91. Dance with the Witch (4)
91. Dance with the Witch (4)
I had found the right place.
I thought as I surveyed the cave veiled in blue light.
One of the dungeons I'd intended to plunder to cover Millia's tuition.
The dungeon's name was... what was it again?
Anyway, the name wasn't important, so I set it aside.
The place was only slightly more difficult than a dungeon inhabited by hobgoblins.
"It's so damp..."
"This humidity is no joke."
"The monsters settled in this dungeon are orcs and lizardmen."
"Weird mix."
It actually was a weird mix. Orcs and lizardmen were normally hostile toward each other, so seeing them together was rare. But that was exactly why this dungeon was good.
Because they fought each other and left by-products behind.
"Elisa."
"Y-Yes?"
"Are you ready to take screenshots?"
I had to get dynamic shots so Elisa could score well. Dungeon Surveying? No, was it Dungeon Exploration Studies? Whatever it was called, the photos needed to be impressive enough to knock the professor flat. Then maybe the other group members who had refused Elisa would see her differently.
Elisa had incredible connections!
She had cleared a brand-new dungeon for a mere assignment!
If I proved her ability with a stunning result, wouldn't her reputation change at least a little?
...Honestly, I couldn't guarantee this alone would fix her loner tendencies.
It would have been one thing if they had bullied her, but she even floundered in front of a female classmate who worried about her and looked after her without backing down from a dangerous-looking man like me. How much worse would she be with anyone else?
Still, I couldn't just do nothing—so I was doing this.
I left Elisa standing by the entrance, glancing around, and silently beckoned Sif over. When I called her quietly, Sif pressed her lips shut, came close, and whispered low enough for Elisa not to hear.
"...What are you scheming this time?"
"About Elisa. It'd be better to build up her confidence, don't you think?"
"...And what's that got to do with this dungeon?"
"So here's the thing..."
Before Elisa could approach with a frightened expression, I quickly explained the plan. Sif stared at me as if to ask whether that made any sense, then looked at my convincing face and nodded as though she had no choice.
As always, she held up all five fingers.
"Five gold coins."
"U-um..."
"Two gold coins."
"Four."
"Three."
"Okay. Elisa! Hand me the Screenshot!"
"Th-the Screenshot?"
"We've gotta take pictures. I'll take them for you!"
Before Elisa could say a word, Sif snatched the Screenshot from her hands and inspected it from every angle. Had she ever used one before?
"Do you actually know how to work that thing?"
"Of course! I fiddled with one once a long time ago!"
"You're holding it upside down right now."
"Ah! I-it's been a long time since I used one!"
I looked away from Sif, who hurriedly righted the Screenshot with a red face, and looked down at Elisa, who was fidgeting nervously.
Was it because we were inside a dungeon?
Or was it the sudden situation?
Elisa looked ready to faint on the spot, her eyes darting back and forth between Sif and me.
"Elisa."
"Yes...?"
"Let's take one first. Stand on the stairs by the entrance."
"Th-the Screenshot?"
I nodded without a word. Elisa shuffled hesitantly toward the entrance at my command and stood there awkwardly. The moment I confirmed she was in the spot I'd indicated, I walked over and stood beside her.
"Sif! Get ready to shoot!"
"Got it! But Yohan, kneel down! The height difference is too huge—I can't fit you both in the frame!"
The difference was almost two head-lengths. I carefully lowered myself to my knees and spoke to Elisa, who was trembling like a frightened kitten.
"We're taking a screenshot, so relax your expression. You didn't plan on getting photographed with a face like that, did you?"
"Ah, y-yes..."
Elisa managed a smile that was noticeably better than before. It still looked like the smile of someone being forced to grin by a killer holding a knife to her back. Feeling like a criminal, I turned my gaze forward and forced a smile onto my face.
"Good! Stay just like that! One, two, three!"
Click.
A familiar yet unfamiliar, nostalgic sound echoed through the dungeon.
I felt a pang of nostalgia at the flash striking my eyes for the first time in ages and watched the photo slide out of the Screenshot. Fantasy-style clothing and an instant camera made for a bizarre combination.
"Did it turn out?"
Sif shook her head as she looked at the photo. Apparently, it hadn't come out well.
"Elisa had her eyes closed! Let's take it again!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
"No need to apologize. Taking a bunch of shots and picking the best one is how photos work."
"I-is that so?"
"It is."
"Okay! We're taking it again, so look here! This way, this way!"
At Sif's call, I re-centered my posture and put a smile back on my lips. Taking photos after so long brought back old memories.
Before I transmigrated, I'd taken pictures on trips with friends. There were photos with my parents, too, and pictures I'd taken of street cats.
They were faded memories now, but people lived on memories.
I gratefully savored the bittersweet treat of a memory that had suddenly surfaced.
"Okay! Look this way! One! Two! Three!"
Click.
The shutter sound tickled my ears again and again. The flashes hurt my eyes, but I forced myself not to blink. By the time my vision had sparkled about five times, Sif came over with the freshly printed photos.
"These are decent, aren't they?"
"Hmm..."
I took the stack of photos from Sif and examined them one by one: Elisa with her face locked in tension, and me wearing a subtly awkward smile.
To anyone, we looked like country bumpkins getting their picture taken for the first time.
Still, the photos had a certain sense of authenticity, so I decided to keep them. I handed them back to Sif.
"Hold on to these."
"Okaaay~"
"We've already lost a lot of time, so let's head out."
"We're finally setting off~ I sure hope there's lots of money in here~"
There went her eyes turning into coins again. I was watching Sif make a blissful face at the thought of earning money when I looked down and saw Elisa gently clutching my sleeve. Her face was brimming with anxiety.
"U-um...w-wouldn't it be...okay to just...go back out...?"
"What are you talking about, Elisa?"
"B-but a dungeon with j-just three people is...it's d-dangerous..."
What Elisa said was perfectly reasonable. Forming a party of at least four to enter a dungeon was a sort of unwritten rule. At least, I'd never once seen an adventurer working alone.
"Don't worry so much. I don't die."
I'd survived ten years on a deserted island despite every bit of bullshit it threw at me. If nothing else, I could confidently say I knew how to spot a path to survival better than anyone. Hell, I was confident I could survive even if I ran into a dragon.
So I wouldn't die in a deliberately not-too-difficult dungeon I could smash my way out of at any time.
Not unless I wanted to.
"E-even so, I'm just...dead weight—"
"Don't think of yourself as dead weight. You're a Wizard. That alone is reason enough to be confident."
As in any fantasy setting, Wizards were rare and highly valued. Merely revealing that you were one was enough to draw envious looks.
Especially as a Magic Department student at Kalon Academy, she was already considered elite. There was no need for her to be this cowed. Frankly, she was in a position where even a little arrogance would have been understandable.
What had turned Elisa—someone in that position—into a loner who could barely speak was probably the nightmare in her past.
A past tied to her origins.
...Would it have been better to ask Professor Lennon about it? But prying into someone else's circumstances didn't sit right with me, so I decided to wait for Elisa to tell me herself.
If we grew closer, she'd tell me herself.
I emerged from my musings and glanced sidelong at Elisa.
A body curled up like a pillbug. A face that looked ready to burst into tears at a single poke. Yet, a slender hand still gripping my sleeve.
Was I shepherding a grown adult or a kid?
"Elisa. When monsters appear, hide behind me. Understood?"
"Y-yes..."
"Sif. Don't join the fighting—just guard Elisa. If enemies come from behind, let me know."
"Got it. C'mon, c'mon, Elisa, over here!"
"Uh, um, uhhh—"
I flexed my freed hand to loosen it up, then took hold of the shovel strapped to my back.
If the faint memories I'd retained from before I transmigrated were right, enemies would start appearing soon.
I closed my eyes and focused. There were light sources, but they didn't reach far, so I was better off trusting my sense of smell and hearing.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip...
The sound of dripping water filled my ears. As I grew accustomed to it, however, the other sounds mixed into the dripping became clearer.
"First floor, a damp cave. Second floor, a sticky swamp. Third floor..."
They were coming.
I sharpened every sense toward the fight about to begin.
As my senses grew keener, the muscles all over my body—long accustomed only to labor—began slowly reawakening the battle instincts carved into them over those ten years.
Footsteps.
Five.
"Sif. Get ready to take screenshots."
It was time to hunt some half-baked snake bastards.
I tightened my grip on the shovel.