Chapter 28

CHAPTER 4 Those Who Survive, Those Who Rescue Part I: The Seeker in White We left the Beach of the Setting Sun and came out into the square in front of the labyrinth where we heard other parties who had seen Roland and Daniella carried out talking in sad voices. “That guy there—isn’t he the leader of Beyond Liberty?” “Yeah, the one who came to the Labyrinth Country with his whole unit, but was the only one stuck here in District Seven…” “Some people just don’t have any luck. And they’ve left us a nice going-away present to cause problems for us.” By unit, it sounded like Roland had been in the military or something before getting reincarnated here, hence his Air Trooper job. It wasn’t surprising that there were a lot of Seekers who disliked the Alliance. Apparently, you couldn’t even get to the second floor of that labyrinth if you didn’t cross the beach, meaning no one could go into the Beach of the Setting Sun until that Named Monster was defeated. The remaining Alliance members came out of the labyrinth a little later, but none of them appeared to have the energy for talking. Thomas faced us and lowered his head in thanks, but he didn’t come talk to us. Instead he quickly headed to the Upper Guild. He was probably heading to the Healer clinic nearby. ……Hmm? Someone was looking in our direction. They didn’t appear to be with any other party nor with the Guild Saviors. They were wearing sunglasses, which weren’t common in the Labyrinth Country, and had white hair. They wore a white coat as well, and Elitia stopped dead in her tracks when she saw them. I was about to ask her what was wrong, since she was standing frozen in shock, but she suddenly backed up and spoke in a low voice. “…The White Night Brigade… Why is she here…?” “Is that who that is?” “Uuurgh… They’re coming this way… Suzu, can I hide behind you?” “Wh-what? I’m not up to any of this, either…!” It was hard to see their build from the large white coat they were wearing, but I could see that the person was a woman when she got closer. She had on leather armor beneath her coat, but it was of a quality completely different from anything we’d found so far. She walked up in front of Elitia and jokingly raised her hand. “Hey, long time no see, Ellie. Glad to see you’re doing well.” The woman’s appearance implied she wasn’t any normal person, but she greeted Elitia with surprising friendliness. “What are you doing here? Why are you in a place like this…?” asked Elitia. “The captain needed someone to run down to the lower districts for an errand. I was on my way and heard something interesting had happened.” “…This isn’t something interesting. A person just—” “Monsters that steal souls are pretty rare in this district. Bit cruel to assume they could prepare for it… They should have just run when it appeared.” She seemed to know what had happened. Either she was watching from somewhere or guessed when she saw Roland carried out. “…Is that all you wanted to say?” “Yeah, for now. Well, that and don’t you think you should gather some better companions? You’ve got a girl whose job makes her seem more fit for a variety show. She’ll just drag you down. Then you’ve got a Shrine Maiden, which isn’t particularly great. Then you’ve got this guy in a suit. What, did he write Salaryman when he reincarnated? I don’t see what good any of them can be in the long haul…” “You can say whatever you like about me, but don’t talk about my friends that way. I won’t let it slide a second time,” ordered Elitia, and the woman shut her mouth. Then she bowed, surprisingly cooperative of her. “I’m sorry—I went too far. But I think you misunderstand, Elitia. It’s not like we abandoned that girl. She should have been ready and understood that if she ever became a burden, then—” “You don’t even remember her name. I can’t forget it… I’ll never forget it!” Was the white-haired woman that coldhearted about someone who had been her ally? She really didn’t seem to remember the name of Elitia’s good friend she’d asked us to help save. But she didn’t seem sorry about it. Instead she started clapping slowly, seemingly in sheer amusement. “Ah-ha-ha…haaa. You know, Ellie, I really do respect that about you. Such a low level, but so brave when it comes to battle. You advance further than anyone else and don’t complain when you get hurt. I could never be like you. I could never remember the names of every single useless person.” “Rury is not useless!” “Right, that was her name. Rury. She might’ve lived longer if she’d found some equipment better suited to her.” “Grr…” Elitia believed that her friend Rury was still alive, but she didn’t have a good argument ready when the woman challenged that. There isn’t always hope. The longer you seek, the more you have to look at things rationally. But even so… “Can I have you stop things there? You’re trying to hurt my companion… I can’t just stand by and watch while you do,” I said. “…Arihito…” I stepped in front to face the woman and felt overwhelmed by her presence. Was Elitia really in the same organization as someone like her, and was I really standing against her now? “…Seems I went too far again. And you don’t exactly seem like a normal salaryman, either… Those aren’t the eyes of a beaten-down dog; they’re the eyes of a hawk…” “Ah… Don’t you dare do anything to Arihito, Shirone!” That must’ve been her name. Shirone stepped closer to me and looked up into my face, then stepped back again. “If you stay alive, and we meet again, can I test you?” she said. “…No. I’ll pass on whatever this test is.” “I see. But you seem so interesting… If we end up wanting you, we will—” Two people stepped in from the sides before she could finish her sentence. They were Igarashi and Theresia. “Is that how you get allies? Headhunt other parties’ leaders? Unfortunately for you, Atobe is an integral member of our party. You’ll have to go after someone else.” “……” Igarashi spoke curtly, and Theresia stood with her arms spread. I was glad they felt that way, but something about being protected by women made me really uncomfortable…but this wasn’t the time to get hung up on that. “A good Seeker moves to a party that better suits them. Even if it’s not us, scouts will come running if you get famous… That’s normal, don’t you think? We’re not playing a game,” said Shirone. “We’re going to keep moving forward as we are. We have no intentions of playing games,” I said. “I see. All right, I’ll just say good-bye here, then.” She didn’t hang around more after that. She turned and walked away, only turning back to wave once, but Elitia didn’t respond. “Ellie, you were in such an extreme party, weren’t you? I’d be suuuper nervous whenever that woman was around—don’t think I’d ever be able to relax,” said Misaki. “I…need to try harder. I can’t let her say things like that…,” said Suzuna. “Suzuna, don’t let what she said get to you. Shrine Maiden is a great job. She just thinks her own party is the best there is… She almost never compliments people outside her party,” said Elitia. “She seemed pretty strong, but with enough time, we can catch up and be the same level. When we do that, she won’t be able to say anything bad about us,” I said. You can’t expect someone to not feel anything when someone comes and says whatever they want to you like that. It was normal to be angry about it, but we should put that energy into something more productive. “Ellie, what level was that person?” asked Suzuna. “When I left the White Night Brigade, she was level twelve. She’s probably a bit higher now, though.” “Wow… I get the impression that around there, it’ll be harder and harder to gain levels. That would probably be the case if they’re still in District Five,” I said. “If you can defeat enemies more powerful than you, it’s possible to keep up your leveling pace. It’s not really that simple, though… Even at the Brigade’s level, people end up with serious injuries, and then they need to work around it to maintain their level.” Your level went down if you took a break from seeking. I wanted to avoid anyone getting injured to the point where they had to take a long break, but I thought it was unlikely to happen anyway since I could close most wounds with Recovery Support. After finishing that part of the conversation, we decided to head to the Upper Guild. We needed to report what happened in the Beach of the Setting Sun and calculate our contribution points. “Oh…Mr. Atobe! I’m so glad you’re still here!” Adeline found us and came running over. She came to report that she’d left the Arachnomage with the Monster Ranch we had a contract with. Part II: A Promise Adeline told us she’d entered a provisional contract for us at the Monster Ranch and gave me a summoning stone for the Arachnomage. “I left it with William at the Seventeenth Monster Ranch. Guild Saviors are allowed to request information on Seekers, so I was able to find out you have a contract with him already… Oh, s-sorry. It was wrong of me to just go and look that up, wasn’t it?” “No, it’s not a problem. You needed the information to process it. I’m the one who should be apologizing for making you do the work for us,” I said and bowed my head, but Adeline brought her hand to her chest and let out a sigh. Seeing her up close again like this, I couldn’t see any variation in her skin tone from suntanning, which mean that she was naturally brown-skinned. She said her job was Hunter, so perhaps she was from a hunting society. “Anyway…I’m so glad you are all safe even though we were the ones to ask for your assistance. I ran into Seraphina earlier, and she told me you were all fine, but I was so relieved to actually see you were okay,” she said. “We’re fine, but the Alliance has taken a huge hit. It’s not exactly something we can celebrate…” “It’s not uncommon for even Guild Saviors to find themselves in a tough situation when trying to help a Seeker in need. She wouldn’t have been punished if she’d just run, but I know Seraphina had every intention of going in to save them, even if she had to go alone. That’s who she is.” Adeline had likely seen Seraphina up close for a long time now and knew her personality very well. That’s how she knew she wouldn’t have been able to stop her. “Thank you again, everyone. I won’t forget what you did for us by saving our commander.” Adeline bowed deeply and froze there. It had been a long time since I’d seen such a respectful bow. “Seraphina has helped us more than once. And we’ve fought against powerful monsters before.” “…Most people can’t say that. That’s why the Alliance was competing against everyone else.” “If they could win against an undefeatable enemy, they’d easily be able to move up to District Six. That must have been part of the plan… They might have ended up getting stuck here if they waited for another Named Monster.” We ran into Named Monsters almost every time we went seeking… It didn’t matter if we took a roundabout way to finding them. Even so, we couldn’t spend a moment longer than we had to. Rury was still alive. If we held on to that belief, we needed to end the time she spent captured in a labyrinth as quickly as possible. Elitia probably still cried over it and hid that side of herself from us. “…I think Seraphina…can trust you to have her back because you’re that kind of Seeker. That’s what I think. I’m a little jealous about it, to be honest.” “Y-you don’t have to be… I’m a rearguard; I’m only useful when I’m in the back.” “No, when I say she trusts you to have her back, I don’t just mean in the way the battle formation is set up. It’s…about a certain degree of trust.” Seraphina’s Trust Levels toward me had surely gone up because I’d supported her, but I think it was only a small change compared to my party members. Apparently, Adeline didn’t think so, though. “Oh, don’t let Seraphina know I said that. She’s always telling me off for prattling too much.” “Don’t worry, I’m pretty tight-lipped. Give Seraphina my regards.” “She’s…reporting to the Guild Savior headquarters, so I doubt I’ll see her for another hour or two. I think Commander Seraphina may want to speak with you afterward. Would it be all right if I make it so that I can contact you via your license?” Since I didn’t think the Savior Ticket I had could be used to contact her, it’d be helpful for us, too, if we readied a different way to get in touch with her. Adeline set it up so we could use my license for communication, then she saw us off as we headed to the Upper Guild. On the way, Elitia fell back to walk next to me. “Arihito, you got a summoning stone, right? There’s a limit to the number you can put on your pendant, but you can put on that one.” “Oh, really? Then I should add it right away.” ♦Summoning Pendant: Three Monsters♦ > Can summon DEMI-HARPY I > Can summon DEMI-HARPY II > Can summon DEMI-HARPY III > Can summon ARACHNOMAGE > Slightly increases evasion. > Adds WIND RESISTANCE 1. > Additional effects available as Trust Levels increase with contracted monsters. I looked at the information for the summoning pendant and saw there was one new additional effect. It seemed like monsters’ Trust Levels increased just by summoning them. What kind of effects would I get once the Arachnomage’s trust went up? If I got more effects the more monsters I had and the more they trusted me, I should try to take advantage of the option of capturing monsters in the future. We arrived at Green Hall, and I was led into the back of the first floor. I entered one of the same rooms as before—the one with the nine stones inlaid in a constellation on the door—waited a little bit, and Louisa came in. Her chest heaved, as if she had run here. “Huff, huff… M-Mr. Atobe, you’re safe…” Louisa already knew what happened in the Beach of the Setting Sun, or so I presumed, and I stood up to go over and meet her. “My party and I are just fine. Sorry to worry you.” “…I’m so glad… I heard Beyond Liberty suffered heavy casualties… And the Guild Saviors reported that you supported them when they went to assist…” So she probably already knew what had happened to Roland. Tears welled up in her eyes. It showed how deeply relieved she was that we had returned safely. “…I am so sorry. I’ve completely lost my composure. How unbecoming of a Guild employee.” “No, it’s my fault for making you worry. I came because I wanted to report on our expedition, but…there’s something else I wanted to ask you before that.” Louisa seemed to guess what I wanted to ask just by that. It must have been hard to say, because she pressed her hand to her chest and took a deep breath to calm down before continuing with a more controlled expression on her face. “Five members of the Alliance’s central party have suffered serious injuries… Their leader, Roland, is in a fatal coma…” “By fatal…do you mean…?” “…He could be declared dead before long. The kind of state he’s in could last for a long time, but after half a day…the Guild determines it to be a fatal coma.” Roland wouldn’t recover, not even at the Healer clinic. He really couldn’t live long without his soul… Now that I knew that, I found it hard to speak. “It’s possible the remaining Alliance members might be allowed back into the labyrinth to recover Roland’s soul. Regardless…it’s up to the survivors to make that call.” Louisa was straightforward as she explained the regulations. She was such a kind person, though, that even that seemed to pain her. “…I’m sorry I made you talk about such painful things.” “It’s all right… I respect you for making the decision to try to save them as well, Mr. Atobe. What happens in the labyrinth is the responsibility of each party. No matter what happens, no other party is obligated to provide assistance.” No obligation— It was accepted that the best possible course of action for another party was to not try to save them, to run and try to keep their own party members alive. “…But there are Seekers who try to save people, like you and your party, Mr. Atobe… The Guild does award such actions as something that should be commended.” Louisa suddenly smiled after her expression had been pensive for so long. It wasn’t like I wanted commendation, but the fact that Louisa would say that made me truly happy. “I think I’ll have another communique from the other Guilds again regarding this incident. The Guild’s higher-ups are really quite interested in your work, considering your help in suppressing the stampede and your efforts to save Polaris. I’m sure this notification will be a good one, too…” “R-right… When you say Guild higher-ups, I can’t help but feel they’d be far too important to take notice of a novice like me. It’s a bit overwhelming…” “That’s exactly how incredible your work has been. Every time I submit a report, I feel as proud as if it were my own accomplishments.” Louisa put her hand to her chest and puffed up with pride as she spoke. It really accented her bountiful bosom, and my face went bright red as I was faced with my own desires. “Now, then… Shall we move on to your report? Please let me see your license,” Louisa said, and we sat down on opposite sides of the table. I passed her my license, and she swiped her finger across it to display our results. ♦Expedition Results♦ > Raided BEACH OF THE SETTING SUN 1F: 20 points > Captured 1 ARACHNOMAGE: 120 points > Rescued BEYOND LIBERTY: 480 points > Retreated from MERCILESS GUILLOTINE: -20 points > Battled MERCILESS GUILLOTINE: 40 points > Party members’ Trust Levels increased: 35 points > SERAPHINA’s Trust Level increased: 30 points > ROLAND’s Trust Level increased: 10 points > Conducted a combined seeking expedition with a total of 9 people: 45 points Seeker Contribution: 760 points District Seven Contribution Ranking: 45 I got more contribution points than I’d expected. The largest contribution was saving Beyond Liberty. “You captured a monster and then saved Beyond Liberty… Is that correct?” “Yes. Looks like you get a lot of contribution points for rescuing someone… How is that calculated?” “In these situations, they award twenty points per person in the group you rescued. The Alliance has a total of twenty-four people, bringing the total to four hundred and eighty points.” The larger the organization was that you were saving, the more contribution points you got. I also didn’t get a lot of contribution points because we didn’t defeat a Named Monster. I got less from just fighting it for the short time we did than I would if we’d defeated one Grand Mole. “There are other ways to calculate contribution points when you rescue someone. There’s also another system that could apply here… Please allow me to explain. It is Guild regulation, after all.” “What system would that be…?” “We have the proxy compensation system where one party formally accepts a request from another party or organization to defeat a monster they could not.” Louisa took out her own license and opened the free-draw page. She started drawing a diagram while she explained. “For example, say a monster has defeated a party of Seekers… That party would be penalized in the form of a large deduction from their contribution points. The Guild evaluates that sort of situation very severely because monsters become more powerful the longer they live.” A monster became stronger with every Seeker it defeated… It sort of made sense. It was probably one of the reasons that Named Monsters had far more vitality than was normal for a monster of their level. “A party can ask other Seekers to defeat the monster they couldn’t. When they do that, if the other Seekers are successful in defeating it, the contribution points that the first party lost from the penalty are added in when calculating the second party’s contribution points when they defeat the monster.” I didn’t know how big this penalty was, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was more than if you defeated the Named Monster. That’s what this system was for. “There’s more to the proxy contribution system. You can also receive personal or monetary compensation as well. There are very few instances in which this system is applicable, though, so it’s not utilized very much.” “I see. I’ll have to remember that.” This proxy contribution did give me one idea: to formally accept a request from the Alliance to defeat the Merciless Guillotine. Then we’d fulfill the requirements for going up to District Six in no time. The problem was that I’d need to meet with Daniella to do that. Would she even want to talk to us? We were practically enemies… Nothing I could do if she refused to meet with us. “…Mr. Atobe. I…want to closely observe you and your party as you advance through the Labyrinth Country. If just for a bit longer… Rather, if at all possible…” “I also want you to always be there watching me, Louisa. It might be out of line to say it, but that is how I feel.” “Ah…M-Mr. Atobe…” “You came all the way from District Eight to District Seven for us. I just feel like it’d be sad if we were separated partway through or if our caseworker changed… Uh, Louisa?” Louisa’s strapless top had slipped, and she tugged it back in place. Did I say something to shock her that much? “…Have you forgotten that I’m your exclusive caseworker? That isn’t something I say lightly.” Louisa removed her monocle, and she looked angry, so I panicked, thinking I needed to apologize. I thought she still seemed angry even after seeing my reaction…but I was wrong. “…What I have told you so far was spoken with the knowledge of what decision you would make,” she said. “I’m sorry, Louisa… Thank you for still telling me…” “It’s all right… But to be honest, I am very worried. Please make sure you proceed in such a way that we can have dinner together again tonight.” That was her way of saying she hoped we’d be safe. She held out her pinky, and I blushed a little but wrapped my pinky around hers to promise I would be. I swore to keep that promise. Part III: Trust After finishing the report, I went back out to the lobby where I was supposed to meet back up with the others. What I saw there made me feel like I was having déjà vu and gave me a bit of a headache. “What are you saying? That you have the right to find replacements for the members you lost?” Elitia’s sharp words were directed to a gray-haired black-clothes-wearing man. It was Gray from Beyond Liberty. “Elitia Centrale. Whenever you see a talented dropout Seeker such as yourself, they normally get every party out there begging them to join. The thought did cross my mind the first time I saw you.” “…I’m not listening to this. If you have the time to waste on recruitment, why don’t you put it toward trying to save your leader instead?” Elitia looked quite hostile when she heard the word dropout, but she realized it was just an attempt to provoke her and didn’t ask what he meant by that. Gray was basically saying that the fact Elitia was working with my party made her a dropout. This man was really completely incompatible with our party. “That leader you speak of is me, girlie. The former leader—Roland—saw how much I did for the party. He asked me to take his place in the Alliance if anything happened to him.” Theresia looked over at me when she heard him say that. He was lying. We were certain of that, but some way or another, Gray apparently did end up as the Alliance’s leader. I could see the remaining members of the Alliance in the entrance to the Green Hall. “…But Roland’s wife is in the Alliance, too, right? What reason could there possibly be for her to not become the leader?” Igarashi’s voice was colder than I’d heard in a long time. She had a habit of speaking so icily you could see your breath from the temperature drop whenever one of our company’s partners failed to live up to her expectations or if someone made a joke that bordered on sexual harassment. She was seriously angry. Gray half smiled, half grimaced in the face of her anger and straightened his crooked tie. Must be a nervous habit of his. “Something very unfortunate happened to Ms. Daniella, but she was planning on retiring soon anyway. She was taken to the Healer clinic with our former leader and…well, you know her condition, right? That kind of thing can happen to a married couple at any time. You couldn’t do much to help Roland, but we never blamed those two for their carelessness. It’s unfortunate that it came to this, but it was a long time coming, you know?” Something seemed off. Daniella was always working alongside Roland even though she was pregnant, and they were so close to moving up to District Six. But now that this happened, Gray was stealing her position as the new leader without her fighting back at all. “Anyway, that suit guy you’ve got in your party, he didn’t even look like he did anything. He just followed around behind you. Our party has a way better collection of jobs than that, and I could even make sure you end up the star of our main party. And if we do that…we could accomplish your goal even more quickly, right, Death Sword?” Elitia and the others stared at him as if they were implying he’d put on a good performance. Misaki had a fake smile plastered on her face, but she was gripping her dice. She was angry enough to punch him, but she just about managed to hold herself back. I felt the same. I had gone so far past anger that I actually felt nothing. I don’t mind letting someone say something if they wanted to—I had no right to deny someone that anyway. “Right, shall I ask again? We at Beyond Liberty have had a slight setback, but we choose to make it to District Six no matter what, and even farther. I would like to ask you six to join as new members… So won’t all of you here join us?” Gray seemed to gain confidence as he spoke, seemingly fine even if his closing argument wasn’t perfect. Is something making Gray this confident…? He does seem used to negotiating, but I wouldn’t say he’s such a smooth talker that it amazes me… You could kind of guess from a person’s manner and speech if they were particularly good at sweet-talking women, but Gray looked like he believed he could succeed in persuading them to join after one interaction. I couldn’t help feeling something was off about that. “Arihito, my devotee—a word of caution from your Hidden God.” Ariadne? A word of caution…? Just as I asked her what she meant, I felt like my license in my pocket was trying to say something. I turned the display so Gray couldn’t see and realized my hunch about him was right. ♦Warning from Hidden God♦ > GRAY activated TRICKSTER Activation of GRAY’s skills is hidden No one actually activated their skills in town unless absolutely necessary. But if someone did have a skill that could hide the fact that they were using skills, there was the risk that you’d never know if the person right in front of you was using a skill as long as they acted innocent. Ariadne had seen through Gray’s attempt to hide his skills, though, and warned me. No one else in the party noticed… The warning only reached the party’s leader, a devotee to a Hidden God. ♦Current Status♦ > GRAY activated GENTLE PERFORMANCE Impression of self from members of opposite sex boosted > GRAY activated NEGOTIATION Negotiation success rate increased His job was “Suit,” like the kind of people who worked in clubs and restaurants and they’d need to be good at persuading the establishment’s cast sometimes. Apparently, that translated into a skill for Gray when he came to the Labyrinth Country. Even so, I never expected for one moment that something unexpected could happen. Gray extended his right hand to Elitia. He thought he’d just about succeeded as he smiled like a kind man, but— “Sorry, but I can’t pretend to work together like the Alliance does. Maybe you should ask someone else.” “Ah… H-hey! W-wait, is not even one of you…?” Elitia turned back to me and smiled. Everyone else realized I was there. Gray’s skills hadn’t worked on a single one of them. Elitia was the first to walk past Gray, then eyed the remaining Alliance members sideways as she left the Green Hall. The rest of the members followed behind her, one by one. “I’ll warn you once: Stop ogling Four Seasons. Nobody likes someone that pushy.” “Wha…? H-how could you…?” “Don’t be saaad—you’ve still got plenty of members in the Alliance!” “We’re going to be rivals now, as Seekers. Good luck.” Igarashi put a nail in his coffin, Misaki brushed off his invitation with a joking comment, and Suzuna finished it off with a polite bow. None of them turned back to look at Gray again as he scrambled after them. When I tried to pass by Gray, the last one in the group, he blocked my way and tried to pick a fight. I’d seen this coming. “I don’t have to tell you twice, do I? The Death Sword is going to waste in your party. You’ll tell them, right? Tell them they should switch to the Alliance.” He seemed to think he could say whatever he wanted without even knowing what was going on. But it did let me know that he really wanted my party members to join him. “What? I’m not going to do anything bad. And even if you end up alone, I’ll give you enough money that you can live in this district comfortably. You should be fine with a thousand gold, don’t you think?” he continued. “Isn’t that money you worked hard to get? It doesn’t matter; I don’t want it anyway.” “…Huh? Do you not get what I’m saying, old man?” He seemed pretty annoyed that he wasn’t able to steal away my companions, but it was stupid to be angry at me about it. “You know, the guys in Triceratops are way better men than you are. I have a hard time believing it was Roland who upset all the women in District Seven.” “That’s… Listen here—!” Gray raised his voice threateningly, but I was relieved that she managed to hold herself back. “……” Theresia was standing behind Gray. He finally noticed and broke into a nervous sweat, then raised his hands. “Y-you gonna do me in? If you do, you’ll all end up in jail…” “We have no intentions of doing that. The fact that you teleported your injured allies out of there means there’s room to try and be reasonable with you… But I’ve got my own plan if you intend to keep on with your absurd actions.” “…Oh, you saw that? You act like a moron, but maybe you’re sort of clever… You cling to the Death Sword and those girls the same as me. You want them to take care of you, right? Don’t preach like you’re better than me.” “Preach… Yeah, maybe I am. I’ve never done something that worthless in my entire life, even before I was reincarnated.” I wasn’t really suited to preaching at people, and I didn’t really want to talk in a way that could be taken that way. I didn’t see any point in speaking with him further, so I walked past him. “I’m not done talking to— Agh?!” I didn’t even say I was the one who’d be deciding if the conversation was over. Gray just turned around to follow me and was so surprised by Theresia that he slipped and fell. That’s what people would remember when they thought about the new leader of the organization that was running to the top of District Seven. I took Theresia along with me and walked away. She was slightly behind me at first but quickened her steps to walk beside me. “You’re not going to get away with this! I’m going to be there laughing when you fail!” What did the Alliance members think of Gray’s disgraceful behavior? All I could tell now was that their expressions were not happy. Thomas was among the members lined up. He must have known that Gray was lying to become the leader but was keeping the truth to himself for some reason. I wanted to ask him, but this didn’t seem like the right situation. That’s what I decided, but Thomas ran out to meet me alone. He must have been prepared for whatever Gray would say to him for doing that, so it wouldn’t be right of me to refuse to listen to him. “…I know it’s not my responsibility to say this, but I apologize for Gray’s behavior…and I have a favor to ask you,” he said. “A favor?” “Would you mind meeting with Daniella? She was the second-in-command in the Alliance, meaning she had the right to become leader in Roland’s stead. Gray is only our temporary leader, but if he can make Daniella give that right to him, he’ll soon become our real leader…but…” Roland was still alive. Thomas hadn’t given up, but he couldn’t get the Alliance to act and go back into the Beach of the Setting Sun. No one else seemed to object, so I asked Thomas what room Daniella was in at the Healer clinic, and we headed off that way. Part IV: A Request I requested visitation at reception in the Healer clinic, and it was approved since Daniella was conscious. “It’s still very important that she remain calm, so we must limit the number of visitors to two at any given time. Please try not to discuss anything to upset her. Now, then…” A female Healer showed us to Daniella’s room, explaining what we needed to be careful of. Since we could only go in with two people, we decided that it be me and Igarashi. The rest of the party stayed in a waiting room, and we entered Daniella’s room. She was lying on the bed, but the Healer helped her sit up when we entered. The Healer left the room, and Daniella looked at us, then smiled weakly. She was so fragile now that I had a hard time believing she was the same person who’d stood up to Seraphina. “Please sit, if you like. Not that I’m in a position to greet you properly…,” said Daniella. “No, it’s okay… Thank you for your consideration,” said Igarashi, who then went to bring over some small stools meant for visitors. Daniella’s hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore the simple clothes provided by the Healer clinic. “Please keep warm. We wouldn’t want the baby to get cold,” I said. “I appreciate your concern. I did panic earlier, but the baby is fine… I’m sorry you had to see me like that. You must think something awful of me…,” said Daniella. “…I’ve wondered why you would go that far, sure. A large organization like yourselves must have had other options available.” Daniella seemed uncomfortable sitting up in bed, so Igarashi helped her turn so she was sitting on the edge. “…You mean, why did we choose the method we did? Is that what you came to ask?” “Yes. And after you answer our question, we would like to make a proposal. We need to respect your wishes, though, and have no intention of forcing you to answer, but I feel we need to talk so we can understand each other better.” I was hesitant to open fresh wounds, considering Roland was in a coma, but we couldn’t take too long to do what we needed. “…Atobe, may I say something?” said Igarashi. I realized I was gripping the knees of my pants tightly. Igarashi had noticed and continued to speak in my place. “We want to defeat that monster.” “Ah…what…?” “We do believe that what the Alliance was doing was unfair. I’m sure you’re wondering why we would want to do that, if that’s how we felt. The thing is, we have reasons why we need to move up quickly.” Without knowing much about us, she might wonder if that really was reason enough for us to take on the risk of fighting the Merciless Guillotine. Daniella sat looking down, but the silence didn’t last long. “…Roland… My husband originally came to the Labyrinth Country with his friends. Before they reincarnated, they were in the military for some country. They were in the air force. He said six of them reincarnated together, used their military experience, and made it to District Seven.” It made sense that if they were in an environment in their past life that tested their physical and mental fitness, they’d be quicker to adapt when they reincarnated. However, Roland suffered a setback in District Seven. Daniella continued the story to tell us that as well. “Roland’s party became rank one in District Seven two years ago. However, Roland covered for one of his companions, and he was injured, and it resulted in him coming down with an illness. The disease was inflicted by an unidentified Named Monster, which even now there is no effective treatment method for… He was very lucky, I think. A Healer was dispatched from the cathedral in District Four who treated him, and he narrowly escaped death.” At the time, Daniella was working as a Doctor in the Healer clinic. She had gone into support instead of seeking early on and ended up overseeing Roland’s treatment. That’s where they first met. “…Roland was still bedridden and unable to walk for about six months after he regained consciousness. During that time, his companions advanced to District Six, but they left him a message: Sergeant Roland Vorn, we’ll see you again sometime in the higher districts.” “I guess that was them…hoping he’d get better…” “I’m sure that was part of it, but Roland did so much for them, and they didn’t even wait a month for him. He always said that they should leave him if he ever slowed them down, and that’s exactly what they did… Roland fell to level one while he was in treatment, making it so hard for him to do anything on his own.” “…So you helped him, as a friend. That’s what happened, isn’t it?” Daniella nodded. Her level had fallen to 2 when she’d retired for a bit, but she went back to seeking when she accompanied Roland to District Eight, where the two tried to find their footing again. “In the beginning…it bothered me that he could only think about chasing after his friends even though he’d almost died. I wanted to yell at him, and part of the reason I went with him was out of nosiness… But slowly we found more companions, and eventually we were able to seek in District Seven again. That’s when I remembered how it felt when I was a Seeker. My friends and I wanted to unravel the mysteries of the Labyrinth Country.” The Guild never told me to solve those mysteries, but I have always felt like I wanted to. This country had some massive secrets. I’d always had that feeling, ever since I met Ariadne in the hidden floor of the Field of Dawn. “But… It was around when we made it back to the Upper Guild in District Seven. Roland started to remember the past. He had horrific nightmares every night, like he was being thrown into a deep black pit. He started to get weaker and weaker. But he still endeavored to follow his former companions. He wouldn’t give up, no matter what.” Then the Alliance found the Beach of the Setting Sun and discovered they could use it to farm contribution points safely. “Roland felt bad about it, to a degree, but he hoped people would forgive him. He knew he’d be criticized and alienated, but he didn’t care… He knew it was disgraceful, which made him act really terribly, even to the Guild Saviors who tried to reason with him. He thought they couldn’t blame him… It’s obvious that twisted logic wasn’t working on anyone, though.” But their overreliance on contribution points from the crabs brought around something they never expected. She couldn’t say she regretted it now that things had turned out this way, but she knew it was normal for people to blame her. The Alliance had had twenty-four members at its largest, but they’d lost a lot of those now. There was something about that that bothered me. “Why were the five injured members removed from the Alliance? It feels strange to me that you would agree with that considering you’re Roland’s wife,” I asked. “…I am unable to fulfill my duties as second-in-command in my current condition. I think it’s best to leave policy decisions to those who will keep the Alliance alive.” I decided I really did need to tell her Gray plotted this, to act as the person with authority in the Alliance. He probably used underhanded tactics to get it, too. “…Gray came to you and asked that you let him be leader in your place, didn’t he?” “N-no. Roland trusted him, with this last strategy, too… And he’s accomplished so much, and the other members recognize that…” “That’s not true. I heard him and Roland talking. Roland said his stance was to consider the contributions of members who had been in the Alliance longer—instead of Gray, who had joined fairly late. Didn’t he tell you about that?” I was mostly speaking from conjecture, but Daniella did seem aware, which meant I wasn’t that far off the mark. “…B-but…he achieved a lot by getting the summoning charms we needed for this strategy…” “It is true that those summoning charms were one way to achieve the Alliance’s goals. However, it was him using those summoning charms and forcing monsters to appear that caused this situation. On top of that, Thomas was the one who stayed behind and fought with Roland until the very end… He can’t have accepted this situation, where Gray has become the new leader.” “If that’s the case, you may need to speak with him again… Also, why is Gray acting like he’s already the official leader?” asked Igarashi. Daniella was flustered, and I was hesitant to say more that would confuse the situation even further, but I could only tell the truth as I knew it. If she needed proof, I had it. Before coming here, I’d been warned so that I wouldn’t miss that particular display on my license. I pulled out my license and showed her that section. “…Trickster…activations of skills…is hidden…,” she muttered. “This is how Gray improved his position in the Alliance. He activated skills that gave him an advantage in all negotiations so that no one would notice. This is the record of the skills he used when he tried to pull my party members into the Alliance.” “What is this…? Me, Roland, the other members…every person who has ever helped the Alliance…has had these skills used on them…” Things had gone exactly how Gray wanted them to. Daniella held her head in her hands—no greater sign than that could have showed how true it was that Gray had gotten his way. “Atobe was able to notice what Gray was doing. I can’t forgive Gray for using such dirty tricks!” said Igarashi. “I was surprised that a skill like this even exists. I always thought Seeker skills were for fighting or for helping your allies. Gray uses his with the intention of trapping others… And he set up what feels like a conspiracy inside Seekers’ competitions with each other,” I said. There’s no way he could move forward using only those methods. Even with the job he had, he should be able to use his skills in a positive way. But Gray chose his path. “Please try not to speak with Gray alone from now on. There’s a chance he used his skills to be allowed to come in last time he came to the Healer clinic, but it should be more difficult for him to get in if you refuse to see him. That alone won’t be enough to stop him, so I’ll try to think of some other strategy.” “…If you can, please. It seems like I won’t be able to turn him down if he asks me to make him the official leader again. If he does that with skills but I don’t notice, there’s nothing I can do about it.” “We could call him out in front of the Alliance members… Atobe, what do you think we should do?” asked Igarashi. Even if we did destroy his reputation within the Alliance, there was a chance he’d take in other Seekers in the future. It was risky to leave Gray to his own devices right now, but we could also consider using whatever he was planning right now against him. “Right now, I want to prioritize defeating that Named Monster. Daniella, as it is currently, even if we defeated the Named Monster, the contribution points that the Alliance lost would just disappear. But if you have authority to do so as second-in-command of the Alliance, would you please formally request that we defeat it?” I asked. “…But…Roland is already… Even if you defeat that monster, he won’t…” Tears streamed down Daniella’s face. The flow become constant, no break in the stream as she covered her face and started to sob. Igarashi took her hands and pulled her into a hug. “We can save him. Atobe saw that giant crab steal Roland’s soul. If we can get it back…” “I know it must be difficult to trust me—you hardly know me—but we don’t have much time if we want to save Roland. Only we, who fought with it once, and the remaining Alliance members can fight that monster again. We are the only ones who have a realistic chance of defeating it,” I said. Elitia’s level was high, but the next highest level in the party was 6. Could we really defeat a level-8 Named Monster with our current stats? But I knew very well that level wasn’t the only deciding factor. You could get through a difficult situation if you used every single tool at your disposal instead of being too choosy. Daniella looked at me, her cheeks stained with tears, as if she was trying to cling to hope. About all I could do was not to act like it was a troubling decision—but to smile. “I want that child to meet both their parents. I can’t be sure…but I think people were happy I was born, and I want that child to have that.” Igarashi parted from Daniella. Daniella lowered her head deeply and, with heavy sobs, said, “…Please beat that monster. Save him…somehow…please save him…” “Yes… We will. We accept your request. We will defeat that monster. Anything that happens in the process will simply be part of defeating it,” I said. “What my leader means is that us getting back Roland’s soul will just be part of the job. In other words, we fight for a reason, like I said before. We won’t put ourselves in unnecessary danger to save others.” It seemed like Igarashi was trying to lessen the worry in Daniella’s heart. I didn’t want her to be anxious, either; I hoped she could be relaxed as she waited for us. There was no point if she didn’t. Daniella knew how to make the formal request. She took her license that had been on the bedside table and did something. I expressed that we would accept the request, and that formed the formal request agreement. “…You have to all be safe… Don’t do anything to put yourselves in danger…,” she said. To be honest, that was a hard promise to make, but Igarashi shook hands with Daniella. I already had a few ideas for beating that giant crab. We would definitely be back here before half a day had passed, with all of our party safe. ♦Active Requests♦ > Request from BEYOND LIBERTY: Defeat MERCILESS GUILLOTINE Part V: The Pavis When we went down to the first floor of the clinic and passed through the lobby, I got a message from Adeline on my license. As commander, Seraphina had finished her report to the Guild Savior headquarters and would like to speak with us. “You know, when you and Kyouka were walking together, I really sort of felt like you two were partners. It looked sooo nice that Suzu and I were super jealous,” said Misaki. “I wasn’t j-jealous… I was just saying that you two were probably like that when you worked together. Right, Misaki?” “U-um… I mean, back when we were coworkers, I sort of dragged him all over the place… But now I feel like it’s nicer to do what Theresia does and follow directly behind him, that’s all.” “……” A bewildered expression came over Theresia, as if she’d never imagined Igarashi would use her as someone to model her behavior on. I hadn’t really seen it coming, either. “I bet it’d be fun to work with Arihito… You know, it’s just a thought. But he looked so tired when I first met him that it probably was actually quite difficult,” said Elitia. “People did say that about me right after I’d reincarnated. I have a lot more energy now, so I feel kind of strangely lively.” “It’s the feeling of working as hard as you possibly can every day. Though, if you’d asked me if I wanted to live my life like this when I worked in the company, I’m sure I wouldn’t have said yes,” said Igarashi. Cion seemed to understand because she came up to Igarashi, who then smiled and stroked Cion’s head. “And it’s not all labyrinths and being so scared you can’t breathe. Sometimes it feels a bit like you’re traveling… But I think you might get angry at me for not taking it seriously,” continued Igarashi as she looked at me. As far as I was concerned, there was no way I could consider her not serious enough since she never hesitated to make serious decisions when the time came in combat. “Kyouka, you’re trying to cheer up Arihito, aren’t you? And us, too,” said Elitia. “Everyone agreed to fight that monster again. I’m grateful for that, too…,” I said. “I’d go to the end of the earth if you told me to… Uh, is it inappropriate to say that in a time like this?” “Misaki, I feel like you’re getting more and more attached to Arihito… Are you two really that close?” asked Igarashi. “Uh, w-well, now that you mention it… I feel like Suzu has, don’t you think?” “Th-that’s not true… Arihito and I just did what was necessary… I mean, y-you don’t understand; we didn’t do anything weird…” Suzuna was probably flustered because she remembered when we worked together to raise Ariadne’s devotion level. I also knew there wasn’t anything strange that happened but could only smile awkwardly. Even so, I had a feeling the other members would see it as a problem due to our keeping it a secret from them. “……” It was Theresia who followed up on the situation. She stretched her hand out and patted me gently on the shoulder, looked at everyone, then shook her head slowly. “…Theresia, are you saying it’s okay because there’s nothing going on? I believe you if you say that.” “We’re also starting to understand Theresia from her mannerisms alone. We’re nowhere as good as you, though, Arihito,” said Misaki. Everyone looked in our direction with smiles on their faces. Theresia’s lizard mask turned slightly pink, perhaps because she was so close to me. “Theresia, are you blushing just ’cause you patted his shoulder? Awwww, it’s such a lie when people say demi-humans don’t have hearts,” said Misaki. “……” Theresia didn’t shake her head. She quickly stepped away from me and pressed her hands to her mask. The red slowly faded as she did. Maybe doing that let her disperse heat a little. “We have more than one reason to quickly move ahead, which is why we need to work hard,” said Elitia. We needed to make it so that we could break the demi-human curse as quickly as possible. There was no way we’d lose sight of our goals; we had a reason that meant we could never stop moving. Seraphina and Adeline were waiting for us in front of Green Hall. “Mr. Atobe, I do apologize for calling you out here when you must be tired… I hope you weren’t resting,” said Seraphina. “No, we’re fine. We were about to get ready to go back into the Beach of the Setting Sun.” Seraphina appeared momentarily astonished, but she quickly calmed down and looked at me with a quiet fire burning in her eyes. “…Mr. Atobe. If it is possible, could you please use your Savior Ticket?” “S-Seraphina… It’s against regulation for a Guild Savior to ask someone to use a Savior Ticket. If you do that, you may be punished…,” said Adeline. “I am aware. But our only option at the moment is for me to go into the labyrinth with Mr. Atobe and his party… Guild Saviors are currently forbidden from entering the Beach of the Setting Sun. In fact, we are required to prevent others from entering. The only exception to that would be if a party who has the right to enter the labyrinth requested that I fight with them.” As a Guild Savior, Seraphina was required to control who could enter the dangerous Beach of the Setting Sun, but at the same time she was restricted by the same rule. That’s what it came down to. “When I face that monster, I will try to be conscious of its threat. The more people I have who have experience fighting it, the better… It may be pushy of me to want that, but still, I…” “…Seraphina, you helped us even when we didn’t use the ticket. If you say you want to fight with us, I have no reason to refuse,” I said. “Ah…Mr. Atobe, that’s…” “If it’s true that it’s against regulations, then I suppose I can’t ask for your help. But if possible, I would like you to help us… I meant that.” Seraphina turned to Adeline. At first, Adeline seemed like she wanted to stop Seraphina, but she looked away when Seraphina stared at her, unable to handle it. “Oh, well… You wouldn’t listen to me even if I said something. And I assume you’re going to leave me behind and ask me to look after things?” said Adeline. “…Adeline, you know me so well, just because we’ve worked together for so long.” “Y-you have to say that in a time like this… Haaah. I want to come along, you know. But someone has to handle everyone else, too. I know that, I do… Because we’re partners.” I could tell Adeline truly respected Seraphina, and that she was very worried for her. But whether or not we had Seraphina with us greatly changed how we could fight. It was the same when we fought against Murakumo. Her defense created opportunities for a number of counterattacks. “Adeline,” I started. “We—” “I know. Your party has a lot of promise, and I’ve seen your strength in action. I trust you.” I had a feeling there was way more Adeline wanted to say than what she actually put into words, but it seemed like she was trying not to take too much of our time. “Commander Seraphina, I will use my own initiative to act alone as I see fit,” said Adeline. “I owe you. We’ll be in touch once we return from the labyrinth.” “Understood. Commander, everyone, may luck be with you.” Adeline saluted and bowed her head to us before walking away. We watched her go, then Seraphina explained how I could use the Savior Ticket. “This ticket uses a special metal and functions as a magic item. Could you please hold it in your hands and mentally express your request for assistance to it?” I took out the ticket made from the aqua metal and did as Seraphina instructed. When I did, this happened: ♦Current Status♦ > ARIHITO used SAVIOR TICKET Requested battle assistance from SERAPHINA > SERAPHINA joined ARIHITO’s party That brought our party to eight members in total. We were already at the maximum number, but there was still another person I wanted to join in on the battle. Even if we split into two parties, I could still support the other one. However, since our enemy had skills like Phantom Drift and Sky High, that gave it high mobility; it was too dangerous to have Madoka join the battle just so she could use Item Effects. Better to have her wait somewhere safe. “Mr. Atobe, everyone, I look forward to fighting with you a second time against this monster,” said Seraphina. There was something I wanted to check with her, which was what kind of attacks her shield could defend against. After her repeated greeting, she turned to head toward the labyrinth entrance, but I stopped her. “Seraphina, I hate to make you waste time, but could we have a strategy meeting first?” “Ah… F-forgive me. I asked to be included, and you allowed me to fight with you, but then I go and act on my own…” “Arihito, let’s go back home for a moment. We should be fine; there’s still time.” We went with Elitia’s suggestion and headed home. We had to tell Madoka that we were headed out on another seeking expedition and get Melissa to help us strategize. We called Madoka and Melissa and headed off to our rental storage unit. Madoka had refitted the unit for us, even bringing in a table and chairs to use for meetings. Granted, I’d asked her to do that because I thought we could talk and consider what equipment to take into the labyrinth with us. She’d already been in close contact with the District Seven Merchants Guild, which let her finish the job incredibly quickly. “So you’re going into the labyrinth again… Is there anything I can do for you, Arihito?” asked Madoka. “The battle’s gonna be really tough this time. I’m always looking for opportunities to increase your level, but I’d like you to sit this one out. Don’t worry—I promise we’ll come back safe.” “O-okay…I understand. Ceres and Steiner are still here, too, so I’ll wait with them.” Madoka couldn’t hide her concern. I felt bad, but at the same time, I was happy that Ceres and Steiner had come to District Seven. If Madoka would have had to wait alone, I might have asked her to wait in the Guild with Louisa. Everyone except me took a seat. Madoka had brought out a chalkboard and chalk, which I used as I explained things. “Right, I think we’ll start the strategy meeting now. This monster—we’ll call it the giant crab for convenience’s sake—is quite large, and there aren’t many opportunities for us to get in close for attacks. Additionally, one of its major traits is that if we attack it with physical attacks, it makes it so they won’t hit, and then magical attacks become effective. And when we attack with magical attacks, it returns to its original state. That’s the first thing I want everyone to understand.” “Th-that’s what was happening? I did notice that it turned almost invisible…,” said Suzuna. “And when you shot it with your Storm Arrow, it definitely materialized… So that’s how it works,” said Misaki. As the rearguard, I was the farthest away from the monster and could therefore observe any changes. That was part of my role in the party, and I wanted to keep working to understand what was happening in a battle. “I’m mainly a physical attacker, so I’ll have to wait until it’s materialized to make sure my attacks are effective…,” said Elitia. “That’s right… Also, I’d like to get in combo attacks as much as possible. Two things need to happen in order to do that: The giant crab needs to be materialized, and it can’t be able to counterattack. Our vanguard could get instantly wiped out if we push too hard and the monster counters with its large pincers,” I said. “…Physical attacks need to work, and we need to make an opening. One way to create that situation would be if, when the monster is materialized, I take an attack and push it back,” suggested Seraphina, but I had one concern. “That could work, I agree. However, the giant crab has other moves at its disposal. Bubble Laser and Soul-Stealing Scythe are two particularly dangerous ones. Seraphina, I believe those two attacks are magic-based—can you defend against them with your shield?” “…My Aura Shield skill reduces damage regardless of whether the attack is physical or magical. However, the shield’s abilities itself are heavily weighted toward defending against physical attacks. I think I could only halve the damage from magic-type attacks.” It was exactly because I expected that to be the case that I wanted to avoid Seraphina having to defend against the Soul-Stealing Scythe. That didn’t mean Seraphina couldn’t fulfill her role as our front line’s tank, however. We actually had a shield that might have higher defense against magic attacks than the shield she currently used. “Madoka, which rack has the shield made from the Paradox Beetle’s shell?” I asked. “I’ve placed it on the armor rack. It’s so big that I need a cart to move it…” “May I see it? I’m constantly training so that I can use heavy shields.” Seraphina stood from her seat, and Madoka led her to where the shield was. She lifted the shield that was almost as big as she was and let out a small gasp of surprise. Thankfully, the Mirrored Shell Pavis seemed to have as good abilities as I expected it might. Part VI: The Pavis and the Scythe It was so finely finished that it was hard to believe it was originally a giant bug’s carapace. Instead, it looked like it was forged from metal. “I can’t believe you could get a shield like this in District Seven… Does this use materials from a Named Monster?” asked Seraphina. “Yes. It uses materials from a Named Monster we ran into in Silvanus’s Bedchamber, and the people at Mistral Forge worked it for us,” I replied. Seraphina paused to set her current shield against the wall and tried lifting the Mirrored Shell Pavis in both hands. ♦Mirrored Shell Pavis♦ > Reduces damage from physical attacks. > Reduces damage from magical attacks. > Magical defense greatly increases when skills using the shield are activated. > Can reflect magical attacks. Attack power is reduced when reflected. > Can reflect breath attacks. Attack power is reduced when reflected. > Grants wielder SURGING WAVE ADVANCE skill. Its defensive capabilities were significant enough, but it provided a movement-type skill for chasing after the enemy, which must have been a specialty of the Paradox Beetle. What was important, though, was whether Seraphina would use it or not. I imagined most people would think the shield they’d been using was better, but I was wrong. “There aren’t many people with jobs that can use a pavis, and they take so much material to make that you can’t get one very often… I imagine the shield you’re using is very valuable as well,” said Elitia. “In District Eight, they sold wooden pavises for beginners. I wasn’t even able to change my shield until I got to District Six; it made battling very difficult. I barely avoided getting stuck, thanks to the help from my companions.” Seraphina also worked as a Seeker before becoming a Guild Savior. I was kind of curious what happened to her previous party, but since we were so short on time, I decided not to ask. “Seraphina, do you think you can use that shield?” I asked. “Yes. Its physical defense is lower my current shield’s, but I should be able to cover the difference with my skills. I take essentially no damage if my Shield Parry is successful… But are you sure I can use it? It’s a very valuable shield to lend out…” “It’s part of our strategy. If we can increase the types of attacks you can handle, that results in less damage to the party. Not that it’s acceptable to let our tank take damage, either.” “…Thank you. I will use this shield to fulfill the role you have assigned me.” Seraphina switched her equipment and left the Shuddering Tower Shield +3 she had been using in the storage unit. It had an effect for improving the wielder’s muscular strength to make using it easier, but it was so heavy that it ended up being no different than the Mirrored Shell Pavis. “The power of my Shield Slam and similar attacks will be reduced, but since I’m the one taking attacks and creating openings, I don’t think that will be much of an issue,” she said. What she said was so close to what I’d been thinking that I didn’t need to add anything. I already knew from fighting with her before that she would be able to join the party and take an active role immediately, and that was reassuring. “Atobe, we’ll be observing the enemy to see whether physical or magical attacks will be effective, then making the appropriate strike, correct? We need to make sure we can execute them properly…,” said Igarashi. “You’re right…,” said Elitia. “And we need to think of a countermeasure against Create Golem. I hope it hasn’t been summoning things the entire time since we last fought it.” “Some Named Monsters don’t become hostile unless a target is present. The giant crab stopped pursuing us when we retreated and actually disappeared. It probably won’t appear again unless its target comes close,” said Seraphina. I shuddered to think of the entire beach swallowed by Sand Scissors, but we wouldn’t have to worry about that if she was right. However, monsters like the Shining Simian Lord that had captured Elitia’s friend were still active and taking down other Seekers. Highly intelligent and powerful monsters moved in to attack parties who had already retreated, meaning it was possible that they were capable of strategizing like a human. “The giant crab will probably make more allies using Create Golem sometime after we start fighting. There’re also the remains of the crabs that the Alliance hunted today… The ones they hunted up until yesterday have probably been taken away for their materials, but the ones from today are still there. We need to be cautious of Necroburst,” I said. “They must have hunted more than a hundred Ghost Scissors there… Create Golem requires their souls, but we can basically think of it as unlimited. We need to finish the fight before their numbers get too high,” said Elitia. “Ideally, we don’t want it to use Create Golem even once. Probably won’t go that way, though… If it does, and it uses Phantom Drift, the risk of us rearguards getting attacked will be quite high,” I said. The giant crab’s normal movements weren’t all that fast, and it required some preparation time before attacking. But once it activated Phantom Drift, its long legs became faster, and it skidded when turning, like a drifting racecar, kicking up sand and barely losing any speed. Complaining that its movements were all over the place wouldn’t get us anywhere in battle, though. Elitia, Igarashi, and Theresia had ways to evade, but Misaki, Suzuna, Melissa, and I didn’t. I could think of one way to deal with that. “The Demi-Harpies… Right, Arihito?” said Melissa. “Yeah. That, and Cion is another member we have who can move quickly over the sand. She’s fast to begin with, but her armor has a speed-increasing effect, which seems to negate any effects from poor footing.” “Woof!” We’d strengthened her Hound’s Leather Vest, which would be effective if things came down to the wire. Our other equipment probably had effects that we weren’t aware of. “…Leader, if it’s my job to destroy parts of the enemy, I’ll need to move fast. I should ride Cion,” said Melissa. “Ooh, Melissa, you called Arihito leader. Hey, Leader, can I go to the ladies’ room before we put our plans into action?” said Misaki. “Yeah, in a bit… I know that’s important, but try not to veer off topic too much, okay?” The issue never came up when we were in the labyrinth, but I just imagined no one ever mentioned it. And maybe it was something I needed to be aware of. By riding on Cion, Melissa would be using her Wolf Rider skill. The teamwork between them wasn’t a problem. Thinking of the role I was giving her, it was better to pair her with Cion than the Demi-Harpies because Cion could move quickly at the drop of a hat. “We’ll get the Demi-Harpies to help, and we’ll go somewhere the enemy’s attacks can’t reach us. But for attacks that can reach the sky…,” I started. “I can use Provoke to increase the enemy’s hostility toward me if it uses Bubble Laser, making it focus the attack on the ground. I should be able to control its use.” “…Sorry I’m asking you to take the riskiest role, Seraphina.” “It’s fine; that’s the entire reason my job exists… You don’t have to worry about using my abilities like that. If the vanguard works together, we can scatter the attacks and reduce the risk any one person faces.” “Yeah, I’ll help with that… I’ll draw it as much as I can. But, Arihito… If we are able to make multiple openings for attacks and get in combos but aren’t able to finish it off…,” said Elitia. “It’s so big that our attacks aren’t very effective unless we hit its weak spots,” said Igarashi. “I was considering learning a new skill to help with that. Then I think we should be able to focus our attacks on a location I target… One of its weak spots is its mouth, but there’s a chance there are some others spots, like the crack I made in its pincer when I used Murakumo. I’d like to think that spot is weaker now…” It was getting harder to get enough strength to defeat enemies if only the set damage from Attack Support 1 got through. We needed to maximize the power of individual attacks that weren’t displayed in numbers like Attack Support 1. But at least this time, that didn’t mean we had to focus on landing attacks to beat the enemy. “It is important to aim for the weak spots as much as possible. Then there’s one other strategy I’d like to try, which is possible because we have a chance to prepare,” I said. “…Ah, Arihito, are you thinking of using that…?” “Uh… Ellie, do you know what Arihito’s thinking?” asked Igarashi. Elitia had probably been thinking about that since we got it. There was no rule saying only our enemy could use an instant-kill attack. It’s something we should also try, if we could. There was a high risk that we’d destroy a valuable weapon, but it could bring us a definitive win. “The Forbidden Scythe… There are quite a few monsters with instant-kill skills, but it’s not a strategy one can constantly use. It would probably work on the Merciless Guillotine when physical attacks can hit it. I don’t think the scythe’s ability to automatically kill the target on a critical hit has a high probability of working…but we have Misaki.” “Whoaaa… Are we finally getting to my big debut?! Arihito, if I pull this off, let’s take a vacation and hang out together!” “Don’t get too worked up or you’ll get confused… But I agree with your suggestion. I’m sure Madoka’s bored of being left behind and working, too,” said Igarashi. “I—I…I’m just happy if everyone comes home safe. But maybe I am a little…,” said Madoka. “…Elitia, would a short break be all right?” I asked. “Yeah…I don’t have any way to move forward but to work with everyone. It would be sad if no one ever enjoyed themselves.” Misaki must have been joking when she said it; she was flustered that people actually seemed supportive of her suggestion, but she also seemed happy. Madoka was the same. She really must be lonely when she was left behind. “I equip the Forbidden Scythe…then what? Tell me,” prompted Melissa. Misaki’s Fortune Roll guaranteed the next action in battle would succeed. Once that was activated, Melissa would make her first move. She would get a critical with her normal attack. If we combined the auto-kill on critical effect with Fortune Roll’s effects, we should theoretically be able to defeat an enemy in one hit, even if it was that leaping tank of a monster. “So you’ve found that kind of weapon as well… And all party members are agreed on the course of action. It’s because you’re this kind of party that you’re being called the new star,” said Seraphina. Everyone looked at one another and smiled awkwardly at her compliments. I also truly believed it was a good thing I was able to build a party with these members. We went ahead with the strategy we had decided on. We changed our equipment, and then all of us, including Madoka, left the storage unit and headed toward the labyrinth’s entrance. “……” “…Oh…I-I’m fine. Thank you, though, Theresia.” Theresia seemed to sense Madoka’s nervousness because she patted both of Madoka’s arms. Watching the exchange, I had one thought on my mind: We would make it through this trial. Part VII: Rain and the Setting Sun We went to the Beach of the Setting Sun for the second time. Other Seekers were forbidden from entering, but they couldn’t stop us from going in since we were going to be fighting the monster they were on guard for. “Please be careful, everyone—don’t even let your guard down!” said Madoka. “We won’t. Thanks for seeing us off, Madoka. And be careful on your way back home, too,” I said. “I’ll be fine. I won’t get lost just because I’m alone or anything… Uh, th-this isn’t what you think… I’m not crying…” Everyone gathered around her as her eyes filled with tears a little. They all tried to cheer her up and promised again that we would make it back safely. “Commander Seraphina, you will be going into the labyrinth yourself, won’t you…? If so, we could help, too…,” said one of Seraphina’s squad members. “No… You could be punished for assisting the party in an unofficial capacity because of the entrance restrictions in place. Don’t worry about me. I want you to stay here and carry out your duty.” “…Understood. Please do us proud and come back safely. We respect you as our captain, even if you do get penalized for this. I pray for a good fight.” “Thank you. Give Adeline my regards… This isn’t the last time we’ll see each other, but I’ve caused her a lot of worry. I was thinking it would be nice if we had the opportunity to throw a thank-you party, but I wasn’t able to arrange it… I am sorry for that.” It was clear from their conversation that Seraphina was really admired by her unit. “Atobe, were you thinking…if only Seraphina had been your manager?” Igarashi was watching me. She must have thought I was looking at Seraphina with admiration. “If I had showed the people in my department I appreciated them like that…” “No, it’s not… You already did plenty to encourage the people in the department. I was just wondering if it was really okay to take her away to participate in the strategy meeting and now this.” “It seems like the Guild Saviors really want Seraphina around, too… But she’s helping our party out right now. We have to thank her for that.” “You’re right. And normally Savior Tickets are taken right when you use them, but she said she’d only take it once the job was done.” How could we pay her back for what she’d done for us? Well, we’d have to think about that once we got home safely. Then I realized something. One of Seraphina’s squad members who hadn’t spoken up yet seemed to want to say something. “Um, excuse me, is everything all right?” I asked. “Ah… Umm, there’s something I’d like to report to the commander…” “What’s this…?” Seraphina heard us and came over. The woman straightened up and spoke not just to Seraphina but to me as well. “We received a communication a short while ago… The Guild Savior headquarters has determined this situation to be an emergency and will be dispatching the third-class dragon captain. They will arrive once they’ve completed their duties in District Six, but it does appear that it will take a few days.” “The third-class dragon captain… I see. The fact that they’d send someone like that must mean they really do take the stagnation issue in District Seven seriously.” “I had heard it was becoming an issue before. Perhaps they see this as an opportunity to step in.” A problem with District Seven… When Seraphina said stagnation, it made me think they were talking about all the Seekers who gave up on advancing to District Six. There were only a few more hours in our limited time… We couldn’t choose to wait around until the last minute in the hope that this third-class dragon captain would arrive much sooner than expected. “I see… Thank you for the report. Have you heard anything else?” said Seraphina. “Y-yes… Actually…someone went into the labyrinth before we’d completely implemented our entrance restriction. I am incredibly sorry.” “…Understood. I will advise them to leave if we happen across them in the labyrinth. I assume you didn’t see what this person looked like?” …It’s probably Gray… And if it is, he’ll try to pull some trick on us. Did he come right back to the labyrinth after we talked to him at Green Hall? Is he trying to get revenge on us? “And it wasn’t a group of people that went into the labyrinth?” asked Elitia. “N-no… It was only one person. They entered from the opposite side, where we hadn’t set up a guard yet. When one of the squad members noticed, they were already disappearing into the labyrinth entrance.” Somehow this person had thrown off the pursuit of the higher level Guild Saviors and gotten into the labyrinth… I couldn’t think of anyone else who would go that far. “We probably won’t find them easily if we search… We need to be on our guard,” said Elitia. “Yes. If they try to do something after we’ve won, we won’t be able to let our guard down even after we’ve beaten the giant crab,” I said. “Would they really try something reckless in a situation like this…? Actually, if it is who I think it is, he definitely will,” said Igarashi. “Since there are Guild Saviors outside, he couldn’t even run away if he did do something bad, right? And we have Seraphina in our party,” said Misaki. I agreed with her. It was possible he’d use a method that meant his karma wouldn’t go up, like Bergen and his group did, but we couldn’t focus solely on preparing for that possibility. “…Mr. Atobe, do you know the person who entered the labyrinth?” asked Seraphina. “I can’t say for sure, but it is possible. One of the members of the Alliance doesn’t see us in a very favorable light.” “I see… I have some words I’d like to give them as well. I just hope they don’t do something careless.” Gray had completely lost any desire to fight when he’d been face-to-face with the Merciless Guillotine. It was hard to imagine he’d go all the way to the beach and try to hinder our battle. “…I’m sure he wouldn’t take the path through the cliffs. He must be aware that he’s the one hated most by the monsters’ ghosts that were hunted on the beach,” said Suzuna. Her opinion was reliable since she could sense spirits. If Gray had any intelligence at all, he’d realize he was one of the reasons that the Merciless Guillotine appeared in the first place. “Anyway, we just need to focus on doing what we can. Let’s all be careful, you guys,” I said. “““Okay!””” We started walking, and everyone naturally fell into battle formation. In the front was Seraphina, and when she was about to enter the labyrinth, I was suddenly conscious of what was behind us. I turned back and saw her guard unit all standing at attention and saluting. “Seriously…I told them not to do that kind of thing when I’m off duty,” said Seraphina, but she was smiling. Everyone seemed tense but put on a smile. We were all able to move forward without fear. The time inside the labyrinth didn’t match with the time outside. In front of us we saw skies and fields stained red with the evening sun. First, we checked the area to ensure we were safe, and I started preparing so we could use our Morale Discharges. It normally took about forty minutes, but we’d already gone seeking once that day, meaning pretty much everyone’s morale was up. After thirty minutes, everyone but Melissa had one hundred morale. “Good… Now Melissa’s morale is one hundred as well. Everyone ready?” I said. ♦Current Status♦ > ARIHITO activated MORALE SUPPORT 1 Party’s morale increased by 10 “…Whenever you speak, Mr. Atobe, my morale increases… I have heard specialized jobs can have skills that encourage others, but this…,” said Seraphina. “Whenever Arihito cheers us on, I get strangely full of energy, like, I’ve got a hundred and ten percent motivation now!” “But, Misaki, then your morale probably wouldn’t really go up at all…,” said Suzuna. There were a lot of benefits from having high morale. We couldn’t keep morale at one hundred at all times, and it appeared that using Morale Support at the same place before battle reduced the amount that the party’s morale went up with each use. The boost from my equipment should have brought it up by twelve each time, but right now it was only going up by ten each time. Anyway, with that, our preparations were complete. I summoned the Demi-Harpies and asked them to carry me, Misaki, and Suzuna. They used their feet to grab us. Their legs looked rather slender, but they were strong, perhaps like an eagle’s claws, so they held us firmly. “Who would have thought you could team up with Demi-Harpies and use this kind of strategy… I wish other parties would take note of the diversity of the strategies your party has available to them,” said Seraphina. “Except that only parties with expendable funds can afford to train human-type monsters since they level up slowly and it takes money to care for them,” said Igarashi. “It’s also really difficult to capture them without killing them. I’ve heard of instances where people would use a skill to force the monster unconscious, but they’d take a hit at the same time and it would kill them,” said Elitia. I remembered the time I fell with the Demi-Harpy and Cion caught us, as well as Astarte, Cion’s mom. If it weren’t for her intimidation, we probably wouldn’t have been able to capture the first Demi-Harpy. “Actually…Atobe, the way that Demi-Harpy is carrying you makes it look like you’re about to be hit with a scissors takedown by a winged lady…,” said Igarashi. “Oooh, don’t say that! It makes me think of what’s gonna happen to us with the scissors monsters… Call this an eagle grab instead,” said Misaki. “Oh, right… The Sand Scissors… Haaah. Misaki, you always help by making me feel relaxed,” said Elitia. She had become more and more tense as her morale increased, but now a good amount of tension drained from her shoulders. Melissa was riding Cion with the Forbidden Scythe across her back and did a final check of the plan with us. “There is a chance we could have a Bubble Laser shot at us right when we go in.” “If that happens, I can use Mirage Step…,” said Igarashi. “There’s a chance that Mirage Step won’t work to avoid straight magic attacks. I can at least react if I’m shot at…,” said Elitia. “No, leave it to me. I’d like to try out this new shield.” Seraphina looked like her entire body radiated fighting spirit. If she said it would be fine, I could trust her to handle it. The path through the cliffs led directly into the sun, momentarily blinding us. If Seraphina could definitely take the enemy’s attacks, then we could at least avoid getting shot down right when we exited the pass while our eyes were still adjusting. “I’m gonna use a skill to prevent any Fear effects. Mist of Bravery!” “Thank you, Ms. Kyouka… Now, here we go!” ♦Current Status♦ > ARIHITO activated DEFENSE SUPPORT 1 Target: SERAPHINA > KYOUKA activated MIST OF BRAVERY > SERAPHINA activated DEFENSIVE STANCE > SERAPHINA activated SURGING WAVE ADVANCE Movement speed increases while defending “Haaaaaah!” Seraphina lifted the shield bigger than her and rushed so fast I could hardly believe it. A massive ghost-like form suddenly appeared in the direction she was moving. ♦Monster Encountered♦ MERCILESS GUILLOTINE Level 8 Variable Resistances Area Effect: FEAR Dropped Loot: ??? “You won’t get past…this shield!” ♦Current Status♦ > SERAPHINA activated PROVOKE MERCILESS GUILLOTINE’s hostility toward SERAPHINA increased Seraphina was wrapped in dense light. She used every skill she had at her disposal, and the moment she left the narrow passage, the giant crab unleashed a jet of water so powerful, it carved a gouge into the rock. “…GUWAARARAAAAA!” ♦Current Status♦ > SERAPHINA activated AURA SHIELD > MIRRORED SHELL PAVIS’s special effect activated SERAPHINA’s magic defense rose sharply > SERAPHINA activated DEFENSE FORCE > MERCILESS GUILLOTINE activated BUBBLE LASER Hit SERAPHINA No damage For a moment, Seraphina’s shield looked like it’d grown larger. The attack, which I believed was the one that devastated Roland’s party, was deflected with her shield, the scattered water falling down like rain again. “Let’s go, everyone!” “Yeah!” “……!” Elitia, Igarashi, and Theresia dashed forward. Seraphina continued to advance using Surging Wave Advance, maintaining her position in the front of the formation. “We’re in this, too! Let’s go, Himiko!” I shouted. “Thank you, Asuka!” “Here we gooo, Yayoi!” “Us too…!” “Woof!” The Demi-Harpies flapped their wings powerfully and flew over the beach in the rain as Cion rushed over the sand. For a moment, I was stunned at the beauty of the scene. If we hadn’t come here for a battle, I would probably have just stood, silently staring at it. An expansive white sand beach was cut out from abundant fields by a towering rock cliff. The sun started to slip behind the ocean’s horizon, and the Merciless Guillotine raised its massive pincer.