'Go to your room and get your equipment ready. When you've done that, wait for me outside the clan house.
But...
Quickly....


　Tsutomu managed to control his emotional reaction to Amy's attempt to cling to him, but his voice was filled with disappointment in her. Amy sensed this and left the room with a quick step, though her white cat ears shriveled and deflated.


(It wouldn't be surprising if Leleia found out now that the paper had been stolen. If I don't get out now, it's going to be a bad idea. (d*mn, I feel like a disaster.)


　Tsutomu crouched down to pull the magic bag he had prepared for an emergency out from under the bed, but before he did, he decided it was best to get Garum ready before he got up and quickly left the room. He then walked quickly to the room he was in and knocked on the door, calling out softly.


'What's up?'
''It's been sour. I'll tell you the details as we head to the guild, and I'm sorry, but can you get ready to go out right away?
Okay.
Wait for me outside when you're ready.


　Perhaps sensing the seriousness of the situation by Tsutomu's expression, Garum, with the quickness of a soldier, took off his nightgown and began to put on his sturdy and sweat-absorbent innerwear. Tsutomu also quickly returned to his room and equipped himself as if he were heading to a dungeon, and finally took out something close to a suicide note from his emergency magic bag and put it in a drawer in his desk.


''Huh?　Mr. Tsutomu, are you going out now?
Oh, I'm just running an errand for the magicians.


　And as he left the room and was about to go down the stairs, he met up with Daryl, who had just come up to take a bath. He bailed and walked past as Tsutomu shifted to the left to give way.


'Wash up well,'
It's none of your business.


　As they passed each other, Tsutomu nuzzled Daryl's head with his fingertips as if to tease him, and waved his hand as if to dismiss the returned words. He didn't even think of it as a goodbye greeting, but he said it in the same tone he always used when he was being teased, and headed upstairs to the bathroom.

　In the living room, Amira was sprawled on the sofa with a newspaper over her face, breathing a quiet sleep. Oli and his apprentice could be heard making idle chit-chat in the kitchen while washing up. In the midst of all this, Tsutomu looked up at the ceiling of the Clan House.


(Sorry.)


　After a moment of dusk, Tsutomu left the clan house where he had lived for almost two years.

　When he went outside, he found Amy and Garum, who were already getting ready to go, standing in the light of the front door. He had already heard about the situation from Amy, his face was grim.


''Let's go to the guild while we talk for a bit.
Oh...


　Garum's expression is dark. Although I understand Tsutomu's situation because he explained it to me just the other day, I am still not truly convinced about returning to the original world.

　Seeing Garum like that, Tsutomu slumped his shoulders as if he was being frightened.


I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. It's not necessarily Amy's fault. It's just that I didn't have the luxury of time to do it all of a sudden, and that's why I'm in this situation. I don't have much time right now anyway, so I'm going to head to the guild first, but I want to talk to both of you about something while we walk--


　The moment Tsutomu stepped out of the Clan House gate while saying this, he heard a sound like ice popping from behind him. Then he suddenly fell over as if his left foot had been pulled off the ground.


''Ah...?''


　And Tsutomu saw the cause of his own fall.


''Guh, ahhh!


　An arrow coated with paralyzing poison pierced through Tsutomu's left calf, and the arrow feather had begun to turn red. As soon as he recognized it, the pain was so intense that he involuntarily let out a scream. And from the broken window of the clan house came a thin scream and some words of blame for Tsutomu's shooter.


'Diniel!　Don't shoot anything...!
It's bad enough that thieves try to sneak out this late at night.


　When Tsutomu turns around, blustery and greasy sweating, he sees Xeno's hand controlling Diniel, who is holding his bow with heart-cold eyes through the open window. Leleia, who hadn't even dried her hair yet after her bath, was watching with eyes that seemed to explore which side she should take. Corina and Hannah look dumbfounded, as if they haven't yet been able to keep up with the situation.


''..........Medi, kook, high heels!''


　In the meantime, Tsutomu recovered from the intense pain, taking into account that the arrows were coated with poison. The intense pain caused his recovery skill to be slightly overactive, and a green qi spread into the night sky.


''A thief...?　What the hell are you talking about?　And for that, d*mn it, you shot him out of nowhere.
'It's white. I've seen with my own eyes, using the Eagle Eye, that Amy stole that paper and delivered it to Tutom's room. Besides, the four of them have already confirmed that the paper is missing, and you're going out with them in tow. That's very suspicious. What the hell are you hiding?


　Diniel had probably planted arrows in the corridors and rooms of the Clan House beforehand, and used Eagle Eye, a skill that allowed him to share vision via arrows, as a surveillance camera to get circumstantial evidence of the theft. Amy lowered her white tail as if frightened by the pursuit, and Garum still had a stern expression on his face.

　Seeing this, Leleia and the others seemed to understand that Diniel's claim was correct. Following Diniel, who climbed over the window and went outside, the four of them, who were somewhat equipped, also faced Tsutomu and the others, even though they didn't think it was possible.

　It's true that we have all the circumstantial evidence as explained to her earlier, and it's also clear that Amy's pursued condition is somehow strange. Garum is also completely silent.


'Is that kind of speculation alone a reason to shoot me?　Me, the Clan Leader of the Infinite Circle, you guys?


　But Tsutomu did not show any weakness in the face of that theorized Diniel's stern pursuit. Rather, he pushed his anger, which he usually rarely showed to the clan members, to the fore, and stepped forward, not caring that blood was flowing from his feet.


'From the looks of you guys, it must be true that the paper is gone. The hundred levels of dropped items that I finally broke through after a long time are gone. I can understand your impatience. But did you even have to shoot me in the first place?　It would still be understandable if I ran away just because someone called out to me that the paper was gone. But this time it was a complete surprise without any advice, right?
''Uh, yeah. Master. It doesn't seem that serious, does it?


　Hannah could feel the air getting tauter and tenser, but she was still exploring the possibility that Tsutomu was joking and pretending to be oddly angry. No matter how many foolish things I've done to annoy him and annoy him, he's never shown this much anger before. She wondered if it was a bit of an elaborate surprise, and that was her honest feeling.

　Then Tsutomu smiled, even though he looked a little dumbfounded, and she was relieved to see that he smiled, so she relaxed as well.


'Hey. Does Hannah think I'm the kind of guy who would allow someone to shoot me in the leg by surprise and say, well, well, just be gentle here?
...well...
'No, of course not. You are now trying to make an enemy of me, with Diniel at the top of the list. You understand that much, don't you?


　Tsutomu stared at the five of them with a look that seemed to be directed at Myrrle, who had spread so much bad publicity in the labyrinth city that he couldn't form a PT and was trying to take away their way back to reality, even if he hadn't intended for it.

　In the face of Tsutomu's inexpressible power, which he had never seen before, Korina simply shuddered. Xeno also shut his mouth to stammer, and Hannah's curiosity drove her to give him a look that clearly conveyed her regret that she hadn't followed them. Leleia wasn't upset enough to show it on her face, but she felt a horrible feeling as if a centipede was crawling on her back.

　In such a situation, only Diniel, who had confirmed the circumstantial evidence with his own eyes in Eagle Eye, saw Tsutomu's bullish attitude as nothing more than a fraud. Then he tried to call out to the four people who were being consumed by Tsutomu's atmosphere behind him to calm them down, but he shifted his pursuit of the problem before he could do so.


'Besides, Xeno. You were standing in a place where you could have stopped a surprise attack and you didn't, did you?　You were close enough to stop them before Diniel let loose with his poisoned arrows on guard.
'No, that's not...'
'Despite that, you acted like you were the only one who tried to stop me after I got shot and you took out insurance on me, right?　Don't think that gives you forgiveness. You're an accomplice in allowing Diniel to shoot me. You can't go so far as to penalize him from the security team for this alone, but there are many things I can do personally. You and Pico should be prepared for that.


　At Tsutomu's bottomless pronouncement, Xeno hurriedly leaned forward to excuse himself.


'Tsk, my wife has nothing to do with this!　Indeed, I may have been in a form of tacit approval, as Tsutomu said!　I'm really sorry about that!　But he really didn't expect Diniel to shoot!　So I wasn't even paying close enough attention to stop the shooting!　That's an indisputable fact!
Oh, um...!　Why don't we pull out the arrows and treat them first!　I can't recover as it is!


　As if to interrupt the conversation, Corrina suggested removing the arrow stuck in Tsutomu's leg for healing, but he shook his head and stilled her movement with his hand.


'Don't get too close, yet. I don't think they're all enemies, but I don't trust them that much either.
Oh, no...
'Whose side is Leleia on?　I'm sure there's no motive for you to be part of Diniel's vendetta.
...Revenge, sir?
'This is all speculation, but I'm thinking of it as Diniel's personal vendetta.
It's called bullshit.


　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.


If you're right about the fact that I stole the paper, there's no need to shoot me in the first place. "If Diniel thinks I stole the paper, there is no need to shoot me at first; we can just tell him it's missing and tell him not to go out and look for it. But Diniel shot me first. And why?　The way I see it, it's payback for being mocked on the 90th level.
'What you owe me for mocking me in the dungeon, I'll pay you back in the dungeon. Otherwise, it means nothing.
'Are you sure about that?　After all, he's an elf-sama who has lived for a hundred years. Wasn't it quite humiliating to be mocked by someone who had only lived for a mere twenty years?　Even if you don't go so far as to kill him with a stone, that's enough to make you think about shooting him through the first inauguration and making him cry.
No.
'I guess not. We have a great opportunity today to do that in the name of justice. If I'm mistaken, there's enough circumstantial evidence to excuse it. How can you say that you didn't feel that way for a shred of time?　Then you can tell me why you shot me in the first place.
'By the looks of it, you made Amy steal from you. I can't stand the idea of my best friend being cheated on by the wrong man.


　Diniel's voice was very quiet, but it also had enough weight to be close to his true feelings. Amy's tail turned upside down as if she was shocked in front of such words.


'So let's say I wanted the paper that Diniel and the others had. Would I tell Amy to steal it today, as I had heard you talking about leaving the paper with Leleia?　I'm not going to do something that needlessly risky in the face of complete alarm.
..........
Diniel. I'm sorry, but--


　Just as Leleia was about to address her, a whistle sounded to cut through the pause.