The Uninvited Guest and the Academy Map
As soon as I heard those first words—“Miss Laura, you have a visitor”—I realized what this was. It was a dream of that time. The time when I was not Oh Lora but Laura Iris. A fragment of the ten years I had spent in the world of Labyrinthos.
I had been drinking black tea. I set the cup down.
“A visitor? As I recall, there was no such appointment.”
“Your memory is correct, miss.”
“I see.”
In other words, someone had come to the Iris ducal residence without any prior notice. Even when the imperial family paid a visit, they exchanged several letters in advance. By that standard, this guest was committing a rather serious breach of etiquette.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been perfectly justified in turning them away. However—
“Who is it?”
“It is Lady Cecilia.”
“…Cecilia, is it.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly at the name. In a sense, the single most troublesome person in this world had come calling.
“Show her in. I shall meet her myself.”
“As you wish, miss.”
The butler withdrew. Soon after, a girl appeared in my tea party room.
Hair that had gone pure white. Skin so pale it looked almost translucent. Her eyes were sunken, ringed with dark circles that carried a faint bluish tint. The most striking detail was the wheelchair she sat in. Everyone at the academy already knew how sickly Cecilia was.
It was nothing new for her to look ill, so I had tried not to pay it much mind. But my eyes could not be deceived. She had more wounds on her arms and legs than I remembered, and there were clear signs that her dress had been torn in several places.
“It has been a while, Lady Laura.”
“Lady Laura, hm.”
The title told me everything. She was giving me permission to speak to her without restraint.
“Indeed, it has been some time. You look quite different from usual. What happened?”
“There was an accident. I apologize for showing you such an unsightly appearance.”
“An accident?”
“Yes.”
Cecilia nodded.
“I will speak plainly. The academy has been overrun by a gate. Will you help us, Lady Laura?”
EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos VR Tournament — Predict the Winning Team!
Vote for which team you think will take the championship! Twenty lucky voters will be randomly selected to receive gift cards!
Current Standings
1. Spring Team (45.4%)
2. Autumn Team (38.2%)
3. Summer Team (10.1%)
4. Winter Team (6.3%)
September 22nd, Sunday. The long-awaited day of the EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos VR tournament had finally arrived.
And the opening match was our Winter Team versus the combined first- and second-generation team known as Spring.
Before the match, there was a team introduction and pre-match interview. The caster in charge of the broadcast, Aina-tsu, suddenly opened with:
“Are you still drunk?”
“Then why are you still using that title?”
“I have many things I want to say, but first—what exactly is that speech pattern?”
“It offends me.”
I answered honestly. Aina-tsu was just as annoying as Anna. Perhaps even more so.
“There is only one thing I want to ask clearly. How old are you exactly?”
“…Could you please stop harassing your junior?”
Miyamoto Veronica, who was co-casting with Aina-tsu, let out a sigh.
“Anyway, Coach Lora, could we have a word from you expressing your resolve before the match?”
“Resolve, is it. I once looked the word up in a dictionary. It means ‘mental preparation for what is to come.’ But is there really any need for such preparation?”
I smiled elegantly.
“How many people prepare their hearts for the sun rising and the moon setting? Our team’s victory is already decided. Therefore, there is no need for any special resolve.”
“Ahaha! Coach Lora is full of confidence! We’ll be looking forward to a wonderful match!”
With the pre-match interview over, we moved to the Winter Team’s exclusive voice channel.
“…Senior Aina-tsu is something else.”
“She really is. It hasn’t even been a full month since her VTuber debut, yet somehow I’ve gained a daughter older than myself. I wonder who the father is.”
“Don’t say things like that so casually… People might misunderstand if weird memes start spreading, you know?”
Regular viewers of EYEAI streams probably wouldn’t misunderstand, but the VTuber Gallery was full of people who approached everything through memes first. If someone only knew me through memes with no prior context, a few of them were bound to get the wrong idea. Like how that one very famous person was actually a Kim but everyone thought they were a Shin.
Sora warned me that if I wasn’t careful, people might start thinking of me as a married woman with a child, so I should be cautious.
“That is rather frightening. In any case, the match will begin soon. Let us all focus.”
“Yeah.”
The camera feed from Sora’s Discord screen share trembled slightly. It seemed she had nodded.
Right now Sora, Inagika, and Chell were running Labyrinthos. The three of them had already entered the custom room. I was watching the situation through Sora’s screen share. Since I, as coach, had to leave the voice channel once the game started, this was the method we had chosen.
“Ban pick has started.”
Sora spoke in a low voice. A large notice had appeared on her screen.
Battle Decided: Academy Map / Guardian
Allied and enemy camps each contain a ‘Guardian Deity.’ Victory is achieved by annihilating the opposing team or destroying their Guardian Deity. Defeat the enemy Guardian before your own falls.
“Academy.”
I muttered without thinking. I had just dreamed of that very place, and now the map was the Academy. A strangely nostalgic feeling washed over me.
“L-Lora…?”
“The Academy is one of the outdoor maps. Its distinctive feature is that the buildings are spaced quite far apart.”
It was similar to the ‘Ghost Town’ map that Sora had played once before. Instead of enclosed cave areas, the map emphasized outdoor space, which naturally led to urban-style combat. The difference was that the buildings were not clustered together like a normal city, and each structure was enormous. Some of them even contained hidden rooms or underground facilities.
“Let us ban the Assassin.”
The Academy map was easy to imagine if you pictured a university campus. It was extremely wide, yet there weren’t many proper hiding spots. Therefore, Assassins—who possessed high mobility and excelled in open terrain—were a high-priority ban.
After we banned Assassin, Spring banned the Cavalry. Their intention was obvious: they were telling us not to make full use of the map’s wide spaces. It also felt like a direct snipe at Chell.
“Next, ban the Necromancer.”
I smiled faintly. I hadn’t even considered using Cavalry. It was rather pleasant that the opponent had chosen to misunderstand on their own.
The opposing team then banned the Archer. This was both a snipe at Inagika and a warning from Spring not to allow any rooftop support fire.
‘No, that’s not quite right.’
More accurately, it was the decision of Spring’s coach—Kisaki Rinko. It seemed she intended to thoroughly narrow our character pool.
“Finally, ban the Magic Engineer.”
On the other hand, we were ignoring the enemy’s character pool entirely. Our bans were chosen solely to complete our own strategy. As long as our plan came together, victory would be ours. Therefore, the Magic Engineer—who could counter map hacks and ultimate abilities—was a card we could not surrender.
Spring’s final ban was the Bard. They were wary of the global movement speed buff the Bard could provide while also further restricting Sora’s available characters.
With all bans complete, it was time for picks.
“Inagika, do pick the Martial Artist, won’t you?”
“Y-yes…!”
Inagika locked in the Martial Artist. It was now Spring’s turn to pick, but they did not choose immediately. There was a noticeable hesitation in the empty pick window. Had they not expected Inagika to pick a frontliner? It was understandable. Inagika’s timid personality usually gave the impression that she would play a backline role.
After some thought, Spring picked the Beast Tamer. While not as fast as an Assassin or Cavalry, riding the giant wolf still provided decent mobility, and the class was better suited for rough terrain.
Since Snake had been banned, it was Spring’s turn again. They selected the Musketeer. Given that the Martial Artist had short range, their intention was clearly to kite from a distance.
“Chell, pick the Hunter.”
Chell locked in the Hunter. The class possessed detection skills and was strong on the Z-axis. Incidentally, it was also Rion’s main in Labyrinthos. Because the Hunter’s character design was a cat beastfolk, anyone who watched Nekozuka Rion’s old VODs would see her playing nothing but Hunter.
Finally, it was Sora’s turn to pick.
“Sora, are you confident?”
I asked. I already knew what her answer would be, but I still wanted to confirm one last time.
“I can do it. I practiced.”
“I see.”
I nodded. If Sora said she could do it, then there was no helping it. I opened my mouth.
“Sora, pick the Dark Knight.”