The Duel with Arthur (7)
Arthur's party's dungeon run had gone smoothly.
Right up until the moment they broke through the sixth floor, they hadn't faced a single hardship.
What monsters would spawn in the dungeon. How the routes wound. What traps lay in wait.
They knew every last detail of it all, and with Arthur—an excellent commander—leading them, there was never any chance of them getting lost on the way through.
What's more, the news working in their favor was the fact that they were growing stronger with every floor they cleared.
Arthur's commands grew sharper, Jackal rampaging at the vanguard grew accustomed to handling monsters, and Matthew's divine magic landed in exactly the right place at exactly the right time with each passing day.
The proof of their growth was the time it took to clear the dungeon.
At first, breaking through a single floor had taken them thirty minutes; by the time they conquered the sixth, that figure had shrunk to twenty.
Considering that the difficulty climbed with every floor, their growth rate could only be called transcendent.
Just as everyone in Arthur's party had become certain of victory in this bet, a light seeped out of the crystal orb Luka had brought along in his breast pocket.
"Professor, what's that?"
When Arthur voiced his curiosity, Luka drew out the orb and smiled.
"It's an orb that allows communication with the outside. I asked them to report how far Lady Aln has gotten once two hours had passed."
"Ooh."
"Do we really need to check on something like that? She'll be floundering around on floor two or three anyway."
Matthew showed interest and Jackal tossed out a joke, but Arthur's expression remained grave.
He had apparently decided he couldn't rest easy until he heard hard information for himself.
Because the talent Lucy Aln possessed was the genuine article.
'Professor Luka.'
"Yes. I'm listening."
'Lucy Aln has just broken through the twentieth floor and is heading for the twenty-first.'
At the voice that came through the crystal orb, the buoyant mood of Arthur's party went stone cold.
The twentieth floor.
What kind of absurd number was that?
Arthur's party—who already displayed overwhelming ability for first-years—had only just broken through the sixth floor, and she was on the twentieth?
Just as everyone sank into silence, unable to wrap their heads around the figure, Jackal forced out a laugh and spoke up.
"You're joking, right? How could anyone get past floor twenty?"
'I wish I were joking.'
"They really broke through the twentieth floor?"
'They are currently clearing a floor of the dungeon in five to six minutes at most. It is a pace that will rewrite the history of Academy dungeon runs.'
"That's impossible."
Jackal murmured in shock at the flat declaration from beyond the crystal orb.
How on earth could anyone clear a single floor of a dungeon in five minutes?
It took close to three minutes just to bring down one of the monsters inside—how?
As the concrete explanation flowing from the orb weighed down the party's mood, Luka was struggling to hold back his laughter.
Lucy Aln!
What on earth are you?!
You turned in an overwhelming score on the entrance exam!
You saved every member of your party from Agra's intervention!
You defeated Frey Kent, the candidate for next Sword Saint!
And now you intend to carve your name into the history of the Academy dungeon as well?!
Truly. Truly remarkable!
It was I who held the prejudice.
I judged you within the bounds of my own common sense, without ever grasping the sheer scale of your talent.
What a foolish thing to do.
Ah, Lucy Aln. Let me offer you my thanks.
Thank you for opening the eyes of this fool.
Thank you for backing Arthur Soladin into a corner.
Luka quietly watched Arthur's face as he stared at the crystal orb.
Lips pressed tight, wavering eyes, a mouth that kept twitching.
The man who had feigned perfect composure on the outside while secretly certain of victory was crumbling apart.
We can't have that, Your Highness.
The moment you show that you've cracked, don't you know someone will want to pour black ink right into the fissure?
"Thank you. Contact me again later."
'Understood. Keep up the good work, Professor Luka.'
After the connection cut, Luka deliberately put on a worried expression and approached Arthur's side.
"Your Highness."
"Is that person trustworthy?"
"Yes. He's one of the staff responsible for monitoring the dungeon. He's hardly the type to joke around."
With it confirmed a second time that this was neither a lie nor a prank, sorrow settled over Arthur's face.
Could he really catch up to Lucy Aln like this?
No matter how desperately he sprinted, would the distance only widen?
Absurd. This couldn't be allowed.
This was the battlefield he had prepared in order to win!
A duel he had forced upon her for the sole purpose of granting her humiliation!
Every condition smiled upon him—was he supposed to believe she would overcome it all on talent alone?!
Don't make him laugh.
At this rate, wasn't this whole affair starting to look like a stage built to prove that she was the genius?
Wasn't he, Arthur, starting to look like nothing more than a worthless speck that flared and burned to ash the moment it tried to eclipse the sun called Lucy Aln?
"If things continue like this, Your Highness, you will lose."
At Luka's words, Arthur lifted his head.
"I suppose I will."
No matter what legitimate method he tried, he would not be able to beat Lucy Aln.
Because an overwhelming genius like her would never permit it.
"What will you do?"
At that question, Arthur fell silent.
It wasn't that he had no options.
If he couldn't win the honest way, then he need only choose a different path.
Arthur's fingers brushed against the magic tool he had tucked away deep in his breast pocket.
Not long after he had resolved to duel Lucy Aln, one of the Academy's professors had come to see him.
A man who had entered the Academy only recently, after achieving some great merit in the outside world.
I wish only to prove my loyalty to you.
I cannot bear to stand by and watch a talent like yours suffer humiliation.
You must be prepared for any eventuality. With those words, the man had pressed the thing into his hand.
The ugly desire beneath it all had been obvious—this green professor wanted to buy connections with a bribe.
Under normal circumstances, Arthur would never have accepted.
There was nothing to gain from entangling himself with an idiot who wore his greed so openly.
And yet Arthur had bent his principles and taken the professor's bribe because of what Joy had said.
If she was right—if Lucy Aln truly possessed talent beyond all measure,
if she burned with a light powerful enough to overcome every disadvantage stacked against him—
then a fear had taken root in him that he might lose this contest.
And in this very moment, that fear had become reality.
If the magic tool truly did what the professor had claimed, using it would let him seize the initiative.
An initiative he could never have obtained through fair means.
This was cheating.
He had been the one to insist on an honorable match, and now he would be the first to break his word.
But the word victory was sweet as honey, and it clung to Arthur's ears with no intention of letting go.
"I have a way."
When Arthur spoke with a hardened face, Luka tilted his ear toward him with an expression of perfect innocence.
By the time we reached the staircase leading to the thirtieth floor, poor Vishy—wobbling the whole way—had finally failed to hold down her churning stomach and threw up everything inside her.
Once we passed floor twenty, keeping me moving got pretty rough, honestly.
If my timing slipped even a little, the clear time would fall way behind, so I couldn't afford to cut Vishy any slack either.
Mmm. At this rate, maybe we should rest a bit before moving on.
At first I was thinking of clearing the whole dungeon today, but with Vishy in that state, that's not happening.
The further up we go, the more crazy stunts I'll have to pull, and there's no way she could endure that.
Let's clear up to the halfway point today and come back with Jackal and Frey once I've raised Jackal's affection a bit more.
He's the guy with the awkward mid-tier kit who gets bullied in every meta, sure, but his early-game performance is actually pretty solid.
Maybe not as much as Frey, but he should be able to keep up with my pace to a reasonable degree.
Just as I set my shield down and leaned against the wall to recover my stamina, a light blossomed from within Karl's breast pocket.
'Karl...'
"Scrubs. What's that?"
"It's a crystal orb the Academy uses for emergency communications. It seems something has happened."
Watching Karl step away to take the message, an uneasiness welled up in me all on its own.
Luka. That lunatic—he'd better not be pulling something.
With this many people's attention fixed on us.
Especially when it involves the heir of House Burrow and the Third Prince of the Soladin Kingdom.
Would he really go insane to protect his own convictions?
Yeah. He would.
Because that bastard is exactly that kind of bastard.
No wonder the Soul Academy players used to call him a forum troll.
When Karl returned from the call, he wore an awkward expression, as if he didn't know what to say.
"It seems Arthur's party has vanished inside the dungeon. They haven't left for the surface, so they must still be within—but apparently they can't be found anywhere."
'Please, tell me the details.'
"Scrubs. Don't hold anything back. Tell it properly."
While Arthur's party was clearing the sixth floor of the Academy dungeon, Arthur had pulled something from his pocket that looked like a compass.
And then the very people who had been navigating the dungeon's routes with pinpoint accuracy until that moment began to stray from the proper path, wandering off somewhere else entirely.
Then, when Arthur arrived at a certain chamber and murmured something to himself, the whole party vanished without a trace.
And no matter where anyone searched in the dungeon, not a single trace of Arthur's party could be found.
Once I'd heard everything Karl had to tell, I understood exactly what this situation was.
Luka, you insane bastard.
No. Wait.
He's the root of it, sure, but the one who actually put that bastard's scheme into motion was Arthur.
That idiot.
I don't care how badly the shock of the day his mother died scrambled your memory—you do NOT forget your dying wish!
What do you think you're doing committing fraud like this?!
This is one of the quests that exists in Soul Academy.
The trigger conditions are a student talented enough to catch Luka's interest, and a will weak enough to waver under temptation.
Satisfy both, and one of the Academy's new professors seeks the player out and gifts them a compass-shaped magic tool.
The sales pitch changes every time.
Follow the compass and you'll gain a Blessing. You'll acquire a rare item. You'll discover a hidden shortcut to clear the dungeon faster.
Needless to say, it's all a lie.
The compass's true function is this: it guides you to the spot inside the Academy dungeon that receives the least interference from the Academy's many layered spells.
And the moment you arrive there, it nullifies the Academy's magic and teleports the students into a different dungeon entirely.
A dungeon from the outside world, whose owner is waiting for any chance to kill the students sent there from the Academy's dungeon—the dungeon built to protect them.
Could Arthur's party actually clear that dungeon right now?
No. Obviously not.
However you look at it, their specs are nowhere near enough.
How are a bunch of weaklings who couldn't take down a single one of me supposed to clear that place?
Aaah. Dammit. My head's about to spin off my neck.
Think. Think.
With the resources I have on hand right now, is saving that idiot actually possible?
...Yeah. More than possible.
Thank god I prepared thoroughly for a speedrun.
If I hadn't, I'd be at a complete loss right now.
'Karl...'
"Scrubs. Did you receive the coordinates of the dungeon the Pitiful Prince fell into?"
"Yes. I received them during the communication just now."
Good. Then getting into the dungeon Arthur entered won't be a problem.
'Let's move. We have to go save that idiot.'
"Let's move. We're off to rescue the Pitiful Prince who committed such a boneheaded crime because he was scared of losing."