'Whoa!　I don't like this anymore!　I'm home!　Aaaaahhhh!

'Hah ... hah ... I'm tired ...'
Yes, well........this is a bit.........


　Fee was sobbing and me and Monica were breathing on his shoulder. The battle since then had lasted for an hour. The eggs were still there, it seemed, and they were pouring out endlessly. I summoned my final strength and burned the carcass of the giant spider, the Huge Spider, to nothing. Not a single egg remained. We were the only living creatures left in this square. I didn't think even the wreckage existed, but........

''Kiiiiiiiiiii!

　The moment we thought we had killed it off, only one of the giant spiders, the Huge Spider, descends. We don't have much power left to defeat this thing. Thinking that, I decided to make up my mind and pulled out the sword at my waist.

''.........The Usubakagerou.

　The name of the sword that was to be pulled out, it was Usuba Kagerou. It's not just a matter of how many times I've seen it. I'm not sure how many times I've seen it, but I'm sure I've seen it before. However, the sharpness of the blade is unmistakable.

''........phew!

　I managed to construct an alchemy with the remaining magic power and froze all of the legs of the giant spider 《Huge Spider》 and flashed it with the thin-winged dragonfly 《Usubakagerou》.

　With a snap, the brain is neatly split vertically, and the body fluid overflows vigorously.

''Huh........it's a good cut.''

　As I sat down quietly, Monica burned the corpse out in flames. Thank God.

'You did it. But isn't that last sword amazing?　Is it some kind of magic sword?
No, that's a cucumber.
A cucumber?

　Yes, this ant lionfly is a green dragonfly. In fact, the main constituent material is cucumber. I use alchemy to stretch the cucumber as thin as possible. You have to be careful so that you don't lose any of the components. From there, the cucumber is processed into the shape of a sword and sharpened at the end. I fixed it with alchemy to complete the process. This is my famous sword, the Usuba Kagerou.

I think the workmanship is very good, if I do say so myself.
So, the rumor is true about you being a farmer.
Oh. I live on a farm and die on a farm. I'm studying alchemy because it's good for genetic improvement of crops. The azure-star class [Bluesteller] is a close second...
Huh........that's what geniuses are like, isn't it.......
What?　Do you think I'm a freak?
Haha. Well, I guess so....
'Huh, you're right. Monica.

　As I do so, I notice that Fee is really crying.

　Uh-oh. Has the stress gone beyond the limit? Well, in any case, it's tough to go to the second level in this state. Let's go back.

''Gusu........gusu.......oooohhhhhh......that was so scary.......''
Let's go home, Fee. But I don't have the magic anymore, so I need a transfer.
Oh, really?　Can we go home now?
Yeah. I'll be back in a minute.
'No!　Oh no, no more!
Whoa. Let's just get back to it, okay?
Yes.

　And we came back to the doorway in transition.

"Fee. Just in case you want to ice the entrance.
...chuckle. Okay.

　Sniffling, Fee silently freezes the entrance.

'Why are you blocking it?'
Me and Fee will return to the kingdom once we tell the chief what's going on.
Well can I follow you?
Don't you have a job?
'Fortunately, there's only so much crops to grow at the moment. I don't mind giving it a few days' notice.
Then let's go. And I think you three should be the ones to report to the Chairman. Fee, can you let Monica stay the night?
Giggle. Okay, Monica, you saved me. I'll save you too, Monica.

　Yeah, it's all in one language. Fee is not going to be able to report to the chief just yet. We should go on our own.

　We left Fee at Monica's house, and then we went to the chief's place.

'....Monica!　No way, you've been there too!　I told you it was dangerous...!
Dad, I'm not a kid anymore. I can fight and I'm back like this.

　The village chief saw our dirty appearance and realized that Monica had gone into the labyrinth too. But I want Monica to continue to accompany us. But we need Monica's help in the future, because we need her to help us capture the maze.

''Monica really did a great job. If it weren't for her, we would have struggled even more.''
''If that's what Lord Elwydd says, but please take care of my daughter.
I will. I'll protect you with my life.
So, how did that work out for you?
Actually....


　I bit down and told him about the Sixth Labyrinth. There were about 300 giant spiders, the Huge Spider, in the first layer, and they had been eradicated. And the stairs to the second underground layer had already been discovered. Furthermore, the entrance was carefully sealed off. However, if I'm in a perfect state, I can easily resist the alchemy. I'm going to go under again in a few days. For now, I'm doing so with the village in mind.


　And the biggest question. That's the biggest question of all: spiders have a habit of collecting. I asked the village chief about it.


"The Huge Spider [Huge Spider] has such a characteristic...?　It's a collection habit ... of goods and clothing. The corpse was simply stripped of its nutrition, right? No, I don't know.
'I see. Well, we will notify the association of the current situation once we are done. Yes, we'll be here again in three days. We will definitely capture that labyrinth. I have some things on my mind.
Thank you for your help.

　The village chief bows his head and I thank him briefly and leave the room.

''Well, let's get back to the kingdom at once. Monica, are you ready?
'I'd like to bathe in the water, but it looks like we'd better get going. Let's go.
Yeah.

　And so we rode the day's carriage back to the kingdom. Fee's guy was saying all the time, "I hate spiders, I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders," she muttered. Empty-eyed and a little scared.

　As we rattled and shook, me and Monica talked about a lot of things. Like the crops, Monica was curious about my alchemy. When I told her about the homunculus, she said, "Please let me meet with you! So let's meet Proto and the first group. You know, they're all in the workshop right now. Just in time.

　And a few hours later, we made it back to the kingdom in one piece. There was a little bit of work at the checkpoint, but since elves come to this kingdom rather often, it was easy to enter.

''Huh........This is the Canovaria Kingdom. It's amazing.....................And yet, is it a festival or something today?　There are a lot of people out there, though.
'No, it's just a weekday. And that's a small one. Holidays are more crowded.
'What?　That's not much!
Well, the Canovaria Kingdom is one of the most populous in the world, and this central city is the most prosperous place. That's about it. Now, let's go to the Society.
'Huh. It's so awesome my neck hurts.

　Monica kept looking up. The Alchemy Society is indeed quite a tall building. It's no wonder she sees it that way.

　By the way, Fee has been holding onto my sleeve the whole time and trudging along. He doesn't seem to have any intention of making a conversation with me.

　Fifteen minutes later, we walked up to the chairman. Fifteen minutes later, we were in front of the Chairman. He was in his room, apparently on a break now. Good timing.

'Oh!'　You're back!　So, how did it go...?　The Sixth Labyrinth,
It's probably possible to capture it. It depends on the number of giant spiders (Huge Spider), but I've figured out how to fight them. I think we can be more efficient in the next round, so I think we can probably make a lot of progress.
"...Oh!　That's great, Elle. So, how's the young lady over there?
Monica Dunn. She's the chief's daughter.
''It's nice to meet you. I'm here to help the two of you capture the labyrinth.
Oh ... you think you're good enough to help?

　The chairman raises a question and I brush it aside.

''Yes. Monica can use the alchemy equivalent of platinum grade [platinum].''
Well that's unusual for a subhuman.

　Yes, the human race has a far greater aptitude for alchemy. Among the sub-humans, there are hardly any races that are good at alchemy. But there is an exception to everything. That's Monica.

　Then I turned in my carriage report.

　At the end, the chairman saw that Fee was looking oddly unhappy and made a suggestion to her.

'Fee. If you're having a hard time, I'll send someone else to help you?
'....No, I'll do it. I'm still scared, but Elle and Monica need me... yes I'm still scared, but yes... yes... ...I'm a good adult and I'll do my best... yes...
Oh, yeah. Elle, Monica, take care of Fee. He seems to be very tired.

Yes, sir.


　Home. Finally, I came back. And as soon as I opened the door to Fee's house, this guy started screaming.

'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!　I'm back!
"...oh, oh. Well I'm going to take a shower in my room and I'll come back.
'Yes!　Monica and I are going in together, right!
'What?　You're going in with me!
"Of course not!　And it would save time!


　Then we reconvened. We were having dinner and discussing the next attack.

''Now, the next attack........it's two underground levels. Probably hundreds of units of fighting against the giant spider 《Huge Spider》 will be the norm from now on. I'm going to take this with me.
'It's ... is that okay, Elle?　You're going to use it for research...
'Good. It's essential for this labyrinth attack. And for the sake of the elven village, and that's something to be concerned about.
...What's that little white stone?

　Monica says so, and I answer. The name of this stone.

'The Philosopher's Stone,'
What is the Philosopher's Stone, you know...?
Yes. I stumbled across it in my research. But this is the imperfect white one. It's also known as Elixir. It's a type of elixir that can replenish magic power. With it, the number of times the Singular Alchemy [Extra] is used will jump.
"...It's amazing that you even made such a thing, Elle.


　The Philosopher's Stone. It is also one of the greatest goals of an alchemist. A substitute for golden metamorphosis, immortality, perfection of human spirituality, perfection of the universe, making everything possible, and so on. This is also one of the lost technologies. It is clear from the literature that in the past there was a complete Philosopher's Stone. And there are two types of it: white and red. The white one is imperfect and the red one is perfect. The white one is something that even I might be able to make again if I put in the time, money and effort. But the red Philosopher's Stone is impossible. In other words, it's impossible to create a complete Philosopher's Stone. This is a kind of divine realm that humanity cannot reach.


"But, Fee. Are you sure you're alright?　If you can't....
'I'll try my best I'm afraid, but you can't do without me, can you?'
'Well. I've been freaking out and running away, but I definitely need your help. And it's important that you can use the transfer.
'Right. I might go crazy again but no, I'll go crazy, but I'll fight while I go crazy...
Oh, yeah. Well, that's good, but...


　We cut our story short there and went to sleep.