"All right, let's keep up the momentum for today's labyrinth investigation! Will, are we switching teams today?"
After finishing breakfast and stepping outside together, Hank—the mage—asked the question.
"No changes for a while. I've told you repeatedly—constantly swapping members just makes things less efficient."
Right now, our group consisted of seven people.
Will and Lucre could pair up just fine, but three- and four-person teams made investigation smoother.
So we'd split into two groups and rotated members every few weeks.
The last rotation had been last week.
Even though we'd decided no changes for now, ever since Will and Lucre ended up in different groups, someone asked almost daily if we were switching.
"Hey, come on—our glorious leader Will-sama's motivation is on the line here. Surely we should—"
"Shut up before I punch you…!"
"Whoa, scary~"
This kind of light banter while heading to the labyrinth had become our recent routine.
That routine shattered in the next moment.
As we walked through the city, a massive explosion suddenly roared in the streets.
"What the—!?"
We turned toward the sound—buildings were collapsing, thick smoke rising.
The explosion had come from what looked like the territorial army's barracks.
Even if it was a mishandling of fire, the scale was no joke. —No, this isn't the time to escape reality!
"Lucre!"
An explosion this big. Whether magic or sorcery, it almost certainly involved mana.
In that case, Lucre's ability [Mana Tracking] could pinpoint the caster.
"I'm already looking! —Ahh!!"
The moment Lucre responded from behind me, she let out a voiceless scream.
I spun around immediately—there was an unfamiliar man standing there.
(Who the hell is this!? He got this close and I didn't notice at all!)
The man had shining silk-like golden hair and vivid blue eyes. His light attire still screamed nobility at first glance.
And the tip of his sword was pressed against Lucre's throat.
"—Don't move."
The moment we all registered the blond man, he spoke.
"You're from Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky, correct? If you don't resist, I have no intention of harming you. But if you do—first, this woman's head comes off."
"…"
With Lucre taken hostage, we couldn't make any careless moves.
Once we showed we had no intention of resisting, the man spoke again.
"First, let's change locations."
◇
Unable to fight back recklessly, we followed the man's lead to a relatively open area in a quiet part of town with little foot traffic.
"…This should do."
The man muttered, lowering the blade from Lucre's throat and storing it in his storage magic tool.
What the hell was this guy thinking?
As I wondered, he turned back to us.
"You'll stay quiet here until everything's over."
"'Until everything's over'… you mean until the fighting outside ends…?"
Ever since the barracks exploded, battle sounds had been coming from outside the city.
His comrades were probably fighting the territorial army.
"Exactly. We have no intention of harming civilians. That includes you explorers."
From his attire, this guy clearly wasn't some random thief.
No—now wasn't the time to look away.
The man before us was almost certainly from the empire. And likely someone of royal blood.
His hair color, eye color, and clothing matched every characteristic I knew of the imperial family.
If the enemy was from the empire and fighting the territorial army outside—this was effectively an invasion.
We were explorers. Even if we weren't suited for human combat, we were still far more capable than civilians in a fight.
For someone of royal status to approach us alone—knowing we were from Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky—there was only one person it could be.
"…Understood. We promise not to interfere."
"Hey, Will—"
"That's why! Guarantee our comrades' safety here, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Rex—the A-rank party's ace—started to protest, but I cut him off.
"I didn't plan to hide it, but you saw through me faster than expected. I promise your safety as long as you don't interfere."
He revealed his identity easily.
But that confirmed it.
This man was Felix Roots Kreutzer—the [Hero] of the empire who conquered the western great labyrinth.
I wanted to rush out and help the soldiers fighting outside.
Among those soldiers were people we'd grown close to over the past few months.
Even so—when weighing those soldiers against my comrades in Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky—the scale tipped heavily toward the latter.
If this guy were an ordinary imperial soldier, seven of us could probably neutralize him.
But he was the [Hero].
His true strength was unknown, but it was possible even all seven of us couldn't win.
In that case, I chose not to act.
Even if it made me a coward—even if it went against his intentions.
"Thank you. —As you just said, all of you stay out of this. This is an order from me, who holds command authority over you from the clan. Disobedience will not be tolerated."
The A-rank party members wore varying degrees of dissatisfaction, but for now they obeyed.
After that, we continued listening to the endless battle cries and screams from outside, unsure when it would end.
◇
How much time had passed since then?
It felt like forever—and also like almost no time at all.
My sense of time was nearly gone.
The man's earlier words—"We have no intention of harming civilians"—were probably true.
Since the fighting began, no civilian screams had suddenly cut off.
That meant even if they were panicking, they weren't being killed.
Even so, the dying screams of what sounded like soldiers continued to reach us.
"Will, your left hand…"
Even as screams and death cries rang out nearby, I stayed still, anger building at my own helplessness—when suddenly Lucre wrapped both hands around my left one and spoke.
At her voice, I opened my clenched fist—my palm was bleeding.
Apparently my nails had dug in and broken the skin.
"I'm going to use healing magic—is that okay?"
Lucre asked the [Hero]—still standing a short distance away with open hostility.
"Fine. But if you use anything besides healing magic, you know what happens."
He didn't seem to care about her attitude at all and gave permission readily.
Lucre muttered "I know" and immediately activated [Heal] on my left hand.
"Sorry about that."
"No, don't worry. I support your decision, Will. So you're not the only bad guy here."
Lucre smiled gently, encouraging me.
(Making Lucre worry about me… I'm pathetic right now.)
With Lucre's help easing my mind a little, an explosion suddenly erupted where the [Hero] stood.
Thinking maybe someone from the A-rank party had snapped and attacked, I quickly checked everyone—but they all looked just as confused.
Not them? Then who—
"Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky! You all okay!?"
A voice came from above. We looked up—several people in territorial army uniforms stood atop a building, holding magical weapons.
This explosion had probably been caused by one of those soldiers.
"We're fine! Get out of here—go to another spot—!?"
I tried to tell the soldiers to move elsewhere, but suddenly the building they stood on groaned.
In an instant, it collapsed.
Caught off guard by the sudden destruction, the territorial soldiers were swallowed by the falling rubble and vanished into the dust cloud raised by the debris.
"—Damn it!"
Seeing that, mage Hank started moving to rescue them.
"Hank, stop!"
"Why!? We might still make it if we hurry!"
Hank naturally snapped back at me.
"I know. Even so…!"
Haha… I really was saying the lowest thing possible.
I was basically telling him to leave them to die.
Even so—if they tried to rescue territorial soldiers, it could easily be seen as hostile action.
The cause of the collapse was unknown, but it was almost certainly the [Hero].
Even after taking a massive explosion at close range, the unscathed [Hero] stood calmly, facing the ruined building.
There was no guarantee we'd survive fighting someone who could turn a building into rubble in an instant.
We had to endure.
—But,
The A-rank party members apparently couldn't take it anymore.
Ignoring my orders, front-liner Rex and defender Kiaran from the A-rank party launched a pincer attack the moment the [Hero]'s attention turned to the collapsed building.
Rex attacked from behind with his fists; Kiaran struck from the front with his shield.
—But both attacks stopped just short of the [Hero], as if frozen mid-motion.
Shock filled their expressions.
The [Hero] sighed and muttered, "I didn't want to bare my fangs, but oh well," clenching his right fist.
"[Strength Up]."
After buffing himself, the [Hero] punched Kiaran's shield right in front of him.
His arm blurred with speed as the fist shattered the shield easily and sent Kiaran flying.
Kiaran crashed into a civilian house wall—but the force was too great, and he smashed straight through.
He continued breaking through several more walls before finally stopping.
The house with the huge hole began collapsing, creating a pile of rubble between us and Kiaran—cutting him from view.
"Lucre! Hurry—heal Kiaran—!"
I tried to tell Lucre to heal him, but faster than my words, the [Hero] spun around and delivered a spinning kick to the still-frozen Rex's stomach.
Rex flew backward just like Kiaran.
Unlike Kiaran, there were no buildings in Rex's path—but about ten meters away stood the city's outer wall. He slammed into it.
The wall—far sturdier than any house—didn't break, but cracks spiderwebbed outward, and a deep dent formed where Rex hit.
Rex himself slumped against the wall, motionless.
"How dare you do that to them!!"
Seeing the two taken out in an instant, mages Hank and Michelle flew into rage and unleashed [Thunder Javelin] and [Fire Javelin].
Several lightning and fire spears shot straight toward the stationary [Hero]—but suddenly they veered away from him, passing harmlessly by.
"Wha—!?"
"Why!?"
The [Hero] thrust his open right hand toward us.
I didn't know why—but years of explorer instinct screamed danger.
On reflex, I summoned my twin blades and thrust them forward parallel to myself.
Immediately after, a gust-like pressure slammed into us from the [Hero]'s direction—an invisible force pushing us.
But it wasn't unbearable. After holding still for a moment, the pressure vanished.
"Canceled…? What was that? His ability?"
The [Hero] muttered, eyes slightly widened.
Since we'd acted first, fighting him was unavoidable now.
Recalling how he'd sent two flying in an instant, my instincts screamed that this guy was on a completely different level from other explorers.
Even so—the frustration of enduring, the anger at seeing my comrades hurt—everything drove me forward.
(I'll vent all the pent-up frustration from before on you!)
Just as I steeled myself to close the distance—
From above, something black streaked toward the [Hero] at incredible speed.
But it didn't reach him—it suddenly stopped in midair.
"Orun!?"
The black object was Orun.
He was repelled mid-flight and slid across the ground, stopping beside me.
"…Repelled?"
"…Why is Orun here…?"
Shocked by his sudden appearance, I forgot the situation and asked.
"Well… mostly just how things turned out."
Orun answered my question with a self-deprecating smile.
He wore his usual everyday demeanor—but his right eye was dyed black.
Meaning he was in serious… combat mode.
During labyrinth exploration, his right eye sometimes turned black—and when it did, he was incomparably stronger than normal.
There seemed to be some limitation; we rarely saw him like this.
"—You're the [Hero]?"
As Orun's aura sharpened, he addressed the [Hero].
"…I don't like that title, but yes, the world calls me that. And you're an explorer from Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky?"
Orun murmured "I see," then—without answering the [Hero]—spoke quietly to me.
"Will—no time to explain, so I'll keep it short. This is partly on the Eddington family's orders, so I'll handle the [Hero]. I've prepared countermeasures, so don't worry. You guys treat Rex and Kiaran, then support the territorial army. But don't overdo it. If it gets too rough, retreat—no problem."
The Eddington family already knew about this?
From Roils to here was quite a distance.
I understood Orun had come here on the Eddington family's orders.
But I couldn't just leave the [Hero] to him alone.
"The territorial army can be handled by the A-rank party. I'm fighting here too."
I readied my twin blades again, glaring at the [Hero] as I spoke to Orun.
"Me too! I can't forgive him for hurting those two!"
Lucre stepped up beside us and declared her intent to join.
Since she said that, she'd probably already finished treating the two.
As expected of our party's healer—fast work.
"Thanks, both of you."
Orun thanked us at our words.
"Of course we're—"
"—But, sorry."
Before I could finish, Orun apologized.
Wondering what for, I turned toward him—only to find him gone.
I immediately looked back at the [Hero]—Orun was swinging his sword at him.
But just like with the other two, the blade stopped short of reaching the [Hero], frozen in place.
(At this rate, he'll end up like the others…!)
As that thought crossed my mind—
"—[Space Leap]!"
Orun vanished—together with the [Hero].
"That idiot! Don't just charge in alone!!"
I shouted in frustration at Orun's actions.
"Will—Orun-kun jumped pretty far. Probably near the border. What do we do? Chase after him?"
Lucre—having tracked Orun's leap with [Mana Tracking]—asked.
(Near the border? Even though this is the closest city to the border, it's still a huge distance. Can [Space Leap] jump that far?)
Confused by Orun's sudden arrival and departure, I hesitated for only a moment before deciding.
"…I want to chase him more than anything, but first we clean up here. He wouldn't have charged in without a plan. He said he had countermeasures. We take out the other empire forces, then go after Orun."
"Got it!"
After finishing with Lucre, I turned to the three A-rank party members and gave them orders.
"I'm putting your insubordination on hold. Hank and Michelle—come with us. Healer Harriet—look after Rex and Kiaran. Join us once you judge they can fight."
The three looked uncomfortable but accepted my orders for now.
Then we began moving toward the north side of the city—where the territorial army and empire forces were fighting.