Dungeon Exploration Training (3)
Dungeon Exploration Training (3)
Rosemary had issued instructions to Fenrir in advance.
—The moment you come face-to-face with my sister, you are to run straight to her and bow your head. Understood?
Fenrir followed Rosemary's command faithfully. It approached Aether and let out a whimpering whine, drawing everyone's attention.
At the spectacle of a Calamity-class magic beast groveling, even Herlein and her classmates wore dazed expressions.
"...What's gotten into that thing?"
"I heard it from my brother before. Fenrir supposedly tucks its tail the instant it meets a strong opponent...."
"What? Then that means Aether is stronger than that magic beast?"
Watching them chatter away even with a Calamity-class creature in front of them, I couldn't help thinking that these people lacked any real sense of tension.
Well, it didn't matter. Being tense wouldn't let them win anyway.
More to the point....
'Instead of helping a friend exposed to a magic beast, they're just standing there gawking.'
It was so absurd that a hollow laugh escaped me for an entirely different reason.
"Hey, you idiot! What are you spacing out for!"
"Get over here, quickly!"
Of course, it seemed there were some who weren't like that.
A short-haired girl, and a small fox-beastman kid. Those two girls were the first to wave at Aether and warn her of the danger.
...What were those two called again? They were eyesores. She had to deal with them before they became serious obstacles. Rosemary narrowed her eyes and firmly committed the two students' faces to memory.
"Aether! I'll make you a wall with the teacher, so come back using it for cover!"
Meanwhile, Professor Herlein deployed multiple spells at once and raised a large Earth Wall in front of Fenrir. It didn't last long, though. A single swipe of the Calamity-class creature's front paw brought the hastily constructed wall crumbling down.
But the fox-beastman girl immediately righted the collapsing wall. She reconstructed the Earth Wall without an Alchemy Circle or any prior incantation. Aether managed to use that opening to retreat several steps backward.
'It's a futile gesture, you know.'
Her sister had already seen it. The sight of a Calamity-class magic beast tucking its tail right in front of her.
If she'd lost her memories, this incident would make her recall a little. Her own identity.
And it would stir doubt among her classmates. Why a Calamity-class magic beast had immediately groveled before her sister.
Somewhere, a crack would form. She'd exploit that crack and sweet-talk her eldest sister. Eventually, she'd come back to the Demon King army.
Above all, since the plan using Prince Clion had fallen through, she had no choice but to stake everything on this approach now.
'Now, Sis. This is a scheme I put all my heart into just to corner someone of your stature. Go on, pat the doggy on the head, or turn around with a dumbstruck face—do whatever you like!'
She hid the laughter spilling out behind her fan. She looked forward to seeing what would happen next.
And then Aether slammed a Flare right between Fenrir's eyes.
"...Huh?"
**
I reached deep into my hip pack. A rough, scratchy texture. I sank into thought as I fingered the two scrolls.
...What should I do with these?
I had already grasped Rosemary's intentions. The remaining problem was gathering enough mana.
I needed two shots of Flare. On the other hand, the amount of mana I could pull from the Hardcover Book was only enough for one.
Of course, since Flare was a magic art designed with the destruction of Extinction-class magic beasts in mind, a single direct hit could kill a Calamity-class. Even a glancing blow would be a fatal wound on this creature.
[But you can't fire at this range.]
The Hardcover Book was right.
The distance to Fenrir was far, far too close. Firing Flare from here was... yes, exactly like firing a 155mm field gun inside an escape room café.
So I decided to fire two shots.
[No, have you lost your mind?]
Don't swear, just look into whether I can somehow squeeze out a second shot.
[Then smoke a Mana Cigarette!]
No time for that. Even at the fastest, from lighting it to loading the mana, it takes thirty seconds.
...Hm. Can't I pull in and use the mana around us?
[Mana? If a dungeon teeming with magic beasts had an abundance of mana particles, it'd be a spirit playground, not a place where magic beasts live.... Huh.]
The Hardcover Book's protesting words gradually softened.
The surroundings were rich in mana particles. Completely contrary to what the textbooks taught.
I'd intuitively suspected as much, and it seemed my hypothesis had hit the mark. I knew it.
[...How did you know?]
Light.
[Light?]
Unless there's a special obstruction, light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. For instance, consider the radiation pressure of a lantern. If you run the calculation with a few assumptions mixed in, I should have had at least several meters of visibility while crossing the dungeon. In reality, I could barely see one meter ahead.
[So that's what you meant earlier when you guessed that something was filling the space in between.]
Yeah.... It was certainly difficult to verify. Since a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe body can't easily sense mana particles.
And, it appeared the mana particles present here weren't of the four elements either. If they were, someone with sharp senses would have detected them and spoken up by now.
It didn't matter. What was important right now was whether I could use them or not.
Can I use them?
[The efficiency is low, but at this level it wouldn't violate the conservation law.]
Good, be a dear and do some work for the first time in a while.
[Then from now on, don't stick me in a desk drawer when you walk around. You have to keep me on you at all times. Understand?]
Even while grumbling, it did everything it was asked to do. Having gathered the surrounding mana particles, the Hardcover Book began hammering vast amounts of mana into the two Flare Scrolls.
The gap between the two scrolls was 4.180 centimeters. A value I'd determined by gauging my position and the magic beast's position.
And all this thinking had taken only a few seconds.
BOOM!!
A high-output laser drilled between the creature's eyes in rapid succession. Fenrir was blown backward, unable to even let out a death cry. In the time it took me to blink, it was mounted on the wall like a piece of taxidermy.
"Uh...."
A faintly trembling little girl's... no, the voice of this dungeon's master.
I caught my breath and glared straight ahead.
A one-hit kill.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
I was immediately checking my body over when Frey and Rote came running up in turn. I looked behind me. My classmates' expressions varied, but most of them wore faces consumed by an indescribable terror.
This would need an explanation.
"I brought Flare with me, just in case. You know... that thing?"
At that, most of them nodded as if they understood.
"Ah, I see.... That's why Fenrir bowed its head right away."
"And here I was thinking something else."
"But Flare is seriously strong! That was the first time I've seen it used."
In response to the kids asking if I was okay, I nodded.
Just then, something smacked me right on the head.
I let out an "Ugh," and clutched my head. It didn't hurt, but it did startle me a little. Turning my head, I saw Teacher Herlein, her old-wood staff in hand, letting out a long sigh.
"That was dangerous. What if you'd gotten hurt?"
"I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Fenrir aside, what were you thinking, firing Flare at point-blank range?"
Herlein let out one breath after another. She swept a hand down her chest and looked around.
And then, the young lady who had been doing nothing but spectating until moments ago finally deigned to make her appearance. Rosemary smoothly inserted herself into our conversation, picking up the baton from Teacher Herlein's words.
"That's right. Using a spell like that at such a range would cause serious harm to the caster as well. You, of all people, as its developer, couldn't possibly not know that, Sis... Huh?"
Her eyes swept over every inch of my body, then went wide.
"Why don't you have a single scratch...?"
"Just got lucky."
I put on a sly grin and shrugged my shoulders. For just the briefest moment, Rosemary's expression crumpled.
That makes us even. If you don't like it, go study some electromagnetism.
"More importantly, you seemed to be secretly hoping I'd get hurt?"
"No? Why? Why would I think such a thing? That's too much, even for me. Would you please not misinterpret it in such a strange way?"
"No, just that your tone sounded a bit... expectant."
"My tone is just like this normally!"
Turning it back on her was entertaining. Ah-ha, so this was it. So this was the taste of cornering me. It's addictive.
"Everyone, class ends here for today. I'll take responsibility and report this incident to the Board of Directors, so if any of you have something you want to say, please speak up now!"
Now that the boss was caught, this dungeon was a dead dungeon. No magic beasts would appear here for at least a few days.
The tired students left first in groups. A few friends who were interested in Fenrir's corpse stayed behind with me.
I twirled my staff and approached Fenrir.
"Since I caught it, I can take it apart, right?"
"Ah, uh, yes. Of course. Do you know how to dismantle it?"
"Naturally. I've done it for over three years."
Herlein was at a loss for words. Rote tilted her head, then seemed to catch on and let out a short groan. Frey was just being Frey.
"Wait a moment, Sis!"
Now just hearing her voice made me sigh.
"What is it this time, my lady?"
"Look, over here! There's a magnificent full-length mirror!"
"Good for you. Take it home and hang it in your room, my lady."
"No, that's not what I... It's just, this seems like a somewhat special mirror!"
Wow, look at this. Is it because it's a Calamity-class? Every single magic stone is top quality. These will all be useful for research.
"Siiiisterrrr!"
"Alright, alright."
Deciding to leave the remaining work to the others, I walked over to Rosemary, who was squawking loudly. As she'd said, in one corner of the boss room stood a full-length mirror nearly two meters high.
Rosemary, who had been shining her lantern on the mirror, sparkled and raised her voice another pitch.
"This mirror seems really clean. What do you think? Wouldn't you like to take it as an extra piece of loot?"
"I can just look at the bathroom mirror if I need a mirror."
"Are you a boy, Sis? A lady ought to have at least one of these in her room."
"I'll just be a guy all my life."
Now that I thought about it, Rosemary didn't know I was a possessor either. She was surely thinking I'd just lost my memories and therefore forgotten that she was an Extinction-class magic beast.
"Just take one look. Look, your hair's all sticking out here! Do you even comb it when you go out?"
Rosemary grabbed my wrist and pulled me in front of the mirror. Curious as to why she was acting this way, I glanced at the mirror.
"......What the."
Naturally, the girl reflected in the mirror was unmistakably 'me'.
...Except for the fact that her hair was snow-white.