Gardenia’s Heart

Wiping the thin layer of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, Cleomel looked at the three incapacitated targets lying before her.

The dust from the destroyed room still hung in the air as the woman spun her spear once more, ensuring the weight of her new weapon was as familiar to her as a part of her own body, before resting its tip against the ground. Her bloodlust, ignited by the intensity of the battle, finally subsided. Her hands still tingled from the ferocity of the fight, yet, for the first time in a long while, she felt satisfied.

As Cleomel prepared to secure her adversaries to ensure they wouldn’t rise again, the door burst open, and a woman sprinted inside.

“Cleomel!”

Caught off guard, Cleomel dropped the spear as though it were worthless compared to catching the woman who rushed toward her. In a flurry of movement, her arms enveloped her lady as she leaped into them.

“Lady Abelia!? Are you alright?”

Her previously cold expression melted at the contact, a deep blush spreading across her dark skin. In a flustered state, she gazed at the black-haired woman with modest curves now clinging tightly to her waist. Wide, obsidian eyes locked onto hers.

“Silly girl, I should be the one asking you that! Look at your bruised face! Does it hurt?”

“N-No, I’m fine, my lady. Please, step back a little. At least let me clean up first!”

Unlike the noble lady who had dashed inside with such urgency, a silver-haired girl entered the house with a calm, deliberate pace.

“That was quite the fight.” With her hand on her hip, Lily wondered how a noblewoman could clean her knight’s bloody face with a handkerchief while standing next to a partially crushed body on the floor.

“Lady Lily,” Cleomel acknowledged the silver-haired girl’s presence, summoning all her resolve to maintain composure under Abelia’s attentive care. “I apologize. I tried to delay them for as long as possible so you could follow us, but despite discreetly glancing back several times, I couldn’t see you, so I acted alone.”

“This isn’t your fault, Cleomel!” Abelia almost shouted but restrained herself, her gaze dropping to the floor as the memory she tried to suppress surfaced. “Lady Lily… brought us here through unconventional means, so it took a while...”

The strange phrasing of Abelia’s explanation made Cleomel glance at the silver-haired girl with suspicion.

“We followed you by jumping across the rooftops,” Lily said with a shrug. “It was the easiest way to avoid being noticed. Since carrying you both through the uneven terrain of the forest wasn’t hard, navigating the city was no different.”

Not even the lethal blows of her recent battle had made Cleomel pale as much as those words did. She vividly remembered how turbulent it had been to be carried by Lily and her unorthodox methods, and her blood pressure seemed to drop slightly at the thought. Her heart swelled with pride for her lady, who had endured that ordeal once again without showing any signs of nausea.

(Did that woman just lie!? If she had let us in, this would have been over much faster. Lily could’ve handled them in under ten seconds!)

As Lily watched the two women resume their conversation, the sweet voice of Nia echoed in her mind. The girl knew her wife’s gentle indignation was justified. With her speed and mana-location, there was no way they could have lost track of Cleomel.

The trio of girls had arrived just as John entered the house. Upon realizing that Cleomel planned to incapacitate the bandits within their hideout, Lily prepared to assist her but was stopped by Abelia. The determined look in the noblewoman’s eyes matched her firm declaration that her knight could handle the fight alone.

“She was probably thinking about Cleomel’s self-esteem, so don’t be mad,” Lily murmured, stroking one of Nia’s tentacles to calm her angry wife, who, like magic, began to hum happily.

Her assumption wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that, even before they had met, Cleomel had been burdened by a string of failures. She had failed to protect her lady’s daughter and had allowed both to be captured by kidnappers. This confrontation, where she was no longer at an overwhelming numerical disadvantage, was the perfect opportunity to redeem herself, and Abelia had recognized that.

“Nia, were Cleomel’s movements during the fight faster than that one-star mage we faced in the dungeon?” Lily murmured again, and her wife’s response was immediate.

(Yes. In terms of pure speed and stamina, Cleomel is undoubtedly superior to him.)

Nia’s reply confirmed Lily’s suspicions. She recalled the strike Cleomel had nearly landed on her back at the inn. Without enough time to react, Lily could have been injured even with the dense layer of dark mana covering her body, had Nia not blocked the blow.

“She has that much mana?” Lily asked.

(That’s what’s puzzling me. The amount of mana Cleomel has is less than half of what that mage possessed.)

Nia’s words made Lily raise an eyebrow in doubt.

“Isn’t the amount of mana used for physical enhancement directly proportional to the result?”

Though Nia wasn’t in her human form, Lily felt as if her wife were slowly shaking her head. Nia’s explanation followed shortly.

(The information I’ve absorbed from the Book of Truth doesn’t go into much detail on this. When it comes to your physical enhancement, I’ve always relied on observing our opponents to deduce how it works and used a large amount of dark mana to shield your body constantly.)

As she listened, Lily felt Nia’s tentacles wrapping more securely around her, as if trying to protect her from any harm.

(But Cleomel does it differently. She has little mana in her body, so instead of using it to create spells, she spends it maintaining a constant layer around her body. She focuses precisely on the areas needed whenever she has to defend or attack.)

“Isn’t that what we do too?”

(The amount of mana applied does improve defense, attack, and agility. However, I believe that instead of simply covering her body with it, Cleomel actively focuses on how the mana interacts with each part of her body. By using mana instead of neural signals to move her tendons, muscles, and even her bloodstream, she can move much faster than someone relying solely on their nervous system.)

Nia’s voice carried an excited tone as if a new realm of possibilities had just opened up to her.

(Even though I’ve done something similar to heal you, Lily, I’d never considered using it offensively. I may not have liked waiting, but I’ve learned something new, so I won’t stay mad at them.)

If Nia had been in her human form, Lily was certain she would be puffing her cheeks in an adorably exaggerated manner.

The time spent finishing her discreet conversation with Nia seemed to have matched the time Cleomel and Abelia took to wrap things up. With steady steps, the dark-skinned girl approached them.

“Thank you so much for lending me your weapon, Lady Lily.” Cleomel handed the sword back to its owner, a faint smile gracing her face.

Looking at one of her two swords now back in her possession, Lily couldn’t help but find it amusing that the man Cleomel had deceived failed to recognize it was the same blade his subordinates once wielded before their demise.

“That was quite the performance,” Lily remarked. “Instead of posing as a helpless victim, you pretended to be a naive recruit. You managed to lower their guard enough to be taken straight to their hideout. That’s something I’d never have considered attempting myself.”

When Cleomel first suggested deceiving the bandits on her own, Lily had been skeptical. However, after watching her execute the plan, she was genuinely impressed.

Cleomel’s resemblance to a man due to her short hair and scars was something Lily had momentarily forgotten. She had seen the girl without the bandages used to flatten her chest and in clothes that highlighted her masculine features. But witnessing her act in front of the bandits, Lily felt as though she were observing an entirely different person.

(She must act like this most of the time.) Nia’s voice matched Lily’s train of thought. The timid, blushing girl Cleomel became in Abelia’s presence might very well be her true self—one she chose to hide from others.

Walking into the house to search for any sign of the missing persons, Lily felt she was nearing the limit of what she could suppress.

It hurt.

Ever since she had awoken from her nightmare, her mind hadn’t stopped throbbing—not even for a single moment.

Her heterochromatic eyes settled on the defeated bandits. She knew Cleomel had spared them for interrogation, but her mind wandered, wondering if it might not be better to end their lives now.

It wasn’t the right choice—not at this moment. But perhaps the angry voices in her mind would quiet if she spilled their blood. The relentless pain pulled her closer to that edge, close enough that all it would take was the clenching of a fist.

(Lily, I’ve finished scanning the house. Let’s check the back room.)

Nia’s voice, unaware of Lily’s inner turmoil, broke through her thoughts and halted her movements.

“Alright,” Lily replied, turning away from the three unconscious bandits without another glance.

She followed Nia’s guidance to the back room, which was as damaged as the previous one. A wooden table lay in ruins, likely destroyed during the conflict, and a long, deep gash marred the wall—a testament to Cleomel’s new lance.

Scanning the papers scattered across the floor, Lily picked one up to inspect it. Her expression quickly darkened as her eyes scanned the document.

“Just as I thought...”

Her comment wasn’t about confirming her suspicions regarding the kidnappings. Instead, it stemmed from frustration—she couldn’t understand a word of it.

The writing wasn’t like the simpler texts she’d seen on labyrinth guides or storefront signs. The cursive script, filled with accounting terms and figures, was so far beyond her comprehension that just staring at it made her already throbbing head ache worse.

“You’re absolutely right, Lady Lily!” Abelia’s exclamation echoed through the room, catching Lily off guard. “These are sales records! But this can’t be true—there are so many!”

Interpreting Lily’s words in a completely different way, Abelia continued gathering several scattered papers and placing them on the one table that hadn’t been destroyed.

“This amount…” With swift movements, Abelia began emptying and sorting all the cloth bags containing coins.

A hundred bronze coins were equivalent to one silver coin, and a hundred silver coins could be exchanged for one gold coin. Back in her village, Lily had never sought luxury. If she worked hard, she could survive a week with just ten to fifteen bronze coins. Even so, she knew that an average family of three living modestly would need around fifty silver coins per year.

Thanks to Nia’s power, she had been able to make a decent amount of money as a mage within the labyrinth. However, even after saving up a few gold and silver coins during her explorations, Lily had never grown accustomed to the sight of so much money in front of her.

“Look, the coins in this pile match the amount listed as profit from sales last month,” Abelia said, pointing to a specific line with her finger, her eyes darting between Lily and the document. “They’re selling the people they capture!”

Abelia’s face twisted with disgust, her heart struggling to avoid imagining what might have happened to her daughter. She couldn’t afford to let such thoughts compromise her judgment.

“How many sales are we talking about?”

Hearing Lily’s question, Abelia examined the documents carefully, using a quill dipped in ink to mark the necessary information.

“Twenty-seven in the last month. All the prices are listed, but there’s no description of who the buyers were or who was sold. The oldest sale I could find was from a month ago, and the most recent one was a week ago.”

Crossing her arms, Lily concentrated, pushing herself to think clearly.

“If everything listed here is accurate, then at least we know Alice hasn’t been sold yet.”

Hearing Lily’s conclusion, Abelia placed a hand over her chest and exhaled deeply. The faint sliver of hope that her daughter was still alive gave her the strength to press on.

“I just checked outside. This house only has two rooms and no attic. The internal and external measurements match, so there are no secret rooms,” Cleomel said as she entered the room, her voice unsteady. “The backyard is an empty lot, and the neighboring houses are vacant—no people or furniture. I can’t figure out where they might be hiding the victims.”

Though Lily already knew this from Nia’s surveillance, she turned to the knight and asked, “While you were alone with them, did you manage to gather any information?”

“They seem to be part of the same group that attacked us in the forest. The spells and fighting techniques they use appear to be something that man—John—taught them,” Cleomel replied as she walked to her lady’s side. Although the three bandits were incapacitated, she couldn’t allow any harm to come to Abelia.

Cleomel’s words sent a shiver down Lily’s spine.

Her village, the outskirts of Caligo, and even within the city—

All these attacks that seemed isolated incidents were somehow connecting into something bigger.

“I overheard them and that guy with glasses talking about how the report they were expecting today hadn’t arrived through their communication equipment,” Cleomel added, pointing toward the two unconscious men.

“Communication equipment?”

(Just behind Abelia, in the far-right corner.)

As always, when she asked a question, her wife responded promptly. Following Nia’s guidance, Lily found herself standing before a small, dark blue box with glowing inscriptions etched into its surface.

(How curious. The amount of mana this emits is so faint that if I weren’t in this room, I’d have dismissed it as nothing more than a box.)

When Lily touched it with her finger, the surface began to display a series of words. Nia took a moment to reflect before speaking again.

(The engravings follow the same principles as the beacons and hourglasses used by visitors. I believe it’s a magical artifact.)

Since she couldn’t openly speak to Nia with the other women so close, Lily nodded subtly in acknowledgment.

“These are messages questioning the progress of their mission,” Abelia said as she leaned in closer, examining the letters forming on the box’s surface. “All you need to do is write on top of the communicator, and the same message will appear on the one it’s connected to.”

“Have you seen something like this before?” Lily asked.

“It’s the same type used by town halls to communicate between major cities within and beyond the fog.”

“Their business must be going remarkably well for them to afford something of this level,” Lily remarked sarcastically, observing the tense exchange of glances between the two women in front of her.

However, the tension on Abelia’s and Cleomel’s faces only deepened.

“No, Lady Lily, that’s the problem. This isn’t something you’d know, but this shouldn’t be possible. Communication artifacts are restricted by capital law. Town halls receive them directly from certified officials, and it’s illegal to sell them. Not even the mercenaries’ guild possesses one of these,” Abelia said, her arms crossing as cold sweat formed on her brow.

This revelation made Lily bring her hand to her chin, deep in thought. From the well-prepared bandits with bases in the forest to their use of routes as good as, if not better than, those of merchants for navigating the fog, all these details pointed to something far bigger than any of them had anticipated.

“Should we wait for them to wake up and question where they’re keeping the captives?” Abelia asked reluctantly.

“If we can’t uncover anything else, perhaps. But I don’t feel like we’re at a dead end just yet.” Uncrossing her arms, Lily turned to Cleomel, her uncovered blue eye looking intently into the knight’s amber gaze. “You said you managed to stall him by talking. Out of everything he said, was there anything that stood out to you? Anything at all?”

Cleomel furrowed her brow slightly at the question. She felt certain she had already relayed all the important information and couldn’t think of anything else that might be helpful.

“Can you remember anything else, Cleomel?” Holding the knight’s hand, Abelia looked at her with pleading eyes.

Cleomel’s heart skipped a beat, the weight of responsibility pressing on her mind. Both of her companions were counting on her. Focusing all her energy, she strained to recall every detail of her earlier interactions.

“Ah! I remember now! On the way here, he mentioned that when he arrived, he’d be meeting with ‘the boss.’ He didn’t have time to inform them that he was bringing a new recruit, so the boss will be coming here for some reason we don’t yet know.”

Cleomel spoke, her expression nearly euphoric as she awaited Lily’s confirmation of whether this information would be useful.

“No, I don’t think that’s what he meant. Whoever is behind all of this is cautious—they won’t come here.” As Lily spoke, it was as if the very aura of the two women wavered. However, her next words quickly restored their composure. “This house wasn’t the final destination.”

Ignoring the women’s doubtful expressions, Lily turned and began pacing the room.

“Nia, you’re using mana to scan the surroundings, aren’t you?” she murmured, speaking to her wife.

(Yes, the entire house and the others within a 100-meter radius of where we are.)

With a slight nod of acknowledgment, Lily fixed her gaze on the stone floor in front of her.

“Can you check below us?”

Receiving a mental nod of agreement, Nia shifted her focus, sending a faint layer of dark mana seeping into the stone floor to investigate below. Only seconds later, Lily heard a loud shout echo in her mind.

(There’s a tunnel beneath the house—it’s long and connects to others!)

Even as the pain from the mental shout clouded her thoughts, Lily managed a faint smile. She moved purposefully around the room, following Nia’s guidance.

The confused expressions of Cleomel and Abelia turned to astonishment as two purple tentacles emerged, tearing away a section of the floor to reveal a wooden staircase leading into the subterranean depths.