Ch.118Rendezvous

“Will! I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“I was worried… really worried.”

Jessica and Seti arrived at Atelier before noon, and as soon as they saw me sitting in the clinic lobby after completing discharge procedures, they embraced me and began to sob.

“Sorry for making you worry. But I’m completely healed thanks to arriving in the city in time.”

“Really? There aren’t any aftereffects or anything like that, right?”

“Nope, no internal injuries, and they said my mana and nerves are fine too.”

“Thank goodness…”

“See, Jessica? I told you Will would be perfectly fine.”

Jessica and Seti shed tears of joy, while Mina casually nudged my side as if she’d expected this all along.

Just as we were enjoying our reunion, Phyllis opened the clinic door and walked in.

“Ah, I see you’ve arrived.”

“Phyllis…! Thank you so much. Without you, Will would have…”

“I simply did my best as a comrade. More importantly, shall we move elsewhere? I’ve secured lodging, and we should have lunch as well.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear. This morning they only gave me porridge without any solid ingredients, saying my digestive system might still be sensitive.”

“*sniff*… Yes. Let’s unpack at the lodging and talk over a meal.”

Phyllis, who had returned after getting a good rest at the lodging, looked as neat and dignified as always.

It seems she only intends to show her true lady-like nature to me… but since everyone will find out soon enough anyway, perhaps I should keep quiet about it.

After leaving the clinic, we arrived at the lodging Phyllis had reserved. We unpacked our belongings in our rooms and began lunch in the first-floor restaurant.

The main topic during the meal was, of course, Phyllis’s heroic journey to the swamp to obtain the Bloody Mandrake herb after I arrived in Atelier.

Phyllis herself was modest about her accomplishments, insisting that what she did wasn’t anything special, so the story itself was very simple and unembellished.

“…So in the end, I had no choice but to ask Ancestor to push through the leeches and pull out the Bloody Mandrake.”

“Heh, that was clever. An Ancestor definitely wouldn’t have to worry about blood-sucking, and those teeth wouldn’t even penetrate its skin.”

“I just hope the Ancestor doesn’t hold a grudge against me for sending it into a field of leeches…”

“It would understand you did it to save its master.”

“More like, I’m not even sure if an automaton can feel emotions like resentment in the first place.”

I’m grateful to Phyllis for riding through the night to save my life, but the true hero of last night was undoubtedly Ancestor.

Not just Phyllis, but Ancestor must be in a mess after going back and forth through the swamp, so I should give it a good cleaning after our meal.

“Ahem… I, I have something to tell everyone…”

As the swamp story came to a close, Phyllis changed the subject while glancing at me nervously.

I gave her a look that asked, “Should I tell them?” but she gently shook her head.

While Seti and Mina tilted their heads in confusion, Jessica seemed to sense something from Phyllis’s demeanor and let out a small gasp, covering her mouth.

“…Through this incident, I’ve come to realize just how precious Will is to me.”

“Um… so…?”

“W-well. That’s how it is.”

“Hmm~ I don’t understand when you put it that way. Won’t you explain more clearly and in detail?”

Jessica’s mischievous smile and pointed question.

Phyllis, flustered by Jessica’s gaze, fumbled for words before gulping down water from the table and continuing.

“I… have fallen in love with Will, with William. I confessed my feelings last night, and Will accepted them.”

“Ohhh~”

“S-so… Jessica, Seti. Please allow me to become Will’s lover alongside you…”

“Yes, approved.”

“Welcome, Phyllis. You’ve finally decided to join our side?”

Unlike Phyllis, who had brought up the topic with grave determination, Jessica and Seti accepted her feelings as if they had expected it all along.

And I was just as wide-eyed as Phyllis at their reactions.

“You two knew?”

“How could we not notice when she kept staring at Will’s face until it would burn a hole, all while blushing?”

“Yeah. When Will was spinning his gun, she had a completely smitten expression.”

“Huh… I didn’t notice at all.”

It seems Phyllis’s feelings for me had been obvious to the two of them for quite some time.

Jessica and Seti smiled with relief as if a long-dragged issue had finally been resolved, while Phyllis stood there with a bright red face, not knowing what to do.

And Mina was looking at me with the eyes of someone witnessing a sex offender after a long time.

“Ah~ So even Phyllis has fallen for Will’s venomous fangs.”

“Venomous fangs… what exactly do you think I am?”

“A playboy who devours every woman who joins the party without exception?”

“I don’t care about others, but you shouldn’t say that! I haven’t done anything to you yet!”

“Heh~ Nothing? Really?”

Mina sent me a meaningful glance with half-closed eyes.

What on earth did I do to deserve that expression…

“The Disease Dungeon.”

“…Urk?”

“The stairway corridor.”

“No, that was… to lure out the dungeon boss—”

“So? You did ‘nothing’~?”

“Ugh…”

In the Disease Dungeon, when I was under a mental attack, I had acted out an intimate scene with Mina to provoke a reaction from the dungeon boss.

I don’t remember any excessive physical contact, but to say I did nothing… that wouldn’t be accurate.

“I’m sorry…”

“Hmm! As long as you understand, make sure to reflect on it. Hehehe~”

Mina took a satisfied gulp of beer with a victorious expression, while Phyllis gave me a suspicious look.

I should explain this to Phyllis at an appropriate time before any misunderstandings take root.

And Mina, I won’t forget this grudge.

“Well then, let’s move on from the topic of Phyllis and Will’s relationship.”

“Eh~ But I wanted to tease them more.”

“No. We have important matters to discuss.”

“Tch, can’t be helped… Take a look at this.”

At Seti’s insistence, Mina put away her playful expression and placed a thin metal fragment on the table.

Looking closely, I realized it was the dark elf’s weapon that had stabbed my arm last night.

“That’s the dagger the dark elf used. Why do you have it?”

“I analyzed it on our way here and found traces of a spell formula that had been applied to the blade.”

“Traces of a spell formula?”

“You know how when Phyllis uses magic, she applies a spell formula to the gun barrel to transform the bullet itself into attack magic? And the gun can’t be used until the residue clears from the barrel? It was in the same state.”

Now that she mentions it, that’s roughly how it works.

The key point of Phyllis’s rifle improvement plan was to replace the barrel with titanium to drastically reduce the time until reuse.

“So, what’s the significance of this discovery?”

“Think about it. If this dagger is a magical tool that transforms elves into dark elves, what would the spell formula applied to the blade be?”

“Obviously, it would be to transform elves into dark elves…”

“W-wait!”

Phyllis, who had been listening to my conversation with Mina, let out a near-scream and stared at the dagger with wide eyes.

Her voice drew the attention of everyone in the restaurant, but Phyllis, as if oblivious to the stares, picked up the dark elf’s dagger with trembling hands.

“So this dagger theoretically works in the same way as Arcane Alter {Vision Transformation Formula}?”

“If I didn’t see wrong.”

“That means… no, could it be…”

“Let me ask you something first. When Phyllis uses Fireball or Lightning Bolt, the spell formula remains in the barrel until you say the spell name and pull the trigger, right?”

“Yes, I fire immediately after casting to prevent the powerful attack magic formula from damaging the barrel. But according to that theory…”

“Exactly. If we could seize this dagger before it stabs someone while activated, we could obtain a sample of the spell formula that transforms elves into dark elves.”

“Oh.”

Even someone like me who doesn’t know much about magic could easily guess the significance of this explanation.

Just as you need the original poison to create an antidote, and as stories often tell us, you need to understand a curse to break it.

In other words, if we could get our hands on a sample of the magic that transforms elves into dark elves, it could greatly help in finding a way to reverse it.

“So we’ve found a clue to turning Phyllis’s sister back into an elf.”

“That’s right. Of course, there’s no 100% guarantee of success, and getting our hands on an activated dagger won’t be easy.”

“That’s true. But just discovering this is already something, isn’t it, Phyllis?”

“Ah… yes, indeed…!”

Phyllis cradled the dark elf’s dagger—which she must have hated to even look at—like a precious treasure in both hands, tears of joy streaming down her face.

“Today is… truly a joyous day. Not only could I become Will’s lover, but to hear such incredible news…”

“We should be somewhat grateful to the dark elf who attacked us last night. Not only did it bring you and Phyllis together, but it also provided a clue to save your sister.”

“Easy for you to say when you weren’t the one who nearly died…”

“The end justifies the means in cases like this. We all had a rough night, so let’s eat something delicious and regain our strength.”

“Hehe, that’s right. Why don’t we order the most expensive items on this restaurant’s menu?”

The dark elf’s attack was unexpected, but in the end, no one was seriously injured, and we obtained a valuable clue.

Sometimes it’s okay to celebrate such strokes of luck.