Dungeon Exploration Training
“……Anyway, it’s gotten later than I expected.”
By the time I finished my talk with Granny Lori and stepped out of the building, the academy was already steeped in the deep red of the evening sunset.
The clock tower in the distance announced that it was already six o’clock.
I’m exhausted……
Of course, I had no intention of holding a grudge against Erse for stealing my rest time.
Trisha’s Grace.
The ring on the middle finger of my right hand was doing a fine job of soothing me.
My body was worn out and tired, yet thanks to this little thing my mood was soaring at its absolute peak.
Just as I was about to head toward the student dormitory with noticeably lighter steps—
“Welcome back.”
Huh? I turned at the sudden sound of a familiar female voice and found a group of familiar faces waiting for me.
“Young Master, welcome back!”
“Young Master Winchester, welcome back.”
Why on earth were these kids always waiting for me?
Elizabeth, Enri, and William—the three who had been sticking to me almost every day lately—greeted me warmly.
“Did your meeting with the Principal go well?”
“It wasn’t bad.”
Meeting Erse had been tiring, but with Trisha’s Grace in hand it wasn’t merely “not bad”—it was actually good.
“Look at this! While you were in the meeting, this notice went up.”
While I was still thinking about the Principal’s office, Enri dashed to my side, pulled her phone from her pocket, and held it out for me to see.
On the screen was an academy notice text titled “Dungeon Exploration Training Schedule Notice.”
Dungeon Exploration Training Schedule Notice
“Dungeon Exploration Training Schedule?”
My eyes were drawn to the unfamiliar combination of words.
It was a lecture I had never seen before, yet the name alone was intuitive enough that I could roughly guess its contents.
“It’s training that uses a low-rank dungeon owned by the academy.”
“Apparently the educational dungeon that got wrecked in the last terrorist attack has finally reopened.”
“Is that so.”
This was something worth celebrating.
Entering a dungeon meant actual combat training, which was far more efficient for skill experience.
“It’s my first dungeon, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m tired of just hitting scarecrows…….”
I couldn’t agree more.
In truth, the skill experience I had gained from recent academy training was pitifully small.
Even when I sparred a little seriously with William—nowhere near the life-or-death fight against the hellhounds—I still earned more experience than anything the academy drills had given me. If I wanted to get stronger, real combat was indispensable.
According to Enri’s explanation, starting tomorrow each class would form four-person teams and begin the dungeon exploration training.
“It’s a real shame I can’t be in the same team as all of you.”
Naturally, William was in Class B.
Since teams had to be formed within each class, the protagonist had somehow ended up left out on his own.
“Mr. Granz, I’m sure you’ll find excellent teammates.”
“Hehe, I’m definitely going to be on the same team as Young Master and Lady Elizabeth!”
“Haa, if only I were in Class A too……!”
In their minds I was already a confirmed teammate.
Well, we will be on the same team, but……
Their high affection toward me was a good thing.
The higher the affection, the greater the chance of recruiting them as companions, and once bonds formed their performance in crises improved as well—there was no downside at all.
Still, I couldn’t simply rejoice at a situation where I had somehow become more familiar to them than the actual protagonist.
Watching William scratch his head with that dumb look on his face—despite being the main character—left me with a faintly uneasy feeling. I shook it off and carefully examined the phone Enri had handed me, wanting a closer look at this dungeon exploration training.
To cut to the chase, judging solely by the contents of the notice, it seemed to refer to the daily dungeons from the game—the ones you entered once a day to farm a set amount of experience.
Who would’ve thought homework content would turn into an academy lecture……
I had no idea whether the daily dungeon lore from the game had actually become academy curriculum.
Back then I had simply run the dungeons every day like obligatory homework and collected the rewards.
It’s not as if I know every single thing about Hero Con Brio.
Even someone like me—called a stagnant pond or stagnant water by others—had never gone through the backstory of every piece of content in the game one by one. It couldn’t be helped.
Still, if this dungeon exploration training really was the daily dungeon I was thinking of, then a green light had just lit up for my growth.
I found myself genuinely looking forward to tomorrow’s training.
The next day.
The sun blazed brilliantly overhead.
I raised one hand to shade my eyes and took in the magnificent sight spread before me.
Even though it was still early, the assembly point designated by the academy was already bustling with students who had arrived ahead of time.
The students gathered here looked quite different from usual.
First of all, instead of the academy’s flashy white uniforms embroidered with gold thread, each of them wore personal gear that reeked of fantasy.
Weapons of every kind in their hands, armor of iron and leather, robes—it was exactly the kind of scene I had seen countless times inside the game.
Of course, I was no different from them.
I too had discarded my usual uniform; in one hand I held a spear, and my body was clad in a custom-made black full-plate armor.
Since I still couldn’t freely wield Gungnir, I had commissioned a spear of identical weight and length to carry instead.
The other difference was the atmosphere.
Around the gathering point, joy, excitement, fear—every sort of emotion swirled together.
Everyone was clearly tense about their first real combat.
I wandered a little among the students, glancing around, and naturally linked up with my party members.
“That’s the armor you received from the forge that day. It looks really cool!”
“It suits you wonderfully.”
I know.
The black hair that symbolized Winchester and the black armor Harson had forged for me paired together as if they had been made for each other.
The fact that I had admired myself in the mirror this morning was a secret I would take to the grave.
“We’ll need to recruit one more party member.”
With William, who usually followed us around, dragged off to Class B, we needed to fill one slot.
Even a quick look around showed countless students recruiting for parties.
Because the training notice had been sent by text after school, there were still quite a few people who hadn’t found a team yet.
Our current party already had a fairly solid composition.
Enri as the tank holding the front line, me as the melee dealer, and Elizabeth who could serve as both buffer and sub-dealer.
If I had to pick a missing role, a healer would be nice, but with Elizabeth’s defensive skills there was no real need to insist on one.
That left only—
“……A ranged dealer, I suppose.”
“What will you do?”
“Hmm.”
Elizabeth seemed to have realized as well that our party wasn’t missing anything critical in terms of composition.
“Um…… Young Master?”
While I was deliberating with Elizabeth, Enri carefully cut in.
“If we don’t have a set number yet, would it be all right if I brought a friend of mine?”
I almost blurted out something about her having friends besides us, but I managed to swallow the words before they left my mouth.
“I don’t mind.”
Honestly, in the middle of this chaotic party-recruitment frenzy, I had no confidence I could drag out a student with the exact role I wanted.
And even if I somehow managed it, whether that person would meet my standards was another matter entirely.
In that case, bringing someone we already knew so the party atmosphere stayed smooth was the best option.
“As long as Young Master permits it, I have no objections.”
With both my and Elizabeth’s approval, Enri’s face lit up and she dove straight into the chaos.
A short while later she returned, weaving through the crowd while holding the hand of a girl I vaguely remembered seeing in the classroom.
“Let me introduce you. This is Angela, my roommate.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Angela Schutzbury. I possess the A-rank talent Witch.”
The girl who introduced herself as Angela wore large horn-rimmed glasses and witch-style robes that matched her talent perfectly.
Angela Schutzbury.
The name was in my memories as well.
She wasn’t a playable character, but she was one of the supporting cast who played a decent role in the later stages.
Because she appeared frequently in the late game, I had only ever known her adult appearance—yet if she took off those glasses and aged a little, that face would clearly emerge from the one before me now.
Not bad at all.
A Witch excelled at weakening enemies—an excellent talent.
Angela Schutzbury was easily one of the best cards I could draw right now.