"Lady Laura, a guest has arrived."
The moment I heard those words, I realized it immediately. I was dreaming of those days.
The time when I was not Aurora, but Laura Iris. A fragment of the ten years I spent in the world of Labyrinthos.
I placed the teacup I had been drinking from down on the table.
"A guest? If I remember correctly, I don't think I had any scheduled appointments."
"You are correct, my lady."
"I see."
In other words, someone had come to the Iris Ducal residence without notice.
Even when the imperial family visited, we exchanged several letters beforehand. When I considered that, it meant this guest was being exceptionally rude.
So, under normal circumstances, I could have had them sent away without issue.
"Who is it?"
"It's Lady Cecilia."
"...Cecilia, huh."
At the mention of that name, I frowned slightly. In some ways, she was the most troublesome person in the world.
"Let her in. I'll see her myself."
"Understood, my lady."
The butler withdrew, and soon after, a girl appeared in my tea room.
Her hair was stark white, as if all color had drained away. Her skin was pale to the point of being ghostly. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, giving off a faint blue hue.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature was that she was seated in a wheelchair. It was well-known at the academy that Cecilia was quite frail.
While it wasnât unusual for Cecilia to look unwell, today, she couldnât hide it from my eyes. There seemed to be more scars on her limbs than I remembered, and parts of her dress were torn.
"It's been a while, Lady Laura."
"Lady Laura, is it?"
I thought to myself after hearing that title. So sheâs giving me permission to treat her as an inferior.
"Yes, it has been a while. You look quite different from usual. What happened?"
"There was an accident. I apologize for showing up in such an unsightly state."
"An accident?"
"Yes."
Cecilia nodded.
"Iâll be direct with you. The academy has been overrun by the gate. Could you help us, Lady Laura?"
EYEAI Official @EYEAI_official
Guess the Winning Team of the EYEAI LabyrinthosVR Tournament!
Vote for which team you think will win!
Weâll randomly select 20 people who guess correctly to win gift cards!
Current poll results:
Spring Team (45.4%)
Fall Team (38.2%)
Summer Team (10.1%)
Winter Team (6.3%)
[Virtual iTuber Gallery]
[General] Is Spring Team the favorite to win?
Yeah?
[Comments]
Spring Team is the favorite for sure. â (OP) Why? â Rinko is their coach, and the 2nd-gen members are skilled.
If itâs not Spring, then Fall will win.
One thingâs for sure, it wonât be Winter, lol. â (OP) Even with A-chan as their coach? â The 6th-gen kids were playing horror games for fun last time, lol. â The 6th-gen members are all rookies. Even if Laura herself showed up, they wouldnât stand a chance, lol.
[General] Opening match: Spring Team VS Winter Team, lol.
Theyâve got no luck with matchups, lol.
Sunday, September 22nd.
The day of the EYEAI LabyrinthosVR tournament had finally arrived.
[How are you today, Mother?]
The opening match was between our Winter Team and the Spring Team, a combination of 1st-gen and 2nd-gen members.
Before the match, there was an introduction and pre-game interview, and Ainatsu, the commentator, opened with that ridiculous line.
âAre you still drunk?â
[Nope. Iâm perfectly sober.]
âThen why the âmotherâ bit?â
[Mother, after three years of being a VTuber, Iâve learned something: once you start feeling embarrassed, thereâs no end to it.]
Despite being sober, Ainatsu had started spouting nonsense.
[Since things have come this far, sticking with it is better for my mental health. So, Iâll continue to call you Mother.]
"I have a lot to say about that, but first, whatâs with the tone?"
[I wanted to express my feelings. Did it bother you?]
"It did."
I said bluntly.
Ainatsu is as annoying as Anna.
Maybe even more so than Anna.
[Then Iâll just call you Mom. Laura Mom! Laura Mom! Laura Mom!!!]
âI just want to ask one thing. How old are you?â
[Asking that is cheating! Donât ask questions, just pet meâ¦! Even adults want to whine sometimes! Iâm desperate here!]
[...Stop bothering the juniors.]
Veronica Miyamoto, Ainatsuâs co-commentator, sighed.
[Anyway, Director Laura, could we get a word of determination before the match?]
âDetermination? I once looked up the word âdeterminationâ in the dictionary. It said it means âmental preparation for what lies ahead.â But is there really anything we need to prepare for?â
I smiled.
âHow many people mentally prepare for the sun rising and the moon setting? Our victory is already decided, so thereâs no need for any special determination.â
[Haha! Director Laura is brimming with confidence! Weâre looking forward to an exciting match.]
[See you again, Laura Mom!]
With that, the pre-match interview ended, and we moved into the Winter Teamâs voice channel.
[...Ainatsu-senpai is really something.]
"She sure is. I never expected to have an older daughter only a month after debuting. I wonder who the father is."
[Donât joke like that⦠If weird memes start spreading, people might take it seriously.]
People who regularly watch EYEAI VTuber streams wouldnât misunderstand, but in places like the VTuber gallery, people often approach things through memes.@@novelbin@@
Without context, those memes can lead to misunderstandings. Thereâs a famous person everyone thinks is from the Shin family, but in reality, his name is Kim.
So, Sora warned me that some might wrongly think Iâm a married woman with kids if the joke goes too far.
âThatâs kind of scary. Anyway, letâs focus nowâthe match is about to begin.â
[Got it.]
The camera feed from the Discord screen-sharing shook slightly. It looked like Sora nodded her head.
Currently, Sora, Inagika, and Chel were all logged into Labyrinthos. The three of them had already entered the custom room.
I was watching through Soraâs screen share since, as the director, I had to leave the voice channel once the game started.
[The ban/pick phase has started.]
Sora spoke in a low voice.
A large notification appeared on her screen.
[The battle has been decided: Academy Map / Guardian]
[Both the allied and enemy teams have a âGuardian.â Eliminate the enemy team or defeat their Guardian to win. Defeat the enemy Guardian before your own falls.]
"Academy."
I muttered to myself.
I had a dream about something like that today, and now we were playing on the Academy map. It made me feel a bit nostalgic.
[Lo... Laura?]
"The Academy map is an outdoor map, but the buildings are spread out."
I explained.
Itâs somewhat similar to the Ghost Town map that Sora had played before. It emphasizes outdoor combat, so it tends to play like urban warfare.
The key difference is that the buildings arenât clustered together like in a typical city. Each building is huge, and some even have secret rooms or underground facilities.
âBan the Assassin.â
The Academy map is wide open with few places to hide, so itâs important to keep an eye on mobility. Assassins, with their speed and ability to take advantage of open spaces, had to be banned.
After we banned the Assassin, the Spring Team banned the Cavalry.
Their intention was clearâthey didnât want us to take advantage of the wide map either. It also felt like a direct shot at Chel.
"Next, ban the Necromancer."
I chuckled. We had no intention of using Cavalry anyway, so their assumption worked in our favor.
Next, they banned the Archer. This was clearly aimed at Inagika, preventing her from sniping from rooftops.
âThatâs Rinkoâs handiwork.â
To be precise, it was Spring Teamâs coachâKisaki Rinkoâmaking these decisions.
She was clearly trying to limit the character pool of our team.
"Finally, ban the Tech Mage."
We didnât care much about their picks. Once our strategy was in place, victory would be ours.
But we couldnât allow them to use Tech Mage. Its map-hack ultimate was too dangerous to leave unchecked.
Spring Teamâs final ban was the Bard. They were wary of the team-wide movement speed buff, while also further restricting Soraâs character options.
With that, the bans were complete.
"Inagika, pick the Martial Artist."
[O-Okay...!]
Inagika locked in the Martial Artist.
Now it was the Spring Teamâs turn to pick, but they hesitated. There was a moment of silence in the pick window.
Were they caught off guard by Inagika picking the Martial Artist? That wouldnât be surprising, given her usual preference for backline roles.
After some deliberation, the Spring Team chose the Beast Tamer. While not as fast as an Assassin or Cavalry, the Beast Tamer had decent mobility, especially with their giant wolf mount, and was better suited for rough terrain.
Since this was a snake-style pick, the Spring Team had the next choice as well. They went with the Gunner, clearly intending to kite the short-ranged Martial Artist.
âChel, pick the Hunter.â
Chel locked in the Hunter.
The Hunter has tracking abilities and excels in vertical combat.
Incidentally, it was also Rionâs main character in Labyrinthos. Given that the Hunter is a cat beastkin, old archives of Nekozuka Rionâs streams showed her playing the character a lot.
Now, it was Soraâs turn to make the final pick.
âSora, can you handle it?â
I asked.
I already knew how she would respond, but I needed to confirm one last time.
[I can do it. Iâve practiced.]
âGood.â
I nodded.
If Sora was confident, there was nothing more to say.
I spoke up.
âSora, pick the Dark Knight.â