Make Sure to Eat Well
It took longer than I expected to climb back up.
I hadn't counted the exact time, so I couldn't be sure, but that was how it felt.
In any case, we made it up safely.
Creak.
With that sound, the platform we had ridden began to rotate.
Its surface expanded steadily until it sealed the open hole completely.
Thud!
Platform and opening locked together perfectly. The path downward vanished.
And that was not all.
It's pitch-black.
Not a single ray of light reached us. We stood in total darkness.
Still, it was no real problem. I had brought a portable light magic stone precisely for moments like this.
There aren't any traps here, so I could just keep one hand on the wall and keep walking…
Even so, losing my sight left me uneasy. Anyone who relied on their eyes would feel the same sudden vulnerability.
Rummage, rummage.
I pulled the magic stone from my pocket. Infusing mana into it would release the power stored inside.
The downside is you can't use it without mana, but…
That hardly applied to me. I was one of this novel's heroines, after all. Of course I possessed mana.
I had already practiced channeling mana into the stone several times, so activating it posed no trouble.
Hummm.
A soft yellow glow spilled from the magic stone. Smaller than my palm, it still flooded the entire cave with light.
Naturally, since magic like that is sealed inside it.
Even knowing that, the sight still felt wondrous. Magic had never existed back in Korea; every time I witnessed something like this, I remembered all over again that I was living inside a novel.
"You brought a magic stone?"
Ceryll asked.
I nodded.
"Yeah. Figured I might need it."
"Reina, you're always so thoroughly prepared. Teaming up with you really was the right choice."
Ceryll smiled and rested her head against my shoulder. She had clung to me the entire climb, and she still had not let go.
We're up now. This should be fine.
I stepped away from her.
"Ah."
A soft, disappointed sound escaped her. I had no idea why she sounded regretful, but clinging like that no longer suited the situation, so it ended here.
"There's a path."
I pointed toward the open passage ahead.
"We should keep going, right?"
I nodded at Ceryll's question.
"If we want to leave the dungeon, yes. There'll still be monsters waiting at the end of that path."
I had wanted to phrase it as mere speculation rather than certainty, but the truth-telling potion left me no choice.
"Let's hurry."
Fortunately, Ceryll did not seem to notice anything strange about my wording.
Absolutely nothing happened.
No traps. No monster encounters. Not even a surprise ambush.
Thanks to the magic stone's glow, the tunnel stayed bright, so I never had to waste energy on needless anxiety either.
In the original story the protagonist tripped constantly.
I finally understood why. The floor here was ridiculously uneven. Without the light I would have fallen flat on my face more than once. Being able to see let me watch my footing and stay upright.
My soles are killing me, though.
Walking for so long across an irregular surface naturally left my feet aching.
"Haa…"
My stamina was starting to run dry as well.
"Let's rest for a bit."
Ceryll shook her head at my suggestion.
"We might not have far left. Just a little farther."
She looked oddly impatient. In the original she had shown the same restless streak, so she and the protagonist almost never stopped to rest.
I saw no reason to push ourselves that hard.
"It'll take a while to reach the end no matter what. Taking proper breaks will get us there better."
"The cave shook earlier, remember?"
"So?"
"…It didn't collapse, thankfully, but once something like that happens the strata could be unstable."
Only then did I realize what she was truly worried about.
"You're afraid the cave might cave in?"
"Yeah."
Her expression was completely serious. This was no joke.
I knew from the novel that no such disaster would occur. But Ceryll? She knew nothing. She did not even realize a dungeon break had already begun. Her anxiety was only natural.
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
"How can you be so sure?"
I closed my mouth. Right now I could only answer honestly, and revealing that this world was a novel did not seem wise. So I chose a question instead of an answer.
"Ceryll, do you trust me?"
"Huh?"
The sudden question left her flustered, but she nodded a moment later. Her reaction felt a little complicated, yet it was enough.
"Then you'll believe what I say, right?"
"Huh?"
Her face asked what trusting me had to do with the cave not collapsing. No help for it, then.
"…So saying you trust me was a lie after all."
I pressed the back of my hand to my eyes and sniffled. Even to my own ears the acting was terrible. Apparently it worked on Ceryll just fine.
"N-no! I do trust you, Reina!"
"Then you'll believe me when I say the cave won't collapse?"
"That's…"
"I knew it!"
"I believe you! I'll believe you, so p-please don't cry."
Simple. Tears really are a woman's most terrifying weapon.
"Good. Then let's rest."
I dropped back to my usual tone and sat down on the floor. I would have loved to bring a folding chair, but my budget had not allowed it.
Next chance I get, I'm definitely buying one.
Sitting bare on the rock made my backside prickle uncomfortably. While thinking that, I glanced at Ceryll.
She scanned the surroundings, then darted off as if she had spotted something. Moments later she returned carrying an armful of… whatever it was… and stopped right in front of me.
"Reina! Look—mushrooms!"
Dungeons were not completely devoid of food. Edible mushrooms and fruits sometimes grew inside them. Some people even claimed you could just cook the monsters you killed. Of course, none of those things were safe to eat carelessly.
"Teacher Anin told us never to eat anything from inside a dungeon without proper identification."
Ceryll's face fell at the reminder.
"I know, but…"
I understood exactly why she looked so dejected. If Reina's setting was "zero handiness," then Ceryll's was "gets hungry ridiculously fast." That slender frame did not look like it belonged to someone with a bottomless stomach, yet right now she was clearly suffering. She pretended she was fine, but inside she was probably starving to death.
"Don't eat those. Eat this instead."
I pulled the lunchbox I had packed from my backpack. The moment Ceryll saw the container, her eyes sparkled.
"Did you make this, Reina?"
"…Yeah."
Buying something ready-made would have been better, but I had cooked it myself.
"Reina's homemade lunch… I'm excited. Can I eat it?"
She hummed cheerfully as she opened the lid—then froze solid.
Understandable. The kimbap looked bizarrely rolled. Seaweed that should have been on the outside had somehow ended up tucked inward. The rolls were uneven in thickness and completely mashed out of shape. As for the rolled omelet… it had no shape at all. It just sat there like a slime.
"It looks weird, but it tastes fine."
That was the truth. The appearance hardly inspired confidence, though. To prove I was not lying, I picked up one of the limp, misshapen rolls with chopsticks and held it out in front of Ceryll's mouth.
"Here. Say ah~"
"Ah~"
Even while flustered, she opened her mouth obediently. I popped the kimbap inside.
"How is it?"
"…It's delicious."
She was not being polite. My cooking skill had never been bad; friends used to drop by just to eat. Reina's cursed hand coordination was the only reason everything looked like a disaster.
"Reina, you're good at cooking. From the looks alone I thought this was your first time ever touching a kitchen."
"I tried my best with the shape, but it just wouldn't cooperate."
Because of Reina's setting, I would probably be stuck producing food like this for the rest of my life.
"It really is delicious. So this is what Reina's cooking tastes like."
Ceryll happily took another piece.
"Anyone would get the same taste if they used the same ingredients."
"Come on. Other kimbap doesn't have Reina's affection and love packed into every bite, does it?"
Affection and love?
"…I didn't put any of that in."
"Reina's love and affection are filling up my whole stomach right now."
Could she please listen to a word I said!
Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, Anin wore a grave expression.
"Of all things, a dungeon break…"
It was only a low-rank dungeon, and every safety inspection had already been completed. For something like this to happen so suddenly—
Why…?
The question crossed his mind, but the students' safety mattered far more. Even if the dungeon was low-rank, once a break occurred the odds of the students remaining unharmed dropped sharply.
It takes at least a week before anyone can force entry into a dungeon after a break.
After seven days the entrance could be torn open from the outside. The real problem was whether those children could last that long.
Since it broke in a low-rank dungeon, there should only be one boss monster at worst.
The issue was that the moment they ran into it, their survival chances plummeted. Even if they avoided the boss entirely, could they really go a whole week without food?
A person can die of thirst in just three days. Number Six—Reina—had left wearing the dimensional backpack issued by the academy, but…
I can only pray she packed even a few snacks.
Of course, Anin's worries were completely unfounded.
"Reina! Why did you pack so much food? This looks more like a picnic than a dungeon expedition!"
"I figured this much would be enough to keep us comfortable."
Reina and Ceryll were eating well and holding out just fine.