"So, no luck on my end then."
I let out a sigh as Sylpha shook her head in turn.
It had been several days since the concert, and I was gathered with the others for a progress report.
"We have nothing to show for it either, I'm afraid," Sylpha said. "We investigated every individual on the registry we obtained, but found no leads."
"I managed to sneak into the mansions of several high-ranking officials," Ren of the Poison Moth added, her tone neutral. "But nothing seemed out of the ordinary."
"There are believers among the adventurers, but none of them had anything useful to say," Tao noted, her shoulders slumped in disappointment.
It seemed this investigation was going to take some time.
Suddenly, the door swung open. Saria di Saloom burst into the room.
"You're all here," she panted. "Perfect."
"What's wrong, Saria-neesan? You look like you've been running."
Saria ignored the question, staring straight at me with uncharacteristic intensity.
"Listen. Listen closely... Isha has disappeared."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
"We were supposed to have tea together, so I went to the church," Saria continued, her voice trembling slightly. "But she wasn't there. The Priest said he hadn't seen her since this morning. I went to her house, but it was empty... I've searched everywhere, but I can't find her! Lloyd, you can use magic, right? Isn't there something you can do?"
Saria usually kept a stoic, blunt expression, but now she was pacing, her feet tapping restlessly against the floor. She was genuinely frightened.
Could this be the work of the mastermind?
If they knew the Wraith possessing the Priest had been driven out, it stood to reason they would target Isha next—she worked at the same church and was a practitioner of Holy Magic.
Finding Isha might be the key to finding the one behind all of this.
"...I understand, Saria-neesan. Isha has helped me quite a bit, after all."
"I'm counting on you, Lloyd. She's one of the few friends I have."
"All right. Let's get started. Shiro!"
"Woof!"
I picked up the little Bearwolf as it rubbed against my legs.
"Do you think you can find Isha?"
"Whine..."
Shiro's tail went limp. Shiro and Isha hadn't had much contact; without a strong scent-memory to follow, tracking her was impossible.
Usually.
"I'll just have to use this, then. Strengthening System Magic: 'Sense Enhancement'."
This was a specialized spell for familiars that drastically amplified a specific sense. It was far too taxing for the human body to handle, but for a creature like Shiro, it would work perfectly. I focused the magic on its nose.
"How about it now, Shiro? Can you track her?"
"Woof!"
The little beast let out an energetic bark and bolted out of the room.
"Okay, let's go."
"I'm coming too!" Saria cried, moving to follow.
"No, Saria-neesan. You stay here. If something goes wrong, I need you to be the one to tell Albert-niisan."
"But..."
"Master Lloyd shall be protected by us, even at the cost of our lives," Sylpha interjected, her voice professional and firm. "It is far too dangerous for you, Lady Saria. Please, wait here."
"...Fine. I'd probably just be a hindrance anyway. I understand. But you'd better be back by tomorrow, Lloyd. If you aren't, I'm telling Albert everything."
"I know. Thanks, Saria-neesan."
"Be careful."
With Saria watching us go, we set off after Shiro.
He led us straight back to the sewers beneath the Dean Great Bridge. My suspicions were confirmed; there was definitely something hidden down here.
"The paths are much easier to navigate now that Master Lloyd's Holy Magic has purged the filth," Sylpha remarked.
The sludge that had once choked the tunnels was gone, allowing us to move at a brisk pace. Shiro darted ahead, occasionally glancing back to make sure we were following.
"This direction... we're heading toward the church again, aren't we?" Ren observed.
"Yeah. There's almost certainly a base of operations in this area."
"Woof! Woof!"
Shiro suddenly stopped and began barking at a seemingly solid wall.
"What is it, Shiro?"
"Hmm. It sounds hollow behind there," Tao said, rapping her knuckles against the masonry. It gave off a dry, echoing thud.
A hidden passage.
The wall looked identical to the others at a glance, but with the grime cleared away, I could see a slight discrepancy in the color of the stones.
"I'll handle this. 'Ki Palm'!"
Tao pressed her palm against the stone. Spiderweb cracks rippled outward from her touch, and the wall disintegrated into a heap of rubble with a loud crash.
"Whoops. Maybe that was a bit much."
"Don't worry about it. I've already set up a sound-dampening Barrier," I said.
I'd used Wind System Magic to ensure no noise would leak out of our immediate vicinity. We could be as loud as we wanted without alerting anyone deeper inside.
"As expected of Master Lloyd. Always thorough," Sylpha noted.
"I'll also cast 'Dark Vision' on everyone so we don't have to rely on light. Just be careful—if we walk into a bright room suddenly, it might blind you for a second."
"Got it!"
With the spell active, the darkness became as clear as day. We moved into the breach, our guards up.
After navigating a narrow corridor, we emerged into a sprawling chamber.
"Th-This is..."
The massive space was filled with rows upon rows of glass jars, each containing a preserved monster. They weren't dead, but held in a state of suspended animation by heavy seals.
Surgical tables, blood-stained knives, piles of bone, syringes, and stacks of research notes were scattered everywhere.
"How gruesome..." Sylpha whispered.
"Ugh... the smell is awful," Tao added, covering her nose.
"So many monsters," Ren said, her eyes wide. "And many of these species shouldn't even be found in this region."
Everyone looked pale, but I found myself fascinated. This was a laboratory. As a fellow researcher, I could see exactly what they were doing here. They were experimenting with monster synthesis and forced mutations. The Ghouls and Vampires we'd encountered were likely the failed or successful results of these tests.
...They were doing some incredibly advanced research. Even I hadn't pushed things this far yet. It was enviably outrageous.
"Woof! Woof!"
"There's more further in. Let's keep moving."
We followed Shiro to the back of the facility, where we found a room that looked like a makeshift infirmary. Isha Hannibark was there, lying unconscious on a bed.
"Isha-san!"
Ren rushed to her side and placed a hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes, concentrating her mana.
"She's been drugged," Ren diagnosed. "It looks like a sedative derived from Chloro-herb. I think."
Ren had been studying under me, learning to identify natural toxins and medicines so she could better understand the poisons her own body produced.
"If you inhale a concentrated dose, you lose consciousness almost instantly. It's commonly used as an anesthetic, so the toxicity is low. She should wake up in a few hours."
Ren looked at me for confirmation, and I gave her a small nod. She'd remembered her lessons well.
"That's impressive, Ren. You're like a real doctor," Tao praised.
"Lloyd taught me... ehehe," Ren replied, smiling bashfully.
I'd only lent her some books and supervised her reading, but her own dedication was what had brought her this far.
"In that case, I'll carry her," Sylpha said. "Now that we've found her, let's—!"
Sylpha's voice cut off as she narrowed her eyes.
"Something is coming."
"Yes. It seems we've been discovered. Master Lloyd, please stay back."
A wet, slithering sound echoed through the hall. From the shadows emerged a Lamia—a monster with the torso of a woman and the long, muscular tail of a snake.
"...Wait. Is this a disguise too?"
The Ghouls, the Vampires, and now this Lamia... they were all humanoid monsters. This was likely a byproduct of the research here—creatures specifically engineered to look like monsters to serve as a camouflage for the facility's true purpose.
"Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh...!"
The Lamia flicked its long tongue, its eyes fixed on us with predatory intent.
"Here it comes!"
With Sylpha's warning, the creature lunged.