episode_0024

When I suddenly came to my senses, I was leaning against the wall of the labyrinth, thinking I had collapsed, and Elfin, Lulu, and Ion were sitting around me, keeping watch over the surroundings.

“How long was I lying down?”

“You’re up, junior. About an hour?”

Ion, who confirmed that I was awake, gave me a rough idea of the time, then put my sword away and put my shield on my back.

“By the way, how are you? You collapsed from exhaustion after using a 4th level spell, so it looks like you just got a 4th level spell slot.”

Lulu examines her body, feeling it here and there, as if they were meeting for the first time.

At that time, it was done just to check the appearance, but now it is done to check the body’s magical power or other bad symptoms.

“Two days ago.”

“Ha, I see. Are you tired or uncomfortable anywhere?”

While Lulu was asking, Elfin also came over silently and examined the body.

“I woke up feeling refreshed. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any aftereffects.”

“Of course, since you opened the spell slot on your own anyway. But next time, please use it after a sufficient amount of time to adjust.”

Lulu was always nagging, but I could feel that she was genuinely worried, so I laughed.

“Thank you, Lulu-senpai.”

“…Tea, right? Of course.”

Lulu blushes and purses her lips in embarrassment as she steps back, and Elfin leans closer.

“Are you okay, Ain?”

“It seems like it’s gotten better than before I fell. I think it would be okay if there were more battles with one or two magic herbs.”

He smiles at the worried Elfin and takes out the magic candle and bear cub from the bag next to him and lights them.

Since I was taking a short break, I unbuttoned the front of my stuffy academy uniform and lay down deep against the wall of the labyrinth, stretching out my legs.

“Oh, isn’t it too messy, junior?”

“What do you think, Senior Ion? If a monster appears, the seniors and Elfin will take care of it.”

“Haha, what I mean is, there are three females, is that okay?”

“Anyway, I can’t resist with my own strength even if I have just one of the three. Do whatever you want.”

Ion laughs and pretends to pounce on me, but I snort and suck in the magic herb more deeply.

It’s true that I have learned basic physical education and martial arts, so my physical stats are better than other males, but I’m still at the male level.

When the strength status of a male and female is the same at 10, the female has twice as much strength as the male.

Just kidding, but literally, if I had just one of Elfin, Lulu, or Ion, it would be nearly impossible to stop them from doing whatever they wanted to me.

“…So defenseless…”

Lulu muttered something as if she was displeased, but I decided not to react. My first priority was to recover my spell slots and mental power with the Magic Herb.

“I wouldn’t do that, Ain.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe in it, Elfin, but if you have a favor to ask, I’d rather it not be in a classroom.”

Given the circumstances, there was no need for me to be cautious, so I laughed and threw a joke at Elfin that I didn’t usually make.

Inside the academy, there are a lot of people watching so you have to be as quiet as possible, but this is inside a labyrinth.

“That, that, that, what is that…!”

Elfin, whose face turned red at my joke, even waved his hand in denial.

Elfin is always the epitome of strict, seriousness, but on the other hand, he has no tolerance for teasing, so when he is teased, his reactions are refreshing, and you end up teasing him more and more.

Besides, you can’t see anything like this in the game.

“Hahaha, your jokes are top-notch, junior!”

“A joke? It’s almost like a dirty joke. It’s not a joke that a male would make.”

Ion laughed out loud, but Lulu said with a complicated expression.

“There are such males in the world.”

“Yeah, there’s a guy like that here. I mean, junior.”

After burning all the magic grass and confirming that the spell slots were restored, I got up with my bag on my back and checked my physical condition.

“Good. I think we can go.”

“Haa, don’t you usually make the choice to go back?”

Lulu said as if she was shocked by what I said, but I thought differently.

“Doesn’t it feel a bit… cowardly to come back after solving a labyrinth?”

Ion opened his eyes wide after hearing what I said, and then burst into laughter after a while.

“Ahahahaha, I never thought those words would come out of a male’s mouth! Oh my, my junior. My stomach hurts so bad I think I’m going to die… hic hic hic…”

“Ain might have been born with the wrong gender.”

Elfin, who heard the joke, also reacted with a faint smile, while Lulu only got angry and roughly tousled her hair.

“Damn, you, are you saying that on purpose? To piss me off?”

The reason why this phrase received such a positive response is because when you are talking to party members while you are with Lulu in the game, Lulu often says this line.

When I think of that and make a joke, the reaction is good, so it’s really rewarding to make a joke.

“Just kidding. But I want to go as far as I can in the labyrinth.”

“If you’re going to say that much, I guess I should cheer up too, junior.”

Ion takes the lead with a refreshing smile, and we start walking towards the depths of the labyrinth again.

Fortunately, the frequency of monster attacks stopped increasing once they reached a certain level.

However, since the expenditure was still high, we had no choice but to prepare for camping on the second day of the labyrinth exploration earlier than the first day.

“Still, we’ve made some decent progress. We’re a little over halfway there, or maybe halfway there.”

Lulu now measures our position by examining the artificial moonlight at night.

“That’s great. I’ll have pork neck for dinner.”

“Meat is always welcome, junior.”

After the tents were set up and the meal was ready, the team gathered around the campfire, but somehow they felt a little closer together.

“…Isn’t the seat spacious?”

“Ah…haha, junior. I’m worried about you, so that’s why I’m saying that.”

“Oh, that’s right. Recovery magic specialists are important. ”

“I agree too.”

But if you sit so close that your shoulders and buttocks touch, isn’t it uncomfortable to eat?

“I, I eat, feed me…”

“Yes?”

When I asked Lulu why she was about to go wild again, she just nodded and got up, sitting across from me like usual.

“…Haa, it’s not easy.”

“What the hell is going on?”

At my words, Ion scratched the back of his head, and Elfin looked slightly embarrassed.

“Ain, it’s because of you.”

“Me? While I was unconscious earlier, I became the assailant without my knowledge?”

I really don’t know, so I’m confused by Elfin’s words.

“That’s not it, you. It’s because you’re a first-year student and you use level 4 magic.”

“…Is there a rule that says first-year academy cadets can’t use level 4 magic?!”

It’s strange, in the game, there’s no problem using level 9 magic with cheats, let alone level 4?

I’m really embarrassed so I ask again.

“Is there a problem?”

Ion chuckled, perhaps amused by my reaction, and slurped down the well-cooked pork neck before telling me the real reason.

“Junior, even if you look through all the history books, there is no mention of a first-year academy cadet or a wizard of that age using level 4 magic.”

“But ‘Gilgamesh’…”

“Are you an idiot? The Epic of Gilgamesh is a myth. Who accepts a myth as real history?”

When I look at Elfin, Elfin looks at me with an expressionless face as if he is saying yes.

“Ain, if it gets known that you use level 4 magic, some pretty bad things will happen.”

“Bad thing? Bad thing why?”

Aieee, he kept that same feeling in his mind and stared into Elfin’s golden eyes, asking her to explain further.

“First, all the noble families with daughters in the Perion Empire will send you marriage proposals or send matchmakers.”

“Uh…”

“That’s also an optimistic judgment. If he’s a high-ranking noble, he’ll probably kidnap his junior… (Ion shook his head vigorously)…and bring him into his family. ”

My expression became complicated. Is it true that the level of the first-year students has improved a bit in terms of multiplier and tempo, to the point where they are talking about marriage proposals and kidnappings?

In a situation so different from the game, I couldn’t even think of a joke to throw out, so I was just fiddling with the cherry tomatoes.

“…And my lord…I wonder if the Empress will stop all those things and take you to the palace to make you a state secretary.”

At Elfin’s words, my face became like a picture of a cat with a question mark above its head.

“That’s it?”

“This is the most realistic hypothesis that the three of us came up with. If you want to brag about order slots and become a bird in a cage, never being able to see outside the palace for the rest of your life, you can talk about it at the academy.”

Lulu has already finished eating and is glaring at me with her arms crossed.

Now that I think about it, the reason Lulu is considered a genius is because she got a level 2 spell slot in her first year, and now that she’s in her third year, she has a level 3 spell slot.

“You’ll keep this a secret, right?”

Elfin and Ion were about to say something to my cautious words, but Lulu immediately stopped them.

“Of course, there are conditions.”

“What is it?”

When I asked her, Lulu blushed slightly and stated her demands.

“…Please accept me and Her Highness the Princess, Ion, into your group. I am not threatening or demanding anything. I think Her Highness the Princess, Marquis Anastasia, and the Duke of Moratium are more than enough to stop them. ”

Lulu, who had said that, looked at the three badges hanging on the chest of my academy uniform coat.

“…Instead, if you want, we will unconditionally accept the females of the Night Sustained Duke, the Gold Bunny Marquis, and the Iron Foxtrot Count.”

Lulu, who had stated all the requirements, looked at me with a look of ‘what should I do?’

Looking at Elfin and Ion, they were both looking at Lulu with quite surprised expressions, as if they had come to an agreement.

This is a pretty important issue…