After the Skeleton Dungeon
Should I go… or not…
I had listened to Logue and left the dungeon, but now I was hesitating because neither he nor Liana were following.
“He told me to go… Isn’t he going to throw another fit about me not coming back?”
I was just about to head back inside when—
‘That bastard’s covered in wounds… and why is she grinning like an idiot?’
Logue trudged forward with the weary face of someone who had endured every hardship imaginable, while Liana kept giggling as though she couldn’t contain her delight.
I quickly made my excuse to him.
“You told me to leave… but I really was going to head back in!”
“Shut up.”
His voice was razor-sharp, probably because exhaustion had worn his temper thin.
‘How the hell did I end up tangled up with a guy like this…’
Luden wanted to beat some sense into his past self—the one who had dared to pick a fight with Logue.
“Hey. Carry me.”
“Why should I—fine, just stop jabbing me!”
Really…
‘This ungrateful bastard…’
When we finally emerged from the dungeon, Luden was hovering awkwardly by the entrance. The sight irritated me, but I had zero strength left to waste on getting angry.
I ordered him to carry me on his back, then quietly pulled up my status window.
‘Where should I put these stats…’
Constitution had the best synergy with Goliath’s Shield and the spear, so that seemed like the obvious choice.
I decided to dump every last point into Constitution.
…After all, every character had a growth limit, so there was a ceiling to how high I could raise any single stat.
Yet contrary to my expectation that I would eventually hit a wall, my Constitution shot up from 43 (B) all the way to 71 (S+).
‘Just what the hell is the stat cap on this body?’
Normal characters usually capped between A and S, while protagonist-tier characters reached S to SS. Judging by that, Logue’s body had a surprisingly high ceiling.
‘Not that it matters when I only get two measly points per level.’
This time I had lucked into a bunch of high-level monsters and skyrocketed in levels, but raising your level in this game was normally a brutal grind.
Still, seeing the improved numbers gave me a solid sense of reassurance.
“Would you stop moving around so much!” Luden grumbled.
I jabbed him in the side with the blunt end of my spear.
“I told you to stop poking me!”
I kept jabbing him with the spear until he finally shut up. At some point Luden gave up and simply carried me in silence.
‘Like any beast, he only behaves after a beating.’
By the time we left the dungeon the sun had already set, leaving the surroundings wrapped in darkness.
“Good work, Luden. We’ll call the debt settled with this.”
At this point I figured I could forgive him for the mother-related insult he’d thrown at me earlier.
Luden grumbled under his breath and shuffled off to wherever he was going.
“…Liana. You worked hard too.”
“Y-yes… Logue, you worked hard as well…”
At some point she had slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. It seemed she liked it more than I’d expected.
‘She looked dazed at first, but I guess it grew on her.’
Now that I thought about it, there was something I needed to ask her. I had meant to request the Transcendence Potion, but the constant chaos inside the dungeon had made me forget completely.
“Hey. Think you can make this potion? …It’s fine if you fail a few times.”
I recited the recipe for the Transcendence Potion from memory.
“Um… I still have some salamander tails and magic herbs left, but I’ll need to order holy water separately… Where exactly did you get this formula?”
“You don’t need to know. Come find me once it’s done. …If you’re short on money, just say so.”
The original owner of this body had been such a rude bastard that even when I tried to speak normally, the abrasive tone slipped out anyway.
“…Understood.”
Liana looked hurt and started to head back to the dormitory alone.
“I’ll walk you there.”
I stopped her. My conscience wouldn’t let me send a girl back by herself in the middle of the night.
“How cheap… Are you doing this on purpose?”
“What exactly is cheap?”
“…Never mind.”
Moonlight settled across Liana’s face. I found myself staring blankly at her features glowing under its soft reflection.
‘She really is beautiful…’
Liana took the lead again, heading for the dormitory. I followed quietly behind her.
It was a night filled with beautifully scattered starlight.
I escorted Liana all the way to her dormitory, then returned to my own room.
‘The potion issue is mostly handled, and the disciplinary committee matter will probably sort itself out. That leaves… the Hero.’
The Hero’s hostility toward me had already shot through the roof. An apology seemed necessary.
‘It wasn’t me who did it… but it was this body, so it’s still my problem.’
I’d start by apologizing to Serein. She had suffered the most direct damage, after all.
Deciding to seek her out tomorrow once I reached the academy, I drifted off to sleep.
“What do you want…? Showing up out of nowhere.”
After classes ended, I went looking for Serein to apologize for everything I had done up to now. The Hero was still confined to the dormitory while awaiting disciplinary action.
“Serein. About all the things I’ve said and done until now, I ap—”
‘I’m sorry.’
“Ap—”
“You think this body would actually apologize? Are you crazy?”
Because of Logue’s body, words I had no intention of saying kept spilling out. Just seeing Serein triggered some kind of seizure in this flesh.
It was probably because the memory of being beaten by the Hero was carved into its bones.
“Ha? You call me out here just to say that? …You really are the worst. I already knew that, but still!”
Serein spun on her heel and vanished from my sight.
‘Haa…’
I had no idea how to untangle the mess this relationship had become.
While I stood there clutching my head over the complicated situation, a familiar voice reached me.
“U-um… Logue. I tried making it exactly according to the recipe you gave me…”
It was Liana. She held a potion that gave off a faint, gentle glow.
“All the ingredients for this… they were all related to stimulants. You’re not going to drink it, right?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“You always say that. …Do you have any idea how hurtful that is?”
Tears were starting to well up in Liana’s eyes. I had to admit my words had been too cold.
Ever since I possessed this body, I had unintentionally become sharper with my speech.
“Sorry. But it’s for a personal experiment, so try not to take it too hard.”
“…Understood.”
“And thank you, Liana. You did a good job.”
At my words of gratitude, Liana lowered her head in embarrassment. Her face looked flushed.
“Haa…”
‘She must be the shy type.’
I’d heard that people who rarely received compliments or thanks never knew how to react when they finally did. Liana seemed to fall into that category.
‘Right now her growth is still low, so her grades are scraping the bottom.’
But as she gained experience, her high limits and unique traits would eventually turn her into an essential character. A skilled alchemist was absolutely necessary in a game that demanded high-level equipment.
“Well, I’ll be going. Good work.”
I gave Liana a parting greeting and turned to head back to the dormitory for my experiment.
‘…Hm?’
I felt a tug on my collar. When I looked back, Liana was gripping the hem of my clothes.
“If you don’t have any plans… would you like to eat together…?”
‘It’s true I don’t have any appointments…’
There was no reason to refuse, so I slipped the potion into my pocket and accepted her offer.
“Alright. Let’s head to the student cafeteria.”
Liana and I walked there together.
When we reached the cafeteria, Luden had already claimed a seat and was eating with his group. I was planning to ignore them and walk past when I realized my pockets were empty.
‘That’s right… I spent everything left on the holy potion and the explosive artifact…’
I had forgotten I used up all my remaining funds for the dungeon expedition.
‘I didn’t notice because lunch is free…’
I approached Luden and whispered.
“Luden. Now that I think about it, don’t I still have money to collect from you?”
Luden quietly protested, clearly not wanting to draw the eyes of those around us.
“What are you talking about… Didn’t I already give you everything I had? Besides, entering the dungeon together should have settled the debt, right?”
He wasn’t wrong. I silently raised my fist in front of him.
“…If you give me just ten silver, I swear on my honor that this won’t happen again.”
Luden quietly slipped ten silver into my pocket. His face crumpled like he was about to cry.
Even when he made that expression he wasn’t cute at all, I thought as I sat down to eat with Liana.
Liana kept glancing at my face while we ate, as if something was on it.
“Hey. Is there something on my face?”
“…N-no!”
She lowered her head so fast it looked like she was trying to bury her face in her plate.
‘Was she always like this?’
I remembered her having a colder image… I continued eating, feeling a bit puzzled.
“…Lo-Logue. Next time… together…”
Liana seemed to want to say something, but her voice was so quiet I couldn’t catch it.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear that. What did you say?”
“I said the food was good!”
Leaving those words behind, Liana bolted away.
‘What was that about…’
Feeling full and satisfied, I returned to the dormitory.