End of day two.
In B29’s open space we’d cleared the local monsters and were resting.
Skill confirmed a major response below.
The boss was respawned. I’d thought the active adventurers might go take it, but they were all pulling out — no one was looking.
Combat-tired, we’d take the boss tomorrow.
Activating Skills, parts of the dungeon were moving.
Distant metallic noises — a corridor reconfiguring.
“Floor 30 on day two… commissioning you was definitely right.”
Damian drank water pulled from [Box].
Light gear let us outpace surrounding adventurers.
Combined with the Fourth’s [Speed].
“Movement-speed went up several times along the way — your Skill, right? Tell me before you cast. It seemed to work on my dolls too — odd to operate.”
“Sorry about that.”
Damian was sharp at times.
Unlike fighting with Aria, here he was calmly analyzing me.
Interested but low-priority, so he didn’t dig.
(Works on dolls too. Movement-speed did go up… this Skill is genuinely outrageous.)
I didn’t know the mechanism, but useful was useful.
The only Skill I hadn’t used was the Third’s [Mind].
In a way, the most off-key Skill.
Acts on the mind. Misused, a catastrophe.
(Maybe withholding was the Third’s test — see what kind of person I am?)
Dangerous, but use is fairly easy.
The second-stage application the Third still wouldn’t authorize.
Even though I had the capacity to use it.
Damian, watching me brood:
“Something on your mind? You looked at the Guild materials for tomorrow’s plan, no?”
“Yeah. — Still — first time, fair to be tense. Not specialists.”
There were adventurers specialized in respawning boss kills.
Specialized gear; for them, killing the boss was labor.
Such adventurers often weren’t useful in other work.
Our generalist party struggled in moments like these but fought in nearly any situation — that was our strength.
But—
“What are you nervous about? Next-floor boss is easy for you.”
The Second, exasperated.
True.
My trump now was the First’s [Full Burst] — doubles ability temporarily.
Explosive output, but required steady mana-stockpiling first.
For me, one use cost two-to-three days of cooldown. Wait that long and ability output went 2x-3x.
I hadn’t fired Full Burst before this run, so now 3x or 5x was viable.
“Generalist weakness, perhaps. But you, as the head of a flexible all-situations party, are excellent. — Maybe even too excellent.”
Something caught in Damian’s words.
But I had an early start. I wanted to rest.
“You think? I don’t notice it myself. Going to sleep. Eat the meal later.”
”…Right. Goodnight.”
I separated from Damian, pulled the sleeping bag from [Box], wrapped up, asked Novem to wake me at the right time, and slept.
◇
“Yo!”
”…What is it, Third?”
I’d fallen asleep and was in the Jewel’s council room.
The Third had called.
“Don’t make a face. Lyle’s not progressing at all on Miranda-chan, so I thought I’d teach you how to talk her down.”
The phrasing talk her down I disliked, but I’d had no opening with her.
Use the Skill and you saw it.
Yellow — neither friend nor foe — flickering occasionally red.
Shannon wasn’t there, yet Miranda zoned out.
“Sixth is restless. I want to do something too, so — Skill-use, special instruction. — The others say no.”
“Mental interference does feel iffy.”
He grinned.
“Interfering with the mind via Skill is bad? — People manipulate each other without Skills.”
(Black-hearted!) — and rightfully so.
“People-handling doesn’t need Skills. It needs technique. Day-to-day people do interfere with each other’s minds. So a Skill doing it — so what? The question is how.”
“How? Forcing be on my side via interference and the Sixth will go up in flames. He’s projecting Mireia onto Miranda.”
Sixth’s attachment to Miranda was intense.
He pushed me into danger if it meant freeing her from Shannon.
Proof, in some sense, that he thought it possible.
“People get unstable when tired. Miranda-chan, in a new environment, might be running short on her usual resistance. So… Shannon-chan’s influence may be slipping in.”
Earlier she’d been steadier.
Deeper into the dungeon, less stable — the Third’s read might be right.
That she’d lived in the same house with little interference up till now was the anomaly.
“Shannon is dangerous.”
“Is she?”
“Eh?”
I was surprised.
After all that, not dangerous?
“Miranda-chan unstable in a new environment — that’s the current state. Normal life, she’d be fine. Maybe.”
”…So we did something unnecessary?”
The Fifth and Sixth were unusually wary; had we made a big mistake?
“Fifth and Sixth are seeing Mireia. Mireia was that impressive, so Shannon must be too — that’s the angle.”
I hadn’t felt Shannon as a threat.
I’d watched Ceres up close; nothing in Shannon felt like Ceres.
Rather—
“Miranda-chan resembles Mireia-chan, they said… but the truly dangerous one might be Miranda-chan.”
Right.
Bright Miranda, attentive to those around her — she carried something.
A people-pulling quality.
Different from Ceres’s terror.
“And that Miranda-chan is unstable… that’s the dangerous part, to me. So — Skill-use, special lesson. Applied, a harem expands explosively, Lyle.”
A bright smile. I gave a thin one.
He knew I didn’t actually want that.
I humored him and learned the application.
◇
When I woke—
I rolled in the sleeping bag and moved without standing.
Damian and Aria slept hard nearby, exhausted. Novem was asleep too.
Clara was lying on the floor, asleep.
Novem and Clara had been first watch.
The Second.
“This woman drugged the meal.”
I hadn’t eaten — I’d planned to eat after sleep.
Lucky. Probably sleeping powder in the meal.
The Sixth.
“Controlled? Why now, of all—”
The Fifth stopped him.
“Lyle’s life is the priority. Switch over.”
I lunged out of the sleeping bag and looked at where I’d been.
My mace — Miranda was slamming it into the ground with full force.
Not the strength she’d shown in the dungeon.
“What are you trying to do?”
She slowly straightened.
The usual bright smile was gone.
Light-less eyes, muttering at me.
“Shannon’s enemy is my enemy. Anyone hindering Shannon will be eliminated. Shannon’s enemy is—”
She’d taken my weapon, too.
If the Third hadn’t called me to the Jewel, this would’ve been worse.
“Can you hear me, Miranda-san?”
She lunged.
Front-line, close-combat-style motion. I jumped back.
She threw the mace at me.
I dodged; it slammed into the wall with a metal ring.
She had a short sword now — the spare weapon.
The lamp from a mana-stone lit the room dimly.
“Lyle… you got in her way…”
She closed in a heartbeat.
“Fast!”
I dropped low to dodge the thrust; her leg came at me.
For an instant.
The image of being kicked by Ceres flashed.
I grabbed her leg and threw her, but at the wall she righted herself, kicked off, landed cleanly.
The Seventh.
“Not rear-line movement. Or — both, then?”
I realized — she’d been hiding her real ability.
Not because Shannon told her to.
She’d been hiding it by her own will.
The Fifth said Mireia’s name.
“The truly troublesome one was this girl, just like Mireia. My eye isn’t worth much.”
Frustrated.
The Sixth didn’t speak.
Monsters around were down — no interruption.
But comrades were asleep — no help either.
She spotted my eye-direction and moved between me and the others.
Short sword set, hips low — not the stance of someone trained in a day or two.
“Today’s kids learn this kind of thing? — Well, Novem was the same.”
A wry smile. Miranda’s eyebrow ticked.
”…You’re conscious, aren’t you?”
This strong, this much resistance — worn out from combat and Shannon got through didn’t add up.
Her cheek pulled; her mouth curved like a crescent moon.
White teeth in the dark — eerie.
”…Everyone’s loud. The smiling me is tired and sleeping. Thanks to that brat. I can finally come out.”
She started giggling — kihihi. Different vibe entirely.
She pulled a second short sword. Two-blade stance.
“This girl’s so good at playing the good one. She fools herself doing it.”
She licked the blade, eyes mad with delight.
Looked like she was having fun.
“She holds it in and cries alone, in secret. So tedious… and then that brat gave us a push!”
I drew the knife I’d been hiding in my belt and caught her short sword.
Sparks.
I’d prepped this when the yellow flicker had started.
“Yes — you’re my kindred spirit… I want to carve that you understand face.”
Rapture in her voice. I kicked her.
She kicked too, used the momentum to vault back.
Like a cat.
“That brat touched the gap in my heart, and I was born! That brat doesn’t even know what she did — priceless! I was going to carve up the front me first when she wore through, but—”
Sprinting at me, feinting.
The Second’s Skill tracked her precisely; I caught her swing on the prepared knife.
“But… the first one I want to carve is you. Lyle-kun!”
A barrage. Many flavors of attack.
(Should’ve kept the sabre out.) I asked her:
“Why me?”
“Why? Why might that be? I don’t know!”
She knew and was hiding it.
She was enjoying this.
She wasn’t taking the sleeping comrades as hostages.
Just—
(More skilled than I’d imagined!!)
She resembled Mireia, they’d said. Had Mireia been this strong?
I kicked one of her short swords away.
“Aha! Sublime! You can break through her body’s capacity. You really are interesting.”
“Thanks.”
Trading lines, I touched the Jewel.
The Third.
“Go for it?”
He’d read what I was thinking.
I wasn’t keen.
“Why me first? Why not Novem and the rest?”
She spun the blade on a fingertip.
“Because you called out to me. Are you conscious? — and she panicked at that.”
A wide grin. She broadcast Miranda’s interior.
“Know this? She fell for you at first sight! She pinned a thin hope on maybe this one will get me. Ridiculous, right? Not that she ever laughs inside.”
People-pleaser Miranda had had her burdens.
“That’s why… I’d carve you first, and break her heart. Confining her — I’m tired of it.”
I edged sideways, gauging distance.
She watched, smiling, ready to lunge on the smallest opening.
She knew I couldn’t bring myself to attack Miranda’s body.
“The first one trying to kill you… was actually the front me. She tried to finish you off before I came out — under the brat’s manipulation, sure. But the front me was also a little serious about it. — Of course. Seeing it shown off is frustrating.”
Her eyes went to Novem.
I tensed; she laughed.
“Don’t worry. I don’t do cheating. — But Lyle-kun, you’re getting in everywhere — Novem, Aria, and Clara too. Awful man.”
“Bad luck. I haven’t even kissed anyone. I’m shy.”
“Oh, too bad… if the front me had called out before kill-time, that’d have been nice.”
I shook my head.
“I have Novem. Could you stop. She’s serious.”
”…Right. So that’s it. Same, but the front me — not understood.”
Caught me. I sprang.
Preparation done.
“Oh, suddenly motivated — ugh!”
Her face twisted in pain. She glared at me.
She thrust the short sword at me anyway.
I caught the hilt-fist in my palm.
The blade slid between my index and middle fingers, cutting the glove lightly.
“What — what did you do?!”
I grabbed her left hand with my right; her kick landed on me.
Not a girl’s kick.
Through the pain, I kept the face calm and explained.
“Mental-interference Skills — exist on the support side too. Did I ever once say I couldn’t?”
“You bastard!!”
The Jewel emitted blue light, forcing her inner self down and pulling Miranda forward.
“How are you feeling?”
I let go. She dropped to her knees, releasing the short sword.
The metal rang. No one woke.
”…The worst.”
Looking down — face hidden.
I cast [Mind].
I called to her deeper self and pulled her forward. The other one had been letting things spill because of [Mind] interference too.
(Good thing she’d just emerged. — That side is dangerous.)
”…You knew. About Shannon.”
“You heard. I knew. Knew that she was interfering, and played along. Because… I’m Shannon’s older sister.”
I remembered Aria’s words.
The loses-out type. Aria had been worried about her.
“Everyone has things they don’t show.”
She laughed.
“Easy to say. But I’m the one shown my own monster. Forced to see the abnormal me.”
I sighed and used [Mind].
The Sixth.
“S-stop, Lyle!”
The Third stopped him.
“Fine, fine. Do it. Shannon-chan made it — but it’s still hers. Pile it up and it’ll detonate someday. Acknowledging is better.”
The Third in his easy tone.
(Other people’s business.)
“Refuse all you want — fact is fact. That side is you. I’ll treat that side with my Skill.”
What had been split — back together.
The black feelings she’d discarded — fully recognized.
”…I’m ugly.”
“It’s fine. There are uglier (my sister Ceres, for example).”
She slowly looked up.
Hair stuck to her face with sweat.
Light-less eyes through it, looking at me.
“You won’t know what happens. I held that in forever.”
“It would’ve surfaced eventually. Then it’d be a disaster. Acknowledge it now. The other Miranda-san is the one to protect it.”
“Protect?”
She’d treated the held-down emotions as evil.
I’d say — they’re human too.
Bitter, sad, want someone to see me feelings — embarrassing, but mine too.
Most of me, really.
I’d fought with that bitterness as fuel.
— Not that I’d been rewarded.
“If she’s been rejected this much, it’s no wonder she’s warped.”
My right hand on her shoulder; the Jewel began to glow.
”…Right.”
“And — I’ll accept you.”
Whatever Miranda was, that was Miranda — accept.
That was the intent.
But—
“Wh-what did you just—”
She lit blue, then toppled sideways.
A heavy mental drain.
I was tired too — Skill use.
“Early start tomorrow… hah. Sleep.”
I wanted to feel I’d advanced on Shannon at least a little.
The Sixth murmured.
“I… wasn’t seeing it.”
◇
Watch rotation.
Novem rose slowly from where she’d been sitting.
Damian, Clara, Aria — asleep on the sleeping powder.
And Miranda and Lyle, sleeping.
”…Medical-related, I’d heard; the dose was appropriate. They should wake tomorrow.”
Clara was her watch partner; Novem let her sleep.
A blanket over Clara.
Staff in hand, she went to Miranda.
Hair stuck to the face with sweat.
Heavy fatigue.
The hand gripping the staff loosened when Lyle, lying beside Miranda, shifted.
She released the staff and stared at her own palm.
“Why a reaction like that? — Waking him here would be…”
Lyle was tired too — out cold.
Looking at his face, Novem smiled faintly.
She touched his face with her hand.
Tilted her head and resumed watch.
“After that fight, exhausted… I’ll keep watch.”
During the prior combat—
Novem hadn’t been asleep at all—.
◇
Everyone woke past departure time.
“Sorry… sorry…”
“It’s fine.”
A wry-smiling Novem.
Clara apologizing on loop. I couldn’t scold.
I’d slept through my watch too.
When I asked Novem why she hadn’t woken me — she said you looked tired.
I couldn’t pile on more, given I’d been asleep.
“Ha! Slept like a log. Felt like I’d had a sleeping powder!”
Loud Damian, refreshed after a real sleep.
Curious what his lifestyle was like; explanation looked tedious; I dropped it.
Aria ate quietly, awkward.
Miranda—
“Sorry, Novem-chan!”
— bright and energetic.
Yesterday felt like a lie. The Third.
“Owning it makes it easier. Genuinely.”
The Fifth.
”…If you can own it. — Maybe what I did was owning it too…”
He had his own thoughts.
The Second.
“More energetic than before. Good. — She’ll help with reforming Shannon now.”
The Fourth.
“Genuinely good smile. She’ll help… but knowing that lives behind the smile — girls are scary.”
The realness — I had nothing for him.
(That said, Novem is perfect.)
A touch of pride at the Fourth.
The Seventh, same as ever.
“Right, now we can focus on Damian’s request alone.”
The Sixth, down.
”…Right.”
I finished eating and started packing.
“Clara, that’s enough.”
“No. Support like me has to work hard at moments like these.”
Crisper than usual. Her work-ethic mode.
“O-okay.” I went back to packing.
Passing Miranda—
“Thanks for yesterday. And… let’s keep getting along, L-y-l-e-kun.”
For an instant, the other smile.
◇
Floor-30 boss room.
An orc-class ogre with a hollowed cylinder over its shoulder stood in front of me.
“Looks like a cannon. — Monsters here carry the worst things.”
Everyone fell back. Just me.
“Are you sure about this~?”
Damian, doubting, waited at the back.
The ogre, taking my isolation as cocky, raised the cylinder.
I gripped the Jewel.
”…[Full Burst].”
The silver inlay swelled and a greatsword filled my right hand.
Similar to the First’s, but gradually shifting toward something tuned to me.
“Sorry, no time. One-shot.”
Two-handed, at the hip, set for a horizontal cleave.
As the metal cylinder came down, I swung.
A shockwave; the ogre flew to the boss-room wall.
The metal stomach-plates, gauntlets, and the cylinder itself, all sliced through to the wall.
The cylinder split in two and dropped.
I released the Skill.
”…One-shots are the only viable mode.”
The greatsword reverted; the mana-loss was significant. I had to weigh it.
I really did need another Growth to use the Jewel properly.
The party came over.
“As expected, Lord Lyle.”
Novem, as always.
Aria.
“Can’t you use that more often?”
”…If I could, I would. That’s the situation.”
Cold for cold.
Comrade-banter.
Clara was studying the Jewel.
“Rare metal. Quite expensive.”
Miranda clapped.
Not just bright like before. More approachable.
“That’s the professor’s commission done. — Right, professor, teach Lyle-kun the magic.”
The deal: past floor 30, I get the magic.
But Damian said:
“A promise is a promise. — One more thing, if I may?”
“Yes?”
He looked at me.
“You — at this rate, you’ll go to ruin. — Not my problem, though.”
I had no comeback.
Why?
The Second agreed.
”…Right.”
Damian’s request was on track. A new problem in my face.