Chapter 132 - Team Play (2)

The portal ripples like the northern lights over the North Sea.

A heavy silence hangs before it. Neither Misha nor the dwarf can say a word; they merely glance around uneasily.

That is how unfamiliar the expression on Rotmiller's face is.

GRIND

His tightly closed lips tremble, his teeth practically chattering with rage.

It feels like my first glimpse of what lies at the very bottom of him. Something he must have buried deep beneath his self-control and earnest desire to improve.

An inferiority complex.

"... It isn't too late yet."

At last, Rotmiller breaks the silence.

"Three teams have passed through ahead of us. Even the first team is only about thirty minutes ahead. If we hurry after them, we might overtake them on the second floor."

At first, his reasoning sounds perfectly logical. Examine it point by point, though, and it is riddled with contradictions.

The problem is that everyone nods awkwardly despite knowing that.

"O-oh! That would work, nyah. I-I'd hate to just give up after getting here so early, too."

"H-ha ha ha! R-right, so I'm not the only one who's disappointed?"

"... I-I agree as well."

Such nice people.

Except I know exactly what they're thinking, so I can't dress it up that generously. They would rather suffer through his unreasonable demands than say something unpleasant to his face.

"Bjorn... What do you think?"

Everyone turns toward me, the only one who hasn't offered an opinion yet.

God, this is so fucking annoying. Why do I always have to play this role?

Sighing inwardly, I speak without holding back.

"Is there something wrong with all your heads?"

We are already thirty minutes behind on the first floor. That means the gap will only widen on the second. Besides, aren't we nearly exhausted just from getting here?

"You want to overtake those people in this condition? Do you honestly think that's possible?"

The three clamp their mouths shut and avert their eyes. Leaving them be, I fix my gaze on Rotmiller.

"Braun Rotmiller, that's enough of this nonsense."

"..."

"I'll go along with you anytime on the first floor. But we can't manage it on the second. Don't even think about endangering your teammates over your stubbornness."

Rotmiller presses his lips together in frustration. I say nothing more, simply staring at him.

His answer comes after another pause.

"I'm sorry. I must have lost my head for a moment. Forget what I just said."

"Already forgotten."

When Rotmiller apologizes and I casually let it go, the other three release the breaths they've been holding.

They seem relieved that the situation has ended without an argument...

'This just got complicated.'

The problem is, nothing is over yet.

* * *

Scout.

A position that exists to shorten travel time in the Labyrinth, where saving time is everything.

Their combat ability falls short of other classes, but their betrayal is always devastating. After all, theirs is the only position that can coordinate with outside forces.

'The district manager must know that, too. That's why he tried to win Rotmiller over first.'

The Scout directs the journey through the Labyrinth. In other words, he could easily pretend to guide us while leading us straight into a trap the district manager has prepared.

'... Should I have just sat this expedition out?'

Braun Rotmiller.

I decided to trust him because I knew what he was normally like. Upright to the point of stubbornness. Diligent, relying on hard work rather than luck.

I thought a man like that would never fall for the district manager's schemes, whatever they might be.

But what about the Rotmiller I saw today? He was so unlike himself that he seemed like a different person.

'It's probably that bastard district manager's doing.'

Of course, I still think betrayal is unlikely. The man isn't an idiot. If that really were his intention, he would have acted like his usual self.

Still, I need to prepare for the worst and be careful.

'... Let's keep watching for now.'

The expedition resumes amid that unease. Contrary to my worries, however, Rotmiller leads the group with his usual levelheadedness.

「You have entered the second floor: Stone Desert.」

He navigates accurately through the desert, where compasses don't work, and finds the portal to the third floor on the morning of day two.

「You have entered the third floor: Pilgrim's Passage.」

Things are much the same on the third floor, which we reach earlier than ever before. We head straight for Witch's Forest, fighting only when necessary, and stop to rest at ten at night to maintain our sleep schedule.

The same holds true at midnight, when day three begins.

"Ha ha ha! I don't know why I always slept instead of watching this!"

"Perhaps because you had no one to share it with."

"Dwalki, that was incredibly cheesy, nyah."

We wake briefly to watch the third floor turn silver together.

A tradition unique to Team Halfwit, perhaps?

No one suggested it first, but we've always done it since our first expedition, like an unspoken promise.

「You have entered the fourth floor: Sky Tower.」

Anyway, the expedition continues without incident, and we reach the fourth floor on the evening of day seven.

I relax, too. It means I no longer need to suspect Rotmiller and keep my guard up around him.

'Looks like I really was worrying over nothing.'

The fourth floor is an isolated floor. About five minutes after entry, it becomes a space no other explorer can enter.

I watch our backs throughout the fighting in case anyone comes in, but no other explorers arrive before we finish clearing the first story.

"Bjorn! What are you thinking so hard about, nyah?"

"Let's head up."

And so I cast off my worries completely and focus on the expedition.

Well, perhaps not completely. I can't help it; that's just my personality.

I don't believe anything in this world is one hundred percent certain. All the more so on an expedition, where anything can happen.

「You have selected the Stairs of Wisdom.」

「You have selected the Stairs of Courage.」

「You have selected the Stairs of Wisdom.」

Anyway, after entering the fourth floor, we focus on climbing the tower, alternating between the Stairs of Wisdom and the Stairs of Courage.

Granted, at one point we find ourselves in the absurd situation of every stairway being Patience...

「You have selected the Stairs of Patience.」

But we get through it more smoothly than expected. It's a hallucination trial, and reasonably bearable.

Whoever appears, whatever they spout, I just have to let it go in one ear and out the other.

Honestly, the aftermath is more of a hassle.

"Waaaaah, Bjorn...!!"

"Stop crying. It's all over, isn't it?"

"If even you abandon me, I'll really be all alone, nyah!!"

I have no idea what Misha saw or heard, but she bursts into loud sobs the moment we leave that story.

The dwarf is on his knees on the floor, wallowing in despair.

"The swords I make are worse than scrap metal..."

Meanwhile, Dwalki stares blankly into space like he's lost his mind, and Rotmiller silently clenches his fists. Both look angry somehow.

'... That's unsettling.'

While they recover, I check the chest at the center of the story. It's a reward obtainable only by choosing the trial of Patience.

With luck, it can contain a Numbered item or a random Essence of rank six or below...

But of course, not a chance.

Sure enough, there are only ten or fifteen rank-seven magic crystals inside.

"If you're done resting, let's get moving again."

After nearly thirty whole minutes spent pulling themselves together, we resume the expedition.

Nothing noteworthy happens after that. We keep climbing, beating down monsters along the way, and finally reach the hundredth story on day twelve.

"I believe this is our first time making it this far."

From the hundredth story onward, trial difficulty is locked at the maximum, and rank-six monsters appear more frequently.

Even here, though, we face little danger. Our two main damage dealers have grown a great deal.

「Leor Wuerv Dwalki has cast the rank-seven offensive spell [Cold Tempest].」

「Misha Karlstein has cast [Shatter].」

With the money he worked hard to save, Dwalki has learned not only support magic but also a rank-seven area-of-effect cold spell. Combined with Misha's attacks, it means most rank-six monsters give us no trouble.

With solid damage backing up our two tanks, the team's stability has improved dramatically.

Hmm... Of course, a rank-five monster like that troll last time would be another story.

'Still, we bought all sorts of supplies with the team funds, so we'd be much better off than before.'

Really, it's ridiculous to worry about rank-five monsters on the fourth floor. It's not as if we ran into a Hans on the way here.

'Rotmiller seems completely back to his senses now, too.'

Unlike the uneasy beginning, the expedition continues to go smoothly.

Then day nineteen begins.

* * *

[06 : 32]

I check my watch, then look around. All four of them are sleeping comfortably in their respective spots.

'Being the only one awake feels like taking night watch for the first time in a while.'

I burrow back into my sleeping bag and close my eyes, but sleep won't come easily. Maybe it's because my Energy has increased.

Or is it just because there are already only four days left until the Labyrinth closes?

'I feel strangely unsettled.'

I've noticed over the past few days that our teamwork has improved considerably. It feels like we're finally in sync.

Everyone takes the best course of action even without my orders, and we're beginning to communicate to some extent through looks and gestures.

Whatever else might be said, we're steadily growing into a proper team.

'We've changed so much it's hard to believe, compared to the beginning.'

Dwalki alone makes the change obvious. There's barely a trace of the novice left in him, and his combat instincts improve by the day.

But...

Even as that realization stirs something strange in me, I feel a little wistful. I know I don't have many days left with them.

'Don't let attachment sway you. Think rationally.'

My first regular team since landing in this unfamiliar world.

I'd resolved to avoid getting attached to the people here as much as possible, but I'm human. How could that ever be entirely up to me?

I'm sure I'll think about this team often, even lat—

STEP

Just as my thoughts reach that point, I suddenly sense someone nearby. I lift my head slightly to find Rotmiller.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I woke up a little while ago."

"That's a relief. I thought I'd woken you again."

Again, huh...

Am I imagining the edge to his words?

Hmm, probably not. Rotmiller is a perceptive man. He must have noticed that I kept watching him, however much I pretended otherwise.

"Since you're awake, how about we talk for a bit?"

"... All right."

I climb out of my sleeping bag and sit beside Rotmiller, leaning against the wall.

An awkward silence follows.

Oh, this is our first conversation alone since that day, isn't it?

Feeling oddly suffocated, I pull some jerky from my pocket and chew.

SMACK, SMACK, SMACK

Yeah, even that noise makes things a little better.

Despite being the one to ask for a talk, Rotmiller doesn't speak until I've finished a whole piece of jerky.

"... I'm planning to leave the team after this expedition."

"Leave the team?"

It's abrupt, but not completely unexpected. I'd considered that possibility, too.

"It's because of me."

Huh?

"What do you mean?"

"... Give me one of those, too."

I hand him a piece of jerky, and he continues as he chews. It's a somewhat lengthy story.

"I can't say the district manager's offer had nothing to do with this decision. How could I not be tempted? He said he'd arrange a Scout position for me in a major clan."

"Even knowing it was a lie, I couldn't stop my heart from racing. That was when I first realized it was time to leave this team."

"Ah, don't let that weigh on you too much. I'm used to it, really. Nonhumans... No, people with talent climb so easily, don't they?"

"I've been on many teams over the past eight years, and I've been left behind plenty of times because I couldn't keep up. Sometimes I was kicked out. Sometimes I left of my own accord before things became even more miserable."

"That's how an explorer like me survived."

"But this time, it wasn't so easy."

"Why?"

I ask my first question, and Rotmiller answers with a faint smile.

"Because I care about you all."

"...?"

"Even though I knew it was time to leave, I didn't want to admit it. That's why I hid what happened with the district manager and tried to come along on this expedition. I wanted this journey to go on, even just a little longer. But..."

Rotmiller swallows the jerky he's been slowly chewing.

"Everything must come to an end someday."

His words leave me speechless before I realize it.

He gazes straight ahead without saying anything, as though waiting for my answer.

That's when the alarm rings, and our companions begin to stir one by one.

"Time for everyone to get up. I'll be going, then. You should get ready to leave, too."

Rotmiller goes to pack up his sleeping bag.

I take my watch from my pocket.

[08 : 00]

Before I know it, it's time to begin day nineteen's journey.

* * *

Rotmiller is like me in many ways.

He tried not to get attached to others, but did anyway. Yet he made a rational decision rather than letting those feelings sway him.

The difference is...

'I was only looking out for myself. He was looking out for us.'

It isn't as though my calculations had no altruistic element. I thought that if I went to the higher floors with them, our little game of exploration wouldn't end until someone died.

So I wanted to end it myself before that happened.

"Bjorn!"

Honestly, I feel like I've been struck on the back of the head.

I never imagined Rotmiller had been thinking this way.

How must I have looked to him? What on earth was he thinking as he felt my wary eyes sweeping over him?

Those questions are circling endlessly through my head when—

"Bjorn! Where on earth has your mind wandered off to, nyah?"

Misha shakes my shoulder, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Quit lazing around and hurry up and pack, nyah."

"... All right."

I pull myself together and help break camp. Then we gather for a simple meal before heading up the stairs.

'I'll tell him when we get back to the city. The two of us are leaving anyway, so there's no need for him to quit...'

My head is a mess, but for now, I decide to focus only on the expedition. We still have four whole days left, don't we?

We may be able to dispatch rank-six monsters with ease now, but the Sky Tower is a place where the difficulty can become absurd depending on the combination of monsters.

I can't let my guard down until we return to the city—

「You have completed the trial.」

No, it isn't just me.

"... All three are Stairs of Fate?"

"What should we do? Didn't you say those could be dangerous?"

Wow. So this really can happen.