The Exhausted Man's Cave (1)
The professor's worried gaze seemed to flicker toward me for a moment as he spoke.
"Everyone probably wants to rest this weekend. Don't cause any unnecessary trouble, and don't even look in the direction of the restricted areas."
I deliberately ignored that look and smiled. After the professor finished speaking with a sigh and left the lecture hall, I quickly packed my things and headed outside. I'd saved up some money from hunting slimes, and now it was time to spend it.
Mana Disorder — This character was born with a congenital mana disorder. Cannot use mana.
Weakling — This character is naturally frail. Cannot increase Strength stat.
Slowpoke — This character was born slow. Cannot increase Agility stat.
Chosen One (Communion) — One chosen by the world. Grows stronger through communion with nature.
• Experience gain increases the more one communes with nature.
• Sealed power awakens the more one communes with nature.
• The contractor can now transmit strong will to spirits through the soul link.
• The contractor's thoughts and intentions are transmitted through the soul.
Spirit's Eye — Those who can sense the energy of nature can view basic information about intelligent beings.
Spirit Link — When possessing multiple spirits, linking their abilities becomes possible.
I had finally reached a level equal to—or perhaps even higher than—Eve Abraham at the entrance ceremony. Eve was probably much stronger than she had been back then. Panzy, Dorothy… everyone was likely far stronger than I was right now. To clear this game with a happy ending, I needed to become even stronger. Just like the headmaster had said.
-The living beings of this land are still the same as ever. It's been so long since I've seen them in physical form.
"You seem pretty smart compared to the others."
-Haha! You think so? Of course~ Earth spirits are on a completely different level from those scattered, mediocre ones~ Look how excited I am.
"Then do you know why your kind doesn't even have any records left in this world?"
-No? I don't know?
"..."
Smart one, canceled. This girl was just as broken as the rest of them.
-I'm a lower-tier spirit to begin with. If you compare us to humans, I'm basically a regular soldier. Would you expect a regular soldier to know something like that?
"This little shit's got some nerve talking like—"
"Cain…?"
Just as I raised my fist to deliver some much-needed discipline to the rude Gnome, a familiar voice called out from in front of me. I looked up to see Dorothy staring at me with her hazy emerald eyes. She was clutching her usual robe a little tighter around herself, probably on her way somewhere. A faint hint of relief flashed across her eyes, suggesting she had been looking for me.
As expected, she walked over to me with quick steps.
"I was looking for you."
"Did another gate open?"
"Not right now. But soon. We don't know the exact location yet, but I suspect it'll be confirmed shortly. Oh, and…"
For a moment, I thought I saw annoyance flicker in her eyes. To convey emotion using only her eyes on that expressionless face— I couldn't help but admire her again as I waited for her next words.
"The top first-year magic student urgently asked to see me. I figured it wouldn't hurt to make an impression."
The top first-year magic student. Shub le Ruelle. The final boss of Act 1 — The One Who Gazed Into the Abyss. Right now she was known only as a highly academic demon magician, but the moment she peered into the abyss—that is, beyond the gate—she would suffer from a terrible mental illness. If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. In exchange for peeking into the abyss, she would eventually fall into madness and use the power of the Otherworld to stage a coup, turning the academy into a kind of forward base. Since demons were a race particularly susceptible to mana, the corrupted mana from the Otherworld would easily invade her mind.
"Now that I think about it, I've never actually seen her before."
"I had to search for quite a while too. Apparently she spends all her time after lectures holed up in a corner of the library surrounded by stacks of books."
There was enough emotion in her voice that I could tell her eyes looked a bit tired. She must have had a hard time finding her. But that wasn't really my business, so I just gave a half-hearted "I see~" and moved on. When she raised her fist and lightly punched my shoulder, it seemed she was annoyed, but what could I do about it~
"So you're coming from seeing that Shub or Cube or whatever her name is?"
"Well… yes. She's the first person who's ever called the Disciplinary Committee Chair so casually."
I shrugged at her complaint. Dorothy stared at me for a moment, then seemed to sense something and looked around me.
"There's another unfamiliar power… You've been training hard."
"Haha. Maybe I'm actually a genius mage?"
"That would be good for me too, but you're not the top student of your department~"
In other words, stop talking nonsense. I looked at her with the face of a puppy that hadn't been house-trained yet. She stared back at me silently for a while before speaking again, as if something had occurred to her.
"Now that I think about it. Where is our junior heading off to?"
"Ah, I was thinking of doing a bit of camping over the weekend."
"Camp…ing…"
She seemed to ponder it for a moment before nodding.
"Ah, then I'll be going now… I'm in a hurry. Hahaha."
"Sure. Take care."
I needed to hurry and buy camping supplies in the commercial district. A tent, a pot… some magic stones…
"What kind of food are you going to buy?"
"For the first day I'd like to eat something tasty, but… why are you following me?"
Didn't she just say she was leaving? Then she should go her own way. When I frowned slightly and made an uncomfortable face, Dorothy simply stared at me with that same expression.
"Are you upset?"
"Aww~ How could I possibly be upset when the Disciplinary Committee Chair herself is following me? I'm just saying, for someone so busy to come along~"
"I don't know what you're planning, but if you finish it quickly, we can prepare to close the gate faster."
"You said you didn't even know when it would open."
"At least we can stay on guard."
I couldn't win with words. Gnome was still muttering something beside me, sounding quite excited, but I pretended not to hear and ignored her.
-Whoa, what the heck. Last time it was a knight, before that a saintess, and now an older mage? Wow. You're more capable than you look, huh?
[Shut the hell up.]
-Haha! So shy! My contractor is really fun!
Damn it. Even though I said that, it actually felt pretty good. I tried to keep my expression neutral as I continued talking with Dorothy.
"Anyway, where exactly are you going?"
"Um… You know the cave at the northeast end of the academy, right?"
"Ah, that… what was it called again…"
"The Exhausted Man's Cave. The academy is so big, it's understandable if you don't know…"
"That's a restricted area."
Dorothy's eyes regained their focus. The way she stared straight at me, her eyes were practically blazing as if she wanted to burn me alive. Even as a member of the student council, I hadn't expected her to be this strict about rule-breaking. But who did she think she was dealing with? I was the guy who had roped even the ice-cold Panzy Vlad into a surprise plan and pissed off Sylph. If I couldn't handle something like this, how could I handle anything bigger?
"You're not going to stop me… right?"
"It's a clear violation of school rules, Cain. No matter how close we are, this is…"
"Aww~ We don't even know when the gate will open~ Aww~ I guess I shouldn't go then~ Aww~ My body's been so weak lately anyway~ I was just trying to get some good items~"
"..."
Blackmail was an excellent means of negotiation. Especially when I held the upper hand, its effectiveness multiplied. I could see Dorothy's pupils trembling. She was clearly shaken right now. Time to push harder!
"Aww~ Of course, with Senior Dorothy's 'amazing magic skills,' it would only take a liiiittle while, right? You'd handle it just fine, wouldn't you? Aww~ But what if I, being so ridiculously weak, just drop dead with a 'thud'~"
"You… really are the annoying type."
Did I go too far? I looked at her again with my pathetic, untrained-puppy expression. Her emotions seemed to be getting richer lately… but that didn't necessarily mean she was holding back her anger, did it? This wasn't good. Yeah, I definitely went too far just now. Sylph would come back because we had a contract, but Dorothy was her own person, so there was a high chance she wouldn't. If I'd messed up, I needed to apologize quickly…
"Senior. Actually, I'm sor—"
"Fine. Let's go."
"Huh?"
What?
"I said let's go. But I'm coming with you."
"Eh? No, why would you come with me?"
I was planning to hog all the items for myself.
"Or do you want to get caught by the guards patrolling the area and get dragged back? If I'm with you as your guardian, they probably won't say much even if we get caught."
"Oh."
"What do you mean, 'Oh.'"
Dorothy turned back to her usual expressionless face and took the lead. She even started humming a little tune, perhaps excited. Well, it had been a while since she'd escaped her desk in the student council room to go camping, so she was probably in a good mood. A humming tune coming from that emotionless face. It made her seem a little cute. Maybe because she was still a student.
"What exactly is in that cave?"
"Uh…"
"It might be hard to say, but at the very least I need to know. If I determine it's dangerous, I'll have to stop you."
"If you say it like that, don't you think I'd obviously lie?"
"Nope. Never crossed my mind."
I had no idea where that confidence came from. It wasn't like she could detect lies through mana sensing. But honestly, I hadn't planned on lying anyway. There was no downside to maintaining a friendly relationship with her. So I told her the truth.
"It's not the One Ring… It's an item called Rhea's Ring. It increases my life force."
"Life force…?"
"Yes. Um… basically, it's the energy that lets me use magic."
"Ah… So that's why you were running around the training ground all day."
"Eh? You were watching the whole time?"
"Of course~ We're business partners, aren't we?"
This was starting to get a little scary. She wasn't digging into my personal life under the guise of being business partners, was she? Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Dorothy had already entered the commercial district first and was looking over various camping supplies.
"How about this pot? It says it's specially treated with magic so nothing sticks to it."
"Perfect for making fried eggs. Let's buy some bread and butter too."
Yeah. It was still early days, so I decided to think of it as a simple camping trip. The Exhausted Man's Cave was definitely a bit much for me to tackle right now, but if Dorothy Gale was coming along, it would be a piece of cake. Praying that there wouldn't be any variables like the last time the saintess attacked, we bought the camping supplies and headed toward the Exhausted Man's Cave.