◇ ◇ ◇
"Good morning~, Sophie!"
A few days after Twilight Moon Rainbow and Selma had returned to Tsutrail, Caroline called out to Sophia, who was reading in the dormitory entrance.
"Good morning, Carol. Though it is practically already lunchtime."
Sophia greeted Caroline with a wry smile.
The time was already approaching eleven o'clock.
"Ahaha, true. But since this is the first time we are meeting today, 'good morning' still feels right to me!"
"That might be true."
"Oh, then why do not we guess whether Ruu-nee will say 'good morning' or 'hello'?"
Twilight Moon Rainbow had been working hard on conquering the great labyrinth every day and had designated today as a rest day. The three of them had promised to go out into the city together.
"Eh. Well, all right. I think she will say 'hello.'"
"I bet she will say 'good morning'!"
After Sophia and Caroline exchanged a few more light words, Luna arrived.
"Good morning, you two. I am sorry for being late."
"Morning~, Ruu-nee! See, it really was 'good morning'!"
"Good morning, Ruu-nee. ...Even at this hour, 'good morning' is still the main choice."
"...?"
Luna tilted her head at the two's comments after the greeting.
"We were guessing whether you would say 'good morning' or 'hello,' Ruu-nee. I guessed 'good morning' and Sophie guessed 'hello.'"
"I see, so that is what it was. It is true that either could work at this time."
"Yeah! Well then, everyone is here, so let us head out! Today we are going to eat our way through the city~!"
"Ah, I am sorry, but..."
Just as Caroline started walking toward the entrance, Luna stopped her with an apologetic expression.
"Something urgent has come up. I am sorry. I came here at least to apologize in person."
"Oh, I see. Yeah, I am fine! Go ahead and take care of that first!"
"If it is urgent, it cannot be helped. If there is anything we can help with, we will."
"Thank you. The matter is something I can handle alone, so please enjoy your day off."
"Got it! Let us hang out together again sometime!"
"Yes. I will definitely make it up to you."
Seeing that the two did not seem particularly bothered, Luna quietly felt relieved.
She then left the dormitory in a hurry.
"Today it is just the two of us on a date!"
After seeing Luna off, Caroline spoke to Sophia.
"Ahaha, does that count as a date when it is two girls?"
"It is all about the mood, the mood!"
Sophia and Caroline headed out into the city while having an enjoyable conversation.
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—Northwestern outskirts of Tsutrail, near the First Labyrinth—
"Selma, I have finished checking the Third Labyrinth. There were no signs of an overflow."
While Selma was checking the labyrinths for signs of overflow together with Rain, a telepathic message came in from Katina of Red Copper Evening Glow, who had been checking another labyrinth.
Selma, who had recently returned to Tsutrail, was investigating the labyrinths around Tsutrail together with the other first squad members and the explorers from Red Copper Evening Glow who had remained in Tsutrail — Katina and Huey.
At the beginning of this year, Princess Lucila had requested two things from the S-rank parties of Tsutrail, the Night Sky Silver Rabbit and Red Copper Evening Glow.
The requests were to conquer designated labyrinths within the kingdom and to defend Tsutrail.
The labyrinth conquest had been assigned to Orun, Fuuka, and Hart, while the defense was being handled by dividing the remaining members.
As part of the defense, they regularly checked the five labyrinths around Tsutrail for any signs of overflow.
It was believed that the empire, their opponent in the war, had established technology capable of artificially causing labyrinth overflows.
Since Tsutrail was an important base second only to the royal capital, if the empire were to sabotage it, causing overflows in the surrounding labyrinths was entirely possible.
"Understood. Thank you for the report."
Selma responded to Katina's report.
"Well, it is part of the job. Still, Selma's unique ability is really convenient. We can exchange information in real time even at this distance."
After finishing her report, Katina touched on the usefulness of Selma's ability as part of the conversation.
"It feels ticklish when other clan explorers praise me that much."
As Selma smiled shyly at Katina's words,
"Fufufu~. It is only natural that Selma-san is amazing! After all, she is our leader and our heart!"
Lucrecia, who had been checking another labyrinth, joined the conversation with a proud tone.
"Lucre, do not praise me so much. I know better than anyone that I cannot do anything alone."
"Hmm, Selma-san has low self-evaluation~. I think you should have more confidence. Do you not agree, Katina-san?"
"Yes, I do. Since Selma returned, the efficiency of the labyrinth checks has improved dramatically, and I now understand why she is called the Continent's Greatest Enchanter."
"Th-thank you... A-anyway! Lucre, since you joined the telepathy, does that mean you have finished checking your labyrinth?"
Unable to bear being praised so openly by Lucrecia and Katina, Selma forcibly changed the subject.
"Ah, she ran away. I wanted to see more of the embarrassed Selma-san, but oh well. —Yeah, Will and I have finished checking the Fifth Labyrinth! No abnormalities here either!"
"I see. Then you and Will head back up first. Good work. Katina and Huey, please continue with the Fourth Labyrinth as planned. We will head to the Second Labyrinth now."
"Understood. I will contact you again once we finish checking the Fourth Labyrinth. ...Selma, be careful..."
"Yeah, you too."
After ending the telepathy, Selma let out a small sigh. Rain, who was beside her, looked at Selma with a gentle smile.
"Wh-what is it, Rain?"
"I was just thinking how cute you look with your face all red and embarrassed."
"Even you, Rain... Please stop teasing me."
"Fufu. Sorry, sorry. Your ideals are high, after all. You may be comparing yourself to them and looking down on yourself, but the you now is already an amazing existence, and you are an irreplaceable comrade to us. Do not forget that."
Rain, who had been listening to the telepathy, shared her thoughts.
"...Yeah. Thank you, Rain."
"You are welcome. Well then, let us head to the Second Labyrinth."
◇
Some time after Selma had started walking toward the Second Labyrinth,
"Selma-kun... I believe... this voice... will reach you... Please... protect Tsutrail..."
Suddenly, a familiar male voice echoed in her mind.
The tone was weak, as if the speaker was wandering on the border between life and death.
"This voice... Guild Master!?"
The telepathy was from Leon, the head of the explorers guild.
Selma's unique ability Spirit Resonance allowed her to connect a path with any chosen person and speak without voice over long distances.
However, Selma had not connected a path with Leon for telepathy at that moment.
The fact that a message had come from him in that situation, along with his weak tone, left Selma unable to hide her confusion.
She immediately connected a path with Leon and sent her voice, but there was no response. Right after that, the path was cut.
Only Selma, who possessed Spirit Resonance, could cut a path. People without this ability could not cut it on their own.
However, there had been one time in the past when a path had been cut against Selma's will.
That had been during the black dragon battle about two years ago — in other words, at the time of Albert's death, Orun's predecessor and the ace of the Night Sky Silver Rabbit at the time.
"..."
She tried to calm herself as confusion threatened to overwhelm her, but the situation did not allow it.
"——! Selma! Magical beasts are coming out of the Second Labyrinth!"
"What!?"
At Rain's shout, Selma's attention turned to the situation before her.
However, the situation continued to worsen.
From behind them, in the direction of Tsutrail, a large cloud of dust rose along with the sound of something massive collapsing.
While cold sweat broke out from the sudden torrent of events, Selma took a deep breath to calm her mind.
"We have to deal with what is in front of us first... Rain! Can I leave the extermination of the magical beasts to you!?"
Rain nodded strongly at Selma's call.
"Of course! Leave the magical beasts to me. Selma, focus on gathering information!"
"Thank you. I will join you soon. Hold on for a little while! —Magic Power Increase!"
After sharing thoughts with Rain, Selma cast a buff on her and entrusted her with handling the magical beasts.
"I will not allow you to ravage the surface! —Arrow Rain!"
Having received the buff, Rain began exterminating the magical beasts with attack magic.
"Such extermination power. Now I can concentrate on gathering information...!"
Selma let out an impressed voice as she watched Rain's magic turn the magical beasts into black mist in the blink of an eye.
She then quickly switched her focus and exercised her ability.
"This is Selma of the Night Sky Silver Rabbit! Someone, tell me the situation in Tsutrail!"
She connected paths with all the guild staff at the explorers guild building to check the situation.
Currently, three main forces were gathered in Tsutrail.
The first was the territorial army, the private soldiers of Marquis Forgas, the lord of this land.
The second was the explorers who made their living exploring labyrinths.
The third was the central army dispatched by the royal family for the defense of Tsutrail.
Naturally, these organizations had separate chains of command.
However, Marquis Forgas, who had considered the possibility of a surprise attack by the empire, had arranged that in the event of such an emergency, command would be centralized under the explorers guild.
That was why Selma had first sent telepathy to the guild staff, even though she knew the path with Leon had been cut and there was little hope.
—No... I do not want to die—
—Stay away! You monsters—
But no one responded to Selma's telepathy. Instead, screams of agony echoed inside her head.
And one by one, those voices began to disappear.
Unable to bear the voices that made her want to cover her ears, Selma spat out "Damn it!" and then connected paths with all the residents of Tsutrail.
"This is Selma of the Night Sky Silver Rabbit! I am issuing an emergency declaration! There is a high possibility that the explorers guild has been destroyed by an enemy attack! Additionally, I have confirmed an overflow of magical beasts from the Second Labyrinth!"
—What on earth is happening!?
—The explorers guild building has been blown to pieces...
—Do something, Selma! You are an S-rank explorer, right!?
Selma's mind was once again filled with screams.
Among them were quite a few voices calling for Selma's help.
Most of the paths remained connected.
However, some paths began to break.
And their number increased with time.
Biting her lip to keep her agitation from showing in her voice, Selma continued sending her voice.
"Everyone, please calm down! If you panic, lives that could have been saved will be lost!"
—...
—That's right... We have to stay calm at times like this...
Although many were still panicking, some people regained their composure thanks to Selma's sharp command.
"Non-combatant residents, evacuate to the shelters! The territorial army will guide the evacuating residents, the central army will check the current state of the guild, and the explorers will head to the designated labyrinths as previously notified by the guild!"