Mob, if I were a high school student, could I be an adventurer, too, Leah?

Episode 21: Humpty Dumpty Won't Go Back

"From December 1, the Adventurer's Cooperative (Guild) and the Self-Defense Forces will jointly carry out the A-rank labyrinth strategy.

Then, recruit personnel to participate in the strategy.

Eligibility may be for individual three-star licenses or for teams and individuals with four stars or more.

Participants shall be lent one C-rank card and five D-rank cards for three stars, and one B-rank card for four stars or more.

The reward is ---- "

"---- Give the lent card at the end of the operation, with or without trampling, hey"

Reading the Quest Notification from the Alliance, Anna finally smiled lightly and looked over our faces.

"The answer seems to be out of order, but I'll just ask." As an adventurer, what do you think you should do about this quest? ”

The next day, early in the morning.

We gathered in the office before class to discuss a quest from the guild that arrived last night.

"First of all... whatever the Adventurer's Club's conclusion, I intend to participate in this."

It was the master who answered Anna's question first.

In response to the Master's intervening remarks, Anna frowned for a moment, but she waited for the continuation of her remarks without saying anything.

"The temporary departure we talked about before was a problem." I'm sorry, but the Adventurer's Department will join you no matter what the conclusion is. "

"Ahh... this is definitely something you can't refuse, right?"

Anna nodded convincingly.

"Understood. As I told you in advance, Senpai Kanazuki can participate in the quest."...... I'm going to ask you for a moment, but you're going to come back, right? "

"I'm going to do that.... if there was still a place to stay at that time."

"That's right, I feel like I've lost my trust all at once." Please rest assured that you're still here. "

Yeah. Thank you.

On the surface, it was calm, but somewhere chilly.

Until yesterday, the warm friendship and trust definitely disappeared, and the relationship between the two had become business-like.

As I sighed inside, Anna turned her attention to the Weaving Department.

How about a night out?

While putting on the question mark, Anna does not doubt the answers of the weave.

And the weaver silenced, often agonizingly, and answered.

"... I want to participate"

Anna blatantly said, "Huh?" - [sic]

Xiao Ye, are you crazy? In any case, I was willing to use this request to expose the adventurer to the lowest level. Sounds good when it comes to exposure, but it's a meat shield to preserve the strength of the army. I have a four-star license like Kanazuki-senpai, and if the militia has connections, they will take care of it, but I and Koya will be crushed like good people. "

... the master smiled bitterly at Anna's words, but she didn't seem to have any particular objections.

In fact, this request stinks quite a bit.

Why are we recruiting adventurers into the A-rank labyrinth, which is always fought by the Self-Defense Forces alone?

At the very least, they wouldn't treat me like I cared about adventurers.

If the master was going to join us, maybe she was involved with the ex-defense officer's sister.

I was sure they were recruiting adventurers, so I was sure they were gathering reserves.

"... yes, but I'd like to join you if I can stop Angormor." If there's any chance that I can protect this routine..... "

"Well, Xiao Ye..."

With tears at the bottom of her eyes, Anna snapped at the weave that she said with a faint tremble.

When I looked closely, there was a dark neighborhood on the weave's face, although it was hidden by makeup.

I'm sure he must have thought about it overnight.

I realized for the first time here that she was quite cornered.

I knew that the Weaver was a very conservative person, but it must have been quite stressful for her that Angormore could have disrupted her routine so far.

In retrospect, it seems that since Kudan's prophecy, her mouth count has dwindled considerably.

Anna shook her hand and told her to appeal to the appearance of her pathetic best friend.

"Xiao Ye, calm down...?" Doesn't it mean you can stop Angormor by defeating the A-Rank Labyrinth? However, since it was the first labyrinth that appeared, and it hasn't been torn down so far, it's just thought that there's a key there, so there's no way I can prove it. "

"Oh, that's... yes, but..."

Anna nodded one by one to the weaving section, which was constantly wandering around weakly.

"Well then, let's do this." How about a majority vote here? "

"Majority vote...?"

"Yes, Xiao Ye is in favor of joining, and I am against it. With the exception of Senpai Kanazuki, who says that even one person will participate, there is one floating vote. It depends on your choice."

Oh, me...?

"If senpai wants to join, I'll join the Adventurer's Department as well." That's why, if senpai doesn't want to participate... can you give up Xiao Ye too? "

"... then..."

The three eyes are concentrating on me.

It's up to me to make the decision.

I'm in a strange position to feel the pressure... but I've already decided on my answer.

"---- I'm not going to participate."

At that moment, I felt that something was definitively settled.

It also resembles the feeling of using destiny manipulation... "

But it wasn't manipulated by anyone, it was definitely my own choice.

"I'm sure this choice has no effect on the world, but it must have been extremely important to my life..."

When I became an adventurer... like when I decided to draw a million yen card pack, like when I decided to use Amrita for Lotus, it was one of the choices that shaped my life.

I somehow figured it out.

To my answer, Anna nods contentedly, and the weave hangs.

And the master... stared straight at me and asked.

Can I ask you why?

"... it's my family. If Angormor happens while you're in the A-rank labyrinth and you can't meet the crisis of your family and friends because of it... I can't stand it." I can't take such a risk because I don't know if I have any hope. That's why. "

"... I see, it's a family."

The master sighed tinyly and smiled bitterly.

Well then, I can't help it.

"Ahh..."

There, Anna smiled and laid her hands on the bread.

"Well, it's settled." Xiao Ye, that's good, right? "

"... um. I'm not going to come here and wiggle my daddy. My family is important... and so am I."

The weave, whose tone returned to the usual one, laughed tinyly.

Honestly, there's something a little relieved about it.

I'll tell you what's not in the pattern ~

"There is no word to return. Anna's right."

The pre-bell chimed as the relaxed air flowed.

"Oops, it's already this time." Well then, I'll see you after school. "

So when everyone left the department and tried to go to each classroom, I was stopped by my master.

"Maro, can you hang out with me for a bit?"

Besides, Anna stopped and looked back.

I was caught and I looked back at the weave.

Anna is expressionless, and the Weave looks at us anxiously.

I urged the two of them to go ahead with a gesture, and when they were no longer visible, I asked the master.

So, what?

"Here, a little."

"... I see."

I followed my master quietly.

I went down the stairs, went down to the first floor, changed my shoes at the hoistway, and finally left the school gate.

"I don't know how far I'm going..."

I also wanted to hear it, but when I could hold back, I followed in silence and arrived at the nearby Dungeon Mart.

... I don't think there's anything for convenience stores. Then you can go to the rooftop. I had something to do with the labyrinth.

But the labyrinth here was ranked F. What does the F-rank labyrinth have to do with it now?

I want to run all the way from here to the bottom level all at once, but are you okay?

"It's fine... but you can't do without the bottom layer?"

Yeah.

I did some research, but it didn't seem that there was any irregular encountered.

... the unpleasant feeling is swelling up. Something's coming to an end.

Let's just turn our heels back and go home.

With that in mind, I summoned Yuuki and Eliza and ran to the bottom with my master.

This labyrinth seemed to be quite small, only about all three levels, and quickly arrived at the bottom level.

When I quickly disposed of the Lord's Hellhound, the Master returned all the cards.

Along with that, I'll get Yuki and Eliza back.... but just in case, Lotus disappeared.

Then, when the two of them were alone, I asked the master.

"So, what are you talking about?" Bring me to this place. "

Yeah. To be straightforward, I'd like you to join me in the A-rank labyrinth strategy.

That's what I'm talking about. I sighed and answered.

You've just come to a conclusion about that, right?

"Don't worry about your family." A platoon of militia will escort you. "

"... hah?"

What are you talking about?

Why would the militia protect my family? The Master didn't have that kind of authority, and if I used a platoon of militia to pull out an adventurer in the first place, it would be the end.

Too stupid a story, I half laughed and asked back.

"Why are you letting me participate so much?" Because you won the race? "

Because you wiped out the labyrinth.

……………………

"Ah, I see..."

There was no anger. However, only disappointment spread quietly into my heart.

"I'm sorry, that's a mistake." It's not me, and I don't know why. "

"That's all you've forgotten." No, I shouldn't say that you're tampering with your memory. "

"Changing...?"

That's right. Malo probably destroyed the labyrinth in an unorthodox way, and as a result, his memory was altered as a penalty.

……………………

"Let's talk about stepping in more." Yuki-chan? That Lycan slope seems to have a lot of different skills. "

"Huh!?"

Unexpectedly, he opened his eyes wide.

"True people, breaking limits, true and vassal summoning... all the skills I've never heard of." How did you get such a card? "

"... who are you?"

I couldn't stand it, so I finally asked.

The decisive question that I have endured for the past few months...

Isn't that what you're thinking already?

"... after all, you were a spy from my country?"

My master smiles bitterly at my words.

"Spying is not a cool thing, though." I guess it was a good investigator.... it looks like you've noticed a lot of that before. "

Well, that's right. The timing was obviously too obvious.

It's impossible for us to bring a capture quest while we're investigating a hound, and then bother to transfer to another school after the incident... I don't think there's anything there.

Still, I wanted to trap that question because I thought it was one of my own.

There's no back cover, you're a real buddy.

I don't know what Anna and Weaver thought... but at least I did.

Because the Master--Kanazuki was my first sincerely respectful adventurer and master...

"... well, that's exactly what you notice." I told you to be more careful about the timing. "

Kanazuki smiled bitterly, and I said, scratching my head.

So, did you find out anything about me?

"That's a lot." He owns the "lucky operation" card, which has only been confirmed in a few cases in Japan, and he also notices the effect of garnet. And most of all, it has completely opened up the card by unprotecting it.... "

”Shit, did you even notice me?”

Lotus, who had silently listened until now, appeared to shelter me.

What are you doing? I'm trying to find out everything, but...

"Ahh..."

Damn it... I see you're all naked.

It was completely on the palm of my hand.

"I asked you, but how did you find out?" Is it a magic tool for reading minds? "

"No, I don't have permission to use the reading mind magic tools." Because it's a sword of all kinds for the country. "

Then why?

"Well, in fact, Malo hid it well." At the very least, we couldn't find out the secrets of money movements.... but the link with Lotus was a secret. "

Link?... No way.

“Link peeping, a secret link to eavesdrop on someone else's telepaths.”

............ I've been hit. I'm looking up to heaven.

It was a complete blind spot to have such a link.

No, if you think about it, there's still room for you to notice.

The link will finally allow humans to keep up with their card's battle speed. Verbal communication does not give instructions in time. However, there is no technology or magic tool that allows people to communicate with each other at high speed.

With this, I couldn't conquer the A-rank labyrinth.

Or I thought it was the magic tool of the reading mind, but it was there properly.

There's a link that connects humans to each other by telepathy...

“Telepaths have open telepaths that others can hear, and closed telepaths that allow only a limited number of people to reach them. Well, it's like an open and a group chat with a nettle. If you realize both, I think Mallo will be able to use it immediately."

"... thanks for the guy. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me sooner."

"I wanted to give you that, but it didn't work out either."

At Kanazuki, who returns plainly to this irony, I asked, exhaling a sigh, to switch my mood.

So, what happens now?

"I don't mind." If you can get around this Angormore, you can dive into the labyrinth, play a Mongoloid match, or make a fortune with the effect of garnet. Don't worry, even the country can't do everything it can to a human opponent who can follow a completely open card. Sometimes I just need your help destroying the Labyrinth. I think you'll get a reward. "

"Hmm..."

Surprisingly, you let me go free.... but if that's true.

But I really don't know how to destroy the labyrinth.

“Let's recreate and explore the situation at that time.”

That's why Kanazuki took out the card of the disaster.

"I don't think I noticed, but as soon as the labyrinth disappeared, Malo was interrogated by the magic props of the reading mind." At that time, it turned out that there was a contradiction in your thinking. "

... after all, it was also used as a magic tool for reading minds. The detective who came to see you, or the nurse or the doctor. I can't help it, but I don't feel like shit.

But it's a contradiction.

"According to the report, when Malo was attacked by a hound, he escaped with a transfer card." But the transfer card is the most useless thing for Malo with the Harmeln whistle, isn't it? "

"... well. But if you're saying you didn't sell it out quickly, it's not that strange." Because of taxes, ordinary adventurers sell out their magic items when they want something. ”

"That's right, it's not strange that I had to sell a transfer card." The funny thing is that I bothered to keep the cards I didn't plan to use in my chest pocket, which is easy to use. ”

...... Indeed.

Well, sometimes I forget the magic cards I got in my chest pocket, so it's not that strange, but it's different when it's a transfer card.

Any transfer cards you don't plan on using should be left entirely elsewhere or at home...

"It's possible that Mallo was a very odorous personality... or that it was another card that wasn't a metastasis."

Or...... I saw Lotus with a difficult look on my face.

Were you interfering with me to forget it while it was in my chest pocket...?

"... so it's a distress card."

"That's right. Well, no matter how many replicate experiments I did, it didn't seem like it was going to work." If it's Maro, it's different.

"Well, you can do it." If you can't, just leave me alone. "

I have to protect my family.

”Hmm... I don't have the authority to do that, but if Malo can't be reproduced, the country will lose interest”

"I hope so..."

While saying that, I used the shipwreck card in a manipulative manner and lost consciousness as it was.

"... hey! Wake up!"

"Ugh..."

I noticed that Lotus slapped me on the cheek.

"This place is..."

It was a white space with countless spheres floating in the air.

In the space around the school gymnasium, there is a sphere like a bubble ball, and inside it...

Card?

At that time, a fierce déjà vu passed through my head.

No, wait, I know. I know this space!

Yes, I got a Lycan slope here that I used to rank up Yuuki.

"... it looks like you remembered what it looked like."

"Lotus... did you guys know about this place?"

"No..."

Lotus shook her head.

"I just lost my mind at that time, and I wasn't sure, and maybe Yuki wasn't a card key at that time, so I'm sure you did the same with the memory alteration."

Card key?

"... a card qualified to enter this space." Originally, when you conquer the A-rank labyrinth, you get a master key, and using that master key to get a card key for each clearance level seems to be the original procedure.... "

... I'm not sure.

Is it because I have that card key that I can get into this space?

"Oh, Yuki is right. Yuki can enter the labyrinth up to rank D."

"... if Yuki is the card key, why did you put it in first?"

... is that you, Lotus?

Lotus nodded with a strange look as she asked.

"Oh, I'm what they call a discard card key." Discard card keys can enter a labyrinth up to their own clearance level, but only once. ”

".................. Phew"

I want to ask a lot of questions, but new information comes in all at once and I can't organize my emotions.

Still, let's just ask.

"Why have you kept such important information from me?"

"I couldn't tell you, you know."

"All right."

Well, I thought so. Even if I tampered with my memories, it wouldn't make sense if the card fell apart on its own.

It should be locked for some reason.

"By the way, Shishi... what about Kanazuki?"

"... isn't it okay to be a master?" Maybe I became a spy after I taught you the link. You don't have to force a wall in your heart. That's not a good idea. "

"...... that's right."

Unfortunately, the master was an agent from the country, but he definitely owed me a link.

I'm not saying I don't have anything to think about, but my friendship was still close.

When I nodded and organized my emotions, I asked again.

So, where's Master?

"Only the person with the card key can enter here." Maybe they're being thrown out of the labyrinth by now. "

"I see..."

"Now, what are we going to do now..."

I muttered as I looked over the bubbles floating around me.

I think I'll be able to leave when I get the card inside.

"...... If you don't have the card you particularly want, stop touching the bubble."

Why?

When I asked, Lotus indicated the queue and the bubble with her chin.

"Just take a peek."

As I was told, I took a peek at the nearby bubble balls.

There was a scene that looked like a racetrack somewhere.

The horses started at once and ran at a tremendous speed. However, the whip wielded by one of the riders at the end slapped the horse next to him in the eye, and the rider was thrown to the ground. The subsequent horses that are approaching... "Fortunately, the horseman did not die instantly, but it was clear that the body plowed by his hooves was a serious wound from near-death...

"Geez...!"

The pain and fear of the rider came directly to me when I looked at the bubble, and I took a distance from the bubble while moaning.

"This is..."

"This is a reflection of the tragedy that could happen in the near future. The Labyrinth harvested this misfortune beforehand and revealed itself as a monster."

"In other words, it's..."

"Is the labyrinth a device for collecting and destroying misfortune...?"

”Hmm... well, I can also take that view”

"But then..."

"Once the labyrinth is cleared, what happens to the misfortune that was supposed to be recovered...?"

"Of course, misfortune will happen as it is."

At that moment, a strong nausea hit me.

I've once wiped out the labyrinth.

If it's the F-Rank monster's misfortune, what about the D-Rank labyrinth that I wiped out?

How many people did I kill...?

"...... I'll tell you, even if I vanished the labyrinth, all I had to do was go back to where I came from." A person who was destined to be injured is injured, and a person who was meant to die just dies. You didn't kill him. "

"But you saved me if I didn't clear the labyrinth...?"

“Not necessarily. Unless you defeat enough monsters to wipe out that misfortune in the first place, it won't be averted. That means no one was able to pass the test. The labyrinth is not that sweet. At the end of the day, after processing a single misfortune in multiple ranks at the same time, it doesn't mean that the misfortune will be confirmed only if you clear a labyrinth."

... that doesn't necessarily mean I'm out of my chances of being saved.

I felt my chest became a little lighter.

"By the way, every time you break through the labyrinth, a lot of misfortune will be eliminated, so I think you're saving quite a few people."

"Well, that's good..."

"However, if you clear one of the labyrinths, the efficiency will also deteriorate." Even if you clear the labyrinth, it's not bad for you at all, but if your conscience is to blame, stop it if you don't have the cards you want. "

"I will.... by the way, how can I get out?"

“Don't worry, the only thing you can get here is a card.”

Lotus said that as she proceeded to sew between the bubbles.

After that, I followed him in silence...

"There it is. Here it is."

What was there was a volleyball-sized rainbow lens.

What's this?

"This is a gacha."

"Huh...?"

It was a very, very difficult word.

"You, that's nothing."

"No, actually that's the easiest thing to understand... if you touch this lens, you'll randomly get items that are one rank higher than the labyrinth rank." In this labyrinth, it was at least E-rank. By the way, this rank is different from the rank determined by humans, so pay attention there. "

"I see, that's certainly a gacha..." In other words, it is a confirmed gacha ticket at rank E or higher.

If you touch this, you can go outside without breaking the labyrinth, right?

"That's what happens."

"...... by the way, what about lucky operations?"

"Ah, I said random, but the item itself was decided when this labyrinth appeared." So even if you manipulate luck or fate now, the items that come out will not change. "

Well, then, it can't be helped.

... but even though the contents are already fixed, don't get excited.

”... by the way, you've been passing out for quite some time”

Tell me that quickly!

I hurriedly touched the crystalline lens.

At that moment, the surrounding space was distorted and I noticed that I was standing in front of the labyrinth gate.

"Is it thrown out the moment you touch it..."

"And..."

Is the gate white?

Lotus, who had become transparent, spoke to me through the link.

It's completely sedated. For a while... well, if you don't conquer this labyrinth, Angormor won't happen, and if Angormor happens due to another labyrinth, no monsters will come out of this labyrinth. Moreover, unlike normal sedation, even if a monster enters from outside, the sedation will not be relieved. "

So if we wake up like this in all the labyrinths, we can avoid Angormor.

Realistically, in this desperate situation, there is a little hope.

By the way, what happened to the gacha?

That's right.

I saw a card in my hand at some point.

There was an illustration of something that looked like a potion.

"This is..."

”... it's a middle potions. Well, that's it.”

”Shut up.... but this time you didn't lose your memory.”

This time, I got in with an authentic card key.

I see......

While talking about such things, I opened the steel door and returned to the convenience store...