NOVEL NEXT Chapter 71
“Teacher~! Teacher~!”
With a bright smile, Arisha grabbed my arm.
When she’s in a good mood, she runs to me like a puppy and always hugs my arm, so I didn’t pay much attention to it, but Sowol and Lena seemed quite annoyed.
“Arisha?! Aren’t you hanging onto the Master a bit too much?!”
“Y-yeah! The Master chose Arisha because Arisha is w-weaker!”
“Huh? Is that so? Teacher?”
“I can’t deny it.”
I patted Arisha’s head while looking at her party members.
Ludwig, Lumina, Ripa, and Rowen Trevor, the second son of Count Trevor of the Roodwan Kingdom, Charlotte, the ace of the Palos Female Mercenary Corps, and Richter from the Atrima Knights.
They were all candidates that could join if Arisha’s route was taken, and overall, they weren’t a bad balance.
If they went the usual route, they should be able to take down the Chapter 1 boss.
But the current situation is anything but ordinary.
There’s a high possibility that the Asura sect’s schemes are involved.
Sowol and Lena could handle problems if they were on another team, but this party lacks that strength.
So I thought I needed to fill that gap and joined Arisha’s party.
“So, are you going to protect me, Teacher?”
“I can’t quite say that’s not the case.”
“Ehehe~. I’m so happy~.”
Arisha hugged my arm even tighter with a bright smile.
Seeing Sowol and Lena’s faces gradually getting redder, I released Arisha’s arm and addressed everyone.
“Since our party is set, let’s report to the Headmaster today and meet at the entrance of the Underground Waterway by dinner.”
I expected it, but the Headmaster was negative about the Class A members solving the Underground Waterway problem.
But with Sowol, Lena, and me involved, he hesitantly gave permission, albeit feeling uneasy.
Thank goodness. I was worried about what I’d do if he didn’t allow it.
With a relieved heart, I headed to the Underground Waterway.
When I arrived, all the Class A students were already waiting, fully prepared for combat.
Sowol was wielding the Moonlight Sword and wearing the Saint’s armor, while Lena was lightly warming up in her magic staff and shadow robe.
“Here’s the map of the Underground Waterway. Sowol, Lena, take it.”
“Yes.”
“U-understood.”
After handing a map to them, I gave the remaining one to Arisha.
When she received it, Arisha tilted her head.
“You’re the leader of this party. Just think of me as a party member in your group.”
“Uh… is that okay?”
“Of course.”
I figured Arisha would manage just fine.
I’d only step in if things got dicey.
I lightly patted her shoulder and approached Sowol and Lena.
Were they still unhappy that I was in Arisha’s party? Their lips were pouting slightly.
“Don’t sulk about things like kids.”
“…I’m not sulking!”
Not sulking, huh?
Their lack of honesty reminded me of old times.
I poked Sowol’s slightly puffed cheeks with my finger.
Pffft!
With the sound of air escaping, her cheeks deflated, and she began poking me with her fist.
“I think you can do well. Take care of the others.”
“…With just words?”
“How about a praise sticker?”
“Not that!”
With a pouty face, Sowol came closer to me.
I wondered what she was trying to say.
She pulled my ear and whispered into it.
“If we get to Emerald Beach, please spend a day with me.”
Emerald Beach, huh.
Come to think of it, when I scored well in the first chapter of the first semester, I got to go there as a bonus stage.
I could see characters in swimsuits there.
Taking a day out for that… well, that seems reasonable.
I nodded, and only then did Sowol seem satisfied and let go of me.
Well, she’s good to go…
“Ren, you can do well, right?”
“…Yes! I’ll do my very best!”
She looked disappointed that I wasn’t going with them, but Lena was trying hard to smile.
It was obvious she wasn’t used to revealing her desires, so her disappointment was clear.
Feeling sympathy, I patted Lena’s head and asked.
“Do you have anything you want?”
“Uh… Is anything okay?”
“Not anything. Let’s hear it first.”
“…Um, during the break… can we go back to the cabin?”
The cabin, she must be talking about the place we used to live together.
I wonder if it’s still there.
I nodded at her with a hopeful look.
It might take a few days to get there, but it shouldn’t be a problem.
When I gave my permission, a smile appeared on Lena’s face.
Looks like she finally relaxed a bit. After giving her a pat on the back, I returned to Arisha’s party.
“What did you talk about with Sowol and Lena?”
“Just told them to take care of the others, that’s all.”
“Is that all? You can see their faces got better, so there must be something else!”
“What else? Come on. Let’s get going.”
There are three entrances to the Underground Waterway.
We need to enter through different entrances, activate the switches at the end, and then the gate at the center will open, allowing us to enter the processing facility.
Naturally, Arisha’s party needs to enter the center.
After defeating the Forces of Chaos inside the facility, we can follow the main story.
That’s why I sent Sowol and Lena to the left and right entrances.
As they headed off without much complaint, I spoke to Arisha.
“Let’s go in too.”
“Okay! Everyone, be careful!”
With Arisha signaling after checking the map, the raid of the Underground Waterway began.
The Underground Waterway consists of five stages.
The first stage is the Slime Factory, a room where slimes continuously emerge.
The goal is to destroy the central factory within a time limit, and our party should be able to do that without any issues.
“Slime! Lumina!!”
“I got it!”
Those who could use magic centered around Lumina burned the slimes with spells.
Since slimes have high resistance to physical attacks, responding with magic was indeed a wise choice.
As slimes burned effortlessly in the flames created by magic, opening a path for us, Arisha began using her detection skill as a martial artist to check for any additional enemies.
That’s a textbook approach.
“I feel something over there!”
“What could it be? Everyone, stay alert!”
Following Arisha, the party continued without any major problems. After some time, a large space opened up, and everyone prepared for battle.
As slimes began to spawn from the central device, Arisha quickly made a decision.
“Slimes are coming out over there?! We need to destroy that first!! Ludwig! Rowen! Charlotte! Let’s take it down together!”
“Got it.”
“Leave it to me!”
“Don’t worry!”
So they want to pick the ones whose main attacks are physical to take down the Slime Factory, huh.
That’s a solid decision.
The rest will probably support with magic, right?
“Teacher, stay back! If there’s a surprise attack, please handle it!”
Following Arisha’s order, I stayed back and surveyed the situation.
Not just Arisha, but the other students were moving well too.
At this point, we should be able to proceed without major issues.
Crash!
How long had we been fighting? I heard the sound of the Slime Factory breaking, and soon after, it began to collapse.
Impressive! They properly demolished the Slime Factory by the book.
“What on earth is this?”
“A device that makes slimes… I can’t believe it.”
“Teacher! Do you know what this is?”
Before I could respond, Lumina already answered.
With a serious expression while staring at the device, she looked at us and said,
“This seems to be an ancient device. Before the empire was formed, there was a place called the Magic Empire. It was said that there was a device that created monsters in the Magic Empire, and this seems to be it.”
“The Magic Empire… If this is a story from nearly a thousand years ago, then why is it here?”
Ludwig looked at me with a serious face.
The reason is simple.
The identity of the Forces of Chaos is precisely that of the descendants of the Magic Empire.
But I didn’t need to say that right now, so I just shrugged.
“We’ll find out as we go along. Let’s move!”
With Arisha’s bright voice, everyone agreed.
So we continued inward, battling the remnants of the magic empire like chimeras and three-headed golems until we finally reached the room with the switch.
“I guess we’re the last ones here.”
Two of the switches were already lit.
Looks like Sowol and Lena got there first.
Arisha confirmed that and activated the last switch, and the tightly closed iron gate began to open.
And then…
“…Looks like we meet again, Lee Hyun.”
With a voice from the entrance of the room, figures dressed in black began to enter.
As these seemingly strong figures emerged one by one, Arisha and the students raised their weapons with tense faces.
“…Who are you?”
“The Asura sect. Archbishop of Repentance.”
A familiar face appeared.
He was the guy I couldn’t defeat when we fought before.
“How convenient. I’ve got the scum that needs to be killed right here.”
As the Archbishop of Repentance raised his hand, the dark figures behind him drew their weapons.
Watching that, I ushered Arisha and the other students into the iron gate before quickly closing it.
“Teacher!!”
At Arisha’s urgent shout from inside, I casually turned my head and replied.
“Leave this to me and go.”
This is something I need to resolve myself.