episode_0089

“Creak.. Creak…”

A monster in the shape of a giant man with a lizard’s head was walking through the darkness.

The reason was the strong smell of human blood, and fresh female blood at that.

It was a weak body that would normally just run away if it smelled blood, no matter whose it was.

But suddenly its body contorted with pain, and it realized that power stronger than ever before was flowing through its body.

Now it felt confident enough to make anyone its prey, and was actively chasing the scent.

What it found following the flowing fresh blood was a creature with black fur covering its head, who seemed to have severely injured its leg.

Licking its lips, it sharpened its long, pointed claws and anticipated the feast that was about to come.

“Kuaeek!”

“Hwaaap!”

Suddenly, something blunt struck its head.

Since the force wasn’t enough to knock it out, it instead stimulated the monster.

What was there was a man with black hair, the same as the one it had just seen.

He also didn’t seem to be in perfect condition.

Annoyed by the interruption, the monster roughly charged at him.

The thick bone that had struck the monster and its sharp claws clashed, and soon the bone the man was holding broke completely.

The monster, confident of victory, was about to pounce on the man and cleanly bite off his neck when it started to feel pain in its chest.

The bone, now pointed because it was broken, had pierced the monster’s chest.

. . .

Being a high-grade monster, perhaps even its heart was hard, as I tried to retrieve the bone I had thrown, but it wouldn’t pull out and remained stuck in its heart.

But it was enough to inflict a fatal wound, and the monster died right there, spurting blood from its heart where the bone fragment was embedded in its chest.

Soaked in the monster’s blood, I immediately extended my leg and kicked away the corpse covering my body.

“Haa.. What is this mess?”

Surely, it must have been during the dungeon clear test to assess the abilities of the first-year students.

But suddenly, the dungeon’s structure shook as if an earthquake or something had occurred, starting to twist with cracks, and soon it completely changed into a different form.

Not only that, but the monsters became stronger and more ferocious, and now even facing them one by one became difficult.

“Perhaps coming this way was a mistake after all…?”

Immediately after the dungeon transformed into a complex labyrinth, the paths also split into multiple directions.

Having no particular detection magic or scouting ability, I decided to purely trust my intuition.

From the middle, I started feeling like I was moving towards the center of the dungeon rather than outwards, so I tried to go back the way I came.

But suddenly a trap activated and the floor caved in, sending me to a place like this.

Since there was a waterfall flowing where I fell, I wasn’t injured by the impact of the fall, but now I was in a situation where I couldn’t even find a way back.

Starting from before the test began, I don’t know why things are turning out so badly.

As I was thinking that, I suddenly saw red fresh blood flowing at my feet, which wasn’t from a monster.

Naturally, my gaze followed to the source and I discovered none other than a human woman lying collapsed.

Furthermore, her face was too familiar to me.

“..Meiru?”

Black hair like mine, and green eyes and freckles. It was clearly Meiru.

Putting aside the question of how she was here, I forgot the accumulated fatigue in my body and hobbled towards her in a hurry.

Thankfully, she was still breathing, but the condition of her leg was terrible and her complexion wasn’t good either.

Moreover, she was unconscious, in a situation requiring extremely urgent first aid.

I first reset her hideously protruding bone.

Because I had to force it somewhat, she would feel great pain, but if I treated the wound in this state, it would only worsen.

“One.. two.. three!”

“Kuaaaak!”

For a moment, I thought she had regained consciousness with the scream, but she was only moaning and not in a state to talk.

Anyway, since the bone was somewhat reset, I tore my clothes to wrap it as a bandage and then took out a recovery potion from my pocket and fed it to her.

Although its grade was lower compared to the things Elizio made for me herself, since it was an item provided by the academy, its effects began to appear immediately.

But seeing her condition, this wasn’t enough yet.

“Ugh.. I guess there’s no choice.

If I had known this would happen, I would have studied a bit deeper beforehand…!”

Since it’s not my main major, the magic efficiency might be a bit lower, but it’s better than nothing.

Mutting that, I cast healing magic on Meiru.

I paid close attention and concentrated so that her flesh and bones wouldn’t attach in an abnormal state.

After concentrating on treatment for how many hours, her breathing soon began to stabilize.

After drawing water flowing in the dungeon, heating wild herbs with detoxification magic, and feeding them to her, her condition improved greatly.

Even though I only learned it by observing Elizio, it really was a good thing I learned some alchemy from her.

Meiru was still unconscious, but at least her moaning had stopped.

Since I even made a splint by attaching pieces of wood separately, she should be able to walk on her own when she regains consciousness.

The situation is still bad, but at least I was able to put out the immediate fire.

Now all that’s left is to monitor her condition.

Because of the monsters, I had just relaxed, then became tense again, and then relaxed again, so now I felt exhausted and completely drained.

“…Ugh…!”

A sudden dizziness makes my head spin.

Ah, as expected, mana exhaustion came because I overused unskilled healing magic and used several spells simultaneously.

It means I won’t be able to use magic for a while.

“By the way.. what do I do now..?

I’ve already said the dungeon has become dangerous until my mouth hurts.

Because the connection for communication and protective magic is cut off, contact or return is impossible.

The best way would be to quietly wait for rescue in a safe place… but it’s also unclear if rescue will be properly carried out, or if we can hold out until then.

This is because the water and food provided, even including emergency supplies, are barely enough to last more than two days.

The most serious issue in the current situation is the state of the equipment.

With the E-grade equipment originally provided for the test, I absolutely couldn’t face the strengthened monsters.

In the case of the armor, after allowing a few attacks, it became full of holes and quickly became a useless burden rather than protection, so I took it off long ago.

As for the weapon, not only was it difficult to inflict damage, but its durability was also low, so the mace I was given had already broken.

So, as a temporary measure, I’m tearing off and carving bones, horns, etc. from the monsters I killed and using them as makeshift weapons…

Of course, these aren’t items in a state that can be used for very long either.

“I’ve done everything I can for Meiru, so I should prepare myself again.”

I retrieved the broken bone that had pierced the heart of the monster I had dealt with before checking on her condition.

And I somehow used a sharp part to process the monster again, tearing out usable bones or internal organs as much as possible.

I carved the surface with small knives to create sharp parts or handles.

Since I had helped Elizio make various things at the academy, I was fortunate to have developed some talent in crafting.

In my state where I couldn’t use magic, I was able to make a few small throwing daggers and a large blunt weapon by attaching a monster’s skull.

I don’t know how long this can be used either, but for now, I won’t need to worry.

. . .

“How much time is left until the mana connection is restored?”

Lium Kitocal, who had come to the scene of the serious situation, asked.

“We are putting in our utmost effort, but at this rate, it will be about four days…”

Hearis Morgan answered cautiously in a quiet voice, but…

“The current dungeon is estimated to be C-grade, which can only be challenged by advanced parties of skilled individuals.

Furthermore, the students inside are all first-years who just entered this year, and the equipment they were given is only E-grade!

It goes without saying that food and other supplies are insufficient!

But instead of urgently dispatching a rescue team, we can’t even find the dungeon’s coordinates again. What is going on?”

“I understand you’re upset, Principal, but that doesn’t mean she’s at fault, does it?”

Professor Huffness Sheiren appeared and calmed Lium Kitocal.

She was also bewildered and agitated with worry for the students, but she was trying her best to maintain her composure.

“Someone deliberately damaged the magic circle.

Traces of an artifact of unknown origin and black magic were found there.

And could you please check this document?”

“..This person definitely returned from a business trip a few days ago…”

“And he is one of the key personnel involved in designing the magic circle for this test.

Heinz White, he was in the Hylia region for nearly a year.

And this is his personal information received from there.”

“Name, Heinz White, Gender Male, and.. wait..! Already deceased…!”

“Just in time, we urgently requested an investigation into the place he had gone for his business trip to inquire about his whereabouts, as he had disappeared from the site.

Soon, it was reported that his corpse, of unknown time of death, was found in the place he used as his residence…

In other words, the person who appeared at the academy today was not the real Heinz White.

And if we combine the evidence mentioned earlier…”

“..These abominable black mages again…!!!”

“Yes, this is all an act of terror deliberately planned in advance by someone.

It was carried out so meticulously and thoroughly that they left behind numerous obstacles to prevent the situation from being resolved.

Therefore, all we can do right now is… wait for the restoration of the portal and mana connection.”

Then Lium Kitocal’s face, which had been boiling with anger, regained its composure as if recalling something.

“..That’s not necessarily the case.”

“..Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“There is another way, isn’t there, Professor Sheiren.

A dungeon fundamentally has the property of blocking mana from the outside.

But there’s a time when this property loses its power.

The moment the mana of the space called the dungeon disappears and loses its power.

That is…”

“When the dungeon is cleared…!

But that is impossible.

The students are all first-years, and the dungeon’s grade is a considerable C-grade…

Unless by chance other skilled individuals are in the process of clearing that dungeon, such a thing is absolutely…”

“I know. But there’s no such thing as ‘absolute’ in the world.

Who knows? There might be a young person who will surely clear the dungeon and save everyone…!”

Principal Lium Kitocal thought of the young man he had a strange encounter with on the entrance ceremony day, who had ended the situation.

And then, he secretly held out hope that he might perform a miracle once more.