I could answer Joy’s questions about where this place was.

 

What kind of place it was, what kind of monsters appeared, what level to enter, and how to do it.

 

But all of that was meaningless right now.

 

What’s the use of knowing the monsters?

 

You can’t defeat them.

 

And what’s the use of knowing the dungeon strategy?

 

You can’t put it into practice.

 

What we needed right now wasn’t a useless game of knowledge.

 

I knelt down across from Joy and lifted her chin with my finger.

 

Joy looked like a villainess who had been betrayed and humiliated, even with her tears in her eyes.

 

Her appearance was a curse comparable to the Mesugaki skill.

 

‘Don’t be scared.’

 

“Foolish Young Lady, are you scared? You were so confident just a moment ago.”

 

“But.”

 

“Don’t worry, no matter how sloppy you are, I’m here for you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

‘We’ll be able to get out okay!’

 

“I’ll do my best in place of the cowardly, cry-baby, and sloppy young lady. We’ll go back.”

 

Today, I was grateful for the Mesugaki’s overly confident attitude.

 

It made my baseless confidence seem like there was something to believe in.

 

Joy, who had been quietly listening to me, had already stopped crying.

 

I got up again and reached out to Joy.

 

“Let’s go, cry-baby young lady. You’re not going to cry yourself to death here, are you?”

 

“Who’s the cry-baby young lady?!”

 

That should be fine.

 

First, we have to find Jacob.

 

This dungeon is one that even I can’t muster the courage to conquer, and there’s no way Jacob, who’s so weak, can survive here alone.

 

If I leave him alone, he’ll definitely be captured by a monster and die a violent death.

 

And if Jacob dies, the responsibility will absolutely fall on me.

 

It’s all my fault that Agra intervened in this dungeon.

 

I don’t have the confidence I could accept a death which was indirectly my fault.

 

I suffered for days after killing a single monster, and I’m still affected by it.

 

How long would I have to be depressed?

 

I don’t want that.

 

Jacob fell from a similar location to us, so he must have landed somewhere around here.

 

I don’t know the exact location, but I hope he’s unconscious.

 

If he’s lying in the rubble, Argos won’t be able to find him.

 

While Joy stood up, holding my hand, and dusted herself off, I looked around the room, looking for something that could help me identify the location.

 

If this is ‘Where the Alchemist Stayed’,  there should definitely be a sign that can identify the location.

 

Here it is.

 

It’s buried in the rubble.

 

Let’s see.

 

If it’s A-01, it’s near the entrance to this dungeon.

 

After checking the text on the sign, I mentally drew a map of the dungeon and our location.

 

Did we avoid the worst?

 

The entrance to this dungeon doesn’t have many monster encounters.

 

If you move well, you might be able to avoid fighting monsters and make it to the safe area.

 

‘Grandpa, how far can you detect the presence of monsters like you did just now?’

 

<I can’t tell you how far right now. It’s probably the distance from where you’re standing to that door.>

 

So that means you can detect monsters approaching from a radius of about 5 meters?

 

This isn’t a feature that’s expressed in the game, but it’s a feature that Grandpa in reality came with?

 

Who knows?

 

Anyway, if I can use it, that’s enough.

 

I’ve memorized exactly where each monster is in this dungeon and how they move.

 

If I combine that with Grandpa’s radar ability, I might be able to avoid all the battles that occur in the dungeon.

 

“Let’s move.”

 

“Okay.”

 

The two of us looked around the rooms around us while paying attention to locomotor skills.

 

<There’s a monster right around the corner.>

 

“Stop, there’s a disgusting monster ahead. Wait here for 12 seconds and then move forward.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Thanks to the trust we built while clearing the entrance exam dungeon, Joy didn’t doubt at all that I was leading the way and giving orders.

 

It was fortunate.

 

If she didn’t trust me and asked for an explanation, things would have been a hassle.

 

How many rooms did we search?

 

A commotion was heard from somewhere.

 

The sound of something clashing with metal.

 

A man’s voice, thick and sullen.

 

And Argos’s cries.

 

I can guess what’s going on.

 

Jacob must have met and fought Argos after opening his eyes.

 

He won’t be able to last long against Argos.

 

There’s no way a guy who couldn’t even overpower the golem he met during the entrance exam could deal with the monsters in the upper dungeon.

 

We have to go help him quickly.

 

We quickly moved our bodies and soon found Jacob fighting Argos.

 

Jacob wasn’t in a normal state.

 

A left arm bent in a strange direction.

 

A leg that seemed to have difficulty standing.

 

Eyes filled with despair as they sensed death.

 

Anyone could tell that they were not in a condition to endure for long.

 

“Can you use flash magic?”

 

“Yes, I can.”

 

“Get ready right away and use it when I give you the signal. Be careful not to open your eyes like an idiot and get hit by your own flash!”

 

I told Joy to prepare her magic and then jumped inside.

 

Argos swung his weapon at Jacob as if he didn’t care about intruders, but I didn’t allow him.

 

“You idiot with too many eyes. Can’t notice the people behind you? If that’s the case, why don’t you just pluck out all your shabby eyeballs?”

 

The countless eyes embedded in Argos’ body turned to me.

 

Alright.

 

I drew the aggro.

 

“You brat! Are you okay?!”

 

“Young Lady.”

 

It seemed like he had the presence of mind to answer.

 

That’s fortunate.

 

It’s not too late.

 

As soon as I shouted at Jacob, Argos ran towards me.

 

Damn it.

 

That idiot with so many eyes moves so damn fast.

 

Argos’ fist, which must have been twice as big as my head, swung.

 

Iron Wall shouted, put up your shield!

 

My body, which had raised its shield proficiency to its limit, followed Iron Wall’s instructions as if it were a given, and the shield successfully blocked Argos’ attack perfectly.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Blocking it didn’t mean it countered the attack.

 

My arm holding the shield shook.

 

My legs, which were enduring the impact, were losing all their strength.

 

I gritted my teeth and held on, but I could feel myself gradually being pushed back.

 

If we continue this standoff, I will definitely lose to Argos.

 

If we continue this standoff.

 

“Idiot!”

 

“Light!”

 

Argos is a flawed monster that can’t see ahead properly because it has so many eyes, but in any case, all of the countless eyes embedded in its body are functioning properly.

 

So, what would happen if those countless eyes were pierced by the light?

 

This is the method used when playing Soul Academy as a game.

 

Not only was Argos less resistant to flashes than the others, but his stun time was also longer than other monsters.

 

The moment Argos, who was hit by the flash, stumbled backwards, I ran towards Jacob.

 

Since this guy, whose legs were shaking so much that he could barely stand, couldn’t possibly run, I had to lift him up to save him.

 

‘Jacob it’ll hurt, but bear with it!’

 

“You little brat it’ll hurt, but don’t scream like a slacker!”

 

“Huh?!”

 

Without waiting for his answer, I carried him on my shoulder in a fireman carry and ran towards Joy.

 

“You idiot! Run as fast as you can with your slacker legs!”

 

When Karl, who had rushed to the academy after receiving the call, saw the priests praying at the entrance.

 

“Karl, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

 

Anton, a combat science professor who had been watching the rite near the entrance, greeted Karl lightly.

 

Karl did not accept the greeting.

 

Instead, he walked up to Anton and made a fierce voice as if he was going to bite him at any moment.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Agra intervened in the academy’s dungeon. Because of that, the entrance was blocked, and we couldn’t observe the inside or make any contact. We urgently called a priest and started…”

 

Agra.

 

The moment he heard that word, Karl realized why this had happened.

 

He had visited the church in the Allen territory with Lucy before, and he knew what Lucy had done.

 

So, the reason Agra intervened in the dungeon now must have been to target the young lady.

 

Damn it!

 

“How long do you think it will take?”

 

“The priest said it would take about an hour.”

 

“An hour?!”

 

An hour was not quick enough right now.

 

There was no telling what would happen inside that dungeon.

 

Miss Lucy might be in danger of dying right now.

 

And you want me to wait an hour?!

 

“Karl, we’re doing our best. You know that Soul Academy isn’t a place that just watches the worst.”

 

Having attended and graduated from Soul Academy, Karl knew that this place wasn’t full of incompetent people.

 

There was a reason why Soul Academy was still considered the best even after it was established among many other academies.

 

Even though he knew that, Karl had a hard time controlling the emotions welling up inside him.

 

He couldn’t do anything but wait when he didn’t know what would happen to the lady he had pledged his life to.

 

What an incompetent knight!

 

Karl took a step back from Anton and quietly looked at the dungeon that the priests were working on before lowering his gaze.

 

Then he looked at the oath symbol engraved on the back of his hand and prayed to Armadi.

 

Please, my master, be safe until I get there.

 

…

 

After running desperately, I finally reached the place where Argos appeared the least frequently, and I stopped running and put Jacob on the ground.

 

<It looks like he just got punched multiple times by that monster. He’s not in good shape.>

 

‘Can Armadi’s mercy heal him?’

 

<It’s possible.>

 

After getting a definite answer from Grandpa, I approached Jacob.

 

Then I put my hand on his heart and prayed to Armadi.

 

Hoping that this guy would be okay again.

 

The moment I had that thought, the magic power drained from my body and Jacob’s wounds slowly began to heal.

 

“What the heck?”

 

Jacob staggered up as if he was amazed at how his body had suddenly become healthy and moved his body.

 

He wasn’t completely healed, but he still seemed to be able to move without any problems.

 

Alright.

 

With this, I’ve achieved my goal of rescuing Jacob.

 

Now, all I have to do is hold out until Soul Academy’s rescue arrives.

 

That shouldn’t be that hard.

 

Because I can combine my knowledge and grandpa’s skills to avoid fights as much as possible.

 

Even if something goes wrong, I can just run away with Joy’s flash magic.

 

The problem is how long it will take for Soul Academy to come to rescue us…

 

Let’s not worry about that.

 

They’ll come to rescue us eventually.

 

It’s better to believe that.

 

It’s okay.

 

There won’t be any problems.

 

We’ll be able to get out of this dungeon just fine.

 

<Girl the monster is approaching again.>

 

‘Understood, Grandpa.’

 

So, for now, let’s just worry about surviving.