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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“Such a rude brat… Haa… Forget it. You’re a freshman, right? You’re gonna regret this. Do you know what collective punishment is? Because of you, everyone else is going to suffer.”
I knew what it was, but it was a bit funny hearing those words coming from kids who weren’t even adventurers or heroes yet.
And considering my age, the term “brat” didn’t really apply to me either.
“Senior,” I said calmly.
“Finally decided to apologize? But guess what? It’s too late.”
‘You’re the one who’s late.’
I muttered those words under my breath and was about to clench my fist when I heard a familiar voice coming from the distance.
“Hey, what are you guys doing?”
“Oh, Professor. This freshman was getting a bit too cocky, so I was giving him a little lesson.”
The senior kept up his flippant attitude, even in front of the professor.
The professor who had arrived was Al Sora.
The senior, perhaps underestimating her due to her small stature, approached her and crouched down to meet her eyes.
‘Yeah, there are occasionally people like that.’
…And that action was akin to poking a hornet’s nest.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sora asked, her voice low and dangerous.
“Just trying to make eye contact with our little professor~ It’s easier to hear her voice this way, don’t you think?”
A few of his buddies snickered.
‘Don’t they know who Sora is? Or do they know but underestimate her because she’s small? Or are they just completely clueless about magic?’
I said a silent prayer for them.
And then I relaxed my slightly clenched fist.
“You, the nameless third-year.”
“Yes?”
“I suggest you try your best to make it back here.”
“…What?”
The senior frowned at Sora’s cryptic words.
But it was already too late.
Sora finished chanting in an instant and extended her hand towards him.
And then the senior vanished.
As if he were a cluster of light particles dispersing into nothingness.
“…Wh-what… what was that…?”
His buddies looked around in confusion, and Sora replied calmly,
Prieresil’s eyes lit up at her words.
As far as I knew, this top student was also deeply interested in magic.
So Sora casting a high-level spell like Spatial Transfer must have piqued her curiosity.
“Professor!” she called out.
“…Yes?”
“That spell…”
“Tch.”
“…Huh?”
However, Prieresil’s hopes were dashed.
The moment she spoke, Sora clicked her tongue in annoyance and vanished.
Prieresil stared blankly at the spot where Sora had disappeared and then turned to me.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“How should I know?”
‘That’s just how she is. Always doing whatever she wants.’
“…Well, it can’t be helped. I can ask her during class. Anyway, it seems you’ve finished preparing everything. And…”
As I organized the items in my backpack – prioritizing the ones I used frequently – Prieresil spoke hesitantly.
“Even though your tone was a bit harsh earlier, you were trying to help me, right? Thank you.”
It was a grudging thank you.
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Our meeting at the canteen, which had been briefly interrupted, came to an end, and time flew by.
The day of the dungeon exploration arrived.
Rain, our team leader, stood at the dungeon entrance, staring blankly at me and my fully packed backpack.
‘Why is she spacing out again?’ I thought, clapping my hands to get her attention.
She seemed to snap out of it, and looked back and forth between me and Prieresil.
“May I ask what you’ve prepared?”
“Ointment, potions, paralysis antidotes, antidotes for other poisons, magic torches, magic stones… and a few other things.” I replied.
Prieresil looked at me with surprise.
‘What’s with her now? It’s making me uncomfortable.’
Rain, after hearing my answer, stared blankly at me again.
‘What’s wrong? Is she not feeling well?’
“…Rain.”
I called her name softly, feeling a bit uneasy.
Even at this volume, she would be able to hear me.
“…Ah! Yes! It seems you’re both prepared! Let’s go!”
With that, Rain patted my shoulder and set off energetically.
‘Hey, your limbs actually work.’
“…This is making me nervous.”
“You get nervous too, Ron? You’ve been acting like you don’t have a care in the world this whole time.”
“Have I? I thought I was acting normally.”
“Well, at least from my perspective…”
As we entered the dungeon with Rain, I put my index finger to my lips, signaling Prieresil to be quiet.
From this point on, anything could happen.
Even though it was a relatively new dungeon, complacency was the biggest reason people lost their lives.
Rain and I would be fine, but it would be a good learning experience for Prieresil.
I had been living with my brain switched off lately, but now, with a junior’s life partially in my hands, I figured it was time to act like my old self, at least to some extent.
I stretched lightly and then closed my eyes completely, shutting off my already blurry vision.
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‘Is this really the same person I knew?’
That always-smirking, calm, and somewhat arrogant man.
The man who called himself Ron, his eyes hidden behind bandages.
From the moment we had a serious conversation as teammates, he started to seem a bit more dependable.
Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t suspicious anymore.
It was just that I was seeing him in a new light.
When we discussed the necessary items, he transformed from that cocky and sly person to someone with extensive practical experience.
And when he intervened and rescued me from that obnoxious senior in his own way, I felt a tinge of gratitude.
And now, as we entered the depths of the dungeon, this damp, pitch-black space where primal fear crept into my mind, he had become someone I could rely on.
Even though I was the top student at the academy and a hero candidate, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
So, naturally, I didn’t have bodyguards or servants, and I had never actually been inside a dungeon before.
Therefore, despite having the First Hero, Rain Garden, by my side, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by a wave of fear and exhaustion as the sinister energy and aura of death washed over me.
But the man next to me seemed unfazed.
Perhaps because his vision was already obstructed.
He moved with a familiarity that suggested he had done this countless times, walking slowly and carefully.
He scanned our surroundings with movements that didn’t hinder Rain Garden, as if he were perfectly in sync with her.
He placed small, faintly glowing magic stones along the path we had taken.
The stones, placed at precise intervals, weren’t directly in the center of the path, but they weren’t hidden either.
His usual frivolous and carefree demeanor had vanished; he moved silently, his mouth firmly shut.
His movements were incredibly swift and silent.
He even walked ahead of Rain Garden at times.
Rain Garden didn’t say a word, even though she was aware of his actions.
Perhaps her instincts, honed during her time as a hero, told her that his actions were not harmful.
Or maybe she was evaluating us…
No, she definitely was evaluating us.
Why else would all the academy instructors be involved in this “practical training”?
Thinking about it that way, his actions made perfect sense.
We were currently on a team with the headmaster, the highest authority in the academy.
It was the perfect opportunity to earn some brownie points.
‘Alright. I need to do something too. Something I can do…’
‘First, this darkness…’
“‘Oh, light…’”
“…Huh? Ah, wait…”
With a short chant, the dungeon was bathed in light.
It was ‘Light’, a light attribute magic spell.
Both Rain Garden and Ron’s expressions darkened slightly as they realized I possessed white magic – light attribute magic.
And only then did I realize what I had done.
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“Oh dear.” I sighed.
The first rule of dungeon exploration was to never disrupt the dungeon’s natural environment.
For example, in a lava-filled dungeon, you shouldn’t splash water around just because it’s hot.
The sudden burst of steam could harm your allies, and the newly solidified lava could cause an overflow.
For example, in an ice-filled dungeon, you shouldn’t raise the temperature.
The melting ice could cause a flood.
For example, in a dark jungle like this, you shouldn’t light a fire.
It could attract light-sensitive monsters.
But what was done was done.
And this top student seemed to have zero practical experience.
She probably just wanted to impress Rain.
‘Well, at least she realized her mistake.’
Her chattering teeth and downcast eyes were a clear sign of her remorse, even without her saying a word.
“How long does your ‘Light’ spell last?”
“…Um… with my magic power, about 8 minutes…”
“You can’t cancel it?”
“No… it’ll keep shining until all the magic power I’ve gathered is depleted… I’m sorry…”
“No, it’s okay. It’s already done.”
It was a bit amusing seeing the usually arrogant top student looking so dejected.
‘But first, we have work to do.’
I stepped ahead of Rain.
Rain, as if trusting me, didn’t say anything.
‘But I’m a student! Shouldn’t she be telling me to be careful? What if Prieresil starts to suspect something?’
Anyway, safety was our top priority now.
If anyone on our two-person team got injured, it would damage Rain’s reputation.
I needed to focus.
I squeezed my eyelids shut, blocking out even the faint light from the ‘Light’ spell, and concentrated.
My other senses, sharpened by my reliance on them due to my obscured vision, began to pick up every detail of our surroundings.
The smell of grass and earth.
Faint, slightly hardened footprints in the mud.
Subtle shifts in humidity and air currents.
Footsteps approaching, growing louder.
The even fainter sound of decaying leaves.
There were three sets of approaching footsteps.
Beast-type monsters.
Quadrupeds.
Their size… not very large, it seemed.
And their saliva seemed to contain a poisonous substance.
After piecing together all the information, I whispered to Rain, “Beast-type monsters. Three of them. A slightly larger one in the center. Their saliva seems to be poisonous. You can handle them easily, right? Want some help?”
“…Trust me.”
‘She’s so reliable. Our hero.’
If she said that, then all I could do was trust her. I nodded at Rain, giving her a quick signal of affirmation, and then moved to the back, approaching Prieresil.
“…I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“It’s fine. You think the hero’s going to beat you up or something?”
“No… no… but in a life-or-death situation like this…”
“You can fix your mistakes later. Just focus on the present. Calm down.”
As I spoke, I placed a hand on Prieresil’s trembling head.
It felt a bit damp due to the humidity, so I took out a moisture-absorbing stone from my bag and handed it to her.
“…Thank you.”
Prieresil thanked me obediently.
It was more fun when she was being arrogant, like during her speech.
Anyway, I positioned myself at the back to enjoy the spectacle of Rain’s combat skills, which I hadn’t witnessed in a long time.
Rain drew her sword.
When you thought of heroes, you usually pictured them with holy swords, but Rain didn’t have one.
According to her, she used to have one, but after using it to revive a dying city by plunging it into the central plaza and turning it into a landmark, she had stopped using it.
So, the current Rain was simply a master swordswoman who used whatever weapon was available.
She usually used a steel sword, and when it broke, she would use tree branches, or even bones she pulled out of corpses.
And if all else failed, she would just punch things.
Thinking about it that way, she was kind of like a barbarian warrior.
Well, I preferred that to being overly reliant on a holy sword.
This time, the weapon Rain drew was an ordinary steel sword.
It was her preferred weapon because of its comfortable grip and weight.
The sounds grew louder.
This time, Rain heard them too, and her grip tightened on the sword.
This wasn’t a game; it was a matter of life and death.
As Prion had mentioned earlier, being distracted, or rather, overthinking things, during combat wasn’t a good thing, and I was well aware of that.
Three wolf-like monsters emerged from the bushes, their paws rustling the leaves.
Now that I thought about it, I had always been at the forefront during our adventures, so it had been a long time since I had seen Rain fight.
‘Alright. Time to grab some snacks.’
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🍿🍿🍿