I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Alessa Homecoming

“THERE IT IS! Alessa!”

“Woof!”

At last, the familiar walls of Fort Town Alessa came into view. We’d gotten sick of them back when we took up quests here, but seeing them again brought a deep feeling of nostalgia.

It feels like it’s been forever.

The town was special to me. After all, it was the first town I had entered upon reincarnating.

Only a few people were lined up to enter Alessa’s gates. It looked lonely after the hustle and bustle of the capital, but this was business as usual for Alessa—because the shadow of war had yet to fall over the city. Intimidating soldiers weren’t passing through the gates, and there weren’t any caravans out to make a profit from the war economy.

Business as usual. Alessa was just as we left it.

Still, I’d thought they’d be on alert by now, since Raydoss had invaded…

We might cause trouble if we land right in front of the gates.

“Hm. Take us down, Jet.”

“Woof!”

We landed a little ways from Alessa and walked towards it. The few merchants and adventurers were startled and stared at us in shock. Jet must have scared them. Even if he was only the size of a large dog, he still looked like a wolf.

But the gatekeeper reacted differently from the others.

“What’s this?” he said in a friendly tone. “Hey, it’s Fran!”

“Hm?”

“Back in Alessa, I see.”

“Good to see you, Delt!” said Fran.

It was Delt the gatekeeper. We had befriended him while we were still in Alessa. Fran seemed to remember him, which was impressive, considering she’d forgotten who Cruise was when they met again in the fighting tournament.

Fran never forgot a strong opponent; if you could hold your own against her, she’d remember you for life. But she also remembered people who were friendly to her, like Delt. Even if their interactions were limited to short conversations as Fran passed through the gates, these were enough for her to remember him.

As for Cruise, he hadn’t been very strong, and he wasn’t friendly enough with her to leave an impression. He was good-looking, sure, but nothing about him stood out.

“Good to have you back,” Delt said, smiling.

“Thanks,” Fran smiled back. The town where she first became an adventurer held a special place in her heart.

“Let’s see some identification, then.”

“Hm.”

“Thank you very—whoa, whoa, whoa! Fran, this is…” Delt’s eyes widened when he saw Fran’s guild card.

“Hm?”

Delt looked at her, then to the card, then back at her again, as if making sure that the card really belonged to her. Finally, realization settled in and he returned the guild card.

“Th-this is the real deal. This is your card! How did you get to B Rank so quick?”

“I got promoted in the capital.”

“The capital,” Delt exclaimed, then paused. “I hear there were riots down there. Countless casualties. There were rumors of the palace being destroyed…that the capital was annihilated, even.”

Details of the destruction hadn’t made it to Alessa. The flood of information probably made it difficult to discern fact from fiction.

Upon remembering those awful events at the capital, Fran hung her head. She’d tasted both victory and defeat there, and what had happened couldn’t be boiled down to a single word.

“A lot of people died,” she said.

“So things really are bad in the capital.”

“Hm…”

“Still, I’m glad you made it out in one piece. Welcome to Alessa.”

“Thanks.”

Alessa looked the same as ever. The battle with Raydoss had yet to change the atmosphere.

First, we’ll go to the guild.

“Got it.”

“Woof!”

The Adventurers’ Guild was also just as we left it. It was livelier now, filled with more adventurers, but maybe it was just a busy season.

Fran pushed the doors open with great force and stepped inside. “Excuse me.”

That’s…not quite how you open doors.

All eyes were immediately on Fran. Some were estimating how strong she was while others appeared shocked. Most of them remembered who she was, though, and I could feel their respect and familiarity for her. This was as warm a welcome as adventurers could give.

A few tried to give her trouble, but the other adventurers talked them out of it.

“Remember the tournament in Ulmutt—”

“Third place—”

News of her promotion to B Rank had yet to be widely known. The capital was quite a distance away from Alessa, and I doubted that adventurers would go out of their way to spread the word. Things would’ve been different if she’d become an A Rank, of course.

Still, a lot of people knew about the tournament in Ulmutt and how she’d come in third place. The man who had tried to mess with her immediately took a step back. Placing in the tournament wasn’t something you could do with blind luck.

“Welcome,” the girl at the counter said. “Umm, are you an adventurer, young lady?”

We didn’t remember seeing this receptionist. She was probably hired after Fran had left Alessa, and here she was, startled at the appearance of this little girl.

“Hm,” was all Fran said.

“A-and how may I help you today?”

“I want access to the Demon Wolf’s Garden. How do I apply?”

“Excuse me, the Demon Wolf’s Garden? That place is an A-Rank haunt, and you have to be at least a B-Rank adventurer to go there.”

“I know.”

“Oh? Then you should know that you can’t go there.”

Most of the adventurers couldn’t hold back their laughter upon hearing Fran’s request. She was only a D Rank when she left Alessa, after all, so of course they’d react like that.

“Here.”

“Your guild card? Huuuuuh?!”

The receptionist reacted even more intensely than Delt had. Believing that the little girl in front of her was an adventurer was difficult enough, but her breath was caught in her lungs when she finally noticed Fran’s rank.

“No way,” she muttered. “This little girl is a B Rank?”

The surrounding adventurers overheard her and started murmuring among themselves. They couldn’t believe it, either. How could they? At this point, Fran was probably the highest-ranking adventurer in the room. She was something of a prodigy for making it to D Rank at her age, but they certainly didn’t expect her to shoot up to B Rank over such a short period of time. Even the adventurers who knew her were baffled.

I started wondering when the situation would settle down. But then another figure walked out of the guild and clapped her hands. The hall immediately fell silent.

“All right everybody, calm down.”

“Oh, Ms. Nell.”

It was Nell, the first receptionist we met in Alessa.

“It’s been a while, Fran,” she said with a smile.

“Hm.”

Nell cast a sharp glare at the junior receptionist. “Listen here. You can’t go blurting out adventurers’ information like that!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Really, now. This calls for correction.”

The receptionist let out a pitiful whimper. I didn’t even want to imagine what Nell’s ‘corrections’ would be.

“We’re honored to have you, Black Lightning Princess. Or is it Black Cat Saint now?”

“Black Lightning Princess is cooler,” Fran pouted.

Nell giggled. “Black Lightning Princess Fran it is, then. Right this way, B Rank. The Guildmaster is calling for you.”

“Okay.”

News of our arrival had already reached the Guildmaster’s ears. Good timing. We would need his permission to enter the haunt, anyway.

The other adventurers stared wide-eyed at Fran as we walked into the offices. Nell had vouched for her and they now knew she was the real deal, though they were still understandably shaken. Fran didn’t look that much stronger than themselves, so even the veterans were stunned. They’d been left behind by a girl whom they had been fighting alongside just a few months ago.

“I hear you did a lot of good things in the capital.”

Fran shook her head. “I didn’t.”

The battle in the capital left her with much to think about. Many people died, some of whom she was friendly with. She knew that there was only so much they could do to prevent further casualties, but you always wonder if there’s something more you could’ve done.

Nell changed the subject once she saw Fran’s response. The receptionist was a veteran at reading people’s moods.

“But you did great at the tournament in Ulmutt! Congratulations on placing!”

“I couldn’t win.”

Fran had results to show, but not results she’d hoped for. The fights had been a valuable learning experience, but she still lost to Amanda in the worst possible way. Fran was the type to agonize over a loss rather than celebrate a victory, and Nell recognized that instantly as well.

She sighed, exasperated. “Oh, Fran. You’re beginning to be more and more like Amanda…”

In the way she was addicted to battle? I was beginning to realize that being a blood knight was the norm for the elite fighters of this world. You really couldn’t become strong without that kind of drive.

“Guildmaster, Fran’s here to see you.”

“Come in.”

Klimt, Wood Elf and Guildmaster of Alessa, let us into his office. He was handsome as ever, an attractive man with intelligent eyes that exuded a capable aura.

After Nell left the room, he motioned Fran over to a couch. Klimt took his seat across from her.

“It’s been a while.”

“Hm.”

“To think that you’ve gotten so strong,” he sighed. “Calling you a prodigy would be an understatement.”

Klimt wasn’t just talking about Fran’s rank, either. We couldn’t quite tell the last time we met him, but Klimt was strong. We knew that even without Identifying him. But there was something other than his stats…a certain strength which seemed to emanate from his very core. Now Klimt felt the same thing coming from Fran. He let out an exasperated sigh after sizing her up. She was far stronger compared to when she left Alessa, and he knew that she had undergone many trials and tribulations to get there.

“In any case, congratulations on your promotion.” He wasn’t particularly jubilant as he congratulated her, though. If anything, he looked quite sullen. “To think that they’d use children as long as they’re strong…well, too late to do anything about that now.”

Klimt was against using young adventurers and putting them in dangerous situations. The guild in Alessa was unique in that it was the only one which had an entrance exam…an entrance exam designed to scare young would-be adventurers away by having Donadrond as an examiner. Still, the guild would then train the kids in the basics of adventuring.

It was a system which suited Amanda’s love for children as well as Klimt’s refusal to put children in danger. As far as he was concerned, Fran was teetering on the brink by pushing herself so hard.

“So why did you come back to Alessa?” he asked.

“To train.”

“To train? Do you really need to get any stronger?”

Fran just gave the stressed Guildmaster a nod. “Hm.”

“You’re a B Rank at twelve years old. You’ve already made top five in Adventurers’ Guild history.”

Top five? That means there were others who were greater than Fran. The guild must have had plenty of geniuses and outliers during its long history.

“Who’s number one?”

“Historically speaking?”

“Hm.”

“That would be The Battalion. The ancient S Rank adventurer who made it to A Rank when he was a young boy.”

“The Battalion? That’s his nickname?”

Weird nickname.

“Yes. Unfortunately, his nickname is all we have since our records don’t go back that far. We don’t know his powers, either. He became a B Rank at eight and an A Rank at ten. He was an S Rank by the time he was fourteen, or so the story goes.”

He sounded like a monster, to be honest. The word ‘prodigy’ didn’t even begin to describe his prowess. An S Rank would be on the same level as an elite fighter with a Godsword. Reaching that level of power at fourteen was hard to swallow.

“Wow.”

“Wow, indeed. But I think you’re quite amazing as well. Perhaps not on the same level as Battalion, but you are growing at a fast pace. And yet you still want to be stronger? Personally, I think you’re strong enough.”

Fran shook her head. “I’m not. I keep losing if I don’t get help in the middle of a fight. Besides, there’s a lot of people who are stronger than I am.”

Fran remembered the battle against the marquis and the clash of the titans that I’d recounted to her. She clenched her fists in frustration till her knuckles went white.

“Also,” she said, “I still can’t beat the Beast King or Urslars.”

Klimt sighed. “You’ve been through an eventful couple of months, I see. You still can’t beat those two?” The Guildmaster’s exasperation was growing. Unlike other top adventurers, Klimt wasn’t all that battle-hungry, not that it exactly made him a paragon of common sense, either. “So what’s this about your training?”

“I want to train in the Demon Wolf’s Garden.”

Klimt paused for a moment. “And…you plan to go there alone?”

“I’m B Rank. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

We knew that Klimt wouldn’t immediately agree, but he couldn’t stop Fran, since she was already of sufficient rank.

“I suppose, but…oh, fine.” Klimt shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “You would’ve gone anyway, even without my permission, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course,” Fran nodded.

“Then there’s no reason for me to stop you. But I will say that the area has been more dangerous than usual, so try not to push yourself too hard.”

“All right.”

“A rather quick response. That just makes you sound more dubious, you know.”

Sorry, Klimt. There’s no stopping Fran when she gets serious. But I’ll take care of her, I promise!

“Please do not push yourself,” he said.

“Hm.”

Klimt heaved a long and heavy sigh. “And don’t go north. Things are quite chaotic at the moment.”

“Chaotic?”

The skirmishes with Raydoss had yet to be sorted out.

“Yes. We don’t know how far Raydoss’ spies have infiltrated.”

Klimt proceeded to give a short explanation of the situation. “Firstly, an adventurer called Jean du Vix has managed to repel Raydoss’ invading force.”

“I know.”

“Right, you two are acquainted. He mentioned that when he submitted the diary you found.”

The diary belonged to the dungeon master of the sky isle. Jean must have told the guild about Fran when he turned it in.

“As you well know, Jean is an excellent necromancer. His command of countless undead drove back Raydoss’ advance forces, but they have yet to give up their efforts. They are still sending their forces sporadically. We can’t let our guard down just yet.”

Apparently, the enemy was conducting necromantic research during these sporadic invasions. They too were using undead soldiers, advancing their research to the experimental stage.

“They must be using undead to counteract Jean. Though their numbers don’t compare to his undead, they’re still significant enough to qualify as a threat…a great enough number that they could surround Jean and the adventurers tasked to protect him.”

Donadrond, the guild’s newbie instructor, was also sent to hold the line.

“You’re not going? You can go all Calamity Klimt on them.”

We learned about Klimt’s nickname back in the capital. He had formed a contract with a Greater Spirit powerful enough to level a small city.

But Klimt only frowned and shook his head. “I’m not strong enough to deserve that nickname. Granted, my surroundings would be in shambles if I got serious.”

Klimt wouldn’t be mobilized for the skirmishes with Raydoss. He might not be able to fully control the Greater Spirit—in fact, he might even ultimately become a bigger threat to Alessa than Raydoss’ forces.

“In any case, you have my permission to enter the Demon Wolf’s Garden, but do not go anywhere near the Raydoss battlefield. Do I make myself clear?” Klimt sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.

Guildmasters seemed to have it tough in any city. And Fran definitely added to Klimt’s workload this time.

“And one more thing,” he said. “I suggest you stay away from the noble district as well.”

“The noble district?”

“There are some fools who hold a grudge against you.”

“Me? Why?”

“Most of them are followers of Count Olmes. The same Count Olmes who was involved in a coup…!”

Count Olmes?

Baron Allsand’s father…?

Of course, Fran had completely forgotten. He wasn’t someone I wanted to remember either, so I guess it couldn’t be helped.

Remember that idiot noble we took Essence of Falsehood from? That’s Baron Allsand. His father is Count Olmes. He was an evil noble involved in the rebellion.

Oh, I see.

It was an awful summary, but it wasn’t too far off the mark. Count Olmes was the father of Vice Knight Commander August Allsand, the previous owner of Essence of Falsehood. He worked under Marquis Aschtner, who had been taken over by Fanatix, to instigate a coup d’état.

We had yet to meet Count Olmes in person, but he didn’t seem like the savory sort, judging by what we had heard about him. He held a considerable amount of power among the nobles in Alessa and stood opposed to the guild.

“Can’t you arrest them?” asked Fran.

“The knights have already arrested the ones directly linked to Olmes.”

Count Olmes should already have been arrested along with Marquis Aschtner. But Alessa was a small town and was situated quite a distance away from the capital. Orders from the capital took some time to get here.

All of Olmes’ relatives in town had been arrested. The nobles under him were currently under house arrest. His servants were free to walk around, though, and they could stir up some trouble if they saw Fran under the current circumstances.

“All part of the plan, really,” said the Guildmaster.

“You did it on purpose?”

“Yes. We received word about Marquis Aschtner’s dealings with Raydoss behind the scenes. There is a possibility of Raydossian agents contacting Olmes’ servants, so we’ve let them go free for the time being. We’ve actually prepared mansions for those placed under house arrest to keep a better eye on them.”

Fran was told to stay away from the noble district not because Klimt wanted to be considerate, but so that she wouldn’t disrupt their plan of drawing out Raydossian spies. Overseeing the nobles was usually the knights’ business, but knights and adventurers cooperated well in Alessa.

Alessa seemed to remain at peace, but…with the majority of nobles under house arrest, wouldn’t the town’s operations suffer?

Fran was thinking the same thing. “Will Alessa be okay with its viscount arrested?”

“Viscount?” Klimt wondered. “Oh, Count Olmes isn’t the viscount.”

“He’s not?”

Really? Then again, I guess the most powerful person in a given city didn’t necessarily have to be the viscount.

“The viscount of Alessa is a relative of the king.”

“The king? I didn’t know he had family here.”

“He does. He doesn’t wield that much influence, however. But such is the fate of the viscount of a border town.”

Klimt gave a short explanation of the viscount and his men so Fran wouldn’t get bored and fall asleep. Alessa was a complicated town. It was situated on the northern border against Raydoss and the Adventurers’ Guild was an important part of the city. But it wasn’t prosperous and lacked the glitz and glam of the capital.

The viscounty of Alessa was an office that was shirked among the nobles. That was how the current viscount got his title. He wasn’t exceptionally talented, but he was wise enough to recognize that fact. He assigned the difficult tasks to his governor and Alessa’s knight captain, Urs. He did his level best to fade into the background.

Alessa was at peace with the competent governor and knight captain in charge. It was only when Count Olmes came into the picture that problems started cropping up. He took advantage of his personal relationship with the viscount to install his family members and underlings into the town’s operations. He even started complaining to the town’s administrators. Marquis Aschtner and Fanatix were definitely the ones pulling his strings. With Olmes in Alessa, cooperating with Raydoss would be much easier.

If we hadn’t crippled Baron Allsand, he would likely still be using Essence of Falsehood to throw Alessa into a state of chaos. At the time, we’d just took two of his Skills because he was irritating us, but it had turned out to be among the best plays we’d made so far.

“Things have been going all right here even without Count Olmes’ subordinates around,” said Klimt.

“I see.”

“They’ve been quiet so far, but they might get heated if they see you. Now, I am a very busy man, and I would appreciate it if you do not add to my already terrible workload.”

“Okay.”

“And yet I worry,” Klimt muttered as we left his office.

Let’s stay away from the noble district so Klimt doesn’t die from overwork.

Back in the capital, Erianthe had cried when she saw the amount of work she had to do by the time Fran left. We would try not to let it happen again this time.

Next stop, the library.

Yeah, we’ll read up on the Demon Wolf’s Garden!

After checking in with Klimt, we headed to the guild’s library for reference material on the Garden. Apparently, its monsters had grown much stronger compared to when I was last there. Going in without information would be dangerous. 

We looked around for a while and finally found a book with the details we needed. Alessa did a fair amount of research and observation on its nearby haunt.

All right, try to read along as best you can, Fran.

“Hm.”

I wondered how long she could stay awake. She was an elite adventurer now, so she needed to be able to read through resources at the very least. Fran flipped the pages and I started reading them.

The first subject was the monsters that lived in the Garden. Owing to the Demon Wolf’s Garden’s fluctuating mana, the types of monsters that spawned there weren’t fixed. The random nature of the spawns meant there was a nonzero chance of encountering a rare monster. 

That being said, the materials you got from the haunt, as well as its ecosystem, were randomized. This made dealing with the monster population difficult. An ordinary haunt had a fixed ecosystem and fixed monster spawns, and you could create reliable systems to deal with them. Meanwhile, you never knew what you were in for at the Demon Wolf’s Garden until you got there, thereby increasing its threat ranking.

There was a list of all the monsters sighted in the haunt to date, but the list was so long that I gave up on reading it. The types and species that spawned in the Garden were so multitudinous that they had nothing in common with each other.

The haunt’s spawn cycle was also accelerated by the Withering Forest encircling it. The forest actually made it easier for the haunt to gain mana, which in turn made it easier for the monsters within the Garden to grow. Their increased growth rate led to turf wars, which helped victorious monsters evolve and become area bosses. But powerful monsters needed more mana to survive, and they couldn’t leave the haunt as long as the Withering Forest stood in their way. There were records of aerial monsters flying over the forest, but they couldn’t quite escape its mana-sapping effects. Monsters steered clear of the forest as much as they could.

The guild had also sent expedition parties to observe the haunt, discovering that the monsters replaced one another at a rapid rate. In a usual haunt, a single powerful monster could rule an area for decades. In the Demon Wolf’s Garden, however, monsters as powerful as C-Threats were replaced at high frequency.

Even A-Threats found it difficult to live in the Garden for very long. A monster’s natural mana recovery was far slower in the Demon Wolf’s Garden, perhaps from the effect of the Withering Forest or perhaps from some other, unknown factor. In any case, they needed an external source of mana in order to survive, hence the frequent turf wars: they had to kill each other to survive or wither away and die. However, if a monster got too strong, other monsters stayed away from it, making hunting even more difficult. Their own mana economy would be worse, too, to the point that their own mana expenditure would so weaken them that weaker monsters could kill them.

The same effect applied to humans, but there were no observable side effects in the short term. Long-term studies were difficult to conduct. After all, living in an A-Rank haunt for a long period of time was hard enough to begin with.

Was I under these effects when I was in the Garden? To be honest, I couldn’t tell. It was the first place I’d awakened in upon arriving in this world so I didn’t have any points of reference. I regenerated what mana I lost by way of absorbing crystals, too. My mana economy got better because I leveled up after leaving the Garden.

There are lots of entries on monsters which spawn in the Garden, but nothing here about a pedestal…

The pedestal at the center of the Demon Wolf’s Garden was of the utmost importance to me, and yet the records made no mention of it. We asked the old librarian about it but even he had never heard about such a thing. There were certainly ruins in the center of the Garden, but nothing that resembled an altar.

What’s going on here…?

Did it disappear?

I don’t know. You would think that’s what happened to it, though.

Didn’t the mystery man tell me to come to the altar? Maybe not. He’d just said to come to the Demon Wolf’s Garden. Had he even mentioned anything about an altar?

No use thinking about it now. We’ll just have to see when we get there.

Hm!

I then read up on the Withering Forest, that fateful place where Fran and I met. The resources didn’t reveal anything that I didn’t already know, but there was one thing which stood out: the forest’s mana-sapping effects seemed to emanate from the ground. After noticing that the withering effect was weaker in the air, the observation team decided to dig into the ground to see what would happen. The withering effect accelerated the deeper they went.

Digging deeper proved to be a challenge, however, as the team’s mana was sapped dry and they had to rely on pure physical strength…which wasn’t something you wanted to do with goblins lurking in the woods. Before long, the expedition was deemed too dangerous to continue.

Despite its withering effects, the forest was still home to numerous monsters and animals. There were goblins and other low-level monsters which didn’t rely on mana to survive, as well as ordinary wildlife.

This was what made the Withering Forest so dangerous. Without access to their Skills and magic, low-level adventurers could easily fall to goblins. If you were an elite adventurer, however—like Fran—the forest wouldn’t prove much of a problem. Even so, I didn’t want to tarry there for long if we could help it. I was still traumatized by the things that happened the last time I was there. Still, we might need to set up a base of operations there if the monsters in the Demon Wolf’s Garden proved too strong.

I then felt someone approaching us. They were clearly headed for Fran, but they didn’t seem hostile to her.

“Yo. That you, Fran?”

“Hm? Who are you?”

“Hey, come on! Don’t tell me you forgot about me! It’s me!”

“You...?” Fran had completely forgotten about the man who was so casual with her.

He looked at her with shock and disappointment.

She just tilted her head. “And who are you?”

The man let out a nervous laugh. “I’m Krad, leader of Dragon Roar! We explored a dungeon together, remember?”

“Uhhh.”

We had indeed explored a dungeon together with Krad the adventurer. He used to be a thuggish young adventurer who picked a fight with Fran when they first met, but he’d changed much since our last encounter. That quest gave him a potent taste of reality, and it ended with him admitting Fran’s strength.

Unfortunately, Fran had completely forgotten who he was. He had been very rude to her, after all, and he was weak to boot. Still, I was quite impressed with the progress he had made. He was much stronger compared to before.

Name: Krad

Age: 23

Race: Human

Class: Spearman

Level: 27/99

Life: 148, Magic: 88, Strength: 86, Agility: 74

Skills: Transport 2, Acrobatics 4, Danger Sense 3, Hunger Resistance 3, Presence Sense 1, Punch Mastery 1, Spear Arts 2, Spear Mastery 5, Threaten 3, Climb 3, Poison Resistance 1, Spirit Manipulation

Equipment: Fine Steel Spear, Armor Lizard Mail, Stone Bull Gauntlets, Armor Lizard Boots, Rock Spider Mantle, Antidote Ring

Krad had gained seven levels and increased his Spear Arts and Spear Mastery. He also had Poison Resistance now, a Skill which must’ve required some hard training to acquire. As far as D Ranks went, he was at the top.

“Hmm?”

Fran, you can’t just keep quizzically looking at him like that! He’ll find out that you actually forgot! You have to throw him off somehow!

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he mumbled. “Y-you really don’t remember…?”

Fran! Remember that guy who picked a fight with you when we went to the Spider’s Nest? The spearman you beat up when you sparred? The leader of the adventurer punks who almost got killed?

“You beat the crap out of me back then after I picked a fight with you! I’m the leader of those idiots who stepped on the teleport trap!”

“Oh yeah, I guess you were there!”

Finally!

“You’re the guy that cried after Amanda put an iron claw on him!”

“That’s what you remember?!”

“Quiet, punk! This is a library!” the guild librarian snapped at Krad for being so loud, and did it with such emphasis that he was forced to comply.

“Urgh…!”

“So what do you want?” asked Fran.

“Uhhh, nothing, really. Ha ha…”

Krad was probably expecting a “It’s been a long time!” or “Good to see you!” But he was deflated after seeing Fran’s initial response. He slinked away from the library in a state of loneliness.

I’m really sorry, Krad. But we don’t have enough time to catch up with you. Keep at it, though. You’re doing great.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Hm.”

“I shee,” said the receptionist.

“Hm?”

We went to the reception area to say goodbye to Nell and found that the receptionist from earlier had red marks on her cheeks.

“Don’t worry about her,” said Nell. “She just needed a little punishment.”

I didn’t know cheeks could be so red. Nell’s punishment was so harsh that the other adventurers were silent.

“We’re really sorry about that,” Nell said with a terrifying smile.

“Very very shorry.”

Hang in there, newbie.

It was the day after Klimt gave us permission to enter the Demon Wolf’s Garden. We were off to the market to buy provisions before heading out. Our supplies were drained after giving food away back in the capital. I didn’t think Fran would actually give her curry away like that. That went to show how much she wanted to help the people there.

While we weren’t completely spent, I still wanted to replenish our supplies. Curry was Fran’s primary motivator, after all.

We’ll stock up on vegetables. Hunting our own meat would be faster.

“Hm.”

Alessa’s market probably didn’t have that much monster meat in stock, anyway…or so I suspected. But when we got to the market, there was a lot more than I’d imagined.

“What meat is this?”

“Oh, you’ve got an eye for meat, young lady! This is the rib of a gullinbursti, a D-Threat monster!”

“What about this one?”

“Cockatrice breast! Never worked, very tender!”

We had worked with gullinbursti before; it was one of the ingredients in our competition curry bread back in Bulbola. The golden boar monster was strong and delicious. I didn’t know they had those around these parts. In fact, there was a veritable variety of monster meats at the butcher store. Maybe it’d be better for us to just stock up here.

The shopkeeper sensed Fran’s question in the air and answered it before she could ask.

“These are all Lady Amanda’s leftovers, you see.”

“Amanda? Is she in town?”

“Yes. And she’s been out hunting in the areas near Alessa.”

Amanda sold the results of her hunt to the guild, which in turn sold it to the merchants of Alessa.

“Amanda’s not at the frontlines?”

“Apparently, an adventurer called Jean is out fighting so Amanda could stay and protect the city. There are fewer troublemakers with her around, too.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Things have been a little hectic with the war going on, but the knights have been so reliable lately that we haven’t had much in the way of problems.”

The brigade was doing a lot better without August using it for his own ends.

“The knights have been so polite lately, and the crooked nobles have finally been stripped of their rank by the king. Apparently, they were involved in a coup against His Highness. Trade has been so much easier without Count Olmes and Baron Allsand. We never liked those two to begin with.”

Despite being involved in a rebellion, Count Olmes acted more like a small-time mob boss than an evil villain. He used his money and power to increase shop fees and demand cuts. With him gone, small shops could breathe a sigh of relief.

I guess Alessa’s feeling the effects of what happened in the capital.

Hm.

Now that we were stocked up on meat, spices, seasonings, and vegetables, we headed to our next destination.

“Fran? Is that you?”

“Hm. Long time no see, Randell.”

Randell was the merchant who gave Fran a ride to Alessa in his cart. His store was, as always, a real mess of inventory.

“To think that the great Black Lightning Princess would visit my store!”

“You know about that?”

“Information is the merchant’s weapon of choice,” said Randell with a laugh. “And I happen to know you personally, so I’m a little bit invested in any news about you.”

“I see.”

He welcomed her with a warm smile. His ears would more readily prick up at news about an acquaintance. “I didn’t think the little girl I met back then would get so strong so fast. Personally, I’m just relieved that you haven’t changed.”

“But I have changed,” Fran insisted. “I’m a lot stronger than before.”

“That’s not the change I’m talking about. I mean your heart, your personality. Some adventurers get cocky when they get promoted.”

“Uh-huh?” Fran was never one to look down on others no matter what rank she was at. But I bet if you were cocky as a low rank, promotions would only magnify the problem.

“So what brings you here today? I doubt you came all the way to Alessa just to say hello. Not that I wouldn’t appreciate that.”

“I want some pots and cutlery.”

“Pots and cutlery?”

“Hm.”

We had donated most of our cooking tools away with our food back in the capital. Even if we were to make fresh batches to replace them, we wouldn’t have anywhere to store them. I thought Randell would have the inventory available to fulfill our demand.

“How many do you need?”

“A lot.”

“Umm…”

“Like, a lot a lot.”

Eventually, Randell got Fran to tell him the size and number of pots that she wanted. His countenance fell, then. It didn’t seem like he had enough in his store to meet her demand. I couldn’t blame him. We needed two hundred plates just to start.

“Mind if I ask the other stores?” he asked.

“No, but aren’t they your rivals?”

“Connections are more profitable for small shops like ours.”

“Go for it, then. I’ll buy whatever you’ve got.”

“Okay! Pots and cutlery, coming right up!”

Randell offered Fran a seat and a drink before bolting out of his store to get his neighbors in on Fran’s deal. What a nice guy! Yeah, it’d be wrong to ask for a discount—it’d be better to just pay them in full.

But what if a customer were to walk in right now? Were we supposed to entertain them? Fran had had experience dealing with customers before, and everything had a price tag on it so I was confident that she would be fine.

“Excuse me…” Oops. And there we go—a customer.

Never mind, I take it back. Fran might be better than before, but she was still herself! We should probably wait for Randell to come back. But our customer was just a rabbit beastgirl. Maybe she just wanted some vegetables?

As I panicked about what to do next, our customer set down her backpack and started taking cups and plates out of it.

“You’re not a customer?”

“Oh no,” the girl said. “I’m from the general store next door. Randell told me to bring these to you.”

The rabbit girl turned out to be one of Randell’s merchant friends.

“So you’re the Black Lightning Princess? Y-you really are evolved!”

“Hm.”

“I never thought I’d get to sell my wares to the princess herself…! I can’t wait to tell all my friends!”

I wasn’t expecting her to show any respect because of Fran’s age, but she was legendary among the beastmen for being an evolved Black Cat. The girl even threw in some extra plates as a bonus.

More merchants followed suit, entering Randell’s store to leave their pots and cutlery. One of them even went out of their way to load up a trolley full of their wares. The Black Lightning Princess was apparently famous among merchants, to the point that some of them brought their entire stock of pots to sell to her for a huge profit.

Members of the Lucille Trade Association also showed up. The LTA was a trade association operated out of Bulbola, and they had a small branch here in Alessa. I guess they had branch offices in all the important towns of Granzell.

A total of over ten stores participated in fulfilling Fran’s demand, and even though she was asking for a lot, her demand was fulfilled.

“That’s a lot of cooking utensils,” Randell said. “Are you sure it isn’t too much?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Glad to hear it.”

He was worried that he had gotten carried away with the pots and plates. There were a lot of them to be sure. But it fit our purposes perfectly. If anything, we were fortunate to have been given bulk prices for them.

I can’t wait to see what I’ll cook up next!

“Thanks again, Randell. See you around.”

“Of course! Good luck out there, Fran!”

A line of drool trickled from the edge of Fran’s mouth. Seeing the pots and plates made her imagine the food that would go in them. She thanked Randell before bowing out.

“We have plates now. Lots of them.”

And the ingredients to go with them. We’ll cook once we’re outside of town.

“Hm!”

We used to employ the kitchen of whatever inn we were staying in, but now I could cook whatever I wanted with magic. If anything, cooking outside of town gave me a little bit more freedom.

Of course, I wasn’t about to cook in the middle of the Demon Wolf’s Garden. With all the monsters crawling around there, it’d be too dangerous to stay in one place for too long. The Withering Forest was also out of the question, since magic didn’t work there.

Which leaves the spot just outside the Withering Forest. We’ll cook there.

“Sure.”

As we were talking, we turned a corner, away from the gates—we had to. After all…

Five?

Yeah. They’re very weak, though…

…we’d felt eyes watching us soon after we left the general store. I thought Fran just caught their attention and so we paid them no heed and hurried on to our destination. However, the eyes persisted and started following us. There was a certain amount of animosity in the gaze.

I don’t feel good just leaving it unchecked. Let’s see what they want.

Hm.

“Woof!”

Fran was famous now, and there were a lot of people who valued whatever information they could get on her. Being watched was an ordinary fact of public life. But immediately after we entered the back alleys, our observers came out of hiding and closed in on us.

“You there! Beastman!”

“Me?”

“That’s right! There’s five of us and only one of you! You best keep quiet if you know what’s good for you.”

I’ll admit, I was pretty surprised for a few reasons. For starters, the ones who accosted us were untrained civilians. Lesser nobles, if you wanted Identify’s classification of them, but they were untrained all the same. They had combat Skills like Sword and Bow Mastery, but these were only there for aristocratic formality. The five men had never been in a real fight before, and it showed: they thought they could get by purely on numbers.

The oldest was thirty and the youngest twenty, and all five stood glaring at Fran. They were under the Resentful status effect, and she was probably the target of their resentment.

“Now give me the sword on your back.”

“Don’t try anything funny.”

“We’ll beat you up if you do!”

Are these guys for real?

They were unarmed and untrained and yet so confident! Beat you up, he said…? Honestly, they were worse than complete beginners. How were they expecting to beat an armed person without any weapons of their own?

Growing up in an environment where people waited on your every word, I guess they couldn’t imagine her fighting back.

“Is this girl really an adventurer? She doesn’t look strong at all.”

“She’s the one. One of our regular merchants told me so.”

“Can you trust him?”

One of our suppliers was the noble’s informant, then. Ruined as they were, they were still nobles. They had servants everywhere.

“Don’t just stand there! Give me that sword!”

“I don’t want to,” Fran said, growing more irritated with the aristocrats by the second.

“What? You dare refuse me?!”

“Well, yeah.” Telling Fran to hand me over was a surefire way to get on her bad side.

The nobles sensed the pressure coming from her and started complaining to their leader.

“I-I thought you said we just needed to intimidate her! She’s not budging!”

“Yeah! You said that beastman adventurers were no better than a noble’s slaves!”

“That’s just because she doesn’t know who we are. We are followers of Count Olmes. I trust you know what that means, beastgirl.”

“Olmes?” Fran repeated.

“Y-you don’t know him?!”

Even I was shocked at how fast Fran had forgotten. She had a real knack for not remembering.

“This is why I hate these vulgar adventurers.”

“To think that she doesn’t know who Count Olmes is!”

“Enough! We are nobility. Yours is not to question why! Yours is but to do or die!”

The three oldest members were the cockiest by far. The two younger men, though…there was fear in their eyes, and they were already taking a step back. They were probably forced into coming with the older ones.

“A-are you sure we should be doing this? What if we get punished for this later…?”

“And why would it come to that?” one of the men scoffed. “She’s nothing but a lowly adventurer. There shouldn’t be a problem.”

“But there will be—”

“Hey, that girl is pretty strong. Isn’t she famous or something?” One of them was actually well-informed. He was still guilty by association with the other three, however.

As for the other young man, he kept a careful eye on Fran. His Sword Mastery level was the highest among the three, so he could probably sense how strong Fran was. What’s more, the two young men weren’t under the Resentful status effect like the other three.

“A little beastgirl like her couldn’t be that strong!”

“Beastmen are pretty strong in general, so I don’t know what gives you that idea. Besides, I hear the king awarded her with honors for excellent service in the capital. There’s no way that she’s weak.”

“Th-that’s…”

“She’s still a little girl!”

“He’s right! We just have to pounce her all at once!”

What are these clowns doing? They’re huddling up before a fight.

But I noticed something strange about them as I watched them discuss their options. There was foreign mana in their bodies. It was so faint that I had to observe them closely to notice it. What could it be?

Fran, try hitting them with a strong mana force.

Mana force?

Yeah. But don’t kill them, all right?

“Okay.”

“Ah! I see you’ve come to your—Hooorgh!”

“How da—Aaargh!”

“You li—Eeeergh!”

“W-wai—Aiiiie!”

“H-hel—Yaaaargh!”

Personally, I thought Mana Thruster would’ve done the trick, but Fran proceeded to inject mana right into them. She struck the three idiots in the gut, hard enough that they coughed blood and were sent hurtling into the wall. Meanwhile, she slapped the two younger men into the sky. I could tell that she held back on the younger men, though they’d still have broken bones from the landing—they were beginners, after all.

But Fran was satisfied—our experiment had worked. The foreign mana disappeared from the nobles and they were no longer Resentful. Although these people were bound to be angry at Fran for what she did in the capital, the status effect had brought all that rage to the surface. Someone else was manipulating their anger. That was why the foreign mana disappeared when Fran hit them with her mana charged hands.

Fran raised her head after she was done healing them and went deeper into the alley.

What is it, Fran?

There’s something here.

Really? I don’t feel anything…

Bark, bark!

You too, Jet?

I was the only one who couldn’t feel whatever Fran and Jet had found. Their wild instincts were more honed than mine for sure, but it was odd that I couldn’t sense what they were sensing at all.

What sense do you guys have that I don’t…is it a smell? Whatever was hiding itself from us couldn’t quite conceal its own scent. Where is it, Fran?

That alley there.

We walked down the alley and made a right where the creature was hiding.

Can you grab it, Jet?

“Woof!”

Jet leapt into action at my command. He used Shadow Walk to disappear from Fran’s shadow. Soon enough, we heard a scream from the corner of the alley.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Grrrr!”

The voice sounded hoarse and raspy, like it belonged to an old man. Jet then dragged the owner of the voice before us.

“Urrrgh…. How did you know where I was…?”

He seemed like an old man. Tattered robes covered his small body, his hands and feet which peeked out of them were as dry as a mummy’s.

“You!” the old man screamed at Fran. “You did this!”

“Woof!”

“Urgh!”

Jet held the old man beneath his paws as he tried to get up, ripping his tattered robes even further. His robe was apparently enchanted, though, because right then the so-called old man’s true aura then revealed itself.

This guy’s an undead!

“Hm!”

The old man’s desiccated limbs made sense now. His face was exactly like a mummy. His eye sockets were hollowed out. His skin, dehydrated and leathery. Lips peeled back into his face, revealing yellow teeth. He was an animated corpse.

Undead were known to have weak aura to begin with but he had Stealth, Conceal, and Conceal Presence among other scout-type Skills. His presence-concealing robe made it all the more difficult for the ordinary person to detect him. He couldn’t hide his scent, however. Faint as it was, Fran and Jet’s heightened olfactory senses could still pick it up.

The mummy also possessed another suspicious Skill called Mental Agitation: Anger. Apparently, it could incite another person into a fit of rage. He must have used this to enrage the nobles from earlier. It wasn’t strong enough to make them lose their minds, but that made it all the more useful for inciting unrest in a city.

If you were to send someone flying into a fit of rage, they would stand out so much that the authorities would soon subdue them. But slightly shortening people’s tempers would worsen their decision-making. Apply it to the majority of the people in power, and chaos would soon descend. Infighting would transform into murder quite quickly.

The mummy was working for either Aschtner or Raydoss, and my money was on Raydoss.

Can Raydoss make talking undead now?

Jean’s undead and the lich were the only ones that talked.

Yeah.

Only high-level undead had the ability to talk. Even then, most of them had lost too much of their minds to do so. Very few undead could actually carry a conversation. This mummy might not have been much of a fighter, but it was definitely advanced.

“Are you one of Raydoss’ undead?”

“H-how do you know that!”

I guess he’s still stupid, even if he can talk.

The mummy was smart enough to talk, but not smart enough to think.

“What are you doing here?”

“Urgh…who are you! Those nobles were supposed to cause a riot in the city!”

Useful information. He’d manipulated the nobles’ minds, but they’d gone after Fran as soon as they saw her.

“We are—gaaargh!”

“Huh?”

“Aaaaargh!” The undead was suddenly in great pain. Powerful mana was exploding inside him. A few moments later, he had reverted back to an ordinary corpse. That must have been a self-destruct mechanism installed by whoever was controlling him.

As we looked down on the remains of the undead, we heard screams coming from the alley behind us.

“Eeeeek! Wh-what is that withered corpse?! Ow! It hurts so bad!”

“Hm?”

Guess they’re awake.

One of the nobles was sitting up and watching us. He was supposed to be unconscious, but Fran had healed him enough so that he wouldn’t die.

“How dare you…? You won’t get away with this…! Aaarg!”

“Huh…? What happened…? You! Eeeegh! It hurts!”

The other nobles were awakened by the screaming. Apparently, they remembered the beating Fran gave them. Although their minds had been manipulated, they still retained their memories. They didn’t recognize the undead either, so they probably weren’t connected to each other.

“What do we do about this?”

Hmm. I guess we can hand the corpse over to the knights.

The knight captain was a good man, so he’d hear us out. Also, being connected to Count Olmes, these nobles were under their jurisdiction since they were supposed to be awaiting their sentence. But before we could make it to a guard post, some of the knights came careening into the alley. They looked mad, but their anger wasn’t directed at Fran.

“They’re over here!” one of them called out to his comrades.

“We take our eyes off you for one second and you’re already out causing trouble.”

“This is why I hate dealing with these man-children!”

The knights had come looking for the nobles after they’d escaped house arrest. Someone must have reported the ruckus they heard in the alley.

“Whoa! D-did you do this?”

“What’s with the body?”

Crap. I forgot to store the body away while worrying about the undead.

The knights readied themselves as soon as they saw the corpse. They suspected Fran had something to do with it, but they also knew how strong she was.

Fortunately, the squad leader recognized Fran from her time in Alessa and told his men to be at ease. He heard her explanation of the situation and took the nobles and the corpse into custody.

The knights even thanked Fran despite beating up five aristocrats. It really drove home how much public sentiment had turned against Marquis Aschtner, Count Olmes, and anyone related to their schemes.

We then returned to the guild to report the potential undead threat. Klimt sighed and leaned his head against his hand. Fran had somehow managed to create more work for him.

“I appreciate your report but…urghhh.”

“You okay?”

“I’ll manage,” Klimt muttered, massaging his forehead. He could already imagine the amount of paperwork that he would have to deal with. Don’t worry, Klimt. We’ll leave Alessa soon enough.

Fran, let’s get out of here before Klimt gets an ulcer.

Hm. Fran started walking away as Klimt issued orders to his subordinates, but the Guildmaster stopped her midway.

“H-hold on!”

“Hm?”

“I would like to issue a quest for you.”

“A quest?”

“Yes.”

The potential for more undead lurking in Alessa was cause for concern. Klimt wanted Fran and Jet to patrol Alessa in case they could find more. “I just need you here for a day.”

“Can’t you or Amanda do it?”

“My sorcery isn’t suited for fine work and Amanda is out hunting on the outskirts. Besides, I doubt the enemy would try anything with Amanda around.”

Basically, Klimt was too powerful and Amanda too famous for detective work. Amanda wasn’t around, anyway.

“You’re the best one for the job,” he said.

“Hmm.” Fran frowned, thinking it over. She wanted to leave for the Demon Wolf’s Garden as soon as possible. I was happy that she was worried about me, but I was also worried about Alessa. If it fell to Raydoss, the rest of Granzell would be in danger.

Not that I loved Granzell or anything, but the enemy of our enemy was our ally here. Raydoss was definitely our enemy, and it’d be best to support Granzell for all of its pro-adventurer policies.

Also, Fran would be depressed if anything were to happen to Alessa when she wasn’t around. A single day was a small price to pay.

Let’s take the quest, Fran.

But what about you?

We’ll only be here for a day. We still have time.

Fran paused for a moment. “Well…all right.”

“Thank you.” Klimt looked relieved and bowed his head. He would’ve needed to look for a replacement if Fran had refused.

“So I can go to the noble district now?”

“You’re going to have to. As Guildmaster of the Adventurers’ Guild in Alessa, I hereby grant you the authority to carry out the undead investigation by any means necessary. The viscount has charged me with protecting the city from Raydoss, so your authority will extend to nobles.”

“I can boss them around?”

“Not quite. While you can’t give them express orders, the guild will deal with anyone who refuses to cooperate with you. You might even call it…intimidation tactics. Lesser nobles are the only ones left in Alessa. But please, try not to cause any trouble for the viscount. He might not be very reliable, but he is still royalty.”

Klimt didn’t mince his words. Still, we didn’t hold any grudges towards the viscount; we’d never even met the guy. I’d hold Fran back if things got out of hand.

“Hm. All right. I’ll go in on those nobles.”

“We’ll…be counting on you.” Anxiety flashed over Klimt’s face for a moment. He was wondering whether Fran could be trusted to handle things. Well, it was too late now. There was no room to let talented adventurers idle about with Raydossian agents in town. In the end, he gave up and decided to let Fran do her thing. And with that, we headed for the noble district.

I don’t really know how to spot Raydossian spies. Let’s just look for traces of undead activity.

Hm.

We’ll be counting on that sniffer of yours, Jet.

“Woof!”

We had our work cut out for us. We were looking for spies who had been quietly operating in Alessa for a while. Our only lead so far was that they utilized undead to do their dirty work.

We went the long way around, through the back alleys, to reach the noble district. No signs of undead so far. We let our guard down to attract an ambush, but none came. One hour later, we were finally at our destination.

What do you think, Jet?

“Arf…”

“I don’t feel anything.”

Me neither.

Despite our best efforts to spot any suspicious activity, nothing was out of the ordinary. I didn’t sense any weird mana fluctuations, Fran’s ears didn’t pick up anything, and Jet’s nose didn’t smell anything.

We picked a random direction and started walking until Jet stopped in front of a large mansion located near the heart of the noble district.

“Smell something, Jet?”

“Woof!”

Undead, perhaps?

“Arf!”

There was the faint scent of undead in the air; so faint that Jet couldn’t be sure of its presence.

Wonder whose mansion this is.

“No one’s inside.”

Looks like it hasn’t been lived in for a while. Look at all that grass.

The garden had been untended for at least a few days. However, the gates looked in relatively good condition. The mansion must have belonged to someone involved in the rebellion.

We were trying to figure out how to get in the mansion—or whether we should even go in at all—when a guard approached us from the other side of the road. A little girl peeking around a noble’s mansion must have looked suspicious.

“You there! Little girl! What are you doing!”

“Hm? I’m looking for bad guys.”

“Woof!”

“What? This isn’t the place to be playing adventurer.”

He shooed Fran away with a tired look on his face.

“I’m not pretending.”

“You a newbie? This isn’t the place to get ahead of the adventurer curve. If you want proper quests, rank up so you can do them. Tamers are always in demand.”

The guard seemed to suspect Fran of being a fresh adventurer, so she showed him her guild card.

“This is…” he began, looking it over. “Oh! I apologize for my rudeness!”

No further questions from our guardsman. He was enough in the loop now to realize that the little girl standing before him was the famous Black Lightning Princess.

“You said you were looking for bad guys?” he stammered. “Are you in the middle of a quest?”

“Hm. I’m looking for undead.”

“Oh, the one from earlier!”

The guard had also been informed about the undead threat. The knights sure worked fast.

“The mansion. Whose is it?”

“This is the property of Count Olmes, ma’am!”

Wow, seriously? It was the most suspicious location by far!

The guard went on and explained that August Allsand and his servants used to live here. The mansion was left derelict after they were stripped of their rank.

“Is there a reason why you’re here?”

“I felt a strange aura.”

“By the gods!”

“Can I go in?”

“I-if I escort you…I suppose it should be fine!”

“Great. Lead the way.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Fran wasn’t his superior, but the young guard was acting like her subordinate. Maybe this was how B Ranks were usually treated in the city. Well, Fran was investigating the undead mystery. That was reason enough to help her.

“I’ll get the keys!”

“Okay.” Fran nodded, watching the guard as he ran to the guard post.

Is the undead presence still around?

“Woof.”

I was worried that it would’ve run away after all the noise we’d made but the undead was still in hiding, confident in its powers of stealth.

The guard returned five minutes later.

“I have returned!” He was terribly excited. Then again, he did just stumble upon an important mission while he was making his rounds.

“I’ll go ahead. You stay close.”

“R-right!” The young guardsman opened the gates and we entered Olmes’ estate. He surveyed his surroundings nervously, tightly gripping his spear. He wasn’t going to be much use in a fight, but we’d be breaking and entering without him around.

“Jet?”

“Bark!” Jet sniffed the air and made his way to the garden. Faint as it was, he had picked up something.

“Is something here?” the guardsman asked.

“I don’t know. Jet can smell something, though.”

“Wow! Amazing!”

Three minutes later, Jet had circled all the way around the mansion. He finally stopped in the backyard.

“Arf, arf!”

“Here?”

“Woof!” He was scratching at the back door of the mansion. It looked like the service door the servants used to enter the building. There was a stone path leading to it from the rear gates.

“Can you open this?”

“Of course!”

The guardsman had brought more keys along with him. He unlocked the door and carefully opened it for us. Fran and Jet winced, the musty smell of dust stinging their noses. The place hadn’t been cleaned in ages.

Jet led the way again once we were inside the mansion. We exited the simple room we were in to find a large, carpeted hallway. Jet immediately made a right turn down one of the shabbier-looking hallways. This seemed to be the storage wing. Jet seemed to know where he was going, using his nose to navigate the dark corridors.

He entered one of the rooms and stopped in the center of it. “Woof.”

“It’s in this room?”

“Woof!”

We were in a semi-basement storage room, probably used as a wine cellar. Jet tilted his head towards a corner of the room and sniffed the air. He could smell something behind its walls.

Maybe it’s a hidden passage.

“Hmm…” Fran knocked on the wall and used Echolocation, revealing the chamber behind it and the stairway which led further down. “How do I open this?”

“I-I don’t know. I didn’t even know about this passage…”

A secret escape route. Or maybe just a hidden room.

“I’ll open a path for us,” she said.

“Huh? W-wait! Are you going to destroy the wall?”

“Hm. We do have to find the undead.”

The guardsman started panicking when he saw the look on Fran’s face. Helping the undead investigation was important, but he didn’t want to take responsibility for property damage.

“But it’s for the good of Alessa…” he muttered. “But then the captain will find out that I took the keys to the state…but if it all ends well, then…”

He took the keys without telling anyone?! And he was going to ride on Fran’s success to get a promotion?! No wonder he thought Fran was trying to get ahead of the curve. He was projecting!

Knock it down, Fran.

“Hm. Blowing through it.”

“Aaaaah!”

Worry not, guardsman. This is for the good of Alessa! So kindly take the heat for us later.

Fran kicked the wall down in front of the crying guard. Square lines emerged on the walls together with the loud thump. Her kick knocked the hidden door slightly ajar. She gave it a slight push and the wall fell backward, revealing the staircase within. The wall slid down the stairs until it fell on the floor with a cracking thud. We’d definitely announced our presence, but we were pretty much bound to alert them as soon as we decided to kick the door down.

There might be enemies around. Be careful.

“Hm.”

Fran and Jet walked down the stairs, which was wide enough to accommodate them side-by-side. These stairs might’ve been bigger than the ones we saw in the mansion. Perhaps they’d been used to transport goods. Thirty steps later, Fran and Jet dropped into a ready stance.

“Huh? What?”

“Ssh! Something’s in here.”

“Grrr!”

The guard didn’t know what was going on and was visibly perturbed. I could sense the enemy’s presence now. Their energy jumped at us as soon as Fran climbed down the stairs.

Undead mana.

I can smell it.

I didn’t know whether they were summoned or on standby, but Fran and the others’ presence had definitely triggered them.

“Get behind me!”

“R-right.”

The guard complied and Fran lit up the room with a light spell. It revealed a thirty-square-meter room…and the enemies lying within.

“Waaaaargh!”

“Eeeeek!”

“Shut up! You’re too loud!”

“S-sorry!”

The newbie guardsman could be excused for screaming. We were up against half-rotted bodies, their insides on clear display. What’s more, the zombie in the center of the horde was emitting a strange energy.

“Is that really a zombie…?”

“Arf?”

Weird as it looks, that’s still definitely a zombie.

There were faces on the right shoulder and left side of the zombie, as if the heads of other zombies had been attached to it. It was strong, too; at least a notch higher than the rest of the zombies behind it. Whoever made it knew what they were doing. A skilled necromancer could make their thrall even stronger than it was during its life. It was why Jean’s skeletons were much stronger than your average skeleton.

But unlike the undead we spotted in town, there wasn’t a trace of reason left in this zombie. Its eyes were looking in opposite directions, and howling was its only form of communication.

What now?

Kill it, I guess. Not like we can talk to it.

Fran looked at the zombie’s faces. First at the head, then the shoulder, then the side, then back to the head.

What’s wrong?

I feel like I’ve seen them before.

You mean the faces?

Now that she mentioned it, I sort of recognized them, too. The zombie’s main body was that of a Red Dog adventurer. Did we meet one at the guild?

I remember…these guys got kicked out after picking a fight with you!

Really?

Yes, really! You don’t remember?

Hm…nope!

O-oh. Remember when we first came to the guild? There were these adventurers who complained because the guild bought their materials for cheap?

I think the Red Dog’s name was Dham’n, not that Identify had revealed his old name to me. He was a former mercenary laden with debt, who’d been handed over to the authorities after Fran and I beat him up. The other two faces must be his friends.

Fran didn’t remember, even after I explained. She only tilted her head in confusion.

I don’t know how they ended up here, but they’re zombies now. We’ll beat them and report back to Klimt.

Okay.

And don’t blow them up to bits. We need them in one piece for evidence.

Hm! Fran slashed at the zombie’s legs to halt its movement, but the only thing she cut was air.

“Hrm.”

“Woooorgh!”

The zombie was much faster than we thought. It managed to hop back to evade Fran’s attack.

We’re not used to zombies this fast!

The undead’s movements were fluid without the clunky motions usually associated with zombies.

“Waaaargh!”

“Magic?”

It’s the faces! Each of them is casting a spell!

“I see. Interesting.”

The zombie had cast two spells at the same time. The shoulder face wielded fire, while the side face had water magic. Identify reported that each face had its own stats. The creature wasn’t a three-faced zombie, but a zombie with two additional faces attached to it. Its stats had changed, too.

Fran, this thing’s getting stronger!

“Hm. I can feel the mana.”

There was a cracking sound from the zombie’s stomach, followed by a surge of mana. It looked a lot like Jean’s undead enhancing spells. The enhancement was no joke, either. The zombie was strong to begin with, but it’d still been just a strong zombie. Now, though, its presence was more menacing than a high ogre. Its name had changed to Powerful Zombie, and its stats were five times what they were before. Apparently, the enhancement also made it evolve. Evolving a thrall with magic was no mean feat. It wasn’t something you could do remotely.

Was its necromancer nearby? I scanned the area but couldn’t find any mage activities. The evolution might be part of a premade spell.

“Ooooorgh!”

“Raaaagh!”

“Guoooooh!”

“Hrm!”

Its spells are getting faster!

Fran dodged the two spells the zombie cast. Its stats weren’t the only thing enhanced about the zombie…the thing had more Skills now, too. The main body had Advanced Sword Mastery, and each of the faces gained Speedcast.

Fran took the zombie seriously now. There’d be no holding back. Her sharp eyes observed the three-faced zombie, and it started attacking when it noticed the change.

“Uooooorgh!”

It swiped at Fran while unleashing spells from both sides. Not a bad tactic. An ordinary adventurer would be hit by it…but Fran was no ordinary adventurer.

“Tsch!”

“Warg?”

“Haaa!” Fran dodged the spells and blocked the zombie’s sword thrust. The three-faced creature was stunned. Not only was this little girl managing to avoid its attacks—she was also striking back! It hadn’t expected a creature that looked so weak to be so strong. Though it lacked rational thought, the zombie retained its animalistic instincts.

“Waoooorgh!”

The three-faced zombie howled, commanding the rest of the zombies to charge. The horde was swarming Fran to lock her down. It was a decent tactic, but the zombies had no chance of walling her in.

“Too slow!” She jumped over the horde and cut them down at once. In less than ten seconds, they were wiped out. The three-faced zombie stopped and took on a defensive posture, but this was the last mistake it would ever make.

“Tsch!” Fran brandished me and jumped at it as fast as she could. She lopped off its right arm, then its left. She took off the zombie’s right leg with her third strike.

“Waaaargh!”

The three-faced zombie retaliated wildly with its remaining limbs, but to no avail. It was helpless under Fran’s storm of slashes. She was methodically slicing and dicing it, leaving enough recognizable bits behind to serve as evidence. By the time the creature was chopped up into twenty parts, the hostile presence had vanished from the room. There weren’t any hidden enemies around, so the battle had been won.

“There’s something sticking out of its stomach.”

A glass shard?

A transparent glass shard was sticking out of the three-faced zombie’s gut. It was already broken, so it was hard to figure out what it was, but I guessed that it was once a flask. Not something you’d ordinarily find inside a zombie.

When the zombie evolved, there was a great surge of mana from its stomach…maybe from this flask? Perhaps its evolution was due to a specialized chemical compound instead of necromancy.

We’re running on guesses at this point.

Hm.

There was nothing for me to Identify. The compound inside the flask had long been absorbed by the zombie, leaving us with little evidence. We could only store the zombie away to hand over to the guild.

No crystal, either. I guess it’s one of those undead that was made by a necromancer.

Hm.

Was it posted here to guard the place?

“I-is it over?”

“Hm. It’s safe now. I’m checking the place out.”

“Woof!”

“I-I’ll help too!”

We washed the floors of zombie fluids with some water spells before investigating the room. There were several tattered beds in here, probably where the zombies were sleeping before. ‘Bed’ was a generous term, actually. They were little more than bare strips of wood with human-shaped stains on them.

The zombies were probably set to activate at the first sign of intruders. We couldn’t detect them earlier because they were nothing but corpses before we came in.

We looked around the room but couldn’t find anything of interest. I felt convinced they were guarding some big secret…but maybe the undead themselves were that secret?

Eventually, we made it back outside the mansion with the green guardsman in tow. The sights and smells of the chamber had not been kind to him.

“I’m going to the guild to report this.”

“Do you mind if I report to the captain about this?”

“Go ahead.”

“Th-thank you very much!”

The guard jumped with joy. The mission would’ve been pointless if he couldn’t make a report about it.

“I’m one step closer to a promotion…!”

At which point Fran laid a zombie at the guard’s feet.

“Urk! Huh?” He pinched his nose and looked confused. The fresh air had cleansed his nostrils of the stink, so the return of the zombie’s odor was a critical hit.

“Evidence. You’ll need it.”

“I-I guess I do need evidence…but what should I do with it?”

Fran looked quizzically at him. “Just take it with you.”

“W-well, yes but…”

“I’ll be going now. Bye-bye.”

“Ah, wai—”

Fran and Jet took off without waiting for the guardsman to finish. I could hear his wailing as we rushed away, but we were in a hurry. I hope you get your promotion, guardsman, and good luck lugging that zombie to your guard post.

We returned to the guild and headed to Klimt’s office. The Guildmaster could already tell that something was wrong.

“There’s been a development?”

“Hm.”

“I see.” Klimt nodded sternly. He had to be screaming internally at all the work that would be added to his plate. “So Count Olmes did have something to do with it. I didn’t think he would have a secret basement…quite ingenious.”

He glanced at Jet. The room would’ve been difficult to find without a sharp sense of smell. He’d made the right choice by assigning the quest to Fran.

“May I see the zombies you defeated there?” he asked.

“Here?”

“Absolutely not.” Klimt took us to the carving room where Fran could lay out the zombies. He didn’t flinch when the zombies were glorp-ed onto the floor, but observed them thoughtfully.

“Hmm…”

“Recognize them?”

“Yes. This man used to be an adventurer.”

“I knew it.”

A Guildmaster couldn’t possibly know the names of all the adventurers under his jurisdiction, but he could at least recognize their faces. He didn’t seem particularly worked up about it, though.

“They were expelled from the guild after causing trouble. Do you know anything about them, Nell?”

“Y-yes.” Nell gagged when she saw the zombies, but the veteran receptionist made no attempt to leave the carving room. “We handed them over to the guards after reports of them shaking down clients for money.”

“Ah, those people,” Klimt said. He shed no tears for the zombified delinquent adventurers. Dham’n and his crew weren’t the only ones who were handed over to the guards. Apparently, the rest of the zombies were also adventurers turned criminals.

“The previous guard captain worked for Count Olmes,” he continued, “so that’s probably how he got ahold of the corpses.” He paused. “No, maybe they killed them to perform necromancy on them.”

Criminal adventurers made for stronger undead than regular civilians. Besides, no one would look for them if they disappeared.

“You said these zombies were stronger than regular zombies.”

“Hm. This one was several times stronger. It evolved, too.”

“Evolved?”

“Hm…don’t know how, though.”

Fran told Klimt about the flask she found in the zombie’s belly. He agreed it was probably the key to the zombie’s evolution. Either way, he couldn’t deny that the creature had evolved, whether through a spell or a chemical change.

“There is a high likelihood of a powerful necromancer conducting experiments in Alessa…”

Necromancers with the ability to remote control undead were particularly dangerous. By hiding away corpses and reanimating them on command, they could terrorize entire populations.

“Fran,” he continued, “I’m afraid I have to ask you to continue your investigation of the city.”

“Okay.”

Klimt sighed. “And just when I thought things were finally settling down. Count Olmes keeps making trouble even when he’s no longer around. I swear, that man—”

“I’ll be going now.” Fran’s eyes were beginning to glaze over, so she decided to leave before Klimt’s complaints put her to sleep.

What was up with Nell just now?

O-oh, that? I think she’s just tired. Nothing to worry about.

Nell had desperately looked at Fran as if begging her to take her along. She didn’t want to be left alone with a complaining Klimt. But there was a necromancer at large in Alessa. Sorry, Nell—you’ll have to hold down the fort!

Teacher?

Never mind. Let’s get back to our investigation. We need to find that necromancer.

“Hm.”

“Woof!”

If the undead in the basement had been a trap, there was a good chance that the necromancer had long since left Alessa. However, we had reason to believe that they were still in town.

We kept searching, but—try as we might—we couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. We spent the rest of the day walking around Alessa and its major streets, but no dice. At most, we spotted some tasty-looking food stalls in the alleys, so I guess it wasn’t all that bad. Fran and Jet had fun, too.

Still, no sign of the Raydossian spy in Alessa, and not a single lead.

Where to next, Fran?

“Hrm…we’ll check out the restaurant we couldn’t go to earlier!”

“Arf, arf!”

That’s not what I—But you know what? You’re right. We should get some food and discuss our next course of action.

“Hm!”

I couldn’t say no to her when she pulled out the puppy dog eyes. Fran had had plenty of sandwiches and skewers as we walked around town, but the energy she got from them was probably spent by now.

Night had fallen on Alessa as we made our way to a back-alley restaurant, one that was too crowded for us in the evening. It was a fancy place located near the noble district. The customers had settled down now and they were all nicely dressed, enjoying dinner. I didn’t think they were nobles—probably just well-to-do commoners.

The waitress looked confused as she came out to greet Fran.

“I’m sorry, it’s dinner time now and we have a different menu from our lunch menu,” she said meekly. The lunch menu was cheaper and was served from the afternoon to the evening. The dinner menu was a bit more expensive in comparison. She thought that Fran had entered the restaurant by mistake.

“No problem,” said Fran.

“A-all right.” The waitress let us in, probably thinking that it was okay since Fran said there wouldn’t be a problem…or maybe she just thought that she could have Fran do the dishes if she didn’t have the money to pay for it.

Still worried, the waitress started taking Fran’s order…but that worry turned to contempt as she realized that she was ordering five people’s worth of food. She must’ve thought that Fran was going to dine and dash.

Fran, show her some money. Just a few coins will do.

“Hm? Money?”

“Oh! I-I’m so sorry!” the waitress stammered—she must’ve thought Fran knew why she was staring at her now, and she quickly retreated.

Fran just blinked. “Hm.”

We were seated outside on the terrace so Jet could eat with us. Fran put her hands together when her first course, soup, arrived.

“Let’s eat.”

“Woof!”

They feasted on the food as it came. I could tell that the people inside were getting annoyed. Fran’s order had backed up the whole kitchen, it seemed. Onlookers gasped at all the food this little girl was having.

In any case, it took less than thirty minutes for her to demolish her whole meal. Both staff and diner applauded Fran’s feat of feasting. It was then that I noticed Jet was acting funny.

What is it, boy?

“Arf.”

He motioned his muzzle towards the restaurant.

Suspicious activity?

“Woof.”

Jet felt that something was off, but he wasn’t quite sure. Either way, something had caught his attention.

Inside the restaurant?

“Arf.”

The smells of the restaurant were interfering with his nose. I just hoped he wasn’t smelling something tasty.

Let’s check it out. Fran, you just stay here and rest.

“Woof!”

Okay.

Fran ordered drinks and Jet slunk away into the shade. He moved from shadow to shadow, escaping the notice of everyone in the restaurant. Meanwhile, I’d transformed my decorative strip into a fine string and followed him where he went. A sentient piece of string might have stuck out in the bright restaurant, so I went around the outside and snuck in through the kitchen window.

Where is it, Jet?

“Woof!”

Over there?

Jet wasn’t in the kitchen. He was further inside, within the shadows of a toolshed in the backyard.

What’s in there?

“Woof.”

Jet lightly scratched at the pavement next to the shed. I couldn’t see anything, so I decided to use some Skills to investigate further. Heat Sense came up dry. So did Mana Sense and Presence Sense. It wasn’t until I used Echolocation that I detected the anomaly.

Hey, there’s a space under here.

“Woof!”

I looked for a gap under the cobblestone path but couldn’t find any. Eventually, I just gave up and made a hole with an earth spell. At fifty centimeters deep, I hit a dried-up bit of plank covering a larger hole. I went in further to investigate.

I can’t see the bottom.

There was a deep vertical hole beneath the ground, with an opening large enough to drop a rope ladder down. There was a larger space at the bottom of the hole. I thought it was the sewers at first, but that didn’t seem right. It was an underground tunnel which led…somewhere, and the ceilings were high enough that Fran wouldn’t need to crouch to walk through it. My guess was that it led to the noble district.

Jet joined me through the shadows once I had a visual on the tunnel.

There you are. What do you think?

“Woof.”

Jet sniffed the air and nodded. This was definitely the source of the strange scent he smelled earlier. It was difficult to detect since it had mingled with all the smells of the kitchen. Jet was the only one who could’ve picked it up.

Good job.

“Woof.”

Jet’s breath sent dust dancing around us, dust that had settled on the floor for quite some time…this path hadn’t been used in a while. I wondered where it would lead, but I couldn’t leave Fran behind. I used Beacon, a Timespace spell, to leave a teleport marker in the underground tunnel. The spell allowed me to teleport to locations outside of line of sight.

We’re back.

Find anything?

Yeah! We’re going to need to teleport to it though, so we’ll need to find a quiet place to do that.

Got it.

Fran settled the bill and quietly moved behind the restaurant. It was a crowded residential area, though, and the tunnel was located beneath some houses. There were still a lot of people around, too. That’s what being the restaurant district of the city gets you, I suppose.

We kept walking until we found a quiet place and teleported away.

Here we are.

“Woof!”

We were back to where I had placed the beacon from earlier.

“Where are we?”

We’re under the restaurant from earlier. Jet smelled some undead from here.

“Woof.”

“Wow. Think we’ll find them at the end of this thing?”

Only one way to find out.

“Hm!” Fran unsheathed me and carefully trod down the passageway. She left footsteps in the dust like it was freshly fallen snow. This path hadn’t been used in ages. We carried on for three minutes until we found a T-shaped corridor. Now, Fran and I could finally feel the anomaly.

It’s like something’s been crawling on the ground.

“It’s faint, but there’s a weird smell, too.”

No dust here, either.

Either this path was frequently traveled or it had been used recently. There were black smears on the floor along with what appeared to be…blood? Maybe the zombies used this passageway to get around. Were there other underground passages like this in Alessa?

Where to now?

“Here.”

Oh? Why do you say that?

“Instinct.”

R-right.

“Hm. We can just come back if it doesn’t go anywhere.”

Fran had a point. Pick a path, any path. It was better than going back the way we came.

We turned left, following the black smears down the hallway. We kept our wits about us, but there didn’t seem to be any enemies nearby. At the end of the path was a vertical climb like the one we came down from.

I’ll see where this thing leads.

I extended another one of my strips again to check the place out. Unlike the restaurant entrance, this one wasn’t covered by cobblestone. I only needed to contend with a wooden door. The restaurant staff themselves were probably oblivious to the modifications made in their backyard.

It’s pitch-black up here.

The hatch led to a stairway, and the stairway led to a large and deserted room. There wasn’t much dust here either, which meant it’d probably been used recently. This seemed like someone’s basement.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Woof.”

There was a large wooden box in the center of the room, about two meters long. Actually, the box was shaped more like a coffin than anything else, and I could feel mana coming out of it. Probably manatech.

What is this thing? It looks like a necromantic tool…

Identify reported that the coffin was a Coffin of Rest. It allowed undead to slumber in them while concealing their presence. Such a manatech coffin was utilized by necromancers to transport their undead servants. The coffin shape made it obvious as to what was inside, sure, but the shape itself was probably essential to its function.

“Woof, woof!”

“You smell something familiar?”

“Arf.”

The coffin smelled like the mummy we’d defeated the other day. This must have been his base of operations. The undead need a constant supply of mana to function. The coffin acted like an external power supply, extending the undead’s unlife expectancy.

I don’t think the necromancer’s here anymore.

“How come?”

The mummy wouldn’t need to rely on this coffin if they were.

“I see.”

Let’s go upstairs.

“Woof!”

We took the coffin with us and concealed ourselves before heading up. As expected, we were in someone’s mansion. Much like Count Olmes’ mansion, it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. The owner was probably one of Olmes’ cronies, which meant he’d probably been arrested already.

We continued our investigation of the mansion but came up dry. No hidden hallways, no clues left behind, no leads.

We returned underground to the T-shaped corridor and went the other way this time. Eventually, we found another vertical climb—the T-shaped corridor seemingly had three points of access.

There’s some light coming through.

“I smell grass.”

This specific hatch led to a particularly strange location. After exiting through the wooden door, we were now surrounded by four high walls. An ordinary person would have trouble climbing out of this. There were bricks jutting out of the walls, which I figured was done on purpose for the sake of footing.

I extended my strip again and found that the location was surrounded by noble mansions. Walled-in by four of them, in fact. There were no gaps in the walls, but one of the corners of the mansion had a recess in it which led to our access point.

The wooden door had signs of recent repair, which meant someone had been using it lately. Maybe our mummy had been a carpenter in his past life.

Smell anything, Jet?

“Woof!”

Great. Lead the way.

“You can do it, boy.”

“Woof, woof!”

We followed Jet’s nose, passing through noble mansions, until we eventually found ourselves in a familiar location.

“This is the alleyway we were in.” The same alleyway we’d defeated the mummy, in fact.

Is this where the scent trail stops?

“Woof.”

We had somehow retraced the mummy’s steps from when he left his coffin. He must’ve been asleep for a long time if there were no other traces of his scent around. The necromancer had probably fled Alessa after leaving their minions behind to wreak havoc.

It’s getting late. We can file our report tomorrow. Let’s look for a place to stay.

“I don’t mind staying at the guild lodgings.”

Uhhh, let’s stay at an inn. We have money now, after all.

A B Rank sleeping in the guild pub would make for bad optics. Klimt would mind, even if we didn’t. We’d definitely be better off looking for an inn, unless we wanted to pop his stomach ulcers wide open.

Fran clapped her fist into her open hand upon the suggestion. She had an idea.

“I know. We’ll go there.”

There?

“Hm!”

She nodded, and we headed for an inn located near the Adventurers’ Guild. It was an average-looking inn with affordable prices. Top of the low range, bottom of the middle range.

“Welcome,” the receptionist said and then paused. “Will you be staying the night?”

“Hm. Got any vacancies?”

“Yes, but are you alone?” she asked. Little girls didn’t often travel alone, after all.

“Here,” Fran said, showing the receptionist her guild card.

“Huh? An adventurer? And it’s real? Well…all right.” The receptionist accepted Fran’s guild card, just as she had the last time we were here.

Yes, this was the inn we first stayed at in Alessa. It was a trustworthy inn providing accommodations for female adventurers. The rooms were on the small side, but they were clean and tidy. For Fran, this place was filled with memories.

“Hm. This is the room.”

This takes me back. Nothing had changed in the room. The bed, drawers, desk, wardrobe…everything was where we had left it.

Fran could afford to stay at better hotels now. In fact, we had done just that some time ago. Still, she was happy here. She dived into the bed and started rolling on it after I cleaned her up with a cleansing spell. She buried her face in the pillow and took a huge whiff of it.

Well, someone’s excited.

“It’s this scent.”

She smiled while sniffing the pillow. I still didn’t get it.

D-does it smell that good?

“It smells just like the first time we stayed here together.”

Fran had been moved by the simple fact of an inn back then. It was her first night after being freed from slavery. There were better and nicer inns, but none could make Fran as happy as this one.

“And now Jet’s with us.”

“Woof!”

Jet jumped into bed and right into Fran’s arms. The sight of a little girl playing with her beloved pet dog was the very picture of bliss.

“Teacher.”

Yeah?

“Thanks.”

Really, what’s gotten into you?

“I just wanted to let you know.”

I see.

“Hm…”

Fran nodded, smiled, and before long had floated off to sleep.

She’s so much stronger than before, but she still sleeps like a baby.

Fran looked her age when she was innocently asleep like this. Jet had fallen asleep too, baring his belly for all to see. I wondered if our direwolf was really a wolf.

“Teacher…”

I know. I’m right here.

“Hm…”

Sweet dreams, Fran.