Our First Joint Effort

It hadn’t worked.

I had truly believed I was handling everything well. But my mother found the silent me even creepier. She hit me. It hurt. Why?

“You’re not lovable at all.”

“It’s creepy how you can do everything.”

“You don’t act like a child.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Are you even really listening to what I’m saying?”

“You need to worship more devoutly too.”

“Show more respect to ○○-sama.”

“When you grow up, your body will be offered to the Order.”

Stop. Why would you say things like that? I just…

School didn’t work either.

“I’ve always hated those eyes of yours that look like you don’t care about anything.”

I didn’t know that. Why were you looking at me like that? Why were you directing hostility at me? I hadn’t done anything. I’d stayed quiet so there wouldn’t be any conflict, so why?

“Then should we change it?”

Who are you?

“??? is Konoha. Konoha is ???. Konoha. If 『Konoha, the distant existence who can do anything』 doesn’t work, then just throw that away.”

Would that change anything?

“If Konoha works hard. If you do better this time. You can act friendly, like Shirataka Gatari. You just need to keep killing yourself over and over.”

But eventually I’ll reach my limit.

“Exactly. That’s why you need to become strong before you reach that limit. Until the day Konoha finds someone she can show her true self to, keep killing yourself. Until you reach your limit, just keep killing yourself.”

Will I ever find someone like that?

“Who knows? If you don’t, then that’s that. But it’ll be okay. If Konoha ever reaches her limit, then, ??? Will Take Over For You.”

After saying that, the owner of the voice tore a great deal of “something” away from me. Looking back now, I think that was “my negative emotions.”

~From the Monologue of Konoha Kushibiki~

Something was wrong with Konoha.

No, Meiro had convinced herself that nothing had been wrong since the goblin battle. Thinking about it, she mocked herself for knowing nothing about Konoha at all.

She hadn’t noticed anything strange, but there had been signs.

(When the Inquisitor died at the clock tower, Konoha witnessed a person’s death up close. But Konoha showed no reaction at all. Why?)

(When we entered the limestone cave. That girl should’ve been much more absentminded and not particularly efficient. So how did she get us here first? Coincidence? No way.)

(The twenty-third floor. Why didn’t she feel anything when she saw human bones? Until recently, 『death』 should have belonged to a world far removed from her.)

(Why did she immediately leap at the Minotaur King? And Konoha’s expression back then was— She was grinning… She looked so happy…)

“Mee-chan!”

“…Huh!”

Rose’s voice snapped her back to awareness. The Minotaur King’s greatsword was already right in front of her.

“That’s enough! Wish of the Frozen Wastes!”

Several thick spikes of ice appeared and blocked the direct strike of the greatsword. They shattered into pieces, but that was where their true purpose began.

“Mee-chan!! Look at that!!”

Rose was shouting about something. Had something happened? While backstepping, Meiro glanced toward where Rose was pointing.

“Wha!?”

The Dark Wolf King. And beyond it, the Ogre Lord and a horde of Ogres had appeared. Which meant—

“We got lured in~. Bosses from other stages gathering together is kinda cheating~”

“This is no time to say that! Where’s Konoha!?”

“Looks like she’s fighting all alone right now~. So—”

CLAAAAANG!!!

Rose spun Honikazuchi and knocked away the Minotaur King’s greatsword. Electricity crackled through it, causing the Minotaur King to recoil involuntarily.

“Go! I’ll handle things here. Mee-chan, bring Konon back with you!”

“______!? You…”

The blades floating around Honikazuchi stabbed into the Minotaur King’s massive body one after another.

“Let’s regroup once! I know you’re worried about Konon, but first we have to turn this situation around! So!”

She leaped. And then—

“《Wavelength Synthesis》! 《Range Expansion》! And 《Electrocution》!!”

A dazzling flash tore through the cave, and in the next instant, an enormous current of electricity flooded the surroundings. The Minotaur King took the current at close range and lost its balance, and Rose followed up by thrusting Honikazuchi toward its neck. Blood sprayed. But the wound was shallow!

The Minotaur King leaned backward with extraordinary reflexes and flipped once through the air. Then it began gathering magic into its greatsword.

“Go!! Mee-chan!!”

(It’s frustrating, but I can’t keep up with that speed.)

Meiro ground her teeth and accepted Rose’s proposal.

“I’m leaving this to you.”

“Okaaay~ Leave it to me~!”

Rose grinned with her usual carefree expression. Meiro sighed. She really did throw her off rhythm.

“All right, I have to go.”

A trap. But a trap was—

“Not really a trap until it kills its target.”

Slash, slash.

The smell of blood. The smell of the Ogres Konoha had been piling up this whole time.

(They’re weak. So weak.)

“Come on. You’re a king, aren’t you?”

The Ogre Lord kept sending nothing but its subordinates at her. As a strategy on an open plain, it was probably correct. The twenty-fifth floor was probably an enormous plain or somewhere with a wide field of view.

(But—)

“You can’t surround me.”

The Ogres swarmed toward her, but Konoha used the rocks as stepping stones and moved past the weaker ones, ignoring them. The image was like Yoshitsune leaping across eight boats.

“Gii!! Giii!!!”

The Ogre Lord was giving some kind of orders, but the others couldn’t respond properly.

(See… this isn’t an open plain.)

“If you keep sitting there all smug like that, you’re gonna die, you know?”

One meter left. One more me—

“_____!?”

She sensed something and veered right. Black needles. The Dark Wolf King.

“You’re in the way.”

She heard footsteps behind her. Probably Meiro. Konoha thought she didn’t need any help.

“《Oni Fire》.”

Agate became wrapped in wind, and the swirling current intensified before igniting. A pillar of flame surged upward, illuminating the cave brightly.

“Ryaaaaaah!”

The Dark Wolf King fired thick black needles, but the raging flames pushed them back, engulfing the surrounding Ogres and leaving only ash behind.

“Kono… ha?”

“Oh, Meiro-chan! What’s wrong?”

Meiro stared at her blankly for a moment, then shook her head and hurried over to Konoha.

“Konoha! Thank goodness you’re safe. Let’s retreat for now. Fighting three S-Rank or higher magical beasts at once is too much. That’s the kind of thing a Bronze Moon-class adventurer team would handle.”

“Umm, but…”

Konoha placed her hand on the sword she had already sheathed and turned around. They were still alive.

“Doesn’t look like they’re going to let us retreat.”

“Tch!”

Even though the flames should have burned everything behind the Ogre Lord as well, the Ogre Lord showed no sign of having accumulated any damage at all. The Dark Wolf King had also completely evaded it with its high mobility.

“I’ll hold them back, and while I do, Konoha, you—”

“It’s okay, Meiro-chan. I can do it alone.”

(I have to. I have to do it. I don’t want to disappoint them. I don’t want them to think I’m useless. So I have to do it. I have to…)

“Konoha!!”

Meiro shouted more loudly than she ever normally did. Konoha reflexively turned around. Then suddenly, her viewpoint shifted upward toward the ceiling of the cave.

(Huh?)

“W-wait! Meiro-chan!?”

Meiro suddenly lifted Konoha up, holding her in what could only be called a princess carry.

(W-wha!? Whaaaaat!?)

“H-hey! This is embarrassing! Meiro-chan, put me down!”

“Konoha, listen carefully.”

With Meiro staring at her with those eyes, Konoha had no choice but to fall silent.

(But for some reason, my heart won’t stop pounding!)

“Your arm…”

“Eek!!”

“Wha!? W-why did you make such a weird sound!? Just give me your arm!”

Konoha timidly did as she was told.

(Oh, right. I forgot. I got hit by those needles.)

“You’re in terrible shape. The poison is circulating through you, and you’ve stayed in an excited state this whole time. Your adrenaline should be running out by now too, shouldn’t it? We’re pulling back.”

“B-but, but! I—!”

“Companions.”

“Huh?”

Meiro said it to the frantic Konoha. To Konoha, that word, that word was—

“We’re companions. I can’t stand watching you fight when you’re this badly hurt. If you get hurt, it makes me sad.”

“Com… panions.”

For some reason, that word spread through Konoha like a drop of ink falling into water. Her chest felt hot, but in a completely different way from before.

“It means you’re not alone. If something happens, rely on me or… well, I hate admitting it, but Rose too. If you charge ahead by yourself, it’s honestly a nuisance.”

“Meiro-chan…”

“That’s right~ We’re companions~! We’re friends!”

“Rose-chan!?”

“Wait, why are you here!?”

“Well, I got a little worried~”

Now all three of them had gathered in the center. Behind them stood the Minotaur King, while ahead were the Dark Wolf King, the Ogre Lord, and the horde of Ogres.

“We’re surrounded.”

“Tch… We have to retreat somehow—”

“There’s no need for that~”

Rose’s calm, clear voice echoed softly. When Konoha glanced sideways, she saw a fearless smile on Rose’s face.

“If we’re already here, we might as well finish it. That’s why I created this situation.”

“What… do you mean?”

“The Minotaur King is a magical beast that’s both extremely durable and highly mobile. Fighting it head-on requires power, and dealing with its speed requires excellent judgment.”

“The Dark Wolf King uses its unpredictable movements and surprise poison-needle attacks to restrict and divide our movements, and there’s also a risk that it’s still hiding something else.”

“The Ogre horde and Ogre Lord have extremely precise group coordination. Magical attacks against Ogres have their power reduced by half, and the Ogre Lord still hasn’t shown its full strength either.”

“Rose, what are you…?”

“Taking all of that into account, the terrain makes it difficult to use large-scale techniques. In that case, fighting back-to-back like this is the most efficient option. And instead of each of us taking on one enemy separately, we’ll coordinate and 『crush all three of them』.”

The fearless smile on the girl who had seemed so soft and sheltered, the will that wasn’t born from overconfidence but from a ravenous determination to seize victory. Konoha deeply realized just how reassuring the strength of the 『will』 Rose had directed toward her back then could be when it was on their side.

“All right, let’s make our first joint effort count.”