Day 3.
The meetings turn. The meetings dance.
Today's agenda was the announcements of the Tier I delvers' achievements and the like.
Well, I get that achievement announcements are important, boring as they are.
And it turned out that since yesterday, Agaro, Megadia, and Ensu had been joining in.
Which meant that Megadia's
vassal,
Pakira, was also on standby.
I thought I might doze off from boredom, but the Tier I delvers' achievement announcements turned out to be a nonstop series of surprises.
Truly worthy of the highest difficulty — the achievements were something else.
In particular, the subjugation of the "Mountain Eater," a gemstone-grade Hydra with five heads, by "Sword of Swords."
From what I heard, it had a mountainous body. Each of its five heads wielded different Relics, ranging from low to mid tier.
And they took it down with a single sword. As expected from one of the strongest in the world.
The man himself was sprawled out next to me, gnawing on a giant monster bone.
That's the dog-like thing about him. Well, he is a dog.
There was also the branch pasta from the Sacred Tree Forest Dungeon that Jeff the "Strange Chef" entered.
Gravis, the "One Who Obtained the Power of the Great Tree," had an interesting story about the worldwide butler championship.
That old man — he was a butler?
Maids, butlers — why do they all end up as delvers?
Speaking of which, I heard the Lütelbelt family of Alverd is one of the most prominent noble houses in the kingdom.
I don't want to praise the guy, but he's quite accomplished in his own right. Does he even need to be a delver?
Ah, but Kuun Hunt, which he heads, is the biggest outfit in this city — and also the worst-reputed.
I consider them my enemy too.
Is he bad at leading people? Or does he just not want to?
Something tells me it's the latter. Maybe someone roped him into it on a commission.
And so the third day's meeting came to a completely uneventful close.
Incidentally, the Witch announced the successful refinement of the "Lost Soma," an ancient potion.
She also announced the successful restoration of the "World Map Clock," a legendary Relic of national-treasure class.
Chaibe announced new products for delvers.
He also announced the subjugation of Liel, the Ivy Demon that had been dominating the wetland known as Kahe Marsh.
With that, the Kahe Dungeon sealed away in Kahe Marsh is said to have revived.
What even is "Kahe"?
Shiro announced the harvesting of phantom materials and the discovery of several unexplored dungeons.
The discovery of unexplored dungeons in particular got even the other First-Rank delvers buzzing.
Munieka announced the annihilation of a major bandit guild.
And the subjugation of a Gem-rank lower-tier monster called a Kelia. Semi-parasitic monsters — those things are scary.
But the biggest surprise was Narsis.
"We didn't do anything!" — she's probably the only one who can say that with a straight face.
Apparently there's no automatic demotion or removal from the registry just for lacking results.
Also, is "we'll keep it secret because of national secrets and stuff" an acceptable move from the Thousand-Face Relic?
I get that there are a lot of things a Relic can't talk about, but still.
The arena.
It was packed and buzzing again today.
Once again, I was given a seat in the VIP area to watch.
Emmy was in the seat diagonally ahead of me. The witch and Munieka sat beside me.
Ensu was nowhere to be seen. Axe and the others had to be watching from somewhere.
Shiro and Chaibe were absent.
The moment Mineha and Ruriha appeared in the arena, a whirlwind of cheers erupted.
Mineha and Ruriha's names were chanted over and over.
The two of them were in their large forms, not their fairials.
That couldn't be helped. In fairial form, they were too small to see properly.
Mineha was in her usual armor. She'd said it had gotten a little tight recently.
Ruriha was also armored. Her armor was more elegant and ornate than Mineha's.
However, that armor had gaps at the shoulders and waist, forming ring-like openings.
"Exhibition match. 'Fairy Queen' Ruriha versus Mineha, a mother-daughter bout begins. Victory is decided by surrender. Or by knockout. Killing your opponent is prohibited. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Then, begin!"
At the signal, the two clashed with the spears in their hands.
Mineha's was the Spectral Star Manifestation Spear.
A blue spear with a white triangular pattern spiraling along its length.
Ruriha, meanwhile, held a pitch-black spear.
From my past life memories, it was essentially a cavalry lance. It seemed to be the fairials' main weapon.
"So you're using Shadow Dancer after all. Mother."
Mineha thrust without hesitation as she spoke.
Ruriha deflected the thrust lightly and smiled.
"You've gotten stronger, Mineha."
From Ruriha's spear, something like an eerie black mist or smoke came billowing out.
It took on human shapes one after another.
The figures resembled Ruriha, and in the blink of an eye there were four of them.
All of them held black spears.
"Clones?"
"That right there is Shadow Dancer. There's a time limit and a cooldown, but you can create shadow clones that you control freely with your thoughts. In other words, shadow Rurihas."
Shadow Ruriha, huh.
They looked like silhouettes, but the facial contours and body lines were identical.
"It must be nice to control them freely with thought alone. If I could handle the Menosdoles that way, it would certainly be much easier."
"...That sounds like it would be difficult, though."
"The other Menosdoles are well-behaved. I recently discovered that they each have their own sense of self too. But they're fundamentally dolls, so they're obedient and excellent maids. Shardina is the one who's a problem."
Ah, so I was right. The other Menosdoles had their own sense of self too.
Also, I kind of get Shardina. Maybe I'll go see her sometime.
There are plenty of other things on my mind, too.
The match wasn't going well for Mineha. She was surrounded by Ruriha and four shadow Rurihas.
All she could do was dodge and block their relentless spear strikes. That was all she could manage.
Something was off. Why wasn't she using "Stars"?
"Mineha. She's luring them in."
"Huh?"
I couldn't help but react to Emmy's murmur.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I see…"
"Luring them in?"
"She's probably waiting to strike after she draws them close."
"And Ruriha knows that too. She's playing along with the bait, on purpose."
Sure enough, Mineha ended up fully encircled by Ruriha and the shadow Rurihas.
That was when Mineha's spear began to shine.
The white triangular pattern on the spear's shaft separated and became a solid triangular object.
Nine "Stars" hovered in the air.
These triangles had originally been the blade of the short sword Orianes.
The triangles Mineha called "Stars" detached and began orbiting.
"Oh dear, how dangerous."
Ruriha pulled back, trying to wave off the shadow Rurihas.
But it was too late. One of the shadow Rurihas vanished under the stars' assault.
"Oh my."
"Here I go, Mother."
As the nine triangular stars swirled, a variety of cheers erupted as if from nowhere.
The stars moved in sync with Mineha's spear.
Another shadow Ruriha was obliterated when the stars charged in a spiral formation.
The stars were a combination of Mineha's Spiral and Remote Control Relics.
Their power was terrifyingly high. When they spun in a spiral, the triangles became like drills.
Their penetrating force was in a completely different league. The shadow Ruriha was pierced right through, spear and all. Only one remained.
"Oh dear."
"Mother. These are my stars."
The last shadow Ruriha was also annihilated under the stars' supporting fire.
Only Ruriha herself was left.
"...You really have gotten stronger, Mineha. But..."
From the Shadow Dancer, something like black mist or smoke emerged again.
Mineha tried to stop it by sending all the stars charging.
However, she was a step too late.
No, perhaps it might have been futile even if she hadn't been.
"...Mother."
Dozens upon dozens of shadow Rurihas materialized, flooding half the arena.
Then Ruriha pulled a silver spear with four black wings from her pouch.
It was wrapped in a yellow band with black characters engraved on it. A strange spear indeed.
She took up a dual-wielding stance, a spear in each hand.
"I'll show you what you're lacking."
All the shadow Rurihas charged at once.
Mineha raised the Demon Star Manifest Spear. Eight stars circled around the shadow Rurihas.
Little by little, they began to encircle them.
"Starlight Vortex!!!"
As she brought it down, the ninth star plunged in a straight line into the midst of the shadow Rurihas.
In an instant, a blazing vortex of light erupted, and the shadow Rurihas were swallowed up.
"Fairial Ordinance, Article Two: In the name of the Fairial Empress — Mineha's stars, fall."
Chanting the decree, Ruriha drove another strange spear into the ground.
Then the stars of the Demon Star Manifest Spear fell.
"...The Fairial Ordinance?!"
"Now there are no more stars."
"Th-That can't be!"
The remaining shadow Rurihas closed in on Mineha.
She fought back fiercely, but Mineha's armor was shattered and her spear was taken from her.
Finally, both her hands and feet were seized and she was pinned to the ground.
Ruriha pointed the tip of Shadow Dancer at Mineha.
Looking down at her, she spoke.
"I win."
"...Yes."
"Mineha, you fought well. But your weakness is that you have too few options. I still have several OOPArt spears equal to these two spears."
"Even that many...?"
"My, my — the more options, the better. Of course, you need to be able to wield them properly. So first, get your hands on a spear that's equal to or stronger than these. That will be your goal from now on."
"...Yes. Mother. Next time, I'll win."
"I'm counting on it."
"I lost."
"—The winner is Ruriha, the 'Fairy Queen'!"
A roaring whirlwind of cheers surged through the arena.