Then Hand Over an Intermediate Dungeon
Emperor Sandra von Condenburg entered the great bath wearing nothing but her bare skin.
Blind maidservants, existing for the sole purpose of attending her bath, followed at her heels. The steam-filled bathhouse was appointed, from floor to ceiling, with nothing but the finest of everything.
Splash.
The Emperor slid one slender foot into the water with perfect composure, then sank down slowly, as though letting herself drown.
She enjoyed the time as entirely her own, letting her tension ease. But the moment she relaxed, the blue mana leaking from her body cooled the warm bathwater in an instant.
The maidservants, quick to read their mistress's darkening mood, hurriedly refilled the bath with hot water. The Emperor draped both arms over the edge of the tub and let out a long sigh.
"Hoo."
Another nation had been erased from the map. The Holy Kingdom, whose academy admission scandal had drawn suspicion upon every state on the continent.
Black magic was the magic of demons. Having invited contempt by terrorizing honored guests with such filthy tricks, they had provided more than sufficient justification for moving an army.
Only the outcome displeased her.
The Holy Kingdom's borders had lain closest to the kingdom's, and any strike against the Holy Kingdom necessarily required crossing the kingdom's territory — so the Empire had been unable to move a great host.
The one who had profited most from this war was the Fondref Kingdom. In practice, they had walked away with the Holy Kingdom's territory, resources, and sea lanes alike.
A mere sliver of imperial territory remained, and yet the map had grown only more tangled. What on earth was she supposed to do with this patch of land?
"The design was for the continent to fall into a three-power balance within three years."
She had intended to leave behind the Magic State and the Holy State — nations that would never cooperate with one another, and which geography would keep boxed in.
But against all expectation, the kingdom was growing far too large. Dragged out like this for decades on end, the war would never end within her own reign.
"We lost too much in the subjugation of the Demon King's army."
She had wanted to take the continent whole and unspoiled — greed, then. Plain greed.
There had been too many nations. Even with the demons, she should have let them trample at least as far as the kingdom.
"Girl. Hand it over."
At the Emperor's flick of the hand, a maidservant passed over, one by one, parchments bearing the matters to be reported. Blind though she was, her movements were flawless.
The Emperor skimmed through them with an air of disinterest. At the last, the maid produced a single crystal orb.
"What is this?"
"A recorded video of a lecture by the Academy's Sage, Your Majesty. The envoy procured it at auction."
"How amusing."
The Emperor lifted the recording crystal slightly and played it.
― Raise the efficiency!
― You might even be able to lift your tier, one rank at a time.
The video showed Pelia Alencia lecturing, her equations chalked dense across the whiteboard.
The Emperor had never formally studied magic; everything she knew she had awakened through instinct alone.
At first she took little interest in this approach to magic she had never seen before — but gradually, she began to grasp what the constants and the equations meant.
Losing all track of time, she played it again. And again.
Each time the water cooled, the maidservants refilled the bath with water freshly heated.
And at the end of it all, the Emperor let mana flow from her fingertips.
Blue mana trailed down her jade-white skin, gathered into a single drop, and — plip — fell to the water's surface.
"—Ahh."
A maidservant caught a strange scent and froze in terror. Blood. It was unmistakably the smell of blood.
The Emperor was bleeding from the nose. An enormous amount. Though she could not see it, it was surely enough to stain the bathwater red in moments.
For a servant in attendance upon the Empress to suffer even the smallest scratch was an unspeakable transgression — a crime to be repaid with death. Just as the maid, breaking into a cold sweat, opened her mouth to cry out in alarm—
"Your Majesty…!"
The cry was never finished. Everything in that space had already plunged below absolute zero and frozen solid.
The maidservants — every last drop of the bathwater — all of it hung motionless, as though time itself had stopped.
The Emperor's eyes spun rapidly. From those irises bloomed a deep indigo, well beyond mere blue.
Those eyes had witnessed it, unmistakably: the opening of the next great gate, the one that had stood barred until now.
After a long stillness, the Emperor's breath began to flow again.
She murmured to the empty air.
"Children. The bathwater's gone cold."
"Professor Pidia, it is an honor! My daughter has told me so much about you."
"A pleasure to meet you."
offered me his hand. He was a man with a thoroughly respectable face.
"The West Wind of the Three Swords herself! What an honor to receive such distinguished visitors."
"I am still striving to improve."
Aisha, standing beside me, accepted the greeting with modest grace. Strange, from someone who so thoroughly enjoyed being praised.
White Evels was the guildmaster of southwestern Fondref Kingdom — and a count besides.
He was the father of , who took my Dungeon Studies class, and it was through Zion that this meeting had been arranged.
"I owe you a great debt from last time. Thanks to you, our losses from the multi-phase dungeon dropped to zero, and our material supply grew."
"I merely published research findings. I'm glad they proved useful."
"It felt less like research than the vivid testimony of someone fresh from the field. My daughter tells me you have worked as an active adventurer as well, Professor. Is that true?"
"It is. Though I'm not sure I have all that many tales worth telling."
"Wonderful. I made something of a name for myself in my younger days, you know. Have you heard of the party 'Black and White'?"
"I have."
"I was their porter. Hahaha!"
White laughed heartily. Aisha looked as though she found the joke less than amusing, but I had already verified his information on the wiki.
In truth, he had once been an A-rank adventurer. Perhaps his rebellious phase had hit hard in his youth, because he had run away from his house and taken up adventuring.
Even his nametag read rather than — the man clearly held his adventuring days quite dear.
He glanced at his pocket watch and came straight to the point.
"You wished to make use of our intermediate dungeon for Academy instruction."
Swift progress was exactly what I'd hoped for. I carried on the conversation with practiced ease.
"That's correct. No intermediate dungeons are expected to appear in Academy territory for the foreseeable future — but considering our students' level, there are those among them who need the experience."
Students of Caesus itself, that is. Handpicked from every corner of the continent.
My lectures already drew a fair number of second- and third-years from the other Houses. For students who had finished adapting to the fundamentals, low-grade dungeons were already a waste of time.
With Aisha present, safety was no concern at all. Someone of her caliber could clear even a high-grade dungeon single-handedly.
No — that wasn't the point.
From the start, worrying about safety in my lectures was about as useful as a fingernail's worth of snow.
With Luca, Tia, and Yuri there, what could possibly go wrong? Short of five Demon Kings spontaneously popping up in a low-grade dungeon.
On her last outing with me, Luca had been allowed to do everything her heart desired.
She'd endured so much as a Hero that I felt proud of her, and she'd made a real splash at the Silver-Blue Festival besides.
So I let her spar with me to her heart's content, fed her enough meat to burst her waistband, and ran my hand over her hair all through the night until she was purring like a kitten. It was a fine sight to see.
I'd also given her the Dungeon Studies supervising post she'd been wanting for ages — and brought Tia along too, since she'd be bored stiff left on her own.
Some of the students weren't ready for intermediate dungeons yet, so it kept things safe while distributing the teaching load.
It was perfect. More perfect than it had ever been.
…Thinking of it that way, wasn't Aisha the one with nothing left to do?
"C-could you please not stare at me like that?"
Aisha averted her eyes. White answered my earlier remark.
"I see. Will Zion be assigned to the intermediate dungeon as well?"
"Yes. She's shown excellent skill. Diligent in both lectures and assignments."
"Glad tidings — though as her father, I confess I worry for her safety."
"Perfectly understandable. A dungeon is a place where the smallest mistake, the smallest accident, can cost a life, no matter how thoroughly one prepares."
"You understand the business well indeed."
"But there is no need to worry. The Sword Saint herself serves as an instructor here."
"One person alone—"
"There are three more instructors of considerable skill. And above all."
I tilted my head slightly.
"I am the teacher of the Heroes."
At my words, White's eyes went wide.
"Is that truly so?"
I shot Aisha a glance. Aisha took the hint and nodded.
"Unbelievable. What sort of people are the Heroes who felled the Demon King, exactly?"
"I cannot say precisely."
I let the pause hang before answering.
"But I can tell you this much: they are sharper than any Sword Saint, hotter than any Sage, and harder than any God of Combat."
"Ooh…!"
"Considering I raised them into what they are, I can guarantee my own abilities."
"Mm, very well! If your students register as adventurers with our guild, I will grant permission for the use of the dungeon tunnels."
"My thanks for your cooperation."
"Dungeon tunnels?"
Aisha asked me. She seemed unfamiliar with them — she'd done little adventuring work.
"Think of them as transfer gates with fixed entrances and exits."
"Aren't they an incredible feat of magic?"
"Because they draw on the dungeon's own mana, entrances and exits can only be established where a dungeon exists. Limited, so nothing extraordinary."
White added his part.
"Since they're controlled by the regional guildmaster, no one can use them without a licensed permit. They're short-lived besides — strategically useless."
"The Academy territory should commission tunnel construction as well. Linking to land outside the kingdom is unprecedented."
"We look forward to working with you."
From then on, Dungeon Studies proceeded with the intermediate and lower classes divided.
Twelve Earth House students were assigned to the intermediate class. The lower class seemed more than capable of climbing up soon enough.
During lecture hours I bustled back and forth between the two. The tunnels made even the long distance a round trip of moments, which was undeniably convenient.
Security was strict, however — the tunnels could not be used outside of lecture hours. White Evels ran a tight guild.
The students' instruction was one thing, but establishing this route with the kingdom's guild had another purpose besides.
Professor Pidia, how goes the scouting of the adventurer instructors we discussed?We expect to make contact soon. Anticipate good news.
The Principal wanted security talent from professions with an affinity against black magic, to fortify the Academy against demons.
Recruiting them would proceed in parallel.
Before long, just as the wiki had promised, I came face to face with that party. This was their home territory, after all — the region they had claimed as their main base.
"Ya—ru!"
"Liefu!"
"Ya—ru!"
"Liefu!"
Waiting at the crossroads before the start of lecture, I watched a crowd of about twenty come running with a strange chant on their lips.
Every last one of them had a robe thrown over their head, their entire forms black as spilled shadow.
On the surface they looked for all the world like some black-magic cult — yet above their heads, each nametag properly read or .
They called themselves the Dark Priesthood.
I planted myself in their path, arms crossed. One by one, they broke off their run and stopped, staring at me.
A standoff.
I spoke first.
"Cthulhu fhtagn."
"Ooh!"
"Hahahaha!"
The tense dark priests burst out laughing.
Hmm. So the first impression went well.
Honestly, I had no idea what I'd just babbled. I'd only said what I'd read on the wiki.
Apparently it's a phrase they hold dear.
Among adventurers — free of political entanglements and flush with free time — these were the only skilled priests available these days.
I intended to get chummy with them and invite the lot into the Academy.
"Hold."
Just as the priests came crowding in to throw their arms around my shoulders, a sharp voice rang out. From among their number, a woman stepped forward.
A woman with thick violet hair, dark skin inked with tattoos of mana lines in every pattern, pulled back her hood.
A dark elf — same as Tia.
"You. You're a phony."
That was my line.
What on earth kind of job is that?