The Noble Lady (1)
Today was a special day.
The Imperial Academy—the flower of the Empire, blessed by the first emperor, the cradle of the future, and a dozen other grand titles. The day we were heading into the Academy Dungeon for practical training.
For this year's freshmen, it was their first time entering the Academy Dungeon. The notice about today's training had gone out three days ago, yet quite a few students had already begun preparing the moment their admission was confirmed. That was how special the Academy Dungeon was.
“I’ll say it once more. You are only permitted up to the third floor today. If you go any deeper, I cannot guarantee your lives.”
Professor Ines spoke in her usual calm, almost cold voice. I wondered how many students realized that this was her way of being kind—trying to scare them into staying out of danger.
“That doesn’t mean the third floor is safe, either. I assume everyone has their emergency magic tools ready?”
Several students, meeting her gaze, pulled out small wand-shaped tools from their pockets to check.
“If you break that tool in an emergency, either I or another professor will come to your aid within five minutes at most. But remember—every professor might already be busy elsewhere, and you could lose your life before we arrive. Stay alert and don’t let your guard down.”
The Academy’s dungeon training was less “practice” and more actual combat. The biggest difference was that help would come quickly and reliably in a crisis, but even that wasn’t enough to guarantee safety.
When the professor openly mentioned the possibility of death, several students visibly tensed up. That was a good sign. Tension was far better than carelessness.
Most casualties during dungeon training didn’t happen on the first run. They happened on the second or third. Students who had been here a few times before would grow overconfident and fall to attacks they normally would have dodged.
“One last thing. You can all complete this training safely. That’s why we admitted you. The Academy has recognized your abilities. Don’t be careless, but face it with confidence.”
A brief silence fell.
The students glanced at one another, as if confirming they had heard her correctly. Professor Ines, who usually spoke only in dry, businesslike tones, had just given them such warm encouragement?
— Clap, clap, clap…
Someone started applauding. One by one, others joined in until the sound swelled through the room.
“…How noisy. I’ll give you ten minutes. Gather with your parties and check your gear. Anyone who hasn’t formed a party yet, come see me.”
With those final words, Professor Ines left. We pretended not to notice the tips of her ears turning slightly red as she walked away.
The students broke into small groups, each heading toward their own parties.
“Good morning, Lady Luna. How have you been?”
“Oh. Claire. Hey.”
Claire was dressed differently than usual. She wore heavy holy knight armor that radiated reliability at a glance. The well-maintained plates bore several dents and scratches, proof that this wasn’t mere decoration. The design was a bit too flashy to be purely functional, but it looked pretty, so who cared?
In her left hand she carried a massive shield, and in her right, a hefty mace.
“Excuse me for a moment. Hup.”
Thud.
When she set the shield and mace down, a heavy sound echoed through the room. Just from the noise, I could tell how much they weighed. I decided not to tease her today.
The sound alone drew everyone’s attention to Claire. She ignored the stares as if she were used to them and continued speaking calmly.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I couldn’t visit because of matters at the Church.”
“Huh? Oh. Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I told you to come every day.”
“But serving the Goddess is my duty. I feel terribly guilty thinking about how much trouble the two of you must have gone through in my absence.”
“……”
The Goddess? She was doing just fine on her own, wasn’t she? We hadn’t done anything for her.
…I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud. If I did, that mace she had just set down might find its way back into her hand.
“…It’s fine. She was perfectly comfortable the whole time.”
That was the only thing I could say. After all, she had never once complained to us about being uncomfortable. So she must have been fine.
Just as I managed to steer the conversation away from danger and started chatting with Claire, Faye came running over.
“Luna, Luna!”
“Hey, Faye. How’s your condition? Anything feel different?”
“Huh? Oh! Listen, this is amazing!”
Faye launched into an excited explanation.
“I can train twice as much as usual without getting tired! Even when I do get exhausted, a short rest fixes it right up! At this rate, I can increase my training volume even more!”
“Yeah, yeah. Sounds great. Good for you.”
Was it really that exciting? Well, she was happy, so I played along. Besides, she was going to be our future teammate, and getting stronger was a good thing.
After passionately explaining the usefulness of her new Recovery ability for a while, Faye suddenly remembered why she had come looking for me.
“Ack! That’s not why I came here!”
“What’s up?”
“Um…”
Faye fidgeted, pressing her index fingers together.
“Sorry. I don’t think I can party with you guys this time…”
“Oh?”
“I’m really sorry… I already promised to party with some other kids…”
“It’s fine. I did say we could party together later, right? It doesn’t have to be this time.”
“I’ll definitely go with you next time. I’m really sorry about this one!”
Faye kept apologizing until the very end before hurrying back.
She really didn’t need to feel that bad. I had never planned on tackling the Academy Dungeon together anyway. It was a fine dungeon, sure, but it couldn’t compare to the ones the Goddess sent us directly.
Theo arrived after Faye had already left.
“I’m here. Claire got here first? Nice armor.”
“Ah. Thank you, Lord Theo.”
“What took you so long?”
“I was gathering information while talking with the others. The noble kids know quite a bit.”
“They just told you everything?”
“When I asked sincerely, they were happy to share.”
Theo tapped the corner of his eye. So he had used Hypnosis.
It worked in combat and for gathering intel. Maybe Hypnosis wasn’t just for getting laid—maybe it was actually an all-purpose ability?
“So, what did you find out?”
“Hmm…”
Theo hesitated for a moment.
“The first floor has slimes and goblins, the second has goblin packs with shamans, and the third has thorn ants and vampire bats. That part matches what we already knew. But…”
“But?”
“…Never mind. There’s something that feels off, but I’m not sure enough to say anything yet.”
Oh, this guy…
I really hated that “I know something you don’t” way of talking. Actually, everyone probably did. So why did he keep doing it? It was infuriating every single time.
Fortunately, I now had a way to shut down that annoying habit.
“Spill it. Are you trying to show off how smart you are? Want me to smack some sense into you?”
“You’re not a ‘me,’ you’re a ‘you’—ow! Fine, I’ll tell you! I said I’d tell you!”
He only talked when he got hit.
But even after agreeing to explain, Theo didn’t say anything right away.
“It’s not the right place to talk about it here. I’ll tell you once we’re inside the dungeon and alone.”
“Fine. If that’s how you want it, I can wait. You should’ve just said that from the start.”
With Theo’s arrival, our party of three was finally complete.
We quickly checked our gear and waited for Professor Ines.
“Has everyone finished checking? If you’re missing anything, speak up now. If it’s something we can provide, I’ll give it to you.”
No one raised their hand.
Professor Ines swept her gaze over the students and nodded in satisfaction.
“Good. Let’s move out.”
◆
The way into the Academy Dungeon was through a teleportation circle.
Dungeons were like game servers—if you just walked in, you’d be randomly assigned to one of many “Academy Dungeon” instances. But using the Academy’s installed teleportation circles let you choose which server to enter. That way, students could be properly divided, and when a distress signal came in, help could head straight to the correct instance.
“One party at a time! Getting in early won’t help you, so don’t cut the line!”
Some things never changed, no matter where you went.
Even while waiting in line, Theo checked his gear one last time.
“Consumables. Check. Emergency rations. Check. Magic tools. Check. Good, everything’s here.”
“You’re traveling pretty light.”
I had expected someone as cautious as him to show up loaded with supplies.
Theo gave a small smile at my comment.
“Yeah. I used to be like that on my first dungeon run. My senior chewed me out, asking if I was planning to build a house inside.”
“Oh. So you’ve learned since then?”
“Of course. This is my first time in the Academy Dungeon, but I’ve been through plenty of others.”
“That’s reassuring. What about you, Claire?”
“Me? I’m embarrassed to admit it, but this is my first dungeon.”
“Nah, nothing to be embarrassed about. Today’s my first time too.”
In the Academy Dungeon, that is.
I had visited a few dungeons through the Goddess over the past week, but there was no need to mention that.
Had I brought Claire along? I had wanted to, but the timing never quite worked out. Well, like Professor Ines said, we had plenty of time ahead of us. No rush.
“Next!”
While we were talking, our turn came.
“Oh, right. Claire. Do you know you have to jump when using the teleportation circle?”
“Pardon? Is that necessary?”
“Luna, what nonsense are you spouting now?”
“Heh. You don’t know this important fact? Come on, hold hands.”
I took Claire’s hand with my left and Theo’s with my right.
And the moment the teleportation circle flashed—
Hop!