Chapter 83 – Reporting Recent Events

　Having parted from the members of the 10th Squad, Selma and I are now heading to the operations room of the 1st Unit. 

　Apparently the others are also able to make time, so we’re going to be having a sudden meeting.

“Still, Sophia’s manifested a Talent, huh…..”

　Selma mutters with a face that makes it difficult to judge whether she’s happy or sad.

“Yeah, and it’s versatile as well. I think Sophie will become even stronger from now on. You’re not happy, Selma?”

“No, of course I’m happy. But this will raise Sophie’s value……”

　……I see, Selma is worried about Sophie’s future.

　Talents are not just something other people can come to gain, they’re powers that belong to specific individuals alone. 

　Until now, Sophie has never been treated as a daughter of nobility by her own family.

　Now that she’s left home, her ties to her family are so frayed that they are almost nonexistent.

　However, with Sophie developing a Talent, it’s not unlikely that she will be treated as a tool for a political marriage.

“……Got it. I’ll pay attention to not let word of Sophie’s Talent spread too widely.”

“Sorry. Thanks.”

　The Claudels.

　I haven’t heard any bad rumours, and I haven’t paid much attention to them since there’s been almost no connection between them and Sophie, but I’ll keep a closer eye on them from now on. 

“It’s only natural as someone who cares for Sophie. –Ah, right. There’s something I wanted to ask you, Selma.”

　Speaking of things related to Sophie and Selma, I remember something I wanted to confirm with her.

“What is it?”

“Sophie’s Clan uniform was a gift from you, wasn’t it?”

　Although Sophie is a beginner, the design of her uniform is different from what the other beginners wear. 

　There’s no rule that says you have to wear the Clan uniform prepared for beginners just because you are a newcomer.

　In fact, there’s no problem even if you don’t wear the Clan uniform while exploring the labyrinth.

　However, the material used to make the explorer version of the Clan uniform is Noxious Sheep wool. If you have no particular preference, the Clan uniform is more than sufficient, so everyone ends up wearing it. 

“Well, I don’t know if you can call it a gift. Sophia told me she wanted to become an explorer, so I gave her my old Clan uniform. It’s more like a hand-me-down. What about it?”

“Actually, after Thanksgiving, I’m thinking of having those guys challenge the 30th floor again. Though of course, if they’re unwilling I won’t be forcing them. The next time, I’ll accompany them, and I have a feeling they’ll take on the task. And if they do, I’m almost certain they’ll reach the 31st floor.” 

“Well, I’m sure they will. Although Sophia can’t yet fully handle her Talent, she’s learnt parallel construction. From what I saw in their mock battle with you, the other two also showed their ability to at least break through to the upper layer without difficulty. They’ll definitely conquer the 30th floor without any problems.”

“Yeah, and once they reach the 31st floor, they’ll no longer be beginners. From what I heard from Estella, normally the Exploration Management will prepare something, but I want to personally present them with something. So if Sophie has a special attachment to the Clan uniform she’s wearing now, I was thinking of reconsidering.” 

“I see. As I said before, those are my hand-me-downs. If Sophia wants to wear something else, I’ll respect her wishes.”

“Got it. I’ll prepare things on my end then. Well, if she doesn’t like my design, then she’ll probably just keep wearing the same thing…..”

“Hmm, I don’t think that’ll happen.”

　　◇

　While talking, we arrived at the operations room.

　When we reach, we’re the only ones there, and after waiting a while, the rest file in. 

“Once again, it’s been a while.”

“I guess so. It’s been a week or so since we’ve all been together.

“Yeah. With this and that, apart from Selma, we’ve all been busy, been about a week since we’ve all met?”

“It went by in the blink of an eye. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten that many interviews.” 

“Well, we are the third party to reach the 93rd floor. Still, the ones who’ve been the most busy are definitely big sis Selma and — Orn, right?”

　Will’s comment sends tension through the room.

“Yeah, there was a bit of a commotion. I’m sure you want to hear about that incident, right? I’ll probably take the longest, so I’ll give my report last.”

“Right. Then, first I’ll report what I’ve been doing lately. As you all know, I’ve been dealing with a sponsor in another territory. It’s been very tedious, with every day being a series of moving around and eating…….”

　This may be the first time I’ve seen Selma so fed up.

　Well, I think that given recent events, the ones who have been pressuring us so far have come around, but even so, dealing with nobility is still a hassle.

　You have to be careful with your language and etiquette, and you have to expend a lot of effort to make sure you don’t slip up. 

“Good job. So, how’d the sponsors react?”

“Generally positive. I think we’ll get fewer crazy requests and orders now.”

“So there’s still going to be some coming…….”

“Can’t be helped. In front of all the money they give, we can’t just refuse.”

“Speaking of which, we’re currently banned from labyrinth exploration, right? What happens if, assuming a crazy request does come in? For example, a request for materials asap?”

“For that, I’m the one handling the arrangements. For now, I’ve already notified the sponsors about the recent incident and the prohibition on exploration until after Thanksgiving. Since then, we haven’t received any requests from our sponsors, but in the event that we do, we’ll cope by providing them with what we already have and get them to wait for the things we need to obtain through exploration till after Thanksgiving. This has also been conveyed to the sponsors. Also, for some reason, His Excellency Lazereth is cooperating with us in this matter, and has informed them to temporarily refrain from making requests. So I don’t think there’ll be any big problems.”

　I answer Will’s question to Selma on her behalf.

　Selma only knows the general outline. 

“His Excellency Lazereth? Who knows what that old man’s up to……”

“Yeah. I’ve also met him a few times, his eyes never smile. That person’s a little scary.”

“Indeed. That person seems to be planning something, but there’s no point thinking about it. Orn, thanks for making the arrangements.”

“No, it was me and the President who decided to ban exploring, so this was something I had to do.”

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“Orn, you were just got caught up in the whole thing, weren’t you? Don’t keep everything to yourself like that, you can count on us too.”

　Lain points out.

　Right, I might have been dealing with this matter all by myself.

　It’s not the same as when I was in the Hero Party, I need to learn to rely on others. I’ll keep that in mind.

“Thank you. If things really get out of hand, I’ll ask for your help.”

“Yeah, it’ll be my pleasure. Then I’ll report next.”

　　◇ ◇ ◇

　After that, Lain, Lucre, and Will give their own reports in that order. 

　In addition to newspaper requests, Lain has been focusing on coordinating with the Exploration Management Department.

　Filling in for Selma, while I’ve been handling external affairs, she’s been dealing with the internal side of things, such as compiling policies for each party until the end of Thanksgiving. 

　Lucre, including the same newspaper duties, has been helping the Magic Development Lab finalise some of the magic, including [Float], to be released at Thanksgiving.

　Every year, “Night Sky’s Silver Rabbit” releases new magic or improved versions of existing magic at Thanksgiving, and of all the events that “Night Sky’s Silver Rabbit” puts on, this one attracts the most attention from the public.

　Will has been helping develop equipment using materials from the Black Dragon, using some of the materials we managed to secure after the subjugation. 

　In “Night Sky’s Silver Rabbit”, materials collected during exploration are shared by the Clan members, but before that, the party that does the collecting has first choice, In other words, materials obtained during labyrinth exploration that have no plans for use become the Clan’s shared materials.

　Currently, there are no plans to use the Black Dragon materials in the 1st Unit, so they’ve become Clan shared materials.

　However, since materials from deep layer Floor Bosses are rarely available in the outside world, the only way to find out the characteristics and uses of those materials is through trial and error. I think it’s quite a laborious process.

　After the three of them finish their reports, it’s my turn.

“Then last is me. I’ve mainly been dealing with the news coverage and various administrative tasks. Also, five days ago, I had a battle with ‘Amunzers’.”

　With this one remark, the air is once again tense.

“I did hear that Orn fought with ‘Amunzers’, but other than that I don’t know much about what happened. Apparently it was the 10th Unit — beginners that were first targeted, but why did that happen?”

“This is purely my speculation, but I think their objective was me. They said they attacked them to lure me out. I guess I got in their way by defeating the Black Dragon.”

“……Fiends.”

　Selma-san mutters softly as though suppressing her rage.

“I killed people too, so I don’t think I’m in a position to criticise them.”

　I don’t think killing those guys was a mistake.

　I don’t know what might’ve happened if I left them alive. 

　But there might have been a better way of doing things. 

“But that was because the beginners were attacked, wasn’t it? Orn, you weren’t at fault! Well, some might say that killing people is too much, but if I come across a situation where my friends are about to be killed, I wouldn’t be able to forgive them either. Orn, you’re not a bad guy at all!”

“Thanks, Lucre. It’s true that from our point of view, that’s how it would be. But from their point of view, I might be the evil one, I think.”

“……What do you mean?”

“They said during the battle. They were ‘earning some time’ and that ‘our existence is ultimately bringing the world closer to destruction’. I think they had their own reasons. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to forgive them.”

“Mmm…… I don’t really understand……. Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to understand the mind of a terrorist. Still, why did you kill them all? Ah, I get that you weren’t calm, but you should have caught at least one of them and made them spit out information.”

　Hmm? Killed them all?

　–Oh, so this is the President’s way of controlling the information.

　It’s embarrassing to say this myself, but I’m the Ace of this clan. If the Ace had lost, it would have made the members more uneasy than necessary, so the President probably withheld this information.

“Sorry, but that information is incorrect. –I lost to ‘Amunzers’.”

“Huh? You lost!? But ain’t you still alive?”

“Yeah. If I was to describe that battle positively, then it was a hard fought draw, if I was to describe it negatively, then you could say they let me go. If I had continued to fight, I think the chances of me winning would have been pretty low.”

　Everyone looks surprised at my statement.

　They didn’t have the slightest thought of me losing. 

　I’m feeling a mixture of happiness and shame, 

“……You’re lying. Your opponent is stronger than someone like you who can defeat a Floor Boss by yourself?”

“I don’t want to say this, but you weren’t slacking off, were you?”

“I was giving it my all at the time. At first, I was going to take her alive, but after I found out how strong the enemy was, I fought with the intention of killing her. I thought I’d killed her initially. Somehow she was unharmed.”

“I did think that banning exploration was a bit too much, but if there’s someone Orn can’t beat, then the ban makes sense. It’s scary to think that they might still be in the Great Labyrinth…….”

“Even after Thanksgiving is over and the ban is lifted, I think we should continue to be vigilant. Especially since we are likely to be targets of ‘Amunzers’. It’s definitely better if we never go into the labyrinth alone.”

“Right. We all do occasionally dive in the Great Labyrinth solo, but let’s refrain from doing so for a while.”

　Following that, I share the information about the silver-haired woman with everyone.

“I see. Even though I don’t think we will be attacked in the city, we should all still be on constant alert. –Now, the atmosphere has become heavy, but I would like to continue by confirming the schedule for Thanksgiving. As far as I know, I’ll be in charge of the overall event, Lain and Lucre will be helping with the magic presentation, Will will be patrolling the city during the first half and participating in the martial arts competition during the second half, and Orn will be overseeing the entire event, same as with me, during the first half and participating in the martial arts competition during the second half.

　No one objects to what Selma says.

“Alright, there will be no changes. Then from tomorrow we will basically be free. If there’s anything, contact me. I will notify the other members. Dismissed.”

　Thus ends the status report of the 1st Unit that hasn’t gathered in a long while.

　Tomorrow, it will be exactly three weeks until Thanksgiving.

　The Clan will also probably start full-fledged preparations.