The New Year had arrived.
That said, New Year’s Day wasn't a particularly special day for us. While some regions held grand festivities during the days spanning the turn of the year, no such custom existed in this country. Consequently, most explorers were likely diving into the labyrinth today as well.
We were no exception; we had a dive into the Great Labyrinth of the South scheduled for today. Until yesterday, we’d been bogged down by the administrative aftermath of conquering the 93rd floor, which had kept us from the depths. From today, however, we intended to return our focus to our true calling as explorers.
—Or so we had planned.
"Morning, morning! Good morning, everyone!"
While we were gathered in the exploration department's Strategy Room discussing the day's schedule, Estella, the head of the Exploration Management Department, swept into the room.
"Estella? I don't believe we had a meeting scheduled today," Selma said, being the first to react.
"We didn't, but something came up suddenly that I had to tell you all."
Something she had to tell us suddenly? Had there been some kind of trouble?
"The fact that you’ve come all this way yourself... has something serious happened?"
Rain had reached the same conclusion I had. At her words, a wave of tension filled the room.
"Hmm, in a sense, maybe? But more importantly, listen to this, Rain! My subordinates are just awful! They said they didn't want to deliver this news because the First Unit would get grumpy, so they shoved the job onto me! Don't you think that’s cruel? Waaaah! Comfort me, Rain!"
Estella wailed as she clung to Rain’s chest. It was an obvious act, though. Rain, looking utterly bewildered and unsure of what to do, reluctantly patted Estella on the head.
Judging by Estella’s attitude, it didn't seem like a situation where every second counted. She had her slovenly side, but her abilities were genuine; I knew her well enough to know she wasn't the type to fool around if a true emergency were unfolding.
"Uh, so what exactly does this mean...?" Lucre muttered.
"Don't ask me..." Wil added.
Both of them were just as confused by the sequence of events. In fact, the only person in the room not bewildered was Estella herself, who was still busy playing around.
"Sigh... Estella, enough. Tell us why you’re here. If you just came to frolic, I’m kicking you out right now."
When Selma issued the ultimatum, Estella apologized with a quick, "Sorry, I got a bit carried away," and stepped back from Rain. She turned to face the rest of us, her expression shifting.
"Ahem! The reason I’m here is, quite simply, to notify you all about the 'S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting'!"
"...S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting?" Wil repeated.
"Exactly. Starting tomorrow, the S-Rank parties currently active in the Great Labyrinth of the South—the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, the Copper Afterglow, and the Jade Gale—will be gathering periodically for an event to exchange opinions and foster interaction. Or so I’ve been told."
The playful Estella was gone. She had switched to a professional tone as she explained the purpose of the meeting, though I thought I detected a hint of irritation beneath her voice.
As she said, there were currently three S-Rank parties active in Tsutrail. Jade Gale had begun their conquest of the 90th floor in the middle of last month and had officially joined the S-Rank tier after successfully reaching the 91st.
I see. So that's why we’d be "grumpy," huh. This certainly isn't a pleasant development.
The rest of the First Unit was likely thinking the same thing. Everyone, myself included, looked visibly annoyed.
"Tell me, Estella, was this Jade Gale’s idea?"
"Yes. You can assume that exactly what you, Selma—no, what all of you are thinking—is what's happening."
Estella gave Selma a full affirmation.
What we were thinking was simple: a shift had occurred in the power games of the higher-ups.
The "higher-ups" meant the nobles who served as our sponsors. Explorer parties and clans that receive noble backing are often used as political pawns. While that is a clear drawback for explorers, the benefits are significant enough that those who receive support have to make peace with the trade-off.
Back when I first became an explorer, I hadn't understood that dynamic very well. I’d nearly met with a disastrous experience by blindly accepting support from a noble. I could look back on that event as a good lesson now, but it had been a close call.
The Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky’s sponsors were largely comprised of nobles belonging to the faction centered around Count Eddington. Since the Count held the northernmost territory in the country, his faction possessed immense influence in the north of the Nohitant Kingdom.
In contrast, Jade Gale was backed by the faction of Count Sylvester, a powerful noble from the south. Originally, Jade Gale had been a mid-tier clan, but after securing Count Sylvester’s support, they had rapidly distinguished themselves and climbed all the way to S-Rank. While Jade Gale certainly had the talent, no one could deny that the southern faction’s backing had fueled their meteoric rise.
By the way, the Copper Afterglow generally refused major support. They accepted minor assistance from lower nobles like the Viscount Rampling House, but they lacked the abundant funds and overwhelming information networks of the Silver Rabbit or Jade Gale.
Even so, they had reached the 91st floor—the Deep Floors. That was a result achieved almost purely through their own strength. Personally, I didn't think there was a right or wrong way to handle noble support, but I couldn't help but find their self-reliance impressive.
Digression aside, the exchange meeting Estella mentioned was undoubtedly not Jade Gale's idea, but rather the will of the nobles pulling their strings.
"Dammit! The whole country is on edge, and they're still only thinking about themselves!?" Wil barked, venting his frustration.
"Wil is right! Shouldn't we all be cooperating to make sure things with the Empire don't get any worse!? Those southern guys are infuriating!"
The recent incident with the Empire was definitely the catalyst for this. Since the Empire had broken the non-aggression pact to invade the Kingdom, all neighboring countries were on high alert.
The Nohitant Kingdom was small in terms of territory, but by playing the "Great Labyrinth of the South" card in diplomacy, it managed to maintain strong ties with neighbors and hold its own against powers like the Saubel Empire, the Republic of Junoe, and the Hitia Duchy.
While it was hard to imagine the Empire committing further provocations so soon, any further incident could easily escalate into all-out war. Since the Kingdom wanted to avoid that at all costs, a summit between the King and the Emperor was scheduled to take place in the Empire to repair relations.
The King had already begun his journey to the Empire a few days ago. Since the Empire lay to the north, the northern nobles were currently preoccupied with ensuring the King’s safe passage.
The southern nobles had clearly moved while the northern faction—our sponsors—was distracted. They likely wouldn't do anything to directly harm the Kingdom during such a crisis, but they had clearly exerted pressure. They might have offered to help the King reach the Empire safely in exchange for a favor.
And that "favor" was likely forcing this S-Rank Party Exchange Meeting.
...Well, that was just my speculation, at least.
One might think a meeting between explorers wouldn't benefit nobles, but there were clear advantages. As I mentioned, only three active parties could explore the Deep Floors, but even among them, there was a hierarchy.
The Silver Rabbit could reach the 94th floor, while the other two were stuck at the 91st. There were resources that could only be found on the 92nd or 93rd floors. Effectively, the Silver Rabbit—and the northern nobles—had a monopoly on those materials.
That was a massive advantage. It allowed them to gain favor by presenting those resources to the Royal Family or to get a head start on researching them.
If Jade Gale could milk info about the floors beyond the 91st from us during this "exchange," they could push deeper with far less risk. And since the meeting was already a done deal, we were being backed into a corner where we’d be forced to hand over information we’d risked our lives to obtain, just to protect our sponsors' political standing.
None of us were happy about it.
"...Well, there's no point complaining about what's already been decided," Rain said, breaking the heavy silence.
"Rain is right," Selma added. "Since it’s unavoidable, let’s try to be positive. It’s not like there are absolutely no benefits for us."
"I agree," I said, backing them up. "Opportunities to swap info with other clans are rare, so let's make it meaningful. When I first joined from the Golden Dawn, I found that things the Silver Rabbit took for granted were actually fresh and new to me. We can probably learn a lot from the Afterglow and the Gale as well."
There was no sense lamenting the inevitable. A situation can be a plus or a minus depending on your perspective. If we had to do it, we might as well go in with a mindset that turned it into an advantage.
"That's true! When Orun taught us what he did back in the Golden Dawn, it was a huge eye-opener for us! We might find something like that again!" Selma-chi cheered.
"Yeah. If we're doing this, let's take it seriously so it isn't a waste of time," Wil muttered.
None of us were truly satisfied with the situation, but we encouraged each other to keep our motivation up.
"Whew, thank goodness," Estella said, her face relaxing as the atmosphere returned to normal. "I was worried I’d be buried under a mountain of verbal abuse."
"We wouldn't do that. It would be wrong to blame you, Estella," Wil said.
"Oh! To think Wil-chi would say something so mature... I can't even imagine the old Wil-chi saying that! I'm so proud of how much you've grown!"
"What's with the motherly tone...? We’re the same age, for crying out loud."
After finishing our talk with Estella, we proceeded with our labyrinth exploration as planned. Later that evening, since we’d been invited by Jade Gale to a "pre-party" at a restaurant they owned, the entire First Unit headed out to meet them.