When the Superior Points, the Subordinate Rolls - 2

I couldn't help but be moved by the black bear's greeting as it suddenly appeared and high-fived toward my head. For a beast, it was better than most people. Grateful, I returned the high-five, and it seemed overjoyed enough to die. Rolling around on the ground right away—clearly this guy was also moved by my response.

Poor thing. It must have longed for affection after never receiving love growing up. To show its belly just from a single touch of a human's hand.

Surprisingly sturdy.

Well, jokes aside, I punched its abdomen intending to kill it. But since I hadn't used my fists in a while, I must have misjudged the force—the result being that rolling around without dying. Being a dungeon creature, it seemed tougher than a normal bear.

A bit of a blow to my pride, but fortunate nonetheless. If this thing had popped out with the club members present, unexpected trouble might have arisen. It was down now, but if it had charged at them in a frenzy, it would have been seriously problematic.

Pretty big build too.

I looked alternately at the fist I'd driven into the bear's gut and the bear struggling to get up. The dungeon was a bit wide for continuous walking, and this guy was big enough for a person to ride. Good—this was fate too.

As I walked toward the bear, it freaked out, so I showed my fist and it calmed down. Tough and smart enough. Was this the mystery of the dungeon? Stroking the nose of the bear that had learned to stay still with its decent intelligence, I spoke.

"You. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let's do a job together with me."

Lend me your back.

Indeed, people needed a mount to be comfortable. The dungeon that had been annoying to walk on two feet could now be traversed quickly, and the harmful pests that needed dealing with—Ung sniffed them out like a ghost, so I had no trouble at all.

Ung was the name I gave the black bear I was riding. Since it was this helpful, it deserved a name at least. I was going to call it roughly Teddy or something, but that seemed too much, so I settled on Ung.

"You like Ung too, right?"

—Jyubyu...

"Good bear."

Seemed like it meant good. Satisfied, I stroked its head and felt its body tremble.

I'd never heard that dungeon pests were stronger than other beasts but had good intelligence. Was this guy a special case? Well, whatever. I wasn't a scholar researching dungeon ecology.

So I rode Ung around the dungeon for about another hour. If anything I'd missed came up on picnic day, I couldn't guarantee what disaster would strike. It was truly heavenly luck that I'd found out about the dungeon in advance. Though if it were real heavenly luck, it wouldn't have appeared in the first place.

The terrain is really shitty.

I was advancing now by smashing all the blocking trees, but thinking of walking this forest path with the Six made me shudder. If even one got hurt, it would be a nightmare escort mission shaking the continent beyond the Academy, and the terrain was bad too—hell?

Of course, I smashed that hellish future with my own hands. Sighing in relief as I got off Ung's back, Ung looked at me with relieved eyes. Noticing I was about to leave, huh. This really wasn't normal bear intelligence.

"Ung. Nothing left now, right?"

No answer, but I could tell from its eyes. The eyes saying please just leave since there's nothing more. I smirked at that look and stroked Ung's head.

"Really nothing? There should be one more."

—Jyubyu?

Ung made a cry of genuine confusion, and anxiety gradually filled its eyes. As if hoping that what it was thinking wasn't right—please not that.

"You're left."

With those words, I struck down on Ung's head. Fortunately, unlike when I hit the abdomen, I properly controlled my strength this time and finished it in one go. Since we'd bonded walking the dungeon together, I specially made sure to send it off painlessly. Dying without pain was a good death.

Looking down at Ung (that was) collapsing after losing its burst head, I felt oddly bitter. Its intelligence was decent and it was rather gentle—I'd even briefly thought maybe Luise would enter the dungeon and take it as a pet. Though a bit big for a pet.

If this guy had a sin, it was being born in a dungeon. If I left it alive and it jumped out for a surprise party on the picnic, it would be mutually embarrassing.

Be reborn as a noble family's pet in the next life.

I briefly prayed for the bear's soul and turned my back. Time to leave this damned dungeon.

Ah, was it Bear or Ung? Well, didn't matter. No one to call the name anymore anyway.

After finishing the temporary dungeon purification and returning, luckily it was before club time started. Thank goodness the vice principal had delivered the news from morning; otherwise, a disaster of just the Six gathering in the clubroom without me would have erupted. Imagining it was a bit scary. The Six assembling out of my sight...

Horrifying.

Even during regular classes where the six were scattered, my heart was anxious, but club time with all of them? I was confident I wouldn't be surprised if suddenly one of the five went mad and started issuing duel challenges left and right. Not surprised, but devastated, damn it. If anyone picked a fight for a duel, I'd step up as the opposing champion. I'd beat them sincerely.

Thinking that, I entered the clubroom and sat in my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠usual seat, then felt something unfamiliar in the clubroom. Something cleaner, and a subtly luxurious feel.

Turning my eyes for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a closer look, I immediately saw a letter on the nearest desk. A letter from the vice principal.

What is this.

Did someone I saw this morning need to leave a letter? Since it was sent, I should look.

"Ah."

A true vice principal...!

Reading the letter without much thought, I couldn't help but be moved. The vice principal's artistic action of saying he'd do one thing and perfectly handling ten earned my automatic admiration. This was it—this was a true person. A talent more than worthy of rising to vice principal of the Academy, the empire's finest educational institution!

If even one of those 1, 2, 3 bastards had done half as much as the vice principal, my job satisfaction would have skyrocketed. I'd have been confident carrying them on my back to and from work. When I retired, I would have seriously considered them as a candidate for next department head alongside the deputy director, that's how much I would have cherished them.

Of course, that was a futile hypothesis. Fucking bullshit.

"Oh? Oppa, did you change the desks?"

That was the first thing Luise said the moment she entered the clubroom. As expected of the girl most sincere about baking, she immediately noticed what had changed. The other five only seemed to notice after hearing Luise's words. This was normal for you lot, so no need to blame your intelligence.

"They were broken, so I replaced them. While I was at it, everything else too."

"By yourself? You should have done it with us."

"Not me—the vice principal. If you run into him, say thank you."

"Yes!"

Luise's sky-blue eyes sparkled as she surveyed the clubroom with light steps. Since everything had been changed, of course she'd want to check. Honestly, even looking at it, I couldn't really tell. That subtle sense of something having changed yet not knowing exactly what.

Leading the five around inspecting the clubroom, Luise turned her gaze to me as if something had occurred to her.

"Come to think of it, Oppa. You left somewhere first thing this morning—was something wrong?"

"Huh?"

What, how did she know.

Seeing the question fill my eyes as I looked at her, Luise awkwardly twirled her hair and continued.

"I saw Oppa going out the school gate this morning."

"That's how you express not concentrating in class, huh."

Considering the location of the building where Luise had class at the time I left, she'd really been staring out the window on purpose.

I gave a less-than-kind look to Luise for wasting a class I would have loved to attend but couldn't, and she seemed embarrassed herself, laughing hehe and looking away. Fine, I'd let it slide. What was the point of getting angry at her...

"So where did you go? Was there somewhere to go around here?"

Whether to keep me from talking alone with Luise or simply curious about the rest of the story, Ryutis cut in. At Ryutis's words, Luise awkwardly shifted her gaze, and her eyes locked onto me again.

"I went to the picnic site for a field survey."

"You're only going on a short picnic—why a field survey? What problem is going to crop up during a picnic."

Saying that with a laugh, I carefully eyed the area around Ryutis's neck.

Adam's apple, I really wanted to smash that Adam's apple just once, hard as hell. As long as it didn't become a diplomatic issue, just one hit... Was that something you said in front of the guy who'd just finished resolving that exact problem right before it exploded.

At the same time, hearing Ryutis's words raised my 99% certainty to 100%. If we'd gone without knowing, we absolutely would have entered a dungeon during the picnic. Hearing that flag-like line made it certain. That devil's mouth, seriously. Even though I'd already resolved it, it still pissed me off for no reason.

"No harm in being careful."

Suppressing the urge for a neck slice, I answered moderately and deliberately turned my gaze away. The moment impulse overcame reason, the Foreign Ministry would flip their eyes and come after me.

"They say the cherry blossoms you see from that hill are incredibly pretty!"

Turning my gaze from Ryutis, Luise came into view. Cherry blossoms—a flower that suited Luise perfectly. But "they say they're pretty," huh. Someone must have filled Luise's head with hot air and gotten us going all the way there for the picnic. Which bastard did what bastard thing and made trouble for me...?

"Ah, that thing Irina mentioned last time? So that was the place."

The identity became clear right away from Erich's words. Ah, Irina... that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠girl. The one who'd been next to Luise the first time I saw her.

At the completely unexpected identity, I quietly shut my mouth and simply listened to Luise's expectant words. If Irina was the cause, I couldn't bring myself to resent her.

Irina. Luise's closest same-sex friend. Not as much as the five participating in the Luise conquest race, but still one of the people I was keeping an eye on in my own way. That was why I casually checked on her status whenever I had time.

And her full name was Irina Jollun. The young lady of that family that had been struck by a bolt from the blue due to the Audit Department's friendly fire before my Academy assignment.

Fuck, Section 3 Chief, you bastard. Your shit was still here too.

The living witness to professional manslaughter I'd encountered in such an unexpected place was a presence that stimulated my guilt.