Dungeon Outing (1)
Reina was tense. Today’s dungeon class better go without a hitch.
One of the classes she led was Dungeon Exploration. The previous session had been relatively peaceful. Aizen was the type to brazenly smash and grab equipment in other classes, but last time, he'd simply wandered off on his own in the dungeon and mined ore with a pickaxe—a minor eccentricity compared to what she'd witnessed before. For some reason, Saintess Mina had been swinging a pickaxe alongside him, which had startled Reina half to death. Still, the training dungeon was safe, so no real harm done. The good-natured, slightly boisterous saintess had fallen for Aizen's scheme, but it didn't seem to leave a bad taste in her mouth.
Even so, nearly putting the kingdom's top church's saintess in danger meant Reina vowed it wouldn't happen twice. That's when she'd come up with the idea of party-based group lessons. Dungeons weren't for solo runs anyway, so teaching teamwork made sense—and more than that, she trusted Mina to help keep Aizen in check alongside her. When the idea hit her, Reina had felt a spark of pride, thinking her brain was still sharp after all.
If only the roster from yesterday hadn't arrived. Noel, of all people. That's dangerous. Really dangerous.
It wasn't Noel Nexia herself who was the problem. She was widely known among the nobility as a woman of impeccable character. The danger lay with House Nexia, her family. A branch line from the royal house, and with no princess currently in the Vespa Kingdom, Noel was treated as good as one. In other words, anything happening to Noel...
...means picking a fight with the Vespa Kingdom itself...!
The academy enjoyed extraterritorial rights, but one step outside and you were on kingdom soil. Trouble with Noel meant the end of her career. The silver lining for Reina was Noel's frail health. Born weak, she couldn't walk far or long, making her ill-suited for Reina's physically demanding classes. During Aizen's pickaxe fiasco last time, Noel had been absent due to resting. She could handle lectures and theory, but dungeon delving? No chance.
Seeing Noel's name boldly listed as a party member with Aizen and Mina had Reina rubbing her eyes repeatedly, double-checking with the parties involved—and getting firm confirmation. Why in the world?!
Outwardly, she projected calm authority, standing tall like the renowned knight she was, but inside, she was dying. The site for this class was a beginner dungeon near the academy, stocked with weak monsters for practice. It was meant to hone real combat sense, but monsters were still monsters—danger lurked. If Noel got hurt, Reina was done for.
She'd rushed to dissuade her, but Noel stubbornly insisted on participating. Offering servants or even personal escort? Flatly refused. Her reasoning: with the saintess along, it'd be fine. But...
Healing doesn't change the fact that she gets hurt...! Reina wanted to cry.
And truthfully, Mina the saintess was another student who couldn't afford injury. Her noble status was ordinary, but hurting her meant antagonizing the Saras Church. Mina was healthy and had heeded warnings before, so Reina relented... but still.
My head... my head hurts...!
Should she shadow them discreetly as backup? Aizen had a history of antics, so tagging along under "supervision" pretext? She'd called Isarina as a precaution—hand her overall command and go herself? A whirlwind of plans raced through Reina's mind.
Meanwhile, a well-dressed nobleman before her smirked faintly.
"This is maddening. I barely carved out time to watch these so-called famous students, and when does class even start?"
"Just a moment longer, please, Prince Gilford. Lady Nexia expressed interest in joining, so we're waiting for her arrival."
Reina responded swiftly to the blond prince with his pristine features. Gilford grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"...We could just ignore that frail magic nerd and get going..."
If you order it, I will. Noel might trace back to royalty distantly, but as Duke Nexia's daughter, Prince Gilford—pure Vespa blood—outranked her. Even in this extraterritorial zone, he was a VIP whose reasonable requests deserved accommodation. A firm demand from him, and Reina would comply with feigned reluctance.
But Gilford talked big without pushing to start without her, seemingly content to wait. Reina wondered why...
...Don't get involved. Just don't. Tangling with VIPs meant headaches plus stomach meds. But with Noel so late, maybe start anyway—
Rumble rumble rumble.
"Even with powerful magic, waiting for a congenital weakling is pointless. Better to start quick and show who's superior while we're at it..."
Beyond Gilford's muttering came a strange noise. Isarina and Reina looked up. A redheaded noble lady's eyes widened as she shouted.
"Whoaaa!!"
A cry of awe. And Reina spotted the culprit too.
"It's the golem that tried smashing the school gate!!"
"That crazy bastard Aizen's at it again?!"
The perpetrator was obvious. Popping headache pills from her pocket without thinking, Reina could only gape.
It had changed. The golem's body was now metal. Instead of weird claws, it sported two human-like arms. One forearm mounted a massive spear etched with swirling patterns; the other, some bucket-like scoop. And those enormous shoulder cannons. Through the transparent cockpit section...
"N-Noel!"
"Saintess too!"
"The lunatic's riding it!!"
A triangular seating arrangement: Aizen up front, Noel and Mina flanking behind.
There was chaos, but it somehow worked out.
"Get down, this is too much—tons of nagging."
The blond hunk she'd never seen and Professor Reina had yelled up a storm. Was bringing this thing allowed? Riding something so bizarre with Noel aboard? Complaints flew thick and fast...
"But they approved once Aizen explained it was for my safety."
The cockpit was meant for one, but the mod for two auxiliary pilots had swayed them. After heated arguments defending it as "not weird," Reina sighed deeply...
"...Fine. As long as she's safe inside, it should be okay. Yeah, it'll be fine..."
With Reina's teary, sleep-deprived approval, they entered without issue. Ignoring the weird guy's protests, they'd rolled in moments ago. The historic beginner dungeon had a wide, tall entrance—no problems there.
Noel peered around the cockpit curiously.
"I can see everything around us."
"Farsight and far-hearing magic embedded in mana stones."
Camera and mic substitutes. Noel tilted her head slightly.
"Still, not sure if it's safe. Mana stones can glitch if overused or shocked too hard..."
News to him. Noel continued.
"It rarely happens if you're careful—keep distance during install, that sort of thing. Or simplify further..."
Surprisingly practical feedback; he prepped to note it. Then—thud—they bumped something.
"Focus on driving, Aizen."
"Whoops."
Tucking away the notepad, he activated the arms. The manipulators moved smoothly; the hand drill on the right pulverized the wall. Rocks crumbled lightly, scattering. Larger chunks got shoved aside by the left dozer blade as they pressed on.
Crunch crunch! The tracks pulverized debris below. Noel eyed the arms.
"Fascinating devices. How'd you come up with them?"
"Trade secret."
Explaining drills—oggers—or dozers to her would be pointless; they'd fly over her head. Good enough she knew they were backups for tight spots. With manipulators for fine digging, this Caterpillar Golem was basically an all-purpose industrial robot now.
"...Detach the main arms and torso, mount just one forearm, that weird spear, and the scoop..."
"Fund my time on that, and I'll consider it."
Mina looked displeased, but no choice. Couldn't let her drag him into dozer detours—his dreams would stall. And she was scarily perceptive on efficiency.
While reining Mina in, Noel murmured at the screen and emergency window.
"With this, even I could..."
She clenched a fist, eyes sparkling. Watching quietly, he asked.
"You hate being overprotected, Lady Noel."
"...Yes."
She smiled, then bittersweetly added,
"Because I'm frail. Servants tail me for the slightest thing... I hate it."
Noel was gentle and fragile-bodied, but no pushover. She'd come to his workshop alone with her cane—that should've tipped him off. She craved self-reliance. Her interest in his golems stemmed from that.
Power to achieve on one's own.
That was mecha charm: steel giants empowering the frail. And at the pinnacle...
"Aizen. Eyes front."
Mina's voice snapped him back. Through window and feed, it was clear.
A smallish green humanoid monster.
"Goblins."
"This is a noble beginners' dungeon—only easy prey."
He nodded at Noel's words. Safe spot for noble classes; Reina had probably cleared it first. Nothing here matched his revamped Caterpillar Golem.
"Performance test later, then."
Still, great chance to verify boarding, controls, cockpit systems.
Mina asked quietly,
"That small... hard to fight with anything, right?"
Golems shone against big foes; small ones weren't the plan. So this situation...
"Easier, actually."
No need to plan for goblins. Clubs and arrows bounced off armor plating. Climbers got swatted by casual arm swings; some grabbed by manipulators and flung. Reaction tweaks needed, he noted while toying with them, then nodded.
"Wanna bulldoze now?"
"You're awful, Aizen."
Mina feigned disapproval, but her face said otherwise. No issue, ignored.
Caterpillar advanced. Monsters fled. Tracks ground rocks to dust noisily. No sweat against small fry.
Just plow.
Rumble rumble rumble.
-"Kreek?! Kirrra?!"
Vibrations shook the Caterpillar; drill and dozer swung. Goblins bolted full-tilt, wailing and stumbling before the unstoppable giant they couldn't scratch.
"Comfortable."
Noel murmured softly, almost gleefully, watching them scatter.
And...
"...Huh?"
A big red dot appeared in the radar-substitute crystal orb.