Prologue

It was a moment buried somewhere in the past—just before the great swordsman came to be known as the fallen Sword Saint.

“—and so, your responsibility for this defeat is beyond dispute!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The setting was a lavish hall, its floor covered in crimson carpet. Chandeliers lined the ceiling, each one costly enough to purchase a grand estate, and every pillar bore intricate carvings. Ceiling frescoes, ornate furnishings, and attending servants—all were without question the finest this land had to offer.

Beneath the portraits of past kings arrayed along the walls stood over a hundred nobles. Naturally, the one standing before the throne at the far end of the hall would have to be the king. And the somewhat shabby man now raising his voice so inelegantly was none other than the ruler of this land—the King of Lencia.

It was hard to tell beneath his beret-like hat, but his hair had been thinning—perhaps a tad too much for a man in his late thirties. His rotund figure spoke clearly of his poor health, and his height fell short of the norm. Though he wasn’t exactly handsome, he wasn’t particularly unsightly either, and there was a charm to his looks. Still, it was clear he was ashamed of his appearance. The handsome face of the man kneeling before him especially highlighted the difference between them.

Many of the nobles looked on with a smirk. Whether their mockery was aimed at the disgraced man or at the king himself was impossible to tell.

Perhaps it was no more than paranoia on the king’s part, but the disrespectful stares annoyed him, sharpening his voice with even greater fury.

“Geos,” the king declared. “I hereby strip you of the title of Sword Saint and relieve you of your command of the First Knight Order!”

The man—Geos—paused. “Understood, Your Highness.”

He bowed low at the king’s decree, his face devoid of emotion. His pride as the country’s greatest swordsman had just been trampled over, yet he showed no signs of protest, or even discontent.

Rather, it was a number of soldiers who showed dismay at the king’s words. They had heard of the king’s distaste for Geos the Sword Saint, but none must have believed he would stoop so low as to revel in humiliating him publicly when the nation was facing such a grave crisis. There was nothing they could do but endure the deep shame caused by the sheer folly of the king they’d once admired, and at the pitifulness of the empty man Geos had become.

The soldiers were also staggered by the lack of urgency among the officials and bureaucrats. The nation was by no means a great power, and now it was on the brink of collapse. Military spending had been slashed year after year, the king’s understanding of the army was pitiful, nobles were constantly making unreasonable demands, and crime had skyrocketed.

Even so, they had endured. They had continued to fight for the sake of the nation, but in the recent war, they had been driven to defeat due to the foolish interference of the nobles. The nation’s border had been pushed back significantly, and several key cities had already fallen into enemy hands.

And now they were placing the blame for this defeat on the Sword Saint who had perhaps earned the greatest glory on the battlefield? Even worse was that the nobles, driven by factional rivalries and the pleasures derived from jealousy, not only condoned this but welcomed it. Even knowing full well that such behavior was typical of the nobility, it was something most soldiers were simply unable to stomach.

In that moment, they must have come face-to-face with the reality that their nation was rotting, and that its demise loomed but a few steps away. They no longer made any effort to hide their growing anger. That very day, the chaos in the Kingdom of Lencia was sealed. Reparations, the formal relinquishment of its mining site, the torment of civilians by oppressive taxation and political unrest—no one living within the kingdom had imagined its fall would come so swiftly, nor its glory fade so rapidly. This was no longer the “Kingdom of Flowers” as it was once called; it was now a small nation rife with political and social unrest.

As chaos engulfed the nation, the Sword Saint was stripped of his rank and honor, cast down to the status of a mere knight. Was it out of mercy that his knighthood was left intact? No. It was a petty maneuver by the king, who could not bear the thought of Geos fleeing to serve another land.

Whether it was due to the loss of his daughter or to the king’s cruelty, Geos bore no resemblance to the heroic presence of his past. The nobles were shocked at how he now carried himself—like a dead man, his spirit utterly broken.

In time, the former Sword Saint, having lost everything he had, including his pride as a knight, began wandering the kingdom. And the nobles began gleefully and irresponsibly spreading rumors.

The former Sword Saint, driven by the despair of losing his child, has become a demon who delights in the slaughter of children.

No, he wields a magical sword that has now lost its luster and cuts people down, thirsty for blood.

No, he secretly trains to exact revenge upon the king.

Rumors of the knight spread across the kingdom, and although enough time had passed that people had forgotten about his existence, he still wandered the land as a ruined knight now stripped of both his will and heart.

Chapter 1: The Dragon’s Power

Was this a case of “out of the frying pan, into the fire”? Just as I’d thought we’d evaded death, a new problem had already surfaced.

I glanced up at Shiro and Kuro, who were now towering over me. “You two sure did grow a lot... Are you in any pain?”

“Hmm?” Shiro thought about it. “Nope!”

“Nooope.”

They seemed perfectly fine with their sudden growth. Well, just the fact that parts of their bodies had transformed into dragon parts, and that they looked way older, was a huge problem in and of itself.

That’s right. Shiro and Kuro hadn’t just partially transformed into dragons; their entire bodies had grown dramatically. They used to be about five years old, but now they looked like they were around twelve. And yet, there was no awkwardness in how they walked and moved, as if they’d been this age the entire time.

But the real issue wasn’t their sudden growth; it was their transformation. They had dragon bodies now. What blood type did they have? Were their nerves properly connected? The questions were endless, and so was the uncertainty about what side effects might surface.

“How’s your vision, Shiro?” I asked. “Kuro, does your arm feel off at all?”

“Fine!”

“Kuro feels kinda weeeird. My maaana.”

“Your mana?”

Now that she mentioned it, I could feel that Kuro’s arm was radiating intense mana, almost like it had been enhanced by a spell. Was this normal for her now?

Just then, Shiro raised her hand, suddenly changing her tune.

“Ah! Shiro too! It’s weird! I see something!”

She’d said something similar right after waking up. Apparently, she’d gained the ability to see mana. The fact that she hadn’t realized that it was unusual until Kuro mentioned something probably meant it had already become second nature to her.

“A dragon’s arm and a dragon’s eye, huh?” I said. “I suppose it’s not all that strange for them to possess some kind of special ability.”

“Special abilityyy?”

“Maybe we’re super strong now!” chirped Shiro.

Should I have them use some magic and see if anything’s changed? As I debated what our next course of action should be, I realized Shiro and Kuro were staring at my chest. No, maybe a little higher? But it’s not my face.

“Wh-What’s wrong?” I said.

“Thor, you have something on your neck.”

“It’s weeeird.”

“Huh?” My neck? I don’t see anything when I look down, but something did touch my chin. Something hard and slippery.

I reached up, afraid of what might be there, and my fingers brushed against something solid—there was something hard stuck on my neck. Huh? What is this?

“Let me fill a pot— Huh?”

I had meant to cast a spell to fill the pot with water and check my reflection, but the spell triggered far too smoothly. Calling it as natural as breathing might’ve been a stretch, but it activated instantly with just a tiny bit of mana. It actually produced nearly double the amount I’d intended, overflowing the pot and soaking the area around it.

“Thor?” asked Shiro.

“What’s wrooong?”

“Uh, nothing. Gimme a sec.”

I’ll look into how easy it was to cast a spell later. Right now, I need to see what I look like.

“Is this a...stone? A gemstone? And I have a black mark.”

Embedded in my neck was an oval, stonelike object about the size of a thumb, sort of like my Adam’s apple had turned to stone and was protruding out of my throat. It was red and smooth, but it wasn’t transparent like a gemstone. It was prettier than an average rock though—well, not all gemstones are transparent. Was this a dragon part like Shiro’s eye and Kuro’s arm? A dragon’s throat? I gave it a tug, but naturally, the stone didn’t come out. Pulling harder only made it hurt, yanking my neck with it. There were also small scales growing on my neck, so there was no doubt this was dragon-related too.

In the end, the only conclusion I could reach was that I didn’t understand any of it yet.

And then there was the other problem: the black mark that had suddenly appeared on my chest.

“Hmmm, what is this thing?”

It had an eerie shape, like a bat with its wings outstretched, and the only thing I could get from it was a sense of foreboding.

Actually, I have my suspicions. And if I’m right, things can’t get any worse...

“The Dungeon Curse.”

It was a cursed mark engraved by a being called dungeon malice. Anyone marked by it was fated to die exactly one year later, unless the curse was lifted. It was the nightmare of every dungeon explorer—the ultimate injustice.

I didn’t know if what my parents had said was true. Considering the kind of parents they were, it could’ve just been mercenary superstition. But then again, dungeon malice, which I’d always dismissed as a mere fairy tale, had turned out to really exist. That meant the curse could very well have been real too.

I tried a type of holy magic called Dispel, but it did nothing. Maybe this was different from an ordinary curse; maybe it was too strong to break with regular magic. I only have a year to lift this—

“Meow...”

“Wuffu...”

While I was still deep in thought, a pair of soft sighs reached my ears, followed by a sound that resembled the growl of a magical beast.

Instinctively, I tensed. But the source of the noise was Shiro’s and Kuro’s cute little stomachs.

“Thor...”

“I’m so hungryyy.”

Their bellies let out another roaring growl as they clutched them with pitiful expressions. Apparently, they were starving. And once they said it out loud, I realized that I was hungry too.

We’d eaten the dragon soup, but it must’ve been digested and absorbed when our bodies were remade. It made sense; the transformation must’ve burned an absurd number of calories.

Now that I’d noticed it, the hunger became unbearable. Perhaps my body was demanding satisfaction.

Now’s not the time to overthink things. I should just be happy that we survived. And to keep living, we need food!

“Hang tight,” I said. “I’ll cook something.”

“A-okay.”

“Arf.”

The two of them sat down quietly but kept fidgeting, shifting their bottoms around. The chairs were probably uncomfortable now since they’d suddenly become too small for them.

“Try remaking the chairs using earth magic. It’ll be a good chance to practice.”

“Got it!”

“Rogeeer.”

All right, my stomach’s feeling okay now, and that queasy feeling I had right after I woke up is gone, so a regular soup with meat should be fine, right?

First, I cast wind magic to keep the smell and smoke down. This, too, activated with surprising ease. I canceled the spell once, then tried to recast it without an incantation, relying only on the image in my mind.

The spell fired off instantly. Not only that, my mana reserve had increased—no, more like multiplied several times over. Wait, then just maybe—

“Black inferno, flames of purgatory that torment the dead. Manifest and scorch all living beings to ash! Shadowflame Circle!”

I was now able to easily cast this intermediate spell for summoning shadowflames. The surge in my mana reserve and the refinement of my magic control had drastically amplified my spellcasting prowess.

The incantation sounded threatening, but only some small shadowflames began flickering gently, just big enough to cook with. My precise control prevented any heat from radiating beyond the pot.

“Not that I need shadowflames for this dish.”

Besides, using shadowflames would rapidly drain the fireproof spell on the pot...but maybe if I use shadowflames, the magical effects will increase? Well, I’ll try things out as I go. Oh, and giving heaven dragon meat to Carolina might be a bad idea, given that it looks like dragon mana can turn parts of your body dragonish. Maybe a tiny bit wouldn’t do anything, but it’s hard to be sure.

“Thooor, I’m hungryyy.”

“I hate being hungry!”

“All right, all right. I’m cooking right now, so just hold on!”

***

Three days had passed since our narrow escape from death in the dungeon. The day after the dungeon malice attack, we’d rested—naturally—and I’d spent the day after that repairing our equipment, although mine had pretty much been rendered useless.

Thankfully, I was able to fix Shiro and Kuro’s dungeon-crafted armor using its ability to mend itself when infused with magic, but the repairs drained nearly all my mana, leaving no energy for hunting that day. Perhaps it was thanks to their newfound dragon strength, but Shiro and Kuro seemed eager to go hunting right away. Although, even for them, facing the dungeon again meant being cautious.

“Let’s go,” said Shiro, hesitant.

“Arf,” Kuro followed after a pause.

They stared solemnly at the entrance opened with earth magic. I couldn’t bring myself to laugh at them though—I was in the same boat, after all.

The memory of the black shadow—of nearly being killed by dungeon malice—came rushing back. I’d fought with everything I had to keep Shiro and Kuro alive. That’s what made the memory so clear. I could almost feel the pain all over again.

To be honest, I was terrified. Yet, despite our reluctance, we stepped into the dungeon.

What if we run into that monster again? What if, this time, it really kills us?

The fear never left us, but we had no choice. If we wanted to live, we had to go back into the dungeon.

There was a rumor I’d heard from my parents about the blessing granted to those who reached the dungeon’s deepest area. The idea that it could make any wish come true sounded like something pulled straight out of a fairy tale, but I’d also thought that dungeon malice sounded like a fairy tale, and that turned out to be real. This only meant that the blessing very well could have existed too. I was sure the blessing could lift our curse. I couldn’t afford to let fear stop me.

If I’d been alone, I might’ve collapsed right then and there, screaming, crying, unable to stand, but I wasn’t alone. I had Shiro and Kuro with me. We’d only known each other for about a year, but we had already become family—a new and irreplaceable family in this world. To me, they were both daughters and little sisters. I felt like I could summon infinite strength to protect them.

“Break the cuuurse!”

“Dungeon conquest, here we come!”

Kuro and Shiro spoke decisively, as though to reassure themselves. Their unwavering resolve gave me the strength to press forward. The fear that once gripped me had vanished.

“Yeah, you’re right. We’re gonna break this curse, no matter what it takes.”

“Myah!”

“Arf!”

I’d thought it might be best to not tell the two of them about the curse. I mean, parts of their bodies had dragonized, and on top of that, they each carried a death curse. Any normal girl would’ve been crushed by that knowledge. My plan was to tell them later, once things calmed down a little.

But as it turned out, Shiro and Kuro already knew about the curse. Neither of them could recall where they’d first heard about it, but they’d seen this mark, which was sometimes called the “Dungeon’s Black Mark.” The fact that they both shared this knowledge implied that they must have learned it while in captivity. Maybe a fellow slave had borne the mark.

Their understanding was nearly identical to what I had heard from my parents. The black mark on all three of our chests, like a bat with its wings unfurled, supposedly attracted magical beasts. No amount of high-level holy magic could break the curse, and the bearer was fated to die after a year. The only hope of lifting the curse lay in the goddess’s miracle, attainable only by conquering a dungeon. Unfortunately, it seemed to be set in stone that, at this rate, we only had a year left to live.

Despite my cheat abilities, I was still just a kid. Kuro and Shiro, too, probably hadn’t fully unlocked their potential as beastfolk yet. Our newly acquired dragon power, and Shiro and Kuro’s rapid growth, might become great assets to us—no, we had to make them great assets. Otherwise, the preposterous idea of a group of kids conquering a dungeon within a year would be impossible.

“All right,” I said, “the first room is up ahead. I sense a magical beast. You two ready?”

“Of course!”

“Let’s dooo this.”

They were both fired up. Shiro swung her twin daggers with a sharp whoosh, while Kuro flexed her dragon arm, showing off her muscles.

Having decided to face the situation head-on, they must have shifted to a more positive mindset. Shiro and Kuro were basically their usual selves. Sure, there was their sudden physical growth, but inside, they were still carefree five-year-olds. Maybe they just couldn’t maintain a serious attitude for long.

With that, we burst into the room.

“I’ll take the lead! If things get dicey, deal the finishing blow for me!”

“We know the drill!”

“Good luck.”

Inside the room stood a poison beast, our usual foe and the perfect target for gauging how much we’d grown.

I observed its movements calmly, then activated one of the spells I was most accustomed to: Water Needle. I developed the image of several sharp needles skewering the black beast—

“Huh?”

The spell had unleashed far more power than I’d anticipated. A dozen or so needles the size of swords shot toward the poison beast with blinding speed. With a thunderous roar, the creature’s body was blown apart, reduced to fragments.

It was complete and utter annihilation.

“How’d that happen?”

Until now, my spells had often fallen short of the image I had in mind, but never exceeded it.

“Whoooa,” said Kuro. “Thor, that was amazing.”

“That was incredible! Your magic is super strong!”

Kuro and Shiro are genuinely delighted, but the meat’s all gone. Forget powerful spells, I need to figure out how to hold back ASAP!

“Let me try that again.”

I tested my magic in the room where the beast once stood. As expected, the magic’s output surged—absurdly so. Spells used for cooking had only seen a modest increase, but offensive magic was a different story entirely.

What struck me as odd was how the same spell could behave so differently. Take Kindle, for instance. Just as the name implied, it conjured a tiny flame, the size of a pinky nail, meant for things like lighting firewood. Technically, it could be used in combat, but the most it could do was give your enemy a minor burn. Back in the day, it couldn’t even take down a poison rat. Actually, it probably still couldn’t, but the power boost was undeniable. Now, the flame burst like a firecracker. It didn’t pack much of a punch, but it had enough heat and noise to give an enemy a good scare. Of course, I hadn’t tried it on a poison rat yet as those things only lurked in the sewers. If I’d cast the spell down there, someone might’ve heard it echo.

Even my trusty Water Needle was now hard to control. The needles came out in great numbers, oversized and lightning fast. Sure, I could take down a magical beast with that kind of force, but the meat would be pulverized, leaving little for us to eat. Strangely enough, when I summoned just a single needle to slice through meat fibers, it behaved exactly the way it always had. The same was true when I used it as a skewer for grilling meat.

The Earth Needle spell was no different. It worked fine for cooking at our hideout, but the moment I tried to use it for attack, it went out of control.

“This makes no sense...”

And these were lowest-tier spells. Once I hit intermediate magic, the power just went off the rails.

Spells for controlling shadowflames were necessary for cooking high-ranking magical beasts, and the only one I could manage to pull off was Shadowflame Circle. I’d create a magic circle in my place of choice, and a little wisp of shadowflame would pop up in it. It barely covered any ground and didn’t have much use in battle. My guess was that its main use was for setting traps, like scorching an enemy’s feet to catch them off guard.

But when I used it for an attack—

With a huge rumble, a gargantuan column of shadowflames erupted, tall enough to swallow a person whole. The dungeon ceiling was burned so badly it actually melted in places—regular fire magic barely charred the walls.

Using this spell on a beast would turn it into charcoal, leaving no usable material behind. Needless to say, our main objective of getting food would be completely ruined.

“Thor, that’s amazing!” said Shiro.

“Whoa, aaawesome.”

I answered with an awkward laugh. Shiro’s and Kuro’s eyes were shining, but I was drenched in cold sweat. If I’d activated it any closer, we might all have been caught in the blast. It was that powerful.

“Why is this only happening with offensive magic?” I wondered out loud. I kept testing and discovered that whenever I used magic with the intent to attack, its power spiked.

I pulled up the knowledge of offensive magic that was stored in my head and analyzed the phenomenon. I came to the conclusion that my affinity with the spirits must have increased. Thanks to my cheat abilities, I had flawless control over magic used for cooking, but that didn’t apply when I used it for attack. Because my mana output had risen unconsciously, the spirits must’ve been overreacting to my aggression. In other words, when I used magic for cooking, I communicated perfectly with the spirits, but the moment I switched to an attack, the link got fuzzy.

I needed to practice my mana manipulation more and learn to fine-tune exactly how much mana I poured into a spell. Shiro and Kuro had begun experiencing the same issue.

“Meow!”

“Arf!”

They were utterly shocked at how their magic erupted with seemingly impossible force. I knew I had to warn them not to trigger it so close. And it wasn’t only their spells that needed restraint.

“Myah... My head hurts.”

“You okay?”

“Shirooo, you all riiight?”

“My eye, it’s all weird.”

Shiro’s dragon eye was simply too powerful. Her right eye had stayed normal, but her left eye had gained both magic sight and incredibly dynamic vision. The imbalance must’ve been overloading her brain. Sort of like wearing a pair of glasses with only one good lens, maybe? No, it’s probably worse.

When Shiro used her dragon eye, she got a headache, followed by nausea and a wave of fatigue. Closing the dragon eye helped ease the symptoms, but doing so left her relying on just her right eye, throwing off her sense of balance. She’d just have to get used to functioning in both conditions.

As for Kuro, her dragon arm was proving to be quite a burden—literally. It was so heavy that every time she moved it, her whole body got dragged along. The arm itself was monstrously strong. She could now single-handedly lift heavy weapons that she couldn’t wield before, but when she tried swinging them around, the force sent her flying.

Controlling her strength was just as tricky. She was so strong she’d already snapped a wooden dish in half without meaning to. One embrace from her could very well have sent me to the afterlife. Kuro definitely needed training to master that arm.

“Shiro, Kuro,” I said, “today we’re staying in and practicing magic.”

“A-okay!”

“Roooger.”

If they don’t learn some control soon, there’s bound to be an accident! I can just picture myself getting blown away by Shiro’s wind magic or getting my buns toasted by Kuro’s fire magic.

***

Today, I’d come to visit Carolina. I’d been too busy, lately, and I hadn’t been able to check in on her at all until now.

“Here’s some salt and potatoes for you,” said Carolina.

“Thanks. It’s a huge help.”

She handed me a gunnysack—a dirty bag we’d intentionally been using—which contained about twenty green potatoes and a small pouch filled with rock salt. For me and the girls, these were precious supplies—a staple food and seasoning—but for Carolina, they didn’t seem like much of a financial burden anymore. From the look of things, her work had been going well.

In fact, she no longer lived in the slums. She’d moved into a rental house in town. Even from my perspective, it was old and worn, but it was miles better than that dilapidated shack held up by just a few boards that had been nailed together. The previous tenant of her new home had died amid the chaos of the dragon attack, so the rent was quite cheap. It was rumored that the house was the scene of a murder—a stigmatized property, as they called it—and that its previous owner had been killed by a looter. It was a bit of a surprise that, in a world where life had little value, people considered a house that someone had died in to be a bad omen. Still, even if the place had been haunted, she must’ve thought it better than the danger of the slums—she’d signed the contract in a heartbeat. I’d purified the room just in case, so unless the previous tenant’s soul was particularly stubborn, Carolina shouldn’t have to worry about a ghost coming back to haunt her.

I’d thought that once her body had fully recovered, Carolina’s life would finally be secure, but even with the healing power I’d gained from the dragon, her injuries hadn’t improved any further. It wasn’t just a matter of my ability; too much time had passed. It was apparently common knowledge that the older the wound, the less effective healing effects became. At this point, my efforts were probably useless.

Still, Carolina had made me promise to keep visiting, saying she hadn’t fully repaid me yet. She’d pleaded with tears in her eyes that I come by again, at least to pick up some salt and potatoes. How could I have possibly refused?

And so, I’d come again to continue my futile treatment and pick up supplies, but today, I wasn’t just here to waste my holy magic on a lost cause.

“So, have you made your decision?” I asked her.

“Yes. I’d like to do it.”

“All right.”

This was actually my second visit since gaining dragon power. During my first visit, I’d explained to her that eating a dish made with heaven dragon meat had the potential to fully heal her. She’d looked stunned when she heard the news. Apparently, some mercenaries who’d taken part in the heaven dragon hunt had bragged about tasting the meat, but she hadn’t heard anything about their bodies transforming. My guess was that it wasn’t cooked well, and the meat had deteriorated. Maybe the people who ate it got a slight mana boost, but that was probably it.

Just goes to show what a cheat ability magical chef is.

Still, heaven dragon cuisine wasn’t all benefits, so I’d made sure to explain the risks to her. I’d told her that it contained dragon mana, which was still a very unknown power to me. That was the source of its great healing effects, but it had the potential to dragonize part of a person’s body, which differed depending on one’s injuries. I’d told her that I didn’t know what sort of effects it would have on her, and I’d also made sure to tell her about the possibility of death, and even showed her my dragonized throat.

After hearing all that, she’d accepted. So, my plan was to feed her the stuff in steps.

“Salt-grilled poisonous rat and heaven dragon meat, cave style,” magical effects: small life recovery, slight stamina recovery, slight mana recovery, small life boost, slight stamina boost, and slight mana boost.

“Poisonous beast and heaven dragon meat Hamburg steak, cave style,” magical effects: small life recovery, small stamina recovery, small mana recovery, small life boost, slight stamina boost, slight mana boost, and slight dragon mana.

“Heaven dragon meat stew, cave style,” magical effects: medium life recovery, medium stamina recovery, great mana recovery, medium life boost, medium stamina boost, medium mana boost, and slight dragon mana.

I’d deliberately held back on the dragon mana. My aim was to enhance effects like life recovery by adding in a tiny bit of heaven dragon meat into ordinary dishes. I still had some of the heaven dragon core soup left, but that would’ve been too much for her. The only reason we’d survived our physical transformations was probably that we’d been hardened by the dungeon. I was sure that an ordinary person like Carolina wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

So maybe small dragon mana would be about as much as she could handle? And it would be too risky to test out a “small” effect right off the bat. That’s why I’d only brought stuff that had slight dragon mana. The very first dish I’d planned to give her, the salt-grilled meat, was treated as having no dragon mana left.

“We’re gonna start with this,” I told Carolina.

“So, this is a magical dish.”

It looked like any old piece of charcoal-grilled chicken, but Carolina didn’t seem to doubt that it held some kind of special power. I was a strange child who could use holy magic; she probably thought it was only natural that I could cook mysterious food as well.

I’d told her in advance that if she were going to try my cooking, she shouldn’t eat anything that day, so she should’ve been quite hungry. In fact, as I placed the salt-grilled poisonous rat and heaven dragon on the table in front of her, her eyes beamed with delight. I’d already explained my storage ability to her, so she didn’t say a word about seeing me pull the dish out of thin air.

I mean, come on, it was way safer to let Carolina know rather than risk someone seeing me stashing away the supplies she gave me while I was outside. I trusted her enough at that point anyway.

“This looks wonderful!” said Carolina. Then, she brought a forkful of meat to her mouth. She began to chew, but then—

“Uh—”

“Carolina? What’s wrong?”

Carolina let out a soft groan and suddenly froze in place. There shouldn’t have been any dragon mana in the food, so was it the sudden healing of her injuries causing her pain? I’d heard of similar reactions occurring with holy magic—

“This is incredible!”

“Oh, well, that’s great.”

“I’ve never had meat like this in my life! I can’t believe it!”

Seeing Carolina tear into the food made me think that she’d have no problem eating the next dish. I placed the Hamburg steak before her, and without a moment’s hesitation, she took a bite.

I’d told her that this dish contained dragon mana, but she still went straight for it. She must really trust—

“This is soooooo good!”

Or maybe she’s just too caught up in the taste to care. As a chef, I’m quite flattered...

“Ah! My heart is pounding,” she said, worriedly.

I told you about that! That’s just your internal injuries healing and your blood circulation picking up!

“This isn’t filling me up at all! Please give me more!”

“All right, all right.”

It looks like Carolina’s wounds are gonna get a whole lot better.

***

Some time had passed since Carolina had made a full recovery thanks to the heaven dragon meat. When I’d given it to her, the only noticeable change had been that her body had healed, but...

Apparently, there were some other effects. She’d said that she’d been feeling better than before she got hurt. Her stamina had gone up, and apparently she could write faster too. Maybe the dragon mana was having some kind of effect beneath the surface.

Well, either way, if she were back to living a normal life, then I’d call that a win. Her pay even went up, and she’d been giving us more supplies.

As for us, we’d started pushing deeper into the dungeon bit by bit. We were still at the mercy of the dragon’s power—which should’ve been a major asset—but we were definitely starting to get the hang of using it in battle. Shiro and Kuro still weren’t great at holding back their powers, but I’d gotten a lot better at controlling mine.

A few times, I’d also done the exact opposite of holding back and tried full-power attacks—with positive results. Shiro and Kuro were getting the hang of that too. It was probably easier to just blast things at full strength, and the girls had been trying out different techniques as if they were special moves.

We’d gotten new equipment too. It wasn’t that we’d discovered any new treasure chests, but we’d finally become able to equip weapons and gear that we hadn’t been able to before. Thanks to her dragon arm, Kuro could now swing around a heavy mace—of course, “swinging it around” and “properly wielding it” were two different stories. The mace was so heavy it threw off her balance, so she was using a longsword for now. The longsword wasn’t exactly light either, but it was better than lugging around a giant mace. Kuro did eventually want to use heavy weapons, and she kept thinking about how to make them work for her, even in the middle of a fight.

Shiro was still going with her usual dual short daggers as her main weapons, but she’d recently started practicing with throwing weapons as well. She could boost their power with wind magic, and her dragon eye helped with reading enemy movements. She still couldn’t throw her weapons perfectly straight, but they were sure to become a serious threat on the battlefield once she mastered them.

As for me, I’d updated my outfit. Well, it was basically the same black clothes I’d been wearing—another hand-me-down from my old man—the difference being that this version had metal plating on the inside. Before, I couldn’t even move in them since they were too heavy, but the dragon’s power must’ve boosted my physical abilities as well, since that was no longer a problem for me.

For weapons, in addition to the short staff from the treasure chest, I’d started using a short sword I’d picked up from an adventurer. I’d had a hard time deciding between that and a spear, but the sword was of much higher quality. It wasn’t a magical weapon, but apparently it was a pricey piece. The sharpness alone was on another level, and it felt like a waste to leave it unused, so I decided to equip it myself.

I also had to go through quite a bit of effort to hide our dragonized body parts. Shiro had cut a piece of black leather from some armor we’d taken off a dead adventurer and turned it into an eye patch—not the little round kind, but the kind that covered nearly a third of your face. She’d made it extra big on purpose, just to make sure it wouldn’t shift and accidentally expose her eye. The sight of cute little Shiro wearing a rugged-looking black leather eye patch had a strange intensity to it. Shiro thought it looked cool and had taken a real liking to it. I was just glad she didn’t hate it.

On the other hand, Kuro and I had taken some dungeon cloth we’d picked up a while back, torn it into strips, and wrapped ourselves up with them like bandages. I had mine around my neck, and Kuro had hers wound around her entire right arm. In her case, the dragon transformation had spread pretty far, so having to wrap and unwrap her bandages was a bit of a hassle, but we couldn’t afford to let a mercenary, or anyone else, catch a glimpse of our dragon parts.

I’d heard there were lizard-type beastfolk out there, so maybe we could bluff our way through if it came to that. But Shiro and Kuro had cat and dog features too. If it were just me, maybe I could’ve pulled it off, but who knew about them? Maybe we could convince people that they were mixed race, but what if it didn’t work? They’d probably get persecuted or hunted down as some exotic creatures. Whatever the case, it wouldn’t end well.

We hadn’t run into any mercenaries in the dungeon so far, but that didn’t mean we never would—especially now that we were planning to venture into uncharted territory.

I paused for a moment. “You two ready?”

“Yes!” said Shiro.

“Let’s dooo it.”

We stood before the room where the hell chimera awaited. Last time, we hadn’t even been able to scratch the monster; its attacks had been so overwhelming that all we could do was run for our lives. If we’d been five seconds slower getting out, the flames it spat would have probably roasted us alive.

But there was no moving forward without taking that thing down. We had to beat it.

“You remember our plan?”

“Totally!”

“Nooo problem.”

“All right.”

I nodded to Shiro and Kuro, both of them burning with resolve, and took off down the corridor.

“There it is!”

Sprawled casually in the far corner of the room was a massive beast. It was still a good distance away, but it radiated intense pressure.

A lion’s head. A bat’s head. A goat’s body. A tail ending in a snake’s head. And right between its two main heads, a giant eyeball. Its unnatural form was deeply unsettling. Before us was our nemesis, the beast that had stopped us dead in our tracks last time: the hell chimera.

The moment I stepped into the room, it sprang to its feet, instantly switching into battle mode. You’d have thought the pressure it gave off had some sort of physical power to it; I could feel it cutting into my skin. My senses, which had been sharpened by the dragon’s power, must’ve been picking up on the beast’s thirst for blood. If it had been the old me standing here, this alone would’ve frozen me in place. That’s how terrifying it was to have a creature far stronger than you thirsting for your blood. I kept advancing though, glaring daggers at the hell chimera. If anything, its chilling appearance only fueled my resolve.

If I don’t stay strong, it might turn its attention toward Shiro and Kuro coming in behind me. I will not let that happen!

“Hey! Look over here, you overgrown freak!”

It answered with a menacing growl.

“Roar all you want. I’m not scared of you anymore!”

The screams that came from the monster’s two mouths were laced with mana. Last time, just hearing this had been enough to stop me. It must’ve had some kind of effect that interfered with your psyche, stirring up fear.

But it’s not gonna work on me! I shut out your roar’s mana using nonelemental magic meant for sealing the mana within food ingredients! Now, your scream’s just a loud nuisance to me.

Seeing its tiny opponent unfazed by its roar, the hell chimera’s faces twisted in frustration. Who knew a bat’s face could show that much expression?

I charged at the monster and fired off a spell. It didn’t land any real damage, but it was sure to get the message across that I was an enemy.

Then, I ran counterclockwise to slip around the creature’s side, and after that, charged straight at it.

“Get a load of this!”

The hell chimera let out a puzzled sound. It must’ve never expected that I’d come straight at it. After all, the smart move would’ve been to attack it from a distance using magic. Caught off guard, it twisted its body to face me head-on, readying itself for a counterattack.

That was when Shiro and Kuro burst into the room together, spells blazing.

“Myaaah! Wind Blade!”

“Awoooo! Flame Blast!”

Shiro whipped out multiple Wind Blades, and Kuro sent a large flame flying from her sword. The girls had taken their time to pour in as much mana as they could into these attacks, which slammed into the hell chimera’s front leg, just as its attention had been locked onto me.

My shout, “Get a load of this!” had been the signal. Hearing it, Shiro and Kuro had plunged into the room, aiming the spells they’d been incanting right at the beast’s wide-open leg.

The beast let out a pained roar.

“We did it!” said Shiro.

“Got your leeeg.”

Thanks to Shiro’s and Kuro’s dragon power, the hell chimera’s right front leg had completely blown off. Our plan to cripple its mobility worked perfectly!

Blue blood gushed out of the monster as it cried out in agony. Our powers are definitely working!

Both of the monster’s heads screamed again. The lion head shot Shiro and Kuro a seething glare, while the bat head locked its gaze on me, its eyes full of spite. The snake tail lifted its neck in an attempt to intimidate Shiro and Kuro. The monster poured even more mana into its growl, trying to keep us at bay.

But that wasn’t enough mana to stop us.

“Next attack!”

“Myaaah!”

“Wuffu!”

The hell chimera’s attention was locked almost entirely on Shiro and Kuro. After all, they looked older than me, and they were the ones who’d blown off its leg.

Still wary of the beast’s attacks, I unleashed the magic I’d been readying. No matter how wide its field of vision is, there’s no way it’ll spot a magic circle suddenly appearing right beneath its feet!

A red circle appeared beneath its right hind leg. Just as I’d hoped, the beast was oblivious to it. Then, black flames burst forth, quickly spreading from its hind leg up to its back and torso. Both of the hell chimera’s heads shrieked.

The shadowflames danced as if they were devouring the beast’s flesh, practically carbonizing its right hind leg halfway down from the knee. The rest of the leg looked like a mess of melted flesh, but I couldn’t celebrate just yet. That was a serious hit that I’d poured nearly thirty percent of my total mana into, and my hope was that it would finish the thing off.

But as it turned out, the hell chimera had way more magic resistance than I’d thought. The flames that had wrapped around its torso had already fizzled out, and all they did was scorch some of its fur.

“But we’ve killed its mobility for sure!”

With both of its right legs gone, it had collapsed in place, unable to move. This was just the beginning of our plan. The hell chimera’s weak spot was the massive eyeball nestled between its two heads. Problem was, those heads made it nearly impossible to get a clean shot. So our plan was to cripple its legs first to make its weak spot easier to target.

“Slash through my foes and strike them down! Shine bright! Light Blade!”

“Pierce and burn! Flame Spear!”

Shiro’s swift blade of light and Kuro’s fiery spear built for penetration—they were both attacks suited for striking an enemy’s weak point. Though Kuro’s spell was more complex, her incantation was shorter because she was better at mana control. It seemed her dragon arm didn’t just bless her with brute strength, but with good control of her magic as well. Channeling mana through it made her attacks noticeably more powerful. Of course, that didn’t mean Shiro’s dragon eye was any less impressive.

While the bat head acted as a shield against the girls’ spells, the lion head counterattacked instantly, unleashing a massive jet of flame from its mouth. The red tongue of fire scorched the air as it surged toward them.

But the monster’s fiery assault failed to singe either of them.

“Myah, myah, myah!”

“Arf?”

Shiro had grabbed Kuro by the collar and leaped clear of the blast zone. Now that Shiro could see the flow of mana, she must’ve sensed the hell chimera preparing to attack. Naturally, she’d already taken off her eye patch—thanks to her training, she’d learned to use the eye for short bursts without triggering a headache.

Once they were out of danger, the two girls launched more spells, but every shot aimed at the enemy’s weak point was blocked by the bat head. It seemed to have high magic defense, because for every attack that came its way, it used itself as a shield. But it didn’t come out of these attacks unscathed and was now heavily scarred, dripping blue blood everywhere.

Still, it didn’t give up on protecting its exposed weak point. Even as it shrieked in pain, it stayed frozen in place, shielding the eyeball. Not only that, it was fighting back by launching invisible attacks at Shiro and Kuro. Each time a sharp, ear-piercing screech rang out, thin cuts appeared across their bodies.

They were sound wave attacks, most likely. If this dragged on too long, things could get dicey. It might’ve looked like we were the ones on the offensive, but the truth was, our opponent was a monster with seemingly bottomless stamina. If we just kept racking up damage and fatigue without finishing it off, there was a real chance it’d flip the whole fight on us.

In that case, I’ll go all in and keep piling on the damage. I’ll hit it hard enough that it’ll go down without a hit to its weak spot!

“Go down, already!”

This time, I went for the underside of the hell chimera’s belly and activated Shadowflame Formation. With both of its right legs already gone, it had no way to escape. Black flames surged up from beneath its squirming body.

Its twin heads let out their loudest screams yet. Maybe it was because I’d poured in more mana than before, but I could see the beast’s belly turning to charcoal and blue blood spilling out. Black smoke leaked from the lion’s mouth, and I wondered if the flames had reached its internal organs. It was clearly a fatal wound.

And yet, the hell chimera still wouldn’t die. More than that, it hadn’t given up—a spark of life still gleamed in its eyes.

Just as the lion head let loose a guttural roar, the bat head started shrinking fast. Its already-wrinkled black skin began to shrivel up even more, drying up like a mummy. The dried-up head kept shrinking until it looked like the branch of a dead tree. And then, finally, where the bat head had once been, there dangled only its thin, blackened remains. Its skull must’ve been shattered to pieces, and its flesh and brain tissue had probably lost every last drop of moisture.

What’s going on? Did the beast give up on a useless body part?

Right after that, a massive surge of mana came out from inside the hell chimera. We reacted on instinct, launching an attack on its weak spot, but this time, the lion head moved to shield it, still bleeding profusely.

Then the snake tail made an unexpected move. The base of the tail suddenly bulged, and something started crawling up through the snake’s body, as if it were about to spit up a massive ball.

But no, it didn’t cough up anything so harmless. With a loud hiss, the snake turned toward me and spewed out a cloud of purple smoke that looked anything but safe. In an instant, the thick haze filled the entire room.

“Ugh...” I couldn’t dodge it in time, and the smoke hit me head-on. I held my breath on reflex, but it still stung my eyes a bit, the acrid stench burning my nose.

The cough hit me a beat later. I was too late holding my breath, and I’d already taken in some of the smoke. I could tell that coughing was only making me draw more of the stuff into my lungs.

This has got to be poison. But aside from coughing, I didn’t feel any other effects. How are Shiro and Kuro?

They’d collapsed on the ground, coughing their lungs out. They must’ve taken a good dose of the smoke.

As I rushed to their sides, their bodies jerked in erratic spasms. Their mouths opened and closed desperately as they struggled for air. In an instant, the color had drained from their faces. I threw up a barrier using wind magic to seal off the toxic smoke, then tried to detox them with holy magic.

“Myaghh.”

“Awoooo.”

As their breathing steadied, the color returned to their faces. The coughing and the tears stopped too. They should be all right now. It looked like detoxing them right away had done its job. We’d once had a rough encounter with an enemy that used something like tear gas, and the experience had ended up coming in handy.

But why wasn’t I affected? This poison was so powerful that just a tiny bit of it knocked Shiro and Kuro to the ground. How is it possible that I just had a little cough when I got a direct hit?

Anyway, dealing with the poison in the room was a more pressing matter. I used wind magic to gather the smoke and put it into storage. Thankfully, the hell chimera didn’t follow up with another attack. My guess was that this was its trump card. It looked like it had given up part of its life to unleash it, so it probably wouldn’t be able to move right away. After about three minutes, the purple smoke cleared from the room. I’m guessing another purification spell should get rid of any of its lingering effects?

The hell chimera must’ve been stunned. Its lion face growled in disbelief. Seeing us survive its attack must’ve been the last thing the beast expected. It was reeling now that its trump card had proven ineffective.

But that didn’t mean we’d won. I could still feel the beast’s fierce will to fight. It probably still had more strength left than it appeared to. The mana I sensed from its body was far greater than ours.

And yet, I wasn’t afraid like before. Maybe it was the realization that we could put up a fight against it now. We’d grown stronger, and the gap between us didn’t feel so overwhelming. And that wasn’t all.

The monster before me looked appetizing. I knew that it was absurd to be hungry at a time like this, but it was uncontrollable. My stomach was begging me to feed it this tasty-looking beast wriggling around in front of us. I swallowed hard, my insides growling noisily. That sound, echoing in my throat, reminded me of just how hungry I was, which made the cravings worse. Was it the dragon’s blood and meat that had fused with mine that saw this thing as prey? Even now, in the middle of battle, my hunger kept growing.

Gosh...it looks so good...

The lion head let out a hesitant growl.

What’s going on? It looks like it’s scared of something.

As the lion head snarled, the snake tail hissed and snapped its mouth open. Was it foolish enough to try the poisonous smoke again?

But this time, the hell chimera’s entire body began to wither. Its fur lost its shine, and its ribs poked through like a starving alley cat’s. It channeled every last ounce of strength it had into the poison it spat out. It covered a smaller area than before, but it seemed to be directly targeting me.

At the same time, the lion head fired off potent mana and shattered my magic Wind Barrier. Shiro and Kuro’s shield held up, but the one around me was gone. I could sense that the beast was dead set on killing me. And just as it wanted, I ended up breathing in the purple smoke again.

I coughed. Antidote— No, maybe I’m fine. The powdery texture made me cough a little, but that was it. There was none of the usual feeling of being poisoned, of it eating away at my body. There was no pain, no fatigue—just a sore throat. Maybe the dragon’s throat gave me some resistance to poison?

Still, this time the poison seemed a bit stronger than before, as I couldn’t stop coughing. A strange nausea hit me too. It’s nausea, yeah, but not the kind that comes from the stomach. It’s higher up. Like from the center of my lungs—

I gagged. There’s something inside me, something hot, burning, scorching my throat—it hurts! I can’t keep it in! It’s coming out!

Foooosh!

Huh? What the—? Was that fire? I just breathed fire, didn’t I? I couldn’t hold back whatever was coming up, so I tried to spit it out...but I never thought it’d be fire!

Now that I’d breathed fire once, I somehow understood where it had come from. In the center of my chest, there was something that held mana. I didn’t know what it was, but when I concentrated my mana there, I felt the same thing rising again. When the mana reached my throat, it clearly gained power. I could feel it heat up and transform into flame. I didn’t resist the sensation and released the heat born within me.

With a big whoosh, I was able to breathe fire, consciously this time. My throat didn’t burn.

A tortured sound escaped the hell chimera.

I had, without a doubt, spit out burning hot flames and scorched its lion head. Although it wasn’t all that powerful, it was efficient because it seemed to use less mana than fire magic. It was a bit of a pain, however, since I had to spit it out of my mouth every single time. Still, it would probably prove useful for keeping an enemy in check.

The savory aroma of grilled hell chimera meat tickled my nose. Oh, this smell is making me even hungrier! Let me eat you now!

I let out a battle cry and unleashed my specialty: Water Needle. A single, slender needle materialized before me, but I’d packed it with an immense amount of mana, boosting its power to the limit. Despite being a low-tier spell, it consumed as much mana as Shadowflame Formation. Strangely enough, my mana control felt sharper than ever. If I drive this into—

With a piercing whine, the Water Needle drilled clean through the lion head and punched straight into the eyeball hidden behind it. A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air, so loud I had to clamp my hands over my ears. Then the monster lost all life, and its battered body crumpled to the ground. The hell chimera now looked like nothing but an ingredient, and I was able to put it away into storage.

Victory was ours.

“We won,” I said.

I stared blankly at the spot where the hell chimera once lay. I could hardly believe we’d won. The thing had been that strong.

“Ugh...my whole body hurts.”

I didn’t even have the energy to cheer. My legs gave out, and I dropped to my knees. As far as external injuries went, I’d gotten by with just a few scrapes, but that didn’t mean I was fine. The physical toll was brutal. Everything hurt—badly. I’d been boosting my physical abilities with enhancement magic, and now the backlash had my muscles screaming. Just moving an inch sent shock waves of pain through my body. Even with the dragon’s power, I was still inside a kid’s body with limits way lower than I’d anticipated. This was what happened when you pushed yourself too hard.

Plus, my mana was almost running on empty. After pouring everything I had into spellcasting, I was down to the last few percent. And as if that weren’t bad enough, I was hit with a wave of hunger unlike any I’d ever experienced.

It’d been five years since I was reborn into this world. Not exactly a lifetime, but those years had been anything but easy. Hunger had always been there, and I’d lived in constant fear of starvation. I’d go days without a meal all the time. Even my parents couldn’t feed themselves, so it was no wonder I’d gotten nothing. But for all that, I had never felt hunger this brutal before.

My stomach growled like some sort of wild beast. It felt like every last bit of energy had been drained from my body. It wasn’t just hunger for food—I was in need of blood, sugar, water, everything. Something deeper was starving, like my body was running low on life itself. My instincts were screaming at me to feed it life.

“Ug...gh...”

I could feel my skin drying up and my muscles shriveling, like every drop of moisture was being sucked out of me. I couldn’t take it anymore—not even for a second.

Gosh, I’m starving!

I wanted to grab whatever I could out of storage and just sit down and devour it: meat, fruit, soup, it didn’t matter.

I need something in my stomach to free me from this hunger.

But I shoved down the wild, maddening hunger and used everything I had to force myself upright. My legs felt like they were made of lead, and my body was ready to collapse, but I pushed through the pain and dragged myself toward Shiro and Kuro.

“You two...all right?”

Shiro and Kuro were still lying in a pool of blood.

“Myah,” said Shiro, her voice faltering.

“Thooor.”

They looked like all the fatigue and blood loss had left them too weak to move. Their bodies were etched with countless small cuts and a few deep ones as well. On top of that, the poison had taken its toll, leaving them visibly drained. You could hear their stomachs roaring. They, too, seemed to be starving past their limit.

I splashed some potion over them, then pulled out the poison beast soup I’d whipped up before. It was made from a unique specimen, so it had a medium mana recovery effect.

First things first, I chugged some of it, myself. If I collapsed from mana depletion, I wouldn’t be able to help either of them. I then scooped up some of the soup and fed it to them. It also had a small life recovery effect, so I figured it would help patch up their wounds a bit too.

“Drink up, you two.”

“Meow, it’s good.”

“So gooood.”

We sat there quietly for a while, sipping soup. Bit by bit, our mana started to come back. As soon as I had enough, I used holy magic to heal the two girls.

We must’ve rested in that room, which reeked of blood, for about an hour. We were still a long way from a full recovery, but Shiro’s and Kuro’s wounds had closed up, and the bleeding had stopped. My mana was back to maybe twenty percent—enough to get us out of the danger zone.

Sitting right on the grimy ground, I kept spooning the gentle soup into my stomach. After a while, the hunger settled down, and the feeling of victory finally hit me.

“We won,” I said.

“Yes, we won!” said Shiro.

“We wooon.”

Shiro and Kuro looked happy too. It must’ve been thrilling that we’d finally taken down the enemy that had once left us completely helpless.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we could’ve done better, since we’d crippled its legs right at the start. The tension of facing a powerful foe, mixed with the adrenaline of battle, had pushed me to go on the offensive too recklessly. I knew that, if I kept fighting like that, sooner or later, I’d end up in real trouble.

But for now, I’ll let myself enjoy the win.

Besides, there was something I wanted to check: the spoils of battle, the hell chimera materials I’d tucked away in storage, and the treasure chest that had appeared.

That’s right. Just moments after the beast had collapsed, a single chest had materialized in the center of the room. I’d left it untouched at first, figuring recovery came first, but midway through our break, I’d gone to open it.

Inside had been a small, milky-white jar. It was empty, and the jar itself didn’t look valuable either. I could feel a faint trace of mana from it, so I knew it had to be some kind of magical item, but I hadn’t been able to figure out what it did just by looking at it.

Now, I pulled the lidded jar out of storage again.

“Looks like any old jar to me,” I said. “So what does it do?”

Size-wise, it held maybe four liters? It was about as big as one of those giant shochu liquor bottles I’d seen in my previous life.

But I’m not gonna just go ahead and try using it without putting any thought into it, all right? Actually, there’s a note inside explaining how to use it. Pretty thoughtful, considering it came out of a dungeon treasure chest! And thanks to my cheat abilities, I can read it just fine, thanks.

“Caaan’t read it,” Kuro muttered.

“Myah... My head hurts more than when I use my eye.”

The two of them squinted at the paper, tilting their heads. Well, they were still mentally five years old. Reading could come later.

“Okay, let’s see here.” I started reading the instructions. “‘Pour mana into the jar while picturing a seasoning, and that seasoning will spring forth’? ‘Single use only’? What? Seriously?”

I know I can only do it once, but I can fill this whole jar with any seasoning I want? This is like, god-level stuff. So I can get miso or soy sauce or anything? Even black pepper? Wait, maybe other spices—curry powder? Wow, my imagination is running wild!

Oh gosh, what should I get?

Aaahhhh! I can’t decide!

“Thor, you’re scaring me,” said Shiro.

“You’re breeeathing funny.”

“Oh, right.”

Shiro’s deadpan stare and Kuro’s giggling finally brought me back to my senses. Rather, the excitement just died out from sheer embarrassment.

Either way, we couldn’t just sit around forever. I was starving, and although we could eat right here, I’d much rather do so comfortably in a place that’s actually safe.

“All right, time to head out.”

“Back we go!”

“Retreating to our hooome.”

There was no question that we should be heading back. No way we had enough left in us to keep pushing deeper into the dungeon.

If we ran into another beast as strong as the hell chimera, we’d be risking our lives. Besides, I needed time to think about the jar. If it could give me things like miso or soy sauce—stuff that’s practically impossible to get in this world—my entire cooking repertoire would grow exponentially, at least tenfold. I had knowledge of similar seasonings but nothing about where I could get them. Carolina had never heard of them, so they were probably ridiculously far away, maybe even on a different continent.

Who knows how many years it might take to find them? Considering the state of logistics in this world, it wouldn’t surprise me if I never laid my hands on one in my lifetime. So maybe using the jar for that isn’t such a bad idea after all.

“It’s a slime!” said Shiro.

“I’ll handle it,” I replied.

“Okieee.”

On the way back, we ran into an acid slime, but one blast of my breath, and it was toast. That attack really packed a punch—though it did come with a downside.

Since acid slimes were weak to fire, the whole thing got burned, including the core that could be used as food. Unlike regular magic, I couldn’t extinguish the flame at will, and in the end, I completely burned the monster to ash.

I didn’t think that even the mana stone would burn up. I guess fire laced with mana has that kind of power. Those springy slime noodles are one-of-a-kind, so I would’ve loved to take some back...

“Bummer,” said Shiro.

“Let’s take it out with magic next time.”

“Yeah, leave it to Kurooo.”

Shiro and Kuro were ready and eager, but their enthusiasm faltered the moment they caught sight of the next magical beast. It wasn’t the kind that could be used as food. It was an acid golem—one of the most common foes in this dungeon, alongside poison beasts and acid slimes. Of course, I’d just given it that name myself, so I didn’t know what its actual name was.

A floating creature formed from green acid, it wasn’t a living organism, a fact that had become clear after several encounters with it. It attacked from a distance by spraying acid, left no edible remains, and had a pitifully tiny mana stone. What’s more, defeating a monster of this level no longer granted us a mana boost. You could say it was the enemy we’d come to dread fighting the most in the dungeon.

“I guess I’ll take that one too.”

“Okaaay.”

And so, I took it out with a single blow of my fire breath—but I sort of messed it up. Because the acid golem’s entire body burned instantly, it created a huge cloud of smoke. Thick, unhealthy-looking gray smog filled the corridor.

“Hmm, my fire breath might be a bit too powerful.”

“So smoky.”

“My throat’s gonna huuurt.”

I need to be more careful about when to use it.

Monsters had started spawning again, maybe because we’d spent too much time fighting the hell chimera. Or maybe they’d moved from the corridor we’d ignored on the way in?

After defeating another acid slime that had appeared, we grabbed some slime noodles and happily returned home. My hunger had settled down for a while, but on the way back, it once again reared its head. It was understandable since, after the hell chimera fight, we’d only managed to eat some soup as an emergency measure.

I wanted to eat the hell chimera meat, but I was too hungry to bother with cooking.

“You guys good with the stuff I cooked before?”

“Sure!”

“Sounds perrrfect.”

Shiro and Kuro must’ve been famished too. Their proud beast ears and tails hung limp and tired.

It was finally time to dig into the emergency stash I’d been keeping in storage. The ingredients were just stuff like poison rat and the cheap green potatoes Carolina had given me, but it made for a hearty meal.

I laid out poison rat steak and soup, and a heaping pile of steamed potatoes on the table. With barely a word, we all dove in, practically devouring the meal.

“Yeah, this is good,” I said.

The only answer I received was the sound of the girls chomping away.

They say hunger is the best sauce, and I couldn’t agree more. As I bit off a piece of the dry steak, a tiny dribble of meat juice teased my tongue. My sharp senses picked up on that subtle flavor, making it taste far better than expected.

The salted soup’s aroma wafted into my nose, filling me with a happiness unlike any before. Had steamed potatoes, simply salted, ever been so sweet? We all grabbed handfuls of them, devouring them like we were in a race.

There were thirty or so green potatoes in a bowl, each one as big as a taro root, but they disappeared in an instant. It makes sense for Shiro and Kuro, since they’ve grown so much, but did I always have this much of an appetite? I couldn’t help but wonder, even as I kept reaching for more food to send straight down to my stomach. In no time, I’d polished off an amount that no kid-sized belly should be able to handle.

The same went for Shiro and Kuro. Sure, they’d always been big eaters, but today, they had stuffed themselves with an amount of food that should’ve been physically impossible. Even back when we’d been injured and desperate for meat, we hadn’t eaten like this. Now that I’d calmed down, it became clear to me: The hunger was unnatural.

I did have a pretty good idea what had caused it. The biggest change the three of us had gone through was gaining the dragon’s power. Maybe our dragonized bodies burned through fuel faster than I’d thought. The more power we used, the more food we needed to keep going.

You could call it a side effect of the dragon’s power. It’s strong, no doubt about that, but if we rely on it too much, our food expenses could get out of hand. Maybe I shouldn’t call them “expenses,” though, since we’re not actually spending money. Either way, we’d be tearing through food supplies. If we kept using the dragon’s power against magical beasts that were barely edible, we’d hit a food shortage before we knew it. I was hoping we could use this power to blaze through the dungeon in one go, but of course, it’s not that simple...

“Thor,” said Shiro, “what’s wrong?”

“Eat too muuuch?”

“Oh, no. I just figured I should hold back on the dragon’s power a little because using it too much makes me hungry.”

Shiro and Kuro nodded along as they listened, seeming to understand that their hunger was also from overusing the dragon’s power.

“I don’t wanna be hungry.”

“Hunger is baaad.”

“It’s gonna be tough to train too,” I said. I was afraid that, if we used too much dragon power on training, that alone would spike our food consumption tenfold. “Phew, we sure did eat a lot though.”

“I’m stuffed.”

“Sooo satisfied.”

“Let’s take a break.”

“Myah.”

“Wuffu.”

Now that our stomachs were full, a wave of drowsiness washed over us. Shiro and Kuro tumbled into bed and were out cold in seconds, breathing softly. I pulled a blanket over the two girls, then lay down beside them and closed my eyes.

My consciousness slipped into darkness soon after, and when I came to, it was almost nighttime. I must’ve been out for three hours, maybe? My body still feels heavy, and I kind of ache all over—aftereffects from the fight, no doubt. Still, compared to how I felt when we first got back, I’m in way better shape now.

“I should check a few things before dinner,” I said to myself.

I slipped out of the room, careful not to wake Shiro and Kuro, and headed quietly to the kitchen.

“If we’re gonna be eating more from now on, I should start by checking our supply of ingredients.”

First on the list of things to check was the hell chimera materials that had been butchered by storage. The monster had been a mash-up of all kinds of animal parts, and apparently, each section tasted completely different. The taste of each part was supposed to be similar to, but not exactly like, the taste of the original creature. And the flavor was supposed to be excellent. Unfortunately, thanks to the damage we’d dealt during the fight, we weren’t able to score every part.

Also, something was bugging me about the automatically assigned names. The scary-sounding name “death pit hybrid beast” seemed to point to the hell chimera, but most of the materials had a “deteriorated” tag on it. “Deteriorated death pit hybrid beast’s lion head,” “deteriorated death pit hybrid beast meat,” and so on. I pulled out a chunk of the butchered meat to check it out and realized why it was labeled that way. Normally, the back meat should be firm and red with just the right amount of fat, but...

“This smells awful.”

You didn’t even need to touch it to tell that it was dry. The moisture and juices were gone, leaving the meat in a state that could only be described as deteriorated. Even before I brought it up to my nose, I could smell a faint stench of rot emanating from it, like something starting to spoil after being left out in the summer heat for hours.

That’s when I remembered. When the hell chimera had spat poison from its snake tail, part of its body had dried out and shriveled up. Is that what had caused it to deteriorate? At the time, I’d thought it was some hidden move that drained its life force. With that kind of change, it wouldn’t be surprising if its whole body had deteriorated. At the very least, I couldn’t imagine the dry, shriveled parts tasting good.

I tried grilling the meat, but it was practically inedible—my cooking magic didn’t even recognize the slab of meat as food.

“I really thought we’d be set on food for a while...”

Even the mana stone was laughably small for that kind of magical beast, and the mana was weak too. That poison mist must’ve drained every last drop of the beast’s power. If we hadn’t inherited the dragon’s power, the three of us might not be here now.

“Oh, but I guess some of the meat’s safe.”

Not everything was deteriorated. Namely, some parts of cuts equivalent to the loin, sirloin, and ribs of a cow were still good. It might just be a fraction of the cuts, but it’s better than nothing. We’ve got maybe fifty kilos total? That might sound like a lot, but meat’s our main food source. Sure, we were extra hungry today because we’d nearly died, but once we start diving deeper into the dungeon and facing stronger enemies, our daily intake’s only gonna grow—to an amount you’d never expect a child to eat. If we don’t find any other prey and just keep eating this, fifty kilos won’t last a month. It buys us a little time, but we’ll still need to keep hunting for ingredients.

“We went through hell to get this top-grade meat. I want to eat it the best way possible.”

Hell chimera meat was supposed to be incredible, so even a pinch of salt would’ve probably done the trick. But if I’m gonna eat it, I don’t want to compromise.

That’s where the magic jar I’d pulled from the treasure chest came in.

“I should be able to make the ultimate meat dish with this.”

I carefully went over the note that came with it and saw that it was called the “Jar of Appetite.” Apparently, it produced a seasoning by reading the memories of your soul. Not just any seasoning, though; it had to be something you’d eaten before.

This part’s the catch. So what does that mean for me? I’ve only had a handful of seasonings in this world—rock salt, chili pepper look-alike, potion, stuff like that. It’d be such a waste to use this jar if that’s the only kind of seasoning I can get. But if it can tap into my past life, that changes everything. I could choose from a number of different seasonings. The note did say it re-creates stuff from your soul’s memory. I still have the same soul, so shouldn’t my past life count too?

Moreover, what about the knowledge the god gave me? I have detailed knowledge about the taste of potions that can double as seasonings. I’ve never actually tried them, but I can recall how they taste. I even have info on the taste of an elixir-esque medicine called “godly healing medicine”—I’ve always thought of potions as seasoning anyway...

What if I can get godly healing medicine with this jar? Maybe we won’t have to fear death anymore. Or maybe we’ll become millionaires?

With hushed excitement, I reached for the jar. I swallowed hard. As my fingers touched the surface of the jar, I wished for godly healing medicine.

I waited.

Nothing.

“Guess that won’t work.”

Whether knowledge alone wasn’t enough or it didn’t consider medicine a seasoning, I didn’t know. Either way, the jar did nothing.

I was disappointed and relieved at the same time. I mean, I don’t even know what to do with a jar full of elixir...

I also tried wishing for a high-grade ointment and a cure-all, but again, the jar did nothing. Next on the list were seasonings I’d tasted in my previous life. I was aiming to be a chef back then, so I’d eaten all kinds of stuff.

The top contenders were soy sauce, miso, and curry powder. They’d really broaden my cooking options, and they were all hard to come by in this world. Honestly, if I missed this chance, I might never get them again.

“Hmm... What to do?” Curry powder makes everything taste like curry. It’s great for masking odors, but when it comes to changing up flavors, it’s probably the weakest. Maybe miso’s a solid choice since I make soups and hot pots all the time. If I get some blended miso and mix in different ingredients, I could make sweet miso, spicy miso, broth miso, and whatnot. But soy sauce is easier to use for grilled meat, like yakiniku. Of course, I like miso-yakiniku too, but I’m more partial to steak with soy sauce.

“Considering how my repertoire will grow, maybe soy sauce is best.” Yeah, when it comes to versatility, soy sauce takes the cake. Soy sauce it is!

“All right, now that it’s settled...” I pictured the best soy sauce I’d ever tasted in my previous life.

It was a fancy one I’d gotten as a souvenir. That stuff was amazing. I think it was from some long-established maker in Saitama or somewhere? It came in a wooden box and was supposed to be super pricey. A friend gave it to me for my birthday. It was sweet, mellow, fragrant... That was the ultimate soy sauce.

Aaahhh! Come forth, premium soy sauce! Let me taste that rich flavor again!

“Whoa! There it is!”

As I pictured the flavor in my mind and made my wish, liquid began to well up from the bottom of the jar. That color, that aroma—this really is soy sauce! The very thing I’ve been dreaming of is right here in front of me!

I dipped my finger into the jar, now filled to the brim, and gave it a quick lick.

“Aahhh... Soy sauce.” I could even feel a faint trace of mana from the liquid. This wasn’t ordinary soy sauce. Maybe using it would add magical effects to my cooking. I’d gotten something far better than I’d expected.

“All right, I’m gonna make something incredible with this!”

My top two soy sauce dishes are simmered pork belly and ginger pork...but hell chimera meat’s supposed to be better grilled.

“Then yakiniku it is!”

Yakiniku with soy sauce... Just thinking about it is making my mouth water! Tonight’s dinner is gonna be the ultimate yakiniku. And that means there’s something else I can’t forget!

I poured a small amount of soy sauce from the jar into a bowl. I’m not wasting a single drop of this precious stuff! As I worked, carefully, I sensed movement at the entrance of the kitchen.

Shiro and Kuro had woken up and come to check things out. They started sniffing the air and came over to peek over my shoulder into the jar.

“Is this the jar from the treasure?” asked Shiro.

“Is it black waaater?”

“It’s called soy sauce. Tastes amazing.”

They sniffed some more and tilted their heads, puzzled. It was probably a smell they’d never encountered before, and they probably weren’t convinced it was appetizing.

They’ll probably have to get used to it before they consider it a pleasant smell. But just you wait. I’m gonna make it so one whiff of this stuff’s gonna have you drooling! Heh heh heh!

“Here, try it.”

I held out the bowl of soy sauce and urged them to taste it. They dipped their fingers in and gave it a lick. Instantly, they froze, eyes wide. Then they glanced at each other and peered back down into the jar.

“It’s great!”

“There’s like, all kinds of flaaavors.”

They’d picked up on the soy sauce’s layered umami. Yep, your palates are more discerning than I thought!

“You’re gonna grill meat with this?”

“It’s gonna be good for suuure. Way to go, Thor.”

Shiro and Kuro applauded, their eyes sparkling as they imagined the perfect pairing of meat and soy sauce. It looked like they were already convinced that it was a match made in heaven.

I chuckled. “Sure, this soy sauce is delicious, but I’m not just using it to grill meat, you know?”

“What do you mean?” asked Shiro.

“No grilling?”

It’s true. It’d be incredible with just this soy sauce alone, but with a few extra touches, I can take it to the next level!

First, I grated a mountain of mellum fruit—which had a banana-like flavor—and Japanese wild onion look-alike. The trick was to grate it slightly coarse so it would retain some texture.

Then I added it all to the soy sauce, tossed in the spice I’d gotten from the red spicy golem I’d defeated a while back, squeezed in some juice from the lemon look-alike, sprinkled in some salt, and stirred it all together.

“Now my special yakiniku sauce is complete!”

“Whoa!”

“It looks greeeat.”

They clapped with even more enthusiasm than before, Kuro using her dragon arm with surprising finesse. They hadn’t tasted it yet, but somehow, they could already tell it was good.

“I’m gonna slice the hell chimera loin nice and thin, and grill it while coating it with this sauce!”

Shiro squealed with delight.

“Smells suuuper.”

The scent of sizzling meat and caramelized sauce flooded the room. Just the smell alone could make you down five bowls of rice. Shiro and Kuro were drooling as they stared at the frying pan.

The trick is to use intermediate fire magic. If you cook ingredients that have high mana content using ordinary fire or water, all that precious mana gets lost. I’ve cast a fire resistance spell on the frying pan, so weak flames won’t heat it at all. It’s a pain, but to cook with intermediate fire magic, you need a pan that can take the heat. And to get the pan hot, you have to be able to wield fire magic with real control. This requires fine mana control that’s way harder than just blasting fire magic in battle. Still, after taking down the hell chimera, my internal mana reserve has gotten a boost, so that’s not exactly a challenge anymore.

I watched the heat carefully, gauging the perfect moment before the meat turned tough, then lifted the pan off the flame.

“It’s done!”

“Myaaahhh!”

“Woof woof.”

They couldn’t contain themselves anymore and had practically turned into animals. The frying pan sizzled with a mountain of yakiniku, steam rising off of it.

“Death pit hybrid beast yakiniku, isekai style,” complete. Magical effects: small life recovery, medium stamina recovery, medium mana recovery, small life boost, medium stamina boost, small mana boost.

The magical effects were no joke—multiple medium-level buffs. This had the best effects out of any food we’d had save the heaven dragon.

“Hold on! Stay!”

“Meow!”

“Wuffu.”

I did my best to rein in their excitement while I plated the meat and carried it to the table. It didn’t quite match the grilled dragon meat, but the aroma was intense. Shiro and Kuro were clearly unable to control themselves any longer.

Does meat infused with mana trigger your appetite? I just ate a few hours ago, and I’m already hungry.

The same was true for Shiro and Kuro. They were rubbing their now-flat bellies, eyes locked on the plate piled high with hell chimera yakiniku.

“Well then, let’s eat.”

“Let’s eat!” the girls said in unison.

We each grabbed a steaming slice and popped it into our mouths at the same time.

Then it hit us.

“Meow!”

“Arf arf!”

What is this?! It’s sweet! The sweetness of the mellum, soy sauce, and meat fat—all of it melded together, enveloping our tongues. When we bit down, the juices burst out. How did so much meat juice get packed into such a thin slice? The flavor and saltiness of the soy sauce and the kick of the spice all amplified the taste, flooding our mouths with meat juice and joy.

Honestly, I’ve never had yakiniku this good even back on Earth. Picture a thin slice of premium wagyu loin grilled with store-bought yakiniku sauce—the kind that’s sweet, spicy, refreshing, and fruity. Now make that three times better. That’s what this meat is. I keep chewing on this meat, which has a nice bite to it, and the tastiness comes nonstop. It’s overflowing with deliciousness. I thought we might have leftovers to stash away...but that’s clearly not happening. If anything, we’re gonna run out!

Pressed by Shiro’s and Kuro’s stares, I headed back to the kitchen to grill some more. This time, I focused on the rib cuts.

Then I had an idea. I pulled out the hell chimera’s mana stone. Though deteriorated, it must’ve held way more power than a low-tier magical beast’s mana stone. I used magic to extract only the mana, then infused it into the meat.

Since the mana came from the same creature, it’s blending in perfectly. This should boost the magical effects even further.

“Death pit hybrid beast yakiniku, isekai style,” complete. Magical effects: small life recovery, medium stamina recovery, large mana recovery, medium life boost, medium stamina boost, medium mana boost.

Nice. It’s not a lot, but the magical effects went up a bit.

I brought more freshly grilled yakiniku to the table, and we all started eating again.

The three of us fell silent. We simply kept chowing down on the meat, which tasted even better than before. Maybe the dragon’s flesh and blood that had mixed into us liked strong mana.

We couldn’t stop. I felt like we could keep eating as long as there was meat to grill.

By the time we’d cleared all the food, I finally realized: “I got a huge mana boost.”

It must’ve been the magical effects. Even though my internal mana hadn’t gone up much at all from killing the dungeon’s magical beasts lately, it had just increased by nearly ten percent.

Well, no clue how long the effect’s gonna last, but yeah, materials from high-tier beasts really are something else.

Side Story: The Boy in the Slums

A boy’s cry pierced the air.

“P-Please, just stop already!” I said. “If you keep going, Sil’s gonna—!”

There was no response.

Sil screamed even louder. No matter how much I begged, the knight wouldn’t stop kicking him.

Yeah, I know we did wrong! But this is going way too far!

The boy continued to cry, but the knight remained silent. He didn’t say a word. He just kept hitting Sil, kicking him. Even as Sil cried and screamed, blood pouring from his nose, the knight didn’t let up.

Why is this happening?! If I’d known, I never would’ve gone along with that stupid prank!

“Let’s chuck some rocks at the soldiers.”

That was what Sil had said, back when it had all started. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but Sil had said he did it sometimes to mess with soldiers. He’d only just moved to this part of town. He’d said he used to live closer to the city center, meaning he was a rich kid, but then some monster burned down his house, and now he was stuck living in the slums for a while.

Sil was big, and smart, and he was quick to make friends with our group. He knew all kinds of games, and hanging out with him was always a blast. So when he’d said that the soldiers in this town were all lazy and useless and that we could do anything we wanted to them...

It worked before! We threw rocks at the soldiers, slipped through a hidden path, and got away clean! So, when Sil said we should do it again, I didn’t argue!

But this guy wasn’t normal! He wasn’t dressed like the other soldiers, and I had this weird feeling in my gut, but I never imagined he’d be a knight. A knight should wear something that makes it obvious!

Sil had tossed a rock from behind a wall. The knight shouldn’t have been able to see us, but somehow, he caught it. And in the blink of an eye, he was right there, standing in front of us.

How did he move so fast?

The knight loomed over us, staring down with a terrifying face. Actually, his face itself wasn’t scary—just a regular middle-aged guy with a blank expression.

But the moment his eyes locked onto mine, I couldn’t move. Same with Sil. That vacant look the knight had was somehow haunting.

As we stood there, frozen, the knight took Sil. Only Sil got dragged away. Only Sil got beaten. Only Sil’s face got bruised and bloodied. He cried and screamed, but the knight didn’t stop.

The knight only backed off when the woman he’d been with finally spoke up. “Perhaps that is enough? Any more and he might die.”

The knight let out a sigh. “Yeah? Then take care of the mess for me.”

“If you keep doing things like this, your reputation is only going to suffer further, Sir Geos. Why do—”

“I don’t care about my reputation. Not like it can get any worse. Anyway, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, sir.”

The knight walked off without so much as a change in expression. As I glared at his back, he turned around. Our eyes met. I shrieked.

“Next time, I’ll kill you,” he said. “Or maybe I’ll settle for an arm? The fun will last longer that way too.”

We messed with someone we should’ve never laid a finger on... I need to tell Sil that we have to stop doing stupid stuff like this. I have to tell everyone! That the knight is a disgusting man! That he beats up kids for fun!

Chapter 2: Mercenaries

The day after the hell chimera battle, we found ourselves in the room where we’d had that deadly showdown.

There wasn’t a single trace of the fight left behind. It wasn’t that a monster like an acid slime—a “cleaner”—had tidied things up. Even the scratches on the floor and walls were gone.

The dungeon’s mysterious powers must’ve kicked in. Even the hell chimera itself was nowhere to be seen.

Monsters in the dungeon were supposed to regenerate over time, but I guess boss-class ones didn’t come back in just a day. I had a strange feeling—part relief, part disappointment.

I want to hunt it more smoothly next time, but I’m probably more relieved we don’t have to face that monster two days in a row?

“All right,” I said, “from here on out, it’s completely uncharted territory. We’re going to take it slow.”

“A-okay!”

“Roooger.”

As Shiro and Kuro each threw up a hand, answering with their usual energy, I took the lead and stepped forward. The corridor beyond the hell chimera’s room felt different. Is it because I’m nervous? No, the mana clinging to my skin is much thicker.

The mana felt even denser, heavier than before.

It probably means we’ve made our way deeper into the dungeon. Is the corridor narrower? It’s still twisting and turning like always, making it impossible to see what lies ahead. As for magical beasts—

“Damn it!”

“Myah!”

“Dark Shield!”

Something had dropped from the ceiling. Shiro and I jumped back on instinct, while Kuro threw up a wall with dark magic.

Something slammed into the barrier and bounced off; something red and gooey.

“Is it a slime?” said Shiro.

“But the color’s weird. And it’s huuuge.”

Shiro hissed, trying to intimidate the enemy. It was a slime all right, but Kuro was correct in her assessment too.

“That’s a melt slime!” I said.

It was a higher-tier version of the slimes we usually ran into, supposedly stronger than acid slimes. It was the same type in that it could dissolve and absorb anything, but this one had way nastier acid.

Its core could be made into noodles like any other slime, and it was probably pretty tasty considering it packed more mana.

“Kuro, keep your Dark Shield up.”

“Gooot it.”

Slimes sometimes attacked by hurling corrosive fluid, which was supposedly created from mana. That meant it could be blocked with a barrier of dark magic, which could block magic. The melt slime had bounced off the wall for the same reason; its whole body was packed with mana.

On the other hand, dark shields weren’t great against physical attacks. It didn’t provide much defense against regular arrows, rocks, and other projectiles, so it wasn’t always the best spell to use. Kuro must’ve seen that the enemy was a slime type and threw up Dark Shield on instinct—brilliant judgment on her part.

“Water Needle barrage!”

“Cut down the enemy! Light Blade!”

My Water Needles pinned the melt slime in place, and Shiro’s Light Blade carved a massive chunk out of its gooey body, which was big enough to swallow me whole.

Her Light Blade hit both physically and magically, which made it perfect against slimes. It was similar to Kuro’s Darkness Blade but leaned more toward physical damage. At the very least, it was strong enough to take down an acid slime without a problem.

But the melt slime was still moving. High-tier monsters sure are tough! I’d hoped to win without tapping into my dragon’s power too much, but it seemed I’d underestimated this one.

“Arf!”

“Seriously?!” I said.

The melt slime’s acid attack had obliterated Kuro’s Dark Shield in one shot. Acid slimes used similar attacks, but this one had hit way harder. If an acid slime’s attack was like a throwing weapon, this was a bullet.

“Shiro,” Kuro said. “I’m counting on you.”

“Meow! Wind Wall!”

Shiro and Kuro were both calm. Against slimes, Kuro’s dark magic worked best, so the ideal strategy was to have Shiro on defense and Kuro on offense.

They didn’t need me to spell it out. They naturally made the decision to swap roles by having Shiro cast Wind Wall and Kuro focus her mana for attack. Thanks to all our experience in the dungeon, they’d learned to stay calm even when things got rough.

Looks like I’m playing backup. “Create Hot Water!”

The plan was simple. I summoned a sphere of boiling water the size of a basketball above the slime and let it fall. It hit with a splash, white steam hissing into the air.

Slimes were weak to heat, but I doubted it did much. Still, the melt slime froze. Then, its body started to twitch and writhe as it tried to shake off the boiling water—something that acid slimes also did. My guess was that it hated having the acid that made up its body diluted by hot water. I’d discovered this by accident once, when I’d combined boiling water with water magic for an attack.

While it trembled, trying to fling the hot water off its body, the melt slime left itself wide open.

“Arf. Dark Shock.”

Kuro finished her chant and unleashed a blast of dark magic. It took a moment to fire, but the spell packed serious power—it was intermediate level, after all.

The black projectile slammed into the melt slime, carving away nearly half its body. Thanks to the nature of dark magic, it drained a massive chunk of the slime’s mana too.

That hit was the finisher. The melt slime dissolved into nothing.

“Phew... Not quite a one-shot, but we managed to beat a high-tier monster without getting hurt. Still, maybe I do need dragon power to take those down cleanly...”

“It put up a fight,” said Shiro.

“We won, but we can’t let our guard dooown.”

“You’re right,” I said.

We’d gotten a little full of ourselves after beating the hell chimera, but we were humbled in an instant. It was a rude awakening that the dungeon wasn’t a walk in the park. We’d have to be on our toes at all times.

“But where the heck did that slime come from anyway?”

It looked like it had just sprung out of the ceiling, but when I glanced up, there wasn’t a single hole in sight.

“No hooole?”

“It showed up out of nowhere,” said Shiro.

“Yeah, exactly.”

When the melt slime had dropped from above, its presence had blinked into existence so suddenly, it was like it had teleported. I know it was a high-tier one, but can slimes really do that? Acid slimes usually hid in ceiling holes and ambushed prey that walked underneath. Once you explored enough, you learned to spot those kinds of traps. This time, however, I couldn’t find an opening no matter how long I stared at the ceiling.

Thinking ahead, I wanted to figure out exactly how that thing had appeared.

“Let’s poke around a bit.”

I conjured a stone rod and tapped the ceiling with it. As I went along, the sound suddenly changed at one spot. I didn’t have any special abilities like a structural inspector or anything, but even I could tell that there was a hollow space up there. Looking closer, the color of that spot was slightly different. That’s suspicious. I pressed on it firmly, and the ceiling gave way a little, revealing a gap. Is it like a lid that opens up when someone passes underneath? That doesn’t explain why I didn’t sense any mana though... Does it have some sort of mana-blocking properties? That’d be pretty nasty.

Anyway, it’s safe to assume that from here on out, the enemies, traps, and even the dungeon’s mechanics are all leveling up in difficulty. We’ll need to proceed slowly and carefully. Reminds me of when we first discovered the dungeon. Looks like we’re back to advancing a little, retreating, and mapping things out bit by bit.

But we can’t afford to take it easy forever. We’ve got one year to conquer this dungeon. We gotta keep moving forward even if it means getting in over our heads a bit.

“All right, let’s move,” I said.

“Myah!”

“Wuffu.”

We kept our senses sharp, scanning the ceiling, floor, and walls for anything suspicious, while staying alert for the presence of monsters.

After a while, the path split into three directions—one straight ahead, and two curving off to the sides.

It’s not exactly a crossroad. More like a trident, with three prongs branching out. All three paths are the same width. I’ve got no idea which way to go. Moments like this, I leave it to Shiro’s and Kuro’s animal instincts. Not that their instincts have ever clearly paid off before, but I feel like they’re better at this kind of thing than I am.

“Which way do you feel like going?”

“Hmm... This way!”

“That waaay.”

They pointed in opposite directions and exchanged surprised looks.

“This way feels like the mana’s thicker!”

“Nooo, that way has a strooonger mana smell!”

“Myaaaah!”

“Awoooo.”

“Meow!”

“Wuffu.”

This is not the time or place to be glaring at each other! I guess I have no choice.

“Then we’ll meet halfway and go straight down the middle!”

Shiro paused, then let out a meow.

“Wuffu.”

Looks like they gave in since it was my decision. Good thing there’s three paths. If I had to choose between the two, the other might’ve held a grudge.

“Stay sharp!”

“Myah.”

“Okieee.”

***

Four days had passed since we’d pushed past the hell chimera’s room, and we’d finally unraveled the layout of that three-pronged fork: As it turned out, all three paths were connected.

The deeper in we went, the more the paths split and the dungeon twisted into a proper maze. And in that maze, melt slimes kept popping out with surprise attacks, and there were some lethal traps as well. Though there weren’t many, the spear traps, poison arrows, and collapsing ceilings were insta-kill level, designed for certain death.

Actually, the low number of traps was the trap itself. Because there were so few, you’d start letting our guard down, and just when your focus slipped, they’d hit. One time, a bunch of spears had shot up from the floor, nearly skewering me. I wasn’t skewered, but one still hit my arm. It hurt like hell, and the poison on the spear made the bleeding even worse. That was why we’d had to bail early on day three.

Once we’d finally finished mapping the maze, we’d learned the devastating truth: No matter which path you took, they all led to the same place. In fact, the middle route—the one that went straight without a single turn—was the easiest. It had the least number of traps and melt slimes and was only an hour’s walk at a leisurely pace.

What a letdown it was when we realized that.

There was one more big discovery, though, which had to do with our mana reserves: The boost we’d gotten from the hell chimera meat hadn’t faded at all. Sure, we’d taken down melt slimes and a few other beasts, but that alone wasn’t enough to explain how we’d been able to maintain our mana boost. This meant I’d been thinking about boosts all wrong. I’d assumed magical effects were like temporary buffs—strong for a day, gone by morning. But that wasn’t the case. The effects might not have been permanent, but they lasted way longer than I’d ever expected.

I felt like a complete idiot for not realizing that, but then again, I’d never really had the opportunity to notice the boosts before. Slight and small effects were barely noticeable, and the only food that had given me anything medium or above had been heaven dragon meat. Since that always came with dragon mana, I’d thought that any mana boosts, or physical boosts, had come from that.

But that wasn’t all. Life boost, stamina boost, mana boost—every bit of it had been steadily making us stronger. If the effects of magical cooking were permanent, or at least long-lasting, then maybe half of the abilities we’d thought had come from defeating magical beasts had actually been thanks to my cooking.

“Magical chef...” I said to myself. “Seriously a cheat ability.”

Well, it’s not like that changes how we’re gonna do things. We’re gonna keep taking down high-tier magical beasts, and I’m gonna cook with their materials. As long as we keep that cycle going, we’ll get even stronger.

“All right! Let’s head back and eat! We’ll chow down and power up!”

“Myaaah!”

“Wuffu.”

If just eating makes us stronger, then we’re all in.

Over the past few days, I’d also figured out that using soy sauce infused with mana boosted the magical effects. Food was going to be more important than ever now—although it’s not like we’re suddenly gonna be eating more now, since we’ve always gone all out when it comes to food.

And so, we began a new day with a fresh new mindset about food.

“Let’s get a move on, okay?”

“I’ll look for traps!” said Shiro.

“Kuro’s gonna look for magical beeeasts.”

“Got it. I’m counting on you.”

With both of the girls fired up, I headed out alongside them, continuing past the junction where the three paths of the fork met.

Shiro’s and Kuro’s eyes sparkled with excitement, probably from being in a new area. I couldn’t blame them, considering we might find new ingredients.

But despite their enthusiasm, the path ahead had neither beasts nor traps. After walking about thirty meters down a narrow corridor, we came to a small room—much smaller than anything we’d seen so far. It was hexagonal, maybe six or seven meters across. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, this room had a strange, solemn atmosphere. Even the pillars were carved with intricate designs, and there was a large glowing stone embedded in the ceiling.

What was truly striking was the magic circle drawn on the floor. It was slightly smaller than the room itself, maybe five meters in diameter. It was already glowing—a clear sign that it was working.

What is this thing? If this was a game, I’d say it was a teleportation circle to the next area...but in a dungeon filled with so much malice, isn’t it suspicious that there’s such an obvious way forward just sitting there? Stepping on it could trigger a trap or teleport us right in front of a monster.

As I stood there weighing the risks, Kuro spotted something.

“Thor, look at that.”

“Hm?”

Kuro tapped my shoulder. We were lined up at the entrance, peering into the room, and as I followed her gaze, I saw something like a stone monument near the wall by the entrance.

Being careful not to step onto the magic circle, I leaned in to get a closer look. Written on the surface were the words: “Teleportation Circle No. 13→Converging-Type Teleportation Circle No. 4.” Then, I noticed that the magic circle on the floor had the number thirteen written in the center.

So this is Teleportation Circle Number Thirteen, and it’ll send us to something called the Converging-Type Teleportation Circle Number Four? This is way too sketchy. Maybe it is a trap. But there are no other paths... Unless there’s a hidden passage somewhere? Knowing how twisted this dungeon is, I wouldn’t be surprised if the real path forward is hidden somewhere around here.

Apparently, Shiro and Kuro had been thinking the same thing. We decided to ignore the teleportation circle for now and backtrack, checking every inch of the corridor—the floor, the walls, even the ceiling.

In the end, we couldn’t find any hidden corridors, or anything else for that matter. The only thing we discovered was that the teleportation circle was our only option.

Just to be safe, we brought a gabul root, which we’d weakened, from the sewers and tossed it onto the circle. It didn’t get drained of mana and drop dead or anything. It simply vanished in an instant. The magic circle was definitely a teleportation circle.

We’ve exhausted our options. We’ll just have to trust that everything will be all right.

After a long pause, I said, “We have no other choice. You two should stay back while I go—”

“No!” said Shiro. “We go together!”

“Too risky to go by yourself.”

Shiro and Kuro had a firm grip on my shoulders, showing their resolve to not let me go alone.

“But it could be a trap...”

“No!”

“No waaay.”

Looks like there’s no convincing these two.

“Shiro, Kuro... You’re right. Let’s go together.”

“A-okay!”

“We’re in this togeeether.”

Kuro was right. We were in this together. If either of them were about to walk into danger alone, I wouldn’t stand for it either.

They nodded, and I took their hands. Together, we quietly stepped forward.

The moment our feet touched the magic circle, everything changed right before our eyes.

“Huh?”

“Myah?”

“Arf?”

It happened in a blink. One second we were standing inside a cramped room, and the next it had changed to one that was wide open, about the same size as the hell chimera’s.

It seemed like we’d really teleported. The gabul root I’d tossed in earlier was squirming by our feet. I’ll finish the thing off with magic and store it.

“No other beasts,” said Shiro.

“And nooo traps.”

“There’s a teleportation circle for returning too,” I said.

We stayed put, scanning the room carefully. It was spacious, but the design was identical to the small room we’d just been in: the hexagonal layout, the pillars adorned with carvings, everything.

There was also a teleportation circle for returning—which had been my biggest worry—though it was quite small compared to the size of the room. Actually, it was about the same size as the one in the original room. The only real difference was the number in the center.

It said “No. 4.” The one in the room we’d come from had been Teleportation Circle Number Thirteen, and this one was Converging-Type Teleportation Circle Number Four. So the numbers match up.

I stepped off the circle, then got back on; I could jump between Number Thirteen and Number Four just fine. Evidently, we weren’t stuck.

“All right, now we can—”

Just as we started toward the corridor beyond the room, a flash of light zipped behind us, and with it came the presence of something alive. We whipped around, ready for battle. I was sure that the room had turned out to be a trap after all and that a monster had spawned.

I was wrong.

“Huh? A kid? What the hell’s a kid doing in a place like this?!” To our surprise, the figure behind us was a large man.

That’s right, a human. This was, after all, a dungeon that mercenaries entered to conquer. I’d prepared myself for the possibility of running into one eventually.

Still, I hadn’t expected it to happen right here.

He appeared in this room, so that means he used the teleportation circle after we did, right? Did he find the sewer entrance we’ve been using?

The man sized us up. His appearance was intense—he was nearly two meters tall and was clad in armor made from a mix of leather and metal, stained with patches of dried blood. A massive sword hung across his back, and with his scruffy beard and bald head, he looked every bit the bandit.

Memories of Gizmelt came rushing back—memories of murdering someone for the first time. No matter how I looked at it, this guy seemed to be the same type.

Are we in trouble? Even if we run now, we’ll be screwed if he chases us all the way back to our hideout. So do we fight? What’s the move here?

“Oh, come on,” said the giant man. “This is actually a kid and not some monster in disguise? God! I get that those idiot soldiers are lazy, but man, do your damn jobs! What kind of half-assed security is this?!”

We stayed silent, growing more and more tense, while the man simply stroked his beard, his confusion evident in his voice. His eyes, which had a surprising charm to them, darted around nervously, betraying his panic.

So, he wasn’t expecting this either?

“Hey, did you guys get in here on your own? Or did someone drag you in? If you’re lost, I’ll help you find a way out.”

I hadn’t expected that—neither the words nor the gentle tone. There was no hint of malice in his voice, only what sounded like genuine concern. Still, I didn’t let my guard down. He could’ve just been good at faking it.

And I haven’t missed the tension in his face either. He must be wary too. Makes sense. A bunch of kids wandering around a place like this? Of course he’d be suspicious. He’s probably trying to figure out what we really are.

But after watching us for a bit, he seemed to realize that we really were just kids. The tension eased, and I could tell he was trying to protect us now. Once that wary look faded, his face softened to a kind look. He was charming now, like some kind of bear mascot. You know the vibe that just makes you feel reassured? For a split second, I almost let my guard down, but I snapped back to attention. He could be trying to catch us off guard. I can’t afford to relax yet.

The man continued speaking, perhaps to put us at ease.

“Wish I could go back with you, but I can’t with this teleportation circle.”

What’s that supposed to mean? I tilted my head, confused, but Shiro jumped in first.

“What do you mean?”

“Huh? You mean, you don’t know? How’d you even get here...” the man said. “Wait, are some bastards using them as bait...?”

“What’s wrong?” asked Shiro.

“Oh, uh, nothing. Just talking to myself,” the man said. “Anyway, about the teleportation circle. I don’t know which one you guys used, but it was in a small room, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a standard teleportation circle. The one in this big room is a converging-type.”

His tone was a bit rough around the edges, but his explanation was surprisingly detailed. According to him, this dungeon was massive and was scattered with teleportation circles.

“It makes mapping a nightmare. I’ve barely made any progress, myself.”

It made sense that it’d be hard to map out anything if you didn’t know where a teleportation circle took you.

He also told us about the special teleportation circles called converging-types. They had different entry points but converged to the same exit point. For example, we’d come through Number Thirteen, but the man had used Number Eight.

“Numbers Six and Eight are known, but mercenaries tend to keep their findings a secret. I wouldn’t be surprised if loads of them are hiding stuff.”

“So how do we get baaack?” Kuro also seemed to have taken an interest in the man. She must’ve lowered her guard after hearing him speak.

“Just do the reverse of how you came in. Even if you enter through here, you’ll return to your own exit point. I go back to Number Eight, and you guys will return to whatever teleportation circle you flew in from.”

I see... If he’s telling the truth, then that means our sewer entrance hasn’t been compromised. That’s a relief, because I really don’t want strangers going in and out of there.

As I dipped my head, lost in thought, the man gave a long, weary sigh and started patting his bald head, making a soft slapping sound.

“Still scared of me, kid?” He sighed again. “I’m used to having kids be scared of me when I first meet them, but is my face really that scary? I mean, Aida at the tavern says I’m cute, ya know.”

Oh, I kept quiet for so long that he thinks I’m scared of him. But if I get too chatty, I might say something stupid. I should let him think I’m a scared little kid.

We really shouldn’t be standing around talking anyway. Another mercenary might teleport in. I might be in the clear, but Shiro and Kuro are still on the run. If rumors start spreading about girls like them showing up in the dungeon, someone might come chasing after them. They’ve grown, but that’s no reason to let our guard down.

I did, however, want to get more intel out of this guy. If only I could steer the conversation where I want it without giving up information about us... It’ll be weird if a kid like me takes the lead and asks questions, right? This is gonna be a little embarrassing, but it’s the only way.

I tugged at the hem of Kuro’s skirt, then tried to sound as childlike as I could. “Pick me up, Big Sis.”

“Huh? Thor?” said Shiro. “What’s going on? You’re acting weird.”

Shiro! Zip it! It’s called acting!

Thankfully, Kuro seemed to catch on to what I was trying to do.

“Okay. I’ll scoop you riiight up.”

“Thanks.”

I wrapped my arms around Kuro’s neck and settled myself in her arms. This is so embarrassing! But now we can talk in secret!

I whispered in a voice only Kuro could hear, giving her a cue.

“Kuro, ask him what’s up ahead.”

“Okieee,” she said. “So, old man, what’s down that way?”

“O-Old man... I mean, I guess being in your thirties probably seems old enough to you...”

Wait, so he’s just over thirty? Not even forty yet? I thought he was like fifty.

“The name’s Gailland. I’d rather you call me that.”

“Got it,” said Shiro. “Gailland!”

“Gooot it. Gailland.”

“Yep, there you go!”

He doesn’t seem the least bit annoyed that they didn’t have a little more respect and call him “Mr. Gailland” or something. Maybe he really is a good guy.

“This corridor leads to the forest level.”

“Fore-rest?” said Shiro.

“What’s fore-rest?”

“It’s a place with lots of trees. So many that the presence of magical beasts gets harder to detect, and traps are way easier to miss. Plus, it’s so massive you could walk for days and still not see the edge.”

A nature-themed dungeon level—classic. Didn’t think they actually existed.

“I can’t believe you don’t know that,” said Gailland. “By the way, this area’s called the deep layer. You guys at least know that much?”

“Deeeep layer?”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t know that either?”

Apparently, the dungeon was divided into four layers: the surface, middle, deep, and bottom layers. The deep layer was supposed to be a smorgasbord of ferocious beasts and insta-kill traps galore. Not many mercenaries were able to venture to the deep layer or beyond, and they all closely guarded their findings, so there was barely anything in the way of intel or maps. Gailland, too, said he had a few secrets of his own for making cash.

“Even I’ve gotta be well prepared to go to the deep layer,” he said. “I’ve come close to dying more times than I care to count. Today, I’m just here to scout.”

His gear looked surprisingly light. I’d assumed he had some kind of item box tucked away, but he claimed he’d never seen such a thing.

“A friend of mine went in to explore the deep layer,” he added. “I just came to check up on him. After all, if something goes wrong, it’s not that easy to get out.”

The forest of the deep layer sprawled endlessly, so once you were deep enough in, simple retreat probably became quite a challenge. There was, however, a teleportation circle for escape purposes, which took you straight back to the entrance. This escape circle appeared randomly like a trap, so its location wasn’t fixed, but Gailland said it was easy to identify since it was a red magic circle with the number zero.

“You guys look injured. Can you make it back?”

Does he think we’re damaged slaves because of the bandages?

He seemed genuinely concerned.

“If you can’t get back on your own, want me to help you search for an escape circle?”

“We’re fiiine. We can go back.”

“That so? Well, I probably shouldn’t be the one to say this, but some mercenaries—heck, pretty much all of them—are scumbags. If they saw you girls, they’d probably try to catch you and sell you off. You’d better stay sharp out here.”

“Got it!”

“Gooot it.”

“All right, then,” Gailland said.

Gailland might’ve been a genuinely decent guy, but I couldn’t trust someone I’d just met enough to start traveling with them. It was better to part ways now.

“Big Sis, let’s go home,” I said.

“Thor? Yeah, let’s go hooome.”

“Yep, that’s your best bet,” said Gailland. “The magical beasts past this point are on a whole different level. A lot of mercenaries who make it that far end up dead.”

You couldn’t even reach this layer without beating the hell chimera—no wonder the difficulty spiked. Still, we couldn’t avoid this place if we hoped to conquer the dungeon, and the curse would kill us if we didn’t. And since this was the deep layer, that meant we were getting pretty close to the bottom.

Now that I think about it, the entrance we’ve been using probably isn’t normal. We did end up right in the deep layer, after all. Honestly, that spot might be the middle layer, especially considering how we encountered the hell chimera just a few rooms in. The area above that pitfall is the surface layer, the place we’ve been using as our entrance is the middle layer, and this is the deep layer. Thinking about it that way, the hell chimera being the boss actually makes sense.

“Time to say goodbye,” said Shiro.

“Seeee ya.”

“All righty!” said Gailland. “No idea if we’ll meet again, but take care.”

We waved goodbye to Gailland, then stepped onto the teleportation circle and returned to room thirteen. Running into him had been unexpected, but it wasn’t without its rewards.

“The massive forest of the deep layer...” I muttered to myself. So that means things are about to get tougher. Magical beast ambushes, run-ins with other mercenaries...and if the area’s too big to clear in a single day, we’ll eventually need to prep for camping out.

Shiro and Kuro, on the other hand, seemed more pumped than ever.

“I can’t wait!” said Shiro. “We might find berries!”

“And maybe meeeat?”

True, a forest could very well have more to harvest. Here’s hoping we come across some new ingredients.

“Tomorrow, we’re heading into the forest.”

“Meow!”

“Wuffu.”

***

The day after we ran into Gailland, we’d managed to reach the forest in the deep layer without crossing paths with any mercenaries. Just twenty meters down the corridor from the big room with the Converging-Type Teleportation Circle, we were already in a dense forest.

“So this is the deep layer...” I said.

“The forest!” said Shiro.

“Strange forest,” followed Kuro.

I can see it with my own eyes, but I can barely believe it. Are we even underground? I mean, there’s the sky and the sun too.

Come to think of it, space in this dungeon is completely warped. It spreads in every direction, never colliding with the ruins beneath the town. Maybe once you step inside, you’re already in a different dimension? For a second, I wondered if the teleportation circle had flung us to some far-off forest, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Walls stretch out to either side of the forest entrance, and apparently, no matter how high up you climb them, you can never reach the top. So this can’t be somewhere in this realm, but a separate dimension. Whatever the case, that doesn’t change the fact that this is a danger zone, and one careless move could cost us our lives.

“There’s no path, so let’s try heading straight for now.”

“Got it!”

“Okieee.”

We didn’t have a map or a sense of the terrain, so we just decided to head straight from the entrance. Sure, we wanted food, but we needed to secure a route forward. Besides, we had no clue what kind of prey might show up or what resources we’d find. According to Gailland, no one had established a path beyond this forest in the deep layer, and nobody even knew how to reach the bottom layer.

Because of how the dungeon worked, any traces of mercenaries vanished within days. Even corpses and holes in the ground would reset, so you couldn’t rely on markers or trails that had been left behind. It was no wonder that nobody had cleared the place, let alone mapped it out.

But now, three kids were going to have to do what countless mercenaries hadn’t been able to. We didn’t have time to take it slow either. Ideally, we’d carve out a route and pick up food along the way—not that things ever went that smoothly.

On our first day exploring, we were on edge the entire time, but we didn’t run into any strong magical beasts—just low-tier ones like poison rats and gabul roots. Even in the deep layer, weaklings still roamed around. They were probably just food for the stronger ones. Maybe there was a proper ecosystem down here, albeit an artificial one.

Our harvest wasn’t bad at all. We’d picked up wild plants, chili pepper look-alike, and vinegar mushrooms—stuff you could find aboveground too. Nothing new, but a solid haul for our first day. No dangerous traps either.

But it hadn’t been all smooth sailing. First, there was the problem with charting the area. The forest was way too big, and with barely any landmarks, drawing a map was nearly impossible for amateurs like us. Up until now, I’d been keeping a thin stone tablet in storage and sketching a map with chalk. That had worked fine in the dungeon area, with its rooms and passageways, but the forest was a whole different game. There were no fixed paths, and it was the same scenery no matter how far you walked. We tried using oddly shaped rocks and trees as landmarks, but even a slight shift in angle made them look different, making it next to impossible to figure out whether something was a landmark.

None of us had any experience walking through a forest, and just keeping our bearings was a struggle. In fact, when we’d tried to head back home, we’d completely lost track of which direction to go. In the end, I’d had to climb a tall tree and look for the nearest structure. The building with the teleportation circle was fairly large, so I’d managed to spot it somehow. Still, I had seriously panicked, that time.

And then there was another problem: the shadow of a mercenary. It wasn’t like we’d run into someone directly, but I’d gotten the distinct feeling of someone’s eyes on us. It was so far away I couldn’t even see their face, but it felt like we were being observed. They were probably trying to figure out if we were magical beasts or not... Sensing the presence of a mercenary on the very first day made me uneasy about what lay ahead.

On day two of exploring the deep layer, we took a different route and ended up finding a few useful plants. One was something that looked, smelled, and tasted just like Alpine leek. It had no poison and was easy to eat. This is gonna take our yakiniku to the next level.

The other find was a kind of tree called a nanal, which resembled a mulberry. It had blue fruit with a refreshing, blueberry-like scent. The taste was more like extremely sour grapes, so the fruit wasn’t quite edible as it was, but apparently, it made excellent juice and jam. We couldn’t gather much, but it was enough for a few rounds of dessert.

Forests really are rich in plant life. We’ve picked up plenty of other wild plants too, so if we can get some meat, we can have ourselves a feast tonight.

The heavens must’ve heard our prayers. Shiro and Kuro suddenly stopped and stared into the woods. A moment later, I also felt a presence. We ducked behind the trees and waited. After a few minutes, a strange-looking magical beast stepped out from between the trees.

Its entire body was covered in something like the exoskeleton of a beetle, but the shape was closer to a four-legged mammal—like a cow clad in armor. It had a face like a one-eyed insect and resembled a bug with strong jaws, something along the lines of a longhorn beetle or a Japanese tiger beetle.

It was called a paralyze eye. Despite its brute-force look, it had a magic eye that caused paralysis—not the kind that could just freeze your limbs, but the kind that could mess with your heart and brain, and could basically be an instant-death attack. This thing’s a nightmare! Luckily, its magic eye had a short range, so it couldn’t hit from a distance.

“It hasn’t noticed us yet,” I said to Shiro and Kuro. “Let’s crush that magic eye before it gets within range.”

“Okay.”

“Okie.”

All right, this is it: our first real fight in the deep layer.

We quietly readied our spells, then attacked together. Bolts of magic flew toward the paralyze eye’s face.

But the thing roared in retaliation, letting us know that it wasn’t just some oversized slowpoke.

“You’ve gotta be kidding! It just wiped out our magic!”

The moment its magic eye lit up, it unleashed a shock wave that canceled out our attacks. That eyeball, which was glaring right at us, could do more than just fire a paralysis curse.

Sure, we’d held back because we didn’t want to pulverize its meat, but we’re way stronger now that we have the dragon’s power, and it still nullified everything in one move? This thing’s way tougher than I thought!

“Our cover’s blown! I’ll use earth magic to keep it busy, so you guys attack again!”

There goes our plan to take it down with one surprise attack!

And it’s fast too!

The monster roared yet again. It had been just a few seconds after it spotted us, but it had already closed nearly half the distance. Still, I didn’t panic. I triggered the backup spell I’d prepared in advance.

I’ve been through enough hell that I’m not gonna choke under pressure like this!

The ground beneath the paralyze eye collapsed in an instant, swallowing its lower half; I’d created a pitfall right under its feet. The distance was too far to make a hole big enough to engulf its entire body, but even trapping half the monster was enough to slow it down.

That was when Shiro and Kuro launched their spells—this time, no holding back. Shiro fired off her specialty, wind magic, her compressed blade of air sharp enough to slice through a thick slab of iron. Kuro followed up with a high-speed, rotating spear of darkness. It tore through both body and mind and could lock up the target’s movements. It was a smart choice. The fact that she didn’t use fire magic was also a slick move since it kept the materials intact.

In the end, the paralyze eye’s body was left with two gaping holes before it finally stopped moving.

“Looks like we won...somehow.”

“We won!”

“Victoryyy.”

Still, that thing had caught me off guard. “So magical beasts around here can react to ambushes, huh? I didn’t expect it to completely cancel out our magic.”

“That was unbelievable.”

“Gotta be more caaareful next time.”

“Yeah.”

We were able to keep our cool since it was just the one enemy, but a group of them would be a different story. We’ll need to be more cautious and keep our distance next time.

“By the way, Shiro, Kuro, you’ve gotten really good at casting spells without an incantation. I mean, Kuro, that spell was incredible.”

“Kuro, you were amazing!”

“I praaacticed.”

Kuro puffed out her chest with a smug grin after the high praise. She deserved it though. The spell she’d fired off without an incantation was an intermediate dark magic spell called Dark Spear—an attack with high piercing power that was great against tough defenses.

Compared to Shiro’s Wind Blade, the hole it left in the enemy had been nearly three times deeper. Unlike blade-type spells, the rotating spear shape focused all its force into a single point. That had no doubt been the finishing blow.

Casting something like that without chanting takes serious practice. She’d been getting the hang of it in calm situations, but pulling it off in the heat of battle was genuinely impressive. It seemed to burn through a lot of mana, but it could absolutely serve as a trump card when it counted.

“All right, how’s your mana holding up?”

“Still good!”

“Pleeenty left.”

I was a little mentally worn out, but physically, I could keep going. Shiro and Kuro struck their “cool” poses to show off how full of energy they were. Well, if they’ve got that much bounce left, we’re probably good to keep going.

After stashing the paralyze eye, we wandered deeper into the forest. Soon enough, we encountered a magical beast. We’re finding a lot of those today!

“Is that a tiny boar?” I said.

“A baaaby?”

“But its mana’s crazy strong!” Shiro said.

It was a gray-furred baby boar, about the size of a small dog. It was cute and would probably be a popular pet if it were harmless. That didn’t mean we let our guard down though. Just like Shiro had said, I could tell the thing held serious mana.

Moments later, the boar noticed us too. Its round, beady eyes glared at us, and it started pawing at the ground with its front legs. It was cute, no doubt, but its intent to kill was unmistakable—it was ready to fight.

The creature was called a forest bullet. As its name implied, the beast tore through the woods like a bullet, accelerating by releasing mana from its limbs. Let your guard down because of its modest size, and you’d be mincemeat before you could blink. Apparently, it tasted amazing, but it was a rare find on the market.

In terms of threat level, it outclassed the paralyze eye, which we’d just had a close call with.

“Don’t let it charge at you!” I warned the two girls. “If it hits you head-on, you’re not just walking away with a few bruises!”

Just as I’d shouted that, the tiny boar, which had been a fair distance away, was suddenly right in front of us. I thought it was charging toward Shiro and Kuro, but at the last second, it slid sideways in a weird, unnatural motion and veered in my direction. What the heck was that move?!

As the forest bullet let out a cute squeal that belied its murderous aura, its feet gave off a faint glow, speeding up the monster some more.

The mana from its legs! So it’s not just for speed—it can shift direction mid-charge too! No worries, I was ready for a surprise attack!

I summoned a shield of water and slammed it forward without hesitation.

The boar squealed, and with a loud bang, the shield burst. But I’d angled it just right so that it knocked the beast’s trajectory slightly off course. The gray bullet tore past me, creating an intense gust of wind. That charge is insane! A direct hit would’ve been game over!

It charged at me again, squealing.

“Look how far it’s gone already!” I spun around, ready to strike back, but the creature had already vanished into the woods. It wasn’t retreating; it was circling us, waiting for an opening. I could see its shadow darting between the trees. But because of its insane speed and unpredictable movements, and the forest getting in the way, I couldn’t get a clean shot.

I was just about to scatter a wide-range spell across our surroundings when—

“Yah!”

Squeak!

Out of nowhere, Shiro had lunged forward and cleanly taken down the forest bullet with her twin blades. Her charge speed was unreal.

“Sh-Shiro, that was amazing! What even was that?!”

“Sooo cooool!”

“Hmph!” Shiro said. “That’s what happens when Shiro gets serious!”

She was wearing the smuggest grin imaginable, but she’d earned it. Even Kuro and I were stunned at the sheer speed of her attack. It’s possible to move extremely fast with wind spells, but what she’d just done had been way faster.

“How’d you pull that off? Some new magic?”

“I kinda went sloooow,” Shiro said, “then squeeeezed it! And boooom!”

That makes no sense. It doesn’t sound like magic either...

Just then, a loud rumble echoed through the forest.

“I’m hungry,” said Shiro.

Wait, what? It’s not even noon yet. That’s—

Oh, I get it. Shiro used her dragon’s power. She must’ve channeled the mana from her dragon eye into physical enhancement.

Apparently, dragon mana was way more versatile than we’d thought.

Grrrrggggg!

“Thooor...” said Shiro.

“Okay, okay. Let’s find a place where you can have a snack.”

“Yay!”

“Oh, not fair, Shirooo,” said Kuro.

“I’ll give you something too, Kuro!”

“Wuffu.”

***

The forest in the deep layer was vast. We’d been exploring for about five days and still hadn’t seen an end to it.

On top of that, the magical beasts that had appeared were extremely powerful, and we’d had multiple close calls. It’d be one thing if they were tasty, but a lot of them aren’t even edible. The ones howling in front of us right now are especially being a pain.

“Myah! Magic really doesn’t work on them.”

“Should I try fiiire?”

“No! It’s a bit more open here, but fire’s still out of the question!”

We were fighting a group of treants: magical beasts that disguised themselves as trees and attacked with branches and vines when prey approached. They were far tougher than ordinary trees, wielded earth magic, had resistance to magic, and possessed incredible stealth—so good that even Shiro and Kuro had trouble noticing them until they started moving. What was worse, they often operated in groups. Right now, four of them were moving around us simultaneously, the humanlike faces on their trunks exuding an eerie presence.

We knew that fire was their weakness, but it was hard to use. In our first encounter, a treant that Kuro had hit with fire magic went wild for at least a full ten seconds before collapsing, and the flames had spread to the surrounding trees. We had nearly been caught in the fire and had almost died; a bigger blaze probably would’ve killed us. I’d put it out with water magic but used up about half my mana.

In the end, using the dragon’s power to crush treants with both physical and magical attacks was the quickest way to take them out. Maybe they had a weak point somewhere, but we didn’t have time to look for one. They’re not edible, so I can’t get any intel on them with my cooking magic either... Yep, troublesome and inedible.

We could get mana stones from them, but edible magical beasts were still more useful. After we’d managed to defeat the treants, I stored their wood and other materials in hopes of drying them out to use as cooking fuel. No clue if it’ll work, though.

By now, Shiro and Kuro were rubbing their stomachs. Treant fights always burned through dragon power, so this was the norm.

“Here, have some of this,” I said to the girls.

“Meow!”

“I like theeese.”

It was hell chimera jerky. I’d used magic to remove the moisture, leaving it semidried, and seasoned it with soy sauce and chili pepper look-alike. It tasted insanely good. Honestly, this would be a great snack to have with drinks. If they had jerky like this back on Earth, I definitely would’ve bought it by the box.

I carried it around so that we could replenish ourselves when we used dragon power. It had proven extremely useful as it both filled us up and restored our mana.

“Dealing with treants is such a pain,” I said.

We could run, but if we got blocked by other magical beasts, we’d end up caught in a pincer attack. Although they were trees, treants could move surprisingly fast by shifting their roots. All of the magical beasts that appeared in the deep layer were formidable. Some of them could’ve easily killed us back when we were weaker.

Though we hadn’t encountered one yet, a hell chimera-class beast could’ve very well been lurking somewhere too. It would’ve been disastrous if we got caught between something like that and a group of treants, so defeating whatever we could on the spot was the safer option.

We started walking again, but suddenly, Kuro stopped.

“What is it?”

“I smeeell something.”

I couldn’t sense anything, but Kuro was sniffing the air like she’d picked up on something unusual. Shiro and I stopped as well, watching her closely.

Then, Kuro made her move, rushing with lightning-fast speed toward a bush about ten meters ahead and swinging the longsword in her hand down with full force.

I’d thought she’d found a small animal hiding in there, but no.

A loud shriek pierced the air.

“Got it.”

Kuro had taken down a giant green snake called an illusion python. As the name suggested, it used illusion magic to conceal itself. It had probably been generating an illusion of a bush and watching us from inside. Things could’ve gotten ugly if we’d approached without noticing.

Kuro had slashed its coiled-up body, so it should’ve been severed into pieces, but the illusion python was still thrashing around—a snake’s vitality cannot be underestimated.

Still, after a few minutes, it stopped moving, reduced to an ingredient.

“Good work, Kuro.”

“I remember the smell of snaaakes.”

“Way to go, Kuro!” said Shiro.

With a single strike of her longsword, she had sliced through a nearly eight-meter-long serpent protected by muscle and scales—not some Earth snake, but a magical beast with far tougher scales and bones. To cut it down in one blow while it was coiled took some serious power. It was quite the display of the strength of Kuro’s dragon arm.

Plus, since she hadn’t used magic, the edible parts were completely intact. It’s supposed to have a lot of small bones, so prepping it’s a pain, but that thing’s gotta weigh thirty or forty kilos. Looks like we won’t be short on snake meat for a while. And this one’s said to be pretty potent, so I bet it’s got good magical effects too.

“All right! We’re having a yakiniku party with this today!”

“Yay!”

“You can thank Kuro,” said Kuro.

“Thanks, Kuro!” replied Shiro.

Kuro hummed proudly.

They were thrilled. The girls had really taken a liking to soy sauce lately, and their appetites had been growing stronger by the day. I’d grilled both the paralyze eye and the forest bullet with soy sauce, and we’d all quite enjoyed those.

The paralyze eye was kind of like crab, and the forest bullet reminded me of lean meat from a premium pork brand, if I recall correctly. Anyway, it’s amazing how versatile soy sauce is. It can make any kind of meat taste great. On the way back, the girls even broke out into an original yakiniku song for the first time in a while.

“Yakiniku is sooo gooood,” sang Kuro.

“Yaki-yaki, niku-niku, yakiniku it is. ♪”

“It’s so good, I can’t stoooop.”

“Our stomachs are gonna get so big, what’ll we do? ♪”

“But we’ll still eeeat.”

“Yes, we’re gonna eat. ♪”

They sure are determined, like they’re gonna eat till their stomachs burst. Well, we’re pretty hungry since we used a lot of dragon power today, and we scored a bunch of meat, so it’s all good.

“Soy sauce is really valuable,” I said, “so we’re gonna cook half the meat with salt, okay?”

“That’s good toooo.”

“So good, so good. ♪”

I guess they’re happy as long as it’s meat.

And so, we’d continued exploring for several days, occasionally picking up good ingredients along the way. Surprisingly enough, this part of dungeon life had been comfortable. Compared to the suffocating building-based level, the open-feeling forest level seemed to suit us better. The ingredients we found here were also far tastier. The yakiniku we’d made with the snake we’d defeated had been so good that Shiro and Kuro had started actively looking for snakes.

But not everything had gone smoothly. Rather, because things had been going so well, we’d let our guard down. We should’ve been more cautious.

While venturing deeper into the forest in search of a path forward, we suddenly froze, finding ourselves in a tight spot.

“Wh-Why’re there kids here?” a voice said.

“Wait!” replied a woman. “It might be an illusion created by a magical beast! Don’t get too close!”

Standing in front of us were three mercenaries. Our encounter with them had taken us by surprise. We’d heard what sounded like an explosion in the distance, and a few minutes later, they came running toward us in a panic. Apparently, they were fleeing from a powerful magical beast. We sensed the presence of humans and tried to hide, but there wasn’t a convenient hiding spot for the three of us. We ended up behind a nearby tree, and their scout picked up on our presence. We couldn’t risk being mistaken for magical beasts and attacked, so when they called out, we had no choice but to reveal ourselves.

But their suspicion didn’t ease. There was no reason for children to be in a place like this, so they’d assumed we were illusions created by a magical beast.

There was a young man with an axe on his back, a male scout, and a woman who looked like a mage. The scout and the mage reminded me of my parents somehow—clearly not good-natured. The way they’d looked at us was purely to evaluate our worth.

Still, they must have remembered they didn’t have time to stand around.

“Hey! Hurry up!” said the older man.

“B-But...”

“If they’re gonna be decoys for us, then fine! Let’s go!” said the woman.

They must’ve figured that if we were illusions, ignoring us was best, and if we were actually human children, we could serve as bait.

The youngest one, who looked like a warrior, seemed a little more decent, but the other two were definitely not good people. And since he ended up following their lead and running off, he wasn’t all that decent either.

Anyway, we have to get moving too.

“Shiro, Kuro, let’s go.”

“Meow.”

“Arf.”

I tried to urge Shiro and Kuro, who were still frozen in place, to move, but it turned out I couldn’t. Maybe it was trauma from when they’d been captured as slaves. They’d grown so tough that they didn’t even flinch at the sight of magical beasts, but now, they were curled up in fear. I’d expected to run into mercenaries eventually, but it had happened so suddenly.

They didn’t react like this toward Gailland—was it his good-guy aura?

By the time their trembling finally stopped, we’d already been spotted by the magical beast that had been chasing the mercenaries. With a loud roar, a massive tree appeared from the woods—a single tree, with an eerie humanlike face, that moved at high speed by shifting its countless roots.

“A treeee?”

“Those people were running from a treant?” said Shiro.

The girls’ tension eased, and they tilted their heads, confused. They were probably wondering why three adults had been running from a single treant.

But this was no ordinary treant.

“That thing’s a killer treant! It’s a higher-tier variant!”

It looked almost identical to a normal treant, but it was a significantly stronger species. Those mercenaries must have mistaken it for a normal one and attacked it, only to be struck down in retaliation. Its bark was tougher than a normal treant’s, and it had the strength to lift a grown adult with ease. As if that weren’t enough, it used poison attacks too. It’d be hell to run into one when you thought you were just hunting a regular treant. It also had high magic resistance, making it far too dangerous for a head-on battle.

But I’d already found a way through.

“The spot directly behind its face is its weak point! Watch out, its branches are poisonous!”

I had a clear read on the killer treant’s data—surprisingly, these magical beasts were edible. The fruit this thing produced was supposed to be amazing, but also incredibly poisonous—one bite was insta-kill level. Even so, people had developed various methods for removing the toxins, and it was sold at high prices to nobles and the like. Although, apparently, a few people died every year from eating fruit that hadn’t been properly detoxified.

“Shiro and I will draw its attention. Kuro, you finish it off!”

“Got it!” said Shiro.

“Okieee.”

The two of them sprang into action immediately. Shiro and I fired off spells to catch its attention, but—

“It’s not working at all!” said Shiro.

“I can’t even cut the branches.”

The lower-tier magic we’d cast without using dragon power didn’t deal any damage. Compared to the standard species, the killer treant was far hardier. Just from the sound of its branches slicing through the air, you could tell it had insane attack power. Its speed, however, didn’t see much of an improvement. If anything, its massive size might have slowed down the way it swung its branches. Thanks to that, Kuro easily slipped behind it and struck its weak point with magic.

The killer treant let out a shrill cry, then was still.

I know Dark Spear’s an intermediate spell, but it took down that rock-hard killer treant with one hit? I guess aiming for the weak spot really does make a difference.

“Kuro, you did it!” said Shiro.

“Victoryyy.”

“Can we eat it?”

“Yeah, as long as we detox the fruit...” I said. “Gimme a sec.”

Its branches were covered in poisonous thorns, so picking the fruit directly would be risky. I decided to stash the whole thing in storage and use its sorting function to separate out just the fruit.

In the end, I managed to get twenty killer treant fruits. The rest of the beast would probably just sit in storage because the poison made the wood difficult to use for fuel or lumber.

The fruit was bright red, like a cherry, except it was the size of a fist. Its scent was sweet and refreshing—almost too appetizing. It was scary to think that it was deathly poisonous. Without knowing anything about the killer treant, anyone would bite right into the fruit without hesitation. Do these beasts use it to kill creatures and absorb them?

“Detox, and...all right, it should be edible now.”

“Wow, it looks delicious!”

“Smells greeeat.”

After a few sniffs, the two of them bit straight into the killer treant’s fruit. Juice splattered everywhere with a wet squelching noise.

“So sweeeet, so taaasty!”

“It’s sweet! Whooo!”

Shiro and Kuro munched away at the fruit, their faces full of joy. I couldn’t resist either and took a bite. I couldn’t believe how sweet it was. The flavor was somewhere between cherry and peach, and the juice just flooded your mouth. The more I chewed, the more the sweetness surged, and the popping texture of the fruit’s fibers was incredibly pleasant.

Isn’t this a little too good? No wonder the nobles go wild over this stuff. My mana reserves went up a bit too. Any more killer treants around? They were supposed to be dangerous magical beasts, but for us, they were a treat in more ways than one.

Shiro and Kuro kept munching away at the fruit.

“Hey! Stop! We only have a bit. Don’t eat so many!”

Please let another killer treant show up!

***

Soldiers had gathered in an alley in the town of Erunst when an old man dressed in a sorcerer-like robe appeared, disturbingly frail and eerie.

“You lot,” the old man said, “have there been any major incidents around here lately?”

“Huh?” grunted a young soldier. “Uh...”

“Oh, my lord! An incident, sir? We haven’t heard of anything serious enough to report to the lord, sir!”

A middle-aged soldier stepped in, brusquely pushing aside the confused young recruit who had no clue who he had just spoken to. The soldier’s voice was so syrupy it would make even his own family wonder what was going on.

But none of the other soldiers laughed. They stood silently, their expressions solemn. Only the young soldier, who had just recently joined as a replacement, didn’t understand the situation. Overwhelmed by the strange tension in the air, he couldn’t bring himself to ask questions. In the end, without realizing that this very silence had saved his life, he stood at attention with the others, waiting.

“Why are you lot here?”

He probably hadn’t meant to glare, but the old man’s gaze was sharp enough to kill. Feeling the immense pressure, the middle-aged soldier somehow mustered a response.

“Th-There was a fight between people from the slums. Uhh, there were a few deaths, so we came to investigate. Apparently, they tried to capture a child to sell, but at some point, the child disappeared. The group started arguing, and it eventually escalated into a knife fight. They may have been drunk, my lord. When we questioned the survivors, all they said was that the child had vanished or flew off or something. None of it made much sense.”

“Vanished?” said the lord. “A sorcerer’s child, perhaps... The lingering traces of mana I sensed from the manor, was it coming from over here? It’s stronger on the next street, though... Whatever the case, there is no doubt that someone capable of using magic was here. Could those girls have awakened to magic? Given their race, it wouldn’t be strange. Or is there another child who can use magic?”

The old man suddenly slipped into his own world, muttering to himself. The atmosphere turned so strange that the soldiers broke into a cold sweat, holding their breath as they awaited his next words.

“Heh heh heh, fascinating!” the lord chuckled. “If it’s a sorcerer, their mana should be far greater than that of a commoner!”

His words shocked the soldiers.

“Mwa ha ha! Excellent! They’ll be worth devooouring! Ha ha ha! Perhaps I should offer up this sorcerer as a sacrifice before those girls!”

The old man, bizarre in both appearance and behavior, burst into laughter right there in the alley. The soldiers showed clear signs of fear, stiffening even more. They were careful not to make even the slightest of sounds, as if any interruption might cost them their lives.

“You lot!”

“Yes, my lord!”

“There’s a high chance a sorcerer was here. Find them! Capture them without fail!”

“Understood, my lord!”

The soldiers saluted, moving out immediately. Despite the vague nature of the order—searching for a sorcerer who could be anywhere—they didn’t ask a single question. Given their obviously hurried pace, they must have wanted to get away from the old man as quickly as possible.

The lord’s presence was so unnerving that even his own subordinates feared him. In the alley, from which the soldiers had practically fled, he continued muttering to himself.

“I will keep on living... I will never die!”

Contrary to his words, the life force emanating from his body was shockingly weak. In fact, it felt like his vitality was actively draining away by the second.

“Ohhh, life. I must consume life! To do that, I need a sacrifice with strong mana! Even the tiniest amount!”

***

It had been ten days since we’d started exploring the great forest. We hardly got lost anymore since I’d gotten used to climbing trees to check our direction, but the path ahead remained uncertain.

I’d thought we’d covered a fairly wide area, but I had no idea what percentage of the forest that actually represented. Maybe what we considered “wide” was less than one percent of the whole.

But today had been different: We’d had a tangible result. It wasn’t food—although food was important too—but a treasure chest, buried at the base of a particularly large tree. Half of it was sunk into the ground, and the upper half was covered by roots.

I spotted it thanks to having the low eye level of a child, but I bet it’d be hard to find for normal people. Then again, this tree’s a lot bigger than the others, so maybe anyone would check it. Either way, I definitely want whatever’s inside.

“A treasure chest!” said Shiro. “There might be something good inside!”

“How do we ooopen it?”

“Hmm, I’m kinda nervous about touching it with my bare hands, so let me try using magic.”

First, I need to deal with the soil around it. I’ll use earth magic to dig it out—gotta be careful not to jostle it.

As I shifted the soil around, the wooden treasure chest gradually showed itself in its entirety. It was solidly built and big enough that I could fit inside. I activated my magical arm and carefully moved the chest. I couldn’t tell if there was a trap, but so far, nothing seemed out of place.

“I’m gonna open it.”

“Hm? Something’s coming,” said Shiro.

“Lots of raaats.”

Are they targeting mercenaries who open the chest? I could sense that a swarm of magical beasts had suddenly appeared and was closing in on us. Just as Kuro said, it was a pack of poison rats.

Maybe it was a trap: get caught up in unlocking the chest, and the rats ambush you. But for us, they were practically our staple food, and we had the most combat experience with them. I used a low-powered area spell and wiped out the filthy rodents in one fell swoop.

Sure, they were easy foes, but fighting magical beasts required focus, and because of that, we’d completely let our guard down toward our surroundings.

“Hey!” a man’s voice called out. “The hell are you twerps doing?! Don’t open that!”

“This is our turf!” said another. “You somebody’s slaves?”

Suddenly, angry voices from a group of men rang out. Because we’d been distracted by the poison rats, we’d failed to notice the mercenaries approaching.

The men glared at us furiously. It seemed they already knew about this treasure chest and had been checking in regularly to see if it had respawned.

They wore grimy leather armor and carried weapons like swords and spears. Their appearance showed no concern for looks, and their expressions were far from anything you’d see on decent people. They looked like textbook mercenaries, with a few differences from the ones I’d seen before—then again, the only mercs I’ve encountered are the corpses caught in the pitfall, and that guy I killed, Gizmelt.

One thing that was different about them was that they were clearly carrying a lot more gear than day-trip mercenaries: large backpacks on their backs and water bags at their waists. They were probably prepared to camp out here.

They also held mana far stronger than Gizmelt’s. They’d likely been exploring the deep layer for a long time, building up their mana reserves.

In other words, they were a rank above average mercenaries but textbook mercenaries at the same time—meaning they’re scum. Are we in trouble here?

At first, the men seemed to think we were slaves that belonged to other mercenaries, but once they realized no one else was around, their expressions turned vulgar.

“Whoa there, were you tossed out as bait? Heh heh, hard to say if you’re in luck or outta luck! Well, we’re in luck for sure!”

“Bwa ha ha! Beastfolk fetch a good price even if they’re missing a few parts!”

“Looks like luck’s finally on our side!”

They walked toward us, completely nonchalant, most likely thinking that there was no way a kid like me could beat them.

What now? Can we beat these guys? Or should we run? I’m definitely not gonna let them take us without a fight...

The real problem was how terrified Shiro and Kuro were.

“Myah...”

“Wuffu...”

It seemed like the girls were really afraid of grown men. Even if we chose to run, I wasn’t sure they’d be able to move properly. Well, the same goes for fighting. I guess I have no choice. I gotta take these three down myself. They still think I’m just a kid. I gotta make the first move—and kill at least two of them!

“Heh heh heh, the girlies, we can sell off,” said one of the men, then turned to me with a sadistic grin. “As for the runt, maybe we oughta rough him up a bit? Let’s rip out his nails and see how much he cries!”

Maybe he was trying to scare me with that vulgar threat—

“Awooooo! Y-You’re not gonna hurt Thor! I’ll show yooooou!”

“Huh?”

Black flames erupted from Kuro’s dragon arm. The cloth wrapped around it burned away in an instant, and the raging fire burst forth.

It looked like a shadowflame you could summon with fire magic, but it wasn’t. I’d called it a black flame, but it wasn’t actual fire.

The man screamed in pain.

It was darkness that had wrapped around the man’s body. Fiery darkness clung to him, eating away at his flesh. It was fire, and it was darkness—that was how I saw it.

“Damn it!” the man yelled, screaming in agony. “It won’t— It won’t go out!”

He slapped at it, rolled on the ground, tried everything to put it out, but nothing worked. This definitely wasn’t just some ordinary shadowflame.

Then, out of nowhere, the burning darkness covering his body vanished.

“Kuro!” I yelled.

“Ugh...”

She was out of mana. She’d used it for not even ten seconds, and she was already empty.

“You bastaaards!” The mercenary was still alive. His whole body was covered in severe burns, but his eyes were blazing with hatred as he glared at us. Trembling, he thrust out his right hand.

“Diiiiiie! Aaaaaaaaahhh!”

It wasn’t a spell—just a raw blast of concentrated mana. Honestly, it must’ve only had the impact of punching someone. The aim was completely off too, and it flew in the wrong direction entirely. The attack simply struck the treasure chest, knocking it back a few meters. Wait, did the chest just flash for a second?

His final, desperate attack had failed. I figured he’d be furious, but his reaction was nothing like I’d expected. Rather, he had a look of bliss.

“Ha ha ha! You’re all gonna die!”

“Y-You idiot! We haven’t disabled the summoning trap!”

“C-Crap! It’s coming!”

His two companions were panicking. A summoning trap? I’m guessing from the name that it summons—

Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle!

“Gah?”

It showed up out of nowhere. Mana flooded the air, and something shot down from above—something white.

It swung its sword, slicing straight through the burned mercenary. Blood and entrails spilled from his stomach—he almost certainly died on impact.

“A skeleton?” I said.

Rattle, clatter, clatter, rattle!

As if reacting to my words, the attacker clacked its teeth together. A moving skeleton—that was the enemy brought forth by the treasure chest’s summoning trap.

It seemed to have picked the nearby mercenaries as its targets and went straight into attack mode.

Rattle, clatter!

One of the mercenaries, dumbfounded, let out a pathetic whimper, and in the next instant, the skeleton’s sword sliced him clean in two. There’d been a few meters between them, but somehow the thing had closed the gap instantly. The two cross sections of what used to be a person slowly came into view.

Within mere seconds, two corpses lay on the ground.

“It’s...a skeleton?” said Shiro.

“It’s an undead!” I said.

It was the first time I’d seen one in this dungeon, but the mercenaries clearly knew what it was. The last one standing shrieked, his voice full of dread.

“AIIEEE! It’s white mist! It’s really heeere!”

Those were his final words.

The skeleton didn’t even look back. It just swung its sword, and the man’s head went flying. Despite having no muscles, the skeleton had immense strength. It probably moved using magic, its tremendous mana boosting its physical power.

Clatter, clatter, rattle!

The skeleton’s hollow eye sockets locked onto us. Yeah, no chance it’s gonna let us off scot-free.

Apparently, this mutated specimen was famous enough among mercenaries to have earned a nickname. Seeing the way it moved, I could understand why. I couldn’t even guess how many people had fallen victim to it.

The guy Kuro burned must’ve figured he was done for, so he snapped and summoned white mist as revenge. There was no way these mercenaries trusted each other. I bet he didn’t even care what happened to his own allies.

Rattle, clatter!

“Owww!” I screamed.

It had its eyes on the mercs too, but it just suddenly popped right in front of me. I didn’t even see it move! Good thing I had a Wind Barrier just in case. It deflected the sword, and I only took a cut to the shoulder... If I can’t even track its movements, there’s no way I can last in a drawn-out fight. Honestly, if I get hit again, there’s no telling how bad it’ll be!

“What do I—”

Huh? Hey, bonehead, what are you looking at?! Kuro’s already down—!

I roared as I instinctively cast wind magic and dashed forward. A sharp pain shot through my leg, but I ignored it and sprinted straight ahead, activating a Wind Barrier as I threw myself over Kuro.

It happened right after that.

C-C-Clatter!

A low grunt escaped me as an agonizing pain tore through my back, heat flooding out from the wound—the skeleton had slashed me.

“Damn it! Take this!”

Rattle, clatter!

“Wha—!” It completely dodged my fire magic! I guess a few fireballs barely count as a distraction! I need a spell that covers a wider area... But I don’t even have time to chant.

Clatter, rattle!

Seeing the skeleton raise its sword, I panicked and forced out both an Earth Wall and a Wind Wall, screaming with all my might. But the barriers surrounding us shattered in a single blow. Even so, I didn’t give up, casting wall after wall, only for each one to be destroyed.

After ten tries or so, I was nearing my limit. I still had plenty of mana, but the internal mana channels that allowed me to use it had started to throb with pain. It was probably because I’d been recklessly casting spells nonstop. The flow of mana was slowing down, and bit by bit, my spell activation was becoming delayed.

I’m not gonna make it!

“Gaaaahhh!”

Clatter!

I took a wild chance and spewed flames from my mouth, but the skeleton even dodged that!

Rattle, clatter, clatter.

As if to mock my futile efforts, the skeleton’s teeth made a harsh, high-pitched racket that echoed deep in my ears.

“Damn it...”

The skeleton raised its sword high triumphantly, clearly basking in our suffering, our despair. That must’ve been the nature of the undead: hatred for the living.

Clatter, rattle!

Just as the skeleton’s sword was about to come down, I made up my mind. I was going to pour every last drop of my remaining mana into one final, all-out att—

“Get away from Thor and Kurooo! Myaaaaaaaaah!”

Shiro let out a desperate roar, unleashing a blinding light. It was strange to think about at a time like this, but the light was enough to calm me down just by looking at it.

A warm breeze flowed with the light, comforting Kuro and me. It didn’t heal our wounds, but I could feel it soothing my heart, my spirit. The despair and fear unraveled, and even in the middle of battle, I found myself relaxing.

But it seemed only we had felt that way.

Rattle, clatter, clatter, rattle, rattle!

The skeleton froze in place, clutching its head as if in agony. No, I’m sure that it’s suffering. Maybe what feels good to the living is like poison to the dead?

Is this...my chance?

I gathered all my mana at once and spat it out with a vicious roar.

C-C-Clat—

This time, my dragon breath hit. The skeleton’s skull burst apart, shattering into pieces. Moments later, the rest of its bony body collapsed, crumbling into ash. It was sheer coincidence that the flames had struck its head, but apparently, that was its weak point. Even the remaining ashes, bathed in Shiro’s light, broke down and vanished.

“Did we...win?”

“Myah...”

As I stood there, still unsure what had just happened, Shiro collapsed behind me. I rushed over and found her gasping for breath.

She had the same symptoms as Kuro; she was out of mana.

“Shiro, you all right?”

“Meow...”

That strange light from earlier must’ve drained her just like the burning darkness drained Kuro.

Still, what was that? It couldn’t have been just light. If Kuro had unleashed burning darkness, then Shiro had used glowing wind? Did she use light magic and wind magic at the same time? Even so, I don’t think that explains why the skeleton stopped moving... Maybe it had some sort of purification effect?

“Thooor...” said Shiro.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m...hungry.”

Kuro’s belly let out a loud growl from where she was lying nearby, as if agreeing with Shiro’s quiet plea.

“You two burn through fuel like crazy.”

Neither of them could move, worn out from hunger and mana depletion. Well, we gotta do what we gotta do. I guess we’ll take a snack break right here.

I started prepping a light meal when...

Chomp, chomp, chomp!

Om, nom, nom!

“Chew your food or you’ll choke.”

The two of them had already grabbed their forks and were completely absorbed in shoveling down the meat-and-potato stew I’d plated up. A stew isn’t exactly a snack, you say? I’d started them off with jerky and fruit, but that hadn’t been nearly enough. That strange magic must’ve drained their mana far more than I’d expected.

“Myagh, myagh, myagh, myagh!”

“Arf, arf, ar— Ugh!”

“See, you’re eating too fast!” I said. “Here, have some water.”

Kuro chugged the water and let out a sigh. “That was clooose,” she said, wiping her forehead.

“What’d I tell you? Shiro, you be careful too.”

She kept eating her food voraciously. Nodding with your mouth stuffed like that isn’t very convincing!

At least they have an appetite—it’s almost refreshing, actually. It’s kind of a wonder how they can eat so much right next to corpses, though.

And these mercs’ bodies are the real issue here. I can’t just leave them here, can I? Sure, the dungeon will absorb them in a few days, but someone might find them before that. I doubt it’ll lead to us being exposed, but this is a world with magic, after all; there might be psychometry-type spells out there. Although, they are the bad guys, and besides, it was the skeleton that finished them off, so I don’t think we’ll be held responsible.

Still, there was a chance—however small—that Shiro and Kuro’s existence could be discovered by the slave traders. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Uh, I’d rather not put the bodies in storage, though. It’s gross, and even if I bring them back from the forest, I have no way of disposing of them. I don’t wanna keep them around forever either.

Actually, I’d left Gizmelt’s corpse in storage this whole time. This was a good chance to deal with everything at once.

Oh, but first, I’m gonna take what I can—weapons, tents, potions, food. Some of the potion containers had cracked, but the food, wrapped in oiled paper, was mostly intact. There were the usual emergency rations, some salt, and a powder I didn’t recognize. It turned out to be herb salt, probably used to mask the smell of meat. I hadn’t seen this kind of herb anywhere in the dungeon before, making it a very welcome find.

I dug a hole, tossed in Gizmelt’s and the mercenaries’ bodies, then reduced them to ash with shadowflame. Burying it all would buy me time until the dungeon absorbed everything. If I get caught after going this far, then so be it. I’m barely feeling any guilt or remorse, just like when I killed Gizmelt. I realize they’re scumbags, but was I always so heartless? Is this what surviving in this brutal world has done to me? Or maybe the god toyed with my mind too? Well, this cold-blooded edge was probably better for staying alive here. Thinking about it’s probably a waste of time. If I hesitate now, I might put Shiro and Kuro in danger.

Dungeons sure are scary, though. You can commit the perfect crime since it erases bodies and traces so cleanly. No wonder it’s so lawless around here.

“Now, I gotta check out the treasure chest too.”

I’d run into monster-summoning traps a few times, but they’d only ever called up acid slimes or rock golems. Considering the monster it had summoned just now, we had to stay sharp from now on.

I carefully inspected the treasure chest lying on its side with its lid half ajar. Underneath the lid, a magic circle had been painted on and was glowing faintly. Opening the chest without dispelling that probably triggered the summoning magic.

The fact that those guys had come to check this chest meant there had to be a way to open it without setting off the trap—of course, I have no clue how. For now, I decided to leave the magic circle alone. The content mattered more, and it had survived intact even after the mercenary attacked the chest.

Inside was a small crystal, milky white and about the size of a ping-pong ball—nothing you’d give a second thought to. I couldn’t sense any mana from it either. It was already polished and looked nice enough, but it didn’t seem to hold any value beyond that. Maybe I can sell it for a bit of cash outside? I held it up to the light, but still felt nothing special from it. I was hoping it might turn out to be a key item to move forward, but it’s got no mana... Well, the summoning trap was probably its main thing.

I was also hung up on those skeleton remains. Even after they’d turned to ash, they were still pulsing with mana. Did they count as magical beast materials? I activated my storage to tuck them away, but mixed in with the ash was something odd. It was a mysterious stone that was different from a mana stone, although there was a separate mana stone as well.

When I pulled it out, it turned out to be a red crystal, exactly the same shape as the white one I’d found earlier, except for the color. It even held a faint trace of mana. It felt more valuable than the white crystal, but it was useless to us since we had no way of turning it into cash. Maybe Carolina could exchange it for money?

“And then there’s whatever Shiro and Kuro used.”

I made my way back to where they had been lounging after our meal and asked them about it. Although it drained both their mana and their stomachs, it could be our trump card in a pinch. Yet neither Shiro nor Kuro really knew how they’d triggered that magic.

“Think you could try using it, even just a bit?”

“Hmm? What did Kuro dooo?”

“Shiro’s not really sure either,” Shiro said.

Neither of them remembered much about the magic they’d unleashed. That goes to show how far they’d been pushed. Maybe that was a type of “special magic” like the rumors say: powerful spells only certain races or magical beasts can wield. If that’s the case, then maybe Shiro and Kuro aren’t ordinary beastfolk.

That might explain why they’d been hunted down for over a year.

“Let’s head back for today,” I said. “I’m beat.”

“I second thaaat.”

“Shiro’s tired too.”

They’re spent even with their crazy stamina. I wonder if, once they get stronger, they’ll be able to control special magic.

***

“Eld, is it true you’ve figured out where those brats are?!” said Viscount Holm.

“W-Well, it was only mercenary gossip, but there was talk of beastfolk children being spotted in the dungeon!”

The study of Viscount Holm, the lord of Erunst, was as gaudy and tacky as ever. The old man stared down his short subordinate, his eyes bloodshot. His body was like a withered tree, his skin showing no signs of life. He’d always been thin, but now he was so devoid of vitality that he looked like a walking mummy.

He seemed to have aged unnaturally fast these past few days. Even so, his eyes gave off a murky light, like those of a dead man clinging to life. It was as if he meant to curse the man standing before him.

Eld, the soldier captain, reported what he knew, shaking under that uncanny gaze.

“W-We still can’t say for sure it’s the ones we’re after...”

“They’re beastfolk children, are they not? You think there are any other beastfolk in this town?!”

“B-But, the ages don’t match! It is hard to believe that even the most careless mercenary would mistake a five-year-old for someone over ten!”

“You mean the beastfolk seen in the dungeon aren’t the right age?”

“C-Correct, my lord...”

“Hmm.”

Eld waited for the lord’s words, forgetting to even wipe the sweat from his brow. He held his breath and stifled his presence, desperate to disappear from the old man’s awareness. The recent instability of the old man had been terrifying—one wrong move could cost you your life. One servant had learned that the hard way, struck down simply for crossing his path.

Eld knew his place. In the old man’s eyes, even as captain of the soldiers, he was worth no more than a common servant. If deemed unnecessary, his life would be claimed instantly by the old man’s magic. Determined to avoid such a fate, Eld remained perfectly still, awaiting orders.

“Humph. If they’re hiding in the dungeon, someone is surely guiding them! And that fellow must be using illusion magic. In any case, I don’t have time for this! Capture those beastfolk! That will clear up everything!”

“Y-Yes, my lord! I shall send some—”

“All of them.”

“Excuse me?”

“Use every soldier. Question the mercenaries, patrol the town, search the dungeon. Use every last soldier.”

“Th-That is— Gah!” the captain shrieked. “Understood, my lord! Arrangements will be made at once!”

Soldiers had many duties: maintaining order in the town, patrolling beyond the walls, guarding the mansion, and so on. If every available soldier were to be sent out, the town would be thrown into utter chaos. Yet when Eld opened his mouth to object, he fell silent.

He saw it in the old man’s eyes—a look like he was debating whether to dispose of the garbage in front of him. While Eld told himself he was simply imagining things, he couldn’t shake the cold chill that ran down his spine. Eld himself had carried out every cruel order given to him. He had no real concern for how the people would be affected if the town were thrown into chaos. He had only dared to argue for the simple reason that he feared he’d end up taking the blame later.

He fled the old man’s study, his mind racing. “All the soldiers... No, that’s impossible.” At the very least, he had to leave a few guards at the outer gate and the mansion. The rest would have to be sent off, as ordered, to search for those beastfolk girls. If they failed to find anything this time, his own life would truly be at risk. Eld could feel how much that grotesque old man’s estimation of him had fallen. One more failure—

“Damn it! Why me? If only those creatures hadn’t run off! I’ll hire mercenaries too. They’re bottom-of-the-barrel scum, but they’re good for cheap labor. If they refuse, I’ll lock them up and force them to work for free in exchange for reduced sentences!”

Still wearing a dark expression, Eld stormed out of the mansion.

“I’ll find them, no matter what! Just watch!”

Chapter 3: The Deep Layer

It had been five days since our sudden clash with the skeleton. Thanks to my magical cooking, our mana and energy had bounced back completely by the next day, and we were up and running again. If I’d been any more badly injured, I would probably have needed a longer rest, which would’ve screwed up our food procurement—all the more reason to stay extra cautious.

Maybe it was thanks to that mindset, but over the past few days, we’d scavenged all kinds of ingredients, and my internal mana reserve had actually grown. We hadn’t bumped into any mercenaries either.

Still, we had no clue how to move forward. If someone had asked whether things were going smoothly, I wouldn’t have been able to answer.

Do we need to just hole up in the forest longer and really dig for leads? But honestly, spending the night in the dungeon freaks me out... We could get ambushed by beasts with night vision, and our guard against those scummy mercs would naturally go down at night too. The level of danger would shoot up several times over. Well, either way, we’re not prepared for it today, so we’ll just have to head home.

On the way back, we spotted a poison rat and went to take it down when—

“Whoa, whoa!” A loud voice rang out. “Hold it! You can’t eat that!”

“Meow!”

“Arf?”

Shiro and Kuro froze in their tracks, and the rat slipped away.

“Aww...” I let out a disappointed sigh.

“Kid, I know you’re disappointed, but that rat’s poisonous. You can’t eat it!”

It was Gailland: the mercenary who at first glance looked like a bandit but just might have been a good person—well, I think it’s pretty clear he is. After all, Shiro and Kuro, who have a fear of adults and are especially cautious around them, showed almost no apprehension toward him.

Still, we can’t completely let our guard down. I couldn’t feel a trace of his presence or mana just now. Despite his massive frame, he’s insanely stealthy. Now that I look closer, he’s wearing a strange black cloak. There’s something like a mana stone sewn into the collar, but there’s no mana emanating from it. Is it some sort of stealth-type magical tool? It might be some kind of item that blocks your presence until you’re discovered, because now that we’re talking face-to-face, I can clearly sense his mana.

Gailland watched the fleeing rat, then looked at us with concern. “Didn’t you know that was poisonous? Or are you so hungry you’d try to eat even that?”

“Umm, we were after its mana stone,” said Shiro.

It’s best not to reveal that we can eat poison rats. From what Carolina told me, holy magic’s pretty rare.

We’d talked it through beforehand, so Shiro handled it smoothly. I kept acting like a normal kid, just like last time.

“Who’d buy a mana stone out of a small fry like that?” asked Gailland.

“W-We use it for ourselves,” said Shiro.

“Huh? Well, makes sense if you can use magic. Sorry, I guess I let it get away then.”

Gailland apologized awkwardly and scratched his head. He really did have a certain charm.

And he didn’t stop at just apologizing. He reached into his coat and pulled something out. I watched cautiously as he revealed a medium-sized mana stone. It probably came from a fairly strong magical beast.

“Here, maybe this’ll make up for it.”

“Huh?” Shiro instinctively caught the mana stone that Gailland tossed her. That’s way too generous for just scaring off a poison rat...

But before we could say anything, I sensed a new presence nearby. The bushes rustled as something approached. We braced ourselves, and a young man—probably a mercenary—stepped into view.

“Gailland, there you are!” said the young man. “You weren’t at the rendezvous point—you had me worried!”

“Oh, Ares! Sorry about that. There was something I needed to check out.”

“You mean these kids?”

“Yeah.”

The young man gave me a sense of déjà vu—an almost nostalgic feeling. He had dark eyes and black hair, which were quite rare in this world. His Japanese-like appearance must’ve been what gave off that sense of familiarity. His bangs were a little long, and when he looked down, they nearly covered his eyes. He wasn’t hunched over, but his posture still seemed rounded somehow. There was a slight darkness about him, like he was running low on energy—definitely more of an introvert than an extrovert. He didn’t match the image of a mercenary at all, but he had to be skilled, considering he was exploring the deep layer.

“Wait, are they all right? Kids shouldn’t be alone in a place like this...” He turned to us. “A-Are you guys okay? Are you lost? If you can’t get out of the dungeon, we’ll take you back. This guy looks scary, but he’s actually known for being really dependable.”

“No need to mention my looks! Besides, these kids are fine. I’ve met them before.”

“Oh...really?”

Ares looked over at us for confirmation. Shiro and Kuro both nodded in response.

“We’re fine,” said Shiro.

“Fiiine.”

“O-Okay,” said Ares. “You certainly don’t look like you’re lying.”

Ares tilted his head, clearly unable to figure out who we were. The more he studied us, the more his expression grew suspicious, like he was trying to make sense of something. He was probably starting to feel more distrust than curiosity as he thought things through.

“These kids aren’t mercenaries, are they?” he asked Gailland.

“Probably not. Never seen them at the guild.”

“Then where’d they come from?”

“Dunno. But it looks like the dungeon entered a growth phase lately. It wouldn’t surprise me if a new entrance popped up somewhere.”

The growth phase, huh? Something about the dungeon expanding and new entrances appearing, I think. The sewer entrance we found was probably one of those newly formed openings.

“Is it really okay for kids who aren’t mercenaries or soldiers to be in here?”

“Well, it’s not like the dungeon only belongs to us mercenaries. Don’t think there’s any law saying nonmercs can’t enter.”

“That’s...true.” Ares turned back toward us. “The dungeon’s a dangerous place, you know? Magical beasts, traps, even the people—everything’s deadly. If you’re not ready to lose your lives, you shouldn’t go any deeper.”

He was suspicious, but more than that, he seemed genuinely worried about us. Still, it wasn’t something we could just nod and agree to.

“We’re fine,” said Shiro.

“Fiiine.”

All they could do was give the same answer as before.

“I...see,” said Ares.

“All right, let’s get going. These kids made it this far on their own. It’s not our place to interfere too much. Even if you took them outside, are you gonna raise them? You gonna give up your own goals for that?”

Ares thought for a moment. “I can’t.”

“Then the best thing we can do is stop wasting their time. Sorry about that, girls. And you too, kiddo, didn’t mean to scare you. See ya!”

Gailland bowed, his expression sincere, then left with Ares, who kept his dark eyes fixed on us until the very end.

Once we saw the two mercenaries off, Shiro murmured softly, “That guy with the black hair looked kinda strong.”

“Arf.”

“Huh? Really? Him? Like stronger than Gailland?”

“Yes.”

“He was kinda scaaary.”

“Oh yeah?”

Was there something only those two could sense? Maybe that was the acquaintance Gailland had mentioned—the one who’d ventured into the deep layer. If so, he must have been quite skilled. Unlike Shiro and Kuro, I couldn’t gauge someone’s strength without seeing them fight, but the two girls seemed certain.

“Well, at least he didn’t look like he’d become an enemy.”

“Meow.”

“Wuffu.”

***

We had grown completely accustomed to exploring the forest. We had learned where to gather food and how to take out magical beasts, and had even drawn a rough map and noted trap patterns.

Thanks to that, we could finish our explorations without relying entirely on dragon power and without getting injured. Most importantly, we had identified almost every type of magical beast that appeared in this area, allowing us to respond smoothly.

Our internal mana reserves had shown no signs of dropping either. The boost from eating those hell chimera meals was still in effect. As a matter of fact, it had actually increased from our activity in the deep layer. Is the mana boost from my cooking seriously permanent?

“Today, we’re not heading back to our hideout. We’re camping here! You ready?”

“Myah!”

“Wuffu.”

Shiro and Kuro nodded, looking determined, and raised their hands in answer.

Today, unlike every day so far, we did not retreat at dusk. We’d made the decision to camp out because, on a day trip, we could only explore the same spots and never venture any deeper. At last, the time had come to spend the night inside the dungeon and move deeper into the forest. This time, though, it would only be an overnight stay to test the waters.

Although one would usually pitch a tent in an open area, the campsite we had chosen lay in a thicket where trees and thick brush clustered densely. If it were just for sleeping, even forming a simple dome with earth magic would have sufficed, but we’d focused on stealth. Avoiding detection was our top priority.

This was, of course, to hide from magical beasts, but our biggest concern was mercenaries. We had encountered them several times in the past few days. Two of those times, we’d gotten close enough to talk—once with the trio who had used us as bait to escape the killer treant, and once with Gailland and Ares—and both of those encounters could easily have ended in a fight. After all, the area in which we had been operating was frequented by mercenaries.

Because we had only been making day trips into the forest, we hadn’t strayed far from the building with the Converging-Type Teleportation Circle. That had put us right on the mercenaries’ usual path, and our area of exploration had overlapped with those of mercenaries who also did day trips.

There had been times when mercenaries had clearly sensed our presence, but hadn’t approached us. The first time, they’d seemed to watch us from a distance. We’d thought there were four of them, though there might have been others hiding.

The second time, a pair of mercenaries had closed in to within ten meters. They seemed to be able to use magic that could cloak their presence. If it weren’t for Kuro’s keen nose, they might’ve gotten even closer. Although, they’d looked genuinely startled when they saw us, so they must’ve thought we were magical beasts or something.

In both cases, once they had found us, they had sized us up like we were prey. It had seemed like they were surprised at the sight of children, then saw our bandages and eye patch, and judged us to be damaged slaves—a decoy that other mercenaries had brought into the dungeon. That had been the common pattern whenever a mercenary discovered us. Someone as caring as Gailland would have worried about us, while scoundrels would have plotted how to profit off us. Of course, they must have assumed an owner was nearby, because they never attacked. But if they had seen us, just some children sleeping alone, it would have been downright dangerous. I had to come up with a countermeasure, and I already had a plan.

“All right, first we dig a hole with earth magic!”

“We dig!”

“Dig.”

Once we had dug a hole that was the right size, I finished it off.

“Oh, amazing! It’s a staircase!”

“Thor, you naaailed it.”

“Heh. I’ve been visualizing this for days. Not bad, right?”

We had created a two-by-two-meter underground chamber beneath the thicket, shallow enough that roots poked through the ceiling. Once we climbed in and sealed the entrance, our chance of being discovered should have been slim to none.

It wasn’t airtight, though. I’d carved proper air holes, but the dense brush above camouflaged them. I’d compacted the floor and laid three leather sheets, cut from my old tent, to sit on. We decided to keep our shoes on in case of an emergency. As a former Japanese man, I worried about athlete’s foot, but I could use water magic for drying and holy magic for purification.

With our hidden room ready, we carried on with our camping plan. That night’s dinner was salt broth made from paralyze eyes—creatures that tasted like crab—and teriyaki-style Hamburg steaks made from hell chimera meat.

“Paralyzing eye beast soup, cave style.” Magical effects: small life recovery, medium stamina recovery, small mana recovery, small life boost, small stamina boost, small mana boost.

“Death pit hybrid beast teriyaki Hamburg steak, isekai style.” Magical effects: small life recovery, small stamina recovery, small mana recovery, small life boost, small stamina boost, medium mana boost.

“This is so good!”

“Sooo gooood.”

I love how happy they look when they eat.

“Thor, your cooking is the best!”

“Yeah. I bet this is what food at a restaurant tastes liiike.”

“Wow,” said Shiro. “I bet it is!”

I’m flattered. But these two really haven’t eaten at a restaurant before? Well, they were slaves for a long time, so I guess that’s to be expected...

“I wish I could open up a restaurant one day,” I said.

“Oooh, I bet it’ll be so popular!”

“We’ll be your fiiirst customers.”

“You girls can eat all you want! Actually, could you help me out? You two could be the face of the restaurant.”

“We’ll do it!”

“Leeeave it to us.”

Once we break the curse, I’ll give that path some serious thought. We’ll earn money running a restaurant and live a modest but happy life.

After a satisfying meal, we cleansed ourselves with a purification spell and took turns sleeping on the bedding we’d brought—at least, that had been the plan...

The two girls were sound asleep, snoring softly.

“They’re really knocked out cold.”

Shiro and Kuro lay there with the cutest faces. Even after I gave them a good shake, they didn’t wake up at all.

“Well, they were in pretty high spirits today.”

They’d been like kids before a field trip—buzzing since morning, and after we built this camp, they’d kept panting with excitement. That must have drained every last bit of energy and shut them down.

“Uhhh... I only want meat,” mumbled Shiro.

“Nooo vegetables.”

Eat your veggies too! That’s it, I’m cooking vegetable soup for breakfast.

“Wait, are you two really asleep?”

They simply responded with soft snores.

“They’re asleep all right.”

I guess I’ll just have to keep watch all night. I have a lot more stamina now thanks to dragon power, and I can stay up late too.

“I guess this is Shiro and Kuro’s first time staying out overnight?”

They seemed way too excited by the change of scenery. I’m sure they’ll get used to it if we do this a few more times...

“Myah...”

“Wuffuuu...”

Well, at least get a good night’s sleep.

***

“Are they gone?” I asked Shiro and Kuro.

“Meow. I don’t feel mana anymore.”

“Arf. The smell is gone too.”

We peeked out from the thicket—Shiro, then Kuro, then me, one on top of the other—to make sure the mercenaries’ presence had completely disappeared. Once we’d confirmed that there were no mercenaries or magical beasts around, we lifted the magic for concealing our presence and slipped out, brushing aside the foliage that had hidden us.

Lately, we’d been running into mercenaries more and more down in the deep layer. Apparently, mercenaries from other towns had started pouring in now that the heaven dragon commotion had died down. They must’ve figured the anomaly meant the dungeon had changed somehow. Nobody knew if that change would work in their favor, but the mercenaries had bet on the slimmest chance and headed for the Erunst dungeon, dreaming of striking it rich.

That was how big a deal change or growth of a dungeon was. The dungeon of poison that had never paid off might’ve turned into a money tree. Its floors could’ve shifted so herbs, plants, or hidden treasures appeared—maybe magical beasts that could be turned into good money had even started spawning.

If someone had been quick enough to dive into that dungeon and monopolize its profits, or even just become a pioneer, they would’ve hit the jackpot. It wasn’t only the wealth they hauled back, but the maps, specimens, and beast-slaying techniques would’ve fetched a fortune.

Of course, a burst of growth in the dungeon meant an increase in difficulty. It got deeper, forcing anyone who ventured in to face stronger magical beasts. Still, plenty of mercenaries must have judged it to be worth swallowing that risk. Or maybe they were so desperate they had to rely on the poison dungeon.

In Erunst, the surge in mercenaries was apparently impossible to miss—not just five or ten extra guys, but a flood of them. I’d heard about it from the rumors Carolina had gathered. And apparently those gold-hunters behaved like rogues, so the town’s safety had taken a nosedive, with stabbings, thefts, and robberies becoming everyday news.

I remembered that Carolina had once been accosted by a mercenary and truly feared for her life. She’d felt such relief after moving out of the slums and into town. Those mercenaries living day-to-day, dreaming of hitting the jackpot, were no different from thugs—exactly the same type as my own parents.

The moment that thug-like crowd flooded the dungeon, it had become increasingly lawless. Every time we had nearly crossed paths with them in the deep layer, their eyes had possessed a much more malicious look—a pure predator gaze.

As a result, we’d gotten really good at hiding from mercenaries. The instant we sensed one nearby, we’d slip into the nearest bushes. Shiro and I would cloak sound and scent with wind magic, and Kuro would thicken the shadows inside with her dark magic to keep us hidden. That also meant we could evade—and even ambush—magical beasts now. That ability was going to be invaluable on our upcoming multiday expedition. Actually, we’d nearly finished stocking up on food, and we’d planned to set out within a few days.

The problem was, without any clue to guide us deeper, we didn’t know if spending more days in the forest would accomplish anything. We’d run into Gailland and that black-haired guy a few times, but they hadn’t broken past the forest either. Is simply exploring the area not good enough?

As I pondered the idea, we veered off in the opposite direction the mercenaries had walked off in. Dodging them like this, though, was probably another reason our own exploration kept stalling.

Then, suddenly, Shiro froze. She tilted her head and slipped off her eye patch.

“Myaaah?”

“Shiro, what’s up?”

“Enemyyy?”

Shiro paused for a moment. “Something is weird!”

Shiro started scanning the area. I glanced at Kuro, but she just shook her head. Is it something only Shiro can sense? We held our breath and watched her.

“This way!”

Shiro snapped her arm out, pointing straight ahead. Good job not bolting off on your own.

Following her lead, we moved carefully, alert for traps and magical beasts. We stopped before a tree about thirty meters away.

“What’s so special about this tree?” I asked.

I guess it’s kinda different from the rest? It wasn’t edible, so I didn’t know what kind it was, but its leaves were distinct from any others around. The trunk had a reddish-brown tint, and its roots were spread a fair bit apart. It’s not exactly a giant—this forest’s got plenty of big, fat trees. Maybe it sort of stands out because most of the trees around here have a gray bark.

Shiro’s gaze was fixed at the base.

“You see something?”

“I see a tiny bit of mana!”

If it was barely visible even with her dragon eye, it had to be really faint. It was a wonder she was able to catch it.

“You spotted that from way back there?”

“Mmm...it just felt weird! The mana was kind of flowing a little.”

Apparently, mana was trickling in toward this tree’s base from the surrounding area. Kuro and I couldn’t sense a thing, but Shiro’s dragon eye had picked up on it.

Whatever it was, something was definitely buried down there.

“I guess we’ll dig it up.”

“Let’s do it!”

“Kuro’s helping toooo.”

Shiro and I used earth magic to clear away the soil around the tree roots, unearthing a metal box.

It’s not a clue; it’s a treasure chest. I was hoping for something like a teleportation circle. Still, this thing’s carefully hidden, and we’ve never found a metal chest. I’m sure it’s got something better than normal chests. I hope it’s something we can use, like light and durable weapons or armor. Oh, spices would be nice too.

The silver box we finally managed to pull out had a strange, square shape and was slightly different from the usual treasure chests.

“Looks like...a treasure chest,” I said.

“This box has mana!” Shiro said.

“Mystery treasure box?”

What Shiro had spotted with her dragon eye was definitely the mana coming off the box. Now that it was right in front of me, even I could faintly sense it.

“Any traps?” I said.

“I don’t see any magic circles,” Shiro said.

Her dragon eye could even see magic circles inscribed inside a chest, so she’d pretty much become our trap detector. Still, even without a magic circle, there was no way we’d just go and open a box that was clearly infused with mana.

“Kuro, throw up a barrier. I’ll open it.”

“Comin’ right uuup.”

I tried opening it with magic from a safe distance—but the lid didn’t budge. It was locked, apparently, but no matter how closely we inspected it, the smooth silver surface didn’t have a keyhole anywhere, so picking the lock wasn’t an option.

So how are we supposed to open it? If we break it open, we might break whatever’s inside too...

“Hmm, there’s a dent in the lid...”

I gave the box a closer look and spotted something odd about the lid. Right in the center was something like a raised hexagon, and nestled inside it was a small indentation, maybe three centimeters across. Looks like you’re supposed to insert something here. Is this the lock?

“Wait, doesn’t it kind of look like that crystal we found?”

“Oooh, it doooes.”

“Thor, you’re so smart!”

“Deeetective.”

“Sharp as always!”

It was just an idea that popped into my head, but Shiro and Kuro showered me with praise, eyes sparkling.

“Heh. I know, I know. Well, let’s try inserting it.”

I took out the white crystal we’d found in a treasure chest and pressed it into the indentation. What do you know, it’s a perfect fit!

“Nice! It fits perfectly!”

“Fits,” said Kuro.

“It fits!”

Kuro and Shiro leaned in over my shoulder, brimming with anticipation. But that excitement fizzled fast.

The chest didn’t react at all. Even with the crystal slotted in, it stayed locked tight.

“What? Was it just a coincidence that it fit? It seems a little too perfect to be a coincidence, though...”

Shiro and Kuro are giving me that “It’s okay” look, but it’s just rubbing salt into my wounds! Actually, I feel mortified! I was looking so smug after all their praise! I wanna go back ten seconds and punch myself in the face!

Then it hit me.

“Hold on, we have another crystal.” The red crystal—the one that the skeleton called white mist had dropped. That thing had been linked to a treasure chest too.

There’s probably some connection, right? There better be! Come on, let me be right this time!

I pulled out the red crystal and pressed it into the slot.

“Whoooa. Hey, stand back!”

“Arf.”

“Myah!”

The moment the red crystal clicked into place, the chest radiated intense mana.

We immediately jumped back and dove for cover behind a tree. Thanks to Shiro scooping me up, I was able to escape in time.

Watching the chest glow, I couldn’t help but flash back to when white mist was summoned.

“If anything pops out, we hit it hard!”

I was already gathering mana, but...

“Nothing’s happening?” said Shiro.

“Chest’s ooopen.”

The chest popped open, its glow and mana now gone. We waited a bit longer, but nothing happened—no arrows, no gas, no monsters summoned.

So, it was just a magically sealed lid?

Cautious, we approached and found a strange-looking item inside: a dark, disk-shaped object that would fit snugly in your palm—well, for me, I’d need to use both hands to hold it.

It gave off a faint trace of mana but didn’t seem dangerous. I picked it up and found that it was heavier than it looked.

At the center of the disk was a thin, needlelike piece, making it resemble a clock or a compass. The surface was engraved with the figure of a woman, elegant enough to pass for a piece of fine art.

“Is it a magic tool?” said Shiro.

“So cooool.”

“The question is, how do we use it?”

The disk had come from a special treasure chest that was designed to stay sealed unless you had a very specific item from somewhere else. What’s more, the white crystal we’d found inside the chest didn’t do a thing. What it needed was the red crystal, obtainable only by deliberately triggering a trap and defeating the nasty skeleton that came forth.

Considering all that, this couldn’t have been some normal item.

“What do you think it’s for?” I said.

“Throw it and plaaay with it?” Kuro suggested.

It’s not a flying disc!

“We’ll spin it and play with it,” Shiro countered.

Right, cats do love that kind of thing. But for now, how about we get away from the idea that this is a toy?

Side Story: Milène

“Sir Geos,” I said, “what could the lord’s business with us be?”

“No clue, Milène. If you don’t know, then how should I?”

This man rolling a candy around in his mouth and chuckling was my superior, Geos Swordias—rather, Sir Geos Elend. Even when he was fighting the dragon that had emerged from the dungeon, he never dropped this carefree attitude. He was once the embodiment of passion and loyalty, hailed as the strongest knight, honored with the title of Sword Saint, and admired by all his fellow knights. Yet now, he had lost it all—reduced to being a retainer of a corrupt provincial lord.

If only I’d been stronger that day. If I’d had more confidence... He could’ve left the battlefield in our hands and returned to his domain. If that had happened, we could’ve stopped the invasion from the neighboring kingdom. His daughter wouldn’t have been executed. That coward of a king wouldn’t have signed a treaty so absurdly one-sided, and Sir Geos’s honor wouldn’t have been defiled. If only I hadn’t been so pathetic that day, and had simply said, “We can handle this battle. Commander, please return to your domain.” Then perhaps Sir Geos wouldn’t have been stripped of everything, drained of his will.

“—ène. Milène.”

“Oh! Forgive me, I was lost in thought.”

“You were ignoring me so long, I thought you finally got sick of me. You’re free to find a new job whenever you’d like.”

“Absolutely not. I shall follow you to the ends of the earth.”

“Hmm. Whatever you say.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sir Geos nodded, looking disinterested. But that’s fine. After all, I remained his adjutant by choice. He is the one who promoted me—a woman—to this position. Until I’ve repaid him for that kindness...

“Geos and Milène, reporting for duty,” said Sir Geos.

“Took you long enough! You’re late!” said Viscount Holm, lord of Erunst, casting a scornful glare at Sir Geos.

He was a creepy man, gaunt and shriveled, like a walking mummy. Obsessed with magic research and extending his own life, he was the classic example of a degenerate.

He’d taken an interest in Sir Geos, who at the time was being shuffled around under the guise of “regional inspections”—a polite way of saying he was being cast aside—and hired him as a retainer. Arrogant and self-absorbed, Viscount Holm saw everyone else as either test subjects or slaves.

Still, he wasn’t blind to Sir Geos’s strength. He must’ve seen the knight on the battlefield before. Even though Sir Geos had lost his drive and spent his days lazing about, Holm had measured his response, with nothing more than occasional grumbling, and patiently tried to make use of him.

For someone like Viscount Holm, this sort of compromise was nothing short of a miracle.

Of course, it helped that Sir Geos had been bound by contract magic—if the lord’s life were ever in danger, Sir Geos was obligated to fight and protect him.

And on the day of the dragon attack, Sir Geos had stepped in and saved the town. He had worked in tandem with mercenaries, but the contract had been fulfilled. Perhaps owing to that, Viscount Holm’s attitude had improved drastically. Before, he’d throw objects at you in a fit of rage—now, he just stuck to hurling insults.

“It’s about the fugitives!” said the lord.

“Ah, yes, we’re searching diligently,” said Sir Geos. “But without knowing the terrain, it’s proving rather difficult.”

“There’s a possibility they’re hiding deep down in the dungeon! The mercenaries are spreading rumors about it! You’ll take some soldiers and descend again! Even you useless fools should be able to capture them if you know where to look!”

We had been hired to chase down two runaway beastfolk girls over a year ago. He had avoided saying it outright, but they were clearly illegal slaves. If they haven’t been found by now, they’re either dead or long gone from town...

But Viscount Holm seemed convinced they were still alive and hiding nearby. His specialties were life magic and curse magic, so he may have had some way of detecting them. To be this obsessed with just two girls—they must have held some special significance.

“Could children really escape into the dungeon on their own?” asked Sir Geos.

I’m inclined to agree. We already searched the place, all the way to the deep layer, and found nothing. And now we’re back to this again?

“Silence!” snapped Viscount Holm. “Don’t talk back to me, fool! Just do as you’re told! There’s no time left! Drag those two wretches before me, no matter what! Do you hear me?!”

Viscount Holm was more volatile than usual, but Sir Geos, unfazed as ever, gave a lazy nod and strolled out of the room.

Lately, that old man’s been acting strangely desperate. Honestly, I find it kind of satisfying.

As Sir Geos wandered the hallway at his usual snail pace, he muttered wearily, “Well, I am technically on the lord’s payroll, and with a demand that loud, I guess I can’t ignore it like I usually do.”

“Capturing children...”

“What a hassle.”

It wasn’t a mere hassle. We’d avoid it altogether if we could.

“This is no job for a knight,” I said.

“Hah, you got that right.”

His face wore the same blank, indifferent look as always. But his eyes... It was as if they reflected a deep, abysmal darkness. Is he aware of this darkness that may very well swallow him whole one day?

“They say those girls are about the same age as... Makes you sick, doesn’t it? Hah...”

“Why is the lord so obsessed with those children?”

“Beats me. But you can bet it’s nothing good.”

Viscount Holm had already been rumored to be involved in criminal dealings, and his behavior in town was tyrannical at best. Perhaps those girls had escaped with some evidence that could expose him? We were outsiders, so nobody would tell us anything concrete, but we knew enough to be sure that it was some rotten business.

“Going into the deep layer with just the two of us feels a little reckless, wouldn’t you say, sir?”

“Ah, yeah. Last time, the soldiers got poisoned, didn’t they?”

“Exactly. We might need to hire a mercenary guide...”

But Sir Geos’s reputation was in shambles. The town was thick with rumors—some baseless, others mostly true. With all that swirling around him, finding a trustworthy mercenary felt unlikely.

“What about the black-haired mercenary and his group?” I asked.

“The ones from the dragon attack?”

“Yes. They seemed reliable—skilled and upstanding. If I’m not mistaken, the young man was a holy magic user. With them guiding us, even a poison-riddled dungeon would be manageable.”

“I guess...”

Sir Geos isn’t answering with his usual “I’ll leave it up to you.” It’s rare that he hesitates like this. Is there something about that man?

“I saw him not long ago,” he said, “but honestly, I’d steer clear.”

“Why is that?”

“He’s...more like me than like you. You shouldn’t trust him.”

“What?”

“Let’s just leave him out of it.”

“U-Understood, sir.”

What was that supposed to mean? Back during the dragon fight, that party showed impressive skill far beyond what you’d expect for their ages...

But if it’s coming from Sir Geos, then that’s all I need to hear. I must look for a different mercenary.

***

The disk we’d pulled from the treasure chest really did seem to work like a compass. For the past few days, I’d been pouring mana into it and monitoring it during our explorations, but the needle only reacted when we were in the dungeon’s deep layer. At our hideout, no matter how much I tried to force it, the needle wouldn’t even budge, but the moment we set foot into the deep layer, the needle would swing around hard, always pointing in the same direction: slightly left into the forest when looking out from the exit of the room with the Converging-Type Teleportation Circle.

Today, we were finally going to find out what exactly it had been pointing at, and we were thoroughly prepared to camp out if need be. I’d been hoping it would give us something to help us move forward—even a hint would be nice. And considering how carefully it had been hidden away, there was a decent chance it would. Could it have been pointing to something that would help us advance? Or could it have been pointing directly to the right path?

“Looks like we’re going the right way,” I said. “I don’t see anything special, though. Do you?”

“Meow. No mana or anything.”

“No smell eeeeither.”

There isn’t even a path. I guess just a few hours of walking’s not enough to uncover anything.

Even so, we kept following the needle into the deep layer. At first, I was tense, uncertain of what would happen, but eventually, it just started to feel like any other expedition. Shiro and Kuro even started humming to themselves as they walked. Along the way, we’d gathered some nuts and fruits, and we’d already taken down a few edible beasts.

“Me-Meow. ♪”

“Wuffu.”

The first day had passed without anything noteworthy. No injuries, no run-ins with other mercenaries—we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings us. Mercs have really been flooding in, lately. Word is a mercenary clan from a nearby town showed up, and about ten of their top members have started exploring the deep layer. Ten doesn’t seem like a lot, but if we’re all operating in the same area, that’s a massive increase in population density.

Not to be outdone, the mercs that were already active in the dungeon had started pushing their explorations harder too. More people meant more times we had to hide, which was exactly why I’d thought we should camp out and press farther in.

Still, the one we ran into the most was that black-haired guy who had been with Gailland—Ares, his name was. He seemed to be doing long-term dives in the deep layer, and we’d already run into him three times since our last encounter. It almost felt like he was stalking us—well, maybe not stalking, but he was definitely curious about us.

Ares was incredibly stealthy. Even Shiro and Kuro had a hard time sensing him until he was about thirty meters away. Until then, it was like he didn’t exist at all. And yet, he could sense us clearly. Even if we scrambled to hide, he had no problem finding us. During our second encounter, he even dug us out after we’d hid underground; it turned out he’d done that as a favor, thinking we’d stumbled into a pitfall.

Shiro and Kuro were spooked by Ares and acted reserved when he was around. Maybe it was simply because he was an adult, although they said it was his eyes that scared them. In all likelihood, he thought something was off about these kids with oddly high levels of ability. He couldn’t figure out our identities or skills, and we weren’t adventurers either—even I would think we’re suspicious.

The girls seemed to have picked up on that probing aura of his. Honestly, with him around, it’s hard to use my powers. But there’s no way I can get rid of him.

Maybe it was because I’d had him on my mind, but on the second day, we ran into Ares for the fourth time—actually, the fifth, if you count the first time we met.

“Hey there,” Ares said to us.

“H-Hello.”

“Meow.”

“Arf.”

Shiro and Kuro were still as shy as ever—and I’m trying my best to act like a little kid...

Ares stared at me, not saying a word.

Huh? What’s going on? His eyes are probing. Did he notice that I’m not normal? Or did he realize that I was getting fed up with his persistence?

“H-Ha ha.” I tilted my head as cutely as I could, but his expression didn’t change.

“From here on, it’s the deeper area of the deep layer. The magical beasts are stronger. You shouldn’t push yourselves, especially since you’ve got the kid with you.”

“A-A-okay,” replied Shiro.

“Got it,” said Kuro.

Ares paused for a moment. “All right. I’ll be on my way then.”

Like always, he left with a complicated look on his face; he must’ve picked up on the fact that we were terrified of him. Considering that he didn’t realize that his probing look was the cause, he must have been less experienced compared to Gailland.

A bit later, I scanned the surroundings with magic and found no one. It seemed like he really had left. He clearly cared about us—for better or for worse—so there was always the chance that he was watching from the shadows. Even if he had good intentions, we had too many secrets we couldn’t let slip. We’d have to stay cautious around him.

“Whew. Didn’t think we’d run into him here.”

“That was scary,” said Shiro.

“Yeah,” said Kuro.

While Shiro and Kuro exchanged nods, I looked out deeper into the woods. If Ares were right, the magical beasts ahead would be stronger. Isn’t that proof we’ve been on the right track? That’s probably why he’s here too.

We pressed on cautiously, only to find out that Ares was, indeed, right.

Out of nowhere, we ran into an enemy we’d never seen before. It looks like a twelve-legged spider made of steel? Or maybe a steel-armored roly-poly with long limbs? Either way, it looked tough.

It was a high-tier magical beast called a hard shell bug. Its carapace deflected swords and arrows, it had incredible strength, and it possessed acid that could melt iron. Even a swarm of treants wouldn’t match it in terms of threat level.

Still, I knew how to take it down. Its acid sac was supposedly a delicacy, although the rest of the body wasn’t edible.

“Shiro, draw its attention! Kuro, cover that hump on its back with darkness! That’s where its eyes are! Once it freezes up, I’ll finish it off!”

“I’m on it.”

“Mya-myah!”

The hard shell bug had eyes on its back, and supposedly it would freeze up if you covered them. Its sight was so sharp that if you took that away, it panicked. And those eyes were its weak point: They were packed with nerves, so crushing its eyes meant game over for it.

“Mya-mya-mya-myah!”

“Cloak it! Dark Wall!”

“Sever, dark flames!” I chanted. “Shadowflame Blade!”

With a shout, Shiro hurled a weak spell to get the magical beast’s attention, while Kuro struck from behind. The beast’s back was swallowed by darkness, and just as my intel had said, the beast froze in place. Then, my spell drove into it—an intermediate spell called Shadowflame Blade, boosted with dragon power.

Although its eyes were said to be the hardest part of its body, they were sliced open by the blade of shadowflames, their insides instantly burning bright red. Heat haze rose alongside black smoke.

With one final screech, like metal grinding against metal, the beast slowed to a halt.

“We did it!” said Shiro.

“Got something taaasty.”

“Wait, you don’t know if you’ll like it or not yet.”

From what I knew, it counted as a delicacy, sort of like sea pineapple from my previous life. But man, an enemy this strong already? We gotta be even more careful with our expedition. Also—

“I’m starving...”

Dragon power’s definitely got poor mileage.

***

Having proved we could take on even the magical beasts that appeared in the deep layer, I’d expected us to make steady progress...

But suddenly, dark clouds gathered over our dungeon exploration.

“Are they gone?” I said.

“They’re gone.”

“Gooone.”

We watched a group of soldiers leave, then crawled out of the underground chamber we’d made with earth magic. This had been the third time we’d had this kind of a run-in.

They clearly weren’t mercenaries, but knights and soldiers who seemed to be agents of the lord, and who had been coming into the deep layer. They probably weren’t particularly strong on their own, but because there were so many of them, they’d been able to make do even in the deep layer. I’d seen soldiers in town before, but I hadn’t realized there were so many.

Still, not all of them made it out unscathed. I’d seen a bunch of soldiers’ corpses, and most likely, the number of dead and wounded would only rise. Is the town’s security gonna be okay if they keep losing able-bodied soldiers?

In any case, the lord’s forces must’ve begun searching seriously because they were convinced that Shiro and Kuro were in the dungeon. We’d understood that and had been moving with utmost caution—or so I’d thought...

“There’s someone hiding in there,” a voice called out. “Not a magical beast!”

“Hey! Move!” said another. “I’ll blast it with magic!”

We’d screwed up big time. I’d thought we were well hidden underground, but we’d underestimated a mercenary who served as the soldiers’ guide. A mercenary with specialized scouting abilities could easily detect us hiding in the ground. Even though Shiro had used wind magic to block sound, they seemed to have pinpointed our position.

Then, they fired magic into our hideout, collapsing the underground chamber.

“Dammit!” I said.

The ceiling caved in, and an avalanche of dirt rained down on our heads.

What should we do? They’re gonna fire a second shot soon. But I can sense more than ten men around us—we’re completely surrounded. If we came out of the ground now, without a plan, I didn’t know if we could get away.

“Shiro, Kuro, this way!”

“Myah!”

“Arf.”

I dug a side tunnel with earth magic, and we slipped inside. I kept rapid-firing earth magic so we could move through the ground. Still, the mercenary probably knew our movements, and we couldn’t just keep running away underground.

Before the mercenary could relay any intel to the soldiers, I burst out onto the surface.

“Nice!” I was lucky enough to make it outside the soldiers’ encirclement!

But at the same time, the enemy got a good look at Shiro and Kuro.

“That’s definitely the right race!”

“It’s those kids all right!”

Well, we barely escaped the encirclement, so there’s not much distance between us.

The soldiers began raising a commotion at the sight of the beastfolk girls. I could see not only joy and excitement at finding their target, but also confusion.

“They don’t look like they’re the right age.”

“It doesn’t matter if they’re not the girls that ran away! We’ll worry about that after we capture them!”

“U-Understood!”

“You think a wolf and a tiger beastfolk would be just anywhere? There’s gotta be some trick! If we screw this up, the lord will sacrifice us in place of those girls!”

At the words of the sorcerer, who seemed to be in charge, the soldiers’ expressions changed. The lord must have been extremely frightening. And sacrifice? I knew the girls weren’t going to be used for anything good, but could it get any worse?! Now we definitely can’t get captured by these guys.

We’d been spotted by mercenaries a bunch of times before, so the fear that this day would come had always been present. And now, Shiro’s and Kuro’s existence had come to light. No, wait. If we kill all the soldiers—

“Thor, there’s lots of people coming!” said Shiro.

“Lots.”

“Damn. They’ve called in reinforcements...”

Wiping them out’s impossible now. I don’t even know how strong they are anyway.

“Run!”

“Meow!”

“Woof.”

I’ll run through the deep layer with my dragon power in full force! I can’t worry about being seen anymore. Once we’re real deep in this layer, maybe some ferocious magical beast will block the way for us!

“Thor! You can do it!”

“Let’s gooo.”

I was horribly out of breath. Honestly, I’m the slowest by far! It was partly because I had the body of a child, but mostly because the beastfolk girls were naturally good runners. Still, I managed to keep up using body enhancement and wind magic—I was glad I’d practiced accelerating with wind magic. Even so, I kept panting and nearly tripping.

I think we’ve lost the soldiers now. Those screams are from someone getting attacked by a magical beast. I was purposely brushing past monsters so the soldiers would run into them. There are traps here and there too, but Shiro’s in the lead, scouting with her dragon eye, so we’re good on that front.

We dove deeper, taking breaks when needed, and reached uncharted territory. We didn’t know when a vicious magical beast might appear, so we ran tense and alert.

Then, we were brought to a full stop. An unfamiliar magical beast blocked our path.

“Myah! It’s coming after us!”

“That’s faaast for a golem.”

It was a humanoid golem, about two meters tall, its black, gleaming, body emanating an imposing presence—it was a metal golem. Needless to say, it was inedible, and therefore I didn’t know its weaknesses or abilities. All we knew was that it moved way too fast for its size.

At first, we’d tried to avoid this troublesome enemy, which wasn’t even food, but it had chased us into the forest at terrifying speed. Its pace matched my full sprint. If we kept getting chased like this and got sandwiched in between the golem and some high-tier beast, it could mean the end for us.

We had no choice but to fight.

“Let’s probe its weaknesses with magic!”

“Shiro’s on it!”

“Kuro toooo.”

We tried various spells to find what elements it was weak to, but...

“Nothing’s working!”

“Wind and light bounce off!” said Shiro.

“Fire and darkness toooo.”

The spells we’d tried out barely landed, and we couldn’t figure out its weakness, let alone which elements might’ve had a chance of hurting it. Given that it shrugged off earth magic bullets so easily, it seemed resistant to physical impact as well.

We tried attacking different parts of its body, but it didn’t even flinch. Its core had to be somewhere inside its hard metal armor.

In any case, there was only one way we could handle this.

“We have to pierce it with a full-power strike. Shiro, you act as a decoy. Kuro, stop its legs with your earth magic.”

“Shiro’s gonna be the ultimate decoy!”

“Kuro will do a good job toooo.”

Shiro was the first to leap forward. She moved swiftly behind the metal golem and slashed at where its Achilles tendon would be. The cut was sharp, but it didn’t leave a deep wound. It was even boosted with wind magic and a little dragon power too...

Being attacked from directly behind drew the metal golem’s attention toward Shiro. That’s when Kuro’s earth magic exploded into action.

Well, it wasn’t actually an attack.

Kuro had used magic to manipulate the earth. As the golem stepped forward, a wall of soil rose beneath its feet and tripped it. It didn’t fall to the ground, but it staggered and stopped in place.

“Take this! Shadowflame Shot!” I said.

This wasn’t an advanced spell—just an intermediate spell charged with strong mana. My black fireball struck the golem’s back.

Immediately, a massive explosion ripped through the air, a blast of wind sweeping through our surroundings. I pressed lightly on my ringing ears, watching shards of metal fly through the air—the golem’s body had shattered as if made of something soft.

If Kuro hadn’t raised an Earth Wall for protection, we would’ve gotten caught in the blast. The heavy thuds of fragments hitting the wall were a testament to the explosion’s power.

“Th-That was crazy strong,” I said.

“Way to go, Thor!”

“So cooool!”

Despite Shiro’s and Kuro’s praise, I was taken aback by the sheer force on display. The spell I’d cast wasn’t advanced, but the explosion was twice what I’d expected.

“I’ll have to be careful with the amount of mana I put into intermediate spells too.” But first, I gotta eat. Taking a meal break after beating a strong enemy is basically our routine now.

I pulled out some jerky to chew on, but the fatigue didn’t dissipate. It must’ve been because I’d lost too much mana at once, albeit not at an advanced magic level.

I sat on a nearby rock, drank some juice, and took a breath. Then, I saw Shiro run over to the metal golem’s remains and rifle through the wreckage. Is she looking for the mana stone?

“Found it!”

As I’d guessed, she’d been looking for the mana stone. She held it high with a proud look, but then she tilted her head and squatted back down.

“What’s wrooong?”

“It’s right here... Got it! Look!”

“Whoa, a blue stone,” said Kuro.

She held a blue crystal, remarkably similar to the red crystal white mist had dropped. It’s probably an item we need for going deeper... Wait, are we supposed to find colored crystals in the deep layer to complete a collection? The compass is probably pointing to their locations, but with all the soldiers around, we can’t just head straight for them.

“The compass needle’s clearly changed direction...”

“It reversed!”

“The needle spun arooound.”

I hadn’t been watching it constantly, but there was a clear difference in the compass I’d retrieved from storage. Before we’d fled from the soldiers, it had been pointing in a different direction.

“It must be guiding us to the nearest crystal.” And now that we’ve got the blue crystal, it’s pointing to the next one.

“I seeee. Thor, you’re a geeenius.”

“Thor, you’re so smart!”

“All right, all right. Thanks.” Being called a genius by two five-year-olds... Well, it’s not a bad feeling, I guess.

After finishing our meal and regaining some strength, we headed deeper into this layer. It was a refreshing change that there were no soldiers around and we only had to watch for magical beasts.

We’d walked for about half a day, but we still hadn’t reached our destination. Makes sense—we’re walking on kids’ legs.

We kept following the compass, gathering magical beast meat and fruits along the way. Suddenly, Shiro, who was at the front, stopped.

Did she spot a magical beast? But she wasn’t looking ahead. She was staring at the sky for some reason.

“Something’s coming!”

“Coooming.”

Huh? Kuro senses something too? Wait, I feel it now. Something was approaching at an incredible speed. A bird-type beast? It’s pretty huge.

We dove into the bushes, but—

“There you aaaaare!” a voice said.

It wasn’t a magical beast but a bright red cloth flying through the sky. It was a carpet adorned with an exotic design—a real flying carpet. It was huge too—maybe five, six meters on one side. I could feel the presence of several people on it.

Sitting at the very front and looking down at us was an old man, so thin he looked like a reanimated mummy. It was a wonder how such an emaciated person could be alive.

“I feel it! The brats’ mana!” the eerie old man shouted, clearly glaring at the bush we were hiding in.

From his yellowed eyes oozed thick streams of negative emotion. I took one look at him and knew: He was not the kind of person you should get involved with.

Still, he seemed to have business with us.

“You sacrifices aren’t getting away this time!” said the old man. “Offer your bodies to me!”

Now I understood—this was the person looking for Shiro and Kuro. But I thought he was a lord. What’s he doing here? Is he one of the lord’s subordinates?

“Capture the girls!”

“Yes, my lord!”

So he really is the lord! I can’t believe he came down to the dungeon himself... And it’s only been like half a day since the soldiers spotted Shiro and Kuro. How quick can a half-dead-looking guy be?!

Actually, this is our chance! If we take him down, there’ll be no reason for Shiro and Kuro to be hunted!

I immediately focused my mana and unleashed an intermediate spell—the Shadowflame Shot I’d defeated the metal golem with. A mass of black flames shot toward the floating carpet. Now the lord would—

“It’s no use!”

A barrier blocked my attack! The carpet seemed to have defense functions. What’s worse, I’d given away my presence.

“Capture that kid too! He might serve as another sacrifice! If you can’t, just kill him!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the lord’s order, knights began leaping from the flying carpet, thirty or so in all. They must have been using body enhancement, jumping from nearly ten meters as if it were nothing, then landing in heavy metal armor, only to hit the ground running. I didn’t really know the difference between soldiers and knights, but the knights were clearly stronger than soldiers.

“We can’t stay here!”

“Myah!”

“Wuffu.”

I urged Shiro and Kuro into the forest. In the open, we could’ve gotten attacked from the carpet, but the dense trees could split up the knights and soldiers. I also didn’t want to leave Shiro and Kuro there. Their faces had stiffened up, showing clear fear and confusion.

“You two okay?”

Shiro paused. “We’re fine.”

“Yeah,” said Kuro.

They’re not fine. Facing the malice of adults must have brought back memories of being captured. At least they weren’t frozen in place like before. Our encounters with mercenaries had probably made them somewhat used to this.

We kept running through the forest, using body enhancement, but within minutes, we were forced to stop.

“A dead end?”

“It’s a tall wall!”

“Saaame as at the entrance.”

That’s right, we were blocked by a high wall. Looking up, I couldn’t see what lay beyond it, and it stretched endlessly on both sides. It appeared as though we’d reached the edge of the deep layer—even the seemingly infinite forest had an end to it.

I hadn’t noticed it because it had been disguised so it couldn’t be seen from a distance. The wall had been hidden with an illusion or something. Maybe this had brought us closer to conquering the deep layer, but right now, it was just a setback.

“Why don’t you stop for a sec?” a voice said.

“They caught up to us!” I said.

Stopping in our tracks had allowed a knight to approach us. He had a different aura from the others—no helmet and a lazy attitude. He seems knightly but not really—he’s completely unprofessional. Is he another one of the lord’s men?

Considering he’d kept up with our pace, there was no way he was a weakling.

And his eyes—they were so hollow that just looking at them made me tremble. If the lord’s eyes had been clouded with desire, this man’s eyes showed nothing at all.

Can a human really be that empty?

Either way, we had to defeat him and escape. I cast a spell with every intention of killing him. It was a low-tier spell, but not because I’d held back. My plan was to rapid-fire to stall him and have Shiro and Kuro finish him off.

I had completely misjudged the knight’s power.

“What a pain,” he said.

The few Water Needles I’d fired off had disintegrated in a flash. By the time I’d realized what was happening, the man had already drawn his sword. What the—? Did he swing it at a speed I couldn’t even perceive and cut away my magic?

“Shiro?” I asked quickly, and she shook her head in clear denial. Her face was full of sheer astonishment.

“I only saw a shadow,” she said.

Even Shiro’s dragon eye couldn’t keep up with his speed? How fast can he be? Way faster than white mist, that’s for sure.

“Huh, so you could see the shadow?” said the knight. “Thanks to that weird eye of yours, maybe?”

The man kept chuckling as he spoke. Every so often, a rattling sound came from his mouth—he must have been rolling candy or something around in there.

He radiated no spirit, no threat—he just looked like a lazy middle-aged man. And yet, that relaxed stance made him look like a monster surpassing even dungeon malice.

I fired off a spell again, as if to shake off the fear, but the result was the same. The high-speed fireball was sliced apart by sword strikes too fast to see. Even from that alone, I felt the overwhelming difference in strength.

“It’s no use,” he said. “How about surrendering before you get hurt? The little boy might get to live, you know?”

Shiro and Kuro looked at me the moment they heard those words. I could see a faint tinge of anguish on their faces. They weren’t worried I’d abandon them—they trusted I would never do such a thing. No, they were hesitating, wondering if quietly letting themselves be captured might save me.

It wasn’t just the man in front of us now. Soldiers and knights had already begun surrounding the area. The lord would arrive soon as well. Shiro and Kuro both understood that escape was nearly impossible. That was why the thought of sparing just me alone had crossed their minds.

“You don’t want to get a little kid involved, do you? Or do I need to hurt you to make you understand? Just come to me, all right?”

The man, with his lethargic expression, held out a hand toward me.

Screw you! You think that’s what I want?! What’s the point in sacrificing Shiro and Kuro to live a life of bowing down to scumbags?! I’m gonna die in a year anyway.

It was my weakness that made Shiro and Kuro hesitate. It’s infuriating—I hate it! I hate you! I hate every last one of you for putting them through that!

I roared.

“My throat...is glowing?” What’s happening? Is there some power welling up inside me?

Hot, red power...

It felt like someone was teaching me how to draw my power out. I used the heat I felt in my chest and throat, drawing out a bigger surge of mana.

The heat enveloped my entire body.

Mana, red like a dragon’s breath!

That’s right! No way I’m handing over Shiro and Kuro to this guy! Give me strength!

“You’re not taking Shiro and Kurooooo!”

The knight clicked his tongue, irritated.

If he’s gonna block everything, then I’ll just use an unblockable attack! Right now, I have the power to do that! I don’t know how, but I can feel it!

The veil of red mana around me grew even hotter.

Knights started screaming left and right, consumed by flames.

“Agh! It’s hot!”

“Dammit! What the hell is this?!”

My mana had transformed into fire and slammed outward like a red tsunami. They flailed to put the flames out, but they were powerless against the crimson fire laced with mana.

“Whoa, not bad,” said the knight. “You avoided your friends and hit only your enemies. I had a feeling you weren’t just some kid. So, wanna tell me what you are?”

Dammit! I was able to push him back a bit, but that’s it! The bastard’s unfazed!

The unhelmed knight stood inside the sea of fire, his expression unchanged. He must’ve been blocking the flames with a barrier. I knew he wasn’t just any knight, but he’s skilled at magic too?!

Then a big shadow loomed over me—it was the last thing I wanted to see: the flying carpet.

“Stop wasting time with all this chitchat,” said the old man. “Geos! Cut that child down at once! Can’t you even understand the situation we’re in?!” The lord started coughing, shoulders heaving as he gasped for breath.

It wasn’t just that the old man had run out of breath from shouting at the knight, Geos. He’d clearly lost his vitality, and his skin had dried out rapidly. Is he sick or something?

But there was no time to observe him closely.

“A dog’s gotta work when the master’s watching, huh?”

Then I felt it.

Aaaggghhh! When the hell did he cut me?

“Huh. You can use a healing spell? Or is that demonic mana doing something? Well, I’ll just slice you into smaller pieces.”

“Try it, then!” I said.

The next time he comes close, I’ll counter with my flames! I stopped moving on purpose and glared at the knight.

But then, Shiro and Kuro attacked the knight from both sides.

“Shiro and Kuro’re gonna protect Thor!” yelled Shiro.

“Drop dead!” said Kuro.

Their moves were sharper than ever. Shiro’s always been fast, but has Kuro ever reached this kind of speed? They came at the soldier like bullets, trying to catch him in a pincer maneuver.

“Nice moves—but it’s not gonna work.”

“Myagh!”

“Arf!”

To my eyes, their timing and speed had looked like it’d be a sure kill, but they couldn’t even hit the knight. With minimal motion, he’d dodged the blades from both sides and cut the girls at almost the same time.

Shiro and Kuro had deep wounds to their legs, and just like that, their mobility was gone. They wouldn’t be able to escape now.

Wait, it looks like they’re healing really fast. Shiro and Kuro both looked at me, but I hadn’t done a thing. What’s going on?

“Those’re some pretty slick moves for your age. I’ve heard beastfolk sometimes break their limiters when their families are in danger. Maybe that’s what’s happening?”

Makes sense. The healing might be tied to that limiter break. Still, it didn’t mean things were looking up. Even going beyond their limits, they couldn’t beat the knight standing before us.

I unleashed flames from my whole body again. This time, I aimed not just at the soldiers around us, but also at the flying carpet. A few soldiers went up in flames, but once again, the knight and the carpet blocked it.

Right after that, something strange happened to the carpet. The light surrounding it started to fade, and it began to drop in altitude.

“Curse it,” said the old man. “Geos! Capture that brat and bring him here! Ugh...”

Just after the old man shouted, he clutched his chest and doubled over. The mana coming off him had weakened greatly. He must’ve used it up to keep the carpet flying, and he’d thrown up a barrier on top of that—no wonder he couldn’t keep it airborne.

I tried to go in for another attack, but the knight—Geos—stepped in front of me.

“Listen, even if you take down the lord here, you’ll be wanted for life. You and those kids too.”

I thought for a brief moment. “Better than dying here.”

“But you will die. As long as I’m here, you’re not escaping... Sorry, that’s just how it is.”

“Damn it.” He’s right. Unless we can do something about him, there’s no way we’re getting out of this alive. What are we supposed—

Just as I was mulling over our options, the old man stood up behind a young knight.

Then came a gurgling scream. “Viscount, why...”

“For me to survive! You should feel honored that a lowlife like you can become my nourishment!”

The young knight, his face gripped by the old man’s shriveled hand, dried up like a mummy. A bit of mana returned to the old man’s body, and it looked like his skin had regained some of its vitality. He must have sucked the life out of his subordinate and made it his own.

He ate his own subordinate! As I stood there, shell-shocked, I noticed there was something strange about the old man.

Then it hit me. Is there something growing on his head?

“Now you, offer me your life!” demanded the old man.

Another soldier screamed.

It wasn’t my imagination. Maybe it was triggered by absorbing his subordinate’s life, but I saw the protrusions on the old man’s head grow even larger. Two horns, like those of a dragon’s.

That wasn’t all. When he turned toward me, part of his face was covered in dark-red scales. Is it like our dragon power?

Geos hadn’t failed to notice that I was distracted.

“Now’s probably not the best time to look away,” he said.

I’d only glanced at the old man for a second, but Geos had already closed the distance between us. I couldn’t see him swing his blade, but I twisted my body, relying solely on instinct.

I groaned as his blade slashed through my shoulder. If I hadn’t moved, I probably would’ve lost an arm. He didn’t even look like he was going all out, but his technique was terrifying. I can’t see a thing!

“Wow, that didn’t finish you off? Then let’s try this.”

I screamed—I really can’t see his attacks at all! He cut off my foot!

A spray of blood burst out as my right foot flew through the air, pain shooting through me like lightning. But I didn’t let the pain overwhelm me. I hopped backward on one leg to gain distance. My severed foot hit the ground and rolled away, but I used my Mana Arm to retrieve it. Even I was surprised that, despite the pain, I could still act so calmly.

It actually made Geos pause. He opened his eyes wide, staring at this kid who wasn’t crying after losing a foot and was even using magic—it must’ve been hard to believe.

I grabbed my foot and pressed the severed end against my right leg. The pain was intense—but I can’t cry! It’ll mess up my magic! I grunted, pouring everything into my holy magic. I felt my foot reattach. The nerves reconnected, and sensation returned to my foot.

I tilted my head—honestly, I was stunned. I knew the effects of my holy magic well. I’d thought it would take way more time to reconnect everything. I’d even planned on buying time by talking to Geos.

It healed this fast? Even the wound on my shoulder had vanished in an instant. This wasn’t healing magic; I’d tapped into regeneration magic territory. The effects were unbelievable, and of course, I wasn’t beastfolk like Shiro and Kuro, so it wasn’t that my limiter had gone off. Did the dragon power enhance my holy magic? Or my body’s regenerative powers? I hadn’t taken damage this bad in a while, so I honestly couldn’t tell what had caused it.

Seeing me heal instantly, Geos prepared to strike again, but before he could, Shiro and Kuro leaped into action.

“Myaaah!”

“Arf!”

They fired off black and white lights, which exploded around us.

“Hm?”

Shiro’s and Kuro’s magic—glowing wind and burning darkness—had spread all around us; they must’ve copied my wide-range flame attack. Their white and black mana mixed and crackled like an electrical discharge.

What shocked me the most was that, despite how close I was to Geos, the light hadn’t affected me at all. Is it magic that spares allies? That’s gotta be tough even with advanced magic. I mean, it did look like I pulled it off unconsciously before, but...

Even Geos seemed wary now. He stopped moving and focused on his barrier, which seemed like it would lock him down for a bit.

But not everyone had been stopped in their tracks.

“Ahh... More... More life force!”

The dragonized old man shuffled across the carpet; he seemed to be going for a large sack lying on it. His hands trembled as he opened it.

Shiro’s and Kuro’s attacks hadn’t reached him because of the carpet’s barrier, but it must’ve drained his energy. I could tell that the power he’d absorbed from the soldiers was fading fast. Does he have a potion in that bag or something?

“What...?” I said.

What came out of the bag was something I couldn’t believe.

The first thing I saw was red hair—that’s right, hair. It was a person. The old man ripped away the sack, revealing the face of a woman who’d been trapped inside. It was a face I knew.

“Caro...lina?” I couldn’t believe it, but it was her—Carolina. She looked unconscious, her body limp. What the hell happened?

“If I use this woman’s dragon mana, I can still—”

Is he gonna drain Carolina’s life too? He’ll kill her!

The moment that realization struck me, my body began to move on its own.

I flew forward like I’d been propelled, and not in the figurative sense—I was actually flying by blasting red mana from my back. The speed was far beyond what anyone could’ve imagined. In the blink of an eye, I ended up right in front of the old man. I don’t have precise control over it, but I can at least fly close enough to deck him!

“Aaagghhh!”

“Gah! Rotten twerp!”

I slammed my fist into him, but his barrier intercepted it. He’s definitely a skilled sorcerer, but I managed to push him back and create a brief opening.

I grabbed Carolina with Mana Arm and flew off again to put some distance between us and the old man. I nearly lost my balance, but I held on through sheer grit.

When I set her limp body down, I finally saw how bad things were. Her body was covered in wounds—clearly the result of torture. I cast holy magic, but the damage was too severe to fully heal her on the spot.

Why, dammit?! I was able to heal myself so easily!

“You twerp! Give me that woman! If I have her mana— Huh? Is your mana the same as hers? Don’t tell me you’ve acquired dragon power too. And it’s far greater than hers!”

The old man’s eyes gleamed with a terrifying light.

“She never did cough up how she got that power... Was it you? Are you the source?!”

Was Carolina captured because of me? Did I draw attention to her by feeding her my cooking? I should’ve just stuck to using holy magic...

Carolina started to regain consciousness. “Oh, my...angel?”

“Carolina! You all right?” Angel? Is she talking about me?

“I’m...sorry. I was captured...”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing! You never would’ve been captured if I hadn’t given you that food!”

“No, I’m glad I recovered. I...mean it. I have...no regrets.”

“But...”

“Don’t cry, Angel. No, you’re the devil after all, I suppose... But it’s fine. I’m grateful...”

Carolina lost consciousness again. She said it wasn’t my fault, but of course it is. There’s no way I’m not responsible.

“Geooos!” yelled the old man. “What are you standing around for?! Cut those brats down! Hack off their limbs and drag them here! It doesn’t matter as long as they’re aliiive! Move iiiiit!”

The screams of nearby soldiers pierced the air as the old man screamed and raised his hand toward them. He didn’t even touch them, and yet their lives were drained away, their mana flowing into him. Touching them was probably faster, but apparently he could absorb life force remotely. Seeing as how he hasn’t used it on us, maybe it requires doing some kind of setup in advance?

With a crazed look in his eye, the old man killed soldier after soldier, devouring their lives. The knights looked terrified, but not one of them tried to flee.

“A-Aaaah...”

“N-Nooo!”

All the knights and soldiers could do was cry out, their faces deathly pale.

“Heavenly!” cackled the old man. “Sooo heavenly!” He looked like nothing short of a monster feeding on life.

A chill ran down my spine.

But this was also our chance. Now that the soldiers and knights were going to pieces, maybe we could escape. I looked around, but Geos was staring at us, his eyes devoid of emotion. His expression was as languid as ever, without a hint of motivation.

Your master’s murdering your comrades! What the hell is this knight thinking?

“What are you doing, Geos?!” said the old man. “Bring me those girls now!”

The lord’s voice was raspy, almost inhuman. Then again, he was eating people—perhaps his mind wasn’t human anymore.

Even as Geos faced the lord’s monstrous form, his attitude remained unchanged. He just stood there, silent.

“I took you in, and you can’t even do your job? You useless mutt! This is for my life! I need those brats! To surviiive!”

Again, nothing from Geos.

“Aaaagghhh! I’m starving! I’m parched! Feed me liiife!”

The way the lord looked at us was revolting. Just being stared at by that monster made me feel sick, like there were bugs crawling all over me. Was he imagining how we’d taste? That gaze, tinged with delight, made my instincts scream that we were incompatible with whatever he’d become.

“If I devour that woman and the boy...the dragon power I’ve absorbed will be complete! My hunger and thirst will finally be satiated!” the old man shouted as he reached for more soldiers. By feeding off others, he was just barely able to cling to life.

Surprisingly, that form of his had been the result of dragon power. He couldn’t control it, and he’d been suffering from starvation. Maybe his body was emaciated because of that too. If we hadn’t found food in the dungeon, is that how we would’ve ended up? Too much power isn’t always a good thing, I guess...

“I’ll extend my life, and after that, I’ll offer up those beastfolk girls as sacrifices and perform the proper ritual! Then I shall live on! I’ll be able to continue my research!”

So that’s it. He’s after Shiro and Kuro to use them as sacrifices. No clue why it has to be them, but I’ll protect them with my life!

“Give me your life!” shouted the lord. “Eld! You’re next!”

“P-Please, noooooo! I— I’m...”

The lord kept draining life from the knights. And yet, they didn’t run. They just stood there, letting it happen.

“Geos, what are you waiting for?! Don’t make me spell it out for you! Even a useless mutt like you can choose who to cut down! Hurry up! Kill! Nooooow!”

Geos stood silently, unfazed by the deaths of his comrades and the lord’s barrage of insults. His posture was so relaxed, it didn’t even feel like a battlefield.

Is it just me? It seemed like his expression changed just slightly. Did something stir inside him? Or am I imagining it? It almost looked like he smiled...

Unable to find an opening, I simply stared at Geos as he slowly raised his sword. He was a bit of a distance away, but someone like him could easily strike us from there. He still emanated no sign of menace, but I kept my eyes on him, ready to dodge whatever came my way.

Geos let out a long, weary sigh. “Sheesh, how did it come to this? I just wanted to laze around somewhere in the countryside.”

I heard a crunch from Geos’s mouth. He must’ve bitten down on the candy.

For the first time, I felt like I saw a glimpse of his emotions. I didn’t know what he was grumbling about, but I could tell—he was about to move.

Is he coming at us?

Geos exhaled deeply, raising his sword, his expression dark—

“Sorry.”

He swung his sword down—but not at me.

Still braced for impact, all I could do was stare in shock at Geos, who’d leaped sideways as he swung his sword.

After a short pause, the lord spoke with a gurgling sound. “What...have you...”

“I followed your order. I chose who to cut down, you bastard.”

Geos had struck the lord.

“Huh?” I grunted, stupidly. What’s going on? Is Geos on our side?

“You traitoooooor!”

“A monster that eats people or some kids struggling to survive—it’s a no-brainer who to kill.”

The old man groaned, blood pouring from his shoulder.

But he wasn’t done. Even after being slashed across the shoulder, he didn’t die. Rather, his wound closed instantly, and he stood back up.

“How dare yoooooou!”

“Whoa, you really are turning into a monster now,” said Geos. “And this mana. It’s the same as that dragon’s, isn’t it?”

Geos furrowed his brow and glanced at me. I understood what that look meant.

The mana coming off the lord was similar to ours. His body was covered in dark-red scales like Kuro’s dragon arm, and his eyes had the same reptilian gleam as Shiro’s dragon eye. His dragon power had clearly intensified. My guess was that some of the materials from the fallen heaven dragon had ended up in the lord’s hands as well, and he’d absorbed power from them. It wouldn’t be surprising if there were other magical methods besides my cooking that could bestow dragon power upon someone.

“Feed me that twerp! If I consume his dragon mana, I’ll—!” The lord howled and began screaming in a voice no longer human, “Feed me! Feeed meeeeee!”

“Did he get consumed by the power?” said Geos.

An immense amount of mana surged from the lord, now turned into a monster; the sheer pressure of it made me tremble. This was fear. It was nothing like what I’d felt in the face of the hell chimera—this was a whole different level of terror.

But even now, Geos remained calm, expressionless. He took a step forward, and that alone shifted the atmosphere. Right now, Geos radiated a presence that rivaled the lord’s.

“It’s been a while, but I guess I’ll draw my sword.”

Geos shrugged lazily, then—for some reason—returned his sword to its sheath. He placed his right hand over the left side of his chest, just above his heart.

“Summon magic sword.”

And then I saw it.

The moment those words left his mouth, mana as powerful as the lord’s erupted from his body. What is this mana?! Geos’s chest glowed, and from it, he drew a shining sword! The dragon-scaled lord was terrifying enough, but Geos was even more so. The sword in his hand overflowed with mana so intense it made me want to run.

He’d called it a magic sword, but it felt divine—like a holy blade. His sword skills combined with a weapon like that—I can’t even imagine how powerful he’d be...

And the lord was about to find out firsthand.

A demonic scream split the air.

“Fourth Blade,” said Geos.

I watched as the lord lunged at Geos, leaving behind an afterimage. To my eyes, it looked like teleportation, but Geos was able to land a hit without fuss. Honestly, I could barely see Geos’s strikes either. One moment his hand seemed to vanish, the next, the lord was spraying blood from every part of his body. From the way things looked, Geos had slashed him repeatedly. They were both monsters, neither of which we stood a chance against.

The lord screeched in agony.

He regenerated in an instant and began to transform. His scales thickened. His body swelled. His face stayed old, but the rest of him morphed into a humanoid dragon. He charged at Geos, who swung his sword again. The blade hardly cut through—the scales must’ve hardened enough to deflect even those swift strikes.

“Yeesh, I really don’t wanna tire myself out here,” Geos muttered.

“Diiiiie!”

The lord thrust out his arm and fired a beam-like attack. It was fast, but Geos just twisted and dodged it, then sliced back. The blow bounced off the lord’s scales, and the lord scowled.

“How are you able to defy me?! We had a contract! There’s no way you should be able to cut me!”

“I was able to void that contract because you were stupid enough to give me an order that let me choose who to cut. Just one little flaw can turn things around.”

“I don’t believe this...” said the old man.

The knights who’d been devoured must’ve been unable to run because contract magic had forbidden flight. It seemed Geos had been bound by some kind of contract too, like “Don’t defy me” or “Don’t become an enemy.” As unmotivated as he seemed, it made sense to have something like that as insurance if you knew how strong he was. But Geos had apparently forcefully nullified that contract.

For a second, the lord looked stunned, but fury soon took over.

“F-Fine then! I’ll put an end to you! I’ll kill you!”

He howled, his voice hoarse, and charged Geos. The fierce fight between Geos with his magic sword and the lord-turned-monster began.

The lord roared like an animal, his eyes bloodshot. Any shred of reason had left him—he had abandoned any humanity remaining within him.

He closed the distance at terrifying speed and slammed an arm down toward Geos.

“Well, that was close,” Geos said, dodging like it was nothing.

The pattern continued: the lord swinging wildly, Geos evading and slicing. I couldn’t look away. Well, I’m moving bit by bit to escape. I didn’t want to draw the lord’s attention by darting around, so I’d been inching toward Shiro and Kuro. They were trembling, unable to move, most likely overwhelmed by the lord’s monstrosity. I’d been carrying Carolina with Mana Arm while using holy magic, so I couldn’t move too quickly.

Meanwhile, the lord’s movements seemed to grow faster and faster—he’s already moving at a speed I can’t perceive. Shadows streaked across my vision, and a barrage of thunderous booms hit my ears. I could only presume that the lord was moving at super speed, unleashing countless attacks. Heavy thuds spoke of the brute force behind his strikes. Even a single hit would’ve probably smashed us into pieces.

On top of that, the lord could still use magic. With a primal roar, he unleashed a vile black mana that spread around him. As he howled in bliss, the remaining knights and soldiers started screaming in agony, their lives being drained away. He must’ve cast a wide-area life absorption.

This is bad. Forget staying unnoticed!

I lifted Carolina and ran to Shiro and Kuro, then immediately cast a barrier. Seeing me move seemed to snap the two girls out of their daze. The three of us worked on putting a barrier all around us. Thanks to that, the life absorption barely affected us.

But for Carolina, it was a different story. Her life force and mana leaked away, as if an invisible hole had been bored through her chest. I immediately checked and found a magic circle that seemed to have been branded into her chest. It must’ve been aiding the lord’s absorption magic.

“I can’t get rid of it!” I said. Even holy magic didn’t work. The brand must’ve had some magical effect on it. It seemed like the only way to stop the absorption was to get rid of the magic circle, one way or another.

I made up my mind.

“Carolina, I’m sorry,” I said, then turned to Shiro and Kuro. “Hold her down!”

“Myah!”

“Arf.”

They pinned her tightly so she couldn’t thrash about. I formed a blade of water and carefully gouged at her chest. Carolina jerked reflexively, but thanks to Shiro and Kuro, I managed to keep working. I guided the blade carefully, shaving off only the skin where the brand had been etched. It took some effort, but I managed to remove it. And just like that, the life absorption stopped—so that mark really had been the cause.

After that, I used holy magic to heal the wound on Carolina’s chest. The skin regenerated cleanly, showing no sign of burns, but it looked like it’d take a while before she fully recovered. For now, all I could do was administer first aid. If I used up all my mana, I wouldn’t even be able to move. The bleeding had stopped, but if we just sat around like this—

“First Blade.”

The lord’s magic came to a halt as he screamed. I turned to see that he’d been cut down in a single stroke; a high-speed diagonal slash had torn through his body. Even with all that reinforcement, Geos’s swordsmanship had outmatched the lord.

As the two foes passed each other, Geos unleashed a horizontal slash that split the lord clean in two. With a wet splatter, the lord collapsed onto the ground.

“GAAAAAHHHHH!”

He still wasn’t dead. Blood gushed from his body as he clawed at the ground, roaring like a beast. His bloodshot eyes still burned with fight and desire.

“You’re still alive?” said Geos.

There was a thunderous, echoing boom.

“Whoa there!”

It was no wonder Geos looked surprised. The lord’s body was suddenly wrapped in black mana, and he stood up like nothing had happened. It didn’t look like regeneration—more like mana had forcibly stitched his body together and was now in control of it.

That black mana reminded me of the twisted mana of dungeon malice—pitch-black, like it would swallow everything whole. It covered every inch of the lord’s body now, forming dragon-like horns and wings. The source of that mana was malice. That was the only way to describe it—just disgusting and revolting. And in the middle of that black mass, his eyes burned an eerie red.

“Urrrrgghaaauuugh!”

With a deranged scream, the lord, engulfed in jet-black mana, shot out his arm. Is he trying to grab Geos?

Geos dodged the attack with ease—

“That’s noth— Tch!”

For the first time in this battle, a hint of panic swept across Geos’s face. The arm he’d dodged twisted unnaturally, snaking after him like a serpent. Geos slashed the arm, but the black mana instantly swallowed the wound, allowing the arm to continue its attack.

“Gah!”

The lord’s fist slammed into Geos’s stomach, sending him flying. He must’ve blocked it with a barrier of mana, but it didn’t absorb the full impact.

Geos groaned, his face twisted in pain.

“What a pain in the ass...”

The lord howled like a feral animal.

“It’s been a while since I had to go all out,” said Geos.

Unlike the rest of us, who were struggling to hide our fear, Geos still looked calm. He hadn’t even been fighting with his full potential yet. He shrugged, raised his magic sword, and for some reason glanced over at us. He casually waved his hand, like he was gesturing at us to go away.

Is he trying to tell us that we should run while we still can? Well, we’ll only get in the way if we stick around...

“Shiro, Kuro, let’s go.”

“Myah!”

“Arf.”

I didn’t know why Geos had suddenly decided to side with us, but I wasn’t about to waste the chance he’d given us. I picked up Carolina, and we started moving along the wall of the deep layer.

“Wait a minute,” I said, “my red mana’s gone.”

Side Story: Milène

As I walked through the deep layer of the dungeon, I kept my eyes on Sir Geos’s back. We’d come here following the lord’s order to capture the children. Is this really a job for a knight?

“It’s a dog’s duty to obey its master’s orders, right?” That’s what Sir Geos had said, but I knew that wasn’t how he’d truly felt— No, he’d probably mistakenly thought that it was how he’d truly felt. After all, if you simply follow orders without thinking, you don’t have to feel any sense of responsibility. If you don’t act of your own will, you don’t have to suffer when things go wrong. If you’re betrayed, you don’t have to feel hurt.

I remembered the events that took place yesterday. On our way to the dungeon, we passed a black-haired mercenary who asked why we obeyed the lord. Sir Geos responded in his usual tone.

“Even if you’re decent with a sword, you can’t save anyone. In the end, not thinking about anything and doing what powerful people tell you is the smartest choice.”

“A person with strength like yours should be able to save countless people,” said the mercenary.

“But you’re strong too, and you still let your comrades die, didn’t you?”

The mercenary seemed taken aback by this remark.

“Well, there you go.” Sir Geos started walking again, leaving behind the young man whose expression spoke of his regret. As we moved forward, I spotted a familiar boy up ahead, who shrieked at the sight of us.

It was the child Sir Geos had roughed up before. He didn’t wait for us to speak, bolting in fear the moment he saw Sir Geos’s face.

Sir Geos nodded as he watched the boy run—most likely oblivious to the satisfied look on his own face.

“Are you okay with this?” I asked.

“Okay with what?”

“Nothing...”

That boy must have lost his parents and home during the dragon incident and ended up in the slums, harboring hatred for the lord and his men for abandoning him. Eventually—perhaps unable to bottle up his anger any longer—he’d thrown a rock at us while we’d been on patrol. That was when Sir Geos had caught him and given him a painful lesson.

But there was a reason for that. If the boy had done the same to any other knight or soldier, he could’ve been killed on the spot. Sir Geos had wanted to teach him how dangerous it was to get on a knight’s bad side, to make sure he never did something so reckless again. At the same time, it served as a warning to the other children not to follow the boy’s example.

Honestly, it had looked brutal, but Sir Geos hadn’t hurt him that badly. In the end, he’d even told me to give the boy a potion. The boy had probably gotten a few bruises, but no broken bones or anything serious. After a few similar incidents, rumors started to spread...but Sir Geos didn’t seem to care, brushing them off like they didn’t matter.

After walking for a bit, I said, “Sir Geos.”

“Yeah?”

“No matter the decisions you make, I’ll follow them.”

“Yeah? That so?”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter 4: The Former Sword Saint and the Black Monster

We ran like hell from the fierce clash between Geos and the lord. We flinched every time a booming crash echoed behind us, but we didn’t stop. The lord seemed locked in on Geos, so he didn’t come after us. Still, no matter how far we got, I couldn’t shake the fear that his vile mana might come surging after us.

Maybe that’s why we’d kept running for over twenty minutes. Only when we’d reached a point where we couldn’t sense the lord’s mana anymore did we finally stop.

I couldn’t stop panting. “No one on our tail?”

“I think we’re okay,” Shiro said between breaths.

Kuro, too, was winded. “I’m so tiiired.”

We paused to catch our breath, but we couldn’t afford to rest for long.

“Carolina!” I said.

There was no response. But I kept casting holy magic while we were on the run...

“Who is she?” Shiro asked.

“Do you know her, Thoooor?”

They tilted their heads as they watched me give Carolina a potion. There was a hint of caution in their expressions. They must’ve realized she wasn’t an enemy since I’d called her name and tried to help, but being faced with an adult woman seemed to make them nervous.

“Yeah, she’s someone I know. She used to buy us stuff like potatoes, medicine, salt.”

“Ooh, the potatoes were tasty!”

“She’s on our siiide.”

Those potatoes had really been a lifesaver. When they heard that Carolina had been the one supplying them, their wariness vanished instantly. Maybe they’d decided that anyone who brought food counted as an ally. At the very least, she’d been put in a different category from other adults.

But Carolina’s complexion kept getting worse.

“Damn it. My potion’s barely doing anything...”

Her face was pale, and her breathing was growing weaker. Was the lord’s life absorption magic even stronger than I thought?

“Carolina, drink this!”

She answered with a faint groan. I gave her the hell chimera soup I’d prepared for emergencies, spooning it into her mouth, and she managed to swallow it, but she didn’t look like she was recovering.

If anything, her complexion was getting even worse. She had gone beyond pale and was now bone white, and her body was starting to grow cold. I’d been keeping her stable with holy magic, but she wouldn’t last much longer.

“What do I do?”

Actually, I knew. If I wanted to save her, there was only one option left. I still had a bit of concentrated heaven dragon core soup in storage. If she drank that, there was a chance she’d survive, just like we had back then.

But is it really okay? We’d made it through, miraculously, but they said you could die if your body couldn’t handle the transformation. Even if it worked, part of her body would probably turn dragonish. The reason the lord had captured her was apparently because I’d given her my cooking. Her mana wavelength must’ve changed because it had contained a trace of dragon power, and that was what the lord had sensed.

But now, we’re talking about her body turning into a dragon’s. Is that what Carolina would want? I mean, I wanna think that’s still better than dying, but...I still can’t make up my mind.

I froze, soup in hand.

In my hesitation, I’d forgotten that we were still in the dungeon. Shiro and Kuro must’ve also let their guard down while they’d been preoccupied with Carolina.

That brief moment of carelessness—just ten seconds or so—was all it took to invite disaster.

A loud hiss brought us to our senses.

“Bugs!” said Kuro.

“Go away!” followed Shiro.

Ten or so insect-type magical beasts resembling bees had surrounded us before we’d even noticed. There was no buzzing; maybe they were using magic to cloak their presence. Were they drawn by the scent of the soup?

“Shiro, Kuro! You two handle this!”

“Myah!”

“Arf.”

The girls braced themselves for battle, but these bees were tricky. Whenever Shiro or Kuro tried to attack, the targeted bee would retreat, and another would find an opening and come at us. They were probably aiming for Carolina, the weakest one here. Giving her the soup now would be dangerous. If her condition worsened, she wouldn’t be able to move at all.

Should I join the fight? Carolina’s life force was slipping away with every passing second. I tried to keep the holy magic going while preparing to cast water magic, pushing myself harder than I should. Just then—

“Lightning Spearstorm!”

A deafening boom shook the air, followed by a blinding flash. Purple lightning scorched our vision, obliterating the bees in an instant.

“Huh?”

The magical beasts were completely wiped out, and there was not a single scratch on us. My bangs fluttered slightly from the impact—that was it.

Was that a spell that controls lightning? I couldn’t believe that an attack so explosive and wide-reaching could leave us untouched. The magic control was unreal. For a second, I thought the lord had caught up to us, but it was a woman who approached.

She had short, bobbed gray hair and wore glasses. Her slight stature and light armor didn’t make her look like much of a fighter, but I could sense that the mana she carried was intense—way stronger than ours. Is she the one who cast that spell?

“Are you all right?” she asked.

She was clearly worried about us. But isn’t she a knight? Her armor has the same crest as the others. Doesn’t she work for the lord?

“Y-Yes,” I replied. “Uh, thank you?”

She paused. “Sure.”

When I thanked her, she awkwardly looked away. Did I say something wrong?

She thought for a moment and said, “This is just my repentance. Don’t worry about it.”

“Repentance?”

“It means I’m a failure of a knight.”

Her eyes drifted toward Carolina, Shiro, and Kuro. So she really was a knight. She seemed like a decent person, but working under that lord, she must’ve been dealing with a lot of inner turmoil.

Whatever the case, she was a lifesaver for us. Her story didn’t really matter right now.

As if to change the subject, she pulled out a bottle and held it out.

“F-For the lady over there. It’s a high-tier potion.”

“Oh! That’s great!” I said. Right now, Carolina was the priority.

The woman knight was someone I’d only just met, but considering she could’ve easily overpowered us, there was no reason for her to give us a fake potion. I took the faintly glowing potion and brought it to Carolina’s lips. I helped her drink it and poured some over her body too, but nothing changed. Her temperature rose for a moment, but that was it. The warmth faded fast, and she started trembling.

It seemed even a high-tier potion was useless for her condition.

“It’s no good,” I said.

“Oh no. I don’t have anything stronger...”

Having no other means of helping Carolina, the woman looked at her with a pained expression. She must’ve also realized that Carolina didn’t have much time left.

I’d exhausted my options.

“Carolina, drink this. It’s soup.”

I took out the concentrated heaven dragon core soup again and brought a spoonful up to her mouth. She shouldn’t have been conscious, but it felt like Carolina drank the soup with more strength than she’d done with the potion. Her throat moved with steady gulps, and her lips parted slightly, as if asking for more.

I fed her the rest—an entire bowl’s worth.

“Carolina,” I said.

“Hang in there,” said Shiro.

“You can dooo it.”

I gently held Carolina’s hand as she lay there, her body limp. And then I felt it—something powerful swirling inside her. The dragon’s mana must’ve been activated.

Everything should be fine if we can just get her to a safe place...but can I move her like this? Would using the escape teleportation circle mess things up? My mind was flooded with worst-case scenarios, but staying here wasn’t an option. I summoned two Mana Arms and lifted her with more care than ever before.

“Let’s move,” I said.

“Yes,” the woman nodded, her expression sharp. “I’ll handle the magical beasts.”

With Shiro, Kuro, and the knight—Milène was her name—handling the monsters, I could focus solely on carrying Carolina. I kept the holy magic flowing, doing my best not to jostle her. I was running quite low on mana, but I couldn’t afford to complain. What worried me most was that the heaven dragon mana stirring inside her wasn’t stable. We lost consciousness after drinking the soup, so it wasn’t exactly like we’d been able to control it either... It looks like the mana’s on the verge of going berserk. Is she really gonna be okay?

We kept running through the deep layer for another ten minutes, dodging packs of magical beasts. Finally, we took a break—Milène had taken a serious hit.

“Are you all right?” I asked her.

“I’ll manage. I’m out of potions, so your holy magic is a huge help.”

I’d been casting holy magic on Milène, who’d been badly wounded protecting us. A magical beast known as a hide needle—stealthy and covered in spines—had ambushed us. It looked like a moving sea urchin, but its speed and hardness ranked among the stronger monsters. It had rammed into Milène’s back and arm, and she’d lost a considerable amount of blood.

Still, seeing her fight for us seemed to have earned Shiro’s and Kuro’s trust that she was someone who’d protect us.

“Just try to keep your holy magic a secret,” she said. “It’s rare. Churches, nobles, mercenaries—there are plenty of people who’d want to use it for their own gain.”

“Understood. Thank you for the warning.”

We’d only just met, but I trusted Milène as well. I didn’t trust my own judgment much when it came to people, but I did trust Shiro’s and Kuro’s instincts. Besides, she just radiated a kindhearted aura.

Even on the way here, she’d shown guilt toward Carolina. She’d said that if they’d known what was happening, they never would’ve let the torture happen. Her anger seemed genuine, far from an act.

“Shiro, Kuro,” I said, “you can munch on this for now.”

“Myah! A big piece of jerky!”

“Soooo good.”

I’d used the last of our hell chimera meat to make big strips of jerky. They were around thirty centimeters long, and thick too. We’d been eating so much lately that small ones just weren’t cutting it anymore, so I’d decided to go ahead and make bigger pieces.

“Here’s some for you,” I said to Milène.

“Thank you.”

I’d already told her about my storage. I’d really mulled over whether I should tell her, but it wasn’t possible to pull out food or stash beasts without her noticing.

“This is incredible!” said Milène, her eyes sparkling.

For some reason, Shiro and Kuro were looking smug.

“Thor’s cooking is the best!”

“The ultimate fooood.”

“Did you make this yourself?” asked Milène. “I’ve never had dried meat this good, even outside the dungeon. What kind of meat is it?”

“It’s hell chimera,” I said.

She couldn’t seem to process what I’d said. “Huh?”

“I made jerky from the hell chimera we took down in the dungeon.”

Milène’s eyes went blank. I’d figured it was rare meat, but I’d been way off—it turned out rare was quite the understatement.

“H-Hell chimera?! What?! Th-The legendary—?”

“Legendary? Is hell chimera something really crazy?”

“Oh, absolutely! There’s even a story about a hero from long ago who raved about its flavor! Hell chimeras are so rare that even sightings are practically nonexistent! If you sold it, who knows what kind of price it’d fetch! And to think they appeared in this dungeon!”

To us, it was just tasty meat with strong magical effects, but outside, it was apparently some kind of unicorn-level ingredient of legends.

“If this is hell chimera meat, one strip of jerky might go for a gold coin.”

“What? A small gold coin? Seriously?” For just a piece of jerky? Well, if there was jerky made from a rare cut of wagyu, maybe it’d cost like ten thousand yen? Maybe even more, depending on the size. But once again, I was way off.

“No, a large gold coin.”

“No way! You’re joking, right?”

“I’m not joking.”

“You’re serious?”

She looked dead serious. Isn’t a large gold coin worth like a hundred thousand yen? All that for a piece of jerky?!

“Are the other parts besides the meat expensive too?”

“Of course. Not as much as the meat, but they’re rare too.”

Damn. Now I can’t throw away the hell chimera materials just anywhere. People would try to find out where they came from, maybe even try to steal my stash.

Milène seemed to pick up on my troubled look.

“You should only tell people you trust.”

“Okay.”

As we ate, I decided to ask Milène about something that had been bugging me.

“What’s the lord planning to do with Shiro and Kuro?”

“I found out just now myself... He’s going to offer Shiro and Kuro as sacrifices in a ritual to extend his lifespan.”

The lord was apparently a well-known high-ranking sorcerer in this country. Although Milène was also pretty famous herself as a combat sorcerer, she didn’t know the details of the ritual. When it came to rituals and research, the lord was supposedly in a class of his own.

“He’s already extended his life multiple times with the dungeons’ blessings. He’s nearly 150 years old—a monster.”

There were apparently dungeons in this country with known routes, and if you had the skills, getting their blessings wasn’t that hard, but they were low-level dungeons, so the blessings weren’t anything great. That was probably why he’d been aiming for a larger-scale ritual sacrifice. Still, something didn’t add up.

“Why is he so obsessed with Shiro and Kuro, though? Is it because beastfolk are rare? I heard a soldier say they’re tiger and wolf beastfolk...”

I glanced at Shiro and Kuro, who were both gnawing on their second pieces of jerky. I’d assumed they were cat and dog types, but apparently not—though they didn’t seem like an ordinary tiger and wolf either.

“Technically, they’re rare species known as silver tiger and hell wolf.”

“Rare species? So they’re not just ordinary beastfolk?”

“Right. Their ancestors conquered a dungeon and wished for their race’s prosperity and strength. As a result, their descendants became rare species, gaining powers that set them apart from regular beastfolk.”

The lord had fixated on their power as rare species and plotted to use them as sacrifices. He’d been chasing them for a year, probably because they were so rare, they were irreplaceable. From now on, we’d have to keep Shiro’s and Kuro’s species a secret. Even if we avoided the whole sacrifice thing, they’d be prime targets for slave traders.

Milène and the others had also long wondered why the lord was so obsessed with the beastfolk girls. They hadn’t imagined he’d use them in ritual sacrifice, but rather had assumed they’d escaped with some critical secret.

“There’s no teleportation circle,” I said.

“There isn’t.”

We hadn’t been running blindly; we’d been searching for an escape teleportation circle. We couldn’t find one, though, and I could feel us getting pretty desperate.

The jerky had taken the edge off our hunger, but fatigue and wear were piling up, and Carolina still hadn’t woken up. We didn’t know when that lord-turned-monster might come after us either.

Milène, however, stayed calm. At first, I’d thought she was feigning composure so as not to worry us, but that hadn’t been it. In fact, she’d even smile here and there. Noticing my puzzled look, Milène gave me an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry. I understand this is an absolutely horrendous situation for you all.” She apologized, but the smile didn’t disappear. “It’s just, I can’t help being happy.”

“Happy?”

“Yes. I’m so glad he pulled himself together.”

She must’ve been talking about the knight, Geos. Before I could say anything, Milène started to talk.

“Sir Geos was once called the Sword Saint. His strength was renowned throughout the neighboring countries, and he was undefeated in battle. The number of warriors he’d cut down in one-on-one combat must have exceeded a hundred.”

Milène clearly revered Geos, and her story kept going. After just a few minutes, I felt like I knew quite a lot about him. In short, he’d been an insanely strong and famous knight, but an enemy nation’s trap had cost him his land, and that was when he’d lost his beloved daughter. Worse, the king—jealous of Geos’s fame—had pinned the blame for the defeat on him, and he’d been disgraced. He’d delved into dungeons hoping to revive his daughter but failed, and after that, he’d lost all motivation and sense of responsibility. It was a story that read like the fall of a man.

If he could have drowned himself in drugs or alcohol, maybe it would’ve been easier, but since he had one of the strongest bodies around, they had no effect on him. After being driven from the capital, he drifted from place to place, living day-to-day, pretending to be a mercenary—simply living. Milène and other former subordinates looked for places that might take him on, but no noble wanted a retainer hated by the king. And even if someone had taken him in, it wouldn’t have been anyone even half decent—it would be, for example, someone like this town’s lord, Viscount Holm.

Many of his former subordinates had left him, and Geos remained nothing but a living corpse. While Milène fretted over whether he would end his life as a spiritless tool of Viscount Holm’s, this whole ordeal had happened. What had been a crisis for us had actually been the revival of the man she’d admired. There wasn’t a trace of anxiety on her face. Isn’t she worried about Geos?

“Sir Geos won’t lose. Now that he’s back on his feet, he’s undefeatable!”

Milène must have believed in Geos’s strength with all her heart. That’s why she felt no fear, no matter what kind of monster he was facing.

Then, out of nowhere, Milène asked me a question.

“Sir Geos will defeat Viscount Holm, and we’ll make sure that you won’t get hunted down anymore. Once that’s done, you won’t need to dive into the dungeon, right? Do you have anywhere to go after that?”

“We’re not gonna give up dungeon diving,” I said.

“Why not? If it’s about money, we can help.”

If this were a fairy tale, this kind adult helping us out would’ve been the happy ending—but that ending wasn’t coming for us.

“Look at this.”

I opened my collar and showed Milène my chest.

“That’s... Wait, is that the Dungeon Curse?”

“Yes.”

“It can’t be!”

Milène knew the meaning of the black pattern engraved on my chest. She stared at it with a stunned expression.

“So that’s why you’ve been...”

“Right. Even if the lord stops chasing us, we’ll still have to keep dungeon diving.”

“Do you...still have time left?”

“A few months.”

“I see.”

Milène seemed a little relieved, then fell into deep thought. She was probably thinking of ways to help us. In the short time I’d known her, I’d already learned she was a truly kind soul.

Still, she and Geos were overwhelmingly powerful, so if they helped us, dungeon explorations would become tremendously easy. Should I get my hopes up here?

We kept walking and talking when Milène suddenly stopped. She stared down at a patch of ground.

“This is...” she muttered to herself, then chanted, “Earth Manipulation.”

She started digging, and to our surprise, a treasure chest appeared.

“I’ve been using a spell called Acoustic to guard against surprise attacks from below, but this is an unexpected find.”

She’d been scanning the earth with a sonar-like magic.

“A treasure chest!” said Shiro.

“Looks familiar,” followed Kuro.

It looked exactly like the metal chest we’d seen before. I checked for traps but felt no mana—neither did Shiro. It also didn’t have an indentation to set a crystal into. Can we just open it normally?

Milène told us to step back, then stretched out water magic like a whip. She wrapped the water whip around the chest’s lid and proceeded to freeze it. When she pulled on the ice, she was able to open the treasure chest from a distance—it was a pretty neat trick.

No trap went off, and the lid opened quietly. I crept closer and peered in to find yet another crystal inside—this time, it was black.

“A crystal?” said Milène.

“There’s lots of different colors!” said Shiro. “Like a red one you get by knocking out a white skeleton!” Shiro didn’t hesitate to give out our intel. It wasn’t a huge deal though; there apparently wasn’t a limit on how many people could receive the dungeon’s blessing.

In addition to the blue crystal we’d gotten from the metal golem, that made this the second crystal in our possession. There was no doubt these were items needed to clear the dungeon.

“This— Whoa!” I said.

“A black pillar!” said Shiro.

“The lord’s maaana?”

While we were examining the crystal, a tremendous burst of mana shot out in the distance. As Shiro and Kuro said, a black light that looked like the lord’s mana rose up like a pillar.

Is the battle between Geos and the lord over? Did the knight win?

We kept an eye out in the direction of the black pillar as we moved—

A raw howl tore through the air, and Milène cried out in shock.

“Myah!”

“Arf!”

Suddenly our surroundings grew thick with a strange presence that felt like it was stabbing at our skin. Black mana raged like a storm, blowing the women aside. As if to replace them, a huge black shadow descended before us: the lord, cloaked from head to toe in black mana.

He’d completely abandoned his humanity.

“It’s the lord...” I said.

“I don’t believe this...” Milène looked shocked. She was raving about Geos’s strength—did he lose?

His eyes, red like ripe winter cherries, were clearly focused on us—no, on Carolina, whom I’d been holding in my arms.

“Draaaaagon poooooower!”

Carolina’s body jerked right as the lord screamed. The mana inside her thrashed about before flooding out of her. It looked like the lord was sucking power from her, and she was losing mana at an alarming rate. The soup won’t even matter if this keeps up!

“You too! Offer me your power!”

“Ugh!” Our powers are getting drained too! This life absorption is on a whole different level! Carolina’s not gonna last! I can’t back down!

“Enough!” I said.

“Bah!”

My intermediate magic only made him flinch! Wait, I guess I managed to faze a monster that Geos’s attack barely had any effect on? Is it my dragon mana? Maybe dragon mana’s effective against other dragon mana? In that case, get a load of this!

“Aaaahhhh!” It’s just like when I fought Geos. I can tell how to use the red mana, like there’s something lurking inside me, teaching me! The power swelling up out of my chest and throat is definitely dragon mana! I can get the lord with this!

“Gaaaaa!” With a thunderous roar, crimson flames burst from my mouth and slammed into the lord’s face.

The lord let out an agonized groan, but even then, he didn’t stop.

“Agh!” Doesn’t he care that his head’s on fire?! I could tell my cheekbone was broken from his hit, but it regenerated instantly without holy magic and the pain eased. Is this the dragon mana’s power too?

Forget it, I need to focus on Carolina right now! Her mana won’t stop leaking out!

I can’t crash to the ground like this and hurt her either. I wanna shield her somehow, but I’m too small. Can I land somewh—

What the...?

I could feel red mana spurting from my back and spreading left and right. It felt like wings. And am I floating?

They don’t just feel like wings—I think they are wings. I don’t know how I’m floating with mana wings, but I can move however I want!

It reminded me of when I’d rescued Carolina before, except now, I had better control. I assumed that, back then, I hadn’t been able to control the wings too well and was just able to blast mana from my back to get a burst of speed. But now, I could develop a clear image of the wings in my mind, which must have been why I had better control.

I tightened my grip on Carolina and landed on my feet. Unlike before, I didn’t lose my balance. I absorbed the momentum and touched down safely.

Of course, the lord was already set to follow up with more attacks. He bent his legs and readied to pounce.

“I’ll devour you all! Then I’ll sacrifice the gir—”

“First Blade!”

Right before he moved, the lord’s body was cleaved straight down the middle. Geos stood behind him, his casual air gone and a hard look on his face. He was breathing heavily, still holding his sword in the follow-through of the downward swing.

“Seventh Blade!”

“G-Gaaaahhh!”

A shower of blade flashes tore through the lord, slicing him to pieces.

“Sorry... I let him get away earlier,” Geos apologized, still in a fighting stance.

The lord croaked weakly, but he wasn’t dead. Black mana oozed from the severed ends of his body, knotting together and snapping into place like toy blocks as he tried to regenerate.

How the hell are you supposed to defeat this thing?!

Side Story: Geos

I watched the boy and the girls flee into the distance out of the corner of my eye, but kept my gaze fixed on the black shadow.

The lord had become a monster cloaked in black mana. No matter how many times I cut him, his wounds regenerated instantly. I’d just sliced him into ribbons, yet he was still writhing. He’d probably regenerate again in a few moments. I’d sliced him up the same way earlier, but I hadn’t expected him to survive, and I’d let him escape.

Will he die if I keep cutting him until his mana runs dry?

Normally, I’d fight an enemy like this just until I had the chance to get away.

But this time, fleeing wasn’t an option.

“Gaaaargh!”

“Sheesh, you sure are a tough one,” I said. “Doesn’t even look like you feel pain.”

Why am I fighting a monster in a place like this? Originally, my plan was to just slack off under this old fool’s command, but things started going awry when the dragon appeared. The beast did a number on the town, public order collapsed, and I ended up with all kinds of work to do.

No, that’s not it. It all started when I saw that kid in the slums. I should’ve ignored him, but for some reason, I couldn’t. As hollow as I was, there was still something inside me.

And those beastfolk girls...for a moment, they looked like my daughter, except they looked nothing like her and their ages are so different—so why?

I’ve lost everything. Even now, I have vivid memories of that moment.

Back then, our country had been attacked by two neighboring nations. The Holy Sword Knights, of which I served as commander, had been sent to the eastern front. The battle had been going back and forth, but despite our small numbers, we’d had the advantage.

Until that incident.

My territory, though quite a distance from the border, had been invaded, and my daughter had been taken hostage. But I didn’t return. As a knight commander, I couldn’t prioritize personal matters when I hadn’t even received orders to return to my territory.

I did it out of foolish pride, and I paid the gravest price for it.

My daughter was executed as a warning.

I heard later that the townspeople had attacked her during her defense command and handed her over to the enemy in exchange for their own lives. My daughter, however, had smiled until the end, had said it was fine.

After that, the forces of the lords who owned land out west—except for me—panicked, and the eastern front collapsed. In the end, our country lost much of its territory and was defeated. My land fell to the enemy, and the fools who betrayed my daughter died during the war.

Was her death meaningless? What was it that I’ve been believing in and protecting all this time?

That was when the crushing emptiness began to consume me. To make matters worse, the king pinned the blame for our defeat on me. I was stripped of my rank as commander and my title as Sword Saint.

Not that I’d really noticed—I’d been too busy dungeon diving, trying to bring my daughter back to life. Before I knew it, I’d become a disgrace: the useless former Sword Saint who caused the nation to lose the war.

In the end, I couldn’t revive my daughter. I’d lost my pride, my position, everything. For a while after that, I was like a walking corpse. Even dying felt like too much effort—or rather, I felt life and death no longer mattered.

At least when I sucked on the candy my daughter loved, I could feel her presence. It calmed me a little, but that was all. I had no motivation to do anything.

Ultimately, I didn’t care about the country or its people. What I truly cared about was family. After losing my wife to illness, my daughter was all I had left.

And when I lost her...my world lost all meaning. I’m not exaggerating when I say that everything looked colorless.

But children were different. Maybe because they reminded me of my daughter. Those beastfolk girls, and that strange boy—they didn’t just have color; they were shining.

Something I’d kept locked away in the depths of my heart began to stir—a feeling I couldn’t quite understand continued to throb.

It felt like my daughter was telling me from heaven to stop looking away from reality. I thought hard about the situation I was in—the lord who’d become a monster that devoured lives and the foolish knight who served him.

People had told me over and over that my daughter was grieving for me in heaven, and I’d always laughed it off. “What do you know about my daughter?” I’d say.

But now I understood. If she saw me like this, she’d be heartbroken.

A lord who screamed for children to be slaughtered, who howled about devouring them—how repulsive. Before I knew it, I’d cut him down and let the children escape.

“I chose who to cut down, you bastard.”

It was thanks to the lord losing his temper and giving me that idiotic command. If I had the choice to cut down whoever I wanted, of course I’d choose you. His transformation had worked in my favor too. With the change in the nature of his mana, the contract we’d made before had lost a great deal of power. The contract magic must not have recognized him as the lord, and that was how I was able to forcibly nullify it.

I’m now free from all the shackles. I hereby swear to my daughter: I will never stray from the righteous path again. If she saw me now, she’d be gutted. I kept looking away from that truth so I wouldn’t have to think about it. But not anymore. Even if my life burns out, I’ll live so I can face my daughter with pride!

Then, the lord unleashed a monstrous roar.

“You’re finally up? Come on, let’s get back to our battle to the death.”

“You traitorrrrrr!”

“I haven’t betrayed what matters most. Ninth Blade.”

The lord screeched in anger, charging at me with such speed it felt like even the slightest contact would pulverize me.

But right now, I won’t lose to anyone.

I swung my magic sword down, cleaving him in two.

“G-Ggg... Eternal...life... Aaaa...aaaaggghhh!”

Once again, he was revived, roaring with pure hatred. Actually, is his mana getting even stronger? Is he drawing power from the dungeon? The black mana that cloaked him emitted an even stronger presence, making him look like what could only be described as a demon.

“Tch...looks like this’ll be a long one.”

Just as I braced myself for a drawn-out battle, something about the lord changed.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Black wings sprouted from his back, and he shot into the sky in an instant.

“Give me...your liiiife!”

“Tch! Bastard!”

A pillar of overwhelming mana erupted, forcing me to focus entirely on defense.

The damn lord flew off in the direction of—

“Like hell I’ll let you do that!”

You’re not killing a single child as long as I stand!

***

“Uwooooo!”

The lord was resurrected in an instant, his shredded body pulling itself back together. Black mana fused and reformed, restoring his original shape. Not that I could actually see the lord—his entire body was wrapped in the dark mana, completely obscured.

“You’re not getting away this time,” said Geos, before addressing us. “Run while you still—”

“You’re going nowheeeere!”

“Tch! That was fast!”

What the hell are those things? Puppets made of black mana?

In response to the lord’s mana, countless black humanoid figures had emerged. They looked like mannequins—human in shape—and they all held weapons and shields formed from mana.

Are they the lord’s familiar spirits?

There were easily over twenty of them, each one radiating a considerable amount of mana.

“Aaaaargh!”

Are they not sentient? They had no mouths or eyes, and meaningless groans just poured out of them. If they had flesh, I might’ve called them zombies.

The black figures raised their weapons as if to intimidate us and slowly began circling around, forming a perimeter. Watching their movements, I had to revise my earlier impression that they were like zombies; their steps were much steadier than I’d expected, like they’d been trained in martial arts.

Geos furrowed his brow at the sight. “Eld...?”

“Sir Geos?” said Milène. “What did you say?”

“That black one, its movements are exactly like Eld’s. The habits are identical.”

“You don’t mean...the lord is using the ones he drained life from?”

Apparently, those black figures were something like the ghosts of knights who once served the lord—knights whose lives had been devoured.

“Eld certainly wasn’t a virtuous man, but to be defiled by forbidden arts even in death...!” Milène’s voice trembled with fury.

It seemed that, in this world, magic like necromancy was considered a forbidden art.

“Heh heh heh! Even in death, they serve me! They must surely be honored!”

“I will not stand for this!” said Milène. “I’ll put them to rest!”

As the lord cackled in delight, Milène sliced through one of the nearby black figures, but it didn’t seem to take much damage. Since they were made purely of black mana, physical attacks passed right through them. They’re basically ghosts, after all.

Actually, it wasn’t that they were completely unaffected. Her blade did manage to cut the black figure, but just like the lord, it regenerated instantly.

“It’s useless! As long as I live, they cannot die! Now then, it’s high time for you to meet your maker!”

“Just protect yourselves!” said Milène. “Escape when you can!”

“O-Okay!” I replied.

A chaotic melee then...did not ensue. It seemed the black figures had merely been summoned to prevent our escape. They didn’t actively attack us.

So we all attacked the nearest enemy at the same time...

“Haaaah! Water Needle!”

“Myaaah!”

“Arf!”

My Water Needle pierced through the black humanoid’s head, while Shiro and Kuro sliced through both of its legs.

But the wounds closed instantly, and worse, the humanoid ignored our attacks and launched its own strike, thrusting a spear straight at me from the front.

I didn’t think it would reach me, but the spearhead extended several meters. I dodged in a panic, but the tip grazed my cheek. The humanoid barely gave off any intent to kill, but it aimed precisely for a vital spot. I thought they were ghosts, but maybe they’re more like golems formed from mana?

Since they were former knights on the inside, their movements were sharp, plus our attacks didn’t work. They were an absolute nightmare.

Still, even if we can’t defeat them, maybe we can force our way through?

“Shiro, cover me. Kuro, you take care of Carolina!”

I passed Carolina to Kuro as I gave the order. In terms of sheer strength, Kuro was stronger, and her fighting style didn’t require much movement.

Then I surged forward.

Close combat was more the girls’ specialty, but with how good my recovery speed was, I was the best one to test the waters. As I charged toward the black humanoid, Shiro and Kuro immediately attacked from behind me.

“Myah! Light Blade!”

“Darkness Blade.”

Magic flew past my flanks, nearly grazing me. Before, I might’ve flinched a little, but now, I wasn’t scared at all. I knew how long they’d been training their magic control for—there was no doubt in my mind I would be safe.

Maybe it was because the humanoid was focused on my charge, but both Light Blade and Darkness Blade struck it dead-on, gouging out its mana and tearing gaping holes in its stomach and shoulder. The wounds, however, closed immediately, and the humanoid thrust its spear at me as if nothing had happened.

Well, no surprise there!

I blocked the black mana spear with Wind Wall. The spear didn’t penetrate, and the wind deflected its tip sharply. It slammed into the empty ground, and the humanoid’s body staggered. The thing’s made of mana—it’s strange how its movements are bound by physical laws. It doesn’t make sense. Whatever, this is my chance.

“Fireball! Purify!”

I tried spells that might work against ghosts, but Fireball was no better than Shiro’s and Kuro’s attacks, and Purify didn’t seem to do a darn thing.

“Then how’s this?!” said Shiro.

As the black humanoid raised its spear, unfazed, Shiro came slashing at it. She slipped past my side, gracefully ducking under the butt-end of the spear as it jabbed out to block her path. Maybe the humanoid couldn’t keep up with her movements, but its reaction looked oddly sluggish.

Then, Kuro’s dark magic flew in to support her. Shiro’s daggers tore through both the humanoid’s legs, while Kuro’s spell blew its head clean off. But just like before, it regenerated in an instant, showing no signs of damage.

“Hmm, our attacks aren’t working!” said Shiro.

“Cheeeater.”

I wanted to observe the humanoid more closely, but its comrades were tightening the perimeter. To keep them at bay, I scattered wind and earth magic around us. Not that it did much—none of the humanoids went down, and they kept their distance, surrounding us.

It doesn’t look like they’re weak against any particular element. At least I know they’re not abnormally fast. Maybe we can slip through and escape?

“Earth Wall! Earth Wall!”

I cast two walls in quick succession, which rose parallel in front of me, with just enough space in between for us to squeeze through. The black humanoid swung its spear down, but just one hit didn’t break the wall. I poured a ton of mana into it! It should hold for a few strikes!

Now we’ll just sneak through between the walls and—

“You’re going nowhere!” screamed the lord.

“Gah!” An explosion...! The Earth Walls shattered in a single blast!

Flames danced wildly, scorching my skin, and shards of hardened earth slammed into me. If I hadn’t been wrapped in a barrier of water, I’d have been covered in burns and cuts.

It was the lord’s magic.

As I stopped in my tracks, a humanoid came at me, roaring.

“Crap!”

I thought it’d been caught in the lord’s magic, but it showed no sign of damage. As I’d expected, normal attacks didn’t work. What was worse, unlike earlier when it was fighting Shiro, its movements were much faster now.

I barely dodged the spear thrust and scrambled backward.

This was a dangerous combo; if the humanoids pinned us down, the lord could use his magic to wipe us out along with them. I retreated quickly to avoid being targeted by him again.

The humanoid didn’t pursue me any further. Were they really summoned just to keep us from escaping?

“Thor!” called out Shiro. “Are you okay?”

“You hurt?”

“No, I’m hanging in there. But that magic’s no joke.”

It blew through the Earth Walls like they were paper. If I’d taken a direct hit, I’d have been lucky to be in one piece.

I looked over at the lord. He’d just been slashed by Geos, but the wounds closed instantly, and he went right back to fighting. At first glance, it looked like he was focused entirely on Geos, but I was sure he was keeping tabs on us too, making sure we didn’t slip away.

If even Geos’s sword can’t land a fatal blow, can’t the lord win just by blasting a wide-area spell at us?

The two men screamed, Geos’s blade and the lord’s fists colliding as the two became locked in a brutal close-range fight. Their attacks clashed again and again, scattering mana like shock waves.

I get that Geos is a swordsman, but why isn’t the lord using magic? I wondered for a moment, but figured it out right away.

He didn’t want to kill Shiro and Kuro.

To him, Carolina and I were just life support to keep him going, but he needed Shiro and Kuro for the ritual. That meant he couldn’t risk stray spells taking them out. If he’d wanted to hit Geos with magic while the knight was darting around like that, he wouldn’t be able to keep from causing some collateral damage.

Earlier, I got attacked partly because I’d drifted away from Shiro and Kuro, and also because I’d been in a spot that made me an easy target. Right now, with the two girls flanking me, the lord wasn’t attacking.

The same went for the black humanoids. They came at me but didn’t go near Shiro or Kuro. They weren’t taking any risks.

Looks like there’s still some hope?

If Geos loses here, we’ll have no chance of escape. That means we gotta defeat the lord together. I’m gonna have to take a gamble for that.

“Shiro, Kuro.”

“Myah!”

“Woof.”

They answered with determined expressions. They must’ve already known what I was about to say.

“He can’t kill you two. He said he needed you as sacrifices to extend his life.”

I didn’t know if it was illness or old age, but before he transformed, the lord had looked like he was on death’s door. Considering he was still targeting the girls, he must’ve still been in danger.

“So that means—”

“He can’t use magic if we’re around!” said Shiro.

“No boooom or baaam.”

“Exactly. Kuro, don’t let go of Carolina.”

“Arf.”

Using Shiro and Kuro as shields was the last thing I wanted to do, but if it gave us even the slightest edge, I had no choice. That monster was too strong for us to fight fair.

The real problem was how to defeat him. Even if we stopped his magic, we’d eventually lose if we had no way of defeating him. I couldn’t even tell if Geos’s attacks were doing anything. He might not be inflicting physical damage, but if he chips away at the lord’s mana, I’m sure the lord will eventually vanish... But so far, I hadn’t seen any sign that his mana levels had been dropping. Even if we were draining it, our stamina would run out first.

“Die!” said the lord.

“Tch...”

Standing here thinking about it’s not gonna do anything!

Geos wasn’t exactly holding up well either. Even with Milène’s magic supporting him, he looked like he was starting to lose ground. It must’ve been the lord’s close-range spells that were really taking a toll on him. Earthen spears sprouting from the ground, explosions laced with blinding light—Geos had to either slash them with his sword or dodge them entirely just to survive.

And in between all that, the lord’s fists kept flying at him. This was no doubt a dangerous situation even for someone like Geos. His mind seemed to be wearing thin.

“Let’s back up Geos!” I said.

“Let’s go!”

“Goooo.”

I didn’t know how much help we’d actually be, but if Shiro and Kuro stayed close, the lord wouldn’t be able to use magic. That alone should be worth it.

“You don’t have to!” said Geos.

“We can’t escape if we don’t take him down!” said Shiro.

“We’re gonna fight for ourseeelves.”

As Geos called out with concern, the lord clicked his tongue in irritation. It was clear that he couldn’t fight Shiro and Kuro.

From there, it turned into a wild, all-out brawl—well, Shiro, Kuro, and I were just firing off spells from a few steps back, but the lord stopped using magic entirely, clearly afraid of hitting the girls by accident.

Geos and Milène had changed their movements too. They were fighting with us at their backs now. Because of that, the lord couldn’t even use his big nonmagic attacks freely anymore. I figured the two knights would hate using kids as shields, but the lord was just too strong for them to be picky.

“Curse you!” said the lord, clearly frustrated. “Quit darting around!”

But he still looked full of energy. His mana hadn’t dropped at all, and he kept trading blows with Geos.

Watching him, I started to wonder.

If Geos’s attacks aren’t doing anything, then why not ignore him and go straight for Shiro and Kuro? He could brush off my and Milène’s spells, grab the girls, and escape.

So why isn’t he doing that? Why’s he so fixated on Geos? I guess the obvious answer is that he’s trying to drain Geos’s life force, or maybe he fears something about him and wants to eliminate him right here and now.

Whatever the reason, I didn’t have time to sit around and think.

“Gaaaaah!” the lord screamed. “Enough! No more holding back!”

The lord roared, and black mana erupted from his body, more intense than ever. He must’ve finally snapped from only being able to fire off weak attacks.

“Gaaaaah!”

His mana went berserk, sending out a shock wave.

“Ugh!” I couldn’t withstand the force and was thrown to the ground.

“Myah...!”

“Arf.”

Shiro and Kuro managed to stay upright, but they couldn’t move.

And the moment the mana surge ended—

“Die!” said the lord.

I screamed as a black flash of light gouged out my side. I must’ve become an easy target after I’d been blown away from Shiro and Kuro.

I quickly healed myself with holy magic, but the lord didn’t let up.

“Then how’s this?!” he said.

A massive explosion erupted above the battlefield, the shock and heat slamming into the ground. He wasn’t trying to hit us directly—he wanted to blow us away with the aftershock.

I threw up a wall with earth magic to block it, but the blast was stronger than before, and the wall crumbled instantly.

I was sent flying again, and then, spears formed from black mana came at me from all directions.

“Dammit!” I used wind magic to blow my body out of the way, barely escaping the barrage of black spears. Some grazed me, but it was nothing serious.

But just as I thought I was safe, more black spears were already waiting for me. Twice as many as before seemed to erupt out of thin air—no doubt a manifestation of the lord’s wish to kill me. Geos and Milène tried to disrupt him with their attacks, but he ignored them, focusing solely on me.

I screamed, panicking. There’s no opening I can escape through with wind magic! As I blasted fire magic, I also breathed fire to attack the spears.

I managed to destroy a few, but wiping them all out was impossible.

“Now you’re done for!” said the lord.

I shrieked as the black spears pierced through me—my stomach, legs, arms, everywhere.

Aaggghhh! Well, at least I didn’t end up a hedgehog! As long as I survive—

The lord groaned, irritated. “What regeneration! You monster!”

You’re calling me a monster?!

More black spears emerged out of thin air. Their number hadn’t changed from the last volley, but there was far greater mana packed into each one. This time, he really meant to finish me off, but giving up was not an option.

I swore to myself that I’d protect Shiro and Kuro!

I scattered spells to intercept the spears, but I couldn’t even neutralize half of them.

It’s because they’re stronger! Am I in trouble here?

I curled up, trying to shrink my body and take as little damage as possible. Then, like a massive beast snapping its jaws shut, countless spears came—

“I’ll protect Thor!” yelled Shiro.

“Kuro toooo!”

“Huh?”

I saw the two girls leap between me and the black spears.

Side Story: Geos

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a spray of bright red blood. I tore my gaze away from the lord and looked over; the beastfolk girls had been impaled by his magic.

I gasped. It felt like I’d stopped breathing. I was still in the middle of battle, but I’d left myself completely exposed. The lord was frozen, just as stunned as I was, so we were lucky this time... Still, if the spell had hit differently, those girls would have been dead—that’s right, gone.

A chill ran down my spine, knocking me to my senses. The magic sword wavered in my trembling hand, and my chest tightened. I’d forgotten this feeling, the same feeling I’d gotten back when I was a newbie, when I’d encountered a superior magical beast and wet myself.

This was fear. When I saw those girls half dead, my fear had taken over. They looked nothing like my daughter, but the memories came back to me. I wasn’t there when she was killed, but I saw her mutilated body, which had been sent to me. The knight who had carried her had tried to clean her up, but the countless wounds couldn’t all be hidden. Those memories started to overlap with the girls before me.

Those girls are going to die too! Just like my daughter! I wasn’t able to be with her and protect her! But now—

The strength that had almost left my hand returned. I could hear a quiet rasp as I tightened my grip on the magic sword.

Right now, I can protect them! They’re not my daughter, sure, but do I need a reason to protect them? When children are being hunted down by a monster? I’m no hero—just a pathetic middle-aged man...but I was gonna die in some ditch someday anyway. I just didn’t have the courage or drive to even do that. After I lost my daughter, I’d thought my life was just wasted time, so risking my life to save those kids won’t be such a bad choice. I stooped low enough to be used by that scumbag lord, but I’m not gonna make the same mistake again. I swore to myself that I’d make my daughter proud.

“I’ll offer up everything I have.” I’ll use my life, soul, whatever to save those kids! And to do that—

“I’ll take him down.” My attacks don’t work? He regenerates even if I cut him with my magic sword? So what? I’m the former Sword Saint.

“Besides,” I muttered to my sword, “you’re not so flimsy, are you?”

“Huh?”

Is the magic sword glowing? It had lost its power ever since what happened. I figured it was because I was stripped of my title as the Sword Saint, but...

Has it regained its powers? No, it’s shining brighter than ever before.

My magic sword, known as “Brave,” supposedly unleashed the power to banish evil when wielded by the courageous. But I’ve never seen it shine so—

“I see. So that’s it.”

I understand now, thanks to the strong bond I’ve forged with the sword.

Being brave isn’t just about fearlessly charging into battle. It’s about facing your own weakness. It’s about not looking away from trying times and dealing with them. The courage to swear to my daughter that I’d never stray from the righteous path again, and to accept that she was gone and keep moving forward—those were the kinds of courage that mattered most now. It seemed that only those who had overcome the weakness in their heart and carried a vow more precious than their own life were worthy of being the true wielder of this sword.

“Yeah, I get it.”

The sword doesn’t have a will of its own, but I can feel it—the sword’s joy.

“Now for the lord—let’s get him!”

***

“I’ll protect Thor!” yelled Shiro.

“Kuro toooo!”

“Huh?”

I could vividly see Shiro’s and Kuro’s movements, as if in slow motion. They’d jumped in, arms spread wide, trying to protect me.

A little ways off, I spotted Carolina lying on the ground.

No! Stop! Why?!

A myriad of thoughts flashed through my head in an instant, but I couldn’t do a thing. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even speak.

As I stood there, helpless, countless black spears pierced through Shiro and Kuro, spraying blood through the air.

“Uh...”

Get it together!

I rushed over and cast holy magic, pouring in everything I had, praying for their recovery.

“Shiro! Kuro!”

“Thor,” said Shiro, “are you hurt?”

“You okay...?”

“Yeah! You two saved me!”

“Myah, good...”

“Arf...” said Kuro, coughing weakly.

You have gaping holes in your chest and stomach! Don’t smile like that!

Shiro’s stomach had been torn clean through, her organs practically spilling out. Kuro was coughing up blood—a clear sign of lung damage. I held my hands over their wounds and kept pouring in holy magic.

Our recovery ability had somehow improved lately, but this time, their wounds weren’t healing as quickly. The damage inside must’ve been that bad. The three of us were drenched in blood, and I just kept burning through my mana.

I can feel them healing, but the wounds won’t close up!

Then I felt it: an explosive surge of mana, like wild, raging waves. But strangely enough, I wasn’t afraid. If anything, it felt like it was coming over us in a gentle embrace.

The mana had come from Geos’s magic sword. When I first saw it, I’d thought it looked like a holy sword, but now, it really was a holy sword. It glowed gold, radiating soft, white mana.

“Haahhh! First Blade!”

“Gaaaggghh!”

Geos charged the lord faster than I’d ever seen him move. The slash landed, same as before, but from there, things went differently—the lord was actually hurting. His wound still regenerated, but it seemed slower than before.

“Gah! That sword is...”

“The magic sword, Brave. It’s been asleep for a while because I’d stooped so low...but it’s finally awakened!”

“Tch! So it does carry the lineage of the holy sword!”

The lord clicked his tongue loud enough for all of us to hear. He probably wasn’t a specialist in combat, so that reaction couldn’t have been an act to catch us off guard; he must’ve been genuinely repulsed. Geos’s sword really was working against him. Now I understood why the lord wanted Geos dead. He knew that sword could hurt him and wanted to kill Geos before it awakened.

Both Geos and the lord sped up even more, the shock waves growing more and more violent. I saw a nearby tree get scarred just from the force of their clash. The shock waves started making the black humanoids disappear too—Geos’s magic sword was working on them as well.

Thanks to that, the encirclement around us broke—

I can’t just stand around here. If we don’t move soon, we’ll get caught in the cross fire. But how am I supposed to move?

Shiro’s and Kuro’s wounds still hadn’t closed, and Carolina—whom I’d pulled over with Mana Arm—was still unconscious.

Then, Milène came rushing over.

“I’ll take Carolina!” she said. “Can you carry the girls?”

“Got it!”

I handed Carolina to Milène, then lifted Shiro and Kuro with Mana Arm. It looked like I could manage moving around like this.

We’d gotten maybe twenty meters away from Geos and the others. I wanted to put more distance between us, but I couldn’t afford to neglect Shiro’s and Kuro’s recovery any longer.

“You two okay?”

“We’re...okay.”

“Fiiine...”

They answered with smiles, but with sweat beading on their foreheads—they weren’t fooling anyone. I left our defense and Carolina’s care to Milène and focused completely on healing Shiro and Kuro.

The battle still raged on in the distance. I could just make out their movements from here, but there was no way I could join in. Geos’s slashes left a golden afterglow as they clashed with the lord’s fists, which looked like black belts whipping through the air. They collided again and again, scattering gold and black particles with each shock wave. The deep rumble shook my entire body. I couldn’t tell if I was trembling from the vibrations or from fear. All I could do was watch the fight between the hero and the monster.

Suddenly, I felt pathetic. I’d thought I’d been protecting Shiro and Kuro, but they were the ones protecting me. And now I had adults protecting me too... What am I even doing?

“Thor, are you okay?” said Shiro.

“Is your mana all riiight?”

They were clearly in pain, but they were still worried about me.

“Don’t worry about me. And what you did was way too reckless, even if I can heal you with holy magic!”

“But you would’ve died if we didn’t jump in,” said Shiro.

“He’s not casting magic anymore,” said Kuro.

She was right. The lord wasn’t attacking us anymore. Since the three of us were huddled together, he probably couldn’t target just me, and the two girls he absolutely couldn’t afford to kill had nearly died protecting me. I was shaken, but so was the lord, no doubt—assuming he still had a heart to feel it.

As I felt the gentle warmth of the girls’ hands in mine, I felt a hazy unrest smolder deep within my chest.

“You’re pathetic.”

That’s true.

“It’s all the lord’s fault.”

If only he didn’t exist...

“It’s because you’re weak.”

Yeah, that’s true too.

I started to feel all kinds of anger—anger at the lord, anger at how pathetic I was. It all boiled up and set fire to the haze inside.

“You thought you’d gotten stronger, but nothing’s changed!”

Right again... I haven’t changed one bit.

“You need to get angrier.”

You don’t have to tell me!

Suddenly, an intense rage consumed every inch of my heart.

Magic cooking? Holy magic? What kind of cheat is that if I can’t even heal the wounds of just two members of my family?

The moment that thought hit me, my throat flared with heat and red mana erupted from my body. It started to become clear to me—this was dragon mana. And it seemed to be a product of my anger.

If I use this—

“Myah?”

“Arf?”

Shiro’s and Kuro’s wounds began to close faster than ever. It wasn’t just that my holy magic had been enhanced, my affinity with the girls was off the charts. The red mana seeped into their bodies, probably because we all carried dragon mana.

A few minutes passed.

“How are you feeling?” I asked the girls, out of breath.

“No more pain!”

“All heeealed!”

Shiro and Kuro jumped to their feet, spinning their arms and flashing smiles. Relief hit me so hard my legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground.

“Don’t cry,” said Kuro.

“Thor, you crybaby.”

“I-I’m not crying!”

Seriously, I’m not, okay? My eyes are just a little hot, that’s all.

Even while I’d been healing the girls, the thunderous sounds of battle kept roaring from afar. Wait, they might even be getting closer.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Milène’s scream rang out.

“Sir Geos!”

I turned and saw Geos slam back-first into a massive tree. The trunk cracked, and a trickle of something red spilled from his mouth. The lord must have landed a clean hit.

The lord’s appearance was no longer normal either. First, he was clearly larger than before, standing well over three meters tall, his body swollen like an ogre’s. The horns jutting from his head and the wings on his back had grown too, making his presence even more monstrous. He growled like a feral beast.

But Geos hadn’t gone down easily. If anything, the lord had taken more damage. His right side and left leg had been torn open, and a massive hole gaped in the left side of his chest, offering a clear view of what lay behind. He still moved like nothing was wrong, but his regeneration was now noticeably slower.

Geos’s magic sword, wrapped in golden light, had clearly been pushing him back.

“Ugh...not bad...” said Geos.

“Geooos!” screamed the lord.

They glared at each other from a distance, hurling their animosity across the battlefield. To any normal person, they both would’ve looked fatally wounded, but they were practically inhuman—they still had plenty of fight left in them.

“If we can support Geos, we might be able to turn the tide,” I said.

But random spells wouldn’t even count as a distraction. The mana surrounding the lord was too strong. I saw a leaf fall toward him, only to burst apart midair—he was wrapped in a powerful barrier.

But maybe with the power I have right now...

I focused on the red mana and wrung it out of myself. It felt like strength was being pulled from my body and consumed.

Maybe I can reach him with this power. I’m not sure, but there’s hope. The problem is that with the mana I have left, it’ll be far from full strength. Nah, this is exactly the moment to put to use all the mana control I’ve been practicing. If I don’t have the output, I’ll compress my mana and focus all my power!

“Aaaaahhhh!”

Ugh! My throat burns. The more I concentrate my mana, the more it feels like my throat’s on fire. I must be pushing past my limit. But screw the pain! Shiro and Kuro were almost killed! This is nothing compared to their pain!

“Gaaaahhhh!”

“Thor, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

“Is your throat okaaay?”

Don’t look so worried. I’m fine.

So what if my throat’s burning and smoke’s coming out?

As I kept compressing mana in my throat, I felt another surge of mana rise behind me. Alarmed, I turned around. Shiro and Kuro were flaring their mana, just like me.

You girls look...

“Thanks to your healing, my eye feels amazing!”

“Kuro’s in peeeak condition too, thanks to you.”

Shiro’s dragon eye glowed a deep crimson—not like it was bloodshot, but actual red light burned in her gaze.

The same went for Kuro’s dragon arm. Its dark-red scales now shimmered brightly, shining so intensely it was like staring into a mirror reflecting the sun. I couldn’t even look straight at it.

Just like mine, their dragon bodies were radiating red mana. It seemed the holy magic infused with red mana had done more than just heal them. Maybe it served as a catalyst and activated their dragon powers? That had to be it. The same kind of mana that flowed through me now wrapped around them.

“Myaaaah!”

“Arf.”

But they clearly weren’t in control of their mana.

From Shiro’s eyes streamed blood the same color as her glowing light. Crimson tears pooled at the corners, tracing red lines down her cheeks.

Smoke rose from Kuro’s dragon arm, just like with my throat. The heat was burning her scales, searing her skin.

The red mana was hurting them. I wanted to tell them to stop, but with all my mana concentrated in my throat, I couldn’t speak. Still, they must’ve understood just from my expression. They looked right at me, clearly fighting the pain, and smiled.

“You’re the one pushing yourself too hard, Thor.”

“This is nothing for Shiro and Kurooo.”

“Totally!”

Seeing their expressions, there was no way I could stop them now. They were doing this for me. If I stopped them here, I’d be trampling on their resolve.

I turned forward, silently letting them know that I understood.

“I’m gonna do this,” said Shiro.

“Kuro too.”

From both sides, they grabbed my hands and squeezed tight.

It’s hot.

I couldn’t tell if it was my heat or theirs. It wasn’t unpleasant, though. If anything, the heat lifted my spirit.

Our red mana swirled together, rising like a single massive pillar of flame. We’re gonna smash this straight into the lord!

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Myaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Awoooooooooooooo!”

This fireball’s—

What the? I was gonna spit out a fireball, but this is a beam!

A blazing red ray of light shot straight ahead, slamming into the lord’s exposed back.

“Gaaah?”

Nice! I wasn’t exactly expecting a beam, but it tore through his barrier and landed a clean hit!

The base of the lord’s wings got blown away, ripping off a chunk of black mana. Then, a beat later, the girls’ attacks slammed into him: Shiro’s spear of light—a mix of red and white—and Kuro’s blast from her dragon arm—a mix of red and black. They were devastating blows of dragon mana fused with radiant wind and burning shadow. They both hit at once, triggering a massive explosion.

“G-Gaaaaaah! You damn twerps!”

The blast was so powerful, the lord’s upper body vanished. Only his lower half remained, yet his furious voice still echoed from nowhere. He might not have been a living being anymore. Slowly, from the severed stump of his lower half, black mana began to swell.

Even our all-out attack isn’t enough...?

Shiro, Kuro, and I were nearly out of mana. As we sat there, defenseless, overwhelmed by exhaustion so intense we couldn’t even stand, the lord’s bloodlust washed over us. My whole body shook with fear, as if he had a viselike grip on my heart. It was terrifying—I knew that, if he came at us now, I wouldn’t be able to run.

We were at death’s door.

But we didn’t despair, because the man standing before the lord still had fire in his eyes. Geos’s gaze, once so hollow you’d think you’d get sucked in, now burned with a fierce fighting spirit and hope.

“You kids did well,” he said.

His stance was strange. He held the sword in his right hand and pressed it against his raised left wrist. This isn’t the best way to describe it, but it almost looks like he’s about to slit his—

“Sir Geos!” cried Milène. “Don’t!”

“This is the only way left. Those kids gave everything they had. I’ve been a lousy adult—gotta at least show off at the end.”

Milène’s voice cracked with panic, but Geos just smiled, almost peacefully. Then he yanked his sword back.

Naturally, his left wrist split open, blood splashing across his cheek and blade.

What the hell...?!

As we all stood there, dumbfounded, something impossible happened. The sword erupted with sinister mana that eclipsed its earlier monstrosity. The golden light reminiscent of a holy sword had vanished, replaced by an ominous dark-red aura that wrapped around Geos. The density of that mana wasn’t even close to what we’d seen before.

“Bloodbattle magic?!” said the lord. “You fool! You plan to die here?!”

“Even if I do, I’ll have no regrets!”

The voice that came from the still-regenerating lord was unmistakably laced with fear.

What is Geos doing?

I wanted to ask Milène, but my throat was too scorched to speak. Seeming to understand our silent question, she quietly began to explain.

“Sir Geos has activated bloodbattle magic. It’s a forbidden technique that channels power into his magic sword by using his own blood as a medium. It’s a last resort that doesn’t just drain one’s mana; it demands their life force. The user must even offer up their remaining lifespan.”

Geos was radiating such overwhelming power that her words felt undeniably true. Now I understood why Milène looked so devastated.

“The bloodbattle magic sealed within Sir Geos’s magic sword, Brave, is called ‘Valiant Resolve.’ Its effect is simple: enhanced cutting power.”

Enhanced cutting power? So it boosts his attack?

It was indeed a simple ability, but with mana that dense, it was clear that its attack power was beyond imagination. On top of that, the one wielding it is Geos—the former Sword Saint with unmatched technique. That’s gotta be the ultimate combo.

“All right!” said Geos. “Time to put an end to all this!”

“Who do you think I aaaam?!”

The lord, still missing parts of his neck and right side, thrust out his freshly regenerated left hand and unleashed a colossal surge of mana—it must’ve been both an attack and a shield.

Even to my eyes, it looked effective. It might’ve even blocked our earlier combo attack. That’s how thick the wave of mana was as it roared toward Geos.

But Geos didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch.

He raised his sword, erupting with dark-red mana, into a high position. Somehow, I could feel his slow, deliberate breathing that was completely out of place amid the chaos. While mana and shock waves tore through the battlefield, Geos stood calm, like the surface of a tranquil lake.

What is he—

“Final Blade.”

Before I realized it, Geos had already swung his sword down. It was too smooth, too quiet—no sound, no shadow, not even bloodlust.

I didn’t even see him move. By the time I’d noticed, it was already over.

“Ga...?”

“Huh?”

We all just let out stunned breaths. Shiro, Kuro, the lord, me—none of us had a clue what had happened.

The wave of mana that the lord had fired off, the lord himself, and even the ground and forest behind him had all been sliced clean through. Ultra-strong compressed mana had been swung at godlike speed—at least, that’s my guess. The only thing I was sure of was the deep slash that tore through everything in a perfect line. That was all.

The lord must’ve finally realized he’d been cut, as he let out a shriek.

“Wh...ga...it won’t heal...!”

“Now that my magic sword has unleashed its true power, it can cut through anything—even something not of this world.”

Wait, so the enhanced cutting power doesn’t just mean an attack boost? He said it can cut through anything...meaning, it can even cut something like the lord’s current form, which can’t be cut by normal means?

“I will...possess eternal life...”

“Shut up,” said Geos. “People die. That’s how it works.”

“I’m...not finished yet!”

Even though his body had been split clean in two from the top of his head, the lord didn’t fall. His two halves simply remained upright.

He howled, despite the absence of his head, and his arm stretched toward us, shooting out like a snake.

Is he trying to get Shiro and Kuro? Like hell you are!

My whole body was drowning in exhaustion. I could barely move. Even so, I summoned the last of my strength and let the heat rising from my throat burst out with a ferocious roar.

It was a tiny red fireball, like a popgun shot, but it knocked away the lord’s arm, making it scatter like mist and vanish into the air.

“Don’t get in my— Gaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!”

That must have been his final desperate outburst. Having spent everything, the lord, in the throes of death, let out a scream that echoed through the battlefield. It was a roar so filled with any and every negative emotion, it made my skin crawl just hearing it.

When that grotesque scream finally stopped, the lord had disappeared without a trace. Only faint remnants of black mana drifted through the air. Even the tiny black sparks faded away, and the only mark of the lord ever having existed was the scars of battle. Those, too, would be repaired by the dungeon’s power in a few days.

We won...! I wanted to shout, but I didn’t even have the strength to speak. Damn, I can barely keep my eyes open. Just staying awake is—

“Thor, are you okaaay?”

“Thor! Stay with us!” said Shiro.

The girls were sitting on either side of me, shaking me, but my eyelids were already drifting shut.

I’m sorry, you two... My mana’s completely drained. It’s too much for the body of a five-year-old...

I’m gonna sleep for a bit...

Epilogue

“Where...am I?”

My throat’s so dry I can barely speak. And my eyes hurt. It’s so bright. How long was I out?

I blinked a few times, and slowly, my eyes started adjusting to the light.

The first thing that came into my field of vision was a lavish chandelier. Honestly, it looks like the kind of tacky furnishing you’d expect from a new-rich, but maybe it’s the style in this world? It seemed to be a mansion of some sort. A grand room, a white ceiling, an enormous bed with unbelievably soft covers—it certainly wasn’t a commoner’s house.

“Oh, you’re awake, boy,” said a voice.

Huh? Is someone there?

I turned my head to see a familiar man on a bed next to mine. He was far enough away that I hadn’t noticed him until now.

“Geo...?”

I can’t. My voice is still shot.

“Can you move? There should be a water pitcher next to you.”

I glanced over and saw an expensive-looking ceramic pitcher. I sat up slowly. It hurt a little, but I could move.

I poured some water into a small cup and downed it in one go. It was probably just regular water, but it tasted incredible. It soaked into my dry throat and body, quenching everything.

I let out a long sigh of relief. “That’s great.”

“Good to hear.”

“Mister...Geos? Um, what happened to Shiro and Kuro—the beastfolk girls who were with me?”

“That’s the first thing you ask about, huh? Don’t worry. I think that, just now, Milène’s teaching them some magic.”

Geos filled me in on what had happened after I passed out.

I was surprised to find out that three whole days had gone by. We’d defeated the lord, but the only one who was in any sort of decent condition afterward was Milène. I was out cold; Shiro, Kuro, and Geos had burned through all their strength and could barely stand; and Carolina had been knocked out the entire time.

Even so, Milène managed to order the surviving knights and soldiers to get us out of the dungeon. After seeing the lord’s transformation, none of them must have had the guts to defy her.

Apparently, after using the escape circle, the three of us had ended up back in the sewers. When she saw we were gone, Milène had panicked, but Shiro and Kuro had known they couldn’t take care of me alone, so they had dragged me into town and managed to reunite with her. Right after that, they’d both collapsed too, sending Milène into a full-blown panic. She then gave the girls a nice, hearty meal, and Geos and I were sent straight to our beds.

Geos’s condition was apparently the worst of us all. Right now, he couldn’t even move on his own. They said it’d take a long recovery before he could return to anything resembling normal life.

“Is it because of that bloodbattle magic?”

“Yep. Honestly, it’s a miracle I even survived after using that stuff,” said Geos, chuckling. Then, he suddenly turned serious.

“I’m sorry, boy. And thank you.”

“Huh? I mean, I get the apology, but why thank me?”

“It’s because of you all that I didn’t hit rock bottom. That’s why I’m grateful.”

“Um...”

“My bad. Didn’t mean to make things awkward. Anyway, those girls— Oh, looks like they’re coming,” Geos murmured. I heard it too. Loud footsteps thudded down the hallway, then the door burst open with a bang.

Hey, everything in this mansion looks super expensive! Can we not break stuff? I can’t afford to pay for anything here!

“Thor!” said Shiro. “You’re awake!”

“Sleepyhead Thooor is fiiinally up!”

Shiro and Kuro must’ve sensed that I was awake and rushed over, bursting into the room.

“Thor! Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You slept for threeee days.”

“Sorry for worrying you.”

Shiro and Kuro ran to my bedside and started patting me all over to check my condition. Whoa, don’t sniff me! I probably don’t smell great if I’ve been out for three days!

Anyway, the two of them looked great. Their hair and skin were glowing—they must’ve been eating well. Maybe they’re getting proper baths too? And the clothes they were wearing looked expensive, like a noble girl’s dresses.

“Your dresses...”

“They’re from Milène!” said Shiro.

“She said no one wears them anymooore.”

“I guess they were left behind by the mansion’s previous owner,” said Geos. “They really don’t belong to anyone, so you can do what you want with them.”

“They’re frilly and hard to move in, but Milène said you’d love them, Thor!”

“Well? Are we cuuute?”

“Yeah, very cute,” I said. “You two look great in clothes like that too.”

“Yay! A compliment!”

“Arf.”

Shiro and Kuro spun around happily.

Wow, we survived again.

Watching the two of them laugh so cheerfully, I felt the tension leave my shoulders. And maybe because I’d finally relaxed, I noticed what had been going on with my own body.

“Huh?” said Shiro. “I hear a weird noise.”

“Is something grumbling?” said Kuro. “What is that?”

“Oh, sorry.”

It was me. My stomach was demanding food, loudly.

“How about something to eat, huh?”

Afterword

Thank you so much for picking up Volume 2 of The Accursed Chef and His Pair of Furry Foodies.

Compared to the web version, the flow and order of events are pretty different, so even if you’ve already read it online, I hope you found something fresh to enjoy. Llo’s illustrations are absolutely adorable too!

Anyway, the afterword... If you’ve read any of my other works, you probably know this already, but I’m really bad at writing these. I mean, I don’t know what to write. So, I’ve developed this silly routine—I mean, technique! Here it goes!

Come forth, my beloved characters!

“Where are we?”

“Huuuh? Thor?”

Welcome to the Afterword Room! Today’s special guests are Shiro and Kuro!

“Who are you?!”

“Dunno yooou.”

I’m not a bad person! Look, nothing to be afraid of. Want some snacks?

“Hissss!”

“Grrrr.”

Huh? Why are you two so on guard?

“People who say they’re not a bad person usually are!”

“Anyone offering snacks is a total creeeep!”

N-No, it’s not like that! But good job, Thor! You taught them well! They’re being cautious of strangers!

Still, maybe don’t apply that lesson to me? I-I am the author, after all!

“We must take down bad people!”

“Hiyaaa.”

N-No, not magic— Aaaggghhh!

And there you have it. I get through afterwords by writing silly stuff like this.

Finally, a few words of thanks.

To my editor, “I,” thank you again for your support. I hope we get to work together on another project.

To Llo, thank you for your incredible illustrations in Reincarnated as a Sword and now The Accursed Chef!

To my friends, family, everyone involved in getting this book published, and to all the readers who continue to support me, I’m only able to keep writing because of your encouragement.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.