That night, Camille, Amira's mother, came to visit her at the Clan House of the Infinite Circle, where she was warmly greeted by the familiar Amy and Garum, mainly by the familiar Amy and Garum.

　Afterwards, Camille had dinner with the clan members at the clan house and began to report on various recent events to each other.


'Garum, you know, he's very disciplined about showing up to the guild. Amy also sends me letters and gifts. But you, Tsutomu, you don't even contact me. I'm not!　I'm waiting for this hair clasp as a last resort!


　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what I mean by that. It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to find out what's going on in the world.

　And when Camille's sermon was cut short for a moment, he heard one thing that had been bothering him.


'Did Amira tell you that?　About Ryuka Knot
Hmm?　Yeah, I hear you. It's probably a skill derived from dragonization.


　Camille looked at Amira, who was arm-wrestling with Amy while she was dragonizing in her seat a little farther away, while Camille looked at the mug that was now only ice, greedily. Only the mug was never filled, as the garum next to her said no more alcohol and wouldn't let her pour it.


'Tutum, give me your hand,'
Okay.


　Tsutomu held out his hand to Camille, who said that while scratching the scales on her neck, which were slightly red from drinking alcohol, with some degree of insight. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.


'Since when did Camille get to use it too?'
''Hmph. While Tsutomu and the others were in King's Landing, I also learned the Dragonization Knot.
I see.
''However, the Dragonization Knot is not something that can be learned simply by advancing in level. Like any skill derived from a unique skill, it requires some kind of trigger. Do you know what that is?
Come on, I don't have any unique skills, so I don't know.
'From what I've heard from Weiss and Bruno, you have to meet some requirements to learn the derived skills. And I've heard it's a mental one.


　Camille snapped her fingers to the red scales on the back of Tsutomu's hand.


''I received a report from the royal capital about the Stampede. And when I saw the report that the Stampede would be on a scale never seen before, I wanted to help Tsutomu and the others from the bottom of my heart. That's when the red scales glowed in an odd way. Afterwards, he checked his status card and found that he had learned the Dragonization Knot. Perhaps the condition for learning the Dragonization Knot is the desire to help your friends.
''Well I mean, is it safe to say that Camille is a thin-skinned person who has never wanted to help anyone before?''
'Wait, it's precisely the desire to help those same PT members. And that's probably only if I'm in a situation where I can't help them in any way. I could manage most things on my own, you know. Even if I fought with Tsutomu and the others, I was confident that I could be of help. But this time I had to defend the labyrinth city, so I didn't have the option of fighting with them. That's why when I sought a way other than going to help them directly, I think that's when the Dragonization Knot appeared...?


　Camille's confidence started to wane around the end, and she looked a little troubled, but immediately her smile deepened and she poked Tsutomu's shoulder with her supple fingers.


''It's more than that. I'm very happy that the boy has learned the Dragonization Knot. That means Amira wished to help Tsutomu even more than she does now, right?　Not so long ago, that would have been unthinkable.
Sure, I think Amira is changing for the better, though.
Isn't that right?　She's really changed for the better.


　Originally, Amira's uncontrollable dragonization, combined with her arrogant and coarse personality, had caused her to be isolated and abandoned by her friends. And even when she first came to the Infinite Circle, she was moderately awful, and had a tendency to look down on everyone except Tsutomu. Because of this, he didn't get along well with Daryl and Hannah, who were both members of the PT at the time.

　However, after being beaten down in the Infinite Circle for showing off her various strengths, Amira had slowly begun to change. Now she could be seen discussing with Daryl about divine dungeon strategies, and she had formed a good relationship with Hannah, who had called her a feather tank.

　Camille is looking at Amira, who is still happily arm-wrestling with Amy, with a smile on her face. It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

　And Camille, whose eyes were melting because she was drunk, hung her head.


'That's all thanks to Tsutomu for putting me in the infinite circle. Thank you so much. I can't thank you enough.'


　Tsutomu was surprised by Camille's sudden change in mood, but waved his hand humbly at her.


'I certainly helped, but the other clan members were also helping out a lot. And I think it was Camille's firm love for her that changed Amira for the better, though.
Can I cry on your chest for a moment?
'I don't want to. You can cry to Garum if you want.
'Garmu!　Why is Tutom so cold!
Ka, Camille, you've had too much to drink.


　After being told that, Camille gabbed and put her arms around Garum's neck and hugged him. If an ordinary man was given this kind of hug by Camille, there was a chance that he would immediately crash.

　However, seeing Garum's twitching expression as if he had been hugged by a vicious dragon, Tsutomu smiled with a funny kerfuffle.


ooh.


'This is how each clan's hierarchical progress looks like. At the moment, there are no clans that stand out other than Silver Beast. Also, the equipment we were prototyping for the eighty-one level attack is roughly complete, and we have the potions down.


　Aldoret Crow's conference room. There, the clerks were summarizing newspaper articles to the one-armed PTs who had been separated by the Stampede in the royal city and informing them of the current situation in the labyrinth city. Stephanie read that paper, which also had articles from the labyrinth maniacs, with inorganic eyes, while turning her skills on her chair and desk legs.


''However, since the eleventh army has broken through the eighty levels, I thought I would need to reassess the first army again.


　With that and one 80-level breakthrough PT from Aldoret Crow, the assessment of the first army PT was also scheduled to be done again.

　The current first army PTs were Luke, the clan leader; Sova, a multi-weapon attacker; Bittman, who was named as one of the three major tanks; Polk, a granting magician; and Stephanie, a healer with the two names of conductor.

　And each of the army PTs who were informed of the assessment by the clerk, except for Stephanie who was reading the article, looked uncomfortable.


''Haha, looks like the guys downstairs have been working pretty hard while we've been summoned to King's Landing by the Stampede,''
Yes. I'm sure there will be a lot of turnover outside of the first team after this assessment.
Well, that's a problem.


　After returning and being told of the first army assessment as soon as he returned, Sova crossed her arms in a sour mood. Despite the fact that the higher-ranking troops had been called halfway to the royal capital, they had to be assessed on par with those who had been training in the divine dungeon for nearly a month now. Even Bittman, Polk and Luke seemed unhappy about that.


''I'm sorry to hear that, but an assessment will definitely have to be done.
I know that. I know that, if we squandered our chance to raise our army, we'd have a lot to live for later on.
''Yes. I am sorry for everyone who has just returned after completing their duties in King's Landing, but I would like to thank you all for your patience.


　The clerks seemed to know that it was just going to be such an atmosphere, and they were promptly distributing the roster of the eleventh army that had come up this time while making an apologetic expression.

　In the midst of all this, Stephanie, who had finished reading the article, took a deep breath as if she was trying to remain calm. However, she still couldn't calm down, and she gradually began to scratch her head, breathing heavily. A few strands of her long peach-colored hair fell to the ground, and Sova, who was sitting in front of her, saw Stephanie's devilish expression and twitched her face.


'What's wrong--'


　The clerk who said that he cared for Stephanie stopped speaking when she stared back at him with eyes that could even confirm her killing intent. All at once, a tingling air dominated the conference room, causing those around them to gasp.

　Stephanie's ability as a healer was second to none, and because of that, the humble attitude she had before had disappeared. Therefore, the clerks had expected her to complain about the assessment as well, but they hadn't expected her to be this angry.

　The clerk who had approached Stephanie was dripping with cold sweat and Luke was sitting up to stop her. But when Stephanie finally noticed the air around her, she bowed her head apologetically.


'I'm sorry. There was an unpleasant article that I found offensive, and I couldn't help but get annoyed.'


　But what Stephanie was revealing in her irritation was not about the assessment, it was about the article written about the healer. So when Stephanie looked at the clerk in a half-hearted way, Stephanie immediately apologized and started to mention the assessment.


'I have no problem with the assessments. I have no objection to stepping down from the ranks if there is someone who is a better healer than me.
Oh, really?


　The clerk just nodded, looking quite taken back, and hurriedly continued to talk about the assessment before he stepped on any landmines. From then on, the conversation went smoothly, and the assessment would be decided tomorrow, after a week of looking at it.

　Once that conversation was over, Stephanie went back to her room at a fast pace. Then, in the room where Tsutomu's article was strung up as usual, she stared at the article about the healer once more.


(That rabbit is better than Tsutomu-sama?　(Does the person who wrote this article have a maggot in his head?


　Stephanie was gnashing her teeth as hard as she could when she saw the article about Lorena being rated higher than Tsutomu.


(That trash rabbit who doesn't even have a foundation........ Oh, it pisses me off. I'm angry, I'm angry!　You're not nearly as good as Master Tuttle!　(You can't even measure your own ability, you garbage!


　And Stephanie was angry about Lorena's interview, too. At first glance, Lorena made a comment that seemed humble when the reporter asked her about Tsutomu. But from Stephanie's eyes, the comments seemed to be completely downplaying Tsutomu.

　She had once been in direct conflict with Lorena, who has made a name for herself as a running healer. Therefore, Stephanie was judging the article with a much more emotional eye.

　Other articles were written in the newspapers of the three companies, such as the article praising Corina, the prayer warrior enrolled in the Infinite Circle, and the master who had finished his role in raising Lorena and Stephanie. Of course, some labyrinth maniacs measured the survival rate of the PT and praised Tsutomu for his outstandingly low mortality rate. However, articles that were tailored to the perceptions of the crowd sold better, and most of them were about Tsutomu being inferior to Stephanie and Lorena.


'Kuhhhh!　Ahhhhhh!


　Stephanie continued to go wild over the article afterwards, to the point where her normal skill practice was disrupted. And such scenes could be seen in the cafeteria that day, so much so that rumors were circulating in the clan that Stephanie was getting impatient with the assessment.