“And that’s… what I remember had happened…” Narias said, letting out a deep sigh.

“It… it must’ve been very daunting for you… and no less painful,” Miss Sweetbell smiled, but her eyes couldn’t hide the pain she felt after hearing Narias’s story.

“Yeah…” Narias said, lowering his head to look down at the table. “I… I still can’t believe I managed to come back, being in the condition that I was. I guess… I guess my body didn’t want to give up… which I am so grateful for. I… I kept thinking about all the people who care about me and… and who I love… and it gave me strength to not give up…” Narias raised his face, tears running down his cheeks yet he had a bright smile on his face.

“Narias…” Jean clenched her fist, closely pressing her hand to her chest, her own eyes becoming teary.

“Ah, s… sorry. I just…” Narias started wiping the tears away with his arm while looking away, a moment later feeling someone hug him from the side.

“I’m so, so sorry that you had to endure all that pain, Narias. I really am,” Jean told him, pressing his head close to her chest. Narias was wiping his tears and didn’t notice when the headmistress came over to sit next to him. She was holding Narias in her embrace, truly feeling pain in her chest for what had happened to him.

“Miss… Sweetbell…” Narias whispered, wanting to pull away, but it felt too calming, so he stayed put for a while longer before noticing something. “Huh? Oh, hmph…”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I… squeeze you too tight?” Jean let him go, pulling away.

“No, no. That was… very nice of you and I appreciate it. It honestly made me feel better. I just thought…” Narias averted his eyes away.

“About what?” Jean wanted to know, feeling curious.

“Well, I just thought… that you smell nice. Eh? S… sorry, what I meant was… That is…” Narias told the truth, but now that he said it, there was nowhere to hide for him.

“Oh, is that so?” Jean touched her mouth with one hand, chuckling delightfully. “I will try to remember that.”

“Aah…” Narias was too embarrassed to look directly at Miss Sweetbell.

“I’m glad I could help you feel better, Narias,” Jean said, her words forcing Narias to look at her again.

“Huh?” He stared at her brown joyously sparkling eyes with an added redness on her cheeks.

“Hmm…” and it made the headmistress smile again.

“Aah, hah,” Narias laughed sillily, not knowing what to say.

“Now then, forgive me for pushing you to remember it again, but do you mind telling what happened after that?” Miss Sweetbell was very careful with her words.

“Ah, right. Well, I woke up inside the small tunnel after passing out. I hadn’t reached the Supply Point room, but thankfully I was safe from the monsters getting to where I was,” Narias said, looking somewhere up at the ceiling while trying to remember it. “I don’t know for how long I’ve been asleep, but… after I woke up, I was all in pain and I could barely move. Unfortunately, I had no food left with me, so I knew if I stay there, I’ll die from starvation.”

“And that’s when you decided to eat the Crystal Hornhead’s meat?” Jean posed her statement as a question. She already knew that, but wanted to know more details.

“Not really. My only thought was to get out of the Magic Dungeon. However, I was in a really bad shape. After a quick assessment, I found out that my left arm and my right leg were broken in multiple places and I’ve been bitten by the Pincer Ant on the left side on my lower back. I must’ve lost a lot of blood too. I patched myself up the best that I could with the supplies from my backpack and decided to leave right away. I was feeling pain with every step and was basically dragging my broken leg behind me. I sort of knew I won’t make it out the way I was. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to go.”

“I was slightly surprised to find the Crystal Hornhead’s body still lying there when I reached the cave where it was, but then remembered that the rare monster bodies wouldn’t disappear after being killed. I found several Pincer Ants eating whatever was left of the Crystal Hornhead and that’s when I thought of doing so myself. After I somehow killed the monsters, I took a bite of the creature’s meat myself. It was badly burned due to my Flamethrower spell burning it from the inside, but… it didn’t taste that bad. My body gravely needed food, so I simply ate more of the meat until I felt satisfied. Once my hunger was gone, my body reminded me again of how severely injured it was. I could tell there was no way I would be able to leave the dungeon in my current state. So instead, I pushed myself to collect as much of the Crystal Hornhead’s meat as I could before going back to the Supply Point room. It had water in it and now that I had food, I thought I’ll stay and heal until I get strong enough to leave.”

“Wow, that’s truly amazing. But I have to wonder. From what you were telling me, you said you were badly injured. It must’ve been awfully hard for you to carry enough meat back to the Supply Point room to last you almost a month,” Miss Sweetbell was concerned about Narias.

“About that…” Narias had an interesting smile on his face, his facial expression making Jean very curious. “The Crystal Hornhead dropped an item which helped me with that.”

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“An item? Oh, that’s right. Crystal Hornhead is a rare monster and rare monsters can drop various magic items after being killed. But then again… you had no items on you when you came back. At least, Milenna hadn’t reported finding anything on you,” Jean was feeling even more curious.

“That’s because of the item that the Crystal Hornhead dropped. I suppose it will get known eventually.” Narias said, extending his right hand to the side, away from the table. “Dungeon Locker.” A mark similar to a tattoo which had a shape of a ring on Narias’s index finger shone, materializing into a real ring. A tiny flash of a blue light shot from the blue gem on the ring, opening a three-by-three feet size window that looked like a night sky filled with stars for Jean to see.

“Oh, my… A Dungeon Locker? Now that’s a treasure you won’t see every day,” Jean gasped, touching her cheek with one hand and smiling excitedly the next second. “Now I understand. You put all the meat inside it, didn’t you?”

“Ah, yes. If not for the Dungeon Locker, I would’ve never managed to take as much meat with me as I have. I was really lucky I suppose. The Pincer Ants that were present at the time had eaten two thirds of the Crystal Hornhead’s body by then. If I had taken only as much as I could carry in my arms, by the time I came back again to get more, the monsters would’ve respawned and eaten the rest of it, and I would’ve never survived. But thanks to the Dungeon Locker I was able to collect enough food to last me for as long as I did and that’s how I was able to survive for that long.” Narias told the headmistress before closing the Dungeon Locker.

“Truthfully, I had no idea how long I have stayed inside the Magic Dungeon. Once I got back to the Supply Point room, all I was doing was resting for the most part. Broken bones take weeks to heal. I didn’t want to risk to try and leave the dungeon while being weak and in pain. Unfortunately, the meat I collected could last me for only so long, so before I ate the last piece of it, I decided to make my way out of the dungeon. Thankfully, my body had recovered enough and I was able to fight my way through the third floor of the dungeon until I reached the exit to the second floor. I wasn’t familiar with the layout of the third floor, so it took me much longer to find my way back. But once I reached the second floor, I was fine. Well, considering. My body hadn’t been healed properly yet and I had to take long rests at every safe zone I had reached. The food and water that I found inside the Supply Point rooms were a real lifesaver as well. I think… it took me three or four days in normal time to reach the exit of the Magic Dungeon after I left the Supply Point room that I was in.” Narias finished his story, thinking if he hadn’t forgotten anything.

Four days. That means he had left his Supply Point room two days after I went into the dungeon with the girls. If only I had sent another group two days after, he wouldn’t have had to suffer so much. Jean clicked her tongue, trying to hide her regret behind her sweet smile.

“I’m really happy that you came back to us, Narias,” Jean said, holding herself from showing too much emotion.

“Yeah, me too,” Narias smiled.

“There’s one last thing I’d like to ask you, Narias. More of an observation, really. Your body went through some changes which you probably have noticed yourself. I can only guess, but was it due to you eating the Crystal Hornhead’s meat? Unless something else had happened while you were inside the dungeon?” Jean asked.

“No, not really. I must admit, I didn’t expect anything like that would happen to my body and I didn’t think much of it while I was still inside the Magic Dungeon. I had a good think about it while recovering at the infirmary and talking it over with Miss Milenna about my body’s physical changes and such, the only conclusion I could come up with was it was thanks to me eating the Crystal Hornhead’s meat.” Narias explained.

“Milenna’s report said there were no negative effects on your body, and you’re feeling fine overall, right?” Jean wanted to confirm.

“Yes. If anything, I feel stronger than before.” Narias said, squeezing his hand in front of him a few times. “Now that I think about it, I think eating the Crystal Hornhead’s meat gave me extra strength and energy, and helped my body recover faster.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear it,” Jean smiled, straightening up. “Now then, thank you so much for sharing all that you did with me. Again, I am really sorry about what had happened and I give you my word I’ll work my hardest to prevent anything like that from happening again in the future. But before we finish, there is one thing I’d like to ask you, Narias.”

“What is it, Miss Sweetbell?” Narias turned to face her again.

“Is there something I could do to make up to you?” The headmistress had the sweetest smile on her face.

“Huh? Ah, it’s ok. You… you don’t need to do anything for me, Miss Sweetbell,” Narias said, scratching his cheek with one finger, looking away and feeling embarrassed for some reason.

“Hmm… I don’t know what you have thought just now, but please, don’t be shy about it,” Jean chuckled charmingly. “Maybe you’d like something for your student club?”

“Oh, my student club?” Narias blushed even more, realizing his fantasies got the best of him. “Ah, yes, well… For my student club… In that case, it’d be good if we could have access to the training grounds to train ourselves properly. We don’t exactly have a place to train, you see.”

“Training grounds? Yes, that can be arranged. Anything else?” Jean was willing to do more.

“Something else?” Narias didn’t expect the headmistress to be willing to offer more than access the training grounds. “Well, our club has many more members now and… we’re getting a little cramped with the space that we have. Would it be possible to get more space?”

“But of course. I believe the building your student club is has two or three stories, isn’t that right? I can grant permission for you to use more space no problem. Anything else?” Jean surprised Narias even more showing she was willing to do more.

“More?” Narias couldn’t believe it, but then a thought entered his mind. He squirmed a little in his seat before saying that which he wanted to say. “Well, since we’ll have permission to use the training grounds, and only if you’re willing to, Miss Sweetbell, would you… would you mind supervising my training sometime? I’d love to learn from you directly.”

“Oh, wow. Now that’s quite a personal request, if I may say so,” Jean commented, tilting her head to the side with a smile.

“Ah, sorry. I know you’re very busy, Miss Sweetbell. I apologize, it was very unreasonable of me to ask you something like that,” Narias said, waving his hands in front of him.

“But you already did,” Jean chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand. “You are right, I am quite busy. However, I’d be the worst headmistress ever if I refused to help my students learn to get better, especially the students as dedicated as you are. I am sure I will be able to find some time in my busy schedule to assist you with your training once in a while, Narias.”

“Really? Thank you so much, Miss Sweetbell,” Narias brightened up, feeling happy.

“My pleasure,” she smiled. “It will take some time to make all the arrangements to do that which you asked of me, but I will do my best to fulfil your requests as soon as possible.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Miss Sweetbell,” Narias thanked the headmistress again, feeling extremely happy about it.