A new year has arrived.
That said, for us, New Year's Day isn't anything particularly special.
In some regions, they hold special events over several days spanning the year-end and new year, but this country has no such customs.
So today, as usual, most explorers are probably diving into the labyrinth.
We are no exception—today we're scheduled to dive into the southern great labyrinth.
Up until yesterday, we were swamped with post-conquest cleanup from the ninety-third floor raid and couldn't dive much, but starting today, we're refocusing on what explorers are truly meant to do.
—Or at least, that was the plan.
"Heyyy! Good morning, everyone!"
While we were gathered in the exploration division's strategy room discussing today's plans, Exploration Management Department Head Estella appeared.
"Estella? I thought we didn't have any meetings scheduled for today," Selma said, reacting first to Estella's arrival.
"No meeting planned, but something came up that I need to tell everyone right away."
Something that needs to be told urgently?
Did some kind of trouble happen?
"If you're coming here in person, does that mean something serious is going on?" Rain asked Estella, having reached the same conclusion as me.
Her words made the air in the room feel tense.
"Hmm, in a way, maybe? But more importantly, listen to this, Rain-san! My subordinates are awful! They said if they told you guys, the entire First Squad would get in a bad mood, so they didn't want to do it and pushed the job onto me! Isn't that terrible!? Waaah! Comfort me, Rain-saaan!"
Saying that, Estella clung to Rain's chest in fake tears.
...It's completely crocodile tears.
Rain looked bewildered, unsure what to do, and reluctantly patted Estella's head.
From Estella's attitude, it didn't seem like an emergency that required immediate action.
She can be lazy at times, but she's capable, and I know her well enough to say she wouldn't joke around like this if something truly major was happening.
"Uh... so what exactly is going on...?"
"Don't ask me..."
Lucre and Will were also confused by the whole exchange.
More like, the only one not confused by this situation is the goofing-around Estella.
"Sigh... Estella, cut it out and just tell us why you're here already. If you came to flirt, I'll kick you out of this room right now."
When Selma said that to her, Estella apologized with "Sorry, I got carried away," and separated from Rain.
Then she faced us and cleared her throat.
"Ahem! The reason I'm here is, without a doubt, to inform everyone about the 'S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting'!"
"...S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting?"
Will repeated the words that came out of Estella's mouth like a parrot.
"—That's right. Starting tomorrow, on a regular basis, the S-rank parties active in the southern great labyrinth—"Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky", "Twilight Moonbow of Copper", and "Jade Gale"—will gather their party members for discussions, opinion exchanges, and other interactions. That's what I've heard."
The playful Estella from earlier was gone; now she spoke seriously about the purpose of the S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting.
There was a slight hint of anger in her tone.
As Estella said, the S-rank parties currently active in Tsutorail are those three: "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky", "Twilight Moonbow of Copper", and "Jade Gale".
"Jade Gale" had launched their conquest of the ninetieth floor last month mid-month and successfully reached the ninety-first floor, earning their spot as an S-rank party.
(I see. So that's why we'd get in a bad mood. Yeah, this is definitely not amusing...)
The rest of the First Squad is probably thinking the same thing I am.
Everyone, myself included, wore expressions that showed they weren't pleased.
"Hey, Estella, was this exchange event proposed by "Jade Gale"?"
"Yep. Just like Selma-chi—no, like everyone is thinking, that's exactly what's happening."
Estella fully affirmed Selma's question.
What we're thinking is that a shift has occurred in the power games among the higher-ups... meaning the nobles who are our sponsors.
Explorer parties and clans that receive support from noble sponsors can sometimes get used in politics.
That's a clear downside for explorers, but the benefits are significant enough that those who accept support have to accept that aspect too.
Back when I was just starting out as an explorer, I didn't really understand that and almost got into serious trouble after carelessly accepting noble support.
Looking back now, I can see it as a good lesson learned.
The sponsors of "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky" are mostly nobles affiliated with the faction centered around Count Edington.
Since Count Edington holds the northernmost territory in the country, that faction wields immense influence in the northern part of the Nohitant Kingdom.
In contrast, "Jade Gale" receives support from the faction centered around Count Sylvester, a major southern noble in the Nohitant Kingdom.
Originally, "Jade Gale" was a mid-tier clan among those active in the southern great labyrinth.
But after receiving Count Sylvester's support, they rose rapidly and have now reached S-rank.
Of course "Jade Gale" had ability, but no one can deny that Count Sylvester's faction's backing fueled this rapid ascent.
By the way, "Twilight Moonbow of Copper" basically refuses support.
That said, they do accept some from lower nobles like Viscount Lampling and a few others.
As a result, "Twilight Moonbow of Copper" lacks the abundant funds and overwhelming information networks that "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky" and "Jade Gale" have.
Even so, they reached the ninety-first floor—the deep layers—of the southern great labyrinth.
In other words, that achievement is as close to pure "their own strength" as it gets.
Personally, I don't think accepting noble support is inherently right or wrong.
But I can't help finding it cool that they reached the deep layers with almost no support.
The conversation got a bit sidetracked, but the S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting Estella mentioned is undoubtedly not "Jade Gale"'s own will—it's the will of the nobles pulling strings behind them.
"Damn it! Even in a situation where the whole country is on edge, they're only thinking about themselves!"
Will raised his voice as if venting his anger at Estella's words.
"Exactly what Will said! Right now, we should all be cooperating so relations with the empire don't worsen any further! Those southern guys are seriously pissing me off!"
It's undeniable that the recent incident with the empire is tied into the background here.
Because the empire broke the non-aggression treaty and invaded the kingdom, neighboring countries have heightened their vigilance toward the empire.
The Nohitant Kingdom is small in terms of territory.
However, by maximally utilizing the card of "possessing the southern great labyrinth" in diplomacy, they've strengthened ties with neighboring countries and managed to hold their own against major powers like the Saubel Empire, the Junoé Republic, and the Hitia Duchy.
It's hard to imagine the empire committing further atrocities, but if something else happens, it's not out of the question for it to escalate into war.
Since the kingdom doesn't want war either, a summit between the king and the emperor is scheduled to take place in the empire soon to repair relations with the empire as well.
And for that summit, the king has already begun traveling toward the empire a few days ago.
Since the empire is to the north of the kingdom, it's easy to imagine that the northern nobles are taking utmost care to ensure no issues arise during the king's journey.
The northern nobles—in other words, the sponsors of "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky"—are focused on this matter, and in the meantime, the southern nobles made their move.
Even the southern nobles probably wouldn't do anything that disadvantages the kingdom during a time when it could become a national crisis, but they might have made some kind of demand from the northern nobles.
For example, offering help to ensure the king reaches the empire safely in exchange for something in return.
One of those could be "forcing the S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting."
...Well, that's just my speculation.
People might think the S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting offers no benefit to the nobles, but actually, it does have advantages for them.
As mentioned earlier, only three parties are currently capable of exploring the deep layers.
But even among those three, there are differences.
"Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky" can reach the ninety-fourth floor, while "Twilight Moonbow of Copper" and "Jade Gale" can only go up to the ninety-first, for example.
Resources obtainable only on the ninety-second and ninety-third floors are few, but they do exist.
In other words, anything obtainable from the ninety-second floor onward is effectively monopolized by "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky"—and by extension, the northern nobles.
That's an enormous advantage.
They can offer those resources to the royal family in exchange for rewards, or research them ahead of everyone else.
If they can obtain information on the ninety-first floor and beyond from "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky" through the S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting, "Jade Gale" could dramatically increase their chances of conquering it safely.
And the holding of this exchange meeting has already been decided.
In short, we can't afford to worsen the position of "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky"'s sponsors, so we're being forced into a situation where we have no choice but to share the information we risked our lives to obtain.
There's no way we can find this situation amusing.
"...Well, what's decided is decided."
Just as an unsettling atmosphere began to settle in, Rain spoke up.
"Rain is right. Since we can't avoid it, let's look at it positively. It's not like this gives us zero benefits either."
"Yeah. Opportunities to exchange information with other clans don't come along often, so if we're doing it, let's make it meaningful. From my time in Dawnlight, even things that were taken for granted in "Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky" felt fresh or brought new discoveries. There must be plenty we can learn from Copper and Gale too."
Taking Rain's words as a cue, Selma and I spoke up as well.
There's no point in lamenting something that's already set.
The same event can turn out positive or negative depending on how you receive it.
If that's the case, we need to shift our mindset to make it positive.
"You're right! When Orun-kun taught us what he was doing in Dawnlight, it felt super fresh from our perspective too! Maybe we'll have new discoveries this time!"
"Yeah. If we're doing it, let's take it seriously so it doesn't become a waste of time."
Everyone is probably more or less dissatisfied with this matter to some degree.
Still, to boost our motivation, we encouraged each other.
"Phew~ I was nervous wondering if you'd all start cursing me out."
Seeing us like that, Estella looked relieved, and the atmosphere returned to normal.
"We wouldn't do that. Blaming you here would be misplaced anyway."
"Oh! Will-chi saying something like that... I never would've imagined it from the old Will-chi! Wow, you've really grown—I'm so happy!"
"Where do you get off acting like that... We're the same age, aren't we?"
With all that, after hearing about the S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting from Estella, we carried out our labyrinth exploration as planned.
And since we'd been invited by "Jade Gale" to their restaurant as a pre-exchange meeting eve-of-festival event, the entire First Squad headed there.