Pah! How Can You Be So Selfish!

[Take the shield... and bring extra potions...]

"What about my weapon? Bring one for Number Two as well."

[Don't bring out any weapons that cost HP when attacking...]

"What about food? Should we go hunting in the Dungeon?"

[Can the things in the Dungeon... really be eaten?]

"Aren't there wild boars? Those must be edible!"

Vera watched the two of them discuss whether Dungeon creatures were edible with an indescribable expression, and finally could not help speaking up:

"Aren't you... going to stop me?"

"Huh?" Vane looked up, his face full of confusion.

"Didn't you say yourself that you wanted to go to Kazdel?"

"I did say that!" Vera felt her blood pressure rising again.

"But I never said we were leaving immediately! We don't even know what Kazdel's situation is right now!"

After pondering for a moment, Vane suddenly understood and smacked his right fist into his left palm.

"Oh—! I get it! You want to wait until after dinner before..."

Bang—!

Vane sprawled on the floor, temporarily silenced.

Ignoring the flattened Number Four, Vera turned her gaze toward Gregor, the one who could actually make decisions.

Gregor hurriedly waved his hands.

[I know you. You definitely didn't suggest this just to find the Doctor.]

[You have your own considerations, right?]

Vera let out a pent-up breath and nodded.

"Mm. Since Babel Tower was Rhodes Island's predecessor, then... the protagonist from the game is probably there right now."

Vane rubbed his head as he climbed up from the floor and cut in.

"Ahem... that's right. If this timeline hasn't changed too much, the Doctor should indeed be at Babel Tower right now."

"But Number Two, if it really is the Doctor from the Babel Tower era... he definitely isn't one of the good ones."

Vera's gaze did not waver in the slightest.

"I know the risks. But I have to try. I need to ask him... how to go home."

Gregor and Vane fell silent at the same time.

Home...

The word sent complicated ripples through their hearts.

There was confusion, there was longing, but above all, there was fear—

Fear of an unknown road home, and fear of the answer itself.

[...Number Four, if the Doctor really knows something... would he tell us?]

Vane scratched his head, sounding less certain.

"Maybe... We're only asking for directions. That shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

The two of them looked at Vera again. After pondering for a moment, Gregor proposed a safer plan.

[In that case, why not wait until I can meet up with you, then we can go together?]

[In a place like Kazdel, another source of strength means another layer of security.]

"Yeah. If it comes down to it, Number Three can go with you too."

"Where he landed might be closer to you, so meeting up would be easier."

Seeing the concern in their eyes, Vera's expression softened slightly.

"Mm... I understand your concerns."

"Still, I should go out and confirm the situation first. At the very least, I need to confirm that the place I'm in really is Kazdel."

Gregor and Vane exchanged glances. Vane planted his hands on his hips and stepped forward.

"If that's the case... then there's no time to waste. Before you leave, we need to put you through special training!"

"Special training?"

Vera raised an eyebrow. Vane's tone became unusually serious.

"Although you can create decent combat power by reviving corpses, the fact that your actual body is fragile is too obvious a weakness. Once an enemy gets close or targets you specifically, things could go wrong easily."

"So?"

Vera crossed her arms, waiting to see what he would say.

"So this is when my earth-shattering wisdom comes into play!" Vane proudly waggled a finger.

[What new idea do you have this time?]

"Heh heh..." Vane walked over to Vera and unceremoniously took the Hex Staff from her hands.

"Known condition: after the Hex Staff lands ten critical hits, it can unlock a special attack that creates a time-stop field lasting five seconds. So—"

He drew out the last word, his eyes shining.

"If we can land another ten critical hits during those five seconds of stopped time, couldn't we chain it seamlessly and keep time stopped?!"

Gregor shook his head, rejecting the idea.

[...The Hex Staff's energy blades fire outward in a spread, and the critical hit rate is only twenty percent.]

[Landing ten critical hits within five seconds... is theoretically possible, but practically impossible in actual combat.]

"Under normal circumstances, of course it's impossible!" Vane dragged the Hex Staff over to a training dummy and slammed it into the wooden post.

"Number Two, look!" Vane shouted excitedly.

"When you hit me with your staff before, I suddenly got an idea!"

Vera seemed to understand, and her eyes shifted slightly.

"You mean..."

"That's right!" Vane nodded vigorously.

"Since the energy blades from normal attacks spread out in a fan shape, why not just attack point-blank?!"

"Then the blades will hit the same target at the same time! Wouldn't that increase the chance of triggering critical hits?!"

[...Theoretically, that is feasible.]

Vera raised a more practical concern.

"...The method might work, but during the five seconds of stopped time, I'd still have to find a way to get into that point-blank range..."

"I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough time, and if the critical hits fail to chain, wouldn't I be standing right in front of the enemy?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Vane shook his finger.

"Who said the attack had to hit the enemy?"

Vera: "???"

Vane patted the Hex Staff and launched into an explanation.

"Can't your first skill summon imps?"

"Imagine this: time stop activates, and the five-second countdown begins! You immediately summon an imp, then—"

He made a motion of forcefully thrusting with the tip of the staff.

"—jam it right onto your staff! Use your imp as a target!"

"Or even better!" The more he spoke, the more excited he became.

"Is the staff too heavy to swing easily? Just have the summoned imp crash into the tip of your staff on its own!"

"That way, you'll definitely build up critical hits fast enough!"

Imp:?

(Inner thought: Pah! How can you be so selfish!?)

The air suddenly fell silent.

Vera imagined the bizarre sight of frantically stabbing her own summon during stopped time and, for a moment, did not know how to comment.

Gregor made a series of strange gurgling noises.

[This idea... is very Number Four.]

"Then... I'll give it a try?"

Vera looked at the Hex Staff in her hand and raised it to summon an imp.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the hall, Gorth, who was feeding someone, slightly turned his head and glanced toward the Nursery passage.

Is Number Two hitting him that hard? I hope Number Four isn't...

"That's it! Put more strength into it!!!" (Number Four)

Gorth: "???"

His hands trembled, and he nearly spilled the soup.

Gorth quickly looked at Ifrit. Seeing that she had no reaction, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Forget it... Maybe I misunderstood. After all, Number One is there.

[You can't hit like that! Come on! I'll show you!]

The excited voice that suddenly rang out in his mind made Gorth fall silent again.

[Number Three: You two... forget it. Keep it down, there's a child here.]

No longer paying attention to the commotion over there, Gorth shook his head and scooped up another spoonful of meat soup.

Ifrit hurriedly waved her hands. "I-I can't eat anymore... I'm really full."

Hearing that, Gorth gently set the bowl aside. His massive body remained crouched there in silence, and the surroundings fell quiet once more.

Ifrit felt the somewhat awkward silence and uneasily twisted the blanket in her hands.

Noticing the girl's discomfort, Gorth fell silent for a moment before tentatively asking,

"Um... would you like to hear a story?"

Ifrit froze for a moment and looked up. After hesitating, she gently nodded.

Seeing that the girl agreed, Gorth began searching through the stories in his mind.

After a while, his deep voice slowly rang out, carrying the mysterious air of a legend.

"This is... the story of a monkey..."

Time passed slowly, and night arrived.

After mastering the time-stop technique, the group began asking Ifrit about information from outside.

Naturally, Ifrit, who had always stayed in Rhine Lab, did not know any valuable information.

However, they roughly confirmed the current year on Terra. Combining it with the plot they knew, Vane finally made a firm judgment.

"No problem! Babel Tower hasn't fallen apart at this point in time! The Doctor is definitely still active in Kazdel!"

"Then..." Vera took a deep breath, her gaze finally settling on Vane.

"Number Four, keep an eye on Ifrit. If you lose her again this time, or say any nonsense in front of her..."

"Guaranteed not to happen!" Vane patted his chest, then pulled along the still somewhat confused Ifrit.

"I'll take her to the second floor to play games. No child can resist the charm of games!"

Watching the two figures disappear, Vera turned her gaze to the silent Gorth.

"You already know the plan. I'll head to Kazdel first to scout things out. Number Three, do you have any thoughts?"

Gorth shook his head. "No. Your judgment has always been accurate."

He paused, then asked in return,

"Is there anything you need me to do? Your place is a battlefield, right? Is it really okay for you to appear there alone...?"

"...I'm only going out to scout for a little while. I'll return once I confirm the situation," Vera explained calmly.

"Besides, it's nighttime now, so I won't be as noticeable. My Sarkaz identity can also provide some convenience in Kazdel."

Gorth nodded and said nothing more, but as he turned to leave, he remembered something.

The shadow beneath his feet writhed, and the entirely black Void Sword slowly rose up. He handed it to Vera.

"It came from a chest," he explained succinctly. "It's no use to me."

Vera accepted the ancient-looking longsword. It felt slightly heavy in her hand, and she weighed it.

"A melee weapon... It feels more suitable for Number One."

Gregor shook his head from the side.

[You know this doesn't mean much to me.]

After thinking for a moment, Vera gripped the Void Sword.

"Mm... then I'll carry it for now."

"As for you, Number Three... go outside and see if you can find any food first."

Gorth nodded without another word, and his tall figure vanished.

"Then..." Vera looked at Gregor one last time.

"Now it's time to test it."

[Mm...] Gregor agreed.

[Since I was able to bring Ifrit in before, perhaps you can bring me out too.]

Vera reached out and gently placed her hand on Gregor's arm.

"Leave."