Chapter 23

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Chapter 23

“I’m going.”

“Be careful, Miss Avellin.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

Andra, who in turn greeted the professors, Shamune, and the people from the academy who had come with her, grabbed her bag and went to the front of the magic circle. There were crew members with their own equipment. Among them was Dustin, who she saw here for the first time in two days. He wore a longsword around his waist as usual.

Their gazes met for a moment, then fell as if they had made a promise. Because they weren’t friendly enough to greet each other.

“It looks like everyone has gathered.”

Cezanne, who spread and pinned a map to the wall, began briefing the crew one last time. There was no news or information. Most of what they had heard before. But people paid attention to her words.

The mission was simple. Attack the dungeon until the extent they could. But none of them should make hasty judgments. Don’t make choices they are not sure about.

More than anything,

“Individual action is prohibited.”

At Cezanne’s resolute words, Andra felt a subtle gaze on herself and Dustin. Andra was annoyed by the gaze, but on one hand, she understood them. She knew what they were worried about. She and Dustin would likely be at odds.

If they entered this time, unless something would happen, they would stay in the dungeon for at least a week. In addition, the time flow inside and outside the dungeon was different. No one knew how much time would pass once they returned outside. In severe cases, they might not know if months or years had gone by.

From their point of view, they want to continue their journey without any problems as much as possible. Andra thought she should move away from Dustin as much as possible, and she listened to Cezanne.

“The most important thing is that you return safely and unharmed.”

At the last request, the crew members all nodded with the same heart. Return safely. Nothing was more important than that. After that, Zidaya, a seasoned mercenary who was selected as the leader, and Hone, a guide, were given a magic communication tool as an emergency contact. It was a communication tool with many restrictions, but it was better than nothing.

“Come back safely.”

So, the seven dungeon raiders, including Andra and Dustin, entered the dungeon.

As she entered the dungeon, she felt the damp underground air. Andra frowned at the dungeon air she felt again. It was because she suddenly remembered herself, who had fallen into heat for an unknown reason just a month ago after falling into the dungeon. At that time, she was nothing more than a beast with sexual desire. Looking back, it was a very unpleasant experience.

All the more because she wanted to do it with Dustin.

‘No way, I’m not going in heat again this time. That would be a big problem.’

After checking the equipment, Hone approached Andra, who was examining her body, and spoke kindly.

“Is it very humid? There’s a river down here. It would have been less if there was a desert.”

It seems that he thought that Andra’s expression was not good because she was not used to the environment of the dungeon. At Hone’s words, Andra quickly schooled her features and waved her hand. She was afraid that the crew might think that she was nothing but an immature noble girl. That won’t do.

“It’s endurable. It just reminds me of falling behind here before.”

“Ah, is that so? I’m sorry, I didn’t even know that.”

“No, it’s okay. But what do you mean by desert?”

For Andra, this was her first dungeon. She didn’t know much about the other dungeon, and it was only recently that she had delved deeply into dungeons. The person who lacked the most knowledge about the dungeons here was Andra. Dustin must have gone out to practice in the dungeon at least once as a member of the Knights Department.

“Each dungeon has a very different ecosystem. Especially in dungeons where monsters appear, the environment is not constant and becomes jumbled up.”

“Are you saying that the environment in the dungeon changes depending on the monster?”

“You’re smart because you are a scholar. Yes, the environment created in the dungeon is different for each monster. It’s really troublesome, but dungeons with only a single type of monster are easy to attack. You just have to strategize with one environment in mind.”

Hone explained to Andra in a calm voice. Andra nodded her head, recalling something similar to what she had read in the book before coming in. She knew it by reading the book, but hearing from a seasoned dungeon raider was a different feeling. Or, it could be that Hone’s explanation was more relatable because she was in the dungeon.

“How amazing. How often does the environment reshape? It is completely illogical.”

“Well, it’s a dungeon.”

Hone replied with a bubbly smile as if she was saying something obvious.

“Oh right. Cezanne must have told you in advance, but if you find it difficult on the way, you must tell her. You have to move according to your stamina, Miss Avellin. Don’t overdo it. Then if you get hurt, it’ll be a big deal.”

At that, Andra groaned a little. It was because she felt like she was being treated like a child who had just started walking.

Andra was proud of her own stamina. In fact, she was considered one of the most physically fit people around her. She sprinted two laps with a calm face as her colleagues barely sprinted through one lap of the training ground. What’s more, she kept track of her daily routine, not forgetting stretching and light exercise.

But Andra could not refute Hone’s words. She realized that her stamina might be better than that of the general public, but compared to the physical strength of the crew members, her stamina was no different than that of a normal person. It was natural that there was a difference in physical strength between those who mainly study while sitting and those who worked in the field.

“Yes, I will.”

Andra replied meekly with a slightly sullen face, and Hone looked at her as if she was really cute.

“It’s not that Miss Avellin’s stamina is bad. It’s just that everyone is a monster when it comes to physical strength.”

“I guess so.”

Andra admired Zidaya, a mercenary who was nominated as the leader, who casually lifted a load as big as her body. She was even surprised when a smaller Hone was carrying a bag weighing 10 kilograms.

“But on that day, why didn’t you come all of a sudden? Do you know how sad we were that Miss Avellin did not come?”

Hone suddenly remembered and said to Andra with a look of disappointment. Andra managed to hold back her expression, which was about to harden for a moment. She only remembered what she had done with Dustin that day. She then naturally stopped herself from turning her head towards Dustin.

“I’m sorry, Miss Hone. I was so tired that day that I couldn’t drink at all. As soon as I got to my room, I blacked out.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. After climaxing, she dragged Dustin, who had collapsed, onto the bed roughly, and returned to her room, and Andra could not stand the drowsiness, and she had to sleep until the next morning. Besides, she couldn’t even take a step outside of her room because of the bite marks Dustin had made on the nape of her neck.

“Ah, then there is nothing I can do about it. Then, instead, when you get back safely, let’s drink together. Okay?”

“Sure, of course.”

“Well then, shall we go?”

The crew’s equipment check was almost finished. When all preparations for departure were finished, Hone took out a compass specially made for the dungeon and a map made previously for exploration.

The compass swung and pointed somewhere. Hone took turns checking the compass direction and the map, then slowly moved forward. In response, the crew followed her as if waiting.

The guide Hone, mercenary Bomenta, Andra, doctor and forager Eureas, sorcerer Fyun, Dustin, and the leader Zidaya, in that order.

The dungeon was nothing like before. Andra followed the party along the polished brick road. The inside of the dungeon was really quiet, only the sound of footsteps of the party resounded around them.

As they walked, the size of the space grew bigger and wider. Andra looked around curiously around the area, which was as big and wide as the height of a three-story building.

But that was it. Other than that, nothing had changed.

“Let’s take a break here for now.”

Hone, who was the first to walk, raised her hand and stopped the crew. Andra thought that this might be too fast to take a break, but without saying a word she put her luggage on the floor and unclasped her gear like everyone else.

“Aren’t you wondering why we are already resting?”

While Hone and Zidaya opened up a map and talked to each other, Eureas, who was seated nearby, handed Andra a candy from the bag and talked to her.

“Eat it, it’s delicious. It’s my favorite candy.”

Eureas added as he peeled the candy wrapper and popped it into his mouth. Andra remembered him holding a candy in his mouth every time they had a meeting in the ruins, and then gently opened the candy and put it into her mouth. It didn’t seem like a doctor would give herself anything strange.

“Thank you. But what did you say earlier?”

“Aren’t you wondering why we were already taking a break?”

“Of course I am curious. So I was going to ask Miss Hone when she came. Do you know, Mister Eureas?”

The candy tasted better than expected. Andra felt the sweetness of the candy relieve her tension a bit. This must have been why he was always biting onto the candy. Eureas reached out his arms and started to stretch, answering Andra’s question with ease.

“To keep pace. It’s the first day.”

“Is that all?”

“Incidentally, there is a fork in the road next to this. From then on, the road will be a little rough. It might be a little too much for Miss Avellin.”

In a way, that was like saying that they cared for Andra.

“What is in front of this? Is it just going to be a brick road like this?”

“There are fields and there are rivers, Lady.”

Fyun answered on behalf of Eureas, who was drinking water. Andra turned her head towards Fyun.

“But it won’t be the kind of field the Lady thinks.”

What was it, Andra was about to ask Fyun about that. She could feel a slight echo on the ground.

What? Is it an earthquake? Andra, who unconsciously touched the floor with her palm, raised her gaze and looked at the party. The party also sensed the earthquake and exchanged glances with each other.

“Everyone gather in one place!”

Suddenly, Fyun shouted towards the others. The party, which had been scattered little by little, quickly gathered. Meanwhile, the reverberation underground was getting worse and worse. Then, an earthquake began and that made it difficult to stand on both feet. Grumble, grumble, the dungeon itself seemed to shake violently.

Thump, Thump, Thump. Then the ground shook and trembled. It felt like a living and moving creature.

“Everyone be careful!”

“The earthquake is getting worse!”

Zidaya drove his long spear into the ground. Find something to grab! When he grabbed the spear that was embedded in the ground and shouted, those who had a weapon, like Zidaya, stabbed their weapon into the ground for support. The rest began to grab the person with the weapon on their own. In the process, the crew got tangled up in a complicated way. Andra, who had no specific weapon, swayed to and fro.

“Who, I…!”

As the distance from the party grew, Andra became terrified. That was the moment. Someone snatched her up.

“Andra Avellin!”

Dustin staggered and tumbled, holding Andra’s waist with one of his arms, and with the other one he thrust his sword into the ground. Andra let out a breath she had been holding back on the tight arms that supported her waist. Looking around, the party was lying on the floor, clinging to it, and holding on to the ground bouncing off them.

“What is going on all of a sudden?!”

Meanwhile, Bomenta, a mercenary with a bow, shouted at Hone and Zidaya what Andra wanted to ask. Hone shouted, grabbing her dizzy head.

“It must be a sign of abnormality! Sir Fyun! Can you put up a protective shield!?”

“I’ll try, but the floor is moving too much and it’s very likely that it won’t cast properly!”

“But do it— ah!”

The shaking didn’t stop there. Crack, crack, crack, the ground began to rift open.

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