“…If Aunt Yeonju were here, she would have scolded me for using such a high-grade item like this.”

Feeling a bit sorry for sending Yeonju back first, Suji absentmindedly scuffed the ground with her foot.

Though it was a trivial action, the grass near her feet was not just crushed, but the pebbles scattered nearby were ground to dust.

Suji, who had been staring blankly at her feet, suddenly turned her gaze when she noticed a flickering light near her shoes.

It was always pleasant to look at the ‘Breathing Fire’.

This was one of the items Suji quite liked.

This fire, which had the ability to dispel or weaken various ‘status effects’, made her feel like her mind was clearing even when there were no ‘status effects’ to remove.

‘…I suppose it’s just a feeling, literally.’

Suji thought to herself, smiling slightly.

At that moment, there was a presence behind her. Ilaine, who had been slowly approaching from afar, sat down on one of the L-shaped log benches and spoke abruptly.

“Are you aiming for the placebo effect again?”

Suji tilted her head, staring intently at Ilaine’s face flickering in the firelight.

“…Yes. That’s right. Did I mention this before?”

“Every time you take out the ‘Breathing Fire’?”

“Hahaha. Was that so?”

Suji laughed awkwardly and stretched out her body.

Even though it hadn’t been that long since they started discussing the ‘Laurel Tree’ climb, her whole body felt stiff, perhaps from focusing so intensely all at once.

As she stretched her arms out, she tilted her head back and found herself looking at the sky.

“…Ah, it’s beautiful.”

The exclamation escaped her lips unconsciously.

“Isn’t it beautiful, Ilaine?”

At her voice, Ilaine also raised his gaze to look up.

The sky they both gazed at was dark and vast.

It was too beautiful to be described simply as ‘dark’, with a gradient ranging from very deep navy to relatively bright ash-gray. Just like an ordinary sky on Earth.

It was studded with what looked like stars.

“Don’t you sometimes think…”

“Think what?”

“About the world outside the dungeon, the world beyond the gate. The one we call the ‘original world’… the world that has always been there. Just… ‘Earth’.”

“Pardon?”

“I wonder what’s really different between that Earth and here inside the dungeon… Look over there, can you see? If you look straight towards the sea, at some point you can see the horizon. As if it’s a round world. There’s a vanishing point.”

“…Ah.”

“Of course, inside the gate, the space is cut off abruptly as if to say ‘this is the limit of usable space’.”

Silence flowed for a long time between the two as they looked up at the sky against the backdrop of the vast plain.

“It’s similar. It really is similar.”

As if reluctant to break the silence, Ilaine responded belatedly.

Of course, if other hunters heard this, they would ask how this monster-infested void could be the same as Earth.

But after sweeping away all the monsters with brute force, and inflicting massive ‘status effects’ like fear and loss of will to fight, preventing them from returning, it really did look similar.

A sky where clouds float even in the darkness.

Of course, the form of the light source was a bit different from the sun, and the flow of day and night itself was slightly off from 24 hours… but still.

“Earth might be just another gate too. Humans have just conquered it. Then A.W. would just be the return of a wave that had always been there.”

“That’s exactly right.”

“…Pfft! Hahaha.”

Even though Suji knew she was saying nonsense, she burst out laughing at how Ilaine agreed without any resistance.

Her clear laughter rang out in the cold night air.

“Haha. You’re really funny at times like this, Ilaine.”

“…Am I funny?”

“Yes. You agree so shamelessly, as if you’ve been thinking that way for a long time. Hahaha, really.”

“…Did it sound that way?”

Ilaine seemed to want to say something but decided against it, opening his mouth then closing it.

He simply glanced at Suji as if he found her laughing face pleasant to look at, then scattered his gaze before their eyes could meet.

Suji thought that there was no trace of the tension she had seen earlier in his demeanor.

She had thought he was acting differently from usual a little while ago, but he was still the same consistent Ilaine after all.

Funny because he’s handsome, and even funnier because he goes along with everything. Strong, reliable, and never breaks a promise. A truly comfortable person.

She hesitated whether to tell Ilaine about the information on Agehae, then asked.

“Can I ask… why you’re opposed?”

Ilaine quietly gazed at the flames for a while before slowly opening his mouth.

“You’ll get hurt, Team Leader.”

It was as if such a future was already set in stone.

Suji stared intently into his eyes, which weren’t quite meeting hers.

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s a position that will draw too much attention, isn’t it? Even if you completely take the lead, it will be difficult to avoid getting caught up in conflicts.”

That was true.

Unlike the era when the ‘Laurel Trees’ first appeared, now hunter academies are very commonly operated in every country.

Thanks to that, many hunters will try to challenge it, and it will become a complete mess.

Especially if someone takes the lead, others will try to hold them back in any way possible.

The most annoying part about conflicts between hunters is that the opponent is human.

No matter how absolutely strong a position one holds, one can’t simply cut them down like monsters.

Because of this, when such a melee occurs, the presence or absence of humanity rather than physical strength often determines the outcome.

Suji wasn’t the type to recklessly claim that she wouldn’t get hurt by such things.

So she answered honestly.

“That might be true. But is that really all there is to your reason?”

Ilaine shook his head very slightly, almost imperceptibly.

How bland.

She muttered that inwardly.

Ilaine was only 4 years older than her, but he often acted more like a guardian than even Pis did.

She appreciated Ilaine’s concern.

Earlier, he had specifically mentioned her name, but that was probably out of worry for the entire team.

In fact, Suji didn’t want to put the whole team in danger either, so she fully understood why he was acting this way.

Suji puffed up her cheeks, trapping air inside.

Then, releasing the air from her puffed-up cheeks with a whoosh, she spoke as if letting out a long sigh.

“Phew, can I think about it a bit more before answering? It’s harder to narrow our differences of opinion than I thought.”

“Of course. Please do so.”

“Alright.”

As Suji cut off the conversation like that, Ilaine, like the other two team members had done, neatly got up and vacated his seat.

Left alone, Suji quietly gazed at the firelight.

The flickering shape of the flames never got boring, no matter how long she looked at it.

Usually, watching this made her feel quite good… but now, her mood wasn’t particularly pleasant.

No, rather than that, something felt off. She felt a bit unfocused and distracted.

Was it because she was alone?

No…

‘That’s not it.’

Suji was the team leader, and whenever she had to make a final decision, she often insisted on immersing herself deeply in thought.

As a result, when she was deeply lost in thought, no one would disturb her and would withdraw.

It was like an established custom of Team Daphne.

But now, this alone time that she had always sought out for herself felt strangely boring.

Suji turned her head, glancing at the living space where her team members were gathered, then abruptly stood up.

Suddenly, it felt odd that she had to make the decision alone.

She remembered Saint casually saying that “the team leader has three votes.”

From the outside, Saint seemed to support the general opinion of the team members, but he only chose that direction after the logic settled within him and he was convinced.

‘…Was I actually being old-fashioned?’

Suji’s eyes darted around, startled by the sudden conclusion she had reached.

And one more thing.

‘…I don’t even feel that this issue is important enough for my team members to worry so much about it.’

It seemed crazy even to herself, but it really was true.

How strange. Really.

Having meetings every day. Talking about life and death. Thinking about how to catch monsters, how to combine skills… and if there were rewards, considering how they could be usefully applied.

But the current daily life was different.

A single decision made by chance had completely changed the scope and scenery of their daily lives.

Resting or reading comics, rolling around on the floor.

Comparing abilities not for climbing the tower but just for fun, wasting time playing board games or video games… right now, ‘what should we do for fun tomorrow’ was truly the most important concern.

They were always ready to fight if an emergency situation arose, but that was clearly not part of their daily routine at the moment.

Maybe that’s why.

When thinking about such heavy topics, one should feel a sense of oppression in their heart… but it just felt like no big deal.

That’s why she disliked the pleasant atmosphere being ruined by sudden mentions of ‘great beings’ or the ‘Laurel Tree’.

Yes. That was really how she felt.