"Well... miss—about Refrea, I do have feelings for her, but I told her I couldn't be with her due to my personal circumstances. We parted just about ten days ago. So suddenly being asked to marry her is completely out of the blue."

"Does 'personal circumstances' mean you're planning to marry that girl, Jeanne?"

"No, nothing like that at all. She's just a party member."

"A party member? She didn't seem like one to me... Hmm... Well then, if you want, you can use her as a party member. Do whatever you like with her."

"Do whatever you like...?"

Honestly, what does he think he's doing with his own daughter? This guy...

No, she said something about not getting along well with her family... Now that I think about it, the idea of venturing into the labyrinth just because she couldn't become a Holy Knight seems kind of unlikely. Maybe she just wanted to leave home in the first place.

I'd probably have chosen to leave home too if it weren't for my sisters...

While I was speechless, the duel between Refrea and Jeanne continued.

Refrea's attacks grew faster, and the relentless barrage of her giant sword left even Jeanne unable to find an opening for a counterattack.

But Refrea's strikes weren't landing either.

Jeanne is heavily armored, so Refrea can swing freely, but I doubt even with plate armor, one hit like that would just be shrugged off.

Perhaps thinking the situation was hopeless, Refleia launched an even more powerful attack.

Jeanne stepped forward to meet the assault, closing the distance.

The two stood so close their noses nearly touched, pressed tightly together, their shields and swords locked in a tense, blade-to-blade standoff.

　

"———"

In that moment, Jeanne was seen muttering something softly.

Refleia's eyes widened in shock.

"———"

Then Jeanne spoke again, and Refleia bit her lip.

"———!"

With the next words, Refleia's strength suddenly gave out.

Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, appearing utterly defenseless.

Yet Jeanne did not press her advantage, instead looking down at her.

The words were too quiet to hear, but what could she have possibly said?

Jeanne is the type to speak bluntly even about difficult things, but she's not someone who lies.

Perhaps she'd been insulted with something shocking.

Still, she quickly got back on her feet.

She stepped back, shuddering slightly, raised her sword once more, and shouted,

"If what you say is true, then even more so, I must defeat you! For my own future!"

Her voice was loud enough to be heard.

No, seriously, what the hell did Jeanne just say?

"Come on! Show me how you'll carve out your future!"

Jeanne repositioned her shield and shouted again.

Honestly, this guy's totally roleplaying like a video game character.

To be precise, it's more accurate to say that I'm fully immersed in roleplaying as a resident of this fantasy world, having arrived in this so-called 'other world.'

Occasionally, my true self slips through, changing my tone, and there's no doubt I'm playing a character.

　

The onlookers are getting increasingly excited, with some even placing bets on who will win. If it were me, being this much in the spotlight would be unbearable, but Jeanne seems to love being the center of attention—clearly the type suited for a world transfer.

Reflair, charging forward with her greatsword held low, thrusts one hand forward and finally reveals her trump card.

"Light!"

Instantly, a compressed sphere of light appears directly before Jeanne's eyes.

The area in front of the labyrinth is fairly bright due to the light emitted by the great spirit stone of the labyrinth, though it's bright enough to momentarily blind you.

The sorcerer is unaffected by this light.

From Reflair's perspective, she likely intended to exploit the light's distraction to strike with magic and end the fight in one move.

—Yet the result was the opposite.

Jeanne, as if waiting for just this moment, charged straight at the light sphere, leaping onto Reflair who had just begun to attack without caution, and tackled her to the ground, pinning her down.

As a pariah, Jeanne is immune to spirit magic.

Probably, Jeanne had also been timing her move, waiting for Reflair to use her spirit magic.

Just like how I did.

Still, I thought that since Reflair was stronger than me, even in this mount position she might manage to turn things around...

But it seemed she had given up.Still in a pinned position, Reflair is exchanging words with Jeanne.

Probably about the agreement that the winner's words would be obeyed.

It seemed the conversation concluded quickly, and Jeanne helped Reflair up, brushing off the dust before walking over.

"Looks like it's over."

"Yes. I'm glad it ended without any injuries..."

Though in the end, it had been an anticlimactic conclusion, the truth was that they were both relieved.

Reflair seemed unusually agitated, but Jeanne had thought she could end it without causing harm—and it turned out that way, which was good.

Maybe it wasn't fair to have taught Reflair how to fight beforehand...

Still, Reflair didn't seem down about losing; instead, she seemed oddly cheerful.

Maybe it was because Jeanne had called out to someone.

"We won, Clo! Attacker, got it!"

She patted my shoulder with a clap.

Well, we were already going to talk about that anyway—

"Hikaru. I think I misunderstood Jeanne. I’ll be counting on you again, so please take care of me."

Refreia bowed deeply.

Then she joined Jeanne, chatting and walking off together.

　

What...? What just happened...?

She was furious a moment ago, and now they’re getting along like old friends...?

"It seems the matter has been settled. Indeed, duels seem to be the quickest way to truly understand one another’s hearts, far more than mere words."

Refreia’s mother also looked surprisingly convinced. I’m the only one left behind, clueless.

I mean, I wish you wouldn't treat duels like an extension of negotiation. That's not usually an option.

Jeanne called Reflia and her mother, and they walked off together, talking.

They went straight into the house we'd rented, and I was left behind, unable to keep up with what was happening.

—And then.

In short, Reflia joined the party as a 'Battle Junkie' and agreed to help Jeanne clear the labyrinth together.

The talk of marriage was apparently dropped for now. Or rather, it was more accurate to say I couldn't bring up that topic again myself.

Reflia passed the Cathedral Knight exam the very next day after returning home, and registered herself with the预备 unit, apparently. That means she's officially a Cathedral Knight now.

I thought Cathedral Knights were knights who worked at the temple, but apparently that's not the case.

I believed I had parted ways with Reflia with my own resolve.

So the idea of joining the same party again, and even living together, felt overwhelmingly complicated.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder if I had any right to object, given that Jeanne had decided otherwise.

Maybe it was because I was frowning, unable to accept it.

After saying goodbye to Reflia and her mother, returning to the inn, Jeanne asked me.

"Isn't this a good thing? Your lover has come back."

I don't think we're really lovers... but I guess Jeanne must have heard something like that from someone.

If that's the case, my behavior probably does seem strange.

"It's complicated. I thought I wouldn't see Reflair again, or if we did, it would be much later—after we'd both started walking our own paths."

"So it was just a misunderstanding on your part? I talked to her, and she didn't feel anything like that at all."

"More like I didn't explain it properly. About being from another world, or that right now, millions of people are watching us."

I thought I'd explained it clearly enough, and Reflair seemed to understand.

Of course, there's also the fact that her sister's illness was involved, and I think I understand how she feels too.

But it's not something that can be suddenly decided.

"Well, in any case, I have no intention of letting Clo get involved in this matter. You'll just have to help me, and I'll also be counting on Reflair. That's final."

"Yeah, I get that. And... when I parted ways with Reflair, I really thought I'd spend the rest of my life alone. But then Jeanne gave me the relic of resurrection, and even if it was a bit forceful, she gave me the goal of diving into the labyrinth together. That's what's made me feel so much more positive."

I never thought I'd be able to exist in this world with such a calm mindset—something I couldn't have imagined during a certain period.

Most of that is thanks to Jeanne; I can't help but feel deeply indebted to her.

"Yeah. I can't say it feels good to see my partner wallowing in despair."

"That's true."

A partner, huh. It's nice to be told that by someone strong, like Jeanne.

I need to get stronger.

"Also, I made sure to tell Refrea that being together as lovers here is forbidden. So, Kuro can just live normally. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Well, I wasn't really thinking of doing anything like that."

"Then it's even less of an issue. If you were to say you can't stand seeing daily life or dungeon exploration, you wouldn't even be able to survive."

Jeanne was the one who invited Refrea.

She challenged her to a fight and invited her after winning. In that sense, what happened between me and her is a separate matter.

My feelings... were just selfish, but I no longer thought it was absolutely impossible, like I once did. After

all, it's Jeanne, so maybe we can manage it—perhaps a little awkward

at first, but if Reflia's okay with it, I think it'll be fine. Besides, it's true we were suspicious just by ourselves, even without the third layer. "Alright. Easy." "Huh?

Did you just say

'easy'?" "I didn't." Jeanne seems to

be subtly mocking

me, but well, I can't deny I might actually be a bit of a fool. Still, it's not something I can so easily

dismiss. "Anyway, now we've got local allies on

our side." "Yeah. Reflia's strong, and she's already

comfortable working with me, so I think we can head to the third layer right away."

"That's good. The second layer is dark, so it gets tiring."

There'll probably be some need for coordination practice, but once we get used to it, we'll be able to dive into the fourth layer without trouble.

Personally, I also have a certain anticipation for going deeper into the lower levels. It's scary, I'll admit, but whether I'm enchanted by the labyrinth or if I still have some adventure spirit left in me, I want to give it my all if I'm going to do it.

"I had another thing I wanted to do besides exploring the labyrinth, but now I can work on that too."

"What's that?"

"This is it."

Jeanne opened her status screen and made some adjustments.

"J'essaie d'apprendre une langue"

"Huh? Oh, right."

It didn't take long to figure out what Jeanne had done.

By turning off the automatic translation of the foreign world's language, the original language had reappeared on the screen.

I don't understand much French. I think I probably said something like I wanted to learn the language.

"It's dangerous to rely too much on the power God has given you. If you lose it, you'll have serious problems."

"W-well, sorry. I really only know a little bit of French. Could you add a translation?"

Jeanne added another world translation from her status screen.

"It's simple. Our abilities come from God, so there's always a chance we could lose them suddenly—standard fantasy trope, you know? Even if not, only languages from around here can be translated, which would cause problems later if we go to a different dungeon. That's why it's better to learn even one of our own words now—then, when we encounter another language, it'll be easier to pick up."

"You're right. I never thought of that. Jeanne's amazing."

The reason we're able to communicate with the people here through language is because we possess the transfer gift known as "Foreign World Language."

This gift automatically translates the languages spoken in the vicinity of where we were transferred, and without it, surviving in this world would have been significantly more difficult.

That said, it's also true that we've become overly reliant on it. While worrying about the sudden loss of a divine gift might be an overreaction, it's not an unworthy concern.

If there's a local like Refreia around, learning the language shouldn't be too hard.

Could it be that Jeanne wishes to grow stronger not just to enhance her abilities, but also as a way to caution herself against becoming too dependent on 'powers granted by the gods'?

"That's true. Even if our player skills are reset to level one, they won't go to waste. Well, most abilities are already present in this world, so they're unlikely to disappear completely, but still—given that it's a god we're dealing with, who knows what they're thinking?"

"I agree with that."

Whether Jeanne viewed this world transfer like a game or because she thought of it more seriously, she clearly knew exactly what needed to be done.

Indeed, I should definitely learn the local language. I felt ashamed for having taken for granted the fact that I hadn't even considered learning it, despite having useful abilities.

"Then, let's try living without relying on the foreign language from now on. Go ahead and switch it off right now. I want to hear Clo's Japanese."

"Understood."

I opened the status screen and turned off the foreign language setting.

"Strange feeling. I thought I was saying the same words, but you can tell the difference when it's cut."

"Konichiwā. Watashi, Nippon suki desu."

Jeanne must have switched the translation, speaking in clumsy Japanese, which is indeed inconvenient. Well, since we can both speak English, maybe we should communicate in English while learning the new language.

"Quand je suis avec toi, j'ai l'impression d'avoir des papillons dans le ventre."

Jeanne giggles as she speaks in French, but I can barely understand her.

"I don't understand French, so please speak English."

"Alright... You really don't seem to be very good at French."

That being the case, we decided to turn off automatic translation as much as possible and speak in English and the local language (the world's native tongue).

Once Refreia joins us, we should be able to operate in the dungeon's third layer as well.

The weapons should be ready soon, and although Refreia exceeded all expectations, we're still moving forward regardless.

...Still, just how did Jeanne manage to win Refreia over?