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 didnât find them in the ordeal room, so they must have gone further inside.
âYes. 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 didnât have the strength to go further in, yet they went back againâŠâ
Brandt mutters with a sigh as he opens the passage to the back.
âWas there something so deep inside that you really wanted to go on?â
âWell⊠I donât know. All I know is that the monsters get stronger the deeper you go. Well, letâs just go.â
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.
ââŠThe atmosphere is somehow different than usualâŠâ
âYeah, to be honest, Iâm starting to feel like going home.â
ââI 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.
â⊠Weâre pretty far inside, but thereâs not much sign of fighting⊠It looks like there werenât too many monstersâŠâ
âIt seems that the weekends werenât enough to restore the monsterâs count.â
âYeah, I guess so. If the monster was here as usual, weâd be stuck further ahead, but weâre almost at the far end of the room.â
At last, they have reached the next corridor, which leads to the innermost room.
But there was the sound of fighting.
âLetâs go over there!â
âOkay!â
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.
â⊠Kyaaa!â
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.
âI will shoot blindly, one more time!â
âNo⊠I canât⊠I already have no magic leftâŠ
Whatâs more, she seems to be running out of magic.
There wonât be any more chances of winning.
âLetâs run awayâŠâ
âYeah, letâs just⊠â
They seem to have made a decision to run away.
Thatâs a very good decision, because the monsters here wonât hunt you if you run away.
ââŠEh? No wayâŠâ
âBrandt-samaâŠ?!â
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.
ââŠâ
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 Brandtâs, a monster of this size is easy to kill in an instant.
The iron doll burned up easily, leaving the magic stone behind.
âHey⊠What are you doing?! Donât do anything unnecessary!â
âCanât you read the mood?! What a disgusting woman!â
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 wonât back down.
âWhat⊠What are you talking about? Is that how youâre treating your savior?â
Brandt looks unhappy.
Heâs the only one who doesnât seem to understand whatâs happening. He only sees the two girls lashing out at Anastasia, even after Anastasia has rescued them.
âB-Because this is where we get to see Brandt-sama in all his gloryâŠâ
âY-Yes, Brandt-sama would have wanted us to see the best in him, wouldnât he?â
The girls hurry to make excuses.
âMe? Why?â
But Brandtâs face contorts into an incredulous grimace.
He has no idea what theyâre talking about.
âBecause when you helped us before, you were so kind to us because you had feelings for us, right?â
âYes, thatâs why I was a little scared, but I knew if I went deeper into the academy dungeon, youâd come back to help me. I mean, we donât get to see each other that often.â
Brandt was stunned by their unhesitating words.
But gradually he swallows his words, and his expression fades away.
â⊠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?â
Brandt asks in a cold voice.
The girls shuddered with surprise.
âI thought⊠Yes, I thought it might be a bit of a nuisance, butâŠâ
âB-But Brandt-sama would have wanted to see us too⊠right?â
âI donât want to see you. Besides, itâs a little far from me. Itâs very annoying.â
When they still try to cling to him, Brandt rejects them both with a spitting sound.
âWhen I rescue them, theyâre usually out of magic, so Iâll take them with me. Itâs the same for everyone. Donât get me wrong⊠Letâs get back quickly.â
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, itâs 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 couldnât accept Brandtâs 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.
ââAlthough I didnât like it, I didnât have to exert that much power, but I was so frustrated that I couldnât control it.
âBrandt-senpaiâŠâ
Feeling a bad feeling, Anastasia tried to call out to stop Brandt from going ahead.
â⊠you b*tch! This is your fault!â
â⊠If only you hadnât been here!â
But two of the girls look like theyâve 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.
âWhat the⊠Oh, my GodâŠâ
âH-How⊠This isâŠâ
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.