Once we parted from everyone in the lobby, I headed to the back of the first floor of the Green Hall with Louisa.

　We were led to the black door as usual. Louisa invited me into the room and left before returning to make a cup of tea.

''Thank you for your patience,''
I'm sorry, I'm always bothering you.
No, please don't be shy. Would you like to catch your breath?
'I don't want to keep everyone waiting too long, so I'll just have a little ... oh, it's good. It's different from the tea we've had before.
'It's a tea from a plant from the labyrinth called 'Assam Leaf', which is similar to tea. It was unidentified at first, but someone with knowledge of black tea registered an identifying name and gave it this name. The actual plant is said to be quite different from the tea tree, though.

　It's almost a tea in color and taste, and as I'm drinking it, I'm getting clear-headed - I thought, "This is it," and took out my license.

　◆Current Situation◆

　Aricht ingested the ingredients of Assam leaf, and the tension level decreased.

'Oh great. It's a relaxing tea, isn't it?

　I can't show the effect in numbers, but my shoulders are relaxed and I feel better. It could be that I just came out of the labyrinth, but I'm even starting to feel sleepy.



''Hmmm.......Atobe-sama, you don't have to put up with me. You are very tired, aren't you?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
Would you like to accept the report for now and check back later?
'Don't worry, I'm going to do what I have to do and then I'll take my time...........so please do.
'Yes. To tell you the truth, my heart always seems to jump out of my chest in surprise, so I made this tea to calm myself down.

　Louisa says shyly, but that's exactly what she's going to do, there's no holding back. It's better to be able to report back to each other in a relaxed manner, of course.

Then let's see what we have achieved this time.

　I showed Louisa-san, who had prepared her monocle, a license displaying the results of her search. Then again, Louisa-san almost raised her voice at some items on the way.

　The results of this search
　We're in the second floor of Bed of the Lambs, 20 points.
　The level of "Elitia" has been raised to 10. 100 points.
　Aricht's level is now 6. 60 points.
　Level of "Theresa" is now 6. 60 points.
　Theon's level is up to 6. 60 points.
　Kyouka's level has been raised to 5. 50 points
　Suzuna's level is now 5. 50 points.
　Misaki's level is now 5. 50 points.
　Melissa's level is now 4. 50 points.
　Madoka's level is now 4. 40 points.
　Killed 10 "Aero Wolf", 350 points.
　Eliminated 48 Stray Sheep, 240 points.
　Eliminated 16 Darkness Blitzes, 640 points.
　Defeated the Messenger of the Inviting Herdsman, 2400 points.
　Sub party takes out 2 Aero Wolf, 35 points.
　The trust of party members has increased by 160 points.
　Increased trust in sub-party members 180 points
　A total of 13 people conducted a joint search for 65 points.
　50 points for bringing back a "Black Treasure Chest".
　Searcher's Contribution ・・・ 4,660 points
　Seventh Ward Contribution Ranking 55

Atobe-sama and the others are really........really amazing.......

　I can only scratch my cheeks in front of Louisa-san, who looks like she can do nothing but admire me.

''You mean that royal move to go to the upper ward........?
'Yes, I'm still a little short in terms of the contributions I've made since I've been in the Seventh Ward... but still, to have a total of over 7,000 in just two days, I think that's a new record for a rookie (rookie) to date.'

　Because we were able to jump from the eighth district to the top guild in the seventh district, we were able to dive into a difficult labyrinth and get results--even though we are hiding in a labyrinth under the jurisdiction of a mid-tier guild, the labyrinth in the seventh district that is the easiest to earn a contribution from. I don't think that's why.

(The only thing more efficient than this is "Beaches of the Falling Sun"... or the party leader has to make 20,000 in contributions in a month, so the "alliance" is going to try to make money by monopolizing a good hunting ground.)

　I can understand, but I can't affirm it unconditionally. Roland-san said he wasn't involved, but Gray is exploiting the situation of monopolizing the hunting grounds.

''Our cumulative contribution is over ten thousand, and we've dived into the labyrinth twice in the Seventh Ward. Did we qualify to enter the 'three star' labyrinth?
''Yes, congratulations. Now you can enter all the labyrinths in the Seventh Ward.

　Louisa manipulates my license and shows me a screen that shows that I'm eligible for '3 stars'.

'My next goal is to have 20,000 cumulative contributions within a month and one more 'named' above level 6. I'll do my best to achieve this somehow.

　We're going to get up to the upper ward as quickly as possible and reach our immediate goal, the fifth ward. As of now, we've come in almost the shortest amount of time, so we can't keep stamping our feet - but.

''Atube-sama.......I believe that this search has also produced the most amazing results. However, even if you look back on your search achievements so far, your rest days are very low, and in contrast, the number of powerful demons you have defeated, such as the 'named', is outstanding, even among the newcomers who have recently come to prominence. If it's you Atobe-sama, I believe you can maintain a high level of performance without too much haste.

　Even for me, it was something I was aware of. Even if you unexpectedly encounter a strong demon, one strategy is to only gather information in the first round and challenge it several times to defeat it, and if you don't want to lose your party members, it's a natural choice to take. Every time I've encountered them, I've defeated them with a determined effort, but I can understand why they're worrying Louisa-san.

''Louisa-san's right.......we want to move up the pecking order as quickly as possible. But we also want to make sure that we don't let that be the only thing on our minds.
''Good........I'm sorry for being so obtuse. I gave up the explorer's path early on and switched to guild staff, so I'm not really in a position to give opinions to promising party members like you.......
'If I said that, it would mean that the great people can say whatever they want. Louisa's opinion is helpful, and I'd appreciate any advice you can give me in the future.

　I don't want to say that I'm in a hurry, but I'll at least take a break after I finish a big job. It's something about learning what a good leader is after becoming a leader, but I don't want my policies to take up too much of my party members' free time.

''Then........I will continue to tell you if I have a few thoughts on the matter. But 'you should take a break' is not advice, it's just a worrying thought. I'm sorry.
No, it's just that it's nice to know that there's someone out there who cares about you.
I am sure that not only I, but also the people I have met in Ward 8 are concerned about you, Mr. Atobe. If you want to let them know about your activities, we can send you a letter via the messenger. As long as you have a 'special agreement' with us, we will be able to keep you informed of the situation through the license.
What do you mean by "special contract"?　Sorry, I've never heard of it before.
'We pay our supporters a contract fee, and we can sign a contract with several perks, including the ability to request travel when they move to another ward. However, you can only have one party in the 'special contract slot'. It is the guild's policy to give priority to work in the district where the residence and shops are located.

　It would certainly be hard to contract with many parties and go from one ward to another. A skilled craftsman is likely to earn more money as the work increases, but there will be a lot of work to take on in the shop, so I can't decide whether it's good or bad to have a single special contract slot.

'I see........thank you, I understand about the 'special contract'. On a different note, Louisa-san, is there a craftsman in Ward 7 who can open the black box?
''I was here not long ago, but I've left the Seventh Ward now. He was invited by one of his old party members to return as an explorer for a while, and his apprentice has now taken over as the owner.

　In order to open the black box stably, you need the 'Fingertip Technique 4' skill and an accessory that increases the success rate of the trap removal. In particular, I have never seen anyone with the "Fingertip Technique 4" skill with a number higher than "3", so both Falma-san who had it and the craftsman from District 7 who is currently away are very valuable human resources.

　Shiori said he couldn't even open the black box, so it looks like we'll have to ask Falma-san for help at this point.

''The box maker in District 8 is an excellent person, would you like to ask him again?
''Well, I'm going to take a little preparation time before the next search, so I'm going to go down to Ward 8 once.
''It is possible to contact shops in different wards through the guild and ask them to travel to you. Of course, it would depend on the other party's schedule.

　If it's Madoka, she's part of the merchant's union, so if she's in the same union, there's a possibility that she can get in touch with Falma-san. But if Louisa-san can get in touch with me, should I ask her to do so here?

　Like Farma-san, there are people I wanted to ask to work with again. Celes-san from Mistral Magic Blacksmithing Workshop - I want to ask her, the 'Rune Maker', to do some processing with the runes and so on.

''Louisa-san, sorry to trouble you, but can I ask you to contact more than one person?
'Yes, of course. It will take a little while for me to hear back from them, so if you can write down the name of the person you'd like to ask to travel with you, I'll be able to let you know the results when I get home... Oh, will you still be eating out for dinner today?

　Louisa is in the same house, so we'd better match whether we'll have dinner at home or outside. Before that, though, we'll have to think about what we'll do for lunch.

''I'll discuss it with everyone. I'm sure you'll want to have a good rest when you get back to your lodgings, and it's not easy to cook for yourself afterwards when you wake up.

　It's easy to take advantage of Melissa's 'cooking' skills, but housework is based on sharing - but if you think about it, the mansion with the maids was the quarters in Ward 8, so are there explorers who hire help and ask them to do housework?

　My first step as an explorer started with hiring the mercenary Theresa, so hiring people is not a problem in itself - and I shouldn't get too worked up about it. If the nine members of the party work together, there's no problem with housekeeping at present.

''Atobe-sama, how would you like to have a separate housekeeper for the single-family quarters?
'Oh, I'm just thinking about that right now I'm sure the members can share it, but I'd appreciate it if I could ask you to clean up when I'm away.
''I'll make arrangements to ask the 'guild maids' if there are any openings for them. They'll be strictly disciplined, and you can rest assured that they'll be able to leave your home to us when you're away.

　Guild Maids - are there many other divisions besides the Guild Saber? Well, it's not something that's urgent. It's something to think about if it's going to be an even larger group than it is now.

''Indeed, it would be nice to have some assistance with household chores.
''Yes, be my guest. There is a fee based on the nature of the work you do, but 80% of it is subsidized by the guild. It's a system that allows you to concentrate on your search without worrying about it.

　When you come back from exploring, the quarters are always clean and clean, and the bed-making is perfect - I wonder if that's the case. Just imagining it makes my heart richer because it's very different from the house I returned to just to sleep in during my days as a company employee.

　　　◆ ◆ ◆.

　I asked Louisa to contact Falma and the people at the Mistral Workshop and I walked out. Then everyone who had been waiting for me to pass the time nearby returned.

'Good job, Rear-kun. After all, you defeated a strong demon, so your contribution is amazing... our ranks have gone up a lot, and we were all very happy.
'I'm in the pecking order of the fifth ward, so earning a contribution in the seventh ward doesn't fluctuate much. Did Alihit get into double digits?
'Yeah, I see you're ranked 55th. It's still a lot of money to make at one time, so I guess that means it's pretty high on the list when we're talking about recent cumulative contributions.

　Louisa told me that the number of people in the 'Alliance' is 24, so it's possible that a significant number of people in the 'Alliance', including Rolando-san, or all of them are above me. Even so, I was already able to come to a position where I could be aware of my promotion to the Sixth Ward - I need about 13,000 more contributions to earn in the Seventh Ward, so I still need to dive into the labyrinth a few more times, while trying not to take too much time off and lower my contribution level.

　However, I also think that there are fewer parties that are earning contributions for the sixth ward than expected - Yukari said that when she came to the seventh ward, 'the beginning of the real labyrinth country', but that's because the conditions for promotion are much stricter than the eighth ward, and the demons are stronger than the eighth ward. Was he suggesting that this was the case?

'............
Hey Theresa, how....

　I was about to ask her what was wrong when Theresa came over to me without a footstep. I heard a fairly distinct and distinct sound of hunger.

I'm sorry, I made you wait too long. That's right, even though the passage of time is different from outside, it's like we've been fighting all night.

　Theresa is staring at me, but it's probably an affirmation. She holds her stomach, which is visible through the slit in her bodysuit, mindfully.

'Would you like an early lunch, brother?　Today, I'm going to take a bath after returning to my dormitory and then do a full course, so I think eating too much food is the enemy of dieting.
'Well, you should probably eat as well as you can. There's no shortage of opportunities to exercise, and at Misaki's age, there's not much to worry about...
'Not really - girls are creatures who always want to lose a hundred grams of weight.
'I have to eat these days or I'll fall right off... and so will you, Ellie.
''I suppose it's because Kyouka and I are in close quarters positions. Teresia's 'accelerated dash' also uses a lot of energy, since she's actually moving, even though she's accelerating with the skill, I'm sure she uses a lot of energy.

　I now know why I have the impression that Theresia is always hungry - it's natural if you think about it, if you run around in battle that much.

''Brother Arihito, this is the place near here where you can eat with Sion-chan, too.
BOW!

　Madoka comes in with Sion and shows us her license. There are several shops near the Green Pavilion, which are 'Labyrinth Country Cuisine', 'Thai Cuisine' and 'Light Food' shops.

''Thai food ... seems to use all sorts of herbs, but I wonder if they have them in the Labyrinth Country.
It seems the shop is open after noon and is more of a night business.
''.........Labyrinthian cuisine. I want to try what the Seventh Ward staple is like. I can teach my dad about it.
'Oh, and if Mr. Rykerton is coming, I'd like to show him a good place to go. Well, let's try this place, then.

　We went with him and headed in the south direction from the "Green House". When we came to the place indicated on the map, we saw a sign on the street that said 'Seven Fragrant Temples'.