As Dila reached out, her pale fingers brushed against the surface of the mysterious herb. It looked almost... wrong.

The black-leafed herb didn't reflect the ambient light in the room—no, it swallowed it. Like a patch of void in reality. The veins of the leaf shimmered faintly with deep violet hues, but even those pulses flickered and disappeared, like dying stars.

The light around it dimmed.

Even the glowing shards of her Archane Staff flickered uncertainly.

She held the herb gently between her fingertips, lifting it closer. The air around it felt cooler, heavier. Like gravity had quietly increased. Like the herb itself refused to exist under normal laws.

What is this thing…? Dila thought in her mind, her eyes narrowing.

☆ According to my scan, it's called... Leaf Matter! ☆ Nari chirped with a cheerful tone, completely out of place.

Dila stared blankly. Leaf Matter?

☆ Yup!☆ Nari said. ☆Just Leaf Matter.☆

That sounds like something made up on the spot... Dila's tone in her mind grew suspicious.

☆I didn't make it up!☆ Nari pouted in thought-tone. ☆That's its name in the data base alchemist archive. I double-checked.☆

Dila deadpanned internally. It's literally absorbing light like a collapsed star and you're telling me its name is Leaf Matter.

☆What did you expect? Darkleafius Absorbicus?☆ Nari snorted, trying not to laugh. ☆Sometimes names are just… names, master.☆

Dila slowly gave a single nod, though her expression remained unreadable. Fine.

From the other side of the room, Fran tilted her head. "She's quiet again... Is it glowing? Or... unglowing?"

Zeon raised an eyebrow. "She's making that face. You know the one. The 'don't interrupt me unless you want to be turned into soup' face of insults."

Zib leaned nervously, whispering, "Is she… hearing voices again?"

Nobody said anything else.

They simply watched Dila standing there in eerie silence, holding what looked like a piece of space itself, eyes locked in deep alchemist focus—as if she was trying to hear the secrets of the leaf through sheer willpower.

Dila continued to stare at the strange, shadow-hungry leaf resting between her fingers. Her expression was unreadable, but internally—she was bracing herself.

What will it do? she asked silently, expecting a proper answer. What's the effect of this herb?

There was a brief pause.

Then Nari's voice rang in her mind—cheerful and sugar-coated as ever:

☆Simple! I don't know! Tehee~ ☆

Dila blinked once.

What… the– her thoughts stuttered in disbelief. You said the herbs were fully scanned…

☆Well… yeah!☆ Nari giggled nervously. ☆Scanned… visually. It looks really cool!☆

You said they're in the local database!

☆They are! But… not this dimension's database… probably… maybe.☆ she muttered, her tone slowly shrinking. ☆Also, the legendary alchemist who last documented it left a comment that just says: "Use with caution. Or don't."☆

Dila stood still, her deadpan growing colder. You're telling me… you scanned it… you bragged about it… and you still don't know what it does?

☆Ehhh... tehee?☆ Nari tried again, with a sparkly sound effect in her voice.

Dila squinted, her mental voice flat and unimpressed. Just say it, Nari.

☆Say what...?☆

Say you know absolutely nothing about this weird death-looking herb.

There was a pause.

Then a small sigh.

☆...Fine. I know absolutely nothing about this weird death-looking herb...sniffle...☆

Dila pouted slightly in her mind, rubbing the bridge of her nose. You're useless sometimes.

☆Hey!☆ Nari cried. ☆If I always knew everything, wouldn't life be boring?☆

Dila remained mentally silent.

☆...Okay yeah I'm sorry master please don't uninstall me—☆

She let out a quiet sigh aloud, finally placing the ominous herb gently onto the table like she was dealing with a cursed relic from a forbidden shrine. Her companions still stared.

Zib whispered, "...She's making that 'she's disappointed in someone' face again."

Fran leaned closer, whispering behind her hand, "I bet Sister didn't know how to process that herb."

Zeon folded his arms. "She always gets that expression right before saying 'I expected better.'"

Dila glanced at them with a flat stare.

They all quickly looked away.

Dila stood again silently, before the worktable, her fingers hovering over the dark, light-absorbing leaf. The way it swallowed brightness unnerved her—like a shadow that refused to be cast. Still, her curiosity burned brighter than her caution.

Since the effect of this dark herb is unknown… she thought to herself, …let's still try to use it.

She directed her thoughts at Nari with resolve.

Nari's soft voice flickered to life in her mind, this time tinted with worry.

☆M-Master… are you sure?☆ she asked hesitantly. ☆That herb might have negative effects... it could cause debuffs… poison… or worse…☆

Dila didn't answer right away. She simply stared at the leaf, her reflection distorted in the sheenless surface of its black veins.

☆Please be careful, master…☆ Nari's voice grew gentler, almost trembling. ☆You have a battle coming… with your father. I-I don't want complications. Not now… it's too risky!!☆

Dila blinked slowly. Her blue eyes dulled slightly in thought.

It's okay, she replied in her mind. I believe… this herb might hold more good than bad.

☆But... but master, it's dangerous...☆ Nari pleaded, her voice cracking like glass under pressure.

Dila's mind remained calm, unwavering. Don't worry, Nari… trust me.

For a few seconds, the silence stretched.

Then Nari's voice came back—faint, almost like a sigh of wind.

☆...Oky…☆

It was soft. Not the usual sparkle or giggle. Just quiet acceptance, heavy with emotion.

Dila reached out, finally picking up the dark herb again. Its coldness seeped into her skin, but she didn't flinch.

She whispered aloud, "It'll be alright."

Behind her, none of her companions said a word. But Fran clutched her sleeves tighter. Zib glanced away nervously. Even Zeon narrowed his eyes—his stance shifting just slightly.

They all felt it.

The quiet intensity of a girl ready to risk the unknown… even if her heart was racing a bit.

The longer she hover her fingers, the more unnatural it felt. It didn't just absorb light—it drank it. Her fingers looked paler the closer they came to its surface, as if the very color of her skin was being drained into the leaf's abyss.

She turned slightly, her voice low but sharp with curiosity.

"Sir Zib… may I ask something?"

Zib straightened up from the table, surprised by her sudden seriousness.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Does this herb… exist naturally in our realm?" Dila asked, her gaze not leaving the leaf. "Or was it made… modified by something? And do you… know what it does?"

Zib's smile faltered. He shifted his hands behind his back, glancing once at the herb with unease.

"I… I'm sorry, Princess," he said, voice low with shame. "We don't know. It just… appeared. It was growing unattended in a part of the Demonlord's territory."

Dila slowly lifted her eyes to meet his.

"You mean it was just lying around in enemy land," she said, her tone flat. "And you picked it up… just like that?"

Zib chuckled weakly, scratching the back of his neck with a grimace.

"Well, yes. I suppose our curiosity got the better of us. We were too excited to find something unknown... unique. We took it without thinking much."

Dila narrowed her eyes.

"You didn't get attacked? Not even once?"

Zib blinked. Then slowly shook his head.

"No. That's the strange part. There was no resistance, no demons, no monsters—just… silence. As if that place was deliberately empty."

Dila's brows furrowed deeply. Her hand closed slightly around the herb.

A forbidden place… an unknown herb… and not even a single guardian.

It was too quiet. Too easy.

Like the herb had been waiting for someone to find it.

She didn't speak for a moment. Only the low hum of the lab filled the air. Even Nari was silent, as if sensing the weight of the realization.

Then finally, Dila said softly to herself, "Something's not right about this."

But even so… she still couldn't look away from the leaf.

Dila exhaled quietly, eyes narrowed at the black herb that rested in front of her like a sleeping beast, as if it breathed darkness itself. For a long moment, she stared at it in silence her thoughts churning, instincts clashing between caution and curiosity.

Finally, she spoke in a flat, cold tone.

"…Staring at it won't tell us anything."

She pulled her Archane staff and automatically morph into a small dagger magical blade like it's crafted not for combat, but for alchemical precision. The silver edge shimmered faintly, reacting to her mana. As she brought it closer to the herb, the blade trembled ever so slightly, sensing the unnatural aura it was about to cut.

Dila's hands were steady… but her breath hitched.

"Well… here goes nothing."

She pressed the blade gently against the dark leaf. A soft shrrrk echoed through the quiet room as the knife sliced into it.

And then—

The moment the cut opened, a thick, seeping mist of crimson-black energy bled from the wound. It hissed faintly as it touched the air, like the exhale of something ancient and wrong. The dark energy slithered across the table, curling like smoke with a life of its own.

Dila's eyes widened just slightly.

Her forehead beaded with sweat not from the heat, but the pressure.

It's reacting… it's not just a plant. It's alive in some way.

From across the room, Fran peeked from behind Zeon's back, gripping the edge of his clothing with trembling hands.

"Uhhh… I-I don't like this," she whispered, tail fluffed and ears twitching. "I'm scared…"

Zeon remained silent, alert but composed. His hand instinctively hovered near his weapon, in case things escalated.

Meanwhile, Dila bit her lower lip. Her hand tightened on the dagger, but she didn't stop peeling back the leaf. The resistance wasn't physical– something was pushing against her will. A force she couldn't explain, as if the herb didn't want to be opened.

Zib had already taken two steps back, his usual weird cheery curiosity now replaced with wary restraint.

"I-I've never seen an herb do that," he muttered. "Princess… maybe we should..."

"No," Dila interrupted softly, voice quiet but unwavering.

"We've come this far."

Another layer peeled.

More dark mist hissed out, flickering like flames but cold as ice.

And Dila could feel it–something was coming to the surface.

She swallowed hard, the weight of the unknown pressing down like a stone on her chest.

But she kept cutting.