On a chilly day that had completely disappeared, the heat of early summer settled in.
Smack! The mayor slammed his desk, teeth gritted.
“So… you’re telling me that even the troops sent to investigate the underground waterways have gone missing?!”
The mayor couldn’t hide his shock as he put down the report he was reading and asked.
His reaction was understandable, considering the troops sent for the investigation were elite soldiers of the city.
“What on Earth is happening down there in the underground waterways?”
Not too long ago, there were reports of issues at the city’s sewage treatment facility, prompting the dispatch of personnel to investigate the underground waterways.
Strangely, they didn’t return.
Thus, a portion of the troops was sent in, but they too failed to come back. Realizing the anomaly, the city decided to send proper elite soldiers.
These were elite soldiers from a major city with an academy.
They were heavily armed and more capable than your average adventurers, yet they also vanished.
It was enough to leave the mayor bewildered.
“What on Earth is going on?”
His voice trembled in uncertainty. The secretary let out a heavy sigh.
“Why not request help from the Academy?”
Typically, in situations like this, it would be wise to entrust quests to adventurers. However, in this city, the Academy took the place of the adventurer guild.
Academy students receive ample training to solve such problems well and are not bad in combat, so it wasn’t strange for them to take on the adventurer role.
“Hmm… I wonder if that’s okay. What if we ask the Academy for help and they still fail?”
“If that happens, it could be a huge problem, so you might want to ask the instructors at the Academy to step in or request help from strong adventurers at the guilds in other cities.”
It’s best to resolve issues within the city as much as possible.
This city with an Academy is a neutral zone. No troops from various nations or other powers like adventurer guilds or churches are allowed to interfere.
But what happens if the city can’t solve its problems and calls for outside help?
The value of the neutral zone would significantly diminish.
The mayor, wanting to avoid that, nodded heavily.
“I hope the Academy can handle this well.”
In cities without adventurer guilds, issues typically end up as requests to the Academy.
The difficulty level of these requests varies widely.
Some are as simple as delivering goods to a nearby city, while others involve monster exterminations or even dangerous tasks like hunting down a great wyvern.
Those quests also provide students with practical experience, prompting the Academy to reward students with extra points for successfully completing them.
Proving this point, various request boards were scattered around the Academy, and students with low points or seeking scholarships often took on quests on their days off.
“Hmm…”
Standing at the Academy’s request board with his arms crossed, Ludwig was intently eyeing one specific quest.
It was an A-Class quest.
“An investigation of the underground waterways.”
There were problems at the sewage treatment facility located in the underground waterways. They had dispatched elite soldiers from the city for the investigation, yet they too had gone missing.
Thus, there was no limit on the number of participants for this quest, and the base combat requirements were set quite high.
As Ludwig eyed the request, a smile crept onto his face.
‘If we handle this quest, our class can get ahead!’
The rewards were quite tempting.
It offered a substantial amount of extra points and academic points, which could be used to purchase artifacts from the Academy’s shop, proving beneficial in the long run.
Nodding his head, Ludwig grabbed the request and headed to the classroom.
“So, we’re going to solve this quest, right?”
“Yeah.”
As soon as he arrived in the classroom, he approached Arisha.
Arisha was chatting with her friends, but her eyes sparkled as she looked at the request Ludwig had handed her.
Satisfied with her reaction, Ludwig crossed his arms, clearly enjoying the attention.
“As you all know, currently, our A-class is battling for first and second place in the grade scores.”
“So, we solve this and become 1st for sure?”
At the end of the semester, scores are compared among the classes to rank them. If they attain first place, the instructor receives a bonus, and the class gets the chance to relax at a special resort during the break.
“What special resort are we talking about?”
With curiosity, Ripa asked, and Ludwig beamed with confidence.
“It’s the empire’s pride, Emerald Beach! It’s not a place you can just go to whenever you want. People from across the continent with deep pockets often have trouble finding reservations.”
“Is it really that amazing?”
“It is. It’s operated by the imperial family themselves. I’d stake my honor on it; there’s no resort better than Emerald Beach.”
“Wow…!”
Not just Ripa, but the other students were also impressed.
They were worn out from tough classes and training, so the thought of a beautiful seaside resort was highly enticing.
“You get to stay in a luxurious room worth 100 gold coins per night. No one wants to miss that, right?”
“Definitely not a bad deal.”
Even the stoic Etel seemed interested, prompting Ludwig to survey the room.
It seemed there were no objections to attempting this quest.
“I’m in!”
“I’m on board too.”
“I-I also want to go!”
Arisha, Sowol, and Lena were all envisioning pink dreams in their heads.
They pictured sitting on the golden sands at sunset by the emerald sea, with none other than Lee Hyun by their side.
The thought of leaning against Lee Hyun and enjoying leisure at the fantastic resort made it impossible for them to hold back.
“Then I’ll go speak to the instructor…”
“Everyone, sit down.”
As the door opened and Lee Hyun walked in, everyone quickly returned to their seats.
Did he sense their excited expressions?
Lee Hyun looked perplexed and asked,
“What happened?”
“Teacher!”
As expected, it was Arisha, the class representative, who stepped forward.
When she raised her hand, Lee Hyun smiled, ready to hear her out as always.
“We want to take on this quest!!”
*
After reading the quest that Arisha handed me, I nodded.
This quest was the underground waterway battle, which could be considered the end of Chapter 1.
Is Chapter 1 really ending already?
Well, a lot has happened in the meantime.
I checked the request and nodded again.
“A request, huh. Normally, such requests are reserved for the second semester of the first year; it’s an unwritten rule of the Academy.”
“Huh?! Then can we not do it…?”
“But I believe you guys can pull it off. Actually, all the first-year students currently could.”
Not only my A-class but also all combat-related classes were displaying historically great skill.
Thus, even though we were still in the first semester, with the headmaster’s permission, it would be entirely possible for them to take on the request.
It worked that way in the game too.
“I’ll report this to the headmaster.”
“Yay!! Teacher is the best!!”
What’s the big deal about this?
By the way, if we were going to tackle the underground waterways, we needed to know a lot about it. Wonder if these kids are informed?
I immediately drew a map on the chalkboard. The underground waterway map was easy for me since I had memorized it beforehand.
“The underground waterway consists of three paths. To access the target location at the sewage treatment facility, you must operate the switches located at the ends of each of these three paths.”
“So, are you saying we need to split into groups of three?”
“Exactly.”
“What if we all go at once?”
“That’s not a bad idea, but I heard that the switches in the underground waterways revert back to their original state after a certain amount of time. Supposedly, this is for security reasons.”
“How do you know all this, Instructor?”
How do I know?
Because I read it in the game’s settings!
But I don’t need to mention that.
“This is basic knowledge. You all should study the facilities within the city as well. You never know when something might happen.”
“Yes~!”
They responded well.
Now we just need to form teams…
Eight people per team should be good, right? Just stick one spare anywhere.
“Arisha, Sowol, Lena. You girls will be the team leaders.”
“Okay!”
“Sure.”
“Got it!”
“Then where are you going, Instructor?”
One student raised a hand, and the three looked at me hopefully.
“Teacher! Go with me!”
“How about going with me?”
“I-I also want to go with you.”
Facing the intense gazes of the three, I made my decision.
“I’m heading in with Arisha.”
At my answer, Sowol and Lena looked disappointed, but Arisha wore a bright smile.
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