Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Exploration (2)
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Good weather. Under the pleasant sunlight.
Cigarette was currently in a very annoyed state.
"You sent the cadets into a dungeon?"
"That's correct."
"Are you insane?"
"That's correct."
Cigarette had given her cadets their assignment and was enjoying some alone time when Patrick suddenly showed up.
The purpose was obvious.
"I won't comment on your rotten attitude. But this crosses the line."
He brought up the assignment details, ranting about qualifications and such...
Was this conversation even worth continuing?
"Things in a dungeon are unpredictable, even for veterans. What if one of the cadets dies? What then?"
"Well... you're not wrong."
She took a sip of her black tea.
Hm, as expected, something warm settles the mind and body.
Thanks to that, she could resist the urge to beat Patrick senseless. Lucky him.
"Professor Patrick..."
Patrick was a damn stickler for principles.
The reason he was making such a fuss now was because he thought Cigarette wasn't fulfilling her "duties as a professor."
In the end, she had to convince him.
"I have fifteen students in total. Three per team makes five dungeons in all."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Do you know why I'm so tired right now?"
Cigarette always had tired-looking eyes.
Whether she slept well or not, they looked the same.
But today, the exhaustion was visibly deeper, more pronounced.
Darker circles under her eyes than usual.
A more irritated expression than usual.
Cigarette was genuinely fatigued.
"I stayed up all night selecting the dungeons."
As Patrick said, things in a dungeon were unpredictable even for veterans.
But what if it was a dungeon that had already been inspected?
"I selected only safe dungeons. No multi-layered structures, and the bosses aren't particularly strong. I confirmed everything myself, so you can trust me on that."
"...You checked all of them?"
"What, did you think I just skimmed them with my eyes?"
Once a dungeon forms, it doesn't change until the boss is defeated.
All the dungeons assigned to the cadets had already been checked by Cigarette personally, so there was no need to worry about safety.
"As you know, Professor Patrick, beating stationary dummies all day won't lead to much growth. But slicing moving monsters, even weak ones, provides dense experience. There's no issue with my assignment."
Patrick fell silent.
He had to realize there was no problem. Cigarette's victory.
"Unless some freak natural disaster hits, all the cadets will come back safe."
A foul smell assaulted their noses.
The stench of blood mixed with excrement. Utterly revolting.
Goblin caves were always like this.
They didn't care at all about cleanliness, and being caves, ventilation was impossible.
This was a perfect example of how filthy a society without any order could be.
"This is definitely a goblin dungeon, right?"
"Unless it's a multi-layer, it should be."
"Then the boss is a goblin too."
About twenty minutes since entering the dungeon.
Sera was leading the charge, having slain the most monsters among the three.
"Aren't you getting tired?"
"If I got tired from this, I wouldn't be an Evans."
"Wow, impressive."
"Right? I'm amazi—"
Sera naturally turned her head, locked eyes with Roel, and froze.
"...Don't talk to me."
"Tch."
Roel was deliberately trying to talk to Sera.
Since they were on the same team, she wanted to get along...
Unfortunately, this attempt failed.
Still, lately Sera had started responding with a word or two.
Slow and steady would win out.
As expected, the Demon doused her with cold water.
Roel subtly fell back and whispered to the Demon.
"This is all because of you, Demon. Take responsibility."
"I think it'll make it worse, so no thanks."
"Hmph, don't talk to me anymore. It's annoying if you keep lagging behind."
Roel pouted cutely—not really—and hurried after her teammates.
"Kek!"
Goblins were cunning.
Lacking any order or pride, ambushes were basic, and taking hostages was common.
One goblin, terrified by Sera's slaughter, hid in a rock crevice.
It planned to take the weakest-looking Roel hostage.
"Oh my."
Kwachik!
The goblin lunging with a dagger had its head crushed and died.
"Ah! Blood on my fist...!"
"What are you doing back there alone? If you don't keep up, we'll leave you."
"Ugh... okay."
Roel used to struggle against even a single goblin before.
But now it was different. She had grown enough to handle goblins barehanded if needed.
This was thanks to Cigarette's personal guidance and the "experience" the Demon had forcibly crammed into her.
She could now properly control mana.
"Sera, do you have a handkerchief?"
"No."
"Then what's sticking out of your pocket?"
"..."
Roel borrowed the handkerchief and wiped off the blood.
"Ah! That's it, right? The boss room."
"Looks like it."
On a cave wall quite a distance away.
There was something like a shabby door.
Dungeons formed naturally, and no one knew why they appeared.
They just had weak mobs and strong monsters together, and conquering them yielded treasure. That was it.
The "strong monster" was called the boss.
"Anyway, let's go in. Wake her up."
"Okay."
Roel woke up Laila, who had been sleeping while walking.
"Ugh, uuerh."
"How do you even sleep while walking?"
"You'll get it with practice..."
Laila took some water and drank, coming to her senses.
Sera sighed at the sight, then spoke to the two.
"Before we go in, how about sharing our blessings?"
"Our blessings?"
"Even if it's the boss, it'll be a small fry, but just in case. Better to prepare for anything, right?"
"True, but..."
Roel was troubled.
She still didn't know her own blessing well.
'I thought it might be the Demon, but Professor said no...'
What should she say?
Just be honest and say she didn't know?
While Roel pondered, Sera spoke first.
"Mine is the blessing of speed. I call it 'Swiftness'."
Perhaps to demonstrate, Sera picked up a stone.
She tossed it lightly into the air.
Using her blessing, she slashed the stone five times in an instant.
"I can go faster if I push it, but... honestly, it's not that strong a blessing."
A simple ability.
Some blessings had complex restrictions, but Sera's didn't seem to.
"My blessing is the blessing of creation."
Next was Laila's turn.
She stretched her hand out anywhere and focused a bit, and a spear appeared in her grasp from who-knows-where.
"I can make weapons and stuff, roughly."
"Explain in more detail."
"Too annoying..."
Laila made a face but let go of the spear into the air.
But it didn't fall; it stayed floating right there.
"Basically, I can make anything, but for things whose 'structure' I understand, I can control them freely. That's it."
"Nice blessing. Next up..."
Sera's gaze turned to Roel and stopped.
"You, Roel."
Roel had made up her mind.
No needless lies or excuses.
"I don't know mine yet."
"You don't know?"
"Yeah. I was judged as a Blessed One, but I haven't awakened my blessing."
A brief silence fell.
"So... you were that strong without a blessing?"
"Weird. I thought Cleave was your blessing."
Contrary to her worries, only pure admiration came Roel's way.
"D-don't get cocky just because you're strong without a blessing. No matter how strong you get, I'll catch up to you eventually."
Sera said this, but her face was turned toward Laila.
"Why say that to me?"
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Then say it to Roel."
"Shut up. Let's enter the boss room."
Sera whipped her head around and headed for the boss room first.
Laila and Roel stifled laughs at the sight and quietly followed Sera.
What a harmonious team.
Really.
"Alright, let's go!"
With that, the three entered the boss room.
"...What?"
The moment they entered, the smell of blood filled the air.
It was too intense to call it the usual dungeon stink.
Something else, far more ominous.
Before their eyes could confirm it, instinct told them.
Someone else was here.
"Ah, guests."
The dungeon boss was a hobgoblin.
A monster three times the size of a regular goblin, armed with armor and weapons.
Not that threatening.
As Sera said, a hobgoblin boss was still just small fry.
They probably could have taken it down in one hit.
"Hm. This is awkward. I thought no one would come..."
But the hobgoblin was dead, its head severed.
Blood pooled on the floor, the source of the metallic stench.
"Usually no one comes to dungeons like this, right? Rewards suck, and it's in the mountains. Why are you here? You girls."
A male figure sat atop the dead hobgoblin's corpse.
He muttered to himself in annoyance before finally standing up.
The three sensed it.
A demonic aura on a whole different level from the dead hobgoblin or other monsters.
The air grew heavy in an instant.
The hairs on their bodies stood on end.
So that's it.
That man was a Demon.
'No way. Why is a Demon here...?'
Demons lived in the Demon Realm.
Inhabitants of a world separate from the continent.
Recently, with the Demon King's influence, more were crossing over, but the outbreak areas were far from here.
Besides, there was no reason for a Demon to be in a low-grade dungeon like this...
"Tch, came looking for something, and now it's a hassle."
She'd heard something like that before.
Low-value dungeons that went unconquered for long periods sometimes hid valuable items precisely because of that.
There was no issue with the dungeon itself. Thanks to Cigarette's inspection.
But if some being had hidden an item here?
"Why isn't anyone answering?"
The Demon moved.
Roel hurriedly raised her sword, bracing for the incoming attack.
"Cheap junk."
She was certain.
Roel didn't lose focus, didn't take her eyes off the Demon.
Her grip on the sword was stronger than ever.
Yet it was snatched away.
In a split second she didn't even perceive, Roel's sword was in the Demon's hand.
"Now that I look, that's a Hero Academy uniform, isn't it?"
The Demon grinned wickedly.
"Perfect timing. I'll offer your heads to the Demon King."
Her head throbbed.
I'm going to die.
I'll die.
My head will be severed, dying miserably—