Academy Entrance Exam (5)
After Lucy had gone inside, Joy — who had been about to follow her in — suddenly felt that the atmosphere around the dungeon entrance had shifted somehow.
She hadn't sensed anything odd until now, so why had a creeping chill settled over her the very moment Lucy walked through?
It was Joy's first time entering a dungeon, so she glanced around for anyone else who might have noticed something strange, but no one else seemed to be talking about it.
Was this just how it normally was?
Tilting her head in confusion, Joy followed after Lucy and headed into the dungeon.
They had only passed through a single door, yet the entire mood of the place had transformed. The scenery — a laboratory of some kind, apparently abandoned after some accident — was entirely new to Joy.
There in the middle of it stood Lucy, arms crossed, frowning as she studied the way out of the room.
Joy was struck by the sight. Lucy, who always wore that insufferable smirk, was actually wearing a serious expression. So she did know how to focus when it mattered, apparently.
Frankly speaking, Joy hadn't found Lucy the least bit trustworthy.
She still remembered the way Lucy had carried on through high society — a walking scandal.
That Lucy had received training from the knights of House Alrn?
Fine. She may well have been trained.
But learning something and actually putting it into practice were two entirely different matters.
The knights of House Alrn were unquestionably among the finest on the continent, but that fact alone didn't inspire any confidence in Lucy.
All the rumors floating around behind her back said as much — that Lucy was not the sort of person who could be improved by any amount of education.
Then why had Joy handed her the reins of command? The reason was nothing impressive at all.
Lucy's provocations had gotten her fired up, and in her surge of temper, she'd essentially tossed the responsibility over with a fine, do whatever you want, see if I care.
And so, after impulsively surrendering command to Lucy, Joy had regretted it almost immediately.
This was the Academy's entrance exam. Should she really be trusting leadership to a degenerate like Lucy?
But taking back words spat out in a moment of emotion was easier said than done.
For some strange reason, Joy simply couldn't bring herself to admit a mistake in front of Lucy.
Something really was wrong with her.
Had she always been this quick-tempered?
Why did merely standing in front of Lucy turn her into such an impulsive creature?
Joy couldn't understand herself at all.
Right up until she'd met Lucy yesterday, she had resolved to have nothing to do with her — so why was she now locked in a battle of nerves with the girl?
With the sound of footsteps crunching over debris, Jacob finally entered the dungeon last.
The moment everyone had stepped inside, the dungeon entrance vanished without a trace.
From here, there were only two ways out of this place: clear the dungeon, or use the emergency escape artifact the proctor had handed out upon entry.
And the latter might as well have been announcing one's own disqualification from the entrance exam — so in practice, only one option remained.
Clearing the dungeon.
"Airhead Lady."
Joy's brow furrowed at the sound of her new name.
So you've officially decided to replace my actual name with Airhead Lady, have you?
Just you wait.
This arrangement won't last much longer.
When this exam is over, you'll be the Degenerate Lady, and I'll be Lady Joy, Duchess's daughter!
"Fodder."
Still, Joy got off relatively easy. She at least kept her lady title and an honorific attached.
Jacob, whose rank and standing were even lower than Lucy's, fared far worse — he didn't get a proper title, or even his own name. He'd simply lost it.
Fodder? Isn't that a bit much?
The least you could do is use his name.
Come to think of it, she won't even call me by mine — no chance she'd bother with Jacob's last name.
"As I said before, I'll take point in place of you worthless lot. I'll lead the way, so you follow behind me and watch our rear. Even a pair of nobodies with zero dungeon experience should manage that much, don't you think?"
What is this? She cleared one dungeon and suddenly she's throwing her weight around?
She probably just watched from the back while the Alrn knights did everything, and now she's acting like she did it herself!
Joy grumbled silently, but kept it off her face.
Now was not the time.
Just let her make one mistake.
She'd pounce on it, nitpick it to death, and reduce Lucy to tears!
Unfortunately for Joy, however, no such opportunity ever arose.
Joy had learned dungeon clearing strictly from books, and even to her eyes, Lucy's command was all but flawless.
"There's a trap up ahead that would catch an idiot like me. I don't know who set it, but whoever built a trap for a fool like me clearly assumed everyone else would be dumb enough to fall for one this stupid."
Throughout the entire exploration, Lucy never once missed a trap that the Academy must have planted in advance.
On top of that, she knew exactly how to disarm each one, leaving Joy and Jacob with absolutely nothing to do whenever one appeared.
They simply hung back, and Lucy handled everything on her own.
Perhaps working alone was wearing on her nerves, because Jacob eventually stepped up to help — only for Lucy to flatly refuse his assistance.
"Fodder. Trying to botch my work with those clumsy hands of yours? Squat down in the back where you belong."
Harsh as her tone was, even Joy had to admit Lucy's judgment was sound.
It was Joy's first time meeting Jacob, but even she could see the boy looked green.
Knowing him, this was probably his first dungeon too.
If this were a practice session, perhaps it wouldn't matter — but this place was an examination hall. She couldn't hand a role to someone so obviously primed to make a mistake.
Joy offered a few consoling words to Jacob as he trudged back, sulking.
"It's all right. Everyone has their role to play."
For some inexplicable reason, Jacob's lips trembled at her words, and his shoulders slumped even lower.
Why is he even more deflated now?!
I just comforted you, didn't I?
Was it my tone? Or my actions? Did I pick the wrong words somehow?
Ugh. Not a single clue.
Fine. Just shut up and stay quiet.
Any more talking would only drag morale down further.
Feeling the party's atmosphere grow bleak and desolate, Joy found herself suddenly longing for the people around her back home.
Big brother!
All the noble young ladies taking the Academy exam right now!
Where are you?! Today of all days, I miss you all so much!
Lucy's prowess didn't end at spotting traps.
She also displayed outstanding skill in detection.
"Around that corner, there'll be three rundown golems. I'll go ahead and draw those antiques' attention, so you worthless lot can support me from the back. Surely you can manage that much?"
Just as she said, the moment they rounded the corner, three human-shaped golems stood waiting for them.
Two golems clutching club-like objects, and one behind them at a distance, wielding a staff.
This being her first taste of real combat, Joy stiffened her lips and began preparing her magic — while Lucy dashed straight ahead.
"You decrepit old junk~♡ Is that why your joints creak and groan so much?~♡"
To Joy, the sight of Lucy taunting mindless golems — creatures with no intelligence to speak of — looked like a completely pointless gesture.
Was it some kind of self-suggestion to shore up her confidence before battle?
Yet the instant Lucy finished speaking, the golems' gazes all converged on her — as if they had actually understood every word.
What was that?
Puzzlement welled up inside her, but that could wait until later.
Right now, it was her turn to support Lucy.
If she stood around doing nothing here, those insolent lips of Lucy's would undoubtedly spit out another round of contempt.
She could handle a lot of things, but being looked down on by Lucy any more than this was unbearable!
Support Lucy first. That was the priority.
Slow the golems down with magic; think about fire support after that.
"O cruel winds of winter."
Joy wove the threads of her spell, sketching a magic circle into the air.
What she drew was the freezing gale of the north — the wind that devoured everything in its path with ice.
The moment the circle completed, ice erupted from the ground and locked the golem's feet in place.
Lucy didn't miss the golem staggering from its suddenly sealed movement.
Her mace came around in a single arc, and the golem's head burst apart.
Yes! First strike, flawless.
Now for the next spell—
"Airhead Lady. Stop fooling around and save your mana."
Just as she was about to cast, Lucy cut her off.
"I can dispose of this scrap on my own, so don't go wasting your meager little reserves of mana."
Joy bristled at the words for a moment — but she swallowed her protest and obeyed.
Mana wasn't infinite. Conserving it was simply the correct call.
True to her word, Lucy dispatched the remaining two golems with effortless ease.
Deflecting attacks with her shield to open a gap, then shattering a golem's head in a single blow — watching her, you'd think golems were hardly worth the trouble.
"Must be because it's the entrance exam. The monsters are weak."
"Jacob. You'd have struggled badly against those."
"...Excuse me?"
Thanks to her ducal upbringing and basic self-defense training, Joy could roughly gauge the strength of the creatures she'd just watched.
Golems were not weak. Slow as they were, their movements were deliberate and precise — genuinely tricky opponents.
It was simply that Lucy was even stronger.
What would have happened if Jacob, who could barely hold a weapon properly, had been surrounded by those three golems?
No answer was needed. He would have taken a club to the face and been disqualified on the spot.
"You two."
Having faced three golems essentially by herself, Lucy wasn't even winded.
Her stamina has gotten incredible.
Where did the Lucy go who used to huff and puff halfway up a staircase, leaning on the railing to catch her breath?
"Let's keep moving. No time to rest."
Of all of Lucy's many abilities, what impressed Joy most was her uncanny sense of direction.
Neither Lucy nor Joy had ever set foot in this dungeon before — that much should have been equal between them — yet Lucy found her way around with almost supernatural ease.
And it wasn't just the visible paths.
She uncovered hidden passages one after another, as though she were the very teacher who had built this dungeon and was giving a guided tour.
"Lucy? How on earth do you find the way like that?"
The display was so uncanny that Joy forgot to call her the Degenerate Lady and just asked outright.
Lucy, stepping into a hidden passage, glanced back over her shoulder with her usual insufferable grin.
"Curious, are we?"
"Yes."
"Stay curious. I'm not telling."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Every golem in the dungeon was an equally decrepit antique.
Facing nothing but junk that toppled over from a single whack to the head with a mace, the tension had gradually drained out of the whole affair.
Something's off about this.
Granted, Joy's support was perfectly timed, but was it really supposed to be this easy?
The golems in the game had been far tougher than this, hadn't they?
The Academy must have tuned down the difficulty for the entrance exam.
That had to be it. Otherwise there was no explaining why I'm so comfortable right now.
Thanks to that, we were able to push forward without a single moment of rest.
If the fighting had been grueling, we would have needed to pause for breaks along the way — but it went smoothly, so we didn't.
And so, in less than an hour, we arrived at the dungeon's boss room.
"A record like this has to rank among the very best in the long history of Soul Academy, wouldn't you say?"
I tossed the question out expecting an answer, but none came.
Turning around, I found the two of them bent double, heads hanging as they fought to control their ragged breathing.
...Uh oh. Did I run you both into the ground without a shred of mercy?