“Huff…”
Vellandelle was panting, relieved to have gotten away.
“Big sister sure is popular…”
Rosasys smiled, reaching out to steady Vellandelle, then thought of something.
“But sister, you really need to train harder. You’re already tired after just a few steps; you can’t afford to be so weak.”
“Who says I’m weak!”
Vellandelle glared at Rosasys—how dare she say that? It was infuriating.
“Roommate, why don’t you come back to Sky’s End with me sometime? I’ll make sure you get fat and strong!”
“…”
“Forget it then.”
Vellandelle politely declined Kelosha’s kind offer.
She knew well enough what Sky’s End was—it was the main stronghold of the Werewolf Clan, mostly full of muscular beastmen, with Kelosha’s kind being the minority.
By contrast, she preferred Fox Village. She remembered how, in the game, it was filled with beautiful fox sisters, and since the game was an eroge, entering Fox Village even came with some special services…
“What time is it now?”
“Almost eleven.”
“Not too early or too late. In that case, I’ll play one more piece for you.”
“Great!”
Kelosha spoke excitedly, her cheerful expression making Vellandelle momentarily dazed before she snapped back to attention.
***
“What exactly is it?”
“What exactly is it!”
At a seat in the library, chaos reigned. Books were scattered everywhere, documents and materials blanketed the floor.
Vivilian held her head in frustration. A few days ago, three Gufalun Ruins had been excavated.
Two of the more important ruins were assigned to History Department professors.
The third, seemingly less important ancient cave gate, was assigned to the Magic Department.
But the Magic Department teachers clearly weren’t paying much attention.
Anyone with eyes could tell that the cave gate was sealed with a locking spell, requiring a key item to open. But where would they find such an item?
It was obviously a huge trap the History Department had thrown at them.
Most Magic Department professors didn’t care much about it, but Vivilian couldn’t stop thinking about that sealed ancient Falen gate.
Since then, she had been feverishly researching, hoping to find any useful documents.
Her blue hair was disheveled, a worried look on her face, completely unlike her usual bright self.
As she flipped open an illustrated tome, she suddenly froze on the spot.
“This—is this the pattern on that gate? It’s not exactly the same, but the general design matches.”
Vivilian traced the picture’s title and description in the book.
“Dungeon of the Ancient Falen Period…”
“So it’s a dungeon! At least this gives us a direction.”
Vivilian immediately set about checking out more books related to ancient Falen dungeons.
That whole morning, the library was nearly empty due to the Humanity Popularity Tournament, but after the earlier incident, more idle people gradually came in.
Among them, a pair of emerald eyes immediately spotted Vivilian busy at work and, curious, approached.
“Teacher, what are you busy with?”
“Ah!”
Vivilian was startled, lost her footing on the ladder, and was caught by the person behind her, finally seeing who it was.
“Ah, it’s Veronie Flynice, thank you so much.”
“No need to thank me, Teacher. It was because of me that you nearly fell.”
Veronie spoke softly, maintaining her usual aloof demeanor.
“Ah, I see.”
Vivilian blinked, feeling a bit embarrassed.
To ease the tension, she climbed down the ladder and asked, “Veronie, why are you here? Weren’t you participating in the Humanity Popularity Tournament?”
“There was an accident… the tournament was interrupted.”
“I see.”
Though she didn’t know what kind of accident, Vivilian didn’t think much of it.
There was no way she would believe in any cultist invasion—after all, those cultists could easily be wiped out by just a bounty quest assigned to upperclassmen.
“Is there anyone you like among the contestants?”
“…”
“Vellandelle’s performance was pretty good.”
Veronie hesitated before finally speaking her thoughts.
Vivilian seemed surprised, smiling warmly.
She knew Veronie was cold by nature, so getting praise from her was rare.
Veronie usually acted indifferent toward Vellandelle, so she hadn’t expected her to care that much.
“Looks like Veronie likes Vellandelle?”
“No.”
Veronie turned her head away, which only confirmed Vivilian’s suspicions.
As someone who’d been through this, she understood this kind of hidden affection perfectly well.
“Really?”
As Vivilian pressed on, Veronie snorted coldly.
“Teacher, why don’t you tell me what you’re working on?”
“Me? I’m researching the ancient Falen ruins newly excavated by the academy. We’ve just gotten some leads. Veronie, want to help?”
Not hiding her enthusiasm for her student, Vivilian even actively invited Veronie, who was a knowledgeable elf.
“Ancient Falen?”
Veronie was momentarily stunned but then nodded.
She knew something about the old human dynasty, which had laid the foundation for later kingdoms’ systems and ideas during the Faren era.
Coincidentally, the Faren Kingdom itself had fractured from unity, so it was relevant to Veronie’s studies.
“Sure, if you don’t mind, maybe I can help.”
“That would be wonderful!”
Vivilian was ecstatic.
Veronie was a smart student, and with her help, Vivilian believed the workload would be cut in half.
“Here, these are photos of the ruins. Actually, there are three, but this one was assigned to our Magic Department.”
Vivilian pulled a photo from beneath some documents and placed it on the table, pointing to the large gate in the center.
“Judging by the overall design, the gate’s pattern and the environment’s layout, I speculate this ruin is probably a dungeon.”
Veronie took the photo and studied it silently for a long moment.
“It’s not ‘probably’—this is a dungeon. Haven’t you heard of it, Teacher? The legendary Dungeon of the Lost. Then again… it makes sense. This is a chapter your human history books don’t want to write about, so it’s sealed away.”
“Dungeon of the Lost? So you know about it, Veronie? Can you tell me more?”
“Of course, Teacher.”
“The story of this dungeon begins with the Faren Emperor’s prayers to the gods going unanswered…”
“Kelosha, are you sure this thing is edible?”
Vellandelle silently stared at the thick, black object in front of her, her expression peculiar.