CHAPTER 3

Assistance in District Seven

Part I: The Secret to Success

We exited the labyrinth and took a breather in the square outside the entrance. There hadn’t been any monsters on our trip back, so we’d made it this far without a fight.

“Yo, check out this group. They just went in not long ago, and they’ve already come back out,” someone said.

“What’s with all the girls he’s got with him? Makin’ his own harem or something?” asked another.

“Coward. I could do ’em better—both the seeking and the fun at night, too,” replied the first. The speakers were a middle-aged, male Seeker with a mohawk (apparently, those existed in the Labyrinth Country, too) and a long-haired man who looked like an archer or something. They saw us file out of the labyrinth, then started jeering audibly at us, making crude jokes followed by loud guffaws.

Typical senior Seekers… Figures there’d be some here.

There were some in District Eight who dragged new Seekers around under the pretense of showing them around, which I didn’t really think was all that bad in the end. Then, there were those ones who tried to swoop in and steal our loot after we defeated Juggernaut for them… Thinking about it, we had run into our fair share of bad people and other less savory types.

“…Those guys looking to die?”

“Hey, Ellie, wait! They’re not even worth getting worked up over,” said Suzuna.

“I know, but they’re bad-mouthing Arihito…”

“You’ll give them quite a shock if you say something. Besides, they wouldn’t last a minute against you. Though, I do kind of want to give them a piece of my mind…”

“It doesn’t really bother me, honest. They just don’t know what we went through in the labyrinth… Uh?” I then realized Theresia, who had been behind me a moment before, had vanished without a trace. No way she’d actually—

But that’s when it happened.

“……”

“H-holy shit… What’s with this chick? When did she…?!”

“Gah… Bitch, don’t think the guards won’t say nothin’ if you try it here…!”

Theresia had vanished and reappeared by the men, holding one of her dirks to the throat of the mohawked man who called me a coward. “She’s a damned demi-human… You half-wit—you dare defy a human?!”

I felt my blood begin to boil. They could say what they wanted about me, but I couldn’t stand them talking bad about my friends. Theresia glanced at me for a brief moment. Even without words, she could tell me what she was thinking.

“You piece of shit!”

“……!”

The long-haired man went to punch Theresia. She immediately pulled her targe up to take the hit.

♦Current Status♦

“Gaaah…!!”

Theresia struck him with a simple kick, but the eleven support damage that impacted at the same time wasn’t trivial, forcing him to stumble back and collapse to his knees. Because he wasn’t a close-combat fighter, he must have a fairly weak defense.

Theresia’s karma didn’t increase. Her action was determined to be appropriate self-defense since he struck first. The man had worked his way up to District Seven, so he had to be at least level 3 or 4, meaning the attack wasn’t fatal. That didn’t mean he wasn’t angry about it, though.

“B-bitch…”

“—That’s enough!”

The rest of the party was about to intervene on Theresia’s behalf when a woman’s cold voice echoed across the square.

“Madam G-Guild Savior… W-we didn’t do anything…”

The person who appeared was someone I didn’t expect to see: Seraphina. I’d thought she’d returned to the Guild Savior headquarters, and we wouldn’t be seeing her for a little while. She must have been working alone today, because she didn’t have any of her subordinates with her. Even so, she was wearing her Guild Savior armband, and the square fell silent at her presence, tension running through the crowd.

“I’ll just take a look at your license…,” said Seraphina. “This man, Welles, attacked the girl first.”

“N-no, that’s wrong! This demi-human threatened me with a knife—”

“And you guys started it by talking trash about us. That’s why you got your asses handed to you,” retorted Kaede. “You’ve got no right to call us a harem or whatever just ’cause we all came out of that labyrinth together.”

“Rrgh… You shut your mouth, girlie! Look at you flaunting that body in front of a bunch of men— Eep?!”

Seraphina looked at the man yelling at Kaede, getting visibly angrier. I was angry as well, but hers was a step up from mine. It was enough to make you instinctively flinch away.

“I will let that slide if you back down now. Otherwise, I’ll beat that mettle right out of you however I see fit…,” she growled, grabbing the man by his shirt collar.

“S-s-spare me… Uh, I mean, forgive me, please…!” he begged pathetically, his legs giving out from under him as he passed out. She looked at the two men and shrugged with a huff.

“Why cause all this trouble outside a labyrinth? That people like them—people who hardly ever enter the labyrinth—would insult those who are constantly out on seeking expeditions… It’s downright outrageous.” True, we’d been seeking without a single break, and it had crossed my mind that maybe we spent too much time in the labyrinths—but apparently, that sort of thing wasn’t considered normal, because the surrounding crowd was visibly surprised by the statement.

“I apologize, Mr. Atobe. I’m sure you dislike people resorting to such forceful methods…”

“No, not necessarily. I couldn’t stand idly by even if I would end up in trouble for it… But I’m not very strong, so Theresia helped me out.”

“……”

Theresia looked at me as if to ask if what she did was all right. I smiled to tell her she didn’t need to worry. I was always grateful for everything she did.

“Sorry you have such a timid master. I really did want to punch that guy myself,” I told her.

“……”

She shook her head slowly, then flexed her arm. It was like she was telling me she was stronger even if she didn’t have bulging biceps.

“They managed to make you that angry, Mr. Atobe? Well then, I really should straighten them out…”

“N-no, I think they’ve gotten what they deserve. It’ll be hard enough for him to come back from passing out like this, and I’m in a better mood now.” I couldn’t forgive them for bad-mouthing Theresia, but they’d shown themselves to be quite pathetic, then passed out. They’d both likely need healing. It would be hard on them. And their karma went up.

Seraphina pulled out her license and started using it. I guessed she might be looking something up, and when she saw it, she grimaced.

“These two have caused trouble before. They’re banned from entering almost all the entertainment districts in District Seven…and this isn’t really something I should be telling you, but their party broke down, and they’ve been unable to go into the labyrinth. It seems they’re spending their days wasting their savings.”

Losing a companion you’d worked with for a long time could destroy the party balance—sometimes, people couldn’t recover from that. I had absolutely no desire to end up in that situation. Every single person in my party had an indispensable role, and it wasn’t just that. There were no serious mismatches in the members’ personalities; everyone got along well, and that was an incredibly hard thing to replicate.

“There’s no need to look that upset, Mr. Atobe. As long as they’re in District Seven, they have access to ways of becoming respectable Seekers again. The Guild offers training programs and works to rehabilitate any Seeker who needs it,” said Seraphina.

“The Guild would do that? They really are involved in everything that happens in the Labyrinth Country.”

“That is our duty. Ever since the former king fell out of power, the Guild has needed to act as the government of this country.”

So the king had fallen out of power… Louisa had told me that there was a family that established the Labyrinth Country but they had been exiled from District One, and now the Guild administrators and the head of the church were the highest authority in the country.

“However, in the end, the Guild’s primary duties involve ensuring the labyrinths are explored to their completion and developing Seekers capable of adventuring in the most difficult labyrinths,” continued Seraphina. “It is quite unlike a more typical government that would extend its reach beyond the country’s borders and not simply keep within the labyrinths.”

“So then…does that mean there’s countries other than the Labyrinth Country?”

“…I’m sorry. I’m sure a time will come when you will learn that. It’s not something I can discuss as a Guild Savior.” I was curious, but there was no point pressing the issue. There were still a lot of mysteries I didn’t have the answers to. For now, I just needed to keep accomplishing things as a Seeker. “Right, I’ll have my people take care of these two.”

“Okay… Sorry to bother you, Seraphina—I thought the Guild Savior headquarters was in a higher district.”

“That’s correct. It’s in District Five, but we received a request from the branch in District Seven and so ended up stopping here for a short while. The more populous districts are always shorthanded…” If she was doing rounds by herself because of the shortage of people…it’d be unlikely we could get her to join our party again.

Suddenly, she added, “Mr. Atobe, you were in Silvanus’s Bedchamber, correct? When I was a new Seeker, I had a bit of a tough fight with a beetle-like monster that could fly.” She must have guessed, considering we were near that labyrinth’s entrance. She probably fought a Fake Beetle as well… She seemed to mean it when she said it was a tough fight, because she was smirking, which was uncharacteristic of her.

“Speaking of, our Suzu here shot a Named Monster that was waaay up in the air with her arrows. It was a huge mess,” said Misaki. It was the kind of fight we’d be lucky to walk away from if we made even a single mistake, but Misaki’s tone didn’t express any of that concern. It was sure to make Seraphina chuckle, at least…or so I thought.

“A…Named Monster? One of those beetles that fly at such high altitudes…?” she asked.

“Uh, y-you know, it was just good luck, or maybe bad luck. I guess in the end it was a good thing. It was called a Paradox Beetle. We all worked together and managed to beat it somehow,” said Misaki.

“…Are you saying…you defeated the creature that’s killed so many people…? Mr. Atobe, the Paradox Beetle has a bounty on it. I’m sure your caseworker will be shocked when you report this to them.”

“I think we shock her every time. Louisa probably mentally prepares herself whenever she sees Arihito’s face,” said Elitia with a smile. She was always so cool and reserved; this expression felt rare and valuable. Suzuna saw it and smiled as well.

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to file a proper report,” I said.

“That’s good,” replied Seraphina. “I’m quite surprised as well… I felt this way before, but it does seem like you are guided by some sort of fate.” I wasn’t quite sure it was right to call Misaki, our designated good luck charm, the fate that guided us—although, to be fair, she’d been a huge help to us so far.

“Fate, huuuh? It’s got a nice ring to it. Real dramatic,” mused Misaki. “Oh, that reminds me of a drama I recorded once…but then, my brother recorded over it, and I lost it.”

“You’ll make everyone sad talking about that kind of thing,” I said.

“Ha-ha… You’re so nice, Teacher. We’ve all had plenty of time to reminisce over our past lives. We can handle it,” said Ibuki.

“Hey, weren’t you just talking about how you’d love to have some okonomiyaki or takoyaki?” said Kaede.

“H-hey… Don’t tell Arihito that—it’s embarrassing.”

The food here was nice enough, but I’d always miss Japanese cuisine in particular. Personally, I’d love some soba noodles. Nothing beats the first bite of a croquette dipped in the warm broth from one of those soba stalls near the train station.

“The Guild can suggest restaurants if there’s any kind of food you want,” mentioned Seraphina. “Obviously, District Seven will make food with the resources they find in the labyrinths here, but there are restaurants that serve French cuisine, Chinese, and many other options. You should try them if you like.” I was shocked to hear names of foods I actually knew, but my companions were even more excited about it.

“F-French… Ooh, but Chinese is good, too…,” said Misaki. “Ramen noodles, fried rice, shumai dumplings… Aw man, what should we eat…?”

“Which would you prefer, Arihito?” asked Suzuna, who patted Misaki’s shoulder to comfort the girl as she struggled over the decision.

“I was just thinking about soba. I know it’s completely different, but the Chinese place might have ramen-style noodles, so that would work for me.”

“We’ve had pasta here before, but I’m happy to know we have different noodle options available,” said Igarashi. She was completely right—whether it was soba or ramen, I felt like any flavor that was close to what I came to love in Japan would ease some of my homesickness.

“Madoka, Melissa, is that all right with you two? Or is there something else you want to eat?” I asked.

“That’s fine with me,” replied Madoka. “Pretty much the only thing I don’t eat is tomatoes.”

“Any place that has monster meat works for me,” added Melissa. “I’d really like to get some of today’s catch cooked…but that can wait.” The materials from the monsters we’d defeated today were in Melissa’s Repository, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything edible on the beetle since it had been covered in armor. There were some crabs that you could eat whole with their shell, so it was possible beetles would be surprisingly tasty…but it would take some serious courage to bite into that.

We returned to the Upper Guild’s Green Hall in the early afternoon. There weren’t many Seekers present; perhaps most people didn’t have business at the Guild at this time of day.

“Arihito, does your party normally report all together? Ryouko usually does it for us by herself,” asked Kaede.

“So does Atobe, usually,” answered Igarashi. “It might be a good idea for both our representatives to go, since we did a joint seeking expedition today.”

“I agree. Would you mind waiting with everyone?” I asked Igarashi.

“Sure, we’ll wait over there. Just let us know when you’re done…and don’t get too happy because you two are alone together.”

“Uh… O-of course, I wholeheartedly agree. I will conduct myself with the utmost—”

“H-hey… I was just pointing it out! Don’t act like we’re back at work or anything. You’re making it awkward!” Igarashi gently shoved my upper arm.

What was that for? It was the kind of frustrated shove you wouldn’t even expect from a high schooler.

Everyone else followed Igarashi away, leaving Theresia as the last person. She pattered over to me—well, not exactly. Her footsteps didn’t make any noise.

“……”

“…Wh-what’s up, Theresia?” She seemed caught up on what Igarashi had done, because she touched me on the arm in the same place to see what it felt like. I had no idea what she was doing, and I felt very awkward.

“……”

“…Oh, Igarashi didn’t mean anything by that. It was nothing, really… Theresia?”

Theresia suddenly dashed off to catch up with Igarashi and the others. She must have suddenly felt more embarrassed, because even from here, I could see she was turning slightly red.

“Wow… That was kinda bittersweet. Even I’m blushing a little,” said Kaede.

“I feel like I can understand what she’s trying to say even though she doesn’t use words…,” said Anna. “She seems pained.”

“Oh… I-is that what she meant? Are you sure she didn’t just want to touch him because she respects him?” asked Ibuki. The three girls spoke in whispers. Ryouko stood nearby, apparently lost in her own thoughts, but then approached me after coming to some conclusion.

“We’re both leaders, you and me. That’s why I don’t see the need for us to hold back when we work together… What do you think?” There was a lot of room for misunderstanding when a mature and sensual woman wearing a boa coat over a bikini said something like that to you. Her gently wavy hair brushed her shoulders, and her large eyes had something catlike about them—but this wasn’t the time to be looking her up and down. I already knew she was beautiful; that much was apparent the first time I saw her.

“Y-you’re right… We’re both leaders. You’re completely right,” I said.

“Crap, Ryouko’s totally got Arihito under her spell…,” muttered Kaede. “He’d never look twice at a bunch of kids like us.”

“Tanned skin and a bikini… Why do men always fall for that?” grumbled Ibuki.

“Anyone can wear a swimsuit,” said Anna. “We could hold our own against her. I think there’s stores in District Seven that sell them…” The remaining Four Seasons members chatted as they left the Guild. I heard them mention swimsuits. Did they think I particularly liked a woman in a swimsuit? I’ll admit I’m not exactly used to seeing it, but I wouldn’t say it makes me fantasize about anything…

…Wait. If that was enough to make Kaede and the girls misunderstand things…what will Louisa think when I show up with Ryouko?

“Um… Is something wrong? You look upset,” asked Ryouko.

“Uh, uhhh, I just realized something… I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while now, but… Your boa coat—that’s a pretty rare piece of equipment, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes. I had to defeat some frog monsters in the Sleeping Marshes in District Eight in order to make it water-resistant… I barely managed that one. I used to be so grossed out by frogs that I couldn’t even touch them. But it’s a good piece of equipment, so I can’t get rid of it now.”

“Sounds like it was tough. Speaking of monsters that have water-resistant materials, we once fought something called a Gaze Hound. It looks like a dog, but it only has one eye, which can Stun you…”

“One eye… There’s a monster like that? I’d like to hear more.”

Ryouko’s tanned skin gave off the impression that she’d be quite lively and energetic, but she was normally fairly quiet. Chatting with her was quite soothing. It might have helped that we were almost the same age, too—only one year apart.

“…Mr.…Ato…be?”

I froze in a moment of sheer shock, like they do in manga sometimes, now aware that reaction was possible in real life. Again, like in a manga, I turned around slowly, like a tin man whose joints hadn’t been oiled, beads of sweat dripping from my forehead. There, behind me, I saw Louisa, who looked the same as always, holding a leather-bound folder filled with paperwork, a professional smile on her face.

“L-Louisa. Good, I was just about to come see you to give you today’s report,” I said.

“Oh… I s-see. Is that so. I was just thinking you really were getting friendly with a new woman…but a report is perfectly fine. We can begin immediately.”

“Huh? …Um, Atobe, you normally have to wait in line at this Guild, even hours at a time…,” said Ryouko.

“Louisa arrived from District Eight with us. She’s our exclusive caseworker.”

“It is rare for a party to have an exclusive caseworker at this point in their career, but Mr. Atobe had such an incredible performance in District Eight that I received permission to do so,” said Louisa. Ryouko was quite surprised by that but accepted it, since she had fought with us and understood our capabilities.

“I see… Thank you for the explanation. I would like to reintroduce myself properly to his caseworker. My name is Ryouko Natsume. Today, Atobe and I conducted a seeking expedition together. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“Y-yes, the pleasure is all mine… My name is Louisa Farmel. I have been Mr. Atobe’s caseworker from the moment he came to the Labyrinth Country. I have been alone with him many times during his postexpedition reports.”

I wondered what would happen if I told Louisa she didn’t need to say it like that? I’d likely end up souring my relationship with one of them if I sided with the other. And that’s precisely why I decided to sit this one out, even if that made me indecisive and wishy-washy.

“Ryouko and her party have the same goals as us, so we decided to work together. They were a great help today,” I said.

“N-no, not at all… Your party did all the helping…,” said Ryouko.

“Louisa, I’m sure you have plenty on your plate since we’ve just come to District Seven, but I was hoping we could go over my report immediately. It’s all positive, so I’d like to share it with you as soon as possible.”

“Y-yes… Of course. I was waiting for you to return…”

Things seemed safer now. Nothing good would come out of the two of them turning antagonistic; it was better for me to mediate things as much as I could.

Louisa continued. “Okay, I’ll show you to a meeting room. This way please, Mr. Atobe, Ms. Natsume.” By now, her expression had returned to that of an upstanding Guild employee. She walked ahead with perfect posture. The Guild uniform really suited her, as always. It included a pencil skirt—that had to be a conscious decision on someone’s part.

“Atobe, you started off at the Upper Guild here, right? I don’t mean to pry, but I was wondering what your rank was…,” said Ryouko.

“Two hundred and ninety-four. Things went well in District Eight, and I managed to earn a lot of contribution points…”

“What…?” said Ryouko, stopping in her tracks. I realized we hadn’t discussed our ranking much yet. What rank was Four Seasons? They’d recently come to the Upper Guild, so they’d likely be in the two-thousands.

“…Um, L-Louisa, how did Atobe get such an incredible rank…? I wouldn’t have realized it by looking at him, but he fights incredibly well…”

“That is strictly confidential between myself and Mr. Atobe. I have yet to determine whether you and your party will be privy to such information.”

“O-okay… We’ll do everything we can to prove he can trust us. I hope you can help us!”

Louisa shook her hand and, for some reason, removed her glasses before smiling at Ryouko, but I was confident they’d get along at some point. Igarashi and Louisa had gotten much closer after they had drinks together; Ryouko would surely open up as well in that sort of setting. Ever since getting reincarnated to the Labyrinth Country, my secret to success had become “if you can think it, you can do it”—nothing’s gonna happen if you’re too afraid to make anything happen.

“…Mr. Atobe, I was wondering if I could join you for dinner tonight once I’ve shown you your new lodging?” asked Louisa.

“Oh, um… If you’re going to join them, could we as well? I’m so pleased to see the girls making new friends, and I’d love to chat with you and the others, Louisa,” said Ryouko. Our numbers for dinner tonight were jumping through the roof. I vaguely wondered if the Chinese restaurant would be able to accommodate a reservation for that many people; I got flashbacks to that time I organized my company’s New Year’s party.

Part II: Nine Stars, New Equipment

Louisa led Ryouko and I into the first floor of Green Hall. Doors lined both sides of the hallway. The ones right in front of us were simple wooden doors, but farther down, there were three doors made of a different, blackish material. It could have been ebony, like my slingshot. A Novice Appraisal Scroll might have told me what the material was, but more interesting were the stones embedded into the doors. I felt like I’d seen the pattern before.

Is that…some sort of constellation? There’s nine stones… Wonder what that means.

“This is a symbolic representation of a map of the Labyrinth Country, but I can’t say I know any deeper meaning than that…,” explained Louisa.

“Do you think that maybe…the higher-ups in the Guild might know something more?” I asked.

“Yes, most likely. I’ve been promoted to an employee of District Seven, but that doesn’t mean I’ve received enough authority to be privy to those secrets. I was, however, given duties as a librarian of the data repository archive in District Seven that the Guild manages.” That reminded me: Seraphina had said that the odd numbered districts had these data repositories.

“Louisa, if possible, I’d like to visit the archives sometime.”

“Of course. It would have to be when I’m off duty… There aren’t many people I’m in charge of helping at the moment, so I should be able to make time to show you around. How about you, Ms. Natsume?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to see it as well. There’s so many things we’d like to know.”

“The archives contain information specific to each person’s job, and with your current rank, Mr. Atobe, I would be able to give you that information. You would also have access to the restricted materials,” said Louisa with a small smile, but I just felt nervous, because the words restricted materials made me think of words like proprietary information and company secrets.

“Well then, please make yourselves comfortable in this room. I will bring some tea.” Louisa held open a door and gestured for us to enter. She left me and Ryouko in the room. Ryouko looked at the antique-seeming table, her eyes sparkling with excitement, and didn’t seem able to decide where to sit.

“Ryouko, are you interested in furniture like this?”

“Oh… How could you tell? Yes, I like this kind of antique furniture. When we were first rank in District Eight, we went through such an impressive room… I thought I’d love to have furniture like that when I got my own home.”

“Really? I don’t know much about this kind of furniture, but it is elegant.”

She seemed quite happy to chatter away in response to my simple question. I realized that the fact that they had made their way up to District Seven did mean they’d been at the very top of District Eight at some point. A party as capable as them could still struggle in District Seven… Well, it was actually because that alliance was blocking their way. It’s good we could start working with them before they got too stuck.

“Um, could I ask something? After this, are you—?” started Ryouko, but there was a knock on the door. I stood up to open it and let Louisa in, who then placed cups on the table and poured tea from a teapot.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s get started right away with your report. May I please see your licenses?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Go right ahead.”

Ryouko and I both placed our licenses on the table. Louisa seemed quite nervous as she steadied herself and took a deep breath before using her monocle to look at the licenses.

♦Expedition Results♦

“…Oh, ah… I see we have that star again in the report…,” noted Louisa. “So you encountered another Named Monster…?”

“Y-yes. It was a huge, beetle-like monster flying high in the distance. I thought it was a Fake Beetle at first, but…I didn’t realize it was Named until it came closer,” I replied.

“According to the record on your license, you attacked while it was out of detection range… I didn’t know that was possible, though I suppose Seekers in the higher districts might be capable.”

“Incredible, isn’t it? …We were just baffled. I’m ashamed to admit it, but we barely kept up with his party,” said Ryouko.

“I can see that your main work was defeating two Grand Moles. Mr. Atobe’s party led the fight against the Paradox Beetle… Meaning they will receive more contribution points. Each one of his members will increase in rank. First of all is Mr. Atobe, who may be able to reach rank two hundred quite quickly… There are so many Seekers who come to District Seven and never make it this high. You really are extraordinary…”

I’d jumped up again by thirty-nine ranks, but there were still a lot of Seekers between me and the leader of the Alliance, who was currently rank one.

“About how many contribution points would I need to gain in a single expedition in order to go up one rank from here on out?” I asked. “I’d like to know as it’ll help me decide when we should leave the labyrinth.”

“Well… The Seekers above you in the ranks will occasionally go into the labyrinth to maintain or increase their contribution points. I believe you will almost certainly gain a rank if you earn one thousand contribution points. Five hundred should maintain your current rank,” answered Louisa. In other words, most parties would find it difficult enough just to maintain their rank.

“Our party took up four ranks in a row, starting with 2,548. But with your help, Atobe, we were able to defeat a Named Monster, and that alone gave me nine hundred contribution points. That brought me up to 1,983,” said Ryouko.

“Congratulations. One thousand points in one seeking expedition is quite an accomplishment even in District Seven,” said Louisa. I’d received around fifty thousand and one hundred contribution points from the stampede, but that was mostly because it was an emergency situation and we’d defeated a lot of enemies. Monsters wouldn’t normally gather in such high concentrations, meaning it was difficult to make even a thousand points, like Louisa said.

A single Grand Mole is fifty points… Without a bonus from increased Trust Levels, but including any additional points from gaining levels, we’d have to beat just under twenty of them. That is a lot of work.

Even if we did try to take out a lot of weak monsters to gain points, they didn’t live close enough together to make that feasible. People gathered in the best hunting grounds; some people took them over for themselves, and it turned into a fight among one another to earn anything. Having said that, there was still reason enough to avoid the less populated hunting grounds. There seemed to be quite a few labyrinths that people avoided in District Seven—the fact that there were so many people who moved up from District Eight yet still ended up getting stuck here meant there were likely risks that I wasn’t yet aware of.

“…Louisa, I heard that the person currently ranked number one in District Seven created an alliance and is taking over the best hunting grounds for themselves. How does the Guild view situations like that?” I asked.

“You heard as well? The Guild has no rules against inviting others to join when you’re in the first-floor lobby, but the guards do sometimes monitor those who continue to push others to do so. In particular, we’ve received complaints about a Seeker named Gray who has been urging parties with many women in them to join.”

This Gray was the gray-haired man who was trying to get Four Seasons to join him. Ryouko’s face clouded over when she heard his name.

“…He and his group are at the top of District Seven, right? Which means if they move up a district, then they’ll all go,” she asked.

“I can’t discuss other parties too much, but their actions have an impact on all Seekers who are aiming for rank one. I will explain as much as I can. First, their alliance’s name is Beyond Liberty. Their captain is a man named Roland Vorn, and second-in-command is Daniella Vorn.”

“They have the same family name… Are they related?” I asked.

“They’re married. Roland is an Air Trooper, and Daniella is a Doctor.”

When you came to the Labyrinth Country, you weren’t automatically accepted for whatever job you wrote on your license, which meant these two had some sort of experience from their previous life or an aptitude for those jobs. As a former air force member, Roland would already have been fairly physically fit. Then, there was Daniella’s Doctor job. Other than the Healers, I’d seen people who were Nurses, which just showed that people who came to the Labyrinth Country could have all sorts of different experiences.

“Roland didn’t spend long in District Eight, but he had to take time off for medical treatment while he was rank one in District Seven,” Louisa went on to explain. “His wife assisted him, but it took two years for him to recover, and he fell to the very bottom of the ranking. He’s now worked his way back up to first and, despite his time off, has maintained his level of seven—and is therefore one of the most powerful people in this district.”

“Getting to District Six isn’t easy, even for someone as tough as him…,” I said.

“It is not. Luck plays a significant part in the advancement exam as well… Some of the requirements include beating at least three level-six or higher Named Monsters in District Seven and the leader of the party earning over twenty thousand contribution points in a month. Those requirements are in place because there are so many labyrinths in District Seven and therefore many Named Monsters.”

Ignoring the contribution points for a moment… Level-6 Named Monsters?

Both Ryouko and I seemed to realize it at the same time, because she looked at me in surprise, then asked Louisa for clarification.

“Louisa, the Named Monster we encountered today was level six… My party didn’t contribute much to the fight, but would it still count toward the requirements?”

“Yes, it would. Congratulations. You will only need two more… Although, that will not be easy, considering how rare it is to encounter a Named Monster and how difficult it is to defeat one… But if anyone can do it, it’s Mr. Atobe’s party.”

Louisa looked like she was trying to conceal her concern for us behind a tough exterior. I had no intention of rushing or doing anything reckless to get up to District Six. But if this Roland person was panicking because he hadn’t found the Named Monsters necessary…that was a little concerning.

“I see… So Roland is getting everyone to help him so that he can earn the required twenty thousand contribution points,” I said.

“I believe so, yes. Only Roland’s party will move up to District Six, where they will switch focus and assist a different party in gathering the contribution points, then keep moving up party by party. That method seems to be working fairly well for them.”

“That gives me a lot to think about. I imagine we’ll end up doing something similar.”

“…Are you sure it’s all right, Atobe? We only just met. Just letting us seek with you has been incredibly helpful. I wouldn’t want to impose further…,” said Ryouko, clenching her hands together in uncertainty. The motion made the front of her coat open up to reveal a peek at her swimsuit-clad, competitive swimmer’s body…which made it hard for me to keep my calm.

“Oh… I-I’m sorry. This doesn’t have a zipper, so I just keep it closed with buttons… But it can be annoying when I button it up, so sometimes, I undo it… Perhaps this is too improper.”

“N-no, it’s not. I’m the one who should apologize.”

Ryouko fastened her coat, doing up all the buttons. They looked like they were made of a material from a monster’s horn. She had had it fastened while walking around town, but it was quite…bold of her to undo it once she was inside.

“So those are the kinds of swimsuits Mr. Atobe likes…,” murmured Louisa. “Oh dear, I’m not sure there are any stores in town where I could buy one…” She then jotted something down in her notebook.

I had no idea what to say. I felt like all the women around me misunderstood every time I reacted to the swimsuit. I considered the possibility that this would all lead to something problematic but figured they wouldn’t all put on swimsuits just to show me. We probably wouldn’t have time to go swimming for fun since we were seeking every day, though there were some labyrinths like the Beach of the Setting Sun that sounded swimsuit-appropriate.

“In that case, I suppose I should get a swimsuit, too…,” I said.

“Ah… M-Mr. Atobe, did you hear that? I’m sorry, I was just…”

“Atobe, have you swum before? I’d love to coach you, if you like…” Ryouko’s proposal was incredibly tempting, but even if we found a place to swim in the labyrinths, I didn’t have the spare time for it. I wouldn’t say no to swimming if there was somewhere I could do it safely. It was important to take breaks between our adventures and to rest. The problem was that when it came to Louisa, Ryouko, and even Igarashi, I had a hard enough time finding a safe place to look when they were wearing normal clothes. I wouldn’t be able to relax if they were all in swimsuits.

“Mr. Atobe… Is something the matter? Oh, that’s right—it’s a problem for a Guild employee like me to intrude on private affairs…”

“N-no, that’s not an issue at all. I’d love for you to join us if we had the opportunity. Before I got reincarnated, I’d sometimes go swimming at the gym as a way to relax when I wasn’t at work.”

“Well then, you must already have the basics down… All right, I’ll teach you skills you can apply to the real world. I’ll have to find something that can work as a kickboard… Hee-hee.” Ryouko just seemed to be looking forward to it, so why did this seem weirdly erotic? I had no idea where Louisa and Ryouko’s initial tension had gone. Now they were just smiling gently at each other. I was only being optimistic when I thought their relationship would improve if they just had a chat, but they’d started opening up to each other so quickly.

“Well, then… If the opportunity arises, I would be very happy to join you,” said Louisa.

“Y-yeah. By the way, are there any labyrinths where you have to go in the water?”

“Yes, there are. Not many Seekers can go into the water, however, meaning many of those labyrinths have yet to be explored at all. There are a few Seekers who specialize in such expeditions, though.”

Perhaps there were people with a job like “Diver” or something. I used to dream of going diving in Okinawa, so I’d be plenty interested in doing that here if we could just get the preparations in place.

Louisa would be joining us for food once she got off work. She told us about a Chest Cracker in District Seven, and we parted ways for the moment. We possessed three red chests and two wooden chests. I was, of course, excited to see what was inside the ones we obtained in District Eight, but I was even more interested in the chests from our new district. Considering how tough the Paradox Beetle was, I imagined there’d be at least one or two magic items in the chest we got from it.

“We’ve had almost no opportunities to open chests… And the one we did open was just a normal one, so they told us any Chest Cracker could open it,” said Ryouko.

“Some chests are harder to open than others. We got help from an incredibly skilled Chest Cracker in District Eight.”

“Really, so you’ve found chests before… Wow. We were jumping up and down with joy when we found ours…and it pretty much just had money in it. There was one magic stone, which we used to upgrade Kaede’s boots.”

“Oh, wow, her boots? So that must be part of why she’s so fast.”

I checked my license while we talked and started to head toward where everyone was waiting for us. It showed they were a short walk from Green Hall, on the corner of some streets that were lined with shops, one of which was called Boutique Corleone. Cion was sitting outside waiting, which implied everyone else was inside. She gave a small woof when she saw me and wagged her tail, so I gave her a good head rub.

“If they’re all inside, then they’re probably shopping,” I said.

“Oh… Sorry, Atobe, there’s actually something I’d like to buy. I’ll be back in a moment. I’ll find the girls, then we’ll hurry up and finish shopping.”

“Okay, see you… Hmm?” I’d intended to wait out in front of the store, but an androgynous-looking store worker who was in the shop behind the counter—who I assumed was probably a man, even though he was wearing makeup—came out of the store and started talking to me.

“Oh my, welcome! We have menswear as well—fancy a look? I’ll put together an outfit that’ll look great no matter where you wear it to.”

“O-oh… Do you work here?”

“Yes, I’m Corleone, the owner. Don’t worry, one of our shop ladies is taking care of the girls. I’m only interested in dressing men.”

“Ha, ha-ha… I actually don’t put much thought into my appearance, so… Whoa!” Corleone suddenly grabbed my shoulders firmly. He had short-cropped hair and a very manly physique, so getting jostled by him was a little scary.

“…So the man himself is the only one without a clue, hmm? Those girls have their work cut out for them.”

“Uh… Wh-what do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing. You have money, right? I’ve got some suits for sale that are a similar make to what you’re wearing now. I’m so happy to have found someone who can wear them. The Labyrinth Country is filled with people who only wear unsophisticated armor, but a capable man wears a suit. Don’t you agree?” He was a real character, but I had gone this whole time without a change of clothes. I’d somehow managed to stumble upon a store that could make a spare for the suit I’d been doing everything in until now. Everyone else was probably buying things they needed, so I gave into Corleone’s urgings and bought myself a new suit.

“Huh…? K-Kyouka, what’s that? You could practically cover your entire head with it.”

“Erk… D-don’t talk so loud. It’s not that different from yours, Ibuki.”

“Th-that’s not true at all. I’m no comparison to you, Kyouka. Ah-ha-ha…”

“You should stop talking about that—you’ll get distracted. You won’t be able to pick something if you don’t calm down.”

“You should go with something like Ellie’s that doesn’t restrict movement. And, Kaede, I don’t think you should be picking something so flashy.”

“Wha—?! …I—I don’t think it’s over-the-top at all. And it’s not like I’m gonna be showing it to anyone anyway… Seriously, I’m not!”

“…I personally don’t really mind if it’s a little restrictive. Anna, stop staring at me like that.”

I could hear people talking somewhere inside the store when I went into a fitting room to try on the suit. It wasn’t hard to overhear the other party members’ conversations.

“Hmm, it’s cute, but… Ooh, this might be nice. What do you think, Suzu?”

“I don’t know why, but I can’t wear normal underwear… Oh, they have something I can use, too. Thank goodness…”

“Theresia, you’re not going to try it on? No, no, it’ll lose its shape if you do that! Although, it does suit you perfectly, so maybe it’ll be fine…”

“……”

The equipment a person could use was different depending on their job. Just as I started to imagine those differences, I shook my head back and forth. I left the fitting room, praying I wouldn’t run into the others, and put on my new tie.

Part III: The District Seven Chest Cracker

Corleone was from Italy. He used to work for a fashion brand before he was reincarnated. He seemed uncomfortable talking about his reincarnation, so I didn’t press it. He was smoking a type of cigarette made with “respiration tobacco” that improved your lung function. He offered me one, but I politely declined because I didn’t smoke. He shrugged and lit his cigarette, and a thin trail of smoke curled upward.

“Goodness, I suppose it’s been five years already since I’ve come here. I did a bit of seeking when I first arrived, but some of my friends got married and moved to the support side of things, see. I just love all the various little shops and the people living their lives in this district, so I decided to start a business here. Thankfully, I had a skill I could rely on.”

“Are people with the Tailor job rare in the Labyrinth Country?”

“There aren’t that many people who choose jobs related to fashion. Since seeking in the labyrinths is the default, a lot of people go for the combat-related jobs. People coming from a society with guns might be able to choose ‘Gunner,’ but that’s got its own pitfalls.”

“By pitfalls, you mean…?”

“Guns weren’t readily available here in the Labyrinth Country until fairly recently. Officially, they’re still treated like they don’t even exist. Then, a Gunsmith came along and started making some, but they could only create a few. People will find them in chests dropped by monsters and use them in secret… It happens sometimes.” It would be really difficult if you chose a job and couldn’t find a weapon you could use… Would the Guild warn people about choosing such jobs? “You’re using a hunting slingshot, yes? I can tell it’s not a normal weapon.”

“I’ve had it modified a bit. I’ll keep using it for the time being.”

“And you have what looks like a katana on your back. Can you use that, too? You’re not a Weapons Master, are you?”

“I’m not, but I can use the katana okay. I mostly stick to the slingshot, though.”

“Hmm… An interesting job. Well, in that case…” Corleone stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the counter and went into the back of the store, before returning with a case made of a gleaming silver metal.

“Corleone, is that—?”

“A magic gun I used as a Seeker. I got it from a chest dropped by a Named Monster. Guns are a general-purpose weapon that most jobs can use, so they’re popular among people who do know they exist.” I just started to wonder why he was showing me this when he stuck one finger up in the air. “The suit you just bought isn’t my highest quality. If you come back with the high-quality fabric that I want to use and order a suit made of it, I’ll give you this gun—and it’s up to you who’ll use it, of course.”

“Are you…sure? I mean, this has to be important to you…”

“Of course I’m sure, deary. Making high-quality suits is my passion, and you bought one from me just now. I think this little gun here would be happy to be back in use again, too.”

“…All right. High-quality fabric, right?”

“Yes. I’m sick of the run-of-the-mill fabric I get. I can’t wait to have something better… By the way, deary, what’s your name?”

“Sorry I didn’t introduce myself sooner. My name’s Arihito Atobe. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh… And you can call me by my real name, not the name of the shop.” The very last thing he did was tell me that Corleone, the name of the shop, was not in fact his real name. I got the impression that a lot of people made that assumption, so he normally just went with it. “My name’s Luca Bernardi. Come talk to me about anything related to clothing. I’m not quite like a witch, though. I can’t make a magic dress without the proper materials.”

“I’ll work hard to find materials that live up to your expectations. Thanks for today.” Luca waved as I left. I exited the store and saw the others, who were done with their shopping, using the storage unit’s key to put their clothes away.

“Welcome back, Arihito. Oh, you have a new suit!”

“That store had a lot of high-quality products. I see you bought a new suit so you can wash your other one. You have to be careful if you always wear the same thing or it’ll get damaged faster,” said Igarashi.

“The owner of the store said the same thing, so I bought two. I shouldn’t be spending so much money, but we’ve got some extra right now.” I’d also told everyone they could use a hundred gold pieces as they saw fit, but they must have been aware that they only had limited spending money, because the transaction history on my license showed that they all only used around ten gold pieces—other than Igarashi, who’d used a little more.

That must be why she was struggling with picking out underwear, I started to think, but it was probably just that different people liked to buy different things.

“You only really change equipment when getting something stronger. Spending money any other time is super expensive. Arihitooo, can I have some more money?” asked Misaki.

“Your puppy-dog eyes won’t work on me… Why don’t you try gambling for more money since you’re so good at it?”

“But what if it goes so well because of my skills and everyone finds out…? Are you okay with something terrible happening to me? You saboteur!”

“I’m not sure you’re using that word correctly… Did all that shopping get you worked up, Misaki?”

“Yeah, about that—honestly, shopping with Kyouka is like going on a roller coaster of emotions! Not that I can tell you what caused those emotions, though.” I definitely could not let Igarashi realize I’d actually heard them.

“Good thing that was before Atobe came. Misaki normally just says whatever pops into her mind,” said Igarashi.

“Heeey, I do not! I’ve got loooots of deep thoughts! Right, Suzu?”

“Uh… Um, d-do you…?”

“I do!”

“Stop trying to force Suzuna to back you up,” interrupted Elitia, finally getting Misaki to calm down. The three of them had some sort of strange balance that worked.

“…So rowdy,” noted Melissa.

“Melissa, did you find what you wanted to buy?” I asked. She turned her large, catlike eyes toward me and nodded.

“Nice store. Not many sell denim overalls.”

“I’m so glad they have turbans!” said Madoka. “Um, Arihito, is it all right that we didn’t buy any clothes for Theresia? The rest of us got what we needed.”

“She can wear things over what she has, but she doesn’t seem to like that kind of equipment. I think that’s probably because she can’t take off her lizardman-specific gear and she’s not good with the heat.” Although, that didn’t mean she always had to wear all of her equipment. Her cute, frilled, lizard-like hat didn’t come off, but she easily removed her skintight leather armor when she took a bath… Come to think of it, I wonder if maybe she’d need underwear, but Theresia herself didn’t seem to think it was necessary. Guess she was fine as long as she had that equipment. “…Oh, right—Melissa, I asked you to make some armor with that camouflage stone from before. How’s that going?”

“I made a prototype, but it didn’t go well. There’s a problem when I use the stone to use the active camouflage function.”

“A problem…?”

“It’ll be ready for use once I solve the issue. I’m making a suit crafted from Death from Above hide and imbued with the camouflage stone’s abilities.” I was surprised Melissa had thought that far ahead and chose to use materials she hadn’t started working on yet. I’d only told her to save it until we needed it. I had to make sure I thought about how to use materials most effectively. “If I had to name it, I would call it a stealth suit. The outside is finished. I need a special material to finish the lining.”

“I see… It just needs the lining, and then it’ll be finished.” Theresia learned the skill Sneak Attack, which doubled the damage of her attack if the enemy wasn’t aware of her, but we couldn’t use it effectively since she hadn’t yet taken Hide. But if she could use active camouflage with this suit and its camouflage stone, she’d be able to save the skill points.

Theresia came pattering over when she heard her name. She was carrying the clothes the girls had bought for her. Seeing her with it made me as happy as if it were my own.

“That’s nice, Theresia. Whether or not you wear it, clothes are… Huh?” Theresia pulled something out of the cloth bag she’d received from the boutique. I looked away the moment I realized what it was.

“D-don’t do that, Theresia. You can’t show that in public—wait until we get back home,” said Igarashi.

“……”

There was a good reason why Igarashi rushed to stop her. Theresia had pulled a striped swimsuit out of the bag. I didn’t even need to wonder why she’d buy a swimsuit of all things.

“There was only one of these left in stock…and it looked like it’d fit Theresia, so we decided she should get first choice for it,” explained Igarashi.

“And it should help you feel more comfortable, Arihito. Since you’re always going together…,” said Suzuna.

“By going together…do you mean going to take a bath?” They meant I wouldn’t have to feel embarrassed when Theresia came to wash my back. I couldn’t keep my face from turning red from the fact that they’d be that considerate.

“……”

“Men looove a stripy aqua number like this! But we were just talking about how we’re not quite ready to wear a swimsuit, right, Kyouka?” said Misaki.

“…Wh-what? I’ll wear one if I need to, but I don’t need one right now, obviously,” replied Igarashi.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything… Erk, wh-why are you glaring at me like that?” I asked.

“Hmm, I wonder why. Ever-so-serious Atobe, shall we head to the Chest Cracker next?”

“Wh-why is Igarashi angry…?”

“I better keep quiet for now. You know what they say; the early bird gets the worm!”

“Um… Misaki, I think it’s actually silence is golden in this situation,” pointed out Madoka. Misaki responded by sticking her tongue out. It was probably one of those habits where people stick their tongue out when they’ve been caught making a mistake. It was a silly gesture that made me and Madoka laugh.

To get to the District Seven Chest Cracker, we had to walk for a while, following an alley near the clothes shop. Outside the Chest Cracker was a sign with the name SHICHIMUAN, written in Japanese, along with a drawing of a chest. That probably meant the owner of the shop was Japanese.

“Excuse me, is anyone in?” I rang the doorbell, then called, and the door opened a few moments later. We were lost for words when we saw who came out of the store.

A demi-human… And by the looks of it…

They were wearing a helmet in the shape of a rhinoceros beetle’s head, and their whole body was clad in a metallic carapace. I couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman from their height and build, but the fact that they were a demi-human meant there was another person who was the shop owner.

The beetle demi-human opened the door and gestured for us to come in. The decor inside had a traditional Japanese aesthetic. There were paper lanterns that emitted a soft light, giving the whole scene a dreamy feeling. They were on the edges of an area the size of a small bedroom. A woman wearing a kimono and smoking a pipe sat on the tatami mats.

“Welcome. I apologize for my appearance. I didn’t expect any more customers today.”

“It’s all right. Thank you for seeing us,” I replied.

“E-excuse me… May I ask one question? Is that person…?”

The beetle demi-human stood there without a single word, almost like they were guarding the woman. They looked so strange, so different from any demi-human we’d seen so far, and it put everyone in the party on edge.

“This is my younger brother, though he may not look it. His name is Takuma… Takuma Asakura. And I am Shiori Asakura.”

“I see…”

“It was quite a long time ago, so you don’t need to let it bother you. I’m just happy that we can live together like this as brother and sister… But enough talk about us—let’s discuss what it is I can do for you.” Shiori tugged on her kimono’s sleeve and stood up. Choosing that kind of clothing even though she was in the Labyrinth Country meant it must really suit her aesthetics. “My job is Pawnbroker… I only wear this because I like kimonos. I imagine it’s the same reason that you wear suits. Life is boring if we don’t indulge our preferences.”

“A kimono… They have sushi and tempura here, meaning you can find someone who can make kimonos if you look hard enough…”

“Suzu, didn’t someone like that make your Shrine Maiden clothing?”

“In that case, I’d be able to have them make new equipment for me.”

“Eventually, we’ll get to a point where strengthening your current equipment won’t be enough. We also might find a chest, though.” The equipment that came out of chests was equipment that Seekers had dropped in the labyrinth. In other words, if there were Shrine Maidens other than Suzuna, there was a chance we could find some Shrine Maiden clothing.

That’s when I realized something. If that demi-human, Takuma, became a demi-human after fighting with the Paradox Beetle, there was a chance some of his belongings were in our red chest.

“Excuse me, Shiori, may I ask one important question? Takuma is the way he is now because he was killed by a monster in the labyrinth, correct?” I asked.

“Yes… I believe so. I wasn’t seeking with him, though, so I didn’t see the monster his party fought.”

“Oh… Atobe, do you think…?” Igarashi suddenly realized the same thing I was thinking. Everyone else realized it as well and looked at Takuma, who was standing there quietly. From our storage, I took out the chests we’d brought with us. I showed the red one, which we had retrieved from the Paradox Beetle—we had also put a mark on it so we’d know which one it was—to Shiori. Takuma turned toward me and looked at the chest. His reaction turned my guess into a certainty.

“I believe this chest is likely from the monster that killed Takuma. If there’s anything inside that belonged to him, we will return it. I think that’s the best course of action,” I said.

“…That’s…that’s…”

I wasn’t certain there would be anything. However, the monster flew high in the sky where no one could reach it, meaning Seekers would only end up fighting it when it came after them. I couldn’t deny there was a possibility other Seekers had fought it before us.

“…I wanted to one day get my revenge, but I wasn’t strong enough, and I gave up…,” said Shiori. “I can’t believe this chest would find its way to me even so. I’m sure he’d yell at me if he could…”

“I’m…not sure about that. But it’s not like demi-humans are doomed to never speak again,” I replied. “We continue to seek with that hope in mind.”

“A lizardman… I see, so she…” Shiori looked at Theresia. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but she didn’t continue to berate herself after my clumsy attempt at persuading her. “As a Pawnbroker, I handle the sales of any unwanted items within my clients’ chests. That is where my chest-opening skills come from. I may not be able to open a Black Box, but I can safely open a red chest. This one will be on the house—”

“No, please let us pay. Besides, we won’t know until we see inside if we really did defeat Takuma’s attacker.”

“…I’ve been watching him this whole time. I know. There’s some fateful connection between this chest and my brother.” Shiori directed Takuma to carry the three red chests and two wooden chests that I had. She pulled a cord that dangled from the ceiling, which pulled up a scroll hanging on the wall, revealing a hidden set of stairs. That likely led to the door that would teleport us to the rooms used for opening chests.

“This way, please. There, you will witness as I, Shiori Asakura, the founder of the Asakura House of Chest Crackers, perform a five-chest opening.”

Even among Chest Crackers, there were all sorts of individuals. I hadn’t thought there would really be any more unique than Falma, but I realized now that was naive of me.

Part IV: Fireworks of Treasure

Falma’s shop was the same in that the teleportation door was below ground. It must be standard practice.

We descended the stairs that had appeared from behind the hanging scroll, when we came upon a door. There was a blue stone embedded in it, which showed the number twenty-seven when Shiori touched it with her hand. When she saw the digits, Shiori pulled a folding fan from inside the right sleeve of her kimono, opened it, and used it to cover her mouth as she looked at me.

“…That’s not my age.”

“O-oh, no, that’s not what I was thinking…and you suddenly sounded like you were speaking in a Kyoto accent.”

“Ha-ha, I apologize. I actually consider speaking like that all the time. Don’t you think it’s important for everything to match the part?”

“Ooh, I know exactly what you mean! I was thinking I should look like a Gambler since I am one,” said Misaki.

What would a “rearguard” look like? At the moment, I just wore a suit since I was used to it and put my armor on over it. People might start talking about the Seeker who looked like a businessman, but that wasn’t a problem since I didn’t want people talking about my rearguard job anyway.

Shiori opened the door, and we entered. The room we found ourselves in was equally large as the previous times we had chests opened, with its ceiling so high that I couldn’t see it. It was quite simply a massive space. Shiori spread a large cloth on the floor, and Takuma lined the chests up on it: three red, two wood. Shiori stood behind them, gesturing toward them with her fan.

“I’m sure you’re in a hurry, but I’d like a quick word first. Are you all aware of what opening a chest involves?”

“It’s like getting through a barrier to get the treasure inside… Basically, we can’t let our guard down even though we’ve finished the battle itself. It’s a final step that we still need to be careful of,” I said.

“Exactly. Opening a chest comes with its own dangers. But what will happen if you can open it safely…? As you can imagine, the more difficult a chest is to open, the greater the rewards inside. A bit like fireworks, wouldn’t you say?”

I remembered the moment the Black Box opened—before I knew it, the area around me had been filled with magic weapons and coins. She was calling that moment when the treasure spills out of the chest fireworks. I would understand the reason she was telling us this when I saw how she opened the chests.

“Pawnbrokers differ from other Chest Crackers. We actually have skills that allow us to use chests to attack our enemies. Even the most ordinary chest can act as a receptacle for explosions… Related to those skills are ones that allow us to safely extract the treasure from the chests.” Shiori pulled another folding fan from her other sleeve as she spoke. Those fans were most likely equipment that improved the success rate of her skills. “My dear customers, I hope you enjoy the special show I am about to perform for you.”

♦Current Status♦

Various different traps suddenly appeared on my license display. Each one of them sounded dangerous, but the explosive trap seemed most likely to kill us if we were hit directly by it. That was only level 2, though, so I couldn’t help wondering how dangerous the level-3 monster-summoning trap was. Falma had told me how there were times when failing to properly open a Black Box ended up destroying entire sections of the city. These traps seemed measly in comparison.

I looked up to watch how Shiori would remove the traps. She opened both fans at the same time and crossed her arms. When she did, different-colored lights started coming from each box, starting with the red chest on the far left and flowing down the line. Then—

♦Current Status♦

—glowing patterns appeared on the surfaces of the chests, which then peeled off them and floated into the air in response to Shiori’s rhythmic motions.

“…So pretty…,” I heard Igarashi say. The patterns were like fireworks painting the night sky. Reds, blues, yellows—they danced about and were sucked one by one into Shiori’s fans. Once the traps were removed, she bowed her head in front of the chests, indicating they were ready to be opened.

“Is this when we’d normally toss tips for the performance?”

“No, we don’t have to toss anything. We can just hand it over normally—wait, hang on, she’s not a geisha!”

“I am fine with however you wish to give a tip, but I’ll have to charge extra if you’d like to put it here,” said Shiori.

“Uh… N-no thank you, I think any risqué fun is more than I can handle,” I said.

“I know, I just thought I’d say it. It’s been so long since any customers have enjoyed my performance so much.” Most of her clients were probably too excited about the treasure in the chests that they didn’t bother to appreciate her dance. I thought that was a real shame.

“That was such a wonderful dance—so elegant and personal. I wonder if other Pawnbrokers have skills with such a Japanese flair.”

“Kyouka, have you seen something like that before?” asked Elitia. “So that’s what a geisha is like… I’d seen pictures and videos but never in real life.” Elitia seemed quite moved by the unexpected Japanese dance. I’d also been so entranced by it that I wanted to give her a tip or, at the very least, some small token of my gratitude.

“Hey, Arihito, Suzu used to dance at the shrine since she’s a Shrine Maiden,” said Misaki. “She’d have a bell and go like jing-a-ling-a-ling!”

“Wow, that’s really cool… Was it kagura dance, then?”

“Yes, I’d dedicate dances to the gods a few times a year. It’s not nearly as exciting as Shiori’s dance, though. It’s slow and gentle.”

“My… I wasn’t certain, but you really are a Shrine Maiden, aren’t you?” asked Shiori. “I’m interested in kagura dancing as well. I’d love to see it if you have a skill like that.”

“S-sure… I don’t know yet if I’ll learn a skill like that, though. If I do, I will let you know.”

Shiori did seem to quite like traditional Japanese arts and styles, so she stared at Suzuna and her Shrine Maiden outfit again with great interest. It would be good if we could build a friendly relationship with her—something that was more than just the relationship between a Chest Cracker and Seekers.

“Well then, please feel free to view the contents of the chests. Please let me know if you will need any appraisal scrolls.”

“Thank you very much. Let’s go with this red one first… It’s been quite a while since we got this one,” I said.

“We need to open chests we get faster from now on. This first chest we got…is it the one that Misaki found and ended up being captured?” asked Igarashi.

“Yeaaah, I don’t like thinking about it even now…hmm? After the trap went off and I was teleported, there was some gold scattered around the chest. I assumed that was what was inside,” said Misaki when the topic was brought up. Elitia went to recover the bag that should have contained the treasure from the chest that teleported Misaki…but if that was the case, where did we actually get this first chest?

“From my experience in opening chests…there are times when the trap on a chest can go off but not be removed. Even so, every time the trap is activated, some of the contents of the chest are released,” said Elitia.

“Ohhh, is that what happened? So does that mean this is the red chest we got from the giant orc?”

“If that’s the case, you did a really good job… Elitia, what’s wrong?” I said.

“Nothing… I just realized that’s probably the case now that you said it. I missed it before. I never really went with my party before to open chests, even when we did find them.” Elitia still didn’t know everything there was to know about chests and traps. That wasn’t a problem, really. As long as she was in our party, we could learn together.

“I actually feel better knowing there’s things you’re not sure of. It means you’ll be even more dependable than you are now.”

“D-dependable… I’m the one who’s always learning things…” Elitia fidgeted with her ponytails, seemingly uncomfortable. I wasn’t surprised that Misaki looked at her like she wanted to crack a joke, but she seemed aware it would stop the conversation in its tracks and managed to hold herself back.

“Oh… Arihito, I looked at the mover’s records for when they transported Juggernaut to the Dissection Center, and it mentions the chest. Misaki was the one to get it, so it was sent to your party’s storage unit,” said Madoka.

“Oh, I see. Then it is a chest from the Field of Dawn…”

“It appeared when we were fighting some Cotton Balls and Poison Spear Bees. Chests almost never appear if you’re not fighting a Named Monster, so I was really surprised,” said Elitia.

Now that we’d confirmed where we got it, it was time to finally look inside the chests. The first one we opened was the one that Misaki found.

♦Chest Opened♦

“Whoooa… Oh, um, there was some gold in it before, but now that I think about it, it’s still in my bag. Yeah. Um, I’ll be sure to put it back,” said Misaki.

“Huh, I get it now. The fact that there’s no money in it must mean it came out when you failed to undo the trap,” I said.

“Almost like the chests are alive… They give you money as a consolation prize.”

“Teleportation traps are dangerous, but…it was good there were no other traps on it, like the explosive or poison dart ones. I would feel so sorry for your family if something happened to you,” said Suzuna.

“Sorry I made you worry, Suzu. But I’m all right now. I’ll be super-duper careful from now on.”

I didn’t expect anything to change about her risky behavior, but I did want her to always be on guard. Even I’d seen her teleported off, right in front of my eyes. I couldn’t let that happen again.

“…Poison honey—honey from Poison Spear Bees gathered into a bottle. You can smear it on your weapons,” said Melissa. She’d seen plenty of materials as a Dissector and therefore had quite a bit of knowledge about them. The vaguely purple-colored honey didn’t look all that poisonous, but there was no denying that it was.

“Poison honey pancakes are really popular. They’re made using an antidote to neutralize the poison before cooking. I’d only tried them once when I was in District Eight, though,” said Shiori.

“I’m sure it’s quite the delicacy… You’re pretty brave to try it,” I said.

“You think? It’s actually possible to build a slight tolerance for poison if you get used to it. Seekers going to fight in areas with a lot of poisonous monsters will sometimes undergo poison-resistance training overseen by a Pharmacist or Doctor… I’ve even heard there are some who can withstand poison that would kill even the most ferocious monster.”

Equipment wasn’t the only option for improving resistances to status ailments; apparently, you could use food as well. It was informative, but I’d still need a lot of nerve to put anything with poison in the name into my mouth. If possible, I wanted to stick to using equipment for that, like we had been doing.

We decided to gather the unidentified items and appraise them all together later. The other item from the chest that caught my attention was this ricochet stone. It was clearly a magic stone, but what exactly did it do? I asked Madoka to look it up on her license through the Catalog function that only merchants could use.

“When a ricochet stone is attached to a ranged weapon, it allows you to attack by bouncing shots off walls and other objects. If you put it into equipment—boots, for example—it allows you to jump very high.”

“An attack that bounces… So I’d be able to ricochet my shots, huh? I’d really love to try that out. Not sure when I could really use it, though.”

“Look at you, acting like a kid in a candy store… Atobe, you are excited by the strangest things sometimes.”

“Would it be rude to say he’s rather…innocent?”

“Ricocheting shots! That’s sooo cool. I don’t think a magic stone would fit on my dice, though.” Misaki was also excited by the idea, but she was right that a magic stone probably wouldn’t fit on her weapon. She wasn’t primarily an attacker in the party, though, so there wasn’t any immediate need to modify her weapons.

“Okay, next up. This is the chest we got from Death from Above,” I said, placing my hand on the chest and opening it. When I did, there was a flash of brilliant light that momentarily blinded us, though it wasn’t quite as bright as when we opened the Black Boxes. A moment later, piles of treasure appeared around us. The amount and quality of this treasure was definitely far better than what came out of the red chest from the Poison Spear Bee.

♦Chest Opened♦

This was what you’d expect from a chest that a Named Monster had dropped. There were a few different pieces of equipment and quite a bit of money, though I couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t that much, considering I’d seen what could come out of a Black Box.

“Is this…a scythe? Looks almost like what the grim reaper carries…” Igarashi was looking at the most peculiar item that came out of the chest: a weapon called a “Forbidden Scythe.” There was a star next to the name, which implied it was a special weapon. I suppose it was almost like a “Named” weapon.

“Wait, you should appraise it before you touch it. If it’s cursed, you might not be able to put it down again,” warned Elitia, and Igarashi pulled back from the scythe. First, Madoka tried to use her skill Appraise 1, but she was only able to glean a small amount of information from that. We bought a Mid-grade Appraisal Scroll from Shiori.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, Arihito…,” apologized Madoka.

“No, you’ve done great. You still get us a discount on scrolls and opening the chest itself. Your Negotiate Price skill has helped us many times,” I said.

“The market price for a Mid-grade Appraisal Scroll is five gold, but I just can’t say no to this girl. You’ll make a wonderful merchant,” said Shiori.

“Th-thank you…”

“When we were shopping for clothes earlier, we got a discount simply because Madoka was there. I couldn’t get a discount even if I tried,” said Misaki.

Corleone ended up helping me himself while I was there, but maybe I did get a discount thanks to Madoka’s skill. She also helped make it so we could sell items at a price that was at least 10 percent higher than normal. Her Negotiate Price skill was only level 1 right now; I couldn’t imagine going shopping without her once she got to level 2 or higher.

“Arihito, I’ll appraise the item.” Suzuna opened the appraisal scroll and read it. My license displayed the item’s description after Suzuna successfully identified it.

♦Forbidden Scythe♦

“This…could be a really valuable weapon depending on its critical hit ratio. There’s only one, but it breaks easily. I wonder if there’s something we can do about that,” I said.

“Right now, the only people who can equip it are you or Melissa,” said Suzuna.

“…I am interested, but my butcher’s knife improves the likelihood of Partial Destruction of my target. I think I’m okay if I don’t change right now,” said Melissa.

“Okay, how about we put it in storage until a time comes when we can use it?” I suggested. Another issue was its weight; testing it by walking around with it wouldn’t be easy. Furthermore, it’d be a waste if it broke after only a few attacks.

I lifted the leather boots while I thought. I’d seen that metallic shine before. I’d had Suzuna’s and Misaki’s armor strengthened with elmina iron at Ceres’s forge, which was done by adding a thin layer of metal to the inside of the garments to avoid ruining the appearance. These boots were modified in the same way.

“Madoka, I think you could manage with Appraise 1 on these boots.”

“O-okay, I’ll try…”

I passed her the boots, and she tried to appraise them, with perfect success. I smiled as she held the boots out happily. The size looked about right for me, and I was happy for the update in equipment. That’s about all I expected, but I looked at the appraisal report and was lost for words.

♦Elluminate Mountaineering Boots♦

“These…”

“Arihito, are they that good?” asked Elitia.

“Yeah. It improves skills that strengthen everyone. I’ve been wanting to collect more equipment of this type.”

“Judging by the design, they’re clearly men’s boots. I bet they’ll suit you,” said Igarashi.

“Th-thanks. I’ve never worn something like this before.” I had no idea why these boots were made or how they got this ability, but I assumed they’d once been used by a man in a support class like me.

Other things from the chest included the fire garnet, which added the Heat attribute to weapons. The charm looked like some sort of protective amulet, and the cloth strip just looked like a ribbon to me, but my license showed that both were unappraised. There was money, too. I was happy to get something to supplement what we had to spend on living costs. We gathered the scattered coins into a pouch and decided to open the last chest. Before we did, though, I looked at Shiori and then Takuma, the beetle demi-human who was standing by her.

“…Please, go on.”

If Takuma really had been killed by the Paradox Beetle, there would likely be something to indicate that in this chest. Everyone locked their eyes on the chest as I opened it, and—

♦Chest Opened♦

—out of the box came a particularly shaped spear-like weapon that had blades on either end, along with a piece of armor that looked like a pair of gauntlets.

And there was more.

Without another word, I bent down to pick up one of the small, metal rings. Theresia picked up the other. We didn’t need to appraise them; they were clearly meant for a person’s fingers. There were characters of the Labyrinth Country language engraved on the insides of the bands. I handed the one I picked up to Shiori. It rested on the palm of her hand, and she lovingly stroked it with her other hand, tears gathering in her eyes.

“He’d never said a word about it to me, but… It wasn’t until my little brother turned into a demi-human and returned home when I heard he’d been engaged…” The engraving was probably either Takuma’s name or his fiancée’s. The party they were in had been attacked by the Paradox Beetle, and their belongings had ended up in this chest.

“Please let us give the rings back to your brother,” I said.

“…Thank you. I couldn’t do anything for them…”

People who lost their lives in the labyrinth could come back as demi-humans, but it wasn’t common. Some part of me had always believed that as long as I didn’t give up, I’d never lose one of my party members. This showed me that I was naive to think that, and it shook me to my core.

Why were there so many Seekers in District Seven who’d stagnated? It was because they feared death. I couldn’t blame anyone who’d given up advancing because of that.

“Arihito…” I didn’t want to make anyone worry about me, but Elitia was looking at me with concern. I told myself to get it together…told myself I just needed to not show how upset I was.

The moment I decided that, though, Takuma walked over to stand next to me. He silently held out his hand. I placed the two rings in his palm, and he simply stood there, staring at them. I couldn’t think of anything to say. He’d come back home as a demi-human, but his fiancée had not. Right then, I didn’t have it in me to even try and console him or express how absolutely tragic the whole thing was.

“…We’ll send the items from the chest to our storage and finish looking them over later,” I said. “Shiori, Takuma—thank you both so much.”

“I should be the one expressing my gratitude…but… I’m so sorry—could you please leave me alone with my brother…?” Shiori tried to keep it together, but she was at her limit.

Igarashi stepped forward to wrap her in her arms. Shiori seemed about to burst into tears.

“I can only imagine what happened…but please, let me at least do this much. I can’t just leave you like this without doing anything,” said Igarashi.

I wanted to give the two some space, so the other party members and I respected Shiori’s wishes and headed toward the teleportation door to leave. Just before walking through the door, I looked back to see Takuma standing there, squeezing the rings in his hand as he stared into the nothingness above him—perhaps, saying a prayer for the person he lost.

We got incredible things from the chests, but it was an experience that tested our resolve. Igarashi came out after Shiori had settled down a little. We started walking to the Chinese restaurant we’d planned to meet Four Seasons at. I brought up the rear, but Igarashi came to join me. Theresia walked quietly on my other side. She seemed to be concerned for me after our visit to Shiori.

“…Losing someone important to you can make you lose your reason for seeking. I suppose that’s true for pretty much anyone,” I said. Georg from Polaris had said something similar once—that losing Sophie would spell the end of his party.

Misaki and Madoka were walking ahead, chatting about something. Melissa and Cion were a little farther up; Suzuna and Elitia were walking together, exchanging the occasional word. Everyone must have a lot on their minds. They might even have some reservations—which was all the more reason I needed to speak up.

“This might be naive of me to say, but—I swear I’ll protect each and every one of you.” I absolutely needed to say it. I would never forgive myself if I let the situation get to a point where they gave up. I knew it would be hard. Even if I prepared for everything I could, I could end up shooting myself in the foot with my guesses. An action I thought would be beneficial could end up forcing us into a difficult situation. I knew that was just how the labyrinths were, but I did not want to let anyone die.

“Shiori said they would help us if there was anything they could do. I don’t think it’s right to use large numbers of people to take over hunting grounds, or force people to join us, but I do think we’ll need the help of as many people as we can get,” said Igarashi.

“Yeah…I agree. You’re really dependable, Igarashi. You know that, right?”

“Wh-what are you talking about…? Did you lose your cool? Where’s the Atobe that stays ridiculously calm no matter what happens?” She tried to cheer me up, and it worked a little. My deep dark mood started to lift. “I’m happy to hear you say you’ll protect everyone… But you know, I intend to protect you with my own body if it comes down to it. Don’t get too upset if that happens. I want to protect you as well.”

To think that my manager, Igarashi, would protect me with her own life… I wasn’t actually that surprised. It seemed natural now. It wasn’t like she’d wanted to make me suffer just because we didn’t get along. She meant it when she said she wanted to protect me. The fact that I could believe that was, in itself, quite incredible.

“…I’m not going to let you say that I shouldn’t be sad if you’re not around anymore,” I said.

“…Well, if it did end up happening, I’d be happy just knowing you were safe…”

Part of me wanted to be angry and ask how she could say something like that. Part of me was grateful. I didn’t know what to say about the fact that I thought this, but now I could look back on the fact that I used to be her subordinate, be proud of it, and remember it fondly. That was only possible in the present, though, after all we’d gone through.

“……”

“…You can’t do anything too reckless, though, for Theresia’s sake. Are you all right from when the monster got you before?” asked Igarashi.

“Yeah, I’m fine. That’s right… I should do what I can to prepare and make sure we don’t end up in a bad situation. Or at least, make it so we can run away if we do end up in one.”

“That’d be good. And you should do your best to keep everyone from worrying.”

I reflected on how concerned my party was for me, and everyone walking ahead turned back to look at us. They must have heard parts of our conversation. I raised my hand, trying to say I was sorry for worrying them. Everyone smiled in response, and then I saw the restaurant we were heading for. Four Seasons was waiting outside for us since there was still some time until our reservation.