The next morning, I woke up, took a shower, changed into my exploration gear, and finally slipped on the long coat I'd received when joining the clan.
"...Does this look okay?"
I checked myself in the mirror, but I couldn't really tell if it suited me.
It still felt a bit off wearing this, but I hoped I'd get used to it soon.
Seeing myself dressed like this really drove home the fact that I'd joined *Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky*.
Once changed, I sat on the chair and ate my homemade portable rations.
Intense movement is common during labyrinth dives.
Eating a full meal first thing could lead to vomiting in the worst case.
So when heading into the labyrinth, I always ate a small but nutrient-dense homemade ration.
After some trial and error, the taste was at least passable—not great, but edible.
With my simple breakfast done, I headed out and bought three copies of the newspaper.
Then I returned to the clan headquarters and made my way to the strategy room—the meeting spot for today.
On the way, I stopped by the library and grabbed some books.
By the time I entered the strategy room, it was just past 7 a.m.
About two hours until the meeting time.
I placed the newspapers and books on the central table, sat down, and decided to pass the time reading.
◇
I'd been reading for a while when the door burst open with force.
"First one here again today—! Wait, Orun-kun's already here?! You're early~!"
Lucre entered at full energy.
"Morning."
I greeted her without looking up from my book.
"Yeah, morning! Reading?"
I finished the current page at a good moment, closed the book, and finally met her eyes.
"Yeah. Had time."
"But... isn't that way too many? No way you can finish them all!"
Thirty-two books sat on the table.
Thirty stacked neatly in five-book piles on my right.
Two more on my left.
"Those on the right are the ones I've already finished."
I pointed to the thirty-book stack while answering.
"...Huh? Wait—did you stay up all night reading since yesterday?! We're diving into the labyrinth today!"
"No, I slept. I only got here around seven."
"Oh, good. But still—no way you finished all that!"
"Your point's fair, but I can speed-read. So yeah—I really did finish them."
"Whoa... Speed-reading? Finishing that many in an hour and a half is insane!"
Lucre gave honest praise.
I'm self-aware enough to know I'm a bit twisted, so pure-hearted people usually make me uncomfortable.
But with Lucre... I didn't feel that at all.
Wonder why?
"Thanks. I was actually taking it easy since we have the dive today."
I stood up and activated a spell.
The books floated up, just like when I'd brought them in.
"Huh—magic...? Wow! I've never seen anything like that!"
One of my original spells.
It can only lift light objects—no people—but it's incredibly useful in daily life.
*Silver Rabbit* had secret techniques of their own, so I'd wondered if this might be similar.
But Lucre's reaction said otherwise—nope, not something they had here.
Good to know.
Right then, the door opened again—Rain-san walked in.
"Lucre, no shouting first thing in the morning—hm?"
She started scolding Lucre, then froze.
Her eyes locked on the floating books.
She began trembling.
"P-Poltergeist...? Ghost...?"
She muttered, clearly terrified.
"Rain-san is super scared of ghosts. Fine in the labyrinth, though. —Oh! Hehe."
Lucre whispered the explanation, then grinned mischievously like she'd just thought of something evil.
"Eek—Rain-saaan, ghost scaaary~"
Her delivery was incredibly wooden...
Still smirking, she pretended to beg Rain for help.
"It's really a ghost?! I-It's okay, Lucre! L-Leave it to big sis!"
Her voice shook, utterly unreliable.
But she still tried to protect her "little sister" out of pride.
Her scared reaction matched her appearance perfectly.
It looked fun, so I didn't correct her—just watched.
Then—
"...Hm?"
Mana began gathering around Rain-san.
A magic circle formed.
"Wait—Rain-san, no!"
Lucre shouted in panic, trying to stop her.
(Attack magic?! This is bad!)
Judging from the mana flow, it was mid-tier.
I instantly disrupted the mana around her.
"I can't get the mana to flow right?! W-Wait—even ghosts can do this?! But I won't lose!"
She forced it anyway, pushing mana toward the circle.
As expected of an S-rank party's mage—impressive.
But this was no time to admire her!
"Sorry, Rain-san! It's not a ghost—it's my magic! Please don't fire off an attack spell here!"
I hurriedly canceled the spell and stacked the books back on the table.
"...Huh? Orun-kun's... magic?"
Once she realized it wasn't supernatural, Rain-san dispelled the circle.
That was close...
"Yeah—I was just floating the books to tidy up."
"Ah... I see... D-Don't scare me like that again. I almost attacked for real..."
"Almost"? Yeah, the power was toned down... but still...
Relieved, Rain-san stepped back.
Lucre approached me apologetically.
"Sorry, Orun-kun. I didn't expect Rain-san to freak out *this* much..."
"No harm done... That's what matters."
I silently vowed never to tease Rain-san with this again.