The objection had been filed the morning before when Alphas Vahlen appeared at the guild branch with a single document in hand. Outside, the air still carried a chill, and thin morning mist drifted across the main street. White smoke rose from the bakery's chimney, and the stone pavement glistened dully, wet with night dew. Tsubaki Shinji sat in his usual spot—the right end of the counter, where the armrest had worn a shallow groove—with the ledger open before him. The branch door opened. Alphas entered. Not in traveling clothes. In formal dress befitting a branch commander. His silver hair, streaked with white, was more carefully arranged than usual, and the old scar beneath his right eye caught the morning light. In his hand, a single document. "[serious]A response has come from the Ashwing Bureau," At those words alone, Tsubaki set down his pen. He took the document and let his eyes run across it. The seal of the Ashwing Bureau—the Royal Ruin Survey and Preservation Division. Meticulous handwriting, with conditions densely packed line after line. The moment he found one particular passage, Tsubaki's breathing stopped for just a moment. "The danger assessment for the Fourth Feria Emergence Phenomenon has not been conducted at this time. The entry prohibition measure prior to completion of the assessment procedure does not satisfy the procedural requirements stipulated in Article Eleven of the Ruin Management Ordinance." "So Zeno Lax's blockade was an overreach in procedure?" "[serious]Confirmed in writing. We're going to the Mudtrack Tavern now. Tsubaki, come with me." A flash of golden short bob burst from the back of the branch. Seraphim Yulia. She'd come to the branch last night and declared, "I'm absolutely coming to tomorrow's confrontation," before leaving. This morning, she'd apparently been waiting since before opening. Her feathered earrings swayed as she looked up at Alphas with bright emerald eyes. "[excited]I'm coming too!" "[serious]…An apprentice coming along won't accomplish anything." "[excited]I won't be in the way! But I'm going!" Alphas let out a deep sigh. His expression was reluctant, but he didn't seem inclined to stop her. The three of them headed for the Mudtrack Tavern. As they walked down the main street, Tsubaki clutched the document to his chest. He'd never felt the weight of a single sheet of paper to be so reassuring. The Mudtrack Tavern's sign remained tilted. It had been tilted for ten years, so it would probably stay that way. The proprietress Magda appeared at the door with a "I'm in the middle of prep" expression, but seeing Alphas's face, she silently stepped aside. Zeno Lax sat at a table in the corner of the first floor. A slice of black bread and a steaming cup sat on the table—breakfast, perhaps. Silver-rimmed glasses, short silver hair, expressionless—his bearing unchanged from usual. Only the old silver ring on his right hand caught the morning light and gleamed faintly. Alphas placed the document on the table. Zeno said nothing, his eyes falling to the paper. During that time, Tsubaki stood beside the table. Uncertain what to do with his hands, he absently picked up the menu from the table. The menu of Feria's only tavern and inn. Lamb stew, black barley ale, smoked cheese—. As he read, he noticed something was wrong. The letters were backwards. He was holding the menu upside down. Yulia noticed beside him and whispered softly. "[whispers]It's backwards, backwards," Tsubaki quietly set the menu back on the table without a sound. Yulia's hand covered her mouth. It was obvious she was holding back laughter. Zeno looked up. In that moment, Tsubaki noticed—Zeno's face had changed, subtly. It should have been the same as ten seconds ago, yet something had been born between his brows. An expression as if searching for words, or rather, as if words wouldn't come. Like that. The cold investigator's mask, cracked by a single sheet of paper for the first time. Zeno opened his mouth. But nothing came out. He closed it again. For about five seconds, heavy silence fell over the table. Then—Zeno suddenly stood. The chair scraped against the floor. Leaving the bread and cup as they were, he swept his black coat's hem and left the Mudtrack Tavern. The three exchanged glances for a moment. "[serious]…Follow him." Tsubaki and Yulia bolted simultaneously. Zeno's destination was Tsubaki's home garden. They turned down an alley, crossed the stone pavement, and when they emerged before Tsubaki's house, Zeno was already standing before the blockade stakes. Four stakes and yellow cloth—the very ones Zeno himself had driven in days ago. Zeno crouched and grabbed a stake with his bare hands. He pulled it out. Slammed it against the ground. A dull sound echoed through the alley. The second, third, fourth. The yellow cloth crumpled onto the mud. The Royal Information Bureau's blockade plate rolled across the stone pavement. When Tsubaki and Yulia caught up, Zeno was already standing before the sunken pit. Stone stairs descended underground. Without hesitation, he went down. From behind, Alphas's voice called out. "[serious]—Tsubaki! Yulia!" Turning back, Alphas had stopped before the entrance. His knee—the old wound—made descending steep stone stairs difficult. Alphas's eyes were fixed on the two of them. "[serious]Chase him rather than try to stop him. Don't leave him alone." Tsubaki drew an exploration lamp from the leather pouch at his waist. When he shook it, pale blue light kindled. Yulia already held her own exploration lamp. The two ran down the stairs. The first layer of the labyrinth still smelled of damp earth. Two or three degrees cooler than the outside air, the geometric patterns on the walls glowed faintly in response to the exploration lamp's light. There was no sign of Gorg insects—either because Zeno had passed through, or because of the time of day. Zeno's footsteps showed no hesitation. He proceeded straight down the corridor. He didn't stop at intersections. He knew which way to turn. Yulia spoke softly as she ran. "[whispers]Zeno's moving without a map," As Tsubaki ran along the wall, something connected in his mind. (…The rearrangement of the archive reports. Was it him?) The discomfort he'd felt about someone rearranging the ruin reports in the guild archive—that had been the trace of Zeno investigating this labyrinth's structure in advance. When Tsubaki muttered this to himself, Yulia asked "Huh, what?" but now wasn't the time to explain. They passed through the entrance to the second layer. When they emerged into the great hall, Zeno stopped. At the far wall stood a stone door about two meters high. Patterns were carved into its surface—the same crest Tsubaki had cross-referenced with his father's diary. When they'd come before, a stone sentinel had stood guard, but now it was silent. Zeno stood before the door and raised his right hand. His fingertips glowed pale blue. He was condensing luminous essence. Zeno hurled a shockwave at the door. A heavy sound echoed through the corridor. Stone dust scattered. But the door bore not a single scratch. Rather, the lines of the crest glowed brighter—it was repelling the light. Zeno increased his strength. A second strike, a third. With each blow, the crest grew brighter. It was rejecting the luminous essence. As if it possessed will, rather than being mere stone. The moment Zeno's knees began to buckle— Tsubaki, catching up from behind, miscalculated the distance. Thinking he couldn't stop, Yulia grabbed his arm with both hands and pulled. He came to a halt. The three stood in a line, completely still before the door for several seconds. Zeno didn't turn around. Tsubaki couldn't move. Yulia remained frozen, still gripping his arm. All three wore expressions of not knowing what to do next. Yulia slowly released Tsubaki's arm. She gave a small cough. Tsubaki looked at the door. The crest's light gradually faded. Zeno had stopped attacking. This door responded to luminous essence. The stronger the force, the more it repelled. (If I had no luminous essence at all, wouldn't it repel me?) The sensation from when he'd touched it before the entrance to the third layer—warmth filling his palm, that feeling returned. His father's crest and this door's crest matched. That time the door hadn't opened, but this time? "…Please step back." Zeno and Yulia turned. Seeing Tsubaki's face, Yulia immediately stepped back. Zeno moved to the side a second later, wordlessly. Tsubaki stood directly before the door. Holding the exploration lamp in his left hand, he raised his right. Slowly, he placed his hand on the center of the crest. It was warm. The same warmth as when he'd touched it in the third layer—stone, yet possessing body heat, a gentle warmth. It traveled from his palm up his arm, reaching his chest. Tsubaki didn't move his hand. He simply held it there and waited. A grinding sound. Stone moving. The door slowly opened inward. With a heavy sound, the hinges moved, creating a gap about a meter wide. From beyond, cold air flowed out. The pale blue light of the exploration lamp began to illuminate the space within. A small, voiceless sound escaped Zeno's lungs. A sound like breath being wrung out, a sound that wasn't quite a voice. The interior was a stone chamber roughly five meters square. A record room, one might call it. Ancient characters covered all four walls without gap. When Tsubaki raised the exploration lamp, the characters responded to the light, floating into view—pale blue lines seeping from within the gray stone. Tsubaki began reading from the left wall. Eyes that had spent fifteen years organizing reports in the guild archive. The habit of tracing letter forms was ingrained. Ancient characters had a different system than standard language, but he'd copied the decryption materials the Ashwing Bureau had published into the margins of his ledger—an occupational habit, seeing materials made him want to transcribe everything. Drawing on that knowledge, he read. Most of the text was technical. Descriptions of structure, types of materials, luminous essence flow rates—it seemed to be the construction record of the labyrinth itself. He moved to the right wall. Here, what appeared to be names were listed. A roster of names. He couldn't completely read ancient names, but a sequence of what seemed like proper nouns was arranged vertically. Tsubaki slowly moved his eyes downward. —Lax Ven. His hand stopped at that character sequence. Lax. The same sound as Zeno Lax's surname. Tsubaki turned back. Zeno still stood at the entrance. He'd taken one step inside but no further. The gray eyes behind his silver-rimmed glasses slowly traced across the entire wall. "…Zeno," He called out, then hesitated. What should he say? Your brother's name might be here—could he say such a thing? But if he didn't say it. "Look at the right wall." Zeno moved. He came to Tsubaki's side and turned his eyes to the right wall. Zeno's eyes slid down the roster from top to bottom. They stopped at Lax Ven. Zeno said nothing. His right hand simply extended toward the wall. His fingertips touched that character sequence—without using luminous essence, just with a human hand, bare skin. His fingers traced the stone's surface. Tsubaki moved to another wall. The far wall. There was a diagram. A cross-section—a cross-section of the labyrinth. The current location was marked, with the first, second, third, and fourth layers shown continuing deeper below. Beneath the symbol marking the entrance to the third layer, another pattern identical to his father's crest was carved. (Father knew this labyrinth's structure.) The father who had written "three steps from the east end of the garden, seek the stone pattern" in his diary—he possibly knew about this place. Why. Why did Father possess information about this labyrinth? That rema