episode_0332
by fnovelpiaThe students gathered at the entrance, clamoring to be the first to enter the dungeon, forming a long line from the dungeon entrance to where they sat.
Quick to notice, except for the few teams that had already entered the dungeon, everyone else was competing to determine the order of entry for the next group. I leisurely left the dungeon entrance with Edan.
I never even considered that I would be able to enter the dungeon on the first day of the geology exploration class.
“At this rate, the line probably won’t break for at least two days. Let’s secure our lodging first, Edan.”
“Agreed, Relise.”
To enter the dungeon in the dungeon city, preparation is essential. Even if the school doesn’t provide the necklace of return, a few items are needed to survive for two days inside the dungeon.
A vague dungeon map that vaguely shows the ever-changing internal structure of the dungeon with each playthrough, basic information on the recent appearance of monsters in the dungeon.
And since it will be difficult to enter for the next day due to the students, preserved food will need to be bought new after about three days, and the light magic tool for exploration will also need to be recharged just before entering the dungeon.
Entering without this minimum preparation… would lead to such a situation.
“Ahh! Ah! Help! It’s hot!!”
“Ahhhh! Help me…!!”
Within less than 5 minutes of entering, the screams of a man and a woman echoed from inside the dungeon.
They probably thought only about quickly entering without properly exploring the dungeon and ended up trapped in a trap room near the entrance. Poor souls.
“The first to enter couldn’t even last 5 minutes. Let the next group enter.”
“….”
The next party hesitated a bit, realizing that something was amiss in the dungeon, discussing whether it was right to enter now or if they needed to prepare.
At this moment, a party consisting of two sturdy men and women appeared at the dungeon entrance, pushing past others.
“Being students of the Academy, should we all be so scared! Therefore, as the eldest son of Auguste Changeback, I will be the first to enter!”
“Karaham, attracting the attention of monsters is dangerous, please lower your voice. Especially inside the dungeon.”
“Haha! Don’t worry, Gwyn.”
“Well, I did not say I was a noble.”
The most common noble, Karaham, and the most noble commoner, Gwyn.
A duo never seen before in the original, it was quite an unexpected combination.
It was no surprise, as at this time Karaham was preparing to overthrow the empire by joining forces with demons for the sake of revenge against my sister Lizzie.
I thought he would be soloing the dungeon exploration class, considering he should be on a break, but it was quite surprising to see him getting along with Gwyn.
“Well, Lizzie is the treasurer of the Seraphim Student Council, and Gwyn is the vice president of that council.”
For some reason, they seemed to get along well, so they seemed determined to pass the exploration class together this time.
Entering the dungeon unprepared and unarmed would usually result in being taught a harsh lesson within a few hours, but… somehow, I had a feeling that this duo would somehow succeed in their exploration.
And among the other noticeable individuals… were the hero party.
“First, let’s head to the city and prepare to enter the dungeon before regrouping. Serista, gather as many medical supplies as possible from the church in the dungeon city, and Seraphine, procure preserved food and water for eight people for a week.”
“Yes, hero!”
“Understood.”
“Natalie, I’ll ask you to maintain the weapons. Sharpen the blades of your sword, Thomas’ spear, and Luke’s dagger. Thomas, prepare camping gear for eight people. We’ll need about three tents.”
“Got it, hero!”
“Got it. Three tents, right?”
“Yeah. And Agnes, buy illumination magic tools from the magic tool shop. Make sure they are fully charged. It would be great if you could also get some emergency magic scrolls. Lastly, Luke, I’ll ask you to gather information on the monsters coming out of the dungeon recently.”
“Confirmed.”
“…So, what about you?”
“I have some preparations to make separately. I’ll let you know when we meet at the dungeon entrance.”
The members of the Kyetmyeojosegyegwat’s hero party seemed to be gathering to prepare for entering the dungeon.
The large dungeon over there is so difficult in terms of difficulty and gathering members is also challenging, so only the hero party will attempt it, and they will probably enter the dungeon around tonight after thorough preparation.
If I were following the original story, I would have joined that party, excluding Thomas and Luke, and entered the dungeon, but my place now was next to Edan, so it was not relevant.
“Hero, what about me? What should I do?”
“Selena… um…”
“…”
“At the dungeon entrance, if it seems like another party will enter first…”
“Block them? With arrows?”
“No, that won’t work… um…”
“…”
“…Just wait quietly here until we enter the dungeon?”
“…Am I useless?”
“No, no, no, it’s not that you’re useless. Selena is our strongest force. It means to reserve your power for use inside the dungeon…”
…Struggling, struggling.
Still, looking at Kyetmyeojosegyegwat, who exuded the leader vibe of the hero party, Edan and I walked towards the dungeon city.
Most of the contents the hero just mentioned were things that Edan and I also needed to prepare, so as a party consisting of only two people, we had to move even busier.
***
After securing accommodation, Edan and I divided the roles and prepared to enter the dungeon.
Edan took care of weapon maintenance and camping gear, while I took care of preparing magic tools and obtaining a map.
Since I had knowledge from my past life, there was no need to gather information separately, and we agreed to buy fresh food and medical supplies together three days after entering the dungeon in the morning.
“If the queue at the dungeon entrance doesn’t disappear after three days, what should we do, Relis?”
“Then we’ll have to go in the next day. Still, if we prepare thoroughly, we should be able to conquer the dungeon in a day, so you don’t need to worry, Lord Edan.”
“Well, if that happens, I can spend one more day at this inn with Relis.”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
Actually, there was nothing wrong with spending an extra day at the inn in the dungeon city. After all, it meant more time to leisurely spend with Edan without anyone else, so I felt comfortable thinking of it as just increasing the number of dates by a day.
Since the date of returning to the academy would be delayed, the day to give Edan the promised reward would also be postponed, but I didn’t have any complaints or such thoughts at all.
“Then I’ll go get the magic tools and dungeon map. Please don’t forget what you asked for, Lord Edan.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to prepare thoroughly.”
Edan and I temporarily separated to efficiently prepare for dungeon exploration.
At the entrance of the inn, the first place I headed to after parting ways with him was the adventurer’s guild in this “Dungeon City.”
“Max’s route starts at the adventurer’s guild on the first day, and then switches to the information guild from the second day.”
The dungeon map had to be obtained from Max on the first day he appeared at the adventurer’s guild. If you met the mapmaker at the information guild on the second day, there was no room for price negotiation.
Knowing that the academy students were coming to the Dungeon City for their exploration class today, the information guild was naturally planning to sell maps and information to make a good profit this time.
Especially the noble students attending the academy were willing to pay a few coins if it meant getting accurate information, so there was no better opportunity for the information guild at the moment.
“However, if we sell it too expensively, word might not spread, so on the first day, we deliberately sell it a little cheaper at the adventurer’s guild to attract interest.”
Once the rumor of selling proper maps was spread, you could charge whatever price you wanted for maps in the future, so it was an investment for the information guild’s future.
In fact, the general stores in the Dungeon City also sold maps. The price was much cheaper than buying from the mapmaker. However, the maps they sold were cheap and useless, showing the form of dungeons from 100 years ago, with no information on the expanded and discovered places inside the dungeons.
Upon entering the adventurer’s guild, most of what I saw were adventurers who used the Dungeon City as their main source of income. And there were a few students in academy uniforms who seemed to have come for information gathering rather than rushing into the dungeon.
Since my purpose was not information gathering, I didn’t need to ask adventurers about the monsters appearing these days. Instead, I simply walked over to the shabbily dressed man sitting at a small table in the corner, monopolizing it.
Max the mapmaker. A person I must meet in order to pass the geology exploration class in the Dungeon City without any variables.
And meeting him was also a must for conquering the dungeon, which meant…
“Excuse me, I’m looking to buy a dungeon map.”
“Can you sell me the largest dungeon map you have?”
…It also meant that I had no choice but to come meet this guy to read and play through my strategy.
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