That night. We ended up resting in a nearby building. Originally it was a commercial facility, but now it also doubles as the operational headquarters of the Knights of the Order this way. We are now in a room of such a building.

　But before that, Fee and I had come to confirm something. That was to check the bodies of the heads of the three major noble families. The room was warded with alchemy. And it was to be confirmed in the presence of Ardell, whose entire body was hidden by cloth.



Yeah. We'll see soon. The three great lords have met each other. I know the proper domain, the Pardonal Field. Leave it to me.
....


　Fee has been silent for a long time, as usual. There were no words I could say to her like that right now. For now, what I don't see is what I won't start. Then I check the corpses lined up on the spot with the elemental eye 《Decoding Sight》.


''No........this is.......''
What did you find out?
'It's cleverly disguised... but only on the outside, but these aren't the bodies of the people themselves...'
Elle, really?


　Fee, who had been standing behind me, comes right up to my side. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she seemed to be struggling to hold it together.


'Oh. I'm not going to lie about this. This is the body of another human being. Perhaps the three great nobles are hiding somewhere. But in this emergency situation, why would they go through all this trouble to hide?　Are you looking for a moment of rebellion?
I don't know ... the current situation is not well in hand, even for us Knights.
'Well no, I can't help but think about it now.
Let us take care of the information gathering and such. Elle, you and Mr. Fee should get a good night's rest.
Oh. Thank you. Fee, let's go.
'Yeah...'


　And so me and Fee left the place.


　◇


　Then me and Fee were in the same room. At first we had talked about going to separate rooms, but when I saw Fee shivering, I couldn't help but call out to him.


"Fee, are you okay?
'Yeah ... somehow ... but I'm glad. Just knowing that I'm still alive is really....
'Yes. It's hard to lose someone you love, isn't it?
Well thank you, Elle, for that.
'No I didn't do anything but...'
No. If it weren't for Elle, you wouldn't have known.　Because I'm sure I would have been grieving for everyone else to be dead.
Well....


　I sit down on the couch in the room and Fee leans towards me. She's still trembling, but when I squeeze her hand, she turns to me happily and smiles, enjoying it.


'Hey Fee,'
What, Elle?
When this is all over, I'm going to stop exploring the maze for a while.
Why?　You were willing.
Yeah. I'm motivated. But now that we're in this situation, I think we need to gain some more ground here. Besides, I'm sure Leif and the others will take care of the labyrinth search itself.
Speaking of which, how's the research going?
Not much going on. That's another reason. I want to study crops, and I still get paid to do it. I've got to do what I can to make sure it doesn't go to waste.
"Hmm. I wonder what Elle is going to do next?
"...the plan for now is to implant a fully independent artificial intelligence and genetically engineer cold weather resistant crops.
''Well I'm kind of surprised to hear something so amazing coming out of nowhere...''
'It's something I've been thinking about since before we originally started exploring the labyrinth. The artificial intelligence that resides in the protos, but there are a lot of problems with vegetables. I'm hoping to be able to transcribe it into a handy doll. That way, we could secure the labor force and stuff. I've also been talking with my sister about this, and I'm thinking about starting to think about breeding them in earnest. The challenge now is to find a way to make crops that are resistant to cold weather. To begin with, crops are not designed to grow in cold climates. Yields are still higher in warmer climates. I'd like to offer something new to overcome this situation...


　And I talk to Fee about my future prospects, but he's kind of pouting.


"Hey. What's up, Fee?
'No, I mean you're still the same...'
'I've always been like this, haven't I?　You know that if you've known Fee for a long time, right?
'No, that's true but once again I noticed your abnormality. No, but maybe that's proof that you can be a genius...
'I don't care about genius or anything like that. My goal is to be the best farmer in the world.
'Well you said the same thing when you interviewed for the entrance exam I really respect you... no really...'
'Haha. Praise won't get you anywhere, will it?
'No, well, it's more of a compliment, but what can I say...'


　We just chatted and fell asleep.

　I have to do something about the current situation as soon as possible to make the dream I just told you about come true.