“Now that I think about it, they could have teleported back to the entrance of the twentieth floor—we talked earlier about going back after one more climb. Maybe we should go check there.”
“Good point,” said Haruka. “Is that within your capabilities, Yuki?”
Though Haruka had phrased it as a question, it was clear from the way she was staring at Yuki that she would only accept an affirmative answer. Yuki had no choice but to nod and say, “Y-Yeah, of course! I don’t have much mana left, but I’ll give it my best shot!”
Everyone gathered around Yuki, and she closed her eyes to focus. However...
“...Huh?”
Yuki quickly opened her eyes again and tilted her head nervously. Haruka, too, began to feel uneasy when she saw Yuki’s reaction.
“What’s wrong, Yuki?”
“Oh, um, it seems like I actually can’t teleport...”
A dry laugh escaped her lips. She seemed genuinely baffled.
“What do you mean you can’t teleport?” Haruka demanded. “Surely you have adequate mana?”
“Yeah, no, that’s not the problem. It just feels different. Like, I can sense the teleportation marker, but I can’t reach it for some reason. I’m not really sure how to describe it. Maybe it’s a lack of mana, but...”
“Give me a clear answer,” Haruka snapped.
Ordinarily, Haruka was good at keeping her feelings under control, but due to the situation at hand, she was letting signs of frustration slip out. Yuki paused to think things through before elaborating.
“Uh, well, for example, if normal teleportation is like moving around with no wind, then right now, it feels like there’s a headwind—like, twenty meters of headwind. I think I can overcome it if I use a ton of mana, but it’ll be close.”
“Oh, is it kind of like being on the receiving end of a signal jamming attack?” Touya asked.
“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. I can probably get us back to that ledge up there no problem, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to go back to one of the markers what with everything happening. Even if I’m just a little bit off, I could send all of us off a cliff or something.”
The rock ledges were wide enough, but the plank trails were quite narrow; no single section was wider than two meters. If Meikyo Shisui teleported to the wrong spot, at least one person was sure to fall.
“Ugh. Damn it. I never thought we’d end up in a situation that we couldn’t just teleport out of,” said Touya. “We can’t climb back up either, what with the rockslide. What’s the plan, Haruka?”
“What?”
“C’mon, snap out of it,” said Touya. “You’re supposed to be the practical one, right?”
Haruka had an uneasy expression. Her eyes were wandering. “Yes, I’m well aware of that. However...”
The sisters seemed very surprised by her indecisive response.
“Whoa, I’ve almost never seen big sis Haruka act like this before,” said Metea.
“Mm. She’s usually calm and composed at all times,” said Mary.
“Oh, uh, yeah, Haruka is actually kind of dependent on Nao when it comes to emotional stability,” said Touya.
“Natsuki’s not around, so we’re missing the other calm person too,” Yuki pointed out.
“Yeah, me and Yuki are comic relief characters, so we’re not much help,” said Touya.
“Exactly, so— Hang on, who are you calling comic relief?!”
Haruka’s expression softened a little as she observed the sketch Yuki and Touya were acting out.
“I need to pull myself together and consider our next course of action.” Haruka spent a moment in thought. “I believe it would be best for us to head back before the others.”
“Really? We’re not going to look for big bro Nao and big sis Natsuki?” Metea asked, looking surprised.
“Our original plan was to head back after one more descent, so even if nothing had happened, we wouldn’t have made much more progress,” said Haruka. “And now we’re down two members, so we have even more reasons to turn back.”
“Yeah, it’s the only practical thing to do at this point,” said Touya.
Touya had avoided saying outright that they needed to consider Nao and Natsuki’s safety, but Haruka pressed her lips together and took a deep breath in an effort to stay calm.
“Luckily, Nao and Natsuki were both carrying their magic bags, so they have adequate food,” said Haruka. “They can protect themselves from or simply avoid monsters using Time Magic and Scout, and Natsuki has healing magic, so they won’t have to worry about injuries. It might be best for us to return home in order to return and search for them later.”
Everyone understood that there was an element of wishful thinking in Haruka’s works, but no one spoke up to say so.
“We’ll just have to hope they can fend for themselves for a while,” said Touya. “We’re in a bit of a predicament here ourselves. So, what’s the plan, Haruka? Should we try and climb around the section that collapsed, or should we teleport out of here?”
“I believe that climbing back up would be the better option, but do you think we can pull it off, Touya?”
Touya nodded, then took a look around and grimaced.
“I mean, I’ll give it a shot if that’s what you want me to do, but it’s getting pretty dark already.”
“We could cast Light, but that would also make it easier for monsters to spot us,” said Haruka.
“Yeah. And we might run into some monsters that only come out after dark,” said Yuki.
It would have been far too dangerous to climb the rock wall that had collapsed in the dark, and Yuki was correct that unfamiliar types of monsters might attack them. Haruka understood all of this, so she immediately nodded and raised another possibility.
“In that case, we have no alternative but to camp here tonight. I’m not sure whether this is a blessing in disguise, but I do have the pop-up tent in my magic bag.”
The pop-up tent would allow Meikyo Shisui to rest without worrying about environmental factors such as wind, temperature, and humidity. One thing it could not block out was noise, and lookout duty would be exhausting for whomever had to keep watch in the wind and spray, but it would still make a huge difference.