/
Chapter 39: Troublesome Students
Anastasia and Brandt went deeper into the academy dungeon, looking for the second-year students who had entered the dungeon and not returned for a long time.
They didn’t find them in the ordeal room, so they must have gone further inside.
“Yes. If I remember correctly, the students accidentally found their way to the back and tried to explore. We saved them a few months ago
 They didn’t have the strength to go further in, yet they went back again
”
Brandt mutters with a sigh as he opens the passage to the back.
“Was there something so deep inside that you really wanted to go on?”
“Well
 I don’t know. All I know is that the monsters get stronger the deeper you go. Well, let’s just go.”
They go further in.
There was no sign of monsters, but the air was heavy and seemed to stick to their feet.
Originally, it was an atmosphere where the air felt a little heavy, but it was clearly different from usual.
“
The atmosphere is somehow different than usual
”
“Yeah, to be honest, I’m starting to feel like going home.”
——I felt something unpleasant, but after walking for a while, I found traces of a brand-new battle.
This dungeon seems to have a self-healing function, that is, even if the walls are damaged during the battle, they will be repaired in time.
But there is no trace of anyone. It seems that there is still a long way to go.
“
 We’re pretty far inside, but there’s not much sign of fighting
 It looks like there weren’t too many monsters
”
“It seems that the weekends weren’t enough to restore the monster’s count.”
“Yeah, I guess so. If the monster was here as usual, we’d be stuck further ahead, but we’re almost at the far end of the room.”
At last, they have reached the next corridor, which leads to the innermost room.
But there was the sound of fighting.
“Let’s go over there!”
“Okay!”
Two girls were fighting against an iron doll.
One of you fires a magic spell as a diversion, and the other fires a magic spell when there is an opening.
Although only average in strength, the two worked well together and seemed to be able to keep up with their superior opponent.
“
 Kyaaa!”
However, they still seem to lack decisiveness and are almost attacked by the iron doll.
Fortunately, they were able to dodge it, only grazing their clothes, but they do not seem to be able to put up any barriers. There is a high possibility that they will eventually get hit.
“I will shoot blindly, one more time!”
“No
 I can’t
 I already have no magic left

What’s more, she seems to be running out of magic.
There won’t be any more chances of winning.
“Let’s run away
”
“Yeah, let’s just
 “
They seem to have made a decision to run away.
That’s a very good decision, because the monsters here won’t hunt you if you run away.
“
Eh? No way
”
“Brandt-sama
?!”
But as they tried to flee, they turned around and saw Anastasia and Brandt coming up behind them.
Or, more accurately, they only saw Brandt.
Their eyes widened in amazement, followed by an expectant smile.
They probably think Brandt is a prince who came to save them in a pinch.
They seem to imagine Brandt boldly defeating the iron doll and have a dreamy expression on their faces.
“
”
Not liking it, Anastasia fires [White Fire] at the iron doll.
The white flames set the iron doll ablaze, and it melted into sludge. Although not as powerful as Brandt’s, a monster of this size is easy to kill in an instant.
The iron doll burned up easily, leaving the magic stone behind.
“Hey
 What are you doing?! Don’t do anything unnecessary!”
“Can’t you read the mood?! What a disgusting woman!”
The two girls are shouting at Anastasia and glaring at her.
They look very similar, except for their hair. They could be twins.
Anastasia meets their gazes and finds them rather rude. Sure, it might have been a bit childish, but she won’t back down.
“What
 What are you talking about? Is that how you’re treating your savior?”
Brandt looks unhappy.
He’s the only one who doesn’t seem to understand what’s happening. He only sees the two girls lashing out at Anastasia, even after Anastasia has rescued them.
“B-Because this is where we get to see Brandt-sama in all his glory
”
“Y-Yes, Brandt-sama would have wanted us to see the best in him, wouldn’t he?”
The girls hurry to make excuses.
“Me? Why?”
But Brandt’s face contorts into an incredulous grimace.
He has no idea what they’re talking about.
“Because when you helped us before, you were so kind to us because you had feelings for us, right?”
“Yes, that’s why I was a little scared, but I knew if I went deeper into the academy dungeon, you’d come back to help me. I mean, we don’t get to see each other that often.”
Brandt was stunned by their unhesitating words.
But gradually he swallows his words, and his expression fades away.
“
 Does that mean you came all the way here on purpose, without knowing your own strength, just to get me to come to your rescue?”
Brandt asks in a cold voice.
The girls shuddered with surprise.
“I thought
 Yes, I thought it might be a bit of a nuisance, but
”
“B-But Brandt-sama would have wanted to see us too
 right?”
“I don’t want to see you. Besides, it’s a little far from me. It’s very annoying.”
When they still try to cling to him, Brandt rejects them both with a spitting sound.
“When I rescue them, they’re usually out of magic, so I’ll take them with me. It’s the same for everyone. Don’t get me wrong
 Let’s get back quickly.”
With a cold voice, Brandt opened the door to the innermost room.
A shiny transfer stone can be seen in the center. Once they reach this point, it’s faster to use the transfer stone to go back than to turn back.
Anastasia looks back at the two girls as she follows Brandt into the room.
They stood there with shocked expressions on their faces, trembling as if they couldn’t accept Brandt’s rejection of them. You could almost hear their teeth gritting, and their eyes were bloodshot looking at Anastasia.
The sight made Anastasia feel uncomfortable.
She has doubts about their sanity because of their confident misunderstandings, but this raises the suspicion that they may really be losing their minds.
The same thing happened when Anastasia unleashed [White Fire] earlier.
——Although I didn’t like it, I didn’t have to exert that much power, but I was so frustrated that I couldn’t control it.
“Brandt-senpai
”
Feeling a bad feeling, Anastasia tried to call out to stop Brandt from going ahead.
“
 you b*tch! This is your fault!”
“
 If only you hadn’t been here!”
But two of the girls look like they’ve gone insane and unleashed their magic spells on Anastasia.
Anastasia quickly put up a barrier to block it. But the first magic spell is blocked by the barrier, but the second one seems to have been diverted from its original course, heading for the transfer stone.
Then the magic spell hits the transfer stone, and a high-pitched thud echoes through the air.
The rumbling stops, and the transition stone repeatedly lights up red and then disappears.
“What the
 Oh, my God
”
“H-How
 This is
”
To their horror, the two girls collapse on the spot.
The earlier madness had vanished and been replaced by fear and terror, and they are pale.
Anastasia and Brandt are nervously waiting to see what has happened.
Then the room in front of the transfer stone became distorted.