Chapter 17: Chapter 17. A Taste of the Dungeon (2)

“Of course.”

Apparently, Klein intended to leave the detailed explanation to me as well.

“If that fence weren’t there, the goblins could come over here whenever they pleased.”

“Correct.”

“But if I were a goblin, I wouldn’t simply attack head-on. Instead…”

I raised a hand and pointed at the stalagmites rising from the floor.

“I’d hide behind features of the terrain like those. Then I’d wait for the right moment to ambush anyone passing by. Against students with no real combat experience, it would be easy to pull off a surprise attack.”

Another murmur ran through the group.

“Certainly. But that wouldn’t be enough to wipe you out. Your resistance might prove stronger than expected, leaving them open to a counterattack.”

“Yes, that’s possible.”

There might be someone as skilled as Kane or Senia among the group, after all.

“What would the goblins do then?”

“Run away immediately. Then hide again and wait for another opportunity.”

There were plenty of hiding places in this limestone cavern.

And since the area was so dark, goblins, with their excellent night vision, had a considerable advantage.

“We’d stumble around in the dark trying to find the hidden goblins. And while we were leaving ourselves exposed… they’d ambush us again.”

“Experienced dungeon explorers might manage, but new students wouldn’t be able to respond properly.”

“Yes. If that kept happening… we’d be wiped out while floundering around.”

Even someone as skilled as Kane or Senia wouldn’t stand a chance once the other students were all dead and they were surrounded by dozens of goblins.

In the end… we’d all be wiped out.

“Exactly. You would lose your game of hide-and-seek with the goblins and be wiped out.”

Exclamations of understanding rose here and there.

The other students had finally caught on.

“Hide-and-seek was a very apt comparison, Eriol Valencia.”

“I didn’t come up with it. I read it in a book.”

“Did you? In any case, you explained it well.”

Klein nodded and smiled.

“As Eriol said, this sort of hide-and-seek is extremely important in dungeon exploration. Monsters are constantly watching for a chance to hunt you down. And their daily struggle for survival in the dungeon has made them veterans of hide-and-seek.”

“…”

“And what about us? We’re frail mages who normally sit in our rooms poring over books. However much experience we gain from repeated trips into the dungeon, we’re bound to fall short of monsters that fight for survival here twenty-four hours a day.”

That was true.

Ordinary mages couldn’t hope to match a monster’s senses.

But…

“But we are mages.”

The moment Klein raised a single finger as he spoke…

The darkness around us became as bright as day.

“However well monsters hide, the right magic will let us find them all.”

“Wow…!”

“I’ve lit up the area to give you a visual demonstration. In practice, there’s no need to do even this. There are countless spells that reveal an enemy’s location without illuminating your surroundings.”

Klein pointed toward the fence.

“I’m already aware of the dozen or so goblins beyond that fence, watching us without making a sound. Of course, they haven’t the faintest idea that I know where they are.”

“…!”

The students shrank back.

Hearing that there really were goblins nearby, even if we couldn’t see them, had frightened them.

“There’s no need to be afraid. The goblins cannot get over here.”

“B-but Professor, surely the fence isn’t foolproof?”

“Of course it isn’t. That’s why we’ve reinforced it with magic. The goblins could strike it thousands of times without leaving a scratch.”

“Oh…!”

Cries of admiration rose here and there.

Watching them, Klein chuckled.

“You’re all much more responsive than usual. And unlike during lectures, no one’s nodding off.”

“Ahaha…”

Naturally.

Plenty of boys and girls dreamed of underground dungeons thanks to adventure novels and the like.

Even those who hadn’t been particularly interested were bound to get excited once they actually entered one.

“We humans inevitably start out as novices in the dungeon. To monsters accustomed to living here, we must look like very easy prey. But with the proper use of magic, they become our prey instead. Understood?”

“Yes!”

“If you’d like to hear more, come knocking on the Lore Department’s door sometime. I’m sure the assistants will be happy to help outstanding students from the top class.”

The assistants smiled wryly at Klein’s smooth pitch.

“Now, on to the next area…”

“Professor.”

I raised my hand.

“May I mention one thing?”

“What is it? Do you have a question?”

“No, it’s something else…”

I pointed at the fence where he had said the goblins were hiding.

“There seems to be something wrong with the fence. I think you should inspect it right away.”

“What?”

Klein looked startled.

---

Something was wrong with the fence.

Hearing that, Klein felt a twinge of annoyance.

The Lore Department had installed the facilities in this area.

Which made Eriol’s remark practically an insult to the department.

“I’m not sure what you mean by something being wrong with the fence, Eriol Valencia.”

Suppressing his annoyance, Klein spoke calmly.

“As I just explained, that fence is magically reinforced. Even something ten times stronger than a goblin could strike it without leaving a scratch. We inspect it every year, too.”

This was Eriol Valencia he was speaking to.

He needed to be as gentle as possible.

“What exactly do you think is wrong with it?”

“It seems to be rusting.”

“Rusting? Did you just say rusting?”

Klein was dumbfounded.

“Eriol, that is quite impossible.”

“Is it?”

“This is a very wet area. Naturally, we took measures to prevent corrosion. We used corrosion-resistant materials made by the Fabrication Department. There is absolutely no chance of that fence rusting.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you should say ‘absolutely.’”

“What?”

“I’d appreciate it if you could take a look.”

“…”

Had it been any other student, Klein would have snapped, “Don’t talk nonsense,” and ignored them.

But this was Eriol Valencia.

He was determined to recruit the boy. He couldn’t afford to be so dismissive.

Besides…

He doesn’t strike me as someone who would say this without any basis.

The talent Eriol had shown so far.

That was what swayed Klein.

“Very well. I’ll take a look.”

Leaving the students with his assistants, Klein used levitation magic.

He floated over the pools of water toward the fence.

It looks perfectly fine on the surface…

Of course, only an amateur would rely on eyesight alone.

Klein used magic to examine the fence thoroughly.

The corrosion-prevention magic is still holding. It can’t possibly rust.

No matter how closely he looked, he couldn’t find anything wrong.

Had Eriol been mistaken?

Feeling a little disappointed, Klein was about to stop using his magic.

“…?!”

But at that very moment…

Something felt wrong.

Anchor bolts secured the fence firmly to the walls and floor.

Yet from an anchor bolt embedded in the wall on the right… he could sense no corrosion-prevention magic.

It can’t be…!

Only then did Klein understand everything.

---

After examining the fence for about three minutes, Klein used levitation magic to return to us.

He immediately called over an assistant.

“You. Go to the Fabrication Department and fetch Assistant Professor Hateon.”

“Pardon?”

“Now!”

“Y-yes, Professor.”

The assistant hurried back the way we had come.

The startled students stared wide-eyed.

“Eriol, you were right.”

Klein pushed back his blond hair and let out a long sigh.

“The corrosion-prevention magic wasn’t covering one of the anchor bolts. It seems a defective item slipped into the materials supplied by the Fabrication Department.”

“I see.”

“Moisture has seeped in, and it’s already quite rusted. If several goblins hung on the fence and pulled, the corroded section could break and damage the fence.”

“It would have been dangerous if the goblins had waited until no one was around and broken through.”

“Yes. Thanks to you, we’ve prevented an accident.”

Our conversation set the other students murmuring again.

“So Eriol was right?”

“How did he know?”

“That’s amazing.”

As though speaking for everyone, Klein turned to me and asked,

“Eriol, how did you realize the corrosion-prevention magic wasn’t working there?”

“I didn’t know that much myself.”

“What?”

I couldn’t tell whether corrosion-prevention magic was working or not.

I didn’t even really know what that magic was.

“I simply sensed the density of the elements.”

“The density of the elements?”

“Yes. The water elements seemed to be gathering around one particular part of the fence.”

“…!”

Klein caught his breath.

“I could barely sense any water elements along the rest of the fence. But I could sense them clearly around the part fixed to the wall on the right. The other elements seemed to be reacting strangely there, too.”

“You sensed that?”

“Yes, though only faintly.”

In truth, I hadn’t sensed it faintly. I’d seen it with my own eyes.

Perhaps because of the corrosion-prevention magic, hardly any water elements clung to the rest of the fence.

But I could see a great many attached to the part fixed to the right-hand wall.

The other elements were reacting strangely only in that spot, too, which let me guess that the water elements clinging there were causing corrosion.

“So I thought something might have gone wrong with that particular spot and allowed it to rust.”

“No, wait…”

Klein looked utterly bewildered.

“You sensed the density of water elements in that much detail? From so far away?”

“Yes.”

“Unbelievable…”

Muttering to himself, Klein clutched his head.

“Could he have an exceptional talent for elemental magic? I did hear he made an enormous sphere of flame during practical lessons, but if he’s this gifted, the Elemental Department will…”

“Professor?”

“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

Klein stopped muttering, cleared his throat, and looked at me.

“In any case, thank you, Eriol. Your keen senses have allowed us to prevent an accident.”

“It was nothing, Professor.”

“You really are… an outstanding student.”

For some reason, his eyes were blazing as he said it.

---

“Well done, everyone. We plan to hold more events like this in the future, and I hope you’ll all join us again.”

“Thank you!”

After touring other areas as well as the limestone cavern, we left Labyrinthos as evening approached.

“Today was really fun.”

Kane stretched beside me.

“To think there were grasslands like that beyond the limestone cavern. Incredible.”

“I thought the lava zone was amazing. Though we only had a quick look.”

“I wanted to see more.”

Kane and Senia seemed completely captivated by the sights inside the dungeon.

“It was nice getting to see so many kinds of monsters, too.”

“Though we couldn’t get close. Ah, I can’t wait to fight a monster myself. Maybe I should just go in on my own?”

“N-no, Kane. You’ll be punished if you go in without permission.”

“Hmm… True, but still.”

“Besides, we aren’t ready yet. We should learn more magic before going in.”

Listening to their conversation, I sank into thought.

Fighting monsters…

Kane and Senia had already trained in martial arts. They could probably handle a few goblins without magic.

But in my case… if goblins ambushed me from hiding, I’d be helpless.

I could probably detect an ambush by watching the flow of elements, but I have no way to fight back.

Then an idea occurred to me.

Wait. Why don’t I practice offensive magic?

As it happened, I had already succeeded in creating a sphere of flame during practical lessons.

And… a very large sphere of flame at that.

“Eriol Valencia.”

Klein approached through the dispersing students.

“As a professor of the Lore Department, I’d like to show my appreciation for your pointing out the corrosion in the fence today.”

“Oh, there’s no need.”

I tried to decline, but Klein shook his head.

“I can’t allow that. A mage’s achievements should always be properly rewarded. Even if that mage is a student.”

“…”

In that case, he could just give me a book voucher or something.

“Well then, Eriol. Since it’s dinnertime, let’s have a meal first. While we eat, we can also discuss your future…”

Klein laid a hand on my shoulder as though determined not to let me escape, speaking in a coaxing voice.

Just then, a strange sound came from somewhere.

“W-what’s that?”

“It’s not a carriage… Oh!”

A four-wheeled vehicle approached with a rumble.

It was the magical automobile made by the Fabrication Department.

“Professor Kaisel…!”

Every student’s gaze was drawn to the handsome man who had appeared at the dungeon entrance, driving a black automobile.

Kaisel slowed as he approached and brought the vehicle to a stop in front of us.

Then he looked at me…

“Get in.”

He tossed out the brief command.