"Are you listening, Fuuka? Other people are gathering today, so you need to behave yourself. You absolutely cannot gorge yourself like you usually do, okay?"
"……? I don't gorge myself."
"I wonder if she really understands……"
On our way to the restaurant we’d been invited to, we ran into Fuuka, Katina-san—who was currently offering those sharp words of caution—and Haruto-san and Huey-san, who followed behind with wry smiles.
"Oh, if it isn't Copper Afterglow."
Wil noticed the four of them and called out.
"Oh, long time no see, Wilkes! And everyone else too! Ah, that’s right. Congrats on reaching the 94th Floor."
Haruto was the first to react, greeting us while offering his congratulations for conquering the 93rd floor.
"Thanks, Haruto-san. Are you guys also heading to the place Jade Gale picked?"
"Yeah. Our destination is the same, so let's walk together."
Following Haruto’s suggestion, the nine of us made our way toward the restaurant as a single group. As we walked, Fuuka approached me in a direct line.
"Orun, long time no see."
"Long time no see, Fuuka."
I hadn't met Fuuka face-to-face very often, and she didn’t seem like the type to strike up a conversation on her own. I responded while feeling a slight bit of surprise that she had reached out to me.
"Has anything changed lately?"
Fuuka asked the question while staring intently at my face. As usual, her expression was flat and difficult to read, but I sensed a certain seriousness in her eyes. At the very least, she didn't look like she was just trying to make small talk.
"Let's see…… I suppose the biggest change would be regarding the Empire? There's going to be a meeting between our King and the Emperor soon, after all."
"I don't care about the Empire right now. Not that. Has anything changed regarding Orun yourself?"
Calling the biggest news of the day "whatever"…… Well, it was true that Fuuka didn't seem like the type to concern herself with such things.
"Regarding myself, huh? In that case, I've improved quite a bit at that."
"By that, do you mean Ki?"
Haruto had forbidden me from speaking of Ki to others, but since Fuuka already knew that I was being tutored by him, it wasn't an issue. I had kept the term vague just in case, but she spoke it plainly.
"Yes. But is it alright to say it out loud?"
When I voiced my concern, Fuuka gave a small nod before answering.
"Just hearing the word doesn't explain what it means, so it's fine. Anything else?"
It seemed like she was hoping to hear "something" specific from me. However, I had no idea what that "something" was.
"Sorry. I can't think of anything else."
When I told her there was nothing more, Fuuka muttered, "……I see," and fell silent.
The conversation hit a lull, but since she showed no sign of leaving my side to join the others, I decided to offer the next topic.
When it comes to Fuuka, it has to be food, right?
"Fuuka, have you ever been to Soyokaze-tei before?"
When I asked, she shook her head from side to side.
"Among the shops for the general public, that place specifically targets explorers. I've been there a few times in the past, and it’s quite delicious. The shop itself isn't that large, but because their target audience is explorers, they serve a lot of high-volume dishes. They also have a reputation for using ingredients that help with fatigue recovery."
As I gave a brief explanation of Soyokaze-tei, Fuuka bit. While her expression remained unchanged, her eyes sparkled with curiosity. Seeing that look, I felt a touch of warmth and spent the rest of the walk telling her about a few other restaurants I personally considered hidden gems.
When we reached our destination and entered Soyokaze-tei, the members of Jade Gale were already there.
"Hey, we've been waiting for you. Welcome to Soyokaze-tei!"
Once they noticed our arrival, a boyish woman with emerald-green hair in a short cut spoke up on their behalf. Her name was Loretta Waver—the ace of Jade Gale and the person I had fought in the first round of the recent Martial Arts Tournament.
Incidentally, the Jade Gale party that had reached the Deep Floors was composed entirely of women. Reaching those depths with an all-female team, despite the inevitable differences in physical ability between genders, was no small feat. They couldn't have made it this far without an extraordinary amount of effort.
……Though, since support magic is a prerequisite for high-level exploration these days, the combat gap between men and women is gradually closing. In fact, there are currently more active female S-Rank Explorers in the Great Labyrinth of the South than men. In the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, it’s three out of five; in Copper Afterglow, it’s two out of four; and in Jade Gale, it’s five out of five. Then there’s Luna, who isn’t here, but she’s also a female S-Rank Explorer.
After everyone exchanged brief greetings, we took our seats.
"Once again, thank you all for coming today despite the sudden invitation."
Once everyone was settled, Loretta moved to a prominent spot to begin her greeting.
"Regarding the exchange meeting, it seems our sponsor was applying some pressure, and for that, I am sorry. It ended up being a semi-forced arrangement, but I promise here and now that we won't use our sponsor's influence to try and forcibly extract information from you. However, the chance for explorers who have reached the Deep Floors to exchange information is precious, so I want to make this a meaningful time not just for us, but for the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky and Copper Afterglow as well."
Loretta spoke to us with a straightforward gaze.
It was true that there were elements of this meeting that could benefit us, even if the downsides were significant. I personally had some unpleasant feelings about the circumstances, but I didn't feel like blaming Jade Gale. They hadn't done anything malicious; it just meant they were that serious about conquering the Labyrinth. They simply possessed the power to summon us to a meeting and chose to exercise it.
"I’d like to keep things informal today. Partly to prepare for tomorrow’s meeting, but mostly because I want to deepen our bonds with everyone, putting our usual positions aside for a bit. Is that alright with you, Selma?"
Loretta, a daughter of a noble house, checked with Selma, who shared a similar background. Loretta spoke to her familiarly; Selma had mentioned before that they were classmates at the Noble Academy and had remained close as fellow explorers after graduation.
It isn't rare in this country for nobles to become explorers. However, because reaching S-Rank is a feat of its own, there are very few noble S-Rank Explorers. Currently, it’s just Selma and Loretta. As far as I know, the number of nobles who reached S-Rank in the past can be counted on one hand.
"Yeah, no problem. I may be a noble’s daughter, but I’m here today as an explorer of the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky."
Receiving Selma’s reply, Loretta nodded with satisfaction and picked up a glass.
"Then let’s have a toast. Does everyone have their food and drinks?"
The staff had been bringing out refreshments just as Loretta began her speech. We followed her lead and picked up the glasses placed in front of us.
"To celebrate all the S-Rank parties gathering in one place! ——Cheers!"
""Cheers!!""
With the toast finished, the social gathering officially began. As the shop wasn't very large, the participants were split between two tables. My table sat six of us. To my right was Fuuka, to my left was Wil, and across from me was Loretta, flanked by Haruto and Jade Gale’s defender, Mariah.
"Speaking of which, there was something I’ve been meaning to ask the Rabbits and Copper."
Loretta spoke up once the initial small talk reached a natural lull.
"Something you wanted to ask?"
"Yes! About the time around February of last year, when the three S-Rank parties—Dawn, the Rabbits, and Copper—performed a joint subjugation of a dragon that appeared on the surface."
"Ah…… that did happen. Come to think of it, a year hasn't even passed since then. It feels like a story from ages ago, though."
At Loretta’s words, Haruto spoke in a low murmur, his eyes drifting toward the distance.
A joint subjugation, huh. That brings back memories.
That event was effectively the direct cause of my being kicked out of Golden Dawn. I’d already made my peace with being expelled, and it wasn't a painful memory anymore, but it was certainly a turning point.
However, when I thought back to how Philly Carpenter joined Dawn immediately after that, and how the Cyclamen Cult was found to be controlling magic beasts, I couldn't help but suspect the Cult had been pulling the strings behind that incident.
"Yeah. It feels like ancient history to me too. Probably because the Silver Rabbit was in the middle of so much internal turmoil back then."
"Certainly. A lot has happened since—Orun-kun defeating a Deep Floor boss solo, the Hero going on a rampage, the Imperial invasion…… it’s been a busy year."
Loretta listed off the major events of the past year while agreeing with Wil.
"So, Loretta-san, what specifically did you want to ask about the joint subjugation?"
When I steered the conversation back to the topic, her expression turned serious.
"Well, the information regarding that subjugation is heavily controlled, isn't it? Since the Explorer Guild is an organization independent of the state, I couldn't dig up anything even with my sponsor's connections. I have a lot of questions, but my biggest one is why they went to the trouble of deploying three entire parties. You can answer within the limits of what you're allowed to say, but was the dragon on the surface perhaps even more powerful than the beasts in the Deep Floors?"