On their way down to the dungeon for a test.

Yuria and Michail, who were teamed up in pairs, advanced ahead, illuminating the dark dungeon with magic.

Walls covered in moss and showing traces of battles created an eerie feeling.

Though the professor had mentioned that safety officers were positioned throughout the dungeon, the sheer weight and presence of such a place couldn’t be easily shrugged off.

Feeling a chill, Yuria wrapped her arms around herself as she ventured deeper.

This test differed from the usual ones, focusing more on practical skills.

Points were scored by placing monster parts like orc ears into orb-shaped artifacts that had been provided in advance. The more monsters, especially higher-grade ones, that were defeated and collected, the higher the score.

Lower-level monsters like skeletons that anyone could hunt were targeted by many students; however, they were not worth many points. So Michail and I were heading deeper into the dungeon to hunt more challenging monsters.

Yuria showed Michail the artifact in her hand, asking,

“Did you make sure to bring the artifact?”
“Yeah, it’s safely tucked in my pocket.”

Michail nodded.

The orb-shaped artifact played a significant role.

It was also an emergency communication device to call safety officers, not just for scoring.

It had to be kept safe.

Aiming to be at the top of their year, Michail and Yuria descended deeper into the dungeon.

As they descended the stairs that led further down…

Michail quietly spoke up.

“Yuria.”
“Hm?”

Michail hesitated for a moment.

Pondering over what to say, Michail seemed troubled before opening his mouth.

He had looked unhappy for the last week. Could it be related to that…

Yuria felt slightly worried about what Michail might say.

Making the ‘Light’ spell they’d been using to illuminate their path even brighter, Michail spoke.

“Actually, I met Ricardo a week ago.”
“Huh?”

Yuria stopped in her tracks.

A familiar name came out of Michail’s mouth.

A name he never talked about.

A name that he wouldn’t dare mention casually at the Royal Academy was now being spoken by Michail himself.

Yuria looked at Michail surprisedly, but his expression showed no significant change. As Michail nonchalantly continued to descend, Yuria asked again,

“You met Ricardo?”

Michail nodded.

“Yeah, I bumped into him on a morning walk.”
“On a walk?”
“Yeah, he was in an alley, causing trouble for some people who live in the slums.”
“Alley…?”

At the mention of an alley, Yuria stopped moving.

Drip. A drop of water accumulated from the ceiling fell on her face, but Yuria was too lost in thought to be startled.

‘He said alley, didn’t he?’

The alley…

Could he be referring to that place where she had almost been dragged away by a vagrant?

A weird thought crossed her mind.

Could Ricardo have been in that alley because of her? It was a ludicrous thought, but…

Yuria could feel her heart racing foolishly.

‘Why am I feeling like this?’

She clutched her chest where her heart was pounding—a dungeon that was usually cool suddenly felt unbearably warm.

‘It can’t be, right?’

Michail broke Yuria’s reverie with a deep sigh.

“He’s still the same, that guy.”

Michail with his look of disgust.
His dislike for Ricardo was palpable.

“Still as brutal and cruel as a mad dog, like he used to be.”
“Is that so?”

Michail’s words didn’t really register.

Her mind was filled with the illusion of ‘maybe…’

Despite her aversion to Ricardo…

For some reason, her face would flush when she thought of him.

Though she was sure to get angry and say spiteful things the next time they met. The thoughts of him and what had happened were driving her crazy.

Like when Ricardo rescued her in the woods.

-Close your eyes.

Or the help she received on the streets.

-Don’t breathe, the air’s polluted.

Those moments kept haunting her mind.

Even though she still hated him.

Without reason, he tormented her.
He was always there whenever trouble arose.
He even locked her in the closet and harassed her. But still, she found herself thinking of him.

Michail glanced at Yuria again and said,

“Yuria, your face is red. Are you ill?”
“Ah… No! I’m fine.”

Yuria fanned her face, trying to cool off the heat.

‘I must be going crazy…’

A brief silence followed.

The uneasy topic of Ricardo blanketed their conversation, both reacting awkwardly.

Then Michail asked her,

“What do you think about Ricardo?”

It was a weird question coming from Michail.

“Me?”

Startled, she looked at Michail, but his earnest eyes stayed put, waiting for an answer.

Yuria spoke to Michail without hesitation.

Although Yuria felt disgusted, she still disliked Ricardo after all. Despite being grateful to him, the resentment from what had happened at the Royal Academy lingered deep within her.

The feeling of being tormented by someone she trusted was indescribable.

With an awkward smile, she said to Michail,

“I hate him so much. More than anyone in the world.”
“That’s good to hear.”

Michail’s tense expression relaxed.

*

They continued walking towards the depths of the dungeon.
Skeletons and ghouls.
They encountered monsters like the undead but were able to dispose of them easily since the monsters were a favorable match for them.

The artifact that kept score began beeping, indicating their points were rising. they had racked up a high score worthy of the top ranks, but it still wasn’t enough.

Given Ruin and the crown prince’s team was formidable.

Yuria was burning with competitiveness as the team that got first place had wagered a meal at the Royal Academy.

The deeper they descended into the depths, the heavier the air felt against their skin. It was cold and substantial.

The growling cries of monsters echoed in their ears, and the deeper into the depths they went, the bigger the battle scars on the walls appeared.

Deeply gouged walls.
There were also plenty of brown, hardened bloodstains.

Despite having an artifact responsible for their safety, Yuria wrapped her shoulders, unable to shake off the frightful feeling.

But still, the points were accumulating…!

At this rate, we’d be first.

She was confident they could win a scholarship from the Royal Academy.

Just as she began to feel pleased at the prospect of a soon-to-be substantial bank account.

“Please save me…!”

A man’s voice sounded from a corner of the dungeon.

Yuria and Michail stopped hunting monsters and looked towards the source of the sound.

They were in agreement. Let’s go and see.

They didn’t hesitate to move forward, but Ricardo’s words from before flitted through her mind.

-Don’t meddle where you’re not wanted.

Yuria shook her head to dispel the intrusive thoughts.

Remembering the words of a man who always lied, knowing that keeping such advice in mind would only lead to getting hurt, yet her feet were still frozen in place.

She was anxious. It felt like something was about to happen.

Warnings from Ricardo usually had something to do with frightening events.

“Let’s go.”

Michail urged Yuria, seeing her hesitation.

“…”
“Yuria?”
“Ah… yes!”

Yuria snapped out of her thoughts and advanced towards the direction of the sound. After passing two alleys… by the stairs leading further into deeper depths, a man wearing familiar clothes lay collapsed.

In a long black coat.
A man in a white shirt.
There he was, lying on the ground, bleeding.

The ground was riddled with the evidence of a fierce battle, with large and small wounds, and a palm-sized dagger was embedded in his chest.

“Oh…?”

That was a familiar outfit.

The same clothes worn by a man she had seen while working with Ruin during a task in the Hamel mountain range.

It was the vestment of a heretic priest.

Yuria’s hands trembled.

Not knowing what to do.

Her heart was telling her to hurry and save him.
But her instincts were rejecting him.

The thought that she should not heal this man made her heart race.

The man lying on the ground was gasping in pain and urged them.

“Please save me… I can barely breathe…”

With a pained groan, the man clutched the dagger in his chest. With sweat pouring down his face, he struggled, and a variety of emotions crossed Yuria’s mind.

The thought that she must save him and the thought that she must not paralyzed her.

As she stood there stupidly deliberating, Michail grabbed my shoulders and shook her.

“Yuria! Snap out of it!”
“Huh? Oh…”

“What are you doing! Cast a healing spell, quick!”

-Don’t meddle where you’re not wanted.

The words from that time persistently haunted her.

Normally, she wouldn’t have thought twice about healing, but today, Ricardo’s voice seemed to echo vividly in her ears.

Yuria said with a trembling voice.

“But… he’s a heretic.”

Michail replied with urgency.

“Even if he’s a heretic, we need to save him!”

Standing motionless, unable to do anything, Michail started to support the man and began to sprinkle a potion over him.

The healing potions given out by the Royal Academy—two per person.

Being expensive, it was a potion with no deficiencies for emergency treatment.

Michail was propping up the man.

It looked like he was giving up on the exam and planning to head upstairs.

As he started to lift the man onto his shoulder…

A chilling voice reached Michail’s ear.

“That’s right. You should save him.”

-Thump.

The man pulled out the dagger from his own chest and plunged it into Michail’s abdomen. Once. Twice. Three times.

Cough. With that sound, Michail’s eyes trembled.

The man snatched the potion from Michail’s pocket and sprinkled it on his chest wound.

The wound healed.
The torn flesh was rapidly healing due to the potion.

After exhaling a long breath and straightening up, the man, emitting an eerie smile, spoke to the blood-spitting Michail.

“Phew~ I really thought I was a goner. But look at this—surviving! I am sincerely grateful, holy ones…!”

Screech. Michail dragged his legs, clutching the dagger embedded in his abdomen, and stumbled backward. Trying to avoid it but failing due to the dagger lodged too deeply, Michail finally knelt.

Yuria ran to the collapsed Michail.

“Michail!!”

Michail spoke to Yuria.

“Run Yuria…”

Yuria began pouring healing magic into Michail’s abdomen. Bright green light engulfed Michail’s body, and he exhaled a stabilized breath.

A sigh of relief escaped her, but…

“Healer, huh.”

The man who had been standing behind her began to extend his hand.

Blood-soaked hands began to block her sight. The engulfing terror made the man’s hands seem as large as a giant’s, and the thick blood streamed down onto her face.

“Ah…ah….!”

Terrified, Yuria was frozen, unable to do anything. She just stood there dumbly until the man seized her.

“Stop it!”

Michail shouted.

Drawing his sword, Michail swung it at the heretic.

He struck gracefully, but a dull thud resonated, and Michail slumped forward, head bowed.

“Perfect timing. I was in need of a healer anyway—good thing one showed up.”

The man looked at her with a sly smile.

“Please don’t say no. I’d hate to have to cut off those pretty fingers of yours.”

Spitting out his sinister words, the heretic dragged her deeper into the dungeon.

With shaking hands, Yuria smashed the artifact hidden in her bosom.

The orb meant to call the knights.

But,

“Kyaaak!”

On the stairs leading deeper into the depths, gasping knights lay bleeding and collapsed. Beneath the feet of a knight telling them to run was an escape scroll that had been torn and rendered useless.

Yuria’s body trembled like a leaf in the wind.

What to do…
What to do…
What to do…

She felt at a loss.
For a way to escape.
The thought of possibly facing a terrible fate darkened her vision.

“Let go!!”

Yuria struggled.

“Let me goooo!!”

She tried desperately to escape the man’s rough grasp, but he violently lifted his hand, threatening Yuria.

“Won’t you shut up?”

Whoosh.

As the man’s hand was about to strike down on Yuria…

“Hey… you hopeless fools.”

A familiar voice echoed.

The voice that shouldn’t be heard in the depths of the dungeon reverberated as if it had been waiting for the right moment.

“Because of you…!”

The man was crying.

Like a child who had failed to achieve his dream, he clenched his fists tightly and spoke to us, hidden in the darkness.

“I couldn’t take a bath with the lady…”

With a whoosh, a red aura spread, and the man’s face began to blur.

A man with red hair.

It was Ricardo.

Ricardo looked at us and said,

“I wouldn’t have come if not for the reward… damn it…”

*

[Rescue Yuria.]
Reward: Resistance to Black Magic Lv. 4, Healing Touch [B]

It was a quest that couldn’t be refused.