A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

Looking down over the plains from the window of the Demonic Bird Carriage.

This long-awaited flight through the sky was not the sort that allowed one to enjoy the scenery.

"Will we make it in time before the monsters reach the Capital City?"

One of Jade's party members asked.

There were six people in the Demonic Bird Carriage altogether: three from Lizel's party and three from Jade's party. For a vast wave of monsters like this great invasion, not a single one of them looked tense or excited.

If anything, they all seemed calm. That alone spoke to the high level of their skill and the abundance of their experience.

"Hard to say. Can't tell anything until we see the horde."

"We're coming straight from Sars, so maybe we won't see them until we get close to the Capital City."

As he listened to Jade's party talk, Lizel used their conversation as material for his own thinking.

They did not seem to think this great invasion had originated from a labyrinth. That had apparently been their conclusion from the moment they received the report, but Lizel's testimony about sightings of rhino magiro seemed to have strengthened that belief.

And naturally so. A labyrinth-born great invasion that occurs naturally is something that happens once in a century, if that.

More fundamentally, it is an event in which a labyrinth left unattended for far too long unleashes monsters in a fit of frustration. Given the current situation, with labyrinths being thoroughly managed by the adventurers' guild, it was basically impossible for it to happen unless someone intentionally concealed it like a ruler and artificially triggered it.

Even so, because it was a labyrinth, one could never say "absolutely" for certain.

"Leader, can you see anything?"

"No."

Suddenly Eleven peered through the window from beside him as well.

Lizel traced a finger through a strand of red hair that had fallen onto his hand, and smiled softly.

"I was just thinking how stable the flight is, as always."

"Ah, gotcha."

Eleven nodded, then looked up at the sky.

A large shadow from the spread wings of the demonic bird passed over his eyes.

"If you're bringing this along, then sure, you need four people for that 'going to receive the request' thing... four people? Four riders? Whatever. If it's the real deal, you don't get to go do whatever you want, so that's why you're going to receive the request, right?"

"Eleven is correct there."

As he tucked wind-blown hair behind his ear, Lizel answered with an amused expression.

"Yes, if this were the normal case, one rider would probably be enough. If someone had to remain in the Capital City as an envoy, then maybe another pair would be needed as messengers to head back to Sars."

"Then wouldn't having four riders be bad?"

"Well, think of it the other way around. The Demonic Bird Carriage requires four people."

"Hm?"

"And the people being carried are a rank s and an Ittō, both of whom are absurdly immediate combat power."

"What is that, a hint?"

Eleven, still unable to understand, fell into thought, while Gill beside him looked up at the ceiling with a tired expression.

Jade and the others also seemed to think it over belatedly, and joined in. Among them, only Jade wore a somewhat unconvinced face; he had probably figured out why his own participation had been approved so readily.

Ignoring them, Eleven suddenly came up with something.

"You mean you want to earn favor by saying 'We delivered a rank s to you'?"

"That's a bonus."

"Then... ah. Wait. The reason is four people because of the opposite of that, right?"

With his head tilted back in thought, Eleven lightly tapped the floor with his toes.

Maybe the message got through, because a faint voice from outside said, "Don't kick the floor."

Before long, Eleven broke into a grin and looked at Lizel.

"I got it. 'We need four people to carry the Demonic Bird Carriage, so it can't be helped if there are four'."

"That's probably it."

Lizel could only say that because it was within the scope of his own guess; he could not claim it was definitely correct.