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Ever since encountering the person who seemed to be Rare’s older sister, Rare’s behavior had been a bit strange. Her expressions were more subdued than usual, and she spoke less. It was as if she was suppressing her emotions, keeping them from showing.

“Hey, are you okay? Is something bothering you?”

“I’m fine. Nothing’s changed.”

“…Well, as for how I planned to defeat the ‘Calamity’, to be honest, I hadn’t thought much about it. I just thought I could win. The details of the battle were in that Calamity subjugation thread on the forum. From that, it was clear that using artifacts would be effective in dealing damage, especially when the Calamity was immobilized by [Fear].

I’ve invested quite a bit in [Mental Magic] and MND, and while I don’t know how skilled that MentaList player is, I was confident that I had a significant lead in terms of acquired experience among players. So, I thought it would probably work.

Well, in reality, the Calamity turned out to be Rare-chan, so I had no choice but to yield the top player position to her.”

Lyra said this, but she was actually much stronger than the knights. Even in Blanc, it was hard to understand what she was doing.

At that hill of rubble, she instantly killed the old man who had tried to kill Blanc and fought Rare head-on, and yet she was now casually talking about it, demonstrating abnormal strength.

So, it might not be entirely accurate to say my estimate was too optimistic. If that artifact or some other factor had been activated, the outcome could have been reversed.

“Now, about the armor. It’s actually an item with a history. It’s said to have been worn by the nobles—possibly the current royal family—when they defeated the Spirit Lord in the past, to protect themselves from the magic he unleashed. I don’t know if it’s true.

However, it does have magical resistance, so I collected it with money. If it really was worn by the royal family, they wouldn’t easily part with it. Probably a replica, but it wasn’t among the possessions of the Hiers royal family I took care of.

If it’s not in Rare-chan’s treasure trove either, this story might be a lie, or the armor might be genuine. Except for the one I wore, all the others were scrapped.”

With this, have I asked everything I wanted to know? I’ve covered the initial plan and resolved the newly emerged mysteries. There’s no longer that lingering sense of unease.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be of much help to Rare, but there might be another chance. Now, we could engage in small talk. It seems like Rare has something else she wants to ask aside from the game.

“…Well, since my business is done.”

“Huh? You’re leaving already? Don’t you want to talk more? Aren’t you like an older sister?”

“…I’m just a stranger. It doesn’t concern me.”

She said it with a straight face. Rare’s wings were restlessly fluttering.

Looking at Lyra, she had an expression that could be described as troubled or resigned, or it was hard to say exactly. Whatever emotion it was, one thing was clear—anyone who witnessed it would feel a pang of sadness.

With the same face as Rare, such an expression made Blanc’s chest tighten.

“…No, you can’t. It’s not like that.”

“…Blanc?”

“Don’t leave. Weren’t both of you really surprised just now? It’s been a while since you met, right?

I don’t know about your family circumstances, so I can’t say much… But if you part ways here, who knows when you’ll see each other again?

Shouldn’t you talk more?

Rare-chan, your way of talking is a bit unique, not very girly. Cute, though. But maybe it’s because of your sister’s influence? It’s just like hers. I could tell right away.

The tart your sister baked was delicious. It’s Rare-chan’s favorite, right? She couldn’t have known you were coming today, so did she bake it every day?

Baking tarts every day, even in the game, just for Rare-chan…”

“Um, can you please stop? I’ll die of embarrassment. Seriously.”

Lyra covered her face with both hands.

But pulling back here might prevent these sisters from reconciling.

“…It’s not like we can’t meet again. We’ve added each other as friends.”

“Ah!”

By the way, that’s right. If anything, Blanc and Lyra are also doing it.

Even if they part ways here, if they both feel like it, Blanc can set it up and arrange for them to meet.

Upon reflecting a bit, I might have interfered too much in someone else’s family matters. Blanc is not very accustomed to having friends, so while she can engage in normal conversations with her abundant knowledge, mainly from comics, she’s unsure how far she should delve into such situations.

Maybe I went too far after all.

“Um, sorry for saying unnecessary things. But…”

“…It’s okay. I understand. Let’s talk a bit. Well, I was planning to add you to my friend list. Blanc—”

“Ah, I can go home alone! I have [Summon]! So, I’ll head back first! [Summon Caster]!”

“You idiot—”

“Summon? Is there something with Summon? Are you going home?”

“Ah-“

Her field of vision darkened, and when it opened again, it was the Lord’s mansion in Erntal. In front of me, a monster like a king of beetles and a deer were drinking tea. It seemed Azalea was serving. Since she targeted Azalea, it was natural for her to be in the room.

“Welcome back, Lady Blanc. And, where is Her Majesty?”

“Oh, Rare-chan is, um, a little, uh, what should I say… She’s talking with someone she became friends with over there.”

“Is that so? Well, unlike the outbound journey, the return journey is instantaneous. If you’re with a friend, there’s no need to worry.”

“I see.”

There’s a slight sense of guilt. Well, given the situation, Rare might not do anything indiscreet, but I hope she’s managing to cover for us. Still, I didn’t want the two of them to talk just for that reason.

“…Well, forget it. We can’t do anything about what’s already done, so let’s wait for her to come back. By the way, what’s the name of that stag beetle over there?”

“It doesn’t have a specific name. If you think of it in terms of Lady Blanc, it’s on par with those three Spartoi aside from them. The race name is, I believe, Queen Beetle.”

The stag beetle nodded with its entire body.

“Oh, I see, because it doesn’t have a head…”

Even though it’s called a Queen Beetle, why does it have such impressive jaws?

“Queen Beetle-san helps defend this city. How was it during the day? Did players or anyone else come?”

“They did come. About the same as yesterday. The huge beetle that Queen Beetle-sama created was split in half, just like yesterday.”

“Magenta, that’s elegant tea drinking.”

I thought she was cheekily sitting there drinking tea, but it seems the serving duties are rotated.

“Queen Beetle is extremely tough, and it seems that things like iron are completely ineffective against it. On the other hand, it seems weak to Fire Magic and Ice Magic. It was easily defeated by parties with magic users. Conversely, it seems challenging for parties with mainly swordsman classes to clear.”

“That’s amazing! Being weak to magic is a concern, but being strong against swordsman is reliable. Let Queen Beetle take care of the front, and Spartoi can handle the back. There’s also the option of unleashing zombies. For the front, zombies aren’t much of a threat, but for the back, a large number of zombies can be troublesome. Blanc knows that well.”

“You need not worry about that here. So, how was the journey with two female friends? Did you achieve your goals?”

“Goals, huh! We did! First, we found out what happened to the escaped royal family from Hiers Royal Capital. Also, the whereabouts of the artifact that royal family had. So, you could say we achieved the goal of the journey. There were things I didn’t quite understand, but we also obtained various new information. Probably.”

In exchange, some information was unintentionally leaked. Mostly due to Blanc’s mistake.

“That’s very good. I’m sure Her Majesty was delighted.”

“…Yeah, I hope so.”