Three days had passed since I discussed the monster diverter with the Captain.

The Captain seemed to have come up with a plan during that time.

He called me and explained his plan in detail.

“Currently, there are 5 suspects. Elma, Karl, and Oscar, Maxilian, Caroline.”

“Why did Oscar, Maxilian, and Caroline become suspects?”

“Remember the group ability test the knights took two months ago?”

An ability test is an examination to determine what abilities an awakened person possesses.

The Silver Knight Order regularly conducted this test to check the abilities of its members.

As I nodded my head, recalling the time of the test, the Captain revealed a surprising fact.

“Oscar, Maxilian, and Caroline showed ‘high potential for secondary ability awakening’ in that test.”

“…!”

“In other words, they might have awakened a secondary ability recently. That secondary ability could be spatial movement.”

Oscar, Maxilian, Caroline.

Unlike Elma, they weren’t spatial movement ability users, but if the Captain’s words were true, they certainly needed to be suspected.

They might have gained spatial movement ability as a secondary ability and been secretly crossing rifts while hiding that fact.

I nodded and then asked the Captain.

“Oscar, Caroline, Maxilian… So what are you going to do with them now?”

“We’ll have to check them one by one. By taking them to the rift.”

“Ah, they might unconsciously use spatial movement ability if things get dangerous during monster subjugation in the rift.”

Hearing my words, the Captain nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Additionally, as squad leaders, I plan to take Karl and Elma, who are prime suspects, to the rift and monitor them together.”

“Then this rift operation will be quite a large-scale operation. The Captain, me, Karl, Elma, Oscar, Maxilian, Caroline…”

“The rift is huge, so it won’t look strange to take that many people.”

The larger the rift, the more powerful the monsters existing beyond it were proportionally.

And the Nibertal Barony Rift No. 1 we had to conquer this time was one of the largest among the rifts we had closed so far.

This meant that many people were needed for the operation.

I suddenly remembered how much trouble we had with this rift before the regression.

A member also died at that time, was his name Rupert?

He wasn’t a member I was particularly close to, but I remember being quite shocked when he died.

It wasn’t common for someone to die so horribly crushed by monsters…

Fortunately, unlike before the regression, Rupert was excluded from this operation.

Thanks to that, he wouldn’t die this time, so it was a good thing for him.

Meanwhile, the Captain spoke.

“So through this rift operation, we must catch the person diverting monsters. But that’s only the secondary objective.”

“…?”

Wasn’t that the primary objective?

As I stood there puzzled, he added.

“Don’t forget that our primary objective is always to close the rift and return safely. Understood?”

“Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!”

Right, that was always our first objective.

To close the rift and get out alive safely.

Even if we fail to find the culprit diverting monsters, we must never forget that first objective.

Nibertal Barony Rift No. 1 was located in a forest not far from the garrison.

As we entered the forest, a whitish fog immediately greeted us.

It wasn’t ordinary fog.

It was poisonous mist that had flowed out through the rift, the culprit that was causing the trees in the forest to wither and die.

Should I say it’s befitting of a large-scale rift?

The corrosion was progressing rapidly as well.

We called it ‘corrosion’ when the poisonous energy flowing out of the rift or the monsters tainted the area around the rift.

Nibertal Barony Rift No. 1 was enormous in scale, and because of that, the forest of the barony was considerably corroded.

The Captain looked around at the scenery of the forest being corroded in such thick poisonous mist and said.

“Let’s hurry in. It seems we don’t have time to dawdle.”

“Yes!”

I, Karl, Elma, Oscar, Maxilian, and Caroline, who were waiting there, answered loudly.

Immediately after hearing the response, the Captain was the first to step beyond the rift, and the rest of the members followed him in.

Pii-ii-

The familiar ringing in my ears that always greeted me whenever I passed through a rift welcomed me this time as well.

I immediately looked around.

What I saw was, as expected, the scenery of an island.

A white sandy beach and a clear sea stretched out, and on the opposite side, a dark jungle was situated.

Is it the first time in 5 years coming here?

5 years ago… that is, when I first came here before the regression, I let my guard down seeing this beautiful scenery.

The sandy beach and sea were so pretty that it felt like I had come to an amusement park.

However, the monsters lurking here were truly horrific.

The face of Rupert, who had died crushed by the monsters here, suddenly flashed through my mind.

He should be waiting safely at the garrison by now, but here I am again, trying to conquer this rift.

Hoping that this time, it won’t be me who gets crushed to death.

“Yulia, can you detect the Queen’s energy this time too? This rift is large in scale and the terrain is complex, so it might be difficult.”

I shook my head without hesitation at the Captain’s words.

“No, it’s not difficult. I can detect it sufficiently. And one more thing.”

“…?”

“I think there’s one more thing I can do before we enter the jungle.”

Besides informing about the Queen’s location, there was one more thing I could do.

Hearing my confident words, the Captain showed curiosity.

“What is it?”

“Please wait a moment. One minute will be enough.”

While the other members, including the Captain, watched with curious eyes, I closed my eyes.

Then I pretended to concentrate quietly.

The Captain, unable to wait, asked me.

“Yulia, what are you doing?”

“I’m detecting the energy of the other world.”

“Detecting the energy of the other world…? What does that mean?”

I continued my explanation with my eyes closed to the Captain who was asking as if he couldn’t understand.

“As you know, my senses are keen. Keen enough to track the location of monsters far away.”

“…And?”

“Using these keen senses of mine, I think I can even grasp the terrain of this place. I mean I can detect the location of land, air, water, living beings, etc., grasp the terrain, and based on that, draw a map.”

“You can grasp the terrain and draw a map? Is that true?”

Of course, it was a lie.

It’s true that my senses are keen, but how could I grasp the terrain of an unfamiliar place I’ve never been to?

The reason I could grasp the terrain was because I had directly explored this place before the regression.

Since I couldn’t tell that fact as it was, I had to make an excuse like ‘I have a good sense’.

Anyway, the Captain seemed greatly impressed by my words that I could draw a map of this place.

“If that’s true, it’s amazing. It’s a really, really useful ability. It could greatly reduce the danger.”

“I’ve just finished detecting. Now I’ll draw it as a map.”

I took out paper and a pen from my pocket while receiving expectant gazes from the members.

Then I started drawing a map on the blank white paper.

Fortunately, the terrain of Nibertal Barony Rift No. 1 was clearly etched in my mind.

Because I had wandered around here for quite a long time before the regression.

Thanks to that, I was able to complete the map quickly and easily.

“It’s finished.”

The Captain, who received the map I had skillfully drawn, looked it over with a slightly surprised face.

Then he pointed to a spot on the map and asked me.

“Is the circle marking our current position?”

“Yes, and the X mark on the opposite side is the Queen’s position. As you can see, the fastest way to get there is to cross the river flowing through the center of the island.”

Hearing my explanation, he had a blank expression for a moment.

After a long while, his lips slowly opened.

“You, really…”

After rubbing his face twice without continuing his words, the Captain finally spat out what he wanted to say.

“It’s really amazing. More useful than any ability. I’m impressed.”