CHAPTER 2

Reliable Supporters

Part I: A Meeting in the Workshop

I met back up with everyone, and we left Boutique Corleone where I saw three men I recognized. It was the three-member party Triceratops that had watched our fight with Silvanus the Enchanter’s Messenger from a distance. Their leader, the bearded guy, waved weakly when they saw me.

Elitia noticed the wave since she was walking in the front. She turned back to me and said, “Arihito, those people…”

“Oh, right, I’ll go say hi. I also want to ask about what the Alliance is up to.”

They seemed like they wanted to talk as well, and the leader walked over to meet me halfway. He shrugged with a pained smile in my direction.

“You don’t look very well. What happened?” I asked.

“Well… It’s sort of our own fault. The main party said we were out if we didn’t give them information on you lot. Well, the leaders were actually pretty forgiving about it, but we put our foot down and said we weren’t willing to do any more of their dirty work.”

“…Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Nah, no need to apologize. We always got treated worse since we were a group of three guys. We wouldn’t have joined if we’d known it was that kind of organization… But it’s poor form of me to complain.”

Listening to what he was saying, I could only think of one person in the main party he could be referring to, and apparently my prediction was correct.

“It’s that ass Gray. He joined the Alliance after us, but he just does whatever he wants. We were trying to contribute to the Alliance in our own way, but since he’s been in the main party, we’ve been treated like his servants. Why would Roland let someone like him in the main party…?”

“I’ve met this Gray person once… It really is strange that he’s in the main party even though I’ve only gotten a bad impression of him.”

“So you know Gray? The only thing he’s good at is words… But even though he might not be one of the warriors of the Alliance, he’s stronger than us. He’s a cunning man. Never let your guard down around him.”

“Thanks for the advice. What are you going to do now?”

“For now, we’re going to play it safe and go where we know we can beat the monsters. We plan on trying out some of the less popular labyrinths. We’re all right on living expenses thanks to you for buying those binoculars from us.” He showed me a pouch with gold in it and smiled. He was telling me not to pity them—that they would work hard at seeking. People like him always gave a good impression.

“Oh, by the way… There was something I wanted to tell you. The leader of the Alliance is getting very close to getting the contribution points he needs. After that, they’re supposed to work on increasing the contribution points for the leaders of the other parties, but the leaders have directly ordered for contribution-point farming to end soon,” he continued.

“Really… I was interested in how they were doing things.”

“It’s simple. Keep out any parties not in the Alliance and get a group of Seekers to keep an eye on a number of locations where monsters appear. That way you can farm the most contribution points possible in a day in District Seven and do it safely, too. I have heard talk that if you do it too much, though, the contribution points for a crab will drop.”

No matter how efficient it was, if you kept doing the same thing over and over to defeat the monsters, the crabs’ threat would go down and with it the contribution points they gave. There were very limited circumstances in which you could use this type of repetition to earn experience, and the fact that you earned less meant it wasn’t in line with the Guild’s intentions.

“I know it’s not right of me to talk bad about an organization I belonged to up until now. Roland has just chosen a method for moving up to District Six safely, which I get, considering his past.”

“I heard he once fell to the bottom ranks in District Seven due to illness…”

“Yeah… That’ll give you a certain drive. We’re not really in a place to be giving you lot advice, but never let yourself get in a position where you’re forced to stop seeking for a long period of time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” When I said that, the bearded man looked at me a little regretfully.

“If you were the leader of a group like that, I’d be willing to join despite the bad experiences I’ve had with alliances.”

“I—I mean… I haven’t exactly thought about making a group like that or anything.”

“Ha-ha-ha, very well. But I really do think you’ve got what it takes. You’ve already managed to get the party members you did… Anyway, see you around,” he said and left. They say that even a chance encounter can lead to a strong bond, and in that vein, I hoped I’d be able to see him again somewhere. I watched as he walked away, until he turned down another street and was lost from view.

Everyone else had been watching, but they now came over to me.

Misaki smiled mischievously. “Arihito, you look sooo serious when you’re talking to another guy.”

“M-Misaki…,” said Suzuna. “You’re making it sound like Arihito’s usually…”

“It was a serious conversation, and I approached it with the appropriate amount of discipline. Does it not suit me?”

“No, that’s not it. You’ve always been really good at handling people when you first met them. Not like me; I’m always shy around people I don’t know,” said Igarashi.

“A-actually, Igarashi…I feel you’ve always been really open.” When Igarashi complimented me, I could think of times before we reincarnated that she’d complimented me, but I felt a lot prouder now than I had then.

“……”

“Sorry to make you wait, Theresia. You’re probably getting hungry about now, right?”

“……”

Theresia didn’t respond; she just held on to my suit jacket sleeve. I thought maybe she was trying to express that she was concerned that I’d gone off on my own to have a conversation.

“What would we do if those men asked you to support them and you left us…? N-not that there’s a single tiny part of me that thinks that’s possible, but I feel like they might have asked you.” Elitia was surprisingly a bit of a worrywart. But thinking about it, I probably would help out another party if they were really in a bind.

“It’s all right. I would never go support another party without talking with everyone first,” I said.

“There aren’t any rearguards better than you, Atobe. You don’t want people to start talking about that… You sure those guys are okay?” Igarashi whispered so people around us couldn’t overhear. I replied in kind, and Misaki put a finger to her lips to indicate we should stay quiet.

“They didn’t report on us, and so they were forced to leave the Alliance. That’s why I don’t think they said anything about me,” I said.

“Trustworthy men, then… I wonder if part of that was from seeing you, Atobe.”

“I think anyone would have been moved if they saw Arihito then. Just thinking about it makes my heart…”

“…Suzuna, are you okay? Do you need a Healer to do a checkup?”

“Oh, Elitia, you’re waaay more innocent than I thought you were!”

“Uh… Don’t you think it’s a bit of a leap to assume it’s that simply because she said her chest hurt?”

Misaki and Elitia argued, or maybe it was more accurate to call it bantering. Anyway, as an adult, the only thing I could do was scratch my nose awkwardly and watch.

“It’s not only women who admire you—men do, too. That’s a sign that you’ve got what it takes to be a leader,” said Igarashi.

“U-uhh… Igarashi, do you think you could rein it in a bit where I’m concerned?”

“Why? I’m just speaking my mind.”

Were we to a point in our relationship where she didn’t feel the need to only compliment me in roundabout ways? Standing by Cion was Madoka, who also seemed like she wanted to say something, but she averted her gaze in embarrassment when I looked at her.

“Everyone’s thinking how they aaaaall wanna talk to you,” said Misaki.

“You don’t have to be so hesitant about it. Madoka, could you contact Melissa for me? I’d like to see a material list if we can, even if it’s a preliminary one.”

“Y-yes… Actually, that’s also what I wanted to talk to you about; I’ve been waiting for a while!”

Also meant there were other things she wanted to talk to me about, but Madoka was as work-focused as always and started by showing me the monster material list that Melissa had sent her. Apparently, Melissa and Rikerton had left the storage for the time being and gone to the workshop that Ceres and Steiner had rented. Since the materials would be used for equipment, I decided it would be better to have a meeting with all of them at once.

We went to the workshop, which was a few minutes’ walk from our home, to find Ceres and Steiner had completed their preparations for work. Melissa and Rikerton were sitting down for a cup of tea.

“We’ve been waiting, Arihito. Well, actually we’ve only just finished preparing this workshop for our work,” said Ceres.

“Master, it’s impolite to stand while holding your teacup.”

Ceres wasn’t wearing the hood she normally had on. She was a native to the Labyrinth Country and did resemble someone from another world. Her appearance was fairly close to what I imagined an elf to look like. Her ears were long, and she appeared far younger than she actually was. She said she didn’t normally show herself in front of customers. That and the fact that she was willing to come to a different district to do work for me made me feel very grateful.

“Wh-what…? You’re making me uncomfortable looking at me like that. Are you that happy to see me again? If so, I would have wanted you to not make me wait like you did.”

“I just really wanted to thank you. Thanks to you and Steiner coming here, we can finally figure out how to use the materials we have that have been sitting around.” I thanked her again, and everyone in the party bowed their heads. It made Ceres blush a little, but she used Steiner’s hand as a platform to climb up onto his shoulders, where she sat down. She looked down at us from her newly gained height.

“Hmph, it’s nothing… I just wanted to try saying that.”

“Master has been concerned ever since your party moved to District Seven. She was very happy that you requested she come. That, and a craftsperson always feels blessed when they’re requested to work exclusively with a party.”

“W-well… All my clients up until now have taken me lightly when they saw me or been afraid of Steiner. I don’t feel good about my work when we’re treated like that. I’ve worked in the forge for a long time, though, so it’s not like I’ve never seen a Seeker with promise.”

It was a compliment in and of itself to have Ceres see that much potential in me, considering she’d lived for more than a century. I was thinking that when I realized it was strange she would decide to set up her forge in District Eight where runes were practically unheard of. There must be a reason she did.

“I’m sorry, there’s something I want to ask… Ceres, why did you and Steiner live in District Eight?” I asked.

“Hmph, and a good question it is… Truthfully, there’s no particular reason. After I stopped seeking, I traveled around to find a place to live that I liked. The area around the forge I’m in now is quiet, and the canals are beautiful, so I decided it would do.”

So Ceres had been a Seeker before, too. As a jade, a native of the Labyrinth Country, was she required to seek the same way we reincarnates were? I was curious, but I didn’t feel like she was going to let me ask any more right now.

“Right… About the magic stones you have. You’re not going to leave them in your old equipment, are you? You’ll become stronger if you think of how to use them effectively, instead of letting them sit around. It’s best to use them as much as possible,” she said.

“Yes. Melissa learned a skill that lets her merge magic stones, so I also wanted to try that out.”

“There are some that can be merged and some that can’t. Right now, I can only merge once. Choose two, and I’ll merge if I can… Tell me if there’s something that looks like it would be good,” said Melissa.

“I haven’t learned Magic Item Creation 2. Instead, I can create runes if you gather enough magic stones of the same kind…but you need ten stones to do that. It’s difficult to get that many,” said Ceres.

I started to think that it would indeed be difficult to gather ten of the same kind of magic stone, but Melissa brought over a sack that clattered with the sound of stones inside it.

“…We found a few magic stones while dissecting.”

“Thanks, Melissa. That’s quite a few…”

“Sometimes monsters will use magic stones as a source of their power, if they’re the kind to use magic. And you just defeated quite a lot of monsters as well.” Rikerton showed us a list of the magic stones that were inside the sack, but it was too early to talk about making a rune.

First and foremost, I saw that it wasn’t only magic stones in the list—there actually was a rune already. I didn’t know what it did just by looking at it, but it would surely help us get more powerful.

♦Discovered Magic Stones and Runes♦

“Hmm, elastic stones and dark bullet stones can be added to the projectiles from long-range weapons. They can’t be compressed into runes,” said Ceres.

“I’ve actually gotten a magic gun, and it uses magic stones as its bullets. It’d be nice if I could use them for that,” I said.

“Wh-what?! A magic gun… They say only a person with the Gunsmith job can make those. I never thought I’d meet someone who had one…” Ceres trembled. I thought it was more from shock than from being impressed. I placed the silver case on top of the table and showed the gun inside to her.

“This is it…”

“Hmm… I think it could be strengthened, but it doesn’t seem like it has been. It won’t be easy to get the metal you can use to strengthen it; it’s best to leave it as is for now. I’ll need to study to make sure I can work on it in the future.”

“I specialize in metalworking. I think I can strengthen it without a problem. But I agree with you; it is complete as is. It would be best to leave it until we find the materials necessary for modification.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it could become even more powerful in the future,” I said. I needed to try shooting it sometime, but we had a lot of elastic stones, so I could use those for test shooting. My first chance to use it would have to be our next seek.

“So can you tell me about what equipment we can make from the materials we got?” I asked.

“Yes. Melissa, how far have you gotten in dissecting?” said Rikerton.

“The big one will take until tomorrow, but we have a dissection plan. I can propose ways to use the materials.”

“The Paradox Beetle has some marks on it where the outer shell fell off partway through the battle, but the largest section of shell remains and can be used for a large shield.”

Theresia used a targe, but we didn’t have any members in the party who could use large shields. If we could only use it for the one thing, though, it might be a good idea to have the shield made and store it for later use. If we got someone who used large shields in the party later, we could have them equip it then. The topic of people who used large shields made me think of Seraphina, but it would be almost impossible to get her to join the party. She had her duties as a Guild Savior.

“Sometimes you’ll come across a powerful monster that, unfortunately, only a part of it can be used for equipment… How about the Paradox Beetle’s horn that Melissa chopped off?” asked Elitia.

“It’d be good if we could use that for something… I still have no idea how she managed to chop off something so hard in the middle of battle, though,” I said.

“It’s quite likely that this horn couldn’t have been cut off unless done in battle. The makeup of a monster’s body sometimes changes after it’s been killed. That can make it unsuitable for working with, but the lopped-off horn was preserved in a condition that is workable,” explained Rikerton. There were a lot of mysteries about monsters’ characteristics. If we could only work with a portion of it, we needed to decide how to use it.

The whole party considered our options and we decided how to use our materials.

♦AERO WOLF Materials♦

♦GRAND MOLE Materials♦

♦PARADOX BEETLE Materials♦

♦STRAY SHEEP Materials♦

♦THUNDER HEAD Materials♦

♦DARKNESS BLITZ Materials♦

♦SILVANUS THE ENCHANTER’S MESSENGER Materials♦

There was apparently a limit to the number of materials that could be used on a single piece of equipment, so we couldn’t focus on strengthening one thing a lot. That’s part of why we decided to spread the improvements around as much as possible. If there were certain materials that could only be used to make a specific piece of equipment, I asked Ceres and Steiner to make the equipment even if we didn’t have a way to use it at the moment. I also had them divide up a portion of the sheep’s materials for use in my suit. It would take a lot of the materials we had, but everyone agreed to it.

“It’s harder to add the necessary resistances when you need them. It’s better to add resistances whenever you can just in case you need them later,” said Ceres.

“Yes, especially considering they are in effect without you having to think about them,” I said.

“It’s not often we get to strengthen this much equipment in one go. I’m itching to get started. Don’t you agree, Master?” Steiner looked like a heavy suit of armor, but their excited tone reminded me of a boy. I was told there wasn’t a person inside the armor, but they seemed fairly young.

“Melissa and I will help since you’ll be working with monster materials. Arihito, do you have plans to use the strengthened equipment today?” asked Rikerton.

“No, not yet.”

“The work will take some time, but we’re ready. Could you please allow us to take your equipment?”

I assumed we wouldn’t be able to use the modified equipment for a few days at least, but Ceres raised a finger.

“One day.”

“Uh… It’ll be ready tomorrow?”

“We will finish all the work tonight and deliver the finished products tomorrow. It’s not that difficult. We’ll be using skills, so as long as we do something about supplying magic, it should be simple. Right, Steiner?”

“We ought to avoid drinking mana potions wherever we can, though. Potions are convenient, but they can have side effects if you use them too much.”

A mana potion recovered magic, but the license didn’t display mana; it displayed magic. They seemed to mean the same thing… I started to wonder about it but wanted to keep listening to Ceres and Steiner talking as well.

“I won’t use such cheap products… I say that, but all potions have side effects, regardless of the quality. They’re not all supposed to be bad, but I don’t feel like testing them.”

I had the idea that I could use Charge Assist on Ceres instead, and I could drink the potion, but then I remembered that time I drank too many energy drinks and got really strung out. Energy drinks were definitely potions to me.

“Atobe, what’s wrong?” asked Igarashi.

“Uh, i-it’s nothing… I was just thinking about something from a long time ago.”

“Oh… W-was it that time when…?”

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered a time when Igarashi gave me an energy drink. I talked to my coworker, and for some reason he was jealous that our beautiful manager gave one to me. I wondered what flight of fancy had captivated him.

“…Arihito, I’ll make Theresia’s bodysuit, too. The leather bodysuit I made from the material from Death from Above. The design won’t change much, but its abilities will increase a lot,” said Melissa.

“Yes, please. If you use the Light-Shielding Bodysuit as a lining, I think it’ll solve the problem of it being transparent when you use the camouflage stone.”

We wouldn’t know if it worked well until we tested it, but I was hopeful. It would probably be a good idea for them to test the active camouflage in our home the first time, just in case.

“Next, we have to decide how you’re going to use the magic stones and runes. This could take a while,” said Ceres.

There were the magic stones already installed into our equipment, the magic stones and runes sitting in our storage unit, and the ones we just received. We had a lot of possible combinations of equipment and magic stones. We also had more options for merging stones, but first I wanted to approach it from the assumption that all the magic stones would be used for the party’s equipment. It was a pain to add and remove stones constantly, so it was a good thing we couldn’t change our set magic stones.

“It could be nice if we give one person multiple stones with attributes so they have more options, but it could also be a good idea to give each member of the party a different attribute attack. It’s a hard decision.” If Elitia herself could change swords, we’d be able to use magic stones on it. She’d be quite powerful if she could use her sword skills along with the attribute the enemy was weak against. “We won’t be able to merge stones with special attacks right now. We can only merge stones with the same attribute or that have good compatibility…”

“And we can only merge once—it’s such a haaard decision! I sort of only want to merge things we have more than one of…,” said Misaki.

“Don’t you think it’d be amazing if we could merge a gale stone and an explosion stone?” I said.

“The life stone increases vitality… It seems like the kind of thing that could protect the user if it comes down to it. If we merged that and put it into Arihito’s equipment…,” said Suzuna. I appreciated her concern, but it was generally the vanguard’s vitality you wanted to increase. Merging that stone was fine, but if we did, it should go to our foremost vanguard: Cion.

“Arihito, I put the materials we can’t use for equipment up for sale like you said. This is the estimated price.” The report Madoka showed me said 5,300 gold. I was pleased with that, considering we’d used what we could, and this was only the cost of what remained. Before I realized it, we’d pretty much gathered enough money to buy a house.

I checked how much money we’d gotten so far, and we had around thirty thousand gold. If we converted our silver and copper into gold, we’d have even more. Our priority was improving our equipment, but I wanted to use that money effectively where I could.

Part II: New Magic Stones

Unless you focused on defeating the same monsters to get magic stones, it was fairly rare to find multiple of the same stone. But we all agreed we wanted to try merging stones since we had the opportunity. We started thinking about what combination we wanted to try.

“If we merged an explosion stone and a vitality absorb stone, we could attack a lot of enemies and recover a lot of vitality at the same time…or would that not be possible?” I asked.

“If you read the explanation of what the stones do, you can get a feel for what they might do after we merge them,” said Elitia, and I looked it up.

♦Explosion Stone♦

♦Vitality Absorb Stone♦

“Hmm? Suzu’s arrow has the explosion attribute, but does that mean it’s not a physical attack?” said Misaki.

“It appears so… It seems like I would only absorb from the actual arrow’s attack, not the explosion portion of Blast Arrow. Besides, I’m in the back so I’m low priority for vitality absorb.” I did always want to keep her vitality at its maximum if possible, but her opinion took into consideration the party’s formation. Unlike my Recovery Support, this was a type of recovery that took effect immediately. Pretty much anyone would benefit from that.

“Ellie has so many attacks, maybe… Oh, we can’t put any magic stones onto that weapon, can we?” she continued.

“Yeah… It would be nice if I’d taken a hit, then I could use a lot of attacks to recover, but I can’t take any magic stones right now.”

With that being the case, I wanted to put it on the other vanguards—either Cion or Igarashi—but there were other stones I wanted to prioritize for Igarashi anyway.

“I thought this when I first saw the situation, but you’re doing well enough with the stones you currently have on your equipment. The party has attribute attacks such as fire, wind, and lightning, then you have status abnormality attacks as well. How about you take the magic stones on your old equipment that you no longer need and try merging those?” suggested Ceres.

“Yeah, that does sound like a good idea. All right, what if we try merging the blaze stone that was on my slingshot with the wind agate?”

“Blaze and wind have good compatibility. Wind attacks are generally popular with Seekers as they can put distance between you and the enemy.”

Theresia could use her dirks with Double Throw to attack from a distance, but since her short sword had just been upgraded to a razor sword, it might be good to give her an opportunity to attack with that, then put distance between her and the enemy. Even if the fire didn’t have any effect, she could blow them back with the wind. If the fire has an effect, the attack would have quite a lot of power.

“Melissa, could you please merge those two stones?” I asked Madoka to get the first slingshot I used out of the storage unit. She used her Take Inventory skill to see what was in storage, then used Unpack Goods to pull out what we needed. Thanks to those skills, we could get any of the magic stones or equipment we needed right here.

“Okay…I’ll try. It’s my first time, so everyone step back. It might explode,” said Melissa.

“Don’t worry—I can use my power to suppress anything even if there is an accident. Runemakers don’t only compress stones to runes, you know.”

“I’ve never heard of a magic stone merge going wrong; I think it’ll be fine. Though, there are very few people who can make magic items.”

Melissa herself didn’t actually seem truly concerned, because she stuck her tongue out a little. It was a catlike gesture that you’d only expect from a werecat. Apparently, she had been joking just now—that was unusual for her.

“…Wind agate, blaze stone. Two powers become one.”

♦Current Status♦

Melissa held her hands over the stones set on the tabletop, recited an incantation that perhaps only people with the skill learned, and the two stones began to shine brightly before merging into one. A new blue magic stone was created.

“…Finished,” she said.

“Wow… You can see a little blue flame inside this stone,” I said.

“It really was like watching a magic spell… Melissa, are you okay?” Suzuna patted Melissa’s cheek with a handkerchief. It seemed that since she could only merge once, it took quite a bit out of her. I looked at my license and saw that Melissa had lost more magic than Madoka did when she used Unpack Goods. Merging did use a lot of magic.

“…I’m a little tired, but I’m okay. Dissecting and modifying equipment doesn’t take magic,” said Melissa.

“I can’t believe my own daughter learned such an incredible skill… I guess this is what they mean when they say you blink, and your kid’s all grown up.” Rikerton was very impressed by the display while Melissa said something quietly to Suzuna. Perhaps she was thanking her. Misaki and Elitia also smiled at it.

“I’ll put this new magic stone into Theresia’s new sword. What do you want to do with the rest of the stones? You should use the runes as well, if you can,” said Ceres.

“Yes. We don’t have too much time. We need to hurry up and decide.”

We prioritized the strongest stones out of the ones we’d gotten, then assigned the rest. This is what we ended up with:

♦Changes to Magic Stones on Equipment♦

We had Igarashi specialize in lightning-type attacks. Her skill and the magic stone seemed to go well together. The fact that she could use Thunderbolt meant the skill she could use with the lightning topaz would be even stronger.

Cion got the life stone and the vitality absorb stone, which would increase her max vitality and let her absorb vitality when she attacked. We did have another absorb stone left over, but we didn’t have any weapons to equip it to and decided to just set it aside for now.

Theresia got the stones we had planned for her. Stun was usable in pretty much any situation, and she could use the blue flame stone to get at the enemy’s weakness when needed.

Stones that gave status abnormalities had different effects if put into armor, instead giving the wearer resistance to the enemy’s status abnormality attacks. Since Melissa had such high potential for incredibly powerful single attacks, we decided to give her resistance against Confusion.

Next, we swapped out the magic stone on Suzuna’s bow for the gale stone. Since Misaki’s new Steel Magic Cards had an effect where they returned to her after being thrown, we were able to add a stone to those. We put in the explosion stone that had been on Suzuna’s bow.

“A-are you sure…? I could go really overboard if you let me use this,” said Misaki.

“You’ll need to watch your remaining magic. You can die if you collapse from using up all your magic,” warned Ceres.

“Okaaay! I think even I can handle using it just once!”

It was decided that Madoka would take a break from our next expedition. She’d helped out incredibly during our fight with Silvanus the Enchanter’s Messenger, but it was still dangerous to have her hide during a battle so that she could use her Morale Discharge. Even if the enemy didn’t know where she was, they might indiscriminately throw around area attacks that could still catch her.

“Hmm, if that’s the case… Once I’ve been formally accepted as Arihito’s specialized craftswoman, I’ll be able to stay here for a while. I’ll join you, Madoka,” said Ceres.

“Y-yes… I appreciate the offer, Ms. Ceres.”

“Ha-ha, and she’s polite enough to treat me with respect as her elder.”

Everyone felt better about leaving Madoka behind in town since everything seemed to be going well between the two already.

“If we formed multiple parties, we could go into the labyrinth with everyone, but there are some labyrinths with entry limits. It’s best not to get too used to having large numbers. There’s some where you can’t even go in with a full eight-person party—you can only take six,” added Elitia.

“Certain monsters have territories that they prevent any Seeker from entering until they meet the requirements. Those monsters have a set number of how many exist, and they don’t cause stampedes, which is good,” said Ceres.

Which meant that stampedes were most likely to originate from labyrinths that the average Seeker could go in but had difficult monsters and therefore people avoided it.

“The Guild works to prevent stampedes, but they’re always short on people for it. That’s why they have no choice but to rely on Seekers and their personal decisions.”

Speaking of personal decisions, the Sleeping Marshes in District Eight had been the source of a stampede, but we never did go in there. After a stampede occurred, there were fewer monsters in the labyrinth from which it originated, and it took some time for it to return to normal. You couldn’t go in during that waiting period.

Even so, I still thought there was a chance we’d go back to the Sleeping Marshes someday. We were currently focused on moving forward, but there was probably a clue to Theresia’s past in one of the labyrinths in District Eight. If we could turn her back to a human… But part of me thought it would be cruel to make her remember her past and how she turned into a demi-human by asking.

“Arihito, don’t push yourself. You don’t need to solve every single problem yourselves,” said Ceres.

“Yeah…but we’ll probably come across situations we can’t just walk away from.”

“That inability to walk away from something is both a strength and weakness of yours. This may be an overly heavy statement, but I want you all to see parts of the Labyrinth Country far beyond what I’ve ever seen… Anyway, pep talk’s over. All of the runes you have seem to have serious drawbacks. You should carefully consider whether you will be using them or not.”

We had a total of four new runes including the ones we found from the Black Box Murakumo was in and the ones we’d just received. Here’s what they did:

♦Alter Rune♦

♦Hollow Rune♦

♦Trans Rune♦

♦Phonia Rune♦

Used effectively, they could all be powerful, but the situations in which they could be used were limited. Then there was one other hurdle preventing us from using runes.

“We don’t really have many open rune slots… Does anyone have any equipment with open slots?” I asked.

“Kyouka’s armor does. What if we put in the trans rune so she could change equipment when hers breaks?” suggested Elitia.

“Th-that’s… Well, I have the Protection Necklace now. I think it’ll be fine…”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re twenty-five years old—you can still change into magical equipment when we’re in a pinch!” said Misaki.

“Look… I’m no magical girl or anything.”

I admired Misaki’s imagination in times like this. Perhaps that’s what it meant when it said it created equipment to change, though I had a feeling it just modified your current equipment.

“All right, we’ll give Igarashi the trans rune, and let’s put the hollow rune in Misaki’s cards,” I said.

“Drawing the monsters’ attention does sound like a role I’m suited for, but you have to remember to protect me!”

“I think we should just hold on to the other runes until we can find a way to use them.”

The alter rune would go to best use when we found someone to be our tank. The phonia rune would have to depend on what Silvanus’s Flute did, or we could use it when someone learned a skill that used sound.

“Right, I will apply these two runes. Words of power, become one with this object… Enchant Rune!”

♦Current Status♦

“Ooh… The design on my cards has gone sort of see-through.”

“My equipment doesn’t look that different… Maybe it’ll change when I use the ability?”

Magic stones were simply placed in a recess in the equipment, but runes fused with the entire item, becoming one. It could be hard to tell there was a change just by looking at the item, but the process provided abilities unattainable with magic stones. That might be why it gave the item a certain name.

“Now then, the rest is up to us craftspeople. We’ll be focusing on work, so you lot should go relax. You’ll overwork yourselves if you don’t even rest when not in the labyrinth.” Ceres’s warning was spot on. We decided to treat ourselves like she said and went home to rest until dinnertime.

My dreams were neither good nor bad. I usually had weird dreams if I took a nap, but I just had one about Silvanus the Enchanter’s Messenger, which was no surprise. Of course I would—I had almost died then, but I wished I could have dreamed something more peaceful.

“……”

“S-sorry… Was I talking in my sleep?” I woke up to see Theresia standing next to my bed, bathed in the evening sunlight coming in through the window.

“Did you sleep well, Theresia?”

She nodded. I felt better knowing that. I would have felt bad if she’d been up the entire time, worrying about me.

I went down to the first floor of the house, and the others got up as well. We got ready to go out, then headed to a restaurant we’d found earlier. It was near the Upper Guild, a short walk away from where we were staying. We met up with the support people, Falma, Louisa, Ceres, and Steiner, making us quite a large group. When we’d considered what places would be good to eat with this many people in District Seven, we eventually found a do-it-yourself barbecue joint that served lamb and mutton.

“I invited Shiori as well, but she said she didn’t do well in noisy places…,” said Falma.

“It’d be nice if there was a place we could eat in peace and quiet, but we have so many people it’s likely to get rambunctious anyway,” I said.

“I told her to come have fun sometime. We talked all the way until evening; there’s so much to talk about with her since we’re in the same business.” Falma was in a good mood, but she did seem to miss her children. Her eyes would lock onto any child she saw, though the sun had almost set and there were mostly just adults walking around.

“Oh, Atobe, that’s Four Seasons over there,” said Igarashi. If they came over here, we’d have even more people… Kaede and Ibuki spotted us while they were looking for a place to eat and waved as they came over.

“Ryouko was right; she said you all would be around here probably,” said Kaede.

“You’re the one who said you’d like things to get rowdy since we’re going out to eat, right, Kaede? You were pretty worked up, too, Ibuki,” said Ryouko.

“Oh, let’s not get caught up on who said what,” added Ibuki. “Arihito, would you like to eat with us?”

“Please do. I think Ryouko will run to the nearest bottle of alcohol if you say no.” Anna nodded vigorously, and Ryouko’s face turned bright red, but alcohol could be a good way to relieve stress, so I wouldn’t have said no to a nice drink, either.

We entered Ordo Banquet, a hot pot restaurant, and started off with a drinks order. No one seemed to notice what the restaurant name meant, so I decided not to bring it up myself. Wasn’t an ordo a group of people kind of like a harem that the leader of a certain type of nomadic people would have?

“Sheep’s milk alcohol… It’s called kefir. This is the first time I’ve tried it,” said Ryouko.

“Mm, me too… How about you, Atobe?” said Igarashi.

“I had it once at a Mongolian restaurant. It had quite a strong flavor, but the one this place has is much smoother.”

“What, won’t you be drinking this ‘magic nourishment alcohol’? It’s a special drink that recovers spent magic,” said Ceres.

“Master, you must work when we return; you shouldn’t be drinking. I’m just having tea…but you’re not going to listen to me, are you?”

“I’ll be fine. I won’t get drunk if I have only a little.”

I started to wonder how Steiner was going to drink, then saw that he had a straw ready-made from the stalk of some plant. That made sense.

“Mr. Atobe, I think everyone has their drinks now…,” said Louisa.

“Oh yes, if I can have everyone’s attention… Everyone, good job seeking! And thank you to everyone who came from District Eight to help us; I hope we can work together for a long time to come! Cheers!”

“““Cheers!!!”””

“““Cheeeeeers!!!”””

“Woof!”

“……”

Joyous voices filled the large room, but I got uncomfortable whenever I did a toast, no matter how many times I’ve done one. “Ummm… So, Igarashi, would you mind doing a rotation for who makes the toast starting next time?”

“Atobe, your shoulders are still so tensed up. Theresia’s worried, too.”

Theresia stood up and placed her hands on my chair’s back. Did I look that upset? Perhaps she could tell I was uncomfortable?

“There’s nothing you need be worried about; you’re among friends,” said Ceres.

“It’s just how I am—I’m not good at getting up in front of people.”

“Mr. Atobe, sorry to interrupt… But can I…?” Louisa held up her glass. I felt awkward again, but it wasn’t just her—everyone brought their glasses together. Theresia had a glass of the milk alcohol, but it was watered down so much with juice that it had essentially zero alcohol content, and she also brought her glass in to clink. Madoka was still underage, but she also ordered the same drink.

“Arihito, you’ve done so much today. We’re going to keep doing the best we can until you need us again. Just let us know when you do,” said Kaede.

“I’m sure we’ll have the chance to fight together again. I look forward to it.”

“It’s thanks to your party that I was able to make my new racket. It lets me do lightning attacks.”

“I’m glad we helped you reach your goals. I’d like to see that lightning attack someday.”

After Kaede and Anna, Ryouko and Ibuki came up to speak with me. Ryouko looked at Ceres and then at Falma. After a moment of smiling at them, she finally turned to me.

“S-so… Falma is a Chest Cracker from District Eight who’s helped us out a lot. She came to District Seven to open a chest for us…,” I said.

“I was certain you’d made more…friends…,” said Ryouko.

“Oh, it looks like Arihito really does prefer mature women…,” said Ibuki.

“Ah… Wh-what are you talking about, Ibuki? Did you accidentally drink some alcohol?” said Kaede.

I was about to respond to Ibuki when Falma stood from her seat and came over. “Mr. Atobe is a customer of my store. I’ve been thinking I’d like to introduce him to my husband, when he returns, since Mr. Atobe’s also been caring for Cion so well.”

Ryouko and Ibuki were relieved when they realized what Falma meant by mentioning her husband. They’d probably been worried about what my relationship was with Falma, but Falma’s calm reaction showed her maturity.

“S-sorry, I was thinking such rude thoughts… Arihito probably thinks I’m annoying,” said Ibuki.

“I also need to apologize. I got carried away. Can I introduce myself properly?” said Ryouko.

“Of course. My name is Falma Arthur. I specialize in opening chests, and I would be happy to open one for you if the chance ever arises.”

Falma, Ceres, and the others who were meeting for the first time introduced themselves. Everyone was surprised by Steiner, but Ceres told them about “the person inside,” and they all felt better.

“Mr. Atobe, the meat has just finished cooking. Please take some,” said Louisa.

“S-sure, thank you… Ah, have Theresia and the others already started eating?”

There were so many people in the group that we had four hot pots set on the table to cook the meat. Theresia and Melissa were already munching away at the meat cooked in one of them. Everyone noticed, then took what they liked and started eating. The food seemed to suit Rikerton’s tastes as well because he was chowing down quite happily.

I had been under the impression that mutton was quite gamey, but it must have been well prepared or something because it wasn’t at all. Everyone enjoyed it way more than I’d expected.

“It’s so juicy… Ah. Do you think those Stray Sheep grow up to be sheep eaten like this?” said Misaki.

“No, this isn’t monster meat. It’s mutton sourced from elsewhere. Supporters in the Labyrinth Country have established some ranches and farms in order to stabilize food supply to a certain degree. Maintaining food production in District Seven here is actually quite a big issue… The food brought back from the labyrinths would never be enough to sustain the district,” explained Ceres.

I had monsters in the Monster Ranch that were part of our team, but apparently there were ranches with a different purpose. The fact that we had fresh eggs and dairy products meant there was dairy farming going on somewhere.

“It wasn’t just the blessing of the labyrinth that brought us this food—it was from the hard work of people… Thank you,” said Suzuna.

“Thanks! Mm… All the extra fat was trimmed off before we cooked it. It’s really nice because it’s not too greasy.” Elitia seemed to like the food—same with Suzuna—and they both ate away.

Igarashi was eating, too, but she suddenly looked over at me. “Atobe, eat plenty of meat and get your vitality—”

“Arihito, I’ll get you some meat. Would you like a refill on your drink?”

“Oh, yes please.”

Igarashi started to talk to me, but Madoka suddenly came by to take care of me. At this rate, I wouldn’t have to cook any meat myself. It’s not like I wanted to be in charge of cooking it all, but it would have been fun to do a little.

“…G-get your vitality b-back up, is what I was saying. We all need to make sure we get enough to eat. Madoka, have you had enough?” asked Igarashi.

“Yes, just eating with everyone else makes me feel full already!”

“You’re still growing, so you need to make sure you eat enough. None of this eating like a bird,” said Ceres.

“Meat’s full of protein, which your body needs to grow properly. I’m making sure I eat plenty,” said Anna.

“I only did kendo as an extracurricular activity, but Anna was probably on her way to being a pro tennis player. I bet she’s been eating right to build muscles for a long time,” said Kaede.

I had thought Anna was capable of leaping high to launch serves when I wouldn’t expect that of her small frame; perhaps she was just that promising a player. Anna noticed I was focused on her and surprised me when she flashed me a peace sign.

“Theresia, you can’t eat only meat. Make sure you’re eating vegetables, too… Are you eating properly?”

“……”

“Theresia always seems to enjoy her food so much. It makes me happy just watching her.” Suzuna was watching gleefully as Theresia ate. Some people felt relaxed when they watched girls eat a lot of food. I had a feeling this was that kind of thing.

“Oh, Atobe. They serve all sorts of other food, too…”

“Indeed, this soup is fairly tasty. You can try a taste if you like,” said Ceres.

“And this shish kebab has a lot of nice seasonings; it tastes wonderful. Would you like one?” asked Louisa.

“Oh…Mr. Atobe, you look a little hot. You’re sweating…,” said Falma. The three of them kept coming at me; they were trying to be helpful but taking it too far.

“Kyouka, I know how you feel, but you can’t panic in situations like this,” said Ryouko.

“P-panic? I’m not panicking… Are you sure you’re not drunk, Ryouko?”

“I am, but just a little. And now…how are you doing, Kyouka?” Ryouko’s tanned skin was flushed, and she held a bottle of alcohol. It made me think of that time Louisa got hammered. It wasn’t good to let things go down that road again. It was fun to have a drink, but a healthy and productive member of society needed to make sure they only drank in moderation.

I readied myself to say something harsh. I had to. I was thinking I would say, There are members here who aren’t of drinking age, so you need to show restraint as an adult, and—

“Kyouka, are you not a big drinker, either?” Ceres said, interrupting my train of thought.

“N-not really…but I do enjoy a drink quite often.”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen you drunk… I suppose I’m the only one who will have that embarrassing experience,” said Louisa.

“It’s a special occasion. Won’t you have another drink? I’d love to keep chatting with you while we drink,” said Falma. Apparently, it wasn’t just opening chests that got her excited—she also enjoyed drinking. Her gestures had become really sensuous. There was a good chance Igarashi would get pulled into their celebrating, or she would have a hard time saying no since they’d all done so much for us. I was surprised, however, to see her make the decision to give in without them pressing too hard.

“Maybe I’ll just have one more. This is my first drink; I don’t want it to hit me harder than I expect,” she said.

“Ha-ha… If that happens, we’ll have Cion take you home.”

“Ryouko, you can drink if you want. We’ll manage somehow,” said Kaede.

“Kaede… Don’t make me sound like I get sloppy drunk.”

I was starting to think it was likely I’d get pulled into all of this, then Falma poured me another drink. I didn’t exactly have any boys in the party who could help me out if I needed it—I needed to get through this with my own willpower.

Part III: The Alliance’s Miscalculation / Reviewing Skills

Everyone got happier as they drank more. The younger party members happily chatted with the adults. We were getting pretty boisterous, but that was good.

“Hey, hey, Arihito, were you dating anyone?” asked Kaede like it was a great opportunity to bring it up, though I had a feeling this kind of topic would come up in a situation like this. She already knew that Igarashi and I had only been coworkers before, so she must have been asking if there had been anyone else.

“I didn’t have much of that going on since it was all work, work, work… Though that sounds a bit like an excuse.”

“No, not at all. People who throw themselves into their work are really cool.”

I think the normal person would call me a corporate slave, and I was aware of that. I had assumed that most people would decide I was boring because I did nothing but work. Kaede would probably just think how hard it was to be a salaryman if she’d really seen me at work.

“Mr. Atobe, you always wear these suits… Was that a uniform in your former place of employment?” asked Falma.

“I always wore suits, but we were free to wear what we wanted. There were quite a few people who dressed casually.”

Falma seemed interested in my clothes since she was born and raised in the Labyrinth Country. She was seated next to me, asking about it. I’d loosened my tie a bit shortly after we started eating, but she seemed curious about how it was tied. She placed a hand on her cheek as she stared at it.

“You don’t stand out too much in your suit, since people in the Labyrinth Country dress in so many different ways.”

“You’re right. I’d thought he would stick out like a sore thumb in it, but he doesn’t. Then there’s Ryouko with her swimsuit, which she wears into battle as equipment…,” said Igarashi.

“But it suits her, what with that tanned skin. You just need to be careful that it doesn’t break, because that would cause problems,” added Ceres.

“It would mean my life if my armor were damaged. I must always be careful that it doesn’t break on accident.”

At that moment, everyone was probably thinking about how they’d like to look into Steiner’s armor, but no one actually said it. There are some secrets that you just can’t ask about.

While we chatted, Louisa and Anna returned from where they’d gone. I decided to get out of my seat for a bit. The pot of meat was almost completely empty anyway, but Theresia stopped eating to stand up and join me.

It might be rude to leave the table while sharing a meal with everyone, but I’d unfortunately had a bit too much to drink and needed to clear my head. There were apparently quite a few other customers in the same situation, because there were people in the hallway.

“…Wait, Theresia.”

“……”

The hallway was only dimly lit so I hadn’t noticed from far away, but when I got a better look at some of the people who had left another large dining room, I realized I knew them. It took me a moment, though. It was Roland, the leader of the Alliance, with a gray-haired man in tow. They walked to the end of the restaurant, and I was absolutely certain that the other man was Gray.

I was surprised the Alliance had yet again chosen the same restaurant as us to eat in, but that must have been because the selection was limited if you needed a restaurant that could accommodate large groups. It was wrong of me to stand around and listen to others’ conversations multiple times, but I didn’t even need to listen that closely to hear Roland’s voice, raised in anger, or even Gray’s.

“Nothing should have changed for us until tomorrow. We should have been able to keep waiting for and hunting crabs… What the hell happened today? Why weren’t they appearing…? Goddammit!”

“Please calm yourself, Roland. Today may not have gone well, but we have multiple courses of action left to us.”

“Multiple? Then tell me about them. The monsters won’t come out—do you have a way of making them?”

Roland had said that he would be done farming contribution points in the next couple of days, but apparently something unexpected had happened, and it ended in failure. It didn’t seem impossible for monsters to do something you hadn’t planned for. But apparently, Gray had a way of solving the problem of monsters not appearing. They had turned a corner in the hall, and I heard an excited voice over there.

“There aren’t many Seekers in the Labyrinth Country with the Summoner job, but Summoners can make a monster-summoning charm. If we use one of those where the crabs normally appear, it should pull out all the ones that have gone into hiding.”

“…And how do we get our hands on something like that?”

“I’ll use my particular methods. I’ve got influence with a fence.”

“Hmph… I wondered what you were doing while you weren’t helping us fight. Did you think I wasn’t aware of the rumors that you were off in the shady parts of town doing something?”

“N-no, of course not. Don’t misunderstand, Roland. I wasn’t just skipping out on you, really.”

There was an unusual amount of force behind Roland’s voice, but Gray’s sounded half full of laughter and half cringing.

“Fine, whatever. Can you get enough of these monster-summoning charms to achieve our goal?”

“Of course I can. This should be able to get the job done.”

This must be some cash. I heard the sound of heavy coins clinking together. Perhaps a pouch of gold had been handed over.

“We will achieve our goal tomorrow, without fail. If things go well here…”

“I’d be honored if you would consider me to be your next assistant leader. It will definitely go well.”

“…There are other members who have contributed for longer than you. I can’t treat you differently, especially considering you joined this party late. All I can do is talk to everyone about what you’ve accomplished.”

Roland ended the conversation there and left. Theresia and I shrank into the shadows because Gray looked like he was going to come where he could see us. That’s when—

“Can’t do shit on your own but think you can act all high and mighty… Old buffoon. Your time was over when you retired the first time!” Gray’s voice was raised in anger and filled with venom as he punched the wall. Immediately after, his expression changed, going back to his normal light smile, and he returned to his party’s room.

It was less that Gray was two-faced and more that he was simply hiding his true intentions as he worked his way up the ladder. I wasn’t one to judge someone else’s way of doing things, but it didn’t sit well with me.

“……”

“Sorry to drag you into this, Theresia. I think hearing that has sobered me up a bit, though… Let’s head back soon.”

Theresia nodded. She’d activated her Rogue Silent Step skill without me saying anything, and I could barely tell she was walking next to me. There wouldn’t be anyone better than her if we ever needed to do any spy work.

“……”

“Yeah, I’ll tell everyone about what we just heard. I’m curious about what the Alliance is up to, so tomorrow we might check out our enemy’s…well, our rival’s plans.” I wasn’t sure that’s what Theresia wanted to ask about, but I wanted to tell her. She nodded. Communication between us would never be hindered that much as long as she could nod or shake her head. But I still thought all the time that I really wanted to hear her opinion in her own voice.

While it might be wrong to think this was exactly what I thought would happen, I was right, and Ryouko did end up so drunk she was unsteady on her feet. That’s why I ended up taking her and the other members of Four Seasons back to their home.

The Middle Guild was also divided into a number of buildings, and we made our way to the apartment buildings near one of them where they were renting two apartments. We arrived in front of their apartments on the third floor, and Ibuki shook Ryouko awake where I was carrying her piggyback.

“Ryouko, hey, we’re home. You’ll have to walk the rest of the way.”

“Mmmm… I’m not that drunk… I’m not drunk at all…” Ryouko was practically delirious. She struck me as a lightweight. The rest of her party hadn’t even seen her like this, either.

“It seems like it’d be fine if we drank here, too, in the Labyrinth Country, but Ryouko’s so proper about these things. She said we’d go out and drink once we’re old enough,” said Kaede.

“…Alcohol…can only be drunk in moderation once you’re an adult…,” muttered Ryouko.

“I can never tell if she’s nervous or relaxed around you, Arihito,” said Anna.

“Nervous…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Anna, that’s our relationship with Ryouko; we’re like sisters,” said Kaede.

I had noticed that Ryouko was stiff when she was pouring my drinks since we hadn’t known each other for very long. I wasn’t exactly that skilled socially, either, so I felt bad if I’d made her feel nervous, but…I couldn’t stand here with her on my back all night.

“Kaede, which one is Ryouko’s room…?”

“Ryouko shares with me. This way, Teacher,” replied Ibuki as she opened the door, and we entered. The room was only big enough to fit two beds. The kitchen and bathrooms must have been shared among all residents, because the apartment only had what you needed to sleep.

“Here we go…” I wasn’t sure if it was fine to just put her down, but Ibuki indicated I should, so I laid Ryouko on her bed. Last time we’d gone out together, she’d changed her clothes, but this time she was wearing only her bikini and something over it. She rolled on her side, and if I was quite honest, there wasn’t anywhere safe to look. And then.

“…So hot…”

“Ryouko, are you okay? Hold on a sec—I’ll go get you some water.” Ibuki dashed out of the room, leaving me behind. I couldn’t very well sit on the bed, nor could I just stand in there the whole time, so I decided to go stand outside for now.

“…Mmmm.”

While I did that, Ryouko rolled over to face me. She must have been uncomfortable because she started groping around to find the buttons on her shirt and started undoing it.

Wait…

My first thought was that I should stop her, but then I realized that actually, the most important thing was that I didn’t see anything. I really did need to leave the room for a minute.

“…Atobe… Where’d you go…?”

That’s not good… There was no way I could do what I wanted to when she was talking so helplessly to me.

“I just want to talk to you a little more… But I can’t think. The alcohol got to my head too much…”

“Uhhh… Don’t worry about it. It’s good that you enjoyed it. I like to drink, too, but I don’t really get drunk. Sometimes I’m jealous of people who can.”

“…Good. I didn’t want to cause you trouble or disappoint you… I was so weak, and your whole party saw it…”

“I think everyone understands. It’s fine.”

Falma had gotten pretty drunk as well. We had to put her on Cion’s back so she could carry her back to our house. I was taking too long; they were probably starting to worry. Not that I really thought they’d worry about a full-grown adult like myself.

“…Um… All my other equipment is bathing suits, too, so I look like this… Sorry you had to carry me…”

“I-it’s all right… I’m the one who should apologize. I know it was necessary, but I just carried you without asking if it was okay.”

Carrying her meant I had to touch her in various places. It was wrong to think of it as a perk of the job, but if someone asked me what I thought about, it’d be a lie if I said I hadn’t noticed at all.

“…I was competing with Louisa and Kyouka when I was talking to them… You probably noticed… Didn’t you, Atobe?”

This topic suddenly came up. Well, I guess it wasn’t actually that sudden. She was asking because we were alone together.

“I—I… Well, how should I—?”

“Sorry I took so long, Ryouko…huh? Teacher, why are you there?”

“I-Ibuki, we were…” I couldn’t keep myself from panicking. There wasn’t actually anything wrong with me talking to Ryouko while she was in bed wearing her bathing suit, but I suppose it wasn’t good, either.

“Welcome back, Ibuki.”

“Oh, you’re up, Ryouko. Did Arihito look after you?”

Ryouko pulled a blanket around herself to cover her body and calmly greeted Ibuki. She stood up and took the glass with water, then guzzled it.

“Mm… Nice and cool. Would you like some, too, Atobe?”

“Arihito, will you stay a little while longer? Kaede and Anna said they’d like to talk to you a bit more… Oh, they’ve even brought their pillows.”

“…We only brought them because today’s the day we all sleep in the same apartment,” said Anna.

“Oh, since Arihito’s here, we could have a pillow fight. But whatever team he’s on will have the advantage. As long as he’s in the back, we’d get the strength of a hundred men,” said Kaede.

Anna was wearing a nightcap and looked more like a child than usual. Kaede had on something that resembled a yukata. If we tried having a pillow fight with her dressed like that, I felt like there was a high risk of something getting exposed.

With our age difference, there wouldn’t be any improper thoughts or anything, but…thinking about it rationally, it’s just a bad situation to be in.

“Arihito, I’d like to continue our discussion from earlier… Is that okay?” asked Ibuki.

“You can’t keep asking him about his girlfriends. He won’t like you if you’re too pushy. Anyway, why don’t we play some strip poker or something?”

“Kaede, you’re too caught up on doing something special. You don’t need to make yourself do that—you’re bright red,” said Anna.

“Strip poker… Things would get dangerous after about the second hand if I played…” Ryouko was considering it. They would never trust me if I actually wanted this. The only reason they thought I was harmless was because I’d been so careful about acting proper up until now.

“I want to hear about all of you. How did you meet? How did you end up in a party together?” I asked, and the four looked at one another. They smiled shyly, then told me about what had happened to lead them here. I had to head home, though, so unfortunately, I could only listen to about half the story before I had to say good-bye. Kaede and Ibuki walked me out to the front of the apartment building, then I left, the sun’s warmth still remaining in the city streets as I walked.

Since Falma was staying with us that night as well, I ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room on the first floor. Thankfully, it was big enough that I could easily stretch out to sleep.

“You’re the one who needs to get the most rest, though. I’d be happy to take the couch, and you can have my bed,” said Elitia.

“I appreciate the offer, but I feel bad making a girl sleep on a couch.”

She was in the living room, having just finished her bath, her license in hand. The two of us ended up looking at her new skill options.

“…Do you think it’s wrong of me to not show everyone what my skills can do?” she asked.

“Perhaps… It does seem a little unfair that I’m the only one who’s seen your skills. It might be a good idea to share them with the group at a party meeting sometime, but that can probably wait until after we’ve broken the curse on your sword.”

The reason she wanted to talk with me separately was because she didn’t want to show others her Cursed Blade skills. Even so, her skills had saved us on a number of occasions. I was certain the others wouldn’t fear her or anything even if they knew about her skills.

“That’s what I keep telling myself…but if I really trusted them, I would tell them. Sorry…”

“You’ve never once attacked us, even in Berserk mode. We can keep the worst aspects of the Scarlet Emperor in check. We can’t say we’ve overcome them just because we’ve beaten enemies without triggering it, but I trust your strength. Including the risks it comes with. I think that’s what it means to be in a party together.”

“…Thank you, Arihito. I feel better when I talk with you about it… I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

Her curse meant that she couldn’t equip any weapon other than her cursed sword while in battle. Outside of battle, she could set it aside as long as she was within a certain distance from it. That probably helped Elitia feel more relaxed right before going to bed, though a part of her attention did still seem hung up on the sword that was on the second floor.

Elitia came up to where I was on the couch and showed me her license. It displayed her new skills.

♦New Available Skills – ELITIA♦

She had four more available skills, most of which she couldn’t learn because they were Swordswoman skills she couldn’t acquire as a Cursed Blade. There was only one Cursed Blade skill that she could take.

“Looks like you start getting four skill points at level ten,” I said.

“Oh… You’re right; I didn’t even notice. That must mean level ten is a milestone.”

“Seems to be. It’s a bit of a waste that there’s some interesting skills, but you can’t take them… Not just the new skills here—there’s a lot of Swordswoman skills, too.”

“I’ve thought the same thing so many times. I would at least have liked the ones that give me more mobility as a Swordswoman… I really am better with a rapier, you know.”

As a Swordswoman, she could learn Dual Wield, letting her take two weapons into battle. If she was able to change from the Cursed Blade job, her fighting style could change drastically, since she would be able to equip two different kinds of swords with that skill.

“Even if we do remove the curse from the Scarlet Emperor, it’s a powerful weapon, so it might be good if you could still use it.”

“Yeah… The Brigade thinks that cursed weapons are powerful because they’re cursed. They never once considered removing the curse, but maybe, just maybe…”

“There’s a chance. No, there’s definitely a way.”

“Right. We won’t get anywhere if we give up before we start.” Elitia’s expression softened, then she pointed to the single skill she could take. “I’ll take this Scarlet Dance. It’ll likely come in handy as a trump card.”

“…Elitia, how is Red Eye activated?”

She looked like it wasn’t easy to answer my question. Even if the Cursed Blade skills didn’t have the mark, they still had some inherent danger.

“It’s different from Berserk in that there’s no risk of indiscriminate attacks. But…it activates when the user is bleeding.”

“…Wow…”

It was too dangerous to aim to use a skill like that, but Elitia smiled even after putting that particular risk into words.

“Everyone who wields a sword will end up getting injured. And didn’t Kyouka use Ambivalenz, which makes her more powerful the lower her vitality?”

“…That took some courage. Igarashi’s the kind of person who can do that kind of thing when it’s needed, but…”

“So are you, Arihito. You won’t hesitate to put yourself in danger for all of us. I want to do as much as I can to prevent you from having to do that. I’ve been prepared for it for a while now.”

She predicted my trite line of trying to tell her I couldn’t let her push herself over and over, and I could only smile awkwardly that she beat me to it. When I did, she suddenly brought her hand to her mouth at a sudden realization.

“…S-sorry, I shouldn’t preach like that. I know you save me so often, but I worry…”

“N-no, it’s okay. I know I put myself in danger. The most important thing is making sure we stay alive…”

“You…really are a rearguard, but you put yourself so far ahead of everyone when we’re in danger.” As she spoke, her expression was that of a girl her age, which she rarely showed. No matter how strong she was, I couldn’t keep making a girl as young as her worry.

“Uuuuhhh, don’t you think you two are getting a little toooo cozy for a silly skills meeting?” came Misaki’s voice.

“Ah… We’re not cozying up… We’re just talking normally. Arihito, I’m going to take the skill I mentioned earlier. Good night.”

“Oh, night. Misaki, Suzuna, sorry to make you wait.”

“N-no, it’s okay. I told Misaki we should wait until you call for us, but it…ended up this way.”

“Everyone’s just sitting in the room waiting for Arihito to call them, though. We need to make sure we stick to the assigned time. Suzuna and I are together, so we should get twice as much time!”

Considering how everyone had to wait their turn currently, it did seem better for us to have a full-party meeting where we decided skills, but we’d sort of settled on our current style of individual discussions.

Misaki sat down on my right without any hesitation while Suzuna sat across from me. Misaki felt too close, and I wished she would learn from Suzuna, who had kept an appropriate distance.

“Arihito, this might go late—is that all right?” asked Suzuna.

“I want to finish this tonight, though it’s tough on everyone else to make them wait until late…”

“Everyone else is chatting with Falma. They were talking about you,” said Misaki.

“I-it’s…stuff they can’t talk about when you’re around, but it’s not anything weird. Falma was a bit curious, so they’re just…”

It was quite possibly the least helpful explanation ever, but I couldn’t really push Suzuna for more. What exactly could they have to talk about that they couldn’t talk about in front of me…? But this wasn’t the time to be trying to guess that.

“There’s still a lot of people, so I want to hurry up and pick,” said Misaki.

“Yeah, if we select our skills quickly, Arihito will have more time to relax,” said Suzuna.

They had said something about wanting twice the time since they’re really two people, but they’d probably be considerate of the others and try to finish quickly. The two winked to each other, and Misaki held out her license, which I politely accepted and started examining her skills.

After about an hour, I was finally able to finish looking at everyone’s skills, except Theresia, who was last.

“Thank you, Arihito! See you tomorrow!” said Madoka.

“Good night. I’m gonna rest a bit and then go back to work,” said Melissa.

“If our equipment’s ready tomorrow, I think we’ll be going into a labyrinth. Melissa, I think you should take a break from this one along with Madoka.”

“…I will. But bring me along if you go against another big one.”

It was a huge burden on Melissa to have her seek right after having finished dissecting. She said she’d take a break, but there was potential for another target to pop up anytime. If we didn’t find anything, she could take the time off, but she might not be able to relax all day thinking about it.

Something unexpected had happened to the Alliance, and they’d ended up stuck. It sounded like they had a way to get out of it, but I wasn’t certain things would go as they expected.

Melissa and Madoka went back to their bedroom, and I decided to go outside to see Cion. Guard dogs apparently took their skills on their own, meaning I had no say in the matter.

…Still, where has Theresia gone? Is she already asleep?

I’d told her we were selecting skills, but she didn’t show even when it was her turn. My license display showed her inside the house, so she must’ve been resting in one of the other rooms.

Part IV: New Skills / A Vague Premonition

Cion was lying half in, half out of the doghouse in the front garden, and she opened her eyes when I came out.

“Sorry I woke you.”

“…Nnn.”

“What’s with that whine? That’s not like you.”

She made a sweet little sound, and I started petting her head when I got closer. She pressed her cheek against my hand and licked the back.

“It’s nice you got to see Falma again… Oh, she’s going home tomorrow—are you sad she’s leaving? That must be it…”

“Woof.”

“Hmm… That’s not it? Are you going to stay with us from here on out, too?”

It wasn’t like she would understand what I was saying anyway, but she stared at me when I talked to her. It made me think she was picking up some of what I was trying to say. Thinking back, Cion had also had the Trust Level bonus against being Charmed. That meant she was fairly attached to me.

“Anyway, I should go to sleep soon. Will I get to see your new skills in battle?” I asked, but Cion was focused on licking my hand. She was a clever dog—or more specifically, a clever silver hound. I had a feeling she’d learn new skills when she needed to use them.

I went back inside and decided to have a bath before going to bed. I got undressed in the changing room and headed to the bathroom, using a towel to cover my front as I opened the door. There, I looked up at the ceiling only to learn I no longer needed to wonder where Theresia was.

“……”

“T-Theresia… I’m not gonna run away or anything, so you don’t have to make yourself practically invisible.”

“So this is the kind of relationship you and Theresia have. I knew it.”

In front of me was Theresia, and now, behind me was… Well, I knew their voice, but I was afraid to turn around.

“Oh, you don’t need to be that embarrassed. You’re like a little brother to me, Mr. Atobe.”

“Uh… L-little brother…? B-but I’m twenty-nine… And, Falma, your children are still young, so there can’t be that big of a difference in our ages…”

Actually, there was definitely a possibility that I was older than Falma. Either way, it really made no difference in a situation like this.

“Whoa… F-Falma, what are you doing?” came another voice.

“Oh, I just wanted to thank Mr. Atobe for being such a good customer…”

“Mr. Atobe, Falma is a little drunk right now. I would like to respect your intentions, but Falma is married, so…” This other voice was Louisa. The first was Igarashi. She and Louisa had thankfully come to stop Falma from doing whatever she was trying to do and led her away. I just wanted to profusely apologize to Falma’s husband if I ever met him. I couldn’t exactly argue that it was perfectly fine because all she saw was my back.

“……”

“Sheesh… Ahem. Theresia, be careful not to stay in the hot bath too long.”

Theresia nodded, then brought a stool over. She set it down and knelt behind it. It was like she was telling me to sit.

“……”

I wanted to hear what Theresia was thinking in times like this. I still found it too bold to say that it was fine for us to take a bath together because she was wearing a bathing suit. That could be said about Igarashi and Elitia as well.

Even a slight change in the bath’s temperature could mean death for Theresia, so I made sure she was careful. I personally thought it was understandable that I’d become overprotective, considering the time she almost passed out.

“Theresia, sorry for making you get out of the bath so quick, but I’d like to select your new skills and then get some rest.”

“……”

Since Theresia didn’t have a license, I had to select them for her. I poured her a glass of water and had her replenish her moisture while I sat on the couch and considered her skills. She stood behind the couch and looked at them from there.

“Can you see from there? You can sit next to me if you like—it’s fine.”

“……”

I knew she wouldn’t really listen even when I said it and didn’t push it too much. I pulled Theresia’s skills up on my license, saw something I was interested in, and was about to ask Theresia her opinion when she reached her hand over my shoulder to point at the display.

“……”

“Ah… You’re interested in that skill?”

She was leaning over from behind, so her face was fairly close to mine. Her eyes were covered, and I couldn’t gather any emotion from her mouth, either, but she responded to my question with a nod. As I looked at her new available skills, I couldn’t help thinking how weird Theresia’s standards were if she was hesitant to sit next to me on the couch but perfectly fine with this situation. I’d also need to choose my own new skills later.

The next morning, Falma helped prepare breakfast as thanks for letting her stay with us. There was pan-fried bacon, soup, and salad, all of which more than satisfied our morning hunger. I brought up the special contract with her again while we ate, and Falma reassured me that she would be happy to. That meant we could ask her to open Black Boxes for us in the future, too. She made some packed lunches for Ceres and the others in the workshop, and we waved good-bye from the front of the house as she headed off to the Guild’s teleportation door.

“I pray for your good fortune in battle! I hope to hear from you again.”

“Thank you so much, Falma. Really. Tell Eyck and Plum I said hello.”

“Of course. Oh, and Mr. Atobe…” Falma seemed like she wanted to say something else. I looked at everyone around me, but for some reason, none of them would meet my eyes.

“…They all said it doesn’t matter whether you’re on the first or second floor—you’re always protecting them. They really admire you,” said Falma.

“Uh…” I hadn’t thought anything of sleeping on the first floor, but apparently, that put me in a position where I was behind everyone else.

“Last night was a lot of fun. It felt like I was back in my seeking days. Everyone, make sure you stay good friends with Mr. Atobe like this from now on as well.”

“W-well, I think we are all slowly getting closer as friends, but I’m not sure about anything more than that, Falma…,” said Igarashi.

“You said you definitely wouldn’t say anything… You really are a mischievous one,” said Louisa.

Igarashi was flustered, and Louisa seemed confused but smiled. Madoka, Melissa, and Suzuna all turned bright red for some reason. Falma smiled contently as she looked at them all.

“All right, well, please feel free to use the services of Arthur Chest Cracking anytime.” Falma’s last words were a graceful salutation before she turned and walked away. We were also ready to go out, so we left then as well.

“…Oh, Atobe. Did you sleep okay last night?” asked Igarashi.

“Y-yeah… I slept pretty well. Did I talk in my sleep or anything?”

“N-no, you slept very quietly…,” said Suzuna.

“Arihitoooo, you can’t tempt Suzu! She is such a pure young girl!” cried Misaki.

“Oh, uh…I’m still half-asleep; I don’t really remember what happened. I feel like there might have been something inappropriate with Arihito…,” said Suzuna.

Igarashi had seemed like she was probing for something when she asked me how I slept, but all I could really say was that I slept well. But there was something about what Falma said that caught my attention.

“……”

“Wh-what’s that—? Theresia, what are you…?” Theresia’s hand lightly touched my arm. Was she saying I shouldn’t worry about it? On top of that, her lizard mask was slightly red.

“Moving right along… Arihito, should we go see what the Alliance is up to?” asked Elitia.

“Yeah, let’s change into our new equipment, then we can head out. Madoka contacted me earlier to say Ceres and the others were done with their work.”

“The Beach of the Setting Sun… Even if we do just go to check up on the Alliance, we might run into the powerful monsters that live inland. We need to stay on our toes.” Igarashi was right; there was a high probability that we could run into both those spiders and mantises. We might be able to avoid fighting them if we scouted well, but I also wanted a chance to try out our new equipment and skills. There wasn’t any need for us to avoid battle altogether.

I looked over the new skills everyone took again while we headed to the workshop where Ceres and the others were. I grew more and more excited as I considered how we could use them most effectively.

♦New Available Skills – KYOUKA♦

♦New Available Skills – THERESIA♦

♦New Available Skills – ELITIA♦

♦New Available Skills – SUZUNA♦

♦New Available Skills – MISAKI♦

♦New Available Skills – MADOKA♦

♦New Available Skills – MELISSA♦

In the end, there were a lot of skills that we felt could be useful, and we weren’t able to immediately assign all the available points at the moment. The skills with the mark next to them were the ones we selected. We decided to hold off on the rest for now. Being unable to choose a skill among all the ones we wanted wasn’t a bad problem to have.

Igarashi began to specialize in attacks so she could be the second-best attacker after Elitia. Theresia started focusing on dealing with traps, taking a role in the party that only a Rogue could. Suzuna, Misaki, and Madoka all had specialized jobs and, along with them, a lot of skills that would only be effective in specific situations. Since skill points were limited, we decided to take a few priority skills, and then the others they could take if they became absolutely necessary. I wanted to have Melissa focus on skills that would help her with her job as a dissector, but she didn’t have any skills like that among the new ones she could learn. Instead, we decided to hold on to all of her skill points. She could take any appropriate skills when she was fighting with us if need be.

Then there was me and what skills I should take. As always, the decision came down to what was necessary. Cooperation Support 1 was the only one that I’d been wanting for a long time, so it was the only one I took right away.

♦New Available Skills – ARIHITO♦

I’d have a hard time using Pass Back even in an emergency. I could tell it was a powerful skill, but I was generally the very last in formation in our party anyway, and we shouldn’t really be making a situation in which there was someone behind me. It’d be fine if it were an enemy, but I didn’t really want to get flanked like that, either. It was hard to decide which skill was best out of the level-2 ones as well. I could imagine situations in which each of the three would be useful, so I decided to take the first one that became necessary.

“I feel all excited thinking about taking a skill on the fly when I need it, you knooow? Oh, can I be all like, You haven’t seen my true power! or something?”

“Misaki, I really hope we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we need your Surrender skill, but it could end up being effective. That and Extra Turn,” I said.

“If I can gain one more level, I can take them boooth. But then, I’ll probably get new skills I can learn that seem good, too. Haaah. Oh, but you’re so cool now, Suzu! You can use an instrument to fight.”

We had Silvanus’s Flute, and it would be nice if we had someone who could equip other types of instruments if we came across them. I had suggested that, and Suzuna had agreed.

“I used to practice a few different instruments so I could play them during the kagura performances we dedicate to the gods. I should be able to use a flute, too. I don’t really know how it’ll be useful just yet, though…”

“You might be able to attack with the sound, since Silvanus’s Messenger had an attack like that.”

“I’ve seen a few people who could use instruments as weapons, but they often have special effects depending on the characteristics of the tone. I think if you don’t have any musical performance skills, that special effect is entirely dependent on the instrument itself.” According to Elitia, Guitarist and Minstrel jobs existed, but they weren’t very common. That meant Suzuna’s Shrine Maiden was also among the few jobs that could equip musical instruments.

“New equipment and new skills… With all this, we won’t need to be afraid of any of the monsters in District Seven.”

“But, Igarashi, you’re getting pretty focused on attacking…”

“Atobe, I should be fine staying in the front lines and fighting as long as I can use Evasion Step effectively. I couldn’t evade chain attacks with just Mirage Step.”

“O-okay… But you don’t need to stay up close the whole time. You have Thunderbolt, too.”

“You don’t have to worry about me; I won’t get in too deep.” Igarashi smiled as she walked ahead, but I really did worry. A Valkyrie could be in the vanguard position, but it wasn’t actually specialized in vanguard fighting.

“……”

“Woof.”

“…Yeah, maybe I am just being a worrywart.”

Both Theresia and Cion acted as our vanguards, making a total of four. Igarashi probably wouldn’t get too far ahead of them anyway.

“Ah, good morning. We managed to get everything done today like we promised.” Steiner was out front of the borrowed workshop waving as we approached. Ceres must have been tired and was resting. I really wanted to thank her for all her hard work.