Vol. 3 - Chapter 22 - Chance meeting with fellow comrades
Apparently, the entrance for the Kurikala dungeon was inside that structure.
The so-called Kurikala was one of the existing ancient ruins in the world, a dungeon where it was unclear who created it, when, and for what purpose.
It was an unknown historical ruin that had made countless archeologists drool over it. But the environment inside was said to be very steep, and the only place that had been explored was the 50th floor underground.
Personally, I think it would be a good idea to try and see how far I could go underground. If teleportation was available within the dungeon, I could simply dive down steadily after the class was over.
While showing my card to the Adventurer\'s Guild staff at the entrance of the dome-shaped stone building, I went inside. There was a single road lined with stalls at both ends.
"Woah!"
Teresa shouted in joy, her eyes gleaming with fire. Meanwhile, Pluto, Mia, and Cliff looked at the surroundings in disinterest. Only Eight took it seriously.
Really, no matter what, these guys never failed to betray me.
"I have something to tell you."
I turned around and looked at Pluto, Mia, and Cliff.
"Wh, what is it?" Pluto asked hesitantly.
"From here on, the road you have to take will not be easy. Rather, there will be far more hardship."
"We understand that much."
I shrugged my shoulders as Pluto kicked the ground in frustration.
"In that case, enjoy the moment to your heart\'s content. Those who can\'t enjoy the present moment of their lives will just end up feeling dissatisfied no matter where they go. And they will grow old in misery without accomplishing anything."
"……"
All three faces looked like they had chewed a bitter bug. Maybe, they might not understand even 10% of what I said, but that much was enough. This is not something that can be understood so easily. You just have to realize it slowly and steadily. It was because they were given time to do so.
"Well then, let\'s go," I only said that and started walking.
"So this is the entrance to the dungeon."
The entrance wasn\'t even wide enough for one person to pass through, and honestly, I couldn\'t see it as anything but a dirty small wayside shrine.
I had expected it to look more grandiose, like in games. So I was disappointed with this limestone cave-like appearance.
Anyway, we should go in.
"Oh, this is amazing."
Although the entrance looked like a limestone cavern, we soon found ourselves in a space surrounded by blue stones five to six meters wide and tall. I see, indeed, this was a dungeon. Exactly what I\'d imagined in the beginning. Now, let\'s start hunting the Almi\'raj that must be living here.
"Okay, let\'s go there."
Mia and Pluto used the magic [Wind Cutter] to push the Almi\'raj to the location where they\'d set a trap.
"Kiki?"
The Almi\'raj finally treaded on the [Reinforced Water Bond] that Cliff had attached to the floor. When it was unable to move, Teresa, who had her body strengthened with [Body Reinforcement] magic, struck it on the head with her right fist. Its neck snapped in the wrong direction.
"Hii!"
Watching the Almi\'raj\'s spectacular ending, Eight fell on his backside. His face staring at the Almi\'raj\'s corpse was ghastly pale, blood drawn out.
That was surprising. In this world, monsters\' existence was nothing more than harmful animals. People didn\'t feel disgusted by their deaths. If they felt anything at all, it was that they thought the monsters were delicious. That was the extent of it.
The young boy, Eight, looked a bit, no, considerably out of this world. I guessed I needed to talk a bit with him. Anyway, with this, we had acquired the eight pieces of Almi\'raj. Mission complete.
"Now that the quest is cleared, let\'s head back."
"What? Is it already the time?"
"Just when I was finally able to warm up my body."
"I want to fight a little more."
"You really are a selfish teacher."
The change was so quick, it was hard to believe that they were the same people who were booing down earlier.
"We are going back."
I thought of going to practice in fieldwork after some desk work with a minimum of magic and science. If I didn\'t do that, at least the current Eight would be in peril. Nonetheless, there were two reasons why I decided to take on a practical quest this time.
The first was to understand the quest system of the Guild, taking it as a standard and planning for future training. However, if that was all I wanted to do, I could do it on my own. Therefore, this was just a supplementary purpose.
The main reason I brought along the students was to try the effect of [Legendary Teacher]. In other words, I was thinking if they cleared the Guild\'s quest, would it affect the [clear reward] and activate the title?
As long as I\'d achieved my goal, there was no point in risking my life to train here any longer. I wasn\'t foolish enough to force myself to do something I couldn\'t do beyond my current capabilities.
While getting showered by the students\' complaints behind my back, I teleported back to the Adventurer\'s Guild.
"Eight Almi\'raj, I see. We have confirmed that the quest has been cleared. This will be your certificate and 800G."
I received the 800 gold and a parchment stamped with the Guild\'s seal from the receptionist, who still wore a frightened expression on her face.
"Bingo."
I snapped my fingers at the message that appeared on the right side of my vision.
"What?"
The female receptionist\'s eyes became a dot size at my sudden eccentric behaviour. No no, it reeked a bit like an old man.
I promptly checked the message.
―――――――――――――――― [Legendary Teacher] has been activated.
You have acquired the following skills.
Mission assignment: The teacher can give missions to students. Clear reward: clearing the mission will grant you benefits. The acquired rewards will vary depending on the difficulty of the mission. ――――――――――――――
Scrolling with my finger, I found more to come.
―――――――――――――――― Mission name: Almi’raj hunting ― clear! Clear reward: Slightly improved one of the statuses. Rank G ――――――――――――――
I see. Apparently, by clearing this mission, the students\' status would be slightly increased.
I tried to check Pluto\'s status, and his physical strength had increased from G - (33%) to G - (84%). The same thing happened to the other students.
As long as someone was my student, it was inevitable to acquire more strength. This was a pretty convenient ability.
For now, it would be best to take the Guild\'s low-rank routine quests in parallel with my magic lessons.
"Why do you look so happy?" Mia asked, peering through my mask.
"Well, it\'s because I saw the roadmap," I simply replied.
The only thing left was to teach and train them.
I started to walk towards the exit to leave the guild hall, but several people entered the hall. Some of them were people I knew well.
"Yo-, it\'s been a long time, no?"
A red-haired man with a stubble beard and senpaku eyes looked at me and raised his right hand.
"Huh? Caesar and Sylphy, what are you guys doing here?"
Behind them were a dozen or so children. Three of them were related to me. I had seen all of the others when taking the exams for Magic Knight Academy.
This was Straheim, a place that was considerably far from the imperial capital.
In other words—
"Hey, Sylphy!"
Sylphy raised her right hand, waving in the air and letting out words of protest, "You are wrong. It was Caesar who used teleportation, not me. That\'s also probably Lord\'s fault."
She said such a ridiculous thing.
I promptly appraised Caesar but—
"Seriously?"
―――――――――――――――― Caesar Carlos Status HP: A- (12/100%) MP: E- (34/100%) Strength: A- (55/100%) Endurance: B + (5/100%) Magic: E (65/100%) Magical endurance: B- (78/100%) Agility: A- (4/100%) Luck: E- (8/100%) Drop: D- (1/100%) Wisdom: C (19/100%) Growth rate: A (99/100%)
Title: Comrades of ―――― [Awakened - Brave] ――――――――――――――――
Not only my titles, but he had also even acquired [Awakened] and stepped into the territory of inhuman.
When had this Caesar guy stopped being a human?
"There is a lot I want to talk about. But for now, that\'s what it is."
"No no, I completely didn\'t understand."
I once again turn my gaze towards the people at the back.
Stella turned to look away in displeasure while Aria scratched her cheek awkwardly. And then, next to Stella was a girl with long, golden hair who was observing me nervously.
She was my sister, Aqua Millard.
[Woah, isn\'t she quite a beauty?]
Useless Mura shouted.
You know, she was still a minor. This sword really was immoral.
"Aqua, and even Stella!"
Behind me, Cliff shouted like a cracking bell.
"Sorry, Nii-sama, I definitely didn\'t want to lose," my sister Aqua said, turning to look at Cliff with a determined gaze.
"That\'s right. We aren\'t going to lose to you guys," the young boy with burning red hair proclaimed, glaring at Cliff and the others who didn\'t even bother about them.
"Alan, Ronald—"
Mia was about to rush over to the two boys, but Ronald stopped her with his right hand.
"I\'m sorry, Mia, but we have a reason why we definitely can\'t lose to you guys. Let\'s go, teachers!" He urged Caesar and Sylphy and proceeded to the guild counter.
"Well, I will tell you the circumstances gradually."
Caesar raised his right hand again and led the students to the counter.
"I\'m sorry, my Lord, but I can\'t compromise this time either."
Sylphy also slightly bowed her head and sprinted to the counter.
Hmm? That bird, where did I...
I had a strange deja-vu looking at the black bird on Caesar\'s right shoulder. Just looking at it gave me the impulse to rush and defeat it. And what was this unpleasant feeling? I shook my head to force myself to bite down the sick feeling that made me want to vomit.
Anyway, because Stella and Aqua were there, I guessed this was Class S. It meant Caesar and Sylphy were in charge of that class? This had become even more confusing. Well, whatever. There was no particular disadvantage for me just because the two of them became the homeroom teachers of Class S.
"Let\'s go."
Cliff grabbed my sleeve with a tearful face, pointing his finger at the boys and girls at the counter. He said, "What\'s all of this about? Not to mention Aqua, Stella was a maid in my house, so how?"
"Who knows? Whoever they are, it doesn\'t change what we do."
I shoved Cliff aside with these words and walked towards the vacant lot behind Sagami Co.