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“There’s no support…?”

“That’s the conclusion reached.”

Two wizards seated at a small table exchanged words. One was Leonis, whose arm was wrapped in a bandage, and the other was a messenger from the Mage Tower.

“Why is that? Her crime is evident. She impersonated the wizards of the Mage Tower and profited personally.”

“The issue lies in your report. Unique magical systems, leaks of the knowledge from the Battle Mage faction. And Beastmen. It seems the higher-ups of the Mage Tower decided instead of punishing Seris, they’d entice her back to the Mage Tower. They thought that if she becomes a real Mage Tower wizard, her crimes would disappear.”

“If that’s the case…”

“I’ve received orders for you to return to the Mage Tower immediately.”

Rough mana surged from Leonis’ entire body. A fierce wind erupted, causing his robe to flutter as if caught in a storm.

“Inviting Beastmen into the Mage Tower? They’ve completely lost their minds.”

“That’s the decision from the higher-ups.”

Leonis sighed at the calm demeanor of the messenger. Yelling at him wouldn’t change anything. He recalled a certain small girl, settling his mana.

***

“Huh…”

I swallowed a deep breath and checked beneath my feet. It felt like the ground I was about to fall from disappeared, and suddenly I was standing on solid ground.

“This place…”

Not just me, but other adventurers appeared to be quite bewildered as well. Even Terra, who seemed to know a lot, looked lost. I could realize then that our arrival here was not the intention of the Raoum royal family.

“What on earth…”

“The path has changed…”

“There are no marks left.”

While the adventurers had drawn their weapons and entered a wary stance, I approached Terra. She too was frowning as she fiddled with her great sword.

“Ms. Terra…”

“Yes.”

“Is this also an intended situation?”

“I don’t know… I never heard of something like this happening…”

If it’s not an intended situation, does it mean we’ve fallen into a trap because of me?

I frowned at the adventurers who were looking around cluelessly. At that moment, Alfonso clapped his hands, concentrating the gazes of the adventurers on him. His expression was overwhelmingly serious.

“Everyone should calm down. It seems the dungeon’s traps have been triggered. Did you forget that in times like this, we need to observe our surroundings calmly?”

“Um…”

“That’s not incorrect…”

Adventurers looked at each other with unsure expressions at Alfonso’s words. He smiled at them and said,

“What we must do hasn’t changed. We will inspect the dungeon and move forward.”

Eventually, the adventurers began advancing through the dungeon under Alfonso’s guidance just as before.

The corridors of the dungeon looked different from before. Neatly cut bricks formed a corridor, and ominous-looking statues occasionally revealed themselves.

As the lamp’s light flickered dimly, a clattering sound echoed from the depths of the dense darkness.

An instinctive feeling of rejection surged up. The wicked aura of malevolent mana stirred.

“That…”

It wasn’t wolves or goblins. What emerged from the shadows was an animated skeleton, a Skeleton. Wrapped in Evil Mana, they approached while clutching rusty and broken armaments, making a rattling sound.

“This changes the story…”

“I thought we’d only see goblins or wolves…”

The adventurers grumbled quietly, holding their weapons. I glanced at Alfonso. He seemed to bear a strong aversion to the skeletons, pulling out his sword with a twisted expression.

As the distance to the skeletons shortened considerably, Alfonso charged in first. It looked like a reckless advance, but there was no need to worry too much. Given the full plate he wore, he could easily block the skeletons’ attacks.

“Waaah!”

The skeletons weren’t a formidable opponent. With each flicker of the adventurers’ swords, white bones crumbled to the ground.

The remains of the fallen skeletons were left to the priestesses. They wielded faintly glowing maces and began smashing the bones into pieces.

***

“What’s going on? Why is there no signal?”

“Is it just taking a break?”

The soldiers pulling the heavy cart started peeking into the dark corridor. The cart they were dragging was filled with goblins.

The soldiers had straightforward roles. As soon as the signal came, they just needed to open our door and send the goblins into the darkness. However, no signal came, no matter how long they waited.

“Huh…”

How much time had passed? The moment a soldier, unable to bear the boredom, was about to stand up abruptly, a man with a lamp in hand rushed toward them from the opposite end of the corridor.

The two soldiers, who had been slacking off on the ground, stood up quietly once they recognized the man’s face. The one running amid the darkness was a attendant serving the Third Prince.

“Hey, you guys!”

“What’s the matter?”

The attendant’s expression was grave. The soldier, feeling a subtle unease, asked the attendant.

“Hasn’t the party led by His Highness the Third Prince passed by here?”

Upon hearing the attendant’s question, the soldier looked at his comrades and opened his mouth.

“Did anyone pass by?”

“Not even a single ant has gone by…?”

The attendant’s face went pale at the soldiers’ response. He tore at his hair and rushed back the way he came.

“Your Highness! The Third Prince has vanished!”

The attendant’s pitiful scream dispersed into the darkness.

***

The occasionally appearing skeletons were not too threatening. It felt like we were passing through the dungeon without much trouble.

“Wait a moment.”

It was the gold-ranked ranger leading the way. He reached back, stopping the advance of the party members.

“Has a trap been discovered?”

“Yes.”

In response to Alfonso’s question, the ranger lay flat on the ground and carefully stroked the dusty stone floor. As he wiped the white dust away, an area that slightly protruded from the ground revealed itself.

“It’s probably best not to step here.”

As the ranger detected one trap, he smiled lightly and stepped over it. Suddenly, a noise like a “pssh!” rang out, and a blue flash shot between the walls. I frowned. It was too far away. I reached out hastily with my sword, but only grazed the blue flash. The head of the previously advancing gold-ranked ranger fell with a thud.

Boom-!

Late, red blood burst forth. Very few adventurers reacted to the ranger’s futile demise.

Alfonso, who had been leading the party, stood in shock, drenched in red blood with his mouth agape.

“Huh…”

Tsk…

Sighs of the adventurers burst forth belatedly. The ranger’s body, now gushing red blood, slumped to the ground without strength. Just then, a series of clattering sounds followed by three arrows shot from the ceiling.

A peculiar silence descended among the adventurers. Each one glanced around suspiciously until suddenly, they all looked up and began screaming wildly.

“Hey!!! This changes the story!!!”

“Show yourself!!! This is a breach of contract!!!”

The adventurers’ shouting seemed to awaken Alfonso’s mind. Still stunned, he opened his mouth calmly, stained with blood.

“W-wait… everyone calm down… And a breach of contract? What do you mean…?”

Just as Alfonso stepped forward in an attempt to soothe the adventurers, there was a creaking sound—

In the darkness, heavy footsteps began to echo.

Creak—

Creak—

Not one. Not two, but three. As time passed, the number of footsteps began to increase. The adventurers, who had been loudly agitated, sensed the new threat and fell silent.

Creak—

The dimly flickering lamp illuminated the rusted armor of three knights emerging from the darkness.

“Oh…!”

At that moment, Alfonso’s face began to brighten. He turned to his party members and shouted joyfully.

“Don’t worry! Those are knights from the Raoum royal family! They must have come to rescue us!”

“K-knights…?”

Creak—

Just as Alfonso said, the knights’ armor bore the emblem of Raoum, albeit faintly.

However, the three knights were silent. They merely approached this place wordlessly. I drew my sword alongside Terra and stepped forward. This time, the figures emerging were not ordinary knights.

“W-wait… what are you all planning to do? Those are knights of Raoum…”

Before Alfonso’s voice could finish, the approaching knights each drew their swords and began to exude ominous mana.

In that moment, Terra rushed forward and swung her great sword wide. The immense force of the dark blade scraped against the dungeon walls and ceiling, striking the nearest Death Knight.

Boom-!

It was a strong blow, but the attacked Death Knight appeared unscathed, merely having slightly dented armor.

“Tsk…”

In that moment, three blades flew towards Terra. The sword strikes wrapped in violet mana were fast, yet she evaded all of them without delay.

Her pink hair floated down beside me.

“D-D… Death Knight…!”

“There’s a Death Knight… from those Dark Mages?”

Panic spread among the adventurers behind us. Alfonso began to retreat with a greatly startled expression.

This might be better. It wouldn’t be ideal for all of us to fight in such a narrow corridor. I began to rotate my mana circle and spoke to Terra.

“Ms. Terra.”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible?”

“Well…”

Terra furrowed her brows at my question and gripped her great sword tighter. The black great sword dragged against the floor.

The gold-ranked swordsman could not guarantee victory. It signified how strong these three Death Knights were. At that moment, the dark purple mana pouring from the Death Knights became even more intense.

I felt a blade hovering just beneath my throat. I quietly yet swiftly enveloped my body in mana. At the moment when the mana circle of my heart began to squeeze out Starlight Mana, the Death Knight’s attack commenced.

Clang-!

The moment the swords clashed, the Evil Mana and Starlight mixed, creating a powerful storm.

 

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