chapter_0039

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
39

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
39

After Lucy entered, Joy felt
as though the atmosphere of the entrance to the dungeon had changed
for some reason.

There was no such feeling
before, but why did it become so chilling the moment Lucy stepped
inside?

As this was Joy’s first time
entering a dungeon, she looked around, but couldn’t find anyone else
who seemed to think it was strange.

Is this how it’s supposed to
be?

Joy tilted her head in
confusion and then followed Lucy into the dungeon.

Crossing just one door, the
atmosphere completely changed.

What once seemed like a
laboratory now appeared abandoned following some accident—an
unfamiliar sight to Joy.

In the middle of all this,
with arms crossed, Lucy was inspecting the way out of the room, her
brows furrowed.

Lucy, who always wore an
annoying expression, now had a serious look on her face.

Joy realised that this person
could actually concentrate when needed.

To be honest, Joy didn’t trust
Lucy that much.

She still remembered Lucy’s
unruly behaviour at social gatherings.

Lucy getting trained by
knights from the Allen Family?

Sure, she might have received
some training.

But learning something and
putting it into practice are entirely different matters.

Although the knights of the
Allen Family are certainly among the best on the continent, that
didn’t instill any trust in Lucy.

The numerous rumours
circulating suggested that Lucy wasn’t someone who would improve just
because she received training.

So why did Joy yield command
to Lucy? The reason wasn’t grand at all.

She simply got provoked by
Lucy. She handed over the command to Lucy in a way that basically
said, “If you’re so confident, handle it yourself and face the
consequences.”

So, Joy regretted handing over
command to Lucy out of frustration.

She wondered if it was okay to
entrust command to a troublemaker like Lucy during the Academy’s
entrance exam.

But it was impossible to take
back her emotional outburst.

For some reason, Joy didn’t
want to admit her mistake in front of Lucy.

‘It was strange.

Was I always someone who got
this angry?

Why do I become so impulsive
just by standing in front of Lady Lucy?’

Joy couldn’t understand
herself.

Until she met Lady Lucy
yesterday, she had been determined to avoid getting involved with
her, but now she found herself constantly clashing with her.

With the sound of stepping on
debris, Jacob was the last to enter the dungeon.

As soon as everyone entered
the dungeon, the entrance disappeared without a trace.

Now, there were only two ways
to get out of this place.

Either conquer the dungeon, or
use the emergency escape magic tool given by the interviewers when
they entered.

Using the latter meant
disqualification from the Academy entrance exam, so there was
essentially only one method.

To conquer the dungeon.

“Airhead Lady.”

Joy frowned at the sound of
someone calling her.

‘Has she decided to just
call me Airhead Lady instead of my name?

Just wait. These moments won’t
last much longer. After the exam is over, you’ll be the Rowdy Lady,
and I’ll be Lady Joy of the Duke’s family!’

“Small fry.”

Still, Joy had it slightly
better. At least she was addressed as Lady.

Compared to her, Jacob, who
was of lower rank and status than Lucy, had not even retained his own
name.

‘Small fry. Isn’t that too
much?

At the very least, she should
call him by his name.

Thinking about it, she didn’t
even address me by my name, so it’s natural she wouldn’t call Jacob
Riz by his.’

“As I mentioned before,
I’ll take the lead instead of you amateurs. I’ll go ahead, so watch
the rear and follow. Even if you’re inexperienced in dungeons, you
should at least be able to do that, right?”

What? Is she acting arrogant
just because she’s cleared a dungeon once?

She probably stood behind
while Allen’s Knight Order led the charge!

Joy complained inwardly but
didn’t show it outwardly.

The time wasn’t right yet.

Just wait for her to make a
mistake.

Then Joy would pick on her
until she was teary-eyed!

Unfortunately for Joy, such a
situation never arose.

From what Joy, who had only
studied dungeons in books, could see, Lucy’s leadership was almost
flawless.

“There’s a trap ahead
that thinks we are idiots. Whoever set this up must have thought
everyone else would fall for it just because they did.”

Lucy never missed a trap that
the academy had set up during her scouting.

Moreover, since she knew
exactly how to dismantle the traps, Joy and Jacob had nothing to do
when a trap appeared.

If they just stayed behind,
Lucy handled everything by herself.

Jacob, feeling uneasy about
Lucy doing everything alone, tried to help her, but Lucy firmly
rejected his assistance.

“You small fry. Are you
trying to mess things up with your sloppy hands? Stay put.”

Her tone was somewhat harsh,
but even Joy had to admit that Lucy’s judgement was correct.

Although this was Joy’s first
time meeting Jacob, he seemed clumsy to her.

Maybe this was his first time
in a dungeon too?

If this were a practice
session, things might have been different, but this place was for the
exam.

They couldn’t afford to give
Jacob a role when he seemed likely to make mistakes.

Joy, seeing Jacob looking
dejected, tried to comfort him.

“It’s okay. Everyone has
their own role.”

For some reason, after hearing
Joy’s words, Jacob trembled his lips and slumped his shoulders even
more.

‘Why is he getting even more
discouraged?!

I just tried to comfort him.

Was it my tone? Or my actions?
Did I choose the wrong words?

Ugh. I can’t guess at all.

I should just keep my mouth
shut and stay quiet. Talking any further would only lower morale.’

Feeling the sombre mood of the
party, Joy started missing the people around her.

‘Older Brother!

The other Ladies who are also
taking the academy exam!

Where have you all gone? I
miss you all so much today!’

Lucy’s skills didn’t end
at just finding traps. She also showcased her excellent abilities in
tracking.

“There will be three old
rock fossils around the corner. I’ll go ahead and distract those
antiques, so you sloppy slackers support from behind. You can at
least manage that, right?”

Sure enough, as soon as they
turned the corner, three human-shaped golems were there waiting for
them.

Two golems holding something
like clubs and one with a staff standing at a slight distance behind
them.

Experiencing a real battle for
the first time, Joy tensed her lips and prepared her magic while Lucy
dashed forward.

“You worn-out trash!♡ Are
your joints creaking because they’re broken?♡”

Taunting the golems, which had
neither intelligence nor emotions, seemed pointless to Joy.

‘Is she trying to boost her
confidence as some kind of self-suggestion?’

But as soon as Lucy finished
speaking, the golems’ gazes collectively shifted to her.

Almost as if they understood
what she said.

‘What is going on here?’

Though she couldn’t understand
it, Joy thought it was a question for later. It was time to help
Lucy.

If she did nothing now, Lucy
would undoubtedly belittle her with that tiny mouth of hers again.

At the very least, she didn’t
want to be further disrespected by Lady Lucy!

First, she needed to support
Lady Lucy.

Slowing down the golems’
movements with magic and then providing firepower support afterwards
would be a good plan.

“Cruel wind of winter.”

As Joy chanted, she drew a
magic circle with threads of magic.

It depicted a wind from the
north that froze everything in its path.

As soon as the magic circle
was completed, ice formed on the ground and trapped the golems’ feet.

Seizing the opportunity as the
golems staggered from the sudden immobilisation, Lucy didn’t waste a
second.

The mace in her hand swung and
smashed one of the golem’s heads.

‘Good. The first move was
perfect.

Now, for the next spell.’

“Dim-witted Lady, stop
fooling around and save your magic.”

Just as Joy was about to cast,
Lucy interrupted her.

“These old clunkers can be
disposed of by myself. Don’t waste your pitifully weak magic.”

Although Lucy’s words
irritated her for a moment, Joy didn’t argue further and followed her
instructions.

Magic wasn’t infinite.
Conserving it was indeed wise.

Lucy, as she had declared,
leisurely dealt with the remaining two golems.

She blocked their attacks with
her shield to create an opening, and then shattered their heads with
single strikes, making the golems seem like insignificant opponents.

“Is it because it’s the
entrance exam? The monsters are weak.”

“Jacob, you’d have a hard
time dealing with those.”

“What?”

Joy, who had received basic
self-defence training as part of the Duke’s family, could make a fair
guess about the strength of their opponents moving before them.

The golems were not weak.
Despite their slowness, their deliberate movements suggested they
were formidable foes.

But Lucy was even stronger
than that.

What would happen if Jacob,
who seemed clumsy even holding a weapon, got surrounded by those
three golems?

There was no need to ask. He’d
be knocked out by their clubs and disqualified immediately.

“You two.”

Despite nearly taking on the
three golems alone, Lucy wasn’t even short of breath.

Her stamina had greatly
improved.

Where was the Lucy who used to
pant and lean against the stair railings for a break?

“Hurry up. We have no
time to rest.”

Among Lucy’s many abilities,
the one that impressed Joy the most was her knack for finding the
way.

There shouldn’t be any
difference for Lucy or Joy, both were entering this dungeon for the
first time, yet Lucy had an uncanny way of navigating.

It wasn’t just the visible
paths.

She found hidden passages as
if she had constructed the dungeon herself.

“Lady Lucy, how do you
manage to find the paths so well?”

So amazed by this, Joy forgot
to address her dismissively and asked straightaway.

Then, as Lucy entered a hidden
passage, she turned slightly and gave her usual annoying smile.

“Are you curious?”

“Yes.”

“Keep being curious. I
won’t tell you.”

The golems in the dungeon were
practically ancient relics.

One hit with a mace and they’d
crumble like worn-out junk.

It felt strange.

Even with Joy’s adequate
support, should it really be this easy?

I feel like the golems in the
games were much tougher than this.

Could it be that they adjusted
the difficulty for the Academy entrance exam?

That must be it. There’s no
other reason why this would be so easy for me.

Thanks to that, I was able to
keep going without taking a single break.

If the combat had been more
intense, I would have needed to rest, but it was manageable this
time.

So, we arrived at the boss
room of the dungeon in less than an hour.

“At this pace, this must
be one of the best records in the long history of Soul Academy,
right?”

I was expecting a response,
but there was no answer.

When I turned around, I saw
the two of them struggling to catch their breaths, unable to even
lift their heads.

…Oh. Did I push them too
hard?

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