Chapter 51: The Saintess of Calamity and the Puppeteer

‘I should probably pull out Syria’s tongue today to ensure my ears remain intact.’

Luckily, today’s class is outdoors.

In other words, it’s the perfect opportunity for me to quietly bury Syria using magic.

“If that mouth of yours runs even one more—”

“Quiet down over there. Don’t forget that today is about dungeon exploration.”

Yet, I was the one who ended up taking the hit.

Today was the day we were supposed to explore the dungeon with Adran.

Since I was standing right behind Adran, I was the one he scolded.

And, of course, Syria was right next to me.

I shot a glance at Syria.

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

‘Ignoring her is probably the only solution.’

“Professor?”

Syria raised her hand and called out to Adran.

“What is it?”

“The Atlerina education system I know seems completely different from this. Isn’t dungeon training supposed to start next year?”

Syria asked a question that many of the students were likely curious about.

It was a reasonable question.

After all, Atlerina Academy, filled with noble students, typically delayed dangerous activities like dungeon training until the third year.

“Of course, that was true until a few days ago.”

“Was there a particular reason for the change?”

Syria was the type to be curious about many things—probably just as much as she was about food.

“All the nobles dropped out, leaving only you lot. The weak have been weeded out, and only the strong remain.”

Indeed, with the central nobles ousted, all that was left were the capable ones.

But there was a glaring issue with this approach.

“By suddenly changing the curriculum, what would happen to the commoners who were less skilled compared to the central nobles?”

“But there are still commoners left, aren’t there?”

“That’s your problem to figure out.”

‘Wow, what a flawed education system.’

“What?”

“I’ve heard that many of you are from provincial military families. Naturally, you must have a fair amount of combat experience. So, today’s class is simple. For those entering a dungeon for the first time, ensure you come out unscathed. Those designated as party leaders must guide their teams successfully through the dungeon. Essentially, if you clear the dungeon safely, you’ll get good marks.”

So, that’s how grades would be determined.

Well, it made sense.

This shift might be Atlerina’s way of restoring its reputation.

They had transitioned from a status-based, traditional noble education system to a practical one.

‘Maybe this was the dean’s plan all along.’

“Are other departments operating this way as well? Has everything shifted entirely to practical training?”

“Not entirely wrong. Think of it as learning what would typically be taught in the third year now.”

“Dungeon training, huh.”

‘This brings back memories.’

The memory of throwing my 12-year-old sister into a dungeon came flooding back.

Her face at the time was unforgettable—she looked utterly betrayed.

But there had been no other choice.

Noelle and I were orphans back then.

We had to become stronger.

When Eugene once asked me about my sister, I told him the story.

• “You cursed me for everything, yet you abandoned your sister in a dungeon? And in the Land of Ruin, no less? Were you trying to kill her?”
• “What nonsense. I entered a dungeon when I was eight. I actually waited four years for her.”
• “You’re insane.”

Eugene had labeled me as trash for abandoning my sister.

Thinking back, ‘Why did I deserve that?’

“Is there a dungeon nearby we’re heading to?”

This time, I asked a question.

“During the Demon King’s era, the Demon King’s army used dungeons near the imperial capital for sabotage against the kingdom-supporting empire.”

“Ah.”

‘So it’s that place.’

About a year ago, the Demon King’s army had targeted the imperial capital.

They used dungeons to carry out acts of terror, aiming to hinder the empire’s involvement.

Surprisingly, the plan worked, and the empire couldn’t interfere in the kingdom’s affairs while dealing with the dungeons.

Fortunately, the kingdom’s major battle ended when I drove out one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“The dungeon has been cleared by the Hero’s Party, but monsters still appear frequently, making it suitable for training.”

“I see.”

‘That’s not too bad.’

Honestly, I’d wondered when they’d use that dungeon for training.

The fact that it was being used right after the fall of the central nobles suggested previous opposition from the nobles.

“And since it’s the first practical session, we’ll go as a group. As I mentioned earlier, Olivia and Syria, both of you must lead the students effectively.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go separately, considering even the Saintess is here?”

Syria sure was curious—and probably just as hungry.

“That’s precisely why we must be cautious. The Saintess and the mage, you two, will lead the students together to clear the dungeon.”

‘What? I have to work with Syria? Together?’

‘I’d rather do it alone.’

Even the Hero’s Party kicked me out once before.

‘There’s no way I can share a space with this loudmouthed doll-obsessed freak.’

“Ugh.”

“Don’t be so openly disdainful.”

“Would you like it if you were in my shoes?”

I pushed away the clinging puppeteer.

“Think of her as a rival rather than a friend?”

“That makes even less sense.”

‘Where does she get off acting friendly?’

“Then think of her as another woman?”

“Still not happening.”

‘At this point, I’d prefer that brat from the Rivelte family. At least with them, there’d be no conflict if I didn’t interfere.’

Since it was just a training dungeon, Syria would probably handle everything herself.

“Maybe this is fate?”

“No, it’s just a pain in the neck.”

‘Why does she have to be so annoying?’

Still, Syria was good at her job, so cooperating in the dungeon was the logical choice.

That was likely the whole point of this practical session.

We finally arrived at the dungeon entrance.

Its grand exterior alone was enough to make one’s heart swell with awe.

Adran surveyed us at the entrance before speaking.

“The purpose of today’s session is solely practice. The monsters you’ll face will be manageable. It’ll be a fight worth having. I wish you all the best of luck.”

“This suddenly?”

‘Starting out of nowhere like this… This is totally my style.’

‘Right. With things like this, you just dive in and see what happens.’

“Syria, is there any point in talking anymore? Even the Saintess next to you is staying quiet.”

“Hehe, sorry.”

Syria was truly useless.

And so, dungeon training began.

***

We led the students into the dungeon.

At first, I thought some of them might defy me, but it seemed my reputation as the Saintess who defeated the succubus in Ashtar preceded me.

Even the provincial nobles followed me without hesitation.

Considering the usual dynamics between nobles and the church, this wasn’t too surprising.

“Wow. I’ve never seen a dungeon like this before.”

It really did have a well-structured maze-like design.

“Really? Doesn’t the Mage Tower visit dungeons often?”

“Yes, but the dungeons near the imperial capital were created because of the Four Heavenly Kings, weren’t they?”

To be precise, this dungeon was created by Zerato, one of their subordinates.

Though Zerato lacked significant skills, he managed to create a few dungeons to distract the empire’s attention.

“That’s true.”

“Artificial dungeons are different from natural ones, aren’t they?”

“Exactly.”

Artificial dungeons have their difficulty influenced by the Dungeon Master’s power.

Once cleared, their difficulty tends to decrease, but…

“Let’s move forward together.”

Something felt off.

“Wait a moment.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Something’s strange.”

This was a dungeon I had cleared before.

But something about it felt unusual, as though someone had tampered with it.

It could have been remodeled for training purposes by Atlerina, but even so, the mana flow was off.

“What is?”

“The dungeon has an unusual feel to it.”

I decided not to share everything with Syria, so I kept it vague.

“Really? Ah, well, that’s probably because the mages remodeled it. You might sense multiple mana flows.”

“No, that’s not it.”

To my knowledge, the only person who worked on this dungeon was Adran, a court mage.

After I cleared this dungeon, I specifically instructed Adran to remodel it.

At that time, Zerato had gained strength from the traitor Clanis, and the mana circuits were intact.

While the dungeon was cleared, layering multiple mana sources over it would risk it going berserk.

“That’s why only a skilled mage like Adran handled the modification.”

“There’s no way the empire would do something this reckless.”

Especially during the Demon King’s era, when they wouldn’t have wasted resources on unnecessary tasks with mages.

Moreover…

“Uh, Saintess, doesn’t this path look strange?”

“It does.”

Artificial dungeons often reflect the Dungeon Master’s preferences.

Zerato’s dungeons usually felt rugged, like wild and untamed places.

From the entrance to here, however, the path had a polished, organized look—clearly a result of Adran covering the area with mana.

The problem was…

“It’s like someone dug it all up, preparing for construction.”

“Exactly.”

It had a subtly different feel to it.

“Could another mage have come to modify it?”

Syria asked curiously, her observation surprisingly sharp.

The other students perked up at Syria’s words, intrigued.

“I don’t think so.”

“Aw, even the Saintess doesn’t know? But look, doesn’t this look like someone came and worked on it?”

Now that I thought about it, Syria wasn’t there when it happened.

It wasn’t something I’d shared, so no one knew about the modifications.

On top of that, there were recent signs of tampering.

Signs that resembled Zerato’s methods.

If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, this couldn’t be dismissed.

The traces of Zerato were here.

Or worse, Zerato himself might be present.

“This is bad.”

“Excuse me?”

“The demonic energy here is incredibly thick.”

From deep below, I could feel a dense concentration of demonic energy.

There was a high chance that Zerato himself was here.

‘That bastard hasn’t let go of his obsession with the empire.’

“It does feel ominous, but isn’t this just for training?”

‘If it were truly just for training, I wouldn’t be reacting like this.’

“If we go down there, the students will die from demonic energy poisoning.”

“Is it that severe?”

Syria could survive, given her rank as a top-tier mage from the Mage Tower.

The others, however, were a different story.

The remaining students might have some combat capability, but the demonic energy below was overwhelmingly thick.

“So, what should we do?”

“Demonic energy can simply be purified, right?”

‘True, if it’s just demonic energy.’

“I’m saying this in case there’s something worse down there. Even if not, structures like this go berserk when multiple mana sources are combined.”

Whether Zerato was here or not, leaving this as it was would be a disaster.

“Then—”

“We leave.”

The dungeon may be well-secured, but in these troubled times, if it exploded, there’d be backlash against the council.

The council, heavily populated by Atlerina graduates, only maintained its position due to swift actions like this.

‘But if the dungeon exploded now?’

It would serve as proof that the council failed to prevent dungeon-related terrorism in the past.

“Let’s go back.”

“There was no need to risk anything unnecessarily.”

“There were plenty of other dungeons to choose from, and Atlerina’s quick resolution allowed for some leeway.”

“Really? I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at them. The students are already in chaos.”

I glanced over, and the students did indeed seem to be in a frenzy.

“If I achieve what those noble brats couldn’t, my parents will be proud!”

“With this many people, it’ll be over in no time!”

“Let’s wipe out all the monsters!”

‘Idiots.’