The mansion at night, inside the saloon.

　Neptune came to visit near midnight.
　I rolled up my arms and showed him.
　My arm has 11 "star" bruises on it.

　Like Neptune, it's a bruise with a max of 12 stars.
　That's only 11 because I've defeated one of my own.

That's amazing, no really.

　Neptune marveled at the seriousness of his face, which was rare.
　Until now, he had always been aloof, even if he asked for help, there was something spare about him, and he had always been aloof.

　Now, it seemed that he was honestly impressed.

''Really?''
'I'm not surprised that you beat my fake, but it's amazing that you beat your own fake. You were strong, weren't you?
'Yeah, it was strong. It was a touch off.

　This is true.
　If they put an accelerator round in the other side first, I'd be the one who got hit.

"Ha-ha, that's right. It's always a fine line between very high-level battles.
I see.

　I don't know.

Also, I've got permission, but I took out Lil and Ran once each.
'Yeah, I've included that in my statement, so don't worry about it. But more importantly, what have you noticed?
Those two are strong, too.
'Yeah, and that's why you thought it was a talent?
What do you mean?

　Neptune smiled smugly.

''Assuming the difference in strength between the fake and me is a hundred to ninety.

　Well, that's about it.

With Lil and Ran, it's about 100 to 1.
Why so much?
'So talent. We've both abandoned the idea of developing direct combat. You would have developed a different ability if you hadn't become an adventurer.
...... Right.

　I chuckled.
　If I hadn't become an adventurer - no.

　I wouldn't have come to another world.

　I'd probably still be a company man, on a daily death march.
　I'd be eating more efficiently and the dark circles under my eyes would have grown.

　...... It's a lot simpler than that.

　I'd like to use the extreme swing of power and a little bit of magic as well, although I'm mainly physical.
　It's just a different training policy like that.

''Then that's what's up there.
Yeah, I think if you specialize in direct combat--I guess. They're monsters.
I see.
Are you going back tomorrow?
"Yeah, I'm going to go up a couple more floors. I'll be transferring in, so I won't lose any more stars because I'll skip the lower floors.
Ha-ha, I'm glad I called you for help. What a relief. I think that's what all the people you've helped so far have felt like.
I don't know.

　I don't know about that.

　Gong - and I heard the sound of bells from outside the mansion.
　The sound of the bell indicating that the date has changed.

'Well, it's late and I'm going home now.
I'll call you as soon as I know anything.
Yeah, and when I find out what I can do to help.
Yeah, I need some help.
"Ha-ha, you're my boss now, so do it. Yes, yes, that's fine, just do it.
We're not that kind of family.
I guess so.

　After exchanging a rambling exchange, Neptune turns to leave the mansion.

　Concon.

　Before he could leave, there was a knock at the door.
　The door opened and Emily entered - and was pushed away from behind as she came in.

'Emily!'
Aww!

　The one who pushed Emily aside to appear was Lil and Ran.
　They are a Neptune duo - or rather a trio of them.

''Are you okay, Emily?''

Oh, my God, Nay-kun!
What's going on, Lil, Ran?
Look at this.

　Lil said, rolling up her sleeve and showing her arm to Neptune.

　She had a bruise on her arm, just like me and Neptune have a bruise on her arm, too.
　I know, but witnessing it in person makes me more aware of the gravity of the situation.

　But this was where the seriousness began.

'Less?'
Yes, I'm running low.
I'm running low on mine. Here.

　Ran showed his arm as well.

'What do you mean ...... mmmm.'
"What's the matter, Neptune?
Mine is running low.
What?

　I looked at Neptune's arm.
　He was right, the bruises on the Stars had diminished.

Is that one less ...... than the number of times you beat him?
Yeah, same with Lil and Ran.
I'm not... less.

　I looked at my arm in a hurry, but this one wasn't reduced.

　Me and Neptune, we both thought about it at the same time.
　Eventually, I looked up at about the same time.

'Was the decrease due to the date change?'
Was it just the days that went by?

　Answers.

　Both me and Neptune quickly analyzed the current situation from our vast experience.
　Then we nodded to each other and admitted that the other's guess was surely correct.

''The question is, is it one less for what we've done so far?
Or is this where we start, and it's going to get less and less every day?

　We nodded at each other again.

　The answer came 24 hours later, after the next day's bell rang.
　The three bruises on Neptune and the other three were automatically reduced by one more.

　I was horrified as the uncontrollable countdown began.