chapter_0042

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
42

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
42

At Joy’s question about where
we were, I could provide an answer.

I knew what this place was,
what monsters would appear, and even at what level we’d faced them in
the game, including strategies for tackling them.

But right now, all that was
meaningless.

What’s the use of knowing
the monsters if we couldn’t defeat them?

What’s the use of knowing
the dungeon strategies when we couldn’t execute them?

What we needed now wasn’t
useless knowledge.

I knelt down in front of Joy
and lifted her chin with my fingers.

Even with her tear-streaked
face trembling with fear and betrayal, she looked like a Villainous
Lady suffering from a curse comparable to a [Mesugaki] Skill.

‘You don’t need to be
scared.’

“Airhead Lady. Are you
scared? You seemed so confident just a moment ago.”

“But…”

‘It’s alright.’

“No need to worry. Even if
you’re airheaded and sloppy, I’m here.”

“What?”

‘We will get out of here
safely.’

“I’ll do my best to make
sure we get back, even if I have to cover for a cowardly, weepy,
airheaded slacker.”

Today, I was thankful for the
excessively confident demeanour of the [Mesugaki] skill.

It made my baseless confidence
appear as if it was founded on something solid.

Listening quietly to my words,
Joy had already stopped crying.

As I stood up again, I offered
my hand to Joy.

‘Let’s move.’

“Let’s go, Crybaby Lady.
Surely you aren’t planning to cry yourself to death here, are you?”

“Who are you calling Crybaby
Lady!”

That should be enough for now.

First, I need to find Jacob.

This dungeon is challenging
even for me, so there’s no way frail Jacob can survive here alone.

If we leave him unattended, he
will surely be caught and killed by the monsters.

And if Jacob dies, the
responsibility will fall squarely on my shoulders.

Agra’s involvement in this
dungeon is entirely because of me.

I’m not ready to bear the
weight of someone’s life yet.

Even after killing a single
monster, I was emotionally troubled for days. I’m still affected
now.

If I had to bear the weight of
a human life, how long would I be depressed?

I refuse to let that happen.

Since Jacob fell around the
same time as us, he must have landed somewhere nearby.

I don’t know his exact
location, but I hope he’s unconscious.

If he’s sprawled among the
debris, Argos won’t be able to find him.

While Joy, who had grasped my
hand and stood up, dusted herself off, I scanned the room for
something to identify our location.

If we are in the “Place
Where the Alchemist Stays,” there should be a sign to pinpoint
our exact location.

Here it is, buried under the
debris.

Let’s see, A – 01. This must
be near the entrance of the dungeon.

After confirming the writing
on the sign, I pictured the dungeon map and our location in my mind.

We’ve probably avoided the
worst. The initial part of this dungeon doesn’t have a high frequency
of monster encounters.

If we move carefully, we might
be able to avoid fights and reach a safe zone.

‘Grandpa, how far can you
sense monsters like you did earlier?’

So you can detect approaching
monsters within roughly a 5-metre radius?

This is a new ability that
didn’t exist in the game, but I assume it surfaced when Grandpa
awakened.

Whatever. As long as we can
use it, that’s all that matters.

I have memorised the positions
and movements of every monster in this dungeon.

Combining this with Grandpa’s
sensing ability, we might be able to avoid all the fights in this
dungeon.

‘Joy…’

“Airhead Lady, let’s move.”

“Okay.”

We proceeded cautiously,
checking the rooms around us as we listened for any signs of
monsters.

‘Joy…’

“Airhead Lady, stop. There’s
a disgusting creature ahead. We’ll wait here for 12 seconds before
moving forward.”

“Got it.”

Luckily, during the recent
entrance exam, we built a level of trust, which meant Joy didn’t
question my leadership.

That was a relief. If she had
doubted me and demanded explanations, it would have been a hassle.
How many rooms had we searched like this?

Suddenly, we heard some
commotion coming from somewhere.

The sound of metal clashing.

A male voice shouting, almost
like a battle cry.

And Argos’s roar.

I had a rough idea of what was
happening.

Jacob must have woken up and
encountered Argos, now battling it.

There was no way he could hold
out long against Argos.

He couldn’t even overpower the
Golem he faced during the entrance exam. How could he possibly take
on a higher-level dungeon monster?

We needed to help him
immediately.

As we rushed, we quickly found
Jacob confronting Argos.

Jacob was in bad shape.

His left arm bent at a bizarre
angle.

His legs seemed unable to
support him.

His eyes filled with the
despair of someone who knew death was imminent.

Anyone could see he wouldn’t
last much longer.

‘Joy, you can use Flash
Magic, right?’

“Airhead Lady, can you use
Flash Magic?”

“Yes, I can.”

‘Get ready…’

“Prepare it now and use it
when I signal. Don’t just stand there like a fool and get blinded
by your own flash!”

After telling Joy to prepare
her magic, I dove straight in.

Argos, seemingly indifferent
to an intruder like me, continued to swing his weapon at Jacob, but I
wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Hey, you idiot with all
those eyes! Can’t even notice someone behind you? Might as well
pluck out those worthless eyes of yours!”

The countless eyes embedded in
Argos’s body now focused on me.

Good. I’ve got its
attention.

‘Jacob!’

“Hey, you okay?!”

“Lady.”

So he’s still lucid enough
to respond.

Thank goodness. We’re not
too late.

As soon as I shouted at Jacob,
Argos charged at me.

Damn it. For an idiot with so
many eyes, it sure moves fast.

Argos’s fist, about twice
the size of my head, swung towards me.

[Iron Wall] advises me.

Raise the shield.

My body, trained to the limit
in shield mastery, naturally obeyed the command, and I successfully
blocked Argos’s attack with the shield.

“Ugh!”

Blocking doesn’t mean
nullifying the attack, though.

My arm holding the shield
trembled violently.

Strength gathers in my legs to
endure the impact.

I’m gritting my teeth and
holding on, but I can feel myself gradually being pushed back.

If this standoff continues,
I’ll definitely lose to Argos.

If it continues, that is.

‘Hey, Airhead Lady!’

“Light, shine!”

Argos, with all those eyes,
can’t see properly in front of him due to his flaw as a monster, but
every single eye implanted in his body functions perfectly.

So what happens when all those
eyes get hit with a blinding light?

This is a trick I used back
when I played the Soul Academy game.

Argos not only has much less
resistance to flash than other monsters, but he also stays stunned
longer.

The moment Argos staggered
backward from the flash, I dashed toward Jacob.

His legs were trembling,
barely able to stand. There was no way Jacob could run, so I had to
carry him to rescue him.

‘Jacob, it will hurt, but hang
in there!’

“Hey, kid. It’ll hurt,
but don’t scream like a wuss!”

“W-What?!”

Without waiting for his
response, I slung him over my shoulder like a sack and dashed toward
where Joy was.

‘Joy, run!’

“Airhead Lady, run as
fast as you can with those wobbly legs!”

Rushing to the academy after
receiving the call, what Karl saw was priests performing an exorcism
at the dungeon entrance.

“Karl, you’re here? It’s
been a while.”

Anton, the Combat Studies
professor observing the exorcism process near the entrance, greeted
Karl casually.

Karl did not return the
greeting.Instead, Karl walked up to Anton and spoke in a voice that
sounded as if he was about to bite his head off.

“What is going on here?”

“Agra interfered with the
dungeon in the Academy. Because of that, the entrance is blocked, and
we can’t observe or communicate with anyone inside. We urgently
called for a priest and began the exorcism…”

Agra.

The moment he heard that word,
Karl understood why this had happened.

Having visited the church in
Allen Territory with Lucy before, he knew what she had been involved
in.

‘So, Agra’s interference in
the dungeon now must be aiming for Miss Lucy.

Damn it!’

“How long will the exorcism
take?”

“The priest said it would
take roughly an hour.”

“An hour?!”

‘Time was of the essence
now.

No one knew what could be
happening inside the dungeon.

Miss Lucy could very well be
in life-threatening danger at this moment.

And they were telling me to
wait for thirty minutes?!’

“Karl. We’re doing our best.
You know Soul Academy wouldn’t just sit back and watch in the
worst-case scenario, don’t you?”

Karl, who had attended and
graduated from Soul Academy, knew the place wasn’t full of
incompetent people.

Even with several other
academies established now, Soul Academy still being called the best
had its reasons.

Despite knowing this, Karl
found it hard to control the surge of emotions within him.

All he could do was wait in
this situation where Miss Lucy, to whom he had sworn his lifelong
loyalty, might be in danger.

‘What an incompetent
knight!’

Karl took a step back from
Anton, looking down as he stared at the dungeon where the exorcism
was taking place.

Then he gazed at the oath mark
engraved on the back of his hand and prayed to Armadi.

‘Please keep my master safe
until I arrive.’

Desperately running, I finally
arrived at the area where the frequency of Argos appearances was the
lowest. I stopped running and set Jacob down onto the ground.

‘Can I heal him with
Armadi’s Mercy?’

After receiving Grandpa’s
confirmation, I approached Jacob.

I placed my hand on his heart
and prayed to Armadi.

Hoping that this guy would be
fine again.

The moment I made that wish,
my mana began to pour out of me, and gradually, the wounds on Jacob’s
body started to heal.

“What is this?”

Jacob, amazed at how quickly
his condition improved, staggered to his feet and tested his
movement.

He’s not completely healed,
but it looks like he can move without much trouble.

Good. With this, the goal of
saving Jacob is achieved.

Now, we just have to hold out
until the rescue team from Soul Academy arrives.

That’s not too difficult.

Combining my knowledge and
Grandpa’s tracking expertise, we can avoid most fights.

Even if something unexpected
happens, we can escape using Joy’s Flash Magic.

The only concern is how long
it will take the Soul Academy rescue team to get here…

Let’s not worry about that.
They’ll come for us eventually. Believing that makes me feel at ease.

It’s okay. There’s no problem
at all.

We can get out of this dungeon
safely.

‘I understand, Grandpa.’

So let’s focus on just
surviving for now.

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