CHAPTER 3

Our First Challenge

Part I: A Party of Two Girls

We ran into another party hunting Cotton Balls on the first floor who told us the entrance to the second floor didn’t have stairs like the labyrinth’s. Instead, if you continued across the fields, you would eventually come to two large trees standing near each other. We could get to the second floor by walking between them. Since it was called a labyrinth, I had the impression that passing through the floors would trigger a change in the floors themselves, but I guess that wasn’t the case in the Field of Dawn at least.

We eventually found the trees we were looking for. The air between them seemed somehow hazy, like some sort of gate down to the next floor.

“Should we eat something before we go down to the second floor? I think it’s better to sit down and have a proper meal instead of snacking here and there,” said Igarashi.

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, let’s keep going after we’ve had something to eat.”

There had been a store selling dried foods that seemed like they would stay good for the day at least. The first thing the shop worker suggested a Seeker buy was a mix of nuts and dried fruit, which was formed into bars with wheat or some other flour and baked. They were like crackers or biscuits and seemed fairly nutritious. They were quite hard, so apparently, it was common to bring broth in a water bottle or thermos to soak them in and soften them up, but I just tore back the paper it was wrapped in and bit into one. It wasn’t actually so hard that I felt my teeth might break against it, and since the inside was a little soft, it wasn’t too difficult to chew.

“…Oh man, I’m really thirsty now,” I said. “I’m starting to think it’s more important to keep an eye on the amount of water you have instead of food when you’re in the labyrinth.”

“Yeah, it’s not like you can just drink water from a spring if you happen to find it, so I imagine long adventures into the labyrinth can be quite taxing. But apparently, if you have magic, and you advance far enough into the labyrinth, you can return wherever you like along the way, or you can leave and return at the same place,” said Igarashi.

“I bet people with those kinds of skills are really popular and hard to find to join your party.”

Theresia was plenty hungry as well, so I had her choose something she liked from the store. She picked out jerky. The shop worker warned us that alone didn’t have all the nutrition she would need, so they said we should make sure she also ate something like nuts and some dried fruit.

“…Mm…”

She’s completely mute except when she’s eating… Oh, never mind, that’s just the sound of her swallowing.

“…So there’s some reason why Theresia’s a mercenary, right?” asked Igarashi. “I mean, she never even says anything…”

“Demi-humans aren’t able to express themselves with words. That doesn’t mean she’s going to be like this forever, though. I think if I can find some way to remove the lizard gear…”

“That’s one reason you want to make her a permanent member of the party, right?”

“It is one reason. The main thing is that she was so dependable when we were seeking yesterday.” I knew that if Theresia hadn’t been there with me, Redface would have destroyed us all. A rearguard can’t do anything without a vanguard. If I can’t use my support skills, then I can’t use the real strength of my rearguard job, so I needed to make sure my relationship with my companions was always strong.

“Igarashi, we’ve been hunting for about an hour. Are you tired?”

“Nope, not at all. Sometimes when you’re behind me, my body feels kinda warm and any fatigue just disappears. Is that another one of your skills?”

“Uh, yeah, sort of. Do you have any other weird sensations like that?” Igarashi had just taken a bite of her food and couldn’t answer right away. Her cheeks flushed red as she focused on chewing.

“Mm… S-sorry, you asked me right when I took a bite.”

“N-no, that’s my fault. I’m just bothering you while you eat.”

“Other weird sensations… Um, how do I explain this… It sort of feels like I’m being protected or something.”

“Oh, I see. I guess it’s good if that’s what it feels like.” I was, in fact, protecting her from behind, so I guess the feeling itself wasn’t wrong.

“These portable rations are so bland. Maybe I’ll try making some packed lunches for us.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. Does that mean you can cook, Igarashi?”

“About half the girls in our department would pack their lunch. I thought it’d be nice to eat with everyone, and I didn’t have time to go buy something. Plus, the company cafeteria was always so crowded, so I started making my own food out of necessity.”

Thinking about it, I remembered seeing the female staff eating their homemade lunches in a meeting room quite a few times.

“Could I go to the market once we’re done seeking today? I feel like there I’ll be able to find different ingredients I can use to make lunch.”

“Yeah, of course. All right, so we’ve got our plans for after seeking… Theresia, are you full?”

I heard her gulp down her last bit of jerky, but she just looked at me. Had she been full, she would have nodded, so that meant she was still hungry.

“We have some more jerky or some of what Igarashi is eating. Which do you prefer?”

“……”

Theresia pointed at the meat but then moved her finger slowly to point at the food bars. I felt like there was some emotion behind that movement, and it made me unexpectedly happy.

“You like the meat better, don’t you?” I asked and looked at her, and she gave a slight nod. I wondered why she hesitated… Was it because I had only eaten the food bar and she was concerned about finishing off the last of the jerky?

I gave her the jerky, and she tore off a small piece with her teeth, then looked at me for some reason while she chewed.

“Theresia, you seem…happy?” I said.

“……”

“…W-well, at the very least, you seem to like jerky.”

The portable food was so hard and just clumped up in your mouth, so you had to sit there chewing forever. But it filled our stomachs and gave us the nutrition we needed, though having some homemade lunches every once in a while, like Igarashi suggested, would be nice.

We entered the second floor of the labyrinth to even more trees than on the first floor. It looked like it was progressing from a field to a savannah… Although I couldn’t say I really knew what a savannah was.

“Which direction do we head now? Since we said our goal was to make it to the third floor,” asked Igarashi.

“Apparently, there’s another gate like this one if we keep heading northeast.” If I hadn’t received the information from Ribault, we could have ended up just wandering in a random direction and tiring ourselves out.

“Oh, right. Atobe, I’m only level one, but I’ve got two skills. I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to use them.”

“Right, the ones you showed me yesterday—Mirage Step and Thunderbolt?”

“Huh? …You can see if I’ve used a skill or not?”

“If you look at your license, it’s shown on the page called Current Status.” I flipped through the pages of my license. After sliding my finger along the surface a few times, I found the page I was looking for.

It even shows basic actions, huh? Good thing Theresia has a skill that’s always active without using magic.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Ah…a thing came up saying my vitality was restored. Is that what’s making my body feel all warm and tingly?”

“Yeah, s-sorry. I think it’s a skill that’s always active… It’s probably hard for you to relax with that, so I’ll try to find a way to deactivate it.”

“…Oh! Yesterday, when I was hit by the red thing, I was in so much pain, but after a bit, it didn’t feel quite so bad…”

“Y-yeah…I used this skill. We have both vitality and magic, and my skill recovers vitality.”

I remembered using the skill while basically hugging her from behind. I didn’t have much choice, though, since I needed to make sure I was placed behind her in order for it to work. My Recovery Support seemed to be always active and effective even if my companion was about fifteen feet away. We’d need to find an easy enemy so that I could test to see if there was a distance limit to its effect.

—It was then that we heard another party in battle a little way away. Theresia’s Scout Range Extension had alerted her. I looked into the distance and realized who it was: Elitia and Suzuna.

Misaki isn’t with them…and the thing they’re fighting…what is it, like a humanoid pig or boar…?

“GRAAAAW!!”

“Eeeek—”

“Suzuna, fall back! Don’t go any farther!” ordered Elitia.

Elitia’s golden hair billowed in the wind, the young girl clad in silver armor standing fearlessly against the creature much bigger than her as it roared in rage and swung its fist.

“—Begone!”

The force with which she spoke seemed out of character, but it probably came from her long experience in battle and showed that even she wouldn’t be letting her guard down in a fight.

The orc didn’t even have time to let out a death knell. When it closed in on her, all I could see was Elitia placing her hand on her sword. The next moment, blood spurted from the orc, and it collapsed to the ground.

She defeated the stronger enemy… But there’s still—!

“Igarashi, Theresia! Lure those bees away!”

“…Got it!”

“…!”

Theresia used her skill to rush into one bee’s range, forcing it to target her, but the other bee was in a bad location. It didn’t matter how skilled a Swordswoman you were, if randomly placed enemies like these bees suddenly attacked, and if they targeted Suzuna, who was the rearguard, there was no way you could react quickly enough.

“—Arihito!” cried Suzuna when she saw us, but she was unable to move as she was trying to keep herself down.

I launched a slingshot bullet at the bee that was circling her in the air before it could go in for an attack.

C’mon!

“—KIII!”

I hit it, but it was so far away that the bullet didn’t have much force behind it. If we couldn’t follow up with an attack, we wouldn’t be able to defend against it!

“—!”

When the Poison Spear Bee that was in midair to the left of Theresia came down to attack her, she swung her short sword in an attempt to slice it as it attacked.

As long as we could defend completely against the bees’ stingers with Defense Support, we’d have no risk of getting poisoned. But there was still the burning bee in midair on the right—!

A swordsman’s weakness is an enemy high up in the sky where they can’t hit. Which means we need—!

“—Igarashi!”

“Got it… Take this!” She was the only one of us besides me who could use long-distance attacks. As a Valkyrie, she could use both sword and magic.

The bee was weakened by the fire but tried to stab Suzuna with its stinger. Igarashi’s Thunderbolt struck the creature, sending it flying and leaving sparks in its wake as it fell to the ground.

Elitia sheathed her sword and walked up to Suzuna but was unable to speak, perhaps because she was aware of the mistake she’d made. The two waited until Igarashi, Theresia, and I came up to them. I offered my hand to Suzuna to help her up.

“Are you all right? Are you hurt at all?” I asked.

“N-no… I’m fine,” she replied. “I knew it; I’m holding everyone back…”

“No, that’s not true,” added Elitia. “You’ve come all the way here with me. You’ve worked so hard, and you’ve even beaten Cotton Balls.”

If only Elitia fought, then Suzuna’s experience points wouldn’t go up. It sounded like Elitia gave Suzuna opportunities to attack, but even that would come with risks.

“Do you mean you’ve been drawing the monsters’ attacks and having Suzuna deal the final hit?” I asked.

“Yeah…but there were some other people hunting, so we weren’t finding much,” replied Elitia.

“So then you came to the second floor in search of better hunting grounds. The orc alone probably would have been fine, but it was pretty dangerous with the bees, right?”

“I…I can’t spend too much time here. If I don’t get Suzuna quickly to the same level eight as me, I won’t be able to go back…”

“Go back? When you say go back…sorry if I misunderstand, but do you mean to the White Night Brigade?” Elitia’s eyes widened just slightly. She looked like she wanted to ask how I knew about that but didn’t say anything.

“…I won’t be returning to the Brigade. They abandoned my companion. In the depths of that labyrinth…my good friend is waiting for me there. If she’s on her own for too long, she’ll become a soulless demi-human,” said Elitia.

“Do you mean there’s some sort of monster that captures Seekers? Can’t you ask the Guild or other parties for help?”

“You’ll understand soon,” she replied. “Seekers will do anything they can to stay alive. That’s not a bad thing… We don’t seek because we want to die. We seek because we want fame or freedom.”

It seemed that even Suzuna hadn’t heard this much from Elitia before, but she was calm as she listened. She had been scared when the Poison Spear Bees were after her, but that wasn’t all that was in her. I could see something in her eyes; there was something in the labyrinth she was searching for, too.

“…I’m sorry. When I saw that huge pig monster, my legs just buckled. And here I should’ve been using my bow and arrow to back you,” said Suzuna.

I wasn’t quite certain why, but Suzuna was equipped with a bow. Maybe it was because when you think of a Shrine Maiden, you think of a shrine, and when you think of a shrine, you think of those holy arrows that drive away evil. She was wearing a white top with a red skirt, and her black hair was tied back with a ribbon. We were in another world, but it looked like a pretty typical Japanese Shrine Maiden outfit.

“So what happened to that other person I saw you enter the labyrinth with?” I asked, and both Elitia’s and Suzuna’s faces clouded over. It must’ve been something bad.

“…She…she opened a treasure chest but failed…,” started Suzuna.

“That girl, Misaki, apparently took the Gambler job. She said she’s supposed to have really good luck, so she opened the chest a monster had dropped, and then she disappeared…,” explained Elitia.

“A treasure chest… We’ve been hunting monsters all day but haven’t seen even one. Are they really a thing?” asked Igarashi. Like she said, we’d found some dropped loot but hadn’t seen anything that even remotely resembled a treasure chest.

“There’s a limited number of treasure chests that can appear on a floor. The stronger the monster, the more likely it is to drop a chest, but you wouldn’t be able to find one even if you killed hundreds of Cotton Balls or bees. So I really do think that Misaki was lucky…but disarming the traps is usually done by the Thief jobs. If only I’d explained properly…,” said Elitia. She had plenty of experience but seemed to be having trouble leading a group of beginners.

“If she was transported by a trap, where was she sent?” I asked.

“It was most likely a Floor Warp trap, so she should be on this floor somewhere. If we don’t find her soon…”

“Yeah. Atobe, what should we do? Should we look for her with them?”

“I’d like to if we can… Elitia, were there any other parties on this floor? If there were, we could ask them to help as well.” Fetching Ribault would take too long. If only Misaki had a Return Scroll. It didn’t matter if she would get minus contribution points; this was an emergency.

“…It might’ve been my imagination, but I thought I saw someone right after we got to this floor,” said Elitia. “It was probably just another party that I noticed out of the corner of my eye, though.”

“Or maybe some sort of surveillance person?” Igarashi wondered. “But why…?”

I suddenly remembered the conversation I’d overheard at the tavern last night during dinner. It was a party of three men. They’d known that Elitia had come to District Eight. It sounded like they were planning something.

“…Guess we might have trouble getting other parties to work with us. That said, if we split up, we’ll have a hard time dealing with any groups of monsters we might run into. Elitia, please, let us join your party. Even just temporarily,” I suggested.

She was a level-8 Seeker… That seemed like something so powerful we couldn’t even imagine getting there. The reason she was so desperate to train up a rearguard was that her own party had abandoned her companion. She was trying to form a new party in order to save her. It was too dangerous, though, as they were now. Even though Suzuna had heard Elitia’s story now, she didn’t seem to have any desire to leave her party… Even if the risk of a counterattack were there the entire time, she tried to make the killing blow.

“…You can’t claim everything is fine as it is,” I continued. “If you try to have her take the experience from killing Poison Spear Bees, there’s a chance that Suzuna will get hit with a counterattack. The same is true of Cotton Balls, but the poison is just too dangerous. If possible, it would best for her to join a party with people of a similar level.”

“Are you saying I’m not capable of being in a party with Suzuna?” asked Elitia.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I want to help you find your friend, too, if at all possible. But if the question is about raising Suzuna’s level, she should join our party, and you should work solo for a while until she’s up to your level.”

“…He’s right. I don’t care what the reason is, I’m not going to abandon someone who’s trying to save their friend,” added Igarashi. “And I’m worried about Suzuna, too. We were reincarnated at the same time.”

“…You guys…,” whimpered Suzuna as she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at the tears brimming in her eyes. Elitia didn’t seem to know how to react but, after a moment, looked me in the face again.

“I have noticed how exceptional a rearguard you are. If you were helping, I’m sure we could raise Suzuna’s level safely…but I had arbitrarily decided that you wouldn’t agree to help us,” she said finally.

“Because I need to keep knowledge about my true abilities from becoming too widely known. But I want to let a few trusted companions know about them so we can form a party and I can use my skills to their highest potential. As a vanguard, one issue you have is that you’re not suited to protecting your rearguard. Are there any other issues?”

“…If you put Suzuna in your party and allow me to be a ‘guest,’ then I can keep my distance while I fight,” replied Elitia. “If we do that, there won’t be any other issues. But if I tell you to run, you leave me and you run. That’s my only request… I’ve given Suzuna a Return Scroll, so you can use that.” She put out her hand, which I shook, and I flashed her a grin in response to her tense expression.

“I look forward to seeing your skills, Mr. Arihito. Please excuse my handshake while wearing my gauntlets, they take some time to remove.”

“Oh, no problem… I look forward to working together.”

“I will be walking around and fighting alone, but since you’ve agreed to work together, you are entirely in control. Even though I’m not in your party, I’ll listen to your orders, and any loot or valuables I find will belong to you. Let me know if you don’t have enough money for day-to-day expenses.”

“We’re all right for now. Besides, I’m not the type to rely on others.”

Elitia smiled happily. I wondered if that was more what she was really like. It wasn’t a good emotional state if she was constantly brooding, her nerves stretched thin. I was glad we ran into them, for both her and Suzuna’s sake.

Elitia then shook hands with Igarashi and Theresia. Suzuna timidly approached me.

“U-um… It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Mr. Arihito. Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Shiromiya Suzuna.”

“I’m Atobe Arihito. This is Igarashi Kyouka and Theresia, a lizardman.” I gave our names in the traditional Japanese order, surname then given name.

“Nice to meet you,” said Igarashi. “Glad to have more people in our party.”

“……” Theresia was silent as always.

Igarashi smiled kindly, and Suzuna seemed to relax a little and smiled back. Theresia had a certain presence to her that would probably take Suzuna time to get used to, but Suzuna still shook her hand and greeted her sincerely.

My license displayed Elitia as a “guest”—perhaps it meant that she had only joined the party temporarily.

Part II: The Tyrant

We had more members in our party, but of course, I was still stuck in the back. I imagined this was probably the sight I would be seeing most often in life: the girls’ backs.

Elitia’s coming along with us as a guest, but I can’t set her location in the party formation. There are some risks associated with her skills, but I still want to support her if possible…

“We can’t go this way without those Fanged Orcs noticing us… I’ll take them out.” Elitia had decided this all on her own and went over to defeat them. I knew she felt responsible for Misaki, but this way, we weren’t getting any experience.

…Hmm? Actually, we’re not getting nothing in the way of experience.

When I looked at the party information page, there were the vitality and magic bars but also black and yellow circles. The circles seemed to be each person’s experience, and whenever Elitia defeated a monster, it seemed to go up a tiny bit. When a black circle filled up, it turned yellow. I guessed that your level would go up once all ten circles had turned yellow. For convenience’s sake, I decided to call these round experience-point circles bubbles. When a monster was killed, about one-tenth of a bubble was filled, so a tiny amount of experience was coming in. The amount for me was even less, and Theresia was getting basically none. I didn’t think being a mercenary meant she didn’t ever gain experience, so I assumed it was going up a tiny bit.

“Arihito, I have some orc fangs. Would you mind taking them?” asked Elitia. “I only took the high-quality ones, but I have a lot. You can keep the money you can trade them for—you are the party leader after all.”

“Sure, I’ll take them. I’m going to run out of space to carry things soon, though.”

“About how much is an orc fang worth?” asked Igarashi. It was the same thing I had been wondering. Elitia thought for a moment before answering.

“In District Eight, I think it’s about three silver pieces. They’re not used as materials in the higher districts, though, so nobody collects them. I don’t think they’re much cheaper than that in this district.”

“That’s not bad… Let’s gather as many as we can. They don’t even take up that much space, either,” I said.

Ten high-quality orc fangs would be worth three gold. We needed money right now, so I was grateful for it. Gathering was secondary, though. First, we needed to find Misaki as quickly as possible. If she was moving around trying to find us, we should be able to see her even from afar.

But we heard her far before we saw her.

“—NOOOOOO! …Help! Help me! Somebodyyy!”

“Misaki! Ah…oh…,” said Suzuna. She seemed to believe that was Misaki’s voice, but when she turned in the direction of the scream, she saw some massive humanoid form looming in the distance and lost any other words.

An orc… A massive one…and it’s got company!

We finally found Misaki. She was tied up and unable to move, lying on the grass like some sort of sacrifice to the massive orc. She wasn’t screaming anymore. She might have passed out from sheer terror.

“S-something that huge…appears on the second floor of the beginners’ dungeon…?” stammered Igarashi.

“…It’s a Named Monster… A Named orc. There shouldn’t be any Seekers who could draw that out. Someone must be trying to make us take care of their dirty work!” said Elitia.

Those guys in the tavern—this is what they were talking about!

A high-level Seeker dragging around deadweight, that’s what the men in the tavern said. If Misaki hadn’t been there, they would have aimed for Suzuna and made Elitia beat the Named Monster they had forced to come out. They would have her defeat a monster they couldn’t at their level, then steal the treasure.

Most likely they had some method ready to put Elitia out of commission after she defeated the Named orc. They were probably here on this floor right now, hiding themselves and watching it all go down.

“—Everyone, stay where you are! I should be able to defeat the Named orc on my own!” cried Elitia.

“Elitia, wait!” I shouted.

At that moment, the group of normal orcs was moving to attack Misaki, who laid helpless and unmoving on the ground. She didn’t have time to think about how to save her. All she knew was she needed to defeat those orcs.

“—I’ll scatter your entrails across the field, foul orcs!” she cried.

Sonic Raid was a skill far more powerful than Accel Dash that allowed her to move incredibly quickly.

Elitia closed in on the orcs in an instant and bared her blade. The skill she used was more powerful than Slash Ripper and allowed her to attack multiple close enemies. Her sword flashed in an arc, and like she had promised, pieces of the orcs’ bodies flew across the grass.

But something happened when she was hit by the blood splashing back. She seemed to take on a menacing air.

“…Haah… AAAAAAAAHH!”

I heard her let out a gut-wrenching roar.

This was the “problem” she had—a unique skill that activated when she was drenched in the blood of her enemies.

“Elitia—!” cried Suzuna.

“Atobe, we can’t leave her! No matter how strong she is, she can’t take that massive orc alone!”

“—Don’t come near me!” shouted Elitia.

As far as I could see, this was the side effect of that Berserk skill. She was very agitated and aggressive. I guessed her strength was likely increased but that she may have lost the ability to distinguish friend from enemy.

Which is why she wouldn’t join the party and told us to keep our distance…but…

She was trying to handle it all herself—the massive Named orc, the group of smaller orcs. She made it all her responsibility.

The problem was that while we may have some distance between us and her, there was still a chance that Misaki could be dragged into things. We couldn’t stop Elitia now that she’d used Sonic Raid to move so far from us.

“I will save her… I’m…I’m not a murderer… I don’t kill people!” cried Elitia. She killed the leading orcs, and though the remaining ones were afraid of her, the Named orc didn’t seem concerned at all. It advanced toward her, its footsteps shaking the earth, and she faced it head-on.

I glanced at my license and knew I was too late even as I tried to shout a warning.

“Elitia! It’s—!”

“—Hyaaaaaaaa!” screamed Elitia as she flew at the mountain-like orc.

But her sword failed to pierce its hide, instead sliding along the surface. The orc dodged.

“Ah—!”

The Named orc, Juggernaut, let out a terrifying roar, completely different from a normal orc. It was so much bigger and so much fiercer.

“GGRRAAAAAAAAAAAA—!”

“Aagh… Rrgh… Let go of me! …Aaahh!”

It was a horrifying and demoralizing sight. Elitia had killed the Fanged Orcs like they were nothing, but now she was screaming to be released from the massive orc’s grasp. The orcs on the ground rallied themselves and rush toward Misaki. I didn’t want to let Igarashi, Theresia, or Suzuna die.

“…Arihito… Run! …Aaagh!” shouted Elitia. If we left her, she’d be crushed. Juggernaut’s hand might even be able to crush a human entirely.

She’d made us promise that if she told us to run, we’d use the Return Scroll that Suzuna had. We could have done that now; we should have done that now. There was no way we could win against a monster like that. But…if we ran, we’d be throwing away both Elitia’s and Misaki’s lives.

Just thinking that made an incredible anger well up inside of me. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t forgive myself if I let that happen.

“Like hell we’ll run…!” I shouted.

“GWAAH!”

I aimed my blazeshot at Juggernaut’s face in the hope that flame would get through its defenses even if physical attacks didn’t…and I seemed to be right. The massive creature that wasn’t even fazed by Elitia’s sword was shaken by my shot and relaxed its grip.

“Agh…!”

Once she was released from Juggernaut’s grip, Elitia was able to right herself before she hit the ground and evaded Juggernaut’s attack, which came down from above. It was a good thing the stun effect went away immediately, but she still didn’t seem able to use her nondominant hand.

This Named creature was level 5, but it seemed that wasn’t a good indication of its real strength. Elitia was level 8, but it put her on the brink of death. I didn’t want to accept it.

“Igarashi, Theresia, Suzuna. If things start looking grim, you need to leave me and run,” I said.

“Tsk… As if I’d do a thing like that! I’m fighting until the end—!” retorted Igarashi.

“Please…listen to me. I promise I’ll do anything you ask if you just make it back safe.”

“…Even if things look hopeless, we won’t run. So you have to let us stay, please,” pleaded Suzuna.

“Suzuna…,” Igarashi murmured. I didn’t even feel like I could live in the face of that beast… She really was courageous even when it looked like the end.

“…Suzuna, get that Return Scroll ready so you can use it at any moment. Promise me,” I said.

There was no way we could fight Juggernaut. Just going near it would mean instant death…but Elitia could evade its attacks. That meant we could make opportunities to attack.

Defense Support won’t be very useful against something that huge, but maybe Attack Support…

“—Elitia! Join my party, just temporarily!” I shouted across the field, but Elitia didn’t respond. She evaded Juggernaut’s attacks once, twice, and looked for a chance to counterattack. Maybe it was an effect of Berserk, or maybe she was trying to force herself not to run.

No, that wasn’t it. She was luring Juggernaut’s attacks so that it didn’t hit Misaki.

“You can’t save Misaki like this! Please, listen to me!” I yelled as loudly as I possibly could, but Elitia didn’t turn to look back. She was at her limit just dodging attacks.

“Elitia, please! Please listen to Arihito!” called Suzuna.

“—You…you don’t want to die there, do you?!” screamed Igarashi.

Maybe our voices weren’t reaching her—but right when we were about to give up…

She joined… Maybe now we can do it…!

I could now use my support skills on her. If it’s close enough that I can shoot a blazeshot, the effects of my skills will reach her, too!

“Elitia! Use a multihit attack! …I’ll back you up!”

Even if the Named orc was immune to physical attacks, if the damage for Attack Support was set permanently at ten points, then maybe, just maybe…

“—Hyaaa!”

Elitia used her remaining magic to activate Sonic Raid and disappeared, leaving Juggernaut’s attack to cut through air. The next moment, she rained attacks down over Juggernaut’s entire body.

She executed an incredibly fast series of attacks while was using Sonic Raid. It was beautiful in a way, a heroic and overwhelmingly powerful secret skill. The invisible follow-up attack from Attack Support 1 made it through the defenses of a creature even immune to physical attacks. Physical seemed to be different from unattributed, but either way, I had to gamble on this attack. It was all we had left.

Do it… Take it down…!

Its massive body stopped moving, then wavered for a moment before collapsing with a thunderous crash against the ground, crushing the orcs who were attempting to run.

And then—

“Huff, haah…”

—Elitia appeared in front of the fallen Juggernaut, her sword thrust in the ground as she leaned on it, about to collapse herself. But I hadn’t forgotten that we couldn’t relax just yet.

“Theresia, Igarashi! Cover Elitia! There are other enemies nearby!” I ordered.

Theresia found them before anyone else. A little ways off were three men, each holding a long-ranged weapon and aiming at Elitia.

“Tsk…you should have left well enough alone! You’ll regret this, brats!” cried Igarashi.

They must have assumed Elitia had defeated Juggernaut with her own strength. They were taking us lightly. But I had no intentions of leaving them alone now that we’d found them.

“—I’ll back you guys up!”

““Okay!””

The arrows from the men’s weapons, which looked like small bows, were blocked by Theresia’s and Igarashi’s shields. The next moment, Igarashi launched her Thunderbolt, and I shot my blazeshot, hitting two of the men.

“Gyaah!”

“Aagh!”

“—Haah!”

Igarashi swung her lance around, and the two men tried to stop her attack but were blown away by the Attack Support damage and unable to move. Either they were overwhelmed by the physical shock of suddenly taking the ten damage, or they were still only second level.

The remaining man seemed more capable and like the boss of the group.

“Useless bastards… Raaah! D-damn you…!” he shouted.

Theresia closed in and slashed out at him, but he jumped back and avoided the attack, which was when I took aim and shot.

“—Take that!”

“Gah—!”

I hadn’t actually aimed for any vital organs but apparently hit some weak spot, and Bergen crumpled to the ground where he stood. My slingshot definitely wasn’t the most incredibly powerful thing, but perhaps I got a critical hit or whatever. When I got closer, it looked like the metal bullet had struck him in the jaw.

Igarashi looked at me, seemingly speechless. It was less that she was happy that we’d won and more that she was completely drained from exhausting every last reserve of energy she had.

I turned around and saw Suzuna watching us. She was still unable to participate in the battle, but things for her were just getting started. I nodded, and she ran to Misaki and Elitia.

The first recovery round activated after thirty seconds. I’d thought more time had passed, but I suppose time seems longer when you’re so focused.

“…Igarashi, Theresia, I’m glad you’re both safe. I’m sorry I forced your hand earlier.”

“Same to you, Atobe… Ugh, I practically lost myself…”

“……”

We were all relieved to see that none of us had been injured, then turned toward Juggernaut’s body and Elitia who had defeated it.

Part III: Magic Stones and the Black Box

Elitia’s vitality had gone down by about 70 percent. Even though she herself had said how valuable potions were, either she didn’t have one on her or she didn’t have the energy to use it. She just continued standing there, leaning on her sword in the dirt.

“Elitia, are you oka—?” I started.

“Guh…”

When I tried to talk to her, her last remaining will seemed to snap, and she collapsed like a marionette whose strings were cut. I instinctively dashed up behind her to try and catch her.

“…Thanks… I’m pretty pathetic. I used the last of my strength.” A sense of calm returned to her tone. Her harsh words and bloodlust of a moment before seemed to have vanished when Berserk had worn off.

“Thanks for showing us what a level-eight Seeker is capable of. I think this time you and the enemy were poorly matched, though.”

“Named Monsters sometimes have resistances or immunities…but it was thought no Named Monsters with resistances appeared in this labyrinth… I guess it wasn’t investigated enough…”

She had said there shouldn’t be any Seekers here who would make a Named orc appear. I understood the reason for that now after that battle. It was just far too strong compared to the labyrinth’s level of difficulty.

Recovery Support activated again, and some energy seemed to return to Elitia, who I was still propped up.

“I felt it before, too…but when you’re my rearguard, the pain seems to go away a little…”

I imagined she might feel uneasy being healed by some mysterious power so I decided I should explain a little bit to her now.

“I have a skill that lets me recover a vanguard’s vitality when I’m the rearguard. You’ll probably recover more if we rest here for a moment. I guess potions are pretty indispensable, huh?”

“…The upper districts use too many. There’s not enough supply. And it’s more profitable for people who can make potions to sell them through Merchant organizations to the higher districts than to sell them here…”

If that’s true, any reincarnates who chose a Pharmacist or similar job would just need to gather materials, and then they’d be living a life of luxury.

“Oh, right, Misaki… Good, it looks like she’s fine,” I said.

“…She just has terrible luck. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to protect her, so…I’m glad she’s okay…,” said Elitia. She didn’t blame Misaki for being reckless. She was just genuinely happy we were able to save her. I could tell with a glance at her tear-filled eyes.

“Hold on, Misaki. We’ll get you out soon…,” she added.

“Theresia, cut the ropes with your short sword,” said Igarashi.

“……”

Theresia used her blade to cut the ropes as Igarashi had instructed. Misaki was still unconscious, perhaps from fear at seeing Juggernaut so up close. Her wrists and ankles were covered in painful red welts after we removed the ropes.

“Shouldn’t their karma increase if they tie up another Seeker like that?” asked Igarashi. “Those assholes were trying to get the loot from Juggernaut even if it meant resorting to criminal means.”

“There are ways to get around the karma feature on your license,” explained Elitia. “For example, if they were threatened by Misaki or she stole something important from them. There are a number of different methods, but easiest of all would most likely be if they stepped in the way when she was attacking a monster, so her attack hit them. If they then tied her up to get back at her, their karma would even out.”

So that’s how they do it… Like those scam artists who set up accidents so they can sue.

“That’s only from a license point of view, though. If we report what they did to the Guild, there’ll be a trial,” continued Elitia.

“…So you’d get Misaki to testify against them. That could work. Will it be a problem that we fought them?” I asked.

“They went to attack us first, so it shouldn’t be an issue,” replied Elitia. “Fighting between Seekers is, of course, forbidden, but they did something stupid just to get the goods from Juggernaut.”

Even the materials and bounty for Redface were valuable enough to be a massive amount for people adventuring in District Eight. I couldn’t begin to imagine how valuable those materials would be, let alone if there was a bounty for it. I also had no idea how we’d get the Juggernaut’s massive body out of here.

“How are massive monsters like this handled?” I asked.

“There are people called Carriers who specialize in transporting large monsters. They do jobs all over the various districts. It’s a good idea to take out any valuable magic stones before they move it, though. Even better if you can get to the stone sack inside the body, but it can be dangerous if you accidentally cut the wrong organ…so right now you should check the nails, horns, and teeth for any stones.”

“We have no idea what we’re looking for. Sorry to ask, but could you come, too? Can you walk?”

Restoring her vitality seemed to be healing the most severe of her wounds, but she was still unsteady on her feet. She took off her gauntlets. The swelling in arm was starting to subside, and the red on her ribs where her armor had been shattered was fading.

“…Mind if I lean on you?” Elitia asked me.

“Of course. Takes a lot of work just to check something of this size,” I replied.

We’d more than likely want to ask the Carriers to take all the defeated Fanged Orcs, too, though they’d probably take a cut. There were a couple dozen of them, so we’d surely get an incredible amount of materials.

“…Hmm? Is that one of those treasure chest things…?” I asked upon spotting a black box that had fallen near Juggernaut. It was significantly smaller than I had imagined a treasure chest would be. I’d probably be able to fit it in my knapsack if I made some room.

“Named Monsters are said to have a higher drop rate for chests, but I’ve never even seen one that color before… A chest’s value varies depending on its color. They’re the kind of thing everyone wishes they could get their hands on. Better not to just go and recklessly open it, though. We should get help from an expert. There’s some Chest Crackers in the city. We can ask the Guild for a recommendation.”

“All right, we’ll get them to help us.”

“Atobe, is there anything we can do?” Igarashi asked as she and Theresia approached.

“Yeah, could you check the nails on its left hand? There’s a chance there are some magic stones.” I was worried about having them search and leave the men we defeated, but they were strewn about and seemed in no condition to move anywhere.

“Mmph…”

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Elitia had suddenly let out a small moan. It threw me because it sounded really erotic.

She looked at me. Her cheeks were flushed a little red. Maybe she was starting to get embarrassed by walking so close together? If that was the reason, it would be better if we walked apart.

“…It’s nothing.”

“Oh, o-okay… Whoa, those massive things on its forehead were horns… That’s different from the Fanged Orcs. Those ones don’t have horns.”

“If you find an orc-type monster with horns, you can sometimes find magic stones if you cut off and split the horns. The horns themselves aren’t that strong so aren’t used as materials and have no value. They’re basically like a nutshell.”

So Cotton Balls sometimes had wind agate stuck to their heads, but Juggernaut’s dropped loot was inside the horns. We would have lost out on a lot of money if we hadn’t known that, so I needed to thank Elitia.

Juggernaut had multiple horns sprouting from its forehead, and out of the ten in total, we found a magic stone in two of them. One was an alkaid crystal and the other was a life stone. Apparently, life stones were sometimes dropped by Named Monsters and could be worked into accessories, which increased the wearer’s total vitality. Elitia had never seen an alkaid crystal, so she didn’t know much about it.

“Are you sure I can take these, Elitia?”

“Like I said in the beginning, anything we find is yours. If we happen to find something that, once processed, only I can use, then I’ll buy it back from you.”

“Really? Well, thank you, then.”

I wondered if the alkaid crystal was like the blaze stones and could be added to weapons. Or armor, or accessories… I’d show it to Rikerton. He’d be able to tell me what we could make from it.

“After we’re done, we can leave the labyrinth and ask for help from the Carriers. There are people in front of the entrance who can contact them for us.”

“Is it okay to leave it here and go out? Will other Seekers try to take it?” I asked.

“Our licenses record who defeated it, so nobody will touch the actual body. Magic stones and treasure chests aren’t, though,” replied Elitia. “That’s why it’s fine as long as we do what we’re doing now and take those before we go.”

That meant Bergen and his group were planning on snatching up the dropped loot and treasure chests, which wouldn’t be considered criminal. I was glad I’d learned so much about how the license and karma worked in this trip.

“I hope Misaki will learn something from this experience and be more cautious… She looks like she’s having a nightmare,” said Igarashi, looking at me and Misaki as I carried the girl. I wondered if there was any other support healing thing, not Recovery Support, that could wake someone up from being unconscious… That’d be too convenient, though.

“…Ngh… Wh-what are you doing to me?! …No, orcs, no…”

“O-ow! Man, those nails of hers—!” Misaki thrashed about in her nightmare, digging her nails into my shoulder. Suzuna gently stroked her shoulder, and she seemed to calm down.

“…Zzz… Zzz…”

As a Shrine Maiden, Suzuna had a skill called Purify, which boosted the party’s psychological state. There were a lot of places it’d be useful when you took into consideration the horrifying things you could come across in the labyrinth. I also wanted to ask Elitia about her job. I found it hard to imagine she’d deliberately written Cursed Blade when she first started, which meant she’d changed jobs sometime afterward.

First things first, though. We needed to get the Carriers to take care of our haul. I was really curious what my contribution points would be after this battle. In total, we’d beaten fifteen Cotton Balls, eight Poison Spear Bees, and twenty-three Fanged Orcs. And Juggernaut. I suspected once you added in any level up and increase in Trust Level that it’d blow what I’d gotten the day before out of the water.

Part IV: Heading Back and Quick Progress

On our way to the second-floor entrance, we ran into a party who were close to being annihilated by some Cotton Balls and Poison Spear Bees, so we saved them. It turned out they were Misaki’s previous party who had been rushing to come save her. They were genuinely relieved to see her safe. It seemed like they wanted her to come back to their party, but Misaki didn’t. I tried to encourage them, but later, once Misaki had woken up (while I was still carrying her), we talked about the situation, and I realized that wasn’t likely.

“They’re reeeally nice, but there are sooo many parties out there, as many as there are stars in the sky. I’m just going with the flow and finding where I should be. I want it to feeeel right.”

“Well, yeah, but you only joined their party yesterday, and they were so happy to see you,” I insisted.

“Oh, don’t say that. It pains me. See, I was thinking, you know before, I thought they could be like my worker bees and I’d be the queen bee. But I’ve thought about it more, and I need to get stronger—at least so bad guys don’t kidnap me.”

“In that case, Misaki, are you going to join—?” Igarashi started to ask.

“Hmm… About that—it’s just I think I’d have a tough time. Um, what was your name again?”

“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Arihito.”

Misaki’s job was a Gambler. Apparently, she had a skill that increased the drop rate for treasure chests. If she was with us, then we’d surely have some good luck, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t come along with us.

“I might’ve passed out real quick, but I still got the sense your party’s crazy strong, Arihito. I mean, I just feel like it’s kiiinda rash for someone as incompetent as me to be joining you guys.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’ve been completely unfazed by my battles in the labyrinth. But I also don’t have any plans to stay in District Eight forever. I want to move up in rank.”

“See, it’s sooo amazing that you’re trying to get out of District Eight. You know, if you don’t work hard every day, your experience points will go down, so there’s tons of people stuck at level one or two who never leave. That’s why there’s, like, three thousand people in this district.”

Now that she mentioned it, she was right. I was able to defeat strong enemies because of my rearguard skills. It hadn’t felt difficult to make money or climb the ranks. Even if a party ran into a Named Monster, they’d probably just run if they felt they weren’t strong enough… There were probably a lot of parties that hesitated to face something like that. Their entire world would change if they could just defeat it, but there was an ingrained belief that it’s normal to run because there’s no way they could win.

“If the party leader reaches first place in the district, then they take a test to be able to move on to District Seven. But you can make a living here in District Eight, so there’s a lot of people who don’t try to take it,” said Elitia. She spoke from experience. She must have met people like that in her travels so far.

“I want to work hard and make it my own way. Oh, but I’d love it if I could be in your party tomorrow, just to commemorate our time together, but…I’m sooo useless,” said Misaki.

“You’re not useless. Oh, by the way, you set off a trap on a treasure chest, right? What was in the chest?” I asked.

“Oh, there was a bag in it. Those scary men took it from me,” she replied.

Now that she’d said that, we really should’ve gone back to get it. But it’d be too much trouble if the entire party went, so Elitia just shrugged and dashed off using Sonic Raid. Seemed a waste to use the skills of such a high-level Seeker on something like that, though.

I hated to trouble Ribault again, but after I told him about Bergen and his men, he went bravely into the labyrinth. Apparently, Bergen and his lot had been using their skills for hiding themselves to do various nefarious deeds and causing problems, but they’d not had any proof until now and couldn’t chase them down. This, however, should provide the information necessary to take them in.

Igarashi turned to me after Ribault and his party disappeared down the stairs to the labyrinth.

“Those guys are like some sort of neighborhood watch. I might even go as far as to say they’re like a citizen police force,” she said.

“Yeah. I’m sure there’s lots of people who are safe because of them,” I replied.

They had more experience than us and were most likely a higher level, but there was a reason they stood outside the first labyrinth. They had found their calling of raising the next generation of Seekers. That’s the impression I got from them.

I wonder if I could become first place like I was aiming for. If a beast like the Juggernaut appeared in the first labyrinth, it was going to be a very long road until I’d be able to seek in the hardest labyrinth in District One.

“Elitia, are most Seekers in District Five level eight?” I asked.

“No, I think they’re mostly around level ten. There’s a reason why my level is a little lower…” She glanced around at the party. Igarashi and Suzuna looked back at her with concern. “…Let’s discuss this later. Having seen me in that state, I wouldn’t want to freak you out by not explaining things. Sorry for tricking you, Suzuna.”

“No…I’m just happy to know even a little bit of what you’re going through. I felt from the beginning that there was something you were trying to bottle up.” They’d only met the previous day, yet they were already good friends. Misaki also seemed to sense that and ran up behind the two and threw her arms around their shoulders.

“Ack— Wh-what was that for?!” cried Elitia in surprise.

“I just felt kinda jealous that you were closer to Suzu than me, even though Suzu and I have known each other since we were just itty-bitty little kids.”

“I thought you invited Suzuna… I mean, you came here together.”

“No, see, we had a tradition of going skiing every year… So it’s not like either one of us invited the other,” replied Suzuna. She must’ve been correcting Elitia since it had to do with the accident that led to their reincarnation. She was trying to say that she thought neither of them really invited the other so neither was responsible for involving the other in the accident.

“…I didn’t get the fuss about this whole labyrinth and seeking stuff. But I’ve had a change of heart, and now I’ll give it my all, too… Which is whyyy you should treat me to some food!”

“Well, I’ll take a good suggestion when I hear one… Atobe, how about we go to the market another day? Instead, let’s go to the Guild to make our report, then go out for a bite to eat.”

“All right. I’ll take Theresia back to the Mercenary Office.” However, Theresia didn’t nod in response. Maybe she was trying to ask if we could not do that.

“Atobe, did you ask Leila how long Theresia’s allowed to stay with us?”

“Wooow! I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but this lizard hat is sooo cuuute! Ooh, it feels so smooth and cool!” Misaki patted Theresia’s lizard hat…well, her almost-full-face mask. I could only see her mouth, and though the expression didn’t last long, she looked a little embarrassed. I kind of wanted to try touching it to see what Misaki meant by smooth and cool, but given that it would have likely been considered sexual harassment if a man like me did, I had to restrain myself.

When we returned to the Guild, Louisa came out to meet us, and she seemed to have some premonition that something had happened since she looked nervous.

“I see you worked with Ms. Elitia and Ms. Suzuna today. Ms. Igarashi also seems to have worked hard,” she said.

“Thank you, but I was only with Atobe and his party near the very end,” said Elitia.

“Me too… I just watched, I couldn’t do anything. I’ll try harder next time…,” added Suzuna.

Louisa gave our party a brief, pensive glance but then gestured for me to come over. She lowered her voice so the others couldn’t hear.

“First you were alone, but now I see you’ve added five girls to your party… Was that your intention, Mr. Atobe? To only recruit girls, I mean.”

“N-no, that’s not it at all. That girl, Misaki…I wouldn’t really call a party member. We just happened to rescue her. I have a feeling she’ll be doing her own thing after this. She’s a bit of a free spirit.”

“But you will be working with the other four from here on out. Elitia’s level eight, so you will likely move on from District Eight very soon…”

“Even if that happens, I was hoping I could ask that you continue to be my caseworker. Though I imagine that would prove difficult after I change districts…”

“A-actually, I’m able to transfer anywhere in the Guild, so…if that is your request, I should be able remain your caseworker for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s fantastic. I’ve gotten so used to working with you, I’d be sad if I had to change caseworkers… Hmm?” Someone tapped my arm, so I turned and saw Elitia standing there.

“Arihito, it’s the leader’s responsibility to report the results of an expedition. Also, we’d like to get changed, so we’re going back home for a bit.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure, I’ll take care of this.”

“Kyouka’s going to take Theresia back with her, so you don’t have to worry about that. How about we all meet up at the tavern near your place afterward?”

Since we were allowed to keep a mercenary with us until eight PM, we still had plenty of time. We would probably be able to make it to the Mercenary Office in time if we left the tavern by seven thirty.

The others left, and Louisa asked me a question before leading me to the private room we had used the day before.

“Um, additionally, I’m sure there’s no way this could be possible, but you didn’t happen to run into another Named Monster again today…?”

“That’s correct. We defeated Juggernaut on the second floor and asked the Carriers to take care of what we left behind. Apparently, they’ll come report to the Guild once they’ve finished, so— Louisa?!”

“Ohhh…”

Louisa had been so surprised to hear about Redface yesterday, and it seemed hearing the word Juggernaut today was just too much of a shock for her to handle. She fainted.

A younger coworker of Louisa’s showed me to a different room in the Guild in Louisa’s stead. It was furnished very differently, with leather-upholstered chairs and a dark ebony table, though I had no idea where they would find wood like that. A moment later, Louisa came in carrying a tray with the same herbal tea, then sat in the chair next to me instead of across the table. She cleared her throat with a cough before speaking.

“The last Named orc that appeared on the second floor of the Field of Dawn was defeated four months ago. That individual was called Yellow Fang. Its body was a bright yellow; it had a wonderful personality and was apparently very popular at dinner parties.”

“Monsters have dinner parties?! Louisa, I think you’re too shaken up—you’re talking nonsense!”

“Huh? …M-my apologies. I’ve been put in charge of organizing this month’s Guild Party, and it’s just so much work. What I meant to say is that while its color was different, it wasn’t all that much larger than a normal Fanged Orc.” Maybe the shock had mixed up her thoughts. What exactly did I do by confusing her so much with this Juggernaut thing?

“Louisa, first, please just calm down. This orc from four months ago isn’t the same as Juggernaut, right?”

“Ah, right, of course. It’s said that if you defeat two hundred orcs on the second floor of the Field of Dawn, you’ll become the target of Yellow Fang’s hatred, and it will appear. It’s a level-three Named Monster, so it’s much more powerful than Redface. When that one appeared, we lost seven Seekers before a group of sixteen was finally able to put it down.”

“That many…? I can see that Named Monster was incredibly vicious. But it’s not the same creature as the Juggernaut that we defeated, right?”

“You are correct. There are two types of Named Monsters, those who appear fairly easily and those who very rarely appear. Juggernaut is one of the rare Named Monsters among the Fanged Orcs. The last time it appeared was three years ago. There have been eleven Named orcs defeated since then, and all of them were Yellow Fangs.”

There weren’t enough defeated to assume accurate statistics, but if two out of thirteen Named Monsters that appeared were Juggernauts, its rate of appearance was about one in ten. And if it was one every three years…

“We thought it was Bergen and his party who made Juggernaut appear, but I doubt they’d be able to defeat two hundred orcs. They were fairly low level,” I said.

“It was a different party. Since it was so much larger than Yellow Fang, they gathered twenty-four Seekers in four parties total, but unfortunately, they were almost completely destroyed. We have a record that says the only ones able to survive were in the party led by Bergen. There’s a high probability they abandoned the other parties and ran. The Guild investigated the incident, but they testified that they managed to live through sheer luck. Since we had no other evidence, the investigation was shelved.”

They couldn’t even defeat Juggernaut with twenty-four Seekers, and then Bergen and his party ran away. They weren’t able to return to the second floor of the Field of Dawn, and Juggernaut went undefeated. Once they heard Elitia had come to District Eight, they realized they could use the Juggernaut that was after them for their own profit and so hatched their plan. That was the situation we’d walked into.

“…So if a Named Monster appears and hasn’t been defeated for a long time, people just prepare themselves to be sacrificed and gather lots of companions to take it on?” I asked.

“Yes. Of the twenty-one people Juggernaut defeated, three became demi-humans and are now available for hire at the Mercenary Office. The remaining eighteen…”

What happened when Seekers were killed by monsters? I wanted to understand, but it was such a harsh reality. If they don’t become demi-humans, they might never come back…

“Named Monsters frequently cause significant damage to Seekers, so we often place a bounty on them. However, if we make that bounty public, many people will attempt to make a profit off it even if they have to use the party the Named Monster is targeting. That’s also why we don’t announce the value of the bounty given, so we don’t encourage people to take a gamble and risk their lives. But when considering safety and peace of mind, we must announce the fact that Juggernaut has in fact been defeated…”

“The Guild has so much work cut out for them to maintain balance. That’s unlikely to change soon, but it’s just a good thing that we’re safe. I think knowing what Named Monsters are on what floors from here on out will be important information, even if it’s not easy to get.”

“I appreciate your understanding. But…I really am so happy you’re all right…” Louisa wiped at her eyes. She did seem truly relieved that we had survived. I got the feeling that the reason she fainted earlier had nothing to do with her being delicate and everything to do with the fact that she knew exactly how terrifying Juggernaut was.

Louisa seemed a little embarrassed by her now red eyes, but she took out her usual monocle. She was preparing to examine the record on my license.

“Right, may I please look at the Seeking Record on your license?”

“Please, go right ahead.” I handed her my license.

Three people leveled up, including me. Even though Elitia doled out the vast majority of the damage, Juggernaut gave such a massive amount of experience that everyone in the party still gained quite a bit.

“Wow…contribution points in the triple digits is impressive enough, but you’ve managed to reach four digits on only your second day.” Louisa clutched her monocle to her chest and stared at the record, her face beet red.

I wasn’t positive how Trust Levels counted toward contribution points, but it seemed like the max was fifty points per adventure into the labyrinth. Also, I figured out that each activation of Attack Support came to ten contribution points. Suzuna hadn’t lost any vitality, so Recovery Support didn’t give anything for her.

“One thousand six hundred and forty-nine…that is a truly amazing figure. And it comes in second as the most contribution points gained in one adventure ever. First place belongs to a party that made a large number of monsters appear in the labyrinth, so they were able to hunt an incredible amount of Cotton Balls, giving them one thousand six hundred and sixty contribution points. However, having defeated Juggernaut, you and your party are the only ones to have exceeded one thousand while defeating so few monsters.”

“So does this mean I’ll be able to become a two-star Seeker?”

“Yes. Congratulations! Would you like to purchase the necessary bronze Mercenary Tickets today? The bounty for Juggernaut is one hundred gold pieces, so I could give you the tickets now.”

I had thought it would take much longer, but since we defeated Juggernaut, I was able to reach my goal far quicker than I could have ever imagined.

“I have eight tickets left, so could I please have ninety-two tickets? I believe that would make two hundred seventy-six silver pieces total.”

“Of course. With this, you’ll be able to make Theresia a permanent member of your party. Since she is a demi-human, I do hope you keep her in your party forever. Should you decide to remove her from your party, she will return to the Mercenary Office.”

“Don’t worry, she has a very clear role in the party…and it might be weird to say this since she and I only just met, but I want to turn her back into a human.”

“…That won’t be easy. But if anyone can do it… First, you’ll need to advance to District Four. They say she would need to make several visits to the cathedral there. If you continue to excel as you have so far, I imagine you could accomplish such a feat in a few months’ time.”

The cathedral in District Four… That’s gotta be important info.

Each district seemed to have different facilities necessary for the Labyrinth Country. It was called a country, so there obviously had to be some sort of governmental body overseeing the whole thing. Maybe I should ask…

“Louisa, sorry to only ask this now, but does the Labyrinth Country have a king?”

“No, the founding family was exiled from District One. The people with any actual authority is the head of the cathedral, as well as us, the Guild leaders.”

“…Does that mean our seeking is what the Labyrinth Country wants? We were told we had no choice but to become Seekers.”

“Yes. You have most likely realized by now, but all of the labyrinths within the Labyrinth Country are somewhere else in this world. Only the entrances were collected within the walls to teleport Seekers to the labyrinths…though I am not in a position to know why that is.”

That meant there were a variety of different labyrinths, not just ones with fields. They might even require different skills or tools, so we needed to prepare in order to be able to adapt to the various environments.

“Thank you very much for all the information, Louisa. On another note, what’s our new rank?”

“Each person’s contribution points are calculated separately based on their function in the party. Mr. Atobe, you have become… Amazing, seventh place! In the single digits already. As for the others, Ms. Igarashi has moved up to four hundred and thirty-eight, Ms. Suzuna four hundred and thirty-five, and Ms. Elitia one hundred and fifteen out of twelve thousand in District Five. Congratulations, your lodging has been upgraded to a royal suite! I will need to start preparations for it, though, so you won’t be able to use it until tomorrow.”

A royal suite…so basically, bigger than what I had now. That meant me, Igarashi, and Theresia could live comfortably there—actually, no. Igarashi’s rank jumped up this time, too, so she wouldn’t have to stay in the barn. She would have no need to stay at my place.

She said she’d make us lunches…but I guess she can still cook them even if she doesn’t live with us. Last night was an exception. I can’t expect things to stay the same.

“…Mr. Atobe? Would you prefer to stay in your current room? You look glum.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that. I’ll go look at the new lodging tomorrow, and if it’s nice, then I would definitely like to move.”

“Understood. I’ll submit a preliminary contract with the landlord. The next thing is opening your black treasure chest. Would you like me to suggest a good Chest Cracker for you?”

“Chest Cracker? Is that a specialist who can remove any traps on the chest?”

“Yes. People with the job Trap Master will always be able to open chests without fail. Of course, there are extremely rare exceptions, but that’s just one of the dangers of working with treasure chests. You’ll have to pay the Trap Master a service fee, but since there will be plenty of treasure inside, it’s a small price to pay for acquiring the treasure safely.”

So I was able to buy the Mercenary Tickets I needed, confirmed how high in the ranking I moved, and got a recommendation for a Chest Cracker. Louisa really helped me with so much and would even continue to be my caseworker in the future, so I wanted to show my appreciation somehow. She might not be able to come since it was such short notice, but I decided to invite her out with us.

“Thank you so much for all the help you’ve given me. Louisa, what time do you get off work today?”

“The Guild is open late, but I’m not on duty, so my shift will be over soon.”

“Well…if you like, would you be interested in coming to have dinner with us? Sorry to ask on such short notice, but I really am grateful for all your help.”

“Oh… Are you sure that’s all right? If you don’t mind, I would be happy to accompany you.”

This time, I simply wanted to share our sense of accomplishment at having finished a great job with Louisa. We’d be going to a tavern, so the adults—everyone except Suzuna, Misaki, and Elitia—would likely have a bit to drink. I wondered what Igarashi was like drunk. Louisa, too. I couldn’t even fathom anything like that happening.

Part V: Chitchat

Louisa asked me to wait for her in the square outside the Guild, so I was again waiting there, staring at my surroundings.

Juggernaut had been so massive that the Carriers had used teleportation-type skills to move it to a dissection center. There was only one center in District Eight that could handle large monsters. Rikerton’s shop wasn’t able to do it. I felt bad that Melissa wouldn’t have a chance to handle the rare materials, but since all the district’s Dissectors were joining together to help, maybe she’d at least get a chance to help dissect. The massive tree trunk–like bones made high-quality building material, the nails and other parts were apparently used as material to make glass, and many of the other parts had uses.

We’d taken the Fanged Orcs’ teeth as Elitia suggested, but apparently, someone with dissecting skills would have been better able to preserve their value when removing them than we were. Well, there’s no point sweating the small stuff if you don’t have the skills to deal with it. The only choice we had was to take the valuable parts back with us.

It was quite normal for other Seekers to take the materials we threw away, like the Cotton Ball bodies. There were a lot of things in the labyrinth that couldn’t be carried back and so were just left. The general rule was that if something was left for an hour, then any possession rights were gone and it was free game. Anyone who took it wouldn’t gain any karma.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Atobe,” said Louisa.

“Oh… You’ve changed out of your work uniform.”

“Yes, we stand out quite a bit if we walk around in our uniforms… I can’t really say this too loudly, but the registrar ladies tend to get catcalled, so we’ve been asked by the higher-ups to dress more plainly in public.”

She had now let down her hair, which changed her image quite a lot. She was wearing sort of relaxed but mature clothing that I suppose you could call plain, but the material the clothes were made from was soft and really showed off her curves.

It’s the same with those knit sweaters; it emphasizes certain parts, and my eyes just… It’s probably a traditional design for this world, but why is there always a low neckline…?

“…? Is something the matter, Mr. Atobe?”

I thought she was going to say that my karma would go up, but she didn’t. She had said it was based on your relationship with the person, so maybe we’d gotten to a point where I could look all I wanted… If I was wrong, though, I’d be in trouble, so it was safer to assume it was still taboo.

“I was just surprised; you look so different now. I was thinking it’s amazing how different women look when they’re on duty and off.”

“Ha-ha… It’s always the stoic-looking ones who change the most. I’m not too different when I drink, but I do enjoy it, so I might get a little chatty.”

“Nothing wrong with that. I like to watch everyone have fun while I drink.”

“You enjoy being a rearguard even at a party.”

“You’re not wrong. People always told me I was an old soul.”

Louisa seemed to enjoy my joking and chatting. She wasn’t holding back, either—we’d managed to get this comfortable with each other in only two days. Once we started walking, I noticed a man coming from the other direction. He looked like he was about to run into Louisa.

“…Whoa, watch out. He sure looked like he was in some sort of hurry,” I said after reflexively grabbing Louisa’s hand and pulling her out of the way. He might not have actually run into her, but I was worried he might.

“There’s only three thousand people here, but it’s always so busy around the Guild… Louisa?”

“Uh, um, I was just…just thinking I might accidentally drink too much tonight.”

“Ah, well… Everything in moderation. It’ll affect you tomorrow if you drink too much.”

I had a feeling we weren’t quite talking about the same thing, but Louisa seemed happy. After that, she walked closer to me than she had before. I had a feeling she was looking at me, but when I glanced at her, she just smiled like nothing happened.

The tavern was busy again today. I was thinking it would’ve been a good idea to get seats before it got too crowded, but when we went into the tavern, we saw Igarashi waiting for us.

“Atobe, our seats are this way,” she called. “There was a big table open— Oh, you invited the lady from the Guild, too? Nice going.”

“I’m sorry for the sudden imposition,” said Louisa.

“We’re the ones who should be apologizing. You’re always such a huge help. You’ve been Atobe’s caseworker since he first chose his job, right?”

“Yes, I’m starting to feel like it might be fate. I could never have imagined being assigned to someone so talented…”

“He’s saved my neck so much… I used to be his manager, but now things have flipped. I’m basically like the subordinate now.”

“Oh, is that so? Manager and subordinate… So you two knew each other before since you used to be coworkers…”

“Yeah, but ever since we got reincarnated, I feel like we just mesh better.”

They’re smiling and chatting, but I feel some strange tension… Or maybe I’m just imagining things?

“Atobe, you’re the leader, so you should sit in the middle tonight.” I suddenly realized a drinking party was a valuable opportunity to observe Igarashi.

She never really came to any of the company parties, save for every once in a while, and when she did, she always left early. I guess because her parents were so strict.

A lot of people claimed Igarashi didn’t have to grace us with her presence since she was had the CEO’s favor. It embarrassed me a little to think I used to generally agree with all that.

“…Were you just thinking about work? I think I’ve started to figure out what face you make when you do,” said Igarashi.

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing. Do you like to drink, Igarashi?”

“Yeah, I drink sometimes. I wouldn’t say I’m too hard-core, though. Want to have a drinking competition and see?”

“I’m really not much of a heavyweight, either. I’m keeping it moderate tonight.”

“Heh… Proper as always. And Louisa’s even come out tonight and is sitting right next to you.”

“And so are you. Today’s about celebrating our party, though.”

“Oh, really? Well then…would you like to sit next to Suzuna or Theresia?”

“Oooh, don’t forget me!” Misaki piped up. “I’m so grateful to Arihito, and I’m always the one stuck pouring drinks at parties. I’ll pour for him. I’m, like, sooo good at it, too!”

“No, you’re out. Atobe said he doesn’t like girlie girls.”

“Awww, you’re just jealous of me ’cause I’m younger!” Igarashi froze on the spot. Even Louisa seemed bothered—did that mean she was in her twenties, too?

“And young people make stupid mistakes. I thought you turned over a new leaf or something?” retorted Igarashi.

“Yep, I suuure did! Sooo, Arihito, how old are ya?”

“Um… I think he’s a bit older than you,” Igarashi shot back. “Aren’t you being a little overly familiar?”

Who knew a career woman and a teenybopper would butt heads this much? It made me a little anxious to watch, but Misaki generally seemed to listen to me. I should tell her later not to argue so much.

Theresia and Suzuna were sitting quietly across from us, somehow peaceful. Theresia still had on her equipment since she couldn’t unequip it, but Suzuna wasn’t wearing the red-and-white outfit from before. She’d changed into something that was pretty close to the farm maiden style Igarashi talked about earlier. Her hair was up in a ponytail like always, and her pale white skin shone in the tavern’s light.

“Arihito, do you prefer well-behaved girls? Like Suzu?” asked Misaki.

“I don’t discriminate… Also, you’re not allowed to talk about this topic anymore.”

“Awww, come onnn. Oh, I bet you like older girls more, don’t you?” Misaki was trying everything she could to get me to tell her my type. I actually didn’t really have a specific type…but I did like those knit sweaters. Gotta be careful not to let that one slip.

All seven of us ate and drank to our hearts’ content, and we’d still not used a whole gold piece. It felt like a very large amount of money.

We sat around the long rectangular table with Theresia, Suzuna, and Misaki on one side and Louisa, me, and Igarashi on the other. Everyone chowed down, and the liquor in my cup kept flowing. If it ever got to about half-empty, someone would pour in more, and then I’d drink some more. After a few cycles of this, I was feeling pretty buzzed.

“Heeey, Arihito, are you feeling good now that you’ve had plenty to drink?” asked Misaki as she stood from her seat and refilled my tankard. Suzuna followed suit.

“I mean, hey, the booze is nice. That’s juice you’re drinking, yeah? Since you’re underage and all.”

“Suzu used to make alcohol as part of her job at the shrine, but I’m not allowed to drink any?”

“M-Misaki… That’s an old tradition. It’s not like I actually drank anything I made.” Igarashi seemed interested by what Suzuna said. She kept asking questions: “You made alcohol at the shrine? Was it sweet rice wine, or something else? It didn’t actually have that much alcohol in it, right?”

“So when you say you worked at a shrine, do you mean you lived there?” asked Igarashi.

“Yes, my dad was a Shinto priest, and I helped out around the house.”

That must be why she chose the Shrine Maiden job. Still, I guess it wasn’t completely impossible a normal high school girl would think that sort of thing would be a good fit for her. Lot of girls worked part-time jobs as Shrine Maidens during the busy season.

“Here you are, Arihito… Oh…” Suzuna tried to refill my tankard, but she must have been a little nervous because the alcohol came pouring out and spilled. A little got on my pants, but it was no big deal.

“Ah, thanks. It’s okay, I’ll wipe it off.”

“Oh no, I have a handkerchief. I’ll just… I’m so sorry,” said Suzuna, her face completely red as she tried to wipe the stain from my pants. Handkerchiefs were actually fairly valuable items in this world, so it was unfortunate to see it go to that use.

“…Oh, good. I poured it okay,” she chirped after trying again, this time successfully. I’d thought it would take time for everyone to open up like this, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

My tankard was half-empty again; I could probably do another refill or two.

“…Atobe, want some more?” asked Igarashi. “Though I bet your stomach’s pretty sloshy at this point from all the drinks…”

“I’m all right. Actually, let me pour you a drink, boss.”

“Boss? You mean Kyouka? Whoaaa, I wanna be Arihito’s boss, then I can order him around aaaalll the time!” said Misaki.

“Order him around…? I didn’t… Actually, I can’t say I didn’t…” Igarashi hung her head as she remembered her days as my evil manager. I wished Misaki would have the common sense not to say such ridiculous things.

“Don’t worry about it, Igarashi. You’ve helped me a lot since we came here.”

“…But you’ve helped me far more. You don’t need to give me any credit.” Igarashi picked up the jug of alcohol and refilled my tankard.

I suppose it would take a while before we were both able to feel completely comfortable around each other…but there was no need to rush it. We were still working as a team in this world, too.

As I brought my tankard to my mouth, Louisa poured some fruit wine in Igarashi’s glass.

“You still haven’t had anything but juice. How about you have your first drink here?” offered Louisa.

“Oh, yeah… Thanks. I was thinking I should have something to drink.”

“Louisaaa, your glass is empty, toooo! Do we need more alcohol?” asked Misaki.

Theresia was also drinking some alcohol while she chewed away on some sort of meat. Her skin seemed a little flushed; even the lizard mask looked like it’d turned red from the alcohol… Maybe she had a low tolerance.

“Theresia, can you handle one last drink?” I asked as I stood from my seat.

“……”

She nodded silently and pushed her glass forward. She’d done so much for me from day one. I hoped she understood how grateful I was as I refilled her drink.

“Right, now that we’ve all refilled our drinks, cheers!” I said.

“Cheers!”

Everyone brought their tankards and glasses together with a clink. I drank deeply from mine, thinking this would be my last one of the night.

It’d been so long since I’d been able to have a few drinks with this much fun. We still had a little time before we had to leave in order to get Theresia officially added to the party. Until then, I wanted to continue drinking and chatting away.

Part VI: The Light of the Moon

Louisa, Igarashi, Theresia—I wasn’t yet certain how old Theresia was, but there actually wasn’t an age limit for drinking in the Labyrinth Country. Suzuna and Misaki could drink if they wanted to. Elitia seemed to need more time to change or something since she didn’t arrive until later. Her golden hair was down, and she was wearing the same dress with blue highlights that she typically wore under her armor. Once she arrived, we needed to give another toast, so we’d drunk quite a lot by then.

“Misaki, your face is turning red. You haven’t been drinking alcohol, have you?” asked Elitia.

“Nope, Suzu wouldn’t let me. How about you, Ellie?”

“E-Ellie…? No one’s ever called me that before. Just ‘Tia’…”

“Would it be all right if we called you Ellie?” asked Suzuna.

“…Yeah. Can I just keep calling you Suzuna? I like how it sounds anyway.”

“Wooow, you two really are sooo close!” said Misaki. “You’re both quiet types, so you guys go well together.”

“H-hey… I can talk your ear off when I really feel like it!” retorted Elitia.

The three younger members of the party chattered away. Theresia sat next to them drinking at a slow but steady pace.

“Mm… Yummy. Being here with everyone today makes everything taste so much nicer,” said Louisa.

“You suuure can drink, Louisa. Here, here, have another.”

“Misaki, Louisa’s already had four, you shouldn’t push her…,” Suzuna chided as Misaki poured Louisa another drink. She was trying to keep an eye on Misaki because she was afraid she’d get carried away. Elitia seemed overwhelmed by Louisa’s mature sex appeal and avoided looking at her by lifting the bottle of alcohol and staring at it.

“Suzuna, it really strikes me how considerate of others you are, but sometimes the adults want to drink,” said Igarashi. “And not just like when your dad has a beer with his dinner—sometimes we’d rather go to bars with our friends. Atobe, are you listening?”

“Yes, I’m listening, but soon the alcohol—”

“Ugh, you’re still practically sober. I’ve never even seen you drunk. Last night you only had water… Do you not wanna drink with me?”

“No, no, that’s not it. I have been drinking today, but it’s getting late and soon—”

“Oh, that’s quite all right. If you’re talking about taking Theresia back to the Mercenary Office, there’s plenty of time,” said Louisa, flushed in the face as she was refilling my tankard before I could stop her. She slipped her arm around my back and came very close as she clinked her glass against mine—hard to believe, I know.

“L-Louisa, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” I asked.

“Sorry, I think I’m a little bit tipsy. I have a bad habit of hugging my friends too much when I get like this…”

“Whoaaa… Aren’t you getting a little frisky with Arihito?” asked Misaki.

“Uh…”

I knew that Louisa trusted me, but that was also why I felt like she was just too close. Even Misaki was blushing, and Suzuna looked like she couldn’t decide if she should say anything.

Is she really the type who gets flirty when she’s drunk? When she’s this close, her breasts are practically— Oh man, and Igarashi’s behind me, too!

“Uh, I’ll be right back. I need to get up for a second…,” I stammered.

“You don’t have to hold back like that, y’know? You’ve done something so amazing, Atobe, you should relax a bit. You can even order us around a little, it’s fine. Here, I’ll pour you another drink. Drink up and eat up. Okay, open wide!” Igarashi stabbed the last piece of ham with a fork. She was starting to sound a bit preachy or like a mother. She made me eat the ham and finish my drink.

Things would have gotten complicated if we’d gone out for drinks together yesterday… I can’t decide if it’s better that we didn’t or not.

I wasn’t exactly a seasoned drinker, but I could tell you one thing about how Igarashi acted when she got drunk: She really let her guard down.

“Hic… Ahhh, so good. Y’know, Atobe, I always thought you had what it took to go far. You were so much better than everyone else at paperwork, not to mention looks. I just kept asking you to do things. I knew it was wrong. But you were the only employee I could count on.”

“Y-yeah, I know. Um, excuse me! Could we please have some water and mixed fruit?” I asked a waitress.

“Of course. I’ll be back in a moment,” she replied before heading to the back of the tavern. The whole time we were waiting, Igarashi gabbed on about how much she could rely on me. Maybe she was trying to tell me she was sorry for how poorly she treated me.

If she’d just told me this back in our old life, then she and I… No, there’s no way. Maybe that’s one thing we gained by coming here. You never know what life’s gonna throw at you.

“So, you know, at Valentine’s Day, I got you a different chocolate than the others, partly as a thanks for everything you do for me every day. But I put them all in the same packaging, so you didn’t notice, did you? Hey, are you listening to me? Did you actually eat that chocolate?”

“Yes, I ate it. It was delicious. Now please calm down,” I insisted.

“Hmph. You didn’t actually eat it, did you? Probably thought you didn’t need any chocolate from some manager you hated and threw it away. I cherished the chocolate you gave me in return on White Day. I took it home but told my family it was just chocolate given to me out of obligation from my workers, so my mom and little brother just went and ate it. Is that normal? Eating chocolate that I went out of my way to bring home, even if I did just get it out of obligation. I opened the fridge, and it was all gone.”

This was the entirely wrong place to tell her she should have put it in her room. I wondered if Igarashi did really care in her own way about me as her employee. I just didn’t realize it because I was so tired. Actually, it didn’t mean anything if I didn’t notice it.

“Wait, Arihito, Kyouka, are you reeeally saying nothing ever happened between you two? Then you guys are super-platonic,” said Misaki.

“Do you think things would’ve gotten like this if there had been something? Isn’t it obvious?” I retorted.

“Atobe, don’t be so angry. Here, have some more meat. Everything’s better with a little meat. You’re only annoyed ’cause you haven’t eaten enough.”

I wasn’t sure our little party counted as a drunken frenzy, but this was how things continued to go. On my other side, Louisa continued leaning against me, so there was nothing I could do to escape.

Elitia watched our exchanges the whole time until, at last, something seemed to dawn on her.

“…Isn’t Valentine’s Day when you exchange gifts between friends?” she asked. That’s when we learned that Elitia was from northern Europe, which had different customs for Valentine’s Day. Unlike Japan, not all countries got worked up about giving out giri chocolate (obligation chocolate, the kind you give to coworkers) or honmei chocolate (given to boyfriends or husbands).

By the time we were leaving the tavern, Igarashi and Louisa seemed to have hit it off. They said they were going back to my place to chat. So basically, they meant Louisa was going to be staying the night.

While Elitia was sober, she seemed to have been affected by the heat in the tavern and patted her cheeks when we came out.

“All right, I’m going to take Louisa and Kyouka home. Suzuna, Misaki, are you coming, too?” she asked.

“Definitely! ♪ Arihito, what’s your suite like?”

“…I’ve never gone to a man’s home this late before, but I guess if everyone else is going…,” said Suzuna.

Well, they’ll be going back to their own place afterward, right? Even without them, we’re at four people once you count Theresia.

Even if I slept on the couch, we wouldn’t have enough beds for each person to get their own.

“Louisa, you take good care of Atobe from here on out, okay?” Igarashi said.

“I’m rather excited to see your own progress as well, Ms. Kyouka. I hope I can be of some assistance to you all.”

I guess those two could share a bed since they seemed to get along well now. I gave Elitia the key to the room, and they went off while I took Theresia back to the Mercenary Office. I asked an employee outside if I could speak with Leila, so they went and got her for me.

“Ah, you’re back. Good thing you made it in time—otherwise, you’re required to pay to hire them the next day,” said Leila when she came out.

“Leila, after today’s adventure, I was able to get the number of tickets that I need. Please let me make Theresia a permanent member of my party,” I said as I handed her the bronze Mercenary Tickets. Her eyes were wide with surprise as she took the bundle of paper and flipped through it twice to double-check the amount.

“…One hundred. You really did get them all. I heard a massive orc got taken to a dissection center near the outer wall. Was that your doing?”

“It was, but I’d rather you keep your voice down. I’m hoping to keep this quiet, so please don’t tell anyone.” Leila let out a small sigh. She didn’t seem surprised per se, but more like she was impressed.

“Pretty incredible for a newbie like yourself. I thought it’d take you a month at least. I never could’ve guessed you’d get the tickets the day after you promised you would.”

“I’m sorry for all the trouble. A lot of things just happened to line up. Luck was a big factor, too. I’ll be taking extra care going forward, both in general and in turning Theresia human again.”

“Very well… I admire your will. It’s my job to give demi-humans a home, but I’ve never stopped wanting to mend their souls. I just don’t have what it takes… A strong and dependable Seeker like you is everything I could have hoped for.”

“Theresia was my first companion here. Even though she can’t talk, I feel like we can somehow understand each other. There are moments where I truly think I know what she’s feeling. Although I can’t be sure, since I can’t speak to her…”

Theresia still said nothing, but she had been staring at me ever since I’d handed Leila the bronze Mercenary Tickets. She had emotions, that much I could tell. She just had no way of expressing them.

“Arihito, when I said that Theresia seemed to like you, I didn’t just mean that she was becoming attached to you because you were working together. I can’t prove that demi-humans have emotions, but I do believe each and every one of them has a heart. With that in mind, Theresia seems more comfortable with you today than she was yesterday…I’m sure of it.”

“Thank you. I hope that’s true, too.”

It wasn’t just that my license said her Trust Level in me had increased; it was that the time we spent together felt important. She was important to me, and I wanted us to keep depending on each other.

Leila approved the transaction, and we shook hands before Theresia and I headed off home. Partway, I noticed that Theresia was still walking quietly behind me. I didn’t know if she had a Rogue skill that made her steps silent or if it was an effect of her lizard equipment.

“Theresia, you don’t have to walk behind me. You can walk wherever you like.”

“……”

After a moment’s thought, Theresia walked next to me. I thought she’d walk by my side, but she moved a little ahead.

“…Does that mean that you want to walk in front of me like usual? As my vanguard?” I wasn’t sure if she was trying to express something, but I wanted to ask. As usual, Theresia didn’t reply.

Actually, that wasn’t true. She nodded slightly, then a moment later, shook her head. I wondered what she meant, but then she came back to walk right next to me.

“Yeah, you can walk anywhere. During battle you’ll go in front of me, even if it’s just by a little. That way we can protect each other like we’ve been doing.”

Theresia nodded, then stared at me and gently tugged on my sleeve.

“Are you trying to say we should hurry home?”

“……”

She didn’t answer. Maybe she meant we didn’t need to hurry. Well, if she wanted to walk together for a little, we could walk off some of the alcohol. That didn’t sound like a bad idea. We slowly strolled through the town toward home where everyone was waiting. At some point, the moon appeared and joined the streetlamps in lighting our path.

Part VII: Seeker Traditions

When we got back to Nornil Heights, the old lady called to us from the property manager’s office.

“Goodness, Mr. Atobe! Your room is rather lively tonight. I saw a group of women heading in there earlier. Oh, to be young again!”

“I’m sorry for all the ruckus. Three of them will probably be going home soon.”

“Oh, really? Normally when a party is this friendly, after an expedition, they’ll…you know,” she continued, her chubby cheeks blushing. I guess there was some sort of tradition that Seekers took part in after they’d gone on an adventure?

Theresia and I were walking up the stairs to my room on the third floor when Theresia suddenly froze stock-still on a landing.

“What is it?” I asked.

“……”

She didn’t say anything. She glanced up the stairs and then once more at me.

“Are you saying there’s something that way and it’s difficult to go there?”

I was just thinking that some of the other residents were probably ahead when I realized. I had been hearing a sound since earlier that I’d assumed was a cat yowling or something, but I realized then it was something much more shocking.

I—I mean…I’ve had to stay in business hotels with really thin walls and had to listen to that, but here? Seriously…?

I also suddenly realized what the old woman was implying earlier. Men and women in a party going to bed together. Like, you know, how a married couple might. I guess it’s not that surprising; people come back from an adventure in the labyrinth, maybe they had a great day and they’re really excited and worked up, then night comes… It wasn’t exactly a shock, but it did make me incredibly uncomfortable. Theresia was still as silent as ever, so I figured it was on me to break the tension.

“Well, they seem preoccupied. I can’t believe they’re making such a racket with the door open. I wish they would’ve at least given us a heads-up.”

“……”

I started walking again and came out into the second-floor hallway. The door of a room a little farther down was open.

It’s their own business, would it be wrong of me to shut it…? I hope the others don’t have to listen to this.

“……”

“I’m sorry I brought you here with this going on. Normally, it’s really quiet.”

Theresia nodded slightly. This time she left me and went on ahead herself. Once we got up to the third floor, I could barely hear it anymore. Thankfully, the floors were thick or something.

One thing I did know was that demi-human lizard mask was basically part of Theresia until we could remove it. It was definitely turning pink with embarrassment. Not that I’d ever seen an embarrassed lizard before to know what it looked like. Theresia’s equipment also didn’t cover every inch of her skin, so I could see her blushing there, too. She was walking a little farther away from me than she had before. She kept glancing at me as we approached the room. I couldn’t just leave this alone because I felt awkward. I needed to make her feel safe.

“Theresia, starting tomorrow you can get your own room, too. Just because I brought you to my room doesn’t mean you have to, y’know, do anything.”

Theresia looked at me. Her mouth peeping out from under the lizard mask was drawn in a tight line. It wasn’t just the mask that was blushing—the entire lower half of her face was bright red as well.

“……”

“Really, I mean it. I just followed the necessary process to keep you as a companion. It’s not like I bought you with those tickets or anything.”

She kept quiet for a while before eventually nodding. Her face was still flushed red, though… Maybe this was what happened when she drank?

“Sorry to interrupt your important conversation, but…can I warn you about something?”

“Whoa, Elitia, you scared me! And Suzuna, too… Did you two go somewhere?”

“We were just getting some fresh air,” Suzuna replied. “It sounded like there was a cat out there…”

“O-oh, yeah. Probably some cat yowling,” I said.

The two of them had been on the third-floor balcony. Outside they could hear the sounds coming from the second floor, but thankfully, it didn’t seem like they had realized what the sounds really were. Seriously, I’d never thought I’d be so worried about soundproofing in rooms after being reincarnated. I hoped the next place we moved to would be made with the best building materials available and showcase this world’s greatest architectural capabilities.

“Elitia, what was it you wanted to warn me about?”

“There’s a limit to how many people can stay in a single party’s room. How high is your rank for this district now?”

“I’m at seventh place. Tomorrow I’m gonna take a look at a royal suite…”

“A royal suite has capacity for eight, so only eight people can live there. There’s also a limit on the number of people in a party, which is also eight, and you can’t rent capacity for more than eight people at any given time. The room Suzuna and I have can have two residents…”

“You originally rented a room in District Five, so what you have here in District Eight is just temporary. We were talking about how I would rent another suite room if my rank went up.”

So basically, with my new royal suite we were already at the max size we could rent, meaning Suzuna and Elitia wouldn’t need to continue renting their room.

“Generally, the smaller rooms also have lower-quality facilities, so I was hoping to talk with you about it and see if we could all live together. If the bed isn’t very good, then we can’t recover properly,” continued Elitia.

I’d heard that your vitality and magic barely got restored at all if you stayed in a barn. That actually made sense because if your bed wasn’t comfortable, you couldn’t sleep well and would still be tired the next day. That said, I had started to assume that this was the end of me living with the others. I felt awkward seeing Igarashi now that it was going to keep going for this reason.

“Okay…how about we look at the room and then decide? Once we move on to District Seven, though, we’ll have to start all over with small rooms again, right?” I asked.

“You can keep renting the same place for up to a week, so we could make the royal suite our base while we continue seeking. You have to purchase the property if you want to stay there permanently. It’s really expensive, and only Seekers of three stars or higher are allowed to purchase houses,” said Elitia.

I’d just become a two-star Seeker, but I didn’t feel that three stars was that far away. I should find out more about this.

“How do you get three stars?”

“First you need to go to District Seven. Once you reach ten thousand contribution points, the Guild there will assign you a number of tasks, and you receive your third star if you are able to pass them all.”

“All right, I’ll keep that in mind. Are you two going home?” Suzuna and Elitia looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

“Misaki’s sort of borrowed one of your beds… Would it be all right if we waited a bit until she wakes up?”

The moment Suzuna finished asking, Louisa and Igarashi came out of the room.

“Welcome home, Mr. Atobe. I’m sorry to intrude.”

“We’re gonna go take a bath, so you stay here and keep an eye on things. Misaki’s sleeping in your bed so be quiet until she wakes up.”

“A-all right. I can’t believe she just helped herself to my bed…”

“…Oh, Suzuna. We won’t make it home in time to take a bath even if we leave now,” said Elitia.

“We can’t take one any other time… Wh-what should we do? I’m all covered in sweat and dirt, if I have to adventure with Arihito and the others like this tomorrow…,” said Suzuna.

I felt something big coming. No…maybe that was just my overactive imagination.

“Why don’t we all go together? The bath itself is free, but you can also rent a change of clothes,” Louisa suggested.

“Uh, all right…it’s our only choice for these extraordinary circumstances. Is that okay with you, Suzuna?” asked Elitia.

“You’re the one who really wanted to have a bath. I’m fine as long as we go together.”

“Then that settles it. See you in a little bit, Mr. Atobe.” With that, Louisa led everyone to the baths on the first floor. Theresia and I went into the living room, and I sank onto the couch.

“Man, I’m beat… Theresia, you can take it easy. Sit wherever you like.”

“……”

“Hmm? Oh…did you want to take a bath, too?” I had thought she didn’t take baths because of the lizard gear, but I guess she still could if it was all a part of her body. It could be a problem if it wasn’t washed properly.

Theresia looked like she wanted to say something, but as usual, she was silent as she looked around the room. Finally, she walked behind the couch I was sitting on.

“……”

“Uh, you can sit whenever you like, but it just makes me feel a bit awkward if you don’t sit at all.” I turned around to see her head was slightly atilt. Her lizard mask had put me off a bit when we first met, but now I found it a little charming.

“Oh, right, I leveled up today. Mind if I take a look at my new skills?”

“……”

Theresia seemed to understand that a Seeker’s skills were their lifeline. She came around to the front of the couch to take a seat. I didn’t really care if she looked and wanted her to take it easy, so I was happy.

Right, then… So can I get any new skills?

It looked like you got two skill points per level. I knew I couldn’t waste them, but just looking at the skill descriptions got me all excited.

One of the skills available was one that somewhat covered the greatest concern I had, which was the risk that I might be attacked directly from behind. The name “Backdraft” made me think of a closed room with a fire burning inside. When a door or something was opened, oxygen flooded in and it caused an explosion, or something like that.

If I could only counter attacks from behind me, then that left my sides open. Well, I couldn’t expect perfect defense at level 3. That was most likely a problem I’d always have to face as a rearguard. It’s a strong job, but it’s not perfect.

I found the other skills really interesting, too. I thought I could activate the skills that said support at any time, and they didn’t use any magic, so they’d generally be a good choice. It was possible, though, that there was some downside to the support skills that I just wasn’t aware of.

Theresia looked at me while I pondered which skill to take. I wanted to check her skills again, and I wanted to ask the others about theirs as well… I was looking forward to having a meeting either tonight or tomorrow.

Part VIII: Equipment Limitations

It was probably going to take a little while longer before the others came back from their baths. Misaki hadn’t woken yet, so I didn’t want to leave the room empty while she slept. I felt like the building was fairly safe, but I was worried about leaving her alone.

“Theresia, do you have a license? All Seekers are supposed to have one.”

She shook her head. Mercenaries didn’t carry licenses. Maybe they lost them when they died?

“……”

“Hmm? …You want me to look at your back?”

Theresia nodded, her back turned to me though she still sat on the couch. The lizard mask came down to her neck with her black hair flowing out from under it. Theresia’s hair looked really long from this direction. She slipped her hand behind her back and pulled her hair forward, revealing a part of her back I’d never seen before. Her back was covered in the lizard-skin leather armor that she always wore, but there was a hole in it on the back of her neck. Her skin there looked like it’d been branded with some symbol.

“Is this a symbol that represents the fact that you have to serve someone?”

Theresia put her hand behind her back again, this time taking my hand and making me touch the symbol on her neck. When I did, it glowed red, then changed to blue before the symbol itself changed, too.

“…Ng…”

Theresia let out a silent yelp. Once the symbol had finished changing, she finally let go of my hand.

That’s right. Leila did say her ownership would be transferred to me… Is that what that was?

Even so, the lizard armor was still stuck fast to Theresia’s body. Since she had a mask on, I couldn’t be certain about her age, but I started to have a feeling that she was younger than I’d thought.

“……”

Theresia turned silently around. Her lips had been pulled tight but were now slightly open, perhaps because I touched the symbol. Even though I could only see the bottom part of her face, the skin was smooth like porcelain. I guess she didn’t have any major scars or anything when she was killed. Nothing I could see right now, at least.

She looked at me for a moment, then glanced at my license and pointed toward it.

“My license? Do you want to use it?”

She nodded, so I handed it to her. She swiped her finger on it until she got to the party member page and then tapped on her own name. When she did, a page showing her own skills popped up.

She had the same six skill points that I did at level 3, and all but one had already been used up. Rogue was supposedly not a job specialized in any particular field, but she had specialist skills for removing traps like the Thief-type jobs. Still, Sleight of Hand seemed useful, and all her combat skills had been acquired by now. The Escapology skill might be handy if it could be used for attacks that bind people and not just normal ropes and things. I really didn’t want to run into a tentacle monster, though. Pickpocket would be nice if it could be used against monsters, but karma would go up if she ever used it on a human. Given that, I might not let her even if the situation called for it. Maybe I should just go for Sleight of Hand for now… No, I didn’t need to rush things.

“If possible, I want to improve areas that only you are capable of. Let’s wait until you gain another level and you can learn some really great skills. We can always pick one of these three skills if need be.”

“Oh, Arihito! Welcome back! Where’d everyone run off to?” asked Misaki, who had just woken up right when I was putting my license away. She casually undid her hair, which came cascading down as she headed over to us.

“They went to take a bath. What about you, Misaki? You could probably catch them if you hurry.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do. Suzu loves baths, so she takes sooo long. Could I borrow some money from you for a change of clothes?”

“You don’t have to return it. You’ve been through a lot today.”

“Whaaa? Is this, like, a parting gift or something? And here I had my heart set on being a member of your party!”

“I thought you said you were gonna try out a few things.”

“Uh… W-well. I couldn’t leave once I found out how nice it was to sleep in a suite bed. Pleeeaase, please let me stay with you until I reach my goal!”

So it’s come to this, huh? …I mean, I did say we’d take her along on one adventure anyway.

“Misaki, why’d you write Gambler for your job?”

“I just thought it’d be really fun if there was a job like that. Plus, I always get the highest fortunes when I go to a shrine, and I’m suuuper good at cards. Do you like to gamble, Arihito?”

“I’ve bought a lottery ticket once or twice. Have you ever won anything before?”

“Hee-hee, I once won a hundred thousand yen from a ticket my family bought. That’s about it, though.”

So maybe she thought she’d become a Gambler because she had a natural disposition toward it. I imagined if I went ahead and jumped into every challenge so haphazardly, I’d just lose everything. It was that luck of hers that reeled me in. If she were in our party when we defeated a Named Monster, then we’d have better drop rates. She wasn’t in our party when we fought Juggernaut, though, so she didn’t have anything to do with the black treasure chest.

“I’ve acquired one skill called Increased Drop Rate and another called Child of Luck. I’d deeefinitely be a help to your party, Arihito.”

“I know, I know. We reincarnated at the same time, too. Looking forward to working with you.”

“Yaaaay! Oh my gosh, I haaave to go tell Suzu and the others!” I’d taken her for more of a calculating, underhanded type girl, but really, she was surprisingly innocent.

“……”

“Theresia, you can join her if you go now.” But Theresia didn’t nod back. She did follow me down toward the baths, though, when I decided I’d go. Well, she didn’t necessarily have to nod in reply to everything. She’d probably go take a bath if I took her to meet the others…though I was worried about her armor getting damp since she couldn’t remove it.

Since I had the key, I needed to get back to the room quickly after taking my bath. I hurried down the stairs and went into the bathroom. I pulled my clothes off in the dressing room. There weren’t any other residents there. This lodging building didn’t close the baths, so I guess there were a lot of people who used it really late. They must boil the water when they opened the baths because it got colder and colder over time. It wasn’t even hot by the time I got there, but that was entirely my fault.

I wondered what facilities the royal suite would have. Maybe no baths in District Eight were reheated over time, though shouldn’t they be able to do something using magic? Well, I guess it was just nice of the manager to heat it at all.

I went into the actual bathroom and used a bucket to scoop water from the shared bath to pour on myself. That was one massive difference between here and Japanese-style baths. It didn’t make it too difficult to have a bath, but it was inconvenient that they didn’t have any faucets for washing yourself before getting in the shared bath. Apparently, there was also a set amount of hot water they kept in the tub, and they would change it out after a certain number of people had used it, so I couldn’t use too much like this.

I’m just glad I can take a bath every day. I imagine Igarashi and the others would want to take a bath every day, too… It would’ve been so hard to start off in the barn.

Suzuna had also been concerned about being covered in sweat. It really affected morale if we weren’t able to take care of the basics in life. That’s probably why there was so much lodging available for the Seekers.

It was normal to wash your head first, so I poured water over myself and started rubbing the shampoo-like stuff in my hair that Igarashi had been so excited about. It smelled fruity and had a nice lather to it, but it was definitely different from what I was used to. It made my hair kind of dry.

It was then that someone touched my shoulder, making me jump a little from surprise.

“Huh? …Wh-who is it?” I hadn’t noticed anyone enter the bathroom, but there definitely was someone behind me. They tapped my shoulder again, so I had to turn around and slowly opened my eyes, though I was afraid of getting shampoo in them.

The first thing I saw was reptile scales. Okay, no big deal, it’s just a lizardman. I’m used to seeing scales from being around Theresia.

Then I noticed this lizardman’s feet were covered in leather. I moved my gaze slowly upward. The leather was open on the front near their hips, and I looked up farther— Actually, no. That’s where I finally realized what was happening.

T-Theresia… Why is she in here…?!

“……”

“T-Theresia… Just to let you know, this is the men’s bath. You can’t come in here,” I tried to explain once I’d calmed down enough to speak. I didn’t know what Theresia was thinking, but she lifted her hand to her chest.

“N-no, your armor can’t come off anyway, so you just keep it on. Anyway, you should go over to the women’s bath, everyone’s there. That way…” I tried desperately to reason with her, but she just stared at me. I prayed my explanation was getting through to her, but she didn’t budge.

Then…she moved her hand to her throat and undid a metal fastener with a ping sound. The leather armor, her lizardman namesake, the lizard-like leather that fit perfectly to her body, which I thought couldn’t be removed, something I was convinced was like a second skin…she took it off.

I couldn’t comprehend what was happening in front of me. I had thought her full body armor was like her lizard mask and could never be taken off, but undo a little metal clasp, and it just came right off. There were some parts, though, on her wrists, shoulders, and ankles where the lizard equipment wouldn’t come off, where there was some leather left behind. No, actually, that must have been a result of her Lizard Skin skill. Other than that, the pale white skin, which had only peeked from places in her armor, was now practically bare in front of me.

“…T-Theresia… You can t-take it off…? …N-no, uh, I mean—!”

“……”

She looked at me in what seemed to be bewilderment, like she was trying to ask what I was getting so worked up about.

I jumped up and rushed to the dressing room where I hung the RESERVED sign out so no one would come in. We were only allowed to use it for fifteen minutes, but hopefully no one would mind right now. I grabbed a towel and went back to the bath, then tried to get Theresia to wrap it around herself. Nothing I could do about what had already been seared into my brain… Her limbs were surprisingly graceful and strong. My mind just kept replaying the sight of her removing the leather armor, which wrapped around her body.

She was always wearing her equipment so the marks from it… No, don’t think about it… I said those things earlier to make her feel safer, but was she even aware?!

“……”

Theresia tapped my shoulder again as I was regretting what I’d said. I had no idea why she was trying to cheer me up, but she didn’t seem embarrassed in the slightest that I’d seen her naked. Was she really brave or just lacking emotions about it?

I’d thought she was showing embarrassment earlier, but now she was suddenly bold. Someone might take this unpredictability as proof that demi-humans didn’t actually have any emotions. But you could also argue that it was because her Trust Level in me had gone up… She must have come to the bathroom because she felt comfortable with me. It had to be good intentions on her part.

“…Are you trying to say that you came to wash my back or something?”

Theresia nodded immediately, and suddenly, I felt less nervous, though it was my fault for giving her a reason to take her armor off. I bet she wouldn’t have shown that she could take off her armor if I hadn’t said “Your armor can’t come off.”

“…Uh, o-okay then… Something simple like that’s just fine. Would you mind washing my back?”

“……”

Theresia nodded, then went behind me and started rinsing my hair. I just realized I was still covered in suds, but for some reason, her fingers got caught less in my dry hair than if I had done it myself. Next, she gently washed my back, and I told her to rinse herself off while I went into the bathtub, keeping my back to her so she couldn’t see anything.

…Urgh, I feel like some sort of slave master for not returning the favor… B-but washing her back would definitely be going too far.

I was suddenly curious as to what she would do with the lizard mask, but it did seem like that didn’t come off. Apparently, that was the only thing that she couldn’t remove even if she wanted to.

Eventually Theresia finished washing herself and slowly glanced over her shoulder at me. She’d taken off the towel that had been wrapped around her, but she was still keeping herself covered.

“The water’s a bit hot. You think you can stand it?”

“……”

She nodded in response, and I had to close my eyes again, since she wouldn’t be able to wear the towel as she was getting into the bath. Theresia slipped into the water with a small splash. I was feeling a little more comfortable, but I had to be careful about looking in her direction… Okay, I guess I really needed to say it.

“Theresia, thanks for washing my back, but next time you need to go to the women’s bath.”

“……”

“N-no, I’m gonna need you to nod to show you understand. I’m a man. You need to be a little more careful.”

But Theresia still didn’t nod. It was a good thing that she didn’t just follow all my orders no matter what they were even though her ownership had been transferred to me, but I really couldn’t have her coming along next time, too.

“Theresia, I get the feeling you’re happy to do stuff for me, but we can’t keep taking over the entire men’s bathroom all the time…”

Also, the others would be suspicious of me once we were finished in here. Theresia was stubborn and gave no response.

“…Theresia?”

“……”

Her lizard mask turned red—although I already knew that could happen. She hadn’t been in the hot water for very long, and yet she was completely scarlet.

“Wait… Oh man… Don’t tell me…you’re cold-blooded because you’re a lizard…?”

“……”

“Ack… H-hang on! I’ll cool you down!”

She looked like a human in lizard equipment, some of which came off, but she in reality, she had the characteristics of a lizard. If she overheated that quickly, it would probably be better for her to only take lukewarm baths. But rather than reflect on that right now, I needed to find a way to safely cool her down as soon as possible, since she was completely red and close to passing out.

Part IX: The Night Rearguard

I dragged Theresia out of the bath before she had become so overheated that she couldn’t move. The last time I’d carried someone like this was when I went back to the foster care facilities to say hello and some of the younger kids took a liking to me and wanted to play. I’d never carried an adult like Theresia, though. Thankfully, she didn’t feel too heavy. Part of it was definitely that she just was relatively light, but I also got the impression that my physical abilities had improved as I gained experience and leveled up. I’d known vitality would go up, but apparently, my strength did as well.

That can only happen since this body is my reincarnated one. Also, why I can use skills probably…

I tried to use them and was able to, so I’d adapted to this new world, but my support was some power similar to magic. If I ever ran out of magic, then I’d really know how it felt.

Heat seemed to be one of Theresia’s weaknesses. Her vitality bar had actually gone down a tiny bit. In the future, she’d need to bathe in lukewarm water, or maybe even cool water would be better. It wasn’t just being strict with her; this was a matter of life and death.

I decided it was a good thing I’d given Theresia the red buckler that had flame resistance and also tried to think of how I would explain this situation to the others while I climbed the stairs to the third floor.

The battle formation you set with your license only applied while you were in the labyrinth. It would make sense if it were necessary, but it’d be pretty surreal seeing everyone walk around town in battle formation. At the very least, you’d draw people’s attention, since you didn’t see any other parties walking around that way.

…But with Theresia like this…

I should have asked the property workers to prepare an appropriate change of clothes for Theresia, but I had just put her in a nightgown for now. I didn’t try to put on underwear. It seemed like demi-humans only ever wore equipment on their body that was made specifically for their type. Weapons and shields didn’t seem to require it, but I got the impression that the lizard-skin leather was the most preferred if it was going to touch her skin, so I was pretty hesitant to even put on the pajamas. Basically, I really didn’t want any of the male Seekers in the building to see since she didn’t have underwear on. Including me.

I really regretted not asking Leila for more information on the demi-humans’ daily lives. What did they like? What didn’t they?

“……”

Shortly after we left the bathroom, she was walking in front of me, Recovery Support activated, and Theresia’s vitality went up. It healed her to full, so obviously, she hadn’t taken a large amount of damage. Nevertheless, I was still worried until then.

“Theresia, sorry I didn’t realize that you can’t handle high temperatures.” She didn’t nod, which probably meant that she’d never actually been in a hot bath. Theresia must’ve only ever washed in cool water, so she herself wasn’t aware of that weakness.

“Are you okay with only bathing in cool water from now on?”

“……”

“W-well…we could also just not have you soak in the big tub.”

Theresia shook her head. She knew she’d overheat, but she wanted to come in the bath with me. I wondered what made her so stubborn… Was it bravery or sheer hardheadedness?

We’d have to find something to give her a higher resistance against heat, or maybe she’d be better with it once she got Lizard Skin 2. If we got some accessory that improved her heat resistance, she would be able to use it once she was turned back to a human, too, so that was the ideal solution.

Only in this world would I have to think of ways to let someone take a bath…

I had no idea what I was thinking, but Theresia was walking up the stairs ahead of me, and…I glanced up and would need to find some way to apologize. I could feel my cheeks burning red and decided I should ask Louisa if she had any ideas about putting underwear on Theresia.

The others returned to the room shortly after Theresia and myself. I tried to explain what happened as earnestly as possible.

“Goodness… That sounds rather difficult. Very few people have demi-humans in their parties, so I’ve never heard of such an incident,” said Louisa.

“I-incident? Saying it like that makes me feel kinda guilty.”

“If the other residents heard you’d taken a woman into the men’s bath, I’m sure there’d be plenty of complaints. I think this definitely qualifies as an ‘incident,’” said Igarashi.

Both of them seemed to be sobering up, and they looked like a matching set in their pajamas. I could tell they’d have each other’s backs.

“……”

“Uh…Theresia, are you trying to tell us not to be mad at Atobe?” asked Igarashi.

Theresia nodded. That alone lessened my crime quite a lot and shifted the conversation of the mixed bathing incident.

“Theresia just wanted to show her gratitude to Arihito,” offered Suzuna.

“Still, I think it went too far…but we also didn’t notice what was happening, which is our fault,” said Elitia. Suzuna was picking up what I was trying to say from the beginning. Elitia had her doubts, though that eventually seemed to go away.

“Well, this is Arihito we’re talking about, so I’m sure it was a perfectly innocent bath, riiiight?” added Misaki. “Unless he gets really aggressive when it’s just the two of them.”

“I would’ve thanked you for the first half, but you just had to keep going.”

“Ha-ha, actually, we were talking about you during our bath. Kyouka was wondering what you were up to while we were gone,” continued Misaki.

“Rgh… You don’t have to go blabbing about that. Honestly, kids these days…”

The fact that she was thinking about me while they were in the bath was going to make it hard for me to sleep…but in the end, we only had two beds. How was that going to work when we had one man and six women?

“Um, we should be heading to bed soon, so can we talk about how we’re going to handle things?” I asked.

“Way to put me on the spot, staring at me when you say that…,” grumbled Igarashi. “I’m fine sleeping on the couch. I feel bad for chasing you out of the bedroom last night anyway.”

“Oh, no… Ms. Kyouka, there’s nothing wrong with a little propriety, but Mr. Atobe is a valuable member of your party and the leader. He needs to get proper rest in a bed,” said Louisa.

“Ah, uh, no, the couch works for me. Do you think you could sleep three to a bed? I think it might be pretty tight.” I thought that arrangement could work, although they might fall out if they weren’t used to it.

“I already used your bed, Arihito, so I’m fine with the floor or whatever,” said Misaki.

“Suzuna and I are imposing as well, so we’ll just take a couch,” said Elitia.

“No, it’s fine, I’m even used to sleeping in chairs. You guys aren’t, so it’ll be harder for you,” I objected.

“…I-in any case…I’m gonna be up chatting with Louisa anyway, so you should take it easy in the bedroom, Atobe.”

“Yes, I was hoping to do the same. Please have yourself a nice rest, Mr. Atobe.”

This discussion didn’t seem to be going anywhere… I was grateful that everyone was putting me first, but I wasn’t too bothered about having a bed to sleep in. Back at the company, I’d line up chairs and sleep on that. The couch was a million times more comfortable than that.

“Why don’t we settle this faaair and square through a lottery drawing? Great! I took that quill over there and made some tickets!” said Misaki.

“That was fast… And you are aware you’re more likely to win, right?” I pointed out.

“Hee-hee, what’s wrong with that? This way there’ll be no hard feelings. And anyway, if I win, I’ll just let Suzu take it.”

“Misaki, you don’t need to worry about me. Besides, I want to put Arihito first,” insisted Suzuna. She was almost too kind. It didn’t seem like she was just being considerate; she sounded genuine. Misaki couldn’t do much but muster an awkward laugh.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if we don’t pull lots to decide, I’ll still sleep on the couch. Sleeping in the same room as me is more trouble than it’s worth…”

“Oh… D-don’t worry about that. I was just nervous since it was our first day here…,” said Igarashi.

“Awww, c’mon, I already made the tickets, so let’s use them! Okay, here’s how we’ll decide!” Misaki had us all write our names on the slips. I looked at the last slip and decided I didn’t care that Misaki, the Gambler, was likely to win no matter what and it was all the same to me and wrote my name down.

In the end, I lost the lottery and ended up sleeping on the couch like last night anyway.

“…Theresia, can you sleep there?” I asked.

“……”

I could hear everyone chatting in the bedroom for a bit, but they must have been tired since it didn’t last too long. Everything soon went quiet. Theresia walked silently from the bedroom and sat on the other couch. I was lying on my side, and Theresia mimicked me and lay down. The eyes on her lizard mask started to slide closed but snapped open as soon as I thought she was about to fall asleep.

“You don’t have to be my night watchman. Get some rest.”

“……”

She shook her head, but in the end, she was no match for her own sleepiness. Her eyes finally closed completely, and her breathing slowed.

I was still thinking about the skills I could take that I’d been looking at earlier and finally decided I should choose one. It was good that we were able to beat Juggernaut, but I didn’t want to be in a position to regret not acquiring a skill. Rear View could be useful, but it wouldn’t be necessary if I took Backdraft. If I could react automatically to attacks, then I could stop surprise assaults from the rear and keep us from being defeated.

But we won’t need it if Theresia improves her Lookout skill… Actually, it all depends on how strong Backdraft is, but I can’t know that without testing it.

Skill points really were invaluable. I should probably first focus on what I can do that no one else can. It was obvious which skill I should take when I looked at it like that.

So the star meant I’d just acquired those skills, apparently. Being able to monitor what was happening would be important for when I was giving orders…though I didn’t know specifically what that meant.

…Hmm, I think I can see things more clearly in the distance…and my field of vision seems wider, too. That’s not too bad for…a rearguard…

I closed my eyes in the dark room and quickly started sinking into sleep. We would likely have plenty of beds when we moved to the royal suite, so this should’ve been the last night I had to sleep on the couch. Oh, I forgot to ask Igarashi how she felt about moving. Well, I could do it tomorrow; it wouldn’t be too late.

I started hearing people whispering.

“…So it’s the same for everyone. I woke up, too…”

“What should we do…? We won’t get any sleep like this.”

“Even when we’re in a different room…I was just sleeping and then woke up…”

“You guys, too? What can we even do…?”

“…Um, can’t we all just deal with it ourselves? Arihito’s fast asleep.”

“W-well… But still…”

“… He’s sleeping like a baby… And he looks so cute asleep…”

Everyone was awake, but I just wanted to sleep. It should’ve been fine if we were in different rooms…or maybe they were having a hard time sleeping after all the excitement of the party we had.

…Just let me sleep a little more…until morning…

The room went quiet. Was that a dream, or did it really happen? I couldn’t be sure… I just wanted to sleep.

I could hear birds singing. I sat up on the couch and stretched. Theresia was curled up on the other couch, using her own arm as a pillow. Her blanket had fallen off, so I gently placed it back on her, then looked around the room. It felt like everyone had been awake last night and talking about something next to me while I slept…

“…I’m feeling kinda unsatisfied for some reason.”

“Ah… A-Atobe…”

“Oh, Igarashi, good morning. Sorry, I’m just standing here mumbling to myself.” She must’ve overheard me as she came out of the bedroom. I’d have to come up with a good reason, like maybe that I had a weird dream.

“…Y-you…you got a good night of sleep yesterday, right?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. This couch’s pretty comfy so I slept like a log.”

“G-good… Oh, everyone’s getting up. We’re gonna get changed in the bedroom, so don’t come in.”

“All right. Once Theresia wakes up, I’ll tell her to get changed in there.”

“…You really didn’t wake up at all last night? You stayed asleep the entire time?”

“I think I might have woken up, but I don’t really remember… It’s all a bit fuzzy.”

“M-must’ve been the alcohol… It makes your memory all hazy, y’know?”

She seemed anxious, but I didn’t know why. Well, my head was ringing, and my body felt a little unsteady, so maybe there was still some alcohol in my system.

“All right, I’m going to wash my face. Maybe that’ll wake me up a bit,” I said.

“Okay, see you soon.”

Each floor had a small room with a sink for washing your face and whatnot that was shared with the whole floor, so I went out into the hallway. I was glad Igarashi was so friendly lately, but it did seem strange. Maybe she was getting used to this world and it was making her more mellow. It seemed like a good change anyway.