Extreme

The moment we stepped into the labyrinth, a horrible rotting smell hit us.

I reflexively wanted to cover my nose with my hand.

But losing the use of one hand would be fatal.

My eyes watered from the sheer intensity, but there was nothing to do but endure it.

Old memories resurfaced, and a wave of nausea washed over me.

"The rings are neutralizing the poison filling the labyrinth, but the smell is a separate matter. I'm used to foul odors from my experiments, but I imagine you girls aren't."

Ramiza-san stopped and raised her right hand, moving it in some kind of motion.

She seemed to be pulling something out of her bag again.

What emerged was a small jar containing a faintly blue cream.

"Here. Scoop some up with your fingertip and rub it under your nose."

"What is this?"

"Menthol. Ah, maybe you wouldn't know that word. How about peppermint oil?"

"That refreshing-smelling stuff?"

"That's the one. I extracted the active compound and boosted its effectiveness through compounding."

I did as instructed, scooping a bit onto my index finger and rubbing it under my nose.

The air was warm, yet the spot where I applied it turned cold, sending a shiver racing down my spine.

Almost immediately, I noticed that the labyrinth's terrible smell had become nearly imperceptible.

It wasn't completely gone, but it was barely detectable, enough that it wouldn't hinder us at all.

The sharp sting was gone too, and the physiological reactions like tearing eyes had subsided.

"Wow, this is amazing. The cold surprised me when I first applied it, but the smell is basically gone."

"Right? There's a solution for everything in this world. Pursuing those solutions through knowledge and experimentation, that's what alchemy is. It's not just about transmuting gold or chasing the Philosopher's Stone."

"I see…?"

The menthol cream was one thing, but the rings that neutralized poison were practically tailor-made for this labyrinth.

And they almost certainly weren't available on the open market.

Even at auction, they'd be hard to come by.

For Ramiza-san to just casually produce things like this… she might be an even more remarkable person than I'd thought.

"Reminds me of when I used to transport monster corpses. Though the one I used back then was much weaker."

"Oh, I was at my wit's end, so this really helps."

Alexia-san and Elza-san seemed equally pleased with the cream's effect.

"Well, let's take it slow. It's been a while since I cleared this place, so the map I remember won't be much use."

"Labyrinths do change shape from time to time… Getting caught up in that is the worst."

In the Wind Labyrinth, a shift in the labyrinth's structure had thrown Kazusa-chan and me down into the depths.

That had led to a fateful encounter, but… it could easily have killed us.

"True enough. Though if you're lucky, you can stumble into a windfall."

"Oh, that time with the magic stones was pure luck. Hauling them out was a nightmare, though."

"Who'd have thought we'd find more than a storage bag could hold? But they were too valuable to leave behind, and coming back later to find them gone would just feel awful, too."

"It looked like a real struggle getting everything out."

Just the other day, Alexia-san and the others had stumbled upon what's called a magic stone room inside a labyrinth.

The result was a single day's haul worth dozens of gold coins.

"Right, right, we had to make multiple trips… but enough chatting. There are monsters nearby."

Alexia-san had been using magic to scan the area, so her warning immediately sharpened everyone's focus.

Before Finn joined us, this was how we'd detect monsters, to avoid ambushes and to get the jump on them.

Knowing their approximate location was incredibly helpful.

Finn could spot monsters even before Alexia-san's magic detected them, so that was likely a special skill unique to her.

"Oh, you can tell all that? Having a mage around sure is convenient."

"How did you handle it when you were exploring, Ramiza-san? Did you team up with anyone?"

"Do you really think I could team up with anyone?"

"Um, well…"

That was an extremely difficult question to answer.

I drew my sword from its sheath and prepared for combat, all while racking my brain for a tactful response, but nothing came.

"You're considerate, just like Yohane-kun. Well, the answer is as you'd expect: solo only. And it's not just because I'm lazy, mind you."

"Here they come. Focus."

Just as Alexia-san warned, monsters appeared from deeper in.

One was a large frog with a bizarrely glossy sheen over its entire body, and the other was a newt crawling along the ceiling.

What they had in common was their garishly toxic coloring.

Even their breath probably carried poison.

"Allow me to demonstrate why. Leave this to me."

"Understood. I'll cover you if anything goes wrong."

"Thanks."

Since Ramiza-san said she'd handle it, I let her take the lead.

But I kept my eyes locked on the fight, ready to move at a moment's notice.

Ramiza-san walked toward the two monsters without drawing any weapon, completely bare-handed.

She was so defenseless that even the monsters paused to observe her.

Just as I was wondering what she intended, her right hand moved.

What she produced was… a small pouch.

It was small enough to fit in her palm, and I couldn't tell what was inside.

She threw the pouch straight at the monsters.

The pouch hit the frog's back with a wet slap against its mucous membrane, and the contents spilled out.

The instant I saw black powder, the pouch exploded.

And not just once. It went off two, three times in succession.

The frog endured the first blast, but the repeated explosions were too much, and it was blown apart.

The newt, startled by the noise, tried to flee in a panic.

But at some point a large needle had been driven into its head, and that proved to be the killing blow. It fell from the ceiling and went still.

From start to finish, the fight was over in mere moments.

I could see that she'd thrown the pouch to draw attention, then immediately thrown the needle at the newt.

But monsters generally had tremendous vitality. The frog being blown apart by the explosions was one thing, but a single needle to the head shouldn't have been enough to kill.

Yet it was an instant kill all the same.

And what was that pouch, anyway?

Gunpowder…? No, that didn't seem right.

When Finn used her explosives, there was always the smell of gunpowder, but this explosion had no such smell.

"See? You can't exactly team up with someone you don't know well when this is your fighting style. I basically just keep annihilating everything like this. So knowing where the enemies are is actually really helpful."

"That's… extreme for how casual you look. Mind if I ask what you did? For our safety, too."

"Of course. Any more monsters around?"

"None detected at the moment. I expected the noise to draw them in, but it doesn't seem to have."

"Then I'll explain while I dissect these."

Alexia-san looked a little put off.

Ramiza-san had somehow already produced a butchering kit and was beginning to break down the monsters.