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Chapter 32
“Charlotte Schmidt!”
Flash—
With a burst of light, Caius landed on the floor. The dungeon that had existed just moments ago vanished, and dazzling sunlight poured into his vision.
It was the Grand Duke’s office.
His body stiffened.
…He really sent me back?
He stayed behind, and only I was returned?
At that moment, Basel, who had been opening the door to come in, froze.
“…Your Highness?”
He blinked his dark green eyes in confusion.
“Why are you here…? Don’t tell me you already returned from the dungeon?”
Caius spun around. His face, which had been frozen in confusion, suddenly twisted.
“Where’s that demon brat?”
“If you mean Eden, he’s behind the main building with Sir Nielsen right now—”
“Damn it.”
Caius spat out a harsh curse and rushed out of the office. Basel, who had been standing there dumbfounded, hurriedly followed him.
The scenery of the corridor rushed past on both sides.
Caius practically leapt down the stairs toward the lower floor.
He couldn’t understand it.
She said she would wait.
What on earth was she trusting in, to be able to say that so calmly?
The image of Charlotte, pale from being trapped in vines yet smiling at him, flickered before his eyes like a burn.
Unless she was putting on some half-baked act of self-sacrifice, she could never have done that. It would have been far more rational to use Caius as a scapegoat and find a way to escape herself. At least, that was how every mage Caius knew behaved.
And besides, it was an ancient dungeon. No matter how skilled or lucky you were, one moment of carelessness could cost you your life. There was no way the mage Charlotte Schmidt didn’t know that.
Yet she sent Caius back alone, pouring out even the last of her remaining mana.
Should he call it foolish, or naïve?
Caius soon stopped thinking about it.
There was only one thing on his mind.
He had to get back there and save Charlotte as soon as possible.
“Hey, demon.”
“What, you’re back already? But where’s my contractor—why’d you come alone—”
“Send me to the ancient dungeon. Now.”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
Eden, who had been training to ride a griffin with Damon, stared at the suddenly barging-in Caius in confusion.
After examining his face for a moment, Eden’s expression hardened.
“Which floor?”
“Fifth.”
“Tch, guess training has to wait. You—come with me.”
Throwing the griffin feed he had been holding onto the ground, Eden left the training field. Basel followed closely behind the two of them as they walked briskly.
“I’ll come too.”
“Why is everyone piling on… Whatever, do what you want.”
At a suitable open space, Eden cut his thumb and completed a magic circle with his blood.
In an instant, the three of them arrived at the entrance of the dungeon.
“Move.”
Caius drew his sword. Before anyone could stop him, he unleashed sword energy and swung.
Kwaaang!
“Hey, you crazy—!”
The massive door shattered with a thunderous roar. At the same time, fireballs began pouring out wildly from inside. Eden hurriedly knocked them away with his authority and shouted,
“Are you insane?! If you storm into an ancient dungeon this recklessly, you’ll get yourself killed!”
“We’re going in. Basel, follow me.”
“Why the hell has that bastard lost his mind?!”
Caius charged inside without hesitation. Exchanging glances, Basel and Eden chased right after him.
First floor.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
When Caius, rushing forward at terrifying speed, finally reached the fifth floor—
“…Charlotte Schmidt?”
His steps came to an abrupt halt.
The room that had been filled with vines until just before he left was now completely empty. The thickly spread vines, and Charlotte herself, were gone. Everything had vanished as if it were a lie.
“What the hell….”
What happened?
Confusion filled Caius’s eyes again.
Could it be that all her mana had been absorbed in the meantime?
Where did all those vines go?
And Charlotte Schmidt?
Eden, who had followed behind, scanned the interior.
“What? Why isn’t anyone here?”
“She was definitely here. The vines, and Charlotte Schmidt.”
“What was the name of those vines?”
“Mandrich.”
Eden’s face twisted viciously.
“Shit, we’re screwed. Depending on the species, mandrich absorbs mana and even devours its host! Where the hell did it go?! You’re sure it was here?”
“…What?”
Caius’s heart dropped.
At that moment, he suddenly recalled Charlotte’s pale face the last time he saw her.
—
“I’ll wait.”
—
“Damn it.”
He should have forced those vines off her by brute strength back then, somehow. It wasn’t like he was completely helplessly being transported away.
No—there hadn’t been that much time yet. If Charlotte had really been devoured by a mandrich, the vines wouldn’t have disappeared without leaving a trace. There had to be another reason—
Just then—
“There’s a passage here!”
Basel’s voice rang out from below, snapping Caius back to his senses.
“Move. I’ll lead.”
Caius dashed down the corridor at frightening speed and split the door in two with sheer force.
And what he saw there was—
“Oh? You’re here already?”
[Kyuu!]
Charlotte, pickaxe in hand, was merrily clanking away at the floor.
I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead and looked at the three people who had come rushing in.
“You got here faster than I expected. Did you bring Sir Leon too?”
I’d told him to bring only Eden—why did he bring everyone along? And what were those looks on their faces?
Caius, who had been staring at me like he’d lost his soul, stammered,
“What… is this?”
“Oh.”
I held up a piece of black mineral.
“This is blacksteel. You saw that black liquid earlier, right? When those things are left alone for a long time, they harden into this kind of mineral. You’d be lucky to find even a single grain even if you turned the entire continent upside down, but look how much is piled up here.”
This was a gold mine.
“No, I mean… weren’t you just caught by a mandrich a moment ago?”
“Oh, that.”
I’d been so busy mining blacksteel I’d forgotten about it.
“After I sent Your Grace away, I passed out for a bit. When I woke up, I was lying on the floor. I guess since my mana was drained for a while, the mandrich let me go.”
“Then the upper floor being empty…”
“Some mutated mandrich species hide their bodies after feeding. Looks like the one in this dungeon was a variant. Luckily, thanks to that, I could run down to the lower floor as soon as I came to.”
Otherwise I would have been stuck there helplessly until Eden arrived.
I’d been too dizzy earlier to think about it, but that would have been pretty humiliating.
I was a mage with pride.
“Anyway, you came at a good time. There doesn’t seem to be anything on the sixth floor except a ton of blacksteel. Want to help me mine it?”
[Kyuu, kyuu!]
Like the black liquid, blacksteel absorbed mana, but when processed correctly, it could either release the stored mana or amplify its owner’s mana.
Which meant—
If you removed the impurities and processed it properly, it could be used as material for magic tools even better than a golem core.
In the first place, mages had started hunting golem cores only because they couldn’t find this blacksteel.
If I’d known something like this was in an ancient dungeon, I would’ve come much sooner.
“Charlotte, just what in the world are you—!”
Caius, who was about to shout, squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his hand to his forehead.
Sensing the serious mood, I quietly lowered the pickaxe I was holding.
“What’s wrong? Oh—don’t tell me you were worried about me?”
No way.
Caius Lucifenia?
Worried about me?
Yeah right.
Caius walked over and suddenly snatched the pickaxe away, then hoisted me up into his arms.
“Huh?”
“We’re leaving.”
“Wait, hold on! I haven’t collected all the blacksteel yet—!”
I looked pitifully at Eden and Basel, but they coldly averted their eyes.
Gripping my waist tightly, Caius warned,
“If you wander away from my side one more time, I’ll tie you up myself next time.
