Knock, knock. The sound of knocking echoed through the quiet night.

It happened just as Klaha was about to head to bed.

Who could it be at this hour…? he wondered, suspicion creeping into her thoughts as she grabbed her sword and headed for the door.

“Yes?”

“My apologies for disturbing you so late at night.”

Her eyes widened in shock.

She recognized the face—she had only met her once before. But with her uniform, the memory came flooding back vividly.

“You’re from the Holy Knights—”

“I’d prefer not to have this conversation overheard. May I come in?”

“Please, come in.”

Klaha opened the door wider and welcomed the woman—the Holy Knight—into her home.

She moved toward the kitchen, intending to prepare tea for her guest, but she raised a hand to stop her.

“There’s no need for that,” she said.

Then, she introduced herself.

“I am Arinate, Captain of the Fourth Order of the Holy Knights. I am currently investigating the highest-difficulty labyrinth, ‘Abbyss,’ and speaking with all members of ‘The Next Apex.’”

Klaha’s shoulders tensed for a moment, but she managed to suppress the reaction.

Arinate’s sharp eyes swept over the room before she continued.

“Despite your party having accommodations, you live alone out here.”

“Yes, that’s correct…”

“Why is that?”

Klaha hesitated to say it outright.

After what happened in ‘Abbyss’ four months ago, distrust had festered between her and the party. That was why she had decided to live apart from them.

She chose her words carefully, blending honesty with vagueness.

“I just… didn’t feel comfortable there. I haven’t been getting along well with the party.”

Arinate stared at her intently, as if probing for something.

She’s trying to read me, Klaha thought. But surely, a stranger could not see through her secrets so easily.

“I see. I apologize for prying,” she finally said, breaking eye contact.

“And what is it you wish to ask me about…?”

“I want to know what happened with your party that day.”

For a moment, Klaha was at a loss for words.

Even so…

“What do you mean by ‘what happened’?”

“Your party abandoned the attempt to conquer ‘Abbyss,’ didn’t you?”

“…”

“Didn’t Godach tell you anything?”

Klaha nodded slightly. “I haven’t heard anything directly, but I’ve got a general idea…”

Arinate nodded as well.

“After the first attempt, several months have passed, yet your party has not resumed the conquest. And this, despite the fact that no one lost their life during that initial attempt.”

“Huh?”

Klaha almost let out a gasp.

“Surely, the members have realized this as well. I spoke to Godach directly, and he confirmed it—the conquest has been abandoned.”

Klaha’s thoughts raced.

That can’t be… On that day, ‘The Next Apex’ lost one of its members.

And yet, Arinate was saying…

“It’s strange. A party that has risen to S-rank wouldn’t give up so easily. There must be a reason. Something Godach isn’t saying. I want to know what that is.”

Only one plausible theory came to Klaha’s mind.

Ziel was never officially registered as a party member in the first place.

If that were true, it would make sense.

Handling party registrations and related paperwork was part of a supporter’s job, something Klaha herself had done on occasion.

Ziel had been scouted into the party.

But he was never registered.

On paper, he didn’t exist as a member.

They took him into the labyrinth—a place only the members of ‘The Next Apex’ were qualified to enter—and secretly killed him there.

In doing so, his death would remain unknown.

Murder, without anyone knowing.

“Do you know the reason?” Arinate asked.

Klaha had a faint idea of the answer.

It was likely because their goal had been achieved.

The murder of Ziel hadn’t been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Hiring someone unofficially, without registering them as a party member, was strictly prohibited by guild regulations. It wasn’t something even a shady, ragtag party would do lightly. For an S-rank party like ‘The Next Apex,’ it must have been premeditated.

Perhaps, from the very beginning—

Perhaps the entire expedition into ‘Abbyss’ had been orchestrated for the sole purpose of killing Ziel.

Now that the goal was accomplished, there was no reason to continue.

This rushed hypothesis seemed to explain all the inconsistencies, but Klaha was still lost in confusion.

There was something she didn’t understand.

Why? Why did they need to kill Ziel?

She didn’t know the answer.

“Umm…”

The silence stretched too long, and Klaha realized it. If she stayed quiet any longer, suspicion would fall on her. The truth she was beginning to uncover was too horrifying to process.

It didn’t make sense.

Even for Godach, a legendary hero who had slain dragons, to use the entirety of an S-rank party’s resources to kill a single young man…

Godach’s actions were abnormal.

A nameless fear crawled up Klaha’s spine once more.

“What… did the others say?”

Arinate’s gaze grew sharper.

Instead of answering, she shifted to another topic.

“During the conquest of ‘Abbyss,’ one of the Four Saints, Lady Lililia, disappeared due to a teleportation trap.”

Klaha’s eyes widened.

A Saint. The Church’s highest authority.

If anyone among them had recently come to this city…

“She was the one from that time…”

“That’s right. It may sound like an excuse, but something was wrong back then.”

“What do you mean by ‘something’?”

Arinate closed her eyes.

“The teleportation trap wasn’t supposed to activate.”

“Was it… damaged or worn out?”

“No. Do you think the Holy Knights would proceed so recklessly as to let a Saint be caught in such a trap?”

Klaha couldn’t deny it.

The Holy Knights were renowned for their precision and strength. They wouldn’t allow carelessness, especially when protecting a Saint.

“There was a room we had to pass through to move from the fourth to the fifth floor.”

“A main chamber?”

“No. It was a room with no monsters. But…”

She paused.

“There was something strange about it. The floor was covered with a magic circle—one that spanned the entire room. There was no choice but to step on it.”

“And that was the teleportation trap?”

“Exactly.”

“But…”

“We checked it thoroughly. The knights most skilled in magic worked together to analyze it. The conclusion was unanimous: ‘It won’t activate. It should be safe.’ We even tested it ourselves.”

“But when Lady Lililia passed through…”

“Only then did the trap activate.”

“Do you know of traps that can work like that?”

“No… Normally, traps in dungeons are naturally occurring phenomena. They shouldn’t be capable of targeting a specific individual.”

Arinate nodded.

“That’s what the former adventurers in the knights said, too.”

“It was a failure, no matter how you look at it,” she continued. “But an inexplicable failure is even worse. That labyrinth holds some secret. That much I’m certain of.”

She looked directly at Klaha, her voice commanding.

“Now tell me. What happened to your party? The others won’t speak, but you must know.

Who were you referring to as the ‘dead comrade’ when you spoke to Lady Lililia?”

At that moment, Klaha’s mind filled with images.

Ziel, betrayed by the party, falling into the lower floors.

And another image.

Holland, cradling his children, his back turned to the chaos.

Outside, the rain had begun to fall.

A cold rain, tinged with the scent of winter.