DTBTHS Chapter 12

"You've arrived. Please sit."

Despite the Margrave's invitation, the Archmage didn't move. Rather, he began edging backward.

"Father, how long do you intend to run away?"

The Margrave spoke irritably. The Archmage glared.

"Run away? When did I ever?"

"Now. Right now. You were positioning yourself to bolt."

"You, you insolent child, speaking to your father like that."

"You can't deny you were about to bolt, though. Do you intend to never look your granddaughter in the face for the rest of your life?"

The Archmage closed his mouth and glowered at the Margrave. He showed clear signs of trying not to look toward Ariadne.

'He really does find me unbearable to see.'

Ariadne sighed inwardly and spoke.

"Archmage, please bear with this for just a moment. There's something you need to see."

"Ch-child, I..."

"I'm going to show you how to cure the Taint."

"...What?"

She'd already prepared herself mentally earlier. She decided to finish this quickly and pulled out two glass vials.

"First, please look at these."

The Margrave and Archmage looked at what she'd produced.

The Archmage's expression transformed instantly, recognizing at a glance the magic circle carved on the vial containing Blighted Essence.

"That's...!"

"Yes, this one is Blighted Essence. The other is a cure for the Taint currently under development."

At her calm statement, the Margrave's complexion changed dramatically. He looked like someone watching a child run through a minefield.

Both the Archmage and Margrave were so shocked by the words "Blighted Essence" they didn't properly hear the second part about a cure for the Taint.

"A-Ariadne, where did that come from? No, no, first give it here. It's dangerous."

"Child, you don't know how terrifying that is. Please put it down, yes? Slowly, like this."

They extended their hands anxiously. They seemed unable to snatch it away carelessly because of the danger.

'Well, in terms of my past life, this is radiation—no, far more horrific than radiation.'

The "Taint" referred to the phenomenon of this world's environment transforming to resemble the Demon Realm.

The Taint first appeared in this world—Elysium—about a hundred years ago.

Around that time, things called labyrinths suddenly emerged across the world. Labyrinths contaminated their surroundings the moment they appeared.

The sky warped and the land changed. Even the air's composition altered. Blighted spaces looked like completely different worlds.

Living things that contacted contamination all died. Humans were no exception.

Labyrinths spawned not only contamination but also magic beasts.

Magic beasts were completely different from the monsters that had existed in this world until then—creatures from another realm.

They devoured any living thing indiscriminately. When full, they simply killed. As if aiming for the annihilation of all life.

Many people truly died during this period. But people didn't despair.

After countless sacrifices and efforts, they discovered methods to hunt magic beasts one by one.

Methods to endure in contaminated areas and seal labyrinths were also revealed.

Through research, they learned all these events stemmed from invasion by another world—the Demon Realm.

Labyrinths were the Demon Realm's forward bases, magic beasts were its army, and blighted areas were occupied territory.

In other words, this was war between worlds. Elysium had been fighting a holy war against the Demon Realm for a hundred years.

Blighted Essence was a substance discovered in that process.

A blood-like liquid flowing through labyrinths, possessing the property of contaminating everything it touched. Blighted Essence flowing from labyrinths seeped into the earth, gradually expanding contaminated areas.

A vicious substance that was both the cause of spreading the taint and impossible to transport without specially crafted glass vials.

Naturally, humans died from mere contact.

"First I'll show you proof this is Blighted Essence."

Before the ashen Margrave and shocked Archmage, Ariadne opened the Blighted Essence vial.

Then she tilted the bottle and let Blighted Essence drip onto her palm.

"What are you—gasp!"

"Ariadne!"

The Archmage sucked in empty air and the Margrave screamed her name.

Flesh began rotting from where the Blighted Essence fell. In an instant her entire hand turned violet, blood dripping from cracked skin.

Ariadne bit her lip, enduring the pain.

'Bearable.'

She'd undergone experiments where far greater quantities were directly injected into her body multiple times.

Compared to that, one drop on the skin was tolerable pain.

She couldn't help the cold sweat beading on her forehead or her hand trembling, though.

"You saw, didn't you? This is definitely Blighted Ess—"

"P-priest! Priest!"

"Damn it!"

The Archmage rose from his seat, mind gone, shouting. The Margrave drew his sword through clenched teeth.

The Taint couldn't be cured. The contaminated person's only end was dying in terrible agony.

'If I sever the arm before contamination spreads, there's at least a chance of survival!'

Ariadne immediately understood the Margrave's intent in drawing his sword.

"It's all right, Margrave. I won't die."

She spoke calmly and lifted the other vial. Golden liquid sloshed inside the bottle.

"Please calm down and watch this."

She opened the small glass vial and poured the golden liquid onto her palm.

As liquid like melted sunlight thoroughly soaked her palm, cracked flesh mended and the violet tint visibly faded from her skin.

Both the Margrave who'd drawn his sword and the Archmage who'd risen froze in place.

They forgot even to breathe, watching the miracle occurring in Ariadne's small hand.

The golden liquid fully absorbed. Soon her palm returned to a clean state without a single wound.

"How is it?"

Face drenched in cold sweat, Ariadne extended her palm and smiled.

"This is the effect of the cure for the Taint—Elixir."

The sword slipped from the Margrave's hand.

It was the first time in over a decade he'd dropped a sword once gripped. That's how shocked he was.

The Archmage moved first. He seized Ariadne's hand with eyes huge as lanterns.

Confirming her smooth palm, the Archmage muttered like a broken doll.

"I-impossible. Impossible..."

Ariadne left her hand in the Archmage's grasp and spoke.

"My fa—my father was developing Elixir. The scars on my arm are traces of my father experimenting with Elixir on my body."

The Archmage's movement stopped dead. The Margrave gaped, then rubbed his face and asked.

"Duke Eldier experimented with that on you?"

"Yes."

"...Exactly what method?"

"He'd inject Elixir, then inject Blighted Essence, and observe what happened."

In that moment, the Margrave recalled what the attending physician Zailyn had said.

'The Taint, the Taint—that's a possibility. Poison that ravages the entire body like that isn't common, you see. But if it's the Taint, she should have died instantly. How...'

It felt like empty puzzle pieces clicking perfectly into place. Except the completed picture was more brutal than he'd anticipated.

The Margrave covered his face with his hand and groaned.

During her convalescence, Ariadne had rehearsed this in her mind countless times. She continued calmly as practiced.

"The Duke improved Elixir while observing my condition. This is still incomplete, you see."

"Incomplete—this?"

The Archmage asked in a dazed tone. She lifted the vial with remaining Elixir and answered.

"Elixir itself is close to poison. Current Elixir—no one can endure it except me. Its effects are also insufficient in various ways."

She placed the Elixir vial in the Archmage's hand. The Archmage looked down dazedly at the glass bottle in his palm.

"I'm giving this to you."

"As thanks for helping me until now. And..."

Ariadne covered the Archmage's hand with both of hers, guiding him to hold the glass bottle.

Then she raised her head and met their gazes directly.

"If you'll grant my request, I'll give you not incomplete Elixir, but perfected Elixir."

"Request? What request?"

The Archmage asked stupidly. Ariadne answered.

"Until I become an adult, please protect me from the Duke."

"I don't want to return to Eldier."

"If you provide the materials, I'll continue making Elixir while I stay here."

The Margrave and Archmage looked at her, speechless.

Was the compensation insufficient? That couldn't be. After waiting briefly, she continued anxiously.

"Even after I become an adult, I'll make it for you—charging only for materials."

They still said nothing. She swallowed dry saliva and added.

"Duke Eldier can only make incomplete Elixir like what I just gave you. He has many experiments left to perform on me, you see."

"Only I can make perfect Elixir. You're welcome to verify this however you wish."

She had nothing more to say. As she too fell silent, lengthy silence filled the room.

'I thought they'd calculate quickly at this point.'

Ariadne waited nervously, studying the Margrave and Archmage's complexions.

'Worst case: they torture me to extract Elixir's manufacturing method. Best case: they accept my proposal and keep their promise.'

Where between worst and best would the result fall?

If somewhere in the middle—they might pretend to keep the promise now, then betray her later. That would still be a reasonably acceptable outcome.

'Still, I hope it's as close to best as possible...'

They couldn't fail to recognize Elixir's value.

If such a valuable thing was held by a powerless young child, feeling tempted to simply seize it by force wouldn't be strange.

That's why she'd anticipated the worst outcome might occur.

'If it's worst... I'll have no choice but to use the worst method myself.'