Published: January 22, 2026
“Nice to meet you. I’m Philly Carpenter. I never imagined I’d become a member of the hero party. I’m truly honored to have been invited.”
Two days have passed since we expelled Orun from the party.
As Orun’s replacement, she will be joining our party starting today.
Now, I can constantly enjoy that sense of omnipotence.
Philly was an explorer active in the Great Western Labyrinth until three months ago.
However, another group of explorers cleared the Great Western Labyrinth, and demonic beasts no longer appeared there.
Because of that, she apparently came to this city where the Great Southern Labyrinth is located, which is said to be more difficult.
There are four Great Labyrinths across the continent, but their difficulty levels differ.
All four consist of one hundred floors, but the western and eastern labyrinths have no deep layers.
Therefore, the southern and northern labyrinths, which do have deep layers, are said to be more challenging to conquer.
“Even though she couldn’t clear the Great Western Labyrinth, Philly is the only enchanter to have reached the hundredth floor, right? Having such an enchanter join the party is an honor for us.”
“Yeah! With this, we can push forward further in conquering the Great Southern Labyrinth!”
“I will do my best to be of help to everyone as soon as possible!”
Since today was our first meeting, Philly, Derrick the shield-bearer, Aneli the mage, and I gathered in the mansion’s living room.
Luna hadn’t returned since the dungeon exploration two days ago, saying she had family matters to attend to. — Or so I thought, until the living room door opened and she came in.
“I’m back... Are these guests? It’s unusual for you all to handle visitors.”
Until now, it was Orun who had been receiving guests.
Luna’s reaction was natural, since she didn’t know Orun had left the party.
They’re not guests, but comrades.
“Well, that’s fine. Sorry to trouble you with guests here, but I need to confirm something urgently. May I have a moment?”
“Ah, that’s fine. Just speak.”
“Um, but...”
She probably didn’t want to discuss it with an outsider present.
But Philly is a party member, so there’s no problem with her overhearing.
I need to find the right moment to tell Luna about Orun’s departure.
“No problem.”
“I see. Then, this morning I heard that Orun went into the Great Labyrinth together with members of the silver rabbits of the night sky, but why would he do something like that? I hadn’t been informed.”
Orun with the silver rabbits of the night sky?
Has he already switched sides to them?
“Even though I told him to know his place, why did he rush off to join the rabbits...!”
As I drifted through my thoughts, Aneli, sitting next to me, muttered.
She seemed pretty angry.
“Haha. Exactly. Does he still think he’s good enough to be S-rank?”
Derrick agreed with a mocking tone.
I wish they hadn’t said that here.
I haven’t told Luna about Orun yet.
Of course, I had told her in advance that we wanted to expel him, but she opposed it.
We carried it out while she wasn’t around. There’s no avoiding her criticism.
That’s why I was waiting for the right time to talk…
As expected, Luna looked suspicious.
Maybe I should tell her before things get complicated.
“Luna, you probably don’t know, but that jack-of-all-trades — Orun — left the party two days ago.”
I was about to explain, but Aneli beat me to it.
“Huh? Orun left the party? Does that mean he’s finally given up on us?”
Luna muttered, trembling, unable to hide her confusion.
Maybe Luna’s words struck a nerve, because Derrick shouted loudly.
“Hey! Why are you talking like we were abandoned? It’s the opposite! Use some common sense! We’re the ones who kicked out that jack-of-all-trades!”
Luna lost her expression and turned toward me.
“Is that true?”
Her voice was so cold it felt like ice running down my spine.
“Y-yeah. It’s true. And she’s the new enchanter joining the party.”
I gave up and introduced Philly to Luna.