CHAPTER 4

To Save Those Who Could Be Saved

Part I: The Shrieking Wood

I came out of the ranch, thanked William for his help, and headed toward the entrance of the Shrieking Wood. There was a plaza in front of the labyrinth entrance, where Seekers were waiting for one another and discussing strategies. The door to the labyrinth was covered in thick ivy vines. The only person I saw there was Louisa, who had come to see us off.

“Should you receive any contribution points from this expedition, you will be officially approved to advance to District Seven,” she told me. “As I explained previously, your party can receive approval at any time, regardless of the outcome of the test.”

“I understand. We’ll come back without letting anything go wrong so we can make sure we keep going up in rank,” I replied.

“Please be careful… There is already another group in the middle of their test. I would appreciate it if you could check in with them if you happen to see them. They are skilled themselves, but I am a little concerned, since a Named Monster has appeared in the labyrinth.” So even Louisa was concerned about Polaris. I told her that I’d like to look for them in the labyrinth if possible, then the party passed through the ivy-covered door.

The other side was cloaked in fog. Louisa had told us that the fog would thin if we kept moving forward, so we all walked ahead.

“…Since it’s a ‘forest,’ I imagine we won’t have a great range of vision. Everyone, stay on guard,” I said. In front was Cion, who had keen senses of hearing and smell. Behind her was Elitia and Igarashi, with Theresia behind them, right in the middle of the formation. Behind her was Suzuna and Misaki, and I brought up the rear. Thanks to my Hawk Eyes, I could get a bird’s-eye view of our party, so I was still able to see what was happening in the front of the formation even though I was in the back.

“…Arihito, this labyrinth…feels more ominous than the other ones,” said Suzuna.

“Yeah, I sort of feel it, too… Like a monster’s gonna jump out at any moment,” I replied.

“W-well, you could say that about the other ones, too, so stop giving me the heebie-jeebies. I think what Suzuna meant is that it’s just more cramped than before,” added Misaki.

“R-right… Sorry about that. But we still can’t let our guard down,” said Suzuna.

Apparently, the test was held in a different labyrinth every time, so it was actually an option to wait until the conditions changed so we wouldn’t have to go into this creepy forest. The only problem with that was that one of our goals was to check up on whether or not Polaris was all right, so it wasn’t really an option we could consider.

“Eek?!” shrieked Igarashi, who was in the second row on the righthand side.

“Whoa… Igarashi, what happened?”

I looked and saw that her feet had sunk into the grass. She hadn’t noticed that there was a pool of still water and stepped in it.

“Geez, that scared me… Sorry for raising my voice.”

“That’s just the kind of place this is,” agreed Elitia as she wiped off Igarashi’s feet. “Now that I look more closely, I can see little pools of water all over… We need to be careful not to splatter mud everywhere.”

I thought that was awfully considerate of her. At the same time, I was considering how it might mess up our ability to react to danger if we succumbed to Fear in this unknown situation.

“Igarashi, sorry to ask this, but could you use Mist of Bravery? I’d prefer to have a way to null Fear other than to just use battle cries to pump us up.”

“Y-yeah… Sure. Right, it’s not just monsters that inflict status ailments; there’s environments that’ll do that, too…”

Just as Igarashi went to activate her license, Cion reacted to something.

“—Bowww!”

“EEK! …N-no, it’s fine. I have this… Mist of Bravery!”

There wasn’t a problem with her activating it immediately, since Cion wouldn’t react like that to nothing. When Igarashi did activate it, exactly as the skill description implied, a thick steam-like substance wafted from her body and wrapped around the party.

“…Does this skill turn a Valkyrie’s sweat into mist…?”

“Ellie, don’t say that so seriously! This is, like, magic turned into a physical thing or something like that!” snapped back Igarashi.

“Igarashi, that’s not important right now! We’ve got company!”

“…!”

The next to react was Theresia. We looked at what was coming from the dense forests to our left and were all lost for words.

These enemies were well suited to a forest labyrinth. One was a tree monster, and the others looked like the kinds of mushrooms that must have been growing on its trunk.

Level 4… This is probably one of the more difficult labyrinths in District Eight.

The Fear Treant could move its roots like feet, and in the shadows of the otherwise normal tree, there was a face-like something formed from knots and holes. It had the sort of twisted expression that would make an appearance in a haunted house to scare little kids. But while it might’ve been able to scare children, there wasn’t anyone in the party who’d be afraid of that… Or so I thought.

“—GWWOOOOOOHHH!”

“Hyaaaa—?!”

“Bwah—?!”

Both Elitia and Misaki were inflicted with the Fear status effect by the sudden strange noise the Fear Treant emitted, but Mist of Bravery immediately canceled it out.

So it can protect against status ailments even though it was activated in advance!

There wouldn’t be any need for it to be a mist-like substance if it was only effective right when it was activated. That meant that Mist of Bravery was the kind of status healer that could be used as protection as well.

“I can’t believe I got scared by a tree!” said Elitia angrily as her face turned red. She must have felt embarrassed by getting hit with Fear even though she was at a much higher level than the enemy.

“Eep… That sent a chill down my spine… But I’m all better now thanks to Kyouka’s sweat!” said Misaki.

“I told you it’s not sweat… Seriously!” snapped Igarashi.

I felt like the Valkyrie job had a lot more secrets than I’d initially thought, but I decided to just put that aside for now. It took a lot to build up someone’s perceptions of something, and it wouldn’t be easy to get the girls’ trust back if I ruined it with one stupid remark. More importantly, though, I really needed to focus on the battle at hand.

“GRRAW, GRAH!”

“Igarashi, Theresia, you two attack the mushroom things!”

“Right!” replied Igarashi.

The Fear Treant’s trunk wasn’t very thick, but it was easily taller than a grown human. It rushed at Cion, who was practically the same size. The two mushroom things, which were like some fungi with arms and legs, attacked Theresia and Igarashi—taking them on, one-on-one.

“—!!”

“Hyaa!”

“I’ll back you up! Let’s give it our all!”

The two dirks that Theresia threw hit one of the faceless mushroom people in its fat, white stem and poisonous-looking cap. Igarashi’s spear landed brilliantly, but—

“—Woof!”

Cion stopped her attack against the Fear Treant to let out a warning bark. Before the thought even crossed my mind, I cautioned Theresia and Igarashi.

“Both of you, pull back!”

“…?!”

The mushroom person that Theresia attacked released a cloud of spores. I should’ve been wary of that the moment I realized we were up against a mushroom monster. Of course these things would have a special attack that used spores.

“Don’t breathe in the spores! Suzuna, try to drop it from a distance!” I ordered.

“Okay…!”

The Dirty Mushroom didn’t live to see the second shot. The first arrow tore through its cap, and it collapsed to the ground and lay there, unmoving. But before Suzuna could let loose her second arrow, Theresia moved. Because she was Confused, her target became Igarashi.

“Kyouka, I’ll handle it!” said Elitia.

“Ellie!”

“Gah… Arihito, do something while I’ve got her stopped…!” yelled Elitia as she deflected Theresia’s sword with her own. My Defense Support had affected both of them, and with Theresia attacking Elitia in earnest, one of them could get injured if they kept swinging at each other.

What should I do…? How can I get rid of that status ailment…? Hang on, but first…!

“Cion, wait!” I shouted.

“—Boww!”

There was a chance that the Dirty Mushroom would counter with its spores if it were hit with a physical attack. Cion was about to strike the remaining one, but I ordered her to hold off so I could use the nonphysical attack that I’d just acquired.

“Arihito?!” cried Misaki worriedly, pausing just before she was about to throw her dice. But I didn’t have time to respond at the moment.

I gathered the magic flowing through my body between my thumb and forefinger where it formed into a sphere about the same size as my slingshot bullets. It was a magical bullet. I shot it at the mushroom person that was trying to attack Theresia and Elitia from the side while their swords were locked against each other.

“—Get lost!”

Holy crap… That was more like a laser than a magical bullet…

I managed to bring down the mushroom without activating its Confusion Spore, like I’d intended. Suzuna turned her second arrow toward the Fear Treant, and Igarashi and Cion pulled back cautiously.

“…HWOOO!!”

The Fear Treant was about to attack. It’d used the Dirty Mushrooms to buy it time so it could prepare a long-range attack. It shook its boughs with a rustle, inflating a huge number of nuts hanging from its branches. I imagined they might explode and it would aim for us with its projectiles. I prepared another magical bullet for my Black Magical Slingshot and activated the black magic stone and its Stun effect before firing at the Fear Treant.

“Ack…!”

“Arihito…!”

I hadn’t realized using magic would feel so tiring, but it was great that I could fire two shots. At this speed, the magical bullet could land before the Fear Treant could attack!

Come on!

“GWOOO!!” bellowed the Fear Treant as it took the magical bullet in its face, striking it off-balance. Igarashi and Cion saw their opening, but before they could even react accordingly, I was giving Suzuna an order. Theresia and Elitia were still taking swings at each other, splattering water as they moved—which happened to jog my memory.

“Suzuna, use Handwash and Wash Away! Purify the water and then throw it on Theresia!” I shouted.

“A-all right…!”

That was the only possible method our party had of nulling the Confusion status.

“Let’s go, Cion! …Hyaa!” called Igarashi.

“—Woof!!”

“I—I…I’m through with being useless!” shouted Misaki.

“OOOOAAAGGGHHH… AAAH!!”

The Fear Treant’s trunk groaned and creaked with the impact from Cion’s tackle. Igarashi’s spear and Misaki’s die struck the monster next, but it seemed like it had a resistance to physical attacks because it didn’t go down even after the volley of blows.

“I’ve got the water! …Theresia, please return to your senses!” shouted Suzuna as she scooped water from the ground. The muddy sludge turned clear and sparkled in the light as she did, and then she splashed it onto Theresia.

“……”

Going by the name of the attack, it scatters the seeds, then they explode on us… But before that happens—!

Next to Theresia, who had snapped back to reality, Elitia was activating Sonic Raid. She dashed toward the Fear Treant.

“—Rot in hell!”

Elitia lopped off the armlike branches from the Fear Treant, and its terrifying face faded away. It looked like a normal, nonmoving tree.

“Well, we somehow made it out of that without getting hurt…,” said Elitia, wiping the sap from the Scarlet Emperor before sliding it into its sheath. Igarashi was relieved, and Cion was staring at the Fear Treant, perhaps making sure it wouldn’t move again, but she eventually seemed satisfied because she turned to me and gave a cute little woof.

Part II: Hope and Despair

“……”

Theresia was still standing there holding her sword, looking like she was lost in thought about something. She must have felt guilty about turning her sword against her friends, even though it was only because she was under the influence of Confusion.

“Theresia, don’t let it bother you. I’m not upset,” said Elitia. “These things happen. Just make sure you throw your dirks from as far away as possible next time.”

“……”

But Theresia didn’t nod back right away. I wasn’t sure how to help her in this kind of situation. Even if I tried to say kind things to her, knowing her personality, she’d probably just blame herself even more. While I stood there worriedly thinking, Suzuna went up to Theresia and started toweling off the water that she’d dowsed her in.

“I’m sorry I threw water all over you… Was it cold?”

“……”

Theresia shook her head, and Suzuna smiled, then draped the towel she was using on Theresia’s shoulders.

“You should keep it like this for a little bit. You’ll get cold if you’re wet,” said Suzuna.

“Atobe, is that one of Suzuna’s abilities? Healing people by pouring water on them?” asked Igarashi.

“It didn’t specifically say in the skill description whether it was effective against Confusion or not, so I wasn’t certain it would work. It does seem to bring people back to their senses, though,” I replied.

“I didn’t know what Suzu was up to when she scooped the water from the ground. It was like magic. It was so cooool; I want some magic like that,” said Misaki, even though I thought she had plenty of skills that seemed pretty magical. Though, maybe she was just jealous of the mystical sight of it all happening.

“Elitia, was that your first time fighting those mushroom things?” I asked.

“Yeah… It was just luck that I’d never run into them previously. I hadn’t entered this labyrinth before I got promoted… There are a lot more annoying monsters here than I’d expected.”

In other words, these monsters were probably unique to this labyrinth. I felt like mushrooms grew everywhere, but… Anyway, we had to check for dropped loot first.

“Ah… This fruit on the Fear Treant looks a lot like an apple. What should we do with it, Atobe?” asked Igarashi.

“Should we identify it? I’ll use a Novice Appraisal Scroll,” I said as I took the apple from her.

Huh! Didn’t take long for us to find a rare item. This is definitely one of the benefits of having Misaki around.

A rare dropped item was hard to come by, so we really hit it big this time. Increased magic was a really useful effect, but who would most benefit from eating it? I was trying to decide, but everyone else was staring at me, curious about the results of the appraisal.

“Apparently, eating this increases your maximum magic. Anyone want it?” I offered.

“You have a skill that lets you share your magic with other people in the party, so I think you ought to eat it,” answered Igarashi. “Besides, you seem pretty beat… Those slingshot attacks from before were amazing! It was like a laser beam, or something you’d see in an anime.”

“You thought so, too? It actually surprised me… But it consumes a lot of magic, so I can’t use it all the time,” I said.

“You can use it when we’re in a tight spot. You know, I really can rely on you to have our backs,” added Elitia, her eyes filled with a natural trust. I felt overwhelmed that someone so powerful could feel they could rely on me, but I was honored.

“……”

“…Theresia?” I said. She still seemed hesitant, but she took out one of the dirks she hadn’t used, took the apple from me, and started peeling it.

“Huh? You’re really good at peeling apples, Theresia,” Misaki observed.

“That’s amazing; I could never peel it in one piece,” said Suzuna. It wasn’t just the two of them—I was surprised, too. She held the dirk perfectly still, rotating the apple to quickly and cleanly peel off the skin. She sliced it in half and removed the core, then cut it into six wedges before handing one to me.

“……”

“Th-thanks… You’ve got all sorts of surprising talents, Theresia,” I said. Part of me couldn’t help thinking that this was the fruit from a monster that’d been fighting until just a moment before, but I had to trust the appraisal scroll, so I decided to eat it. I looked at the cut surface and saw a thick syrup, which seemed more yellow than the juices from apples I was familiar with, but—

“Mm… Wow, that’s good. Nothing like any apple I’ve ever tasted … Mm!” I said. It was crisp in a similar way to an apple, but its flavor was completely different. Apples that weren’t carefully bred and cultivated could be quite tart, but that wasn’t the case with this at all.

“Watching you eat that really makes me want some apple pie or something,” Suzuna remarked.

“Ooooh, that sounds delicious… B-but Theresia? What’s wrong? You’re turning red,” said Misaki.

“Theresia… You’re going to make me blush and I’m just watching,” added Suzuna. Just after she said that, I noticed that Theresia was holding out another piece of apple for me, this time higher than before.

“Let’s hurry ahead, Arihito. Could you finish the apple off?” said Elitia.

“……”

“…Y-yeah, sure. We need to keep moving,” I agreed. This wasn’t the time or place to sit here deciding how to react, so I let Theresia feed me the apple. It kinda felt like I was part of a petting zoo.

When I finished eating the apple, my license display showed that it had increased my magic.

My head felt clearer, and power flowed through my body. It had managed to recover the same amount of magic as the incremental change in my maximum magic capacity. I double-checked, and my blue magic bar had returned to one-fifth full.

“……”

“Th-thank you. It was delicious,” I said.

“Theresia, do you want to wash your hands? You have apple juice on them,” noted Suzuna as she purified some more water. That skill was way more useful than I had expected. She was able to get crystal-clear water even though she scooped it from what was essentially a mud puddle.

“Cion, too… Better than letting her drink from the puddles…”

Suzuna gave Cion some to drink from her hands, since the dog seemed thirsty. Igarashi looked enviously as Cion lapped from Suzuna’s hands, but that’s something Suzuna got for being a Shrine Maiden who could use Handwash.

We still had the Dirty Mushrooms left to check. We were able to collect a spore sac from the one that hadn’t released spores. After appraising the sac, we learned it would burst in order to protect the mushroom, but if you were able to get a whole one, it could be used to make some sort of medicine. Apparently, the sac didn’t burst unless the mushroom did it itself when it was in danger, so it was safe enough to carry around with us as it was.

“All right, that’s done. Let’s get back to the mission at hand,” I said, and we fell back into battle formation. There must not have been many Fear Treants or Dirty Mushrooms, because we didn’t meet any other enemies for a while. This labyrinth might not be explored that often if the monsters didn’t multiply quickly, meaning there was a low risk of a stampede occurring here.

It also seems like you wouldn’t make much money from this labyrinth… Sure, you can find Apples of Wit here, but their rates are low enough that it’d be a waste of time trying to track them down.

The license did let you reverse-search the monster and current location by using the dropped loot. I’d have to remember which monsters dropped ability-increasing items, for possible future use.

“Cion, don’t go so far ahead. It’s dangerous,” called Elitia. I realized then how far the dog had gone. She’d entered into a thicket just off the side of the path a little way ahead and was now coming back with something in her mouth. It was a pair of goggles.

These goggles… They’re Georg’s!

“Are you saying that the person who dropped these is nearby?” I asked Cion.

“Those goggles… Wasn’t that person you were talking to back at the mansion wearing these?” asked Igarashi.

“Oh… Th-they’re really scratched up… A-and this…red stuff…,” stammered Suzuna.

“Elitia, you shouldn’t touch that. It’s probably blood,” I said.

“…You’re right. Whoever wore these was bleeding…and quite a while ago,” she replied. There was one possibility I could think of: Georg was injured. Maybe he was attacked by monsters nearby, something happened, and he dropped the goggles.

“Cion, can you follow the scent of the owner of these goggles?” I asked. She seemed to understand what I asked because she started to sniff them, then set off walking again. She sniffed around to confirm the direction before leading us through some trees off the side of the path.

“Be careful up ahead. Cion should be able to detect enemies by scent even if our sight is limited,” I warned.

“Got it… Definitely looks like someone’s passed through here.”

“These tracks seem fresh… But the blood on those goggles…”

The blood on the goggles had completely dried, which meant that some time had passed since Georg was injured.

We came to the center of a dense thicket of trees. Cion found a tree that was larger than the ones surrounding it and went around to the back side. Sitting there was George—he was cradling his head in his hands, his body covered in wounds.

“Georg! Hey, pull it together! We’ll get you some help!” I called.

“…I feel like…I’ve met you before… Oh, in the Lady Ollerus Mansion… H-how’ve you been…?” he said weakly, his eyes not entirely focused on me. He must have run into something that put him in this state; he barely escaped with his life and made it here. I pulled a potion I’d bought for emergencies out of my bag. In that moment, I didn’t even care how valuable potions were; I took the bottle with the red liquid and had Georg drink it. But while it did heal the wounds on his body to an extent, it did nothing for his delirium. Thankfully, because Suzuna was in our party, Georg’s condition was improving ever so slightly thanks to her Purification skill. His eyes had been unfocused when we first found him, but after a moment, he finally seemed able to see me clearly. Then he suddenly buried his face in his hands.

“…What happened? Tell me; we can help,” I said.

“What…what happened…? I don’t even know!!” he shrieked in panic. His physical wounds had been just as bad. He had a gash on his forehead from whatever attack had taken his goggles off.

“Calm down. Your companions from Polaris are still in this labyrinth, right? Did they get captured by monsters, or…?” I asked, waiting for him to calm down. He lowered his hands from his face. He was shaking; his lips trembled as he tried to say something, but no words came out no matter how many times he tried.

“…Don’t worry. We came to take the test, too, but we can help your party members on the way. It’s okay to ask for help,” I said. Georg was so conflicted; he couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t easily ask for our help because of his Seeker’s pride. But I couldn’t just leave him, not in this situation. We couldn’t just keep going with our own test, then go home when we passed. I wanted to save whoever could be saved.

“…My friends were…on the second floor of the labyrinth…in the woods, wh-when…something attacked from below…like, some monster vines… I-it…sucked their vitality out…,” he finally managed to say.

“All right… They’re on the second floor. Georg, you need to get out of here. Thankfully, there aren’t many monsters on the first floor. You should be able to get out safe if you focus on escaping,” I reasoned.

“…I can’t… I can’t just run…and leave them…”

“That’s not something for the wounded to think about. You need to escape and get help if you can. I know you don’t feel good about it, but it’s far better than sitting here shaking,” said Elitia.

“Ah… Gah… Haah… Aaaaaahhhh!!” screamed Georg, hugging his knees to his chest.

Misaki and Suzuna flinched at his pain-filled shriek. I had no idea how he and his party got separated, but just imagining the possibilities made my heart ache. I’d thought I’d known that the labyrinth was a merciless, perilous place for Seekers, but witnessing the horrific condition Georg was in brought something like anger bubbling up inside me to the surface. It felt like I was on fire, like I needed to do something about it now.

…I will save all of you. Just stay alive until then!

“Georg, leave it to Atobe and us. You need to focus on staying alive, do you understand?” Igarashi confirmed.

“…Okay… My friends… Please, save them…,” said Georg, a small flicker of understanding returning to his eyes at Igarashi’s compassionate words. We could trust him not to do anything desperate now.

I handed Georg his goggles, which he gripped tightly before turning in the direction of the exit and walking away. The potion must’ve worked, because he seemed steady on his feet. He should be all right.

“From what I could follow, his party was attacked by some sort of vine monster that suddenly appeared from the ground and captured his companions…,” summarized Igarashi.

“Georg must have been able to escape immediate danger but wasn’t able to get out of the labyrinth. His friends are likely still alive. Let’s go,” I said.

They’d run into the monster on the second floor. That’s likely where the Named Monster was. There was some monster we knew very little about that managed to capture the entire Polaris party in one go. We had to stay on our toes, but we also couldn’t waste a single moment in finding and defeating it.

“…Everyone, will you—?” I started.

“Don’t bother asking if we’re coming with you,” interrupted Misaki.

“I’m going with you, Arihito. We move forward as a party. That’s how it always is, right?” said Suzuna.

“Same for me. But if some strong monster comes at us and I get injured, don’t you dare blame yourself. A party isn’t just one person protecting everyone else or one person just being protected, right?” said Igarashi. Her little speech made me realize that while everyone was protecting me, I had started thinking that I was protecting them more with my support skills. And now, too, I’d gotten so arrogant that I thought it was fine to drag everyone else into helping me save Polaris.

“…I’m sorry. I’ve gotten full of myself. We’re only saving them because I want to. It’s why I wanted you to come along,” I said.

“Of course we’re coming along. It’s not like you’re forcing us to do what you want us to. That’s why—,” started Elitia.

“Ellie, we’ll talk later. Cion’s found a monster; it’s time to fight!” I interrupted.

“Ah… Right! Kyouka, Theresia, let’s go!” called Elitia as she dashed down the path Cion was leading us. It led the opposite direction from where Georg had gone; it seemed to be the path to the second floor, but it was now blocked by a group of Dirty Mushrooms and a Fear Treant.

“Kyouka, use your sweat— Uh, I mean, that nice-smelling stuff!” corrected Misaki.

“It’s called Mist of Bravery! Get that through your head!” shouted back Igarashi.

We already had a strategy down for these monsters, since we’d fought them before. We used long-range attacks on the Dirty Mushrooms and defended against the Fear Treant’s Fear-inducing attacks using Mist of Bravery. Doing that made these monsters no stronger than an average monster of the same level.

Part III: The Vine Puppeteer

We easily defeated the Fear Treant and three Dirty Mushrooms, then found a wooden chest wrapped in the Fear Treant’s roots. It almost looked like part of the Fear Treant’s body had morphed into a chest. It was a bit large to carry with us, so we used our storage unit’s key to send it there.

“That storage unit key’s suuuper useful. Wish it could send a person, though,” said Misaki.

“It wouldn’t work. You need different types of teleportation magic for transporting nonliving and living things. Even if it did happen to work, there’d probably be an accident,” replied Elitia. We could send monster remains to the storage unit, but we couldn’t transport them if they were still living. I could assume that moving objects and summoning living things required different kinds of magic.

“Hmm… Isn’t it reaaally dangerous to be teleported by a trap, then?” asked Misaki.

“Well… I can’t really say no. I haven’t heard of it happening in District Eight, but I have heard of people dying when they were teleported by a bad trap in my old district,” replied Elitia. Apparently, it was a good thing I decided to prioritize Theresia’s Sleight of Hand so she could handle traps. She could potentially even have undone any traps on that chest and opened it… But I decided it was best to leave it to the experts for now and that I would ask Falma for her help.

The monster that defeated Georg’s party should be up ahead. I wanted to be able to go into the fight with full morale, so we’d have our Morale Discharges available, but everyone’s morale was currently at sixty-six…making it just under thirty minutes since we’d entered the labyrinth.

The most I can increase morale right now is eleven per use, so using it nine times gets everyone to ninety-nine morale… That’s not very efficient. I’d be able to charge everyone up in forty minutes if I could just raise their morale by twelve each time. I really want to find another item like these Chain Gloves that improves the effectiveness of abilities that strengthen my allies.

They’d have full morale if we waited another twenty minutes, which wasn’t that long. But I thought about Georg’s condition when we found him and knew we couldn’t wait a single second to save his friends.

“All right, let’s keep going. I’ll try to get everyone’s morale charged while we’re exploring the second floor… We need to be really careful until then,” I said.

“Yeah. Let’s go, Cion,” said Igarashi, and Cion woofed in response as she took the lead. A thick fog had crept up and was obscuring our vision the same way it had when we first entered. I kept moving forward toward where it was getting ever-so-slightly lighter and tried not to lose sight of Misaki and Suzuna, who were walking right in front of me.

We reached the second floor, and the air felt more oppressive somehow, like it was more humid and heavier.

“Eek…! Th-that scared me. What’s that weird sound…?” shrieked Igarashi. There was a cry coming from among the trees that I could really only describe as a strange kaw, kaw, like from a bird or some other kind of animal I’d never heard before. I used my Hawk Eyes to look around but didn’t see anything nearby. I was certain Georg’s party would have passed through here, but there weren’t any tracks or signs of them.

“There’s kind of a path here… It’d be more difficult to seek as more time passes if we just let it be,” noted Elitia as she used her sword to hack through the tall grass in her way. It must have been able to regenerate rapidly, because as soon as she cut it, I could swear I saw it start to grow back. We’d already come up against tree and mushroom monsters, so even the grass here could be an enemy. It wasn’t a comforting thought.

“Atobe, can I activate Mist of Bravery just in case? We’ll be in trouble if those tree things jump out at us again.”

“Go right ahead. It does use a bit of magic, though, so I’ll charge you,” I replied.

“Ah… But you need magic, too, so don’t keep doing that,” she said.

“It’s because you’re in the vanguard. I want to make sure you can use Mirage Step as much as possible,” I replied.

“Atobe… Oh, all right. I’ll try not to waste it.”

Cion came to a stop as we were talking. She’d frozen, her eyes locked on the clearing in the trees ahead of us.

“Woof!”

“…Cion, is something there? Ahead of us?” asked Elitia, who was in the second rank of the formation. Cion just stood there with her ears and tail erect, staring ahead the whole time.

“…Is that…a person…?”

There was a single woman standing in the middle of the grass-filled clearing. Her hair covered her face, so I couldn’t make out her expression. Her hair was white, but based on her physical appearance, I estimated she was about the same age as Igarashi, maybe even a little younger.

She started coming toward us. Even though her equipment was broken here and there, she didn’t appear to have any major injuries that I could see.

“Are you…a member of Polaris? I’m glad you’re all right, but where’s the rest of the party?” asked Elitia.

The woman lifted her head so her shoulder-length, white hair fell back from her face, revealing a pale, bloodless visage and a smile as she gazed at us. She looked friendly, but there was something off about her. To put a finer point on things, she seemed lifeless and unnatural.

“My friends are doing well. They’re resting just ahead—would you like to come see them?” she asked.

“Oh, I see… That’s good,” replied Elitia. “I heard you were attacked by a Named Monster, but it looks like you managed to get away.”

“Yes, we were in no real danger. My name’s Sophie, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Elitia, one of our party’s vanguards.” Even as she conversed with the young woman, Elitia never once let her guard down. I knew that she was ready to draw her sword at any moment. What Georg told us and what this woman was saying didn’t match up. And it was weird that she could remain this calm after having been so close to death.

“We ran into Georg on the first floor. He’s already left—you should leave, too. We’ll help if you need us for anything,” I said.

“Leave…? There’s no need to rush. Oh, but come to think of it, we have more than enough loot from when we defeated the Named Monster. Would you like some?” she asked with her hands together. So they did defeat the Named Monster. Not entirely out of the ordinary, seeing as they had been the first-ranked party in the district until recently. It was also possible that Georg just ran off for some reason and the danger wasn’t as extreme as he’d thought.

…But her equipment’s damaged, and she has no weapon on her…

Georg hadn’t told me what jobs the members of his party had, but the woman was wearing light leather armor, which made me think she was either a Rogue or some sort of agility-based Swordswoman. She did have a sheath at her side, but the weapon that belonged in it wasn’t there. The front of her leather armor had a large rip in it, and vines were wrapped around her torso like some sort of emergency measure to cover her body.

“…I know this is a weird thing to ask after you’ve just gone through a brutal fight, but what kind of enemy was the Named Monster?” I asked, just to double-check. Georg hadn’t given us much information on the monster, but if their stories matched, then we probably didn’t need to doubt her. He’d said some monster-like vines came from the ground and sucked his allies’ vitality.

…Vines…?

“—Woof!”

“—Guys, get away from her!! Don’t let your guard down!” I shouted.

“No way…!”

The woman who’d called herself Sophie hung her head again, but I could see a smile spread across her face, one far more psychotic than she had on before.

“You want to know what kind of monster…? All right, I’ll tell you. One that will turn you into nutrients, too!” she cried.

Cion had remained wary of the open space in the forest, where dirt in random places now burst up as vines rose violently toward the sky. Elitia gasped as she watched.

“…What on earth…? So Polaris really was—”

All of them except for Georg had been defeated and were now being controlled by the monster. That’s the only reasonable conclusion you could make from what was happening.

The rising vines were twined together in some sort of cocoon. From inside came a number of Seekers, their hair snow-white, their faces lifeless. They must be the rest of Polaris. Their bodies were wrapped in the vines that were probably both sucking their vitality and turning them into puppets.

“I need more nutrients… More, more, more, more, more, I need more…!”

Vines stretched out from Sophie’s back, and the ones wrapped around her suddenly spread out to entangle her entire body before blooming with numerous pale blue flowers.

We might be able to release them from the vines if we defeat the main body… That’s what I have to believe. But where is the main body…? How can we draw it out if it’s underground?!

“You’ll be my nourishment, too, doggy!”

“—Awooo!”

“Gaaah!”

At level 4, part of Jake’s mace attack made it through Cion’s defenses. Cion was also level 4, so I couldn’t reduce the damage to nothing even with Defense Support. Cion’s counter, though, was far more powerful, tossing Jake backward across the ground. Mihail, who looked like a magic user, and Tyler, who was carrying an ax, had watched the clash unfold before them but didn’t flinch at all as they rushed in to attack.

“How dare you attack Cion—!” shouted Igarashi.

“Kyouka, Theresia, wait!” interrupted Elitia. “Arihito, these people are—!”

Could we still save them? Or would they be unable to return to normal after being controlled? But even with Defense Support, this enemy could hurt us, so we couldn’t take the time to figure things out.

Could we get some water and use Suzuna’s Wash Away to get rid of the Puppet status? Wait, it’s too dangerous to put Suzuna in front of Jake and Tyler. There’s got to be a way… Something!

As my mind raced, I suddenly sensed Sophie’s next move—or rather, not Sophie, but something behind her. That menacing something was going for Misaki!

“Could you not forget that I’m still here, too?” taunted Sophie.

“Rrgh… Guys, it’s coming from below! Jump away!” I shouted, trying to stifle the sense of dread I felt. Everyone followed my order and leaped back, and then the attack came.

“Eeeeek…!!”

“Misaki!”

She had tried to jump away but had fallen backward instead, and vines exploded from the dirt right in front of her. Suzuna grabbed her and tried to yank her farther from the vines while I loaded a magical bullet into my slingshot and fired.

“Theresia, back me up!” I shouted.

“…!!”

I hit the vine monster with a shot from my slingshot, but it didn’t faze it. Thanks to Theresia’s follow-up attack, though, we were able to bring it down with the support damage. That set damage was really useful. I glanced at my license and noticed that the main body’s vitality had also gone down from that.

“Won’t you join us…? We’ll become something even stronger if you do. Just take my hand… Hee-hee-hee!” the short-haired, freckled boy named Mihail called with an outstretched hand.

“Sorry to burst your bubble… I don’t make a habit of accepting invitations from strangers!” replied Igarashi as he frothed at the mouth and unleashed a lightning-type spell. Igarashi dodged using Mirage Step, then flipped her spear around and jabbed him with the blunt end.

“Gah… Hee-hee… C’mon, I like it a bit rougher than that!” he teased.

“Urgh… Damn you…!”

The attack wasn’t meant to kill him, since Igarashi had tried to hold back, but Mihail regained his footing almost immediately. The blow should have at least left him in severe pain, but apparently, their sense of pain was gone while they were puppets.

“A woman… A womaaaaan!!” roared Tyler, brandishing his ax and swinging at Elitia.

“Ah!”

She evaded by stepping aside but couldn’t counterattack. With her high level, she could have killed him. I wanted to think that it was because he was being controlled, but Tyler’s carnal howls and full-out attacks were clearly starting to grate on Elitia’s nerves. He was the kind of opponent who could wear someone down psychologically as you faced against him.

We can’t stop them from attacking as long as they’re puppets… We can keep attacking it over and over again when it pops out from underground to use Vine Puppet, which should eventually kill the main body… I hope.

It was a gamble to assume that continually destroying the Vine Puppets would also kill the monster. If we took that gamble, we’d be putting a huge burden on the vanguards’ shoulders…with no real end in sight.

“Hee-hee-hee! You’re sooo pretty when you dodge like that!!” cackled Mihail.

“Grr… Quit being so gross, asshole!” shouted Igarashi. Her magic was slowly going down as she used Mirage Step. Mihail might not be in his right mind, but forcing her to deal with such bare lust meant more danger for us considering how precise we needed to be. Besides, if I were going to just go out and say it…

“Don’t you dare look at my party members like that!” I shouted.

“Huh…? A-Arihito…?” said Misaki.

“Arihito… You’re angry… I am, too,” said Suzuna. I knew that the Polaris members weren’t doing it themselves, but I couldn’t stand them looking at my friends like that. I needed to at least shut down Mihail.

“Come forth, Demi-Harpies!”

I pulled out the summoning stone pendant I had around my neck to call them forth. When I did, three magic circles formed around me, then burst into three columns of light, the Demi-Harpies appearing inside them.

“… Arihito, what are you—?” asked Elitia, who had the time to glance back. As for Tyler, his own carnal urges were growing more and more apparent to the point that I couldn’t even meet his eyes. He’d most likely have some traumatic memories if he remembered all this once he was back to his right mind, but for the moment, I just needed to stop him from doing anything else.

“I’m just gonna have them take a nap… Sing, harpies!”

The Demi-Harpies flapped their wings and took to the air as they began singing. This was the first time I’d seen them use Musical Round, but since they were continuously singing, I decided it was safe to assume that the three sleeping members of Polaris wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.

“I didn’t realize we had this option… Arihito, good thinking…,” said Elitia.

“Huff, huff… But, Sophie… Why isn’t she asleep?” asked Igarashi. Maybe she had sleep-resistant equipment? No, that wasn’t it. When Sophie made her attack earlier, my license had displayed that the Vine Puppeteer had activated Vine Puppets. Sophie was further under the Puppeteer’s control than the other three.

Part IV: The Guild Saviors

Sophie looked at me with intense hostility, like she was representing the monster’s will.

“How dare you… You’re all nothing but trouble,” growled Sophie. “I wanted to get nutrients from Georg, too, but he didn’t come back… He must’ve sent you all here, didn’t he? The stuck-up, good-for-nothing Mr. High-and-Mighty is really screwing us over.”

“Georg was trying to save you guys!”

“Kyouka, don’t let her get you worked up!” said Elitia. “Sophie’s under the monster’s control right now. If we can just cut those vines wrapped around her, she should come to her—”

“Ha-ha… Ha-ha-ha! What are you talking about? There’s nothing more wonderful than becoming nutrients. Come, let us become one! Maybe if I take that man first, you ladies will actually listen to me?” suggested Sophie.

The enemy had its roots stretched throughout the soil and could activate its Vine Puppets anywhere. My mind raced as I tried to think of the best way to deal with it.

“—Atobe!” shouted Igarashi.

Vine Puppets whipped out from the ground all around me, caging me in. I wouldn’t be able to escape like this— At least, that’s what the enemy thought.

Perfect… Getting separated from the party had its risks, but that “something” behind Sophie was just starting to catch my eye…!

When I realized that Sophie was being controlled by the monster, the question became: Where were the vines that wrapped around her body coming from?

The answer: from behind.

I activated my skill and teleported behind Sophie. When I appeared behind her, I saw a flower blooming there that was a different color from all the others. This one was white. I couldn’t believe that an evil monster could look this pure and delicate.

So it was behind her… If I aim for that…

I aimed carefully with the magical bullet of my Force Shot and put everything into the shot.

“Take this!”

“—GYEEEEEH!!”

The magical bullet smashed the white flower, scattering petals everywhere. A massive plant erupted from the ground in the center of the clearing— That must be the real Vine Puppeteer. The white flower on Sophie’s back withered and fell off, then somehow returned to the main body where it bloomed once again.

But Sophie was still under Puppet status. Looking at her back now, I saw the vines that stretched from her back were still wrapped around her entire body. Her equipment had lost most of its original shape, leaving her near naked.

“Argh… Stupid nutrients… Get off… Get away!”

Ack… She’s really strong!

I grappled her from behind to stop her from moving, since she was still a puppet. Either it was because she was being controlled by the monster still or she was originally quite strong, but it was really difficult to keep ahold of her as she struggled against me with all her strength.

“Everyone, attack the main body now!” I ordered. Even if they didn’t have my rearguard support skills, there was no enemy that wouldn’t go down under the full fire of the party, especially with Elitia as our main attacker.

“I’ll rip you up from your roots!” shouted Elitia.

“Eek! …Quit jumping out from underfoot, you cowardly weed!” cried Igarashi.

“…!!”

“Booowwow!”

The four of them attacked with Elitia in the lead: Rising Bolt, Double Attack, Double Throw, Power Rush. Then Suzuna used Auto-Hit and let loose an arrow at the white flower, its weak spot.

“Just a little more…! This should do it!”

Elitia’s Rising Bolt connected with her Blossom Blade skill. We needed to end this now; she was trying to chain her attacks together.

“Don’t forget that I’m here, too… Lucky Seven!” shouted Misaki, who hadn’t joined in the combined assault. She tossed two dice; I couldn’t see what the pips were, but Misaki’s good luck activated the skill.

“D-did it work?!” cried Misaki.

“Don’t worry; it worked! Fall back!” cried Igarashi.

“Awww… Good luck, you guys! This whole situation is making me wish I chose to be a Cheerleader!” she hollered as she pulled back. At the same time, Elitia was unleashing her Blossom Blade, raining repeated slashes down on the raging plant monster.

“—Die!!”

“GYEEEEEHHH!”

Her crimson blade danced through the chain of twelve attacks, carving away at the Vine Puppeteer. At the final push, the nightmarish plant finally stopped moving and sank to the ground in front of us.

“Phew…”

“Yikes… That was close. Ack, the vines are dying—!”

The vines wrapped around Sophie started to wither and fall off along with the main body, which meant I couldn’t really look directly at her, so I closed my eyes.

“…Nn…”

“Good… It looks like she’s going back to her normal self now that we defeated the main body,” said Igarashi.

“But what should we do…? We can’t really get her help with her looking like this…,” I said as I looked around at the forest. Maybe we could cover her with leaves? I decided the others might get mad at me if I suggested that, so I had everyone gather the broken bits of her equipment and try to work something out.

“If we wrap this towel and handkerchief around here, maybe it’ll look all right?”

“It’d be really great to have needle and thread for times like this… What about bandages?”

“You mean wrapping her body in bandages? I mean, that’s what samurai used to do, I guess…”

“I’ve done that before, so I’ll handle that part.”

The four girls debated on the best way to deal with the situation while I had Cion inspect the area, and I checked that the other three were still breathing. They seemed to be weakened, but I didn’t think their lives were in any danger.

“……”

“Hmm? …What’s wrong?” I asked Theresia as she stood next to Mihail and stared at me. She clenched her hand into a fist and made a punching motion over him.

“Are you asking if I’m mad at him? I mean, he was under someone else’s control… And yeah, I did get angry during the fight, but he wasn’t saying those things himself. Just leave him be for now.” She lowered her fist and came over to me. Then she just stared at me in silence, like maybe she was trying to say she agreed with me.

“We don’t know if he was being honest because he was controlled, or if he isn’t the type of think these things normally, but…I guess people as composed as Arihito don’t come along very often,” said Elitia.

“When you’re behind… No, just whenever you’re nearby, I feel so much calmer. I know I can’t rely on you for every last need, but I really want to be like that…,” said Misaki. Everyone must have felt relaxed now that the battle was over, but I still felt uncomfortable with all the compliments, even though they were the same ones they always gave me.

“……”

“Oh, we need to see if it dropped anything… Cion, did you find something?” I asked. She had sat down and was thumping her tail as it wagged.

…Whoa!

I went over and saw that a Black Box had fallen from the withered vines.

It went a long time without being defeated, killing more and more people… So I guess it created a Black Box like Juggernaut did.

That list of victims ended at Polaris, and my own party was safe. Cion’s back was to me, which activated Recovery Support, so everyone was recovering.

“Atobe, did you find something…? Oh, th-that chest… Is that a Black Box?”

“It was a powerful monster and unconfirmed, so there was always the possibility, but… There’s always something exciting happening in this party, isn’t there?” said Elitia with a small smile in my direction. I felt the same. These Black Boxes were rare enough to surprise Falma, so it was normal for a long time to pass before you’d see another one. I was happy but surprised as well.

A Black Box… The one that Juggernaut dropped had the key to the hidden floor. If there’s one in this box…

If this labyrinth had a hidden floor, too, and if we got into it, we might be able to find the parts that Ariadne spoke of, or we could meet another Hidden God.

Once we made sure Polaris was safe, we’d go have this Black Box opened. My heart had been racing since we’d found the unexpected item.

“…Oh, right. They’re still flying. Thanks for your help; you can all come down now,” I called up to the Demi-Harpies, who were still circling in the sky even though the fight was over. They landed in front of me, and I saw that the previously naked girls were now clothed, so I didn’t have to be as careful about where I looked. The smallest and youngest of the three girls did seem quite nervous, since she was hiding behind the middle sister, but she didn’t seem outright afraid of me.

“Atobe, have you given them names?” asked Igarashi.

“Uh… I’m terrible at deciding names. How about everyone else thinks of something? Or do you have names already?” I asked, and the eldest sister shook her long, brown hair to say no. Her clothing was a simple poncho-like piece of thin cloth, and it seemed like she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath because her chest bounced quite a bit when she did. I really couldn’t make reprimand Mihail if I was reacting in the same way. “How about the name Asuka? It’s written with the kanji for fly and bird, so I think it fits.”

“Asuka… Then, maybe Yayoi could work as well, if we’re going with historic periods. That said, it’s kind of old-fashioned.”

“And maybe the third one could be…Himiko? Although, only one of them would have a queen’s name, then.”

And just like that, the Demi-Harpies had names, the group of girls making quick work of it. From eldest to youngest, we had Asuka, then Himiko, then Yayoi. But I felt like a legendary queen’s name was most suited to the eldest sister, so maybe we should go with Himiko, Asuka, and Yayoi?

“We’ll have you name the next monster, Elitia,” I suggested.

“I feel like naming is a big responsibility… But I’ll try to think of something if you want me to.”

The Demi-Harpies’ Lullaby had been incredibly useful, so I wanted to keep an eye out for other monsters who could use special attacks and be recruited.

“Hmm…? What’s that…?” I said. I heard the sound of footsteps from a group of people coming from the direction of the first floor. I turned and saw a heavily armored woman with a massive shield leading the group. I’d seen the large symbol emblazoned on the shield before—it was the Guild’s mark. The woman had short, smooth hair and wore a headband with a metal plate wrapped around her head. She looked quite a bit younger than me, but I got the impression that she was very experienced.

The group she led was made up of two more women and three men. They wore helmets that covered their faces, so I couldn’t make out their expressions. Each had an impressive air, and I could see that my companions were a little shaken by them.

“…Are you members of Polaris?” asked the leader in a soft voice akin to a whisper that didn’t match the heavy armor she wore. I suddenly realized who they might be.

“No, we’re a different party. We just defeated the monster that attacked Polaris… And you are?” I asked.

“We are the Guild Saviors. We received a request for assistance from the leader of Polaris. We’ve come in response to that,” she explained. The Guild normally monitored anyone who was in the middle of an advancement test. Even so, we’d managed to save Polaris in the time that it took them to receive the report and respond.

“Thank you for assisting us in our duties. You will be provided rescue reparations if you submit a report to the Guild. However, I must ask that you promise not to assist any party who has been defeated in the future,” she continued.

“I’m sorry, but…it will all depend on the situation, so I can’t make that promise,” I replied.

“…I see,” she said simply, though I was afraid I’d offended her. “…Every party in the Labyrinth Country is competing against one another. You’d do well to remember that. You should prioritize your own party above all else.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now, the Polaris party members…,” I started.

“We will transport them back to town. We’ve brought the personnel necessary,” she replied as two expert-seeming people from her group started casually drawing magic circles on the ground.

Teleportation magic… Seeing it like this, I realized just how useful it was. Before long, the members of Polaris were laid on the circles and whisked away.

“We will also teleport you if you’re leaving the labyrinth,” offered the lead woman.

“Thank you. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name’s Atobe.”

“…Arihito Atobe. That name has gained far more attention than I think you are aware. My name is Seraphina. Seraphina Edelbert,” she replied, sticking her massive shield in the ground and taking off her gauntlet before extending her right hand. I took her hand and saw a tiny smile on her face, the first emotion I’d seen on her so far.

My party took up the offer of teleportation and used the circles to leave the labyrinth. It only took a blink of an eye for us to appear in the square outside the entrance to the Shrieking Wood. Seraphina’s party must have arranged for the first responders to be there, because they were already carrying away the members of Polaris.

“It’s a good thing the Guild Saviors came, right, Arihito?” said Suzuna.

“Yeah, they helped out a lot. I did want to get out of there for a little bit,” I replied.

“I can’t believe we found a Black Box… I wonder if there’s a hidden floor in the Shrieking Wood, too…,” said Igarashi, having had the same thought as me. If there was a hidden floor, it was likely that the key to it was in this box.

We’d already made more than enough contribution points to pass the test, so we’d achieved our current goal. We’d go back to the city for a little while and see what was in the Black Box; if there was a key in it, there might be a hidden floor as well…but we wouldn’t know if there was until we opened it.

“…Arihito, Black Boxes aren’t the sort of thing you go looking for. We don’t know if we’ll find another one even if we keep hunting Named Monsters,” said Elitia. “But if we do happen to find one like this, then we have the right to go to any hidden floor there might be. That’s not a chance we can throw away.”

“That vine monster didn’t seem like a normal Named Monster, either. If they only drop Black Boxes after they’ve done a lot of damage…then the god that made Ariadne is horrible,” noted Igarashi. Juggernaut and the Vine Puppeteer— The one thing they had in common was that they caused a lot of damage before they were eventually taken down.

We got ahold of the Black Box because Georg and his party had been defeated. Thinking of it that way, I couldn’t help but feel like the box’s entire existence was vile. But that’s exactly why we couldn’t waste it. We could go up to District Seven and get stronger before coming back, but we could also use whatever we gained from following through with this box’s contents to give us an edge in District Seven. Neither option was wrong.

“Arihito, Misaki and I will find the path to the hidden floor,” said Suzuna.

“If there’s a key in there, that is. But what Ariadne said made it sound like almost every labyrinth has a hidden floor,” added Misaki.

We could theoretically go to the bottom floor in every labyrinth; it’d just take time. Even if we did, though, there’d be things we’d never find. Then there was the possibility that the hidden floors had already been found by someone else, so even though we spent the time and effort to get there, it could have been cleaned out. There wouldn’t actually be anything to find. Thinking of it that way, we could only aim to find any hidden floors if we happened to find a Black Box in that labyrinth… That’d be a good policy.

“All right, it’s decided. First, I’ll go report to Louisa. The rest of you can go take a break at the mansion. We’ll open the box tomorrow,” I announced.

“““Okay!””” chimed the rest of the members, even Igarashi. I knew she had accepted me as the leader of the party, but it still felt a little strange.

“……”

“Huh? …You wanna come along? No, you can take a break instead; it’s fine,” I said to Theresia, who stuck close to me. I wondered what was wrong—maybe there was something on her mind?

“…Are you maybe thinking about that Seraphina lady from before?” I asked.

“—?!”

I had said it even though I thought I might be projecting this onto her, but Theresia reacted pretty strongly, her face turning bright red as she pressed her hands to her lizard mask and crouched down.

“The way things were going, it would’ve been rude not to shake her hand. It’s not like I’m interested in her or anything,” I continued.

“……”

Theresia looked up at me as if to ask if I really meant it. I held my hand out to her and helped her stand up. Her hand was really warm. Being a lizardman, she wasn’t good with high temperatures, so I should try to avoid letting her get overheated.

“In any case… Looks like everyone got the wrong idea. How about we go together like always?”

“……”

Theresia gained her composure. The red faded from her mask, and she nodded. She walked by my side all the way to the Guild, holding her right hand, the one I’d held, to her chest with her left on top, like she was treasuring it.

Part V: The Puppeteer’s Persistence

Seekers milled about inside the Guild. Theresia and I were basically regulars there by now, so one of Louisa’s junior coworkers showed us to one of the inner meeting rooms I’d been in before. Not much time passed before Louisa came in with some tea and looked at the results of our adventure on my license, with her monocle on as always.

“These names… These are members of Polaris. You somehow managed to save them before the Guild Saviors could…,” marveled Louisa.

“No issues where your contribution points are concerned. Congratulations, Mr. Atobe; your party has received official approval to advance to District Seven. I will record your Pass on your license,” said Louisa.

“Pass?” I asked.

“That’s correct. You can view it on your license. We simply call the official proof of approval to move to a given district a Pass. If you don’t have a Pass and attempt to go into a district without approval, you will be forcibly removed, so please do be careful.”

With that function, even if you happened to have a skill that let you get past the walls and go into the higher districts, you wouldn’t be able to. It was possible that there were still some loopholes, but I couldn’t even think of any at the time. On top of that, your karma would go up if you broke the rules, and I didn’t want to be arrested if I could help it.

“You contacted the Guild Saviors earlier, didn’t you? We met Seraphina in the labyrinth,” I said.

“Yes, they aren’t normally dispatched to District Eight labyrinths… But this was a special case. They were mobilized during the stampede and staying in the district anyway.”

Apparently, they were normally busy with saving Seekers in the higher districts. If they were that busy, I wasn’t likely to meet them again anytime soon.

“I will actually be providing you with a rescue reward. There is a bonus, since you rescued all members of the party… It comes to twelve gold per person rescued, so a total of sixty gold pieces.”

“Thank you. Would it be possible for you to put that toward Georg and his party’s recovery costs?”

“Are you…positive that’s what you want to do? I’m sure they have the savings necessary to pay for their medical treatment.”

“I haven’t known them very long, but I think of them as friends who live in the same housing. I’d like to help out, even if it’s just a little.”

Louisa seemed a little confused. Even if someone might think it was hypocritical, I wanted to help Georg. If my party members had been taken under the Vine Puppeteer’s control and I had no option but to run, I’m not sure I could bounce back from that easily. And Georg had been terrified and beaten down. Just looking at him, I knew it would be hard for him to go back to seeking like before.

“Are you trying to…help Seekers keep going for as long as they can, even if it might be one or two of them?” asked Louisa.

“I always want that to be the case. And I know there’s always competition between us, but I want to help like-minded friends when I can.”

“I think that’s a wonderful mind-set to have. If only all Seekers felt the same…there would be fewer parties facing death in the labyrinth.”

That’s not how things were at the moment. If my party was on the brink of destruction, another party passing by might not help us… Though, I couldn’t really blame anyone for putting their own survival first. Even so, if there was someone I could save, I wanted to do something and save them. I couldn’t change how I felt.

“I’m going to go visit Polaris at the Healers. Louisa, would you like to come out and have some drinks with us once things are ready for us to move to District Seven?”

“I would love to. And until then, I pray for your health and happiness.”

Theresia and I headed to the Healer clinic near the Guild and went to the room that Georg and the rest of his party were in. All the men of the party were in the room, and other than Georg, they were all asleep. They had had their vitality sucked out by the Vine Puppeteer, so they were in an extremely weakened state.

“…Arihito, you came,” said Georg. He had a bandage wrapped around his head; apparently, not all his wounds were completely healed, but I could barely believe how much life had returned to his eyes from when we’d found him in the labyrinth.

“You look rough. If only we’d…,” I started, but Georg held up his hand to stop me before I could say I wished we’d started looking sooner.

“When everyone had been taken by that plant monster, I couldn’t leave the second floor for a little while. You’ll probably laugh, but…I was so scared that I couldn’t even move my legs. The whole time, I could hear Sophie’s voice from the forest, as she was being controlled. She kept telling me I should come back and become its nutrients.”

“…It was an evil monster. It would’ve been better if you could’ve taken your test somewhere else, somewhere that didn’t have something like that,” I offered.

“Yeah. But even if we’d avoided that labyrinth and gone to District Seven, we’d probably encounter another monster like it there. Even if you run from danger, it’s running right after you… It just means that we weren’t ready to go to District Seven…” He wasn’t trying to put himself down; he said it so matter-of-factly. I even saw a hint of a smile on his face. “To tell you the truth, my party was just about to fall apart anyway. We used to have another woman in the party besides Sophie… But she got hurt really bad when we made it to rank one in the district, and she retired from seeking. Mihail and Tyler both had a thing for her. It’s pretty stupid, but us four guys kind of got our motivation for seeking out of competing for the two women.”

“I see…”

Every party had its own things going on—remove one person, and the entire party’s balance could be thrown off… That was probably true about my party as well.

“…Sophie was the first one to become that thing’s puppet. The rest of us were hopeless after that. It would’ve been the end of everything if we let her die.”

“But you’re all right now. You can get back into it whenever you want. Well, I say that like it’d be simple.”

“No… It’s all right. I think part of me wants someone to tell me to give it up, but that would hurt, too. It’s more help to hear someone tell me to keep at it.”

He could always retire from seeking like his one friend and move to the support side. That was an option, but I didn’t necessarily think that’s what he should do. I couldn’t just wish him luck. That wouldn’t mean anything. But I didn’t want them to end things in this way.

“I don’t think you need to blame yourself. There have been many times when I’ve been scared to death in battle,” I said.

“…Even someone like you, who defeated that beast, gets afraid sometimes?” asked Georg.

“Yeah. Not that I can show it in front of my party,” I added, and Georg smiled. It was the same friendly smile from the day we’d met in the mansion.

“Arihito, I really can’t thank you enough. You came all this way and talked to me… But I was actually hoping to ask you one more favor,” he said hesitantly, but he seemed to make up his mind and forced the words from his mouth. “Could you go visit Sophie? I’ll let the Healer know you’re going.”

“…Is something wrong with her?” I’d thought we’d been able to save her. But based on Georg’s expression, that was nothing more than my wishful thinking.

“Since you’re the one who saved her…maybe you can reach her. If you could do something… Say something to make her respond, anything…”

“Georg…”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say to him. What must it feel like to lose to a monster? I still couldn’t really understand how he felt.

I wasn’t sure that Georg introducing us to the Healers would be enough for them to allow us to visit Sophie, but once they learned we were part of the party that defeated the Vine Puppeteer, they led us to her room. I opened the door and saw Sophie in the bed. She was sitting upright, but her eyes were blank. She didn’t react when we went in.

“Seekers don’t always recover after monsters seize complete control of their minds. Coming into close contact with the monster’s consciousness can be too much for a human,” explained the Healer, a woman old enough to be Sophie’s mother. Perhaps that was part of why looking at Sophie seemed to pain the Healer that much.

“…I thought if we defeated the monster, she’d be released from that. I guess I was naive,” I said, the words catching in my throat. If we’d been able to save her sooner… Though, these terrible things were probably happening all over the Labyrinth Country; I just hadn’t seen them yet.

“Is there anything I can actually do?” I asked.

“…There’s no proof that it will work, but since it was your party who defeated the monster that controlled her mind, there is a possibility,” replied the Healer.

“A possibility… What is it…?”

“There’s a chance that she is still being controlled by the monster. Plant monsters sometimes leave behind seeds. Unfortunately, those seeds also have a consciousness. They gather nutrients from their host until they can germinate and accomplish their one goal.”

One goal… Hearing it put like that made me think of something. What do monsters think of the Seekers who defeat them? I doubt they just accept it and move on.

“There are…risks. It is possible that the seed in Sophie will react if someone who the monster sees as a threat is nearby,” continued the Healer.

“And if it…germinates, Sophie will be…?”

“It would be best if we had someone with a skill that could safely extract the seed… But those with medical skills are currently in the higher districts. They don’t seem to be responding to our requests for assistance.”

“…What will happen to Sophie if she stays like this?”

“The seed will continue to feed off her, putting her life at risk. But if we can force it to germinate quickly, then we may be able to prevent that. There is also a chance we could expel the seed.”

The Healer knew it was a gamble, but she’d brought me here anyway…so that Sophie would have even a small chance at survival.

“Okay. Would you be able to leave me alone in the room, then? I imagine there’s a chance it won’t germinate if there are others around,” I said.

“…I’m sorry to ask you to do this. You have already saved her once, and to request that you put yourself in further danger… I hate to ask someone with a bright future ahead of them to put themselves at risk,” she said.

“Please don’t worry about it. I was the first one to strike the enemy’s main body. I think I’m probably the one it’s most hostile toward,” I replied, remembering the dreadful shriek it made when I used Rear Stance to go behind it and shoot it with my slingshot. I imagined it was probably lying in wait, constantly plotting its revenge on me for that attack.

…I’d prefer to reduce the risks as much as possible, but I can’t abandon Sophie here.

The Healer left the room, but Theresia remained in place.

“Theresia, I’m guessing the monster won’t respond unless I’m the only person here. Go outside for a little bit…”

She shook her head. She knew what was about to start would be dangerous, which was probably why she wasn’t willing to leave me. We didn’t necessarily need to make the situation perfect for the monster. Obviously, it was better for me to have a friend nearby.

“…Okay. Stay here, Theresia. Can you go get help immediately if anything happens to me?” I asked, and Theresia nodded. I moved closer to Sophie, her hair swaying as her face turned toward me. There was no life in her eyes. Could I really get her back to her old self?

That’s when it happened. Sophie shot her hand out and grabbed mine, faster than I could react.

Ah?!

Sophie was wearing a simple shirt, and a vine suddenly shot out from her sleeve, wrapping around my hand.

“…Become one… Become one with me,” said Sophie through pale, bloodless lips. The next moment, my field of vision became distorted, and I could feel it taking over my mind—

I realized I was kneeling in an inky black space, unable to move a muscle.

Ack… The vines… Where is this…? Is this some subconscious world…?

Vines wrapped around my entire body so I couldn’t move. Something white appeared in front of me… It was Sophie, strung up in tendrils just like me.

“Sophie—!”

She didn’t respond to my cries. Instead, the ivy stretched around us started to move like some intelligent being, twining together to form a massive bud-like shape in front of me. The bud opened—revealing the same white flower that was on the Vine Puppeteer’s main body. From the center of the white flower appeared a single little girl. She was like a flower personified. Flower petal–like shapes draped over part of her figure, and she looked at me with emotionless eyes… There was something so plant-like about her.

“Are you…the real Vine Puppeteer…?” I asked.

“…This version of me was formed when I fused minds with Sophie. I will put you under my control by forcing you to succumb here,” said the girl.

“You can speak… I’ve never met a monster that could speak before.”

“Nutrients should be consumed and not heard. I have much to gain from feeding from your mind, so I will let you live a little while. If you do well, I may use you for a long time.”

Well, she was quite the cheeky girl… Though she only looked like a ten-year-old girl, she was actually a monster.

“…You hurt me before. More than being carved with a sword or pierced with a spear or shot with an arrow. Your attack hurt the most,” she continued.

“Agh!”

The vines wrapped around my body squeezed with incredible force; it was like being choked by a gigantic boa constrictor.

“…Accept my control. Or would you prefer to suffer the pain of having your mind broken? There is no creature I cannot break.”

I knew she’d try to attack my mind right now… Sophie won’t be able to recover if I don’t release her from this!

I didn’t have my equipment; I didn’t have any friends to use support skills on. What could I actually do…? It was stupid to assume I could try and monitor her if I did accept her control—that would be a death sentence.

“…Monsters…really do like to do things the mean way…,” I said.

“Humans are no different. There were those who tried to burn me away with the forests I lived in. Do you know what it feels like to be burned alive?”

“…I can only imagine. I wouldn’t choose that method.”

“…Why are you smiling? You should be aware of what will happen if I break your body. This is not a simple threat.”

It made me realize I was smiling. My body was being crushed, and I was gasping painfully for breath, but I wasn’t really thinking about crying out.

“Not sure how it looks to say this about myself, but…I’m really bad at giving up…and pretty good at enduring…discomfort,” I continued.

“…Fine, then. I will break one of your arms; that will make you regr—,” she started to say in response, but she was too slow.

“—!!”

Something flew into my line of sight. It was a naked girl with a lizard tail, parts of her skin covered in scales. She shouldn’t have been able to come here, but she’d just cracked a heavy kick into the Vine Puppeteer.

“Gah!”

This world might be in the mind, but the Vine Puppeteer apparently only had the physical strength you might expect from its current form, making her unable to stand her ground against Theresia’s attack.

“Theresia… How did…you get here…?” I asked.

“…A soul eroded by the labyrinth… The same as me… I see. You placed me on your own body, then climbed along your symbol’s connection…,” the Puppeteer pieced together.

Apparently, Theresia had put the Puppeteer’s vines on herself to enter this subconscious world. Concealed by her hair, the back of her neck held her “ownership symbol,” which had certainly formed some sort of connection between the two of us… She’d used that connection to come here and save me.

“…!”

“Do you intend to resist my control and save the human? What can you do? You aren’t even entirely a monster,” said the Puppeteer. Theresia’s back was to me. In here, it was her psychological state, so she wasn’t wearing her characteristic lizard mask. Her black hair fell to the base of her neck. She was protecting me, but I knew she’d likely have her mind stolen from her in this place.

“No one can defeat me when they don’t even have a weapon. Your fates were sealed the moment you came to this place,” taunted the Puppeteer, and a multitude of vines sprouted from the ground. There was nowhere to run to in this dark space… But even so, Theresia stretched out her arms and refused to fall even a step back.

“Get out of my way!” screeched the Puppeteer as the vines lashed out at Theresia. She wouldn’t be able to withstand the violent attack… Well, she wouldn’t if there hadn’t been anything protecting her.

“Theresia, I’ll help you!” I shouted.

“…!!”

I was behind her. Even if this were just some subconscious world, I should still be a rearguard as long as I was in that position.

The vine bounced off an invisible wall. My Defense Support probably wouldn’t have worked if they had instead tried to bind her. I wasn’t sure if that had been part of Theresia’s plan, but Theresia had skillfully coerced the Vine Puppeteer into attacking her. That made a single opening for her.

“—Go, Theresia!” I called.

“…Hah…!!”

I could actually hear Theresia breathing for the first time in a while. She unleashed a kick that was strengthened with my Attack Support, adding eleven support damage to her martial arts attack.

“Ack!!”

The Vine Puppeteer was flung backward from the force of the strike. That one hit was strong enough to decide the fight, considering the enemy had assumed we couldn’t do any damage to it at all. The vines wrapped around me and Sophie withered and fell to the ground. Theresia walked up to the little, white-haired girl, or what was left of the Vine Puppeteer.

“……”

The Puppeteer shuddered on the ground and moved no more. Her real form, the white flower, had seemed the same in that they were both incredibly weak to direct hits. This was the human form that the Puppeteer had made when it came in contact with Sophie’s mind. That might be why it looked like a younger version of Sophie.

I hadn’t expected my Attack Support to be this effective. Even if it didn’t add damage to magical attacks, apparently, it worked on attacks made by mental manifestations. It was nice to know, though I had no idea if the information would ever be useful again.

Thanks to Theresia, I was able to escape certain death. Even the vines around my arm disappeared. There was a lingering pain, but it wasn’t anything serious.

Sophie and the body of the Vine Puppeteer started to glow, then slowly faded and vanished. I could only pray that Sophie would wake up all right. Soon, mine and Theresia’s mental bodies started to fade as well.

“…Theresia, thank you for coming to save me. Really…”

Theresia hesitated, then tried to turn back to face me.

“……”

I could see in my fading vision that her lips were moving, trying to say something, but before I could really see her face, I was pulled back to my real body. I opened my eyes, and I was in Sophie’s room at the Healer clinic. Theresia’s hand came from behind me and was placed on top of Sophie’s, which was squeezing mine. Sophie was lying back on the bed, unconscious, so we couldn’t confirm whether or not she was back to her normal self.

“…Thank you. I’m sorry I worried you.”

Theresia pulled her hand away, then hugged me from behind. I was surprised but felt strangely comfortable, placing my hand on hers as she gripped the front of my shirt. Even if she couldn’t say it, I thought she was trying to tell me she was happy that I was all right.

…Hmm?

I saw something out of the corner of my eye that hadn’t been there before I was pulled into the subconscious world. When I scrutinized it, I saw what looked like a seed had fallen on the bed. Apparently, even though Theresia had defeated it in that mental world, it was still alive. I was going to decide what to do with it. It should be fine for me to do that much. I looked at the powerful enemy, who was now small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, and thought of a few options.

Part VI: The Merchant and the Dissector

I called in the Healer and told her that Sophie had been freed from the monster’s clutches so that she could check how she was doing.

“I can’t be certain until she wakes up… But her condition does seem to have improved from before. Now that the monster’s seed has been removed, I can see her responding to my skill, which accelerates her own body’s healing rate,” she said.

“Good… I’m going to take the seed that came out with me. Or would you like to use it for some kind of research?” I asked.

“N-no… Unfortunately, we don’t have any facilities here that are capable of researching monsters. It would actually be best if you take it, so that we need not worry about it,” she replied.

I wondered if I took it to the Monster Ranch and made a contract with it, would it follow my orders? Having a Named Monster on the team would give us a huge edge in certain situations.

“I won’t use this seed for anything bad. I hope you’re not concerned about that,” I said.

“Of course not. Thank you for taking care of it. Georg is currently sleeping, but would you like to visit him again?”

“No, but could you give him my regards when he wakes?” He’d been in a terrible state before; there was no point in disturbing him for nothing if he was finally getting some rest—even if I did want to tell him right away about Sophie, so he could relax.

“…Mm…”

“Ah… Sophie, are you awake? How do you feel?” asked the Healer.

“Sorry, looks like I’ve made too much noise. Take care, Sophie…,” I said as Theresia and I turned for the door.

“…Wait…,” Sophie called out, stopping us. She was lying down, with only her face turned toward us. I could understand why Georg and one of the other men in the party would be interested in gaining her affection. Something about her face made me imagine she was normally a cheerful and lively woman, but now, she looked at me with hazy eyes and spoke in a weak voice.

“…I had a dream… A bad dream… I was tied up in vines…but you…” She had memories of what happened in the subconscious world even though she’d been under the Puppeteer’s control. That meant she was probably aware that Theresia and I had saved her.

“…I hope you feel better soon. Everything else can wait until then,” I said.

“…Yes… Thank you. Could you tell me your name…?”

“My name’s Arihito Atobe. This is Theresia.”

Sophie looked at Theresia with her mask on, and she seemed quite surprised, since Theresia hadn’t been wearing her mask in the subconscious world.

“…A demi-human curse… If it weren’t for that…you’d be really…,” said Sophie, but she fell asleep again before she could finish. She was still weakened; she had just been in a temporarily conscious state.

The Healer wiped away a tear that was running down Sophie’s cheek and checked her condition. I thanked her again for taking care of Sophie and left the room. I looked at the profile of Theresia’s face as we walked down the hallway, side by side. What was Sophie trying to say? The only thing I could imagine was that she was trying to say what she felt when she saw Theresia without her mask.

“……”

“Ah, sorry. You know when you came to save me? I was just thinking about how you didn’t have your mask on,” I said.

“…?!”

She hadn’t realized until now… Perhaps she had been too focused on taking down the Vine Puppeteer.

“……”

“I think Sophie may have seen you, but I was behind you, so unfortunately, I didn’t get a good look. Well, I know you wouldn’t be able to do anything even if I said I wanted to see your face… But I can’t really help being curious.” Theresia shook her head. If she was saying that she didn’t mind if I saw, then I didn’t have to feel bad about being curious. But without the mask, it’d be a real problem if she insisted she wanted to take a bath with me.

“……”

“Ah… T-Theresia, it’s okay. I don’t have a fever or anything,” I stammered. Apparently, I was an open book. I’d have to be more careful of that, because she put her hand to my forehead to check my temperature.

“……”

Theresia insisted that I was warmer than her, but could I really be that hot if she was comparing it to her lizard mask, which tended to run cool…? I looked at her always overly concerned self and couldn’t keep myself from smiling. But then I noticed something: She had a small wound on the back of her hand. It was probably a cut from when she stabbed the vine into her own hand in order to save me.

“Theresia, could you walk in front of me for a bit?” I asked.

“……”

Theresia did as I asked, and after a few moments, my Recovery Support kicked in and healed her wound. I checked her hand, and it was completely gone.

“Good, it’s smooth. I would’ve felt bad if you’d gotten a scar…”

“……”

Theresia shook her head silently. I tried to figure out what she was trying to tell me.

“…I made the mistake of believing that I could protect everyone on my own. Even though my job specifically requires me to have someone in front of me before I can even do anything.”

“……”

Theresia started to shake her head but stopped. She stepped in front of me again, then turned back and flexed her arm.

“Do you mean you’re stronger when I’m behind you?”

“……”

She nodded back and showed me her now perfectly healed hand. I was still so grateful toward her that the scene of her coming to my rescue kept playing over and over again in my mind. Though, I could never admit that I was captivated by the heroic sight of her kicking an enemy while naked.

We returned to the Lady Ollerus Mansion and went to the small on-site workshop, where we saw Melissa dressed in overalls.

“…Welcome back,” she said.

“Thanks. I arranged for some materials to be sent here. I was wondering if I could ask you to process them.”

“We got ’em. I brought an ax and saw to the dissection of the Fear Treants. I can dissect the Dirty Mushrooms with a billhook.” She could probably equip all weapons necessary for dissection thanks to her job. But as always, there was something intimidating about seeing the porcelain doll–like girl smiling as she gripped a large knife.

“What can you make from the Fear Treant?” I asked.

“Pretty much any kind of wooden equipment. Or you could sell it for a decent amount. A slingshot made from a Fear Treant will generate a sound with the same effects as Terror Voice.”

“That’s…creepy. But powerful.”

“There’s also headgear, which would have the Soundproof 1 effect. Monsters that use sound attacks also have sound resistance.”

“Headgear? Could you make one of those for us?”

The remaining wood gave us enough materials to make two or three more pieces of equipment, so later, I’d show the party a list of what could be made and ask if they wanted anything.

While Melissa and I talked, Madoka came over from where she had been sitting in the workshop. I had asked her to look into something for me, and it looked like she’d gotten something.

“Good work today, Arihito. I heard it was another tough expedition,” she said.

“I can’t say they were uninjured, but all the members of Polaris are going to be all right. I’m just glad we managed to save them,” I replied.

“You guys always manage to rescue so many people. You must give so many others courage… I know you give me more courage, like I need to work harder.”

“I’m not sure about all that… But I do know that we can keep up the fight thanks to you. Sorry to keep you working even when you’re not out seeking with us.”

“It’s all right… You can ask me anything. I just hope I can be of some assistance to you and your party.”

“Thanks—I know you will. So what did you find?” I had asked her to look into the alkaid crystal we’d gotten from Juggernaut but still had no idea what it could be used for. It was a transparent quartz that glowed a faint silver. There was some sort of pattern inside the crystal, which made it look like a rune, but that’s where the resemblance ended.

“This is a material that has never been found in District Eight before. There have been similar objects found in the higher districts, but never the exact same item,” explained Madoka.

“It’s that rare… So what exactly can they be used for?” I asked.

“Well… It’s unregistered. There’s not a single record of them being used for modifications, and the Merchants Guild has no information regarding what the parties who have one in their possession have actually used them for.”

But my license at least told me it was an alkaid crystal, so it didn’t seem right that there’d be no information about it anywhere else.

Which means the license can display information that even the Guild doesn’t have access to. That’s the only reasonable explanation… So then…who made the licenses?

I had too many questions running through my mind. The person who gave us the licenses when we reincarnated told us that she normally lived in the Labyrinth Country. If that was true, I wanted to ask her who made the licenses if I ever happened to meet her again. Didn’t sound like we could get it out of her very easily, though.

“Well, so the only thing we know about this is its name. I guess even that’s a result of sorts,” I said.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find what you needed. I really am too low a level…”

“No, it was helpful. You’ll be able to do more when you level up, but this is plenty for now.”

“…Arihito…” Madoka seemed lost in her thoughts, so I placed a hand on top of the Merchant’s turban she wore and patted it gently. She was a little surprised and shyly held her turban in place.

“…Atobe, are you good at patting people?” asked Melissa.

“Uh, I think I’m probably average.”

“Hmm. I thought you were good based on how Madoka looks,” she said shortly, which made me think she didn’t mean anything else by her question. Even Madoka’s ears were bright red, and she didn’t seem to be able to say anything.

“A-anyway… What can we make from the Dirty Mushrooms?” I asked Melissa.

“The white stalk’s edible. Sometimes, you find magic stones inside the caps if you cut them open… The arms and legs are unusable and poisonous, so they get thrown away. Sometimes, there is a section on the inside that is patterned, and that can be used to make medicine.”

There were five Dirty Mushrooms, and each one weighed a little over twenty pounds. The stalk could be used as food, so we could sell it for a small price. The total edible portion was about ten pounds, but it wasn’t massively valuable. The total of fifty pounds of food between the five mushrooms was only worth fifteen gold pieces.

Other than that, I had Melissa cut open the unbroken caps, and she found a magic stone in the fourth mushroom.

“…A confusion stone. You have one on your sling, but you can compress them if you gather ten,” she explained.

“That’ll take a while… But maybe we’ll get enough someday. Okay, so if there’s a central part with a pattern, what kind of medicine can be made?” I asked. Melissa glanced at Madoka, then clamped her hands over Madoka’s ears.

“Huh? What? …Why won’t you let me listen?” asked Madoka in confusion, but Melissa completely blocked her hearing before looking at me, her cheeks tinged pink as she spoke in a low voice.

“…A tonic. Dad says men will pay a lot of money for it.”

“I—I see…,” I replied.

I guess that meant it wasn’t good for physical or nutritional purposes, but rather…adult uses. Even so, there might come a time when it could be helpful for some unexpected use, so I wanted to keep some on hand. I hoped that Melissa didn’t jump to conclusions when I asked her to check each one of the Dirty Mushrooms for the pattern.