Chapter 13 – The Garden Left Behind

“Wh-what...” The young Puffcap’s cap trembled as she looked from side to side, searching for the intruders. “What do I do? If they really are assassins...”

“Then you’re dead.”

“Huh? We don’t have any chance of winning?”

Elara was still clinging to hope, so Evan mercilessly laid out the facts for her. “Think about it. We’re trapped on this stratum because we aren’t strong enough to get out, while they came down from above without any trouble. The difference in strength is rather obvious, isn’t it?”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“How about keeping a Mana Crystal ready to trigger Detonation?”

“You mean take them with me?”

“At least you’ll die with some dignity.”

“That... makes sense...”

When the Silverthorn Company reached the center of the Mycelial Garden, they found a pink Puffcap with a massive Mana Crystal balanced on her cap. Mana surged around her, poised at the threshold of Detonation.

Evan had thoughtfully stationed a Puffcap on either side of her, lending the display a great deal more menace.

If a Mana Crystal that large went off, the explosion at the entrance would pale by comparison.

Nyx immediately moved to use her speed to neutralize the threat.

[Shadow Bind]

Ivan Netz proved himself a fine companion by casting the perfect spell to restrain her.

“Calm down, you brute.”

At Ivan’s warning, Nyx finally noticed Captain Nolan staring at the pink Puffcap, his face alight with emotion.

The pull of the Tracking Crystal in his hand left no room for doubt. The Puffcap before them was their rescue target, Duke Alaric St. Clair’s daughter, Elara St. Clair.

Nolan immediately dropped to one knee and offered Elara the formal salute due a noblewoman.

“Lady Elara, we are adventurers commissioned by your father, Duke Alaric St. Clair, to rescue you. I apologize for alarming you.”

As he spoke, he shot a pointed look at Nyx, who still stood nearby with her dagger in hand.

He had never been more grateful that he’d stopped her from clearing the area before they entered. He did not even want to imagine what would happen if the duke discovered that the adventurers sent to save his daughter had somehow acquired his Vengeance Mark.

Nolan swallowed.

The duke would not be the only one hunting them. The Adventurers’ Guild would certainly place a staggering bounty on their heads to distance itself from the entire disaster. Then there truly would be nowhere in the world for them to hide.

The thought sent a chill through him, and the look he gave Nyx grew even darker. She had become far too reckless lately. Once they returned, it was time for a serious review of her conduct.

“How was I supposed to know...” Nyx muttered under his glare. She put away her weapon and knelt in imitation of her captain.

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Evan could not understand what the group was saying, but seeing them kneel before Elara told him enough about their intentions.

Elara was so excited that she jumped into the air with the Mana Crystal still hovering at the brink of Detonation. Evan hurriedly told her to calm down. Blowing herself up now would turn the whole affair into a very bad joke.

“Father really did send someone to save me!”

Elara had not known that a tracking spell had been placed on her. After listening to the two traitors, she had believed the duke was too overwhelmed to rescue her. Only moments ago, she had suspected the newcomers of coming to silence her for good. Now she felt close to tears of relief, except Puffcaps had no tears to shed.

“Boss, did you hear? We can get out!”

“Once we’re outside, you can fill my family’s private woodland with mushrooms.”

“Father will agree. I’m sure he will.”

“And we can... we can...”

“Boss, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Evan?”

A Puffcap approached her carrying an A-grade Mana Crystal, only slightly smaller than the one atop her cap.

“Recruit, you’ve done well these past few days. This is your bonus.”

“Don’t tell these people about me. Good luck out there.”

Evan had finally answered, but his words made no sense to her.

“Didn’t you want to leave too? Why?”

“...”

“Lady Elara, can you hear me this way?”

As always, the voice sounded directly inside Elara’s mind, but it did not belong to Evan.

She looked at the elderly Halfling before her and realized he had cast Telepathy.

“I can...”

“It is a tremendous relief to find you safe. We know your Polymorph has been made permanent, but please don’t worry. Once we’re out of the dungeon, we’ll prepare a reversal ritual. You need only endure this form a little longer.”

“All right.”

Ivan found the young woman before him shy and rather withdrawn, which did not quite match the information they had gathered. Still, the Tracking Crystal could not be wrong. This was unquestionably the duke’s daughter.

And after a young woman had been betrayed and nearly killed, a slight change in temperament was hardly strange.

“Lady Elara, can you tell us what happened to you?”

“I... I don’t want to talk about it...”

Elara remembered Evan’s warning. After a moment’s thought, she chose not to invent a story. She simply refused to answer.

Ivan paused, then hurried to reassure her. “Of course. That’s perfectly fine. This isn’t an interrogation.”

He was well aware that the Mycelial Garden probably held some secret. The duke’s daughter could not otherwise have survived here, and she appeared to be on excellent terms with the local Puffcaps.

Under any other circumstances, he would have investigated simply to satisfy his curiosity. This mission, however, carried a reward worth an entire city.

If the pink Puffcap who happened to be the duke’s daughter wanted to stand on Nyx’s head and spray spores, Ivan would hold Nyx still for her. A minor secret hidden in the garden was nothing by comparison.

“We’ll be leaving shortly. Is there anything you wish to take with you?”

At Elara’s indication, Ivan produced a box and stored the newly delivered Mana Crystal inside. She insisted on keeping the other crystal tied to her cap, though Ivan replaced the mycelial tendril securing it with a sturdy ribbon.

After a brief exchange with his companions, Ivan gathered Elara into his arms, and the party began retracing its route.

The farther they went from the Mycelial Garden, the weaker her connection to the Mycelial Network became. When the vision it provided faded away, Elara felt as though she had returned to the moment when she had first been transformed into a Puffcap.

Alone. Afraid.

* * *

Evan watched the adventuring party disappear into the passage. Then his true body, piloting a prime Puffcap, emerged from hiding.

Of course he could not leave at Elara’s side.

After spending so many days with her, he knew her offer had been sincere. But he could not bring himself to trust adventurers, much less a great noble like Elara’s father.

He had no idea whether there was something about him that those people might covet. Even if they took him outside, he would probably be regarded as nothing more than the duke’s daughter’s pet.

And if the duke discovered that killing his daughter’s pet could bring him some tremendous benefit, what would he do?

It was only a possibility, but Evan would never stake his future on someone else’s mercy.

Not leaving with Elara did not mean he couldn’t follow the party from a safe distance and let the adventurers clear a secure route for him.

He tucked his treasured Sunstone Fragment and an S-grade Mana Crystal beneath the prime Puffcap’s shell, then assembled his remaining forty combat Puffcaps.

Evan took one last look at the Mycelial Garden he had created with his own hands, the refuge that had carried him through his hardest days.

It had fulfilled its purpose.

Following Elara’s faint signal through the Mycelial Network, Evan entered the passage as well.