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The strife has died down for the time being, so I was invited to the mansion properly this time.

In the living room, Maxwell was drinking tea before my eyes while pretending not to see me. I glared reproachfully at him. He should accept that much, I almost got roasted there.

“That was a nice performance there.”
“How should have I known that you had arrived? Not to mention, I knew you would be able to avoid something of that level.”
“You’re overestimating me too much.”

Mateus was the one who brought tea, and was on standby inside, waiting for further instructions. For that reason, Maxwell was not saying anything that would suggest I was Reid.

“Mateus, we are fine here so go and take a rest for some time. You should be quite tired now, yes?”
“That’s awfully considerate of you. Are you planning to talk about something you feel guilty about?”
“Nonsense. I would never do such a thing.”
“They would call your state shameless, you know? Well, it’s true that I’m tired, so I’ll go take a bath and sleep.”
“That bath is part of my mansion… Ah, well, you may do as you please.”

Being originally a shady assassin, Mateus realized our intention, shrugged once, and didn’t pursue it any further. Maxwell didn’t want to make things complicated either, so he just let Mateus’ impudent statement go.

Thus, Mateus left the room without turning back. Just as he left and closed the door, Maxwell quickly cast detection magic and confirmed his location.

“I see, he indeed headed towards the bath. Still, you came here after so long, so what made you so flustered?”
“You know the job I’ve taken on, right?”
“I believe it was related to the illegal drugs in the Methuselah domain. I would be very pleased too if you resolve that matter for me. Not that I can say that publicly.”
“Yeah, would be extremely imprudent for an influential person to encourage assassinations. Anyway, take a look at this. It’s the drug in question.”

I took out the small bottle from my waist pouch and presented it to him. Maxwell casually took it and lightly shook it.

“Huh, is it not empty?”
“There are a few drops left. Just appraise those.”
“That’s quite an unreasonable demand.”
“You can’t?”

Maxwell frowned, while I smiled provocatively in response. It was a smug, sarcastic grin. He also realized that, but he decided to take on my provocation.

“I am not saying that I cannot. Give me some time.”
“Now we’re talking.”

Maxwell started preparing his spell without waiting for my reply.

He took out a few ink jars and sheets of paper, then drew a magic circle on it, and placed the bottle on top. Once he chanted and poured in some magic power, the magic circle shone and disappeared after rising up like steam.

In exchange, the results of the appraisal took its place.

“Your appraisal method is quite different from the one I saw a merchant use before.”

The merchant I met at the hot spring village once used something like a magnifying glass for appraisal. Maxwell on the other hand was using paper and ink. It looked quite simple.

“Well, I cannot rival the experts, but my appraisal is quite accurate too. There is no problem in believing its contents.”
“As long as it’s correct, I have no problems.”

I responded as such to Maxwell and took the paper with the results up. It had several chemicals and some strange materials.

“There’s… earth and glaze?”
“It probably appraised even the bottle composition.”
“Then there’s Pirica fruit.”
“That would be the ingredient to strengthen the permeation of magicules.”
“What about Bezel leaves?”
“It has a mood-elevating effect. Sometimes it weakens the reasoning and dulls the pain. It is typically used for anesthesia and such.”
“And finally, Fungus spores…wait, Fungus?”

The Fungus was a species of monsters that resided in forests. They scattered spores, parasitized animals and humans, and eroded their insides. The parasitized organism eventually failed to even notice that they were dead, and was merely manipulated according to the plant’s will.

Of course, their appearance was also affected, such as their skin getting covered in a plant-like fiber and mushrooms growing from all over their bodies, so you could tell at a glance.

Needless to say, it was designated as a dangerous plant, and both the Guild and the kingdom ordered them to be exterminated on sight.

“Is it really safe to ingest something so dangerous?”
“Of course not. It would corrode your insides, so you may feel sharp pain all over your body. But wait… Perhaps that is the reason they mixed Bezel leaves in it.”
“To dull the pain and make the user oblivious of the erosion?”
“Fungus spores, in small quantities, can be eliminated by the human immune system. If you use proper dosages, there should be no fear of turning into a monster.”
“And what if you overdosed it?”
“Then you would most certainly be invaded by the Fungus and be monsterified. But with the amount we have on hand, we cannot judge how much would be a proper dosage.”

I see, so that’s why the man Den and Finia met was able to produce such bizarre strength.

The reason he died after Den’s attack was most likely that having the center of his body destroyed had drawn out the fungal filaments within his body along with his bowels.

“Which means, this is definitely…”
“Illegal…yes. Fungus is a dangerous plant that even the kingdom orders to exterminate. Mixing it in a drug and circulating it is just outrageous.”
“So I guess the reason they ordered a lot of masks was so the workers wouldn’t ingest those spores, huh?”

As long as we investigate the source, we can deal with the drug. The problem was how to prove that Cain was involved in it.

“It seems I would have to decide on that based on how Michelle and Cloud fare.”

They were helping carry the large quantities of masks. Depending on where that took place, the scale of our investigation would narrow down in one go. Besides, they were on simple guard duty there, so no one should suspect them.

Once I came to that conclusion, I thanked Maxwell and returned back to the Methuselah domain.