1

“Gyappiiiii?!”

With a huge spray of sand, a boy tumbled through the air. After executing two, three beautiful spins in midair, he dove into the water head-first with an energetic kabloosh.

“Oh, wow! Look at ’im go!!”

Relaxing in the shade of a beach umbrella, Marielle watched, laughing loudly.

This was Meinion Beach.

It was one of the most beautiful white sand beaches on the Zantleaf Peninsula. It was also a convenient thirty-minute trip on horseback from the school where Marielle and the others were staying.

Marielle took an iced soda out of the combination cooler and table that sat beside her and moistened her throat. She’d taken off her tank top, and the colorful bikini that had emerged from underneath was beach fashion itself.

Her equipment, consisting of a beach umbrella, deck chair, and beach blanket, was also complete.

Hawaaah. This is it. This is exactly it! Talk about paradise. Boy, could I not be luckier right now.

Marielle was often complimented on her smile, but the one she wore now was ten times better than usual—an angelic smile that could melt anything.

She didn’t have suntan lotion, but bodies in this world seemed to be pretty tough. The sunburn situation would probably work itself out somehow. Also, she’d gone to great lengths to get this swimsuit.

In the days of Elder Tales, clothes had been nearly synonymous with equipment. Elder Tales had been a battle-centric RPG, and equipment had meant armor and weapons. Underwear hadn’t been included.

Of course, if you took all the equipment off the polygon models, underwear was displayed, but it had been a game safeguard, and its purpose had been mostly to keep users from seeing the important bits. More than anything, it had been meant to keep things age-appropriate, and all you’d been able to see was solid-colored underwear that wasn’t sexy at all.

This underwear was only seen on the character screen; it didn’t actually exist. At this point, it wasn’t even shown, so if they took off their clothes, a naked character would be displayed. …And when the character display was naked, they were naked, too.

However, underwear was important. In the first place, Japanese people who’d spent their lives in an ordinary, civilized society couldn’t stand going commando.

If they could get them, they knew they’d be able to change into them, but underwear required fairly advanced sewing techniques. Just as the citizens had nearly decided that production would be impossible and were about to give up, light shone in.

That light was the existence of swimsuits.

Beautiful graphics had been one of Elder Tales’ selling points, and it had had many special items, including items that could change your appearance. Swimsuits were one such item. In many cases, they existed as rare recipes, and specially designed swimsuits were sometimes given away at events as presents.

Of course, swimsuits and underwear weren’t the same thing.

There were differences in moisture absorption, and in whether or not they chafed your skin if you wore them for long periods. However, the Catastrophe made them close their eyes to petty differences like these. As a result, the underwear crisis in Akiba had been mitigated by skilled Tailors.

Meanwhile, after the establishment of the Round Table Council, using the new item production methods Tailors were beginning to produce more “proper” underwear made of cotton and silk.

Naturally, demand was high, and underwear was one of the most popular items Tailors made. The common sense they’d cultivated in the old world was strong, and even Marielle wanted to change her underwear regularly, and thus to have several pairs. In Akiba at present, underwear was one of the Tailors’ highest-earning items.

Materials like hooks, lace, and elastic could be obtained by creating a suitable accessory item from the menu and dismantling it. The trick to making a better item lay in the workarounds and careful sewing methods used at this point. Since they were hand-sewn, they cost about as much as a midrange magic item. In gold coins, the price was a solid three hundred or above.

If swimsuits were made using a previously installed recipe, it was possible to mass-produce them in a short amount of time, so they were cheap. These were, of course, plain versions that didn’t use rare materials. High-level fashion items cost a moderate sum, but as a veteran player who was fond of novelty, Marielle had several suits. She had hunted this one up from among the rubbish that slept in her safe deposit box.

Marielle’s swimsuit was a bikini hot enough to have provoked involuntary admiration if she’d been on a beach in the old world. It wasn’t that the cloth areas were particularly scanty, but the acutely angled cut of the suit and Marielle’s patently unfair figure combined to make it look suggestive.

Marielle might have been aware of this: She’d wrapped herself up in a cotton parka, but—

There’s so many people here, all those eyes, and… Well, lettin’ everythin’ hang out seems, um… It’s embarrassin’ all by itself…

Even so, Marielle was sure she’d be all right if she wore her parka. In fact, the sight of her bikini bottom peeking out from under the tail of the parka was actually more of a crime, but she hadn’t noticed this. Smiling away on her deck chair and enjoying her vacation to the fullest, Marielle was utterly at peace.

“Miss Marielle, Miss Marielle!!”

The boy who’d tumbled through the air a moment before came running up to her.

He held a weapon that looked like a double-pointed spear, which meant he was probably a Samurai. Even in this heat, he was wearing leather armor, but because he had been pushed into the ocean, he was dripping with water in the sunlight; he looked like a puppy who’d just gone swimming.

“Requesting treatment, please!”

Another look showed that the boy’s head was bleeding heavily.

“Sure thing.”

Marielle nodded energetically, then sat up and activated the spell Healing Light. White light in the shape of a six-pointed star sprang from Marielle’s fingertip and was absorbed into the boy, recovering his HP in no time.

“Yesss! Healed!”

The boy put a hand to his wound, looking happy. The bleeding from his head seemed to have been cured completely as well. Healing Light was a low-ranking, instant-recovery spell; of the spells Marielle had, its chant time was relatively short, and the recovery amount was comparatively small. As a rule, it was a small recovery spell used to fill in the gaps when the recast time of a large-scale recovery spell wouldn’t be over soon enough, or when reaction-activated recovery wouldn’t quite cover everything. However, for a boy whose level was this low, the spell was advanced enough to completely recover his HP.

“Thank you very much, ma’am!”

“No worries.”

Marielle smiled brightly.

“Never mind that, get back out there! Go bag lots of crabs! I’d try attackin’ by slippin’ in from the side. Make sure to ask about situations that would let you use your special skills while you’re at it.”

“Yes, ma’am! Understood!”

The boy ran off, energetically kicking up sand.

As Marielle watched him, he spotted a giant crab that had come up on land from the beach and changed direction. Spear at the ready, he closed the distance in one sprint. The crab was about a meter in size, and if it extended its legs to their full extent, it would probably be close to two meters. “Giant” indeed.

The boy leapt in decisively, then struck the crab’s side with the spear point, as if to flip it over. This time, he managed to defeat it handily.

There were five or six similar newbies around Marielle. They were the Adventurers with the lowest levels at the summer camp.

Marielle had come down to the coast with the newbies as their leader.

In summer, countless giant crabs known as Apricots landed on Meinion Beach. If left alone, the monsters went farther and farther inland from the shore and damaged livestock and fields, so the People of the Earth weren’t particularly fond of them.

That said, they weren’t much of a threat, and their monster levels ranged from 4 to 8. Although there were differences among individuals, they were the perfect training partners for newbs.

If the newbies spent all day battling on the beach like this, in combination with the leg and hip training on the sand, they would get quite enough experience points. If they took too much damage, all they had to do was come to Marielle and get a recovery spell.

When MP ran out, they would take a break.

Having a dedicated healer on board made it possible to conduct intense drills.

Of course, it was a huge success as Marielle’s Operation Vacation as well.

“Toryaaaaah!”

“Why you! You, you! Go down!”

“I’m gonna rip you a new one!”

With the vigorous voices of the newbies in her ears, Marielle lay back in her deck chair. Sweat beaded up, but her cold glass of soda cooled it right down.

This was truly time spent in paradise.

She couldn’t stop her face from softening into a smile.

Most of the new players here wanted to join production classes. These particular individuals’ levels were still as low as they were—even though it had already been three months since the Catastrophe—because of their aversion to battle.

That in itself wasn’t a problem. The fact that Adventurers who were interested in production provided support from town made it possible for players from combat guilds to go out and earn money.

However, in this other world, being exclusively production class carried heavy risks. If you had no combat abilities whatsoever, you couldn’t defend yourself when you needed to, and most important, Adventurer levels mattered to production-centered persons as well. In many cases, it was much faster to go out to a field and gather minor ingredients yourself.

Possibly, these arguments had been successful.

It was also possible that, although they’d felt these things for a while now, the production guilds hadn’t had enough of a support system for combat training, and they’d given up. The low-level newbies who had gathered on the beach seemed to be enthusiastically repeating the crab-hunting drill.

There was a secret to this: They couldn’t back out, no matter how badly they wanted to, because every time they came near to giving up, Marielle hit them with a recovery spell and that sunflower smile. Boys’ pride is a sad thing.

As for the girls, in an atmosphere of such desperation, they had no choice but to think, Well, there’s no help for it. I’d better boost my level a bit, too.

The only one who didn’t have a clue that this reason existed was Marielle herself.

Everyone’s workin’ so hard… Wow, what amazin’ weather.

Marielle murmured sleepily, savoring her vacation mood.

Midlevel players who had been dispatched from Keel and the West Wind Brigade were patrolling the beach as coaches and guards. Marielle’s only job was to wait here as the person in charge (or, if you asked Marielle, to enjoy her vacation), and to use recovery spells to heal the wounded who came to see her every now and then.

Bored, Marielle turned over for the umpteenth time.

The air was dry, with no humidity, and although it was quite hot, it wasn’t very unpleasant.

…And so it was sheer coincidence that when she happened to glance offshore, she saw a white, foaming line. Shouryuu was passing by, and on a whim, she waved him over.

“Say, Shouryuu? What do you s’pose that is?”

Marielle pointed at the white line off the coast.

“Nn. I couldn’t say. …Bubbles? Maybe it’s a ship’s wake. Hmm…”

However, in the end, that was as far as the conversation went.

After a little while, the white line disappeared, and nothing in particular happened afterward. The group continued to hunt crabs until the sun began to sink, ending up with a ton of meat and shells.

As Marielle and the others headed back to the abandoned school building to prepare for the evening’s production-technique training, the mysterious white line had completely vanished from their minds.

2

Isuzu and the others had been trying to conquer Forest Ragranda for three days now.

Every day, their expeditions had ended in less than three hours.

The strain was tremendous, and they weren’t able to stay in the dungeon.

Of course, simply managing to stay in the dungeon for long periods wouldn’t be enough, but if their times were this short, it was a problem. It meant they were fighting only four or five battles.

There was nothing to do but train more.

Rundelhaus had concluded the matter that way, almost by force, but there was no way they’d be able to earn enough experience points in a mere four or five battles. Every one turned into a melee or a brawl, and they ended up wearing down their MP and their nerves and retreating with nothing to show for it. They did this over and over.

Isuzu had changed out of her leather armor into normal clothes. It was tiring to wear heavy armor all the way back to camp.

The advanced party was in the dungeon for about six hours every day, and since Isuzu and the others never lasted past morning, they had nothing to do, and they were bored.

If they rested outside the dungeon for an hour, they would recover their HP and MP.

That meant they could have gone back into the dungeon again in the afternoon and possibly earned a few more experience points, but Nyanta and Naotsugu had forbidden it. They didn’t know the reason, but it had been emphasized very strongly, and they couldn’t disobey.

With no help for it, Isuzu and the others did chores, gathering firewood or drawing water, and took walks to kill time.

From the angle of the sun, it was probably about three in the afternoon.

Isuzu was on her way to a nearby pond.

It wasn’t a very large watering hole, but it was fed by spring water, which meant it was cool and clear, and the group drew the water they used in their daily routines from it. Drinking it might have made them sick, so they hadn’t tried, but Isuzu’s instincts told her it was probably safe.

Naturally, up here in the mountains, there were no baths.

Although no one in particular had suggested it, Isuzu and the others had begun coming to this pond to bathe by turns.

“!! —Hah!!”

Compressed exhalations filtered out from the depths of the forest.

Who could that be?

Quietly, Isuzu detoured in that direction.

It was Rundelhaus; he was exercising ferociously in the woods. Over his lavender clothes, which looked like the uniform of some distinguished boarding school, he wore a mage’s mantle, and he was soaked with sweat.

She didn’t know how long he’d been working like that, but if the black stains on the ground were sweat, he might have been training ever since they left the dungeon.

Rundelhaus thrust out his left hand, generated an enormous ball of flames, then compressed it to the limit, turning it into a fist-sized fireball. It looked like the process took a lot of concentration: Although he usually looked like a dandy, sweat beaded up all over him, and he was gritting his teeth.

He threw the fireball, then swiftly put together a seal and stabilized it in midair before it hit the trees. Then he created a sphere of ice and cold air in the same way, launching it to destroy the flames he had released.

The magic that he had converted into flames and ice clashed among the trees, sending up fierce clouds of steam. Rundelhaus kept moving, not stopping for an instant, avoiding the sprays of hot water that sometimes came his way.

These magic attacks and violent evasions were probably a sort of drill meant to simulate a real battle.

Isuzu spotted two lines that had been drawn at Rundelhaus’s feet. She couldn’t think what they were for at first, but after she’d watched Rundelhaus’s movements for a few minutes, she abruptly understood.

It’s a dungeon corridor.

The two lines that had been drawn in the soil stood for a dungeon passage. Rundelhaus was fighting a band of unseen Skeletons that was coming down it.

He was constantly moving forward and backward, but he never crossed the lines on his left and right. He couldn’t: They were the corridor walls.

How long did he drill?

It seemed like a long time, but it probably hadn’t been more than five minutes. Rundelhaus knelt on the ground, exhaling hugely. In that position, he looked almost as if he were throwing up, and he made pitiful noises, desperately dragging air into his lungs.

“…Um. Are you okay?” Hesitantly, Isuzu spoke to him from behind the trees. She remembered that one of her classmates, a girl with asthma, got like this when her symptoms were at their worst.

However, her voice seemed to startle Rundelhaus to his core. He leapt to his feet in an instant as if he were on springs, turning to face Isuzu.

“Why, Miss Isuzu. …Wh-what brings you here?” Rundelhaus smiled a princely smile, breezily combing his fingers through his bangs.

However, his sweat-soaked bangs stuck flat to his forehead.

“You don’t have to push yourself, you know.” As she spoke, Isuzu fought back a laugh. However, she didn’t seem to have gotten through to the young man. On the contrary, he was more than a little flustered, and he tried even harder to keep up appearances.

“H-how am I pushing myself, exactly? I-I’m not. Not in the least. I was merely taking an afternoon stroll to hear the songbirds’ harmony, following where the forest nymphs led…”

Simply speaking those words made Rundelhaus’s face turn purple.

Well, sure, if he’s going to talk like a prince when he’s so low on oxygen he’s gasping for air. He’ll give himself cyanosis.

That was what Isuzu thought, but even when his face had gone purple, Rundelhaus’s princely smile didn’t falter. Feeling sorry for him, Isuzu looked away, turning her back on him.

“I-is that right…”

When she spoke over her shoulder, she heard the sound of harsh breathing behind her.

A guy and a girl alone in the woods, with no one around, and a man’s heavy breathing: Anyone would have assumed that a pervert had made an appearance, but to Isuzu, Rundelhaus seemed to be an extremely superficial guy, and she felt as if she was showing him warrior’s compassion.

Hmm… Does that mean I’m weird?

When she thought about it, her level was about the same as his. She didn’t know Rundelhaus’s age, but he looked to be in his early twenties, so he probably wasn’t younger than she was. Furthermore, he was a guy, and he wasn’t delicate.

In terms of combat ability, the difference was overwhelming. Even when you considered that Isuzu was a support class and Rundelhaus was a pure attack class, his attack power was more than double hers.

However, on a completely different level from actual abilities and conditions, Isuzu seemed to feel superior. It was a state of mind even she didn’t really understand.

“Miss Isuzu— Erm. What are you doing here?”

“I was going to take a bath… Oh, of course. You come too, Rundelhaus.”

She didn’t sweetly ask Would you come with me? Under ordinary circumstances, even what she did say would have been unthinkable. But it seemed she had lost all sense of reserve where Rundelhaus was concerned.

“To bathe?! I’m not in the habit of peeping on ladies’ baths! I’ll thank you not to misjudge me!!”

“Nobody said I was asking you go to in with me or peep on me.”

Keeping her back turned, Isuzu delivered her retort in a tone that sounded both angry and amused. She heard Rundelhaus—who still hadn’t caught his breath—choke. It made her feel good.

“It isn’t proper to let a lady walk through the woods by herself, is it?”

Isuzu blushed a little. There was something terribly embarrassing about calling herself a lady. To be honest, it was an outrageous remark. However, once she’d said it, she couldn’t unsay it.

“I suppose that’s true. Yes, as a guard, you mean.”

The strength was returning to Rundelhaus’s voice.

“I’ll escort you, then. There’s a spring, you said? Which way is it?”

Isuzu turned around.

There stood Rundelhaus, looking a bit flustered; his expression seemed to say, Yes, show me to it. Even though it was wet with sweat, his blond hair hadn’t lost its color, and when she looked at him, she saw that he really was handsome. In the real world, he could have done quite well as the protagonist of a girls’ manga.

And even then, I don’t feel much pressure. …Maybe it’s because we’re in another dimension.

“It’s over that way, Rundelhaus.”

As Isuzu headed down the deer track to the pond, feeling slightly perplexed, the young man spoke to her. “Miss Isuzu. You can call me Rudy. It’s what my father and mother call me.”

As Isuzu listened to his voice, she felt a bit self-conscious.

3

They were taken to an area Shiroe’s group wasn’t familiar with, deep inside the Ancient Court of Eternal Ice.

This place was near the heart of the palace, and even though it was summer, it was filled with a cool silence. Just before the chill air went from cool to cold, the high-ceilinged corridor ended in a huge metal door with carvings on it.

“All right: This is my den. Come in, come in.”

Li Gan, the self-proclaimed magician, pushed the door open, beckoning them into a study filled with thousands of books. They only knew it was a study because there was an enormous desk. The ceiling was high, and the room went deeper and deeper into the palace in a straight line, so that it looked like nothing more than a continuation of the corridor.

Around them were books piled up in small mountains.

The walls on either side of the huge corridor were fitted with bookshelves that were twice as tall as Shiroe, and the shelves were being engulfed by their own prey—the books. They overflowed with documents and scrolls to the point where tiny avalanches were occurring here and there.

This sight continued back and back, until it was lost in shadow.

Li Gan was rummaging around on the table and desk, saying, “Hm? That’s funny,” and “Where could it have gone to?” Shiroe and Akatsuki seated themselves on one of the sofas without being invited, although in order to do so, they had to add several books that had been on the sofa to one of the mountains on the floor.

“I’m really sorry about this. I’m sure I had a pot for drinks somewhere…” Li Gan was apologetic. Shiroe shook his head, saying, “It doesn’t matter,” and took several glasses and a large bottle of Black Rose Tea out of the bag he carried.

This drink, which had become a standard, tasted like a stronger version of roasted green tea, but its flavor was mild, and it was taken with honey or sugar. Shiroe was carrying around an iced type of Black Rose that had been cooled with spring water and sweetened with syrup.

Shiroe poured this into glasses for himself, Li Gan, and Akatsuki. Li Gan drank his tea and broke into a smile. He was an odd man; although he was small and gaunt, there was something charming about him.

As far as appearances went, at any rate, he seemed to be about the same age as Shiroe.

“Thank you. I’m awful at finding things. —That’s Dazanek’s Magic Bag, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I had it made a while back.”

Shiroe nodded, responding to the question frankly.

“Hm. I’ve done some research regarding that bag… You need a purple flame crystal and the skin of a winged dragon in order to crystallize the magic circuits, correct?”

“That’s right. I got those items and had it order-made.”

Shiroe was impressed. The quest “Get a magic bag” could be undertaken when players reached level 45, and Li Gan seemed to have a fairly accurate grasp of its content. His knowledge seemed too great for a Person of the Earth.

“Ah, pardon me. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Li Gan. I mentioned that I was a magician, and I can use magic, but it’s more accurate to say that I’m a lore master.”

“A lore master?”

“Yes, a researcher who studies magic. I can also teach general magic, but research is my specialty.”

“Here?”

“Yes. It’s been about thirty years since I settled down in the Ancient Court of Eternal Ice. This was originally my master’s study, but he passed on a few years ago. After that, I inherited his responsibilities and have spent my days here, continuing his research. I apologize for my shabby appearance.”

“—Miral Lake. …The Sage of Miral Lake?”

Recalling Li Gan’s introduction, the name struck Shiroe.

The Sage of Miral Lake.

When Elder Tales was a game, that name had come up in several quests, town rumors, and various books. For example, a key item in the raid “The Nine Great Gaols of Halos” had been the Key of Eternal Darkness, made by the Sage of Miral Lake.

However, that had all been part of the game. He’d assumed it was just background information included to make the story more interesting, and he hadn’t given it much thought.

“Well, yes, but honestly, I hardly ever introduce myself that way. I still feel like an apprentice, you know. When someone calls me by that name, I always think they mean my master.”

“The ‘Sage of Miral Lake’ is a hereditary position, then?”

“Indeed it is. Please call me Li Gan.”

For someone who’d inherited a name like that one, it was a very humble greeting. He had almost none of the daunting presence the word sage suggested.

Silence flowed between them.

As he slowly drank his Black Rose Tea, Shiroe’s thoughts raced. Part of their reason for coming to the lords’ conference of Eastal, the League of Free Cities, was that they’d been asked to do so, but the greater reason had been because they had prioritized gathering information on the current situation. If they attended the lords’ conference, they would be able to make the acquaintance of this world’s ruling class, or at least its nobles. They had predicted that doing so would give them access to a range of information so vast that town rumors couldn’t compare.

He had never expected to attract someone this big.

It had been three months since the Catastrophe, and all sorts of knowledge about the world was finding its way, slowly, to Shiroe and the others. At the very least, it was probably safe to say that they had all the knowledge necessary for day-to-day life. Shiroe and the Adventurers of Akiba had acquired food, clothing, and homes in which to shelter from the rain.

However, the more of this sort of knowledge they gained, the more keenly Shiroe felt that they really knew nothing at all.

If it had been just Shiroe, on his own, this would not have been a problem.

Even if he had been living with a few companions, they could have resolved nearly all of their issues. No matter what the People of the Earth thought of them, no matter what the reality of this world was, Shiroe and the others had the combat skills they needed to survive. They could have traveled endlessly, or set up a base deep in the mountains somewhere; there would have been any number of ways to manage.

However, Shiroe wasn’t in any position to think things like that now, and he didn’t even want to. There were fifteen thousand Adventurers in Akiba, and nearly thirty thousand on the entire server. If he’d been able to abandon all of them, he’d never have dreamed of the Round Table Council in the first place.

There was no way thirty thousand people could live quietly, hiding from the People of the Earth. On top of that, they needed a base.

In the area administered by the Japanese server, whose total population was probably only about 1.5 million, Akiba’s population of fifteen thousand was too large. Any action they took would send a ripple effect across the world. In fact, the new item production method was affecting the world in a big way.

Of course, even if Nyanta hadn’t come across it, a trick of that level would probably have been discovered and spread by somebody within a few months. The Catastrophe had triggered a panic and everyone had been depressed, and they had managed to get in ahead of everyone else by taking advantage of that psychological vulnerability.

As a result, Shiroe didn’t feel responsible for the fact that the new item production method had spread. However, they had to be aware that that knowledge had affected the world at large.

It was also likely that they would not be able to avoid causing similar situations in the future. No matter how they glossed it over, as far as this world was concerned, the Adventurers were a kind of contaminant. Guiding the situation to results that were as peaceful and nondestructive as possible would require profound knowledge. At present, Shiroe and the others had an overwhelming shortage of that.

This meeting… It just may end up being more important than the lords’ conference.

Shiroe’s expression had grown tense. Li Gan watched him, seeming intrigued, and began to speak.

“A moment ago, I called myself a lore master, or magic researcher, but there are a vast number of different kinds of magic, as well as broad variation in the ranges they manipulate. Of these, my research specialty is world-class magic.”

“World-class?”

On hearing the unfamiliar term, Shiroe put a hand to his chin and nodded.

“That’s correct. It’s a way of classifying magic by the scale of its effect. The categories are action-class, battle-class, operation-class, tactical-class, strategic-class, national-defense-class, continent-class, and world-class. Of course, these categories are one-dimensional. Aside from classifying them by scale, it’s possible to classify them by special features—such as magic that uses energy, magic that changes the state of matter, or summoning magic—while another frequently used method categorizes them by the caster’s power.”

Even as Shiroe listened, his thoughts went ahead.

It wasn’t a way of thinking he was familiar with. He could understand classifying magic by type; for example, the energy Sorcerers used, or the summonings performed by Summoners. That method was easy to understand.

He also understood classifying them by the caster’s power. In player terms, these would be spells acquired at different levels. That sort of thing had come up in the magic introduction section on the official Elder Tales website.

“Classification by scale is a method that classifies magic phenomenologically from the aspect of scale, or when examining it in combination with its objective. Action-class indicates magic of a size that could substitute for one action. Swinging a sword and wounding a demon, say. If you did this with magic, the spell would be action-class. It makes it possible to wound anything from one demon to several demons with one gesture, you see. By that definition, most of the spells magic troops use are action-class magic. Even if attack power is increased, action-class is never more than action-class.”

Viewed that way, Mind Bolt, Shiroe’s basic attack spell, would be action-class. It was a spell that used magic to unleash a shock wave of mental damage, and its effect was roughly equal to firing an arrow. Even if there were secondary effects or damage, they were only incidental.

“Battle-class indicates magic that can sway the outcome of a single battle. It implies being able to determine the fate of an enemy platoon, or of an ally platoon.”

Apparently there was quite a lot of depth to this classification of magic by scale. For example, on its own, Shiroe’s hypnotic spell, Astral Hypno, was an action-class spell. However, depending on how it was used, it held the power to push an entire platoon of enemies to the brink of death. In that case, it wouldn’t be odd to classify it as battle-class.

“Operation-class is magic that can sway two or three battles at a stroke. The great magic said to have been used by the legendary combat magicians of this world would fall into this category.”

Several battles at once… Would that be magic that granted powerful abilities? When Shiroe searched through all his own spells, he saw only one special skill that reached that level.

“Tactical-class is the step above that. It’s magic that can sway from one day to several days—or, in terms of enemy organizations, one fortress, one tower, or one mansion—with one attack.”

At this point, they were passing beyond the limits of Shiroe’s imagination.

Simulation games aside, Elder Tales had been an RPG which gamers played by controlling individual Adventurer characters. If an individual Adventurer had had the sort of power that could destroy an entire dungeon, cooperation between players would have been completely unnecessary. It would have been overwhelming destructive power.

“Now then, we’ll just skim over the rest. Strategy-class magic is an individual spell that can influence one war. National-defense-class is magic of a scale that can influence one hostile country. Continent-class is magic large enough to influence an entire continent. And world-class…”

“That would be…magic that can influence the continued existence, laws, or fate of the world?”

“That’s right.”

As a general idea, he understood it.

He could see it being used as a subject for research. However, did that sort of magic really exist? In the world of Elder Tales, Shiroe himself was an Enchanter, a petty magic user. It was ludicrous for him to talk of doubting the existence of magic, but the scale of the conversation was too big, and he couldn’t seem to bring it into focus.

“I, uh… I’m sorry. I can understand the category itself, as a hypothesis, but does magic like that actually exist? Or is this purely theoretical?”

At Shiroe’s question, the corners of Li Gan’s mouth curved in a vaguely endearing smile, and he answered in the negative.

“It exists. In the literature and through my own senses, I’ve found three instances of its use. All three have been a magic known as a ‘World Fraction.’”

“…You mean the Catastrophe?”

The instant he asked, he saw the answer in Li Gan’s expression.

Magic of that scale was no longer the result of an individual ability.

It was possible that some sort of transcendental being had used this magic, but even the researchers weren’t able to see it in its entirety.

Strategy-class. National-defense-class. Continent-class. …Why would research need classes of magic that didn’t exist? They did exist.

It might be out of reach for both People of the Earth and Adventurers, but national-defense-class magical catastrophes could occur in the form of volcanic eruptions triggered by fire spirits’ increased activity or earthquakes provoked by earth spirits.

As someone who was too familiar with Elder Tales as a gamer, Shiroe had seen magic as one of the techniques used by Adventurers such as himself. If considered as part of the story’s background, he could accept that enormous spells did exist.

Li Gan, this gaunt researcher, had his eyes fixed on the type of magic that surpassed what individuals used. He truly was a magic researcher, not a magician. His ambition wasn’t to expand his abilities but to investigate the world’s mysteries. It was the same as having the ambition to figure out the structure of the world.

“Your people call the incident that occurred in May ‘the Catastrophe’, don’t you? The People of the Earth seem to call it simply ‘the Revolution’ or ‘the May Incident,’ but I call it ‘the Third World Fraction.’ I invited you here to speak with you, in the hopes of obtaining any information you might have about the World Fraction. As a researcher, I want to know everything.”

Li Gan’s eyes shone with curiosity, but they seemed sincere.

Talking about it won’t be a problem. We know almost nothing in any case. But…

“You said ‘the third,’ didn’t you? Earlier, you mentioned that world-class magic had been used three times in this world. Could you tell us about the first and second World Fractions? The Adventurers don’t have much information about the Catastrophe. I’ll give you what we have; however, we also need as much information as possible regarding the Catastrophe.”

4

At Shiroe’s words, Li Gan created a pause by picking up his drink.

“I don’t mind at all, but it makes for a long story. Are you sure?”

“……”

“Yes, please.”

After confirming that Akatsuki, seated beside him, had nodded silently, Shiroe answered Li Gan. Akatsuki was also listening to the conversation, her expression tense.

“Let’s see. Where should I begin? Of course, as I’ve been saying, I don’t know everything about the World Fractions myself… Actually, it would be better to say I know practically nothing. That makes it terribly easy to tell you, ‘They’re incidents that happened long ago’ and leave it at that…but I expect that wouldn’t be much of an explanation. Very well. I’ll tell you all I know, from the roots up. …Let’s begin with the oldest story.”

Shiroe resettled himself on the sofa and nodded deeply.

From the beginning. That was exactly what Shiroe wanted, too.

“—About three hundred and fifty years ago, they say the world was much more prosperous than it is today. Of course, it was nothing compared to the Age of Myth, which has vanished beyond the horizon of legend, but the population seems to have been between three and five times what it is now. Their activity was mostly centered on the continent, and their territory was vast, extending to the ends of the earth.”

“What do you mean by ‘continent’?”

“Ah, Eured, our neighbor.”

The Eurasian continent: the continent that included China, the Middle Eastern countries, and Europe. Shiroe nodded. It went without saying that it was the largest continent in this other world as well.

However, Shiroe hadn’t expected the part about this not being the Age of Myth. According to the game background legend in Elder Tales, the Age of Myth—which had possessed a completely evolved scientific civilization—had been torn apart and rebuilt as the current world. All the official site had said was that there had been a long Dark Age after the reconstruction, so he’d gotten the impression that the Age of Myth had fallen, been reconstructed, a Dark Age passed, and then the Elder Tales game had begun.

However, he’d seen how far the buildings and roads from the Age of Myth had deteriorated. Now that he thought about it, all sorts of things must have happened during this so-called Dark Age. He’d assumed the Dark Age had been an empty era with no events whatsoever, so he was taken by surprise.

“The world was inhabited by four races: humans, alvs, elves, and dwarves. They were mutually prosperous, and the countries were peaceful and wealthy. Many of the high-performance magic items that are still found deep in dungeons were made in this era. Then, too, magical ruins such as this Ancient Court of Eternal Ice clearly don’t belong to the Age of Myth, do they? These ruins were created during this era by the alvs. Yes, it was the alvs who invented magic and pioneered the powerful magic civilization. They are said to have created all sorts of magic implements, and to have unlocked the mysteries of the world.”

Alvs… The official explanation was that they were an ancient race that had died out. As a half alv, Shiroe carried traces of their blood, but he’d never sensed any history or connection during game play. He’d thought of them only as a race with high magical abilities and an aptitude for using magic items.

“It has nothing to do with the main story, so I’ll omit the details, but their abilities proved their undoing. alvs were highly intelligent and had a talent for magic, but unfortunately, as a species, their fertility was poor. Their population didn’t increase, and in terms of territory, the alv kingdoms located here and there were small. Resenting the fact that such a minor tribe was monopolizing magic technology, the other races’ countries formed an alliance and destroyed the alv kingdoms, one after another. —The alvs’ domain was obliterated. Their glorious history ends here.”

The alvs were extinct, after all. Something along those lines had to have happened.

Shiroe himself had some alv blood, but the tragedy didn’t stir up any feelings of kinship with them. His only thought was, So that was the backstory.

“But what about me? …I mean, there aren’t many half alvs, but there are a few around.”

“In other words, that reveals the fate of the alv race. What people sought to plunder from the alvs. First, they went after their knowledge of magic and their high-performance magic items, but next… They took the alv race itself. The alvs became the world’s slaves. Alvs were bought and sold everywhere: in human kingdoms, elf kingdoms, dwarf kingdoms. Then they were violated, their blood diluted, and their descendants are the present half alvs. At this point, of course, they’re no more than genetic throwbacks, born unexpectedly from human parents. …Ah, and I’ve gone off-topic. We mustn’t have that. In any case, the alv kingdoms were destroyed, but there was more trouble to come. This is where the alv Ruquinjé make their appearance.”

“Ruquinjé…?”

It was a word he’d never heard before. Li Gan sketched the characters it was written with on the table with his fingertip. Six, meaning six people? Leaning, and princesses. Toppling princesses.

“There are various theories regarding the identities of the Ruquinjé. In this case, when I say ‘identities,’ I mean their names and origins. However, what we know for certain is that they were all princesses from the alv kingdoms scattered across the continent. Parenthetically, the name Ruquinjé was bestowed on them later, by historians, and we believe they weren’t even acquaintances, let alone conspirators. Like the majority of the alv people, they became slaves of the human world. Since they had been royalty, they were probably lucky simply to escape execution. According to the historical texts, ‘They were admired as jewels for their overwhelming beauty.’ They were taken as love slaves by various royals, rulers, and powerful families of the day, and kept as pets in six different countries. However, they didn’t end as slaves. One used magic, another led fellow alvs who had been enslaved, a third beguiled a royal and controlled society from the shadows, and they launched a counterattack against all mankind.”

Shiroe had been drawn into the story, but as before, emotionally, he was very close to neutral. If he’d had to say one way or the other, his sympathies leaned slightly toward the alvs, but that was all. Viewed from the standpoint of someone from modern Japan, the humans of this other world had been jealous of the alv race’s magic technology and had invaded. He didn’t think the alv survivors could be blamed for considering revenge, even if it had been close to terrorism.

“The humans, dwarves, and elves that had destroyed the alv kingdoms had acquired many magic technologies, but at the time, they weren’t able to use them well. At this point, a terrible, confused, drawn-out war began. It became as messy as it did because the countries all began fighting each other—humans against dwarves, humans against elves, elves against dwarves. The Ruquinjé were avengers, not heroes. They thoroughly outwitted everyone, threw society into confusion, and by leading others’ hearts astray, they sowed the seeds that led the human societies into killing their own. Many people died in this war. If the chronicles are correct, the number of dead was equal to the current population of the world. However, in the meantime, the Ruquinjé were driven into a corner as well. They were alvs, after all. Their weakness was their low numbers, which stemmed from poor fertility. They could hide in the shadows of this friendly fire, but once discovered, they were fragile. Just as the Ruquinjé were about to be killed…the First World Fraction activated.”

“The First…”

At the appearance of the main topic, Shiroe held his breath.

When he looked, Akatsuki, seated next to him, was also completely fascinated.

“Yes. There is a very high probability that this First World Fraction was an advanced ritual spell cast by the alvs. Many mysteries remain, of course. The technological aspects in particular are full of mysteries: Not only can it not be replicated, but even the basic principles are unclear. At any rate, a World Fraction occurred. The result was the genesis of demihumans. …Up until roughly three hundred years ago, there were no demihumans in this world.”

—The demihumans hadn’t existed.

These were words he hadn’t even imagined. However, if that was the case, it made sense that the human societies had been dozens of times more prosperous than they were now. The world had been theirs.

“I call it the genesis of demihumans, and I don’t think it was the result of crossbreeding or a biochemical issue. This is the area my master was researching, and my current hypothesis is that souls may be involved in World Fractions. At least at the time, the world was flooded with an extraordinary amount of soul material. The repeated wars had driven the population down to nearly half of what it had been, you see. This soul material was used as raw material for the demihumans’ genesis. Mankind had been weakened by the wars, and when the demihumans swarmed up from every quarter, they were driven to a cliff’s edge at a single stroke. Many cities fell, and armies that had prided themselves on their invincibility were annihilated. Nearly all nations disintegrated. At present, on the Yamato Archipelago, the only remaining vestige of the countries of three centuries ago is found in the Ancient Dynasty of Westlande. The towns and cities of Eastal were no more than small country villages. The demihuman genesis worked a great change on the structure of the world, transforming it into what it is today: Mankind desperately defending tiny areas of civilization while fighting the demihumans’ invasion. The world was shrouded in darkness. Humans defeated the cornered Ruquinjé, but we can probably say that their revenge succeeded.”

The defeated Ruquinjé.

The activated World Fraction.

A huge outbreak of demihumans, fueled by souls.

“Next came the Steel Age. As I said before, all around the world the goblin, kobold, orc, troll, gnoll, sahuagin, and lizardman races sent up war cries. These brutal, monstrous beings eroded the remaining areas of human civilization. Gradually, human life fell into deep shadow. Our research has advanced now, and defensive magic and barriers—both relics of the alvs—have evolved. However, at the time, they didn’t even have these aids. At that point, mankind planned a desperate resistance operation. Their first attempt was the creation of new warriors, using the secret arts of the alvs. As a result of this large-scale experiment—the Northtrilia Project—the felinoid, wolf-fang and foxtail beast races and the ritian race were artificially created. They began as man-made races that were sent to the front line.”

Since only the human, dwarf and elf races had been mentioned, he’d been a bit worried for a while now, but apparently this was where the remaining races came in. Felinoids, wolf-fangs, foxtails, and ritians had been hybrids, created to fight.

“In addition, several countries on Eured decided that the war could not be won and gave up. They put together a huge fleet and crossed to the new continent. As it turned out, there were demihumans on the new continent as well, but they began working to build a pioneer country that would open up a new world for them. On top of that, mankind used the power of its faith to produce the Ancients.”

—The new continent. That was probably the Land of Wen. In the old world, it would have been the Americas. …Which meant that, in this other world, the discovery of America had occurred during these three hundred years.

Of course, this was historic folklore from the Eurasian and Asian worlds; if they went to the place itself, the details might change. Shiroe let his imagination run very briefly to the area under the jurisdiction of the American server, but he shook his head, drawing his thoughts back.

“There are various theories regarding the birth of the Ancients, but there is no doubt that quite a few Ancient lines of descent began during this period. The Ancients… Well, we’ll speak of them another time. Let me just say that it was an issue related to the Spirit Theory. However, even after investing all these technologies, mankind was unable to stop its slide toward destruction. The demihuman forces were simply too powerful. On top of that, the world seemed to retain an effect that was like the curse of the First World Fraction. It was, as I said at the beginning, a problem of souls. No matter how often they defeated the demihuman forces, their numbers did not shrink. Even when defeated, their souls reincarnated as demihumans… This is a hypothesis, but they have such an odd breeding curve that it can’t be explained without thinking this way. Of course, there are immature individuals even among demihumans, so if their numbers could be decreased at a stroke, it was possible to greatly decrease their power. In other words, if a demihuman is killed, that individual is reborn, returning as a juvenile. For a period of several years, these individuals are unable to go back to war. However, in three years, they return to the battlefield. It was impossible to wipe out the demihumans. That meant there could be no victory.”

—Well.

Shiroe began wanting to interrupt: Wasn’t that issue related to the Elder Tales game specs? Elder Tales was a game, or at least it had been. If a specific player had been able to hunt the prey in a zone to extinction, and no other players could make an attempt, it would have made for a very frustrating experience.

As a result, in accordance with the game’s specs, defeated monsters were replaced after a certain amount of time. The players were being provided with new prey. If it hadn’t been for that, the players—who had superior combat abilities—would have hunted the monsters to extinction, and it wouldn’t have taken very long.

“Humans were afraid. They despaired, and they longed for a miracle. During this period, the world seems to have been truly dark. It had already been sixty years since the defeat of the Ruquinjé and the First World Fraction. During those sixty years, mankind had sunk to the depths of despair and poverty, starvation, and terror. Most people had shut themselves up inside fortified villages or fortresses, living in fear of attacks by demihumans or magical beasts. In fact, the extinction of mankind was thought to be just a matter of time. The revenge of the Ruquinjé seemed to have succeeded. —At that point, the Second World Fraction occurred. Unlike the First World Fraction, not enough materials remain to allow a thorough examination. Mankind was in a Dark Age, and they had probably lost the energy reserves to leave such materials behind. According to the few records we have, humans, dwarves, elves, and many ritians were mobilized, and a sacred summoning was performed. A few of the scriptures clearly state ‘the gods’ salvation,’ but… In any case, another World Fraction occurred. This was precisely two hundred and forty years ago. It marked the appearance of the Adventurers.”

Two hundred and forty years ago.

The arrival of the Adventurers.

“There isn’t much to tell about history from that point on. The Adventurers’ powerful combat abilities became great good news for mankind. Yamato was assailed by various crises—the Hades’ Breath incident, the King of the Underworld incident, the Dragon’s Throne incident—but the Adventurers overcame them all. Of course, peace had not returned to the world, but it had finally gained some small stability, and gradually, it was making its way toward recovery.”

Which brings us to the present…

“The Adventurers, hm? …Come to think of it, Li Gan, you knew my name, didn’t you? Why is that?” Shiroe asked, abruptly curious.

“Because you are a great magician, Master Shiroe. Even among the Adventurers, I thought you would be particularly well informed about the situation.”

“A great magician…?”

Shiroe was perplexed. He didn’t remember completing any quests advanced enough to earn him a reputation like that.

“You made your first appearance in history ninety-eight years ago. There are other long-lived Adventurers, of course, but in terms of frequency of activity as well, there is no doubt that you are a great magician. Isn’t that so?”

Ninety-eight years?! …Wait…

Shiroe’s brain circuits activated all at once, as if his mind had caught fire. Time in this world was… The history of this world was… …In that case, the Second World Fraction, the one that had occurred two hundred and forty years ago, was…

…the start of the open beta.

5

When she woke on the morning of the fourth day, it was raining.

The rain that had begun at midnight seemed to have continued throughout the night.

The drops were small, and they fell without much force. It was just a drizzle, unusual for summer. But the drainage in this part of the forest seemed to be good, and it didn’t seem likely that there would be damage to the tents.

Either way, once they were in the dungeon, the weather outside wouldn’t matter. With that in mind, Minori began the morning’s equipment inspection.

She’d checked her equipment right after they had finished yesterday’s dungeon expedition, but inspecting it again before going out was a habit of sorts.

I guess I’m getting nervous…

That was why she recounted the potions, over and over. On noticing her own feelings, Minori felt a bit guilty. It was like she was a little kid.

She had been as quiet as possible while she worked, but it was morning already. The other sleeping bags began to move, too.

There were four tents in all. Two of them were large: One for the advanced party, and one for the lower party. One of the remaining tents was for the three leaders, and the last, kept aside as a dressing room for the girls, was used for changing and storage.

This meant there were five people in the tent Minori and the rest of the lower party were using. Even if it was a tent, it was the sort of large pavilion tent you’d see at events in the old world, and it was roomy.

“G’mning.”

Isuzu, who’d been sleeping beside her, muttered, rubbing her eyes.

Isuzu’s hair was very thick, and apparently it tended to curl in all the wrong ways. Overnight, the hair at the back of her head had developed cowlicks. This bothered Isuzu, and so she always wore it in a braid, but Minori thought Isuzu’s hair was adorable.

“S’morning already, huh?”

Isuzu glanced at the tent flap; her eyes were still only half open. The sailcloth around the tent’s opening was roughly woven, and the light outside showed through.

“Mm-hm. It’s raining, so it’s gloomy, but it should be morning.”

“Huh… I’m still kinda sleepy.”

“Maybe it’s because it’s chilly.”

“Nn.”

Isuzu muttered something unintelligible to herself, then burrowed back into her sleeping bag again. Smiling wryly, Minori laid a blanket over the top of the sleeping bag.

Everyone else seemed to be awake as well, but no one was getting up.

It was drizzling outside, but conversely, because of the rain, the previous night had been a cool one, and it had been easy to sleep. Wrapped in the sound of the rain, the inside of the tent was as peaceful as a hideaway, and the atmosphere was drowsy.

The monotonous sound of water dripping from the tent seemed to be protecting them. It was the first quiet, relaxed time they’d had since they’d begun camping in the mountains.

She felt as if she’d seen a shadow move.

When she glanced over, Nyanta had poked his head in through the tent flap. Minori cut across the middle of the tent, making for him. The area at the center was tall enough that Minori could stand up without any trouble.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Nyanta.”

“It’s technically time for breakfast, but…”

Minori nodded, agreeing with Nyanta’s hushed voice.

“We can’t eat outside as a group in this rain. Breakfast is sandwiches and cream of crab soup, and we’ve decided to eat in our tents.”

“All right.”

Nyanta seemed to have brought their breakfast over himself. He held it out to her: enough sandwiches for at least ten people, and a little pot full of cream soup.

“Thank you very much.”

“Mm, don’t worry about it. All right. See mew later.”

Nyanta waggled a hand at Minori—who was awkwardly trying to bow her head while she held the tray and the pot—and went back out into the drizzle. He was probably on his way to deliver breakfast to the advanced party.

Carefully, Minori carried the tray to the center of the tent. At first she wasn’t sure what to do about the pot, but then she remembered she had a legged heat lamp in her pack, so she set it on that.

“Nurgh, food?”

Touya sat up; his hair was all tousled. “Uh-huh. Touya, your hair’s something else,” Minori pointed out, but Touya just gave a vague, “Nn.”

“You’re not going to eat?”

“I’ll eat. Oog.”

Touya got up, fumbling a little. Next to him, Rundelhaus woke as well. He didn’t seem quite awake yet; muttering something cryptic like, “Good morning, Miss Minori. …You’re as lovely as the sun again today,” he headed for the tent flap on unsteady feet.

“It’s raining, Rundelhaus!” Minori called to him, but he went out, saying, “I’m just going to change my face and wash my clothes.”

At that point, Serara returned.

When did she… Minori thought, but Serara was in a good mood, and she began to set out fruit beside the unpacked sandwiches. Apparently she’d been with Nyanta. An early morning date?…

With Serara helping, Minori began to pour cream soup into cups. The reheated soup filled the tent with a fragrance like clam chowder. It looked absolutely delicious.

“It’s perfect, of course.”

Serara spoke to her, still in high spirits. She had probably tasted it when she was with Nyanta. It really did look good, Minori thought. The milk-colored soup had corn and crab meat in it, and even now, as she served it, it looked enticing.

“Nnuh.”

Isuzu came rolling over to them like a caterpillar. Minori hugged her, helping her sit up.

As Minori took a comb out from her pack, Serara took the dishes, saying, “I’ll handle this, then.”

The rain fell softly, and in its midst, breakfast began.

Settling down behind Isuzu, who was only halfway out of her sleeping bag, Minori combed her hair. It really was abundant and curly. Isuzu herself grumbled that it wasn’t feminine, but her hair was a bright brown, and when it was braided, Minori thought it suited her very well.

“This’s really good,” Touya muttered.

He was sitting cross-legged on his sleeping bag, wearing a T-shirt and shorts. It wasn’t really the sort of thing to show ladies, but since this was a training camp, there was no help for it.

Immediately upon returning, Rundelhaus said, “Hullo! Something smells good this morning. What a fantastic breakfast. Don’t you agree, friends?” He was scattering a breezy aura around; he’d managed to get himself dressed in a very short time and was taking things at his usual pace.

Still half in her sleeping bag, Isuzu handed Rundelhaus a sandwich, saying, “These are good, Rudy.”

“Rudy”?

Rundelhaus obediently took the sandwich, then a big bite, and said, “Oho, mashed pumpkin salad, is it? Quite tasty.” His manners were oddly genteel, and indicated he’d been brought up in a household with good discipline.

Breakfast quietly continued on this way.

The soft sound of the rain seemed to soothe their frazzled hearts. It was probably also true that thinking about the dungeon they would have to challenge again today discouraged them a bit, and they didn’t feel like talking.

They packed the rest of their generous allotment of sandwiches into a basket, deciding to save them for lunch. There had been three different kinds of sandwich; all were masterpieces made with Nyanta’s sincere good will, and they were extremely delicious. Minori’s favorite was the fruit-filled omelet variety.

The fruit was still left, but they each breathed sighs of relief, hot cups in their hands. They had each descended into that blank state of mind that comes with a full belly.

“Listen…”

In the midst of that atmosphere, Touya spoke.

“Did you want seconds?” Serara asked, peeking into the small pot as she did so.

“No. It’s not that.”

Touya searched for words; he seemed to be thinking about something.

Finding himself the focus of questioning looks, Touya hesitated, almost beginning to speak several times. He probably couldn’t find the right words—Touya wasn’t a very glib talker, and Minori was used to seeing him grope around for words like this.

Their eyes met for a moment, and with that glance, Minori understood what Touya was trying to do. He wanted to do something about their situation, and he was planning to raise some sort of question. Minori even imagined that he might be trying to put himself in the line of fire, to shield her.

If Touya had made up his mind to start something, Minori couldn’t possibly not be there beside him.

No. Actually, I should be the one to do this.

Listen up. If you run into trouble, step out in front. With your heart, not with your legs.

She remembered the advice she’d gotten from Naotsugu one day.

Step out in front with your heart. Now, finally, she thought she was beginning to understand what those words meant. They meant she had to summon up her courage. Courage didn’t mean being fearless in the heat of battle. It meant the determination to overcome the cowardice inside her.

Minori realized her own heart had been frightened and holding back.

For that very reason, she spoke decisively:

“Listen. Why don’t we wait until this afternoon to go into the dungeon today?”

6

“Huh?”

Isuzu sounded astonished.

“What are you saying, Miss Minori?! Have you forgotten we’re here for a training camp? Our top priority is to get to the dungeon as soon as we can, get as much experience as possible, and boost our levels,” Rundelhaus reprimanded Minori, his tone harsh.

“But you see, we’ve only been able to make one attempt per day. Both yesterday and the day before, we withdrew in less than three hours, remember? In that case, even if we wait until afternoon to go in, we should be able to get the same results as yesterday.”

“That’s…true, I suppose… But we can’t just stay the same forever.”

Rundelhaus seemed irritated, as if he wasn’t convinced.

“This is because we can’t just stay the same forever.”

“Minori?”

Serara sounded worried. She was probably afraid that Minori and Rundelhaus were about to fight. To Minori, her tone sounded pleading: Please don’t say extreme things.

“And so, today, for the whole morning…”

At Minori’s words, both Serara and Touya tensed up.

“Let’s just laze around and take it easy.”

However, the last half of Minori’s sentence shattered that tension at a stroke.

“Miss Minori. Are you trying to be funny?!”

Rundelhaus had risen to his knees, anger in his voice. Personality aside, with his blond hair and handsome face, when he showed naked anger like this, the impact was formidable. Inwardly, Minori felt a bit frightened.

Still, Isuzu wasn’t the least bit overawed by Rundelhaus. “Calm down, Rudy,” she told him, bluntly, deflecting his feelings. Minori thought this was strange: Isuzu was the type of girl who read atmospheres so well that she normally cared about them too much. It was as if she didn’t feel that timidity at all as far as Rundelhaus was concerned.

“‘Laze around and take it easy’ was going too far, but I do think we should introduce ourselves.”

Choosing her words carefully, Minori continued. As the other group members looked perplexed, she began to speak. “My name is Minori. My level is twenty-one, and I’m fourteen years old. I’m a human in this world, too. I’m Touya’s older twin sister. I’ve got the lowest level in our party, and I feel bad about holding everyone else back.”

At her words, Rundelhaus gave a quiet snort, but Minori paid no attention. More accurately, having come this far, she couldn’t afford to pay attention.

“I’m a Kannagi. Kannagi is one of the three recovery classes.”

“We know that.”

“No, you don’t know.”

When Rundelhaus tried to cut her off, Minori answered back, her face serious.

“You don’t. I mean it. I don’t know anything about the rest of you, either. I don’t know what you like and don’t like, or whether you want to step out front or draw back. I know nothing about you. Since I don’t know anything, even if I want to help you… I can’t.”

“”

Serara had frozen; she seemed startled. She’d probably never heard Minori contradict someone else this plainly. The only member of the group who wasn’t surprised was Touya. The one reaction that was a bit unexpected was Isuzu’s: Although she was startled, she soon broke into a kind smile.

“Please tell me. I’m weak, so if I don’t hear these things and remember them all, I won’t be of any use to you.”

“What do you mean, ‘all’…?”

Serara’s question was hesitant.

“‘All’ means ‘all.’ …For example— That lava shell you use, Rundelhaus. What is it?”

“Hmph… That’s Orb of Lava. As the name says, it’s an orb made out of lava,” he answered flippantly.

“But that’s—if that’s all I know, I might as well not know anything. For example… Why do you use that spell? That particular spell, instead of another one. I mean, you have lots of attack spells, don’t you?”

“Because that spell’s effective.”

“Why is it effective?”

Minori peppered him with questions. Rundelhaus organized his words a bit, then answered.

“That spell is one of the most powerful spells I have. That isn’t all, though. It has a short chant time; it’s ready in just two seconds. For all that, its recast time is eighteen seconds, which is fairly short as well. To begin with, this balance is incredibly good. Two seconds plus eighteen seconds is twenty seconds total. The turnover isn’t fast enough for me to cast it as a barrage, but being able to use it once every twenty seconds is quite excellent. I can use it several times in the same battle. On top of that, even though the spell is meant for attacking groups, it’s characterized by a small orb that races through enemy ranks. That means it can pick off the enemy without involving Touya, even if Touya is on the front line. It’s an outstanding spell.”

Minori listened intently as he spoke, nodding several times.

“Hold it. Samurai taunting has a short range, and it takes a second and a half to chant.”

Touya spoke, sounding troubled.

“What do you mean?”

“Umm… Okay, so: When the enemy gets close, I use Samurai Taunt. It’s a thing called ‘taunting,’ and it doesn’t inflict damage, but it pulls enemies’ attention to me as if I’d caused massive damage.”

Serara was also listening, frowning a little in concentration. She could understand the content of the conversation itself, but she didn’t know much about other classes’ characteristics. These were all special skills she’d never heard of before.

“Yes, I see.”

However, Rundelhaus seemed to understand quite well.

—It was a very natural special skill.

If monsters’ wariness was concentrated on any opponent who inflicted damage, then in order to hold the enemy, you’d need to cause greater damage—in other words, to have greater attack power—than anyone else. However, in order to take the enemy’s attacks, you needed HP and defensive power.

As a tank, Touya’s specialty was defense; in other words, being able to withstand enemy attacks. In terms of offensive power, Rundelhaus had more than twice Touya’s ATK.

In that case, it was only natural that he would acquire a special skill that could allow him to use his insufficient ATK to draw the enemy’s attention. An outstanding tank would have special skills that could focus the monsters’ hate more than anyone else in the party.

These were a series of special skills known as “taunting.” They didn’t inflict actual damage, but they caused the monsters shock and pain, deeply impressing the tank’s existence on their wary minds.

“See, though, taunting’s got all sorts of different characteristics, even among the Warrior classes, and the characteristic for Samurai Taunts is that they have a short range. I think it’s maybe three meters… Anyway, as far as a katana can reach. That means I have to draw ’em in before I use it. It takes two seconds for it to hit.”

Isuzu was listening to them with a blank look on her face. It really was a complicated conversation.

“So here’s what I’m saying. Orb of Lava and Samurai Taunt take almost the same amount of time to activate, but Orb of Lava goes way further. If we both attack as soon as they’re in range, Orb of Lava’s going to hit ’em that much faster. It’s no wonder the Skeletons head straight for you.”

In conclusion, that was it.

Touya’s taunting was supposed to protect everyone, but it wasn’t working.

If the enemy used projectile weapons, they’d be outside its range, and in any case, Rundelhaus’s attack spell was getting to them before the taunt did.

“Then you’re telling me not to use Orb of Lava?”

“No, just wait two seconds.”

“But that will waste two seconds. In a magnificent battle, a loss of two seconds is fatal.”

As Touya and Rundelhaus kept arguing, their voices gradually got louder and louder. They didn’t seem ready to fight, not exactly, but it seemed as if heat waves rippled the air between them.

“…What if, maybe… Listen. Would Cowards’ Fugue mean anything here?” Isuzu broke in hesitantly.

“What’s that, Isuzu?”

Touya looked blank. Rundelhaus said, “The name sounds craven. Is it a special skill, Miss Isuzu?”

“Cowards’ Fugue is a special skill I just learned; it’s a Continuous Support song—Continuous Support songs are special skills that are always ‘on,’ and their effects are constant. I can only use two at a time, but they never stop working. So, Cowards’ Fugue is… If I set that song, apparently I can make damage caused by anyone other than a Warrior look like less than it really is.”

“There’s actually a special skill like that?!” “Really?!”

Touya and Rundelhaus cried out in surprise.

They’d known that Bards had a wide variety of support abilities, but they’d never dreamed they had a special skill like that one.

“Uuuu, yes, there is. There really is.”

Isuzu must have felt rather daunted by their intensity: She drew back a bit. She didn’t seem to understand the ferocity her two interrogators had turned on her.

“I mean, the song doesn’t increase damage or recover anything, and it doesn’t raise the evasion rate or attack power, you know? Up until now, I’d always thought it was a pretty useless special skill…”

That was perfectly understandable.

Minori thought that if someone had suddenly started telling her about an ability that made damage caused by anyone other than Warriors look like less than it actually was, even she would have thought, What a pointless special skill.

However. Even knowing that was a step forward.

“We have to know more.”

“Hm. Miss Minori. It seems I owe you an apology. I admit that I was ignorant and that my understanding was shallow.”

Rundelhaus bowed with good grace.

“No, I didn’t know any of this, either. Since that’s the case, Rundelhaus, please tell me about all the spells you know. Not just their names or their capabilities. Tell me what you like about them, what you don’t like, the times when you use them and the times when you want to use them. Everything.”

“Everything…? That’s going to take time, Miss Minori.”

“That’s fine. Do take your time. If there’s anything I don’t understand, I’ll ask as many questions as I have to.”

Outside, it was still drizzling, but none of them heard the rain anymore.

What they could do, and what they couldn’t do.

What they were good at, and what they were bad at.

Minori and the others talked long into the afternoon.