Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Dungeon (1)
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"Look at your sword? What does that mean?"
I managed my expression as best I could and spoke down to her.
By the setting, Agnes Bayern's family was a viscount house.
It was a rank incomparable to the Phillasia Ducal House.
Thanks to the Iliad Academy, she could even speak to me.
On any other day, how long would it have taken to utter even those words?
I could predict it would take at least a month.
Though the odds of her never speaking at all were higher.
Agnes hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
"I once heard a rumor in the market that the eldest son of Duke Phillasia wields a sword. Since you defeated an academy instructor barehanded without one, I thought you'd be even more exceptional with a sword... If I'm mistaken, I apologize."
"No mistake. I do use a sword."
She'd just come to ask about my sword in a normal way.
I relaxed the tension in my body. If she'd challenged me to a duel like the original protagonist, I planned to refuse immediately.
A duel with this body? That would be the height of luxury.
"Then, could you teach me a move or two? I can offer anything you desire as thanks."
"...?"
Did she even realize what her words implied?
Looking into those eyes, I doubted it.
"Those words you just said. You spoke them prepared to take responsibility?"
Saying she'd do anything meant she either didn't know her own value...
"Yes, anything within my power."
...or she was truly desperate.
Agnes fell into the first category.
She didn't know her own worth.
And the second.
She was desperate enough to stake everything.
'Well, Agnes is that kind of girl.'
That icy personality and knightly stoicism.
All of it was acquired later.
House Bayern, viscounts.
A fallen noble house that no longer existed.
Right now, the only ones bearing the name Bayern were Agnes and her younger sibling.
Just the two of them.
The rest had all died.
To the demons.
"Hmm..."
...I had to think seriously.
Teaching swordsmanship wasn't an issue. The Genius trait wasn't for show.
Plus, I'd indirectly seen how future Agnes wielded her sword through text.
Sharing a bit of that knowledge might let her surpass the protagonist and take first place right now.
On top of that, Agnes was the perfect companion for the opportunity I planned to seize.
'Lenoc's Cave.'
A great magic swordsman who dominated an era.
A genius among geniuses.
The magic swordsman, Lenoc.
After his death, countless magic swordsmen arose, but none are said to have surpassed him to this day.
That's why magic swordsman became a profession that even those with considerable talent hesitated to pursue.
Lenoc.
You needed talent comparable to the first magic swordsman.
Such a Lenoc had hidden an opportunity near Iliad Academy.
'Relics and spirit pills he used in life.'
I'd take the spirit pill.
I couldn't carry Lenoc's relic around anyway.
It was probably designated for Agnes as the user.
In the novel, others tried using Lenoc's relic besides Agnes, but no one succeeded.
Because of the relic's picky nature.
It wouldn't even let you touch it unless you were to its liking.
To prepare for the future catastrophe anyway, I needed to strengthen the academy's main cast...
"I'll teach you a little."
I pondered briefly and nodded.
Agnes's lips twitched slightly. Her expression barely changed, but she seemed pleased.
She looked ready to draw her sword right away.
I understood her eagerness to grow faster.
"Not teaching here."
"Pardon?"
No need to draw it yet.
Soon enough, she'd be drawing it whether she wanted to or not.
"Before enrolling, my family found a dungeon. We'll clear it and check your sword along the way."
"A dungeon... isn't that too difficult yet? I heard you need an instructor to accompany you."
She looked puzzled.
The academy required instructors for dungeon entries or special permits.
"It's fine. The dungeon's easy anyway."
Really.
If my memory served, Lenoc's Cave was designed to be cleared easily.
"Ah... well, you did take down an instructor in one hit."
"...?"
She was under some strange misunderstanding.
I tried to correct it, but Agnes showed she wanted to head to the dungeon ASAP.
No, I planned to hang back, grab the spirit pill, and leave.
Lenoc's Cave was hidden by magic in the forest near the academy.
The first day was just an 80-minute teaser class, with full lessons starting tomorrow, so we had time.
Entering during the day, we'd exit by night.
Thinking that, we entered the forest.
As expected of woods hiding a cave for ages, it was dense.
An ancient forest had its own unique aura.
As we ventured in, a tree with a cleft in the center came into view.
'Should be around here.'
I slipped my finger—just barely fitting—into the gap and channeled mana.
Normally, you'd learn this later from stories about Lenoc in another dungeon.
'Why let it rot?'
While helping with Agnes's sword, I'd grab my spirit pill too.
Definitely not for her sword.
I was entering to save myself.
...Something felt off, but anyway.
Mana flowed from my finger into the tree.
It traveled down the trunk, awakening mechanisms long dormant.
"Cough!"
I vomited blood.
Damn it.
Vomiting blood didn't shorten my lifespan that much.
For some reason, intense movement or injuries caused backlash in my body.
But lifespan loss was minimal.
So why the blood?
I still hadn't found an answer.
"Are you alright?"
"No."
I kept vomiting blood.
The tree roots absorbed it.
Agnes hurriedly rummaged in her pocket for a handkerchief.
Ah, I miss Petra.
Petra would've plugged my mouth with one already.
"At least cover your mouth with this."
"...No need. Can't use it if it's stained with my blood."
Right on cue, the door opened.
I withdrew my finger from the gap and revealed the cave hidden behind the veil.
Big enough for two or three people.
"Let's go in."
"Y-yes!"
As we entered the cave, our bodies seemed to shift.
Our vision shifted slightly too.
A carved door.
We stood before it.
I scanned the surroundings.
Whether Lenoc had enchanted it, there was no cave dampness.
No side paths or rear exits.
Only forward or give up.
Behind me was a portal, not the cave entrance.
We'd really teleported.
Teleportation was 5th circle, but reliably 6th.
The current chancellor aiming for archmage was 8th circle.
'Lenoc was at least 6th circle.'
Maybe 7th.
No wonder ordinary magic swordsmen fell short.
Even scouring history, 6th circle mages weren't common.
Yet he mastered it alongside swordsmanship?
Utterly unreasonable.
Unless you had overwhelming talent.
"It's quite spacious."
Agnes stepped in front of me as she spoke.
Her protective stance puzzled me, but it was the role she needed to play, so I said nothing and advanced.
A massive door blocked our path.
Not as grand as Trina's, but far too big for people.
Flashy decoration.
Or meant to block something that size.
As I reached for the handle, Agnes rushed over to stop me.
"I'll open it."
"What?"
"I heard your health was poor, but I didn't realize it was this bad..."
Uh, well.
Agnes's gaze filled with pity.
A flicker of annoyance rose.
It was one of the looks I got most entering with this body.
They didn't know I was terminally ill, but once they saw my frailty, they all made that face.
That gaze felt like looking down on me.
I hated it.
I slapped Agnes's hand away and grabbed the handle.
"Unnecessary worry."
Just for opening a door.
I gave her face a cold stare before entering the dungeon.
I had to enter before Petra worried.
Facing that pitying gaze once was enough.
Of course, I knew Agnes meant well purely.
Petra had too, and others in the ducal house.
But if that goodwill persisted, it would grow excessive.
In the end, I had to stand on my own.
If I rose relying on others' help,
I'd be unable to without it.
And they'd see helping me as obligatory.
Humiliatingly so.
This body was mine, even if it vomited blood and my head throbbed.
The body I had to think with and move.
I clenched my fist tight and stepped into the dungeon.
Renewing my resolve to survive once more.