Inside the cave, the loud sound of paaan, paaan echoed repeatedly.
“Hey, are you sure that’s okay…?”
On the second floor of the dungeon, I had taken the strategy of constantly luring monsters.
Emelia, concerned, asked a question.
“Oh, yeah. As long as I don’t burden anyone else, it’s fine. Liel, just keep casting spells.
I’ll hold them off and finish them all at once. The rest of you, stay quiet and watch until things get really dangerous.”
The Rude is a bat-like creature with short wings. It can’t fly, so it lunges forward on all fours.
We’re still only on the second floor. Naturally, they’re weaklings. No matter how many we gather, the guards we brought along can handle them.
Emelia’s question was more about manners.
I started by creating a wind wall to completely block the path. The Rude tried to charge again, even though it was injured from being repelled by the wall.
“Liel, you can go ahead and shoot at the monsters now. Maybe aim a bit more magic at their feet.”
“Um, but the wall…” she said, looking confused, but then added, “Got it. I’ll shoot.” She cast the only spell she knew, a fireball.
The fireball hit the wall, causing a fiery tornado, engulfing the charging monsters.
“A cooperative spell, huh…” Emelia said, impressed. The guards seemed relieved as well, seeing that the monsters were being defeated without issue.
More and more monsters gathered, only to be burned by our timed cooperative spells, and charred to nothing.
Once their numbers had dwindled to a few, I dismissed the spell and finished them off with fireballs before moving forward.
We advanced smoothly through the third and fourth floors, confirming that everything was going well.
“Licht, didn’t you say this was your first time in a dungeon? Aren’t you scared?”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I’m not scared at all.
I don’t know why… but I just get the feeling that these monsters are way below my level and I don’t have to worry about them.”
That’s right. I just sensed it instinctively, without needing to do anything.
They were such weaklings that there was nothing to worry about.
“But isn’t it the same for you, Emelia?”
“Of course, it is. I’ve been here many times.”
She went on to talk about how she had been coming to dungeons with a guard since childhood.
“Well, enough about me. How far are you planning to go?”
“As far as we can. It’s our first time fighting, but with the magic and knowledge we’ve built up, we can produce plenty of firepower.
I plan to push as far as we can until we’ve fully used that firepower.
That’s why I brought four guards with us, after all.”
These guards are highly capable.
They’re among the mid-level of the elite forces my father commands.
They can easily handle guarding kids. And if anything happens that they can’t handle, they’ll stop us immediately without hesitation.
“Until we come across something that can break through my wind wall, let’s keep going.
Fortunately, thanks to my illness, I don’t run out of magic that easily.”
With that, I got permission from the guards, and we continued deeper into the dungeon.
On the fifth and sixth floors, I used the wind wall to block enemies and then gathered them together.
Relying on the map, we headed straight for the lower levels, defeating monsters as we went.
And so, we finally arrived at the seventh floor.
“Shall we rest for a bit?” I asked the two of them, but they replied that they were still fine. Nevertheless, I insisted on taking a break.
“In times like these, it’s important to conserve enough energy to last until the end. Except in emergencies, of course.”
“…Why do you, a beginner, talk like you’re a seasoned veteran?”
“Because I read it in a book. And besides, I only act on things that I’ve thought through and believe to be true.”
With that, I sat down on the mat and told everyone that we should rest and continue fighting at a sustainable pace, without pushing ourselves too hard. We then began to chat.
“Who would have thought that Lord Licht, who couldn’t even use magic before, has now become such a skilled sorcerer…”
“Your casting speed is excellent, and the power is beyond reproach. As expected from the Grande bloodline.”
“At first, I was a bit worried since you were pressing on without stopping, but your calmness is on par with that of a veteran.”
Father’s guards expressed their admiration as they praised me.
“I studied magic symbols until they were burned into my mind. That desperation paid off. And death was always so close until my illness was cured. Something like this isn’t enough to shake me anymore.”
Yes, in the end, being able to visualize the magical symbols correctly in three dimensions is what’s crucial. Remembering them well enough that they come to mind naturally gives me a significant advantage when casting spells.
Everyone showed expressions of understanding at my explanation.
In truth, I had been practicing and working hard at mastering magic for quite some time. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to learn healing magic, which is notoriously difficult. On top of that, since healing magic isn’t publicly available, I had to create my own spell for it.
The moment I realized my life could be saved, I threw myself into learning healing magic.
I took notes on how to connect the magical symbols and what their effects were, and although I struggled, it didn’t take as much time as I expected. Studying magic for ten years, focused entirely on curing my illness, paid off.
After that, I learned enhancement magic and attack magic, which were faster to learn thanks to the magic books I had.
And lastly, I learned slimming magic.
I mastered that slimming spell right before leaving home. In reality, it had already been more than a year since I gained the ability to control my magic.
I’m glad that everything finally came to fruition…
While thinking about all of that, we continued to chat, mostly centered around Liel, as we took our break. Then, with a “Shall we get started again?” we got back on the move.
“Lord Licht, please refrain from going any deeper. It could become dangerous if something happens.”
This was when we reached the eighth floor.
While we’d been fighting the same way up until now, the guards expressed their concerns that this floor might pose a threat if the formation breaks and monsters swarm us.
“Oh? Are you already calling it quits? So, the ducal house’s guards aren’t as impressive as I thought,” Emelia quipped unnecessarily.
“They’re just ensuring absolute safety without any injuries,” I replied. “I understand. I’ll take it into consideration. However, I will continue testing without summoning monsters for now. If there’s any uncertainty, we’ll retreat to the upper floors. I’ll be thorough in assessing whether it’s safe to gather them or not.”
When I asked, “How does that sound?” they hesitated for a moment before agreeing with “Understood.”
“Are you doing alright, Liel?” I asked, to which she looked up at me with a bright smile and replied, “No problem at all.”
“You seem to be having fun,” I commented, a little puzzled.
“Yes! Even though it’s been so long since I’ve been outside, being with Lord Licht makes it not scary at all.”
“Uh, is a dungeon really considered ‘outside’?”
“It is!” Liel pouted, puffing out her cheeks.
Her voice softened the atmosphere around us, and it felt like we were ready to move on again, but I stopped.
“Oh, it’s already time to set up camp. We’ve stayed pretty late,” I said, looking at my watch.
It was just past 8 PM.
“Hmm, with all the breaks, it feels a little too easy, almost lazy, doesn’t it?”
“That’s the point. Our pace through the floors isn’t bad, right?”
“True, but that’s mainly because of the way we’re doing things.”
Indeed, normally you’d take detours and backtrack repeatedly. But we were just standing still, making noise to lure monsters, and casting spells to draw them in. With all the frequent breaks, there was no way we could feel tired.
As we joked about it, we began unloading the camping gear from the cart. For some reason, even in the dungeon, we had the luxury of tents and bedding. The downside was that there was no room for monster materials. We didn’t even bother collecting magic stones.
Though there was space for magic stones, right now, I only wanted to focus on getting stronger.
Lune prepared our meal, the male guards set up the tents, and we had an unusually comfortable camp—so much so that it almost felt wrong. They even took turns standing watch, making it an incredibly easygoing experience, and we soon fell asleep.
We spent a week under such favorable conditions.
We had descended down to the eleventh floor.
The deep world starts from the twentieth floor, so we were progressing at a rapid pace, but it was stable enough for the guards to allow it.
This was also thanks to Emelia’s strength.
She was as strong as had been rumored.
She stepped in front of the pack she had summoned, asking, “Let me fight for a change,” and showed them a quick defeat.
The guards were left speechless, wondering, “How can someone so young be so strong…?”
With the target to protect reduced from three to two, and with an additional front-line fighter, we concluded that as long as we maneuvered so that enemies only swarmed from one direction, we could handle it without any problems.
“It’s finally half of our planned time. We can still go down further, right?”
Emelia seemed eager, thinking we could reach close to the floor where she would be fighting.
“We’re not going down. You can’t compare your years of combat experience to ours,” I replied.
“Oh right… You are a beginner, aren’t you?”
She slightly grimaced, as if she genuinely forgot.
However, even after remembering, she still seemed restless. It appeared she really wanted to go further down.
“I should mention, I do have a bit of confidence that I could go down lower, you know? But I’m holding back because I don’t want to push the responsibility onto the guards.”
Saying this made me rethink the decision to bring the guards along.
If I were alone, I would likely have descended until I felt a sense of danger.
And if that danger were something that could cost me my life, it would be the end.
“That’s right! Since I came as a guard, I will fulfill my duty this time!”
With that, Emelia seemed to have made up her mind and exhaled. The guards appeared relieved by her demeanor.
In the midst of this, Liel was deep in thought.
“Hmm… I’m starting to want to learn various spells too. Just knowing how to cast a fireball isn’t very useful.”
“Actually, it is quite useful. Our mana is extraordinarily abundant.
And the spells have high firepower. We should be growing at several times the normal rate.”
When I explained this, the guards interjected.
“Not just several times. It’s at least dozens of times.
Because of that, we can’t shake off the doubt of whether this is truly okay.”
“Indeed. It’s unprecedented for a beginner to gather monsters at such a depth. This also serves as proof of how much hardship we’ve endured.”
Hardship, huh… Those born with an excessively high amount of mana have always died.
Furthermore, as excess fat accumulates, the total amount of mana increases. We are already at the point where our lives are in danger due to being overweight, which means we could be beings capable of holding mana up to human limits.
Though having a large amount of mana doesn’t necessarily mean being strong…
“Then don’t stop! This guy will grow even bigger!”
“Oh… I don’t want to get any bigger than this.”
I jokingly responded while patting my stomach at Emelia’s excitement, and laughter erupted from the guards.
“Emelia, it seems fast enough already, so let’s prioritize Licht-sama’s safety?”
“Muu… If it’s about my sister’s safety, I would nod in agreement.”
Even amidst such light banter, the dungeon exploration continued.
After two weeks had passed, we returned to the surface as planned.
To celebrate everyone returning safely to the mansion, we invited Baron Ryan, the captain of the knight order, who had taken care of our house while we were away, along with Karl, the tutor of the steward we had called from our home, to have dinner together.
“Really?! The young lady descended to the fifteenth floor?!”
“Hehe, it was my sister’s magic that blasted the monsters away one after another. It was quite the sight!”
Emelia, who has good relations with the military, proudly shares her sister’s bravery with the captain of the knight order, while Liel blushes with joy at the compliments she’s received.
“It’s all thanks to Lord Licht’s assistance. I could have done it on my own, but he graciously let me take the lead.”
“That’s not what matters. From now on, I’ll be sharing great experiences with you!”
“My great experiences, you say?” Liel responds with a curious expression.
“Yes, first of all, you are skilled at paperwork, comparable to a court scribe. You also excel at lightening the atmosphere among everyone. Your ability to discipline yourself is wonderful too. Since you are a hard worker, I’m sure your knowledge is vast and continues to grow. Plus, simply being able to serve as the head of the household at your age is already impressive!”
He feels he still has more to say but stops midway, thinking it might be too much. Liel, already blushing, looks down in embarrassment.
“You know, you really get it. That’s right! My sister is amazing!”
“Okay, okay, stop! I get it already!”
Liel’s face turns bright red as she becomes flustered, and those around her smile warmly.
As the quiet and leisurely atmosphere continues, accompanied by the sounds of clattering dishes, Karl, the head of those who came to support from their household, speaks up. “Lord Licht, is it true that you will be returning to school?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?” I ask, directing my gaze toward him, who displays a troubled expression.
“No, it’s just… the academy staff does not understand your value at all. There is a possibility that such thoughts might spread…”
“Oh, I see. You’ve done your research, as expected. My father hasn’t said anything because I’ve kept quiet.”
“I understand. You’re worried that my reputation at the Heinfield household might suffer due to the bad rumors.”
Upon hearing this, he bows his head, saying, “I apologize for being rude…”
At that moment, Liel stands up energetically.
“That’s impossible! Lord Licht is a great benefactor of our family and will be my husband!”
“Yeah, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m a man too. If it comes to it, I’ll make sure to crush any harm that extends to Liel as well. I won’t hold back, so rest assured.”
To reassure him, I give a slightly haughty smile, and he looks moved, saying, “Oh… finally, you stand tall. If that’s the case, I have no concerns at all.”
Since I had been helping out during busy times at the duke’s household, I had worked alongside Karl multiple times. He knows that if I truly act, I can bring down the noble society’s rules.
“In that case, I will help as well.”
“No, no, let the men take the lead in times like these. I want to look good in front of you.”
“W-Well…” Liel stutters, pressing her cheeks as she becomes flustered.
“However, if I return to school after completely losing weight, it would be too late, so I need to head out fairly soon. I might end up causing a lot of boredom, but will you forgive me?”
Yes. It’s a weight-loss spell, but I realized that trying to lose weight too quickly due to insufficient verification would put too much strain on me, so I decided to take it slowly.
I’ll probably reach a standard body shape in a few months, but that won’t be in time for the new semester.
It’s acceptable to have taken sick leave during the first year, but I want to be there from the start in the second year.
Moreover, if I’m going to crush those who harbor ill intentions, it’s better for them to underestimate me.
I feel sorry for Liel, but I want to keep her on guard.
If she loses weight and becomes as beautiful as Emelia, there will be those who try to take my place.
After all, I’m the one who was supposed to be her fiancé, so they would tell her to back off.
It’s actually convenient to let those kinds of people direct their malice at me for now.
Well, the fact that I can even say something like that is shameless, so they might still say something.
“You forgive me…? I will do my best to be of help to you too.”
“Thank you. I’ll work hard so that I can continue standing by your side.”
With that, our conversation came to a close, and we began discussing matters with Captain Ryan.
We inquired in detail about the situation of the army, requests from the military, and whether there really were any issues.
As it turned out, some quite concerning matters came to light—namely, the deterioration of weapons, armor, and camping gear.
They mentioned that they were even replacing the worst of them with their own salaries.
Deteriorating equipment can be fatal. Their lives are just as precious as the country’s treasures.
We needed to act quickly, so I obtained permission from Liel to conduct a large-scale refurbishment.
“Hahaha, as expected of the one the young lady has recognized! We must get ourselves together as well!”
“Hey, come on, don’t be reckless. I can’t let the strongest sword that protects my fiancé break.”
“The strongest, you say! In that case, it won’t break at all!” laughed the captain heartily.
After finishing such lighthearted banter, I left with Liel and started preparing the paperwork for the army’s equipment refurbishment.
I gathered people, combed through the supplied items, created a list of necessary things, and outlined a rough budget before planning to approach well-known blacksmiths.
It would probably take a few months. Though I thought I should have realized it sooner, I continued with the tedious work late into the night.
