Defense-oriented and the fifth event.

The first week of December, a field exploration event was held as the fifth event. The field was covered in white snow, and quietly, snow began to fall from the sky.

"Looks like it'll stay this way until the end of December."

Sally speaks from the window of the fourth floor's guild home, looking out.

"Nice, isn't it... not too hard to walk on either."

"Yep. Then I'll just go take down some event monsters at random."

"Alrighty."

Sally turns her face from the window and leaves the guild home.

At the moment Sally exits, Maple steps away from the window.

"Maybe I'll try taking down a high-point monster if I come across one this time."

Four types of monsters are designated as targets for this event.

The four types differed in appearance rate and point value. The rarest monster, it was announced by the administrators, yielded higher points and had a low probability of dropping a rare item.

"If I encounter one, I’ll take it down. Low-point monsters are fast—chasing them is difficult..."

Maple muttered to herself, organizing her thoughts before stepping out from the guild home.

She decided to limit herself to defeating any such monster only if she happened upon it during the course of completing her通行許可証 quest.

Maple opened the door and stepped into the snowfall-laden Town.

The mere presence of falling snow altered the atmosphere entirely. Walking felt effortless.

Maple moved straight west across the snowy field, advancing toward her current quest: collecting the remnants of souls.

"Arrived!"

Maple arrived at an area scattered with ruined buildings. She drew her short blade and moved through the snow, growing weapons as she walked.

She encountered floating blue fire orbs drifting gently through the air. These were the items she sought, and they would drop when struck.

"Got you!"

Without mercy, the fire orbs were struck again and again by gunfire. The battle ended in an instant.

"Phew... Good! Things are off to a promising start today."

Though the orbs appeared with moderate frequency, they vanished after a short time, much like the monsters she had fought with Yui and Mai.

Maple picked up the dropped item. She nodded, satisfied with her luck, and resumed her hunt for the next target.

"Fufufu... Feeling good!"

Maple had searched for the fireball for about thirty minutes, now within striking distance of completing the quest—just one more [Residue of the Soul] remained.

The fireballs appeared with far greater ease than before. Maple felt satisfaction, her mood light.

"Alright! Keep this up—just one more!"

She had resolved to press forward, but probability, like all things, eventually converges.

For the next hour and a half, she encountered the target fireball not once.

Up, then down.

Even Maple, usually unshaken, paused her hunt to reset her focus.

She set the monsters aside, instead turning her attention to the snow-covered landscape. She sat on the ground, back against a tree trunk.

"Haa… tired. Mmm… the final torii is still far away."

Maple felt anew just how astonishingly fast Kasumi moved.

There are monsters in the event, though…

Maple raised her right hand toward a distant white wolf and fired bullet after bullet.

Destroyed! Good… haa…

No impact on the rankings after one fell.

No use in defeating them anyway.

Good, good! Quick, one down, and we’ll finish today.

Maple stood abruptly, set her resolve, and resumed the hunt.

She narrowed her eyes, scanned her surroundings with care, moved slowly, maintained a stance that would not miss a single detail.

Got it!

Maple caught sight of a floating fireball at the edge of her vision, snapped her weapon into position, and unleashed a barrage of bullets—far more than necessary.

Phew… finally over.

Maple collected the dropped item, checked the contents of her inventory, and confirmed she had precisely the amount of 【Soul Residue】 required.

"Good! Ah... ended up taking longer than expected. Thought I'd be lucky today..."

It had been smooth only at first. After that, fortune turned even worse than average.

Maple stretched sharply, then turned toward reporting her quest, stepping out of the ruined building area.

But probability, after all, does converge.

"Hm?"

Maple turned at the sound of a heavy thud behind her.

There stood a snowman over four meters tall.

Stone mouth and eyes. A carrot nose.

Arms of wooden branches, carrying a sack. A red hat rested atop its head.

"Oh!?"

Maple encountered the monster that offered the highest points during this event’s extermination.