episode_0088

“Hooook huk keuk. Keueok.. .. Eugh..! Hooook..!”

With rough breaths echoing, two women and one man were running away.

Fortunately, the speed at which the monster was following was not very fast, but escaping was difficult because the form of the dungeon was still changing every moment.

A place that was clearly bare ground momentarily turned into a muddy swamp, and walls that weren’t there appeared.

Just moments ago, it was clearly a simple dungeon shape where rooms were just connected, but somehow, this place had become shaped like a valley of cliffs.

The only thing that hadn’t changed was the giant mantis-like monster chasing the escapees.

“Keuk… I’m sorry. Because of me…! Rather than being such a burden, I’d rather be bait…!”

“Don’t say that! Huk.. Huk”

“Yeah. Be quiet, it’s easier to carry you if you don’t talk.”

This person named Biyotte, unfortunately, got caught up in the dungeon’s transformation process and ended up severely injuring her leg.

Although she didn’t want to get hurt, it was undeniable that she was slowing down the team members who were escaping in the urgent current situation.

“Damn it… I’ve tried countless times… but I just can’t reach the academy side with communications…!”

It seems like the protection magic cast on us is also disconnected, trying to forcibly cast it is useless…

Just what… what should we do…!”

Biyotte, half in a panic, was trembling restlessly.

Then, suddenly, a vertically high wall appeared before the escaping group, blocking their path.

“Damn it, what is this now!”

“…! Over… over there! That way! Another cliff has been created on the opposite side!

I’ll create a path for a moment, so hurry and cross over!”

With those words, Princess Tiara placed her hand on the ground and injected magic power.

With this, a thin bridge leading to the opposite side was created, and at the same time, Smoking Joe, holding Biyotte in his arms, ran across in one go.

“Princess! Now all you have to do is come over!”

Just as Tiara was about to cross the bridge with the monster chasing right behind her, following Smoking Joe’s shout.

“Kiiiiiik!”

Bang!

The monster attacked Tiara, who was crossing the bridge, with a bizarre sound.

Fortunately, Tiara reacted to this and dodged the attack by a step, but the temporarily created bridge could not withstand the impact.

Soon, with a cracking sound, it collapsed, and Tiara, who was on it, also fell downwards due to gravity.

“Princess!”

Words burst simultaneously from the mouths of both Biyotte and Smoking Joe.

Biyotte, a mage, hurriedly squeezed out what little magic power she had left and cast telekinesis towards her, but it couldn’t reach.

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

What was beneath the unseen floor of the dungeon, which had suddenly turned into a cliff, was surprisingly a river.

Fortunately, falling into the water significantly reduced the impact of the fall.

However, the current was so strong that she couldn’t even swim; she was busy sticking her head out of the water to catch her breath.

It was only a moment until she reached the waterfall that flowed towards the bottom of the dungeon.

She had no time to scream, and falling again, she was swallowed by the infinitely deep darkness.

…

“Eum… Eum…?”

On the damp and wet ground, a girl with black hair, green eyes, and freckles opened her eyes.

She seemed to be trying to process what had just happened, holding her head and squeezing her eyes shut.

Then, she observed her surroundings to see where she was now.

The sound of dripping water could be heard in the darkness.

Amidst that, the occasional calls of unknown beasts echoing.

And the sound of something chewing and tearing.

The rustling sound, like an insect crawling, was heard at a size that could not possibly come from the body of an insect.

Finally, screams that sounded like someone’s death throes.

Even considering it was a dungeon, an especially eerie and unpleasant atmosphere lingered.

She wasn’t sure which part of the dungeon this was, but she was relieved that her life was still intact.

“No time for this. I need to move quickly… Keuk!”

Just as she was about to stand up, her brows furrowed at the pain felt in her lower body.

Carefully lowering her gaze, she saw that one of her legs was a mess.

Not only was it covered in bruises everywhere, but the bone was broken, and the broken bone was even tearing through the flesh and sticking out.

She had not been conscious of the pain due to adrenaline and dizziness, but she belatedly hugged her leg.

“Kraaak… Eugh… Eugh…!”

The dungeon suddenly changed form, and the monsters became stronger and more enraged.

This was clearly a real-time dungeon rank increase, which had only been mentioned in textbooks.

This place was no longer a lowest-rank F-grade dungeon but had transformed into a dangerous deathtrap where lives could be lost.

Furthermore, it seemed the dungeon’s property of blocking external magic had been strengthened, as the communication magic connected to the academy and protection magic were completely unresponsive.

Amidst that, she had been separated far from her team members, making rescue even more difficult.

Still, if only her body were fine, but one leg was brutally shattered.

What should she do now? Tears welled up in her eyes from despair.

Thinking about it, it was truly unfair.

To begin with, she wasn’t the real princess.

An idiot who didn’t even remember her own past or her parents’ faces, other than her name.

She was just acting like this to repay ‘that person’ who took her in, and for the stability of the nation.

Perhaps she didn’t need to come to the academy, nor did she have a reason to fall into such a dangerous situation.

Princess Tiara Altalion, the daughter of the Emperor, had lost her life long ago.

She had languished from a severe illness whose cause was not even identified and died.

Since there was already Crown Prince Vissis Altalion, there was no concern about succession.

The problem was that the Emperor cherished his daughter more than anyone else.

The one he took as his first wife was none other than the woman who had been with him since his childhood.

He had relied on and depended on that existence, perhaps unconsciously, and when she died, he grieved as if the sky had fallen.

Still, it was okay for a while; he had blood relatives born between him and her.

Instead, those feelings soon turned towards his children, especially the princess who resembled her exactly.

Amidst that, when the remaining princess also died, he ended up losing the one he loved most in the world twice.

The Emperor, unable to accept the princess’s death, hid her death and transformed into a tyrant from the wise ruler he had been before.

Instead of taking care of the country, he indulged in pleasure and committed all sorts of tyranny to fill the void in his heart.

Numerous vassals and the Crown Prince tried to stop the Emperor’s atrocities, but their force was all futile.

Furthermore, the Emperor’s actions became increasingly drastic, and he was on the verge of declaring war on the entire world.

But then, that person, who was like her savior, appeared and proposed a solution.

To use the magic that they were researching with the Tower Master to create a fake Tiara Altalion, that is, to set up someone to act as the dead princess, to deceive the Emperor.

Of course, there were those who opposed, but as the lesser evil compared to the worst, this plan, secretly established to quell the immediate situation, was put into action.

And she was perfect for such a mission because she had no records of family, past, or connections with others.

As if born and made for this mission.

Anyway, that person’s plan was successful.

Seeing her, who looked exactly like Tiara Altalion thanks to the power of magic and artifacts, the Emperor thought all that had happened was a cruel nightmare and returned to his form as a wise ruler.

He understood it as his daughter, who had been in such a severe state that she was mistakenly thought dead, had miraculously succeeded in being cured.

He seemed to have accepted that her slightly awkward behavior and slightly different personality or way of speaking were sequelae from the severe illness and the treatment process.

Partly because the magic’s performance made her perfectly resemble the princess, but perhaps it also succeeded because the Emperor himself denied the princess’s death.

And that person who led the plan was soon recognized by the Emperor as the hero who cured his daughter and became the second person he loved and trusted most in this land.

Life as the princess was truly stifling.

Lest the Emperor notice anything, those who had agreed to the plan proceeded with the procedure of erasing each other’s memories using artifacts.

Not only that, to completely seal off any gaps, that person cast another magic on her through the Tower Master.

Magic to make no one in this world perceive her true self, ‘Meiru’, the existence whose name she now barely remembers, not the princess.

They may see that appearance but not recall. They may hear that voice but not listen attentively. They may perceive that existence but not remember.

That magic, which was like a curse, was the only way to repay the grace bestowed upon her and her duty.

…But what is the use of all that now?

In the end, she has ended up in this unhappy situation here.

Worrying about whether someone else would play Tiara Altalion after she died was a concern that came much later.

The first thing that came to mind was… not that person who took her in, but the face of a man she met by chance a few months ago.

That man with the same black hair, whose playful yet warm smile was charming.

That man who listened to her problems as if they were his own and comforted her.

That man who was so annoying yet impossible to hate.

Ropel Teufel.

She wishes he would appear before her just as he usually is.

And say trivial things and be her conversational partner.

The only one who remembers her own existence, ‘Meiru’, not the false mask of Princess Tiara Altalion.

She misses him so much.

Ah… damn it… consciousness is gradually blurring with the pain.

…Perhaps it would be better to just pass out comfortably than to keep being in pain.

Where will she be when she opens her eyes again?

Will she be miraculously rescued and placed in the academy’s emergency room?

Will she be at the bottom of this still unpleasant, damp, humid dungeon?

Or will she be in the stomach of a giant monster?

If she’s going to die anyway, she wishes it would all be over while she’s unconscious.

…

…

I want to live.

…

I want to see you.

…

Ropel…