The rcenary couldn’t hide her surprise.
Her narrow, sharp eyes widened round, as if soone had tugged them open.
I was no different.
“They say the world is small, and the industry even smaller.”
To think the partner for this request turned out to be the rcenary I’d just t.
Quite the dramatic coincidence.
“Didn’t expect to run into you again this soon.”
“Right? Well, it’s nice. Saves us the awkward ‘getting to know each other’ stage.”
She fiddled with the end of her tied-up hair—looked like a habit when calming herself.
Once settled, she folded her arms across her chest and asked,
“Co to think of it, we never even exchanged nas. I’m Hella, of the Drexier rcenary Corps.”
“Drexier…?”
“Oh? You’ve heard of us?”
The na rang a bell.
I searched my mory. Yes…
“A rcenary corps that’ll dissolve in a year, isn’t it?”
They had a reputation for competence, but after botching a major request, they collapsed.
The few who survived went on to make nas for themselves, so I couldn’t be mistaken.
One of those nas…
“…No matter how short-staffed our office is, telling we’ll be dissolved in a year is just cruel.”
I rembered it as Hella.
“The fact that ‘a year later’ feels so damned real makes it worse.”
“Sorry, a slip of the tongue.”
“Forget it. I guess that’s how others see us anyway. I can’t say I don’t get it.”
Hella grumbled about their shaky office structure and her boss being an old-fashioned nag.
Before the conversation wandered into uncomfortable territory, I cut in.
“I’m Allen.”
“Allen, huh. Nice na.”
Her complint was hollow, but her tone turned serious right after.
“Just to check—this is about the Corrupted request, right?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Sa here… but is this really okay?”
What did she an?
Her eyes swept over , sharp and skeptical.
“Brotherhood punks are one thing, but the Corrupted are another. You really got the chops to handle them?”
She didn’t bother to soften her words for politeness’ sake.
“Never heard your na before, and you look like soone who could just live off his face. Hard to trust that as a partner.”
So she wanted to gauge my ability.
She might’ve been glad to see , but when it ca to work, she drew a hard line.
‘Not exactly the friendly type.’
That she’d even bothered to talk back when we first t must’ve been thanks to getting her wallet back.
Otherwise, there’d have been no cheerful banter.
‘People in this line of work aren’t exactly warm.’
Specialized, sure—but a savage bunch.
‘Showing humility here will just make look weak.’
I knew how to handle types like her.
“Don’t trust ? Then get lost.”
“….”
“We don’t have to work together. If you’ve got a problem, go solo.”
The textbook response in a clash of wills was to fight it out, but was there really a need?
‘It wasn’t who asked for a partner—the office did.’
In the end, results were what mattered.
Even if I cleared the request alone, it wouldn’t be a problem.
‘I was planning to handle it solo from the start.’
I had no regrets if we split.
Hella blinked up at , then asked, displeased,
“…You seriously plan to go at it alone?”
“Why not?”
“Damn it…”
She scratched the back of her neck, looking conflicted.
As if thinking, This isn’t how this was supposed to go.
“I didn’t an we should split up. I ant I could back you up.”
…So not picking a fight?
“Back up how?”
“I’m strong, I told you. Just leave this request to —I’ll get it done.”
Trying to cash in the favor she owed , maybe.
Rational enough.
“No.”
I turned her down.
Extra help with grunt work was fine.
But I couldn’t let her take the lead.
‘The ones tied to the Spirit Cocoon Fragnts—I have to find them myself.’
Completing the fragnts was sothing only I could do.
For small-ti requests, sure.
But I couldn’t let her take point on one that might involve spirits.
“Seriously? Anyone else would’ve jumped at the offer, but this guy…”
Hella grumbled, ruffling her hair irritably.
I didn’t care.
The choice wasn’t hers to make.
“I’m going ahead.”
“…Wait—fine, I’ll co too!”
Leaving her muttering behind, I walked on without hesitation.
The Corrupted could appear anywhere.
They were spawned from black mages’ laboratories, so you could find them even in undeveloped zones.
‘But no mage would be dumb enough to experint inside District 3.’
Even with a city councilman as patron, who’d risk conducting experints on their own doorstep?
That’s why most Corrupted showed up outside the city center.
「The World Tree coughs.」
Brrrr.
The World Tree shivered sporadically.
I could feel its suffering, and it hurt.
“Sorry for bringing you here.”
I whispered with a bitter smile.
District 10—the industrial sector that symbolized Gellarg City.
Factories and production plants packed the area, the heart of the city’s industry.
My own condition wasn’t great either.
The sky was pitch black.
Billowing smog had replaced the clouds, and foul stench wafted from the rotting rivers.
“See? I told you, a frail guy like you shouldn’t be in a place like this.”
“…You’re really unaffected, huh?”
“I’ve worked in worse hellholes than this. Piece of cake.”
Not exactly sothing to brag about.
I didn’t get her sentint.
‘Then again… maybe I am more sensitive than most.’
In all my past runs, I’d never been this affected by the environnt.
‘Is it because a druid’s more attuned to nature?’
Or maybe my lungs had gotten cleaner with the changes to my body.
“Seriously, just stop being stubborn and watch from the back—”
I ignored Hella’s muttering.
“It should be around here.”
Fourth Avenue.
Unlike most of District 10’s industrial sprawl, this was a hub of academies and research labs.
Most people on the street wore glasses.
Their unified look—white coats, lab coats—told we were in the right place.
“Nice gig they’ve got here.”
The way Hella glanced around, I could see the envy—and jealousy.
Even in my old world, professionals had prestige.
In this one, it was probably even more extre.
“So why’d you take a request like this, as a rcenary?”
Jobs dealing with the Corrupted were called “dirty work.”
Too much risk, not enough reward.
Unlike contractors, rcenary corps usually avoided them altogether.
“Our office didn’t want to, either. The old man ordered it, so I had no choice.”
“Old man?”
“Our corps’ commander.”
Hella’s tone was drenched in frustration.
“So your corps’ training thod is to throw rookies into danger until they toughen up?”
Well, if there are idiots like that, there’ll be bosses like that too.
Being a rcenary didn’t an you were free from danger.
In fact, so offices only took on the hardest jobs, relying on their mbers’ proven skills.
The rank-and-file didn’t love it, but it guaranteed results—and growth.
“No, this is punishnt.”
Hella shot down my thoughts flat.
“Punishnt?”
“I was late to a request, and the old bastard found out. The client didn’t even complain, but nope—he wouldn’t let it slide. You think that’s fair?”
“…”
I answered with silence.
Between getting her pocket picked and this, she really was a piece of work.
When I didn’t take her side, Hella cleared her throat awkwardly, then grabbed a passing researcher.
“Hey, you know where Hynax is?”
Hynax.
The black mage’s laboratory we were headed for.
The researcher’s face twisted in disgust at the na.
“Hynax? Why would you…?”
“You’ll see when we get there. Quit yapping and answer.”
Even in light gear, she was still clearly ard.
The man shrank under the pressure and stamred,
“I-it’s on the outskirts, just follow this road out.”
“There you go. Let’s move.”
Hella brushed past him and strode ahead.
Whether this was really okay or not, in this city fists mattered more than law.
I watched the poor man scuttle off, then followed after her.
“He wasn’t lying. This is the place.”
Hella whistled at the desolate view.
For an industrial district—specifically, a tech developnt sector—it was barren.
A lone detached building lood, deliberately isolated as if to warn people away.
It matched the photo provided in our briefing.
And since this request ca through the city governnt, there was no way it was wrong.
“They don’t get called shady for nothing. Look at this place.”
“It wouldn’t have always been this deserted.”
District 10 was pri land for corporations.
No way they’d just leave an outer zone abandoned without reason.
‘Did the Corrupted rampage here?’
Broken windows, cracked walls.
Half-demolished scaffolding still clung to the building’s fra.
‘And traces of black magic, too.’
I brushed aside a mound of dirt—down rolled a skull.
For a corpse to bleach to bone took ti.
Here, that ant it had been used as material for black magic.
Handling corpses was black magic 101.
“Why’re you poking at that? Quit stalling and let’s go.”
Hella showed not a trace of fear.
Instead, her muscles coiled, taut with anticipation.
Maybe telling to “just watch” hadn’t been all bluff.
The frail-looking woman I first t had turned into a statue of sharpened steel.
The killing intent I’d sensed back then now rippled off her in waves.
“Wait.”
I stopped her.
“What now?”
Her voice bristled with annoyance.
Then, as if she’d figured out, she smirked.
“Oh, don’t tell —you scared?”
“…”
“Fine, I’ll be generous. You stay out here, and big sis will be right back after wrapping this up.”
…She really knew how to get under my skin.
‘Forget the request, should I just fight her here and now?’
I suppressed the itch in my fingers.
‘If I show her, she’ll shut up.’
The kind who only listened to actions, not words.
I stopped by the wall of the research facility.
The mont I laid my palm against it—
Twitch!
「The World Tree jolts in alarm!」
Even the spirit circling spasd, darting up and down in the air.
“Just as I thought.”
Both the World Tree and the spirit had reacted.
Proof my eyes hadn’t lied.
Hella tilted her head, curious.
“What is it?”
“You don’t see this?”
“It’s a wall.”
She didn’t understand.
As expected—rcenaries weren’t exactly keen-eyed.
“…This is black magic residue.”
What she saw and what I saw were different.
I wrapped my sight in the thinnest strands of mana.
Even this faint reinforcent worked, sa as body enhancent.
Fwoosh—!
My vision expanded, sharpened.
Like black paint splattered across the scene, stains appeared everywhere.
Black mana—tainted magic.
It clung to the ruins like ragged scraps of cloth.
The skull outside was an indirect trace.
This was the direct proof.
‘But how can I see it?’
Mana was invisible by nature.
Even magic, mana refined in the body, couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.
Being able to was a rare gift.
The kind that only great archmages awakened.
‘I haven’t been one of those in… dozens of runs.’
No way that talent lingered.
If it had, I’d have been born with abnormal mana reserves.
This didn’t make sense.
‘…Then is it the Nature Affinity?’
That was the only guess.
‘Black mana is unnatural. A corruption.’
Not elental, not natural, but artificial.
To a druid—or the World Tree—it would stand out as a violation.
‘Just a theory, but…’
Digging deeper would only waste ti.
What mattered was simple:
I could see it.
‘In that case…’
…Shall I try?
Nothing to lose.
I pulled a tendril of the World Tree from my fingertips.
“What the hell is that?”
“Quiet.”
Hella’s surprise didn’t matter.
I focused.
I could feel the connections of the spell.
The circuits, the formula, the intent of its caster—all laid bare by the knowledge I’d amassed as an archmage in past runs.
‘Surveillance and tracking.’
A net of senses, scattered to share information.
Not complicated.
Which ant—
‘…Got it.’
Ssshhht—!
Like ash scattered in fire, the black mana dissolved.
Erasing magic through magical interference.
A reflex carved into by long practice—failure wasn’t an option.
“Oh? The air feels different.”
“I erased the black mana.”
She might not see it, but soone attuned to mana could sense the change.
And martial types often were.
“So we’re clear to go in now?”
“…Yeah.”
I bit back the words I almost said.
I wasn’t certain yet.
‘The threads of that magic trailed deeper inside.’
The building looked abandoned.
But its wards still lived.
That could an only one thing.
‘A black mage is still here.’
The World Tree bristled, its leaves standing on end.
(End of Chapter)
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