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“What… is this thing…?”

In Cestlavie’s line of sight, a large ogre wearing a bizarre mask was swinging a massive scythe.

Each time it did, the barrier surrounding the church sparked, fending off the attack, but…

“This won’t last long…”

Cestlavie glanced at the burning smell in the air, and saw that several of the barrier stakes, which were arranged in precise intervals around the church, were almost entirely deteriorated and on the verge of breaking.

The stakes were placed according to a calculated alignment with the cardinal directions, so simply replacing them wasn’t an option. If these failed, the barrier would lose most of its effectiveness.

In that case, the best option would be to repel the monster in front of them before the barrier is completely breached—

“The ballista is ready, stand back!”

At that moment, a ballista, which had been brought along just in case, despite not being deemed necessary, was assembled by the adventurer guards and brought into position.

“Prepare to fire!”

A massive bolt, almost the size of a spear, was aimed at the large ogre just a stone’s throw away. Several people cranked the mechanism, pulling the string to its limit. The ballista wasn’t built for precision shooting, but at this range, missing would be impossible.

“—Fire!”

With a thundering boom, the bolt was released, striking the ogre dead center—right through its heart, sending its massive body flying.

“We got it!!”

Cheers erupted around them, but Cestlavie’s expression remained grim. While the others had been standing by, he had been using his talisman techniques to launch attacks through the barrier, but the responses from the creature had been strange.

And as if to confirm his unease—

“This thing… it’s still moving…!”
“No way, it’s still alive!?”

The giant ogre, which should have had a fatal wound, stood up as if nothing had happened. A wave of dread and fear, different from before, spread through the crowd.

Amidst this nightmarish scene, “This is… impossible! We can’t do anything against it!!” Someone shouted in despair, forgetting to reload the ballista.

♦♢♦

“The wind is trembling…”

Luke, standing alone atop the highest bell tower of the church, whispered softly as he listened to the sound of the wind passing through the darkness. He was trying to track Jill and the others by listening to the wind as closely as possible, but they were nowhere to be found within a ten-kilomertes radius.

“…Either they’re inside some kind of barrier, or they’ve moved far away.”

While Luke was worried about their safety, he didn’t entertain the pessimistic thought that they might already be dead. The mere thought of that girl filled his heart with a bittersweet, burning sensation that never seemed to fade.

“That’s why I trust that you’re safe, and I’ll do everything I can right now. Please wait for me, Jill.”

With this resolve, Luke drew the Dragonfang Dagger he held in his hand. Jill had once given it to him, and it was said to be crafted from the fang of a wind dragon, making it highly compatible with wind spirits.

As he silently called out to the wind spirits around him, Luke raised the Dragonfang Dagger high. He recalled the feeling from before when he had summoned the wind in sync with Ashimi’s melody.

“Here I go! Wind, become a wall to protect this land!”

In response to the boy’s heartfelt plea, the treetops surrounding the church began to rustle.

“—Nya.”

At that moment, Sechs, the winged cat perched on Luke’s shoulder, sniffed the air as if catching a scent and let out a short meow.

♦♢♦

Coppelia suggested that we change locations for the explanation, so we started walking again. The area we entered further in seemed to be a storage space for more or less completed specimens. As we glanced around, we saw a massive creature, about 2.5 mertes tall, crouched inside a transparent “alchemist’s jar” over 5 mertes in height.

“An ogre?”

I couldn’t help but phrase it as a question because the ogre was wearing a strange mask.

“Specimen 206 from the Immortality Experiment. It’s an ogre designed with the concept of having Hydra-like regenerative abilities… but it was a failure. Unless it receives a constant infusion of external magic, it quickly runs out of energy and dies from exhaustion.”

Coppelia turned to look at me, pausing like a student showing off a poorly done homework assignment.

“External infusion…? Ah, I see. So that strange mask serves as an antenna to gather magic from the air.”
“Exactly.”

That’s a fairly common weakness. You think you’re dealing with an immortal monster, but the mask or the doll on its shoulder turns out to be the actual core.

“…It’s not very practical, is it?”
“No, it’s not. I kept this one as a sample, but I disposed of the rest.”

Coppelia lowered her head in embarrassment.

Disposed isn’t the best term to use for living creatures, but I suppose there wasn’t much choice since they couldn’t just be left unattended.

“What’s with that tree growing out of the large bear over there?”

Eren asked curiously, pointing to a massive section occupied by what seemed to be the corpse of a bear over 5 mertes in length, with a tree about 20 mertes tall growing from it.

Ignoring the scale, it resembled a winter caterpillar fungus.

“This was another failed experiment to fuse animal and plant life. The idea was to use plants to compensate for the missing parts of the animal, but the balance was off, resulting in this. The seeds from the plant part can grant temporary immortality, but it’s far from ideal.”

Coppelia dismissed it easily, but could it be that this bear was the legendary man-eating beast, the Storm Bear I saw at the souvenir shop earlier, and that ogre was the prototype of the killer ogre that emerges from Lake Quartz?

If that’s the case, then this place is practically a secret base for evil.

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“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer too, I’m half crazy, All for the love of you~♪”

Coppelia hummed a cheerful tune that somehow carried an undertone of madness, as she walked lightly ahead of us. Her back was completely relaxed, as if she were enjoying a family picnic, showing no signs of caution.

On our end, we carried our weapons and remained on high alert, with Vier, the Sirius rivaling an SS-class magical beast, accompanying us. Yet, despite all this, Coppelia showed no signs of caution or concern, leaving us to wonder whether she trusted us that much or was simply confident that nothing could go wrong… It was hard to tell.

We proceeded down a corridor—or rather, a long, narrow room resembling a laboratory. The room was cluttered with emerald tablets, boiling flasks filled with sulfur and mercury, magical circles drawn on the floor, lamps, scales, hourglasses, and various mysterious tools commonly associated with alchemy, such as ‘Philosopher’s Eggs’ and ‘Alchemical Crucibles.’ The space was so packed that there was hardly any room to walk, forcing us to carefully weave our way through the narrow paths between the scattered items.

As we moved forward, Eren, who was following closely behind, whispered in a low, uneasy voice as she observed our surroundings.

“This place feels a lot like the magic experimentation building in the manor, but it’s even more… unsettling.”

The walls were lined with stuffed animals and magical creatures, jars filled with preserved organs, eyeballs, severed heads, beakers emitting ominous, vibrantly colored smoke, alchemical crucibles containing homunculi, and cages housing chimeras—likely the result of combining different magical creatures.

“…This is definitely the workshop of someone whose profession starts with an M.”¹

And no, we’re not talking about a manga artist, masseuse, or maiko.

Despite the fact that we had naturally followed her into this place, the sheer unpleasantness of the surroundings made me question whether we would encounter someone here who could be reasoned with. Internally, I raised my level of caution by two notches.

Just in case, I discreetly placed talismans in inconspicuous spots, such as under the desk or in the gaps between various specimens. These are just slips of paper that emit almost no mana, so they’re unlikely to be discovered. However, in a pinch, they’re designed to react to even the slightest mana wave and explode like landmines.

Although these talismans don’t have much destructive power, they could serve as a diversion or create a smokescreen when necessary.

After being led around, we were finally shown into a small room. Though it still had shelves filled with experimental equipment, it also contained a few chairs, desks, and bookshelves, giving it a slight air of being lived in.

“Please, please, have a seat! I’ll prepare some delicious tea right away!”

At the back of the room, a large pipe organ was installed, giving the place a slight resemblance to a chapel. There’s a saying that “alchemy is music,” so the organ likely has some magical significance as well. (I can play the piano and violin to a degree befitting a noble, though my skill is just enough to be passable in polite company.)

Following her suggestion, Eren and I sat down at a plain wooden table and chairs (while Vier sat on the floor nearby). Shortly afterward, Coppelia returned, pushing a cart laden with tea utensils.

“Thank you for waiting! The tea snacks are currently being bloodlet… I mean, prepared, so please wait a moment.”
““No, thank you! We’re quite full!!””

Upon hearing the ominous phrase, we quickly declined.

“Is that so? Well, it can’t be helped since the bile’s freshness is already fading a bit,” Coppelia didn’t seem to mind as she poured herbal tea into our teacups. Surprisingly, a rich aroma soon filled the room.

I cautiously reached for the cup that had been set before me, lifting it along with the saucer to take a sniff.

“…It smells like fruit.”
“Maybe something berry-like?”

Eren, still wary, tilted her head in thought.

“Oh, you’re sharp! This is a special fragrant tea made from surplus Batacutilius used in experiments,” Coppelia said, standing there with a pleased smile on her face.

“Batacutilius…? Well, at least it’s not poisonous,” I noted.

Hearing my words, Eren sighed in relief and brought the cup to her lips.

(Batacutilius, like black agate, is essential for necromancy, especially in reanimation rituals, but there’s no need to mention that. Some things are better left unknown.)

Just as I was trying to keep that detail to myself, Coppelia casually added, “Oh, and as a secret ingredient, there are ten castor seeds, a mandrake root, and five or six henbane leaves mixed in.”

Everything she listed was highly toxic, and the amounts she mentioned were lethal.

“—Guhahhh!!!”

I instantly spat out the tea I had been about to drink, coughing violently as I quickly snatched Eren’s cup away. Without a word, I used Poison Recovery with all my might on her.

Then, just to be safe, I cast it on myself as well.

“Wow, impressive! As expected of Lady Clara, your healing art is as sharp as ever. —But don’t you think you recovered a bit too quickly? Usually, you like to take your time with it,” Coppelia commented, seemingly unfazed.

“I don’t have the kind of twisted taste that enjoys poisoning myself for fun!” I shouted back in anger.

Coppelia responded with a puzzled look, blinking mechanically several times. Then her gaze shifted to Eren, who was still on edge after nearly being poisoned.

“Um, is she not the sacrifice for this time? To be offered as usual after lulling her into a false sense of security to break the seal?”
“What is that supposed to mean?! I don’t understand any of this! If you don’t give a proper explanation, I’ll consider you an enemy!!”

As I directed genuine hostility toward her, Coppelia blinked repeatedly.

“An explanation, after all this time…?”

She tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and then, after a short pause, seemed to realize something. She clapped her hands together as if she’d figured it out.

“Oh, I see. The backlash from your rejuvenation has caused issues in your memory region. According to my search results, this condition matches the so-called ‘senility’ symptom. In that case, I’ll start from the beginning and explain.”

“I’m not senile!!” I protested against Coppelia, who had come to a completely disrespectful conclusion on her own, but she casually brushed it off with a, “Anyone with that symptom says so,” which only added to my stress.