Pah! How Can You Be So Selfish?!

Bring the shield... and stock up on potions too...

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

Don't take out weapons that cost HP to attack with...

"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 are definitely edible!"

"..."

Vera watched the two of them discuss whether dungeon creatures were edible with a peculiar expression. Finally, she could not help but speak 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 right away! We don't even know what Kazdel's current situation is!"

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

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

Bang!

Vane sprawled onto the floor and was temporarily silenced.

Ignoring the fourth brother lying face-down on the ground, Vera turned her gaze toward Gregor, the eldest brother who could actually make decisions.

Gregor quickly waved his hands.

I know you. You definitely didn't make this suggestion just to find a doctor.

You have your own reasons, right?

Vera let out a stifled breath and nodded.

"Yeah. Since Babel Tower is Rhodes Island's predecessor, then... the protagonist from the game is very likely there right now."

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

"Cough... that's right. If the course of this timeline has not changed 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... they were definitely not a good person."

There was not the slightest wavering in Vera's gaze.

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

"..." x2

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 more than anything, there was fear—

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

...Number Four, if the Doctor really knows something... will they tell us?

Vane scratched his head, sounding less certain.

"Maybe... We're just asking for directions. That shouldn't be too hard, 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 go together?

In a place like Kazdel, one more person means one more safeguard.

"Yeah. If that doesn't work, you can take Number Three with you."

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

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

"Yeah... I understand your concerns."

"But I still need to go out and check the situation. At the very least, I need to confirm that the place I'm in really is Kazdel."

Gregor and Vane exchanged a glance. Vane put his hands on his hips and stepped forward.

"In that case... there's no time to lose. Before you set off, it's time to put you through special training!"

"Special training?"

Vera raised a brow. Vane's tone was unusually serious.

"Although you can use resurrected corpses to form a decent fighting force, your own body is too fragile. That weakness is way too obvious. If anyone gets close to you or specifically targets you, things could go wrong easily."

"So?"

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

"So this is where my world-shaking wisdom comes in!" Vane smugly waved a finger.

What new idea do you have now?

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

"Given that the Hex Staff unlocks a special attack after landing ten critical hits, activating a five-second time-stop field. Then—"

He drew out the last word, his eyes gleaming.

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

Gregor shook his head, rejecting the idea.

...The Hex Staff's energy blades are fired in a scattered pattern, and its critical hit rate is only 20%.

Landing ten critical hits in five seconds... is theoretically possible, but practically impossible in real combat.

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

"Number Two, look!" Vane shouted excitedly.

"When you hit me with your staff earlier, 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 attack at point-blank range?!"

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

...Theoretically, that would work.

Vera raised a more practical concern.

"...The method might work, but during the five seconds of stopped time, I would still need to get close enough to attack at point-blank range..."

"There probably 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 wagged a finger.

"Who says you have to attack the enemy?"

Vera: "???"

Vane patted the Hex Staff and launched into an animated explanation.

"Can't your first skill summon imps?"

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

He mimed stabbing hard with the tip of the staff.

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

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

"Is the staff too heavy to swing conveniently? Just have the summoned imp ram itself into the tip of your staff!"

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

Imp:?

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

The air suddenly fell silent.

Vera imagined the bizarre scene of frantically stabbing her own summon during stopped time and, for a moment, had no idea how to comment on it.

Gregor made a series of strange gurgling sounds.

This idea... is very Number Four.

"Then... shall I 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 Ifrit, tilted his head slightly and glanced toward the nursery passage.

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

"That's it! A little harder!!!" (Number Four)

Gorth: "???"

His hands trembled, and he nearly spilled the soup.

Gorth hurriedly looked at Ifrit. When he saw that she had not reacted, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Forget it... I probably misunderstood. The eldest brother is there, after all.

You can't hit it like that! Come on! Let me demonstrate!

The excited voice that suddenly rang out in Gorth's mind made him fall silent again.

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

??? x3

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 huge body remained silently crouched there, and the surroundings fell quiet once more.

Feeling the somewhat awkward silence, Ifrit nervously kneaded the blanket.

Noticing the girl's discomfort, Gorth was 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 lightly nodded.

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

After a while, his deep voice slowly began to speak, carrying the mysterious air of an old legend.

"This is... a story about a monkey..."

Time slowly passed, and night arrived.

After mastering the time-stop technique, they began asking Ifrit for information about the outside world.

As expected, Ifrit, who had spent all her time at Rhine Lab, did not know any useful information.

However, they roughly confirmed the current year on Terra. Combining that with the plot they knew, Vane finally made his 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 and finally fixed her gaze on Vane.

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

"I guarantee I won't!" Vane pounded his chest, then took the still-confused Ifrit by the hand.

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

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

"You already know the plan. I'll head to Kazdel first to scout the area. 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? That place is a battlefield, right? Is it really okay for you to show up 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 stand out as much. Being Sarkaz should also provide some convenience in Kazdel."

Gorth nodded and said no more. As he turned to leave, he seemed to remember something.

The shadow beneath his feet wriggled, and the pitch-black Void Sword slowly rose from it. He held it out 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 suited to the eldest brother."

Gregor shook his head from the side.

You know this thing does not mean much to me.

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

"Yeah... then I'll use it for now."

"As for Number Three... go outside and see if there's any food first."

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

"Then..." Vera finally looked toward Gregor.

"Now it's time to test this."

Yeah... Gregor agreed.

Since I was able to bring Ifrit in before, perhaps you can bring me out as well.

Vera extended her hand and gently placed it on Gregor's arm.

"Leave."