I'll Feed You Opportunities (3)
Jacques watched as the new students finished forming their parties, then spoke. His voice still rumbled like an enraged lion.
The students remained silent.
The point was clear: they needed proper role distribution.
The freshmen finally understood why the joint class between the Swordsmanship and Holy Departments had been arranged. This lesson was essentially the first step in learning efficient party composition. A fierce battle of glances broke out among them.
The ones who just picked whoever they were close to are going to suffer…
In an unavoidable situation, do we really have to bow our heads to the Holy Department kids?
The royalist faction from the kingdom… please, let there be some leftover Holy Department students from the Gallia Kingdom’s noble faction…!
This puts the Swordsmanship students from the Theocracy at the biggest advantage!
The noble-born students, whose minds worked along these lines, frantically recalculated their party formations in their heads. Most commoner students, who had mainly joined to fill numbers, simply watched the situation quietly.
…Damn it. Looks like I’ll definitely get pushed out.
The Theocracy students, who could complete their parties just by sticking together, wore smug expressions.
In the midst of that quiet chaos, Instructor Jacques dropped another bombshell.
“W-what did you say…?!”
“Casualties…?”
The students from high-ranking noble families in the kingdom, or those related to Theocracy cardinals, jumped in shock. They placed extremely high value on their own lives. They could endure simple hardship, but something that might cost them their lives was different. So they lashed out at the instructor.
Instructor Jacques laughed at their protests.
The students fell silent.
The students stayed quiet for a moment, then quickly came to terms with reality. Those who had grouped up randomly either disbanded or began persuading other students.
“H-hey, you! That commoner over there! If you’re holding a sword, protect me!”
“You’re from the reformist nobles, but… I’ll specially allow you to join our party. Hurry over here!”
The students who couldn’t secure proper parties shouted desperately. Most of them had bloodshot eyes, frantically forcing their way in to save their own lives.
Jacques watched the scene and let out a quiet internal sigh.
To think so few of them noticed that all the academy’s training grounds have been safely cleared over the past few weeks. How can these kids, who get shaken up so easily by mere threats, ever lead a battlefield…
Still, a very small number remained perfectly calm.
Jacques took note of the few students whose faces showed no tension. Among them was a Swordsmanship Department student—the princess, Lydia.
Jacques met Lydia’s eyes for a moment.
But no words passed between them.
Arty quietly spoke to Aria and Lydia. Aside from the troublesome misunderstanding, they had approached him when he was left floating alone.
“Instructor Jacques’s words are probably just a threat. Every location where the Swordsmanship Department has done physical training and sparring so far has been completely cleared and made safe. Besides, it’s still too early to send freshmen into real combat. Even farming is entrusted to those who have at least helped for one full season.”
Aria answered with a bright smile at Arty’s consideration.
“Huh? A story about casualties?”
Arty closed his eyes and shook his head.
…Even inside a dungeon, nobles chase after romance.
Lydia remained silent amid the chaotic atmosphere.
What a nostalgic event. In the original story, this was the place where Arty and Mave first interacted… But it was that ‘frustrating sweet potato part’ where he gets ignored by the prideful commoner apprentice knight Mave.
The early-game event where he approaches her warmly because they’re both commoners, only to be scorned by the ‘prideful female knight’… Lydia glanced toward the knight heroine—Mave. Mave stood tall and imposing. Students who had noticed her skills from the first day, along with those from the royal knight apprentice background, were already gathering around her.
“Mave, I don’t like it, but since your swordsmanship is the strongest…”
“Obviously.”
“Hey, commoner! You can protect me, right?”
“That’s also obvious.”
Lydia remembered the humiliation the ‘original Arty’ had suffered in that party swarming with nobles.
“You useless commoner bastard!”
“Because of you our movement speed is slowing down!”
“Pathetic fool.”
Anyway, my proper interaction with Mave comes later. There’s no need to let Arty’s self-esteem take a hit in this pointless status-conflict event. Skip.
Useless emotional-drain events were omitted. She simply focused on the content regarding the early undead dungeon.
The beginner undead dungeon. Despite Instructor Jacques’s terrifying threats, it was actually a very easy place. Even if they were defeated by monsters, there would be no 19+ NTR scenes with the heroines or game overs.
…Because this is still before the heroines’ ‘Vow of Chastity’ has been broken.
Looking at it this way, the setup made people mistakenly think, Wait, is this just a standard RPG dungeon?—which was exactly why there were quite a few worthwhile farming sections.
The place Lydia was aiming for was one of those.
I’ll devour every opportunity I can get my hands on in the early game.
From now on, the party that clears the undead dungeon first will be exempt from next week’s hell training—!
In the end, the parties underwent massive reorganization. Some ended up reluctantly teaming up with unlikely allies, but survival instinct and logic allowed them to compromise.
Amid all that, Arty’s party remained unchanged. Of course there had been persistent attempts to insert Aria into a Theocracy party, but her firm refusal had shut them down.
“But, Saintess…! We cannot entrust you to a mere commoner.”
“But…!”
Aria could not yet reveal on her own that Arty was the ‘Hero of the Holy Sword,’ so she simply proved her own ability.
…Someday, I hope everyone will understand.
Before leaving, the Theocracy students threatened Arty.
“If even a single hair on the Saintess is harmed, we will definitely kill you.”
But they couldn’t bring themselves to do the same to Princess Lydia. Even though she was the ‘forgotten twin royal,’ the most they could do was commit the rudeness of ‘pretending not to know.’
Of course, Lydia paid no attention to such petty checks. She simply stared at the entrance to the beginner undead dungeon before her. It looked like dozens of tangled threads split in every direction.
The students who had formed parties each carried survival supplies and weapons, choosing among the dozens of entrances the ones that ‘looked safest’ before heading inside.
“This one looks especially clean, and I feel less ‘energy’ from it.”
“Huh…?! Hey, what are you doing!”
“Make way. This side is for our brothers to enter first.”
Arty and Aria stared at the dungeon entrance, overwhelmed. No matter how beginner-friendly it was, this was their first time seeing one in person. Aria whispered softly.
“Yes, Saintess.”
Arty left Aria behind and immediately approached Lydia.
“Lydia, the Saintess said there’s bad energy inside the dungeon, so we should be careful.”
“…Mm, understood. I’ll be careful. Thank you.”
“Yes!”
Arty then looked back at Aria.
“Saintess, Lydia says thank you.”
Aria puffed her cheeks out slightly at the sight.
“…I told you directly, Hero.”
“Huh? We’re one party. So of course we should share information.”
Aria felt a little upset.
Even so, to relay it right in front of me like that…
It almost made it seem like the Hero was the Princess’s subordinate. Moreover, the polite distance that subtly treated her like an outsider stung. She had been the one to approach the Hero first, offering to lend him her strength. So why was he so entangled with that harsh princess…?
Have you already become that bound to the princess?
Aria looked at Lydia with slightly trembling eyes. Lydia was completely focused on something. With her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, she scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes. Then she pointed somewhere and spoke.
“…Over there. Follow me, Arty.”
“Yes!”
The place they headed toward was an entrance unusually covered in sword scars. The acrid smell of all sorts of magical chemicals and eerie cracks… No matter how you looked at it, the place was filled with traces of fierce battles. Lydia turned to Arty and Aria.
“This entrance should be safe. We’re going this way. Arty, carry the backpack and focus on ‘that.’”
“…Yes, Lydia.”
Arty answered while adjusting the backpack. The ‘that’ Lydia mentioned was the concentration method to awaken Arty’s ‘Healing Acceleration.’
Good thing I don’t have to talk about assholes in front of the Saintess.
Arty felt relieved inside. Without another word, he activated the energy in his body and moved to follow Lydia, who was taking the lead.
But Aria did not follow the two.
“W-wait a moment?!”
“?”
“?”
Aria stopped them, her voice slightly agitated.
“No matter how you look at it, this entrance looks dangerous! And Princess, how can you be so certain about the safety of a dungeon you’re entering for the first time…?”
Arty unconsciously felt a flicker of doubt at the Saintess’s words—Wait, does she have a point?—but quickly accepted the situation.
…There’s no way Lydia would do anything without reason.
As expected, Lydia answered Aria without hesitation.
“Look around. Isn’t it full of traces of all kinds of battles? It must be the marks left by the academy instructors and teaching assistants after dealing with monsters the students couldn’t handle. Unlike the other entrances.”
“That’s exactly why this place is dangerous…!”
“No, it’s the opposite.”
“Pardon?”
“This is the only entrance covered in such an unusual amount of sword scars and battle traces. That means this was a place with especially ‘powerful monsters.’ But those have already been cleaned up by the instructors and assistants.”
“…”
“Weak monsters don’t approach areas where powerful ones live. Therefore, this place is essentially the only ‘completely empty passage’ among the nearby entrances.”
They had left the weak monsters. They had cleared the strong ones. The weak monsters avoided the strong ones.
“We will use this fact to pass through a section completely empty of monsters at very high speed.”
Arty clapped his hands in admiration.
“Aha! So once you realize the academy training grounds are safe, you can see through the fact that ‘places that look dangerous’ are actually illusions!”
“Correct, Arty. From now on, you must trust your own instincts and judgment rather than the enemy’s bluffs.”
“Amazing, Lydia!”
Arty smiled brightly and spoke to Aria.
“It’s all right, Saintess! You don’t have to worry—we can go together.”
Aria gave a small nod. No matter how much she wanted to argue, she couldn’t refute it.
“…Yes.”
But… the words she had spoken out of worry had turned into some kind of enlightened exchange between Lydia and Arty. It felt… somehow…
…Upsetting.
And so, the three of them stepped into the undead dungeon.