Gweeeh!”

I jumped, landed on the slime, and used its natural springiness to launch into the air. While the gryphon was slowed down by the shock of the light, I managed to land on its back.

“How about that?!” I shouted.

The gryphon screeched in response.

“Ngh... L-Lad... What recklessness!”

I looked down and saw that the slime looked awfully squished. Hopefully it would forgive me.

“Ngh... Hey! Been a...couple of days! Whoa!” I said, but only received a screech in reply.

I wasn’t Leen, so this gryphon wouldn’t understand me. Neither would it ignore the fact that it had been partially blinded and now had someone on its back. The Scarred began a perilous ascent into the sky to try and knock me off.

I gripped its neck as tightly as I could, trying with all my might not to fall to my doom. The world spun in all directions as I was flung around. Each flap of its wings sent gusts that threatened to peel me away.

“Grrrk...!”

However, as long as I was here, this gryphon wouldn’t have the wherewithal to attack Sharney. I just needed to hold on for the three minutes Leen asked for!

“Oh no...”

With another screech, I felt my body being lifted up.

“Crap...”

The gryphon had looped its tail around my leg. It was a huge beast, so even this part of its body had a lot of power. To top it off, the pressure on my body was heightened by the wind and centrifugal force.

“Grah... Daaaammit!”

With the sound of feathers being torn away, my fingers were pulled away from the gryphon. I was thrown off, and I went into freefall. What lay beneath me was the middle of Esartella Gorge. I’d be dead when I hit the ground, and even if by some miracle I survived, I’d be monster feed before long.

Apparently the Scarred wasn’t satisfied with gravity doing the job. Roaring, it chased after me as I fell. It wanted to finish me, but this would be my last chance too. It didn’t matter whether my sword or my hand managed to grab it, I needed to stop falling. It was a matter of seconds until the creature collided with me. Five, four, three...

I wasn’t able to count any further. The first strange thing was that my body collided with something soft. The second thing was the appearance of multiple beams of technicolor light that created a barrier between me and the gryphon. This bright wall emitted enough heat that the gryphon had no choice but to abort its dive and fly away.

“Wh-Why the hell’s it so soft?!” I couldn’t help but exclaim.

My hands were touching my perch, and whatever had caught me felt like a plush cushion. But how could a cushion catch me so high in the air? The cushion itself told me the answer.

“Miii, foohoo!”

“E-Elder?!”

Yup... The carbuncle elder had caught me out of thin air. Despite the fact that I was magnitudes larger, he had caught me as he raced through the air, surrounded by white particles of light. But that wasn’t all.

“Myuuu!” “Mifoofoo!” “Myuu, mifoo!” “Mimimimi!” “Miifiii!”

The whole pack was here. The elder’s pack of carbuncles had all appeared out of nowhere and were squeaking as they dashed around the sky. A pack of little multicolored, fluffy monsters all emitting light as they skittered about... I wondered how this looked from down below.

“Miiiii!”

A slightly pudgy black carbuncle appeared from the crowd. He was in front of the Scarred, who had stopped in confusion, and was shaking his head.

“Mii fii! Mii foo!”

“Krrrrwl, krrrwl...”

The gryphon made a guttural sound in the face of the black carbuncle’s protestations.

“Mifooo!”

With this squeak, all of the other carbuncles joined the black one and started hitting their foreheads against the gryphon’s beak. Their Carbuncle Stones plopped off one by one to rest in the Scarred’s beak!

“Mifoo!” the black carbuncle squeaked, panting, as if asking if this was enough.

The Scarred silently glanced over at the glittering tiara on Sharney’s head. It let out a tremendous screech, louder than any before, but didn’t pursue. With that, it flapped away to return to its nest down in Esartella Gorge.

“Did it give up...?” I asked.

“Mifoooon!” the elder carbuncle responded as he slowly descended to the ground. When we were close enough, I leaped down, and the elder nodded before floating away again.

“Thank you. You saved me,” I said.

“Mifoofoofoo!” the elder replied, as if to tell me not to worry about it. The carbuncles all floated up into the air.

“Hakura, are you okay?!” Leen asked while dashing toward me, a slightly squished slime in her arms.

“Yeah, just barely. How about you?”

“Some stuff is broken and a few adventurers got knocked over, but no one’s badly injured,” Leen replied. “More importantly! How dare you do something so dangerous!”

“You’re the one who said to buy you some time...”

“Yeah, but I didn’t ask you to leap onto a gryphon’s back! Ugh, you could’ve died! What would’ve happened if they hadn’t come to save you?!”

I looked up and saw the carbuncles circling the sky.

“Yeah... Did you ask them to do that?” I said.

“I did. I used the Carbuncle Stones on the tiara as a medium to call for the black carbuncle. They came quicker than I expected, thank goodness.”

“Myuuu!” “Miii!” “Mifoo mifoo!” “Myumiii!”

Their squeaks almost sounded like a song, and the particles of light that rained down seemed almost like their blessing.

“We can’t let the wedding be ruined. How about we just let this be a unique memory of the day?” Leen said.

I looked over to see Tiesel, Sharney, her loyal groom, and all the other guests gazing up at the carbuncles.

“I think that’s his way of saying thank you for taking care of him for the past year,” Leen went on.

From this distance, I could see the chubby little black carbuncle in the middle of the crowd. He was still a bit more lethargic compared to his friends, but he was gliding around as if to say that he was okay. There were some adventurers in the crowd, but no one here even thought about trying to capture them.

“Hey, Leen?” I said.

“Yes?”

I breathed a sigh of relief that I’d kept it close to me. If I’d left it with our things, it might’ve gotten blown away during the chaos. No one was looking at us, and Leen had lowered her guard. This was the time.

“About the other day... I’m really sorry.”

In my hands was a small piece of carefully crafted wood with a number of fine teeth carved into it. There were a number of fine grooves engraved into it and at one end was a little sunstone. It was a comb.

The people I’d spoken to over these past few days had advised me that if I’d hurt her hair, then the best thing to get her would be a present that would allow her to take care of it. It was an item that was practical above anything else.

When Leen had told me she had put her anger on hold, I’d lost all confidence that she’d like my choice, but something told me that if I missed this chance, I’d never be able to give it to her. But, well, if she still didn’t forgive me, I’d consider my next options. I’d got her this, so it would be a waste to just hold on to it.

“Hakura,” Leen said after a pause.

I wasn’t sure if her next words would be anger, dejection, or disappointment...

“Yeah?”

Leen chuckled. With the chorus of carbuncles and their particles of light around us, she said, “All right then. I forgive you.”

Despite the scene around us, those green eyes placed above that gentle smile of hers seemed most beautiful of all.

Epilogue

“Hakura, comb my hair!” Leen said.

“Huh?!”

In the end, we stayed for Sharney’s wedding and enjoyed the festivities that followed. We had just gotten back to the inn and were heading to our rooms when Leen sprang this sudden request on me. With the comb I’d given to her in hand, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into her room without letting me reply.

Even though the layout of her room wasn’t much different from mine, I’d found myself unwilling to come in here. Before I could swallow my awkwardness, Leen lined two chairs in a row and urged me to sit down in the one behind.

“Okay, take it away. Please be gentle as you go,” Leen said as she handed the comb to me.

“Are you being serious right now?”

“What do you mean?” Leen asked with round, confused eyes. Seriously?

“If it had a handle, it would be different, but a crescent shaped comb like this makes it difficult to comb every spot,” Leen said.

Well, she had a lot of hair, and it was long, so she had a point, but...

“And you gave it to me so that you could comb my hair, no?” she went on.

Of course I didn’t! I almost quipped, but kept to myself. Leen had finally cheered up, so I didn’t want to ruin her good mood so quickly. I decided to be a pragmatic adventurer and chose to commit to her request.

I sat on the chair behind Leen and lifted a lock of hair with trembling hands. I’d thought that her hair was like golden thread when I first saw her—it truly did feel like I was touching spun sugar. If I put in even slightly too much strength, I could easily rip her hair out again—such was the evanescent beauty that it evoked. With care, I placed the comb near her scalp and slowly drew it through her hair.

I was following the hair down, so naturally it wouldn’t be a difficult task, but it was frightening to see just how little resistance there was.

“Hey, you’re not bad, Hakura,” Leen said.

“I’m literally so terrified right now.”

Despite how nervous I was, Leen was utterly relaxed and seemed like she was having fun. As she hummed a little tune, I wondered how she could remain so calm. Wasn’t she scared to let me comb her hair after what I’d done to it only a few days earlier?

Each time the comb reached the bottom of her hair, a sweet scent tickled my nostrils. With each brush, I felt her hair grow smoother and less tangled. To my own surprise, I found the task growing easier as I went, and I completed it with relative ease.

“Hakura?” Leen said in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry for being mean. I know you didn’t do it on purpose and I know you were trying to apologize.”

I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell she had a terribly apologetic expression.

“No... I’m the one at fault this time.”

“Well, yes, but I really was so mad that I didn’t ever want to forgive you.”

“Uh-huh...”

“But that’s why I was so happy to see that you got me a comb. I realized that it really had been weighing on your mind.”

“I did get a lot of hints along the way.”

I wouldn’t have reached this answer without help. In that sense, I felt like I’d cheated somehow. This guilt was probably the biggest reason I hadn’t been able to give Leen the present sooner.

Leen swung her legs and spoke as if she could read my mind.

“Don’t you see? I’m happy that you put your head to the task all for me.”

“Is that right?”

“It is. You truly don’t understand a young maiden’s heart.”

I didn’t, and I doubted I ever would. That was a difficult task at the best of times and doubly so when dealing with Leen.

“By the way... You’ll help me comb my hair from here on out, won’t you, Hakura?”

“Excuse me?” I said after falling momentarily speechless.

I’d heard yet again something utterly incomprehensible. Why? How?

“I told you that I can’t comb all of my hair with this comb, didn’t I?”

I couldn’t reply.

It was true that I did really want to apologize, but I began to wonder if I’d chosen the wrong gift after all. All the same, that didn’t matter at this point. They said that a girl’s hair was as valuable as her life, so doing that was a small favor when I thought about what I’d done.

As I ruminated over this, the little orange gemstone embedded in the comb seemed to glitter in the light of Leen’s room as if communicating to me that I didn’t need to be so scared.

Afterword

Thank you for picking up Heir to a Monstermancer Volume 2: The Witch Hunter with the Obsidian Stone.

It has been a while since we last spoke. This is Damu Amato. I’m writing this afterword with the assumption that most people won’t have jumped right into volume 2 before reading the first one. If, however, you were enticed into buying a copy thanks to shirabii’s beautiful cover art, then I hope you pick up the first volume too.

Now then, I would first like to make an apology. In the afterword for the first volume, I said that I would wrap the story up in two volumes. I wondered if it was okay for Drecom to take such a big gamble on a newbie author like me. They were really committing to this story.

In picking up this volume, you may have thought, “The story developed quite a bit in volume 1, but we still don’t know anything about the characters’ goals or their personalities. Let’s see how this all ties together!” But, um, yes, as you may have noticed, well...

I must apologize. I really wanted to try my hand at writing content that wasn’t in the web or self-published versions, so we’ve ended up with a three-parter!

The trio’s journey will continue just a bit longer! (Are you sure, Drecom?!)

But don’t worry. I promise this story will reach a proper conclusion, so please bear with me for just a bit longer!

I’d also like to offer some thanks. Thank you to shirabii for giving this work color with your wonderful illustrations. They are truly wonderful.

Thank you to the sales and promotional teams and everyone at Drecom Media who helped make the publication of this book possible.

Thank you to my editor, I, despite the trouble I cause.

Thank you to you, the reader, who has picked up this volume. It’s thanks to you that this story can continue. If possible, I’d be very delighted if you picked up the next part of this story too.

Now then, hoping we meet again in the next volume... This isn’t goodbye, it’s see you next time!

To live, to die, to kill... These two have walked this path together, and their meeting shall soon reach its conclusion. Next time will be a story about life.