CHAPTER 1

Deep Within the Plateau of Primary Colors

Part I: Still Waters

We soon realized all the mud golems we’d come across had been defeated in order to force the Clay Giant to appear. Gathering the cursed soul stones on their foreheads evidently created a special condition that allowed you to summon the Named Monster. Shirone exploited that tactic and used what’s called a magic-manipulation talisman to control the Clay Giant and sic it on the Four Seasons.

Elitia said that, back when she left the Brigade, Shirone had been at level 12. I took that to mean once you achieved that high a level, you could even bend Named Monsters to your will and use them for nefarious purposes. Of course, we still didn’t know if she’d managed to control it because she was a much higher level than the monster, or if that species in general was easier to manipulate.

“Arihito, don’t you think our levels went up after fighting that Clay Giant?” asked Elitia.

“Right, let me check… Me, Theresia, and Igarashi have all leveled up.”

We’d done our best under the circumstances, but it was a shame we hadn’t gotten to take the Clay Giant down with the rest of our party; we could have all gotten more experience points that way. The Four Seasons members might have also leveled up—theirs was certainly a desperate battle, but they’d come out of it in one piece.

♦Current Party♦

As I’d expected, the members who hadn’t grown in level had also accumulated a large amount of experience points from the battle. My license showed five of the bubbles measuring Elitia’s EXP had been filled, and she was much more advanced than the rest of us. I gathered you needed to fill all ten EXP bubbles to level up. Melissa had also filled quite a few of her own bubbles in one go and was probably on the verge of leveling up soon.

“This is a first. We normally check in with our levels back at the Guild after reporting back on our latest expedition,” I noted.

“I think that’s usually for the best. Our levels actually rise while we’re still in the labyrinth, but I prefer to take my time when I choose new available skills,” said Elitia.

“Let’s just keep in mind we have more skill points now if we need them. Thanks for pointing that out, Elitia.”

“…I know we’re in a tight spot, but it’s still exciting to see you level up,” added Melissa. It seemed she’d started to expand her interests beyond rare monsters and into people—okay, maybe that was a little harsh. She had such a wide range of skills available to her, so I was honestly excited to see her advance as well. The same applied for the others, too, of course.

“Wow, this place really does go on forever…,” I said.

“Atobe, should we just keep going straight in?” asked Igarashi.

“Yes. I can’t really explain it, but I can kind of sense the direction Shirone went… Maybe it’s from that move she used on me earlier.”

Shirone’s Magic Marking skill had allowed her to make her Return Scroll apply only to me. Maybe that skill was why I could sort of tell which way she’d headed, although I wasn’t sure how long the effect would last.

I really hope it wears off when she leaves the labyrinth or after some kind of time limit… I suppose I could also ask her to remove the mark when I catch up to her. Of course, she might not be in any condition to talk at that point. Just one more reason we can’t abandon her now.

I decided to focus only on our search for Shirone. Each floor in the Plateau of Primary Colors stretched on for what felt like ages; the landscape seemed to repeat itself, making it difficult to tell how much ground we’d covered and cementing in our minds just how vast it was. We found the pond-size puddles that dotted the Clay Giant battlefield all over the rest of the second floor, as well as a few kinds of monsters, some of which looked like salamanders.

♦Monsters Encountered♦

They measured about six-and-a-half feet from their noses to the tips of their long tails, and horns thick as branches sprouted from their heads. I wondered if they might use those to attack us somehow—but the one waking monster just sat poking its head out of the puddle and watched us with a curiously charming expression.

“This might not be the time to say this, but that monster is so laid-back…,” said Melissa. “Its face looks like a stuffed animal…”

“They may look cute, but they go crazy and will attack if something agitates them or if it starts raining.”

“Wow, Ellie, you know so much,” said Igarashi. “I—I guess we can’t let our guard down then, can we?”

“That ‘slow’ in its name might mean it’s got attacks to decrease its enemies’ speed. Or maybe it can send us flying to slow us down that way,” I said.

“…!”

Theresia, seated atop my knees, bristled. She’d seen angry-looking Slow Salamanders coming up ahead of us, waiting right in the middle of a path we had no way of avoiding that was surrounded by ponds.

“There’s…something in its mouth…,” said Melissa.

“…I think it’s Shirone’s short swords,” replied Elitia. She was exactly right: As cute as these monsters were, we couldn’t let our guard down around them.

The damage Elitia had inflicted on the Clay Giant when we defeated it had also hit Shirone in what my license called backfiring. Shirone had managed to manipulate the monster, but doing so had also evidently put her at risk; any damage sustained by the monsters she controlled could come back to bite her, as well.

“Shirone was pretty badly injured… I don’t care how strong she is, there’s no way she could’ve taken these monsters down in that state,” I said.

“She lost all her weapons but still headed deeper in the labyrinth…” A troubled expression came over Elitia’s face. Anyone could see Shirone was basically throwing her life away.

“…Shirone attacked and made these monsters hostile,” Igarashi deduced. “She must’ve escaped their detection range, because they’ve got their sights locked on us…!”

The monsters were still some distance away, but at the speed Alphecca was racing along, we’d close that gap any moment. I considered asking if she could ram into them with Aura Spike or something, but then I looked over and thought I saw hesitation cloud her ghostly, half-translucent visage.

“Alphecca, what’s wrong? Is that type of monster hard to handle?”

“We all have our limitations. We are resistant to most types of magic, but we are not entirely immune to all its variations,” Murakumo explained in Alphecca’s place. In other words, that must mean Alphecca was particularly vulnerable to the Slow Salamanders’ attacks.

“I am ill-equipped to face attacks that would reduce my speed…and I cannot overutilize my skills that might dispel status inflictions as they require blood of the purest maidens to activate.”

She still should have been able to use long-range attacks such as Rose Javelin, but I figured she probably chose not to try them on opponents she was ill-matched to face. I had no intention of forcing our armaments to follow my commands; their feelings were no different than a person’s, and to me, they were equally important members of our party. We all had our weaknesses and needed to back one another up.

“Igarashi, let’s hit them with a long-range attack!”

“You got it!”

“Awooo!”

Mounted atop Cion, Igarashi looked like the bravest of knights. Her silver armor accentuated the effect; it was absolutely stunning.

♦Monsters Encountered♦

The Salamanders wrapped their tails around each of Shirone’s short swords—it looked like they might be able to swipe at us with them.

“Attacks of this ilk…are an insufferable pestilence!” bemoaned Alphecca.

The Salamanders turned their horns toward us and from a distance did something before we could even get our attack together.

♦Current Status♦

Their attack was invisible—well, almost invisible. I could just barely make it out with Hawk Eyes, but it was incredibly difficult to see at all, much less determine how far it extended. With no idea what was coming, I had only one move: aim my slingshot at the Salamander that Igarashi didn’t already have in her sights.

♦Current Status♦

“Whoaaa!”

“……?!”

What’s with this skill…? I can hardly see anything, and it’s so overwhelmingly powerful…!

Both Alphecca and Cion slowed down at exactly the same moment. The attack hadn’t worked on Theresia or me, but the sudden jolt sent us flying forward. I activated Yoshitsune’s Leap, caught Theresia in midair, and somehow managed to land safely. I hadn’t expected that letting Theresia ride on my lap would pay off like this, but fortunately either her armor or something intrinsic about her had deflected the attack and nullified its effects.

It had gotten to Igarashi’s Thunderbolt, however, which crackled and fizzled out before it got to race through the air. Their attack clearly affected skills as well, but it hadn’t canceled mine. The frost stone–powered magic bullet hit one of the Salamanders squarely in the head.

“…GYEEE…EEE …”

♦Current Status♦

The Salamander’s horns completely froze over. I was sure the shot had inflicted quite a bit of damage, but it was hard to deal a decisive blow without adding any support damage to the attack after all.

These guys are bad news… That move can’t immobilize us, but if it hits me, it’ll take a huge bite out of my speed…!

“What’s…going on…? I’m…so slow…,” Igarashi struggled to say.

“Im…possible…,” Elitia added. “Not…on this…floor…”

The two Slow Salamanders’ attacks reverberated against each other and amplified their combined effect. They probably wouldn’t have slowed us down this much if we’d fought just one at a time. Shirone must have had no other choice but to cast aside her weapons in order to escape the scope of this attack. I couldn’t help but thank our lucky stars these Salamanders hadn’t intervened in our battle against the Clay Giant.

“…GYEEE…”

“…KRAAAH…”

The Salamander I hit stood frozen in place, but the other opened its mouth wide to let out a menacing call and took off scurrying across the ground toward me. It would lose a footrace against a Komodo dragon, but its speed still took me by surprise.

“We must…escape the enemy’s range or else…,” Alphecca warned.

I would’ve done more to try and avoid them if I’d known they had the power to inflict such devastating status ailments, but since Alphecca had expended all her magic in the fight against the Clay Giant, she didn’t have enough power to activate Float and carry us this far through the air. Even if we’d run here on our own two feet, we would’ve almost certainly collided with these two Salamanders either way.

But since it had come to this, all we could do was fight for our lives. If it worked out, we might also recover Shirone’s weapons.

“Theresia, I need a favor… Try to stay as close as you can in front of me, okay? Or else that speed reduction might hit me, too.”

“……”

Theresia nodded and readied her Razor Sword and buckler. The two of us prepared to crush the enemy ourselves, hoping the status ailment afflicting our friends would eventually wear off. I loaded up my slingshot, aimed it at the Salamander chasing after us, and got ready to land the first blow.

Part II: Water Spirit

The Salamander slithered along the ground as it scurried over to us and opened its mouth to unleash another attack—not the speed-eating strike, but one that summoned spheres of water out of the pools around us and left them bobbing in the air.

“Don’t even think about it!” I yelled.

“…KAAAH!”

♦Current Status♦

“……!”

“KWAAAH!!”

The Salamander completed its attack before my bullet got to it and conjured up floating spheres of water that seemed to pulsate like a steady heartbeat. Who could’ve guessed a regular, run-of-the-mill monster would have so many different attacks in its arsenal? It wasn’t even a Named Monster! But this was no time to be griping about that. Theresia and I were the only ones with any real mobility left.

Theresia raised her shield and turned to look back at me. That one glance was enough to tell me exactly what she was planning to do.

“Go for it, Theresia!”

“—!!”

Theresia charged at the Elemental Aqua. The water bubbles pulsed violently and spewed jets of water toward her at a furious clip, when:

♦Current Status♦

She dashed and darted through the air so quickly that for a second it looked like she’d produced several clones of herself. Elemental Aqua shot jet stream after jet stream at her; they all seemed to meet their mark but managed only to pierce through the fleeting images she left in her wake.

She’s not just evading their attacks… She’s making sure none of them get by her and hit me…!

♦Current Status♦

Theresia adjusted her position to steer the enemy’s attacks, ensuring all the jet streams missed me right behind her. I stood in the midst of a ferocious onslaught but didn’t feel the slightest hint of danger. This was one chance I couldn’t let slip by. I set up a combined attack with Theresia, determined to end this battle once and for all.

“Freeze!”

“……!”

♦Current Status♦

Blue flames licked the edges of Theresia’s Elluminate Razor Sword as she brought it down in one fell swoop over the Elemental Aqua I’d frozen with the frost stone. Her sword slashed the spheres of water in half; in an instant they all evaporated and completely disappeared.

“KWAAAH!”

One of the Slow Salamanders broke free from its frozen status and charged at us. Theresia wouldn’t be able to cover me from her position if it activated that Breath of Stagnant Water at me now; it’d kill my speed and take me out of the battle.

Maybe this’ll work… It does live in the water… Here goes nothing…!

“Theresia, hit it with the back of your sword!”

“……!!”

♦Current Status♦

Vines shot out of Theresia’s sword the instant it touched the Salamander and trapped the monster in a tangled web. She rushed behind the remaining monster before it could start attacking once more—and cinched the win.

“……!!”

♦Current Status♦

““…KWAAAH…!””

Theresia attacked the enemy from its blind spot, giving her strike twice the power. She must have known her next blow might be fatal, so she intentionally held back and only lightly tapped the hilt of her sword against the enemy, activating the vines to sprout once more and successfully capture the Salamander without killing it.

The six-foot-long salamander-type monsters flailed about in the thorny binds that held them suspended above the ground. These vines rendered even monsters with the most vicious attacks completely powerless.

♦Current Status♦

“…Phew, finally back to normal… Atobe, Theresia, thank you.”

“…Now that I can move all of a sudden, it feels like I’m going super fast,” said Melissa.

“You’ve got that right…,” agreed Elitia. “That’s the last type of monster I want to fight. My job is all about speed!”

Melissa and Elitia came riding over on Alphecca, and Igarashi caught up to us on Cion.

“I recommend disposing of these monsters,” Alphecca suggested. “However, the final choice is yours to make, Master.”

“I was planning to do just that, but I think their skills might come in handy at some point. Plus, we don’t have to finish them off to find whatever loot they have on them.”

“Y-yeah. I don’t know if I could dissect something that looks so much like a stuffed animal…”

“Their tails are delicious. You can sometimes find them for sale in District Seven,” Elitia mentioned. “Any equipment you make out of their skin will have waterproof properties, and you can use the things on their heads as hand-to-hand combat weapons.”

Humans could be truly frightening—although that’s more than a little hypocritical of me to say after reaping the benefits from so many items made of monster parts.

“…Hm? Atobe, look at the monsters… They seem really wary of Theresia.”

“What…?”

Upon closer inspection, the captured Slow Salamanders appeared to be trembling slightly in their vines. Both sets of beady eyes were glued to Theresia.

“Theresia is a Lizardman…and these are Salamanders. Maybe they don’t trust lizards…?”

““…KWAH!”” the two monsters cried in unison, as if to confirm Elitia’s guess. But Theresia was just silently watching them—or actually, she was licking her lips. Maybe they looked tasty to her. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I thought that might be enough leverage to try and negotiate with them.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to eat you. I promise we’ll find you somewhere safe to live. Would you come with us later?” I asked the Salamanders.

““……””

♦Current Status♦

Though they said nothing in response, they did apparently agree to my terms. I lifted the Vine Bullets’ bind on them, but they didn’t run away and simply watched me silently.

Hm? What’s this…?

A small, light blue crystal had fallen to the ground when Theresia destroyed the Elemental Aqua. I picked it up; it was smaller than a magic stone but probably useful for something.

“Oh… Atobe, there’s something stuck to their tails. Do you think they’re magic stones?”

“They’ve also got Shirone’s swords,” said Elitia. “They’re covered in something sticky, but they don’t look damaged.”

“Yeah, looks like the Salamanders’ skin is coated with some kind of phlegmy substance… Melissa, do you think it’s poisonous?”

“No. You can add salt to thin it out when you cook with it.”

Theresia’s stomach let out a low growl at the word cook. Melissa fished some meat jerky out of a pocket in her overalls and handed it to Theresia, who crammed it in her mouth.

“Let’s treat ourselves to something tasty after we find Shirone and make it home,” I told her.

“……”

Theresia nodded. I wasn’t sure if it was because we’d managed to get these two on our team, but the other hostile Salamander that had poked its head out of the water was nowhere to be found. It looked like choosing not to defeat these monsters was already paying off.

♦Current Status♦

Part III: The Blue Butterflies

We hopped on Alphecca and started off once more down the path cutting through the pools of water. Suddenly, our surroundings began changing.

“This feeling… We must be teleporting.”

“That threw me off a bit; there wasn’t even a marker…just this fog coming out of nowhere,” Igarashi said a little nervously as she rode along next to us astride Cion. I worried for a second we might be under attack. This was the only way Shirone’s tracks led us, though, so we had to keep pressing on down this road.

The fog began to thin after a little while to reveal that, though the sun had been high on the second floor, night’s dark curtain had already fallen here on the third floor. This took us all by surprise; we’d never before experienced such a drastic time change moving from one floor to another within the same labyrinth.

Huge, curiously shaped stone formations and sparse vegetation dotted the vast wilderness that stretched out across this floor of the Plateau of Primary Colors. It reminded me of a similar landscape: the Guiana Shield of South America. I’d only seen photos of it taken in daylight, but maybe it would look something like this at night.

The stone columns almost seemed to form a path, and farther past them on either side, tall, stony cliffs demarcated the boundaries of what appeared to be a canyon.

“I wonder what kind of monsters live in a place like this…,” Elitia said as she leaned forward from behind me on the chariot, perhaps in an effort to see better in the dark. Her hair tickled me as it grazed my cheeks; she didn’t seem to notice, so I kept quiet.

“I don’t have any trouble seeing at night. The dark doesn’t bother me,” said Melissa.

“……”

Evidently, Melissa had inherited werecat qualities such as excellent vision, even in the dark. Theresia also appeared to see without much trouble. I wondered what the world must look like through her lizard mask—was it something like night vision goggles? Or could she see clear as day?

“Looks like Cion can see pretty well, too,” said Igarashi. “I think she might be tracking a scent… Mind hanging back a bit, everyone?”

“Woof!”

Cion kept her nose pressed to the ground and seemed to be sniffing out a trail invisible to everyone but her, just as Igarashi said. Maybe she knew how to trace footprints?

We proceeded cautiously down the path, keeping an eye on our surroundings. Just as I wondered if there was any way I could see a bit better…

♦Current Status♦

…Huh, I guess hawks have pretty good night vision, too.

I’d always thought most birds, apart from owls and other nocturnal species, were pretty much blind in the dark, but I guess I was wrong. My field of vision expanded all at once, though I still couldn’t see as far as I might during the day. From what I could tell, only a few small creatures scampered through the rough terrain. I didn’t sense any monsters, or any trace of Shirone, either.

“…Wait. Cion’s acting a bit different…,” Elitia noted. As soon as the words left her mouth, Cion stopped in her tracks, sniffed around in a circle, a bit distressed, and crouched down on the ground. Igarashi hopped off Cion’s back and coaxed her to continue, but it was no use.

“What’s wrong, Cion? Are you trying to say Shirone’s trail ends here?” Igarashi asked.

“Hnnn,” whimpered Cion, looking troubled. She licked Igarashi’s outstretched hand and lay down on the spot. The rest of us soon caught up with them, hopped off Alphecca, and began trying to piece together what had happened, wary of any potential danger around us. Melissa got down on all fours and started crawling around looking for clues. After a few minutes, she got to her feet and lightly shook her head.

“Her trail’s faint; it stops right here. She must’ve jumped or something, but I can’t find any trace of that, either.”

We couldn’t find any signs of Shirone among the oddly shaped rocks shooting out almost perfectly perpendicular to the ground, nor amid the trees scattered in the area. But we knew for a fact Cion had tracked Shirone’s movements to this point.

What happened here…? Did a monster attack her? Seems like she vanished a bit too suddenly for that. Maybe…

“…It’s almost like she was spirited away. Do you think some kind of flying monster got her…?” Igarashi wondered aloud. She looked up at the black-and-white skies, where a thin fog draped over the hazy moon. The monochromatic heavens felt out of place for the Plateau of Primary Colors; it made everything feel much more surreal than even your average labyrinth, like something straight out of a fairy tale.

“I find it hard to believe a Seeker at Shirone’s level would get caught totally off-guard…but the evidence does seem to point to that possibility,” I replied.

“True… If that’s really what happened, we need to hurry and find her. But there’s still so much ground to cover.”

We could very easily lose a lot of time on a wild-goose chase on such a vast floor, even if we had a general sense of the direction she’d gone. There was one more possibility we had to consider: Shirone had purposely obscured her tracks to hide from her pursuers. I could also imagine her using the Return Scroll to teleport back to the entrance of the labyrinth and wait for a moment to slip through unnoticed. In that case, would we be better off making our own escape while we still could instead of stumbling blindly through the dark? Just as the thought crossed my mind, something small fluttered into my line of sight.

That something was a solitary blue butterfly that appeared before us under the black-and-white sky.

♦Monster Encountered♦

“Is this tiny butterfly a monster…?”

“It says ‘Neutral’…which must mean it’s a monster that won’t attack us,” I said.

As far as I could tell from my license, there were quite a few of these butterflies in the vicinity. However, they showed no signs of attacking and seemed content to flutter about. Melissa watched them for a moment and then said:

“…Should we take them out, just to be safe? If they’re the monsters Shirone ran into, they might have some clue about where she is.”

“No, we can’t attack them. Our karma will go up if we strike a neutral monster,” Elitia explained.

“Really? I’d thought your karma only went up if you broke the Guild laws…,” said Igarashi.

The butterflies kept their distance from us. Elitia’s warning made sense; there was something obviously wrong about going after a monster that showed no signs of aggression. Soon enough, however, the butterflies started growing in number one by one and then gathered around the very person who had told us to hold our fire: Elitia.

“Ellie, we should probably get away from them. They’re monsters, after all. Even if they look harmless, they might still be dangerous,” advised Igarashi. Almost as soon as the words had left her lips, Elitia began acting oddly.

“…Elitia?” I asked.

“…I…”

“Heed my warning, dear devotee. The monsters that appear before you are—”

Elitia began mumbling something in the same instant Ariadne reached out to warn me. But before I could hear her whole message…

“…No… I’m…I’m not a murderer!”

“Elitia!”

♦Current Status♦

The supposedly neutral monster had done something to Elitia; there was no other plausible explanation for what she did next. Though Elitia herself had warned us against engaging them in battle, she unsheathed her Scarlet Emperor and slashed through the air at the butterflies. It looked like she’d landed a hit, but her blade sliced through nothing but air.

“Elitia, snap out of it! These guys mean trouble. We need to get out of here!” I called.

“…I can’t… It’s too late…for me…”

What was happening to her? She cradled her head painfully in her hands while the butterflies gathered and flew around her in larger numbers, as if bombarding her with some unseen attack.

“Atobe, there’s some kind of fog rolling in that way!”

“……!”

“Devotee, I advise you to retreat for the time being. You might still manage to escape that fog should you run with all your strength—”

Alphecca tried to warn us, but the blue butterflies had already swarmed around Elitia, who seemed not to hear a word we said; she simply stood there, falling further and further into a self-destructive state.

“Elitia! We’ve gotta run for it! Elitia!”

“Atobe… We can’t just leave her behind. Right…?!”

Igarashi went to attack the blue butterflies but stopped herself halfway. Maybe she’d also realized Elitia’s karma had gone up. We’d also incur karma if we fought the butterflies, yet this theoretically neutral enemy was free to attack us—and I was still naive enough to think something so unfair would never happen that easily. The labyrinth could reveal its true colors and devour Seekers whole the instant they let their guard down. Elitia’s friend had probably fallen victim to that cruel reality as well. In that case…

That monster must’ve tricked Elitia into attacking it, even though it’s supposed to be neutral… But there has to be a way to make up for that one misguided strike. We’re all going to find a way out of here, no matter what…!

“That fog must’ve taken Shirone!” I shouted. “If we want to get her back, we’re gonna have to go in after her!”

“Yeah… You’re right. We should prepare ourselves for that…but first… Ellie!” Igarashi shouted as she ran over to Elitia, swatting away the butterflies in her path. Her voice pulled Elitia out of the depths of her confusion; Elitia lowered her brandished sword and loosened her grip on its hilt. The thick fog shrouding everything in sight was almost upon us. I threw away all thoughts of relying on the Return Scroll to get us out of here and turned to face the fog head on.

“Everyone, take cover in my shadow. What you seek almost certainly lies within the folds of this blasted fog, exactly as you suspect.”

“Yeah… I really hope so. Doesn’t change the fact we’re still stuck playing defense… We’re gonna have to shake things up.”

“As you wish,” we heard Alphecca say.

We took shelter beneath her chariot. Igarashi scooped Elitia up in her arms and dove for cover in the last possible second before the fog rolled directly over us. This thicker layer brought huge swarms of butterflies with it—many times more than the number we’d just seen—but they got no closer to Elitia. After the fog blanketed everything in sight, the butterflies flew up and away toward the heavens.

From within Alphecca’s shelter I saw the monsters blocking out the skies cast a great shadow on the earth. The innumerable sets of wings began to coalesce into one enormous monster, almost as if they had been a single living organism the entire time.

♦Monster Encountered♦

Part IV: All Alone

“Hfff, Hfff…”

I ran and ran until I finally made it to the third floor of the labyrinth. Day immediately turned to night, and all signs of the salamander-type monsters coming after me disappeared. I found myself in a sort of valley surrounded by tall, rocky cliffs to either side. Stone pillars in all kinds of weird shapes stuck out of the ground; I walked over to one and leaned my back against it.

“…How the hell did a monster from this stupid labyrinth get me so bad…? There’s nothing I can do here all by myself…”

Seeking as a party had become second nature to me ever since I joined the Brigade. But now I was only going back to the life I’d known before. I’d already seen one of my previous parties get wiped out; I’d been kicked out of another and got thrown under the bus after yet another party tricked me. That’s just what you had to do to survive in the Labyrinth Country. You used your friends to get ahead, even if it meant cutting them out of your life once you were done with them. Otherwise, you’d be forced to compromise your dreams and have to settle for a safety district, where you could keep seeking without any real adventure. There had been a point where I’d thought about finding companions I could spend my days seeking with in peace and not have to worry about going on to the higher districts or climbing up the ranks—but I’d abandoned those pipe dreams long ago.

I’d always had a spot in the Brigade as long as I could contribute in some way. The captain had accepted me. But he didn’t need me anymore to get to where he was trying to take the Brigade. Even back when I was a Dual Fencer, I never did manage to use a colored weapon. I had nothing left to offer. That much even I knew. Just like I knew how pathetic it was for me to be clinging to this place where I used to belong, knowing nothing I did would amount to anything and hoping beyond hope I’d get some leniency. But the captain never compromised on his standards once he’d made up his mind. He’d even ignored his own younger sister Ellie’s pleas. I couldn’t claim any blood relation and had proved totally useless to him; there was no way he’d see any more value in me.

“I have no use for you here.”

That was his final warning. The last opportunity he entrusted to me was to leave the Brigade and retrieve Elitia’s sword. That sword would answer to no one but Elitia. And yet, our leader commanded me to recover it, sans Elitia if I had to. He’d decided he didn’t need Elitia as long as someone else could learn how to use it.

Elitia had refused to abandon her goal of rescuing Rury from the Simian Lord’s clutches, but the captain forbade all the other members in the Brigade from helping with her quest. Now that she was all on her own, I’d thought maybe Elitia was out in the cold, just like me. When I first heard rumors that she’d picked up the nickname Death Sword and that other Seekers steered clear of her, I assumed she’d be all alone—until I found her in District Seven. The wave of emotions that washed over me after I heard she’d found a party to join was too much to handle.

“…Why am I the one who’s all alone…? I’m the one who’s working my butt off to keep my place in the Brigade…”

The vice captain of the Brigade had always been especially kind to me. But even she could not defy explicit orders from our leader. The rest of the Brigade members saw the writing on the wall and spoke with me only as much as they absolutely had to. They knew I’d soon be forced out unless by some miracle we found another colored weapon fit for a Dual Fencer.

The Brigade’s plan to try to gain an advantage over other parties, resorting to cursed weapons if we had to, had repulsed Elitia. But she still hadn’t been able to turn away the sword the captain assigned her—she had been chosen. And just like that, she got a new job I’d never heard of before and powers far beyond her level.

It was just so unfair. Elitia had stolen from right under my nose the one thing I wanted so badly but could never have, and not only was she trying to get rid of it, but she walked around with the saddest look plastered on her face as if she were the sole victim in this tragic circus.

“…It’s not fair… You’re so cruel, Ellie… And here I… I…!”

My head swirled. I’d seen those girls Ellie and her friends knew walking into this labyrinth, and I followed after them; by the time I ran into those golem-type monsters, I’d already hatched a plan to break her party up. I thought I had it all figured out. My mark on Arihito had gone off without a hitch; once I took him out of the picture, I’d make sure Four Seasons hung up their Seeker hats for good. Then Arihito, plagued by guilt for letting Elitia into his party out of pity, would break under the sense of responsibility for the girls’ fate and Elitia would be left alone again, still unable to give up on rescuing Rury. Once that happened, I was sure I could convince Elitia to come home with me. I’d accomplish my mission to retrieve the Scarlet Emperor and buy myself a little more time in the Brigade.

It was perfect. And yet.

And yet, Arihito had come back. He came flying in at an unbelievable speed as if it were the most natural thing in the world and saved these parties just as they were on the brink of destruction. Not a single person got hurt—and I could wrap my head around less than half of what he’d done in that battle. I did know some things for sure: He was the backbone of his party, did some kind of support job, and had nerves of steel to analyze any situation with terrifying clarity, along with the courage to rally his party members.

“We will under no circumstances let Elitia die.”

That’s what he’d told me without missing a beat. Any leader—I don’t care how great—should know better than to promise something like that once they’ve seen how merciless the labyrinths can be. And yet.

“Plus, we all share the same goals.”

How could he say that? To Arihito, Elitia’s goal should be an impossibly high hurdle even he couldn’t possibly hope to overcome. And yet…

Every time we enter a labyrinth, we put our lives on the line. Nobody should be that ready to risk their life to help someone else reach their goals unless there was something in it for them. Even the Guild Saviors have their own motivations for joining the ranks of the Guild. As a general rule, it would be unheard of for them to assist an ordinary party outside of an official capacity—but several Guild Saviors had lent their support to Arihito and his group.

I didn’t get it. These rookies had been in this country for only a few days! Elitia had put all her trust in Arihito, and he had made the impossible possible. I knew without a doubt nothing could stop their inevitable progress.

I felt the strength wane from my body and lost any sense of where I was standing.

I couldn’t take the jealousy I felt toward Elitia.

“…What makes her any different from me? Why can’t that be me…?”

I knew what was coming to me. I’d chosen to deceive those girls and would now have to face punishment under the law. There was no way I could sneak out of this unnoticed. Setting the monster on that party had spiked my karma so high, I was a wanted criminal in basically every district. The Guild was going to imprison me until it fell back down to zero. I’d lose a few levels and forfeit so many contribution points—and I could forget about going back to District Five if this meant I got kicked out of the Brigade.

“…Well, there goes everything. This sucks… After I promised myself I’d never let this happen again…”

I couldn’t stop myself from whining, though I could tell my words rang empty and hollow. My mind flashed back to when I’d first provoked Arihito, and a rush of self-hatred washed over me. Even if I had managed to take him back with me, I would’ve still been worthless to the captain. I’d known it all along, yet here I was clinging to this future that would never be mine. I’d dug my own grave, but I couldn’t muster the guts to turn myself in to the Guild Saviors.

That’s when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something blue flutter into view.

“…A butterfly… Is this tiny thing a monster…?”

♦Monster Encountered♦

Not all monsters found in the labyrinths necessarily turned hostile against Seekers. Some were neutral; others could actually communicate with us. The Guild hadn’t yet identified this kind of butterfly. Blue Butterfly had to be a working name, which meant nobody had either figured out exactly what it was or taken one down and brought resources back with them yet. I might’ve been more curious back when I was a lower level. But this level-3 monster was practically useless to me or the Brigade now—unless it was a Named Monster.

“…I’m such an idiot.”

There I was, still thinking about what the Brigade might need. Some part of me believed I had a place there until the captain gave the final word. I hated being that naive. I’d never get to go back, even if by some miracle I survived deep in this labyrinth. I’d failed to get Elitia back, lost my weapons, and racked up so much karma, I’d hurt the Brigade if I didn’t pull out.

“The weapons passed her up. I hate to say it, but that means I’ve got no choice but to leave her here in this district.”

“…Captain…?!”

I could hear his voice coming from somewhere. There was no way he was actually near me, but it was definitely his voice—soft, but cold as ice, and so captivating, a single sentence drew you in completely. The captain couldn’t be here. This had to be some kind of illusion, but that familiar voice pulled at my heartstrings.

“No, I wouldn’t call her loyal. She’s just an abandoned puppy who’s grown dependent on me. I’m nobody special to her. I’m sure she feels the same.”

“That’s not true! I did it all for the Brigade…!”

Staying calm was out of the question. I knew the voice was either an illusion or a monster attack, but I couldn’t just ignore it. It spelled out exactly what I’d feared for the longest time the captain actually felt about me.

“She’s given her all for the Brigade and, not for nothing, went so far as to change jobs. Are you really going to abandon her?” asked a different voice. This one belonged to a woman who’d joined the Brigade after me but had since become indispensable to both the Brigade and the captain: Vice Captain Agnes.

“I know she can’t use a cursed weapon, but she’s still got a lot to contribute as a seeke—”

“Assuming she managed to contribute anything, it’d be average at best. Given the monsters we’re up against, I need someone so strong, I’d be an idiot to take them out of our starting eight-member lineup. The chances Shirone will ever get her hands on that kind of power are now infinitesimally low.”

“…Stop.”

There were more butterflies now. Where there had been just one, now there were two; I realized what that meant, but my mind had gotten too muddled to think.

♦Current Status♦

“Everyone knows they could be subbed out at any time. I’m sure Shirone didn’t expect she’d be here forever—”

“……!!”

♦Current Status♦

I ripped out a talisman from my coat and activated it—the magical blades it unleashed sliced through the fluttering butterflies before they could escape. I didn’t want to listen to these voices anymore, even if they were saying what the captain actually thought. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. And I knew without a doubt the butterflies were behind those voices. This Guilt Trip skill must tell you the things you dreaded most in the voice of the person you hoped would never utter them.

It was like they were asking me to attack them.

“…You really want to get under my skin, don’t you? You don’t know anything. How can you say this is all my fault?!”

I lost my cool. The butterflies I could’ve sworn I’d already taken down flew at me again and again until, a second later, great swarms of them completely covered everything else in sight. The voices in my head started to blend and bleed together. I heard the captain, then our vice captain—she’d always watched out for me, but the version I heard now didn’t even try to speak up against the captain’s wishes. She must’ve thought there was no point fighting to keep a grunt like me around.

I knew in my heart it wasn’t true. Agnes really did care about me. I wanted to believe that, and yet.

“…If that’s your final decision, I’ll endeavor to get the other party members on board.”

I could just see her saying that and forgetting about me soon after. After all, she hadn’t once suggested taking the second party out on a rescue mission back when we lost Rury, either.

“…I’m the biggest dummy here.”

I’d thought I could stay with the captain if I turned against Elitia in her attempt to save Rury. She was desperately trying her best, and I’d laughed in her face. I could just guess what she thought of me now that she had Arihito:

Poor Shirone. She’s trying so hard to pretend she doesn’t realize how pitiful she is.

♦Current Status♦

The next thing I knew, a thick fog had rolled over my surroundings. I had been so overwhelmed by the butterflies before my eyes that I hadn’t noticed it silently creeping in. I looked up—and saw an enormous butterfly beating its wings as it hovered in the air.

♦Current Status♦

“Aaaaah!! …Agh… Aaaurghh—!!”

Pain coursed through my entire body. The agony almost knocked me out cold; I collapsed onto the ground and gasped for air. And just like that, it was gone—all the karma I’d racked up for taking down those Blue Butterflies had powered a huge backlash of equal measure. I understood what had happened but couldn’t do anything about it.

♦Current Status♦

I’d once heard a rumor about this. There was supposed to be some kind of monster that would appear before Seekers who’d committed a crime. None of the Seekers it attacked ever made it out of the labyrinth. They said the monster would judge the guilty in its homemade court—but everyone in the Brigade had dismissed it right off the bat as something that could never happen.

Yet this skill had robbed from me as much vitality as the karma I’d gained. I couldn’t lift a finger as the monster spewed white thread from its mouth and wound it around my body, binding me tightly. If that was what I had coming to me, I had no choice but to face the music. I’d failed to trust the captain or the vice captain. I knew the Blue Butterflies were showing me nothing but lies, and still I lost my cool and turned my talismans against them in anger. I could’ve avoided all this pain if only I hadn’t done that.

This is it. I’m done for…

Hopelessly tangled in the string, my vision went dark. The fog around me began to thin; I was being taken off somewhere.

The last image to flash before my eyes was Arihito. He must have looked absolutely brilliant to his party members as he rode in to save them on that chariot. To me, however, he looked so very far away. I’d longed to meet someone like him forever.

♦Current Status♦