“Shooo...!”
The Lamia raised both hands and began kneading her mana.
Oh, she intended to use magic, did she? Looking at that spell formula, it was the Wind System Middle Magic, Storm Fang.
The Lamia’s right hand glowed with an ominous light as she unleashed a barrage of wind blades.
—However, they simply dissipated the moment they struck the Magic Barrier I had automatically deployed.
“Hah!”
Sylpha lunged forward, seizing the opening. Her sword swung down, but it was repelled by the void, failing to reach the Lamia’s skin.
It seemed the creature was maintaining a Magic Barrier of her own. To use middle-tier magic while simultaneously holding a barrier strong enough to deflect Sylpha’s slashes... she was surprisingly powerful.
“Crumbling Fist!”
“There!”
Tao’s strike, bolstered by her Ki, and Ren of the Poison Moth’s attack from a blind spot were both neutralized by the barrier.
Hmm. That’s quite sturdy. It didn't look like the three of them could take her down on their own.
“That Lamia’s packin’ a hell of a lot of mana, Boss. And she’s usin’ magic to boot...”
“As Master Lloyd predicted, do you think she really is a monster synthesized through some foul experiment?”
“Could be. If so... I’d like to capture her.”
Even from a distance, I could see that the Lamia’s body was held together by complex spell formulas. How had she been synthesized? How was she different from other monsters? What specific role did magic play in her biological functions? I really wanted to examine her thoroughly.
However, shattering that Magic Barrier would require high-level Attack Magic. I could manage it easily enough, of course, but an offensive spell powerful enough to break through would be far too flashy.
Unlike barriers or Holy Magic, which were subtle enough to hide what was actually happening, using high-tier Attack Magic would risk Sylpha and the others discovering my true strength as a mage. I wanted to avoid that at all costs. In that case...
“Ren, I want to capture her. Can you stop her with poison?”
“! Leave it to me.”
Catching my drift, Ren of the Poison Moth nodded and dashed forward, seemingly melting into the darkness. While Ren couldn't breach that Magic Barrier alone, it was a different story with my help.
Spatial System Magic, Shadow Link.
By connecting shadows with a path of mana, I could enable short-range spatial leaps. Combined with Ren’s specialized assassin’s footwork, it allowed for near-instantaneous movement.
The Lamia tried to adjust her Magic Barrier to compensate, but she wasn’t fast enough. With a dull squelch, Ren buried a dagger coated in a vivid purple toxin into the Lamia’s back.
“Gi...?!”
“Don’t worry. It’s just sleeping poison,” Ren murmured as the Lamia collapsed.
I quietly approached and checked her breathing. ...Yes, she was still alive. Ren had successfully extracted only the sedative components. Her ability to refine poisons was steadily improving.
“That was an excellent move, Ren.”
“Thank you, Sylpha-san. But it was only thanks to Lloyd’s magic.”
Hey, keep my involvement on the down-low! Why do you think I used support magic instead of just blowing her up?
“As I thought, it was Master Lloyd’s doing. You judged that using Attack Magic in such a confined space would be dangerous and immediately pivoted to a supporting role. Your situational judgment is truly magnificent.”
Sylpha was muttering something to herself, but she didn’t seem particularly suspicious, so I decided to let it slide. Regardless, this place was a literal treasure trove of research materials. I wanted to investigate it alone, which meant the others were currently in my way.
“Now then, we have everything we came for. Let’s head back quickly.”
“That is the plan, certainly... but Master Lloyd, why are you in such a hurry?”
Sylpha tilted her head, looking at me with a puzzled expression. Ugh, she was too sharp for her own good.
“I—I’m not in a hurry! We just need to get Isha back as soon as possible so everyone can stop worrying, right?”
“Hmph, that’s true-aru. There’s no reason to stay in this creepy place any longer than necessary.”
“Exactly!”
Safe. It looked like I’d managed to talk my way out of it. I couldn't exactly scour this laboratory with everyone watching.
“Then I’ll set the place ablaze. A dangerous facility like this can’t be allowed to remain.”
Just as I was ushering everyone out, Tao placed a torch at the entrance. Wait, Tao, what do you think you’re doing?!
“Indeed. And we have plenty of fuel right here... There we go.”
Sylpha began scattering the documents she had gathered.
“Ah...”
Before I could utter a word of protest, the fire caught the papers and quickly spread, the flames growing larger by the second. Dammit. If I tried to put it out now, it would look incredibly suspicious. ...I guess I had no choice.
I turned my back on the experimental site and started walking.
“...Right. Well, evil has been purged. Let's go home.”
“Master Lloyd, you’ve been acting strange for some time now... Is something wrong?”
“I told you, it’s nothing! Don't worry about it! Look, we have to go put Saria-neesan’s mind at ease, don't we?”
“Sigh. That is true, but...”
Sylpha watched me with narrow, doubting eyes. Regardless, we took Isha and made our way back to the castle.
“Isha!”
When we returned to the castle, Saria di Saloom was waiting for us and rushed over immediately. She took Isha’s hand, her face etched with worry.
“She’s alright. She’s just unconscious.”
“...I see. Thank goodness.”
“She should wake up by tonight. Once she does, we can ask her what happened. She might have a clue about who did this.”
We tucked Isha into bed, and she immediately began mumbling in her sleep.
“Mmm... no more... I can’t eat another bite...”
“...Honestly, you... always making me worry...”
Saria-neesan reached out and gave the cheek of the blissfully sleeping Isha a firm pinch. She must have been incredibly relieved; her usual cool, expressionless mask was nowhere to be found. Seeing her like that, Sylpha and the others shared a knowing, wry smile.
“Now then, I hope everything is in one piece...”
That night, I slipped out of the castle and returned to the experimental site in the sewers. After walking past the charred entrance, I found the interior perfectly intact.
Good. It looked like the barrier had held. Anticipating this exact scenario, I had secretly cast a barrier inside the lab to protect it from the fire. My haste to get the others to leave was entirely to ensure they didn't see me do it.
The interior was safe. Excellent. Now I could start gathering information. I stepped inside and was about to begin my search when—
“Um...”
I tensed at the sudden voice, but standing there was the Lamia we had defeated earlier. I was about to activate a spell when I saw the dazed, vacant look on her face and hesitated.
“Awawa?! P-Please don’t kill me!”
The Lamia crouched down and clutched her head in terror. I lowered my hand. Something was definitely different.
“What’s the deal with this one? She’s actin’ way different than she was this afternoon, Boss.”
“Hmph. It seems that being defeated by Master Lloyd allowed her to regain her senses. Looking closely, she has quite a charming face. Not quite my type, though.”
Grimo and Jiriel seemed to be thinking the same thing. She seemed capable of rational speech, so I decided to try talking to her.
“Uh, do you have your memories as a human?”
“Y-Yes! But I don’t remember my name or anything else... When I woke up, I was here, and my body was like this. I don't understand what’s happened... hic...”
The Lamia began to sob uncontrollably.
“Looks like she really was human once, Boss. I can still catch the scent of a human woman on 'er.”
“Synthesizing a human with a monster... it is a sin that defies the heavens! Unforgivable!”
I see. They must have been using the Ghouls to abduct citizens and adventurers for their experiments. They’d likely brainwashed her, but the conditioning must have been fragile enough to break during our fight.
“For now, I’ll call you Lamia. Do you have any idea who the people were that captured you?”
“No, I don’t remember that at all... Ah! But I found this lying on the floor!”
Lamia reached into her clothes and pulled out a rosary.
“Is that... a Church item? I knew it! The mastermind’s gotta be one of them!”
“Not necessarily. It could be a plant designed to frame the Church. We must not be hasty, Master Lloyd.”
Either way, it was definitely a lead. I took the rosary from Lamia and tucked it away.
“S-So, what’s going to happen to me...? With a body like this, everyone will just think I’m a monster... sob...”
Lamia looked up at me, her eyes filled with trepidation. She seemed quite timid. I wondered if she really could have been an adventurer. Still, her submissive nature made her easy to handle.
“Yeah, you definitely can’t go back to the city looking like that.”
“I... I thought so... I guess I have no choice but to live as a monster for the rest of my life...”
“No, that’s not the case.”
Lamia’s eyes went wide at my words.
“Lamia, you’re in luck. I happen to know a fellow 'changed' individual. I’m thinking of asking him to look after you. If that’s alright with you, how does that sound?”
“R-Really?! Oh, please, I beg of you!”
“Alright, leave it to me. Let’s get going.”
With that, I activated my Spatial Transfer magic. After the familiar sensation of weightlessness, my vision cleared. We were standing exactly where I intended: at the Lord of Lodesto's manor.