TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 54
On the way down to the Dungeon to take the Exam.
Yuria and Mikhail, paired as a team of two, were advancing forward while illuminating the dark Dungeon with Magic.
The walls were covered in Moss and bore traces of battles. A chilling sensation crept over them.
The Professor had mentioned that safety personnel were stationed throughout the Dungeon, but the weight of being in a Dungeon was not easy to shake off.
Yuria hugged her shoulders against the eerie feeling as she moved toward the Deep Layer.
This Exam was different from the usual, focusing on practical combat.
Points were earned by inserting parts of Monsters, like an Orc’s ear, into the Orb-shaped Artifact distributed beforehand. The test was designed so that students needed to subjugate numerous Monsters and high-ranking Monsters to score high marks.
Lower-tier Monsters like Skeletons, which anyone could defeat, attracted many students and offered low scores. Consequently, Mikhail and I were heading deeper into the Dungeon to subjugate more challenging Monsters.
Yuria showed the Artifact in her hand to Mikhail and asked.
“Did you take good care of the Artifact?”
“Yeah. I put it safely in my Pocket.”
Mikhail nodded.
The round, Orb-shaped Artifact played an essential role.
In addition to grading, it also served as an emergency contact to summon safety personnel.
It had to be kept safe.
Striving to become the Top of the Class, Mikhail and Yuria continued descending toward the deeper Dungeon.
While descending the Stairs leading to the Deep Layer.
Mikhail, walking beside me, quietly began to speak.
“Yuria.”
“Yeah?”
Mikhail hesitated for a moment.
After contemplating for quite a while, Mikhail finally opened his mouth to speak.
He hadn’t seemed in a good mood for the past week. Was it related to that?
I felt slightly worried about what Mikhail was going to say.
Mikhail strengthened the glow of the ‘Light’ Magic illuminating their path and spoke.
“Actually, I met Ricardo a week ago.”
“What?”
Halted.
An all-too-familiar name came out of Mikhail’s mouth.
A name he would never normally mention.
A name that wasn’t even casually uttered at the Academy, yet Mikhail was saying it directly.
I looked at Mikhail in surprise, but his expression didn’t change much. Calmly descending the Stairs and speaking as if it were no big deal, Mikhail prompted me to ask again.
“You said you met Ricardo?”
Mikhail nodded.
“Yeah, I ran into him while taking a walk at Dawn.”
“You met him while walking?”
“Yeah, he was harassing people living in the Slum in an Alleyway.”
“An Alleyway…?”
The word “Alleyway” made me stop in my tracks.
Drip. A Water Drop, formed from moisture on the Ceiling, fell onto my face, but I wasn’t startled.
I sank into thought.
‘He said Alleyway, right?’
Alleyway.
He must mean the place where I almost got dragged off by a Vagabond…
An odd thought crossed my mind.
A ridiculous idea that Ricardo might have gone to the Alleyway because of me.
My foolish heart started to race.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
I clutched my chest where my heart was, tightly gripping it with my hand. The Dungeon, which felt like a cool breeze, suddenly felt strangely warm.
‘It can’t be, right?’
Mikhail broke my train of thought with a Deep Sigh.
“That Guy is still the same as ever.”
Mikhail’s disgust was palpable.
His dislike for Ricardo could be felt clearly.
“Still vicious and cruel, just like a Mad Dog.”
“…Really?”
Mikhail’s words barely registered in my mind.
‘No way… surely not,’ my mind was filled with this delusion.
I definitely disliked Ricardo.
But for some reason, thinking of him made my face flush.
I was sure I’d get mad and say all sorts of unpleasant things if I met him. Yet, like a fool, I kept thinking of him and the memories of those times drove me crazy.
Like the time when Ricardo saved me in the mountains.
-Close your eyes.
Or when he helped me in the Alleyway.
-Don’t breathe. You’ll pollute the air.
Those moments kept flickering in my mind.
I still disliked him.
He tormented me without reason.
He was always present during every incident that happened.
Even locked me in a Wardrobe to torment me, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Mikhail glanced at me and spoke.
“Yuria, your face is red. Are you feeling unwell?”
“Ah… No! I’m fine.”
Yuria fanned herself with her hand to cool the heat from her face.
‘I must be crazy…’
A brief silence followed.
The awkward name Ricardo had become the topic of conversation, making things uncomfortable between us.
Mikhail spoke to me.
“Yuria, what do you think about Ricardo?”
Mikhail was asking a strange question.
“Me?”
Startled, I looked at Mikhail, but his sincere eyes waited for an answer.
Without hesitation, I replied to Mikhail.
Though it left a bitter feeling, I still disliked Ricardo. Despite being grateful to him, the resentment from the things I endured at the Academy lingered deeply in my heart.
The pain of being tormented by someone I trusted was beyond words.
I gave Mikhail an awkward Smile and said.
“I absolutely hate him. More than anyone else in the world.”
“That’s a relief.”
Mikhail’s stiff expression softened.
*
We continued our journey deeper into the Dungeon.
Skeletons and Ghouls.
We encountered Undead Monsters, but thanks to favorable matchups, we handled them easily.
The Artifact, which tracked our scores, began emitting a ‘Beep’ sound as the points rose. While we accumulated high scores sufficient to reach the rankings, it still wasn’t enough.
Ruin and Crown Prince’s Team was overwhelmingly strong.
Yuria’s competitive spirit flared as the team that placed first had wagered a meal at the Academy.
The deeper we descended, the heavier the air felt against our skin. It was cold and oppressive.
Growling sounds of Monsters echoed around us, and the deeper we went, the more visible the traces of battles became on the walls.
Deeply gouged walls.
Brown, hardened Bloodstains occasionally came into view.
Yuria hugged her shoulders against the chilling sensation. Even with the Artifact ensuring safety, fear seemed inevitable.
But at least the points are piling up…!
If we keep going like this, we’ll be first.
I was convinced I could win a Scholarship at the Academy.
Just as I was about to feel happy, imagining my bank account getting heavier for the first time in a while—
“Please save me…!”
A voice was heard from the Dungeon Corner.
Mikhail and Yuria stopped hunting Monsters and looked toward the source of the sound.
We were of the same mind. Let’s go.
We were about to go without hesitation, but Ricardo’s words from not long ago flashed across my mind.
-Don’t meddle unnecessarily.
Yuria shook her head, trying to clear the distracting thoughts.
What’s the use of remembering what Ricardo said? He was a man who lied all the time anyway. I knew that holding on to his advice would only hurt me, but even so, my feet stopped and refused to move.
I felt uneasy. Like something was going to happen.
Most of Ricardo’s passing warnings were tied to frightening events, after all.
“Let’s go.”
Mikhail spoke to me, who was hesitating.
“…”
“Yuria?”
“Ah… Yes!”
Yuria shook off her thoughts and moved toward the direction of the sound. After passing through two Alleyways… A man wearing familiar clothes was lying near the stairs leading further into the Deep Layer.
A long Black Coat.
A White Shirt underneath.
The Man was lying on the ground, bleeding.
The floor was littered with signs of a fierce battle, and a small Dagger the size of a palm was embedded in his chest.
“Huh…?”
The clothes looked very familiar.
The same attire I’d seen when Ruin and I were on a task in the Hamel Mountain Range.
It was the Cleric Robe of a Heretic.
Yuria’s hands trembled.
She didn’t know what to do.
Her heart screamed to save him quickly.
But her instincts refused.
The thought that healing this man might be wrong made her heart race wildly.
The Man on the ground groaned in pain, urging urgently,
“Please save me… I can’t breathe…”
The Man clutched the Dagger in his chest, letting out painful groans. The sight of him sweating coldly and struggling evoked a flood of conflicting emotions.
The thought of needing to save him and the thought that saving him would be wrong made her freeze.
Mikhail grabbed my shoulder and shook me as I stood there in a daze.
“Yuria! Snap out of it!”
“Huh? Ah…”
“What are you doing?! Use Healing Magic already!”
-Don’t meddle unnecessarily.
Ricardo’s words from that time kept surfacing in my mind.
Normally, I wouldn’t even hesitate to use Healing Magic, but today, Ricardo’s words felt unusually vivid.
Yuria spoke in a trembling voice.
“But… He’s a Heretic.”
Mikhail replied in an urgent voice.
“Even if he’s a Heretic, we still have to save him!”
Seeing me standing still, unable to do anything, Mikhail reluctantly supported The Man’s shoulder and began pouring a Healing Potion over him.
The Healing Potion was one of two given to each person by the Academy.
An expensive Potion that was more than sufficient for emergency treatment.
Mikhail supported The Man.
It seemed like he was planning to abandon the Exam and head back to the upper floors.
Just as he was about to lift him over his shoulder and stand—
A chilling voice whispered into Mikhail’s ear.
“Yes, you should save me.”
-Thunk.
The Man stabbed the Dagger, once embedded in his chest, into Mikhail’s abdomen. Thunk… Once. Twice. Three times.
With a choked sound, Mikhail’s eyes trembled.
The Man snatched the Potion from Mikhail’s Pocket and poured it over the wound on his chest.
The wound began to heal.
The torn flesh rapidly closed up, thanks to the Potion.
The Man exhaled deeply, straightened his back, and, with a grotesque Smile, spoke to the bleeding Mikhail.
“Phew~ I really thought I was going to die. But I survived? Thank you so much, Saints…!”
Shhk… Mikhail staggered backward, clutching the Dagger lodged in his abdomen. He tried to retreat but collapsed to his knees, unable to bear the deeply embedded blade.
Yuria ran to the fallen Mikhail.
“Mikhail!!”
Mikhail spoke to Yuria.
“Run, Yuria…”
Yuria poured Healing Magic into Mikhail’s abdomen. The bright green light engulfed Mikhail’s body, and he began to breathe steadily.
Relief briefly washed over me.
“A Healer, huh.”
The Man standing behind me reached out his hand.
A blood-soaked hand loomed before my eyes. Overwhelmed by fear, The Man’s hand appeared enormous, like that of a giant, and the thick blood dripped onto my face.
“Ah… Ah…!”
Yuria was terrified, unable to do anything. She just stood there foolishly, waiting for The Man to grab her.
“Stop it!”
Mikhail shouted.
Drawing his sword, Mikhail swung it at the Heretic.
Though he struck decisively, the dull sound that followed caused Mikhail to slump forward.
“Perfect. I needed a Healer anyway, so this works out.”
The Man looked at me with a sinister grin.
“Don’t say no. I’d hate to cut off those pretty fingers.”
Uttering such chilling words, the Heretic began dragging me deeper into the Dungeon.
With trembling hands, I shattered the Artifact hidden in my clothes.
The orb that summoned the Knights’ Order.
However,
“Aah!”
On the stairs leading to the Deep Layer, Knights lay collapsed, gasping for breath and bleeding. Beneath the feet of a Knight who was telling me to run, an Escape Scroll was torn and rendered useless.
Yuria’s body trembled like an Aspen Tree.
What do I do…
What do I do…
What do I do…
I was utterly lost.
No way to escape.
The thought of experiencing something horrifying made my vision go dark.
“Let go!!”
Yuria struggled desperately.
“Let me gooo!!”
Struggling to escape from The Man’s rough grip dragging her away, Yuria flailed desperately, but The Man raised his hand high to threaten her.
“Shut up?”
-Whoosh.
Just as The Man’s hand was about to come down on Yuria…
“You hopeless bastards.”
A familiar voice rang out.
A voice that shouldn’t be heard in the Deep Layer Dungeon echoed as if it had been waiting.
“Because of you…!”
The Man was crying.
Like a Young Child who couldn’t achieve their dream, he clenched his fists tightly and spoke to us, hidden in the Darkness.
“I couldn’t even take a bath with the Young Lady…”
-Fwoosh. As the Shimmering Energy spread, The Man’s face began to blur.
The Man with Red Hair.
It was Ricardo.
Ricardo looked at us and said,
“If it weren’t for the reward, I wouldn’t have come… Damn…”
–
[Save Yuria.]
Reward: Dark Magic Resistance Lv. 4, Rehabilitative Touch [B]
It was a Quest that couldn’t be refused.