chapter 29
29 – 《 Excelion X Ruthfield 》 (2)
Why is that woman here?
Let’s look at it suspiciously, as if for what purpose did you follow us?
As she shakes her head, she speaks as if giving a hasty explanation.
“Oh, no. I was going back after training late, but I saw someone’s back…”
“……Is that so.”
Since we started from the front gate of the academy, I think I saw it then.
But no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t feel the presence.
“I was just coming out of the locker room, and I saw a person’s back through the window, so I blindly followed him. It could be a suspicious person…”
“ah.”
“I’m sorry. I misunderstood Leon-sama as a suspicious person…”
“It’s okay. I didn’t know you were in the building. My fault for being careless.”
Even though he didn’t commit any particular crime, he reassured her by saying that he was fine.
Well, the fact that I came here is a fact that even the owner, Catherine, doesn’t know.
I just told her that I would go for a walk at night and came out.
Come to think of it, the place where I first met the princess was in a secluded gymnasium like this.
If it weren’t for that idiot-like knight, my first meeting with Her Highness would have been a little neater.
As I stood silently, the black-haired beauty opened her mouth, pointing at the entrance to the dungeon beneath my feet.
“that…….”
“Ah. This is the entrance to the dungeon…”
“Is this the entrance to a ‘special dungeon’?”
“……How did His Highness do that?”
When I look at her with slightly surprised eyes, she responds with a wave of her hand as if it is not a big deal.
“No matter how powerless I am, I am a member of the imperial family. I know some information from the imperial family.”
Did that happen?
Come to think of it, Sir Ferdinand also said that it was information from the imperial family.
It would be even more strange for Princess Laura, a member of the imperial family, not to know.
There would be no point in hiding it further in this situation.
I said to her while scratching my head.
“Actually, Sir Ferdinand asked me to handle some of this special dungeon.”
“Is that how it came to be… Well, if Leon-sama’s skills are enough, I’ll be able to trust them.”
what.
Why do you trust me so much?
After being criticized by me last week, Her Highness, the princess, seems to have become very strange.
If we talk further, something will feel weird, so let’s leave.
“Then I’ll go first, so please enter carefully.”
“Ah… well, Leon-sama!”
The princess caught me stepping into the dungeon entrance.
She looks straight into my eyes with a determined look.
“Can I accompany you too?”
“Yes?”
I was taken aback for a moment, so I stopped replying like an idiot.
would you like to follow
are you a princess
“What does His Majesty say if I say that to a man who has been away late at night?”
“Your Majesty… is busy with state affairs.”
Did you touch the painful part?
Her eyebrows go down sadly.
“…even if you get hurt, I can’t take responsibility.”
“It’s okay. I have the strength to protect at least one part of myself.”
“Why?”
“yes?”
“That’s why you want to follow me this late at night. You must be having a hard time training.”
“I… have to become stronger than I am now. And I’m sure I’ll become much stronger if I’m with Leon-sama.”
Even if you tell me not to follow you, you will follow me.
The black-haired woman in front of me was obsessed with being strong.
I don’t know exactly what happened to her,
I wonder if it’s because I’ve experienced feeling hopeless because I don’t have the strength, so I’m trying like that.
“…”
Well, actually, it doesn’t matter if we go together.
If we go together, while developing our heroine, the regressor,
It would make the dungeon clear even a little faster.
Whether you go alone or not, it is said that there is no particular loss no matter which one you choose.
With such a firm will, I don’t think it would be bad to take him once.
“It’s good. It was perfect for me to go alone, but if you go with me, I’ll be grateful.”
“Ah! Thank you so much…”
“Instead, I may not be able to escort Her Highness. I intend to clear the dungeon as soon as possible.”
I’m tired, so I just want to quickly break through the dungeon and go to sleep.
“I understand. So don’t worry.”
“Then let’s go together.”
We threw ourselves towards the entrance of the special dungeon.
Hwaaak… … !
As soon as we entered, the beautiful scenery unfolded in our field of vision.
The Milky Way calmly scatters starlight embroidered like decorations over a wide plain.
The soft moonlight was illuminating the vast land where the darkness had settled.
“Wow…”
Princess Laura admired the serene sight that made her eyes wander naturally.
The inside of the special dungeon was very different from what I initially expected.
As Sir Ferdinand said, it really felt like I was in another world.
“…?”
what?
Why do you feel a familiar sense of déjà vu in this space?
It feels as if there is something beyond that plain.
“There’s such a wide space inside the dungeon…”
Our regressor murmurs next to me in disbelief.
“It looks a bit like the Tower of Growth.”
“Yes. If it was a normal dungeon, it wouldn’t be this wide, but I think this really has a structure similar to that tower.”
“It’s a bit different from what I expected before coming in.”
“I don’t know the detailed information, but I heard that the special dungeon has a nickname of ‘passage to the other world’.”
It is the gateway to the other world.
It really feels different from Korea, where I lived, or the world outside the dungeon.
From the outside, it didn’t look much different from the inside of the Tower of Growth.
In a way, the Tower of Growth can be seen as one of the special dungeons.
Unlike normal dungeons where you enter through an ordinary entrance and do something only inside the dungeon,
Like the special dungeon here, the Tower of Growth also had a large space inside.
How was the dungeon structured so that it could exist in this form?
Even if we assume that the Tower of Growth was created by an archmage named Fruhi Frederick,
I can’t even guess how the various special dungeons, including this one, roll.
“You’d better be careful though.”
There are things Sir Ferdinand was careful about, so there’s nothing wrong with being careful.
“Let’s take a look around first.”
“I don’t know what kind of trap there may be, so I think it’s better to go together.”
I nodded my head once to agree with that opinion.
I walked for a few more minutes with the princess, but I couldn’t feel any signs of monsters.
“…”
Anxiety for unknown reasons rises from this calm atmosphere.
It would be nice if some kind of monster would come out soon and relieve this anxiety.
Laura keeps her mouth shut and looks at me as if she can’t think of anything more to say.
Stepping on the dewy weeds,
We wandered around aimlessly, as if we were playing moon-watching.
Because it was boring to just walk without talking,
I brought up the story I heard from Sir Ferdinand in the morning.
“Your Highness, do you know the manners you should have when visiting the imperial palace?”
“Yes? Why is that suddenly…”
“I’m going to enter the palace in three days. His Majesty said he wanted to see me.”
“Ah. It’s because of yesterday.”
As expected, the eyes that understood my situation to some extent, like a team member who broke through the tower of growth together.
“It seems that His Majesty called Leon because he is very interested in young and talented people.”
Like his own father, he knows information that I cannot know.
“You seem to like the same kind as me.”
“……Uh, um. I guess that’s how it will be.”
A word spoken as a joke mercilessly calmed the atmosphere.
I felt a bit embarrassed by Princess Laura’s bewildered voice.
what, though
Compared to when we first met, I didn’t feel particularly bad.
If it were her from a week ago, she would have vomited no matter what I said.
If it was her before she was cursed at, what about this or that?
I hate to imagine that hypocritical attitude.
When I think about it like this, I think it’s okay to go a little too hard sometimes.
“And you don’t have to worry too much about entering the palace.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. You just need to do the basics. Since Leon-sama is not yet a noble, His Majesty won’t be too concerned about etiquette.”
“It’s fortunate. I’ve been thinking about what to do. No matter how young I am, I know that I have to be careful in front of Your Majesty.”
It seems His Majesty doesn’t expect much from me, a commoner, when it comes to etiquette.
His Excellency Duke Kaisel was also a slave before becoming a sword master, so he must be familiar with it.
While we were talking, I decided to confide in Her Highness a question I hadn’t been able to ask before.
“Come to think of it, Your Highness. There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Her clear, transparent eyes meet my gaze.
“Sometimes you stare into my eyes. Why is that?”
“Ah…! I’m sorry if you felt offended…”
“No, no. I didn’t ask for an apology. I’m just asking out of genuine curiosity.”
She is taken aback by the question she couldn’t answer because the timing wasn’t right.
Other than her, she would have thought I hadn’t noticed, but in fact I knew everything.
What people misunderstand is that they think that the other person will not know that they secretly glanced at you.
Of course not.
Whether it’s a man or a woman, a glance is always noticed.
Do you have such a case?
I secretly glanced at the breasts of the opposite sex,
When a shrill voice returns, “Did you just see my tits?”
How do you know?
I asked Catherine directly.
I once watched her all day practicing magic.
Her large breasts kept shaking because of her light clothes.
Since I’m a man too, I couldn’t help but look at you.
I still remember the conversation with Catherine, who approached me after finishing the training.
ㅡ Just look at the bar where you are going to glance at it like that. Because I don’t care.
ㅡ I didn’t see it.
ㅡWomen know it all. It’s just not talking.
Then he supported his chest with both hands,
“Do you want to touch me?” I just ignored it because I said the same nonsense.
Now is the case.
No matter how much Her Highness tried to hide it, she couldn’t hide her gaze watching me.
“You’re curious. It seems like you’re trying to find something in my eyes.”
“That, that’s…”
Princess Laura wriggled her hands and hesitated.
Then, without a word, she lowered her head.
“Are you having trouble talking?”
“I’m sorry…”
“……It would be nice if you could tell me the reason.”
“I’m sorry…”
How sorry I was, as I lengthened my horse’s tail,
Her voice diminishes to that of an ant crawling.
What kind of connection is it?
The reason why I look for something unknown in my eyes until I go out in a low profile.
“Kreurreuk…”
I didn’t get any income from the question, but I still saw the benefit of walking for a long time.
It was because I sensed the presence of the monster that had been waiting and waiting from far away.
The monsters sleeping on the plains were a group of orcs.
As if they sensed our presence, they began waking up one by one.
“Kurr—.”
“Kureuk, kureuk!”
Unusually, unlike the other orcs, that group of orcs were spitting out red eyes.
As if they were Berserkers, they glared at us while salivating at the corners of their mouths.
In a scene that does not match such a beautiful scenery,
I put my right hand to my waist and grabbed the handle of the sword.
With the battle in front of her eyes, Princess Laura also took out a golden sword from her waist.
She speaks with determination in a beautiful voice.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Don’t get hurt.”
After that conversation, Princess Laura and I didn’t say anything more.
“Kuaaa!”
Glaring at the orcs screaming and charging at us, we jumped out of our seats and ran out.
*
“Whoop, whoop…”
It took an hour to deal with the influx of orcs.
By the time the leather pouch I had brought beforehand was filled with magic stones,
The orcs that stood on this plain no longer existed.
“haha…….”
“Have some water.”
Princess Laura was breathing hard while kneeling on the floor.
I took a small canteen from my pocket and handed it to her.
“Haa… Thank you.”
“It was nothing.”
Her Highness, the princess, smiled brightly and received it.
The silence that came to the dawn-colored plains stained with the blood of orcs.
Because of the silence, the sound of water running down her throat can be heard in her ears.
To give Princess Laura a chance to catch her breath,
I turned and looked at the large church in the distance.
“…”
You can feel it only when you come closer.
The source of the ominousness flowing from this unknown space was right there.
I don’t know what the hell is going on there that makes chicken meat come up on my skin.
Suddenly, I remembered what Sir Ferdinand said.
—-I also met a tough enemy when I went in.
Unlike me, who is the same sword master but has just reached the level,
Sir Ferdinand is already at a mature level when it comes to handling magical powers.
In terms of grade, he must have reached at least the Intermediate Sword Master level.
If you ever judged that even Sir Ferdinand was too much,
At least I’ve met enemies of a similar level in special dungeons… … .
oh oh… … .
A quiet echo echoed through the atmosphere inside the dungeon.
The chills seeping out of my chest were warning my instincts.
I raised my hand and touched the air.
It is clearly the reverberation of magical power.
The traces of magical power passed down by a strong person who has reached a state far away from me now.
no way… … Are you saying that there is someone stronger than Grand Master in that church?
While calming the trembling magic in my body,
He opened his mouth to Princess Laura, who had caught her breath before she knew it.
“It would be better for His Highness to return like this.”
“Yes? What is that…”
It seems too late to run away.
Apparently, it seems that the presence there has sensed us.
“Because it seems there is a strong enemy that even I can’t guarantee a match for.”
In a word spoken with sincerity,
Her expression hardened in an instant.