◇ ◇ ◇
Hart and Telche, who had been staying in the Hitia Duchy, were now living in Tsutrail.
After the recent summit meeting officially designated Orun as an enemy of the world, and with Lucilla's own behavior, the possibility of the church attacking Tsutrail had become extremely low.
Even so, there was always the chance of the unexpected.
That was why Hart and Telche had come to Tsutrail—to intercept any assault by the church and immediately contact Orun and the others.
"Hart, you have a guest."
Telche informed Hart, who was taking a nap in the clan home of the Crimson Evening Glow in Tsutrail, that someone had come to visit.
"A guest? It's a pain to deal with them, so just send them away."
Hart rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned.
Seeing his attitude, Telche radiated killing intent.
"I don't recall ever becoming your servant?"
"I got carried away, sorry…"
Hearing Telche's low, anger-filled voice, Hart immediately dropped into a dogeza pose.
"Pfft. Leader, isn't that a bit too lame?"
"You're already completely under her thumb, Leader."
Watching the exchange between the two, Katina and Huey offered their impressions.
"Hey, you two! Shut up!"
"That's why I'm telling you there's a guest waiting. Hurry up and go."
"Fiiine…"
Hart snapped back at the two who were laughing at him, but after Telche's scolding, he quickly headed to the reception room.
◇
"Huh? You guys are…"
When Hart arrived at the reception room, Wilkes and Lucretia from the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky were there.
"It's been a while, Hart."
Wilkes greeted Hart with a light wave of his hand.
"Well, this is an unexpected guest. What business does a busy explorer from the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky have with a small clan like ours?"
"Small clan…? Hart, you're an S-rank explorer just like us. I don't think we're small at all?"
Lucretia gave a wry smile and gently corrected Hart, who had disparaged his own clan.
"It's true that both clans have S-rank parties, but the scale is completely different. Ours has just over ten members, while yours is a major clan with over a thousand. Plus, you've secured support from the royal family under the pretext of conquering the Great Labyrinth, right? It's presumptuous to even compare us."
"…Hey, Hart, what is the Crimson Evening Glow planning to do from now on?"
Wilkes cut straight to the point.
"What do you mean, 'planning to do'?"
"People around the world are hoping for the conquest of the Great Labyrinth. It seems like the Crimson Evening Glow hasn't done much deep-layer exploration so far, but do you have any intention of participating in the conquest? That's what I want to know."
"Conquest, huh… I hate to disappoint you, but right now… I have no interest in conquering the Great Labyrinth."
Wilkes and Lucretia were visibly surprised by Hart's answer.
Anyone who becomes an explorer has dreamed at least once of conquering the Great Labyrinth.
The impregnable labyrinth that has remained unconquered for hundreds of years.
The honor and fame that come with conquering it are irreplaceable.
However, until now, conquering the Great Labyrinth had only ever been "an explorer's dream," something ordinary people didn't care about.
No—perhaps they had even hoped it would never be conquered.
The western Great Labyrinth, which was conquered last year, lost its function as a labyrinth afterward, making it impossible to obtain magic stones or other resources from it.
For people who are not explorers, what they need are the magic stones and other resources obtained from labyrinths that support their daily lives.
Conquering the Great Labyrinth had more negative aspects than positive ones for most people.
That had completely changed now.
The contents of the recent summit meeting had spread rapidly through newspapers and word of mouth.
Now that it was widely known that conquering the Great Labyrinth would be the first step toward eliminating magic beasts from the surface, the number of people hoping for its conquest had increased dramatically compared to before.
"Why don't you have any interest in the conquest?"
Lucretia asked Hart.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not denying the conquest of the Great Labyrinth. In fact, I think it should be done…"
"Then why—"
"It's a matter of priority. Right now, there's something I want to prioritize more than conquering the Great Labyrinth…"
"Something you want to prioritize?"
"…Yeah. It's something so important to me that it might be the biggest job of my entire life."
"…I see. Hey, Hart, are you going to start that 'something you want to prioritize' right away?"
Lucretia asked again.
"No. I'm currently waiting for contact, but it won't be something I do today or tomorrow."
"Then it's fine if it's only until you start that priority. Could you teach us how to fight?"
"Huh? How to fight? You two are already plenty strong."
"No, we're aware that our current strength isn't enough to conquer the Great Labyrinth…"
Wilkes clenched his fist, trembling with frustration.
"I think that drive for improvement is good, but why come to me for it?"
"Actually, Orun gave us some advice."
Hart's eyes widened greatly at Lucretia's words.
"…Orun did?"
"Yeah… He said that if we're looking for the next step up, we should try relying on you, Hart. He also said he learned a certain technique from you."
Hart scratched his head while thinking.
Then he asked something to test them.
"…Orun is now a criminal who helped a dangerous fugitive escape and murdered the Grand Master of the explorers' guild. Do you still trust what a guy like that says?"
"Orun isn't the kind of guy who would do something like that without a reason!"
Wilkes raised his voice, eyes flashing with anger in response to Hart's question.
"It's true that Orun was expelled from the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky. He committed a crime. But that's not the whole story…! I can't give you the details, but Orun isn't the kind of guy who would do something like that just because he felt like it…!"
Wilkes gritted his teeth in frustration, his body still trembling.
(…So these guys know at least part of Orun's true intentions? But they don't seem to know about my relationship with Orun. …Damn it, Orun, you left behind one hell of a parting gift. If I have to train Wilkes and Lucretia on top of everything else, am I gonna die from overwork?)
Hart looked off into the distance while silently complaining to Orun in his heart.
"Please, Hart! Even if it's only part-time, teach us that technique!"
"Please!"
Lucretia and Wilkes bowed deeply to Hart.
"…Let me think about it for a bit."
Hart told the two to wait outside for a moment and sank into thought.
(These two are among the top explorers overall. But they're still weaker than me. At that level, conquering the Great Labyrinth would be difficult. And yet Orun still highly values the First Squad of the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky and his own disciples… enough to entrust them with conquering the southern Great Labyrinth. …The fact that he sent these two to me means that if they learn ki manipulation, they'll undergo a transformation? Ki, huh…)
He continued thinking, but unable to reach a conclusion, Hart finally decided:
(...Yeah! I don't know! Besides, isn't it unfair that I'm the only one taking on even more work? Yeah, that's right. All right, I'll drag Telche into this too!)
He gave up on thinking and decided to involve Telche.
He never realized that this was exactly what Orun had intended.
◇
"So that's the situation. I'll teach you the technique as you requested!"
When Hart returned to the reception room with Telche, he announced it right away.
"Um… Thank you…"
Lucretia thanked him, looking a little bewildered.
Both of them were clearly confused by the sudden complete change in Hart's attitude, which had been solemn just moments ago.
Ignoring the atmosphere, Telche walked straight up to Lucretia.
"You're Lucretia Otis, right? I'm Telche. I'll be in charge of your training. I have no intention of going easy on you, so if you want to quit, say so quickly. It'll save both of us time."
Telche introduced herself without giving her surname and immediately laid out strict conditions.
Her words were sharp, but her eyes, expression, and demeanor showed glimpses of kindness.
Lucretia noticed it too.
"I won't give up…! Please take care of me!"
"…If polite speech is difficult for you, you don't have to use it."
"Huh? Oh, okay. Thank you."
"Then we're heading to the Great Labyrinth right now. Follow me."
After saying what she needed to say, Telche walked briskly toward the exit.
"Ah, wait for me!"
Lucretia hurriedly chased after Telche.
"…Will she be okay?"
Wilkes muttered worriedly as he watched the exchange between Telche and Lucretia.
"She'll be fine. Telche is actually pretty kind when it comes down to it. All right, let's get started on our side too."
Hart gave a quick reassurance and turned to Wilkes.
"What you're aiming for is the completed form of a Defender. I'll drill the basics—like how to use your gaze and body movement—along with the technique you're looking for. I'm going full Spartan on you, so hang on with everything you've got."
"Bring it on! I'll definitely master it!"
Wilkes responded to Hart's challenging words with a bold grin.
And so, the two of them began receiving training from Hart and Telche respectively—.