I was snatched. Abducted. In other words, kidnapped and carried off.
No no no. Wait—huh!? I was kidnapped!?
"Kidnapped?!"
"An enemy appeared."
"An enemy?"
"Yes. They called themselves the Three Guardian Stars."
"They gave themselves a name? Wait—hold on. Enemies... as in, people?"
Scenes from what I saw through PO flash through my mind.
No way. No way. No, there's no other way to think about it.
They existed. They actually existed. But—why?
Why—why did they snatch Pakira!?
"We need to go rescue her right now."
"Wait. We need to tell everyone first."
"There's no time for that!"
I shout.
But everyone around me was calm. No—they were trying to be calm.
Lupinus turns a straight gaze toward me.
"I understand the urge to rush."
"Mm... Riv is also... holding back..."
"I'm frustrated too, you know."
Seeing how everyone was seething, I was able to calm down just a little.
Right. My companions Lupinus and Riv were the ones having an even harder time of it.
After that, while we ate the food I'd made, the conversation turned to Pakira.
Of course, the idea of going to rescue her right away came up first.
But Agaro shot it down with a pained expression.
"Night is about to fall. In a dungeon, nighttime is when it's most dangerous."
"But—"
"Those guys won't lay a finger on Pakira."
"You can actually trust that?"
"I believe so."
"Yeah, it's doable."
"Hm..."
What was with that trust in the enemy?
But judging from how Agaro and the others described them, I could sort of see their point.
Hayarn kept sidling up to whisper in my ear.
"Hey, Wof. The ones who snatched Lady Pakira — are they the ones you were talking about?"
"Almost certainly. I can't believe they're actually here."
"Um, um — were those opponents really that strong?"
Juicy asked, probing cautiously.
Agaro answered earnestly.
"He was strong. The one I fought — Balthazar — was the strongest of the bunch."
"Balthazar?"
"The enemy's name. I went all out and barely managed to take his left arm. That's the kind of opponent he was."
Even Agaro couldn't take him down, giving it everything he had.
The other two — the old man and the woman — also seemed troublesome.
The old man fires light bullets, and the woman hides in shadows.
"Mm… but… those guys… we know where they are."
"That was your destination, wasn't it?"
"The Main Tower, right?"
"…For certain…"
"Riv. Their leader calls itself MASTER. What is it?"
"MASTER…"
The one who ordered Pakira's abduction.
Riv shook his head, looking apologetic.
"Mm… I don't… know that much."
"Riv. Isn't MASTER the will of the dungeon?"
"…Maybe."
Right. This is a dungeon.
Then the dungeon's will must exist too. If that will turns out to be MASTER…
If that's the case, then why Pakira— It must be the dungeon's will saying it wants to meet.
Dungeon... Oh.
"Yomido."
I muttered it almost unconsciously.
Everyone reacted to the word.
"Huh? Yomido's the god of the underworld, right?"
"The dungeon's god."
"And he looks exactly like Pakira. The only difference is the color — otherwise they're completely identical. Also, the staff Pakira uses and her dark attribute were both given to her by Lord Yomido."
"For real?"
"Now that you mention it, she did say that."
"Hmm... if that's the case..."
"So that MASTER or whatever saw Miss Pakira and mistook her for Lord Yomido?"
That's probably it.
"If they find out she's not, won't Pakira be in serious danger!?"
"Um, um, we should go rescue her right away!"
"That should be fine too."
"Yes, there's nothing to worry about."
No, seriously — what is with that trust toward the enemy?
The danger level had certainly gone up, but jumping straight to eliminating them felt like... Hmm.
As long as we were trying to get information from Pakira, she still had her uses.
Still, I couldn't relax.
Pakira. Stay safe.
Tomorrow, I'm definitely getting you out.
"Rn... but... it's not going to be that simple..."
Riv picked up the hovering Uniton and projected a 3D map onto the table.
The Uniton had been on watch duty.
"What's going on?"
"Rn... these two walls... a fortified defense... system... is protecting the tower..."
Two enormous black walls encircled the tower.
We couldn't reach the tower without breaking through them.
"Now that is troublesome, isn't it?"
"Rn... furthermore... between the walls... a shield... has been deployed... destroying it is... quite... tough."
"Um, um, I have Banish!"
"Rn... even so... it's tough... the shield's hardness... is Sky Wall... level."
"Uh, hey. The Sky Wall!?"
"Well that's... for real?"
The Sky Wall — that was the transparent wall covering the entire world, wasn't it?
We'd punched through it once before, back in Etrange.
"Truly an iron fortress, huh."
"On top of that, those three Guardian Stars are there too."
So there's no opening.
"But I'm going anyway."
Agaro's resolve was firm. Of course, I was going too.
"Breaking through those defenses head-on won't be easy."
He was right about that.
A frontal assault was out. We needed some kind of back door. A trick. A shortcut.
Something to slip through. Ideally, some kind of gate that could warp us straight in.
Warp?
My eyes naturally drifted to the rabbit beside me.
Hiyarn?
Oh—right. She could. She absolutely could.
But wait, hold on. I had to ask the important thing first.
"…Riv. There's something I wanted to ask."
"Mm…what…?"
"You've been inside that tower before, right?"
"…Yes."
"Do you remember how far in you got?"
"Mm…yeah…I remember…"
This could work.
All of a sudden, hope was starting to look real.
"Wof?"
"—I've got a good idea."
With this method, I can save her.
Just hold on, Pakira.
The Imperial-class colony starship Great Roa.
Central Habitation Zone — Starlight City.
Main Brain Tower.
Top floor.
At the center of that alien chamber, ringed by 360 degrees of ultra-hard glass, sat a white throne.
Someone occupied that throne.
That person was looking down at the one kneeling before them.
Baltazar.
"Good work."
"Haha. I am grateful for your kind words, MASTER."
Baltazar, still kneeling, bowed his thanks.
"But the leader of the Protocol Three Guardian Stars — someone with enough power to take Baltazar's arm. Could they really be an organic life form?"
A man seated diagonally to MASTER's right murmured, his tone laced with doubt.
"—Herodes. How do you think they'll move?"
"They'll come to reclaim it, I imagine."
"So it'll come to that after all."
The MASTER sighed.
"—Ah, MASTER. We are the Protocol Three Guardian Stars. We have a mission to protect you and the Main Brain Tower."
"I know."
"If they come, it is our duty to respond with everything we have."
"I know. I won't try to stop you from doing so. Protocol Three Guardian Stars. Act as your raison d'être demands."
"—Heh heh. Thank you."
Baltazar offered his thanks, then took his leave.
Herodes asked the MASTER just once.
"Are you sure about this?"
"There's no other way."
The MASTER answered quietly, and looked up.
"The only payment I can offer them is to let things unfold as they wish. Right, Yomid?"
She spoke toward Pakira, who was standing nearby.
Pakira had been wearing a wary, hostile expression, but at those words she tilted her head in confusion.
"No, I am not Yomid."
"Huh?"
The MASTER let her guard slip for an instant.