Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

'Is it done?' Simon wondered, he used his [Detect Presence] skill and spread it all around to search for any monster that was coming near. His eyes widened when he saw multiple monsters like the direwolves and warring mandrills which were initially heading towards their direction, suddenly stop their charge and look around the surrounding in confusion.

They tried to utilise their strong nose and sense to sniff the blood in the air but the moment, the barrier was raised, all the scent and presence drifting off from the campsite was cut off leaving the monster bewildered.

With no signs of prey or food, these monsters naturally dispersed off to different directions. Seeing the amazed look in his eyes, Adalinda lightly commented.

"Hmph, you don't have to be surprised, with the barrier I have raised, even if it's a monster above level 700, it won't be able to detect it. Though there aren't any in this Northern Outlaw Forest".

While they were having their own conversation, Cynthia intensely scrutinised the vials in her hand. At this moment, she had forced back her tears and was trying her best to heal her friend who had lost her consciousness due to her wounds being too severe.

"I have checked the contents of these elixirs, it is indeed much more potent than those healing potions on you. There is no need to be cautious, quickly feed it to her".

The majestic voice of King Leo sounded beside her ears.

Cynthia nodded and gently opened the small mouth of her friend, pouring the contents of the elixirs little by little.

Gulp… after drinking a small mouthful of it, to her surprise some visible changes had started occurring on Alvara's wounded body. Her wounds swiftly started to close and some rosiness started to appear on her previously pale face.

Seeing the effectiveness of the elixir, Cynthia couldn't help but widened her eyes in surprise, her cherry red lips opened and closed in contemplation.

"The effectiveness of these elixirs are even better than some of the healing potions available at the capital. I wonder where that man got these kinds of elixirs".

"Urgh" a pained groan came out from the guard commander's throat and her body started moving a little, her eyelids fluttered and it seemed that she would awaken soon.

Cynthia smiled in relief when she saw that the condition of her friend was better now. When her eyes turned towards the distant figure of the man, a peculiar glint flashed on her otherwise violet eyes.

"What do you think of that man Leo?" she muttered in a voice that only she could hear.

The voice within her was silent for a while before replying "What do you mean? I have already told who that man actually is".

Cynthia did not comment any further, she silently sat beside the exhausted figure of her friend near the fireplace. The morning rays of the sun shone down on the place, devastated by the big battle that had undergone under the darkness of the night.

<br/>Those people that could move around, checked the condition of the wagons and the Bane Moose under the order of their mistress. Some of the wagons have been destroyed in the aftermath of the battle and were no longer usable; fortunately, even the bandits were sensible enough not to hurt the Bane Moose as they were incredibly useful no matter whose hands they landed on.

A bane Moose was already rare around these parts of the land not to mention there were so many of them. Perhaps the bandits thought that the bane moose would become their property sooner or later that they did not hurt them.

Now that the wagons and Bane moose were unharmed, the convoy could continue their journey; however, the campsite was currently covered in an atmosphere of gloominess and solemnity.

Those adventurers and guards who were in a relatively better condition, burned the corpses before the smell could bring the monsters towards them. At the dawn break, there was finally some activities around the campsite and Simon who had slumped himself on top of a seat on a wagon, opened his eyes sensing the approaching presence of a person near him.

After that tiring battle with that butler, his body was screaming with pain from the numerous injuries and healing elixirs that he had consumed. His eyes opened only to be greeted by the beautiful figure of Alvara who at this moment was having difficulty looking straight at him.

"Is there anything the guard commander wants from me?" he asked initiating the conversation.

The warrior who always acted headstrong and noble, was surprisingly acting like a lady for the first time and was having difficulty framing her words.

"That is… I heard from miss that you were the one who gave me those healing potions. I wanted to… thank you. If there is any request that I am able to accomplish for you, please don't hesitate to ask" her voice became a little mellow at the end of her sentence.

Simon smiled, to him a few elixirs of healing were nothing. Just when he was about to disperse the issue, the guard commander clenched her hands and reported.

"Our Miss would like to meet you to discuss over some urgent matters. Will you please come with me to meet her?".

Simon arched his brows and pondered, while he was not sure what these urgent matters are, he had some idea about what it could be. Springing up from his eat, he dusted his clothes before nodding his head towards the guard commander.

Alvara eyed the man who had fought and won against the berserk Jeeves who even she was unable to beat and led him towards the wagon where her mistress was waiting for him.

Feeling the respectful gaze of this female warrior, Simon couldn't help but laugh dryly. After coming near the largest wagon with the mark of the Serene Palace Merchant Guild, a voice that told him to come in rang out.

Alvara nodded and invited him in, the interior of the wagon was much more comfortable compared to any other wagons of this convoy, even the space inside was ample to move around. A feminine scent lingered around the air and the interior was decorated according to the taste of the owner.

At one corner of the wagon, was a set of chairs facing each other and seated on one was the client of this job, the mistress of the convoy.

Cynthia was dressed in her mesmerising purple dress, got up from her seat and greeted Simon when their eyes met. She then pointed at the seat opposite her and invited him to sit down.

Simon did not stand on ceremony, he sat down on the seat and made himself comfortable. Contrary to their first meeting, the guard commander this time did not choose to stand at guard and relaxed herself on a seat beside her Miss.

Before starting the conversation, Cynthia brewed some tea. After pouring it on the teacups, she passed it over to them. The trio sipped on their tea for a while before the woman in purple dress nodded and asked a random question.

"How is the tea?".

"Hm? It's quite good" Simon lightly commented.

Cynthia smiled, a graceful aura emitted from her every movement "I'm glad it is to your taste. Before we start, I wanted to thank you for saving my friend and my closest aide".

She bowed her head, her soft violet hair flowed down her shoulders revealing those delicate and smooth neckline.

"Now then, about the reason I called you here, is to discuss something with you," Cynthia said taking out an empty vial from the corner.

Simon arched his brows at the object that was none other than the empty bottle of the elixirs that he had given her at that moment. With that, he finally came to an understanding as to what this discussion was all about. Though he had already guessed it, he still maintained a poker face.

"This is the potion mister adventurer had given us, thanks to that it saved my guard commander's life. It might be pretentious to ask of me after everything you have done for us but could you tell me where you got your hands on something like this?".

Feeling the two pairs of expectant eyes gaze at him, Simon laughed dryly. Even if he wanted to explain it to them, how was he to tell them that this was just an item he had designed back when he was creating a game on earth.

He simply shook his head, keeping the origins of his elixirs secret.

"Can I ask why the Mistress of the prestigious Serene Palace Merchant Guild is interested in it?" Simon asked tilting his head a little. From what he knew about this world, Healing elixirs wasn't something that was rare amongst the ordinary populace, even adventurers kept a few stock with them in case of emergency.

Cynthia's eyelid's blinked, in the first place, she did not hold high hopes to get the information so easily. She explained:

"Healing potions are not that rare after all, there are quite a lot of shops that sells them back at the capital. However, among potions there are grades and even the best alchemists back at the capital, could only make High grades potions. Ordinary healing potions wouldn't have interested me but the elixirs that mister had provided me back then, was at least a master grade, to say the least".

Hearing those words, Alvara's eyes widened to their limit, even she did not expect that the elixirs used on her was of such a grade.

How could she not be surprised, after all, an alchemist can create elixirs of six varying grades starting from Basic, Intermediate, High, Master, King and Supreme. The best alchemists in their capital could only create elixirs up to High grade.