Chapter : 121

Watching Lucian stride forward confidently, Beatrice slightly furrowed her brow.

Is he really going forward because he knows something?

A suspicious glance briefly touched him.

Beatrice's suspicion was so small and faint that even Evan, who was following beside her, barely noticed it.

However, as if he had noticed all of that suspicion, Lucian wore a gentle smile.

“I know.”

“Ahem.”

What’s with him noticing right away?

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Beatrice even felt a little sorry.

She hadn't intended to doubt her student.

It was normal not to notice, after all. But she never imagined he would notice, so how did he do it?

“I’m pretty quick on the uptake.”

Lucian explained as if it were nothing.

“Beatrice Bellpiar.”

At the clearly reproachful voice, Beatrice looked back and forth between Evan and Lucian as if she truly couldn't believe it.

“Perhaps because I’ve had to be so perceptive to get by, I’m quick at noticing things like that.”

However, people in the world did not like children who were too perceptive.

Thus, Lucian was so used to acting like a suitably ‘clueless’ child that it had become second nature.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not something for you to apologize for, Professor.”

As they say, the environment makes the person; Lucian was someone who had no choice but to be made that way.

Before long, silence fell among the three, and only the sound of their footsteps echoed awkwardly in the dungeon.

This is so awkward, I could go crazy!

As Beatrice was thinking this, Theo spoke.

“Isn’t it dangerous to have practical training in a dungeon?”

“The Tomb of Dawn is one of the safest dungeons in the Empire.”

It was a dungeon that boasted an impressive 1,000-year accident-free record.

At this point, it might as well be called a history of no accidents.

But by getting involved with the walking disaster, the eye of the storm of incidents, Theo Lisitoel, that history was broken.

Will I be able to use the Tomb of Dawn for exams in the future? T

hat would be difficult.

At the fact that a good practical training site that could be used without much thought was gone, Beatrice shed a tear of sorrow.

《There is a passage here.》

At Albedo's words, Lucian came to a halt.

He thought he was being led to some special place, but it was a location they had already visited once.

He hadn't thought there would be some special secret passage in a place he had already finished searching using magic multiple times.

‘There's nothing here!’

Lucian was just as flustered.

He had walked so confidently, trusting only Albedo, but for things to get twisted like this.

How was he supposed to face his two professors out of embarrassment from now on! I knew I shouldn't have trusted a demon.

The moment Lucian was about to express his distrust, he felt a stinging sensation on the back of his hand.

Like someone bewitched, Lucian fiddled with a certain brick.

Click, along with the sound of a button being pressed, a roar that seemed to shake the dungeon itself was heard.

“What in the world?”

Before Beatrice could even wonder, Evan immediately used magic.

A shield like a soap bubble gently enveloped their three bodies.

So that's the situation, huh?

Beatrice bit down on her teeth and layered her magic on top of the shield Evan created.

Dozens of geometric patterns overlapped, becoming a beautiful work of art in itself.

In the midst of the situation that unfolded in an instant, Lucian spotted water pouring in from far away.

“Lucian, be careful!”

With Beatrice's shout, the water, which swelled in an instant, engulfed the three of them.

The surging water showed no signs of subsiding.

The time spent being swept away by the rapids, trapped in the bubble magic created by Evan, felt like an eternity.

After being trapped in the bubble for who knows how long, the water finally receded, and they reached land.

“How many minutes were we in there?”

“About 16 minutes and 12 seconds?”

“That’s all the time that passed?”

Amidst Evan's question and Beatrice's answer, Lucian asked Beatrice in surprise.

His sense of time had definitely grown distant while being swept away by the murky water.

But to think it had only been 16 minutes.

“I confirmed it with magic, and no errors were detected, so it should be correct.”

“Is that a relief, at least.”

Evan muttered softly.

16 minutes, while a bit dangerous, wasn't long enough to drown.

It was the only fact that reassured Evan in the current situation.

“…Evan, it seems your son did fall into this place.”

Leaving Evan and Lucian, Beatrice, who had been examining the surroundings, muttered with a serious expression.

“What?”

“I checked for traces with magic… and I see footprints here?

Fresh ones at that.”

If someone had entered this place, it was surely Theo.

“Damn it.”

Evan let out a curse, forgetting he was even in front of Lucian.

From now on, all he could do was pray for Theo’s safety.

* * *

“I hate running!”

Beatrice chased after the two figures, Evan and Lucian, who were running quickly.

That damn Theo Lisitoel! Someday, I'll make you pay the price for making a witch run!

Beatrice gnashed her teeth and looked at the backs of the two people forging ahead.

Should she be surprised at Evan for keeping up with a swordsman's speed, or at Lucian for keeping up with Evan's speed?

“…….”

Throughout the run, spider carcasses and the like were occasionally visible.

Every time he found a trace of Theo having passed, Evan was burning with anxiety.

He shouldn't have postponed magic education just because it was the middle of the Academy semester.

He should have taught him even a little more magic, to raise his chances of survival even slightly. A belated regret washed over him.

And so, using the spider carcasses as milestones, the three ran for a long time until they reached an entrance.

They opened the door, which still had clear signs of having been opened, and entered the room.

As the three of them entered the room, flames instantly erupted.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

Evan went beyond just blocking the flames that rushed towards him in an instant;

he collected them in a bottle as if catching an insect.

It was a magic of the holy series rather than a common one.

It was also an obsolete magic that inflicted extreme pain according to the severity of one's sins.

This was because there had been a series of incidents where sinners were driven mad by the excessive pain inflicted even for the minor sin of littering on the street.

“…….”

Amidst a clearly burning rage, Evan calmly looked at the flame.

It seemed the creator of the dungeon was wary of the Simunan.

The magic that constituted this room was hidden in layers, forbidding any attempts to break it.

However, there was no way it could blind the eyes of Evan Lisitoel.

Evan's eyes shone more clearly than ever. Watching him, Beatrice quietly kept her mouth shut.

It was never a good idea to bother Evan when he was concentrating.

As Evan muttered a magic formula, a paper crane with a peculiar texture was held in his hand.

Pshhh, as Evan crushed it in one go, with the sound of shattering glass, the flames died down in an instant as if they had never existed.

“Let's go.”

Beatrice cautiously glanced at Evan and moved forward with Lucian.

“Right.”

There were no contraptions in the next room.

There were only cracks all over the room, suggesting a fierce battle had taken place.

Discovering bloodstains in one corner of the room, Beatrice immediately collected a sample of the trace.

“Evan, blood!”

At Beatrice’s request, Evan, without hesitation, bit his own finger and crystallized a drop of blood, tossing it to Beatrice.

Catching it, Beatrice compared Evan’s blood with the blood collected from the trace.

“There are two pieces of good news.”

“What is it?”

“First, this is indeed your son’s blood.”

“And that’s good news?”

“Yes, because the owner of this blood is alive.”

Only at Beatrice's explanation did something akin to killing intent disappear from Evan's expression.

“He's not far. Let's go right away.”

“…Alright.”

Just wait a little longer, my son.

Unable to completely extinguish his anxiety even after hearing he was alive, Evan quickened his pace.

* * *

I leaned against the wall, staggering forward.

Forcing my flickering eyes open, I finally stood before the dungeon’s boss room.

[Verifying qualifications.]

As if it had been waiting, a mechanical sound rang out, and I quietly closed my eyes.

[Trial of Flames, Pass]

[Trial of the Mirror, Pass]

[Trial of Judgment, Provisional Pass]

[You have passed all three trials.]

Again, the sound of the dungeon moving was heard.

As the door opened, light seeped into my eyes, just like during the Trial of Judgment.

However, unlike the painfully piercing light from before, this was a warm, golden light that felt like it would bring tears to my eyes.

Tears of overwhelming emotion, different from the ones before, streamed down.

A deep sense of relief washed over me, as if I were in my mother’s embrace.

“Ah.”

My body, moving towards the light, came to a sudden stop.

A sense of relief in a dungeon? Have I really gone mad?

“Crazy dungeon.”

To land a critical hit on my mind, which had been softened by the Trial of Judgment.

I don’t know who the hell constructed this dungeon, but they’re pretty vicious.

Get a grip, Theo Lisitoel.

“Losing your focus in a dungeon is the most dangerous thing.”

Ugh, I let out a groan and wiped the tears from my cheek.

“That aside, what am I supposed to do with this?”

Whether it was the flames, the mirror, or the judgment, I was swayed by them, but the moment I faced each trial, I understood how it worked.

For the Trial of Flames, I just had to move forward; for the Trial of the Mirror, neutralize the clone; and for the Trial of Judgment, pass judgment on the sinner presented.

But this light in the boss room, I had no idea.

“I’m not going to die, am I.”

Just guessing, I walked forward as I always had.

The stronger the light became, the stronger the comfort that seeped into my body.

You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?

It’s okay to rest now, it seemed to say.

I pinched my thigh so as not to fall for that whisper.

“Am I supposed to touch this?”

I reached my hand towards the light. Instantly, my hand was flung back as if blocked by an invisible wall.

“Hm?”

I thought I could just reach my hand into the light, but I never expected it to be repelled.

This time, I even threw a punch, but as expected, I was just bounced back every time.

“What am I supposed to do here.”

This is a headache. No matter how I think about it, this light is definitely connected to the dungeon's secret.

The light trembled, humph, as if throwing a tantrum, saying that wasn't it.

What the hell do you mean, that’s not it?

I was about to flare up in anger when the golden ring on the middle finger of my left hand caught my eye.

The rugged Ring of Solomon, made of plain gold with no engravings.

“Nah, no way.”

As if possessed by something, I stretched my left hand toward the light.

My hand was no longer repelled; instead, it moved forward smoothly and grasped the light.

At that moment, the light gently enveloped my body.

My consciousness wavered like a petal in front of a gust of wind.

I can’t collapse like this! I tried to hold onto my fluttering mind.

[It's alright.]

Suddenly, I heard someone whisper in my ear.

It was so endlessly warm that I couldn't even think of resisting, and I willingly entrusted my body to its coziness.

The last thing I saw right before closing my eyes was—

[I'll entrust this child to you.]

+++

Sudden Quest [Completed]

You have resolved the anomaly in the dungeon where the Light Spirit sleeps.

-Reward : EXP 3000. Special Skill Light Spirit

+++

A system window appeared with an exceedingly cheerful alarm. And in the distance, I saw my father, who was practically flying towards me.