It was common knowledge to labyrinth explorers that the level of difficulty was significantly different from the 21st level.

　In the past, the Allies had spent less than a year to capture the 20th level. However, it took more than ten years to capture the twenty-one to twenty-three layers.

　It seems that one of the reasons for this was the loss of many elites due to the 20th tier tida, but the main reason was the change in the quality of the labyrinth more than anything else.

　In the lower levels, no large monsters would appear, but after the 20th level, countless large monsters would spring up and appear. It would be extremely difficult to construct the 'Righteous Path' among them.

　Naturally, the Allies began to loosen up their attack, and after the 20th layer, they began to think that it was 'not worth it'. Just when the issue of funding was also coming up, the teachings of the continental bishops were not enough of a boost.

　--The Allies changed their mindset.

　If you reach the deepest part, you'll be given legendary honors - but now that it's clear that no one will get there, you'd better have a more fruitful story to tell.

　The location here is good.
　It's in the heart of the settlement, close to the sea, and the climate is kind.
　The Confederacy is built around it.
　Everyone decided that it would be better for the country to take advantage of its economy rather than capture the labyrinth. People would be lured by the sweet juice of the labyrinth, so there was no reason not to take advantage of it. The movement of people in and out of the city is important for a vibrant economy. This land fulfilled all those conditions.

　Each king in each country would focus on the continental economy instead of capturing the labyrinth.
　It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the entire Confederation had changed direction.

　Once that happened, it was over.
　The country's attack on the labyrinth after the 23rd layer was completely terminated.

　The only thing that can be said from this story is one word.
　It can be summed up in one word.

　--The 20th layer and beyond is "not worth it".

　The only people who challenge it are those who are either very fond of things, idiots, or loved by the heavens.
　That's the common sense of the Allies.

　There was one girl who danced happily against the monsters while screaming with joy at the 21st layer.

''Haha, hahahahaha--!　Strong!　Oh, my God, oh, my God!　Oh, there he goes, Christ!　Hahaha!

　She's a very curious, stupid, and heavenly girl, Rastiara, who is loved by the heavens.

　Currently, we are in the middle of exploring the 21st level of the labyrinth.
　There are two monsters that Rastiara missed out on that are coming towards us.

　They are both large monsters.
　Earlier, even a single minotaur was too much trouble, but now there are two stronger than that.

''Maria, don't ever get out from behind me!　So many enemies!　It's not safe to get too far away!
Yes!

　The enemy is Fury, a four-armed, four-legged monster covered in pitch-black body hair.
　He is a slow-moving but troublesome monster with literally too many hands.

　I use a single sword to attack the approaching Fury's powerful arm.
　I strike the side of his arm with all my might to deflect it, and at times I retreat, holding Maria in my arms.

　You can't fight a battle where mobility is paramount. This is because in a layer with such a high rate of monster appearances, Maria cannot be placed far away from you.
　Inevitably, the battle will be fought while protecting Maria.

　-- "I won't know if Maria is dead.

　Today, before I entered the labyrinth, Rustyala's words come to mind.
　I decide that I can't leave it out and shout.

''-- Magical "Dimension Decisive Operation (Gradient)," "Multiple Expansion (Multiple)," "Form," "Ice," "Freeze"!

　All the magic is unleashed.
　It's a torrent of all magic by an order of magnitude different from the first day.

　Unleashing massive amounts of magic bubbles and taking stock of every space in detail. Of course, he also mixes in bubbles that are laden with freezing magic. At the drop of a hat, it is designed to freeze the enemy at the drop of a hat. At the same time, it also lowers the temperature of the entire space. I'm not going to be able to get any more than that. By doing this, it will be easier to refine both the Ice Freeze Arrow and Dimensional Snow magic.

　I strike away the four arms of the approaching Fury with my sword.
　This is the first time since the Tida battle that I've wielded my sword in such a rash manner.
　It's not often that my magic nature allows me to fight by force. I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them.

　It's really hard to have any room to spare--then using Maria as a decoy to escape would be the right answer.

"d*mn--!

　But my mind boggles.
　Not long ago, I was able to sacrifice someone else. As a matter of course, I was able to calmly count my losses and gains with numbers and move calculatingly. But now it's different.

　When did it all start?
　Why did I love Maria so much?

　It's only when I'm in a tight spot that I become frustrated with the new problems that have arisen.
　That frustration slows down my movements and Fury's arm snatches my shoulder.

'Ouch--!'

　With a mere snatch, the cloak is torn off, the skin peels and blood flies.

　It's dangerous at this point.
　It's physically and mentally demanding.
　If you have any more sense of danger, that skill of "? will be triggered. The confusion that had spontaneously recovered will increase again.

　The mixed thoughts of impatience and hesitation are slowing my judgment.

''Master--!
It's all right, Maria!　We're almost there and Rustyala will take care of it!

　I turn my attention to Rastiara, who is fighting in the distance.
　There was a figure there that was destroying monsters like a demon god.

　That's right.
　This battle is a battle that can be won by buying time.
　The skill '??' There is no need to use the skill '??' to clear your mind of hesitation.

　All you have to do is wait until Rastiara, who is moving freely, has been annihilated.
　Rastiara is alone and continues to reduce multiple Furies. If we buy her time, she will break this crisis.

　So, this is where we have to be patient and endure, a long term posture.

　So, as I concentrate on intercepting them, the two Furies attack me in a pincer movement.

　But the position is good.
　I activate some of the magic 《Dimensional Snow (Di Snow)》 that was near the enemy. Fury, whose body suddenly started to freeze, loses his stance and the two bodies collide with each other with the momentum they have.

　In the meantime, I take a distance from the two bodies with Maria in my arms and loudly check the situation of Rustyala.

''Not yet!　Rastiara!
'Yes, yes!　Here you go!

　Finally, Rustyala turns all the Furies he was taking on into light and runs to our reinforcements.

　From there, it was only a moment.
　The two Furies, who were blocked by my freezing magic and were showing gaps in their movements, took a decent bite from Rustiala's sword strike.

　Rastiara's sword pierces the Fury's vital point.

　The Fury's screaming opponent, Rustyala relentlessly pursues the Fury with a follow-up attack. He makes his sword dance like a whirlwind that surrounds him.
　It's a speed that Fury can't keep up with. This is not a good thing.

　Soon after, the two remaining Furies fell to the ground, splattering a large amount of blood.

　Then, after confirming that all the Furies had turned into light and disappeared, I immediately dispatched an instruction.

''-- Retreat!　Retreat!　Let's go back to layer 20!
'Yes, master!

　Picking up the magic stone was also a bummer, and we headed back the way we came from and headed to the 20th layer.
　Rastiara was complaining next to me, but I ignored her.

　Avoiding the enemy with magic 《Dimension》, we run to the space on the 20th level.

''Haha, haha ......''
Hah, hah, hah ......!

　We reach the safe zone and me and Maria breathe.
　Then Rustyala takes out his frustration on us.

'Hey. Why did you retreat?'
'I've never heard of an enemy this strong: ......
Yeah, I said it. I told you, I'm a little strong. Be careful out there.

　I was foolish to believe that, and I was stupid enough to try to level Maria in layer 21. I have to be more mindful of the fact that this guy's values are off.

'That wasn't a bit. Quite a bit, quite a bit.
'Quite?　I wonder: ......?
'Anyway, fighting on the 21st level is too different, so we're not going to do it today. If we don't, Maria won't be able to join us.
Hmm. I knew it would be better for Maria to wait at home, right?
...... Maria is one of us. It doesn't work that way.
'It can't be that way?　Christ, really?
............

　I'm stuck for a reply.

　I know, I know .......
　If only Maria wasn't there, that would be just the right enemy.
　I also know that if the goal is to attack the labyrinth, it's right for you and Rustyala to try the 21 levels here .......

　So, unable to answer that question, I fell silent.
　Behind me, Maria has a frustrated look on her face. It's a small voice, but I can hear it clearly.

''Le, you've been leveled up, but ....... You're almost on the same level as your master, and yet you can't do anything .......

　Maria is growing rapidly at a rate that would normally be impossible to achieve.
　In just a few days, she has risen to the level of the highest class of explorer. But that's within the category of ordinary people - far from being substandard like me and Rustyala.

　I can't reach it.
　There is a clear gulf.
　We're almost on the same level, but we can't even participate in battle.
　This is the difference in talent.
　The difference between the 'qualities' of those who are blessed and those who are not.

　Unable to look at Maria like that, I put down Rustyala and call out to her to follow up.

''Maria, don't worry about it ....... If your level goes up, even Maria will be able to fight--
Yeah, that's right. If only we could get to the level, the level--

It's the other way around.

　But Rustyala interrupts me and Maria's conversation.
　She continues to speak as if she can't watch us.

'The higher you go up the higher the level, the harder it will be for Maria to keep up with you. For the rest of your life, Maria won't be able to keep up with us.

　Rustyala assured me.
　I tell Maria the fact that I was dimly aware of it, but hadn't put it into words.

'--What?'

　Maria didn't seem to swallow the meaning of the words right away.

'There's a huge difference in the level of growth between Maria and us ....... So, as the level goes up, we'll only grow apart. There will never be a scene where Mary can help Christ forever. On the contrary, she'll be dragging her feet and putting Christ's life in danger, too.

　Rustyala folds Maria, who is confused.
　I can't look at her and interrupt her.

'Rustyala, wait a minute!
I won't wait.
Little by little, Maria is getting stronger and the right person in the right place at the right time--
'I thought it would be possible to watch the tragic scene of Mary while looking at the Christ who is so deluding himself, but ...... I knew I didn't want to. I guess I like Mary a lot more than I thought I would.

　Am I fooling myself?　
　That's not what I'm talking about: .......

　I don't want to admit it.
　But Rastiara's serious eyes won't allow me to do so.

''That's not ....... That's not true .......''
'You see Mary's 'qualities' in Christ, too. If it's low, there's nothing you can do about it. No matter what, the basic rate of increase in power is different. And yet, it's insane to take Maria-chan around in the labyrinth. Why do you do it? Do you know what you're doing?
It's .......

　I know.
　I've noticed that "predisposition" is related to the increase in status.
　It would be obvious if I compared myself and Dia's growth with Maria's growth. Maria absolutely lacks 'qualities'.
　Even so, the reason I took Maria around--

'That's enough ....... Anything more than that is fine .......

　Before I could say everything, Maria stopped her.
　Her expression was pale.
　It's an expression that understands where I'm going with my words.

　I knew this too (・・・・・・・・・).

　When Maria saw the fight in Lastiara, when she saw me fighting - she understood that she was no longer useful. I had been pretending not to notice that for a long time. Rustyala was right, I had been fooling myself.

　Maria turned her face down, dejectedly.
　Her eyes are as dark as the bottom of the ocean.

　Her eyes are as empty as they were one day.

　Oh .......
　Please don't .......

　It's a trauma.
　I don't want to remember that someday (・・・・・・).

　That's probably why I've always been favoring Maria (...). I was selfishly and self-satisfied again. That too, this time, while unconsciously deceiving myself: .......
　I'm really cowardly, stupid and disgusting .......

'Hmph, ugh, ugh ....... Hmmm, I see. Yeah, I like that. You two are so nice. I'm so jealous of you ....... Hmmm.

　As me and Maria are overcome by the answers I've arrived at, Lastiara begins to envy it with excitement.

　It's the same innocent and merciless eyes that she had one day.
　It's the same innocent and merciless eyes as when I was a kid, and it's the same inorganic eyes that an ordinary person wouldn't be able to understand.

　With those eyes, I look at Maria and I, and while I envy her - I love her.

...... It's really in bad taste, isn't it? You.
'It's your fault, both of you. It's bad that you're living such an interesting life on the edge.
'I'm sorry ....... Just in the nick of time. ......
'But it's good (...) We're both very good at fooling ourselves, so we'll still have fun. But don't worry. I'll be watching you from the side to make sure you don't die or fall apart!

　Rustyala smiles at us with a mixture of madness in his eyes.

　I thought I was starting to understand what Rustyala was thinking these days, but it seems I'm not quite there yet. However, I'm getting a little more used to the madness, so I answer with a sigh.

'There's no way I'm going to feel safe: ......
...... Mr. Rustyala, please weigh in a little more.

　Maria next to me responds with a similar expression as I do.
　Although she was shocked by the fact that she was confronted with the fact, she seemed to have enough energy to talk back to Rustyala's sidelong argument.

''Haha. Yeah, good, good, good. As long as you two can swear, you're still good to go: ......!　I mean, if it had stayed that way, I'm sure it would have been worse later on!　Rather, we'll both be more grateful to me for my party experience, thanks to reading the adventure stories!

　Rastiara laughs heartily, taking no notice of our words.

'How could I possibly be grateful?' ......
I can't thank you for the quicksilver: ......

　Me and Maria talk back at the same time.

　There was not only disappointment, but also a bitter smile that passed for dismay.

　Maybe it's Rastiara's merciless yet innocent cheerfulness that pulls this little smile out of me.

　I was in despair thanks to Rustyala, but I was sure that Rustyala was helping me to recover.

　I chuckled and continued to speak, trying to keep this slight brightness from fading.

'Huh, totally ....... You're still a scary guy, .......
What, am I scary?
'It's so uncommon, so outlandish, so unreserved, it's incredibly scary to me. Hey, Maria.

　I give a small smile and pass the story around to Maria in a light-hearted way.

'Yeah, yeah ....... You never know what you're going to do, Rustyala, so I always get chilled out.
Yeah. Maria, too.

　Somehow, Maria seemed to match my light-heartedness, too.
　The atmosphere between the three of us gradually brightens as we clap lightly to each other, even if it's in an empty spirit. Although there is a pile of problems, I'm starting to feel better and better.

''--Let's go home then. Rastiara can stay behind if he wants to, though.
No, you're no longer on your own!　I'm going home!
''Hmph. Rastiara-san is strong, but she's strangely lonely, isn't she?

　After that, we successfully turned our depressed feelings around by continuing to use Rastiara as a story.
　Thus, we laughed at least formally at each other as we passed through the 20 layers of magic, the Connection, and returned home safely.