Private Room of Soul Academy.
In the center of it all was Arthur Soladin, the Third Prince of the Soladin Kingdom and undoubtedly the de facto second-in-command of the current Soul Academy.
“As you all know, the reason we have gathered here is one: to conquer the dungeon created by Lucy Alrn.”
Joy Partlan, the noble lady of the Partlan Ducal family, expected to become an excellent grand mage.
Frey Kent, the eldest daughter of the prestigious Kent family known for swordsmanship, who was once praised as the best talent of her generation before Lucy appeared.
And Faivy, a saintess of the Divine Church, revered for her overwhelming divine magic skills, who commands respect from priests and bishops alike.
These were the top students of the first year at Soul Academy, aside from Lucy. They all possessed the skills to easily surpass most dungeons, yet there wasn’t a hint of complacency on their faces.
Before them lay the dungeon created by Lucy Alrn.
“Given that she seems to have provoked us, Lucy Alrn has undoubtedly put considerable effort into creating that dungeon. Thus, approaching it with a half-hearted mindset will surely prevent us from seeing the end. By making thorough preparations in advance, we will undoubtedly reach the dungeon’s end.”
“Yes, of course, Third Prince.”
“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”
“We have to try everything we can.”
As the four exchanged serious glances, Jeff Partlan, the heir of the Partlan family, who had been sitting at one end of the table, blinked and timidly spoke up.
“Um, excuse me, but I haven’t heard anything yet. Could someone tell me why the atmosphere is so solemn?”
Dragged along by Joy while handling a myriad of assignments given by professors who assumed students would only listen to their own subjects, Jeff was utterly bewildered.
He had dropped everything at the request of his dear younger sister to come here, only to find himself surrounded by heavyweights like the Third Prince, a saintess, and the noble lady of the Kent family.
Trying to maintain composure amidst his surprise, he found himself speaking about something he hadn’t even heard in a serious tone.
Even someone as socially adept as Jeff could only smile wryly in this situation.
“Joy, did you really bring me here without any explanation?”
“...I focused on bringing you here as quickly as possible.”
“Haah. Silly noble lady. If you keep living like this, not only will you not shed the title of silly, but everyone, including Lucy Alrn, will end up calling you silly.”
“Don’t say that as if I always commit such rudeness. You’re the silly prince.”
“Who are you calling silly?!”
“With your blushing face and your tendency to run away, how could you not be called silly?”
“Are you not the silly one who didn’t even realize your hair is going in the same direction?!”
“...You knew that and didn’t tell me?!”
As the two raised their voices, forgetting their statuses as prince and noble lady, Jeff smiled wryly at their antics.
At that moment, Faivy, who had been sitting beside them, spoke up with a gentle smile.
“I apologize for the disturbance, Lord Jeff.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s entertaining to watch.”
“Well, in that case, let me briefly explain the situation to you until this commotion is over.”
She explained that Lucy had accepted a proposal from the Dungeon Studies professor, which led to her creating the dungeon.
“Isn’t that a good thing? No matter how capable Lady Alrn is, there’s no way she could create a dungeon perfectly from the start.”
Jeff thought it might be better for Lucy to be involved rather than the notorious Professor Jesel, who was known for creating terrible dungeons, and his comment made Faivy smirk, while Arthur and Joy also stopped their quarrel to shake their heads in disagreement.
“Jeff, the fact is that Professor Jesel, upon seeing the dungeon created by Lucy Alrn, canceled his own class and spent nearly half a day discussing it. Would a dungeon like that be easy?”
“...It doesn’t seem likely.”
A dungeon that had driven countless students to despair in various exams was something Professor Jesel would find thrilling enough to spend half a day discussing.
While its quality would surely be high, for the students who had to conquer it, it would likely be hell.
“Still, isn’t it better for the prince’s group if it’s difficult? The higher the difficulty, the easier it is to widen the gap.”
“That would normally be the case. But our goal right now is to conquer the dungeon completely. The grades are merely a secondary concern.”
“Why is that?”
“Because there’s a reason for it.”
The rewards for conquering the dungeon. Lucy Alrn had promised to grant whatever she wished for.
Upon hearing Lucy’s affirmation, what first popped into Arthur's mind was the desire to understand the true meaning behind something Lucy had said in the past.
However, Arthur didn’t take that as his goal. How could he seek the answer he wanted to know in such a manner after defeating Lucy Alrn someday?
Instead, what Arthur wished for was to see Lucy Alrn kneel before him.
If she, who always looked down on and mocked everyone, were to stutter and say her carefully crafted dungeon was pathetic, wouldn’t that be quite refreshing?
Just imagining her vivid, captivating eyes turning teary and dropping tears was enough to make him feel exhilarated.
“Prince?”
Startled by Jeff’s question, Arthur quickly closed his mouth and cleared his throat.
“...Cough. Don’t ask in detail. I can’t answer that.”
“I see.”
As Jeff tilted his head and turned his gaze to the side, Joy and Faivy looked away, while Frey maintained his usual emotionless facade.
The other three also shared the common goal of targeting the injury Lucy proposed, but the contents varied among them.
What Joy dreamed of was to walk around town with Lucy, dressing each other up.
A day filled with laughter and dressing each other up with a close friend.
It was a wish Joy had held since she was very young, but one she had never realized because she lacked someone to share it with.
If they succeeded in conquering the dungeon, Joy intended to take Lucy to the capital during the vacation to fulfill this dream.
Beside her, Frey’s wish was simpler than Joy’s.
She merely hoped that Lucy would compliment her.
That she would simply say she did well, pat her on the head, and smile while looking at her.
Frey wished for Lucy, who rarely complimented anyone, to sincerely praise her without sarcasm.
And blushing as she lowered her head, Faivy wished that Lucy would pray for her.
With that small, soft, and warm hand resting on her head.
If Lucy could pray in that beautiful and clear voice that her future would be filled with happiness, Faivy felt that only joy would come to her.
Though she knew that personal and selfish content should not be included in prayers offered to the divine, Faivy still hoped for it.
As Jeff observed the three of them, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to get a response, he shrugged and moved on to the main topic.
“So, what do you wish for my assistance with?”
“All types of gimmicks that could appear in a first-year gimmick dungeon. And I’d like to know all the ways to apply those gimmicks.”
Even if Lucy was in charge of the overall conception of the dungeon, the problems would ultimately be confined to what could be tested within the exam scope.
So, if he memorized all the gimmicks that could appear in a gimmick dungeon and how to apply them, he would be able to conquer the dungeon much more easily.
“I heard that you researched this after suffering under Professor Jesel in the past. Surely you have that information left?”
“Yes, I do. However, it was gathered with considerable difficulty.”
Jeff smiled with a twinkle in his eye, trailing off at the end of his sentence.
The quality of information he had suffered to gather was quite high. There was no way he would simply offer that information for free in front of these bigshots.
No matter what, he would at least ask for a few verbal agreements...
“Brother.”
Upon hearing Joy’s voice, Jeff turned his head and promptly forgot all his thoughts.
“Brother, could you help me just this once?”
When his cute younger sister looked up at him with a sweet voice, how could he think of anything else?
“Could you wait a moment? I’ll bring everything I have.”
Despite willingly making himself a pushover, Jeff wore a melting smile of happiness.
For this crazy siscon, his sister’s charm was worth more than a billion gold.
A few days had passed since I made my slip of the tongue.
During that time, Arthur, Joy, Frey, and Faivy had prepared for the dungeon conquest as if possessed.
Each of them underwent intense personal training, and every evening, they gathered to conquer the academy dungeon together.
They even scraped together information on gimmick-type dungeons to prepare for them.
What on earth did they want me to do that they were working so hard?
I felt uneasy, plagued by various ominous thoughts, but by now, I had somewhat resigned myself to it.
Those four were not silly enough to make strange requests.
It should be fine. Probably.
...Even if it isn’t, there’s nothing I can do about it.
If I say it was a joke now, I feel like I would truly end up in a terrible situation.
Anyway, I decided to stop worrying about what those four were doing and began to ponder another important issue.
Specifically, the rewards for clearing the dungeon.
In my opinion, the completion of the dungeon ultimately hinges on the reward. If the reward doesn’t match the effort put into conquering the dungeon, the conclusion will undoubtedly be unsatisfactory.
Having realized this fact from Faivy’s earlier question, I immediately went to discuss the rewards with the Dungeon Studies professor.
The professor agreed with my opinion, but unfortunately, there were limits to what the academy could provide as rewards.
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In the end, the dungeon I created was meant for an exam, so it couldn’t provide rewards on the level of the academy dungeon at its conclusion.
Unsatisfied with that, I declared that I would refuse the academy's support and bring rewards myself.
After leaving the professor's office, I pondered what an appropriate reward would be, but no matter how much I thought about it, nothing convincing came to mind.
I couldn’t think of anything that would make all the students’ eyes well up with tears. So, I gave up on my thoughts and sought advice from Karia.
“I understand the general conditions, Master.”
Karia, upon hearing my question, immediately provided an answer without hesitation.
“If that’s the case, jewels are the best. They’re expensive, eye-catching, and everyone wants them.”
“I thought of that too...”
“Hey, lady. Don’t forget that most of the academy is filled with foolish aristocrats with inflated egos.”
I hadn’t overlooked the idea of jewels.
But since most of the academy was composed of nobility, jewels couldn’t serve as an alternative.
Why would they go out of their way to conquer a difficult dungeon for something they could buy with their own money?
“What I’m talking about isn’t the kind of ordinary jewel you’re thinking of, Master.”
“Something different?”
“What do you mean by different?”
“Jewels that are processed and guaranteed directly by the Artisans’ Guild. Items that even high-ranking nobles and wealthy merchants can’t buy. If you offer this as a reward, it’ll definitely create a stir.”
The Artisans’ Guild, huh.
Could it be that repulsive pervert is a member of it?
“Perfect timing. I hear you’re meeting with them tomorrow. Please ask them then.”
As Karia said this, she handed me a newly tailored bunny girl outfit.
“Try to act cute. That perverted guy will probably throw in everything he has for you.”