“W-What did you all do? The dungeon collapsed? How did it collapse all of a sudden? Do you know how much trouble I am? And so are all of you since you broke the rules.”
Their broker seemed shocked as he watched Instructor Harris come out of the collapsed dungeon. The group had managed to exit in time before the gate collapsed.
Otherwise, they would have gotten stuck inside the ruins of the collapse and been dragged off to the demon world.
It had been only because of Instructor Harris’s quick work and his strength as an A-class adventurer that they managed to escape the clutches of a certain doom right now.
“Sorry Edward, the dungeon collapsed. B-But we did not have much of a choice as you read. We would have died If I did not let go.”
Instructor Harris sounded nervous. He had sounded so confident before but he folded in front of real danger.
Horas felt surprised to see this but he calmed down once he thought about it. Instructor Harris was not at fault here but anyone would fold in front of an angry man.
“Yeah, I read the report and I cannot believe this dungeon turned into a Code White out of every other available one. Do you know how big the loss is going to be because of this?”
Horas left the two to fight it out and he decided to check up on Lucas. Nash was carrying the taller man on her back and her face was drenched. It was a miracle that Lucas was even alive.
“Is Lucas alright?”
Horas flinched at the cliche question as well. He had asked a useless question since he could see that Lucas was not alright.
But Nash decided not t worry him too much. She tried to smile even when she did not feel like smiling at all. She was beyond exhausted at this point.
“Lucas is just going to be alright. You don’t need to be worried about him since he’s a sturdy man. He will be alright.”
Lucas coughed as he was hit in his chest by Nash. It had been a light smack but it had still left Lucas winded. But he was alive at least which was a good thing.
Horas wanted to relax but his body was full of adrenaline which caused him to stand on alert. And just when he finally managed to calm himself down, a calm but scary voice caused goosebumps to appear on Horas’s arms.
“Instructor Harris, what caused you to evoke a Code White? And did you take a ‘child’ in the F-rank dungeon? Maybe you need a mental evaluation rather than saving.”
Instructor Harris looked embarrassed before but he straightened his back the next second. His face was smiling but Horas had a feeling that instructor Harris was not smiling right now.
“Section chief Samuel, what brings you here? I was informed that you did not come today so I am a little surprised to see you.”
Section chief Samuel’s face went closed at the jab but he did not get angry. Instead, he looked even more focused.
“How can I not come when one of our ‘customers’ caused such a big incident? So, let’s hear what happened.”
Section chief Samuel did not back down even when he was faced with Instructor Harris’s full attention. Most people would have folded under a class-A adventurer’s glare.
“Alright fine. An F-class monster started evolving so we had to end things before someone died. I will provide you with the footage of it later. For now, can we let these kids get checked over? One of the is even injured.”
Section chiel Samuel looked mad that he had to stop but his calm face hide it all. Horas was too tired to even flinch when he was being looked at with such disdain.
In the end, the section chief decided to fold since there were too many eyes.
“Fine, take the kids away. But you and I will need to talk, instructor Harris. I cannot take so much loss due to the disappearance of the dungeon. I hope you understand.”
At that point, Horas decided to tune them out.
……………………
“So you ended back here not within a week kid? That has to be a new record for the academy with so many injuries on the same day.”
Horas flinched as his back was bandaged by Lady Heals. They all had been rushed back to the academy for treatment since it would be cheaper to the dungeon association than a private hospital with the same facilities.
“Sorry, I did not think I would end up here so soon as well.”
Horas felt sorry for Lady Heals. It seemed like she was truly busy today and their group had added to the burden.
They were currently housed in a private room since the common facility was filled with regular students. The regular session had started a day before and everyone was trying to outdo each other.
“Nah kid, not your fault. No one could have seen the Code White coming so don’t blame yourself uselessly.”
Lady Heals consoled Horas and he finally relaxed in the bed.
Not that he got too long to relax since the private section door was banged open by Mark with a pained expression. The man looked like he was on too much caffeine and was hardly capable of walking straight.
And he was currently coming right at Horas with a thunderous expression that melted into one of relief as soon as it registered that Horas was alright.
“Man, I cannot believe you had such a big incident happen on your first dungeon outing. You should have waited a little more before branching out and trying something this tough.”
Mark had an embarrassed expression on his face as he scolded Horas. But anyone could see that his scolding was more because of worry than real anger.
“Alright Mark, you can take your charge home if you are done scolding him now. I don’t think I can help him any more than this.”
Lady Heals made a round back because of all the loud noises she heard and she instantly stumbled upon the scene which made her laugh. Mark might have grown up but he was still like a kid inside.
And it was still difficult for the man to express himself. Every time he tried, it ended up as failure which caused a lot of pain and suffering for him.
“Sarah, stop talking to me in that superior tone. It pisses me off when you do. And Horas, wipe that smirk off your face. We are going back now.”
Mark seemed incapable of speaking anything else so he quietened down. Horas wanted to stop himself from laughing so badly but Mark’s expression was just too funny.
In the end, Horas was picked up and Mark rushed past the side beds.
“Bye Horas. Take care of yourself, kid. I will keep you updated on Lucas’s recovery.”
Instructor Harris spoke from the bed he had been forced into by Lady Heals while Nash pretended like Horas did not exist.
Mark’s blush did not go down until they were out of the room. Only once they were in the lab and Horas was put down did Mark even look him in the face.
“Hey kid, I forgot to ask you but are you alright? You are not hurt somewhere, right?”
Mark looked embarrassed beyond belief as he asked this question.
“Yeah, I am alright this time. Thanks for asking me this.”
Mark might be the first adult in his life to ask Horas this question and Horas felt just a little touched but the man because of this. But only a tiny bit.
…………………
Inside Principal Marble’s room, she could not help but sigh as she looked at the report in front of her. It seemed like such a coincidence that the dungeon had started evolving all of a sudden.
And then there was this irritating man in front of her, trying to get a raise out of her by angering her.
“Principal Marble, so how is Horas doing? I hope he is not giving you any trouble. I am so happy to tell you that we finally managed to get Howard settled with a nice family as well.”
Principal Marble looked at Jake Hollow’s happy profile in front of her. His innocent face made one think that he did not know anything. But in reality, Jack Hollow’s powers were terrifying and he could find out all kinds of information.
It would not be too big of a stretch to say that he knew what happened to Horas today.
“Horas is alright. He’s currently under Mark, our technical staff and Mark says he’s got real talent in the field.”
There was finally a crack in Jack Hollow’s mask. He looked a little ticked off as he heard the words but he soon went back to his smiley face.
“Ah, I see. But I think Horas Spencer would be better off as an attacker since both his parents were attackers, right?”
Jack Hollow tried to make it seem like he was not hinting at anything but Principal Marble could see his intentions as clear as the day.
Jack Hollow was a piece of shit to push kids into the adventurer business this early but Principal, Marble had her hands tied together in front of him.
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