The Second Elixir

After making certain no tail was following him, Bennett headed toward Advisor.

Just as he reached for the door to step inside, the guard watching the entrance carefully intercepted him.

"What is it?"

Bennett was not angry; he had merely asked in his customary flat tone. Yet the guard bowed in nervous apology, a tense expression flickering across his face.

"My apologies, sir. Lady Violet instructed me to escort you to a different location."

"A different location?"

"Yes, sir."

After a brief hesitation, Bennett gave a nod.

The place the guard led him to was quite some distance from Advisor. Tucked away in a secluded quarter, it was a quiet log cabin surrounded by stillness.

Guiding him to the front steps, the guard bowed respectfully.

"This is as far as I go, sir. You may head inside."

"..."

Taking no chances, Bennett swept his gaze across the surroundings.

Channeling his psionic energy, he scanned the vicinity, but neither an ambush nor a trap was to be found. Inside the cabin, he felt only a familiar presence waiting in repose.

"I shall take my leave, then."

Watching the guard disappear into the distance, Bennett pushed down on the handle. Unlocked, the door swung inward without resistance, and a wave of warm, sultry air immediately greeted him.

"You're here?"

Bennett moved to return the greeting, but his eyes narrowed slightly at the sight before him. Violet sat alone, and her attire was striking.

The last time they met, she had worn a form-fitting gown, but today's ensemble was far more daring. The neckline plunged deeply, accentuating a soft and generous cleavage, while an audaciously high slit ran up the side of her skirt, exposing a generous length of pale thigh with every subtle shift.

"Come, sit."

Violet gestured to the seat across from her and poured liquor into a pair of glasses. It was the five-year Crystal they had shared during their previous meeting.

"Let's share a drink before we get to business."

Bennett gave a small nod and picked up the glass. While poison might have been an ordinary concern, their contract had contained clauses anticipating precisely these circumstances.

The two tipped their glasses in silence. Violet studied Bennett with smiling eyes, but he neither avoided her gaze nor gave any reaction to it.

Is she trying to seduce me?

A breathtaking beauty in provocative attire, an interior kept noticeably warmer than the chilly air outside, and a sweet, subtle fragrance wafting through the room—her intent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was plain as day. In fact, she did not seem to be making the slightest effort to conceal it.

"Just so you know," Violet said, a faint smile gracing her lips as she pointed an index finger upward. "This comes on orders from above."

"Seduction, you mean?"

"Well, I'm doing it because I find you interesting too, of course."

She quietly set down her drink.

Bennett held her gaze without a word, then slowly retrieved the recipe he had taken from the production facility. It was penned on specialized parchment treated against tearing and flame.

"As you likely heard, the plant was destroyed with spell scrolls. Quite a few were expended."

"You'll be reimbursed in kind or paid an equivalent sum in coin. But as for this..." Violet tapped the rolled parchment with the tip of her fingernail. It rolled along the surface, coming to a halt at the edge of the table. "There's no rush, is there?"

"..."

Violet followed with a coy smile. "Since I haven't officially received it yet, our contract remains valid. You haven't forgotten the clause forbidding us from harming each other, have you?"

The tip of her tongue lightly moistened her lower lip, radiating a sultry allure. Her cascade of wavy violet hair lent her an air of mysterious, intoxicating charm.

"Neither of us has any reason to attack the other, but... wouldn't it be much safer to indulge while the contract still protects us?" Violet leaned forward over the table. Her slender arms pressed against her chest, accentuating her figure further. The gap between them narrowed until their breath mingled in the space between. "Why don't we... get to know one another a little better?"

Bennett slowly reached out his hand.

Violet, licking her lips once more, shut her eyes in anticipation—

Tap!

A sharp noise broke the stillness. Expecting something far more intimate, Violet opened her eyes. Bennett's fingers rested not on her cheek or chest, but firmly on the rolled recipe.

Pulling the parchment away from the edge, Bennett laid it squarely back in the center of the table and leaned back into his chair.

"Let's conclude the contract."

"Ha!"

Slightly stung in her pride, Violet let out an incredulous scoff, but soon gave a resigned nod. "Fine, then."

She lifted a storage case sitting beside her and placed it onto the table. Inside rested the GS-P27, the substance she had called a panacea.

Bennett took hold of it. What struck him first was the familiar heft in his palm. Having handled it before, he was well aware that its weight altered noticeably between its unused and depleted states.

It's unused.

A familiar rush of exhilaration surged through his veins alongside the influx of experience points. With Violet sitting right across from him, Bennett had to suppress the sensation with all his will. Fortunately, the reward was smaller than what he had gained from the Outsider known as the Hand of Curse, making the surge manageable enough to conceal.

Having secured his prize, Bennett rose to his feet.

"A pleasure doing business."

"By any chance..."

Just as he touched the latch to depart, Bennett looked back over his shoulder.

"Should another job like this come up, may I call on you again?"

"...I will decide once I see the compensation."

Thud!

The heavy door closed. Left entirely alone, Violet clicked her tongue in disappointed longing.

"Ah, he really was my type."

With a faint sigh, she stood up and walked over to the full-length mirror, lingering over her reflection. Her figure, perfectly emphasized by the daring cut of the dress, was seductive enough to tempt anyone. Yet the primary target of her recruitment had remained entirely unmoved, rendering her gambit a total failure.

Reaching behind her back, she slid the zipper down, letting the silk fall away in a smooth whisper to the floor. Intending a brazen seduction from the outset, she hadn't worn a stitch of underwear underneath. Surely he couldn't have missed that fact.

After a moment's idle appraisal of her bare reflection, she opened the wardrobe. Pulling on a simple cotton bustier and boy shorts, she traded the impractical gown for practical, comfortable attire. Though still reasonably snug, it lacked the provocative lines of the previous dress.

Buckling her sword to her hip, Violet departed the safehouse and made her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way toward Whisper's headquarters. The syndicate's nerve center was tucked away in a covert location far removed from Advisor. Guards disguised as ordinary passersby caught sight of her approach and parted quietly to grant her passage.

At the deepest subterranean level of the base lay a spacious office. Standing before the door, Violet knocked softly.

"Enter."

Willis, founder and head of Whisper, greeted her from behind his desk. Seated opposite him was an unfamiliar man.

A bizarre, foreign flow of mana drifted off the stranger, but Violet paid it no heed and slipped smoothly into an empty chair. When mana fluctuated erratically across someone's face, the reason was obvious—they were using an illusion or concealment art to mask their identity. She could have pierced through the glamour had she wished, but she was never one to invite needless trouble upon herself.

"Here it is."

"Good work." Willis took the recipe from her hand and promptly passed it across the desk to the masked stranger.

The man unfurled the parchment and skimmed its contents. Rather than reading the text, he seemed to be searching for a specific mark or detail. After a prolonged scrutiny, his face brightened.

"Satisfied?" Willis asked.

"...Confirmed." A broad grin touched the man's lips. "I expected nothing less from Whisper's handiwork."

"Think nothing of it. We are handsomely paid for our efforts, so delivering results is merely proper."

"Precisely that. There are far too many fools in this city who cannot manage even that much. Ahem!" Rising from his seat, the unidentified client extended a hand to Willis, who took it firmly. "Should another assignment arise, I shall surely entrust it to Whisper."

"Of course. You have our gratitude."

Willis waited until the man had departed the office before turning his gaze upon Violet.

"Did you succeed in forming a personal connection with him?"

"My apologies. It ended in failure."

"A failure? That's a pity."

"I did manage to extract a promise, though. He said he'd consider future work if the price was right."

Though visibly disappointed, Willis nodded in pragmatic understanding. "Good. That is a promising start nonetheless. Our client is thoroughly satisfied, and Bennett has left a thread open for future contact. What of the other fixers?"

"Still working through their assignments, as far as I know."

"...When laid out like this, that man Bennett stands out all the more."

Violet agreed without hesitation. "He is quite peerless in many respects. We knew he had a plan, but who could have guessed he would strike the very next day?"

"Is that because he's a veteran dungeon crawler?"

"Perhaps."

"The Drake Family will be throwing a fit over this. Keep your head down and stay quiet for the time being."

"Back so soon? I thought you'd be out all night."

"I came back early because of you."

"There you go again! Blaming everything on me!"

Stripping off his heavy armaments and scavenger gear, Bennett changed into comfortable indoor clothing and sat down at the table.

Click, clack.

Rolling the dungeon world's peculiar medicine across his fingertips, he fell into deep contemplation.

If I administer this to Bella once more...

Could it cure his sister's illness for good?

The vial he had used previously bore the label 'Prototype ver.'—in other words, an unfinished product. If this second medicine was merely another incomplete prototype, expecting a drastic therapeutic leap would be optimistic at best.

No, there's no telling until I know for sure.

In truth, there was very little he could deduce right now. He had no way of knowing whether what he held was identical to the previous dose, and if it differed, what its true purpose might be. If it couldn't be used on her, what was the reason?

The more he turned the questions over in his head, the more frustrated he felt. Bennett's eyes settled back on the panacea, the GS-P27.

Almost on instinct, he activated Detection—and suddenly noticed something that had previously escaped his sight.

■

Hm?

A minuscule black speck appeared on the casing. Before deploying the skill, it had been completely invisible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the naked eye. Infusing his psionic energy into the technique, Bennett pushed Detection to its absolute limit.

His drastically enhanced perception brought the speck into sharp focus—revealing that what had appeared to be a mere dot was actually microscopic script.

It was written in the inscrutable Dungeon Language, accompanied by unfamiliar alphanumeric symbols.

Frowning in curiosity, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bennett pulled open a drawer to retrieve the empty casing from the first medicine he had administered. Examining the identical spot, he found another microscopic mark. As he focused his Detection upon it, the tiny characters magnified and clarified...

At a glance, the inscriptions were completely different. Though he planned to study the Dungeon Language systematically through Marco in due time, the terms remained utterly undecipherable for now.

Glancing back and forth between the two identical-looking injectors with their contrasting inscriptions, Bennett recalled something he had nearly forgotten.

Come to think of it, there was that other thing.

He remembered the capsule he had salvaged from the Quarantined Laboratory—the one with a transparent midsection through which tiny granules were visible. Guided by a hunch, he brought the new medicine against the capsule. Despite the gentle touch, the two objects interlocked with a firm, mechanical snap.

At that exact moment, a faint vibration resonated through the capsule.

Through the transparent glass, he could see an internal partition shifting, pushing the microscopic granules inward.

Hummm.

Then, the injector itself began to vibrate. Unlike the capsule, which had ceased its tremor in under three seconds, the medicine continued to hum with steady energy for an extended period.

A brand-new system prompt flashed into existence before his eyes.