Chapter 51: Beyond the Cage

How long had I been asleep?.
When I sat up from the bed, I caught the smell of alcohol in the air. I could also hear a lot of snoring, so there must still be many people who hadn’t woken up yet. Good. I didn’t want to oversleep and end up having to run after everyone to the surface.

I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning. By this point, my hunger had dulled to a faint sensation. My thirst, however, was much worse.

I quickly got myself ready and went to the cafeteria. They must have been partying until late last night — the place was nearly empty at this hour. Only two people sat there, a man and a woman facing each other, in conversation… though calling it a “conversation” might be a stretch, given their somewhat grim expressions.

I decided to grab some food first, then go greet them.

“Good morning. Thank you for yesterday.”

“Comrade… comrade, is that you? I thought I was hallucinating.”
“If you keep talking about someone, they’ll show up.”

Toda-san and Yuuka-san both looked up at me, and I could tell immediately that neither had slept. On top of yesterday’s fatigue, they looked paler than usual.

“Uh… ‘If you keep talking about someone’?”

Normally, it’s “speak of the devil,” isn’t it?
I think it’s cheating to keep talking about someone just to increase the odds.

“Sit down. There are some things we just can’t sort out without you here.”
“Uh, right. Okay.”

“Eat while we talk. Just listen for now.”
“Got it.”

Apparently, I was somehow involved in what they were discussing. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to be leisurely warming up a croissant. Still, I took a bite. Delicious. Orange juice — delicious. The vitamin C sank right in…

“First of all, let me say this: Toda hasn’t told anyone anything about you, Isshiki.”
“Thank you, Toda-san.”

I bowed my head, but the worn-out young man just shook his.

“Of course. Magic is an adventurer’s most important tool of the trade.”
“Exactly. So this is only because I observed Isshiki’s battle myself.”

She must be a mage with an overwhelmingly wider detection range than mine. Even Shiraishi-san could detect enemies from quite far away, so with Yuuka-san, it wouldn’t be surprising.

I nodded as I ate my scrambled eggs. The faint saltiness was perfect.

“During the fight with the Golden Wolf Grid, your magic’s nature changed for about one minute. At the same time, its output increased. If that’s a trade secret, we won’t pry any further — but what do you think?”

I swallowed what was in my mouth.

“To be honest, I don’t really understand it myself. But thank you for telling me.”

Yuuka-san smiled and warmed her cup with magic. The once-cold tea began to steam.

She picked up a baked sweet from the plate between her and Toda-san, taking a small bite. It wasn’t something from the cafeteria — probably brought from Earth.

“Do you know the phrase ‘the cage of science’?”
“No, I don’t.”

“It’s what we humans are unconsciously trapped in. An unconscious spell that dictates that fire, ice, wind, lightning — all those phenomena — must behave in a certain way.”

Even with magic, ice melts with heat.
That must be… the cage of science.

“Comrade… Isshiki-kun… Itsuki… you might be able to break that cage. That possibility is what kept Yuuka and me awake all night.”
“Ufufu. It’s been a long time since I stayed up all night from excitement. Feels like the night before a school trip.”

I decided not to comment on how badly Toda-san was struggling to figure out what to call me. “Comrade” is fine. Really.

I finished what I’d brought, and drank the last of my orange juice.

After a short breath, I chose my words and began to speak.

“The magic I can usually use is either ice or darkness.
I wondered what would happen if I mixed them, so I tried it — that’s what led to [Attribute Mutation]. That ice didn’t melt.”
“What’s your take on it, Toda-san?”

“My feeling is… that it’s not simply an attribute between ice and darkness.
It seemed to have some other property entirely.”

The day before the operation, I had him watch me to get used to the magic.
At the time, he just kept tilting his head, but I guess he had been thinking about it since.

“So it’s not like mixing milk and coffee to make milk coffee.
Aside from ice that doesn’t melt, is there anything else?”
“…No… though I did make a ‘flame that wasn’t hot’ once. It just glowed.”

That was the first magic I tried to use in a dungeon — completely useless.

That in itself was nothing more than a failure, after all…

“Maybe that experience is what let you think magic could be free. Fate does love its tricks.”
“…….”

Yuuka-san stood up.
The number of adventurers in the cafeteria was slowly increasing as more woke up.

“Well then, let’s head back to the surface. There’s still an important event left.”

Right. It’s Thursday.

The day when everyone votes on who contributed the most.
The day that will decide my future.

◇

2 p.m. We gathered in the same conference room as before we departed.
I heard a few people had gone to the hospital with injuries, but the headcount was almost the same. That fact alone was a relief.

Following the staff’s instructions, we began making the contribution ranking.
Voting was done on each person’s smartphone. If we had a reason, we could write it in. Without hesitation, I cast my vote.

What surprised me was that Lila had a smartphone too. When I pointed it out, she looked at me like I was the one with no common sense.

“What are you talking about, Itsuki? It’s necessary.”
“But you’re hardly ever here.”

“I come back at least for the first three days of the year.”
“That’s still just three days.”

“That’s enough.”

…Maybe that’s how it is in Tokyo?

Personally, in a city as complex and strange as this one, a single smartphone isn’t enough. In the end, I concluded it’s safest to just ask the station staff.

“Lila’s a city girl, after all. Having a smartphone is the bare minimum.”

Ah, no — that’s a misunderstanding.

Someone who only comes back three days a year can’t be called a city girl… but I kept that retort to myself.

The staffer at the front turned on the mic — results must be ready.

“Now for the results. First, third place — the assassin who single-handedly took down 10 Silver Wolf Grids, while completely neglecting his leader duties…”

After a pause, the staffer declared loudly:

“Squad 2 Leader, Shinji Hagakure!”

Apparently, he was someone who ignored the gate incident and focused solely on killing Silver Wolf Grids.
He blended so much into groups that I hadn’t seen him even once during the whole period.

I wondered what kind of person he was…

“Hagakure-san’s gone home.”
“What!?”

A languid voice came from an adventurer sitting near the front.

“He doesn’t want attention.”
“This is why adventurers… haah. Anyway, moving on— ahem.”

The staff cleared their throat, trying to recover from the crash in mood.

“Second place is someone you all know — born and raised in the dungeon, with godlike judgment in a pinch! Lila Scarlet Tears!”

Applause broke out, and a group of big men in the middle shouted “Lila!”
Guess the party mood still hadn’t worn off, even though the alcohol should be out of their system.

“And first place — with over half the votes.
Reopening the path to the sealed [Scorching Mines], and in the battle against the Golden Wolf Grid, choosing to use a strengthening spell on allies at the very end — these two points seem to have clinched it.”

My heart pounded loudly. My teeth didn’t quite fit together. My breathing grew shallow.
My fingertips felt cold.

“Please continue to connect many hopes from here on. First place goes to — Itsuki Isshiki!”

I will keep adventuring—
My vision blurred, and I hurriedly bit my lip. When I looked down, Lila patted my back.

“Lila voted for you too, Itsuki.”

The hand on my shoulder was probably Toda-san’s.

“Congratulations, comrade.”

Mitsui-san, Genzo-san, the members of Squad 4— they all came over.
They surrounded Lila and me, ruffling our hair from all sides.

“Ahaha! Hey, everyone, Lila’s in second place, you know!”
“I’m not crying, so I don’t need a handkerchief!”

By the time they were done and bored, and we left the conference room, both of our hair was a complete mess.

We walked side by side down the hall, a bit unsteady.

Through the glass, I saw the evening sky. Crows flew by. Even though this was an unfamiliar city, it felt strangely nostalgic.

I thought I’d given up on having dreams.
But right now… I felt much more like my childhood self again.

“Lila.”

“What is it?”
“Join me. Be my comrade.”

“In a party?”
“In a party.”

“Alright. From now on, you and I are comrades then!”

We met each other’s eyes and smiled faintly. No handshake, nothing like that.

“By the way, I’ve got family, so I can’t move.”
“Then I’ll move. Living alone makes me uneasy, so I want to live nearby. Give me your address later.”

“Okay.”

We exchanged contact info, then went our separate ways. Just a wave — that was enough.

There’s no such thing as parting.
Because we’re a party.