The sounds of gears turning echoed in our ears as the two of us walked through the dark and dusty halls. Though oddly enough, those sounds didn’t really put me on edge. Why was that? I guess the only way to find out was to keep walking. So that’s exactly what we did.

Some water dropped from the nearby walls, creating a small dripping sound that added to the eerieness of this place while a small rat-like creature scurried about. Seemingly uninterested in the two of us.

This whole atmosphere reminded me of the stuff you see in horror movies. Now whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen. Even so we needed to keep moving.

A part of me wanted to just get out of here using my teleportation ability, however…

“I refuse to be teleported by someone like you!”

That was the one thing this girl was being stingy about. But since she said no, and it’d be cruel to just leave her here like this, all I could really do was sigh and keep moving forward. Though if things did end up taking a turn for the worst, it didn’t matter if she hated it or not cause I’d be getting us the hell of here. Thus, that’s what's happening right now.

Heading further into the tunnel it took us about twenty minutes before we finally saw a faint light.

“Is it the way out?” Ella asked. To which I shook my head.

“Considering we’ve been walking in a straight line this whole time, I highly doubt it.”

“But maybe it could be a teleportation circle.”

“When was the last time those things were used in a dungeon?”

“Well…You have a point.”

That’s right. No one uses teleportation circles in dungeons anymore. Though, it isn’t because people randomly decided not to use them anymore. It’s because people forgot how to make them.

Since old magic isn’t really a thing anymore, spells that required circles to work properly were forgotten with time. The only exceptions were the ones etched onto the three grimoires. Speaking of which...

“Say, why is stuff like a teleportation circle fine, but my own teleportation magic isn’t?”

“T-That’s different. I can’t trust your teleportation magic.”

“Huh!?”

This girl was unbelievable.

Rubbing my eyes, I continued walking forward with Ella close behind until we stepped through the end of the tunnel.

Once on the other side, we were met with something I honestly couldn’t believe. Perhaps feeling the same way, Ella spoke up,

“More halls!? And why are they so tall!?”

Apparently, the end of the tunnel was just a fakeout since we now found ourselves standing in hallways that stretched high into the sky.

“Wait a minute. Why are they so high?” I muttered.

I was annoyed seeing we were gonna be stuck walking through halls again, but when I thought about it a bit longer, this all seemed a bit strange.

Thankfully there wasn’t anything written on the walls which meant there didn't appear to be anything blocking the use of magic, but there was still something off here.

Flying up into the air, I reached the top and when I looked down below me, I finally realized why this was so weird.

“It’s a maze!”

Returning to the ground, I turned to Ella.

“This thing is one giant maze.”

“Huh!? Who puts a maze in the middle of a dungeon!?” shouted Ella.

“...What? Why wouldn’t you put one in a dungeon? Isn’t that basically one of the most common dungeon puzzles?”

“Of course it isn’t! Who told you otherwise!?”

Huh. I guess it's a bit different in this world compared to dungeons in RPGs.

“Well, if it’s just a maze then this should be easy to deal with,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll just fly above the maze and find us the quickest route to the exit.”

“And leave me here!?”

“Of course not. Once I find the exit, I’ll come back and guide you toward it.”

“Oh…I see.”

Ella looked ready to flip her lid for a moment before I explained that. Well anyway, I guess I should put this plan into action.

Flying up into the air, I quickly scanned the area in an attempt to find the exit.

Watching Savoncho leave to go find the way out, I let out a sigh.

I had hoped to just spend time challenging this dungeon with Roy, but now I find myself stuck with Savoncho in some maze.

Sitting down, I rustled my hair in frustration.

“This isn’t how things were supposed to go at all,” I muttered.

At this point, with how poorly everything was going, I just wanted to go home. But since I don’t wanna risk trying Savoncho’s teleportation spell, all I can do is press forward here in the dungeon.

Resting my back against the hallway walls, I stared up at the rocky ceiling above.

Being stuck like this reminded me of when I was a child. Back then, I constantly got lost in the woods near the house. It was only after my mother hired a nanny that I was able to move around without getting lost. Though, in the end, that nanny was also the woman who nailed it into me that royalty and nobles stood above all others.

At a time, I took all her teachings to heart. But after that school trip with the others, I’ve started to wonder if what she said was actually true.

During the trip, we saw Savoncho, a commoner, put his foot forward to save someone without a second thought. The opposite of what I was told by my nanny who claimed commoners were poor, greedy, and selfish.

Despite that, though, Savoncho proved her wrong by working his hardest to protect that Femashito girl and bring her back from whatever was going on with her.

Finding myself curious about commoners after that, I ended up asking Roy to help me learn more about common folk and despite not knowing much himself, he still made the time to teach me what he could. Not only that, but he even made time to just talk with me when I felt alone.

He was someone who looked out for me and watched over me without a care for himself. And before I knew it, I started feeling something for him. That’s why I wanted to get closer with him by doing things he liked to do. Sadly, this ended up being where it got me.

Curling up my legs, I rested my chin on my knees and thought about where I’d been before and where I was now.

That’s when my thoughts wandered to Savoncho.

Despite wanting to get along, I struggle to find the right words when speaking with him and then I end up talking back against him. Not only that, but I’m too prideful to take his advice even though I know its useful.

In truth, I’d love to take his advice and be friends if possible. But because of the views that were drilled into me, along with my inability to say what I’m feeling, I just can’t get the words out that I wanna be friends.

“Gah! Why is it so hard to just ask him if we could be friends!?” I shouted out before letting out a sigh.

I hoped one day I could change this problem of mine. But for the time being, I was stuck with it.

Crackle.

Suddenly hearing a noise, I turned back to the tunnel Savoncho and I had come through before.

Crackle.

There it was again.

Getting onto my feet, I clenched the magic staff I brought with me tightly as I looked at the dark hallway.

Even if my skill with magic could be lacking at times, and it even felt wrong to use it, this was all I was good at. So I needed to keep the staff at my side just in case.

And with those noises in the dark, I'm confident I need this staff right now.

Crackle.

It was when I heard it that third time that I finally spotted what was making the noise.

“A Crabone!”

A crab with a stone-like shell came out of the shadows.

I didn’t know how we passed such a creature without noticing it, but one thing was clear. And that was this monster was here right now.

Preparing my staff for an attack, I was ready to fight this thing. Luckily I had just fought one of these things a bit earlier so I knew how to win.

“Call forth a flame that scorches the earth. Fireball!”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Repeating this spell over and over as fast as I could, I didn’t stop chanting until I felt like it was hard to breathe.

Then, once I made a full army of fireballs, I sent them flying at the monster.

“Take this!”

The fireballs crashed into the monster after another. Slowly but surely piercing its defenses.

By the time the last fireball hit, a cloud of dust had appeared where the crabone had been.

Confident in my victory, I grinned.

But then, when the dust cleared, I noticed something was off.

“Huh? Where did it-Argh!”

Before I had time to finish my question, something stabbed me in the stomach before scuttling behind me.

“H-How is that thing alive?” I muttered holding my stomach.

“Bring forth a calming sensation that heals my wounds. Healing Light.”

As I quietly said that spell, the wound on my body started to seal up. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for my outfit which had gained both a hole as well as a sizeable bloodstain. But that didn’t matter right now. Why didn’t my spells work? This was the exact same attack I’d used on the last crabone. Yet despite that, this thing was completely fine. Was it a different variety?

“It doesn’t make sense. This looks the exact same. From the rocky shell to the meaty claws, and even the…stubby…legs…”

Wait a minute, now that I thought back, the last crab didn’t have legs. I mean, it did at the start, but at some point, the legs disappeared. Why was that?

“You need to take out its legs. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to hit its weak point.”

Those words Savoncho had told me entered my mind.

Back then, I was rude and told him to shut up, but maybe, maybe he was the one who took out its legs and opened its weak spot for me to attack.

If that was the case, then everything started to make sense. And a feeling of guilt washed over me when I thought about how much I boasted about my abilities afterward.

“Geez. I really need to get over myself,” I muttered before preparing a different spell.

Sensing I was about to attack, the crabone tried to move in first.

“Bring forth a stone as a lethal weapon so that I can make it my own. Stone’s Edge!”

With the earth shaking beneath the crabone, stone spikes started shooting out of the ground one after another.

The crabone managed to dodge several of them. However, one ended up catching it off guard and the stone drilled right through one of its legs. Cutting it off.

The crabone let out a loud screech.

Not giving it a second to recompose itself, I sent another spell forth.

“Make these pebbles sharp as a sword and give them but one purpose. Earthen Daggers!”

Using the pebbles on the ground formed from my previous spell, they all transformed into small dagger-like weapons that were sent flying forward. Cutting off more of the creature's legs until it only had one left. But that was more than enough.

“Call forth a flame that scorches the earth. Fireball!” I shouted before sending a ball of flames at the creature whose legs disappeared and revealed a small crack in its shell. I had probably just hit it by coincidence last time, but this time, my aim was directed at that one spot.

“Haaah!”

Thrusting my staff forward, the fireball, sped toward the crabone. Striking it right in its weak point.

The monster let out both a hiss as well as a screech as its insides got burned alive.

And then, a few moments later, it died and vanished into loot.

“I...I did it..haha.”

I was relieved to see I had accomplished defeating this thing. And it was all thanks to Savoncho’s advice.

“Maybe…I should listen to him…more often…”

Those were my last words before running out of breath and passing out.

“What exactly happened while I was away?” I asked with a sigh.

I found the loot of a dead monster lying on the ground nearby with an unconscious Ella sleeping peacefully on the ground.

Landing next to her, I got on one knee and checked to make sure she was alright.

“Looks like she was stabbed in the stomach. Though since it seems she also cast a healing spell on herself, the damage should be minimal.”

Returning to my feet, I suddenly heard a crackling sound enter my ear.

Turning toward it, I saw almost a dozen of those crab-like monsters running toward us from the tunnel we had exited prior. Don’t ask me how we didn’t them coming in cause I have no idea.

Still, I didn't always have a chance to go all out, so I might as well take advantage of this chance while I still have it. Otherwise, I might not get any action during this dungeon adventure.

“Alright. Bring it on you monsters,” I muttered. Pretending to crack my neck while curling my hands into fists.

What happened could be described as…well…not even a warm-up.

Slowly waking up, Ella rubbed her eyes and looked around to find piles of loot stacked around her.

“Huh? Where’d all this come from?”

“Finally awake are we?” I asked floating above her.

“Y’know, I’m starting to think you have a monster attracting scent or something because monsters just would not stop coming after you. It was actually kind of a hassle to take them all out.”

It wasn’t actually, but Ella didn’t need to know that.

Letting the cogs in her brain work through what had happened, Ella got onto her feet and looked up at me.

“I see. I’m sorry.”

“Uh…You know I was being sarcastic, right?”

“We’re you? I see.”

Um…Okay. This attitude is a bit weird. Why does she look like she trying to hold back saying something?

Landing on the ground, I pointed toward one of the paths in the maze.

“Well leaving that be, for now, I’ve found the path to the exit. So be sure to keep up. Alright?”

“O-Okay.”

Was it just me or was this girl more timid than before? It felt completely out of character. Although, I guess I didn't really know her character that well to begin with. So maybe this was actually normal? I dunno. We’ll just have to let this go for the time being and focus on getting out of this maze.

And so, I started flying through the maze with Ella following close behind.

“Here we are,” I said when we finally arrived at our destination. That being the exit to this maze.

On the way, we stumbled upon a few more monsters, but I took care of them without much issue.

Now, we stood at a door that was wide open. Leading into some other room.

There was no other place like this in the maze from what I could see so my best guess was this had to be the exit.

Thus, I was the first to step through with Ella following close behind.

Once on the other side, the door slammed shut behind us and a loud clicking sound followed soon after.

“Guess that means we can’t go back,” I muttered before turning to the room in front of me.

The first thing I noticed, or rather, felt was that this room was extremely cold.

Not only that, but the ceiling was covered in icicles and despite the ground below us not being slippery, one glance and I could tell we were standing on some form of ice that was blocking a layer of water beneath us.

The room itself reminded me of a gladiator fighting arena but made entirely of ice. It was all kinda crazy.

Rubbing her shoulders to warm herself up, Ella glanced at a nearby wall where an ice sculpture in the form of a lever was carefully placed.

Curious, she tried to walk over to it.

However, just before she reached out, I noticed an icicle falling from the ceiling. Aimed directly at her head.

“Look out!” I shouted before using wind magic to push myself forward and get her out of the way.

Moving as fast as I could, I twisted my body around and sent a fireball into the icicle. Knocking it off course as it slowly melted little by little before finally landing next to me at half the size it used to be.

“Phew. Close one,” I muttered before getting up.

However, a few moments later...

Click

Turning around, it turns out that wasn’t the only icicle that fell as another crashed down on the lever. Causing it to let out a clicking noise as it fell downward.

“...Crap.”

That was all I could say before the ground started shaking under me.

“W-What’s going on!?” shouted Ella.

I had no idea, but considering this was a dungeon, I was sure it wasn’t anything good.

Clank…clank…clank…

Hearing a weird sound in my ear, I turned toward one of the nearby walls which, just a few moments ago, was just a wall of ice. Now, a tunnel had appeared in its place and was where this clanking sound was originating from.

And after a few moments, someone or something came out of the tunnel.

“A challenger. Excellent…” said whatever that thing was.

What stood in front of us was something that looked human, but even though you could tell it was a guys voice, it had a raspy almost monstrous tone to it. Something else weird about this thing was that despite it wearing a suit of armor that looked frozen solid, it was moving like it was human.

“Tell me, challenger. What is your name?”

Huh? Was this guy talking to me?

That’s what I thought at first. But then I noticed he was holding a spear of sorts in his hand. And it was pointing at none other than…

“M-My name is Ella Ryuoji.”

“Understood. Come and face me in battle Ella Ryuoji. So that we can see who between the two of us is the stronger opponent.”

“Ah…I…Uh…”

Perhaps expecting me to do something, Ella turned toward me with eyes begging for help.

Letting out a sigh, I stepped forward.

“Would you perhaps be willing to have me take place in her stead? I’m a far more skilled fighter in combat and could prove to be a far more worthy opponent.”

The Ice Knight guy turned his head toward me.

“I’m aware you possess skill. Just by looking at you, I can tell you’ve really pushed yourself to your limits.”

Really? Cause thanks to something going on with my body, I wasn’t able to really improve myself physically. So was there something else he was looking at to get such an idea?

“However, you are not the one who should fight this battle.”

“Really? And why is that?”

“It’s simple. One look tells me you're more advanced in magic than swordsmanship. And considering this is a duel, magic is hardly appropriate.”

“Huh? Then why focus on Miss Ryuoji? She’s a magic user as well?”

When I asked that, the Ice Knight let out a laugh.

“Surely you jest. One look and I can tell this lady has plenty of skills as a swordsman!”

“Huh?”

I turned to Ella who shook her head. Looking bewildered by what this guy was saying. Meaning she was probably just as clueless as I was on what this guy was talking about.

“You’ve clearly got the wrong interpretation. Even she doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Is that so? Interesting.”

Thinking to himself for a moment, the Ice Knight held out his hand and a few moments later, a sword made of ice appeared.

He tossed it over to Ella who barely caught it after dropping her staff.

“It seems she knows nothing about her latent potential. Then I shall treat this match with the utmost care.”

“Huh? Did you even hear what we said?”

This guy was intent on fighting Ella right now. And he wasn't interested in listening to anything we had to say.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I tried thinking of what to do next when Ella tapped me on the shoulder.

“I-If I need to, I ‘ll try.”

“...Are you sure?”

Ella was hesitant for a moment before nodding her head.

I guess she’s made up her mind about this.

“Geez. What am I doing getting worried for a girl who wouldn’t stop pissing me off all this time?” I muttered.

Scratching the back of my head, I looked Ella in the eyes.

“Alright then. Before you start. Let me give you some advice on how to fight with a blade.”

I didn’t know much myself, but I knew some of the basics so hopefully, those would help her.

Thus, once I was sure she was prepared, I held onto her staff for her while she walked forward to challenge the Ice Knight.