Chapter: 313
“Hurgh!”
Arthur groaned loudly, startling himself awake, realizing he was no longer dreaming. He brushed his messy hair back as he took in his surroundings.
Joy. That girl! How much pent-up annoyance did she have to execute such a horrendous spell on me?!
Even though there were safety measures in the Academy Dungeon and the Saintess was right beside us, wasn’t that just a bit excessive?!
Every time he ruminated on it, it felt like she meant to kill him!
Wiping the cold sweat off his forehead, he noticed Joy beside him, blankly mumbling in her sleep. He lightly tapped her forehead.
“Hargh?!”
Joy jolted awake, grabbing her forehead, and began scanning the area until her eyes landed on Arthur. Flustered, she pulled a fan out from her dress and used it to shield her face.
“Joy. You don’t have anything to say?”
“Your Highness. You must understand that it was unavoidable for the sake of conquering the dungeon.”
“Yeah. Of course, I know. How could I not realize you had to suppress your heart when attacking us?”
“Haha, indeed, you are the Prince. Then…”
“Then I will also suppress my heart this time.”
“…Huh?”
As Arthur stood up, Joy hurriedly backed away.
“Do you possibly think this could be another dream?”
“Of course not! You just want to take revenge for what happened earlier!”
“How dare you insult my pitiful heart like that?”
“Ugh? Hurgh! Aaah!”
Having pinched her cheeks in retaliation, Arthur left Joy whining as he moved over to Frey and Paybi, who were just waking up.
“Are you two going to take revenge on her too? I’ll allow it under my princely authority.”
“No, it’s alright. It was unavoidable.”
“Yeah, we’re not petty like the Third Prince.”
The two of them shook their heads, and Arthur, feeling quite villainous as he realized he had become the bad guy all of a sudden, cleared his throat to change the subject.
“Let’s put this aside. Now, regarding the dungeon again… it seems Joy’s guess was right.”
The place where Arthur and company stood resembled the room they had been in just moments ago.
A few differences were apparent:
Some walls had holes from ages past, the carpet was so worn it barely resembled its original self, and various decorations had crumbled away over the years, creating a rather eerie atmosphere.
Despite those differences, it still looked strikingly similar to the room they had just visited in their dream.
“I just hope it doesn’t go on endlessly like last time.”
Arthur silently hoped Lucy wasn’t that cruel as he moved forward.
Having been forced to rest in the fourth room, the party moved with surprising lightness.
After a half-day of merely wandering through the hallways, it would be hard not to feel unburdened when they usually trained from morning until night.
As Frey kept bouncing ahead, the party, who moved in sync with her, soon reached the end of the corridor.
“Should we go in here?”
The place where the cradle once had been now had a door installed instead. Frey drew her sword, ready to charge in, but Arthur grabbed the nape of her neck, halting her charge.
“Wait. Let’s sense what’s beyond before charging in…”
“Ah! Finally, visitors have arrived. I thought I would die waiting!”
Before they could even assess what was beyond the door, it swung open, revealing…
A scruffy man clad in rags.
He exuded a horrid stench, reminiscent of rotting corpses, his greasy hair hung like seaweed, and his deranged eyes peered at them from beneath the tangled strands.
The man, observing the four of them, grinned and lowered his voice.
“Hello…”
As he opened his mouth, a divine orb exploded in front of him, cutting him off. Normally, someone would likely recoil from the blinding light, but the man simply closed his eyes to avoid it.
“Oh dear. I meant to welcome you, but I guess I’ll receive an introduction instead.”
While the man prattled on, Frey, released from Arthur’s grip, charged forward, infusing her sword with energy aiming to slash him in half with one clean strike.
The man dodged her sharp attack with a graceful twist, continuing to speak.
“Calm down. I’m just a lowly noble, I wouldn’t dream of harming guests after such a long wait.”
Even as he dodged Frey’s attack with ease, he suddenly grabbed her by the neck and threw her aside, brushing his hands off casually.
Frey landed next to Arthur after a mid-air pirouette, slightly frowning.
“My sword didn’t reach.”
“Feels sort of similar to dealing with that Wolf.”
“No, it’s more like a fight against Professor Karl.”
It felt like being pressed down by overwhelming skill.
Arthur, standing with his arms crossed, glanced at the man and bit his lip.
It seemed this guy was not someone they could take down through normal means.
…Wait, given the corridor’s scenery and that decaying appearance, could this man be a Wraith?
If he were someone who rejected death, then only…
“It’s impossible. Your Highness.”
Perhaps Arthur’s thoughts were evident because Paybi shook her head.
“This person is alive. And he possesses divine energy, too.”
So that’s how it is, they couldn’t rely on cheap tricks.
Tsk. Damn how thorough you are, Lucy Alrn.
“Now, I can’t keep my guests standing. Please, come in.”
The man, opening the door for them, extended an invitation that seemed highly suspicious.
So suspicious that Arthur found himself seriously questioning whether he was actually hiding some devious plot.
Honestly, he didn’t want to follow that invitation.
Giving the upper hand to an unknown stranger just didn’t sit right with him.
But the problem was that they had no choice.
What would they do if they didn’t step inside?
Would they be forced to wander the endless corridors again, just as they had not long ago?
In that case, it would be better to enter, fully aware it could be a trap, in hopes of finding some clue.
After all, despite looking messy, the room did appear to be an ordinary office, right?
It didn’t seem magically trapped, and since the Saintess hadn’t voiced any concern, it didn’t look like something sinister was lurking.
Even in the worst case, there might at least be some hints to uncover.
Just as Arthur wrapped up his thoughts, Joy, Paybi, and Frey all shifted their gazes towards him.
Their trusting eyes made Arthur feel the weight of expectation, but he wore a solemn face on the outside.
“Let’s go. Let’s see what Lucy Alrn has prepared.”
As Arthur took a step forward, the others followed him inside the room.
Once inside, the four of them caught a whiff of the dank, musty odor typical of a neglected house and began scanning their surroundings.
Just then, the man standing outside spoke ominously, “Welcome to the mansion. Please enjoy yourselves.”
What was that guy suddenly babbling about?
Arthur felt a sense of weirdness wash over him at the comment, and at that moment, the man abruptly closed the door.
Following that, cracks began to spread across the floor, and before Arthur’s party could react, the ground collapsed beneath them.
With nowhere to hold on, they plummeted downwards.
“Damn it! Joy! Take care of the Saintess!”
“Don’t worry!”
As Joy conjured wind magic to slow their descent, grabbing Paybi in the process, Arthur searched franticly for Frey.
Crap. Where the hell is she?
If they fell like this, neither would Frey make it out unscathed!
Amid the confusion, Arthur finally spotted Frey—not below but above!
“Turns out I worried for nothing.”
Frey was jumping on the falling debris like it was a trapeze act, staying suspended in mid-air.
How the heck is she doing that?!
At least it seemed like she wouldn’t be harmed by the fall.
Sick of the circus act, Arthur tore his gaze away from Frey to cast a spell for himself.
Before long, Arthur landed on the ground, shaking off debris from his head as he scanned the area.
So this is the entrance of the mansion, huh.
That insufferable jerk told me to enjoy the mansion, so now I have to look around for some clues.
sigh This is going to be another headache. I just wanted a leisurely exploration today and plan a thorough assault starting tomorrow.
“…Huh?”
As he observed his surroundings, Arthur froze at an object placed in the mansion’s center.
It was a recording device.
For Arthur, for his party, for anyone who had tackled the dungeon at the Academy before, it was a familiar piece of equipment.
“Why is the recording device here?”
The recording device—a unique installation replacing the safety zones in the Academy’s dungeons.
An apparatus allowing them to skip back up multiple floors in the labyrinth, so they wouldn’t have to climb from the first floor every single time.
What is it doing here?!
This device wasn’t present in the last room—why is it only here?
As Arthur pondered over the recording device, the entrance of the mansion opened, revealing a staircase leading downwards.
At that moment, glancing down the pitch-black staircase, Arthur felt a rush of urgency as he inspected the recording device.
“Zero Floor.”
The number displayed was unmistakable.
Every room they’d conquered so far had merely been a dream.
A tutorial designed to accustom the participants to the gimmicks.
So this is it.
The entrance to the mansion marks the beginning.
A true, proper dungeon.
“…I’m going insane.”
Having pieced it all together, Arthur scowled at the number zero, then broke into a wry smile.
*
“What kind of gimmick is that?! One mistake and you die?!”
Arthur yelled, unleashing his frustration as he got booted out from the boss room on the first floor.
A place where if you misjudge when to attack or when not to, it’s death, for heaven’s sake!
What kind of dungeon operates like this?!
“Haha! Poor Prince. Are you trying to gain sympathy with that pitiful appearance? If you want to beg for charity, there are better ways!”
The annoyingly high, clear, and teasing tone of a brat pierced his ears, and before he even turned, he knew who it was.
“Lucy Alrn. What are you doing here?”
Lucy Alrn, the girl Arthur had been cursing about only a moment ago, now looked down at him with a smirk.
“I just wanted to see the face of a loser.”
“…What?”
“Yup. Haha! Watching you squirm has been worth the wait. So how does it feel being stuck in a place so magnificent, you pathetic loser? Isn’t it great?!”
…This damned brat.
Not content with making him roll around in that horrible dungeon, now she was taunting him too.
“Why are you so silent? Is my dungeon truly so remarkable that your pathetic vocabulary can’t describe it?”
“Do you expect a response?”
“You could answer me, you know?”
“Of course, I could. But there’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
“Let me smack you on the head.”
Seeing her sass was too much to handle, Arthur couldn’t hold back his irritation.
So let’s just hit her on the head! Whether my punch will actually hurt her is another story, but after I unleash this frustration, I’ll give her an answer.
“Hmph. What? Are you that angry? Want to hit this tiny cute girl? How trashy of you!”
“I don’t need your permission to decline.”
Not like he meant it anyway. Just wanted to show how irritatingly annoyed he was. If she wouldn’t give him that chance…
“I never said I didn’t want to.”
“…What?”
Surprised by the unexpected answer, Arthur stared blankly as Lucy skipped over and presented her head to him.
…Wait. Are you actually telling me to hit you?
You want me to punch that tiny head?
I know you’re tough, but still…
“Ha. You really are pathetic. Even when given a chance, you’re hesitating. How could you still be called ‘a loser prince’ forever?”
As laughter bubbled from her, she took a step back, leaving Arthur in disbelief as she wandered over to Joy, who had just revealed herself.
Just like that, she discarded everything from earlier as if her little prank hadn’t meant a thing.
Left alone, Arthur covered his red face with both hands and made a new vow.
Once he successfully conquers the dungeon, he would definitely hit her on the head at least once!
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
