Because You Stayed Alive.

After returning, Kikori was once again carried into the clinic.

Mana limit exceed phenomenon. A short-term mana abnormality caused by remaining in that state for a long time.

It didn’t seem to last as long as Aria’s condition, but he was diagnosed with at least a week of inpatient treatment, and in fact, for the first three days he didn’t even wake up.

And on the third day, the first thing Kikori saw upon waking was Aria’s face.

“Aria…-san…”

“Kikori!”

As she hugged him tightly, Kikori realized he had “come back.”

He remembered making it back to the city, but had no memory after that.

“Um, after that…”

“Today makes three days. Your body entered sleep to regulate the flow of mana.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. You stayed alive, after all.”

Aria then explained what had happened on the Fortress City’s side.

At first, for several days, the Fortress City hadn’t noticed anything.

Adventurers not returning for long periods was common, and no one worried.

It was treated as nothing unusual.

But Aria was different. When Kikori didn’t come back, she argued with the higher-ups and pushed for a detailed investigation.

As a result… they discovered something abnormal had occurred with the spatial distortions.

After that, they apparently planned to equip adventurers and organize an investigation team… but before that, Aria prepared herself and jumped in.

“Um… was that allowed?”

“I negotiated directly and got approval.”

“…How?”

“They told me to please take a break because if Kikori died while they hesitated, I’d probably rampage at full power.”

Even if she was far from her prime, hearing that from a berserker—one could imagine how it felt.

Kikori let out a dry laugh, “Ha ha…” but at the same time felt happy.

“Thank you. Really.”

“I’ll say it as many times as needed—it’s fine. You came back safely.”

After smiling, Aria’s expression clouded.

“And… there’s a bit of bad news.”

“…”

He could guess.

The expressions Kuon and Eil had shown back then.

He didn’t know why they had looked like that, but he could imagine it had left a bad impression.

“Eil-san wants to leave the party.”

“…What about Kuon?”

“He said, if you’re okay with it, he hopes to keep working with you. Also, he said sorry for panicking.”

“I see. But why Eil?”

“She was scared.”

“…Scared?”

“She said you looked like a dragon, Kikori, and wondered if she’d have to become like that to survive as an adventurer. It broke her spirit.”

She’ll be working at an apothecary from now on, Aria added with little apparent interest.

“I… see. But I’m glad Kuon stayed.”

“About Kuon-san…”

“Huh?”

“In response to this incident, he’s been dispatched as a messenger to the Fortress City on the beastfolk nation’s side. He left yesterday.”

“What!?”

Then even without leaving the party, it was practically the same as gone.

Seeing Kikori’s shock, Aria looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry. But since the area beyond the spatial distortions has turned into a labyrinth, it’s necessary to confirm conditions and coordinate with other Fortress Cities. Kuon-san is one of the few beastfolk who saw the site…”

“That makes sense.”

“That’s how it is. There’s no scroll for moving between Fortress Cities, so it’ll probably take quite a long time…”

At Aria’s sigh, Kikori nodded. “It can’t be helped.”

That meant until Kuon returned, he would be alone again.

“A labyrinth, huh…”

“Yes. That’s what it’s being called. It’s still provisional, but those spatial distortions will likely receive an official name too.”

With that preface, Aria told him the “official name.”

Because of the labyrinthization phenomenon, the region that rendered all previous maps useless would now be called—

Dungeon.