After leaving the A rank party, I aim for the deep part of the labyrinth with my former students
"A sudden monster appearance incident in Finis! Thanks to the swift response by ‘Clover’ who happened to be on the scene, the situation was brought under control. But what do you think about this incident, Mr. Gato?"
"Let’s see. One thing I can say for certain is that if ‘Clover’ hadn’t been there, the damage could’ve been much worse. Thanks to them, we were able to defeat the monsters without any major casualties."
"As expected of ‘Clover’! Now then—…”
Voices like those echoed from the streetlight tablet.
When I looked up, Gato and Sho were giving commentary with the footage I had streamed live playing in the background. People passing by had stopped to watch.
Arranging a special broadcast so quickly to prevent panic—just what you’d expect from the Adventurers’ Guild and Baron Gato Tsormi.
The sudden monster incident that struck Finis, which we responded to, has been thoroughly investigated by the Adventurers’ Guild and the Royal Academy, but even now, the origin remains unknown.
If there had been an overflow from beneath the Adventurers’ Guild, Benwood or Mamal would’ve noticed, and the damage would’ve been much greater.
The monsters only appeared in small numbers around the residential area where our team ‘Clover’ is based. They didn’t show up in any other districts.
Why they appeared here—far from the central district where the “Achromatic Darkness” is located—remains a mystery.
Maybe it’s due to the growing instability of the world that’s been observed lately.
No one expected monsters to appear right in the middle of the city.
Still, we were fortunate that the damage was minimal.
There were some injuries, but only minor ones, and the damage to buildings was limited.
The relative calm in Finis is probably thanks to that fact.
“Thank goodness for ‘Clover’. If those things had rampaged, the damage could’ve been way worse.”
“No kidding. The fact it ended with just this much damage is all thanks to them. We owe them big time.”
“Actually, I was there when it happened—and I saw ‘Clover’ fighting live! It was amazing!”
“For real? So jealous. I’m a big fan of Marina. I wish I’d seen it.”
As the residents finished watching the special broadcast, they chatted like that and walked off into the night.
Even though monsters had just appeared, they seemed rather carefree.
“Man, I wish they’d take things more seriously.”
“Can’t be helped. Unless you're an adventurer, the outside world is just something you watch in a stream. Monsters are just something on the other side of the screen. Curiosity beats fear, I guess.”
Next to me, Jamie gave a wry smile as I grumbled.
Given how adventure streams have become a form of entertainment, maybe it's natural people feel less of a sense of danger.
The terror of monsters is something only those who’ve actually faced them can truly understand.
“Come on, let’s go. It’ll be trouble if we get spotted.”
“Yeah, I still need to submit today's report too.”
“You’re so serious.”
With a sigh, Jamie took my hand.
Startled by the softness of her touch, I looked over to see she had a slightly bashful expression.
“It’s just the two of us for once. You could at least pay a bit more attention to me, you know?”
“A-ah… yeah.”
Her sudden affectionate tone surprised me, but I gently squeezed her hand back.
Even though we’re both adults, moments like this still fluster us—our relationship is still pretty new.
In other words, we’re both still a little shy.
“Haa… Still, what a way to ruin our vacation. What was that monster?”
“This is just a hunch, but I’m pretty sure it’s related to the ‘Achromatic Darkness.’”
“Do you think it’ll appear again?”
“No idea. But Benwood and Silk both said something felt off. There’s definitely something going on.”
Silk's behavior earlier in the day made it clear there was a strong connection to this incident.
When the monsters appeared, she said it felt “familiar.”
That means Silk’s sharp senses picked up on something—some kind of connection between the tremors and the monster emergence.
“Hey now, save the thinking for later. You always start working no matter where you are.”
“Yeah, I know it’s a bad habit. But after living as a support for so long, I just turned out this way. Probably won’t change.”
As I scratched my head and tried to make excuses, Jamie let go of my hand and slipped her arm through mine.
She leaned in close, a soft scent and warm sensation surrounding me.
Her face was flushed, and her eyes were darting around shyly.
“I meant to do that!”
“I didn’t say anything, Jamie.”
When your partner is flustered, you tend to become calm in contrast.
In fact, it made Jamie seem even more adorable.
“Even if it’s just walking home, it’s our time together right now. No more thinking, got it?”
“Got it. Hard to think about anything when you’re doing this anyway.”
“That attitude of yours is no good, you know? You flirt.”
Why am I being scolded when I was just trying to be kind?
Well, seeing her act all cute like this makes it impossible to be bothered by it.
"Maybe tonight I’ll come over to your room, Yuke."
"Eh?"
"I know, you know? You let Rain into your room yesterday, didn’t you?"
I froze slightly and shook my head in denial.
"It’s not what you think. I didn’t bring her in."
"If she was in your room, it’s the same thing, isn’t it?"
"You’re misrepresenting it. As fellow magic users, shouldn’t we aim for accurate wording and interpretation? Right?"
As I fumbled over my words, Jamie giggled and hugged my arm even tighter.
Her warmth and softness were impossible to ignore, and my thoughts got completely derailed.
"You’re oddly assertive sometimes, you know that?"
"Of course I am. I’m just being honest with myself."
Jamie smiled sweetly, clearly in high spirits.
It’s a lot better than when she used to get sad or cry, but I have to admit, she’s gotten a bit tougher to handle.
"Alright. I actually wanted to talk about something anyway, so how about we have a nightcap together?"
"...Oh? That’s unusual. You’re being kind of honest today."
You’re the one who brought it up—how is this on me?
I’ve got my own thoughts on all this, too.
Also… well, it’s kind of pathetic to admit, but… Jamie’s someone I find easy to lean on.
Maybe it’s because we started out as fellow adventurers, but she has this way of completely smashing my complaints with brutal honesty—and weirdly, that helps.
"Alright then. I’ll pamper you lots. All the way till morning."
How did she know?
As I wondered that, I gave her a small, wry smile and nodded.
Finally, I'm up to date. Really liking the tone of book 5 so far!
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