It had been a long time since I had such a peaceful time.
It's not that I did anything, but the slime thing must have been a mental burden for me. My shoulders felt incredibly light because all my worries were gone.

Right in front of me, I saw Sitri rummaging through a large bag.
Her pink-blonde hair slightly covering her eyes and her eyes looking out of the gaps were identical to those of her sister, Liz. She is a little taller than Liz, but her eyes are gentle and she always wears a modest robe, so no one has ever mistaken her for her sister.

She is pretty and gentle, and values negotiation more than violence.
She is an alchemist, and her excellence is different from that of her sister who is a bandit.
Her ability to deal with all kinds of accidents makes her a versatile member of Strange Grief.
She would have been perfect if it weren't for her habit of creating strange things from time to time, and her occasional harshness reminiscent of her sister.

Although he had just returned from a long trip, he didn't seem to be tired. Without taking his eyes off his hand, he said.

'There was a phantom of a strong swordsman in the boss room. ......'

'Oh, and ......'.

That's all I needed to know.

He's one of my childhood friends. Luke Sykor, the swordsman of the Phantom of Sorrows, is a man with a delusional passion for mastering the way of the sword.
He is extremely strong even at this stage, but Luke has an annoying tendency of not being able to resist slashing at a good swordsman when he sees one.

This time, his opponent was a phantom that appeared in the boss room of the Level 8 Treasure Hall. Luke's blood must have been boiling.
And there's no one who can stop Luke now that he's motivated. Or rather, no one would stop him in the first place.

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When are you coming back? .......

'Did you win?'

'I lost miserably. He said he'd do it until he could win one-on-one. I'm sure he'll be back when there are no more new boils,......, but it might take a little while.'

Sitri said with a thoughtful expression.
What kind of opponent would Luke, who is almost unbeatable even in the Imperial Capital, be defeated by? ....... I would never want to meet him.

But if you combine this with Lies, the Ghosts of Sorrows will be two for two.
I know how strong Luke and his team are, but the treasure house is one of the most difficult places to explore, so I'm a little worried.

'Are you sure you want to come back?

I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I'm sure you've seen it before.

Kyrkyr is a magical creature that Sitri has been carrying around as an escort lately.
He looks like a huge man with a gray, stone-like body, wearing boomerang pants and a bag with a hole at the eye.
He looks like a pervert, and at first glance he looks like a human, but since Citri insists that he is a magical creature, he must be a magical creature. I don't know what kind of magical creature it is, but .......

I tried not to think about its existence.
Incidentally, the name "KIRKIRKIRK" comes from the fact that the creature can only speak KIRKIRKIRK. It is said that the creature lays waste to its enemies with its high-pitched voice, shouting "Kill Kill Kill" and using its fearsome toughness and physical strength as weapons. I wonder if I'm disqualified as a hunter because I think he's crazy. .......

Well, Citri is a good hunter. It's unlikely that she will make a mistake in her estimate. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

At that moment, Citri pulled something out of the backpack she had been fishing in.

The large khaki bag was her trademark. Not being a vanguard, Citry's strength is directly related to the number and variety of items she carries, and she always carries a large bag.

What she took out, smiling, was a small ring.
It is a small ring-shaped treasure tool with a transparent crystal.

'......You even brought back the treasure ......'.

'I didn't find it in the treasure house. ......'

I wonder where she found it. I carefully picked up the ring that Sitri had placed on the desk and observed it.

It is a dull silver ring. The clear, colorless crystal instead of a gemstone is so clean that you can clearly see the other side, even though it is precisely cut.

My hobby is to collect treasures. Every piece of jewelry Luke and his friends have brought back has passed by me at least once, and I frequent the treasure store.
If there's one thing I have over my friends, it's my knowledge of treasure.

The item that Citri placed in front of him was also familiar.

'It's a ...... 'Realize Outer' ring type. Where did you find it?'

The treasure tool used to evade the Rabbis.
The Realize Outer is a treasure that stocks only one magic.

The one I have is the pendant type, but this is the ring type.

The Realize Outer is not a very rare piece of jewelry. The crystal, with its unique transparency, is the basis of the technology, and there are various shapes.
Finger ring type. Bracelet type. Pendant type. Circlet type. Some are attached to wands. The size of the crystal determines the maximum amount of magic it can hold.

It's not a popular item because it consumes a hundred times the amount of magic power used to activate it when stocked, but having an extremely talented mage named Lucia as a companion, I'm more than happy to have it.

I'm not sure what to do with it.

'It's a ...... souvenir for Mr. Kry, since he caused me so much trouble this time.

'Annoying ......?

It's not that I'm annoyed, it's more like I want to thank you for cleaning up after me. ...... What are we talking about?

I'm not going to blame her for wanting to help me.

I didn't know whether to point it out or not, and stopped myself just before it came out of my throat. I'm sure Sitri understands that without being told.
It's not the first time this has happened. I gratefully accepted his kindness.

'It's no bother to me, but if you want to take it as a gift, I'll take it. That'd be great.'

'No, no. It's just me and Mr. Cry.

I couldn't say anything more to the gentle smiling Sitri.

...... In fact, I owe her a tremendous amount of money.



§I failed.



I failed. But Citri Smart was not shocked by that fact.

Citri is an alchemist.
The experiments of alchemists are originally the kind of experiments that gradually get closer to the right answer through a series of failures.
There are some people in the world who get the right answer just once, as if they were guided by the heavens, but Citry knew that he was not that good.

No, there was no need to be good.
No matter how many times he failed, he had friends who could cover for him.

Sitri, who had never been blessed with any of the talents needed to be a treasure hunter, was able to keep up with the top class party of hunters in the Imperial City of Zebrudia because of the efforts of his friends.

Knowing this, Sitri has always tried to remain humble.



He is humble, appreciates diversity, respects others, and does not look down on others.
Even though he was originally praised by millions of people and praised for his talent, it did not touch his heart.

The annihilation of the Akasha Tower.
As he was being interviewed afterwards, Citly waited for this useless time to pass without changing his expression.

'There was nothing else, was there?

'Yes, sir. All we have is what we submitted. Is there anything unnatural about it?'

'...... No. We have all the information we need at .......'

Gurk looked as if he'd bitten off more than he could chew at Citri's answer.

I've submitted everything. I also gave him the magic bag that Kry wanted, with all the valuable materials and research materials inside.
I also gave him the corpses of my brothers and sisters, which he wanted so badly. The only thing I snatched from him was a small ring.

It's not good to be greedy. If you try to get too much, something precious will slip through your fingers.

I knew this moment would come.
The Imperial Academy of Antiquities and the Order would be horrified at the perfect evidence of their horrible research and relieved that it had been prevented. And so the curtain will fall on this matter.

The only major mistake this time was the unexpected growth of the slime he had created.

Remembering what Kry had told you, you raise your eyebrows slightly.

It is one of the basic knowledge of alchemy that slime changes its nature according to the surrounding environment, but I didn't expect it to be able to penetrate a metal tube made of a special alloy that is completely sealed.

It was Sitri's mistake to underestimate the slime's specifications. One mistake and the Imperial City would have been destroyed without exaggeration.
However, the reason why he had left the slime in Kry's care was to prepare for such a situation.

Magical creatures are difficult to handle. Even Citri, the Creator, does not know everything about them.

I didn't think he'd try to play it on me at that moment, but it was also a bit of a prank.
If you look at it this way, you could say that it saved Citly a lot of trouble.

'What about the ...... member named Sophia?'

'She wasn't there when I arrived.

'Did you check the documents that were submitted to you?

'At the very least.'

There was a hint of suspicion in Gark's stern eyes. He smiled at it.
'Perfect evidence. This is different than last time. There is a killer.

I can get Sophia's body if I have to, but I'd rather not.
One of the rules of the Ghosts of Sorrows is that you don't mess with the public. I'm not afraid to break the law, but I want to follow that rule.

Well, that won't be a problem. Intuition is not evidence.

The Zebuldian Empire is a nation of laws. Citri's clients are in the upper echelons of the empire.

If there's one thing that sets Citri apart from each member of the Ghosts of Sorrows, it's his wealth.

Alchemists make money. Their knowledge, the potions they concoct, the magical creatures they create, all add up to vast fortunes.
The reason Citri's laboratory exists in the Clan House is because Citri personally invested a large amount of money in its construction. Whether you're a mage or a swordsman, wealth will flow to the outstanding hunter, but the alchemist's wealth is unmatched by any other profession.

'I'm sorry to hear that Noto is unconscious. We've been treating him, but there's no sign of him coming back. If we had questioned him, we might have learned more.'

'It's a very ...... tragic story. It wasn't something I could go easy on. Please don't blame Mr. Cry. He was only helping me! Besides, ...... Noto Cochlea is ...... that--'




You can't complain about being killed if you are found in the imperial capital or even in the country. The one who killed him will not be charged with a crime.
That was one of the reasons why Sitri thought so highly of Noto. Even if it's just a matter of cleaning up the mess, framing the culprit is much more complicated than that.

'...... There are no external injuries. Healing techniques don't work. No internal organs or brain damage. But I'm unconscious and my heart is about to stop. I've never had a wound like this before, said my personal healer (writer).

'I think he'll recover over time ....... I think it's just debilitating.

The cause is a lack of Mana Material.
Mana material is an important element that dwells in and strengthens all things, and it is no exaggeration to say that it forms the basis of their existence.
It would be impossible to live normally in this world, but if for some reason--such as being sucked up by a strange slime--it were to drop to almost nothing, you would almost die. It should recover over time.

It should recover over time, but it has no memory. I've already done human experiments.

'How can you be in such a state?'

'...... Mr. Gark. You're asking me to leak Mr. Kry's M.O., aren't you? You're kidding, right?'

Gark shut his mouth as Sitri narrowed his eyes with a smile on his face.

Treasure hunters are a deadly profession.
There are many different ways to do this, and it would be a great disadvantage to let others know your methods, especially your methods of warfare.
It is bad manners to try to find out without reason.

Of course, in this case - it was Citri's slime that did it, so it doesn't matter, but I'm sure it was Kry who initiated it, so I'm not lying.

As Gark's eyes widened and stiffened, he continued with an apologetic expression.

It's not that I don't trust you, Mr. Gark, but it makes sense to ask Krai himself about such things.

'...... Ah, yes, you're right. I'm sorry.

That's good. Maybe Krai will tell Gark about the power of the City Slime.
But then--then--then a thousand things would have decided it was best. No hard feelings. I'll catch you smiling then.

That's what trust is all about.

He stood up, gave a small bow to Gark and Chyna, and said.

'If you need anything, let me know. Akasha's tower is my enemy - the enemy of all mages and alchemists. It absolutely must be stopped.'

'............ Oh, thanks for your help. I'll contact you if I need anything. Are you going to be in the Imperial City for a while?'



'Yes, sir. If you need anything, please let Krai or your sister know.

Anyway, I put an unnecessary burden on Krai this time. I should do something to apologize. One ring like that is not enough.
My sister, the troublemaker, came home first this time. It's one of her faults that she has no brakes.
I'm sure I caused her some trouble.

It's one of my sister's roles to atone for her mistakes.

By the time she left the Explorers' Association's reception room, humming to herself, her interest in Akasha's Tower and Noto had vanished from her mind.