Clue (5): Found It

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Found it. That was the only thought Maxim could form. He clutched the report in his hands and read the cover again and again. It was the name he had been searching for so desperately, yet no sense of relief came to him. The fact that Christine Watson was listed in an experiment report—and that she had become its test subject.

Maxim’s hand, which had gone slack, began to tremble as he turned the page.

Maxim’s eyes raced down the lines. Had they threatened her body? Had they damaged her mind, tortured her? With every word, every sentence, his heart lurched, stopped, then hammered again. Normally he would have worried that Adeline might sense his tension, the way his pulse was pounding hard enough to burst, but right now he could not hide it even if he tried.

He searched for the experiment date first. Praying the tests had not yet moved to the next phase, he whispered the numbers aloud.

“Three days from now…”

In three days, the experiment would end. He had to go. Right now. He had to rescue her immediately. He needed to cut the throats of every last one of those damned mages.

Strength flooded into Maxim’s grip. Veins rose along the back of his hand where it clutched the sword hilt, and a murderous glint spilled from his pitch-black eyes. He had to draw his blade at once and head for the deepest part of the dungeon.

He had already pulled the sword halfway from its sheath when—

A hand settled on his shoulder.

Maxim nearly drew the weapon fully, but Adeline’s voice brought his reason crashing back. The hand on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his shoulder was painfully weak, and the voice squeezing out courage trembled slightly.

“Calm down.”

The lava boiling inside Maxim’s skull cooled rapidly. His mind, flooded with denial, reeled at the sudden emotional vacuum. His heart beat so violently he could hear it in his own ears. The clammy chill rising from the dungeon floor turned his every exhale into white mist.

Maxim tucked the report inside his coat and turned to face Adeline. Even her shallow breaths produced faint white plumes. He braced himself against the desk, hiding the way his body swayed after being swept up in that torrent of emotion. He had nearly let it carry him away completely.

He could not go right now. If he charged into the underground dungeon in this state, Adeline would be left behind, and the odds of rescuing Christine in time—or even surviving long enough to become a corpse inside the dungeon—were far higher than success. No. He repeated the word like a mantra. Air was not reaching his brain properly. He had to act coldly. The fastest route to saving Christine was to secure the king’s official support and re-enter the dungeon within two days.

Maxim noticed his palm had grown sticky. Blood dripped steadily from the fist he had clenched too tightly. No harm had come to Christine yet. That was the only fact he needed to remember.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice had gone hoarse. Maxim cleared his throat.

Adeline tilted her head toward the sound. To keep her from reading him completely, Maxim took a half-step back.

“Why are you so agitated?”

“I found some useful material. It’s an experiment report. Nothing serious.”

Of course the excuse did not explain his behavior. Adeline bit her lip, seemingly reluctant to press further. Maxim waved a hand and added quickly.

“The content was… disturbing. I cannot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forgive mages who would conduct such experiments.”

It was still a flimsy excuse, but he had no desire to continue the conversation on the same topic. Their immediate priority was to hide this matter and escape the dungeon safely.

“Let’s leave this room first. How is your condition? Can you walk on your own?”

Adeline shook her head at the question.

“There is no need for concern. However, I cannot guarantee I will be able to fight at full capacity.”

She seemed to have decided to let his evasion slide. Maxim let out a silent breath of relief. The problem they needed to solve right now was not some mages’ report, but how to get out of this dungeon.

“Still… I do not know how many obstacles remain, but swinging a sword should not be a problem. I will not be a burden.”

Adeline spoke firmly, gathering her resolve. Maxim looked at her with lingering unease and a trace of guilt. Was she still fighting with the mindset of serving the Count? What was this pitiful, precarious knight relying on now?

Maxim exhaled one last short breath. They could not afford to waste any more time if they wanted to find the exit before dawn. After confirming with a glance that Adeline was following, he left the room.

The stench of synthetic monster corpses still hung thick in the air. Maxim raised his head and expanded his senses. His brow furrowed as he searched for the exit.

“The air…”

“It flows in from the left. The right only grows deeper.”

The answer left Adeline’s lips the instant Maxim tried to trace the airflow. She tilted her head at him as if asking why he was not moving, having determined their path so easily. A tired, hollow laugh escaped him.

“Let’s head left. That’s also where the monsters I fought earlier crawled up from, so we’ll need to be extra careful.”

Adeline nodded. Maxim walked toward the left staircase. The entrance gaped like a black maw. Dim light flickered at the bottom of the steps. He glanced back once at the stairs descending to the right with some reluctance. Not now. Shaking off the thought, he examined the left entrance. He expanded his senses, searching for any sign of traps, but nothing registered.

He turned to Adeline, who had been reading the dungeon’s presence from behind him.

“As far as I can tell, there are no traps. Do you sense anything?”

“Nothing on my end either. It should be safe to descend.”

Adeline shook her head. Her tone suggested she found the complete lack of presence unsettling. Maxim stole a glance at the piled corpses. The mage who built this dungeon must have been certain those synthetic monsters would repel any intruder.

Though it would be stranger if someone could face those things and not be repelled.

Mocking the mage who had drawn the short straw of such an intruder, Maxim stepped onto the stairs.

As dawn deepened, the dungeon’s chill grew sharper. Or perhaps the deeper they went, the less it bothered to hide its cold. The air inside the stairwell was damp and clammy. The faint light grew steadily closer as they descended. It was an ominous green, like moss growing over a lantern.

Maxim frowned in disgust as he surveyed the third basement level.

“Incredible.”

Giant glass tubes lined both sides of a central corridor. Dozens of them—at a glance—most shattered, leaking viscous green fluid across the floor. Adeline, having heard the room’s description, let out a small sigh.

“An ominous place.”

Maxim nodded unconsciously at her assessment. The intact tubes contained what appeared to be monster limbs and heads, floating in green liquid and connected to metal pipes. The broken ones had clearly housed the synthetic monsters. Maxim scanned the space carefully to see if any remained, then turned toward where Adeline had stopped, staring blankly.

“What is it…?”

What his eyes caught was a massive glass tube hidden in a gap between the others.

“What the hell is that?”

The tube was large enough to hold four or five people and had been shattered. Thick green residue still clung inside, dripping slowly between the broken shards.

“I sense remnants of existence. Is something there?”

“A glass tube big enough to fit five people has been smashed. Do you detect any presence?”

Adeline expanded her senses further, then shook her head.

“Nothing for now. We should cross the corridor first.”

The giant tube bothered him, but as long as Adeline sensed no presence, there was no point worrying. Maxim walked slowly across the corridor. The airflow had become clear enough that even he could tell where it led if he focused. The closer he came to the end, the more the current transformed into a faint breeze.

“Ah.”

The corridor ended in a wall. At its base, however, he found a waterway. Green mucus trickled out through the narrow channel. The wall itself formed another long corridor. Maxim frowned at the now-obvious wind.

“There’s a waterway. And…”

His gaze reached the wall connected to the channel. The smell was not the rotting stench of corpses but the familiar, foul odor of a sewer. His expression brightened for a moment, then crumpled again as he realized they would have to follow the sewers to escape.

“Sewers…”

He heard Adeline mutter the word. Maxim nodded in shared dismay. It was better than the stench of monster corpses, but not exactly pleasant enough to breathe deeply.

“Well, we’ve found an exit. The question is whether this path actually connects to the royal palace sewers…”

Maxim pondered whether to smash through the wall and ran his hand across it.

Thud.

The sound came from far away. Both Maxim and Adeline held their breath. Something had struck the wall hard. Then came the noise of stone collapsing.

“Arsen.”

“Yes. I sensed it clearly this time as well.”

Adeline had already drawn her sword. She must have noticed the presence before he did. It far surpassed any high-ranking monster. Whatever it was had sensed them too; the presence approached far faster than they were moving.

“I’ll take the lead,” Maxim said, stepping in front of her.

Adeline looked puzzled as he pushed her back.

“You are not used to fighting in the dark…”

“It’s fine. You aren’t in any condition to fight properly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠either.”

Maxim drew his sword while calculating distance and time in his head. It was not much, but he still had enough mana left to strengthen his body. The outline of the approaching creature became visible. It walked upright on two legs with long, confident strides, like a werewolf from an old tale. No, it was a werewolf. Maxim swallowed dryly at the sight of its abnormally elongated arms. Every time the creature breathed, a low, beastly growl rumbled from its throat. The crude synthetic monsters had not been given vocal organs, but this one apparently warranted them.

The moment the werewolf’s arm swung, Maxim kicked off the ground and shot forward.

If she attacked alongside him now, their sword strikes might interfere and only benefit the monster. The sensation of his hand on her shoulder still lingered. The image of Arsen, unusually furious, overlapped with the way he had spoken to her in a changed voice.

Monitor him.

The Count’s order still echoed in her ears. Because of that near-compulsory command, Adeline remembered every aspect of Arsen—every action, every word. His sword strikes, the shifts in emotion in his voice, the way he scanned his surroundings, even the faint tremor when he spoke her name. The man who should have been a potential enemy, the man she would have to kill without hesitation if the Count ordered it, had imprinted himself on her heart with strangely powerful clarity.

Even now, that brief gesture of pushing her aside had sunk deep.

Adeline.

Sorry. Just wait a little longer.

For some reason, simply recalling those words, simply remembering the faint touch she had felt on her face, seemed to weaken the remnants of black magic clinging to her. No. It had only been two days. It was nothing more than a coincidence-born illusion of memory and thought. Adeline shook her head, casting off her doubts about the Count and the impression Arsen had left on her, and tightened her grip on the hilt.

There was no need to think about it right now. She expanded her senses across the entire battlefield rather than focusing on Maxim’s figure. Her eyes still throbbed with pain, but it did not hinder her vaunted sharp perception.

Clang—!

Through her aura and hearing, Adeline could follow the battle between Maxim and the monster. It should have been the sound of monster and man clashing, yet it rang like sword meeting sword. A grating noise like tearing metal, followed by rapid bursts of cutting wind. It was the kind of presence and sound one would expect from a duel against a dual-wielding swordsman.

A monster swinging claws. Quite large, but fast. Arsen does not seem to be struggling, but if an opening is created, the fight can be ended quickly.

Adeline finished her calculations. In the narrow underground space, and with the risk of catching Arsen in the crossfire, she would not use her aura. The moment Arsen retreated with a sharp metallic ring, Adeline slid forward in a low stance and closed in on the monster.

“Adeline…!”

She felt Arsen’s breath catch in surprise as she brushed past. At the same time, she sensed the monster freeze mid-charge as though its ambush had been thwarted. The dungeon’s chill, the weight of feet planted on the ground—she became one with the world and raised her blade, drawing a single line across it.

Shing.

The familiar sensation of flesh parting traveled up the sword. Arsen’s presence froze in shock for a moment, then resumed movement as the werewolf’s right leg was severed. Finish it. Adeline murmured in a small voice toward the presence of Maxim leaping at the monster after she had cut its leg.

Ah, again. Something that should not exist bloomed like haze inside Adeline’s heart. Right now, even the pain in her eyes and the Count’s command felt distant. It was as if this had happened once before. As her mouth opened emptily at the remnants of a memory that should not exist, the sound of the werewolf being carved into pieces rang out.

Thud.

The pieces that had been a werewolf fell to the floor. Arsen’s presence drew closer. Adeline tilted her head slightly with an awkward expression toward the man standing before her.

What she heard was a hollow laugh she had encountered several times before.

“Your strike was fierce.”

At Maxim’s words, Adeline shrugged as if it were nothing.

“It is still lacking.”

Another burst of laughter.

“Thank you for the help.”

That voice. Adeline felt the changed resonance in the tone directed at her and nodded slowly.

“Then shall we leave through the exit that monster kindly provided?”

Hand. Adeline realized Arsen was reaching out to her. As if entranced, she carefully placed her hand atop his. She felt his fingers close around hers. She sensed the rhythm of his steps as he led her forward. Those steps seemed to resonate with her own heartbeat. Pushing aside the thoughts that had grown too tangled to organize, Adeline followed behind Arsen.