Ambrosius… Melnuntilis, I think. Or wait — was it Melnuntius?
Ah — Merinuntius.
Hm-hm-hm? That one feels kinda close, but no.
A-anyway, he has a book collection room in the slums of Hydrangea.
He's a young man from Edda.
I met him when Pakira and I were looking for an herbal encyclopedia.
He's an acquaintance of Pakira's, and he also knows about witches.
Come to think of it, I think he knows Shiro too. What an unexpected circle of acquaintances.
So what's he doing here?
"Long time no see. Have you been well?"
"Y-yes. Thanks to you."
"That's good. I got a little seasick, you know. Haha."
Ah — he does look a little pale.
People who can't handle boats really can't handle them at all.
"Are you here for sightseeing?"
"Well — it's sort of work, sort of a hobby, I suppose."
"U-um, M-Mr. Ambrosius..."
That flustered woman's voice — where had I heard it before?
There was a woman standing behind Ambrosius.
The reason I couldn't figure it out at first was that she was hunched over, hiding behind his back.
A worn-out white robe. Very long gray hair that hid her eyes completely. Classic case of hiding behind the bangs.
She had large fox ears and two tails. The same fox-folk as the witch. One tail short, though.
She wore glasses, but with her hair covering her eyes like that, what was even the point— wait, hold on. This woman.
"Mirese?"
"Hwah! Ah, h-h-hello... I'm M-Mirese..."
A guild rescue commission I'd taken on with Gauro and the others before.
She'd been one of the people we rescued.
She'd been hiding in the ruins of a ruined city that no longer existed.
The very ruins where the Sword Goddess's daughters had been kept as research subjects.
I'd forgotten the name of the ruins. The whole city had blown apart because Gauro messed up.
And that was her. I was pretty sure her surname was something with "Corn."
Pointy Corn— no, that's not right. She had a family name, so she was nobility.
"Why is Mirese here?"
Oh, wait — are these two dating?
"Oh my? Didn't the witch tell you?"
Ambrosius tilted his head.
"Tell me what?"
"We came in place of Mr. Alexander. To help build the dungeon, you see."
"Huh? Mirese too?"
"Y-yes, hahaha, yes. I may be of l-limited help, but... I-I can be of some use."
"...I'm in your care."
We bowed to each other. A witch. What was this about?
Still wondering, I led the two of them to the Skia Coffin Ele's storage area.
"Oh my, this is quite something."
"E-even compared to a grand carriage, this is... luxurious..."
Both of them were frozen in place in the first-floor living room.
Well, can you blame them? Even I, with memories from my past life, had been stunned by the modern construction.
"Welcome, welcome, we've been waiting for you two. A warm welcome, you know."
"EEEEEEEEK!?"
Huh, what!?
The witch made a grand entrance, and Mirese screamed.
"Oh my, oh my. So the rumored second dungeon master is the same type, hm?"
"Huh? Second?"
"...R-Rara."
"All right, all right. Now, now, I'm sure there's plenty to discuss, but let's start with introductions. I'm the witch. A woman who is a witch, and nothing more than a witch. That's right. Next is my dear pupil, young Wof. He's almost too excellent as a pupil, but he has his troublesome side too, you know. Which is part of what makes him dear to me, and exactly why he's my pupil. Now then, next is—"
The witch bulldozed through the introductions on her own. There was no way she'd let her real name slip.
She also casually introduced me on my behalf without asking. Well, whatever.
"I'm Ambrosius. Ambrosius Melnuris. As you can see, I'm a half-blood Edda. My hobby is collecting books, I suppose. Nice to meet you."
Half-blood? Now that I think about it, she'd mentioned that before too. But what exactly did that mean?
There shouldn't be any half-bloods among the races of this world… Guess I'll ask.
"Um, what does 'mixed-blood' mean, exactly?"
"Oh my, young Wof. You don't know? The Edda are strict about hierarchy — absurdly so. When someone's mixed with other races, they're called mixed-blood. When the line stays purely Edda, they call it pure-blood. They draw that distinction very clearly, you see."
"I see… Could it be that the Six Edda Houses are all pure-blood?"
"That's right. Though plenty of young people leave because they can't stand these old-fashioned ideas. Me included, for instance."
Ambrosius laughed.
Megadia disliked her old family too, if I remembered right.
Which meant Narcissus, who was from the same Six Houses — ah, well, that one didn't think about anything at all.
Still, it was a pretty sensitive topic.
"Sorry, Ambrosius. I was just being nosy."
"Not at all. Don't worry about it. How considerate of you, Wof. Right then, next up — Mirece."
"H-h-hi, h-h-hello… M-M-Mirece… Cornwell… I, um, normally work at the g-guild as an inspector of ruins… plea-please… n-nice to meet you."
For some reason she bowed while looking terrified. Some things never change.
A question had come up about her, so I asked.
"You mentioned something earlier about a 'second-generation' — what was that?"
"A-ah… that… th-that is…"
"Ah, yes, yes. She was Alexander's apprentice and took on the role of dungeon master as the second-generation, you see."
"Alexander's apprentice!?"
An apprentice… So there was one. Mirece was trembling.
"The second-generation… y-yes. Th-that's… what I've been… told."
"Alexander couldn't make it no matter what, so I brought her along instead."
"…Ambrosius. Do you know Alexander?"
"Well, about as well as I know the witch. I'm Viscount Melnuris, a book collector, the Darkness of Death—oops, a Third-Rank delver, and a dungeon researcher too."
Quite the lineup of titles.
It was a shame Alexander couldn't come.
Still, having two people who knew their way around dungeons was reassuring.
The Darkness of Death… what was that again?
Speaking of death, there was that King of the Death Wind, wasn't there.
Oh, right.
Shiro-san was apparently an expert on death dungeons. A specialist, I think.
Ambrosius was an acquaintance, so maybe that was the connection.
"Well then, shall we start by having a nice cup of tea while I walk you through how this dungeon came to be, and everything leading up to it?"
The witch made the suggestion with visible delight.
Please tell me that tea isn't her herbal tea.
Ugh, it's herbal tea. I have to stop this!!