Random Encounter (3)
While my party was busy slapping the suffix (was) onto every rock monkey we killed, Faye’s party was also grinding their way through the dungeon.
“From the sixth floor onward, the terrain turns into jungle, so the monster lineup changes completely. The main ones you’ll run into are baby alligators and rock monkeys. If you’re good with area-of-effect spells, head for the swamp where the gators spawn. Otherwise the forest route is easier.”
The leader of Faye’s party—the Count’s daughter—announced this with an unbearably smug little smirk.
“Really? How’d you find that out?”
“I have a close senior, obviously. I treated her to a nice meal and asked for boss information and strategies. She was kind enough to share everything. It’s all thanks to the way I usually manage my connections.”
“That’s amazing. I guess that’s how a Count’s household handles networking.”
“Ohohoho!”
The other young noblewomen clapped and showered her with praise. Still, just because they were women—and nobles at that—didn’t mean their inner thoughts matched their outward flattery. And, unusually, Faye found herself in the “thinking something completely different” camp this time.
You could’ve just looked that up in the library…
Two days ago Faye had been right next to us in the hideout, watching our party prepare for the exam. The image of Theo borrowing Imperial Academy Dungeon Strategy Guide – Jungle Edition from the academy library and meticulously checking the route and required items was still fresh in her mind.
The academy library was an open facility anyone enrolled could use, just like the other buildings. Aside from the forbidden archives that held spellbooks capable of driving readers insane or cursed tomes that physically attacked people, you could access anything anytime. Strategy guides obviously weren’t locked away in either of those categories.
The fact that the countess had gone through the hassle of treating someone to a meal for information you could get that easily made it hard for Faye to give genuine praise.
“Wow, that’s really good info!”
Still, Faye outwardly praised the Count’s daughter. The information itself was correct. It had been obtained for the sake of the party, it wasn’t wrong, and it was genuinely useful. No matter how inefficient the method, that didn’t lower the value of the information. The same went for the heart behind gathering it for the party.
That said, there was still something she needed to ask.
“But why did you look up information on the sixth floor? We don’t need to go there, right?”
That was the real question. Sixth-floor information was certainly useful. Faye’s party would eventually have to fight there someday. It wasn’t even that far in the future. But it definitely wasn’t something they needed to do today.
Faye’s party was currently in the latter half of the fifth floor for their practical exam. Since the test didn’t distinguish between early or late stages, their progress was technically “clearing the fourth-floor boss.” In other words, the floor they were supposed to reach for the exam was only up to the fifth-floor boss.
And that boss was currently crumbling into dust, leaving behind nothing but a magic stone.
Faye’s exam ended here. There was no reason to push deeper.
But the party leader, the Count’s daughter, seemed to have a slightly different opinion.
“Faye. Are you really satisfied stopping here? Our party was originally in the latter half of the fifth floor. We’ve only cleared a tiny portion of the later section and one boss. At this rate we won’t get a proper score.”
The other noble daughters shared similar thoughts.
“She’s right. We still have plenty of time, don’t we? Let’s just try the sixth floor a little. The professors will probably give us higher scores if we go deeper. Don’t you want to send good news back to your family too?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
The others tried to persuade her, but Faye still felt uneasy. There were several reasons. The professor had told them not to overdo it. No one had ever said you’d get extra points for going beyond the assigned floors. And so on.
But the biggest reason of all was simple: her party members were weak.
After fighting alongside my party, Faye understood the difference. The noble daughters’ party was weak. Right now Faye was practically dragging them forward by the collar. Of course, since they were nobles and academy students, calling them outright weak was an exaggeration. Having been fed the best food and given the best education since they could barely walk, they could probably handle a fourth-floor boss. With thorough preparation, the early fifth floor wouldn’t be impossible either.
But anything beyond that would be difficult. That was Faye’s objective assessment.
This party would struggle on the sixth floor. However…
She couldn’t say it out loud.
You guys are too weak, so no.
They were all nobles. The mage-family daughters had inherited their houses’ mana training methods, and the knight-family daughters had learned their family sword styles. Evaluating them as weak could easily be taken as an insult to their houses. Of course Faye didn’t have even a fingernail’s worth of such intentions, but what could she do? That was simply how nobles operated.
Besides, Faye’s family held the weakest influence in the party. No matter how close they usually acted, the invisible hierarchy was unavoidable.
“Faye, let’s just try the sixth floor a little. Just once. If it feels too hard after one fight, we can come right back down. We all know you’re the one working the hardest. In return, I’ll buy you one good piece of equipment. Okay?”
“……”
The countess, as party leader, knew full well that Faye was the most active member. She coaxed her gently, dangling a carrot. The mention of proper compensation made Faye’s resolve waver. It wasn’t the reward itself that moved her. She was worried about how the countess would view her if she refused a request that even came with suitable recompense.
“…Fine. Let’s try fighting once.”
In the end, Faye nodded.
Thanks to her Recovery ability, her stamina was still completely fresh. Even if the sixth floor proved too much for the current party, she figured that if she burned every last drop of energy, she could at least help everyone escape safely.
And so Faye’s party headed up to the sixth floor.
-------------
We defeated the sixth-floor boss, the Six-Armed Gorilla, and returned to the academy entrance. Just as the name suggested, the Six-Armed Gorilla had six arms. Instead of throwing small rocks, it hurled actual boulders and swung its ridiculous strength around like a maniac. A tough opponent, to be sure.
Too bad for it that it met us.
We got lucky. The sixth-floor boss is randomly chosen between the rock monkeys’ leader—the Six-Armed Gorilla—or the baby alligators’ leader—the Flying Twin-Headed Alligator. Personally, I’d rather fight the gorilla than the alligator that zips around two meters above the ground and snaps at you with two heads. Why does only that one have such a chuuni name? No idea.
After safely defeating the boss, we returned the recording magic tool to Professor Ines, who had been waiting beside the teleportation circle, and stood by nearby. We had to wait here until the official exam end time. Honestly, once the tool is handed in you can’t cheat anyway, so they might as well just let us leave.
Bang!
The door suddenly flew open with a violent crash. An academy staff member rushed in and whispered something urgently into Professor Ines’s ear. After hearing a single sentence, Ines’s expression turned serious. She immediately cast a spell so their conversation wouldn’t reach anyone else.
Still, I managed to catch the very first thing the staff member whispered. It was a tiny whisper, but with nothing better to do I’d been perking my rabbit ears up, so it reached me clearly.
It’s an assault.
Ah. What a shame.
If I’d known, I would’ve stayed inside a little longer instead of coming out so quickly.
The black mages’ dungeon raid event.
Just like how we could enter the Goddess Dungeon with the Goddess’s help, black mages had their own methods of infiltrating the academy dungeon. It wasn’t easy, so it didn’t happen often, but it was a random event that could trigger with low probability whenever any event took place at the academy—not just midterms.
The difficulty was nothing to laugh at. A black mage with strength roughly equal to the current floor plus one would appear as an enemy. Beginners unfamiliar with the game were better off avoiding combat and rushing to find the return point.
But the higher difficulty also meant better rewards. Some veterans would deliberately save-scum until the random event triggered.
Our party could handle it without too much trouble, so it would’ve been nice if it had appeared while we were still inside. What a waste.
After finishing her conversation with the staff member, Professor Ines addressed everyone.
“Attention, everyone.”
The students who had finished the exam first turned their gazes toward her.
“There has been an issue with the exam. Follow this staff member and return to the dormitories immediately.”
The students stirred for a moment but quickly settled down and obeyed Professor Ines’s instructions. Our party quietly stood up as well.
“……”
But Claire kept glancing around restlessly, unable to calm down.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Um… Lady Faye’s party still hasn’t come out yet.”
“Huh. You’re right.”
I looked around following Claire’s gaze, but Faye’s bright orange hair was nowhere to be seen. It was usually impossible to miss.
A bad feeling settled in my gut.
The random event only starts from the sixth floor, where the dungeon’s theme first changes. Faye’s party was supposed to be on the fifth floor for their exam, so they shouldn’t run into any black mages. They shouldn’t…
But the feeling just wouldn’t go away.
Ugh.
Logically, they should be fine, but…
Ah, whatever. Instead of sitting here worrying, I might as well do something.
“Theo, Claire. I need to talk to you two for a second.”