They may have formed teams much more often than other teammates due to having similar ranks. Since they always stuck together in any dungeon or tower…… It seems there hadn’t been a need to exchange emails.

[To: Daphne

Team Leader, you’ll likely be contacted by the Gate Stabilization Department soon.

If you wish, I can help you go into hiding.

From: Elaine]

Although usually polite, she had never felt Elaine, who was older than her, use such a formal tone.

Seeing his writing style in text somehow made her laugh.

“What’s this about going into hiding? I can’t live like that.”

Suji imagined Elaine saying this with a serious face and burst out laughing without realizing it.

Of course, it’s true that she left feeling disillusioned with everything. It’s also true that she had no intention of returning right away.

But she didn’t plan to cut off all ties and flee.

‘Is he worried?’

As her laughter subsided, such a thought occurred to her.

S-rank hunters could even change their skin color with skills. Quite a variety of appearance changes were possible.

Moreover, they could remove their hunter chip and escape anytime. Elaine surely knew this too. That it wouldn’t be difficult for her to go into hiding without his help.

Yet he deliberately expressed his willingness to “help” like this, which probably meant he wanted to be taken along too.

Suji lightly stroked her chin.

Her teammate’s problematic statement openly betraying the Gate Stabilization Department strangely made her feel good.

‘I thought I wanted to spend some time alone for a while, but I’ve enjoyed enough of that… And if it’s Elaine, he’s trustworthy, so it would be comfortable having him around.’

Elaine was her longest-standing partner.

The team hadn’t run this smoothly from the beginning. In the early days of the team’s formation, the high-ranking hunters were arrogant, often disobeying orders using her young age as an excuse.

But it was Elaine who stepped up every time that happened. From the very beginning, he respected and followed Hunter Daphne more than anyone. That blind trust was so puzzling even to Suji herself.

It was also Elaine who took the initiative to punish those who wouldn’t listen to her.

That’s why Suji had more than just a liking for Elaine; she had trust. It seemed like even if she did this kind of deviation, he would join her.

[To: Elaine

Thank you for letting me know in advance.

I hadn’t checked my emails at all, so I didn’t even know the Gate Stabilization Department had contacted me. Thanks to you, I’ll be able to prepare.

But there’s a bit of a problem.]

Suji, having written that far, considered explaining the details of the problem but ended the email there.

Rather than calling him to say there was no one to play a two-player game with, it seemed much more fun to hand him the game console when he arrived and watch his reaction.

[You can tell the other team members that you’re coming here, but I’d prefer if you came alone.

The location is inside the Deep Sea E-Gate Dungeon 3.

FROM. Daphne]

‘There are a lot of monsters on the way… But for someone like Elaine, well. I guess it shouldn’t be a concern.’

No sooner had her finger pressed the send button than a reply came flying in.

[To: Daphne

Team Leader, I will arrive at 5 o’clock.

From: Elaine]

‘…What is this. Is that phrase auto-completed? Or is it brain wave recognition beyond voice recognition? How can the reply be this fast? It’s scary.’

Come to think of it, she didn’t really know much about Elaine either.

She really didn’t expect him to be the first among the team members to send an email.

When she suddenly declared she was taking a break, he hadn’t said much. So she hadn’t thought she had caused much worry.

She was really grateful to Elaine too.

Refreshing the air around her, there seem to be many things you can’t know until you realize them.

Suji shrugged and pulled out some casual clothes to wear instead of pajamas. She wasn’t concerned at all about meeting at dawn or meeting alone. He was someone who never felt awkward no matter when she saw him.

She glanced at the clock.

‘…Come to think of it, this isn’t a normal time to be exchanging emails, is it?’

Even though it’s said that those above A-rank can flexibly adjust their sleep, it’s not like they’re on some emergency standby…

‘I’m sure I told him to rest… Was he actually resting?’

It’s now 4:45 AM. He’s saying he’ll be here in 15 minutes, though I have no idea where he is.

Tilting her head in puzzlement, she busily moved to connect the joystick she would hand to Elaine.

If he says he’s coming, then he’s coming.

The Elaine that Suji knew had never broken a promise to her, not even once.

Including the promise not to die in the tower before her.

As time passed like that, Elaine really appeared at the promised time.

Suji, who had been staring at the clock wondering when he would arrive, burst into laughter sitting on the grass lawn as she saw him step into the gate entrance just as the number ‘4:59’ changed to ‘5:00’.

“Hahahahaha.”

“…Are you laughing right now?”

“Hahaha. That’s right. Hahaha, what is this, Elaine isn’t a clock or anything. Is there really a need to be this precise? Don’t you sometimes get told you’re like an A.I.? It’s really so funny.”

“…You seem to have brightened up.”

At the unexpected words, Suji looked up at Elaine, who was backlit by the rising luminous body.

Unlike her, with purple hair reaching her waist and all sorts of eye-catching jewels embedded, an outfit good for drawing attention, Elaine always had a neat appearance.

Although Elaine could change his appearance to silver hair, he mainly kept a black short cut without bothering to change it.

It seemed he had grown his hair a bit longer now that there were no battles, but even that looked natural and suited him well.

He was holding out 〈Silence That Swallows Screams〉, the great sword he often used as a weapon, in one hand, and when his eyes met Suji’s, he glanced around and threw the sword into the air.

Watching his seemingly heavy great sword slice through space and disappear was always an interesting sight.

“Do you practice such cool poses on purpose?”

“…Isn’t it normal to set gestures in a comfortable way?”

“That’s true, but. You look especially good today.”

“…It doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong, am I right?”

Elaine looked around, saying something else in response to Suji’s compliment. Judging by the lack of tension in his watching for mobs that might pop out of the dungeon at any moment, it was clear he was changing the subject.

‘Is he being shy right now…?’

It seemed there was yet another unexpected side to him.

Until now, they had truly just been work colleagues, so there were parts she didn’t know well.

It wasn’t a joke that he was handsome.

Elaine was also a figure who received as much attention from all sorts of people as Suji did. What was his nickname again? The idol of the hunter world, or the man who would have captivated the Earth if he hadn’t become a hunter. I heard he received just as many CF offers as Suji did.

Although they don’t come anymore now that Elaine has declined them, in the early days when they were climbing the tower together, food truck services carrying gifts or food for him often came.

So he must surely know about that handsome face of his, but I never imagined he would be shy about it.

“You’re an interesting person, Elaine.”

“……”

Seeing Elaine looking somewhat dejected, Suji lightly tapped her own forehead.

“You hurried like this because I said there was a problem, right?”

He nodded, exhaling a long breath.

Come to think of it, Elaine must have really hurried; his usually neat black blazer was slightly wrinkled, and something like particles of light were fluttering colorfully around his body, probably from using several speed-related skills simultaneously.

She felt a bit sheepish.

“…If I had known this would happen, I should have explained the reason. It wasn’t such an urgent matter that required rushing like this.”

“I thought the World Hunter Association had decided to hunt down the Team Leader or something.”

“Hunt me down? The World Hunter Association? Suddenly?”

“You’re not the type to say such things unless it was at least that serious.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Suji quickly apologized.

It warmed her heart to think that Elaine had worried, but before that, she felt terribly sorry.

But for someone who had come in such a hurry, Elaine didn’t seem too upset. Rather, he nodded as if he had achieved some not-so-bad outcome.

“It’s fine. I’ve seen that the Team Leader is doing well, so that’s enough.”

‘What is this feeling?’

She wiped her dry eyes as if she was about to cry from being so touched.

“Is this how Liu Bei felt when he gained Guan Yu? Gaining a loyal subordinate…?”

“…It’s an honor.”

Somewhere, Elaine’s voice sounded disgruntled, but Suji, being a Confucian girl, merely reflected on whether she, being young, had carelessly blurted out words like loyalty.

“Shall we go home now? That’s where I’m staying. How is it, not bad, right?”

As Suji proudly pointed to her residence, Elaine finally turned his head and noticed the white house standing tall in the middle of the vast field.

“What… are we supposed to do there?”

“Play games.”

“…Pardon?”

“Mario Kart.”

“…Pardon?”

“Oh, and Just Dance too. There are some levels I couldn’t clear because they’re for two players.”

“…Are those game titles?”

It seemed like the first time she had heard that pleasant bass voice sound so troubled.

Suji nodded confidently.

“Don’t worry. Even if you don’t have rhythm, I found you can cover it with reflexes.”

“So when you said there was a problem…”

“Oh, yes. That’s right. It was about the games.”

“I see.”

As Suji smiled brightly, he seemed to have something else to say and paused for a moment before following behind her.