Hmm....
What's going on?
I know you've been using that thing on Elle.
The eye?
"Mm.


　Me and Marie had been jumped to another location. I didn't notice the transfer's alchemy team at all, but the one of Elle and Marie was the first to notice it and succeeded in splitting us up as a pair like this.

　It was good to have a skilled alchemist in my group. At this time, I sincerely appreciated my choice of people. After all, beings like Elle and Marie are essential to the labyrinth.

　As I was thinking about this, Marie and I were moving forward, when suddenly she stopped and said the same thing I just said.


　I decided to ask her what I was wondering about without hesitation.


'How do you know that eye was used?'
I have similar sentient abilities.
'So you won't have any trouble moving on? That's great, Marie.
Well, don't worry, Mr. Leif. As long as this Marie is here, you won't get lost in this labyrinth. But the problem is...
Those two over there?
The fact that Elle is with you is not a reason for concern. That genius is so outstanding that even I can't figure it out. That's the problem.


　Thumping and tapping the ground with my shoe. I watch the action, and I gain insight.


'A labyrinth.'
Hmm. It seems that the fifth labyrinth is not an ice maze, but just a maze. But mazes are a tricky thing, you never know what kind of traps there might be. We don't know what kind of traps they'll have in the future. In that sense, the third labyrinth is probably easier to navigate.
Well, maybe. So, are the traps from earlier okay?　I don't have any perceptual system abilities, so I'll have to deal with it later...
"I can deal with alchemy as much as I want, but when it comes to magic I still have a long way to go. Well, we can only hope. Hopefully, there will be no magic.
"...Huh. Looks like this is not going to be a simple matter again.
That's what the maze is all about, isn't it?
''Why is Marie cooperating with you?''
Hmm?　I've always told you. The search for truth. Some alchemists are really in search of it. Well, some are eccentrics and freaks, but I guess the word "madman" is more appropriate.
You're a madman. You know what you are?
No. But I know people are looking at me like that. And besides...
What's going on?
'Elwyd Willis. When I look at that genius, it makes my existence seem dwarfed.
Really?　I think we're about the same. And you know better than I do, given your age.
''Hmm. You'd have to be the same alchemist to get this feeling... anyway, he's in danger.
Is it safe?
'Hmm. It's not a matter of thought or character. It's just that the way he is, I would say that the composition of his body as an alchemist is somewhat questionable...
I don't see the point.
Well, I hope it's only a matter of time before it's all over. Come on, I'll go on.
Yeah.


　And so we proceeded deeper and deeper into the labyrinth.


　◇



'Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!　What's that!　Scorpions!　A spider!
"It's probably a scorpion with a tail. Probably a subspecies from the colder regions. It's interesting, though. I'd like to take one home as a sample.
'Stop talking like that and do something about it!


　Currently, me and Fee were being attacked by a large group of scorpions. Their outer shells were pale and white, and the tips of their tails glowed bright white. This is a demon that I've never seen in any literature before.


　


''Ugh.........Elle is quite an outrageous thing to do.
No, it's just an experiment.
An experiment?
The question is, can the personal field be adapted to any creature?
A personal field?　What's that. I've never heard of it.
Well, that's a term I made up for myself. In short, there is a special region of living things that we should call our "personal field". For example.
There she is!　What the hell are you doing!


　I generate a little phenomenon called electricity in Fee's body, but it quickly disappears and is gone. The phenomenon itself is shattered.


Doesn't it make you wonder?
What?
In other words, living things have an alchemy-reducing property by nature. It's like a thin film on the surface of the body, which I called the 'personal field'. And the Personal Field is also affecting the inside. We still don't know where it comes from, but alchemy doesn't pass so well for living things. Our brains have taken the liberty of assuming that the alchemy is triggered as we imagine it to be, and that the effect is occurring, but there is a slight margin of error.
'Yeah yeah yeah how do you know that?'
It's just a side effect of this eye. I'm having some sort of heightened sensory sensitivity.
You just keep getting more and more dehumanized, don't you?
Yeah. But that's okay. It must come in handy.


　Dehumanizing.

　Those words, in no small part, stuck in my chest. I pretended not to feel anything, but I was still beginning to wonder what my roots were. Perhaps I'm not a decent person. That is already obvious. An unusual aptitude for alchemy and possession of multiple unique abilities 《Dunamis》, which no one else in the world would have expressed.


　I'm not dull enough to be able to sum this up in one word, just because I'm a genius.

　The words I heard in that daydream-like world.

　I am a descendant of a wizard. That word is surely........true.



''Hey, didn't we pass this place just now?''
...See it's marked.
'Huh my mapping doesn't work at all. Is there some kind of cognitive inhibition going on?
''I suppose you're right. If we proceed so cautiously and still come back to the same place, the chances of that are strong.
So I have to resist to move on?
'Yes, but...'
Do you use your eye?
No, you don't have to...


　Out of the corner of my eye, I found the carcass of a demon. It was left there because it was too much trouble to burn it. Could it be.........


''What's wrong?　Don't you have to burn it?
No, you'll see...
Oh!


　The moment we burned it, we could see the path we hadn't seen earlier. Perhaps there is a staircase to the third level beyond that one.


''This labyrinth, including the demons, seems to constitute a grand maze.
Really?
That's a real testament to what we've seen.
Isn't this a problem?
Oh, shit.
Hey I don't really care about anything, but can I tell you something important?
Hmm?　What's the matter, are you feeling ill?
Well I'm just going to go and pick some flowers...
Yeah. I'll go on ahead and wait for you.
Whoa, don't you dare come back!　I'll kill you if you come here!
Okay.


　To be honest, I've already seen enough of Fee's demeanor to be appalled. I'm confident I won't be swayed by anything I see now, but that's just my perspective. Fee is still a woman, though. I'm sure she has a lot on her mind. There's a certain amount of decorum that goes along with intimacy, you know.


　And after waiting for a while, Fee's guy caught up with me.


"Are you feeling better?
Shit!　Don't be ridiculous!


　And then, slightly pissed off, he activated the alchemy. As for the structure of this labyrinth, as I tried earlier, the ice walls are not good for alchemy to pass through, or rather.......the entire structure is resisted. That's why I can't use the rough technique of advancing by breaking the wall incessantly. But the alchemy that Fee unleashed was either a coincidence or it destroyed the wall.


　But that was never a good thing.

''....Ah.

　The voice hums. And a lot of scorpions appear in front of us again, straw by straw. This scene makes even me feel a little uncomfortable. That means Fee's one is.........

'Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!　Let's get you home!


　Acting somewhat deja vu, I followed Fee.