79 – Soleil’s Dungeon (3)
Soleil holds classes only from Monday to Friday.
So, we gathered at Soleil early on Saturday morning after asking for understanding from Soleil’s chairman in advance.
The reason was reported that it was a lodging club that also served as a social gathering for the student council president and executives.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, no problem!”
In Garden of Thorns, Soleil’s dungeon was presented as a side-scrolling action game or metroidvania.
The story is that it was a way to gain experience by moving left and right, solving puzzles and catching monsters.
But the reality is different.
If you wander around the dungeon, you will get hungry, and if you hunt, there will be moments when you feel tired and want to rest.
If the dungeon is larger than expected, you may have to camp inside it.
So, everyone had packed a lot of supplies for camping.
“It’s been a long time, saint.”
“Ah, it’s been a while!”
The saint who was closer to a gray molecule to me has now become closer to an ally.
So, naturally, I enrolled her in Diordo Soleil, which was the most favorable to the saint.
This could be said to be a kind of MT that also served as Dior’s welcome party.
“Sir Martin. This is… “Will there be additional allowances?”
“Your Majesty’s ultimate goal is to live a life with a family that can rest even on Saturdays. Since we have to stay out overnight and Sir Bessie acts as our escort, wouldn’t we get extra pay?”
“Ah, that’s a relief. Since I spent all the money I received as a temporary instructor at Soleil on research expenses, my pocketbook was already a little tight….”
“… Are you saying you spent all that money?”
“I’m not that slutty girl?! Originally, wizards had to purchase magic stones, so research costs were high?!”
Martin, who took on the role of our leader, followed us, and we also brought along so-and-so as an escort in case of an unexpected situation.
“Wow, you’ve become quite dependable in the time we haven’t seen each other, Kyle.”
“Oh, are you sure? Sir Pedro seems to have become more skilled than before!”
“hahahaha! I was the knight commander not long ago, right? This is obvious. Ugh… It seems like only yesterday that Kyle and Ludwig learned swordsmanship from me, but doesn’t time go by so quickly?”
… Kyle said he felt a sense of déjà vu, and it seems like it had something to do with Sir Pedro.
“It’s been a long time, Sir Pedro.”
“Ludwig! Do you have any regrets about swordsmanship?”
“I think I’m better at magic than swordsmanship. I don’t think I can beat this fool with swordsmanship even if I were reborn….”
“No matter what, in the end it comes down to mental strength. “Don’t forget about physical training.”
“I have never forgotten what I was taught.”
It is quite a large number of people.
“It feels like we went on a picnic as a group.”
Priscilla let out a soft laugh as she looked around at her partner and the people talking about various things.
Priscilla is isolated from her family and has lived a lonely life.
Maybe that’s why this noisy atmosphere seemed exciting.
I lowered my voice so that only Priscilla could hear and opened her mouth.
“Do not fall away from me. “Because there is a suspicious person.”
“You mean the escort driver?”
Priscilla tightened her slightly relaxed face and nodded her head.
“Then can we leave, student council president?”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
I entrusted the map I used for my last exploration to Cynthia.
Then he immediately gave a signal to someone and instructed them to analyze the mysterious phenomenon occurring around them.
Is only Cynthia able to find the dungeon, or will the dungeon only open a year later like in the Garden of Thorns?
The answer will come out today.
“Uh… For some reason, there’s something here….”
About ten minutes passed before I made my way down the hallway, leaving Cynthia to guide me.
“Where is it?”
“Here.”
Following Cynthia’s guidance, we headed towards a fairly remote corner of Soleil.
“This is a place I’ve been to….”
Just like Kyle muttered, the direction Cynthia was leading us to was a place that had already been searched once.
As Soleil is a small aristocratic society, there are surprisingly restrictions.
So, the scope of the search was based on the activity radius of new students who had just entered Soleil.
“I feel a suspicious energy here.”
Cynthia looked around her as she said that.
I immediately looked at so-and-so after hearing Cynthia’s words.
Then So-and-so frowned and started muttering something to her.
A long time passed, but so-and-so just tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“Let’s wait a little bit.”
Where the sun rises, the moon does not rise.
So, the problem may be due to me having awakened the mana of the sun.
Otherwise, something might react when the moon rises.
Based on that judgment, we sat down a little away from the place Cynthia said was suspicious.
Cynthia, the escort knight, and Dior.
Kyle, Ludwig and Sir Pedro.
Martin and so-and-so.
It was a group of 4, including me and Priscilla.
“I had a fight with my father the other day… “Hey, how did you become stronger?”
“The leader crossed the firing line last time.”
“Ugh… I should have seen that scene too….”
When Sir Pedro is bored, he goes out to a tavern in the island and drinks.
Although he comes from a noble family, he can be said to be a man who lives a life like a mercenary.
Associating with a man like that made Kyle too rough for a nobleman, and perhaps because of his habit of talking loudly in noisy taverns, his voice was louder than the others.
Thanks to this, I felt a little frustrated because I couldn’t hear the story of Cynthia’s group, which I was most curious about.
“Why is there no response?”
“It could be because the sun is still high in the sky.”
“Is that so?”
“I wasn’t like that either.”
The closer the sun’s mana is to noon, the more active its power becomes.
In the same way, wouldn’t the moon’s mana be affected by the night or the shape of the moon?
“Umm….”
Priscilla looked at me with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
The connection between the sun and the moon came to mind and the reaction seemed to be jealousy.
She is truly an annoying woman.
Thinking like that, I ruffled Priscilla’s hair a little roughly.
“Ha, don’t do it….”
Everyone came to Soleil dressed in rough clothes because they had to explore a dungeon today.
Priscilla was in the same situation, so even if she messed up her hair a little roughly, it wasn’t a big problem.
Normally, even if you are engaged, you should refrain from doing so because it is rude, but today it is not that much of a problem if you do it as much as you want.
As she thought about that, she felt like ruffling her hair even more.
“Ha, I told you not to do it….”
Although Priscilla told me not to do it, she slowly tilted her upper body so that I could stroke her head.
He was such a cute guy.
Unexpectedly, we ended up enjoying a camping trip that was almost like a picnic in a corner of Soleil.
“Oh~ He really delivers! Did you learn it while hunting?”
I roughly nodded in response to Sir Pedro’s question.
It was just a plausible imitation based on memories of a past life, and it seemed very plausible to Sir Pedro.
“I’m glad I didn’t bring dry food.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Yes. From the novel… What was that? Was it the Mejiro family’s secret? There is a scene where people are killed with beef jerky.”
“I guess I should also research preserved foods.”
“Are you serious?! Ugh…. “As expected, I tell you!”
Sir Pedro told us that if you hit a person’s head with a piece of beef jerky, it will shatter, and that recruits would break their teeth while eating bread that was harder than black bread.
It was a raw story that could only be heard in the military, so even though it was a bit frivolous, I found it quite interesting.
At first, I just wanted to fill my stomach.
However, the situation was set up in a school building on a weekend when there were no students, and people who were close friends gathered around a bonfire and sat down.
In this situation, the atmosphere naturally became like a barbecue party, and we were naturally so absorbed in the atmosphere that we enjoyed the party without realizing the passage of time.
When I finished cleaning up, the sun was already starting to set.
“Something… Umm… It really has become MT.”
Cynthia muttered in a very low voice.
“Sometimes there are days like this.”
When I become emperor soon, these are the people who will keep in step with me.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have time to build friendships like this.
It was a moment when I looked up at the sky blankly, thinking that.
“Huh?!”
Cynthia suddenly made a loud noise and pointed.
As she looked in the direction pointed by that finger, a feeling of something foreign came over her entire body.
I’m so excited.
One side of her chest is noisy.
I break into a cold sweat and my emotions do not calm down.
It was almost like a sign that Mana was about to run away.
“Maximilian?”
Priscilla looked up at me with a worried expression.
It was that moment.
─ Tonight is the last night… ?
─ Don’t worry. Since we are engaged, we can meet again soon.
─ Black….
─ Don’t cry, Priscilla. Umm… There’s a beautiful full moon tonight. Would you like to secretly go for a walk?
─ Yes!
From Noble mtl dot com
Along with the headache, something penetrated my mind.
─ Oh, isn’t the moon unusually big today?
─ I don’t know the details, but I heard that there are times when the moon gets that big.
─ Oh, is that so?
“Pfft…” .”
“Maximilian?”
Priscilla took out her handkerchief with a worried look on her face.
She came to her senses and looked at her forehead with her hand, and noticed that she had a fair amount of sweat on it.
‘Why suddenly….’
“Student President! “Can I go into the dungeon?”
I wiped Priscilla’s face roughly with the handkerchief she gave me, then nodded at her.
“Okay, let’s go.”
The mana of the sun responds to the appearance of that dungeon.
‘There is something.’
“Sir Pedro. “Take the lead first.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Kyle, take charge of the rear.”
“Yes!”
“Bessie, prepare your protection spell.”
“Yes!”
After we were fully prepared, we slowly took steps towards the sense of incongruity that had arisen before our eyes.
Jeojeok.
A sound like breaking glass was heard from a gap that appeared in the air.
Then, beyond that, a place clearly different from this place was revealed.
It was the appearance of a sleeping dungeon in Soleil.
We carefully stepped into the dungeon, being cautious in all directions.
‘The air is different.’
It is heavy.
My whole body feels heavy and my heart feels noisy, as if I am training in the morning at a parade ground in the pouring rain.
However, the others did not seem to notice anything unusual and were just looking around and being on guard just in case.
“Ah, ugh….”
“Priscilla. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Suddenly, my heart felt heavy….”
Priscilla, like me, seemed to feel a strange sense of discomfort.
I was even more alert to my surroundings so that I could protect Priscilla at any time.
Then Priscilla clung to my back with a frozen expression.
It was that very moment.
─ This is strange! Well, I don’t know about this tree… !
Deja vu.
‘I see.’
Priscilla and I have been here before.
‘Was it here…? .’
This was the place where Priscilla and I’s fate was twisted.