Chapter: 309
The expelled Prince Kurten of Lahvi was glaring at the entrance of the dungeon.
The sulky posture was palpable, causing the others who had entered the dungeon with him to chuckle heh heh.
“Hey, Kurten. We should be mad, not you. Why are you so annoyed?”
“Right? You ruined everything.”
Despite the casual tone when dealing with the second son of the Ducal Family, Kurten didn’t get angry; instead, he hunched his massive shoulders.
“Ugh. Sorry. It just felt over when I thought about it.”
“Hahaha. At least you know you messed up.”
He was surprisingly simple-minded for someone from the Ducal Family.
Among those who knew him, Kurten was referred to as a Minotaur in human form due to his enormous size and overwhelming strength that had no equal in the current academy.
Coupled with his gentle demeanor, akin to a livestock animal, Kurten was loved by those around him despite his intimidating size.
Even when he made a blunder right before passing the third room of the Dungeon Studies Exam, his party didn’t get too mad, largely thanks to his personality.
“Were you that frustrated?”
“Hmm. Very much so. It felt like tiptoeing around a room full of chicks.”
The third room was filled with numerous golems.
These fiends shaped like devils were not as powerful as the knights from the first room or the wolf-men from the second.
In fact, it was an insult to compare them to those two. Golems were weak enough that even ordinary students from the academy could easily take them down.
Instead, they presented a different level of annoyance compared to the previous two opponents.
You had to defeat only the marked enemies.
Every time you took down an unmarked enemy, the other golems would gradually grow stronger, eventually transforming into monsters that you couldn’t defeat. So, a reckless attack in the third room was not allowed.
Additionally, the goes were adept at discerning which golems needed to stay standing and which could fall.
They would gladly throw themselves to protect the marked golems, with some even charging in just to fall on purpose.
Thanks to this, Kurten’s party faced considerable hardship in this room.
How could it not be tough when the golems that would shatter if you just attacked were practically begging to be killed help me, please?
Yet, maybe it’s true that strong people are strong.
After some trial and error, Kurten’s party became accustomed to the third room and ultimately found themselves right on the brink of success.
Now, all they had to do was deal with three remaining golems. At that moment, blinded by success, Kurten revealed his overwhelming strength that he had been saving up until now.
He aimed to clear the third room by smashing all the remaining golems, including the three left.
“Who would have thought the other golems would build walls to protect the remaining ones?”
The intent wasn’t bad, but that didn’t mean the outcome could be good.
Kurten’s attack failed to wipe out the remaining golems, and thus, his party was thrown out of the dungeon.
“Now that you’ve made such a huge mistake, you won’t do something like that again, right?”
“Of course not. I can’t possibly do something that stupid again.”
“Good. Let’s try again. This time we can clear it.”
In the cheery atmosphere, just as Kurten’s party was about to re-enter the dungeon, the Dungeon Studies instructor appeared in the testing ground.
“Everyone! Look this way!”
When the instructor using sound amplification magic shouted, those lingering in the exam room turned their heads.
Confirming that attention was on him, the instructor unfolded a notice and continued speaking.
“From today onwards, hints for the final exam dungeon will be provided for those who wish! However, please be aware that accepting a hint will incur a penalty on your final exam score, and you won’t be recognized as the first clearers, so be cautious!”
The instructor added a few more explanations afterward.
The penalty would apply to the entire party.
If you saw a hint, a spell of non-disclosure would be cast, preventing you from sharing it with others.
The hints would only serve as help, not direct answers.
Once the instructor finished explaining, students in the testing room exchanged glances.
No one stepped forward since they couldn’t tell whether the content of the hints was actually worth it.
In the midst of that awkward silence, a party of second-year students stepped forward first.
“Did you confirm the penalties?”
“Yes. We have no interest in being the first clearers anyway.”
“Then take this. From the moment you unfold the paper, only you can see its contents.”
“I hope it contains a shocking hint~”
As the second-year students unfolded the hint, all eyes went to them.
Although sharing the hint was impossible, it was possible to gauge the students’ reactions after reading it.
So, they could deduce the hint’s value by observing how the other students reacted before deciding whether or not to take a hint.
Standing amongst a crowd of superficial students, the second-year party opened the hint while humming a tune.
Before long, their expressions hardened,
and midway through, they scrunched their brows and started cursing.
By the end, they tore the hint paper apart and even went as far as to burn it to ashes.
Seeing that, the other students thought, “So that hint must have been useless. Good thing we didn’t step up.” They viewed the second-year students as foolish.
However, the second-year party who had seen the hint seemed unbothered by the gazes and murmurs directed at them, their faces flushed in anger as they headed toward the dungeon entrance.
“Seriously, that sucked.”
“Ha. Damn it. It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been this riled up.”
“Can’t we just show them we’re not cowards?”
“We’ll find out who’s shoddy and who’s not eventually.”
Each of them spat out curses, determined before entering the dungeon. Not long after, their names shot up from the lower ranks.
They who had struggled to even pass the first room suddenly succeeded in clearing it right after seeing the hint.
“…What the heck was written in that hint?”
“Should I try getting a hint too?”
“The fact that they cleared it means I can too.”
Cheerfully, those who unfolded the hint naturally came to understand why the second-year students were cursing.
‘…I’ll only go as far as today♡ You shoddy trash like you will certainly come back for hints tomorrow♡ Puhahaha♡ Imagining your pathetic figures coming to get hints despite knowing you’ll be ridiculed is hilarious♡ Defeated ones♡ See you next time~♡’
‘PS. Are you mad?♡ Want to punish the one who wrote this?♡ Then clear the dungeon to prove you’re not sloppy♡ Only then will I say “I’m sorry”♡ Of course, there’s no way you shoddy shoddy shoddy people can clear the wonderful dungeon I created~♡’
‘Don’t tell me you expected something hidden and looked at the back?♡ Puhahaha♡ Sorry~♡ There’s nothing there~♡’
That day, everyone who saw the hints for the Dungeon Studies exam made one determination in their hearts.
To teach that provocative hint-writer a lesson about manners.
*
Before the Dungeon Studies instructor appeared in the academy’s testing ground,
Arthur’s group, who arrived early in the morning, was already inside the dungeon.
“I guess seeing this often has made even this wolf look cute now.”
Ignoring Joy’s silly remarks, Arthur kicked the wolf’s body to knock it down, pressing down on his weary eyelids.
“Your Highness the Third Prince, did you not get a proper sleep last night?”
Perhaps worried, Phoebe approached, and Arthur forced a smile.
“Trying to think about dungeon strategies on top of preparing for the exam left me unable to sleep.”
Originally, to maintain his condition, Arthur had tried to force himself to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes,
he heard a voice saying, ‘How can you sleep after being steamrolled by a common student? You pathetic shoddy lazy bum. Just pitiful~’,
making it impossible for him to rest at all.
“Your Highness, didn’t we already figure out the strategy?”
At those words, Frey, who was beside him, tilted her head.
“Right.”
Last night, Arthur’s group had roughly established a strategy for the third room.
It wouldn’t be perfect, but it was adequate, at least enough to pass through the third room.
If they hadn’t hit the entrance time limit, Arthur’s group would have already cleared the third room and challenged the fourth.
“But, we’ll have to go through that room dozens, maybe hundreds of times. It’s better to optimize it now.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right, so just follow my lead. After we enter the third room, I’ll explain what to do.”
Seeing the others focus their attention, Arthur recited the plan he had devised while staying up all night.
“First, as soon as we enter, Joy, you’ll prepare a spell to attack the entire field. And…”
Listening quietly, Joy frowned at the strange sense of déjà vu.
Wait, didn’t I hear this somewhere before?
This method that seemed to lure the opponent into a pre-set trap was surely…
“Joy, are you listening?”
“Oh, this is Lady Allen’s method, isn’t it?”
Right. That’s it. This is how Lady Allen tackles dungeons.
She moves as if she knows everything about the dungeon, having everything mapped out in advance.
Realizing the source of her déjà vu, Joy’s lips slightly curled up, but suddenly she felt the surrounding air get still and cautiously lifted her head.
Arthur, who had been chatting happily just moments ago, was now staring blankly, eyes wide open.
“Your Highness?”
“…Ha. Is that so? Was I unconsciously imitating her?”
“Um.”
“It’s nothing. Joy. Don’t worry about it.”
Joy thought, “It’s not nothing,” but she kept those words to herself.
For some reason, Arthur seemed irritated that he realized he had followed Lucy’s method.
“Continuing from the explanation I was just giving…”
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