"Lucas!! Calm down!!"

"Everyone, step back."

The basilisk's menacing teeth glinted in the sunlight.

-Keeek! Keeek!

Lucas, who had pushed the children back, was taking one step at a time toward the basilisk.

"O-oppa!!!"

The moment the basilisk rushed toward the human who was as tall as its feet.

"You son of a b-tch. I, huh?! I said let's live peacefully! Didn't! I!"

-Boom! Boom! Bang!

-Ki... kiek... ek...

At the magic that burst out every time Lucas's voice rose, the basilisk couldn't even use its strength and its large body went limp.

"I! Huh!? Did I ask for something big!? Peace! That's all!!"

-Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang!

Lucas was pouring magic on the basilisk, not caring about its appearance.

"...L-rookie!"

The children, who were surprised at the sight, were just staring blankly at Lucas with their mouths wide open.

"He seems to be very angry..."

"He's very angry..."

"He's angry... oppa is angry..."

The expressions of the children who were muttering, looking at his appearance, seemed to be dazed.

"Ha..."

Lucas, who had been pouring magic for a long time, let out a rough breath.

"Rookie, are you okay?"

Worry was dripping from Pola's voice.

"..."

Lucas, who seemed to have come to his senses a little, nodded his head slightly and glanced at the basilisk, which had now become a pulp.

'I showed them a bad side.'

The stress that had been accumulating from the dungeon had burst out in one go, and he had shown the children a bad side.

'It's been too peaceful for the past 3 years.'

The children were just blinking their eyes, surprised at Lucas's appearance.

"...Let's go."

"Uh-huh."

Even if they went to the nearest village from here, they would have to go another 500 kilometers.

If he were alone, he could teleport without any problem, but it was difficult to take all the children with him.

'Aman. Please release the restriction.'

Aman was faithfully keeping the unnecessary words he had said.

'Does he know I'm gone or not...'

There was no choice but to walk for now.

"Haa..."

His feet sank into the sand, making it even harder to walk, and the sand, which had been heated under the scorching sun, was too hot.

The children were getting cooked in the heat.

"Ugh... I'm thirsty..."

"Naias."

And how often was he thirsty!

Even though the Naias was constantly bringing water droplets, the children didn't even go to the bathroom once because of the sweat that was flowing like rain.

"Haa... haa..."

The children were walking silently, panting heavily.

If there was even a shade somewhere, they could sit there and rest for a while, but even that was not possible.

If they wanted to rest, leaning against a cactus with sharp thorns, he would have let them, but if they did that, they would be cooked to death on the spot.

"This won't do."

"...Huh?"

He had to take special measures. If they kept walking like this, they would really be in trouble.

"First, grab my arm."

Lucas, who had carefully checked the amount of mana left in his body, held out his arm as if he had made up his mind.

All the children placed their hands on Lucas's arm.

-Flash!

"Ugh..."

"I can never get used to this... ugh..."

The children complained of dizziness at the suddenly distorted space-time.

"Phew..."

Lucas was on the verge of exhaustion from using up almost all his mana.

"...Skir, come here."

"Huh? M-me?"

Lucas nodded his head at Skir's question.

-Saaak

"Gaaah!"

Skir screamed at the mana that was suddenly being sucked out.

"It's done..."

Mana drain.

Lucas thought that the best choice for now was to take a little of Skir's mana, who was in a non-combat position.

"W-what is this!"

"Then should I collapse here?"

"T-that's not it, but..."

"Thank you. I'll use it well."

Unlike Skir's exaggeration, Lucas had only taken enough mana to hold on for a while.

"But... isn't this the same desert as before...?"

"That's right. But this is the only way. Let's go a little further... and teleport again."

The strategy Lucas had come up with was to move forward by teleporting little by little.

It was a distance that he didn't know how long it would take with the children's steps, and since he was the only one who could teleport, he would use up all his mana and then take a little of the children's mana to hold on.

This was the best way.

As time passed, his mana would be replenished.

"Now, let's go slowly again."

"Uh-huh..."

The children swallowed a sigh at the scenery that was no different from before.

"Hey... oppa, then take my mana too."

"No."

"Then take mine."

Pola and Nella were encouraging each other to take their mana.

But he couldn't do that.

He didn't have much mana left, and if he took the mana of Pola and Nella, who could at least contribute to the attack, he might not be able to cope when a dangerous situation came.

"But..."

"No. Let's just suffer a little more."

Lucas was using his mana as much as possible and was gathering the mana around him.

But perhaps because it was a barren place with not much mana, it was not gathering well.

"Haa..."

Skir's rough breath burst out.

"Huh? What's that?"

When he looked at the place Pola was pointing at with her eyes wide open, he saw two carriages passing by.

"Wait."

Lucas stopped the children who were about to go forward.

It could have been the carriage of a passing merchant, but if it wasn't, it was easy to become a target.

"Let's ask for help!"

"Hey, you idiot! What if that's a group of bandits? What if they're slave traders!?"

Pola, who was giving a sharp point to Skir's naive words.

"...Ah."

"'Ah' is what... you idiot."

***

Aman, who was looking for Lucas, was on the verge of losing his mind.

It was not easy to track the traces of Lucas and his group, who had entered a crack in the dungeon that he couldn't figure out where it had been twisted.

"Ha, why in the world did the connection get cut off?"

And the connection with Lucas, who was bound by a contract, had been cut off.

No, the connection with the contractor had been cut off!

He had never heard of such a thing.

"Where in the world did you go!?"

He had gone around the dungeon countless times, looking for a crack. But Lucas's traces could not be found anywhere.

He had already gone around all the dungeons that had even a slight trace of being connected to a crack.

"Haa... he should be here."

Aman, who had somehow drifted to Jeranon, let out a deep sigh and spread his detection magic wide.

"He's not here either... he's not here..."

Aman was gradually getting tired of the repeated actions.

It didn't matter about the other students who had gone with Lucas.

But he couldn't lose his Lord, Lucas, like this.

"Don't tell me..."

As a thought of 'what if' came to his mind, a sense of anxiety began to creep up and break through that spot.

"It can't be. The seal of the contract is still faint, but it's still there..."

Aman decided to go back to the academy for now.

If Lucas had returned to the academy by himself, he would have surely looked for him first, but the alarm he had set in his office and room had not rung even once.

Aman just desperately hoped that Lucas would return by himself.

'Please...!'

***

The carriage that Lucas and his group had discovered was getting closer to them.

Although he wanted to hide from the carriage, there was no place to hide in the middle of the desolate desert.

The children, who had made a decision, stopped wandering around and took a battle stance.

"Skir. When I give the signal, put a buff only on me."

"Alright."

"And Nella, while I'm drawing their attention, summon Undine, and Pola, cast an electric magic in time with Undine's movements."

"Okay. I understand."

"Just trust me!"

Lucas, who had finished giving all the orders to the children, began to gather the mana around him as much as possible.

He also didn't forget to carefully calculate the amount of mana, as he was thinking of teleporting with all the children if things went wrong.

The carriage was getting closer and closer.

"Now, Skir, get ready."

Skir, with a nervous expression, nodded his head.

Lucas, who had looked at him once, also finished his attack stance towards the approaching carriage.

The carriage, which was getting closer and closer to them, began to slow down.

"...It looks like a mercenary group's mark?"

The mercenary group showed themselves by attaching a flag to the carriage they were escorting.

The mercenary group's flag on the unadorned carriage.

It seemed to be escorting a carriage that was transporting cargo.

As he confirmed the merchant's mark under the mercenary group's flag, Skir's body relaxed.

"Don't let your guard down. They could have been hijacked by bandits."

"Ah, alright."

But at Lucas's words, he quickly corrected his posture and took a battle stance again.

-Click

The carriage, which had been gradually slowing down, stopped in front of the children, and the carriage door opened.

Lucas began to gather mana in his hand, ready to attack if necessary.

"Three Musketeers of Hollow Shells?"

"...Sament?"

The person who had peeked his face out of the carriage was none other than Sament Sigit.

The unfortunate man who had stayed in the beginner class for several years and had eventually become a fossil of the beginner class and had graduated.

"Hey, you guys have really grown up!"

Sament, who had gotten out of the carriage, smiled brightly as he looked around the children.

"But what are you guys doing here?"

"..."

"You guys, by any chance..."

"...?"

"Are you backpacking or something? I heard that young people do that a lot these days."

Backpacking. The children were at a loss for words at Sament's words.

"Ha, backpacking. We fell here due to an accident during a test."

"From Arant... all the way here?"

Sament's mouth dropped open in disbelief at Lucas's words.

"Hey! Sammy! Do you know them?"

The man who had peeked his head out of the carriage also had the rough appearance and tone of a mercenary.

"Uh, uh. I know them... can we give them a ride?"

"Well, where are they going?"

"Where are you guys going?"

Sament nodded his head and asked back at the man's question.

"...A village."

"What? Khahaha! You guys are really hopeless. Do you even know where you are?"

The children could only nod their heads, as they had no choice but to be laughed at by Sament.

"Hey, Three Musketeers of Hollow Shells... no, now it's a four. Get in quickly. Let's talk on the way."

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

Lucas and his group, who had gotten on the carriage, were dazed for a while by the barrage of questions.

Sament said that he had broken up with his girlfriend, Eira Toheil, whom he had been dating at that time, when he had graduated from the beginner class.

"Khuk... Eira... I loved her."

Sament's eyes filled with sorrow as he reminisced about that time.

"But Eira went up to the beginner class, and I was stuck in the beginner class again. Well..."

"So you broke up?"

"That's right... what can I do. My skills were only that much."

Sament, who had shrugged his shoulders, seemed to be trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

"I loved her..."

"Haha! Sammy. Didn't I tell you not to go to that academy?"

"It's all in the past, isn't it? And since I went to the academy, I learned about love and all that, didn't I?"

"You're talking nonsense. You crazy bastard."

The children, who were not used to the rough tone of the mercenary group, had been staring at them with their mouths open since a while ago.

"But, I haven't seen this one before?"

Sament tilted his head, pointing at Nella with his chin.

"Ah, she's my younger sister."

"Younger sister? You had a younger sister?"

Although it was a question that people who had known Lucas before often asked, it was true that it was awkward every time he received such a question.

Nella, who was already used to this situation, just smiled faintly.

"Yes. I did."

"Oh, really? She's a cute little lady."

Sament, who had smiled a friendly smile, was about to turn his gaze to the other children and say something.

"Scorpions ahead! Everyone, battle stations!"

-Kirrr! Kiruk!

"You son of a b-tch. It's not just one. Hey, you guys wait here!"

A group of scorpions blocked the carriage.

(End of Chapter)