“Good morning, Miss Alifur,” Ileena greeted the teacher. It was the day when Ileena, Growly, Nicky, Sorilani and Xefys were going to the Magic Dungeon and she was the first one from her group to show up at the entrance to the dungeon. Ileena came much earlier than she needed to, but still found their dungeon Guide waiting for her in front of the dungeon’s entrance.

“Good morning, Ileena,” Estella who apparently was their Guide for this run greeted her back. “I see you are well prepared.” She added with a smile, hinting at Ileena’s backpack with her eyes.

“Yes, but I can see you are better prepared than I am, Miss Alifur,” Ileena said after seeing how the teacher’s backpack looked.

“I expect us to stay in the dungeon for longer than usual, if you know what I mean?” Estella said, adding a cheeky smile.

“I don’t know. We might not be able to go too deep into the dungeon on this run,” Ileena informed her.

“Huh? Why not?” Estella asked, feeling both curious and puzzled.

“We have new members from our student club in our team today and they have never been into the Magic Dungeon before,” Ileena explained.

“New members? Wait, are you talking about…” Estella was about to ask something, but clicked her tongue before finishing her sentence.

“We have Sorilani and Xefys in our group today, together with Growly and Nicky,” Ileena gave the names of the people who will be coming to the Magic Dungeon together with her.

“Hold on, Narias… is not coming?” Estella exclaimed, showing a surprised, if not disappointed facial expression.

“I completely understand where you are coming from, Miss Alifur, but unfortunately no,” Ileena said, adjusting her glasses.

“Ah… no, it’s ok. I was just… ahem…” Estella cleared her throat before averting her mildly flushed face away.

“Yes, I know. I feel the same way,” I Ileena added.

“Huh? Right, sorry. Yes, I admit, I was looking forward to seeing Narias again,” Estella finally admitted.

“Narias is a Guide himself and he will be taking a different group into the Magic Dungeon with him tomorrow,” Ileena informed.

“Oh, yes… I… completely forgot that is a Guide himself,” Estella said, becoming even more embarrassed than before. “But then… how come Narias is not escorting your group?” She became curious suddenly.

“There are several reasons for that, but the two main reasons are that we cannot become too reliant on Narias all the time. Even if he’s the Guide during our runs, he is always leading the way and fighting monsters together with us. That defeats the purpose of the rest of us learning how to navigate the dungeon and fight monsters without him. In addition, we now have new people in our student club who aren’t experienced in Magic Dungeon exploration so they wouldn’t be able to keep up with our current pace anyway. The second reason is that Narias taking another group into the Magic Dungeon will help him learn and gain more experience on how to be a better Guide himself.”

“Oh,” Estella tilted her head to the side, looking to be very impressed with what Ileena has told her. “Yes, that is very important indeed. I see you’ve grown into a very smart and mature leader, Ileena.”

“Thank you, Miss Alifur. However, it was Miss Salroze’ suggestion for Narias to go into the Magic Dungeon with another group.”

“Belinda’s suggestion?” Estella asked, squinting her eyes, her cat-like ears flinching to the sides. “Humph, I see. I guess I need to grow up myself as well.” She added, letting out a sigh.

“It’s ok, Miss Alifur. I can understand how you feel. After all, I love Narias too,” Ileena said, brushing her hair to the side to put it behind her left ear.

“Hmm?” Estella paused, turning her head to look directly at Ileena. There was something in Ileena’s voice that got her attention. “Wait… did something happen between you and Narias?”

“Yes. Narias took me on a date to the Scarlet Sunset Hot Springs resort and… we’ve spent the most wonderful time together,” Ileena told her, sounding confident yet her face was blushing.

“Ooh, I see. I am very happy for you, Ileena. I am certain you two had an amazing time together,” Estella said, a happy smile showing on her lips.

“Thank you, Miss Alifur. It wasn’t just the two of us there, however. Flavia and Flamiris were there together with us as well,” Ileena said.

“What? Really?” Estella asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “I would’ve never expected for all three of you to… Ahem, I apologize. Never mind.”

“It’s ok. You’re Narias’s girlfriend too, Miss Alifur,” Ileena wasn’t upset with the teacher regarding her last comment.

“Thank you. Having said that, I’d be curious to know what all four of you were doing during your date, if you don’t mind telling me of course?” Estella asked, a slightly awkward yet mischievous smile entering her lips.

“Not at all. However, I don’t think it is a very suitable time for that right now. The other group members should show up soon and we’ll be going to the Magic Dungeon to fight monsters right now. Maybe some other time?” Ileena suggested.

“Yes, of course. Sorry about that,” Estella said before adding. “Maybe after we come back from the dungeon? And I wouldn’t mind Flamiris and Flavia joining us too. In fact, I could invite you all to my house. We have hot springs pool at my house too, but you probably know that already.”

“Yes, Narias had told us about it. And regards your invitation, Miss Alifur, I think it’s a lovely idea and I’m sure Flavia, and Flamiris would like to come too. Maybe we could invite Miss Salroze and Miss Veila as well?” Ileena asked.

“Belinda and Milenna?” Estella asked, giving Ileena a somewhat curious look.

“Yes, well… I would love to learn from you and from other women about… how to make Narias happier,” Ileena asked, blushing charmingly.

“Oh? Yes, that’s a wonderful idea, actually. An all-girl night. Let’s do that after we come back from the dungeon. Humph,” Estella agreed, showing a sly smirk at end too.

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Miss Alifur,” added Ileena.

Growly, Nicky, Sorilani and Xefys showed up soon enough, with Xefys freaking out a little when he saw who their Guide for the dungeon run will be. Estella half-apologized to him for the treatment he had received the other day, also reminding him to be more mindful of other people, especially girls, with Xefys promising to be a very good boy from now on. After the initial greetings were taken care of, the group went to explore the Magic Dungeon.

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{the next day around the same time in the morning}

“Good morning, Mister Narias. Going into the Magic Dungeon again?” Samuel, the guard at the gates greeted him.

“Good morning, Samuel. Yes, we are,” he said before turning to the other guard. “Good morning, Daniel.”

“Good morning,” Daniel greeted him back.

“Wait, where is your group?” Samuel asked, seeing Narias by himself.

“I am not going with my usual group today. I’m escorting different students, but I think I have come a bit too early,” Narias explained.

“Oh, so that’s how it is. Well, I am sure they will show up soon enough,” Samuel said, continuing to have the conversation with Narias to pass the time.

Being as diligent as Narias was, he came to the Magic Dungeon entrance much earlier just in case the group he will be going with might show up earlier too, but he had to wait for the students to arrive unfortunately. To make the time pass faster, Narias had a chat with the guards in the meantime, not noticing when the first two students from his group have arrived.

“Ah, hello, excuse me,” one of the two boy students addressed the guard who wasn’t talking to Narias.

“Yes, how I can help you?” The guard whose name was Daniel spoke to him.

“We will be going to the Magic Dungeon and we’re here to meet our Guide. His name is Narias Talrone. Do you know if he came here before us or when will he show up?” The boy asked.

“Oh, so you two are a part of the group he is going with? He’s just over there,” the guard pointed at another student who was talking to his friend.

“Huh? A guard will be our Guide?” The same boy student asked in surprise.

“No, no,” Daniel laughed. “Narias Talrone is the one talking to my colleague.”

“What?!” This time, both boys exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

“Hey, Narias, your students are here,” Daniel raised his voice to get Narias’s attention.

“Good morning. So sorry, I was talking to Samuel and didn’t notice you coming,” Narias greeted the two students after coming over.

“Wait, you’re our Guide?” One of the boy students asked him.

“Yes. My name is Narias Talrone. It’s nice to meet you,” Narias introduced himself politely.

“No way,” the other boy student exclaimed instead of either of them introducing themselves to Narias.

“Excuse me?” Narias became confused regarding their reaction towards him.

“You look to be too young to be a Guide,” the first student declared, pointing his finger at Narias.

“Well, I am a student at Reina’s Magic Academy. I’m in my second year now,” Narias informed.

“Seriously? Is this some sort of joke?” The same student exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, but what do you mean by that?” Narias asked, becoming not only confused, but slightly irritated as well.

“What I mean is we were expecting to get a real Guide, not another student who pretends to be a Magic Dungeon Guide,” the second student retorted, rolling his eyes.

Sigh… That’s what I was afraid off. Narias thought to himself, letting out a mild sigh.

“But I am a real Guide. Here’s my Guide ID,” Narias decided to take the polite approach, taking out and showing his Guide’s identification badge.

“No way. Is it real?” The first student demanded to know.

“Of course,” Narias said, furrowing his eyebrows a little.

“I can attest that Narias Talrone is a qualified Guide. He has been taking other groups into the dungeon together with him for quite a while now,” Daniel decided to add a testimony to support Narias after hearing the students talk.

“Really?” The second student couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, really,” Daniel added in a more serious tone of his voice.

“Now then, do you mind introducing yourselves?” Narias asked.

“What’s your family rank?” The first boy student demanded to know instead of answering Narias’s question.

“Rank? Why does it matter?” Narias asked, not believing what he has heard.

“You must be from some low rank family too,” the boy exclaimed in disdain.

“Heck no. I am not going into the Magic Dungeon with a second-year student as our Guide, especially someone who comes from a low rank family,” the second student declared.

“Oh-kay…” Narias said, forcing to keep himself in check to not show his irritation.

“We should go and request a real Guide to escort us into the Magic Dungeon instead,” the first student said, speaking to his friend.

“Yeah, for sure,” his friend agreed.

“So, does that mean you want to cancel this dungeon run then?” Narias asked, still keeping the polite attitude.

“Well, we definitely don’t want you to be our dungeon Guide,” the second student blurted.

“Ok. If that’s the case, I will need to confirm it with your whole group and report it to the academy’s administration that the run was cancelled,” Narias informed.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” the first student said, waving his hand before he and his friend stepped away to talk between themselves. “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to get that cat woman as our Guide?”

“Huh?” Narias tensed up when his ears caught what the boy has just said. In all fairness, the two students didn’t walk too far from Narias and they weren’t trying to be too quiet about it either.

“Totally. Or that other teacher. You know, the one who uses Lightning Magic. What was her name again?” The second student said.

“Oh, I know who you mean. Yes. I think her name was Belinda. She comes from a low rank family, but who cares. I wouldn’t mind asking her to help me fall asleep when we reach a Supply Point room,” the other student added, letting out a somewhat creepy laugh.

You… Narias clenched his fist, hearing the two students talk about his girlfriends like that, letting out a deep sigh to calm himself the next moment before stepping further away from the two students so he wouldn’t hear them talk anymore. That’s so unbelievable. Even if Belinda and Estella weren’t my girlfriends, that is such a disrespectful way to talk about the teachers. No wonder Belinda and Estella were so guarded and defensive the first time I met them. Family status rank aside, they must be having it rough every day dealing with that kind of students. Good thing Estella and Belinda are gone into the Magic Dungeon already. As for me, I was actually looking forward to escorting a different team into the dungeon this time, but it doesn’t look like it will be happening today. I wonder how will that affect my future dungeon runs as a Guide?

His last thought was a reasonable concern from Narias’s point of view. He became worried that if too many other students refuse to go into the Magic Dungeon with him, the school might refuse to let him go into the dungeon as a Guide at all.

Anyway, the best I can do is follow the rules and report to the academy about it for now. Narias knew there wasn’t much he could do about it.

The three other students who were supposed to go to the dungeon with Narias as a Guide showed up after a while as well. They’ve met up with the first two boy students to say hello and probably talk things over before one of two boy students came over to Narias to let him know they will not be going to the Magic Dungeon with him as their Guide. As such, Narias has filled out a report, had the student sign it and wished him luck on his next dungeon run before leaving to deliver his report to the academy’s administration.

“What? You have cancelled your Magic Dungeon run?” As Narias expected, the man at the office took the matter seriously.

“Yes, I’m really sorry about that,” Narias apologized.

“This is a serious issue. I’d appreciate if you told me the reason behind,” the man asked politely.

“Well, it is a little unpleasant, but…” Narias took a deep breath in before telling him what has happened, expecting a backlash after he was done.

“I see. That was a good choice on your part,” but the man surprised him by complimenting Narias instead of scolding him.

“Huh? You’re… not upset, sir?” Narias asked.

“Hah, why would I be? Besides, it’s not like other Guides don’t run into similar issues with other students now and then. As a Guide, you made the right choice. It was better to not take those students into the dungeon if they behaved the way they did. It would’ve been worse if you went and something bad happened due to them not listening to you,” the man told Narias.

“Oh, ok. Thank you, sir,” Narias said, easing up.

“As for your pay for the run, don’t worry, you will receive it in full,” the man added.

“Really?” Narias asked, becoming surprised.

“Of course. It’s not your fault that you had to cancel the run. In addition, you had to prepare and take the time out of your schedule to go into the Magic Dungeon. You ought to be rewarded for it,” he said.

“Wow, thank you so much,” Narias cheered up, but then let out a sad sigh.

“Is something wrong?” The man asked, noticing it.

“Ah, sorry. It’s just that… I was looking forward going into the Magic Dungeon and I had prepared some extra supplies to leave at the Supply Point rooms too, but now…” Narias explained, rubbing the side of his head with his right hand.

“Oh, you can still do that if you wish,” the man told him.

“What? Really?” Narias asked, becoming both excited and a little puzzled.

“Of course. You have a slot allocated to you to enter the Magic Dungeon today, so if you wish to you can go to the dungeon by yourself. You are an official Guide, so you are allowed to do so. Besides, it’d be a real waste to throw away all the extra supplies that you prepared to take with you. Obviously, we expect you to be careful and act responsibly when you go into the Magic Dungeon by yourself, but as a Guide you should know that already,” the man explained, giving Narias some good news.

“Wow, that’s great. Thank you so much,” Narias said, lighting up like a candle.

“Haha. You certainly were looking forward going into the Magic Dungeon,” the man laughed, seeing Narias become so happy. “Well, good luck and be careful inside the dungeon, ok?”

“Yes, I will, sir. If you excuse me now,” Narias said before rushing out of the office.