Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Satou here. In games, it’s quite common to already have the requested items when you accept a quest. In MMOs, where traveling takes time, it’s often more common to gather the quest items first, and then accept the quest.

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At the closing moments of the tea party, who appeared but the cheerful Marquis Ashinen.

“Ah, everyone is here. And you must be Baron Pendragon, yes?”

“Your Excellency the Marquis, it is an honor to behold your esteemed presence.”

I gave an especially polite greeting to the Marquis, who froze the moment our eyes met.

The trouble between us was trivial.

It all started when his carriage cut in as we entered the trade city. I ended up serving as the judge in a duel between him and an elderly lower-ranked noble who objected to the cut-in. The result was a crushing victory for the Marquis’s representative, but even after I declared the victor, the Marquis refused to withdraw his sword and tried to finish off the old noble, so I stopped him.

It seemed from the start he intended to spill the noble’s blood, and I had spoiled that pleasure.

Despite this, the very person who caused the trouble came bearing expensive gifts, including a “Golden Nude Statue”. From his perspective, the lower-ranked noble probably appeared to be apologizing and currying favor.

After a light cough, he returned to the same smile he had upon entering and greeted me back.

“Thank you for visiting previously, though I was absent. I have indeed received the thoughtful gift you sent. Quite an exquisite item.”

“You’re too kind.”

Perhaps a statue of a naked man would have been better than a nude woman, but since he was likely to convert it to cash anyway, it made little difference.

“By the way, Baron, there’s a plan to build a rat race arena outside the Labyrinth City. Would you be interested in investing?”

“That sounds intriguing.”

I wasn’t familiar with the term rat race, but I supposed it was like horse racing. From an employment perspective, it seemed worthwhile, but gambling spreading in a place like Labyrinth City could cause many to ruin themselves, which was worrisome.

Before I could warn the Marquis about this, the marchioness scolded me.

“Please leave the gentlemen’s business talks for later. Now is the time to enjoy tea and light gossip.”

“Oh, my dear Rethel, please don’t be so cross. Baron Pendragon, we will revisit the investment conversation later.”

With that, he left the room. Having skipped public duties for nearly half a month, he must have a backlog of work.

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After the tea party dispersed, a maid stopped me and led me to a different salon.

There sat the marchioness and the wife of baronet Dukeri.

“Hoshes, didn’t you have something you wanted to ask Sir Pendragon?”

“W-well…”

It was Hoshes — baronet Dukeri’s wife and apparently the marchioness’s cousin — who hesitated at the question.

Encouraged by the marchioness sitting next to her, Hoshes slowly began to speak haltingly.

Putting her stammering tale together smoothly, it went something like this:

“Sir Pendragon, you’ve traveled across many countries, haven’t you? Do you know anything about something called the ‘Elixir of Life’?”

“As far as I know, ‘Elixir of Life’ usually refers to alcoholic beverages. What exactly are you looking for?”

When I said this, she widened her eyes, then lowered her gaze and briefly explained the ‘Elixir of Life’.

“It’s not alcohol. It’s a spiritual elixir said to cure all diseases.”

“I asked a scholar acquaintance, but all I got were ridiculous stories about drops from the World Tree reaching the heavens or water dissolved with the Philosopher’s Stone — which was frustrating. I wondered if a knowledgeable person like Sir Pendragon might know something?”

Perhaps frustrated, the marchioness added her own remarks. We searched the stored materials but found nothing matching the description. However, we were very familiar with terms like the ‘World Tree’ and the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’.