Slayers - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

2: The Strange Creatures Lurking Atlas at Night

“Oho! So you’ll take the job, then? Wonderful!” Master Talim said cheerily as he tore into a barbecue skewer between puffs of his cigar.

Can you even taste the food like that, man?

We were currently in the courtyard behind Master Talim’s mansion, seated around his tea table to discuss the job. And if you’re wondering why I’m suddenly calling him “Master,” it’s because I’m officially working for him now. So, seeing as how he’s my employer and all, I can’t go around addressing him without proper respect.

“How delightfully reassuring! I’ll be able to sleep soundly at night no matter what bizarre assassins Daymia chooses to send,” he proclaimed with a radiant smile. Okay, maybe “radiant” was going a little far, given the guy’s appearance.

“Not to rain on your parade, but I hope you won’t let your guard down, sir,” I cautioned him. “Now, if I may ask, regarding the duration of our service...”

“Well, let’s see. The council chairman election will be in half a month’s time, so I suppose until then. I can handle things myself after that. Now, as for your payment... There’s all your necessary expenses plus a per diem...”

Master Talim ended up quoting me a much higher offer than I’d expected. Either the guy had cash to burn, or he really was as appreciative as he claimed. Of course, it still wasn’t anywhere close to adequate compensation for dealing with full-fledged demons, but I knew what I was walking into when I took the job. I couldn’t exactly turn picky now.

Once we were done hashing out our contract with our new employer, Gourry and I decided to have a look around the estate. It was important to get the lay of the land, after all. We’d just had a look around the first floor, and were about to ascend the stairway to the second when...

“Sightseein’, you two?” came a jeering voice.

“Oh, yay. It’s you,” I said, my nose stridently wrinkled.

Leaning against a pillar, arms folded and sneering at us, was Lantz.

“We’re not sightseeing. We’re scouting. We need to identify defensible points and escape routes in case it comes to that. Not that I need to explain myself to an ass-obsessed perv like you,” I said, glaring at him in reproach.

Lantz’s nostrils flared... but he calmed himself quickly.

“Oh, hey, didn’t recognize you guys. I thought you were just some kid wanderin’ around with her guardian.”

Some kid?! Grrr!

I may be vertically challenged, but I don’t need anyone to remind me of that!

“Ooh, so you like playing grab-ass with kids, do ya? You’d better fix that malfunctioning personality of yours if you ever want anyone to like you.”

“Hngh...” Lantz grunted in futile rebuttal.

“Your silence speaks volumes. Must suck not having any friends, huh?”

“Sh-Shut up!” he fumed.

I nodded in overdramatic fashion as I replied, “Yes, it’s all coming together. That’s how people like you turn out...”

“She’s right,” Gourry chimed in. “If you don’t put any work into fixing your personality...”

Yes! You go, Gourry! Sic ’im!

“...You’ll end up just like Lina here.”

Urk! I slammed my head onto the railing. It hurt, but just a little.

“Wh-What gives?! Whose side are you on?!” I clamored.

Gourry scratched his head, looking confused.

“Wait... You don’t seriously think of yourself as a sweet, lovable person, do you?”

“Lay off, darn it!”

“Well, anyway... Uh, Lantz, was it? Sounds to me like you’re mad that Master Talim likes us, that Rod accepts us, and that we showed up out of the blue and started throwing our weight around without bothering to prove ourselves to you.”

“Yeah, sorta,” Lantz said sulkily.

“But... you saw me beat Daymia’s sorcerer, didn’t you?” I cut in.

“Oh, please. All you did was body check a guy into the mud. You weren’t that good; he was just that stupid.”

Rrgh! I mean, yeah, the guy was stupid. But still!

Methinks Lantz was just still mad about the day we met. Who holds a grudge over being clobbered with the corner of a serving tray, though? That’s just petty!

Actually, thinking about it... Maybe that’s kind of understandable.

“Okay. In that case, let me show you a sample of what I can do,” Gourry offered casually, unperturbed, and drew his sword.

Hey now!

“Why, you...!” Lantz growled, reaching for his own blade.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not trying to start anything.”

Gourry hastily waved off Lantz’s concerns as he pulled a small gold coin from his pocket. He then held his sword parallel to the ground with one hand, blade upright, and placed the coin atop it with his other. The coin lay there perfectly still, maintaining its precarious balance on the sword’s edge.

So far, this was standard street performer fare. Wait, unless...

“Hyah!” Gourry shouted, pulling his blade straight back.

I heard a faint metallic clink. Then another. My eyes went wide. Lantz’s too.

The coin was now on the floor, neatly cut in half. The mere act of pulling his blade out from beneath it had bisected the coin. You needed more than just talent to pull off a trick like that. It demanded incredible focus, skill, and speed.

“A-Awesome!” Lantz proclaimed in genuine awe.

Meanwhile, I took a few steps up the stairs. Gourry was busy sheathing his sword with a triumphant smile on his face. He never saw it coming.

“You bastard!”

Slam!

I executed a flying drop down the stairs, driving one knee right into the side of his head.

“Wh-What are you doing to my bro?!” Lantz shouted at me while helping the confused Gourry up.

Your “bro”? When did that happen, exactly?

“Wh-What in the world...? Y’know, Lina, that would’ve killed most people...” Gourry complained, shaking his head as he processed what had happened.

I put my hands on my hips and glared down at him.

“Even for a demonstration, wasting money is unforgivable!” I proclaimed. “I only gave you what you rightly deserved!”

I might be a master of black magic by trade, you see, but I come from a family of merchants. I’d grown up on the adage: “A real merchant never wastes a single copper!”

Incidentally, my big sister had a gig waiting tables back home while I was a sorcerer. It seemed unlikely that either of us were ever going to become a “real merchant.” But just because I didn’t want to live a life devoted to money didn’t mean I could just go around wasting it! The sight of Gourry squandering a gold coin so thoughtlessly just set my blood boiling.

“H-Hang on a second. That just means I have to make a profit off of this, right?” Gourry asked.

“I guess so. But how are you going to profit off of that?”

Gourry plucked the two pieces of the coin off the ground and showed them to Lantz.

“Well? No brag, but it’s a really clean cut, don’t you think?”

“Y-Yeah, for sure...”

“I don’t show this trick to people very often. Would you like to have it as a good luck charm? Just fifteen lieves.”

“Hell yeah! Sold!”

Lieves were the local currency. Ten of them were worth about one gold coin.

Oh, so we’ve got two merchants in the party, do we?

“So...” After placing the bisected gold coin into his pocket with great reverence, Lantz glared down his nose at me. “What exactly can you do? If you’re bossin’ around my bro here, you better have some chops. Or are you just some little duckling trailin’ behind him everywhere?”

D-D-Duckling?! I snapped.

“Oh, I’ll be happy to show you what I can do!” I shouted as I began to recite a spell.

“Gwah! No, Lina! Please, not that!”

Gourry, however, clung to me with such desperation that I generously decided to indulge his request and call off my Dragon Slave.

“Wow, sure aren’t many people around here, are there?” I said as I strolled down the street.

Lantz just looked at me condescendingly.

After finishing our tour of the Talim estate, we’d decided to scout out the rest of the city and do a little sightseeing on the side. For some reason, Lantz volunteered to act as tour guide; it seemed he’d taken a real shine to Gourry. The markets were concentrated downtown, however, so the area closer to the castle was almost completely deserted at this time of day.

“We’re here, bro,” Lantz said as he came to a stop.

Just across the road was an extremely large house. The property was probably comparable to the Talim estate in size, but the building itself was way bigger. It was about three stories tall and took up most of the land it sat on, leaving barely any room for a lawn.

“Oh, is this it?” Gourry whispered.

“Yeah. That’s Daymia’s residence,” Lantz responded congenially.

“Wonder why he built such a big house...” I muttered.

“Figure it out for yourself,” he snapped at me.

...

What the heck? I know favoritism when I see it! This guy is definitely holding a grudge!

“N-Now, now, Lina...” Gourry said placatingly when he noticed the angry glint in my eyes.

“Alright, then let’s get going!” I proposed.

Gourry’s and Lantz’s brows furrowed simultaneously.

“Get going... where?”

“Daymia’s place. Where else?”

“What?!” Lantz squeaked. “Are you nuts? You want the three of us bustin’ in there in broad daylight?”

“Who said anything about busting in?” I responded. “I figured we’d walk up and talk to the doorman or something. They can’t attack us just for knocking, and it’s a good way to feel ’em out.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Gourry said, arms crossed. “Master Talim mentioned the guy was kind of off in the head... and if we do end up in a scuffle somehow, he’s apparently well-connected. It wouldn’t be hard for him to paint us as the bad guys in the situation.”

“Hrmmm...”

I didn’t know what to say. I was a little taken aback, to be honest. Gourry hadn’t made a sound argument since... well, ever. I guess he had a shrewd side beneath that oblivious exterior.

“Well, maybe you’re right,” I said, giving in easily enough. “I’m not exactly jumping to meet the guy myself. So the next place to hit up should be, let’s say... Chairman Halciform’s house.”

I gave the dragon head knocker a firm pair of raps.

According to Master Talim, Halciform had an assistant named Rubia who’d been living alone in the chairman’s mansion ever since his disappearance. I wanted to get her story.

But there was no response at the door.

“Guess she’s not home...” I mumbled, looking up at the manor.

“Coming!” someone suddenly called from deep inside.

Huh? I know that voice...

Several moments later, I heard the door unlock. It swung open, and when the girl on the other side and I caught sight of each other, we both froze up.

Hair the color of sunset, eyes brimming with sadness... Yup, this was the girl who’d approached me on my way to the Talim estate, implored me to stay out of this, and then vanished.

She didn’t do anything openly suspicious like slam the door in my face, but she regarded us with extreme caution.

“Can I help you?” she asked as though we’d never seen each other before.

Ahh, okay. If that’s the way you want to play it...

“Would you be Mistress Rubia?” I asked.

She nodded.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. We’re investigating the disappearance of the council chairman, you see...” I lied openly.

Her expression changed slightly.

“I’ve already told the council everything I know. If you’re really with them, you should have my full testimony. Please leave me alone now,” she said as she moved to close the door, offering no room for debate on the matter.

“Just one question!” I insisted, anxious to know the truth behind what Master Talim had tried to hide from us. “What was the council chairman studying before he disappeared?”

The girl twitched. It was practically the same reaction Master Talim had given me. Her hesitation only lasted for a moment, however, before she looked straight into my eyes.

“He was studying... life. That’s all I can say,” she concluded by closing the door.

“What’s her problem?” Lantz said, disgruntled.

“Hmm...”

“Stay out of this,” huh?

“What are you grinning about?” Gourry asked me.

“You could say,” I said with a dramatic flourish of my cape, “that things have gotten just a little more interesting.”

“Um... Okay?”

I tossed and turned in bed that night.

See, Gourry and I had decided to leave our things at the inn and stay at Master Talim’s place. It goes without saying that assassins are most likely to attack at night, so it’s not a good look for a bodyguard to waltz out after dark with a simple, “It’s getting late, so I’d better head back to my inn!”

As for why we didn’t go fetch our belongings... Well, as long as we were in Master Talim’s employ, there was always the chance that someone might set fire to his house. In that event, our priority would have to be rescuing our employer, and after escorting him to safety, it was unlikely we’d be able to double back to save our stuff. And that would be terrible.

Actually, terrible would be an understatement. My bag was loaded with magic items that weren’t necessarily useful to most folks, but were quite valuable. Even if I sold them at rock-bottom prices, I’d make enough coin to buy out Talim’s estate, his mercenaries, and his household belongings—the whole lot—and retire into a life of luxury.

So, yeah, you get the picture. Magic is an expensive business, and the thought of all that money going up in flames... It’s enough to make a girl lose sleep. (Obviously, we had no guarantee that the inn wouldn’t burn down either, but you just have to have faith after a certain point.)

That said, my restlessness tonight wasn’t for fear of my belongings. You could call it a premonition, I guess. I actually have them fairly frequently. Any night I’m exhausted but can’t sleep is a stone-cold guarantee of an incoming attack, and tonight was shaping up to be one of those nights.

I sat up in bed. My room was pretty cushy—too cushy, actually, for a hired guard. Master Talim’s excuse was simply that he believed in “chivalry” (pronounced with a hard ch, mind you). Incidentally, the boys were all crammed together, taking turns on night watch.

I got up and put my slippers on. I was wearing the same outfit from this afternoon, minus my cape which I’d set on my pillow. (I couldn’t really sleep with it on.) I wanted to be ready to deal with any trouble that came my way.

Just to be careful, I grabbed my sword and slipped it through my belt before leaving the room. Hey, don’t look at me like that! I’m just taking a little trip to the bathroom.

There were a few men in the hallway, all out cold. Some were wrapped in blankets on the floor, while others—probably meant to be standing watch—were fast asleep leaning on their swords. I pressed onward, careful not to step on anyone.

It had been a little overly hot during that day, but now that the sun was down, it got cold without a cape on. I managed to get my business done, but it was a chilly walk back to my room.

“Guh, I’m freezin’ here...” I whispered before stopping dead in my tracks.

I drew up behind a nearby door—a small open one that led out to the rear courtyard. There was something... off... about the air outside. It wasn’t a presence, exactly. Naturally, there were a dozen or so men on the watch outside as well, and there was nothing strange about their behavior. No, what I was sensing outside was a sort of chill in the air itself. It wasn’t hostility or bloodlust, but it still gave me goosebumps.

Suddenly, a shiver shot up my spine. My gut told me things were about to get real... And then came clanging and screaming from the courtyard.

“Wake up, everyone! It’s an attack!” I shouted, kicking the nearest couple of sleeping guards before flying out the door myself.

The smell of blood stung my nose. There must have been casualties already.

I could see blades flashing in the darkness, illuminated by torches and moonlight. The greatest danger of night fighting is always collateral damage. “Oops, my bad” wouldn’t really cut it if someone like Gourry or Rod caught someone they didn’t mean to with their blade.

I recited a chant and tossed a few Lighting spells around the area. It was only then that I saw them.

The assassins were a curious bunch. About a dozen huge men... Actually, in terms of height, they weren’t much over average. It was their sheer mass that was so remarkable. Each one had biceps about as thick as my waist, and it was easy to imagine just how strong they were by their frankly absurd combat technique. They used steel poles spun like wagon wheels in their left hands to block attacks, while wielding massive executioner’s swords in their right hands for offense. I wouldn’t want to cross these guys, even on a good day.

But what really got me about them... was that they all had the same face. They looked about twenty years of age or so and were all completely bald. Their expressions were uniformly blank, too, not registering the slightest hint of bloodlust even as they sliced at their opponents.

Battle homunculi created by Daymia, huh?

Master Talim was right. If a guy who made things like this assumed control of the council, it wouldn’t take long for Atlas City to gain an unsavory reputation all the way from Zephilia in the north to the Elemekian Empire in the south.

These beefy dudes weren’t the only killers Daymia had created, however. I could see red orbs hovering just outside of my Lighting spell—they were the eyes of large wolves, whose purple-scaled bodies were dotted with thick spikes. If I had to guess, I’d say there were a few dozen of them.

We had a considerable advantage in terms of numbers, but as far as skill and morale were concerned? Uh-oh. There was just no way a few dozen hired mercenaries could compete with twisted beings bred for battle. More and more guards were pouring out of the house by the minute, but many froze in fear or turned tail and ran the minute they saw Daymia’s bizarre creations. To their credit, some stayed to fight as well.

That included Rod, who practically blended into the dead of night. He burst forth from the pack, charging the closest homunculus as he drew his sword from his back. The homunculus raised his own sword high, but just as Rod reached him—he suddenly changed direction and veered right. The executioner’s sword whistled through empty air, and I saw a flash of Rod’s blade in the light of my spell.

As Rod sailed by the homunculus, I heard a thunk as the big guy’s metal pole hit the ground in two pieces. In that same moment, blood spurted from his side. As he’d passed, Rod had apparently cut through the guy’s abdomen and the iron rod right along with it...

But that didn’t stop him from swinging his giant sword again. The homunculus seemed completely unfazed by the fairly deep wound. He didn’t scream or even bat an eye; he just moved immediately into a counterattack. Perhaps they were designed not to feel pain.

Rod ducked, dodging the head-high sweep before springing forward. In an instant, he’d cut the guy in half, stem to stern. His bloody blade glinted red in the light.

Gourry held his longsword at his side as he approached another of the hulking homunculi with the air of a casual stroll. The big guy raised his sword expressionlessly, and an exchange of silver flashes followed. Gourry dodged his opponent’s sword, then slid in close and drove his own blade right through the guy’s forehead. His body slowly collapsed to the ground.

“Hah! Oh—whoa there!”

Gourry quickly leaped back as something tore through where he’d just been standing. With a flash of his sword, he struck the object to the ground... It looked like a slightly pointed horn. A purple-scaled wolf had launched one of its spikes at him, as fast as an arrow.

The wolf (if you could even call it that) then took in a deep breath like it was storing up for a release of power. A second later, more spikes came flying at Gourry. Were he a normal man, he’d have absolutely no way to dodge them all...

But only a fool would think something so basic could take down Gourry!

“You’ll have to do better than that!” he shouted as he leaped off the ground.

He easily tracked and dodged the various spike attacks the lupine creature shot out as he closed in on his target. Gourry reached the wolf just as it was taking another deep breath. With a single upward slash, he cleaved its scaly body so quickly and smoothly that its feet didn’t even leave the ground. The wolf then dissolved with the wheeze of a deflating balloon.

And Lantz, I gotta admit, was holding his own. He rushed one of the big guys straight from the front, locking his two-handed bastard sword with the homunculus’s equally large blade. A split-second later, Lantz pivoted on their clashing swords, propelling himself into the big guy’s personal space. He then let go of his hilt with his right hand and thrust an elbow smack into the guy’s lowered jaw.

Wordlessly, the mountain of a man lost his balance. Lantz stepped in, and before the big dude could even recover, he brushed his fist lightly along the guy’s chin.

Did he miss? No...

The big man toppled forward, falling to his knees. What had looked like a glancing blow must’ve rattled his brainpan pretty good. Lantz then circled around the guy and plunged his sword straight into his spine. It seemed his fighting style was a combination of swordsman and brawler moves.

“I can do this all night! Who’s next?!” Lantz taunted. When it was one of the wolves that stepped up to the plate, however, he muttered, “Well, I’d prefer another one of those hulks, but...”

Now, surely I don’t need to tell you that I wasn’t just sitting around watching all this go down. The assassins wouldn’t let me, for starters.

One of the wolves close to me began sucking in air. Not good! I sped through an incantation just before it fired all of its spikes at once.

“Diem Wind!”

The air in front of me contracted, channeling into a shockwave that I launched at the wolf. It was a wind spell on the weaker side, designed to stall an opponent at best, but it was enough to scatter the wolf’s incoming spikes. The wolf—now covered in holes where the spikes had been—could only stand there, confused.

“Have at you!”

“You son of a...!”

“Take this! And that! And this!”

The moment they realized our opponent’s attacks had been neutralized, my fellow mercenaries rushed the wolf, climbing over each other to be the first to kick it around. But just as I was enjoying that particular delightful scene, a shadow fell over me. One of the big guys was behind me!

I just barely managed to dodge a swing of his executioner’s sword, and while I did that, I began to recite a spell. Take this!

I slammed a hand into the ground: “Bepheth Bring!”

This was a spell that invoked spirits of the earth, typically to create tunnels in the ground. I, however, had just cast it right below the big guy’s feet.

His hands clawed at the air around him, but it didn’t save him from being dropped to the bottom of the large sinkhole that formed. It wasn’t deep enough for the fall to kill him, but it wasn’t shallow enough for him to crawl out of, either.

“All yours, fellas!” I called to a few nearby mercenaries.

“Sure!” came their cheerful replies.

The mercenaries, feeling properly confident against a helpless opponent, dropped stones on him from above, doused him with oil, and set him on fire. I felt a little bad for the big guy... But just as I was thinking that, I realized someone was watching me.

I turned around. There was a black silhouette standing against the white-painted wall near the front gate. A humanoid figure wearing a white mask... Seigram!

I took off running toward the white-masked demon.

“So... you decided to ignore our warning. Ah, well...” Seigram said, almost to himself.

I stopped just before reaching him, suddenly stricken with regret. Maybe it was because I’d been pretty drunk when I first met him, but I hadn’t realized what a high-ranked demon he was. I’d clashed with a demon far beyond Seigram’s level once and won, but it was a hard-fought victory that hinged on a few critical elements lining up in my favor.

Of course, I was pretty sure that I could bury Seigram if I used my secret spell. But... that move was just a little too powerful. Using it here would crater half of Atlas City.

A Ra Tilt could also do the trick. This was an incredibly powerful spell that attacked an opponent’s astral form. Too bad I couldn’t use it. More precisely, I’d never learned it.

I’d never had much call for it, and it was just a little... light on pizzazz, you know? I’d always figured a Dragon Slave or two would be enough to get me out of anything, but if I’d known this was gonna happen, I definitely would’ve had that baby in my back pocket... Ugh! Well, no point in kicking myself now! Just gotta get this done!

“Is it Two-Mask’s day off?” I asked.

I’d expected Seigram’s fellow demon Gio to be with him, but there was no sign of him at the moment. I couldn’t help wondering why.

“Gio Gaia? I wouldn’t know... I was only ordered here to observe the battle.”

“By Daymia the Blue?” I asked.

Gio aside, being able to summon and control a demon like Seigram... Daymia must be a powerful sorcerer indeed.

Seigram didn’t reply, however. We just silently sized each other up for a time.

What would he try first? I could feel cold sweat forming on my back. But just then...

“Hey, need a hand?” a voice asked from behind me, no respect whatsoever for the tension in the air.

I knew who it was without even having to look.

“Finished up over there, Gourry?” I asked, still glaring at Seigram despite an internal feeling of relief.

“Yeah, pretty much. They’ve still got Rod, so I figured they’d be okay even if I slipped out. But this is that demon guy, right?”

“‘That demon guy’?” Really, man? “Anyway... I’d appreciate your help.”

I took a step back so I was side-by-side with Gourry. In the absence of a big, flashy spell of my own, that weapon of his would be a lifesaver. But just as prospects for a plan were looking up...

“I’m sorry, but... I can’t fight you now,” Seigram said quietly.

“Wuh?” Gourry and I stammered, trading looks of surprise.

“I was ordered to witness the battle, not participate. I have neither cause nor will to engage you.”

“Not so fast!” I screamed. “You can’t send berserker homunculi and wolf chimeras at us and then back off! You might not wanna fight, but we sure as hell do!”

“I see... Then you leave me no choice,” Seigram said simply as he began to move forward.

Gourry and I both took an unconscious step back. White-Mask then leaped off the ground and into the air... but the next instant, he disappeared behind the wall.

He’d made a show of charging us to freeze us in place, before simply running away.

“You’re not getting away that easy!” I shouted, maneuvering around the gate and chasing after the fleeing silhouette of a black cape.

“Hey! Wait for me, Lina!” Gourry said, tagging along.

And so our pursuit through the dark streets began. The town was deathly quiet. The moon was hidden by the clouds tonight, so all we had to illuminate our way were the Lighting-enchanted street lamps.

Seigram darted through the chilly night air like a fish through water, his black cape flapping noiselessly in the wind behind him.

I feel like I’m dreaming, I thought, inspired by the strange scene. All I could hear was Gourry’s and my footfalls and the sound of our breathing.

White-Mask didn’t simply disappear into the night like he had after our first encounter. We wouldn’t be able to give chase like this if he had. Either that ability belonged solely to Gio, or...

Or Seigram was luring us somewhere.

I glanced at Gourry, who was either thinking really hard or not thinking at all. It was impossible to tell just by the look on his face.

Our strange parade through the night continued, sometimes down the empty avenue and sometimes down narrow back alleys.

It finally hit me: We were heading for Daymia the Blue’s.

Seigram suddenly vanished just before the big, old-fashioned building came into view. Just as I’d suspected, it was Daymia’s estate.

There was no sign of security out in the disproportionately small lawn, but I could see light streaming from the windows above. I didn’t like it. It was too obvious. A blatant trap.

“Had a feeling we’d end up here,” I said.

“What? You know this place?”

Argh! Gourry’s question literally brought me to my knees.

“Y-You... We were here just this afternoon! Lantz brought us!”

“He did?” Gourry folded his arms pensively before saying, “Hmm... I guess it just gives off a different vibe at night.”

That’s the issue?

“So, where are we again?” he asked.

“Daymia’s house!” I cried.

“Ooh!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “I thought so!”

“That’s very convenient given I just told you where we were... But this is no time for a comedy routine! Let’s get going already!”

“Get going where?”

For the love of everything, would someone please deal with this man for me?!

“Daymia’s place!” I said, just barely managing to hold my temper.

“Hmm... I gotta say, though,” Gourry began with a completely straight face. “My gut’s telling me this is a trap.”

“I know that, dammit!” I shouted. “It’s the trappiest trap that ever trapped! But if we don’t spring the trap, we’ll never figure out what they’re after! Call it foolhardy or reckless or just plain stupid, but to do nothing out of ‘caution’ would be even stupider!”

I huffed and puffed. Gourry turned to me and put his hands on my shoulders, still heaving from my rant.

Huh?

“Lina,” he said in a quiet voice, staring straight into my eyes.

Him looking at me like that outta nowhere had me kind of antsy...

“I need you to listen to me,” he continued.

“What...? Why are you being so serious all of a sudden?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“All this shouting in the middle of the night is going to bother the neighbors.”

I laid into Gourry—specifically, into his jaw with my fist.

“This is so a trap,” I said in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, total trap city,” Gourry quietly agreed.

We were currently walking down an empty corridor inside Daymia’s estate. When I saw lights in the windows from outside, I’d just assumed the place would be packed with guards, but... there wasn’t a soul around.

Door after door lined the hallways as we proceeded. Seemed like this wing was being used as sleeping quarters for the mercenaries, because all we could hear inside was snoring. We opened the door to an evidently unoccupied room, however, and found it was an ordinary storage closet.

Would a guy in the middle of a deadly power struggle really have such lax security? The answer was... no, of course not.

That left only one explanation here. We were being lured somewhere... But where?

I was hoping we’d get there soon enough, but this mansion was seriously huge! The building looked ginormous from the outside, but it seemed even bigger inside. Moreover, it was laid out like a maze!

You’d try to walk straight, and then the next thing you knew, you’d be standing in front of the door you’d come in from. You’d think you hadn’t gone up a single stair, but you’d open a door and find yourself in the attic. It was like the place was designed by some mad architect. Granted, you’d have to be mad to be creating an army of homunculi in the first place...

Anyhoo, after a lot of wandering, we finally arrived at a door. It was large and covered in gold leaf, with a five-pointed star of exorcism carved into it. It was clearly the entrance to a ritual chamber. I couldn’t sense anyone beyond it, though.

“Is this the place?” Gourry asked in a whisper.

“It’s gotta be,” I responded in kind. “I know it’s a trap, but we’re going in anyway. You ready, Gourry?”

“How could I possibly be?”

I glared at him.

“Don’t go soft on me now! Why do you always dig your heels in when we’re right on the threshold?”

“How is not doing whatever pops into your head at any given moment ‘digging my heels in’?”

“Look, sometimes life runs on spurious logic.”

“This is way beyond spurious!”

“Hey, look at you,” I said admiringly. “You actually know what ‘spurious’ means, huh?”

“Nope! I was just arguing!”

“...Ah...”

Gourry and I were going at it quietly, mind you. We were keeping our voices down, so our banter was lacking some of its usual vigor.

“Listen, Gourry, if you don’t want to do this, why did you follow me all the way here?”

“To try to keep you from doing something stupid!”

“When have I ever done anything stupid?!”

“Always! All the time! What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when you bust through that door?”

“Probably launch a Fireball... or three...”

“See? Stupid! Besides, we don’t know the whole story yet.”

“Duh. Given the way Master Talim acted when I asked about Council Chairman Halciform... Well, Daymia here’s in on the drama somehow, so I want to hear his side of things.”

“Huh?” Gourry gawked at my explanation, staring at me dumbly. “Hey, wait a minute! If that’s your plan, it’s all the more reason to show a little caution!”

Ugh, quit stalling me right at the good part!

“Hang on, Gourry!”

“Oh?”

I hushed him and put an ear to the door.

“What is it?” Gourry asked.

Ah, the fool. He had so much to learn about the way that I scheme!

“I don’t think we’re gonna have a choice about going in there soon.”

“What?!”

Gourry looked around in a frantic flurry, but the only sign of life was still behind the door. He then looked at me, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“After all... I’m about to do this!” I declared, kicking open the door before he could say a word.

See? Now we didn’t have a choice!

Gourry just stared, dumbstruck.

After entering the now-open door, we came to a stop. A vast space spread out before us. It was a massive room in the shape of a perfect circle. It looked like it must take up about half the entire mansion, and the only noteworthy feature inside it was a pentagram, signifying exorcism, scrawled across the whole floor pointing northward.

A rune breaker...

Pentagrams could be used as the basis for barriers, which would weaken the effects of all magic therein. Of note, however, was the fact that such a barrier’s power drew from the pentagram’s total area, not the caster’s ability. In other words, as long as you could make it large enough, anyone could create a barrier powerful enough to seal even my magic. But... this one wasn’t too big for me to handle.

Across the large room was an altar with a man standing before it, a crazed smile on his face. He was balding, his remaining hair black with a beard to match. He had large bug-eyes that flicked restlessly around the room. And... he was wearing a blue cape.

“Master Daymia?” I asked.

The man drew back suddenly.

“Assassins from Talim!” he squealed in a higher-pitched voice than I’d expected. His already bulging eyes opened even wider.

We couldn’t help recoiling a little.

“I mean... I guess you could call us that?” Gourry replied all too honestly.

“I knew it! Haha... I knew it! The old toad! After what he made me do, he planned to kill me in the end! Yes... of course! Uwee hee hee! I knew it all from the start! Did he think I wouldn’t? Doesn’t he know who I am?!”

Gourry and I exchanged a glance. Hoo boy...

“Great job, Gourry. Now he’s totally pissed at us.”

“Don’t whine to me. You’re the one who took this job.”

On the other side of the room, Daymia kept shouting, his incomprehensible rambles mixed with incomprehensible laughter.

Guh, this stuff really freaks me out. Still, Daymia had said something interesting: “After what he made me do...” Based on his “old toad” comment, I assumed he was talking about Master Talim. But what had Master Talim made him do, exactly? I felt like that was the question I needed to press him on.

“Wait! We don’t mean you any harm!” I called out.

Daymia’s laughter trailed off as he gazed at us blankly.

“Talk about a bald-faced lie,” Gourry whispered from beside me. I ignored him, of course!

“You’re not... assassins?” Daymia asked in disbelief.

“No, we’re not assassins.”

Silence fell. A few moments later, a smile crept across Daymia’s face, every bit as insane as before.

“I see... Uwee hee hee, I see! Yes, I see everything! If you’re not Talim’s assassins, then... you came to steal my precious chimeras!”

Wait, what?

“Yes, I see it all... but you can’t have them! They’re my darling children! You’ll never have them! Never!”

Oh boy...

“No! We’re not here to steal your dumb chimeras!”

“You’re... not thieves?” Daymia stared at us in disbelief once more before breaking into a grin again. “Of course... Uwee hee hee, I see! If you’re not thieves, then you must be assassins from Talim!”

Arrrrrrrrgh! I couldn’t help clutching my head.

“Your own fault for expecting a real conversation outta this guy,” Gourry whispered.

“Yeah, my bad,” I said contritely. “I guess we’ll have to take him in for questioning. Just don’t be too rough, okay?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” I said with a dismissive wave before stepping forward.

Daymia recoiled dramatically.

“S-Stay back! Stay away from me! Fwah ha ha... Y-Your filthy hands are unfit to touch me! You cannot harm Daymia the Blue! You can’t!”

Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

We ignored him and continued to approach.

“Stay back! If you come any closer, I’ll... I’ll...”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll... do this!” Daymia exclaimed, yanking on a nearby cord.

Pa-kap!

The magic circle under us was suddenly a huge pit trap.

“Oh.”

Of cooooourse!

“Lina!” Gourry shouted, clinging to me as we fell. “Make magic go now!”

No kidding! I’m already on it!

“Levitation!”

My Levitation spell could support the weight of a whole carriage, easy. Daymia’s barrier would weaken it some, but not fatally. And so, our plummet...

Wait, it didn’t stop? Wuh? Okay, it had slowed considerably, but we were still on our way toward an unseen bottom below.

“What’s wrong? We’re still falling!”

“I know that! But don’t worry!” I had an inkling what the problem was, but no time to lay it all out for Gourry. “I can still support one person’s weight!”

Krrrk! Gourry’s face froze right up... Then he clung to me even tighter.

“H-Hey!”

“Lina! Let’s die together!”

“Hey! It was just a joke! Hey! Watch those hands, buddy! Gah!”

We lost our balance in midair and tumbled into proper freefall.

Fwoosh!

There was a splash and the crashing of water around us... I think? I wasn’t conscious enough to really process it.