“Hey, we are finally here. Now show us the dungeon you promised to show us before.”
Duke sounded annoyed with having to be here. He was someone who considered himself as busy and hard to get hold of. He even behaved like a VIP at times to ensure others knew he was busy.
And currently, he was taking a big risk by coming here.
With Instructor Horas as his temporary roommate, this trip was like a ticking time bomb he could not afford to mess up. He did not want the news of his sudden outing to get back to his parents.
“Hmm, c-calm down, please. I w-will get to the p-point soon.”
Loris hiccupped as she spoke. This was unlike her previous and confident self who told Duke about this night training routine.
Somehow, looking at her now did not invoke a lot of confidence inside Duke. he was suddenly afraid that he had made a mistake.
“Hey, no pressure. You can take your time explaining things. Maybe you should let your senior explain things to us instead?”
Howard decided to interfere before Duke could scare Loris off. His calm existence helped Loris calm down. But one look at Duke was enough to make her fear come rushing back.
“I…the senior…. I mean…he was unable…to come…tonight. S-So he gave me the key.”
Loris flinched once she was faced with four pairs of curious eyes as she held the key out. She had no idea why or how she had gotten this key, but Loris had innate knowledge of how to use it.
“C-Can you look away from me n-now? Your l-looks are making m-me nervous.”
Loris asked and everyone looked sheepish suddenly. They had not expected their stares to make Loris feel uncomfortable. They just wanted to help her out a bit.
*Cough*
Regina’s sudden cough caused everyone to diver their attention toward her. And Regina straightened her back to have this talk as well.
“Listen, everyone, I know we are all in a little pinch but I do not think we should panic like this. First, let us check the dungeon out. If our senior gave away the key to a junior this easily, then this dungeon cannot be tough to navigate.”
Regina’s words had merit. Hearing her speak made everyone feel better about this decision.
Emma seemed to be the only one who still had doubts regarding this outing. She had been against this outing since the beginning. But even she was coming around after hearing Regina speak.
“A-Alright, I understand. Then f-follow me and I shall take you to the dungeon.
Loris leads the group without looking back. She had a bad feeling about it all but she also had to consider that she had started it all. So, she would have to take care of her mess at some point.
No one noticed as they were shadowed by Horas from a distance. Horas made sure he always had the group within hearing distance so that he could know what was being talked about.
And so far, all the things he had heard had been recorded on his device for future reference.
The group finally stopped in front of a cave-like place. The entrance was sealed but Loris had a key which could help them enter the dungeon.
“W-Well here goes nothing.”
Loris jabbed the key into the hole and twisted it. The door opened and that was the time Horas chose to show himself to this group. He had a bad feeling about this dungeon he could not explain.
The group was about to head in as well when Howard noticed an extra pair of footsteps following them. And he suddenly tensed as a result.
Seeing Howard stop, everyone else was on alert as well. They had not expected anyone to come after them but it seemed like they were wrong in their assumptions.
“Where are you kids going? I am sure there was nothing mentioned about this outing in the reports you submitted to me.”
Horas appeared in front of the kids and he watched as their hearts sank to the bottom of their chests.
No one expected Horas to appear out of thin air and stand in front of them. And somehow, that expression on these kids’ faces was enough for Horas to hold his laughter back.
“W-We are not doing anything bad. I heard that night dungeon is common. We are just trying to gain some experience.”
Everyone nodded when they heard Duke speak. He was right and they all agreed with him.
But the expression on Horas’s face did not look as positive as they hoped it to be. Horas was not agreeing with them regarding this, right?
“Hmm, nightly training is indeed a possible thing to do if you want to gain fast experience but it also needs to be regulated by the academy. And since I did not receive any notice, I will need to close this dungeon”
Horas warned and watched as the protagonist party felt helpless.
As much as they were shaping up to be future heroes, Horas had to also remind himself that these were kids who needed guidance right now. And letting them do something dangerous was not part of this deal.
“Hey, can’t you let this go just this once? We are already here and the dungeon is also opened. Can we just not participate in this?”
Howard begged with a calm voice. He did not seem invested in this training but Duke was. And since Duke wanted this, Howard did not mind begging Horas for this favor.
And he was not the only one who decided to ask Horas nicely.
“Please let us participate in this training. We promise we will be careful and not cause you any problems in the future. So please, consider our request and let us participate in this dungeon.”
Regina stepped ahead and Emma was not far behind.
“Please let us participate this time. We promise to get permission from next time onwards.”
Emma was begging as well. It was too much pressure for Horas and he was sure he would get a headache if he had to hear any more of this begging.
“Fine, you all can participate. I will supervise this visit and make it official.”
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺