CHAPTER 5

Between Life and Death

Part I: The Morning Scenery

Yet again, Theresia didn’t let me see her sleep at all. I assume she eventually dozed off and then woke up, which was when she roused me awake as well.

“Good morning, Mr. Atobe. I’m sorry—we have a morning meeting at the Guild, so I have to hurry out of here,” said Louisa.

“Oh… G-good morning, Louisa. You don’t have a bad hangover, do you?”

“No, thanks to you… Um, Mr. Atobe. Since I’m not an official member of your party, technically speaking, I shouldn’t be living with you…”

I guessed what Louisa was trying to say, and my sleep-clouded mind suddenly cleared. To put it bluntly, I was already sort of addicted to her Pressure Point Massage skill. Every once in a while in my past life, I’d go get an osteopathic massage to work out the stiffness of my body that had built up from sitting at a desk all day every day. It was a form of self-care. Louisa’s skills rivaled those of the professionals I used to go to. My vitality and magic were now full, and I’d even slept perfectly well despite being in an unfamiliar bed. That was one of many reasons I was happy to have her living in the same house, but perhaps it was just a little too convenient. I was plenty lucky simply to end up sharing a room with her.

“…I knew it—I’m just causing trouble by being here. I appreciate you allowing me to stay here last night as a special case, but I will put in a request to move…”

“No, you’re not causing trouble at all. Actually, if you’re going to stay our exclusive caseworker and move up to higher districts with us…I’d feel better if…” It took a lot of courage to come out and say Let’s live together. She was acting like she wanted to stay, though. No one in that situation would be happy if I hesitated to speak up. “If you like, please stay here with us. I doubt it’s my place to offer it, though, since I’m only renting the house from the Guild…”

“A-actually, your name is on the records as the primary lessee…and in general, it is that person who must give permission for someone to live in the lodging.”

“In that case… You have my permission. Will you please live here, Louisa?”

“Ah… Y-yes… Mr. Atobe, I don’t deserve such kind words from you… I will do everything in my power to be more useful to you as a caseworker.” Tears brimmed in Louisa’s eyes as she clenched her hand to her chest. It’d felt nice like this almost every time I’d spoken to her lately…but we couldn’t forget Theresia was there with us. “O-oh… Ms. Theresia, what’s wrong? You’re buried in your bed.”

The only thing showing from beneath the blanket was Theresia’s tail. I wondered if she was trying not to interrupt us. I had been far too insensitive just now.

“Theresia, how about we go downstairs?” I suggested. “Our food should be ready right around now. Could you just wait outside until I get changed?”

“……”

Her tail moved a little at the word food.

Louisa smiled. “Mr. Atobe, you really do understand how Ms. Theresia feels, don’t you?”

“I’ve always hoped so… Theresia, did you sleep well? You can’t always wait to go to bed until I’ve fallen asleep, you know.”

“……”

Theresia wriggled around under the blanket, turning over and poking just her face out. I didn’t know if she had slept or not, but at that moment, she was quite cute, and I lost all will to make any dumb comments.

Come to think of it, I had a vague feeling that someone had come into my bed in the middle of the night. Louisa wasn’t drunk by that point, so I didn’t think it was her, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing something like that. Must’ve been a dream.

Louisa promised to eat breakfast with us the next day and rushed off to work like she said she had to.

There was a morning food market on one of the streets near our house, so Melissa, who had the skill Cooking 1, and the other members who felt awake enough went to pick up some ingredients for breakfast. The smell of food cooking in a hot frying pan wafted from the kitchen by the time Theresia and I went downstairs.

“Good morning, Arihito.”

“Morning. We bought some freshly baked rolls. How many do you want, Arihito? About three?”

We were greeted by Suzuna, wearing an apron and carrying a pot with soup to the table, and Melissa, who was in the kitchen. She looked at me, loaded the bread rolls onto a tray, and carried it out toward us.

“Wow… Those are incredible,” I said.

“They look hard, but if you cut them open, the white part inside is soft.”

“Melissa brought a bread knife for cutting them as well.” Suzuna seemed like a morning person given how energetic she was. She, Melissa, and Madoka were chipper early in the day. Igarashi, on the other hand, had low blood pressure, and it took her awhile to fully join us in the morning.

“Sniff, sniff… Is that freshly baked bread I smell—? Aaaaah! Suzu’s wearing an apron!”

“Good morning, Misaki.”

“Oh my gosh, Suzu, you scared me! Seeing Arihito and then you there in an apron, you looked EXACTLY like a newlywed! I was, like, totally squeeing, y’know?”

“I just wanted to ask… What are you even saying?” I replied.

Misaki smiled and brushed me off, then took a peek into the kitchen to see if she could be of any help. She seemed to have come to some sort of realization and instead just came back and sat in her seat.

“Arihito, you’ll get in everyone’s way if you just stand there. Why don’t you come sit next to me?” she suggested.

“What, are you bad at housework? …I mean, no surprise there.”

“I’ll prove I’m capable when it’s my turn! I’m gonna slice those veggies into the prettiest ribbons you’ve ever seen!”

“Misaki, the market didn’t have any vegetables that can be cut like that,” said Suzuna.

“Oh reaaally? Shucks, that’s too bad. All right, instead, I’ll just show how awesome I am at removing air from hamburger patties! If you don’t do that, they’ll just explode when you cook ’em.”

It was starting to sound like it’d be better to not have Misaki cook, but I decided I shouldn’t say that out loud. We needed to spread the load of housework out among the whole party. If someone didn’t know how to do something, we’d just teach them.

“If you end up on kitchen duty with me, the first thing you’ll be in charge of is keeping an eye on the food to make sure it doesn’t burn,” I said.

“Hands-on cooking practice with Arihito… I bet you’d just wanna eat Suzu right up, huh?” Misaki teased.

“Uh… A-Arihito…would never…say something like that…right?” Suzuna stammered.

“W-well, uh… I don’t think it’s something I’d say at this point in time, yeah.”

Before I got reincarnated, I never really had a chance like this to joke around with and talk to kids this much younger than me, other than with the children at the orphanage. I wasn’t quite sure how far I should be pushing the jokes. I could laugh it off and say I wouldn’t say something like that, but I had a feeling it was a bad idea to completely shoot down girls their age. Maybe I was worrying too much.

“Arihito always looks so cool and suave, like he’s ready for a photo op whenever. Suzu’s the same. Kyouka would probably need a moment to get herself together, I think.”

“What kind of guy do you think I am? …Hey, stop messing around and help set the table.”

“Okaaaay.”

I sort of just cut off the conversation like that, but Misaki actually listened to me. That was enough to make me think she really was a good girl. I was impressed. I tried to go into the kitchen to help out and saw Melissa there cutting up what looked like roast chicken. It seemed she’d topped it with the fruit-based sauce that Madoka had made.

“It also tastes nice if you sandwich it in a roll. I prepared some of these Rolly Leaves and other vegetables you can add to the sandwich,” explained Madoka.

“I see… What’s this drink?” I asked.

“I grated some parts off an Ice Carrot and mixed it with other juices. It tastes really good, kind of like a smoothie.”

I quenched my thirst with some of the juice Madoka gave me, then looked at my license to notice that my Frost attribute had increased slightly. A drink like this would even help reduce a fever when you’re sick.

I wonder if there’s a Frost type of magic stone. These numbers might have an effect on Igarashi’s Ether Ice skill… There seems to be quite a few situations in which defending against attributes will be just as important as defending against status ailments.

“Oh… By the way, Arihito, Ice Carrot is a kind of monster. That doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“Hmm… Really? This just tastes like very refreshing carrot juice. It’s good. I don’t mind at all.”

“You don’t seem to have any strong preferences for food. My dad hates vegetables. I wish he could learn from you.”

“Just to let you know, the one thing I don’t really like is celery. Although, I don’t mind it in soups for some extra flavor.”

“Can you cook by yourself? That’s rare for a grown man.”

I wondered what percentage of adults living alone actually cooked for themselves. I felt like most people had to every once in a while.

As I pondered, another message appeared on my license. I knew whenever a new message appeared just by carrying my license around. Must be some sort of magic effect.

♦Current Status♦

“Wow… Incredible. Looks like our abilities get a temporary boost when Melissa’s in charge of cooking,” I said.

“…Okay. I like cooking. I’ll help with it every day if I can,” replied Melissa.

“Thank you. We can stick to a rotation normally. It’s not your turn today, either, Madoka, but you’re doing a great job helping out.”

“Ah… I-it’s nothing; um, I’m just used to getting up early like Melissa… I’m not useful in battle, so I want to help out as much as I can in other ways…”

I’d known this already, but Madoka was really something. In District Eight, she’d worked so hard at her Merchant business, but it never made her cynical.

“Some lame excuse about me not being good at waking up probably isn’t going to cut it when you’re all up early and working hard… Guess I’ll have to come up with something else.”

“Oh, good morning, Igarashi. You were always on point in the morning back at the office, though.”

“Um, well, that was just… You can’t show your weaknesses as an adult. Now it looks like Ellie’s the heaviest sleeper. She always looks worn out, so I’m glad she’s getting the rest.”

I felt nothing but happiness at the possibility that Elitia was starting to relax since she’d joined our party. The last to wake up, she looked a little embarrassed, but we smiled, and she joined in. We couldn’t let our guard down when we were out on seeking expeditions, so I wanted everyone to at least be able to take it easy while we were at home.

Part II: The Ricocheting Bullet

We took a little break after finishing breakfast, then headed off to the entrance of Silvanus’s Bedchamber. On the way, we passed some men who were members of Beyond Liberty, though they weren’t the ones I’d seen the previous day. I’d heard them say the leader of the Alliance would reach his required contribution points the following day, but they were probably going into the Beach of the Setting Sun today as well.

“Those look like some members of that alliance. I saw a sign saying that way was to the Beach of the Setting Sun… I’m a bit curious,” I said.

“Arihito, did you spy on the competition while you were out of the room last night? That’s bold of you…,” said Elitia.

“That’s what ended up happening, but it’s generally not a good idea to eavesdrop. They said they’re going to get the contribution points they need—not today, but tomorrow. Going into the labyrinth every day seemed to be weighing their members down.”

“We go seeking every day, too, and you’re the one who always seems the most tired, Arihito,” added Misaki. “But today, your skin looks all fresh and dewy for some reason… Ah!”

“It’s because of Louisa’s Pressure Point Massage. You should all ask her for one sometime, since she’s going to be living in the same house as us.” I’d thought this when I looked in the mirror this morning, but my complexion was looking a lot better. Igarashi looked like she wanted to say something, but she seemed hung up on how to ask, Under what circumstances did you actually get the massage?

Instead, she said, “W-well, you look a lot less tired, which is good. Louisa also seemed to be in a good mood. Looks like there were no problems with you two sharing a room.”

“It’s fiiine—Theresia was there, too. She’s our party’s conscience!” said Misaki. Theresia didn’t react to her name and just continued to walk quietly on my left. The rest of the party was starting to trust that Theresia and I could share a room together without issue. Actually, Theresia was the one starting to take on the role of supervising me.

“Kyouka, your shoulders look really stiff. Maybe you should ask Louisa for a massage today.”

“Now that you mention it, I did use to have stiff shoulders all the time, but not quite so much since coming here. Sitting at a desk all day working really isn’t good for your health. Swinging a spear around seems much healthier.”

“I feel like fighting monsters makes me use muscles I never would normally. My body even feels lighter; I can move more easily now,” I said.

“Your complexion looks so much better now than the first time I met you. I felt like even your soul was tired,” said Suzuna.

How many of these ladies could have ever imagined they’d join the party of a tired salaryman? To be honest, though, I was more surprised than anyone how things turned out.

“Tired down to his very soul, wow… But everything’s okay now, right?”

“Yes, Arihito is full of energy now. He’s the liveliest of us all.”

I felt a little embarrassed for some reason when Suzuna said that, but it was true that I had more energy now. I had to keep pulling everyone forward—actually, since I was in the back, it was more like I was following them. But as the leader, I needed to be the most motivated out of everyone.

“A-Arihito! Good morning!”

“Teacher, should we get ready to make a simple camp today? We’re hunting the sheep monster on the second floor, but we’re not sure how long it’ll take to find it.”

We were greeted by Kaede and Ibuki, who both looked like they slept well and were full of energy. Anna, on the other hand, covered her mouth with a hand to hide a yawn, and Ryouko still seemed half-asleep.

“…Oh. I’m sorry. I’m a little tired because I woke up early to make some packed lunches,” said Ryouko.

“Ryouko’s like our mom,” said Anna.

“P-please, I’m not nearly old enough to be your mother… Look, you made Atobe laugh.”

“I’m surprised to see so many parties making their own food to take on expeditions. Must be because all the portable meals are so bland,” I said.

“We sometimes buy food from the stalls, but in general, we make our own breakfast and lunch. Then, we treat ourselves by goin’ out to eat almost every evening after we get back from seeking,” said Kaede.

Packed lunches were all well and good, but you’d need food that kept for a long time if you were going camping. We also purchased some fuel for bonfires at night in case we needed to spend a long time in the labyrinth. We filled Madoka’s Inventory up as much as we could. Despite carrying an even larger number of items, she didn’t seem weighed down in the slightest.

When we entered the labyrinth, the first floor was as pastoral and idyllic as before. We had no problems passing by the area where we defeated the monsters the previous day, and we didn’t see any Fake Beetles flying in the sky, either. After a short while, we arrived at the entrance to the second floor without having battled any monsters.

Our current party setup had Madoka in Four Seasons. Even when Igarashi and Cion were in the other party, there were still quite a few situations where I could assist them with Attack Support. It took a decent amount of magic, though, to keep using Outside Assist. Something I learned in previous battles was that there came critical points in combat where I needed to support the other party—and constantly using Outside Assist meant risking running out of magic in those moments.

After strolling through the rolling plains for a little while, we came to a hill that had two stone pillars placed on its crest. We passed between the pillars and were teleported to the second floor. The scenery wasn’t all that different; the biggest change was that the clouds moved through the sky slightly faster, but then, I felt on edge for some reason the moment we teleported.

“…Well, that was quick. Those are—,” I started.

“Ah… They’re the sheep’s friends!” cried Anna in excitement. They’d shown up the moment we’d entered the second floor. These monsters were balls of fluff, much like the Cotton Balls we’d fought in the past but significantly larger. The only major difference was that these Stray Sheep had something like horns sprouting from them.

♦Monsters Encountered♦

“Stray” Sheep… Are they lost? And why are they all level 1…?

“Arihito, there’s more over there…,” said Elitia.

“D-don’t you think it’d be hard to fight those things? I mean, they’re kinda cute,” said Misaki.

“Y-yeah… I’m not sure I can shoot those cute little sheep with my bow…” Suzuna was as hesitant as Misaki. But Four Seasons needed materials dropped by those sheep to make Anna’s weapon.

I was still hung up on the fact that we’d come all this way and the monsters were level 1. On top of that, the Cotton Balls had these evil little faces, and I could see by using Hawk Eyes that these Stray Sheep had big round eyes that made them look like cute stuffed animals.

“Anna, are those the sheep that you need materials from in order to make your racket?” I asked.

“No, the Stray Sheep will immediately run if we try to fight them. I heard there’s a monster in the same family as them that I need… I looked into how to capture it, and I came prepared with one of the methods that was suggested.”

“Oh… They ran away. Those li’l guys are harmless, but we’ll probably have problems with whatever other monsters come out before we find the one we’re looking for,” said Ibuki, apparently fond of cute things. She was showing a side of her that was so different from her usual image of a stoic Karate Master.

“Other monsters might eat those Stray Sheep… That’s so sad, but I guess that’s just the circle of life in the labyrinth,” said Igarashi. She had always liked fluffy things, so she was relieved that we didn’t have to fight them.

Considering their low level, they’d give very few contribution points even if we did fight them, and if we didn’t set traps to capture them, hunting them would be inefficient anyway. Despite those drawbacks, I saw another party in the distance chasing the sheep, which implied there was some value in doing so.

With that in mind, we needed to look for a place to set our traps where the other party wouldn’t run into them. I wanted to focus on looking for the best location, but it wasn’t going to be that simple: Another monster had appeared within Theresia’s scouting range. It was a wolf-type monster that did indeed seem to be hunting the sheep. It growled menacingly at Cion, who was at the front of the party.

♦Monsters Encountered♦

“Sheep and wolves, both monsters that travel in groups…,” I said.

“There’s the one that’s pulling our attention, but there’s two more going around the hill and coming this way. I think we should go take care of those two,” suggested Elitia. We split up into our two parties to go and fight the beasts. We got ready to intercept the two coming around the hill, while the other one let out a howl and dashed toward Kaede, Four Seasons’s vanguard.

“—Cion, use Covering!”

“Woof!”

Cion shot out at the same time that the Aero Wolf started dashing. Cion and Igarashi were in my party, but we could balance our offensive power if they assisted Four Seasons. One of the benefits of doing it that way was that I wouldn’t have to drain my magic using Outside Assist, so I could make sure Cion was covered with Defense Support.

♦Current Status♦

“Thank you, Cion!”

“Woof!”

The defensive barrier that appeared before Cion completely negated the damage. Cion covered Kaede, then Igarashi followed behind in joining the two of them for a counterattack.

“—Cion! Test out your fire garnet!” I ordered.

“Kaede, let’s match our counters with Cion’s!” called Igarashi.

“All right!”

The Aero Wolf had bounced back from its attack, and I could see with Hawk Eyes that it was wrapped in wind. It reminded me that Cion was also capable of attribute attacks like that now, and so I instantly ordered her to use it. The anklet on her front paw glowed with red light that streaked behind her following claw attack.

“—GRAAAAAH!!”

♦Current Status♦

The effects of my support skills were slightly greater thanks to the Elluminate Mountaineering Boots I had equipped. Even so, the three attacks between Cion and Igarashi along with the support damage wasn’t enough to finish off the wolf.

“One more push!”

“—Kaede, wait!”

Ibuki called out a warning from behind Kaede. The Aero Wolf hadn’t gone down from the series of attacks from before, and its eyes now glinted with a beastly hunger. However, Kaede must have anticipated that, because she moved in to intercept the wolf as it tried to get off a final counter.

“—Haaaah!”

♦Current Status♦

The wolf started to attack, but before it struck, Kaede managed to respond with a counter. It was so fast that you could have missed it by simply blinking. It was nothing short of spectacular.

The other two wolves that had been the other half of a pincer attack didn’t fall back when their strategy fell apart. They lashed out with attacks at Theresia, who’d stepped boldly forward. There’s no way she should have been able to avoid those attacks, but the strikes hit nothing but air.

♦Current Status♦

Theresia used the heat stone in her targe to create a mirage that confused the enemy. It disappeared after taking only two attacks, but Elitia wasn’t going to miss the opening it created while the two Aero Wolves were shaken over their strikes failing. I put an Attack Support 2 onto her assault. I decided to try out one of the magic stones I’d just had added to my weapon.

A magical bullet with the effects of the ricochet stone… I wanna see how this is gonna pan out!

“Go dance with the dead!”

♦Current Status♦

“GRAAAAWOOOW!”

Elitia’s dance of swords sent the wolves flying back as they tried to rush toward her. The magical bullet from my Attack Support struck one, then bounced between the two multiple times. Everyone widened their eyes in shock as they looked at the defeated wolves—Elitia and I included.

“…Wh-what… Arihito, what did you just…?”

“Whoa… Th-that was awesome! You totally beat those scary wolves to a pulp!” yelled Misaki. That might have been what she thought had happened, but I was just about able to see what actually occurred. The Dexterity Gauntlets increased the number of Elitia’s attacks. My magical bullet only applied to the additional attack because of Attack Support, but it bounced between that monster and a nearby monster, racking up a lot of damage in one go.

“Urgh… That Bounce effect took more magic than I thought it would,” I said.

“Arihito… Are you all right? That was an amazing skill, but you should be more careful when you use something like that for the first time.” Suzuna came over and helped stabilize me as I teetered on my feet. I pulled myself together a bit, but Suzuna was right. I should really consider the risks of using new magic stones a little more.

“Arihito, I’ll fetch you a potion!”

“Those are valuable, so I’d rather we save them, but… Actually, would it be okay if I had one?”

Madoka had deactivated her Hide skill and pulled a potion from her backpack before handing it to me. I was completely recovered after about two gulps and gave the bottle back to her.

“…Oh, that’s right. Sorry, I only recovered myself. I’m sure everyone else has drained some magic, too.”

“It’s fine… Actually, potions lose their potency once opened, so it’s usually best not to leave any left over,” said Elitia. In other words, anyone who’d used magic in this past battle should finish off the potion I’d just drunk from.

“Um… G-go on, Elitia,” offered Madoka.

“No, I—I didn’t mean I needed any… Kyouka, you can have some first.”

“Um, uh, well… Double Attack doesn’t really take that much magic. Ellie, you’re the one who used the most powerful skill, so you should go first.”

“C’mon, guys, don’t be shy,” said Misaki. “It’s already open, so you should just drink some. We’ll probably run into more monsters later.”

“…Can I have some? Potions are hard to come by, so I wanna taste one,” said Kaede. Everyone argued about who should drink in what order, but finally, they decided, and each drank a mouthful. I knew that sharing potions like this would be necessary to make sure everyone recovered, but I couldn’t stop feeling uncomfortable as I watched them.

“And last is Cion… Hee-hee, so cute!” Igarashi poured the last bit of the potion into her hand and let Cion lap it up. That finished off a single potion. We would take the bottle back with us and reuse it, since the bottles themselves were fairly valuable.

“Right, now that we’ve had a chance to see Arihito’s sweet and innocent reaction to us sharing drinks, should we find somewhere to set up camp? I’ve aaalways wanted to say something like, Let’s camp here!” said Misaki.

“What are you looking at? …Hey, Anna, do you want to find a place to set the traps, then camp near them so we can keep an eye on them?” I asked.

“Yes. I’d like to look for a few different places, then split up and watch them… Would you be able to help with that?”

“If this labyrinth hasn’t been completely explored, we could probably learn necessary strategic information or something if we catch some of those Stray Sheep…or I might just be reading too much into it.” Igarashi threw in her own idea, which I felt was a good possibility. If that was the case, I wanted to avoid wasting time in the event some Aero Wolves accidentally got caught in the traps. The problem was, could we even trap this sheep-type monster if we set the traps somewhere? I began to think we might have to explore the entire second floor, but Theresia started walking off.

“……”

“…Theresia, what’s up?”

Theresia didn’t respond, but she waited for us to start following her. Maybe she’d used her senses to find someplace where we should set the traps, even if we didn’t really understand. She led, and we followed. We reached the top of a hill and, on the other side, saw what looked like a spring. There hadn’t been many trees in this labyrinth so far, but the water was surrounded by lush, verdant leaves. There did appear to be something about that water. The Stray Sheep frolicking in the fields near the spring disappeared when they noticed us. They were as cute as always, but that didn’t mean we could let our guard down.

Why were there level-1 monsters in this labyrinth? Would something happen when we solved that riddle? I shivered suddenly for no reason and warned myself that they were just trembles from excitement.

Part III: Survival of the Fittest

The spring looked fairly large from far away, and when we drew nearer, we could tell that it was large enough for someone to swim in. It was just about as big as an Olympic-size swimming pool at around 150 feet across, and as deep as a diving pool. The hills leading down to the other side of the spring declined sharply, to the point where they practically became cliffs. You could get to the cliffs by going around to the left or right, so it would be best to check later and make sure there were no monsters there.

“The water is so clear… I assumed there’d be monsters in this spring, but it doesn’t look like there’s anything living in it.”

“You’re right… I could swim in and check it out.”

Igarashi and Ryouko approached the spring as they chatted about its contents. There had been three or four Stray Sheep near the spring a moment earlier, but they must have run away because they didn’t come out again. Theresia and Cion moved closer to the small woods near the spring, but they didn’t seem to find anything there, either.

The spring itself was surrounded by a beach of pure-white sand and had clear, blue water. It was the kind of place you’d only see in the pictures of some resort. I’d thought this labyrinth was filled with nothing but fields. Unexpectedly coming across this scenery made me relax.

“Arihito, you shouldn’t let your guard down… Although, I know it’s hard in a place like this.” Elitia scanned the area, but she must have decided that it was fairly safe, because she also eased up a little. Suzuna grinned when she noticed Elitia relaxing.

“I’m surprised there are labyrinths with such gorgeous views,” said Suzuna. “I always thought I’d have to grow up and save money before I could ever go see something like this.”

“I know. It’s almost too beautiful. Kinda makes me think there’s got to be some sort of trap…but everything seems fine right now,” I replied.

“Right now, we just have some cute little sheep. Oh, there’s some wolves going after them, actually.”

The Aero Wolves weren’t going to cause us too many problems as long as we didn’t let our guard down, and I couldn’t see any other monsters. The fact that this floor only had wolves and sheep must be another feature of this particular labyrinth. But where were the strong versions of the Stray Sheep? Were they simply that rare? I hadn’t seen a single one even though I had a wider field of vision.

“Anna, do you think this is a good area to set the traps?” I asked.

“According to my sources, setting the traps around this spring will capture a monster called a ‘Thunder Head’ sometime during the night.”

“Based on the name, I think we can assume it uses lightning…,” said Kaede.

“It could make your hair all frizzy if it hits you… T-Teacher, do you have anything to help against lightning?” asked Ibuki. She and Kaede seemed really anxious just imagining what fighting one would be like. Igarashi could use lightning, but I was concerned how powerful it could be if an enemy could use it.

“Maybe we should take off equipment that’s conductive… Actually, I have a better idea. We can set up lightning rods to try and draw the lightning away from us. Anna, could I see one of your traps?” I asked, and she pulled one out of her bag. It was a simple cage trap that you put bait inside, and the creature would be caught when they went in.

“They were originally made to capture Stray Sheep. Sometimes, they’d trap other monsters, and that’s how people learned about this Thunder Head.”

“Really…”

Maybe Falma could make a trap like this, since she was a Trap Master. I’d never considered the possibility that there were monsters you couldn’t find unless you set a trap for them. I was happy to have this experience.

“Would it be healed if I used Thunderbolt on it?” asked Igarashi.

“Possibly,” answered Anna. “It’s generally best to avoid using any skills that share an elemental attribute with the enemy.”

“Um, Arihito, could I talk to you for a second?”

“Hmm…? What’s up?”

Misaki lowered her voice as if she had a secret to tell me. We separated from the others for a bit so I could hear what she had to say.

“It’s rare to see you so serious…,” I said.

“How rude! I think about serious stuff all the time. I feel bad keeping this from Four Seasons, but it’s about my Morale Discharge, and I don’t think I should really let people know about that. I wanted to get your advice.”

Still, if we had a secret conversation for too long, the rest of the party would get suspicious. I waved a hand to the others to try and show them we were just having a brief chat. They had been staring at us in curiosity, wondering what we were talking about, but then, they appeared to ease up.

“Ummm, we’re not totally certain setting the traps will succeed, right? But if I use Fortune Roll, they’ll definitely work.”

“Oh yeah, we can do that. Good idea.”

“Hee-hee, thanks for the compliment! I gotta make a strong enough impression or else people will start forgetting I exist. Lately, I’ve just been like one of those people on talk shows who doesn’t actually say much—they only throw in the random word here or there.”

“I’m pretty sure if you were on a talk show, you’d have something good to say about everything. I rely on you all the time to set the mood anyway.”

“Oh, good! I’ll make sure I’m ready to strike up a conversation at any time!”

Misaki was happier than I’d expected she would be. Perhaps she’d been worried she was talking too much.

“Well, you do need to be careful about taking the conversation off track, though… But I do think it’s a good idea to let everyone know we can make the trap succeed for sure with Fortune Roll. Knowing it will definitely succeed means they can mentally prepare themselves.”

“I’ll leave that decision to you. We all talked about how you’d never tell anyone our secrets, so I trust you.”

“Uh… Y-you did? When was that…?”

Misaki put her finger to her lips as if to say it’s a secret. Once she did that, I couldn’t really ask anything else—not that I had any further concerns.

Theresia and Cion came back from patrolling the area for enemies while we were talking. Theresia pointed to the tops of the cliffs with a finger, and Cion sat down and looked at me.

“Are you saying there’s monsters there? We should take them out now.”

“……”

“We should defeat them if we’re gonna be setting up camp in this area,” suggested Igarashi. “Also… Atobe, could you come here?”

“What is it?”

I turned around when Igarashi called me, and I saw the other party members watching Ryouko, who was about to walk into the water.

“…Ah. I’m sorry, Atobe,” apologized Ryouko. “The water really is beautiful, but it probably is too dangerous to go swimming. We are in a labyrinth, so we don’t know if there’s anything in there.”

“Y-yeah… I don’t think it’d be too big of an issue for you to swim a little bit as long as the water quality itself is safe, though.”

If Ryouko had become a Swimming Instructor because she loved swimming, then I could see how this spring would be quite enticing. As long as everything was safe, then there was no point in stopping her. I even thought we might make some new discoveries from examining the spring. But I had one other thought as well—this was pretty daring of Ryouko, who was normally so rational and acted as the mental strength that held up Four Seasons.

…If I had her show me her license, I might be able to see what’s got her so keyed up… No, I’m just worrying too much.

“Here’s what you can do if you want to test the water quality,” said Ryouko as she slipped a hand into her boa coat and pulled out a bottle. It was used for carrying drinking water. She had the party drink it, took a few steps into the spring’s shallows, and scooped up some water.

♦?Bottle♦

“Oh… So we can do this and then use an appraisal scroll on the water, too,” I said.

“Exactly. It is possible to appraise water if you scoop it with your hands, but this makes sure there’s no mistakes.”

“Um, may I please try to appraise it? If I can do it with my skill, then we don’t need to use a scroll,” offered Madoka.

“Yes, please do,” said Ryouko. “As long as Atobe agrees.”

“Go ahead, Madoka. Just be careful.”

She took the bottle, slightly nervous as everyone focused on her, but activated her Appraise 1 skill.

♦Bottle of Clean Water♦

“Um, it looks safe to swim in. And we can drink it, too.”

“Okay, can I try some? Ibuki, do you want any?” asked Kaede.

“I just drank the water that was in the bottle. I’ll have a little, but not enough that I’ll get all sloshy…,” replied Ibuki. “Mm, it’s nice…”

It was almost like we’d come here to have a picnic and a campout.

I used to do that a bit when I was a kid but didn’t really have the chance when I got older… I didn’t even have any outdoorsy friends who’d want to go camping with me anyway.

“Atobe, Anna said she wants to check out the areas where we’re going to set the traps. You’ll show her where you wrote them down on your license’s map, right?” said Igarashi.

“Yes, I’ll show her. I thought we’d have to wait quite a while until night falls, but time seems to flow differently on this floor.”

“It looks like it’ll be evening soon… If we’re going to set up tents, we should do it before it gets dark,” said Suzuna as she watched the passing clouds. Time passed more quickly inside the labyrinth—well, not really, it was more that it just changed more quickly between morning and night. Either way, our goal was dangerous to work toward after dark.

We started setting up the traps while staying on the lookout for an attack that might come in the night. We were going to divide the parties into a few different tents, but I still needed to be behind my other party members. I took out my license and looked at Anna’s hand-drawn map of the spring and its surrounding area. My current plan for the traps was to set one in the woods that were west of the spring, one to the south, and the last to the east. Tent locations were something else we’d have to think about before we could begin setting up.

After that, I can summon the Demi-Harpies and have them scout from the sky… We’ll also need to keep an eye on other parties in the area.

There weren’t many groups on this floor, but some people saw us come near the spring and seemed curious. That didn’t mean they were hostile toward us, but I wanted to avoid any competition over the monster we needed to hunt. I would imagine we’d have dibs on it if it got caught in our trap, though.

“Mr. Arihito, could I ask for your opinion? Where do you think the best location is?” asked Anna.

“I think the first should go in the woods by the spring, then here, where you think is good; and the last here, where we think is good.”

“Okay. I think it would be best if we are facing out to look over the spring. It’s so hard to decide where to set up camp because the monster will be on guard if it realizes we’re there…”

“The woods to the west can act as a screen. If we take advantage of that… Oh, there’s these hills to the east. They look like just enough to hide the tent from view if you’re at the trap.”

“If we’re in an elevated position, we can have a good view over the area. Perhaps we should set one tent on the top of the cliffs.”

From our discussion, we determined that Four Seasons would go in a tent to the east; Igarashi, Cion, Suzuna, Misaki, and Melissa would be near the woods; and Theresia, Elitia, Madoka, and I would be at the top of the cliffs. The party at the top was strong overall because we had Elitia as the main attacker and me to support and defend. I also felt better about Madoka being with us because then Elitia could protect her. There was always the possibility that one hit would take Madoka out, making it better if we could eliminate the enemy before they could attack.

“Hey, guys—if we end up in combat, do your best to keep your backs facing the cliffs. I can support you with my skills if you do that.”

“““Okay!”””

“Woof!”

Everyone responded in unison. Cion even seemed to understand what I meant, because she barked a reply as well, even if it was a bit delayed.

“Anna, do you mind waiting a bit to set the traps? I’d like you to show us how to set them,” I said.

“……”

“You think you can set it, Theresia?”

She nodded. For whatever reason, she seemed capable. Just in case, I still had Anna show us how to set it, but it didn’t seem like it’d be an issue.

“I guess Rogues can sort of handle traps,” said Igarashi.

“She can also learn skills to disable traps,” I added. “At higher levels, she might even be able to learn how to set them. Even without a skill, though, I think Rogues might be better at handling traps than other jobs.”

While we talked, Anna showed Theresia how to set the trap, which essentially consisted of putting together the cage, then setting the bait inside.

“You put the meat in here. Once the trap is set, if a monster tries to go after the meat, they’ll activate the spring here. The trap will then close and set off these teeth, which are coated with a Weakening poison.”

“……”

“…? Is something wrong, Theresia?”

Theresia was completely still, staring at the hunk of meat on a bone that was going to be used for the trap. I realized what was happening, pulled out some of the food I had on me, and held it out to her.

“It does look like very nice meat, but we need to use it for the trap. I’m sorry that all I have right now is this tasteless stuff, but once we set up the tents, we can have some real food.”

She did seem to long for the meat, but she took the food I offered her, opened the package it was in, and started munching.

“…Mm…”

“Those food bars aren’t that bad. They’ve got dried meat mixed in with vegetables and nuts. The meat we’re using for the traps is fairly high quality to draw out the monsters. I understand why she’d want to eat it,” said Anna. The trap was completely ready once we added the meat, and she started to dismantle it again to place elsewhere. Her movements were certain, which made it seem like she had some experience using traps like this before.

“Anna, do Thunder Heads like that kind of meat?” I asked.

“I’ve heard they do. They’re apparently quite vicious and carnivorous. They can even eat the predators that try to eat them.”

“Urgh… Sh-sheep are supposed to be gentle, but these ones sound so violent…”

“…Do they eat Aero Wolves? If they do, it might be easier to draw them in if I dissect the three we beat before and leave the meat out,” suggested Melissa, but we’d get more time if they went for the meat in the traps and got caught than if they ate meat lying around and then ran away.

Out of the three Aero Wolves we’d defeated earlier, we’d found a magic stone on one of their foreheads. Appraising it told us that it was a “cyclone stone.” It was a crystal that looked like a pale-green quartz, and I thought it was likely that it let you use the skill that the Aero Wolves had used. The meat didn’t have any real use, so it would be possible to use it as bait.

“I just feel like it’s rude to leave their meat scattered around a field. If we’re not going to put it in the traps, we should think of a way to use it later,” I said.

“Okay. Kyouka looks upset by it, too. I won’t dissect them now. I’ll probably skin them when we get back.”

“N-no, it’s fine… I know they’re wolves, but they’re similar to dogs, so I’m not sure how I feel about dissecting them,” said Igarashi. “I’m not just gonna tell you to have at ’em or something like that.”

It was probably better if the monsters actually looked monstrous. Having said that, there was always the possibility we’d run into a monster that just looked too terrifying. Even Cotton Balls had scary faces, but compared with the rest of the monsters in the labyrinths, they were actually on the cute side.

“If we put out a lot of food for the Aero Wolves, do you think we could make a giant army of wolves?” asked Misaki.

“It’s pretty hard to tame monsters. Right now, we just have the Demi-Harpies…”

I remembered something as I replied to Misaki. There was the seed that was all that remained of the Vine Puppeteer. I needed to go to the Monster Ranch and make a contract with it. Its abilities could be very useful simply because they were so dangerous. “Anyway, we need to be on guard if these Thunder Heads are a monster that can hunt Aero Wolves. Let’s stay focused.”

♦Current Status♦

Oh… Was everyone tired after this much seeking? I’ll need to activate Recovery Support regularly since we’re in for the long haul now.

I’d also used Morale Support a few times, which left everyone needing forty more morale points before they could use their Morale Discharge. I’d keep using it every time I could while I prepared for the night, and everyone readied the camps so that Misaki could use her Fortune Roll.

Part IV: Silvanus the Enchanter’s Messenger

The darkness of night was about to fall as we finished setting up the three tents. In the past, there had apparently been someone who’d chosen Camper as their job, and they developed and started selling camping equipment for use in the labyrinth. That equipment was quite popular and available in most places. Cotton Ball fur was fairly similar to cotton, which made it the perfect material to use for a tent. That was one of the reasons why the prices of their fur remained so stagnant.

Some of the party members were on watch while the rest of us set up the tents. During their watch, they killed six Aero Wolves, and I was able to support them because my rearguard skills worked at a distance, as long as their backs were to me. Ibuki was helping me set up the tent, though I did make her worry that my back hurt if I sat down too long. After all, I kept getting up to move and make sure I was still facing toward the party members who were fighting.

I’d become much more physically fit ever since getting reincarnated. Sitting too much didn’t make my joints hurt, nor did it make my back stiff. I actually couldn’t help having a bit of fun setting up the camp. A long time ago, I’d go on camp outings with the other kids from the orphanage, where I learned how to pitch a tent, but I had to admit that the details had gotten fuzzy since. Thankfully, this camping equipment came with directions, and I slowly started to remember how to do it, so we didn’t run into any problems.

“I was right to start calling you Teacher… I’ve never put a tent together before. I was worried I couldn’t do it,” said Ibuki.

“I was worried I couldn’t, either. It’s been a long time since I’ve put a tent together. I’m glad we could buy such handy camping equipment.”

“Ibuki, you’re strong so you could help set it up. I’m not… I wasn’t really useful,” said Anna, moping. Because she could attack from far away, she was keeping an eye on the surroundings to make sure no enemies came near. Certainly, she had been plenty helpful.

“Anna, you kept that monster at a distance with your serve earlier. You’re helping out a lot. We might be used to fighting Aero Wolves now, but they’re still dangerous if they can close in,” I said.

“I can’t attack from over here, and I didn’t even see them coming because I was too busy doing this. You saved us. Thank you, Anna,” said Ibuki.

“…I—I wasn’t trying to fish for compliments or anything. You two are too nice.”

Ibuki beamed as Anna blushed. Good to see they got along so well.

“Right, next, we can set the trap… Anna, would you mind letting my party set one of them? We might have a way of making it almost certain to succeed,” I said.

“Oh… Do you have someone in the party with good trap-setting skills?”

“Well, Theresia seems like she’d be pretty good at it, but she’s not specialized in that sort of thing. We can, though, combine some of our skills and improve the probability it’ll work.”

“S-so like a combo? Combos are great… It’s a bit embarrassing to admit it, but I feel a rush of adrenaline when I can do that with the others,” said Ibuki. She seemed like the kind of person who got pumped up from battle. She was a Karate Master, after all, but the fact that she used the word combo made it sound like she also enjoyed fighting games.

“Combos with Kaede as the lead attacker are sort of our bread and butter,” said Anna.

“And we’re lucky to have Elitia with us. Though, depending on the party, we could have someone defend against attacks, then we counterattack.”

“I’m the receiver in our party… Oh, not that kind of receiving. I mean that I have a Counter skill as a Karate Master.”

So Ibuki was their receiver… Though, that wasn’t something I should really say about a girl more than ten years younger than me. I wouldn’t have guessed she’d have known about the other kind she was talking about.

“Haaah… Ibuki, you can be such a blabbermouth sometimes. One of these days, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“I’m n-not a blabbermouth! Anna, you’re embarrassing me in front of Arihito!”

“Look, my job’s all about standing in the back and supporting everyone passively, so I guess I’m a receiving type, too,” I said.

“…Um, a-are you sure you’re not the more dominant type?” asked Ibuki. “That’s what I’d expect from a mysterious man like you, Teacher…”

I tried to help smooth things out, but instead, it came back to bite me. Anna’s face was as red as if Ibuki had addressed the question to her instead. I had no idea how to respond.

“Sheesh, Ibuki, you put Arihito in a real tough spot there,” Kaede said. “Don’t go secretly fantasizing about stuff like that.”

“Ah, K-Kaede, you’re finished…”

“Arihito did such a great job putting up our tent that I wanted to ask him about his hobbies. He got the whole thing done so quickly.”

“Thanks for your help, Atobe. Sorry you had to put up our tent, too,” said Ryouko.

“No, thank you for your help. We only managed it because we gave everyone their own responsibilities. Since the four of you are here, would you like to go in and test it out? I’ll fix it if needed.”

If we’d made any mistakes in how we set it up, that would definitely cause problems. They all went inside but didn’t come back out. They stayed in there chattering away, which must have meant there were no issues.

“Ooh, it’s super comfy… Arihito, you wanna come in here, too, while you’ve got the chance?” asked Kaede. “You’re the one who put it up, so it might be a good idea for you to double-check it.”

“Um, Kaede… It’ll be far too cramped in here if he comes in, too,” said Ibuki.

“That makes it even more fun,” said Anna. “We’ll need to huddle together for warmth in the cold nights.”

“I-I’m not so sure about that… The only change of clothes I have is something really thin. That’s not something I can let him see, even inside a tent,” said Ryouko.

“It’s not nighttime right now—just let him come in for a little bit. Though, he does look really embarrassed about the idea. He’s so proper.”

I felt pretty uncomfortable since they were talking about me, so I turned my attention to the other members of my party. I wasn’t really trying to be proper; I just felt like if I did go into that tent, we’d lose our focus.

“Arihito, thank you for the help even though you were so far away,” said Suzuna.

“Your skills have a long range… If the only requirement is that you’re behind us, the range might even be unlimited,” said Elitia.

“It seems I can use them as long as I can see you.” And thanks to Hawk Eyes, I could see quite far, although not all the way to the edges of the labyrinth, of course.

My rearguard job wasn’t the same as other jobs that were usually in the rearguard position. Mine was related to everything about being “behind” others. I even had a skill called Rear Stance that positioned me behind the target.

“It feels good knowing that even if we’re separated and doing different things, we’ll still get the benefits of your skills,” said Igarashi.

“I know, riiiight? It’s really comforting. Instead of a guardian angel or something, it’s like I can always feel him behind me, protecting me,” said Misaki.

“Woof!”

Since I used my support skills on Cion as well, her Trust Levels toward me were gradually increasing. She came over to me without my beckoning her, and she sat down, her tail wagging back and forth. I scratched her chin, and she closed her eyes happily.

“…You’re lucky, Cion,” said Madoka.

“If you want some scratches, I’m sure Arihito will do it if you ask,” said Melissa.

“Ah… N-no, I’m all right. Cion just looks like she likes it so much that she’s about to fall asleep, so I thought Arihito must be good at petting her… I w-wish I was as good at it as he is…”

“Want to try petting Cion, too, Madoka? …Whoa, hey, are you getting attached to me, Cion?” I said. She was starting to sniff my shoes and nip at them. There wasn’t actually anything wrong with her growing fond of me, but I was starting to feel Igarashi’s jealous glare burning into me.

“Arihito, should we set the traps soon? We won’t be able to see what we’re doing once it gets dark,” suggested Elitia.

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, let’s go work on the one in front of the spring.”

I called out to the four people still in the tent and got one of the traps from Anna, when she came out. I had Theresia set the trap so that it was hidden in the grass in front of the spring. But before that:

“Don’t forget the important part I play! …Morale Discharge, Fortune Roll!”

Misaki kept her voice down as she activated her Morale Discharge. Everyone stood watching with bated breath as Theresia set up the trap’s cage.

“……”

♦Current Status♦

The moment Theresia finished with the trap, her entire body began to glow faintly—along with the trap itself.

“What…? Theresia, do you feel like anything changed?” asked Misaki, but Theresia just looked confused. She seemed to think she had set the trap normally, but it appeared different somehow from our perspective.

“…Looks like it’ll be pretty reliable. Something about the way this trap was set seems different from usual,” said Elitia.

“Um, ummm, Arihito, what was that thing Misaki just did…?” asked Madoka.

“It was her Morale Discharge. I think Melissa should be able to use hers now, too. You should be able to also if I raise your morale. I don’t know if your Morale Discharges are battle-oriented, but they could come in handy. Just hold on to it for now, though.”

“Okay. If I haven’t used it by the time we leave the labyrinth, I’ll test it then…,” said Melissa.

“That’s perfectly fine. I’m interested to see what it does.”

If Cion had a Morale Discharge, too, I’d like to see what that entailed. If I could, I should also try to raise Four Seasons’s morale using Outside Assist, but we didn’t have a limitless supply of magic potions, so I decided to hold off on that.

It took quite a while to recover magic if you didn’t use potions. I could recover as much as necessary with the Charge Assist and Energy Sync combo, but that wasn’t something I could do at any time.

“All right… Should we start getting dinner ready? The camping equipment came with some cooking tools, so should we use those?” asked Igarashi.

“Yes. Since we’re here, I’d like to try out what kind of food we can eat while camping,” I said.

“Arihito, where should we do the cooking?” asked Madoka.

We’d have to choose a safe location since we’d be building a fire. The white, sandy beach by the spring would be a good spot, but it would defeat the purpose of setting the traps if we made our presence known.

“How about on the other side of those trees?” I suggested. “If we do it too close to the traps, the monsters will be on guard and won’t come near.”

Between camping and trapping monsters, our current strategy was full of new experiences. And since we’d likely be using these experiences later on, I wanted this all to succeed.

The portable stove we had was forged by blacksmiths, who used ores found in the labyrinths. It even folded flat, which made setup a cinch. The Labyrinth Country streets looked like something you might see in medieval Europe, but the quality of life was much higher thanks to magic stones and tools, as well as technologies that various reincarnates had developed. As a result, certain areas were surprisingly advanced, particularly camping equipment since almost all Seekers had to use it.

We’d found some form of solid fuel to use for the fire. Apparently, it wasn’t that difficult to make and could be created from materials found in the labyrinths.

“Ahhh, it’s been ages since I last felt like this! A nice li’l fire for one person, a li’l pot with meat sizzling away…”

“This world has camping kits, too…and rice.”

Misaki and Suzuna were chatting happily away as they waited for the food to cook. It’d gotten quite dark, so I was holding my slingshot and keeping an eye out while the meal was being prepared. Cion and Theresia were also on watch since they had a wide scouting range. Every once in a while, an Aero Wolf would show itself in the distance, but there weren’t any signs of anything else coming closer. But we still had to remain vigilant.

If there was some way we could camp safely without having to worry about enemies appearing, then we could really enjoy this whole experience. Can’t exactly do that in our current situation.

“……”

“Oh, looks like food’s gonna be ready soon. Theresia, you can take a short break from keeping watch. Go on.”

Theresia was looking at me, so I waved her over. She walked toward me, staring at me like she was wondering what I’d do.

“I’ll stay on watch for a bit. We can swap once you’re done eating.”

“……”

Theresia shook her head, but I could hear a small growl from her stomach. She must be pretty hungry.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine; I have some jerky. I should’ve given you some, though… Oh, uh, I see you already have some.”

“……”

Theresia pulled some jerky out from inside her bodysuit—quite a weird place. She had slipped her hand in through the slit in the bodysuit that ran from her chest to her abdomen, which shocked me a bit. She held the jerky she pulled out toward me. I was actually quite moved that she would offer me food, since her own stomach was like a bottomless pit. But I guess I was reading into things too much.

“Are you sure? I could hold on to it for later…”

“……”

“O-okay. Thank you, Theresia.”

Her expressions really never changed. Her mouth, which was the only part of her face visible from under the mask, almost always stayed a straight line. That’s why I assumed it was just a trick of the imagination that I thought her footsteps were lighter as she walked toward the others.

Er…this jerky is a little warm…

I considered saving it instead of eating it, but I saw Theresia turn back to look at me. I felt like she was silently urging me, so I opened the wrapper and started gnawing on the jerky. It was pretty chewy meat, but being warm made it slightly easier to eat. Cion came back, and she looked like she wanted to eat some, so I gave her the jerky I’d had originally. I honestly didn’t know if that was what Theresia would want me to do, but I at least wanted to eat the portion she gave me.

“Awoo…”

“What’s wrong, Cion?”

The sky had started looking more and more menacing since the sun had set. It was overcast, and the only light available was from a lantern sitting near the stove.

Thunder Head… So lightning sheep. Could be quite dangerous if they appear along with thunderclouds.

I didn’t see any lightning yet, but I was starting to worry about the weather, what with all the black clouds that were starting to appear. It wasn’t raining, and I hoped it’d stay that way.

“…Woof!”

Cion had been resting her head on my boots, but she suddenly looked behind her and let out a bark. I glanced over, wondering what was going on…when I saw a few people watching us and trying to hide amid the darkness. I could hear panicked cries of “They saw us!” and “Crap, what do we do?!”

They looked like Seekers who were trying to go after someone else’s trapped game and steal the profits. But if they’d managed to make it up to District Seven, they should be able to get by without resorting to such lowly tactics. Anyway, I couldn’t just leave them, so I took Cion along as I went over to investigate.

We headed toward a hill a little way off from the spring, where the three Seekers revealed themselves as we came up—perhaps we’d been slow to approach. They were wearing strange suits with bits of grass glued all over them in an attempt to blend seamlessly into the environment, like ghillie suits. All three Seekers were men of average height and build, ranging in age from their midtwenties to their thirties. They seemed on edge, but they didn’t run away.

“Uh… So what exactly are you all doing?” I asked.

“Hmm… Eh, guess we can just tell him. Right, guys? We’re only here on orders anyway…” A bearded man who seemed to be the leader of the three asked his companions for their opinion. The weapons they carried between them were a machete, a bow gun, and thin spears for throwing—needless to say, they’d obviously come here to hunt monsters.

“We’re members of Beyond Liberty. We’re supposed to be tailing you.”

“Whoa… H-hold up, you sure it’s all right to tell this guy? If Gray gets wind of this…”

“There’s not an idiot in this world who’d believe we just happened to find a monster stuck in a trap, and we just happened to hunt it… Either way, we’re the bad guys at this point. I’d rather negotiate a bit so we don’t rack up any karma.”

There was the kind of burly guy with a beard, a slim man holding a pair of binoculars, and an incredibly calm man wearing a helmet that looked like a camo-colored biker’s helmet—the last one gave me the impression that he was the brains of the party.

“So you’re trying to take advantage of our traps? See, I’d rather avoid having you guys get in our way.”

“Urgh… That stings, man. But we’ve got no choice. If the higher-ups tell us to jump, we just ask ’em how high.”

“Could you at least show us what kind of monster you end up catching? I know Seekers try to avoid information leaks as much as possible, but…”

“N-no way he’s gonna agree to that… It’s way too convenient… You think so, too, right?” the slim man asked me, albeit without using his bow gun to threaten me.

I didn’t actually sense any hostility from these guys, but at this point, I really didn’t want any information getting back to Gray. There wasn’t exactly anything against us just running into each other on this floor, though. If I tried to chase them out, it’d probably be considered putting a fellow Seeker in further danger, and my karma would go up.

“Grrrrr…”

“S-see? Even the giant dog is mad…”

“Don’t worry; Cion only does what I say, so you don’t need to be afraid of her. Look, I understand your situation…and if you’re just going to observe us, then I can’t really stop you.”

“O-oh… And here I was prepared for you to tell us to get the hell out. But in this case…” The bearded man seemed relieved, but I wanted to push one point.

“If possible, could you just report that things didn’t go well for us?” I asked. “You don’t necessarily have to report the correct information, yes?”

“…Got it. I don’t think it’s right to rat you guys out anyway. Thanks for letting this whole thing slide.”

“W-wow… Someone who’ll listen to reason. You’re a good guy; it’s plain as day.”

“Hey, hey… Sorry about him—he can be kinda glib. Anyway, we swear we won’t get in your way. And if we do, you’re free to retaliate against us for breaking the contract, and we’ll be the ones to take the fall.” The bearded man did something on his license, and it showed this display:

♦Interparty Pact♦

“Huh? You lot don’t have a party name yet… Us guys, we’ve just been working under the name Triceratops for now.”

“I’ve been considering picking a name one of these days. Do you use Triceratops because you’ve got three members?”

“Yeah. We’ve been wondering what we’re gonna do if we ever get four or more members. I dunno if this means anything coming from us, but you should be careful of Gray from Beyond Liberty. But you didn’t hear that from me.” Apparently, being a member of Beyond Liberty didn’t mean that the organization was completely unified.

“…Oh, also—since I’ve got a lot of girls in my party, could you let me hold on to those binoculars for now?” I asked.

“Huh? Wh-wh-what’re you talking about?! I’m no Peeping Tom!”

“Hey, Arihito’s concerns are more important. We’ll let him take them as proof that we mean to keep our word.”

“S-sure, I guess that makes some sense… But they’re valuable, so don’t go breaking ’em, okay?”

♦Owl Scope♦

Are they like thermal imaging goggles…? How do you use them…?

You could set the scope up on a stand and use it while it sat on the ground, in which case, you’d have to lie on your stomach to operate it. But doing so would leave both your hands open to fire a long-range weapon while you used the scope to aim.

“We’re good as long as you just let us watch. Be careful,” said one of the men.

“Saying it like that makes me feel strange… You be careful as well.”

The Triceratops members seemed to be struggling against the hierarchy of Beyond Liberty. Even so, I couldn’t completely let down my guard with them. With my Hawk Eyes and this newly obtained Owl Scope, it wasn’t likely they’d be able to escape my observation.

By the time I got back to the camp, everyone had divided the wonderful-smelling food onto individual plates.

“Ooooh… Campfire rice! Arihito, look at this steam! No need for a humidifier!” cried Misaki.

“I doubt this kind of steam has the effect you’re looking for…but anyway, this looks delicious.”

Melissa was stirring a pot that was on the camping stove. Inside the pot was some sort of bubbling stew.

…Wait. I know exactly what this is!

“…You used the meat and vegetables you bought this morning to make…curry?”

Apparently, there were spice mixes sold at the market in District Seven, and she was able to use those to make something that was very close to, if not exactly like, curry. The spices in the mix were limited to what was found in the labyrinths, meaning it wasn’t quite the curry that I missed so much, but the aroma was very similar.

“Melissa said she heard about curry from her dad and made it once before,” said Misaki.

“It’s different from the curry we used to make at home, but it tastes very nice. Have some, Arihito,” said Suzuna as she offered me a plate.

“Oh, thanks.”

I’d feel bad for the Triceratops guys if they’d seen this through the binoculars.

A number of trees in the area had been chopped down, which left behind stumps that worked as convenient chairs. I sat on one and took a bite of the curry. The savory flavors of the meat and vegetables blended together, and it had a little heat that intensified as you ate. It made me realize how hungry I was, and it tasted so good that I didn’t want the meal to end.

Madoka brought some water over to me and smiled as she watched me eat wholeheartedly. She had already finished her food.

“Melissa’s curry is so good, isn’t it? I pretty much gobbled it up, too.”

“I can’t believe we get to eat real food like this. It’s all thanks to you, Madoka, for carrying all the equipment.”

“Oh, n-no, that’s not true… I mean, that’s about all I can really do anyway…”

Madoka didn’t think she contributed much to the party, but she was working so hard. I should let her know that whenever I did see her trying her best. It might embarrass her, but there were a lot of things I couldn’t express if I never put them into words.

“You’ve been a huge help ever since you joined the party. Let’s both keep up the good work.”

“Ah… O-okay!”

She was young enough to be my little sister, or maybe even my daughter if I was really pushing it. Either way, I was the leader and needed to be fair with all the party members, regardless of their ages.

“……”

“Ah… T-Theresia. You surprised me since you don’t make any sound when you walk.”

“Theresia really seemed to enjoy the curry, but…she got really red when she ate it!”

The spicy curry might have made her body temperature rise… But if she wanted to eat it, well, there was no stopping her. I went to go get her some water since there was so much available drinking water nearby.

After we finished eating, we went to the three tents in the groups we decided before. I put Madoka in our party for the time being and raised her morale with Morale Support 1 as I sat outside the tent using the Owl Scope to keep an eye on the trap in front of the spring. But I didn’t see any signs of monsters in it.

No point in trapping something only for it to get away… But thanks to that curry, I don’t feel too tired.

I hadn’t checked my license, but since Melissa had Cooking 1 and she was the one who made the curry, eating it should have given some additional effect. I did notice that my body felt warmer than usual, yet my mind felt clear, which was good. I moved the scope to look at the trap set on the east side of the spring.

“What?!”

What I saw there was something that quite simply shouldn’t be happening. One of the other tents was set up on the east side of the spring as well, where it wasn’t visible from the trap. Ryouko should have been near that tent, but instead, she was headed toward the spring. There was clearly something strange about how she was walking. She was wobbling and walking like something was drawing her forward—up ahead, where she had her gaze focused, was a bouncing Stray Sheep.

“Arihito, it’s time to change watch—”

“Elitia, something’s wrong with Ryouko!”

“What…?!” Elitia readied her sword and stood on the edge of the cliffs. She couldn’t decide what to do right away and turned back to look at me for instruction with desperation on her face.

“I’ll shoot that Stray Sheep and stop it in its tracks! Elitia, Theresia, you two go down the cliff to see what’s going on! Madoka, use your Hide skill and wait to come out until it’s safe!”

“Got it!”

“…!”

“O-okay!”

I removed Madoka from the party since she wasn’t needed for battle and restructured the group to include seven people and one dog. I then retrieved my Black Magical Slingshot and peered through the Owl Scope, which was set up on the ground, to take aim.

“This better not miss!”

♦Current Status♦

“BAAAAH…!”

I put everything I had into shooting the magical bullet, which struck the sheep—but the next moment, it let out a cry, and its entire body released a flash of light, blinding me for a brief moment. However, I could still see Ryouko’s heat signature in the Owl Scope as she continued to walk toward the spring. I suddenly realized where she was headed—she was trying to get herself caught in the trap.

Misaki’s Fortune Roll didn’t work… No, this is something else; something I wasn’t expecting!

We had to stop Ryouko somehow before she reached that trap. I couldn’t stop her by attacking her…which left only one option.

“I need to hurry!”

♦Current Status♦

The sheep was still emitting its flash of light when I teleported behind Ryouko and grappled her.

“Ryouko, snap out of it!”

“…Wh-what…? Why am I—?”

I managed to stop her with not much time to spare, and she finally returned to her senses. There was no longer any danger of her walking off like she was being controlled, but that didn’t mean the situation was entirely positive. Quite the opposite, actually. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the roar of thunder as if it was responding to the flare that the Stray Sheep let out with its dying breath.

♦Current Status♦

“GROOOOAH!”

“GYAAAA!”

Three bolts of lightning raced across the sky. One struck to the east, and one to the west of the spring—near the traps and lightning rods we’d set up. The last bolt came down right in front of us, crashing into the spring. The electricity ran across the water’s surface, then there was a moment of stillness. The ground began to tremble. Something appeared in the center of the spring, where there hadn’t been anything before—the top half of a massive body burst from the surface.

“Whoooooa, wh-what the hell is that thing?!”

I heard the cry of the Triceratops’s leader; they had continued to monitor us. I was just as confused, but the sound of his voice actually brought me down to reality. If we just killed the Thunder Heads and ran, someone would try to hunt the sheep in the same way, and someday, they could run into this monster. But we didn’t have any obligation to fight this thing. We didn’t have to risk anything, but the rewards for hunting a Named Monster were high, and we could get things we couldn’t obtain otherwise.

“A-Atobe… This creature is a higher level than the Paradox Beetle from before. Even one level difference in Named Monsters means a huge difference in strength…,” cautioned Ryouko.

“No doubt about it… Named Monsters are in a completely different league from normal monsters of the same level. If we’re gonna run for it, we should get out before anything gets started… But we’ve come this far. I want to do what we can.”

“…Yes, you’re right. If we run now, then we’ll have no choice but to do the same when we encounter an even stronger monster. And before long, we’d just end up stuck in one place.”

“Ryouko, you can use water spells, right? That’d probably work against this enemy, but be careful you don’t get yourself electrocuted.”

Ryouko nodded and turned to her companions, who’d come out of the tent looking concerned. Even so, the three of them took their positions to fight and moved to where I could support them.

Igarashi and the others had already fallen into battle formation. They were in the west, facing off against the Thunder Head that appeared there. In the east were the other three members of Four Seasons, and then Elitia and Theresia arrived to join me and Ryouko.

“If only we could focus on one at a time, this would be much easier…but I don’t think we’ll be able to manage that,” said Elitia.

Masses of Stray Sheep that had been lurking in the fields had appeared and were gathering onto the monster that appeared in the water. The Stray Sheep were either pieces of that creature or younger versions that were scattered throughout the labyrinth floor to bait Seekers. Their fluffy bodies covered the beast, whose head was that of a demonic-looking sheep. It was so massive that I had to crane my neck up to see all of it. It was about as big as the Giant Eagle-Headed Warrior, and the oppressive bloodthirst I sensed coming from its entire body was utterly supernatural.

♦Monsters Encountered♦

“…OOOUGHHH… OOOUUGH…”

The beast let out a sound, not quite a voice, which was hard to believe came from a living creature as it lifted itself from the spring and began taking step after step.

“Elitia, can you keep this thing’s attacks from hitting us by drawing it away?”

“Yeah, leave it to me. Theresia and I will get some quick strikes in.”

“……”

Theresia readied her targe and throwing dirks. Elitia drew her sword and stepped to the front while the other parties were engaging in battle.

“—I’ll crush you to pieces!”

Elitia wasn’t going to let Silvanus’s Messenger beat her when it came to bloodcurdling fierceness in battle.

“Elitia, I’ll support you!”

“…OOOUUUGGH… OOOOUUGGGHH!”

Silvanus’s Messenger raised one of its gigantic, wool-covered arms. Lightning crackled from the arm before suddenly turning black.

“—Elitia, don’t get in too deep just yet!”

“…!!”

♦Current Status♦

Elitia leaped up, kicking sand back, and sliced the beast…only to hit two of the Stray Sheep stuck to the Messenger’s surface. It didn’t strike its main body, and it didn’t have any effect against it. The Messenger swung its black-lightning-covered fist toward Elitia, but—

“Agh!”

“…!”

“Elitia!”

Theresia threw her dirks, and Ryouko attacked using a dolphin she formed out of the spring’s water.

♦Current Status♦

“—OOOOUUGGHH!”

Theresia’s dirks didn’t make it through to the enemy’s body. Ryouko’s magic attack didn’t have the support damage with it, but it seemed to have some effect on the creature.

But that didn’t stop the Messenger’s fist. It continued with fierce tenacity toward Elitia, and it was about to find its mark, when—

“Stoooooop!”

♦Current Status♦

“OOOUUUGH!!”

“—Aaaaah!”

My magical bullet struck its face, throwing its fist off track ever so slightly. Elitia used that moment to activate a skill in midair and managed to evade the attack. Even though she did manage to dodge the fist itself, the lightning it was surrounded by must target an area, because she let out a screech of pain.

“I’m okay… This isn’t enough…to stop me!” said Elitia, but my heart sank when I looked at my license. Her vitality had dropped by almost a quarter with one hit. “Our attacks will work if we can just manage to hit its actual body… Arihito, I’ll cut off as many Stray Sheep as I can!”

“…Okay!”

She hadn’t lost her fighting spirit, and she was right. There was an incredibly large amount of Stray Sheep, but they weren’t infinite.

Silvanus’s Messenger had remained expressionless until that moment. I clearly saw the corners of its mouth curl up in a smile—almost like it was sneering at our very hopes.

Part V: Kyouka’s Perspective

Atobe and the others were facing off against the massive creature that had emerged from the spring. Our group was on the west side of the spring, where we’d set up our tent, when a bolt of lightning had struck the lightning rod near the trap we’d been monitoring. We guessed that was probably a monster and immediately got ready for a fight.

“Grrrrrr…”

“Wait, Cion… Don’t attack yet. You might get electrocuted if you go too close.”

The monster had fluffy fur and curled horns on its head. It looked like a massive Stray Sheep. Its face wasn’t scary like a Cotton Ball’s, but there was definitely hostility in its black eyes.

“…GIII…”

The Thunder Head almost smiled, baring rows of neatly lined teeth—and those teeth were definitely not meant for chewing grass. This was the face of a carnivorous beast that was going to try and devour us.

“Uuurgh… I can probably throw my dice at it from a distance…,” said Misaki.

“Kyouka, let’s reposition ourselves so that Arihito’s at our back,” suggested Suzuna.

“Yeah, good point… We need to make sure it doesn’t go for him, either…”

There was still electricity crackling around the Thunder Head’s body, but it didn’t try to stop us from moving. We cautiously adjusted our position like Suzuna recommended, and while we were doing that—

“—Aaaaah!”

“Ellie!”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the Thunder Head, but I guessed what happened from Suzuna’s cry. Ellie had just taken a hit from that huge creature. But then, I heard her speak again.

“I’m okay… This isn’t enough…to stop me!”

She’d managed to shout out to us despite having taken damage, probably in part to make sure we didn’t worry too much.

“We need to beat this monster as fast as possible and then back up Atobe and the others!” I said.

“A-all right… Here I go! Arihito, I need your help!” called Suzuna with a note of tension in her voice. She put her trust in Atobe, who was at our backs. The next moment, I could practically feel him right behind Suzuna, fighting with her.

♦Current Status♦

“BAAAH!”

Both of Suzuna’s shots hit. When the second shot struck, the lightning surrounding the Thunder Head’s body dissipated.

Incredible… Atobe used such helpful effects along with Suzuna’s attacks!

But while he was supporting us over here, he still needed to support Ellie and Theresia as they stood against the giant monster over there. He’d always been good at juggling multiple tasks back when we worked together. No matter what project I asked him about, he’d know what was happening and be able to give me the right information. I accidentally ended up relying on him…and I still felt bad about it now when I remembered it.

But now, as a member of Atobe’s party, I would do what I could—whatever I had to do—so that I could fulfill my role. I would fight with everything I had so that we could all move forward.

“Cion, let’s attack together!”

“Awooo!”

I brandished my cross spear and faced the Thunder Head. I wasn’t going to let this chance go now that Suzuna’s arrow had dispersed the lightning surrounding the enemy. Ever since I learned Wolf Pack, I’d been able to run so fast that I could hardly believe it was my own legs carrying me.

“—Hyaaaaa!”

♦Current Status♦

“—BAAAAAAAH!!”

My spear attack definitely did something, but the Thunder Head didn’t flinch when Cion struck it with her Heat Claw. Lightning once again started flickering across the Thunder Head’s body.

…Wh-what…what just happened…?!

“—Igarashi! Tell Cion to use her normal attack!” came Atobe’s voice. “That thing must have an ability that lets it turn heat into electricity!” Whatever he was doing was outside the range of my license and didn’t show on the display, but he was still observing everything that was going on.

“—GIIIII!!”

An electrical current ran between the two horns on the Thunder Head’s head, but it didn’t use it for an attack. My best guess was that it didn’t have enough electricity for an attack at only “charge level 1.” But there was a chance that I’d get electrocuted if I attacked it with my spear. My Thunderbolt would almost certainly have the opposite effect from what I wanted, meaning I couldn’t use it. I could risk ending it right away if I used my new Ambivalenz…but I would take damage when I attacked. I had no idea if I could survive both that and potentially getting electrocuted.

“Kyouka, let me go again. I’ll fire another arrow with Arihito’s support!”

“M-me too…! This doesn’t always work, but here goes Lucky Seven!”

♦Current Status♦

“Awww, a consolation prize… Oh no, am I having an unlucky day?!”

“No, you’re not! We can do this… Atobe, support Suzuna with Stun again! It should discharge the enemy’s electricity!”

“—Kyouka, look out!”

Right when I was starting to feel like we’d found a way through this, I saw something I never could have imagined.

“—!”

“Melissa?!”

Melissa had been watching the Thunder Head’s movements, but she suddenly brandished her large butcher’s knife and swung it at me. I was caught completely off guard by the attack, but I had my special move, Mirage Step, for moments like this.

I activated it, evading Melissa. The next moment, I heard the swish of air as the butcher’s knife swung past me and gouged into the earth. She wouldn’t do something like that without good reason.

Wait… I’ve been hearing a strange noise for a bit now. Is that giant monster…singing…?

“Everyone, cover your ears! Don’t listen to that sound!” Atobe shouted in desperation, but I couldn’t react in time. I’d already heard quite a bit of it.

I understood what had happened when I looked back through my license. I understood why Melissa had attacked me.

♦Current Status♦

“Horn of Pleasure”… Is that monster something like the natural enemy of female Seekers…? But why were only some of us affected? …Is it not guaranteed to work…?

“Huh, th-this sound kinda feels nice… Ah, is that what got to Melissa…?” asked Misaki.

“Melissa, please snap out of it! …Be cleansed! Be purified!”

♦Current Status♦

“Ah… What…am I…?”

“Good job, Suzu! Whew, what a relief! I reeeally didn’t wanna have to attack a friend!”

“I’m so sorry… I’ve caused you all this trouble…”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” I reassured Melissa. “I don’t know why, but that sound didn’t work on all of us, and that seems to have confused the enemy… Now’s our chance!”

“Woof!”

The Thunder Head seemed to think that the sound that Silvanus the Enchanter’s Messenger made should have been guaranteed to be effective. But for some reason, it hadn’t worked on us, and the enemy couldn’t make its next move.

“BAAH… BAAAAAAH…”

“It sounds kind of cute… Sorry. I have to defeat you and help my leader out,” I said.

“—BAAAAH!”

The Thunder Head tried to use the electricity gathered between its horns to attack, but by then, Suzuna had already activated Auto-Hit a second time and nocked an arrow in her bow.

Part VI: Arihito’s Perspective

Silvanus’s Messenger grinned, and a strange sound filled the air. It settled deep in my brain and gave me an indescribably unpleasant feeling.

“What is…this sound…? It’s so sweet…and vile…”

“……”

Elitia, Theresia, and I heard the Messenger’s sound and felt only slightly uneasy—but once I checked the display on my license, I felt another shiver run up my spine.

This ability… Oh—so that’s why we didn’t see it before!

I realized now that this sound might be what had lured Ryouko toward the spring earlier, when she was walking strangely and staring at the water.

♦Current Status♦

“Ah…”

Nearby, Ryouko’s body jerked strangely. She walked in my direction, her expression vacant as she tried to activate a skill to use against me.

“Ryouko—!”

“Arihito, Theresia, you guys take care of her! You have to stop her somehow!” called Elitia.

Stop her…? It’s not like I’ve got the cure for this sort of thing in my pocket. I could Stun her… No, I’ll only attack an ally as an absolute last resort. But what should I do…? Think, Arihito, think…

“—Haaaaaah!”

♦Current Status♦

I moved around to Ryouko’s rear and grappled her, just as I’d done before, in hopes I could get the same strategy to work twice.

“Ah…”

“I’m sorry… This is all I can do…!”

I was feeling the drain from using Rear Stance so much, but it was the only way I could think of to get her back to herself.

“—Ryouko, snap out of it!”

♦Current Status♦

“Urgh… Gahhh…!!”

Ryouko was far stronger than I could have ever guessed from her normally measured movements, and she tried to break from my grip. I was certain that Charmed people would attack their own companions.

I won’t lose…a single person!

Ryouko stopped struggling for just a moment. Even though she was training her body every day, she likely couldn’t keep up such violent movements for too long. I took advantage of the opportunity to call to her.

“—Pull it together, Ryouko! You’re stronger than this!”

♦Current Status♦

There were some status ailments that people could use morale to recover from. It was a gamble that Charm was one of them, but it looked like my hunch was right.

“Ah… Huff, huff… Atobe, I’m sorry again…”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it… The other Charmed people are still in danger!”

I didn’t have time to explain how Charm worked to Ryouko. I checked my license and saw that Suzuna had used Purification in order to safely get rid of the status affliction without expending any morale.

“—OUUGHHH… OOOUUGHHH!”

“Arihito, watch out for stray attacks! It’s about to launch something!” warned Elitia.

The Messenger hadn’t done anything for a moment after activating Horn of Pleasure. There was no longer a smile on its face, perhaps because the number of people it managed to Charm was fewer than it’d expected.

“What…is that…?”

“The Stray Sheep are being killed by the big monster’s lightning… No, wait… It’s one of its attacks…”

The black lightning that danced across the surface of the Messenger’s body coated a number of the Stray Sheep, turning them into balls of black lightning… And then:

“—OOOOOUUUGGGHHH!”

♦Current Status♦

Those level-1 Stray Sheep…it’s going to use them as weapons!

I understood it instinctually before I had time to even think about it: Those four black balls of lightning were meant to decimate the four of us. Those cute Stray Sheep that had bounded through the plains were now horrifying tools of destruction—and they were aiming for us under the Messenger’s command. It would be impossible to dodge, assuming they were still living creatures with intelligence despite having been turned into Darkness Blitzes.

Can we take the hit with Defense Support 1…? No, too risky. We don’t have someone with impenetrable defenses in the party like Seraphina…but we have something else!

Ariadne, I need your help!

“I, Ariadne, grant my devotee and his allies my protection!”

♦Current Status♦

“Wha…?!”

As I’d anticipated, the Messenger launched off the Darkness Blitzes, which acted like guided missiles. The moment before they would have struck us, the Blitzes crashed into Ariadne’s Guard Arm, which released a shower of sparks as it short-circuited.

“Magical lightning… As a Mechanical God lacking the proper defenses, I am unable to maintain my circuitry. Forty-five seconds remain until automatic repairs are complete and Guard Arm is once again ready for use.”

“It’s okay, you saved us… We’ll take care of the rest. But we might need your help again in another thirty seconds…”

“…Murakumo’s…Self-Defense Mechanism will not activate unless the situation is dire…but if you desperately need her…she will respond to my devotees…”

Ariadne’s voice became distant. We’d have to survive somehow until we could use her Guard Arm again, which had become a sort of trump card for us.

“Elitia, Theresia, I need you to buy us time!”

“All right! Haaaah!”

“…!”

Theresia used her heat stone to activate Mirage and lure the Messenger’s attacks. Elitia evaded, then tried to attack its head, which had become almost completely bare.

“—OOUUUGHHH!”

“I’ll cut you to pieces!”

♦Current Status♦

“Did she get it?!”

The increased number of attacks the Dexterity Gauntlets gave her was incredible. She sheared off the Stray Sheep that covered the Messenger’s head like they were wool.

“OOOUUGH… OUUUGH!!”

♦Current Status♦

The Messenger let out a sound different from the one before. It rippled through the air, and countless Stray Sheep appeared before enveloping the Messenger again.

“…It wasn’t even hurt…?”

How could it do something so absurd…? Actually, it’s been plenty absurd this whole time. There’s got to be a way we can survive this… There has to be!

“If that’s how it wants to play this, I’ll just keep slicing them off!”

“…!”

Elitia and Theresia went up against the Messenger again together, but the sheep-headed monster lifted its two arms, even though it shouldn’t have been able to reach that far with an attack. It was like it was calling something down from the heavens…

I could almost see it—a scene completely different from the reality currently transpiring before my very eyes: my friends lying on the ground, monsters calmly approaching them. This scene flashed across my mind without any warning.

Are we…going to…die?

Just a moment’s delay in reading the enemy’s next move could spell our end. I made two decisions: the first, to shout out, and the second…

“—Come forth, Demi-Harpies!!”

♦Current Status♦

“Arihito, what are you—?!”

“Demi-Harpies, take those three and escape to the sky! Hurry!”

“—Atobe, no! No, no, nooo!”

“—!!”

The Demi-Harpies grabbed Elitia, Ryouko, and Theresia before flying into the sky. I begged for them to get higher and higher, leaving me standing alone against Silvanus’s Messenger.

There were two Thunder Heads, one to the east and one to the west. There was a clear reason why this monster brought two of them and not three. There was a reason why there weren’t three. It was so the monsters could follow their instincts and feed on Seekers.

“—Atobe!”

“Teacher!”

I should have realized it. I should have realized that if we didn’t completely stop the three from working together—

♦Current Status♦

“GAAAAAAAAAH!!”

“…OOOOUUGHHH… OUUUGGH!”

Each of the Messenger’s black-lightning-cloaked arms took a charge from one of the Thunder Heads, increasing their power, then it brought its fists down, slamming them into the earth. The black lightning arched out in waves to damage all its enemies in the vicinity, but Elitia and the other two were out of its range.

Just in case, I used Defense Support…but…I don’t know if it’ll do anything…

The intense pain as the black lightning ran through my body was more than I could have ever imagined. It jumped from my feet to the rest of my body in a flash, tearing me apart from the inside. I felt like it was boiling my blood.

And yet, I survived. As the rearguard, I was at quite a distance from the enemy. Perhaps you could just call it luck, but I was alive. However, I couldn’t keep myself from falling to my knees. Before I collapsed, I managed a glance at each of the two other parties. They’d managed to stop the Thunder Heads that were trying to kill me.

“No… Arihito, you can’t die! You can’t!”

“These damn sheep… I won’t take it anymore! Eat thiiiiis!”

“I let it bring you down… I’m so pathetic…!”

♦Current Status♦

“Why… Why won’t it go down?!”

“Kaede, don’t give up! Let’s try again!”

“—Anna, watch out… Aaagh!”

The Thunder Head rampaged with a sweep of its horns. Ibuki couldn’t evade and let out a screech of pain.

“Arihito… Arihito, come on… Stand up—stand up and run!”

“…!!”

Elitia shouted to me, and Theresia made a face like she was silently screaming.

I should be shouting for them to run. No point in fighting if it’s just going to destroy us all.

“—And yet, you, my master, are the least likely of anyone to give in. That is what I believe.”

I heard a voice—it was Murakumo, the sword I carried on my back. I realized I was in a pitch-black space. I was still on my knees, and in front of me was Murakumo in her material form.

“…Right before organisms die, their mental processing speed and physical abilities increase greatly for a brief moment. I am using your quickened thoughts in order to speak with you,” she said.

“Am I…dying? Was that attack enough to kill me…?”

“You are the one who should know that best. All monsters are a danger to Seekers. The probability at your current strength that this particular level-seven monster would destroy you is very high.”

I chose to continue fighting because we’d been able to keep making definite steps forward, and we’d never lost to a Named Monster yet. And the result? Our attacks had no effect. The enemy kept throwing blow after powerful blow at us, and we were pushed to the edge.

“Your survival is my greatest priority. I have been analyzing the battle to see if you could strike the enemy’s weakness if you used me.”

“It might be possible if I used that skill, but…”

“You are at risk of destruction as long as the Thunder Heads remain undefeated… You should support your other companions more than you have been.”

“More than I have been… Is that possible…?”

Murakumo nodded. She came over to me, crouched, and looked at me closely.

“…You, as well as many low-ranking Seekers, do not fully understand ‘morale.’ Those who have found themselves in life-or-death moments many times naturally gain an understanding of morale…”

“Life or death… Do you mean…?”

“When they want to win, even though it means risking their life… And encouraging your companions so that you can win. The amount morale can improve your skills is quite significant. However, you seem unaware that your own morale has also increased while you were seeking in the labyrinth…”

I had had no intention of risking my life. I just wanted to prioritize protecting my friends, even though as a rearguard, I was at the back of the party. But Murakumo was right. I could see something now that I’d been pushed to the very moment before death.

“You’re saying I don’t have to give up yet? But there’s a problem first of all. I’m not sure I can even stand up.”

“That is not a problem. I will support you. And…there are many ways in which you can be healed. One of those is already in progress.”

By support, she meant literally. Murakumo, the physical embodiment of the Stellar Sword, and the one who wielded the katana, appeared behind me.

“I have gone a long time without showing my physical form, so I can maintain it now for about five minutes. You should decide quickly if you wish to retreat. Once a Named Monster has chosen its target, it will pursue it relentlessly until it is no longer on the same floor.”

“That’s scary…but I was chased enough last time—I’d rather not go through that again.”

I let Murakumo support me as I stood. I could hear my friends calling me, but I was still literally on the verge of death and couldn’t say anything loud enough to respond. The fact that we were still in a terrible situation shouldn’t have changed. But almost like we were protected by some god, hope remained in the oddest of places.

“—Morale Discharge, Item Effects!”

I heard Madoka’s voice. That was a Merchant’s Morale Discharge. Its effect was pretty similar to what you might expect from the name. A ball of light appeared before my eyes. It split into a number of shards of light, which absorbed into my body. And then—

♦Current Status♦

The Merchant’s Morale Discharge recreated the effects of the selected items and applied them to party members in the middle of battle. Apparently, she could change which item effect it was for each person, and there wasn’t even a need to actually drink a potion. Potions weren’t considered very practical for use in the middle of battle, but this compensated for that and gave us yet another trump card in our hands.

Igarashi and her group also received some potion effects.

“Pheeew, wow… Is this, like, some sorta recovery spell? Man, Madoka’s a really special girl…”

“And now…! Arihito, we can still fight!”

“Atobe, we’ll be your backup! Just hold out a little while longer!”

They’d all gotten a second wind. Elitia and the others also recovered slightly, and the Demi-Harpies came down to set them on the ground.

“……”

“Arihito, maybe this isn’t the time to tell you…but Theresia’s expression says she thinks Murakumo’s taken her place,” said Elitia.

“……”

“T-Theresia, way to put me between a rock and a hard place… Let’s talk about this later!”

I charged my slingshot with magic and let loose a magical bullet. Silvanus’s Messenger had noticed Madoka and was going for her. I was trying to get its focus back on me.

♦Current Status♦

No luck… Wait, no, it just didn’t hit its actual body. How can we make it so the Stray Sheep don’t block our attacks…?

“Arihito, I noticed something from watching it. When it’s attacked, the Stray Sheep concentrate in that area, leaving other areas with less defense…or that’s what it looks like.” The fact that Elitia wasn’t certain was a testament to how quickly and smoothly the Stray Sheep moved to concentrate the defense. But I unconditionally trusted the sharpness of her sight and intuition.

“In other words, we need to attack from multiple directions at the same time,” I said.

“Yes. But it has more than one area attack that can take out its opponents… If we could just make an opening and all hit it at once, that should definitely…”

“…Atobe…,” Ryouka said. “Oh, I’m so happy… I have no idea what I’d do if something had happened to you…”

I didn’t tell her that this wasn’t the place to be crying. Instead, I smiled at her, despite lacking the confidence to put my heart in it—our situation was still dire.

“Thanks to Madoka, I somehow managed to get through it. It’s good to be alive.”

“…How dare you just…smile and say a thing like that! What you did—”

“—was gutsy or maybe too insightful,” interrupted Elitia. “So we’re not just gonna sit and watch… I bet that’s what Theresia’s thinking.”

“……”

Theresia’s gaze stung. I wasn’t surprised they were reprimanding me. If Madoka hadn’t saved me, I’d still be on the verge of death, and we’d still be in an impossible situation. Everyone was struggling with every ounce of strength they had. I didn’t know if my efforts would definitely get us through this…but I had to try, like Madoka did when she took that one-in-a-million chance.

“We have to turn this in our favor…or run away as fast as we can. Either way, I’ll guard the rear.”

“Idiot… Don’t think I’m going to keep letting you try to be cool. No one’s going to leave you behind,” said Elitia.

If we weren’t running away, then I could only pray that my last option would work—a silver bullet to finally kill this sheep-headed beast.

“It’s all right…,” I reassured her. “I’ve got Lady Luck herself smiling on me—her name’s Ariadne.”

“If Misaki’d heard that, she’d probably say something like, Oh, you mean me? …So do you know what you’ll do next?”

“Yeah. I’m not entirely sure what’ll happen, but it’s worth a shot. Let’s do this!”

There was a different world that only those who’d been faced with death could see. Where would we be headed if we kept facing it? The answer was clear: We’d turn Theresia back into a human and save Elitia’s friend. I needed to—no, we needed to grow stronger and help bring out one another’s strengths so we could clear the path ahead.

“Morale Discharge…Complete Mutual Support!”

♦Current Status♦

So this is my Morale Discharge…Complete Mutual Support!

I had high hopes since everyone else’s Morale Discharges were so powerful. My job was rearguard. It was normally a one-way road of support, from the rearguard to the vanguard, but this let it go the other way as well. It completely eliminated the major flaw of my job—the fact that I couldn’t support myself—even if only in the most restricted circumstances. And that wasn’t all. As the word Mutual in the name might imply, everyone’s individual buffs were now applied to all party and subparty members. It wouldn’t be active for a very long time, but it was likely enough to survive this situation.

My body feels so full of power… Is this how much of a difference Wolf Pack makes? Footwork must be Anna’s skill, and Routine is probably Ryouko’s… I can do things now that I wouldn’t normally be capable of. Even my focus is a level stronger!

And that still wasn’t all. On top of these passive buffs was my usual support, plus Igarashi’s and Theresia’s Morale Discharges.

“…OOOUUUGGGHH… OOUGHHH!”

““—BAAAAAH!!””

Even the monsters could tell something had happened. The Thunder Heads let out battle cries and moved to attack the two parties facing them, but—

“With this…we can get to Atobe right away!”

“Woof!”

“Okay…! Misaki, Melissa!”

“Uh, ummm… Hope you guys are okay with a dice attack… Yah!”

“That horn…is mine…!”

♦Current Status♦

“Yeah!”

The first hit stopped it in its tracks with Stun, letting everyone get their attacks in. They finished it off spectacularly, since even their normal blows were strengthened thanks to Complete Mutual Support. I chose Attack Support 1 for every strike after the first just because it used almost no magic and the twelve points of support damage was plenty effective right now.

“Hyaaa!”

Kaede, Ibuki, and Anna also finished off their Thunder Head. The fact that they did so as quickly as Igarashi’s group despite having fewer people really showed how powerful their attacks were as a group of athlete-type jobs.

“We did it… Now let’s go join Arihito!”

“Yes… We can help him, even just a little bit…!”

“Arihito, what should we do?!”

Ibuki, Anna, and Kaede rushed over at the speed of light. They looked like they may have attacked each other while they were Charmed, because their armor had some damage. But they weren’t injured; they must have been healed by Madoka’s Item Effects. Despite the damage they’d taken, they had never been more ready to fight.

“Ryouko, can you help with a joint attack?” I asked.

“Of course. There’s no way I could face my girls if I ran now.”

I wouldn’t have been surprised if the men of Triceratops had run already. They were incredibly lucky that they weren’t in the area hit by the black-lightning attack from just before, and if we lost this battle, they would be in danger of being next.

“Arihito… No, Captain, give your orders, while your Morale Discharge is still in effect.” Elitia had guessed it had a time limit just because it was so powerful. Our window for attack was only going to be open for a short time.

“—We’ll hit it in waves! First, we need to get the Stray Sheep off our backs for a minute… Suzuna, use your explosion stone! Any other long-range attackers, shoot at the same time, along with your mirage warrior! Close-range attackers, you’ll be up next, in order…starting with Elitia!”

“““All right!”””

Suzuna readied an arrow; Misaki gripped her dice; Theresia grabbed some dirks; Ryouko called forth a dolphin made of water; and Anna brandished her racket.

“Morale Discharge, Soul Mirage!”

“…!”

“—Strike your target!”

“—OOOUUGGGHH… OOUUUUGGHHHH!!”

♦Current Status♦

“GOOUUGHH… OOOUGH!”

We penetrated its defenses…but it’s not down yet!

“Whoooa, s-so cool… Suzu’s arrow exploded!”

“—Your turn, everyone!”

Suzuna’s explosion stone created a concussive force when it struck, sending Stray Sheep flying as they burned. Even so, they were still coming in unlimited droves. We couldn’t let it summon them again.

“Theresia, aim for where its defense has weakened!”

“…!”

Theresia closed in using Accel Dash and leaped up in front of the beast’s face with all the additional power she had in her. She flipped in midair, flinging out two of her dirks. Her attack was joined by blows from Anna and Ryouko. Add in the mirage warriors’ help, and it was practically a shower of strikes.

♦Current Status♦

“GOOUGHH!!”

“—Theresia, avoid the counterattack with Mirage!”

“…!”

♦Current Status♦

The Messenger took a chain of attacks and tried frantically to counter. It crashed its fists down almost like it was trying to plow the land at its feet, but not a single strike hit despite the fact that it was aiming for Theresia, who was on the front line.

She can use Mirage for more than just reducing the enemy’s hit rate… Both she and her mirage warrior keep using Accel Dash to lead its attacks and dodge every time!

“—Hyaaa!”

“Haaah!”

♦Current Status♦

“Shit!”

“—BAAAAAAAH!”

Ibuki followed Kaede in for an attack, but the Messenger must have anticipated the blow because it brought its arm up to block. The shining energy that Ibuki launched from her fist simply hit a Stray Sheep, failing to get through to the Messenger’s main body.

Regardless, the attack created an opening and drew the Messenger’s attention to the right. Igarashi didn’t hesitate to lead Cion and Melissa in to attack.

“—We’re gonna defeat you! …All of us!”

But she wasn’t holding her cross spear—in her hands was the double-bladed spear she’d wanted to hold on to as a backup: Ambivalenz.

“Haaaah!”

“—Igarashi!”

“Wait, Kyouka! That weapon—!”

♦Current Status♦

“GOOOOAAAAAAH!!”

“Argh…!”

Igarashi’s vitality plummeted. Ambivalenz was frighteningly powerful, and she used it to strike the Messenger’s arm where its Stray Sheep defense was thin. No attack we’d thrown at it thus far had done such obvious damage. But because of the reverse damage, I had to avert my eyes—her Ladies’ Armor had burst open. And even with her pale skin clearly exposed, she didn’t so much as flinch.

“—Now, mirage warrior…! Join Cion and Melissa and give it everything you’ve got!”

“Woof!”

“…I’m gonna take both of those horns!”

♦Current Status♦

“GOOOOOAAAAAAAAH… AAAHH!”

Melissa and her mirage warrior swung their butcher’s knives in almost a cross, slicing off both of the Messenger’s horns. Igarashi’s mirage warrior, with its attack power buffed by the amount of damage Igarashi took, lashed out with its spear. It left a huge slash starting on the left side of the Messenger’s head around to its forehead.

I can see something on its forehead… A weak spot, maybe? Even with Hawk Eyes, I can’t quite tell…

That must’ve been Igarashi’s strategy. She would use Ambivalenz to take damage, drawing out its true power, then her mirage warrior would attack. Melissa and her own mirage warrior then followed up, riding Cion and her guard-dog mirage warrior respectively to cut off both of the Messenger’s horns in one go. That eliminated any possibility the Messenger had of Charming our party or calling reinforcements, meaning the tide of battle was in our favor.

But there was one major miscalculation—the consequence of such a powerful attack.

“…I’ll…get past this… It’s just…the sight of blood…”

“Elitia, hold on! We’re here with you, even if you go Berserk! We’re not afraid!”

“…Arihito…”

“Ellie, it’ll be all right! No matter what happens, I’ll bring you back to your senses…!”

Suzuna’s and my calls reached Elitia, and she shook her head—but then, she was gone. She’d used Sonic Raid and dashed off, her speed increased from Berserk as well as everyone’s support buffs.

“—Scatter like flower petals! Blossom Blade!”

The young blond swordswoman, followed by her equally light-footed mirage warrior, flashed their swords across the battlefield, like petals falling from a flower that bloomed out of season.

♦Current Status♦

The Messenger still didn’t go down after taking a flurry of sword strikes. It did, however, seem to finally be overwhelmed as it fell to one knee. Those thirty-two total slashes were only the start. The rain of swords came back around to follow up with Elitia’s counter-slashes.

“Soar high into the sky!”

♦Current Status♦

“GOOOOOUUUGGGH… OOOOUUUUUGGH!!”

The damage from her assault had increased because of the buff support—and then, there was the additional support damage. But the enemy still didn’t go down. And even though Elitia was in Berserk mode, she was able to rein herself in.

“I…I…am a member of Arihito’s party… I won’t hurt any more of my friends!”

“As my master’s sword, I respect those words. We will take care of the rest; you may pull back.” Murakumo placed a hand on my shoulder. I knew that I’d see her fight again. At the same time, the knowledge of what I should do came to me.

Is this gonna go the way Murakumo thinks it will? …I just need to follow her lead. We’ll finish things here!

The Messenger, close to its end, took the remaining Stray Sheep stuck to its body and cloaked them in black lightning. It was trying a final counterattack that would throw away the last of its defense.

—Auto-Blade System will now activate—

♦Current Status♦

There was a ringing from somewhere, like a bell. The katana split into eight pieces, encircled the Messenger, and began to rotate.

“Master, my current manifestation is not enough to draw the enemy’s attention… Fire a bullet at me…!”

“Okay, got it… Demi-Harpies, you join in!”

I charged my slingshot with magic while I gave an order to the harpies circling above. The Stray Sheep might have been turned into Darkness Blitzes, but so long as they still had characteristics of living creatures, it was possible the Demi-Harpies’ special ability would work nonetheless.

“—Eat this!”

♦Current Status♦

Just as Murakumo said, a birdcage formed from the mass of her eight sword pieces. They rotated around the Messenger and ricocheted my bullet back at it, who could no longer even cry out. Its eyes flashed in defiance as it tried to counter, but—

“The bird can’t leave its cage if it doesn’t give the correct answer…”

♦Current Status♦

The Messenger flung the Darkness Blitzes at the shards of Murakumo that made up Birdcage in an attempt to blast Murakumo away, but she took her physical form—that of a young girl—and dealt the monster a deadly blow from behind. Blue blood spurted out from the Messenger, and black lightning gathered around its demonic, ovine head while its entire body released a blue heat. It was aiming for me—but there was a different “me” in front of it.

“Raaaahhh!”

Full of resolve, I’d grabbed hold of Yayoi, the last Demi-Harpy who hadn’t joined the song, and we swooped down, aiming right for the Messenger’s forehead—between its missing horns.

The wound went all the way to its forehead when Igarashi attacked… I’m certain of it. This is the area it really wanted the Stray Sheep to keep protected!

“—Come forth, Murakumo!”

Once Murakumo had finished her attack, I had her appear—just like with the Guard Arm—in a specific location: within my raised hand.

♦Current Status♦

The only skill I could use with Murakumo was the one I’d seen before, but it was enough to bring the blade down into the Messenger’s skull.

“…OUGH… OUGH…”

It fell to both its knees in the spring’s shallows. I trusted in the ability of my strengthened body and leaped down from the Messenger’s head, which was about ten feet above the ground. Huge waves rippled across the spring’s surface. I steadied my feet so I wouldn’t be dragged away by those waves as I looked at the Messenger again. On its knees, unmoving, it looked exactly as I had only minutes before.

♦Current Status♦

No doubt about it: This was an intense enough battle that the entire party leveled up. Hopefully, Madoka and Four Seasons had leveled up, too. The Scarlet Emperor display seemed ominous, but that could potentially be a benefit as well. Elitia had just come out of Berserk, heaving her shoulders with ragged breaths, and she hadn’t noticed the display yet.

“Okay, but first—Aaah!” I turned around, trying to revel in our victory with the others, but someone suddenly leaped into my chest. Perhaps it was the relief of having won that made her take such a bold action. She was stuck to my chest, her eyes glistening as she looked at me. It was none other than Igarashi, who moments before had been showing us how courageous she was with her daring strategy.

“…Atobe… Thank goodness… I’m so happy…”

“I-Igarashi… Um, I—I am incredibly sorry for any concern I may have caused you, but the thing is, right now, how should I say this, there’s still a serious issue that needs to be addressed…”

“What…? You can’t just run off after doing something so crazy and reckless! Atobe, I seriously thought you were gonna die back there…”

Her armor was broken, leaving almost her entire top half exposed. I wasn’t sure how I felt about armor that kept breaking in this way, but there was nothing we could do about it at this point. But with her so close to me, inevitably I’d catch a glimpse of something I’d normally only see in the bath. Not only was there a chance that I’d end up witnessing something I shouldn’t…it felt like two oversized Cotton Balls were pressing against my chest.

Uh, I—I guess Cotton Ball is a little rude… But I can’t really think of anything more apt… They’re not like slime. Crap, what should I do?!

“K-Kyouka… I am painfully aware of how worried you were about Atobe, but don’t you think you’re being a little too forward?” asked Ryouko.

“Huh? …Eeeeek!”

My twenty-five-year-old former boss let out a cute screech more suited to a college-aged girl, before pulling away from me. Ryouko took off her boa coat and put it on Igarashi.

“…He didn’t see, did he? Because if he did, I…I’ll have to change my job to ‘Priest’…”

“Huh…? Wh-why Priest…?”

“B-because…I wouldn’t be able to stay in the party without achieving enlightenment… Ughhh, why’d my armor have to break like that…?”

In other words, she hadn’t noticed that it broke in the middle of battle. I hadn’t thought things could end up like this, either. I had to admit that the Ambivalenz was a dangerous weapon…in more than one way. Its strengths and risks were equally jaw-dropping.

“Arihito…!” cried Kaede. “For real, I had no idea what was gonna happen to you! I suddenly snapped back to myself when you went down, like someone had smacked me upside the head…”

“…Me too. We would have caused Ibuki less trouble if we’d come to our senses quicker,” said Anna.

“Ha-ha… I was definitely surprised, but I suppose there’s all sorts of different monsters out there,” replied Ibuki. “Although, I do wonder why it didn’t work on me.”

I was impressed by how fearless Ibuki was. She already didn’t care that her Charmed companions had attacked her. I was also quite interested in the fact that there were some members who had been affected by Horn of Pleasure and some who hadn’t been. I could go back a little bit in my license’s display. I went back to around when Horn of Pleasure had been used.

…S-so that’s what it was!

♦Status Record♦

Each time I supported someone, their Trust Level toward me increased. That particular aspect of my skills was also having an effect here. I’d just met Ibuki, but perhaps the fact that she called me Teacher was a sign of her higher trust in me. Trust Levels probably didn’t equate to affection levels, but there was something about it that made me blush. That said, she was more than ten years younger than me, so I should really just be grateful. It wasn’t uncommon for people her age to call me an old man, being twenty-nine years old.

But…this is divided into four different levels. Do both Theresia and Igarashi trust me about the same, then…? Maybe that’s because they’ve both been in my party from pretty much the beginning.

Anyway, this meant that the stronger our trust in each other was, the stronger the resistance against Charm. I felt like Ryouko had really changed how she saw me from when we first met, but it must be hard to build that much trust in one day. Melissa was also the only member of my party who didn’t have the resistance. I wanted to work harder and gain her trust.

“Arihito…!”

“Ah… M-Madoka, there you are. I’m all right, thanks to the recovery medicine you used.”

“Good… I had no idea my Morale Discharge would do that…but I wanted to help you somehow…” Fat tears ran down Madoka’s face as she spoke. I really didn’t think I could handle taking such a gentle girl into fierce battles, but I was genuinely so grateful to her. Her bravery back then was what kept me alive. It might be true that we gained a lot from this battle, but I was the leader, and I really needed to rethink my tendency to get too deep into the battle.

“Careful, but brave… Yep. Looks like I didn’t understand you at all, Arihito,” said Kaede.

“And that snap decision to protect everyone… That was thrilling. To be honest, I always thought you were a reliable man,” said Ryouko.

“N-no… I wouldn’t say it’s about being reliable—it’s just that we were about to die…”

“Honestly… Not this again! You did something incredible—don’t get so worked up over a compliment. And…” Ryouko sort of sounded like she could be my older sister, even though I was older than her. She seemed to want to say something else, but her expression softened as she looked at my face. “…Thank you. If it hadn’t been for you, we would’ve passed the point of no return.”

“It was nothing… It looks like monsters think about certain things, too. If we run into any trouble, we’ll support each other and work through it.”

It was a tough battle, but in the end, our cooperation with Four Seasons was a success. I wanted to form a partnership with them until we moved up to District Six. We’d originally started working together in order to resist Beyond Liberty, and that goal hadn’t been completed yet.

“Anna, the materials you needed were from the Thunder Head, right? I imagine you’d be able to get something good from the Messenger as well,” I said.

“I only heard about the Thunder Head’s guts being good materials. I’d appreciate it if I could just have some of that. I imagine things will get complicated once you report this Named Monster to the Guild… I’d like all of you to consider whether you’d sell it or take it to a dissection center.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that. Okay, would you please take one of the Thunder Heads, then? Or we can have Melissa dissect it. Which would you prefer?”

“I can ask the workshop that’s going to make the racket to do the dissection, too, so we’ll take it there. I think Melissa’s going to be busy dissecting the big one anyway…”

Melissa was standing, holding her butcher’s knife that she’d used in battle and staring at Silvanus’s Messenger…with an expression of ecstasy on her face.

“…You think a blue-blooded monster would be blue on the inside if I cut it open?”

“Um, uhhh… I mean, I guess that’s a natural assumption to make… Melissa, can you send that to your Repository?” I asked her.

“I can make it fit. I’ll need more people to dissect it. I’ll get Dad to come, if he can.”

It sounded like Rikerton would come to District Seven if his daughter asked. Were the Seekers who had retired and taken a support role allowed to move between the districts to a certain degree?

“Arihito, I don’t know if this is because everyone’s luck was increased, but there’s one of thooose things in the shallow water,” said Misaki.

“It’s almost become customary for us to find one… Even though they’re so rare and valuable,” said Suzuna.

“We need to be very careful of any traps on a chest dropped by a monster like this. Should we take it to Falma, since we know she can definitely open it safely?” suggested Igarashi.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I replied. “Madoka, can you please put it in our storage unit for safekeeping? Everyone else, let’s look for dropped materials… Whoa, there’s so many Stray Sheep.”

I learned something by collecting a number of them: Stray Sheep and the Darkness Blitzes were actually separate entities—the former were bigger than a Cotton Ball, but still small enough that someone like Madoka could pick them up. We could probably get a lot of wool from these. I was looking forward to seeing the different traits the black wool had compared with the white wool. The Thunder Head’s wool was yellowish, though I didn’t know if maybe that was because they emitted light.

“Woof! Woof!”

Cion came over to me and gave a little woof while I was gathering materials. I looked up to see what it was and saw the members of Triceratops observing us from a distance. I let the others know that I was going away for a bit, then took Cion and headed to where the three Triceratops members were lurking. All of them were still in their ghillie suits, blending in with the fields around them. None of them stood as I approached.

“…Did you guys chicken out or something…?” I said.

“…We’re as pathetic as they come. But man, you were seriously killer out there!” said the bearded man, raising only his face as he spoke. He wasn’t pale or anything, but he looked like he was dreaming, not really looking at reality.

“Killer…? Do you mean dangerous?”

“N-nah, not like that… C’mon, have a little self-awareness!”

“Most folks couldn’t pull off something like that even if they wanted to,” said the helmeted man. “You had those Demi-Harpies scoop everyone up but yourself, and you just took the monster’s attack… And then, you came back from the dead. That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Haven’t felt my heart race like that in forever.” Even in his usual monotone, that sounded vaguely like admiration. Actually, it was probably rude to doubt his sincerity.

It sort of sounded like the word killer meant something along the lines of cool to these guys. I’d just been focused on fighting, so I was surprised they saw me that way, but I supposed it was better than being thought of as uncool.

“Phew… I’ve finally calmed down. Guess that battle really did happen… You guys are seriously blessed. I’m equal parts jealous and afraid,” said one of the men.

“B-but you know… We’re proud of how far we’ve come, too,” said another. “We don’t want to do anything to throw a damper on you and what you got from that battle.”

“We didn’t see nothin’. Those monsters will stay a secret, and we won’t give any information to Gray. We don’t want to destroy your image… Thanks for letting us watch all that.”

“I’d appreciate it. I have a feeling that a fight between us and the Alliance is inevitable. When it comes to that, let’s make it a great one,” I replied. By fight, I merely meant a competition in ranking. We couldn’t advance if we didn’t make our way to the first rank. “I think you guys really held up your side of the deal. Sorry I had to take the Owl Scope as collateral. It was really helpful, though.”

“D-don’t worry about it. If it helped you out, you keep using it. You not running from that fight means it’s less likely we’ll get a stampede from this labyrinth, you know? We should be thanking you, or whatever…”

“There’s no way we could’ve won against that Named Monster. And we don’t have to beat it to know how you guys feel—what it’s like to survive. But you won, and that’s given us hope. Maybe this makes us pathetic, but we’ve got more fire in us now than we ever have before,” said the bearded man, his eyes positively shining. We did really seem to be the spark that lit their fire. But that didn’t mean I could just accept something as valuable as this scope.

“Okay… I’ll buy it off you at its going rate. Would a thousand gold cover it?”

“Guh… Cough, cough. A thousand gold? It’s not like we couldn’t make that much ourselves, but you sure you can just throw that kinda cash around?”

“What sorta hell have you guys been through?! …Geez, just hunt more Cotton Balls or something… The profits might not be so great, but District Seven’s got a bunch of those kinds of monsters.”

“Even one Grand Mole gives us a hard fight. Those things are a huge pain in the ass to hunt. One of those gets you fifty gold if you’re lucky; a thousand gold would really give us a boost.”

“All right, then that settles it,” I replied. “If there’s anything useful you’re thinking of buying, come talk to us. More than likely, we can give you a better deal than what you get in the shops.”

I decided to use the function on Madoka’s license to send them the gold. They waved good-bye and left, then I headed back to help gather materials. Just a little longer, and we’d be able to go back home.

We took down the tents and headed back to town for a bit. There was a chance we’d be going back to that labyrinth if we found a key in the Black Box. I brought up the rear in a single-file line. Watching Igarashi in front of me had me worried. She had been full of surprises lately, including when she decided to use Ambivalenz.

“Everyone in the party wishes to contribute, for your sake. I feel the same,” came Murakumo’s voice from the sword on my back. She’d once said a weapon should remain a weapon and shouldn’t talk, but she seemed to be getting more talkative after this last battle. “As a piece of the Mechanical God Ariadne, it is only natural that I became your sword, Master.”

You saved me this time. You and Ariadne are both indispensable to our party.

“…Mechanical God Ariadne should also be able to hear you. I am nothing more than one of her parts. I will leave any response to her.” Murakumo’s presence faded; maybe she was trying to be considerate. Then, I could feel the presence of the girl who watched over us from her Sanctuary. She’d suddenly stopped speaking earlier, so I’d actually been concerned about whether or not she was all right.

Ariadne, thank you so much for saving us. We should look into short-circuit prevention…

“…I almost let you, my devotee, die, simply because of my weakness to electrical attacks.” Just like Igarashi and everyone else, Ariadne was concerned about me.

I’m sorry I worried you. But apparently, that was really the only way to let me use my Morale Discharge… We won’t include that in our future strategy—we’ll find a safer way…

“…You’ve helped me learn anew how a Mechanical God’s protection should work: If you protect your companions, I will protect you. That way, we can protect the entire party.” Ariadne wasn’t just fussing over me—she was looking at the future, guiding us in her own way. “You must hurry and find a shield armament. I can overcome Guard Arm’s weakness to electricity with a Guard Variant.”

Sounds like some kind of divine providence. But maybe I shouldn’t be saying that to an actual god.

“…We are not all-knowing, nor are we the Founder. Sometimes, a human’s potential can change the future we assume awaits us. With enough power, great beings can turn the tides of fate.”

“I want to hear you say you will carve your own fate using my power as the Stellar Sword as well as with Mechanical God Ariadne’s power,” came Murakumo’s voice. They were very similar in some ways, but I got the feeling that Ariadne was the more serious of the two. And that wasn’t a bad thing—they each had their own lovable aspects.

“…Love… Something that cannot be expressed in numbers. An emotion that we Mechanical Gods cannot comprehend.”

“I do not think what I feel from Master is love, but rather, simple emotional attachment. I must emphasize how well I, a weapon, fit with him. I wish to hear your own self-evaluation, Master.”

Well, let’s see… I’d give both of you 120 points. I’m not quite there yet, though.

Ariadne and Murakumo fell silent. They’d probably just tell me you can’t score over a hundred points in something like this.

“…I cannot evaluate you with mere points. There is no chance I could ever meet a greater devotee than you.”

“I agree with Mechanical God Ariadne. I will continue to serve as your sword, Master.”

Ariadne’s presence felt more and more distant, and Murakumo stopped talking. I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“……”

Theresia was walking a little way ahead but turned back to look at me. I wondered what she was thinking. It seemed she’d gathered that I’d been talking to Ariadne and Murakumo. Then, she silently drew back to walk by my side. Even without words, that was enough to tell me that she was concerned about me.

“Sorry I worried you, Theresia. And thanks for always working so hard.”

“……”

She didn’t face me even when I spoke to her. Her mask just turned red little by little as we kept walking.

I didn’t know it at the time, but as we made our way to the top of District Seven, something was about to shake the foundation of our awareness as Seekers forever.