043. Midterm (3)
[Eh, Ariel. Another monster is coming ahead….]
After walking for a while, the monsters appeared again.
This time, with the meaning of reflection, I lowered my posture.
“Get up.”
“Uh… Uh, yeah…”
Marie rides on my back.
For some reason, there was a hint of hesitation, but I decided not to ask.
In that way, the investigation was carried out with groundwater.
When a monster appears, carry it on your back and fire the spider hand toward the ceiling.
Then wait for the monster to pass and go down.
Sometimes there was a monster that didn’t move as if it was nailed to the spot.
In this case, either take a completely different route, or somehow find a way to move without a fight, or if it doesn’t work, knock it down.
Overall, it went smoothly.
In the first place, the dungeon investigation itself was not very difficult. I just kept notes on where and what monsters appeared in the underground canal.
Professor Catherine even asked us to do the mapping, but in the first place, we had a map of the underground water dungeon. However, since this map is a bit old, there are only a few broken roads in the middle.
If you just update that part, there will be no problem.
‘… Will this not take long?’
There are a total of 10 blocks from Block A to Block J in the underground waterway, and I thought I would need one day each. So I expected it to take about 10 days.
However, during the investigation, I realized one thing.
Professor Catherine won’t come down to the underground water anyway…… !
That’s why I realized that even if I write a little rough report, Professor Catherine won’t find out…… !
‘This part reminds me of my previous college life….’
After all, isn’t a report a piece of work?
But if Professor Catherine is sincere, she might come down again. However, we will not visit all of these wide aqueducts.
So I’m doing some research with a little effort,
Marie pointed to one place.
“Ariel, what is that?”
From noble mtl dot com
There is a small iron door at the tip of her finger.
When I glanced at the map, it was a place marked with a circle. I knew right away where it was.
“That’s… A secret space.”
“Secret space?”
“Um…”
I made a slight mistake. The information about the secret space will only be revealed in Chapter 3.
But it doesn’t matter what I tell you. It’ll just be vacant now.
“According to the investigation, this underground waterway originally served as an emergency shelter. It seems to have been neglected since the manager disappeared.”
The iron gate Marie pointed out is one of the shelters for students to evacuate in case of danger to the academy.
This shelter plays a variety of roles later in the story.
In Chapter 3 ‘Doppelganger Infiltration’, it is used by witches to create and store chimeras.
In Chapter 4, ‘The Battle with the Demon King’, it is also used as one of the few safe zones in the academy that has become a dungeon.
Conversely, it is a vacant room that has not been assigned any role in Chapter 1.
“Ha, let’s go.”
That’s what Marie said as if she was interested. I was curious too, so she opened the door and went in.
It was a more comfortable space than I thought.
Maybe it’s because it’s been tightly closed until now. Although it smelled of dust, probably because it had been neglected considerably, there was almost no musty stench peculiar to underground water.
The space is also quite large.
Since it was built on the premise that students would evacuate, it must have been designed to accommodate a large number of people.
Perhaps it was built with the premise of evacuating for a long time, and the lighting was working properly.
“Let’s go here…!”
Marie looked around and suddenly she cried out.
“Hey, let’s study together here! Eh, how is it…?”
“It doesn’t matter, Beherit can use the emergency shelter personally.”
Once the search for underground water was over, I went to see Professor Catherine.
I asked if I could use the underground canal shelter at will, but permission was given surprisingly easily.
“……Really?”
“To be precise, it should be said that we do not have the authority to stop the Beherit students. There is no current manager for the underground waterway. It will not be able to be used as a refuge facility in the first place.”
It was built to evacuate students, but the underground canal is already infested with monsters.
In an emergency, guiding the students to the emergency shelter while defeating the monsters in the underground waterway…… Not very realistic, Professor Catherine says.
“I don’t know about Beheritt, but there are emergency warp gates in each area of the academy building. If the students are in danger, I’d rather have them escape from the floating island.”
In Chapter 4, those warp gates are all destroyed by the Demon King…… I don’t have to say that.
“Still, it might be used as an evacuation facility in case of emergency, so if you maintain the shelter, you should be thankful to the Beherit students…Unless you don’t do anything unwholesome with the female students in the shelter.”
“……I’ll keep that in mind.”
I bought a few items.
A desk, a nap bed, and other easy-to-preserve foodstuffs.
Clean and arrange the furniture.
I even moved some plants that can be grown indoors into pots and put them in the corner.
“Even if you do this, the dust smell won’t go away.”
Unfortunately, this room doesn’t seem well ventilated.
I got the information that if I use magic to remove the smell, it will be okay, but unfortunately neither I nor Mari know how to use such magic.
Well, this wouldn’t be too bad.
“Bird, it’s better than I thought… I might be able to live here…”
Fortunately, Marie seemed to like it. However, it would be nice if I could live in a dormitory instead of here.
And I was excited too.
Every man must have dreamed of a secret base at least once. It felt like a childhood dream come true.
There must be a secret base. I started studying for the original purpose.
“Eh, what subject will Ariel study…?”
“She intended to study the introduction to elemental science.”
“That… I think it would be better to match the subject… And, if you don’t know something while studying, it’s good to ask each other…”
“Definitely.”
If you are studying math and suddenly get asked about English, your concentration will be disturbed.
Mari’s opinion was quite reasonable, so we roughly organized the timetable.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve studied with other people like this.’
During my school days, I had many times hanging out with my friends, but I had never studied together. It was because I had no intention of studying.
But even though I went to private academies for 4 hours a day, in the end, I only went to classes. I remember only playing games when I got home.
‘I never thought I would study like this.’
I have to study to live. Even if it’s not that, I have to get good grades for my future.
In my previous life, I recklessly said I was going to become a cartoonist, so I gave up my studies and drew.
However, I have no intention of doing that even in this world.
Since I keenly felt that I had no talent as a cartoonist, I will not walk the same path.
“…….”
Bitterness spreads from the tip of the tongue. I had the confidence to smile self-deprecatingly.
Come to think of it, I haven’t drawn a picture since I was possessed as Ariel.
The day will come when I will paint. If it was Kim Il-hwan, it would have been unimaginable.
“Eh, Ariel…? Pyo, you don’t look good… Where does it hurt…?”
“……No. I just thought about something else for a while.”
Shaking his head, he completely brushed off Kim Il-hwan.
Then, focus on your studies.
Like that.
We gathered at the shelter once a day.
I, who usually only takes one or two classes a day, arrived first.
If you are studying alone in the underground shelter or training the
Skill, Marie will come.
Studying while telling each other what we don’t know,
If you lose concentration in the middle, explore dungeons with underground water as if you were taking a walk together for a change of mood.
Sometimes I throw away my studies and report work and go to the living room.
Buying something to eat and carrying it back to the shelter, sharing a meal together, and passing the time by chatting with each other.
It is a moment that can be called youth.
If you spend every day like that, there will be rare times when guests come.
“Marie Ruhelif, are you here?”
There was someone who opened the shelter door without permission.
It is a familiar face. A girl wearing a remodeled priest’s uniform.
This is Ron.
“There was also Ariel Beheritt. Excuse me.”
She hadn’t even asked her to come in yet, but Ron stepped into her as if it were his own.
And put something on the table.
A cup box with drinks and a cake box with cakes…. It must have been to a bakery.
“This is a gift. I don’t know what the two of you like, so I just bought something I like.”
“I see. Eat well.”
I opened the box and distributed the food.
With that said, Ron pulls a chair and sits down.
At this shelter, besides Mary and I, there are occasional guests.
Most of them are Professor Catherine. They come to make a surprise check to see if I’m using the shelter for an unwholesome purpose.
And sometimes Ron comes over like this.
-“Marie, tell Ron about this shelter.”
-“Huh…? Why…?”
-“Ron has business with you. About Rose Eiffeltain.”
As usual, Marie will meet Lucius.
I had to, but…… , I got a little twisted the other day because of Claire.
Well, the important thing is not that Mari and Lucius face each other. Lucius gets information about Rose through Marie.
Anyway, the information about Rose just needs to flow to Lucius, so you can give that information through Ron.
“I’ve been here a few times, but it’s nice here. It’s unexpectedly cozy.”
“So why are you here? Did you come to study too?”
“It can’t be. What’s the point of interfering with the two of them?”
Ron lets out a Betsy laugh. She seems to misunderstand something between me and Marie.
“Of course, I came today to hear about Rose Eiffeltain. Their movements are suspicious these days.”
Ron erased her smile and asked with a serious face.
I sneak a glance at Marie. Marie looks like she doesn’t know what to do.
‘Originally, Marie would have to answer.’
Perhaps Marie doesn’t even know what Rose is doing these days. Because she spends most of her time with me.
So, I will answer instead.
“The story will be long. Will you still listen?”
“I just wanted to hear a long story. I have plenty of time, so tell me.”
“Then there’s nothing you can do about it.”
I say.
“In this midterm exam, Rose Eiffeltain will drop her Tia.”