◇
"…You held it together pretty well. I was seriously worried you might kill the two of them right there. Good thing neither of them noticed your killing intent."
After leaving his father's office, Marius moved to an empty small room and spoke up.
"I feel like crushing Father right now."
Selma released her Hide skill and appeared, having been listening to Marius the whole time.
Her face was etched with an indescribable fury.
In the office just now, it had not been only Marius, the count, and Ald. Selma had also been present, concealed by Hide.
Since everyone knew how much Selma doted on Sophia, there was no way the count and the others would reveal their scheme if she asked directly. That was why Marius—who still held a certain level of trust from their father—had taken on the role of interrogator.
"The one who crushes that beast will be me. I won't let even you steal that role from me, Selma."
"As long as I can save Sophia, that's enough for me. But why are you helping now, Brother? You've always been so indifferent toward her."
Thanks to Marius's cooperation, Selma had finally learned why Sophia had been brought to Daluane.
Yet up until this moment, Marius had maintained complete indifference toward Sophia.
That made his decision to help her now completely unexpected from Selma's perspective.
"I hate answering a question with another question, but Selma—why do you want to save Sophia so badly?"
"Because she's my sister. She's the one and only precious little sister I have in this world. Isn't that reason enough?"
Selma answered without a moment's hesitation, her eyes clear and unwavering.
Hearing that, Marius gave a gentle smile and murmured, "We're a lot alike, aren't we? Makes sense since we're siblings."
His voice carried the same warmth as his expression.
"…Weren't you supposed to hate Sophia? You even said you didn't have time to deal with the family's disgrace."
"If you seriously believed that, then I guess my acting was pretty good."
"What do you mean?"
"When I heard the servant was pregnant with Father's child, I was honestly happy at first. A new little brother or sister was coming. But at the same time, I felt nothing but contempt for that man who couldn't even control his own lust. I couldn't forgive someone like that being the one to rule this land and guide its people."
Marius spoke as though he were finally releasing years of pent-up anger.
"From that day on, my goal became dragging that man down from his position as lord as quickly as possible. But nobles with peerages in this country hold overwhelming power. Back then I was so insignificant that if I had openly opposed him, I would have been crushed in an instant."
"So that's why you never criticized Father?"
"Exactly. I needed to build my strength in order to take him down. I know my own personality. If I got close to Sophia, I would end up doting on her the same way I did with you. That would have been inconvenient for that man and for Mother. So I chose to stay completely indifferent toward Sophia."
"..."
Selma's expression grew complicated as she listened to Marius.
She understood the true intent behind his actions now, yet those same actions had undeniably hurt Sophia as well.
"But that's over now. I've finally obtained the weapon I need to crush him. Secretly dealing with an enemy nation like the Empire—even if it's supposedly to save the people of the territory—is clear treason against the kingdom. …Well, I don't exactly have the right to act like a big brother to Sophia at this point anyway."
◇ ◇ ◇
"So Count Clodel was conducting dealings with the Empire?"
Together with my brother, I have decided to bring down our father—Count Clodel.
Once Father falls from power, the position of family head will naturally pass to my brother.
If Brother becomes the head, he can use his authority to cancel Sophia's engagement.
Normally it would be difficult to nullify an arranged marriage once it has been finalized, but the other party is an imperial noble.
When the other side is an enemy nation, it becomes possible to forcibly void the agreement.
To justify our actions, we decided to inform Lucy of the fact that Father had been dealing with the Empire.
After hearing Marius's explanation, Lucy closed her eyes in thought.
"We are not asking Your Highness Lucila to denounce Father immediately. We simply ask that you turn a blind eye to our actions for a little while."
Marius went on to explain why he had brought this matter to Lucy.
No matter what, Father is still the current head of the Clodel count family.
Even if we have justice on our side, what we are about to do is essentially baring our fangs at the family head.
"…Indeed, the fact that the count was colluding with the Empire cannot be overlooked."
"Then—"
"—However, there is still time to take measures. For example, we could have your younger sister act as a spy. I imagine Count Clodel is already considering something similar. If that is the case, it would benefit our kingdom, so we would have no choice but to overlook the count's actions."
At Lucy's first words I thought she was going to side with us, but in the next moment her expression shifted into that of a princess, and she said something that sounded like she was endorsing Father's behavior.
"I'm sorry, Selma. As your friend, I don't want to force such a role onto the little sister you adore. But as a princess, I have no choice but to make use of this situation. Especially when the other party is Viscount Emelt."
Viscount Emelt is the imperial noble Sophia is supposed to marry.
It is common knowledge that his house holds strong influence within the Empire's military. One could interpret this engagement as giving them the perfect pretext to plant Sophia inside their ranks.
"We have secured the cooperation of the neighboring countries, but our kingdom is still at a disadvantage. We cannot afford to leave any possible advantage unused. Besides, we cannot allow the labyrinth near Daluane to overflow right now. If people from other nations were harmed by the overflow, it could affect the coalition army as well."
"..."
I understand what Lucy is saying.
But I cannot accept it.
If winning this war requires sacrificing Sophia, then we might as well lose.
"I understand Your Highness Lucila's position. In that case, from here on I will act as an explorer of Night Sky's Silver Rabbit."
When I said that, Lucy's expression softened slightly.
It feels like she has been leading me to this conclusion, but right now this is the only path I have left.
"If there is a possibility the labyrinth could overflow… then as an explorer I cannot ignore it. I will go and conquer the labyrinth near Daluane."
"If you conquer a labyrinth without the guild's permission, there is a chance your explorer qualifications could be revoked, you know?"
Lucy is right—the explorer guild manages labyrinths.
They sometimes commission explorers to conquer them in order to regulate magic stone supply in various regions, but in general, labyrinths are not meant to be conquered.
The fact that Orun and the others are currently conquering multiple labyrinths inside the kingdom is an extreme exception.
"There is no need to worry about that. According to the schedule, Orun will be arriving in Daluane soon. Right now he has authority not only to conquer designated labyrinths but also to conquer non-designated ones at his own discretion. I plan to have him retroactively approve my actions."
The official reason for agreeing to Sophia's engagement with the Empire is to protect the people of the territory from a labyrinth overflow.
If the labyrinth itself disappears, there will be no overflow, which means there will be no need to hand Sophia over to the Empire.
Even if the marriage between Sophia and the imperial noble were to go through in response to the Empire's demands, there is no guarantee the Empire would refrain from causing an overflow.
In fact, considering the relationship between the Empire and the kingdom, the odds of them not causing one are probably lower.
After hearing my reasoning, Lucy nodded with a beaming smile that practically said "correct answer."
She must have already considered this possibility—and many others—the moment she heard our story.
I have seen her abnormal level of foresight countless times back in our academy days.
From the position of "Her Highness Lucila," it would have been difficult for her to openly support conquering the labyrinth in order to nullify the engagement.
That was why she had subtly guided the conversation to make me volunteer to conquer it myself.
Honestly, nobles and royals are such a hassle.
That said, if there were no advantages for her in letting me conquer the labyrinth, Lucy would have put her full authority as princess behind stopping me.
I do not know exactly what advantage she sees in this, but she is someone who always thinks several moves ahead.
There must be considerable benefit for her.
Finally, Lucy spoke as if to wrap things up.
"I see. If that is the decision you have made as an explorer, Selma, then there is nothing I can do to stop you. And if the labyrinth disappears and the only remaining fact is that Count Clodel was dealing with the Empire, then I will have no choice but to denounce him as well."
It was an incredibly brazen statement, but with that our course was set.
Everyone has their own calculations at play, but in short, conquering the Daluane labyrinth will move events in the direction that suits me best.
◇
"Sophia, just hold on a little longer. I will definitely save you!"
At the entrance to the labyrinth near Daluane, I sent another telepathic message to Sophia, wherever she might be in the city.
As always, there was no reply.
While I conquer the labyrinth, Brother is supposed to extract Sophia's location from Father.
I wish my ability could pinpoint exact locations in more detail.
No—there is no time to complain right now.
I do not know the exact number of days, but there cannot be much time left before Sophia is handed over to the Empire.
I cannot imagine Father keeping her around for long.
I have to conquer this labyrinth quickly and drag Father down from his position as head. There is no time to waste.
"…All right. Let's go!"
I steeled myself and stepped into the labyrinth alone.
Even though the coalition army has been formed, Lucy still has numerous diplomatic matters to handle.
In this situation, she cannot make any large-scale moves.
That is why I am conquering this labyrinth by myself.
I am one of the S-rank explorers, after all.
For a normal labyrinth, I can confidently say I could conquer it solo without issue.
But according to the information, this labyrinth contains magic beasts comparable to those found on the lower levels of a great labyrinth.
Against opponents like that, even I—who ranks near the bottom among S-rank explorers in combat ability—will struggle considerably.
Still, to keep Sophia from suffering any longer, I have no choice but to conquer this place myself!
While taking down magic beasts with magic, I advanced through the wilderness-like floors.
Then several spider-type magic beasts about waist-high appeared.
"…These weren't in the prior information."
Before entering, I had checked most of the available data on this labyrinth, but there had been nothing about spider-type beasts like these.
Nine times out of ten, these are a new species.
While I was constructing a spell formula thinking that, the spiders spat threads to try to restrain me.
The threads passed straight through my body…
Ever since entering this labyrinth, I have kept my original magic, Phantom, active at all times.
What the spiders attacked was my illusion.
"Fire Javelin!"
From behind the illusion, I fired fire spears at each of the spiders.
"…So it wasn't a lie that there are beasts on par with great labyrinth lower levels."
Even special-grade magic struggles to one-shot lower-level beasts.
The fire spears dealt damage to the spiders, but nowhere near enough to defeat them.
I used Phantom to confuse their vision while maneuvering around them.
"No time to hold back here! —Explode!"
While layering various buffs on myself, I hammered them relentlessly with special-grade and advanced magic.
This time they could not withstand it. The spiders turned into black mist, leaving only magic stones behind.
After defeating the spider beasts, I continued pressing toward the deepest part of the labyrinth.
◇
"Haa… haa… haa… Damn it, I'm only halfway through the twentieth floor…"
I muttered complaints as overuse of magic pushed me past headache straight into a nosebleed.
It had already been more than two days since I entered the labyrinth.
This labyrinth consists of twenty-seven floors.
Each floor is vast, making it one of the largest-scale labyrinths around.
I return to the surface to rest every time I clear a floor, so my pace is slow but steady.
The number of magic beasts increases with each floor, but I was on track to reach the twenty-first floor.
However, partway through, I encountered a pack of more than ten wolves with reddish-black fur.
These too were a new species not mentioned in the prior information.
Each individual wolf was comparable to a great labyrinth lower-level beast, and they coordinated to try to devour me.
Even so, by relying on Phantom and support magic while focusing on defense, I thought I could manage to defeat them.
—But before I could finish them off, my brain screamed in protest.
"Is this… as far as I go…?"
In this hopeless situation where my vision and thoughts were starting to blur, a weak murmur escaped me.
I am roughly in the middle of the twentieth floor.
That means there is still a considerable distance whether I try to advance or retreat.
These wolves are bad enough, but even if by some miracle I defeated them, other beasts would probably finish me off before I could reach the crystal at the floor entrance.
My means of attack is magic.
I can handle close combat at a bare minimum, but in this state—with my vision and thoughts clouded—I cannot deliver attacks strong enough to work on wolves.
The wolves growled as they closed off my escape routes, encircling me.
Once the encirclement was complete, one of the wolves behind me lunged.
"! Rock Needle!"
Ignoring the headache, the most I could manage was a mid-grade attack spell.
Even so, I somehow completed the formula and poured magic into it, causing spikes to erupt from the ground where the wolf would pass.
But the wolf leaped even higher than the tips of the spikes to evade my attack. Then, with its mouth wide open in midair, it came hurtling toward me at terrifying speed to tear out my throat.
(This… I can't dodge…! I'm sorry, Sophia. I couldn't save you, and now I'm going to die first—)
As an explorer, I had always been prepared to die to a magic beast.
Of course I still felt regret, but I no longer had the strength left to turn this situation around.
Unable to move my body properly or even think clearly, I closed my eyes and accepted the approaching "death" without resistance.
In a few moments, intense pain would come, and then my consciousness would fade—that was what I thought.
A gust of wind passed right beside me.
No matter how long I waited, death did not arrive.
I cautiously opened my eyes.
What entered my vision was a young man wearing a coat primarily in black and blue.
The pitch-black sword of magic power in his hand had bisected the wolf that had been charging at me.
"Thank goodness! I made it in time! Selma-san, are you alive?"
"…Orun?"
Standing before me was Orun—my reliable comrade who should not have been here—looking at me with worry.
"It must have been rough doing this alone. But you're safe now. Leave the rest to me."
Seeing the smile on Orun's face as he said that, relief washed over me, and before I knew it tears were streaming down my cheeks.
"All right then. You mutts really hurt someone precious to me. I assume you're ready for the consequences?"
Orun turned back toward the wolves and spoke in a voice thick with anger.
It felt almost as if his rage was making the air around us vibrate.
"Mont Zwei, Second Form."
Orun's magic sword split into a pair of short swords, and his figure in front of me blurred.
For a moment I thought it was from overusing magic, but in the next instant, pitch-black trails were drawn all around me in the blink of an eye. Those trails turned the remaining wolves into black mist.