Chapter 346 I?

’Ugh....’

Airi, who had been sleeping, furrowed her brow. Stinging sunlight leaked through her slightly opened eyes.

Was it because she had stayed in the dungeon for a while? No matter how many lights were turned on, a dungeon was still a dungeon, and Airi, who had adapted to life in the dark underground, couldn’t see properly because of the sunlight.

’Ugh, so bright....’

’Ah, sorry. I’ll close it for you.’

’...Eh?’

Her vision was blurry, and having fallen asleep quite late last night, her mind was a mess. Airi belatedly heard someone’s voice.

Come to think of it, where... am I?

Airi’s senses snapped awake. Then, the person who had spoken to her closed the entrance of the tent again.

As her eyes adjusted slightly to the bright light, her surroundings began to come into focus.

Yesterday, she had sneaked into the Captain’s tent, but Tanya came in, so she hid.

Since she couldn’t sneak out while the two of them were awake, she ended up hiding in the corner of the tent until everything was over and they fell asleep.

Only in the late dawn, after confirming they were asleep, did she manage to slip out and return to her own tent to sleep.

She had probably slept for an hour, or maybe two.

’Are you okay? Do you feel sick anywhere?’

’Ah, a-no!’

Only then could Airi recognize the face of the person talking to her. It was Lia, who had been assigned to the same tent.

It seemed Lia, who woke up first, had opened the tent door.

Answering Lia’s question, a panicked Airi bolted upright.

’I-I’m sorry!’

’Huh? For what...?’

’Hic! I’m sorry!’

Hearing Airi’s voice, the other members who had woken up earlier and were outside peeked into their tent.

’Are you both awake?’

’What are you doing so early in the morning?’

Rin and Mika, peeking inside, saw Airi apologizing with a flustered face and Lia standing before her.

Seeing that scene, Rin and Mika immediately grasped what was happening—or so they thought.

’Are you scolding Airi first thing in the morning?’

’No, I didn’t do anything....’

Lia hurriedly shook her head with a flustered face, but seeing Airi apologizing with such a stiff expression, anyone would have seen it that way.

Rin asked Airi with a smirk.

’Airi. Did Lia really not pick on you?’

’Li-Lia-nim didn’t do anything....’

When Lia was teased by the two, a panicked Airi hurriedly shook her head. Because the situation had suddenly turned strange, Airi’s expression darkened even more.

However, hearing Airi’s answer, Rin and Mika looked even more confused.

’Lia-nim...?’

’You still call her that?’

After exerting much effort to get close to Airi, Rin and Mika had finally managed to make her drop the formal suffix from their names.

They thought Airi had adapted to some extent lately, but to hear such a formal title again. It seemed she hadn’t managed to get close to Lia yet.

Rin and Mika realized that, come to think of it, they had almost never seen Airi talking to Lia. Because they hadn’t seen them converse, they hadn’t realized the two were still so awkward with each other.

Mika asked Airi with a curious face.

’Why do you still call Lia ’nim’?’

’That’s...’

Airi hesitated at Mika’s question.

Because she looks scary....

...She couldn’t answer like that, so Airi just mumbled with a troubled face without saying anything.

In the first place, the other members had actively approached Airi first and directly encouraged her to treat them comfortably, but Lia hadn’t really done that.

Lia wasn’t the type to approach someone first if they seemed uncomfortable around her.

Airi couldn’t speak the truth, so she kept her mouth shut and just watched their reactions.

’What are you all doing? The Captain said to gather because we need to prepare for departure.’

’Ah, right. We’ll be there soon.’

While they were gathered in front of the tent talking, Tanya approached and delivered Ian’s message.

As everyone hurriedly scattered to pack their things, the conversation about the relationship between Lia and Airi was dropped for the moment.

Everyone returned to their respective tents to pack.

The supplies were all shared with the exploration team, and since there were no particular spoils obtained from the dungeon, there were almost no burdens to carry back.

Everyone finished organizing quickly and gathered in front of Ian’s tent in light attire.

Ian confirmed everyone was gathered and spoke while pointing toward the road below.

’If you’ve packed everything, let’s head down early. They say there’s a regular carriage service bringing supplies for the exploration team down there, so if we time it right, we can hitch a ride on the returning carriage.’

’Really? Phew, that’ll be a comfortable trip.’

Returning on foot for a full day was not just tiring but incredibly tedious.

Everyone’s faces brightened at the news of a carriage.

With sighs of relief, they left the exploration team camp and walked down toward the road where the carriage was expected.

Walking down the mountain path, Rin stole glances at Airi and Lia.

Because Airi was so quiet, she hadn’t noticed much since she rarely saw her talking to anyone. But looking now, it seemed her relationship with Lia wasn’t very good.

Rin slipped beside Ian and shared what she had seen earlier.

’You think they’re still awkward with each other?’

’Yes. Shouldn’t we do something about it?’

’Is there any need to rush? They’ll get close if we leave them alone.’

’...Do you think so?’

Ian didn’t seem to think it was a particular problem.

It would be a problem if their personalities clashed so much that they didn’t follow orders or caused fights, but it wasn’t to that extent.

It was a matter that time would solve, even without prompting.

However, Rin didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, as she kept glancing at the two throughout the return trip.

＊ ＊ ＊

After safely returning from the expedition.

Usually, on the day they returned from an expedition, everyone would be exhausted and fall asleep immediately, but this time was an exception.

Was it because they weren’t particularly short on sleep and it was a relaxed expedition with not much to do? Since they had barely used any physical strength, everyone was in high spirits.

Time passed, and it was after evening. The members were sitting together in the quiet lounge of the base.

Rin quietly turned her gaze to look at Mika and Tanya.

Mika and Tanya also met Rin’s eyes and nodded quietly.

Shall we begin?

Exchanging secret signals, Rin took a final look at Lia and Airi.

This gathering was a setup she had arranged beforehand by talking to Mika and Tanya and gaining their cooperation.

Tanya summoned everyone to the lounge under the pretext of having made snacks, and Rin and Mika took their seats early so that Lia and Airi would naturally end up sitting next to each other.

So far, so good.

Rin watched the two and gave a quiet signal to the other members.

First, Rin stood up from her seat.

Mika and Tanya, receiving Rin’s gaze, also nodded quietly and stood up.

’I’m going to my room for a moment!’

’Me too!’

’I’m going to the kitchen....’

Whispering among themselves, Rin, Mika, and Tanya left the lounge one by one, giving plausible reasons.

In the lounge suddenly emptied of people, soon only Lia and Airi remained.

’....’

’....’

Silence suddenly descended upon the once noisy lounge.

’Is it working?’

’Quiet. They might hear you.’

Rin, who had hurriedly hidden herself, peeked from behind a wall to observe the lounge.

The three who had left on various pretexts were secretly hiding there, peeking at the lounge.

According to Rin’s plan, Lia and Airi were left alone. Right next to each other, too.

It was a strategy to leave just the two of them on purpose.

Her thought was that if they were forced to talk, they would naturally get closer.

Ian said it would resolve itself if left alone, but Rin had no intention of letting the members stay awkward with each other.

However, even Rin thought it would be a bit much to directly tell them to get close quickly.

So, what she thought of was creating a setting where they could talk naturally.

’Hehe. They’ll start talking now, right?’

’Will talking a little make them close that fast?’

’It took me about a week to drop formal speech too....’

’They’ve gotten used to us by now, so it’ll be faster this time.’

The three whispered quietly while peeking at the lounge from a distance to avoid being caught.

Lia had been reading a book since earlier, and Airi had also pulled a magic book from her clothes.

Was it because they were still awkward? Lia and Airi didn’t talk and each read their books in silence.

The three watched them and waited patiently.

After about 10 minutes. The two were still reading their books.

And after waiting another 10 minutes, the two continued to read their books without a word.

And 10 minutes after that.

Mika looked back at Rin with a weary face.

’...They haven’t said a single word?’

It had been nearly 30 minutes since they left the two alone.

Lia and Airi were still silently reading their respective books.

Ian’s words—that they would get close on their own given time—replayed in Rin’s head.

And Rin looked at the two once more and reached a conclusion.

...It doesn’t seem like they’ll ever get close naturally, does it?

Finally, after watching them for five more minutes, Rin turned to Mika and Tanya and spoke.

’This won’t do. Let’s make them get close no matter what it takes!’