CHAPTER 4

The End of the First Labyrinth

Part I: Our New Home

We ate a simple breakfast in the suite once everyone had gotten up. I was really happy they offered a light breakfast service here. We had eggs, toast, and bacon. Normally, we could only eat things that could be eaten raw, so we would have ended up with fruit and nuts without the breakfast service.

After we finished eating, I walked Louisa to the Guild. The town was quiet this morning. The other Seekers and Guild workers had already come and gone.

“Thank you for last night. It was nice to let my hair down and relax,” said Louisa.

“No, thank you for coming on such short notice. We should do something together again next time we finish a big job.”

“Yes, definitely. Will you be going into the labyrinth again today?”

“First, I wanted to go get that treasure chest opened. I should also be able to go see the new suite this morning, right?”

“Yes, I believe the property workers are available outside of mealtimes.”

So first I’d go to the Chest Cracker that was nearby, then go look at the suite. In the afternoon, I wanted to head to the final floor of Field of Dawn. I had today’s schedule planned, even if it was a bit rough.

Louisa went into an employee entrance on the back of the Guild building. She turned back and gave me a little wave right before she went in. I felt myself blushing as I waved back.

The new suite was in the middle of District Eight, about a fifteen-minute walk from the Guild. It was a great location and so much better than the middle-class Nornil Heights in every way possible: the facilities, the size of the suite, the service—everything was perfect.

“Welcome, sir, madams. Your room is this way.”

The building itself was two stories and in a somewhat European style. There were only four rooms per floor. There was another building in District Eight with the same setup, but that was all of the royal suites available in the district. A number of maids lined the entrance hall to greet us and offered to take our things, but we were going to go right back out after this and instead just went to see the room. It was so overwhelmingly extravagant that even Misaki, who was normally always chatting away, was awed into silence. All the floors in the suite were laid with opulent rugs, and it even had its own bathroom and dressing room.

“…Th-this is incredible, more so than I’d expected. What do you think, Igarashi?” I asked.

“…I was told I could rent a middle-class room for myself, but…if there’s space here… Are you sure I wouldn’t be a bother?”

“Not at all. This place is way too massive for me to use alone, and apparently, there’s a limit on the number of rooms the party can rent. I was thinking it’d be better for us to live together if possible.”

“Okay then…I guess we’ll continue living together.”

Hearing her talk about living together made me imagine our day-to-day lives in the future. Would we come back together to this room every day? Or would we move again, keep jumping around like we were changing hotels?

“Um, yeah…and it would be nice to buy a house so we have a place to set down roots,” I said.

“Uh… I-is that what you meant…?” asked Igarashi.

“If you can buy a house, then the resident limit no longer applies, so you can have multiple parties living together. If Arihito wants to keep climbing the ranks, he should start thinking about doing ‘raids’ with only his own companions,” explained Elitia.

I had been thinking it would be nice to have one main base, so to speak, instead of having to keep moving. We wouldn’t have to deal with the trouble of moving our things each time, and we could do what we wanted with the house… But like Elitia said, we’d also be able to have multiple parties—sixteen, maybe twenty-four people—all working together. I’d only made five companions so far, but if I found enough that we were able to form another party, we’d be able to swap the members around as necessary for our seeking.

If we do that, we’ll have more jobs to choose from when we form a party. Right now, we’re lacking someone specialized in frontline defense, plus a Pharmacist, a Wizard, or a Priest.

“We could end up getting stuck if we don’t have someone with a necessary skill… It’s a good idea to gather more companions, if possible. We wouldn’t all have to live in one house. It’d be best if we could buy more than one house and people could live where they wanted,” I said.

“You know, Arihito… If you got multiple houses and just, like, gave me one…I’d have to listen to aaanything you told me to do,” suggested Misaki.

“M-Misaki, you can’t just trade a house like that…,” Igarashi chided.

“…As you already know, I have a certain…problem…so it would be best for you to find a different Swordsman until you’re near my level,” said Elitia. “But I still hope you’ll help me, even if it’s only some of the way. You don’t have to go to the floor my friend is on. I can go it alone if you get me there.” She must’ve felt like she needed to say it.

“…Elitia, you kinda changed when you got drenched in your opponent’s blood. So that’s why you keep your companions at a distance—because it’s a danger to them as well, right?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what to do in this situation, but this felt like a conversation we needed to have. Elitia looked at the sheathed blade at her side.

“This sword is called Scarlet Emperor. I found it in a treasure chest that a Named Monster dropped… When equipped, your job is changed to the weapon’s ‘inherent job.’ I was originally a Swordswoman, but I picked up this sword…and now I can never be rid of it.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as an inherent job…”

Elitia’s job of Cursed Blade was the inherent job, and the Scarlet Emperor was a cursed sword she could never get rid of. That meant she couldn’t ever change her job, either. Sounded a bit like a demi-human. After they died, they were resurrected in a different form. They couldn’t go back to being human, their equipment was limited, and they couldn’t remove some of it.

“What happened when you first equipped Scarlet Emperor? Did you not know what it was beforehand?” I asked.

“…I used to belong to the White Night Brigade, a group that hunts Named Monsters, collects treasure chests, and uses the contents to strengthen themselves. A lot of Seekers try similar tactics to improve their battle prowess. Some say it’s the easiest way for a Seeker to get stronger. But…in the White Night Brigade, you can’t refuse a piece of equipment, even if you don’t know what it is.”

She had to equip the Scarlet Emperor even though she had no idea what it was. No matter how powerful a weapon, going into Berserk mode would become a massive problem. On the other hand, if Elitia were somehow able to counter the Berserk, she would become an incredibly powerful vanguard.

“Couldn’t you take it to a shop to be appraised? Maybe there was even someone with that skill in the Brigade,” I suggested.

“If you take it to a shop, then they’ll find out it’s cursed. The priority will become to seal the curse, so you can’t use the weapon anymore. The Brigade had a policy that even if a weapon is cursed and dangerous, it’s far more powerful than a normal weapon…so no, it hadn’t been identified. Anyway, a failed attempt to identify is a risk to the identifier’s life, so there aren’t many suited to the job. The jobs that do have access to skills necessary for becoming an identifier are closely guarded by the Guild. Even the White Night Brigade wasn’t able to find someone to join them who could do it.”

People with rare skills were protected by the Guild. That likely also applied to this Chest Cracker we were going to see soon. Because the Guild protected these people and set up specialist shops, even the Seekers in District Eight had access to the incredible skills. Without that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see those people being monopolized by high-ranked parties. It was thanks to the Guild that didn’t happen.

“…I know you need to make some tough decisions in order to get stronger, and that’s one way of doing it. But I personally can’t get behind how the Brigade operates,” I said.

“You say that, but it won’t change anything. All I wanted was to become strong, but I’ve felt nothing but regret since I became the Cursed Blade… I can’t help but feel like I’m no longer fighting as myself whenever I wield this sword…”

“Ellie… But it wasn’t like that when you were fighting with Arihito, right? You were fighting to protect us,” said Suzuna.

“Ngh…”

Suzuna’s words made Elitia look away, tears in her eyes.

“…We would’ve been annihilated if Arihito hadn’t been there. I let my guard down until we found Misaki because I never thought an enemy like that would appear… I may be a high level, but I’m still too inexperienced as a Seeker.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It was a shock to me, too,” I replied. “I was sure we were gonna die. We only managed to make it out because you were there. And next time, we’ll do better. We can have you in the party from the beginning. We’re stronger like that than if you join part way through.”

“Arihito…” The sight of her bleary red eyes gutted me. I preferred not to see young girls cry if I could help it.

“Well, taking experience points into account, it might be better for you to participate as a guest for a little while,” I continued. “You can join the party when you need to and use my support, and vice versa.”

“…Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll leave any decisions to you. Just make sure you don’t get near me when I get out of control. Stay away until the fight’s over.”

“Yep. My support still works even if there’s quite a bit of distance between us.”

“Oh…”

My unattributed Attack Support was able to break through an immunity to physical attacks. Thinking back to that fight…I was completely separated from the battlefield where Elitia and Juggernaut had been fighting. If I could provide support as far as my vision extended, then that gave us a lot of flexibility in terms of battle formation. I really needed to verify the scope of my skills before we ran into an enemy that was too strong.

“Your Berserk skill might be dangerous, but I can provide support in order to minimize the risks. We should still try to break the curse somehow, though. There’s gotta be a strong weapon you can use that isn’t cursed.”

“…You…you say that so easily. Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Nah. I mean, it’d be a shock if you started swinging at me, but I’ll just make sure to keep my distance.”

“Ha-haaa… I don’t think ‘shock’ would really fit the bill there. Arihito, you’re reeaaally strange. You’re totally calm and relaxed even though you’ve just been reincarnated. You know, it’s actually kind of reassuring. Don’t you think, Suzu?”

“Y-yes…I feel like time flows more smoothly when Arihito’s nearby.”

If I seemed to be adapting faster than everyone else, that probably just meant this other world suited me. But if it made everyone feel safer, I’d do my best to keep my cool. This was the kind of world where a split-second decision could cost you your life. If the rearguard didn’t keep on top of the situation and decide if they should fight or run, they could be exposing the entire party to unnecessary danger.

“Elitia, I’d understand if you said you wanted to work on your own once we help you achieve your goal, but you’re an excellent Swordswoman, and I’d love to have you as a permanent member of our party.”

“H-honestly… You’re way too much of a people pleaser. Say something, Kyouka!”

“I’m fine with more members in our party, so no complaints here. Anyway, we decided that I’d follow Atobe’s decisions when I first joined. Even Louisa said as much—I’m basically like his subordinate now.”

“Wha…? R-really? Wow, my subordinate…”

“H-hey! What’re you all smiley about? What’s going through that head of yours?”

I was imagining my steadfast subordinate, Igarashi, following all of my directions. Ah, work would be so much easier then…I was starting to understand why people got corrupted by power.

“We could have problems, too, if everyone always sides with Arihito, never giving him a second opinion,” said Elitia.

“Good point, Elitia. You can be strict with me, and then we should be all set.”

“…All right. Just don’t get angry at me for doing my job. You’re the one who told me to do it. I think Kyouka’s the best choice for this sort of thing, though.”

“Actually, I haven’t had much to scold him about since we got reincarnated. Not that I’m complaining.” Everyone laughed. I had to laugh along with them.

Theresia stood there watching our entire conversation, then nodded to me. It was her way of showing she agreed.

This suite would house six people. Things were suddenly getting lively around here; I wondered if it would go well. I’d like to be in a position where I could watch over this chatty bunch.

“Right, that ends our preview of the suite. What’s everyone up to next?” asked Igarashi.

“We should go back to our own place and let them know that we’re moving. They’ll move our things for us,” said Elitia.

“They’ll really bring our things here? Not that we have that much since it’s only the third day…,” observed Suzuna.

“Yeah. Let’s decide room assignments later. For now, I’ll just ask them to put our things in the living room,” replied Elitia.

“Okay, once we’re finished moving, let’s meet back at the square in front of the Guild around noon. Atobe, we should go back to your place for a bit.”

Once today’s expedition was over, we’d all be spending the night together again. This royal suite had four beds between two bedrooms, so I’d finally be able to sleep in a bed.

Part II: Chest Cracker Parent and Children

After we looked around the suite, I signed the rental agreement, and Elitia and Suzuna headed back home. Igarashi, Theresia, and I returned to Nornil Heights together. Though we hadn’t even stayed there an entire two days, they’d been good to us, and I was sad to have to say good-bye. Unfortunately, we’d have to keep relocating like this every once in a while, until we were able to get some permanent housing. I needed to get used to all that moving.

“You keep at it, Mr. Atobe. I’ll be rooting for you,” encouraged the old lady who managed the property.

“Thank you for everything. Stay well, Miss…”

“Well, since you asked, it’d do well for you to remember a lady’s name. I’m Palme Arthur. I pray the Secret Gods smile upon such a bright and promising young Seeker like yourself.”

So her name was Palme. She’d known my name, but I’d never asked for hers… That was really rude of me.

“Well then, where are you headed to after this, Mr. Atobe?”

“We’re going to a shop to have a treasure chest opened.”

“Oh, are you now? There are three Chest Crackers in the city. One is my daughter, you know.”

“Really? What a small world.”

Lady Palme saw us off, and we put Nornil Heights behind us.

“By the way, Atobe,” Igarashi piped up out of the blue as we were walking down the hill to town, “I went up to level two and got two more skill points. Which ones do you think I should pick?”

“Congrats on leveling up. Do you mind if I took a look at your license?”

“Yeah, sure. Does yours not show other party members’ skills?”

“Theresia’s a special case, so I can see hers. For everyone else, I need to view their license.”

The only way to do that was to gain their trust so they felt comfortable showing you. Igarashi pulled her license out of a pouch at her waist and let me look at it.

“Valkyries really do get a lot of different kinds of skills to choose from…,” I commented. “There’s even this thing called Snow Country Skin. I didn’t realize Valkyries were related to places where it snowed a lot.”

“…I wonder if it’s maybe because my mom’s from the north?”

“Oh, that might be it. And the reason you can use lightning is…because you always brought the thunder down on me.”

“Then I guess there’s something seriously wrong with me for picking Thunderbolt first…”

“Th-that’s not what I meant… Thunderbolt is a good skill. Monsters are easier to hit if they’re Shocked, too.”

Igarashi glared at me. I shouldn’t joke so lightly about the past. I may have already put it behind me, but she might get angry with me if I didn’t drop it.

With just my first glance at her available skills, Double Attack seemed particularly strong. It would work well with my Attack Support as well. I also sort of wanted Mist of Bravery just in case, assuming the Fear status was being afraid of monsters and being unable to attack.

“…So, um… Atobe, what do you think of northern women?”

“Well, everyone talks about how Akita Prefecture is full of beauties. I picture them to have pale, alabaster skin, but I wonder if they actually do.”

“Um… My mom’s from Akita, actually. So I guess that’s good. Let me try a different question—don’t you think that’d be a good skill to have in case we run into some monsters that can inflict the Frozen status?”

“I suppose, but you could always just buy equipment with cold resistance instead… Although, I am pretty curious about what this ‘increases attractiveness’ means.”

Igarashi was already beautiful, so what exactly would happen if she acquired Snow Country Skin? Would she get even more beautiful? I mean, she wasn’t a demi-human, so I didn’t think her skin would turn white like some sort of snow spirit.

“Th-that’s not exactly my goal… Okay, so I should pick something else right now. I wonder if this Decoy skill is to draw monsters’ attention away from us.”

“I think so. It’s sort of an add-on skill but could be really powerful depending on how you use it.”

“Can I try it? Then I’ll let you pick the next one.”

I really did want her to take Snow Country Skin, but since it wasn’t a skill we urgently needed, I’d have to wait and see. For now, I’d have her take Double Attack, and then she could also take the Decoy skill she wanted.

“You should prepare this ‘doll’ you need for the skill before we go into the labyrinth.”

“Yeah, I saw a general goods store in front of the labyrinth.”

“All right, we’ll see if we can buy one there. I think your other skill should be Double Attack.”

Any of these skills could be useful in the right situation, but if we held back on using all the points, she might not see as many opportunities to use them, except for Double Attack, which I could see being useful right away.

The other question is how much magic it takes. If it’s the same as my blazeshot, then she could use it in every fight.

“…That’s settled then. Ugh, I feel like I’ll never have enough skill points. I keep getting new ones that I want to try out,” said Igarashi.

“Me too. I want to avoid wasting them as much as possible, but given that I learn from taking them and using them, saving the skill points isn’t necessarily the best move, either.”

“Yeah. I think I’m going to start getting excited every time I get to acquire new skills…”

“We’ll work on picking your new skills when you level up, too, Theresia.” Theresia had been walking next to and watching me and Igarashi the whole time we were discussing Igarashi’s skills. It was obvious she was interested in her own skills, too. She currently had one skill point saved up, and I wanted to let her acquire a new skill soon.

I also needed to learn about Suzuna’s skills. If possible, I wanted to check Elitia’s skills, too, but her Cursed Blade job complicated things. It’d be best to wait for an opportunity to present itself.

We entered the Chest Cracker shop that Louisa had suggested to see a woman wearing an apron seated at a table. A little girl and boy sat nearby reading a book.

“Welcome. Are you the customers sent by the Guild?” asked the woman.

“Yes, Louisa suggested we use your services. My name is Arihito Atobe.”

“Mommyyy, are you gonna open a box?” asked the boy.

“Oooh, a box, a box! Plum loves boxes!” squealed the girl.

The boy seemed to be the elder at about five years old, and the girl was maybe three years old. She looked a lot like her mother. The woman appeared to be the owner of this Chest Cracker shop and also seemed to love her children dearly. Lady Palme from Nornil Heights had said she had a daughter and grandkids in the business. I had a feeling this was them.

“I apologize. They really want to play, but the children aren’t allowed in the underground rooms where I will open the chest,” said the woman.

“Aww, but you let us watch when it’s an easy box,” whined the boy.

“I’m sorry, Eyck, but these customers have a very hard-to-open box.”

“But you can open anything!” he retorted.

“’Cause Mommy’s a twap master!” said the girl.

So this woman’s job was Trap Master. That probably meant she’d be able to disarm any traps, no matter how complicated, and open the chest.

“Eyck, Plum, go play outside for a little bit. You could go deliver a letter to Grammy. I’m sure she’d be delighted.”

“Are you coming, Mommy?” asked the girl.

“Yes, I’ll come once I’m done working… You keep an eye on Eyck and Plum.” That last part was directed to a corner of the room.

“Okay! We’ll wait at Grammy’s,” said Eyck, and he and Plum went outside. They were followed by a large white dog that had been lying in the corner. He almost seemed like he was acting as a bodyguard.

Igarashi appeared to like dogs because her eyes were sparkling with excitement as she started chatting with the owner of the shop.

“Oh my gosh… He understood every word! Such a big pupper, too! What kind of dog is he?” asked Igarashi.

“…Pupper?” asked the lady.

“Uh…what’s with that reaction? Doesn’t everyone call dogs that?”

“Ha-ha… Sometimes I do. He’s a breed called a silver hound. He was originally a guard dog working with Seekers.”

So he really was a guard dog. I liked animals, too, so I was pretty happy to see a dog for the first time in a while.

“……”

Theresia looked afraid of the dog; she was standing rigidly the entire time with her hand on my shoulder. I guess everyone had their weaknesses.

“Right, sorry to make you wait. My name is Falma Arthur, a Guild-certified Trap Master. I will be opening your black chest, Mr. Atobe.”

She wore an apron over her clothes that made her look like a young housewife, but in reality, she was an incredibly skilled Trap Master. Her smile contained nothing but kindness, and there was a dog pattern embroidered on the chest of her apron… Those aspects only pulled the disconnect between her appearance and skill even further in my mind.

“…Atobe, you don’t want your karma to go up here, do you?”

“Huh? …N-no, I wasn’t staring!” I replied as Igarashi pinched my arm to keep me in check. Falma didn’t seem to notice the meaning of our exchange. She just put her hands to her blushing cheeks and smiled as if she was seeing a cute couple.

Part III: Dimensional Barrier Lock

Igarashi noticed Falma smiling at the two of us and quickly pulled her hand away from me.

“…Oh, it’s not what you think. I was just making sure he behaved himself,” said Igarashi.

“The three of you are in a party together, yes? Having a good relationship is absolutely essential. Oftentimes, people are very concerned about being unable to divide the box’s content up evenly,” said Falma.

“That does sound like it’d be hard to deal with…,” I said.

“We’ve made this guy, Atobe, our leader, so it should be fine. Right, Atobe?”

“It must be true if you’re saying it, Igarashi.”

“……”

Theresia nodded. She’d been nervous about the dog for a while, but she seemed to have finally relaxed.

“That dog’s really friendly. It won’t bite you,” I assured her.

“It’s not uncommon for demi-humans to dislike dogs. Werewolves will sometimes start fights with dogs when they transform,” said Falma.

“I didn’t see any werewolves on the list at the Mercenary Office,” I said.

“There are different types of demi-humans for each different labyrinth. It’s said the fallen Seekers take on characteristics of the last monster they fought,” explained Falma.

Which meant Theresia was killed by some lizard-type monster. Thinking about it, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was even worse with lizards than she was with dogs. I’d have to keep an eye on her if we came across any.

“Now then, may I please see the treasure chest?” asked Falma.

“Yes, please. This is it…” I placed the black chest on the cloth Falma had spread on the table. Upon second glance, it seemed to be made of some metallic substance. It was put together with various different parts to form a cube. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend where you’d open it.

“…This chest—you found it after defeating a rare Named Monster, correct? I haven’t seen one in such a long time… The magic in the labyrinths gathers into a monster’s body, eventually forming a box. Black Boxes like these are almost never seen in District Eight.”

“We defeated a Named orc that apparently only appears every few years. It was called Juggernaut,” I explained.

“Yes, I’d heard about that. The Guild had put in place a grace period to allow the party it was after to defeat it or give them time to gather more companions to do so. If more time had passed, the higher-ranked Seekers would have been called on to vanquish it.”

So that was how the Guild handled powerful monsters. That made sense. They didn’t know how much damage the monster would cause, so they couldn’t just leave it to its own devices forever.

“The fact that you are the ones with the Black Box and that you have brought it here will remain confidential,” Falma assured us. “The Guild protects the business of the Chest Crackers, so there is no risk of the wrong people coming and attempting to steal the chest.”

“That’s good to hear. So this shop is guarded as well?” I asked.

“Yes, the Guild Saviors will come here if there are any issues,” replied Falma.

Guild Saviors…that sounded like some sort of military force the Guild maintained to keep order. The name made them sound like allies of justice, but it was maybe a little too in your face.

Anyway, I now knew our security was guaranteed even though we’d brought such a rare box to this shop. I also felt better about having Falma handle the valuable box since I knew she wasn’t going to be pulled into anything dangerous because of it.

“This chest is called a Black Box. There are a number of possible outcomes in the one-in-a-million chance that I fail to open it properly. Generally, you can assume a chest is armed with traps far more powerful than the monster that carried it.”

“Far more powerful… Exactly how powerful would that be?” I inquired.

“It could destroy a section of the city, summon large amounts of powerful monsters, or other similar things. There were some cases in the past that resulted in huge amounts of damage, so a number of special steps were put in place for opening chests. That significantly reduced the number of accidents that occurred when an inexperienced person with low Sleight of Hand capabilities attempted to open one.” This aproned woman was talking about things that made my blood run cold with the same nonchalance as if she were describing the weather. Though, I felt like it would be even more terrifying coming from someone who seemed overwhelmingly powerful.

“…When you say a one-in-a-million chance, do you mean literally? Or…?” I asked. If there was a high risk of something happening, then we could always choose not to open it. But Falma smiled gently and held up three graceful fingers.

“Chest Crackers are required to meet three conditions in order to avoid accidents and guarantee safety. First is that we must bring our Dimensional Barrier Lock unlocking rate to one hundred percent, using equipment for this is fine. Requirement two is to only open chests in specialized facilities. Lastly, we must maintain our skills necessary for opening chests and renew our license every year. I have Sleight of Hand 4 and use Craftsman’s Earrings and Rings of Mysteries to increase my unlocking rate.”

So her accessories, which I had just seen as expressions of her femininity, also had other important uses. She had two Rings of Mysteries on her pinkie.

“I get the impression that you’re a pro among pros,” I said.

“If it weren’t for the skills I inherited from my mother, I never would have been able to open my shop at only level seven. I acquired Sleight of Hand 2 at level three and then was able to get Sleight of Hand 4 by level seven. My mother was an excellent Thief, but she told me she had only reached Sleight of Hand 3 at level ten.”

I wonder about Theresia. Rogues are supposed to improve their Sleight of Hand more slowly than Thieves.

If Theresia’s parents were also in Thief-type jobs…it would be nice if she could at least undo simple traps. She wouldn’t have to reach Falma’s ability level, obviously. It’d probably be a good idea to have her take Sleight of Hand 1. Even if a Rogue was able to acquire Sleight of Hand 2 and onward, I assumed they’d have to get Sleight of Hand 1 first.

“I’m sorry to impose. It’s just, you’re the first Trap Master I’ve met, and I have a few questions I’d like to ask,” I said.

“Of course. I’ll answer to the best of my abilities.”

“Would someone be able to detect traps in the labyrinth if they have Sleight of Hand?”

“I believe that would fall under the Trap Detection class of skills. Even if you can detect the trap, though, you will need Sleight of Hand or Trap Destruction to disarm it. Unfortunately, there’re only a few rearguard Seekers who have such skills.”

So I can expect Theresia to fill our party’s Thief role if she can get Trap Detection. It really was true that jobs capable of various things caused a lot of headache… I was so lost on how to solidify their role in the party.

“Do you feel more relaxed? I only have a rare chest like this about once a year, so it’s been quite a while since I’ve given such an in-depth discussion,” said Falma.

“I appreciate the detailed explanation. Now I feel I have a much better grasp on how it all works. I do, of course, hope to use your services to open this chest, though I imagine those services will be quite expensive due to the high-difficulty traps.”

“Thank you for entrusting me with it. I will put my all into getting it open. I do not require payment for a chest like this. Instead, please allow me to handle any of the contents you don’t require. I will make plenty profit if you allow me to do so.”

I wonder what she means by things that we won’t need… Maybe it’ll be things that we can’t equip or something that only a specific party can use? Either way, we’d know once she opened it. I signed the paperwork authorizing the job and let Falma take the box. She told us she wished us to be present when she opened it, so we followed her down the stairs that led beneath the store.

We came to a door embedded with a large blue magic stone after descending the staircase. Falma placed her hand on the stone, and some symbols appeared—they looked like the number 17.

“This is a teleportation door. I can use this to teleport to a large room the Guild has prepared in order for us to open boxes. The actual location of the room is kept secret.”

“So they teleport us away from the city just in case the one in a million happens… They’ve got all their bases covered,” I remarked.

“The largest accident to ever happen killed over one thousand of District Three’s residents. Even with the risk, though, chests remain a massive source of profit for the Seekers, so there was no way the Guild could completely outlaw opening them. Ever since, the Guild has invested greatly in the Chest Crackers. Their current policy is to allow the chests to be opened but spend a large amount of money to ensure everyone’s safety.”

I also wanted to open the chest, so I couldn’t argue with the Guild’s policy. Igarashi looked nervous about the whole thing, but Falma’s explanations seemed to convince her it would be all right.

“…Falma, aren’t you scared?” Igarashi asked. “I’m not even the one opening it, I’m just watching, but I still feel like I have butterflies in my stomach.”

“I was very scared when I first started out. But a chest can’t hold a candle to experience and skill. Once I understood that, I started to find it sort of fun…perhaps a little too fun!”

…Feels kinda weird saying this about a mother of two small children, but…there’s something really sexy and mature about Falma.

Falma placed her hands on her cheeks and sighed rapturously. I couldn’t really claim that I wasn’t jealous of any man who managed to get a wife like her.

“…You know, everyone tells me I’m like their big sister,” said Igarashi.

“N-no, wait, I didn’t say anything— Bwuh!”

I tried to brush off Igarashi, but she poked me in the cheek. It didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t stop the strange sound from leaving my mouth.

“What’s with the bwuh? Theresia’s watching you, too, so don’t try anything.”

“……”

It wasn’t just Igarashi. Theresia’s silent presence was weighing down on me. Maybe she was only just staring and it was just my own guilt making me feel like that.

“Ahem… Falma, it looks like that door has the number seventeen on it. Can you tell me what that means?” I asked.

“That’s the room number. We’re teleported to an available room, so we won’t interfere with someone else opening a chest. Not to worry.”

Falma opened the door, and the four of us passed through. And then we’d been teleported… I found it surprisingly immediate. When I was going down the stairs to the labyrinth, I never could tell when exactly I was teleported, but this time I knew. Perhaps there was a variety of different teleportation methods.

“Wow… This room is massive. It’s really just used for opening chests?” I gaped.

“You’ll understand why it’s so big once I open the chest. All right, let’s get started… Ooh, incredible. It’s been so long since I’ve dealt with one so large…”

This was the Dimensional Barrier Lock on the Black Box. You could try breaking it if you just had Sleight of Hand…but the sight of it happening went far beyond what I could have ever imagined. Falma held up her hand, and a glittering figure began to spread out from the box’s center. It was like a scene you might see in a game when something’s activated with magic.

The figure continued to expand—straight across at first, then vertically—until it looked like a massive three-dimensional maze.

“This…looks like those puzzles where you tilt to roll around the metal balls and get them in the goal. Don’t you think, Atobe?”

“Yeah, same here. What made this thing appear anyway?”

“The chest is reacting to my skills. It’s trying to resist my attempt to release the Dimensional Barrier Lock. I’ll use my Sleight of Hand to delicately guide the magic and unlock it. If I flow magic down the correct route, the Dimensional Barrier Lock the chest created will vanish. It’s a little dangerous then, so please move away and keep low.”

“Uh… A-and that’s different from a trap activating?” I asked.

“It won’t explode. Ooh… Can I get it through this narrow passage, I wonder? …Phew, I did it. This part is wider, so it’ll be much easier… Take a look here, Mr. Atobe. This section is a trap. Get this wrong and…kablooey.”

“K-kablooey…? Falma, that’s not a good thing,” I said.

“…Am I the only one who thinks we should be taking a more basic approach?” Igarashi wondered aloud. “Theresia, say something! …Oh, right, you can’t speak…”

“……”

For some reason, Theresia was sitting on the ground observing the unlocking process. The whole thing for me was just Falma saying some unsettling things, but Theresia was watching her like she was doing some sort of mystical ritual.

“No… That won’t work, either… A mother knows all… And you can’t cheat, either… Heh-heh, this comes next… Oh yes, that’s good… Just a little more… I’ve almost got it… Yes, there… That’s it…!”

“Uh, F-Falma, any more and—,” I started.

“Atobe, get down!” Igarashi tackled me to the floor. This wasn’t the time to be standing around. Falma was about to open the box.

“I, Falma Arthur, will be the one to crack this Dimensional Barrier Lock… Hang in there… Yes, you’re open now…!”

The box seemed to respond to Falma’s urging, though obviously that wasn’t the case, but Falma’s magic had flowed through the unfolded maze to create a single path. The Dimensional Barrier disappeared, and light flooded out from the grooves that ran along the surface of the box. The light filled every tiny crack in the massive room.

“S-so bright… Whoaaa!”

“Atobe!”

“……”

Theresia got down with me and Igarashi as we waited for the blinding flash to cease. I assumed the box was opened safely, but the light was so blinding that I couldn’t open my eyes at all. The light finally started to fade, and we noticed the massive change around us.

“You did very well, Mr. Atobe. The box has been opened. Please feel free to peruse its contents.”

Scattered on the ground were more copper, silver, and gold pieces than I could even count. There’s no way all those coins would be able to fit into the Black Box, which was small enough for a woman to hold in her two hands. The contents of the box seemed to completely ignore the concept of the box’s volume and were now scattered across the entire floor. Weapons, accessories, armor, I had no idea how many of each… Most of it didn’t seem to be much more than junk or beginner-level equipment, but there were some things that looked like they might be high quality. We’d probably be able to upgrade the entire party’s equipment with this. I suddenly started shaking from excitement when I realized that.

“This…was all in the Black Box… There’s so much…,” I said.

“I imagine you understand why treasure chests are so sought after by Seekers. They contain not only the items that Seekers were carrying when they were defeated by the Named Monster, they also contain many items of unknown origin. Breaking the Dimensional Barrier means breaking through the abnormal space that is housed in the chest.”

“It’s more than I imagined… I guess you can never know what will happen when you’re in another world. Oh, that spear…can I try picking that up?” asked Igarashi.

“It’s best to wait until the item has been identified before touching it. You should be able to identify everything using Novice Scrolls of Identification, as long as the item isn’t a so-called colored weapon. I can provide scrolls for five gold a piece.”

Colored weapons… Elitia’s Scarlet Emperor was most likely one of those. Even though they may be powerful, they sounded like very ill-fated weapons if you couldn’t identify it and the only way you could find out if it was cursed or not was to equip it.

It wouldn’t be cheap to identify everything since we’d need a lot of Scrolls of Identification, but with the amount of money lying around, I had a feeling we’d end up making a profit anyway. We’d probably still make more than we did from the bounty on Juggernaut itself.

“Igarashi, Theresia, you should look for things you think we can use. We should have brought everyone along… Falma, could you put together as many Scrolls of Identification as you can for us?”

“Of course. Actually, I should just thank you for your continued patronage, shouldn’t I?” she chirped. She was clearly in a good mood because she was going to make a serious profit from this. There was a spring in her step as she walked to where we were teleported into the room and disappeared, apparently on her way to get the scrolls.

Theresia began to search for equipment as I’d asked. I trudged around glancing at the piles to see if there was a slingshot or other long-ranged weapon, and that’s when I heard something clatter to the ground by my feet.

…Huh? What’s this?

It was some sort of small rod. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be made of a mysterious material different from anything else in the vicinity.

“Hey… What’s that? The end looks like a key sort of,” said Igarashi.

“A key… Yeah, I guess it’s the right shape. Maybe a bit big, though.”

One end did look key-shaped. If that’s what it really was, then I wondered if we could use it somewhere in the Field of Dawn… I had no idea what it was, but I was incredibly curious. First, we’d try identifying it, then we could decide what to do with it.

Part IV: New Equipment

I left Falma’s shop for a moment and went over to Elitia and the two others, who were waiting in the square by the Guild.

“Nice work today, Arihito. We’ve finished things for the move. Although we’ll need to separate again when you go up to the next district,” said Elitia.

“Considering how amazing the building is, I imagine there’s a lot of people who want to just stay in the royal suite,” I replied.

“Yeah, but it’s still just a rental. New reincarnates can stay in rentals for free for the first month, but they’re required to pay rent after that out of pocket.”

“Really? I imagine at least the barn is free, though?”

“Uh, yeah, but I don’t recommend it. The door doesn’t close properly and…well, it’s a barn, so sanitation is an issue.”

“I had some relatives who owned a farm, so I can imagine what it’s like… It’s amazing, though. They’re living creatures, so it’s perfectly natural.”

I didn’t have to sleep in the barn for even a single night, but it did mean I’d never have to sleep without a roof over my head even if I had absolutely nothing… Well, I should keep an eye on our remaining funds.

“All right, well nothing seems to have gone off the rails in that area. I think we have plenty of funds,” I said.

“Oh, right… You got that thing open, didn’t you? Depending on what’s inside, there’s always a chance you’d be all right on funds once you open one,” said Elitia.

“You ought to keep that a seeecret from me. Otherwise, I’ll want Arihito to take me in!”

“Wow, Misaki, you really are trying to be more independent… I also need to make sure that I’m not pampered by Arihito,” said Suzuna.

When Suzuna said that, Misaki scratched her cheek in embarrassment because she felt we didn’t think she was reliable. Well, she was the girl who immediately left her friend and ran off with another party.

“Right now, I don’t have any skills that’d be useful in the labyrinth, you know. I just think my good luck might come in handy in a pinch,” said Misaki.

“If you think it’s too dangerous, you can spend your days in the city. You’ll have to do individual training, though, in order to gain levels,” I suggested.

“There’s that, but I reeaally want to try finding more companions, too. Besides, since we’ll be getting people to join slowly, I’ll end up warming the bench until you guys need me. Sooo I was thinking I could find us more friends, too, so that we can just make two whole parties from the get-go,” said Misaki.

“All right. What kind of people are you going to look for?” I asked.

“I’m thinking I want to gather some people who aren’t necessarily focused on battle but would be nice to have and bring along with us every once in a while. Don’t you think the different roles would fit perrrfect then? We won’t become like deadweight, even if we don’t make too much money and need a little help sometimes.”

We could have some labyrinth scouting members who were the first ones to go in. Then if they ran into something where they needed a specific skill, we could swap people out to handle it. My plans for multiple parties were still pretty vague, but a general idea seemed fine. If we could gather some members who were similar levels to form a second party, they could go to labyrinths that suited their level so they could work their way up. Right now, Misaki was the only one who was still level 1, so it would be hard for her to gain levels even though she was in my party. Elitia had officially joined our party, too, but the level difference was likely to be a stumbling block for us.

“I plan to stay as a guest in the party until everyone is up to level seven or eight. I should have gone back to a guest and let you finish off Juggernaut…,” said Elitia.

“No, that wouldn’t have mattered. Once the experience display on your license is full, you gain a level when you leave the labyrinth, but it resets to zero. It doesn’t matter how powerful the enemy is, you can only gain one level per adventure,” I said.

That meant the most efficient way to level up would be hunting monsters, which you could easily get experience from and then leave the labyrinth as soon as your experience bubbles were full. Only one bubble of Elitia’s experience was filled when she defeated Juggernaut, which was probably because it was only level 5, lower than her. That did sort of mean that just because an opponent was strong, it didn’t mean it would level you up easily, but really it meant that a party full of level-8 Seekers wouldn’t find it a difficult battle at all.

The stronger you get, the harder it is to gain levels. It’d be good to find a monster of the same level that you can hunt easily… One level up could mean a huge increase in strength.

“Sorry about this, but I’ll need you to actually join the party every once in a while when we fight a strong enemy. If we can do something about that skill, we won’t have to keep our distance, either,” I said.

“…And just what do you think could be done? If I throw this sword away, it appears back in my hand. There’s no way I can just get rid of a cursed sword…,” bemoaned Elitia.

“We could remove the curse or contain it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m taking this lightly, but there’s gotta be something. You need to believe that. Otherwise, it’s all just too bleak.”

“…That means a lot to me. I can’t seem to find anything bright about my future.”

“Ellie, everything will be okay. I’m sure Arihito’s right—there must be a way to break the curse,” said Suzuna. It’s possible a Shrine Maiden skill might someday be able to break curses. But if it were that simple, no one would be cursed in the first place.”

“Suzuna, did you ever do purifications or exorcisms when you were helping out at the shrine?” I asked.

“Yes, I helped my dad with them. It was a little different from the skills I seem to have from this Shrine Maiden job, though.”

“I see… Sorry, but do you mind if I take a look at your skills?”

“Oh, no, I’m the one who should apologize. You let me join your party, and I haven’t even shown them to you. Here they are. I’ve already acquired two… Oh, I got more skill points,” she said as she showed me her license.

These are all definitely Shrine Maiden skills… Although Auto-Hit seems a little different from the rest. I wonder…?

“Suzuna, do you have archery experience?” I asked.

“Y-yes, how did you know? …Oh, I have a new skill.”

“I don’t think ‘Auto-Hit’ is the kind of skill you’d normally get at level two. I wonder if you’re able to acquire it because you already know how to use a bow.”

“I would definitely like to take it if you think it will be useful.”

“Yeah, I think it will. Would you mind?”

Suzuna selected Auto-Hit to acquire it. It wasn’t a skill that just increased hit rate; it guaranteed a hit, so it’d be particularly effective against enemies that dodged attacks easily. Salt Laying seemed like it would be good for creating a safe location while in the labyrinths, and Spirit Detection would likely be necessary in any labyrinth with large amounts of ghost-type monsters. It’d be fine if we could use equipment to see them, but the thought of fighting an enemy I couldn’t see made me go numb.

“Purification is constantly active, right? Whenever you’re around, I feel calmer,” I said.

“Oh, r-really? …I’m glad. I’m not even really sure how it works.”

“It’s ’cause everyone always says you’re sooo soothing, Suzu,” said Misaki.

“Misaki, I don’t think that has to do with this…,” Suzuna interjected.

I actually thought it might, however. I had the impression that most of the skills you could learn were gained from your job, but there were some skills that only came up because of each individual’s personal abilities. There were probably some people with the Shrine Maiden job who didn’t have Purification. The most popular skills seemed to be common across jobs, but Igarashi and even Theresia had their own particular skills. All of my skills were special, too, and given that I’d probably never run into another person with the same job, you could argue that all my skills were particular to me.

…Hang on. What would happen if someone else wrote vanguard or midguard? Would they just not be accepted as that job?

I had no idea how many people had been reincarnated so far, but I did know I was the first to write rearguard and be accepted in that job. The display on the license wasn’t normal, either, so I have to assume that kind of thing didn’t happen often.

“B-by the way, Arihito…do you have any skills that are always active?” asked Elitia.

“I think there’s something like I periodically restore your vitality if I’m behind you… I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. Wish I knew how to turn it off when I didn’t need it.”

“Really…? Oh…my license says vitality at max.”

“Huh? Um, mine says…”

Recovery Support 1 had been activated. Apparently, it looked different from the receiving end. Elitia showed me her license, and this was what it displayed:

The name of my skill doesn’t show up… Neither does Suzuna’s. Are different things displayed depending on if you’re the user or the target? I can see the skill names when people use an attack-type skill… I guess recovery is different.

I wondered how Attack Support and Defense Support were displayed. I hadn’t realized there was a difference since we didn’t exactly have the time during battle for everyone to show me their licenses. If the skill names were displayed clearly, though, it’d be better if you had the option to hide them. If there were some bystander watching us fight, they’d have access to information about our skills.

“Elitia, is there a way to keep the skills you use from displaying on the license?” I asked.

“Yeah. If you have the Conceal skill you can keep others from knowing what you do. There are some types of equipment you can use in place of that skill, though.”

“Is that kind of equipment fairly valuable?”

“It is… There usually aren’t any free to appear on the markets, but you often get one when you open a chest.”

“Thanks. It’d be great if we found one in this chest.”

“What, can you use that to hide when you do bad things? Arihito, you’re thinking of doing something naughty, aren’t you?” said Misaki suddenly.

“Y-you think? I’m sorry, Arihito, but those items only keep your actions from appearing on licenses, your karma will still go up. You should avoid doing anything too inappropriate,” said Elitia.

Should I joke around and say, Man, that’s too bad? No, both Elitia and Suzuna are too pure; I shouldn’t even joke about it. I’m old enough to be their legal guardian. I should avoid doing anything to lose their trust.

We returned to the room where the door in Falma’s shop teleported us. Igarashi and Theresia had stayed behind and categorized almost everything by weapon, armor, accessory, other, or cash. The weapons, which were of the average kind floating around and being sold at shops, could be sold back without needing to identify them. Once only the items we might be able to use remained, there wasn’t so much that we’d have a hard time selecting from them.

“Each one of these bags contains one thousand gold. We have just about six thousand gold in total. We removed the damaged coins and weighed them on scales. We compared the bags in weight, so we didn’t have to spend the time counting outside of the first two bags,” said Igarashi.

“That’s exactly the kind of efficiency I’d expect from you, Igarashi. Even so, just putting a thousand gold in one pack must have been a pain,” I said.

“Yeah, those bags are pretty heavy, you know. It’d be better to leave them with the bank and ask them to provide a check if we need a large sum.”

That was the painful moment I realized how convenient paper money was. Actually, it’d probably be just as annoying to handle the number of bills that equaled a gold coin.

Hmm, you tend to lose any sense for the value of money when you get so much of it… Not good. I need to be able to make big purchases if necessary, but otherwise, I should stay frugal.

“The broken coins can’t be used until they’re reminted, so I have purchased them from you. You also have a fair amount of silver and copper coins, but since they tend to become unusable more easily, there aren’t very many in good condition,” said Falma.

The copper and silver tended to change color, but a mint would still probably be able to use them. That added onto the amount we sold. Those silver coins were referred to as “degraded silver coins.” We had about four thousand of them, but they were worth about 30 percent of their full value. I felt lucky they were worth anything considering the effort needed to make them usable again.

“Maaan, I wish I could see it once. Gold coins going bang and scattering about like you wooonnn!” said Misaki.

“Don’t open that bag. Igarashi and Theresia spent a lot of time counting those out. I don’t know when, but we’ll bring you along the next time we open a chest,” I said.

“Reeeally? Wow, the power of money is so scary. At this rate, I’ll have to stay away from you… Hey, are you listening?”

“You should pick out any equipment you can use as a Gambler. I wonder if there’s anything I can use…,” I mused.

“Atobe, how about this? It’s a slingshot made from ebony.” Igarashi showed me the slingshot she found. It seemed of higher quality than the one I was using. I’d lose my blazeshot, but this would improve my damage, hit rate, and range.

“Congratulations. That weapon has an open rune slot. You can make the weapon more powerful if you put a rune in it,” said Falma, who had been watching us. She pointed at a hole in the slingshot. So that’s what that was.

“A rune… That’s not the same thing as the magic stones we used for modifying our equipment earlier, is it?” I asked.

“Runes are made from magic stones. If you gather a large number of magic stones and compress them, you get a rune, which is more powerful than the average magic stone. Even useless waste magic stones can sometimes be made valuable if formed into a rune.”

“My spear has a slot, too. Unlike my lance, I can’t use a shield with it, but… Atobe, can I trade for this spear?” asked Igarashi, holding the spear made of some metal alloy. It had increased damage, defense rate, and piercing power. It was actually a ranseur, a type of spear with a cross hilt at the base of the spearhead used for catching enemies’ attacks. You wouldn’t necessarily need a shield if you were using this type of spear.

“It’s a good weapon, so I think you should switch over to it. Oh, over there is some armor… Is this for women?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s ‘ladies’ armor.’ It’s light since its emphasis is on evasion, so there are many women in fighter jobs who wear this kind of armor. This also has an open rune slot,” replied Falma. The armor’s design seemed perfectly suited to a Valkyrie. I thought we could finally call Igarashi a true Valkyrie if she put that on. Even so, Igarashi wasn’t too keen about wearing it, which was understandable because, even though it wasn’t exactly a chain-mail bikini, it did leave a lot of skin exposed.

“Magical equipment has higher defensive capabilities than you might assume from looking at it. I also suggest you use this armor. It’s a little weaker than my armor, but I imagine you could use this at least until you’re level five,” said Elitia, who was more inclined to focus on the equipment’s capabilities and ignore its appearance.

Falma went around the full sets of armor and helmets and patted Igarashi’s shoulder.

“If you like, I can help you try it on. It’ll be all right, you’re just not used to it yet, but you’ll feel more comfortable once you try it on. And you can buy a cloak to wear over it,” she said.

“A-all right…then, yes please. I’ll be back in a bit, Atobe.” Obviously, she couldn’t change in front of us, so she and Falma teleported from the room so she could try on the armor.

Next, Theresia came up to me. She showed me a short sword, shield, and a pair of boots. The boots even seemed to be made of a material that Theresia could wear. The shield was a targe-type and could even be attached to the chest of her leather armor. Its defense, durability, and evasion rates were higher than her current buckler. The short sword had already been modified and had a wind-type skill available to use. Its materials were also of higher quality, so I didn’t hesitate to suggest she change to them. Neither the targe nor the sword had any open rune slots, but we’d find her equipment with slots eventually. This equipment didn’t give Theresia as big a power boost as Igarashi’s did, but it was important to keep getting stronger by changing equipment even if it was only a little at a time.

“And your boots… Oh, you can take those off, too,” I said.

These were called chameleon boots. They had the ability to change to match their surroundings. An entire suit of chameleon armor would be perfect for sneak attacks.

Theresia sat on the ground and pulled off her current boots to try on the chameleon ones. The lizard boots she’d been wearing this whole time weren’t low quality, but they were well worn, and it was always a good idea to have a change of shoes so you could swap them out and reduce wear and tear…assuming these boots were like normal shoes, that is.

“……”

“Oh, the color even matches. It looks good. They really suit you, Theresia.”

Theresia didn’t say anything, but she did seem to like her new equipment. I just started to think that if a chameleon monster did exist, it’d attack us when it wasn’t visible…and that was terrifying.

“Suzuna, how about this cape thing?” asked Elitia.

“Oh… A-are you sure? It seems so expensive…”

“We need to improve your defense, too, even if by just a bit. I think you should equip this if you can.” Elitia handed the cape to Suzuna, who put it on over her white clothing. The cape was white, too, so it didn’t clash with her red-and-white Shrine Maiden look.

“…Oh, Arihito, there’s a Concealment Choker. It might be annoying for you to wear it around your neck, but this will let you do what you were thinking about earlier,” said Elitia.

“Oh… I’ve never worn one of those before…”

“All riiight, I’ll put it on for you! Stay still,” ordered Misaki.

Meanwhile, Igarashi finished changing into her armor and teleported back.

“Uh, um…Atobe, I put on the armor, but…,” she stammered.

I looked back after Misaki finished fastening the choker, and I was suddenly at a loss for words.

Part V: Ladies’ Armor

I imagined that even if a Japanese person went to another world, they’d have a really hard time adjusting to the different clothing…but that didn’t seem to apply to Igarashi.

“Um, uh… I tried putting on the vambraces and greaves as well. It’s lighter than it looks, since it has the lightweight attribute,” she said, her face beet red as she explained the equipment. The Scroll of Identification they’d used on the armor had all that information from the beginning, though. It was called Light Steel Ladies’ Armor +3, so it had an increased defense along with the lightweight attribute, making it excellent armor.

“It suits you so well I might have assumed it was custom-made for you… It looks amazing,” I said.

“Y-you think…? It’s got this skirt thing in the front, which is nice, but the sides are a little…”

“Whoaaa, those slits are a little risqué, aren’t they? You’ll have to get all prepared like before you put on a bathing suit,” Misaki remarked.

“It’s a…bold piece of equipment, but beautiful. I wonder if I’ll be able to wear armor like that one day…,” Elitia marveled.

“…I just wish I could’ve done something about this part here… It’s armor; it should cover everything,” said Igarashi.

The ladies’ armor seemed to have breast support built in, but the actual armor part didn’t cover her cleavage, meaning I could see the doublet she was wearing under it like underwear. It emphasized the movement of her breasts in the same manner those knit sweaters of hers did. There was no way I could ignore their existence.

Ooh man, they’re huge… I almost said something I’d completely regret. I knew Louisa was above average, but Igarashi’s a Japanese woman and still up there…

“…Are those shifty glances supposed to be some sort of karma countermeasure?” asked Igarashi.

“Uh, no, I wasn’t thinking anything dirty. I just wanted to look at the equipment because it suits you so well. And it’s rude to stare at someone for too long, isn’t it?”

“Soooo cool! No way I’d be able to fill it out,” said Misaki.

“Even the ladies are staring! You wear it very well,” said Falma. She would have to wear armor like this if her job wasn’t Trap Master, so her chest would become more of a problem, too. Though, every warrior-type job could wear armor regardless of their body type.

Elitia’s equipment was tight to her chest and incredibly powerful. She wore a set of High Mithril Knightmail +4. It also had the lightweight attribute, so it didn’t sacrifice speed, which was something swordsmen absolutely needed, making it ideal armor.

“I also found this crowned helm, so I’ll have you equip this, too,” said Falma.

“Oh, that’s nice. All I need now is a surcoat for when I’m walking around outside…,” said Igarashi.

“There wasn’t anything like that in the chest, so you can have something of mine. You’re just a little taller than me, but I think it might be just long enough,” offered Falma.

“Thank you so much for everything. Hmm…once I have a surcoat…” Igarashi didn’t yet seem comfortable with the clanging of her new armor as she moved. To be entirely honest, I was a little jealous of her for looking so good in equipment from another world.

“Atobe, we didn’t find any other metal armor, but we did find this hard leather armor.”

“Thanks. So this is stiffened, processed leather, huh…? I wonder what kind.”

“It’s from a Marsh Ox, a monster that appears in the Sleeping Marshes labyrinth. It’s one of the labyrinths in District Eight, but as the name implies, there are many dangerous monsters that attempt to put you to sleep. Not many people venture there,” said Elitia.

I took off my current armor and put on the Hardened Ox Leather Armor +2. Now that I thought about it, this piece of equipment was something that another Seeker had worn before me…though no one would be able to tell that from how it looked or felt to wear, so I decided to just forget about it.

We looked for some other things we might be able to use and found a set of Chain Gloves +1. It looked basically like a normal fabric glove just made of chain links but was also fingerless, which would make using equipment easier.

I looked at the scroll, which displayed the identification result, and almost gasped in surprise.

Yes! If this improves skill effectiveness, then maybe it’ll work on my support skills…!

The toil we’d spent putting into sorting through this equipment had reaped us plenty of reward. We finished picking out the things we thought we could use and wrapped up our equipment upgrades.

Falma got some help from the Carriers to transfer our gold to the bank, and then we rented a storage space to store any of the remaining equipment that had pluses. One storage space cost one gold per month, but that level of investment wasn’t going to make a difference.

We had lunch in a restaurant in town and then headed toward the labyrinth entrance. As we passed, Leila was helping some other Seekers at the Mercenary Office but gave us a wave when she saw us. When we reached the square in front of the labyrinth entrance, we saw that Madoka’s stall was open again. Business seemed to be going well. She must have had more reincarnates shopping there… She was starting to sell some things that weren’t in wide distribution.

“Oh, mister! Good morning!” she called.

“Hey, morning. You’re looking chipper as usual,” I replied.

“You have so many companions now…and some really nice equipment. You must have had a very successful expedition.”

“A few things ended up going well, partly thanks to you. I want to show our gratitude to you somehow.”

“N-no, not at all. It’s my job to sell equipment. Your success is thanks enough—”

“Ms. Shop Lady! …Hey, Big Bro Ari!” Misaki suddenly called out.

“Uh, I’m not your brother, and you don’t have to raise your hand. What is it, Misaki?”

Before I could have another thought, Misaki grabbed Madoka’s hand with a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

“Ah, uh, ummm, how can I help you?” Madoka stammered.

“Don’t you think a Gambler and a weapons Merchant would make a perfect pair?” Misaki gushed.

“Hey… What’s with that blunt invitation? I’m sorry she suddenly invited you. It’s my fault for not keeping a better eye on her.”

“N-no, it’s all right… I was just surprised because it was so sudden. Actually, I was thinking I wanted to go back in the labyrinth since soon I’ll drop down to level one again. I just thought she’d somehow read my mind.”

“Seriously?! Seee, Arihito, inviting someone’s all about the feeling! We’re gonna get so many party members like this!” said Misaki.

If I understood what just happened right, Madoka wasn’t going to join my party as a permanent member, but we could call on her as a Merchant when necessary and go on adventures together.

“Her drive is simply amazing. She seems so good at making friends… I’m a bit jealous,” said Elitia.

“Misaki’s always made friends wherever she goes. I’ve always thought it was incredible she could be so fearless when going up to talk to people she doesn’t even know,” said Suzuna.

The Merchant job wasn’t a battle-focused job, but it wasn’t completely incapable of fighting like some other midguard-type jobs. Madoka could probably beat a Cotton Ball at least, so it should be fine if she worked with Misaki.

Speaking of finding more party members, we really need to look for a vanguard specialized in defense… Hey, I wonder if that guy fits the bill.

There was a man carrying a large shield in Ribault’s party. They also had a woman with a bow, a man with a wand, and Ribault, who seemed like the main attacker, so their party was fairly balanced.

“Ah, you finally gonna make it to the third floor today? There’s different monsters on the third floor, too, so don’t let your guard down,” called out Ribault as we walked by.

“Yes, we’ll be sure to stay alert,” I replied.

As soon as we entered the first floor, we used the sparse trees as a guide and headed across the field, where we ran into five Cotton Balls. Elitia stayed out of the fight, instead letting the midguards—Igarashi and Theresia—step forward. But first, they left our line of fire clear so Suzuna and I could reduce the number of enemies. Actually, Misaki was carrying a long-range weapon as well, so she tried to support us with our attacks.

“Misaki, throw your weapon!” I commanded.

“Okay, here I go!”

“A-amazing… And that was just an iron die…,” said Misaki. Gamblers could equip short swords, but they could also fight with special combat-enabled dice and cards. Currently, she had ten iron dice with her.

The amount of support damage went up…that confirms the chain gloves’ effect.

I could also expect it to work with defense and recovery as well. I really wanted to get more equipment like this.

“We’ll take out the last ones! …Let’s go, Theresia!” shouted Igarashi.

“—!”

Igarashi darted off so fast you wouldn’t have thought she was wearing armor and attacked with her spear. Theresia also swung her sword at the Cotton Balls. The two easily finished off the enemies.

“Wow…I really did beat one with my pretty dice,” said Misaki.

“Your attack is more powerful when Arihito is behind you. But your aim was really good, too,” complimented Suzuna.

“Nah, I’m just lucky. It hits if I tell it to.”

“Arihito, I plan to try out my new skill when we’re fighting orcs. Is that okay?” asked Suzuna.

“Yeah, please do. Theresia, I’d like to see your Wind Slash as well.” The party returned to its battle formation as I gave my orders. Elitia was sort of acting as a mobile unit on her own, so she didn’t have a set position. She did seem to have something on her mind, though, so I called her over.

“…What is it?” she asked.

“Sorry, can you keep an eye out for us? Obviously not when it comes to Cotton Balls, but I just imagine doing nothing is boring.”

“N-no, not at all… Don’t be silly, that’s not important. What’s most important is the party’s growth.”

“That’s fine, then, but feel free to jump in if we look like we need help.”

“Yeah, I plan to. I also want to try getting your ‘support’ again.”

It wasn’t just Igarashi—I could tell that everyone was in a better mood the more I supported them. That’d be the case even in a normal party, though. That’s how you built trust.

“Let’s try out Suzuna’s new skill next. It might be a bit wasteful, but if we run into a Poison Spear Bee, I’d like you to try out Auto-Hit,” I said.

“Yes, I’ll give it a try.”

I also tried one of the skills I’d just acquired. I activated Morale Support while we were walking, and everyone in front of me gained ten “morale” points. We’d have to do some more testing to figure out what happened as their morale points got higher.

Part VI: The Unseen Enemy

Orcs and elves; orcs and Lady Knights—Fanged Orcs were a woman’s worst nightmare in most any situation, but the way ones in this labyrinth reacted upon seeing a woman was downright beastly.

“BLEHHHHH!”

“Ewww, oh my gosh, it’s drooling everywhere! It’d be curtains for me if I got caught by this thing, huh?” said Misaki.

“You’re better off not even imagining it,” said Elitia. “Orcs are different from Cotton Balls in that they can use weapons. They may not be as intelligent as humans, but they’re still fairly smart…”

Intelligent humanoids that just follow their animalistic urges… Yeah, it’s better not to think about it.

A couple of Poison Spear Bees were flying nearby as well. Suzuna had already readied her bow and prepared to use her skill, but first, I provided cover fire.

“—Strike your target!”

Assuming I saw correctly, the one Poison Spear Bee moved and should have been able to evade Suzuna’s arrow…but the arrow changed direction midflight and made a direct hit. Near that bee, the metal bullet I shot from my ebony slingshot struck another bee, completely piercing through its abdomen.

“BLEHHH?!”

The orcs weren’t even the same species, yet they were shocked to see the Poison Spear Bees felled so easily. Igarashi and Theresia used the opportunity to close in and launch a preemptive strike.

“Give ’em hell!” I shouted.

“You got it! …Hiiiyaaa!”

“—!”

Double Attack could be used to target multiple targets, and Wind Slash flung the enemy backward after the attack, making it more difficult for them to counterattack. But even though their morale went up, it didn’t seem like their damage or anything increased as well. Morale was like a number for displaying a person’s motivation in battle, so perhaps I should be using Morale Support to recover morale when it was low.

“Um, Arihito… The front of the party sort of looks like they’re glowing…,” said Suzuna.

“Huh…I can’t see it at all, but you can?”

“Yes, just a bit.”

Suzuna had a skill that let her see spirits or psychological substances, so maybe she was seeing the increased morale as psychological energy?

I wonder if their status changed or something…

Suzuna was standing next to me, so her morale hadn’t increased. My support really depended on position, so it would probably be best if I set a four-line battle formation with me in the back and Suzuna and Misaki in the third row.

But anyway, the morale seems to be staying high… Can they store it?

I tried to use it again but couldn’t activate Morale Support. There might be a cool down period between castings, my license said 4:33 minutes until recast. So roughly five minutes.

My magic doesn’t go down when it’s active. I’ll just keep using it as often as I can to see what happens when morale gets high.

“Atobe, that orc up ahead hasn’t reacted to us yet. What should we do?”

“Okay, I’ll fire from far away.”

“But then you’ll just take it down with your slingshot,” said Misaki.

“Don’t worry. Since we’re working together, everyone still gets experience. See, look at your license. It might not be much, but you are getting some experience,” reassured Igarashi.

“Oh, you’re right. You guys really are strong. You’ve beaten so many things, but it’s barely gone up. It’s a big help for me, though!” said Misaki.

She’d only filled about two experience bubbles so far, and since you needed to fill ten before you leveled up, I was hoping we’d be able to level her up during this trip through the labyrinth.

“Elitia, do you know how strong the monsters are on the third floor?” I asked.

“No, sorry. I’ve only ever made it to the second floor of this labyrinth. I got reincarnated with my family. They wanted to go to a different labyrinth, so we didn’t go far in this one.”

“Your family… Where are they now?” asked Igarashi. Elitia smiled uncomfortably with a sort of fragility I’d not yet seen in her.

“They’re doing all right. I would’ve heard if they’d died or anything.”

“…Sounds complicated, huh? You’ll feel muuuch better if you talk about it, Ellie. Big Bro Ari here’s such a good listener,” suggested Misaki.

“Well, as long as they’re doing fine, there’s nothing wrong with leaving things as is. It’d be nice to say hi if we run into them, though,” I said.

“Nice to say hi, huh…? They’re really competitive people, so don’t feel bad if they say something weird,” said Elitia. She’d been reincarnated with them, so I wondered if they’d worked together before she moved from District Five to District Eight.

“Arihito, what’ll we do about these orcs and bees? They’re worth money if we take them back,” said Misaki.

“Yeah, that’ll be tough… Oh, this bee has a magic stone on its head. A poison crystal?”

Magic stones didn’t take up much capacity, and we found some ore in the pouches the orcs had tied to their waists. Those were kind of heavy, but we’d manage. We gathered the one poison crystal and two lumps of ore. Then we headed off toward the northeast where the door to the third floor was supposed to be, hunting monsters along the way.

There were two large trees growing on a grassy hill. The sights around us changed completely when we walked between them.

“…It’s the same Field of Dawn, but the sky looks completely different,” I mentioned.

“And there’s more trees…but on the first floor, they were so scattered,” said Igarashi.

There were a lot of places to take shelter, so we needed to be on guard in case something was lurking somewhere. And that’s exactly when it happened.

“……”

Theresia reacted to something and readied her equipment. Out of the shadow of a nearby tree came a creature about as big as a medium-sized dog.

“GROOOOOOOAAAA!”

It let out a roar like a hacksaw on metal and came charging toward us. We’d gotten used to Cotton Balls and their speed, but this was so fast, it sent shivers down my spine.

“Yikes! …Wh-what’s that sound—?” cried Misaki.

“Let’s save that for later. Igarashi, Theresia, we’ll shoot first! Misaki, don’t go out front! Suzuna, move ahead of me just a little more!”

“Okay! Strike your target!” cried Suzuna.

It was still alive. Igarashi stepped to close the gap in the formation as the Gaze Hound approached, and she tried to use Double Attack, but—

“GROOOOAAA!”

“Agh?!”

This is bad—it can inflict status ailments…but Theresia’s still there!

The Gaze Hound turned its attention to Igarashi, who was unable to move. Theresia used Accel Dash to chase after it, then launched a Wind Slash toward it.

“GRAAA!”

“Igarashi, pull yourself together!” I cried.

“Ngh…my body… I can almost!” She managed to pull herself out of Stun, but I wasn’t sure if the Morale Support I used had helped. This time, though, she was able to launch herself into a Double Attack.

“Yes, we did it!” shouted Igarashi triumphantly.

“Kyouka, be careful! There’s still something nearby!” called out Elitia.

“Huh? …Aaahhhh!”

Where was it hiding? Something had attacked Igarashi after she killed the Gaze Hound and let down her guard.

An enemy we can’t see… Oh, right, the chameleons… I knew there was a monster like that out there somewhere. So how did Elitia notice…? …Oh! Theresia!

“Suzuna! Aim in the direction Theresia’s pointing!” I ordered.

“Y-yes!”

Auto-Hit’s effect continued for two arrows in a row. Suzuna did as I instructed and released her arrow in the direction Theresia indicated… It was a gamble, but if she knew there was a monster there, it should hit. I had to believe that.

The arrow Suzuna shot stuck in midair, where there was nothing…and then the creature’s true form appeared. Its eyes had swirls in them, and it looked like the creature you’d get if you turned a chameleon into a monster. Suzuna’s arrow was sticking out the top of its head, but rather than just auto-dying, the Plane Eater was about to make a counterattack.

But before it could, Elitia made her move.

“—I’ll cut you down!”

It took only a single strike—she pulled her sword from its sheath as fast as some sword performer. I didn’t even see it happen. The Plane Eater was split in two, purple blood spraying from its body. Elitia moved far enough away that she wasn’t hit by any backsplash.

“Igarashi, are you all right?!”

“Y-yeah…I’m fine, Atobe. I’m not hurt at—”

I ran over to her, and she turned to face me. When she did, something I should never have seen appeared in front of me.

“I’m s-so sorry!”

“Huh? …Eeeeeek?!”

Underneath her armor, she had been wearing “silk clothing,” and it was torn on her chest. It was such a large tear that one of her breasts was exposed.

“Wh-why…did that monster only aim for my armor…?” Igarashi whimpered.

“It used a special attack that aims for armor… Add on the fact that it can become essentially invisible, and I’m amazed a monster like that even appears in the beginner labyrinth,” said Elitia.

I wanted to believe that Ribault hadn’t said anything about them because they were extremely rare.

“……”

“Thanks. There’s no more enemies nearby,” I reported once Theresia came back over and told me the coast was clear. Good thing Plane Eaters didn’t travel in packs… If we hadn’t been so lucky, we could have ended up taking a lot of damage.

“Suzu, you’re good at sewing, aren’t you?” asked Misaki.

“Yes, I brought a sewing kit with me. I should be able to mend it a little…but the cloth is completely destroyed, so I’ll need something to replace it.”

“Well, we don’t really have many choices, so how about using her scarf?”

“He saw… Atobe saw…” Igarashi seemed like she was in shock. I felt really, really sorry, so hopefully, she’d forgive me. I couldn’t even consider myself lucky for getting a peek, considering the conditions under which it had happened.

“……”

“…Theresia, I’m begging you. Don’t stare right now,” I said.

I would do everything in my power to keep another Plane Eater from using Breaking Tongue on Igarashi. That’s the least I could do for her.

Part VII: What Morale’s Good For

Theresia continued to monitor the area for approaching monsters. I went up to the ones we defeated to take a look, starting with the Gaze Hound.

“A one-eyed dog… Chilling Gaze, hmm. Yeah, I can imagine something like this staring at you would be pretty unsettling,” I said.

“There are a lot of monsters whose gaze has awful effects, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen a one-eyed monster like that,” said Elitia.

The Gaze Hound had damp gray fur that looked like it might be usable as materials for making a broom or some other floor cleaning tools. The suggestion might leave dog lovers speechless, though.

“I’m a dog person, but it was that hideous face that let me attack it without hesitating at all,” said Igarashi.

“Y-yeah. We’ll end up toast if we start to feel bad for the monsters we’re fighting,” I replied.

Igarashi had even fallen in love with Falma’s dog, so she seemed to like all sorts of dogs. Clearly, there were dogs of this kind, though, so we’d need to be prepared to attack.

“What great teeth! Each one’s as sharp as a little needle,” observed Misaki.

“That’d leave a really nasty wound if it bit you…,” said Suzuna.

“I feel like they could be used as materials for something,” I said.

“Its fur absorbs water pretty well. It might have some anti-blaze effects. Or it could be used for a mop…,” proposed Igarashi.

“Is there, like, a cleaner job or something? I mean, this is a whooole ’nother world. Anything’s possible,” said Misaki.

But considering the hound’s size, we couldn’t carry it back with us. I tried to decide what to do, and Elitia threw out a helpful suggestion.

“Since you’re renting a storage unit, why don’t you send monsters like this there?”

“Send it to the storage unit? Can we do that?” I asked.

“You got a key when you rented it, right? You can use that to send any nonliving object, including defeated monsters, to your storage unit. You’re limited to ten times per trip into the labyrinth, though.”

The storage unit didn’t have much capacity, so sending things ten times should be plenty. I also didn’t really want to go into a storage unit filled with a mountain of monster corpses, so we shouldn’t just send them back willy-nilly.

“Right, how about we send this Gaze Hound back, then? …Whoa, it worked,” I said.

“What about this clothes-targeting beast over here…? Isn’t this a chameleon?” asked Igarashi, looking at the Plane Eater and putting into words the impression I’d had of it.

The creature was crumpled on the ground, no longer moving, mouth agape—its mouth was so large it could probably swallow a small child whole. It had rounded, bony protrusions on its forearms that were as sharp as a sword. Thank goodness we didn’t get hit with those.

“Its tongue is so long…a couple yards at least. And it’s wrapped around a piece of cloth…,” said Suzuna.

“…Th-that thing tore my clothing… Can I chop the damn thing off?”

The Plane Eater’s tongue was wrapped completely around Igarashi’s silk clothing. I guess the tongue part of Breaking Tongue was literal.

“I think the tongue can be used as materials or perhaps even food. The most valuable part, though, is probably the skin. Like Theresia’s boots, it reacts to the wearer’s magic to become invisible,” said Elitia.

Theresia demonstrated for us and her feet—only her feet—turned invisible. So basically, you’d have to make a chameleon suit in order to do the same to your entire body.

“So could you make your whole body invisible if we made a cloak out of this? That’d be incredibly useful,” I said.

“Theresia needs to wear lizard equipment, so that’d be fine, but you’re not allowed to have something like that. It’d be too creepy,” objected Igarashi.

“And did the chameleon have a reason for destroying Igarashi’s clothing?” asked Suzuna.

“Monsters act simply out of instinct. Destroying her armor would work to its advantage… Oh. Arihito, you should check the Plane Eater’s stomach later. Sometimes undigestible objects collect in the stomachs of monsters like these,” said Elitia.

“Oh, uh…could I let the Dissection Center take care of that? Not that I’m afraid of doing it myself.”

I’d filleted a fish before, but I obviously didn’t have much experience cutting open chameleons. That made me wonder—no way I could cut up a Gaze Hound because it’d make me too squeamish, but what about chameleons?

“Oh, by the waaay…it was the party I first joined that told me some monsters’ tongues are considered a delicacy,” said Misaki.

“P-please, keep that to yourself. Until now, I hadn’t thought about what meat I was eating, I was happier not knowing…,” moaned Igarashi.

“You’ll have to learn to deal with eating the monsters you kill in the labyrinth. On longer journeys, you’ll need to bring along a Seeker who can cook. Lack of food is one of the top reasons people give up on seeking,” said Elitia.

Igarashi glared angrily at the chameleon that’d gone after her equipment, but she seemed to pull back from the conversation of whether to eat or not to eat.

After that, we fought a number of other Gaze Hounds, but there was one particular situation where we needed to be extra cautious. There were four monsters facing us; Igarashi and Theresia handled two of them, but the two others flanked us and came running in from the left and right.

“Arihito, I’ll take one—!” called Elitia.

“All right… We’ll take the other!” I answered.

““Got it!””

Considering Elitia’s speed, it wasn’t hard at all for her to pull away from the front of the formation and immediately dash to fend off one of the hounds.

There’s a good chance our attacks won’t drop this one… I might have no choice but to take that.

Before I attacked, I swiped my finger on my license and pulled up the skills page. I selected the skill Rear Stance.

“GRRROOOOOOAAA!”

As I’d suspected, we couldn’t drop it with the three attacks. It’d get in a counterattack before we’d be able to get off our second round… I stepped ahead of Suzuna and Misaki, who had been in front of me, and shouted my order.

“Fall back, you two!” I shouted.

“Huh—?!”

“Arihito—?!”

The Gaze Hound launched itself off the ground and came flying at me, its toothy maw gaping open. That moment, I imagined myself going behind the Gaze Hound.

The Gaze Hound’s jaws snapped shut with a crunch in front of me. I had managed to move behind the Gaze Hound and evade its attack…and then—

Its back is wide open—this might just do it!

The Gaze Hound landed and was confused for a moment, but I didn’t let it move before I took a shot with my ebony slingshot. The attack seemed a little different this time; it felt like the damage the hound took was more than usual.

“D-did…Arihito just disappear for a second?” asked Suzuna.

“Things were looking bad, so I used my trump card. I can’t keep doing that, though…”

Just using Rear Stance once reduced my magic bar by about a third, though that seemed an appropriate amount considering its effect. It was about time I started looking for a way to reduce magic consumption.

The skill hadn’t said anything about it applying only to allies, so I thought there was a chance I could use it to go behind enemies as well. It was a good thing I was right. I could have chosen instead to apply Defense Support 1 to Suzuna and Misaki, but there was still a risk of having them, both rearguard types, take the attack.

“Thank you, Arihito… But that was reckless. My new cape gives me a slight defense boost, so I can act as a shield if need be,” chided Suzuna.

“Sorry…guess I was a little nervous about doing that. I had considered that our formation might split, but it was harder to deal with than I thought.”

“Sorry, Atobe… We just let an enemy get past us…”

“……”

“You guys, you handled two monsters all on your own. You’ve got nothing to apologize for. Plus, I wanted to try out my new skill, so I got something out of it, too.”

Our formation would be more stable if we had some skills that prevented attackers from getting past the vanguard, but at the moment, I could only have Elitia stand behind the vanguard and act as their backup.

“Anyway, are you two all right? You didn’t get hit with a Chilling Gaze, did you?” I asked Igarashi and Theresia.

“Well, I did just once, but I was back on my feet immediately.”

“……”

That seemed to be the case for both of them. Apparently, morale could be used to recover from mild status ailments. I’d used Morale Support to raise it, and it looked like it took about twenty morale points to recover from a Stun. Then there was Suzuna and Misaki who hadn’t used any of their morale yet. I checked theirs and they were at morale +100. Maybe one hundred was the limit.

“Suzuna, earlier you said that everyone was glowing—what does it look like now?” I asked.

“Yes… Oh, Misaki and I are really bright!”

“Yeah? Do you feel, like, really pumped up or anything?”

“I suppose I do feel a bit energetic… Huh? Arihito, what do you think this is?” asked Misaki as she showed me her license. It read Morale Discharge Possible. No matter what page you flipped to, it showed up on the top right of the display.

“Morale Discharge…don’t you think it sounds sort of cool? Can I try it? Pretty please?” pleaded Misaki.

“No, hang on a second. Elitia, do you know what this Morale Discharge is?” I asked.

“Huh? …Is that what’s showing up? You should almost never see that unless you have a cheerleader in the party…,” she said as she checked Misaki’s license, then looked at Suzuna and Misaki. “Morale Discharge is used to activate a very powerful skill that’s specific to the job. Your morale must have gone up because of Arihito’s skills… I’ve heard it goes up faster if you have a high Trust Level, too. But I’ve never heard of morale reaching its max with this few battles together.”

I knew perfectly well that the reason for that was I’d been constantly using Morale Support 1. Apparently, there were multiple ways of using the gathered morale, and this Morale Discharge was just one of them.

“Well, we won’t know anything about it unless we try it out. Maybe they should try using it while directing it away from us all?” suggested Igarashi.

“That’s a great idea, Kyouka. My daddy always said it’s better to regret something you’ve done than something you haven’t,” said Misaki.

“Could I also try it, Arihito? Or should we save it?” asked Suzuna.

“Once we know what it does, then we can save it as an ace in the hole. But we don’t even know if they’re battle skills, so I suppose we should try it and see.”

Suzuna and Misaki nodded, then faced away from the rest of the party. Then—

“Morale Discharge, Fortune Roll!”

“Morale Discharge, Moon Reading!”

Each of the Morale Discharges had completely separate effects. Or so I thought, but I looked at my license, and my eyes opened wide in surprise.

…They worked as a combo…?!

“Suzu, what happened?! Hey, Suzu!” cried Misaki.

“H-hey… Suzuna, what’s going on?!” I called.

Suzuna’s body was wrapped in blue-white light. I ran in front of her and saw moons shining in her eyes. She touched my arm. I realized she was telling me to move away, so I pulled back, and she pointed… Quite far ahead where she was pointing, I saw a pillar of the same blue-white light. After a moment, it disappeared as if it had never been there.

“Ah…”

Suzuna suddenly wavered where she stood and seemed about to collapse. I rushed to support her, and she looked me in the eyes… My breath caught in my throat. It looked like all the light and life had been leeched from her. But a moment later, the light returned to her eyes. She realized I was holding her up and flushed red.

“S-sorry… What happened to me…? I feel a little light-headed…”

“Oh, thank goooodness…! Suzu, if something had happened to you because of me, I don’t know what I’d do!” moaned Misaki as she sank to the ground at her friend’s side.

Suzuna’s Moon Reading had succeeded because of the effect of her Fortune Roll—I wondered if Moon Reading normally had a pretty low success rate. We clearly weren’t going to understand all the effects and everything from just seeing it once. The first question I had was about Fortune Roll’s effect and the definition of the “next action.” We needed to test that thoroughly. Basically, we would use it at very different times if the next action was open to anyone attempting an action or if it was only limited to allies.

“That was Misaki’s and Suzuna’s Morale Discharge… So the place with the blue light, there’s something there…,” said Elitia.

“What should we do, Atobe?” asked Igarashi.

“We go and check it out. I didn’t think this was how it’d end up, but you can’t always predict what’s going to happen in the labyrinth… And besides, I’m just incredibly curious.”

“Me too. I’d like to know… Um, Arihito, thank you. I think I can stand on my own now,” said Suzuna as she pulled away from me and tried to rearrange her disheveled hair. It seemed that weakness she felt lasted only a moment—she hadn’t lost any vitality. On the other hand, both Misaki and Suzuna were back to zero morale.

“……”

“Theresia, did you remember where the place was? That’s great,” I said, and Theresia led us to the location. When we got there, though, we didn’t see anything. It was just a stretch of grass.

“……”

“Hey, it’s too early to say for sure nothing’s here. If there’s nothing on the ground…we could try digging,” I suggested.

“I don’t know how well you can dig with a spear…but it’s probably the best suited to the job,” said Igarashi and then thrust her spear in the earth.

The red scarf sewn across her chest bounced around as she dug, enough that I was worried it might hurt. Next to her, Theresia began slicing the dirt with her short sword.

“Atobe, let’s switch after I dig for a bit, all right? …Ngh… I just hit something hard.”

“Hang on, let me get this dirt out of the way and look… This is—”

Igarashi paused for a moment, and I brushed away the dark soil to see a slab of stone. There was something buried in the ground.

“…There’s something buried here,” I said.

“And it looks like it’s pretty big. Let’s get digging, everyone,” said Igarashi.

“Whooooaaa, jackpot! Come on, guys! Dig, diiiig!” cried Misaki.

“That’ll just hurt your hands. Should I go get some branches to use? I can cut them down with my spear,” offered Igarashi.

A spade, long-handled pruning shears, you can use a spear for anything…but let’s try not to. I decided to bring digging implements with me on future adventures into the labyrinth.

Part VIII: The Secret Buried in the Earth

While we were engaged in our excavation efforts, Theresia and Elitia had to go take care of some Gaze Hounds lurking about. Theresia would locate them, and Elitia would put them down… We’d never finish digging this thing up if we kept letting ourselves get interrupted, so I didn’t join the fight with them. I did, however, continue my support for them while the rest of us kept working.

“Are you two all right?!” I called.

“No problems here!” replied Elitia.

“……”

“Okay. Not too much longer, so let’s keep at it!”

We continued like this, everyone chatting away and me encouraging them, which brought their morale up naturally. It was important for me to make a conscious effort to stay behind everyone. Even Elitia was in the party, just until her morale reached a hundred.

The only problem was that Misaki was wearing a skirt (apparently, there was no cute equipment she could swap it out for), and Suzuna was wearing a red skirt like Shrine Maiden clothing. If I wasn’t careful, looking up from where I was behind them and low to the ground… I was feeling pretty guilty. The two trusted me, but they were crouched on the ground without any shame or feeling any need to keep their skirts down… Trust was good, but I really wished they’d care a little more right now at least.

“Hey, Igarashi, let me dig with the spear for a bit.”

“Yeah, sure. You almost look like you know how to handle a spear, Atobe. I don’t really know if that counts, though, since you’re just digging.”

“I can apparently equip any kind of weapon, so I suppose I could use a spear, too.”

“Wait, you say that so casually, but isn’t that pretty incredible?”

“I’m not as good with them as a specialist would be. Since I’m a rearguard, I’m just happy I can use a slingshot.”

We continued digging and chatting for another ten minutes when we were finally able to see the entirety of the thing buried in the ground. Enemy attacks had also subsided for a while, so Theresia and Elitia came back over, after having collected magic stones.

“Atobe, what do you think it is? It’s a slab of stone with some weird pattern drawn on it…”

“That is what it looks like. The soil gets really hard here so we can’t dig any farther.”

“Awww, it’s not treasure? But I thought we’d find piiiiles of the stuff!” complained Misaki.

“Ellie, what do you think it is?” asked Suzuna.

“Hmm… Oh! Thinking about it, the design on the stone is similar to patterns found in other labyrinths. In those, each floor isn’t connected like this one, you have to teleport to the next floor… This sort of looks like a teleportation pad I saw before.”

The Field of Dawn only had three floors. That’s what Ribault had said…which meant if there was something beyond this, it’d be uncharted territory.

A hidden floor…or at least a hidden teleportation pad. The enemies on this floor have given us a bit of a run for our money, so I’m sure that even if we don’t continue, we’ll have plenty of experience to level up…

There was no need to rush. It was perfectly fine to be overly cautious right now.

“…If there’s powerful monsters ahead, if we can’t escape or use a Return Scroll… Considering those possibilities, we can’t make the decision to teleport lightly,” cautioned Elitia. And I agreed…but—

“Atobe, should we be careful here? Or…is it a lost opportunity if we pull back now after making this discovery?”

“I suppose… I do want to keep going, but I also know we should be careful. I’m conflicted.”

“Me too. I also feel both ways. It’s a little scary, though…,” said Suzuna.

“Well, this is a decision our brave leader should make, yeah?” added Misaki. “But if it were me, I might just go bam and— Eek?!”

“…Misaki!” I cried. She had stood on the edge around the pad and put her foot out like she was pretending to step on it when the now soft and crumbly dirt collapsed, and she slid down to the stone slab, landing on her rear.

“Oowwiieee…ow…huh, ah?”

“Misaki, hurry, come back… Ah!” said Suzuna.

The stone slab started to glow, and Misaki’s body was surrounded by light…and then disappeared.

Of all times to screw up like this… What do I do?! I don’t have time to think!

Suzuna had stretched her hand out over the teleportation pad to try and pull Misaki back, but she hadn’t been dragged into the teleportation. You probably needed to have your whole body on the slab in order to teleport.

“Arihito, it won’t be dangerous if I teleport there and back immediately. I’ll go alone…,” suggested Elitia. She seemed to completely disregard the possibility that she might not return, but I couldn’t let her do something reckless just because she was a high level.

“No, I’ll go. If I don’t come back within one minute, you can assume we can’t come and go freely. If that happens—”

“What are you talking about, Atobe? You’re our leader. Nothing matters if you don’t make it back alive,” objected Igarashi without a moment’s hesitation. She knew it was dangerous, but she was saying she’d come for me, too.

“……”

“I think Theresia would follow you, Arihito…and I would, too. So…,” said Suzuna.

“I get it. But we don’t know what’s there. So get ready to use a Return Scroll immediately,” I said, and both Suzuna and Theresia nodded. Elitia had always kept her hair down, but she put it up now while watching everyone talk. She must only do that when she was getting serious.

“If we’re decided, there’s no need to waste time here,” she said.

“Yeah… Okay, let’s go. I think we just need to go on top of it,” I said, and we all stepped onto the teleportation pad.

Barely a second passed before the scenery in front of us changed completely. What we saw now was a large room made of stone. I felt like we’d come to some ancient ruins.

“A-Arihito, you came?! But you can only teleport one way—!” cried Misaki.

My shoulders slumped. I had thought that might be the case. But really, that just meant we definitely had to come for her.

“We’re not just gonna abandon you. And anyone who comes here would have to bear the risk. We’re the ones who discovered it anyway, so we should be the ones to go,” I said.

“B-but…I was just being careless. It’s my fault…”

“That’s just the kind of person Atobe is. And if he weren’t, I wouldn’t be following him around.”

“I… When Arihito said he was going alone, I knew I needed to follow him no matter what. Because we’re a party,” said Suzuna.

Everyone was agreed, but I was still pretty on edge. We didn’t know if we’d find a way out or a strong enemy up ahead… It took real courage to take even a single step. But Theresia was already looking in one direction of the ruins. I could tell she sensed something there.

“That way, eh? …Everyone, get into battle formation, and let’s go. We have no idea what’s up ahead,” I cautioned.

“Yeah. But it doesn’t matter what we’re up against. If we fight with everything we’ve got, we’ll win. We beat Juggernaut. There shouldn’t be anything in this labyrinth stronger than that,” said Elitia. I prayed she was right.

I offered my hand to Misaki, who was sitting on the ground, and helped her up. She did look quite scared; she was pressing her sleeves to her eyes.

“Ugh, you guys are trying waaay too hard to look cool, seriously. I’m tough! I would’ve gotten back on my own!” she said.

“Just a moment ago, you looked like you thought the world was ending. Glad to see you got your spunkiness back. It’s not like you to let something get you down. I’m relieved,” said Igarashi.

“Urgh, even Kyouka’s being nice… Stop it, you’re gonna make me cryyy!” Misaki wailed as Igarashi patted her shoulder. Igarashi didn’t look scared at all. She’d gotten the armor, but today I really felt like she’d become a real Valkyrie.

“Right, shall we go? …Everyone, be on the lookout as we move,” I said, raising their morale at the same time. Apparently, I could activate Morale Support without clearly saying Good luck or You can do it. With that last one, Igarashi and Theresia’s morale reached one hundred.

“It’s so pretty here. Feels a bit lonely, though…,” observed Suzuna.

High up and lining the hall were bright twinkling green lights, which reflected off the white stone walls. It looked like something from a fairy tale. We got to this hidden area from a teleportation pad hidden in a beginner labyrinth… What awaited us ahead? I was curious to explore some uncharted territory, and yet I treaded as lightly as I could.

Part IX: The Gatekeeper

“Arihito, why do you think that stone slab brought us here?” asked Misaki.

“I think Suzuna’s Morale Discharge lets her find things that people normally can’t see. It succeeded, which led us to finding the teleportation pad in the ground. Based on what Elitia said, I think this is the actual fourth floor.”

“Everyone thought there were only three floors before, riiight? So are there not many people with the Shrine Maiden job? Or maybe no one uses a Morale Discharge in a beginner labyrinth?”

“I don’t know. This place might not be common knowledge these days, but I imagine we might find signs that people have been here before.”

The three of us in the rear talked for a little, then went back to monitoring our surroundings as we continued forward. We saw a massive stone door and a huge statue, which almost seemed to be guarding it. It was so tall I had to crane my neck up to see its head, which looked like an eagle. It held a spear in its right hand, a shield in its left, and it was wearing armor—the whole statue was made of metal.

“I have a feeling it’s a golem… Everyone, stay put for a moment,” I ordered.

“Y-yeah…is that thing really going to start moving? ’Cause if it does, it looks kinda strong…”

“If it’s what it looks like, its body’s surface is made of metal so…like Juggernaut, blades might not easily pierce it. But with Arihito here…,” said Elitia.

“…It might not move, you know. This is kinda wimpy, but let’s check to see if a Return Scroll will even work. If not, we’ll just have to get ready,” I said.

Suzuna pulled out her Return Scroll as I directed and read it…but nothing happened. My license said Sealed. Everyone looked either disappointed or not surprised, but we quickly pulled ourselves together. If our only option was to go forward, then we’d just have to do something about that statue. I started to put together a battle strategy based on the assumption that it would move. I didn’t think we’d find that silly even if it didn’t. In situations like these, you could never be too careful.

“Even if I provide support, I’ll bet attacks from an enemy like that would get through our defenses… Igarashi, I’ll have you use Mirage Step to avoid and then use Double Attack. Theresia, don’t push yourself. Watch how fast it is. If you think it’s too fast for you to avoid, don’t attack.”

Theresia didn’t nod…but she seemed to decide she should follow orders because she nodded after considering for a moment.

“Suzuna, use Auto-Hit and fire at it with your bow. Misaki, don’t do anything crazy. Stay near me.”

“I can at leeeast throw my dice at it!”

“If you’re lucky, you’ll probably even hit…but do as Atobe says and don’t try anything too rash. Take a shot if you can. The more attacks the better, even if it’s one, right?” said Igarashi. Even if the die bounced off, the eleven support damage wouldn’t be nothing, so it could be useful.

“…The number of skills I can use drops if I don’t activate Berserk. Even so, I think I could get eleven hits out of Blossom Blade,” said Elitia.

“That should be plenty. Igarashi, you can avoid one attack, but you’ll run out of magic if you keep using Mirage Step. Elitia, are you confident in your ability to dodge it?”

“I use Sonic Raid to also increase my evasion, so…if this thing is faster than that, then I’ve got a complaint to make about this labyrinth.” If a monster so powerful that not even a level-8 Seeker could hold their own against it was hidden in a beginner dungeon…it wasn’t completely impossible, but it’d result in a lot of damage.

“Right, next is Morale Discharge. Elitia will be at full morale shortly after the battle starts. Igarashi and Theresia should also be able to use theirs… Elitia, do you know anything about their Morale Discharges?”

“I’ve heard that a Valkyrie’s Morale Discharge is called Soul Mirage, but…sorry, I’ve never seen it. Valkyries aren’t part of the warrior class, so there aren’t many in the Labyrinth Country.”

“Soul Mirage… Atobe, what do you think that means?”

If it was a mirage of your soul, then…maybe it meant it made a copy, so it was okay if you were defeated once or something.

“Are we certain it’s something that can be used during battle?” asked Suzuna.

“You’ll be able to tell if it isn’t when Morale Discharge Possible shows up on your license. It’s not there right now,” said Elitia.

Neither Igarashi nor Theresia’s license displayed it, either. So that should mean they could use it in battle…but we’d just have to rely on intuition on when exactly to use it. I’ll just have to tell them to use it when I think they should.

“A Rogue’s Morale Discharge is Triple Steal. The Rogue can give each ally the ability to steal the enemy’s vitality, magic, and dropped items, one time per person. The probability to steal a dropped item isn’t very high, but there will be more attempts made in a short time, so it’s possible to easily steal even difficult-to-obtain items,” explained Elitia.

“Is the damage done recovered by the stealer? That’s amazing…,” I said.

“It doesn’t provide support, though, so it doesn’t matter if the person can’t damage the enemy. In combination with you, Arihito, though, it should be quite effective,” replied Elitia.

Soul Mirage, Triple Steal. If my support damage also meant the latter allowed people to recover vitality, they’d be able to recover eleven points at the very least. Theresia was level 3 and had about twenty vitality points, so she could be completely healed even if she lost half her vitality. But Igarashi had less than twenty, possibly around fifteen, but she was acting as a vanguard. We couldn’t let her take a single hit. She could use Mirage Step as a way to automatically evade and draw attacks, but currently at level 2, she could probably only use it four times.

We’ll have to rely on Elitia to dodge and draw the attacks… We really do need someone who can be a stationary tank. I can’t wait for Defense Support 2 as well. The two combined would really improve the amount of damage they’d have to take before it got through all the defenses.

“What’s your Morale Discharge, Elitia?” I asked.

“My Morale Discharge…can’t be used until I’ve had Berserk activated for a set period of time and meet certain requirements. It’s high risk, and…”

“I want to avoid you using Berserk if we can, so… Okay. Then I’ll just have to wait until the curse is broken for me to see your Morale Discharge.”

“…Thank you. But you should know that even my own blood can activate Berserk, so I’ll try to use it if that does happen. Everyone will need to get as far away as possible, though.”

More than anything, I wanted to avoid any bloodshed from my party, but whether or not that was even possible would depend on how strong the enemy was.

“Okay… Let’s do this. Theresia, proceed with caution. If it moves, we engage,” I said.

“……”

Theresia faced forward and treaded lightly, silently. When she got a certain distance away from the statue, its eyes began glowing mysteriously.

I’d thought it would move, but its presence is incredible… It’s a level-6 Named Monster… That’s only a one level difference from Juggernaut. They shouldn’t be that different in strength!

“KRAAAAAAW!”

The metallic body started moving as though it’d suddenly been given life. It spread its giant wings and let out a deafening screech, almost like it was happy to be fighting against us.

“Don’t let your guard down! Give it everything you’ve got!” I shouted.

“Yeah!”

Everyone yelled back in response to me, and Elitia’s morale went up to one hundred. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to use her Morale Discharge and could instead put it toward other uses. I didn’t yet know if it could be employed for anything other than recovering from abnormal statuses, but it didn’t hurt to have the morale.

“I’m up first…!” declared Igarashi as she stepped to the front of the formation and activated Mirage Step. She launched a Double Attack at the giant statue, but I could hear a clang as the attacks bounced off. The support damage did seem to get through, though, because the statue recoiled slightly.

“KAAAAAW!”

It let out a savage eagle cry and lashed out with its spear in an attack I couldn’t follow, but Igarashi was able to evade it thanks to her skill’s effect. She blurred into two of herself, and the statue’s spear came down on the copy of her. The fact that I could see what was happening even though they were quite far away was probably thanks to the Hawk Eyes skill I’d taken.

“Urgh—!”

“Kyouka, pull back! I’ll swap with you!” shouted Elitia.

“—I’ll cut you down!”

Elitia evaded a massive swing the statue took at her and used the opening it left in its defenses to launch a whirlwind of attacks at it—

—but when Elitia got to the seventh stage, the giant warrior’s eyes glowed. It shook its head violently and let out a vicious screech.

“KRAAAAAAW!”

“Tsk… Just a little more and she would have gotten it all in!” I said.

Unlike Juggernaut, who had been immune to physical damage, Elitia’s base damage was getting through this creature’s defenses. However, the giant warrior unleashed a raging burst of wind, which flung Elitia aside and halted her attack. Her magic bar went down the same amount as it would have if she had finished the attack. She could probably only do another two Blossom Blades… In which case, what should we do?

We need to prepare so she can get all the stages in. If we prevent him from using magic… No, maybe we can just force it through…

“Arihito, I’m taking a shot!” said Suzuna.

“Suzuna, wait! If you shoot now—!” By the time I cried out to her, Suzuna had let loose an arrow as I’d ordered her to earlier…but right now, the giant warrior was encased in a cocoon of wind.

“Ah—!” Suzuna yelped.

“Theresia, it’s all you!” I shouted.

“—!”

Theresia dashed from her position as midguard to guard against the arrow with her round shield. Immediately after, she activated Accel Dash and closed in on the giant warrior whose Wind Burst had just ceased. I went to provide some cover fire, aiming somewhere where I couldn’t accidentally hit her instead. When I did, my vision seemed to zoom in, almost like I was using a scope, and I was able to clearly see the giant warrior.

Any weak points, how its power flows…its movements; if I keep all that in mind, I can see… There’s a scar on its head—!

“KAAAAWWW!”

Just because it uses wind doesn’t mean it has a resistance to it…and the damage from my slingshot got through. I definitely saw its weak spot… It’s the scar on its head!

It couldn’t send out another Wind Burst right after it stopped one; that was good. We could use that gap to get in all stages of Blossom Blade.

“Everyone, there’s a crack on its head! Aim there!” I shouted.

“…All right, I’ll try!” replied Igarashi.

“That high up…? No, we have to…!” said Elitia.

I pointed out the enemy’s weak spot to Igarashi and Elitia. If there was any place to hit to get a one-hit KO, it’d be on the giant warrior’s head—but the enemy wasn’t so kind as to let us simply aim for its weak spot just because we’d noticed it.

The giant warrior’s entire body was encased in a blue light, and I felt a surge of intense rage welling up from it that made everything until now pale in comparison. Just like Redface, it became more dangerous as its vitality went down. My mind raced as we stood before this horrifying creature— How could we defeat it now? Could we safely retreat?

Part X: The Fight for Our Lives

Now that the giant warrior had used Survival Instincts, there weren’t any obvious gaps in its defense. But Elitia gauged the intervals between its attacks and went in for one of her own.

“Hyaaa!”

“KRAAAAW!”

Sword and spear clashed. The ferocity of it made Misaki shudder every time the weapons collided.

“Eep… Ohhh…”

“This is our moment of truth… Misaki, don’t pass out now!” I said.

“Arihito, if I can’t use my bow, then I’m—,” started Suzuna.

“Don’t worry. Your time to attack will come… Look. Elitia’s keeping up with it.”

That was a skill one level higher than Igarashi’s Double Attack—three lightning-fast strikes of its spear, all of which Elitia managed to evade. The problem was that she was being held back by the enemy’s energy and couldn’t spend even a moment on a counterattack.

But the moment the vanguard stepped back from the enemy was our chance to attack.

“—Fire! Aim for the head, Suzuna!” I shouted.

“Got it—!”

Suzuna’s arrow pierced the giant warrior’s head the moment after my bullet struck it. With the added support damage, our opponent lurched forward and fell to its knees.

“KRAAAW…AAAAW!!”

But even with that, the giant warrior still refused to go down. The light in its right eye had vanished. Whatever it was using as an eyeball had been shattered.

“—You’re going down!” cried Elitia as she leaped at the giant warrior. She aimed at its head, now within her reach.

Igarashi and Theresia readied their attacks, and we prepped our second round of shots. Even Misaki gripped her dice, resolved to launch it this time.

But just a fraction of a second before our combined attacks hit, I felt terrible shivers run through my body. The only word in my mind was death.

We stopped it—there’s no way it can still… There’s no way—!

Gusts of wind kicked up to wrap the giant warrior’s body in wind, forcing Elitia and the others to stop. The next moment, the giant warrior spread its wings wide inside the gale and screeched loudly.

The attack would hit everyone in the party. By the time I realized as much, the enemy had launched hundreds of feathers from its wings, all of which raced toward us.

“KAAAAAAAW!”

“Agh—!”

I’d considered what would happen in the event of an attack like this. If it was a multi-target attack, I wouldn’t be able to give myself Defense Support or reduce the damage I took. We’re still in the clear—or so I’d thought. In the end, I’d made a serious error in judgment.

Even so, my Defense Support was nothing to sneeze at. It could keep everyone’s vitality bars from dropping too much, including Suzuna, who didn’t have much defense—everyone’s except mine, of course.

“Arihito—!”

“Ari—!”

Oww… Those feathers are like needles. Man, I’m glad I changed my armor… They didn’t pierce too deep. I might have a few broken bones from the impact…but I’m not done yet!

“Atobe!”

“……!”

Igarashi and Theresia cried out with worry. Elitia was bravely trying to attack the giant warrior’s head on her own, but it used its spear to defend and kept her from getting close. It hadn’t overextended its attacks ever since it had activated Survival Instincts, so it wasn’t putting itself in a position that we could use for a Blossom Blade hit.

“Gah…”

“Arihito, don’t move! You’ve been pierced by the feathers!” said Suzuna.

“Let’s run, Arihito! If we go now—!” started Misaki.

“I’m fine… I can still fight. Besides, we gotta beat this thing… Even if we run, there’s nowhere for us to go…”

Okay… Everyone’s all set with vitality.

As long as there was nothing getting in the party’s way, we’d still have an ace up our sleeves.

“Rrgh… It’s got such a long reach…but I need to close in somehow!” said Elitia, annoyed that she wasn’t able to get in an attack. Even so, she hadn’t lost her cool and was still continuing to make attack attempts. The problem was, though, that she was saving her magic to use another Blossom Blade, meaning she couldn’t use Sonic Raid anymore.

Igarashi had maybe one more Mirage Step and Double Attack left. Same with Theresia’s Accel Dash. We’d be destroyed if we couldn’t make an opportunity to attack.

If there’s a god out there, then I have faith…we even have someone with amazing luck in the party. Please!

“Ack—!”

Elitia failed to dodge one of the three attacks the giant warrior threw at her, instead guarding against it with her sword, which sent her flying backward. The giant warrior prepared to use Wind Burst—this was it; it was now or never…!

“Igarashi, Theresia! Use Morale Discharge!”

“…Got it… Soul Mirage!”

“……!”

This is…a mirage? No. It’s a copy that’s actually here…?

Next to each of us was a copy of ourselves. The copies’ bodies were surrounded in blue light. I couldn’t see their faces, but they were otherwise exact replicas, down to the equipment.

“KRRAAAAAAAAW!”

“Everyone, use your mirage as a shield! We can do it!” shouted Igarashi. She knew what her Morale Discharge did immediately after activating it. If my Defense Support worked on this mirage, and if I could add to its attack…

We can beat it with this if we can make an opportunity to attack!

The giant warrior used Wind Burst followed by Needle Feathers. Each of us hid behind our mirage warrior to use them as a shield, and then—

They withstood it… Their vitality isn’t even different from ours. That means we’ve doubled our number of attacks!

“—Now!!” I shouted.

We knew that it reacted quickly after finishing a Wind Burst. But if we anticipated the end of the winds and hit it with everything we had…!

“Find your mark—!”

The damage the mirage warriors did recovered vitality and magic as well… I can move normally now that it hurts less!

Invisible attacks hit the giant warrior’s head at the same time as our shots. It wavered from our attacks, and Igarashi and Theresia used the opportunity to close and attack.

“Let’s do this together, Theresia!” shouted Igarashi.

“—!”

Our magic isn’t drained even when the mirages use skills… That means that Elitia’s Blossom Blade—!

Igarashi, Theresia, and their two mirages made a total of six attacks. Igarashi had the longer reach with her spear and so aimed for its head while Theresia slashed across its legs; it was beautiful teamwork.

As the giant warrior plunged forward, Elitia and her mirage leaped over its head to attack.

“—Begone!”

The attacks rained down like a maelstrom. If all stages landed, the giant warrior would take a minimum of 264 damage, and its total damage would be well over 350 by then.

“KRAAAAWW…AAWW…!”

But as terrifying as it was, even though we’d delivered far more damage than Juggernaut could have ever taken, this giant warrior refused to fall.

If this doesn’t finish it off… No, we’ll end this here!

“Rrgh… Why won’t it go down…?!” cried Elitia. I understood how she felt. It hadn’t fallen even though it’d just taken two Blossom Blades between Elitia and her mirage.

But that wasn’t the end of our attacks. We weren’t going to let it counterattack again.

“—Misaki!” I shouted.

“…Please, God…!” she said, launching a die at the Giant Eagle-Headed Warrior before Elitia had even landed again. If she just hit, then she’d get my support damage. And she was a Gambler, so it should hit even if she threw it wildly off mark.

The metal of the giant warrior’s head reached its limit when Misaki’s iron die backed with the support damage struck it. We heard a cracking sound, and its head split.

“Ah… Aaah…”

Even so, the giant warrior didn’t fall. It brandished its spear at Misaki as if to say it was going to take her with it, but that was my moment.

It suddenly realized there was someone behind it and tried to turn around. Right after I supported Misaki, I moved to behind the giant warrior. The damage should be increased because it’s a blindside attack from behind!

Come on!

My bullet and the one from my mirage warrior smacked into the back of the giant warrior’s head.

“KAW…AWWWWW…AW…”

It stumbled a step forward and tried to thrust its spear into the ground to support itself, but in the end, it succumbed and collapsed, no longer moving.

“…Did we…win?” asked Igarashi.

I was now near Igarashi, Theresia, and Elitia after using Rear Stance, and Igarashi hadn’t quite realized we’d won. She still stood there gripping her spear, and Theresia stood next to her with her sword at the ready.

“Hah, ah-ha-ha… I—I sorta…don’t feel like I’m even alive… Eek!” said Misaki.

“Thank goodness… Misaki, you were so reckless…,” said Suzuna.

We did have a way for Misaki to avoid the dangers of stepping in front of the giant warrior. As long as I used Defense Support and Recovery Support, she would have been able to use her mirage warrior as a shield and survive any attack. But if we didn’t follow up after Elitia’s attack, well, it could use Needle Feathers incredibly quickly, twice every thirty seconds. Elitia’s magic was exhausted, so we would only be able to defend while it pushed us into a corner and finished us off.

The mirages vanished, and what looked like the remnants of magic flowed back and collected into Igarashi. Even though the effects were over, there were still benefits. The effects of Soul Mirage appeared to last about thirty seconds, which was only appropriate considering how powerful it was. Even so, it seemed almost too powerful, but I suppose it depended on whether or not you were able to prepare for its use.

“This battle’s MVP is Igarashi, hands down. She was incredibly effective,” I said.

“Ah, well…I think everything just sort of fell into place. I get chills thinking about what would’ve happened if my ability had a really off-the-wall effect,” she said.

“Now I see why not many people know what the Valkyrie’s Morale Discharge does. Anyone would want to keep something that strong a secret,” said Elitia admiringly. If people knew more about it, the Valkyrie job would be very popular. It was such a shame the job wasn’t more popular, though, just because it wasn’t specialized enough.

Theresia walked over to me and showed me a black stone she was holding. It was semitransparent, and there was a character in the center of it.

“Is this one of those rune things? You can get them even without compressing magic stones?” I asked.

“Incredible—did you get that because of Triple Steal’s effects?” asked Elitia.

Theresia nodded. She gave the rune to me, wrapping her hands around mine as she did so and giving me a squeeze.

“Hmm…? What is it?” I asked.

“She was worried about you because you got hit. I know I was… I’m sorry; it’s my job to protect you,” apologized Igarashi.

“Arihito, are you all right? Are you hurt—?” asked Suzuna.

“I’m fine. Thanks to Triple Steal, my wounds healed when I attacked it. It only hurts a little now…”

“I can nurse you back to health! I’ll wipe your butt for you, and I’ll even carry you on my back if you liiike!” offered Misaki.

“Uh… Hey, y-you don’t owe me anything. You fought, too,” I said, patting her on the head.

“Oh… A-Arihito…”

“We’ve all been through a lot. How about we continue on after you recover a bit… Wh-what’s wrong?”

“…You say we did a lot, but I just feel like I failed…,” said Misaki.

“I—I just…stood back and shot. If I were more useful, then you wouldn’t have…,” stammered Suzuna.

“You guys are ridiculous…but I actually can’t say I don’t understand how you feel,” said Igarashi.

It wasn’t just the three of them. Theresia was also staring at me, but when I looked back, she turned away in embarrassment, her lizard mask tinged red.

If I could, if there was a less embarrassing moment to do so, I wanted to show my appreciation to each of them. I had sensed they needed that, but now knowing how they all reacted to that kind of encouragement, actually putting it into action would require my generosity as a leader and as a human.