Some days later, Maple and Sally were talking at the guild home. No matter how hard they looked for ways to use those two items, they weren’t too far from where they started.

  As they placed the items on the desk wondering what they should do with them, the other guild members who had been hunting for items today had just returned to the guild home.

  “Oh, you two are back as well. Hmm, what are those?”


  Chrome was the first to notice the two items on the desk.

  “These are items that Maple has found, but we don’t know where to use them.”


  “Things that Maple has found, huh……? So you have looked everywhere but don’t have the slightest idea where they could be used?”


  “Right! I can’t dive as freely as you guys, so it’s hard for me to be searching underwater for long periods of time…… So we haven’t found anything yet.”


  “What are those items called?”


  “Umm…… this one is called ‘Lost Legacy’, and this shiny one is called ‘Heavenly Light’.”


  “Talk about over-the-top names…… But if they are meant to be used somewhere, does that mean that there’s an event related to them somewhere as well?”


  “Does anything come to mind?”


  “Hmm…… I don’t think I have seen any place where such amazing-looking items could be used.”


  “Then the items’ names are the only hint we have at the moment. There were several references to items in the stone tablets I read, so there might be something about these items there.”


  “Really!?”


  “You mean those tablets inscribed with that made-up language, Kanade……? Right, now that you know about these items, there might be some hints there as well.”


  “Yeah, but maybe don’t get your hopes too high? And it could all lead you to some place so deep underwater that you’d have to fully upgrade your diving suits.”


  “Maple Tree” was still collecting parts to that end, but it would take a little longer before they were done.

  “Yeah, got it. Alright, tell us something that might be a hint.”


  “Okay, so that light over there…… It says it came from the sky, but since you found it underwater, that place must have been some sort of ceiling or skylight before it was all submerged.”


  “Ah, that’s why we found it underwater then?”


  “Maybe. So if it used to be a ceiling or skylight in the past, then it would actually be a place high off the ground, right……?”


  “That’s a good guess. And this ‘Lost Legacy’ seems to have something to do with the machines we sometimes see in this Layer.”


  “That sounds likely. Does this Layer go as deep underwater as the 3rd Layer?”


  Like Chrome said, the monitor and those light bullet launchers that Sally found in the dungeon she had captured could have been the same. Other than that, there were some broken machines that were stuck on rocks and buildings.

  “That’s right. And there’s so much I’ve been able to craft here as well……”


  “Hmm, so a place where there are a lot of machines…… Right?”


  “Where could that be……? It has to be somewhere we won’t be able to reach until we upgrade our diving suits even further, right?”


  “The stone tablets mentioned something about an old civilization, so it might be some place quite deep underwater.”


  “If it’s some kind of lost civilization, then the item’s name would make a lot of sense. We might not be too far off the mark here.”


  “Let’s look for more parts while we search for this old civilization as well then!”


  “W-We’ll do our best……!”


  “Thanks, everyone! We’ll definitely find something amazing!”


  “It sounds a bit scary when you say it, Maple……”


  “Right.”


  “Yeah, that’s right.”


  Looking back on the things she had been bringing to the table so far, there were many things that fell under the definition of “amazing”. Since Maple was their ally, they were certainly glad that she was getting stronger, but the items themselves were nothing but outrageous to everyone else.

  As Chrome, Iz, and Kasumi each murmured their reaction, the unaware Maple seemed to have been very motivated after finally having gotten a hint towards her search.