Ugh!


　The searchers around Korina, who hit her face on the floor and made a strange noise, were looking at her with a look of sympathy or with a mocking look of laughter. The misery of being forced to wear flaxen clothes and spit out of the guild's black gate and rolling on the floor doesn't change even after entering the infinite circle.


''Good work.''


　It was Tsutomu, who had watched her skewered on the divine table, who said that to Korina as she sat up and offered her a jacket. She took the jacket and put it on, shaking her shoulders a little, and looked up at Tsutomu, who looked awkward.


''Hey, what was wrong with you...?''
I'm not going to tell you about the Mutant Shell Club.
Oh, yes...
''Looking at the divine table, it looks like everyone is not going to win anymore, so you can go to the reception desk and change for now.
Yes.....


　Corina became slightly teary-eyed at the somewhat shunting attitude, a complete change from when she handed me my jacket, but she quickly got up and headed to the reception desk. Then, I received my private clothes that I had left with the guild and began to furtively take off my flaxen clothes and change in the changing room at the back.


(No, it was, I guess.)


　I slept in my loose, plain clothes, vaguely remembering the battle earlier in my modestly colored underwear. The thing that felt most wrong was that I ran out of support for Hannah. That was the start of a clear breakdown in the PT. I can think of a number of other bad things that came to mind, and my thoughts are spinning in circles.

　Then, after staring at her sunken face in front of the mirror, Corina squeezed her eyes shut as if to switch. And soon after, she left the room where many of the crowded changing rooms were located.

　Incidentally, the crude flaxen clothes that Korina left in the changing room can be sold to the guild, but since they don't amount to much money, there is a tendency to sell them only to new searchers who are in need of money. The guilds that have a monopoly on the clothes that accompany explorers every time they die and are spat out through the black gates have been able to earn a good deal of money by regularly exporting them to garment workers.

　When Corina left the changing room to use the restroom and then headed to the black gate, Amy was just about to be spit out of the black gate and onto the floor. She just seemed to be used to it, but she seemed to be light and took a passive role, and immediately accepted a jacket from Tsutomu and put it on.


(Amy, that's amazing.)


　Corina looks at Amy, who somehow looks like she's looking good even though she's wearing the flaxen clothes that are the sign of a loser, and Corina looks at her with eyes that look impressed once again. Originally, Korina had spent a period of time watching the God's Table as a hobby while working as a nurse, so Amy still couldn't escape the perception that she was a celebrity.

　Later, Leleia, Amira and Hannah returned as well, but all three of them were head-sliding on the floor in harmony. The sensation of being spat out by the black gate is unique and not regular, so it's hard to be passive unless you're very used to dying. When Tsutomu smiled bitterly and offered his jacket to the three of them, whose faces were hitting the floor and turning a little red, Leleia and Amira took it irritably, while Hanna took it with some embarrassment.


''It's time for our lunch break to be over, so I'll go. Bye.''


　And as soon as the four of them headed off to change, Tsutomu, who had checked the time for the reflection to the God's Table, said so and left. After bowing him off, Korina held her belly, which had just been winded, as she bowed and looked away. But she didn't care about that anymore, she simply held it down because she was hungry.

　It was past the peak lunch time, so the cafeteria wasn't that crowded. So after Corina easily secured a seat for five people, she stood in front of the food ticket machine that was working with the magic stone and crossed her arms.


(What shall I have........)


　The guild cafeteria is not high level, but it's not low either. When going out for a meal with a good friend, it's early and the guild cafeteria is guaranteed to have the least amount of taste so that you can name the guild cafeteria.

　The price is comparatively high since it's inside the guild where there is also a god's table, but it's so good that even ordinary customers show up when it's empty. So Korina was staring at the food ticket machine with a serious face, taking it as a good thing that there was no one waiting behind her.


'Korina-chan, your face is scary,'


　Amy immediately pressed the button for the grilled fish set meal at the food ticket machine next to Corina and sent her a wry smile as she seriously examined her lunch. Then Corina looked at the kitchen in front of her.


'The egg dish is the winner today. She's especially good at omelets. But I want a robust meal and I want meat, but then I don't want to get rid of the messy risotto either...''
Until everyone else decides, you can fret about it to your heart's content.


　After handing the waitress her status card and having the charges debited from her account, Amy said that to a cooing Corina and proceeded to the receiving end. After that, Amira and Leleia asked for sashimi and other raw food items, while Hannah ordered the omakase set meal.


''In the end, if you're going to order everything, why bother?
Oh, I have it. You have to exercise what you eat!　


　In the end, Amira looked coldly at Korina, who had bought most of the things she wanted to eat and put a lot of them on the table. However, it seems to be sorely needed for Korina, and she is definitely pinching the flesh of her belly, which is more meaty than before.

　She used to be a nurse who did quite a bit of heavy work, so she didn't have to worry about it, but these days she feels in danger of becoming a plump body in no time if she's not careful. So I've been trying to keep my body in shape, but I'm wondering if this is a good idea because the more I exercise, the hungrier I get and the more I eat.


It's not enough to exercise to lose weight..." "You have to limit your diet to some extent. If you don't restrict your diet to a certain extent, you'll just have to maintain the status quo...
'Yes.......... But I can't resist.....
Then I guess I'll have to...


　Amy and Corina were whispering to each other about their diets, and Amira was giving them a silly look. It's a good thing that you're not a part of this conversation," she said.


You don't have anything to do with that kind of talk, do you? It's enviable to see one of your worries disappear just because you have good genetics.
Huh?


　Leleia, with a clear face, spits out mild venom as she sips her tea, and Amira returns her grumbling voice, partly out of frustration that she couldn't play an active role at all earlier. Then Hannah, who was in front of her, spun her fork around like a teacher with a high opinion of herself.


I do envy Amira's style. But I've never been that bothered by her weight either!　I've never had a belly or anything like that!


　The four of them stared at Hannah with a sullen look on their faces. The destination of their gaze is, of course, the large breasts that are lightly resting on the desk even now.


(I wonder if all the nourishment is going over there...)


　The other three seemed to agree with Corina, but their eyes said a lot. Among them, Amy was staring at Hannah with a stare, as if she was quite concerned.


'Yeah, what's going on with you guys?'
"Nandemo naiyo.


　After seeing Amy, who was crunching the whole fish bone after barreling so, Hannah tilted her head, and then she was crunching the same uncooked prawns from her head as well.


''Well then, let's have a review session...''


　When Corina cut her off awkwardly after finishing her meal a while later, Amira looked blatantly uncomfortable. It was good at first, but it was because she couldn't do anything about it after she got caught in the sticky liquid of the shell club.


'Don't worry about it so much, Amira-san. That couldn't be helped.
I'm sure you're right. It was probably because I rode on my back too much, and I'm rather sorry. It's not good to ride on your back all the time.


　Amy was good at riding on the back of a shell club because she was light and dexterous, but it backfired on her this time. Before, if she kept riding on her back, she would just get a hydraulic laser flying from her dorsal armor, but this time she used a white sticky fluid from the beginning, regardless of her strength. That's why it would be widely scattered on the ground, resulting in Amira being taken off her feet.


''However, countermeasures against that one will be essential. Before, the stickiness should have been lost when water was applied to it, but this time it seemed to have rather increased in viscosity. Perhaps countermeasures have also changed.
'Yes..... I didn't have enough information. I'm sorry.


　I had done my preliminary research beforehand and was blind to the sticky fluid. However, this was due to the fact that Corina was so used to seeing the God's Table that she naturally excluded the watchtower that showed a weak PT.

　Most of the PTs she was watching to gather information on the Mutant Shell Club had already been hurt by the sticky fluid. Therefore, the PT members had been standing around to keep the sticky fluid out of the Mutant Shell Club, so the threat was invisible to Corina.

　Information about the sticky fluid was available to the numerous labyrinth enthusiasts if they looked for information and people who dealt with it personally. However, Korina had no connections to such labyrinth maniacs or informants, so the means to gather information was very scarce.


''No, I think it's my fault for leaving it up to Korina-chan in the first place. I'm sorry. It looked like you were doing a great deal of research, so I thought it was okay.


　However, Korina's ability to look at the divine table and gather information wasn't bad, and the amount of materials didn't differ from what Tsutomu usually gives me. So Amy decided that if she was doing this much research, there was no problem leaving it to her as well as Tsutomu.


I've got lots of sources on my end. I'll talk to them later.
Thank you. It helps.
Can the three of you take a look at the divine table and gather some information?
I understand.
Hey!
Oh...
''Well, you'll see the guild leader struggle, and it won't be that boring, right?


　Amy laughed and poked at Amira as she returned the last, less enthusiastic voice, and Amy poked her with a teasing laugh. Then Amira clicked her tongue and then looked away.


'I don't think we were all that wrong in our standings themselves. So if we gather a little more information and take measures against the sticky fluid before we try, I think we'll have a better chance of breaking through.
'Yes. We have to find that countermeasure first.
Yeah.
Next time, don't scratch it.
I'm not sure if Oli will be angry with me for using the Flame Demon Stone. I used it because I wanted to, but it was too expensive.
..........


　The four of them couldn't help but fall silent to Hannah, who had expressed her unease about the Great Demon Stone of Fire used by the Fist of Demon Flow in the course of the conversation.


''........That's the one that drops from the Mounted Golem, as I recall, right?　How much is it, by the way?
Well, I'm sure it's one of the best ones out there. ...I heard it's probably about this good.


　When Amy, who had more money than most of them, asked this, Hannah looked around awkwardly and then indicated the price with her finger. When Amy saw the price, her white cat ears pinned up, Corina gasped and rambled, and Amira and Leleia looked away, as if they didn't care.


'Hmm. But Oli let you have it in the end, didn't he?　Then there's no problem, right?


　Since Oli was mostly in charge of the equipment that was supplemented by the funds in the infinite circle, she wouldn't have a great magic stone of fire for Hannah to use and get angry with if she didn't give it to her. Then Hannah looked away restlessly.


''Well, I got it when I asked for quite a bit of help, but if I recall now, I think I was told to only use it when I could absolutely defeat it, or something like that, or maybe not...?''
Use it to say you couldn't beat him.
..........
''Well no, that's not very nice. We'll all explain it to you, but let's be prepared to be pissed off.
That's right....


　Amy, who didn't think there was that much damage because of the anti-lost measures, returned that to Hannah, who had unknowingly paaed the exorbitantly priced magic stone. Hannah dropped her blue wings with a shudder.

　The five of them then returned to the Clan House around the evening after gathering information from the Shentai and the labyrinth maniacs. And when Hannah freaked out and reported to Oli that she had used the Great Demon Stone of Fire, she wrinkled her brow.


''You used that one........ Well, if that's the only way you could defeat that shell club, then it can't be helped. The expense is painful, but if that's how you guys got your name out there, then we've earned our money back.


　It was even said by Hannah that her election to the first army was at stake, and she had no choice but to give it to him, a high quality large magic stone of fire to be used for the fist of the demon stream. The fact that it was used on the same day that he gave it to her was almost a headache, but if that was how he was able to break through the mutant shell club that is currently being talked about, Oli was okay with it.


'.........er......I couldn't beat it.
..........


　However, Hannah and the other PTs were unable to break through the mutant shell club. After receiving that report, Oli's brows wrinkled even deeper.


''Well then, can you explain the battle situation and tell me what happened when you used the Great Magic Stone of Fire?　Did anyone else see that?
Oh, well, I'll explain it to you.


　And Amy proceeded to slightly defend Hannah. However, she couldn't lie, as the scene where Hannah used her fist of magic flow with a flourish was going to make it into tomorrow morning's paper. Oli's expression darkened as she listened to Amy's honest report, and when the conversation was over, she smiled and declared.


'Hannah, I'm taking a pay cut.'

'Of course. I warned her many times to only use that one when she was likely to be able to defeat the mutant shell club. However, as far as Amy's report is concerned, it wasn't even a situation to use it. The process of using the Great Fiery Demon Stone and the results are terrible.
Uh, I'll pay you, okay?
Amy has already donated something to the Endless Circle. That alone has helped a lot and I can't take any more help. Besides, it's not good for Hannah either. Huh..... I made a bad decision too. How shall I report to Tsutomu-san........


　And Hannah was given plenty of scolding and even a pay cut for not achieving anything despite using the Great Magic Stone of Fire.