episode_0098

Let’s briefly review who this blue-haired male student provoking me is. I’ve seen him here multiple times. From the monster rampage during the entrance ceremony to passing by him many times since. However, I haven’t had many close conversations with him.

Lucian Blackveil, affiliated with Vesperia Academy. Along with Irene, he’s one of the few students from Polaris. His rank is 4-star, and his position is a ranged attacker and mage.

Magic requires advanced mathematical ability. Many awakened individuals can’t use it, depending on their constitution or personality. And he, as far as I know, is a prodigy who could use magic from a young age.

Perhaps because of this, his personality is somewhat arrogant. He’s the type of person who lives for his own self-satisfaction.

But why is he provoking me?

“How can someone as simple-minded as you be on the same team as someone like Irene?”

I was dumbfounded by the sudden accusation. Irene stepped between me, who was flustered, and him.

“You, what’s your problem, suddenly provoking Violet?”

“I was just curious and asked.”

“Do you think that’s how someone asks a question?”

“That’s none of your business!”

Lucian continued to glare at me, seemingly discontent. Now that I looked, his attitude was peculiar. It was as if he considered my presence by Irene’s side to be a problem.

“Hey, first-year representative. With your level, you must have gotten top grades or something equivalent, right? And for fieldwork, you usually get teamed up with skilled students. Like me, for example…”

“Just get to the point.”

“I just don’t understand. I clearly picked you when choosing teammates! Since I’m ranked third, there’s no way it wouldn’t work out. So why aren’t I on a team with you? And why are *you* on a team with *him*? I heard that guy, Violet, is good at dueling, but…”

Irene sighed and cut him off mid-sentence.

“I have a lot to say, but I’ll just say one thing. Do you know who got first place in this exam?”

“Wasn’t it you?”

Instead of answering, Irene looked at me. I raised my hand high and shouted.

“It’s me!”

Lucian was horrified. His expression was exactly like someone who had just witnessed a pig graduating law school at the top of its class.

“What?!”

Paying no mind to his surprise, I declared confidently.

“Of course! I’m first place!”

“What?! That doesn’t make sense! I’m third! How could you…”

“That guy is ignoring us!” “Let’s punish him with facts.”

Suddenly, I felt vexed. I had just let things be, assuming he’d play an important role five years later, no matter what he did, but he was far too rude!

The Violets decided to put him in his place.

The Violets waiting at home accessed the school website and printed the report card. It was printed from the school’s website, so it even had the academy’s official seal.

Violet 300 picked up the report card and sent it to the inner pocket of Violet 213’s vest on site. Violet 213 rummaged inside their vest and pulled out the report card to show it.

“Here!”

“What? Why is a report card coming out of there? There’s a limit to how much you can fake things…”

Lucian unfolded the crumpled report card. Levi, who was behind him, peeked over his shoulder, curious, to see my report card.

“This is real?”

Lucian’s eyes widened like lanterns.

“If you don’t believe me, look at this too!”

Fearing he might make other excuses, I showed him my grades in the school application on my smartphone — which I had downloaded in advance. His pupils now trembled violently. Seeing this, Irene folded her arms, looking dumbfounded.

“See? Violet chose me. I don’t know why you’re disrespecting my friend, but if you have a complaint, get better grades. Though I don’t know why I’d ever have to be on a team with you anyway.”

For some reason, Lucian was flustered and clung to Irene.

“Wait, stop! Then, I’ll join that party right now! That’s fine, isn’t it?”

Instead of Irene, I answered Lucian.

“Hehe! We don’t accept mere third-place finishers!”

“You rascal!”

I stuck out my tongue slightly and teased him, making him struggle wildly. However, thanks to Irene next to him, he could only stomp his feet.

“Ugh, oh, my goodness, first and second place… amazing…”

“That Violet, I knew he had a peculiar side, but I never knew he was an honor student.”

Levi and Granite muttered behind us. Lucian seemed to be saying something from behind, but we ignored him and turned away.

“I’m joining too, I told you! Can’t you hear me? Hey! Where are you going!”

“Irene, why is he like that?”

“Indeed. What could be the problem?”

“Let’s switch teams!”

Ugh, it’s noisy. I want to get to the safe zone quickly.

We moved a little away from where the people were. The sound of flapping echoed from the trees. The rustling noise of chitinous wings, the grinding sound of teeth clashing.

“This looks like that thing.”

“You’re right. Daphne, please put up a shield.”

“Ready!”

The source of the sound soon revealed itself. Cockroach monsters the size of humans: Kroltides. A swarm of what looked like dozens of Kroltides were flying towards us.

“What’s that? A bird!”

“Idiot! They’re Kroltides!”

“Argh! Cockroaches! They’re flying?!” “Hey! Get your weapons out!”

A commotion arose. Students could be seen running with weapons among the trees.

With a noise as loud as helicopter blades, the swarm of green cockroaches flew towards the students.

“Weren’t they coming our way?”

“Kroltides have a habit of heading towards where there are a lot of people.”

Daphne watched the bewildered students with a worried expression.

“Shouldn’t we help them?”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

Daphne’s question was neatly answered when she saw where Irene was pointing.

“It’s that hero party from earlier!” “Wow, they’re fighting well.”

Among the student parties I saw when we first exited the ruins, there were some impressive ones. Those guys are currently in full swing.

“Everyone! Gather around me!” “Understood, Nathan!”

The male student with a sword and shield bravely led the party, beginning to eliminate the Kroltides one by one. The other team members moved, following him.

They worked well together. When the friend playing the hero role blocked the front with the friend playing the warrior role, the friend playing the rogue role blocked the flanks from behind. From the rear, the female students playing the mage and healer roles cast spells, providing support.

“Aaaargh! Die!” “Hyah!”

As the hero party made a big impact, the surrounding students quickly regained their composure and began to kill the Kroltides one by one.

We quietly watched their fight from among the trees.

“Look, Lucian’s party is fighting too.” “Oh?”

And then, I understood why Lucian had begged to switch parties.

“Help, help me! Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!”

Levi swung a crossbow larger than her body around her head. It was the same large crossbow she had used at the shooting range last time.

Several Kroltides were flying above her head, at the top of the trees.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t fight properly. The weapon she held was too big and cumbersome, comparable to a siege weapon, and the surrounding trees and vines interfered, preventing her from aiming correctly.

-Boom!

Every time she pulled the trigger, massive bolts shattered the surrounding trees and flew far away. There were no results.

“What’s that big guy doing?”

Where could Levi’s teammate be?

I looked for Granite. The large, blunt male student, to my surprise, was facing off against a Kroltide, his face pale. The number of cockroach monsters was one!

-Rustle!

“Ah, ahhh, this isn’t an insect. This is a monster. It’s not an insect, Grandma, Grandpa. Give me strength…”

Granite’s weapon was a poleaxe with an impressive large blade. From its appearance alone, it looked like it could split rocks.

Granite did manage to block the cockroach monster’s attacks every time it swung its front legs. Unfortunately, that was all he could do.

As luck would have it, his weapon was also a large polearm. He used and swung his sword energy, but the surrounding terrain interfered with his movements and attacks.

“Ugh, seriously! This is so frustrating, I’m going crazy. Are you guys messing around?”

Lucian, having cleared the battlefield, rushed over to his party. He snapped his fingers, and five magic circles appeared in the air. Flaming spears flew and embedded themselves into the bodies of the flapping Kroltides. The cockroach monsters exploded in succession.

“We’re, we’re alive…” “Ah…thank you.”

“They feel like they’re playing separately.” “Yeah, Lucian got unlucky.”

There was a reason he regretted not being on the same team as Irene.

When the fight ended, he frantically badgered his two party members.

“Are you an idiot? What fool brings a siege weapon into this dense jungle?”

“I’m sorry. B-but. This is my main weapon. I, I can’t use anything else well…”

Calling it a siege weapon wasn’t wrong. Levi’s ‘crossbow’ resembled a ballista used by people in the Middle Ages.

“Same goes for you! Who brings a polearm into a jungle?”

“Still, you liked it when I used this to clear pathways.”

“That was then, this is now! Besides, you’re so big, why are you making such a fuss about some insect being scary?”

“What are you talking about? When did I ever say I was scared of insects…”

Granite returned to his usual blunt expression and feigned ignorance.

“Oh, really? Not scared?”

Lucian picked up a foreleg from the smoking Kroltide remains nearby. As expected of a cockroach, the foreleg twitched erratically.

Lucian shoved it in Granite’s face. His expression turned pale.

“Ugh, ahahaha…”

“Seriously, if you’re like this already, how are you going to fight? This is driving me crazy, really…”

Watching the two boys and girls being tormented by Lucian, we left.

“Oh dear…” “They’re going to have a hard time.” “What a mess…”

It seemed there was nothing we could do. I simply left with my friends.

It’s time to go to the safe zone.

***

The path to the safe zone was long and arduous. The safe zone was divided into several areas, each far from the dungeon’s entrance. We headed for Area 3.

Students were still busy searching for artifacts. The path to the safe zone was quiet. Occasionally, Skraxes or Kroltides would appear, but we annihilated them with overwhelming force and proceeded calmly.

“I’m going to check if we’re going the right way.”

While the group rested briefly, I climbed up a tree. As I reached the swaying treetop, a verdant green sea came into view.

Beyond the green sea, in the direction we were heading, a bald-looking red hill was visible. When I focused my magic on my eyes, I saw dense barbed wire and fences.

“We’re going the right way.”

Before climbing down, I looked around once more. Beyond the horizon, a thick white mist stretched out, enveloping the entire jungle. That was the edge of the dungeon.

As I climbed down and we continued towards the safe zone, I mentioned what I had seen.

“What would happen if we went into that mist?”

While Irene, who was leading the way, guided us with a map – she was the most skilled at navigation among us – Daphne answered.

“That’s the dungeon’s boundary. You’d get lost and wander around, only to return to your original spot.”

Oh, this is similar to a game. There, too, if you went to the edge of the map, you’d be forced back.

“That’s amazing, why is that?”

“A dungeon is an area isolated by the invasion of a secondary dimension. In that process, the boundary surface between inside and outside space disappears, and it transforms into a bizarre structure incomprehensible to the human mind. That’s why no matter where you go, you eventually return to the starting point.”

Hearing the explanation, it sounds like a Mobius strip structure.

“So, that boundary can never be broken.”

“That’s not entirely true. If the principles I mentioned were absolute, we would never be able to enter or exit a dungeon. But in reality, there are entrances called ‘gates,’ aren’t there? The rules forming the dungeon’s space aren’t absolute. If certain conditions are met, the dungeon’s boundary can expand or contract.”

I see. I learned a lot of fascinating things.

“Anyway, there’s no need to worry about falling to our deaths or ending up in a strange place if we cross over.”

“Violet, you’re not thinking of crossing over out of curiosity, are you?”

Hearing her words, my conscience pricked. That was because I had actually sent Violet 31, who was scouting the outskirts, near the white mist at the boundary line.

“Let’s finish quickly. Daphne won’t know anyway.” “Well, she said we wouldn’t die, right?”

While Violet 213 pretended to be unconcerned, Violet 31 slowly approached the white mist. The mist was abnormally thick, forming a boundary like a wall.

Just as I was about to turn back, something shiny was seen within the white mist.

Violet 31 carefully approached and picked up the object. It was a crumpled metal plate the size of an A4 paper. A logo was drawn on the metal plate.

A M-shaped symbol within a black circle, and white text written inside it.

“This is the Magnabyss Clan’s logo.” “Why is it here?”

Violet 31 sent the metal plate to Violet 213. I gathered my friends.

“Girls, look at this! I just found it a moment ago.”

Their gazes focused on the metal plate I was holding. Seeing the logo on the metal plate, Irene reacted first.

“It’s Magnabyss’s logo. Why is this here?”

She took the metal plate from me and examined it slowly. She touched it and tapped it.

“It looks like it was used on a vehicle or equipment, but since I’m not an expert, I don’t know where it was attached. However,”

She pointed to a scratch mark on the corner of the metal plate. Now that I looked, there was indeed something like that.

“See these three distinct scratch marks? These weren’t made by a person. It’s the work of a monster.”

“Does that mean clan members are here now fighting monsters?”

Irene shook her head.

“If so, we would have found traces of engagement. I suspect this is a trace of something Magnabyss’s people did here a long time ago.”

Although this dungeon is ostensibly under the management of the Academy Board, Magnabyss stands behind the Academy Board. Did they perhaps conduct a hunt in this place?

Even after that, we scrutinized the metal plate, but no answers emerged.

Suddenly, I became curious about the small inscription on the logo. ‘VERITATEM REVELA LUMINE RATIONIS’

“What does this mean?”

Daphne answered.

“Let’s see. It means ‘Reveal the truth with the light of reason’.”

“Truth?”

Irene, who was walking ahead, remarked.

“What mages pursue is truth. It’s a fitting slogan for a mage clan.”

‘Truth,’ how chuunibyou. Mages seem to have some really strange quirks.

**

By the time we arrived at the safe zone, it was already well past 3 PM.

“Alright. Let’s unpack!”

The safe zone was a wide clearing where shrubs had been removed. The security facilities here were surprisingly robust. Barbed wire, electric fences, walls. And unmanned turrets equipped with rockets, machine guns, and crossbows were installed everywhere. Spells to prevent monster approach were also laid around the perimeter.

The Violets quickly multiplied back to twenty.

“Alright, let’s set up the tent around here.”

“Isn’t that too small?”

Irene pulled out a tent from her bag that looked cramped at a glance. I stopped Irene. We couldn’t sleep in such a cramped space when we came to have fun with friends.

We took out the pre-prepared frames and fabric from our inventory one by one. For the fieldwork, the 24-person tent prepared by us Violets slowly took shape.

“Deployment initiated!” “Move! Move!”

With twenty Violet engineers working on it, a large tent capable of sleeping a squad was erected in less than 15 minutes. As the Violet party’s overnight shelter was completed, our friends’ jaws dropped at our accomplishment.

“It’s amazing…” “Usually, when camping, we just slept in small tents. This is…”

Seeing the two of them happy made my heart naturally warm.

But the two girls’ surprises weren’t over yet. Since the tent space was wide, there were many things installed besides the bedroom.

“This is the dining area! This is the cooking space! There’s no refrigerator, but there’s an icebox. If needed, I’ll set up a generator too. And this is the movie theater.”

“Movie theater?”

“A mini projector and a laptop!”

The achievements of the Violet engineers didn’t end there. When I showed them the portable toilet, shower tent, and mini-pool that we had acquired in advance for the fieldwork, my friends’ expressions were filled with half surprise, half delight.

“This is the bathroom, and over there is the shower room, bathhouse, and swimming pool! You must have felt sticky from the humidity, right? You can wash up there later!”

“Thank you. We’ll be able to sleep soundly tonight.” “Considering its size, it’s on the level of a caravan used in Helios. Thanks to you, we’ll be comfortable.”

Seeing Daphne happy and Irene impressed made me feel good.

Suddenly, Irene, remembering something, asked me a question.

“But then, if other students come, how do we explain all this? The tent and furniture are too bulky for just the three of us to carry around.”

“Ah.”

My mind went blank. What should I do?

“How about saying it’s ultra-strong camping compression gear that Helios introduced on a trial basis?”

“Violet.”

Irene’s expression became odd after hearing my words. I just chuckled and scratched my head.