"That was close..."

Lying on the bed, one person mutters to themselves.

'Gilmina Tea: Normal. A plant native to the Ring Pillar Continent, near the Borneid Volcano. Its leaves gather the essence of fire spirits. When brewed and drunk, it causes the fire spirit within the body to go berserk and enter a frenzy. When diluted, it is also used as an aphrodisiac. A very expensive medicinal herb, occasionally cultivated around the volcano.'

This was the description of the tea I just identified, and it's listed as extremely expensive. It was said to have been bought from the market, so it couldn't have been cheap.

Did they know about its effects when they bought it?

Or did they just think it was a regular high-end tea?

We've been earning quite a bit, so even if it was expensive, we could afford it without issue...

"Maybe I'll find out tomorrow. But... it's hard to ask."

There's no way I could bring myself to ask if he tried to make me drink a lust potion—

no matter how I answer, it'd leave me feeling awkward...

The reason it didn't affect me was probably my level 1 poison resistance.

Or maybe it was the effect of "Spirit's Favor." Either way, if I had ended up in a frenzy too, then—well, that could have happened.

"…I need to be careful."

The status board displays real-time viewer count.

Over a billion people are watching me right now, waiting to see what I do next.

That means billions of people were watching as Refrea, driven into a frenzy, closed in on me.

"Darkness Fog"

Darkness fills the room.

In this dense darkness, the viewers' gazes can't reach me.

(Maybe I've gotten a bit too used to this...)

This world.

This situation.

It's not true that I never forgot about the "viewers."

In daily life, it was truly just about numbers.

The more time one person lost, the more I had to think.

— Kachakacha

— Ufufu

In the darkness, if I strain my ears, I can still hear those innocent laughter sounds.

The voices of tiny spirits.

I know now that those sounds aren't the viewers' laughter anymore.

But at the same time, I can't help recalling how I felt back then.

Suddenly, the memory surfaces—the moment I barely escaped that forest—and it grips my body tightly once again.

About the second-generation transferees. About Jeanne.

About Refleia. About the labyrinth.

About the journey. About daily life.

I’ve decided to live.

I’ve come to care about important things.

— But still, I’m probably trapped.

That’s why I ended up clashing with Jeanne.

Danced around by information I can’t tell if it’s true or false.

…No, if I’m to believe Jeanne, then it must be a lie…

But I also can’t help thinking she wouldn’t have a reason to lie.

If I don’t understand, I have to act based on my own understanding.

But me—

Just as I was thinking this, I heard a knock on the door, and Refleia poked her head in.

"Hikaru…? Are you awake? Can I come in?"

She looked a bit awkward.

"Were you already asleep?"

The sun had already set, and the room, with its wooden shutters tightly closed, was already pitch black. But thanks to my magic, it has become an even darker space with no light whatsoever.

"No, I wasn't sleeping."

I dispel the Darkness Fog.

The candlesticks, which had been extinguished, regain their glow and softly illuminate the room.

"I'm sorry about earlier. That was quite a disgrace..."

"Ah... I was surprised. That tea should probably be thrown away."

"Yes, you're right... I'll get rid of it later..."

Responding like that, Reflair fidgets by the door.

She seems to want to say something.

"...? What's wrong?"

"Ah, no. Um... aren't you hungry? It's still dinner time today."

"Now that you mention it, I suppose. I'm not starving, but maybe we should grab something to eat?"

Refrea is higher in rank than me, so her fuel consumption should be much worse. I don’t get hungry that quickly, but that’s probably thanks to the favor of the spirit.

I could have gone out to eat, but for some reason I felt guilty about going out without Jeanne (in case she came back while I was away), so I just ate something light at home with what was available.

Since I’d planned to go on a journey, I’d already been tidying up the house bit by bit, and I’d already informed the real estate agent—more precisely, the property intermediary—of my intention to move out.

Preparations for my journey were already well underway in that regard.

It was only natural that Jeanne would get angry when I suddenly said, “Wait, let’s not do this after all.”

“I really should apologize to Jeanne quickly.”

"Yeah, the longer it goes on, the more it twists.

"That's true."

Even if Nanami's story is genuine, it might be safer to entrust her to someone trustworthy. Maybe one of Reflair's senior explorers would take her in, or even just leaving money with the guild could make a difference.

Nanami will probably come looking for me at the guild, and she might end up waiting at the dungeon entrance just like Reflair did before.

If we arrange things with someone reliable, we'll be fine for now. Even after we set out on our journey, we can still send a message to confirm the truth.

Ferdinand had claimed that the one who fell into the Abyss might be Nanami... but realistically, that was impossible. According to Reflair, that "Abyss" was far more dangerous than the forest known as the Demon Realm, from which I barely escaped with my life. Even if she had brought a machine gun, she couldn't possibly have survived.

　

If I'd calmed down a little, I could have thought of many solutions.

If Nanami managed to reach here from somewhere, she must have learned how to survive, and there'd be no urgent need to protect her.

While eating, I discussed it with Reflair and decided to apologize to Jeanne and set off on the journey as planned.

That was the most harmonious way to resolve everything.

Whether Nanami is really here in this world... just thinking about it sends a sharp pain through my chest, but the reason I'm even here in this town is because Jeanne said she wanted to conquer the labyrinth in the first place. It wasn't really my decision to begin with.

The more I think about it, the more I regret having said such selfish things.

"…………Maybe she won't come back."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Jeanne. She was originally someone who worked alone, after all."

"That's not true at all. You're overthinking things. Both Jeanne and Hikaru are taking this way too seriously. Let's just enjoy ourselves instead."

"Enjoy ourselves? That's not what I meant…"

"I'm not saying we should enjoy this situation, but Jeanne might be okay, but Hikaru—well, he's just too ascetic, you know? Even priests nowadays have more fun these days."

Refleia has explained nearly all of our circumstances.

I suppose it's hard for you to fully grasp the reality of being watched, but even so, Refleia simply doesn't care.

From the very beginning, she said, "Since it's practically nonexistent, there's no need to worry about it." And ever since, she's remained completely consistent.

(……though, really, Jeanne doesn't seem to care about viewers' gazes either.)

It's not just Jeanne—Alex doesn't appear to be bothered by such things either.

So perhaps it's just me who's the abnormal one.

Once I realized that, it was impossible to act casually about it right away.

"…Anyway, I'll go look for Jeanne tomorrow morning. I have to find her and apologize—otherwise, there's no point in talking."

"Yeah, he's probably staying at some inn somewhere."

"I don't think he'd stay at a cheap one, so we can narrow it down pretty well."

In this world, there's almost no concept of protecting personal information.

If the person were a noble or royalty, it'd be different, but otherwise, an innkeeper would probably tell us right away if we asked.

We might actually find him fairly easily.

We'll plan our next steps, have some regular tea after dinner, and decide to go to bed for the night.

Nights in this other world come early.

In turn, mornings are early too.

There's hardly any proper lighting—though spirit lamps exist, they're expensive to run, so we tend to hesitate using them.

In this world, going to sleep when it gets dark and waking up when the sun rises is just the default way of life....Well, I do have night vision, so I'm not hindered in my activities even at night, but that's beside the point. It's certainly healthier to go to bed

early and rise early. Whether spending all day in the labyrinth is healthy is debatable, though.... "Then

, good night." Returning

to my room and getting into bed

. Jeanne never came back. There's still the

second wave of transmigrants, Nanami's situation

... countless things to worry about, but there's nothing I can do about them

right now. —Knock

, knock. Just as I was beginning to doze off, someone knocked

on the door again. Looking over, I saw Refleia peering through

the gap in the door. "...What is it? Did Jeanne come back?"

"Aah... no, it's not like that, you know... I think Jeanne won't be coming back today, and... when you're on a journey, chances like this... being alone together... are pretty rare, aren't they...?"

Muttering softly, Reflair slips into the room still in her nightwear.

W-what's going on...?

"Ah, just stay there. It's nothing, really. Nothing at all..."

"N-no, it's not that there's nothing, is it? E-eh...?"

"Yes, I'm just going to borrow a moment... Ah, stay right where you are. Please, don't worry about it..."

With a smooth, flowing motion, Reflair enters the bed.

My bed is pushed right against the wall, leaving me with no way out.

I mean, what even is this...? It's so mysterious.

Isn't that fine? I was just thinking, maybe we should sleep together for a bit? Since Madame Jeanne isn't here, after all? Right? I mean, chances like this probably won't come up again, so... right?

"No, no, no. Right? That's not how it is. Did you drink that tea again!?"

"Of course not, I didn't drink it. ...Well, maybe I had a little alcohol, but anyway, we're living together, so this is pointless. And honestly, I'd be perfectly content with just sharing a bed for a little while."

"Sharing a bed... are you serious?"

"We've slept huddled under one blanket in the maze before, haven't we? It's no different now. No need to get so tense. Come on, lie down, lie down."

I'm forcefully pulled down and shoved onto my side with surprising strength.

It's hard to refuse something like this.

I'm not oblivious to her feelings, but honestly, with no prior experience with women, I have no idea how to handle a situation like this.

And it wasn't just that—my mind was already a mess emotionally, making it even worse.

"Do you really... hate it so much? Sleeping with me?"

"I-I don't hate it, but as I've said before, there are viewers—­"

"There aren't any viewers, really. Madam Jeanne said so herself."

"No, there actually are."

"Even so, just lying beside me for a bit shouldn't be a problem, should it? Come on, close your eyes. Breathe in... breathe out..."

I've gotten used to being with Reflair.

But that's a completely different matter. Sleeping in the same bedroom, on the same bed. It's impossible not to feel tense.

On the other hand, why is Reflair so calm?

I thought, and looked at her face.

Silhouetted against the candlelight, her face was bright red, looking quite desperate.

It might be pitiful to be so stubborn.

(Well, sharing a bed isn't that bad...)

I think this world tends to be more relaxed about such things.

In cheap inns, people often sleep in large rooms, piled together like fish, with no distinction between men and women.

Reflair probably grew up in such an environment.

"It's just for sleeping, after all."

"Hehe, of course. I'm perfectly fine with that for tonight."

I wonder if things like this are usually reversed by gender?

Maybe, when you're in a different world, the way people think about such matters is different.

I just don't understand common sense.

　

"T-then, good night."

"Yeah. Come closer, Hikaru. Can we get a little closer? Is that okay? Hehe, hehehe..."

The unusually warm body heat of Refleia.

The softness of her skin sends a strange sensation through me—hard to deny.

(What do I do in a situation like this...? Was it counting prime numbers? Or counting sheep...?)

No, I can't fall asleep like this.

This kind of thing.