From the middle of the excavation process, I ask a pair of Teresia and Elitia to stand guard to deal with the Gaze Hounds that are appearing around us. Teresia discovers it and Elitia defeats it - if they interrupt the excavation, they won't be able to finish digging forever, so I move my hands along with everyone else, while being conscious of quickly 'supporting' the two of them as they enter the battle.

''Are you two alright!
It's not a problem!
..........
'Well, we're almost there, so let's keep each other going!

　Current Situation

　Aricht activates 'Support Elevation 1' and the party's morale increases by 11.

　Weaving this kind of encouragement into everyday conversation to encourage everyone will naturally boost morale. It's important to be consciously behind everyone. I've had Elitia join the party until her morale reaches 100.

　But I feel guilty when I'm in the back row and bypass looking up at Misaki, who has a short skirt (apparently they don't have any cute equipment to replace her skirt) and Suzuna, who is wearing her red skirt like a miko outfit, from a low position. Both of them are crawling boldly to the ground without holding their skirts down, as if they trust me - it's good that they trust me, but for now, I don't mind having them be wary of me at all.

"Um, Igarashi-san. Shall I dig with my spear?
Yes, please. Rear, you're really good with your spear. I don't mind telling you that when I'm digging.
I can use all kinds of weapons, so I can use a spear too.
Yeah, I know it's easy to say, but wouldn't that be great?
'It's not as good as the profession, though. I'm a rearguard, so it helps that I can use a sling.
It was nice to be able to use my bow since I could be in a close row with Aricht-san.

　The concept of a column has been communicated to everyone. When you set up a formation with your license, if you move to a different column, you are instructed to move to the correct column.

'Dice don't reach very far, can I fly them with a slingshot?'
You can't equip them without aptitude... or maybe they won't hit you.
'Oh, that's true too. And I'm a no-contact guy.
'Oops ... here we go again. Theresa, 'support'!

　Thus, support attacks, defense, and recovery always work even if you don't speak out. However, "Support Elevation" only activates when you don't speak, perhaps to raise morale.

　By the way, Suzuna and Misaki's morale remains at zero, and when you use the "Support Elevation", the message "23 hours and 47 minutes until morale recovers" is displayed. You can only release your morale once a day, and if you use it, your morale will not accumulate for the next 24 hours.


Yeah, that's true. Your recovery is going to take forever, you know.
Well it's a relief to know that you're recovering even if you're not injured.

　I thought that 'assisted recovery' wouldn't increase my contribution since my confidence level wouldn't increase if I was fully recovered from my physical strength, but it seems to be working in the right direction emotionally.

(Is my fatigue recovering too?　(You don't lose a lot of energy unless you're really tired, but it looks like you're recovering before that happens.

"The rear end of your body never seems to recover... are you okay?　You're sweating like crazy.
Yeah, well, I managed to...
When you're done exploring, let's all work on your brother.

　I've been digging for a while now and even the level 1 Misaki doesn't look tired. It's almost as if I'm the most tired, as I'm not able to recover.

　Igarashi-san is wiping my sweat off my face, but come to think of it, it's her handkerchief. I find myself instantly shying away from it.

'It's okay, that's all right. I'm doing my best.'
...Igarashi-san, you've really changed.
I said I was expecting it. So it hasn't changed that much.

　If the tsundere thing is applied to her, then I can say that the many acts in her previous life were tsun - but it was too much, so I hope you'll be nice to me for the time being. I'm not going to take advantage of your weaknesses or anything like that, though.

''Well, well........as expected of me, I'm too sweet and sour to make a joke of it....
What kind of corporate job did you have, Mr. Arihito?
I was doing a lot of things under Igarashi-san. She's a younger female superior, she's a barricade candidate.
'Well, it's not about the company. I'll talk to you later, so give me a break for now.
Don't worry, I don't wanna complicate things.
"Well it's not something I could say, but please be gentle with me. I'll pay you back later.

　Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about Mr. Igarashi's tongue in cheek. I'm just going to give you an overview of my work at the advertising company.

　Suzuna and Misaki seemed interested in hearing about my company, but they were particularly responsive to the first part of the story about the 'younger female boss', and they both seemed to imagine that I was a subordinate. Suzuna is a gentle boss and Misaki is probably a loose boss - although currently I'm more like a boss or a guardian.

　◆ ◆ ◆

　Then, after ten minutes of digging, what had been buried in the ground finally revealed itself in full. The enemy's attack calmed down, and Theresia and Elitia returned after recovering the magic stone.

''Rear-kun, what do you think?　It looks like a board with some kind of graphic on it.
I guess so. It's so hard down here that I can't dig.
What? Isn't it just for you?　I thought it was going to be a bunch of gold and silver treasures.
What do you think, Elitia?
''Umm ... oh. Come to think of it, the pattern on this stone is similar to the one I've seen in the other labyrinth. That labyrinth had a format where each level was unconnected and you had to transition to the next level... but the floor you were transitioning to had a similar shape to this one.

　Akebono's field is only up to three levels. Rival-san had said so - in other words, if there is a destination beyond this, it's an unexplored area that no one has ever entered.

(A hidden staircase........not a hidden transition floor? Even on the third level, I'm starting to feel the enemy's response to me, and even if I don't want to dive in, should I come back after I've raised my level enough...)

　There's no need to rush. I know that being too careful is just right.

''What if there's a powerful demon ahead of us. What if we can't use the escape or return scrolls. With that in mind, it won't be easy to transition.

　Elitia advises us. That's certainly true - but.

'Rear-kun, should we be cautious here?　Or ... do you think it would be a shame to turn back and leave all your discoveries behind?
'Well I'm both eager to move on and cautious about it.
'I feel both ways, too. I know it's a little scary, but...
'We should follow the leader's decision here!
Misaki!

　Misaki pretends to put her feet on the stone tablet, and the crumbling soil slips, causing her to fall on her buttocks on the tablet with great success.

'Oita....tataa...tataa...ah, that...?'
Misaki-chan, hurry up and get in here........ah......!

　The tablet shines, and Misaki's body is enveloped in light - and then disappears.

(Of all things, I didn't expect you to do it here... what do I do, I don't have time to think about it when it comes to this...!

　Suzuna was reaching out to Misaki to pull her back this way, but she didn't get caught up in the transition. Apparently, you can't transition unless your whole body is on the floor.

''Arihito, if you transition and come back soon, you won't be in any danger. I'm on my own........
No, I'll go. If I'm not back in a minute, it's safe to assume we won't be able to go back and forth with each other. And then....
'What are you talking about, Rearward. You're the leader of this party, so everyone in it has to survive.

　Igarashi-san says without hesitation. She thinks it's dangerous too, but she still says she's going to follow me.

''.........''
'Theresa, I think that if Mr. Aricht goes, he will transition later.......and so will I. So.........
Okay. But I don't know what's in store. Be prepared to use the Scroll of Disengagement immediately.

　Suzuna and Theresa nodded. Elitia hadn't tied her hair up before, but she did so when she got serious, or she had changed her hair as she watched everyone's interactions.

If I do, I have to be there as soon as possible.
'Alright then, we're going to transition. We can ride on this, right?

　We all get on the stone floor. Not long after we stepped onto the floor, the landscape around us changed dramatically.　

　We were in a large stone room. I felt as if I was in an ancient ruin.

Oh, brother, you're here!　I can only transfer one way, but........

　I knew it, I shrugged my shoulders. But even more so, I also think that I had to come here.

'We can't just abandon them, can we? You can't just abandon them. Whoever comes here will have to bear the same risk. Then we, the ones who found it, should go.
I was just careless, so you're on your own.........
'That's the kind of person you are, Rearward. On the contrary, I wouldn't be following you if you weren't like this.
'I ... when Arihito-san said she was going alone, I knew I had to go with her. Because we're a party.

　Everyone affirms it, but I'm pretty nervous, if I say so myself. Is there a clue to escape ahead, or is there a strong enemy - it's a situation that requires courage to even take a step forward.

　However, Theresia was already staring in the direction of the ruins. She seems to sense that there is something over there.

''Over there ... let's form up and go. We don't know what we're going to find out.''
Yes. It doesn't matter what you're up against, as long as you fight as hard as you can. We defeated the Juggernaut, so there shouldn't be many demons stronger than that in this labyrinth.

　Hoping Elitia was right, I helped Misaki, who was sitting up, to stand up. She was still scared and held her eyes with the sleeve of her clothes.

'My brother and everyone else is too cool, already. I'm such a tough guy, I'll be able to come back alone.''
'You looked like it was the end of the world earlier, and now you seem to be feeling better. I'm relieved, because it's not like you when you're depressed.
Even Kyouka's sister is kind........stop it, I'm too weak to cry.

　Igarashi-san popped Misaki on the shoulder. She doesn't seem to be afraid at all - she feels even more like a Valkyrie after today's day, even if it's in armor.



　Talk to them and raise their morale at the same time. Even if you don't clearly say 'go for it' or 'I'll do it', the support uplift is activated. With this, Igarashi-san and Theresia have a morale of +100.

　You should always be able to release your morale as much as possible. If it's for combat, you can use it as a trump card - I wanted to make sure it was effective, but if you use it, you can't reuse it until the next day, so it's a gamble to see if it's useful in this time of need.

''It's a beautiful place. It feels a bit lonely, but...''

　Suzuna says as she walks. The lights dotted high up in the corridor were a fluorescent green glow, and the light shone back on the white stone walls, a fantastic sight.

　The transition floor hidden in the labyrinth of the Elementary level. Beyond that was a hidden area - what was waiting for me in the future? I remembered my curiosity about walking in the unknown, but I proceeded with caution.