You're Coming With Me
"You have to come too."
"......Huh?"
Aria's face turned ashen in an instant at my words.
"M-Me? Why me?"
"Why? You think I'd go alone?"
I answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"B-But... Lady Elise, you're so strong! I'm just a student who studies!"
Aria made a pitiful face as she rattled off her weaknesses in a rush.
"I-I have low scores in PE, I've tripped while running tons of times, I hate bugs, and dark places scare me..."
She folded her fingers one by one, desperately emphasizing how utterly useless she was.
A reaction screaming she wouldn't go even if it killed her.
She had a point, honestly.
Taking a timid, low-stamina mage on a stealth mission? Coldly speaking, it was like dragging around dead weight. In a crisis, I'd be busy escaping myself—looking after her too would double the difficulty, no question.
But I couldn't back down.
I recalled the state of the underground passage from the game.
A insane map riddled with traps that triggered every other step.
If my guess was right and someone had drawn a summoning circle there, the place was basically a minefield by now.
Floors, ceilings, walls—every surface crawling with intruder-repelling magic circles.
Me, without a mana core, going in alone?
I'm dead.
No doubt about it.
Without a mana core, I couldn't see magic with my eyes.
Couldn't read mana flows either.
Meaning even the simplest trap could kill me easily.
That's why Aria was crucial for this run.
Magic department scholarship student.
With her theoretical knowledge and skills, she could spot traps ahead of time.
...That's what I wanted to say.
But spelling it out like that would be too boring and pretentious.
Telling her it was dangerous would just make her whine even more about not going.
So I went with my usual go-to for recruiting companions.
"Doesn't matter."
"It does matter! It totally does! Anyone else would be..."
"No."
I cut her off sharply.
Then strode forward, cornering her against the bed.
"E-Eek?!"
Aria backed away in terror until her back hit the wall.
I planted one hand on the wall, perfectly trapping her.
No escape left.
Aria looked up at me with wide eyes.
Her pupils darted lost and trembling.
"L-Lady Elise...?"
I leaned down to meet her gaze.
Our noses almost brushing.
Close enough for our breaths to mingle—and her face flushed beet red in a flash.
"No reason."
I whispered.
"I just need you."
"......!"
Aria froze at my words.
No complicated explanations, no logical persuasion.
Just that one line.
I need you.
That simple, direct demand seemed to short-circuit her reason.
"U-Um... what does that..."
"Exactly what I said. No one else."
I stared into her eyes relentlessly, refusing to look away.
"It has to be you, Aria."
"Ugh..."
Aria, pinned in the cage of my arm against the wall, couldn't move an inch.
She bit her lip hard.
Her reason screaming to refuse, clashing fiercely with the emotions my words stirred.
Her gaze flicked from my eyes to my lips, back to my eyes.
She's breaking.
I debated pushing a little harder—
"I-I'll do it..."
Aria finally mumbled in a tiny voice. Her head hung low, ear tips exploding red.
"I'll go... with you..."
"Good choice."
I smiled satisfied and pulled my hand from the wall.
Aria's legs buckled like jelly; she nearly collapsed but caught herself on the bed.
"B-But...!"
She added desperately.
"If I-I'm in danger... you have to protect me, Lady Elise! No abandoning me and running!"
"Obviously."
I stroked her head.
"Why would I leave you? I'll drag you out to the end."
"R-Really...?"
Only then did she seem to relax.
"Haa... I'm crazy. Totally crazy..."
She grumbled but rummaged in her desk anyway.
She pulled out a short wooden wand, tipped with a small crystal—basic model.
"What's that?"
"My... staff. Thought it might work for self-defense..."
"That enough?"
"It's not enough—it's all I can even use..."
Aria clutched the wand, face crumpling again.
Scholarship student, yet her gear was pretty shabby.
Whatever—gear wasn't the point.
"Then let's go."
Aria made another pitiful face but bundled up in her outer coat.
"For real... don't abandon me if it's dangerous...?"
"Depends on the situation."
"Huh?!"
"Kidding. Just stick right behind me."
We slipped out of the darkened dorm in secret.
///
Our destination: behind the academy main building, a rickety manhole half-hidden in the woods-adjacent area.
The night academy—especially near the forest—felt worlds apart from daytime.
Places beyond streetlamp glow drowned in pitch black, rustling from the woods setting nerves on edge.
"D-Do we really have to go in here?"
Aria asked, shrinking back.
She pointed at the rusted lid half-buried in bushes.
"Yeah. Fastest way."
"Ugh... the smell..."
A musty, damp stench leaked from the lid cracks.
Aria pinched her nose, grimacing.
"Worse inside. Brace yourself."
I heaved the lid open.
-Kkiiik
Rusted hinges screamed as it lifted.
Pure blackness below.
"I'll go first."
I descended the ladder without hesitation. My feet hit squelching mud.
"Whew."
I looked up.
Aria's worried face poked into the round hole.
"Come down."
I beckoned; she hesitantly set foot on the ladder.
"F-For real... going down...?"
"Quick. Before someone sees."
"Ugh... okay..."
Aria carefully climbed down, one hand gripping her skirt, the other the ladder, trembling all the way.
She's gonna fall.
Should've told her to change into pants.
Her movements looked so precarious.
"Slippery—be careful."
"Y-Yes... Kyaa!"
No sooner said, her foot slipped off the ladder.
"Wha—?"
As her body lurched, I shot out my arm and caught her waist.
-Thud
Her light body dropped into my arms.
"Eek...!"
Startled, Aria clutched my shoulders tight.
"Told you to be careful."
"S-Sorry... my legs gave out..."
Tears welled in her eyes.
I gently set her down.
"Eek, it's slimy...!"
The squish underfoot made her freak; she clung to my arm again.
Even after I put her down, she wouldn't let go.
"Light first."
"Y-Yes. Light."
A small orb of light floated up from her wand tip.
White glow revealed the underground sewer hidden in darkness.
Moss-crusted damp walls.
Black sewage flowing on the floor.
And bats hanging upside-down from the ceiling.
Bats?
Why bats here? The flock fluttered wings at the light.
"Kyaa!"
Aria screamed at the sight, burrowing into me.
"Bats! Bats!"
"Quiet. You'll scare them more."
"What if they come at me? Huh? What if they bite?"
"They won't. Just passing through."
I tried prying her off, but she stuck like a leech.
"Hang on—let go a bit. Can't move."
"No way! It's scary!"
I sighed.
Could we investigate like this?
I scanned around.
Good—only one path.
A long passage following the sewage flow. Faint, hard-to-read symbols etched sporadically on walls.
"Let's go."
I led the way.
Aria pressed tight behind, clutching my clothes.
-Splash, splash
Our footsteps echoed through the cave-like tunnel.