The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

Savey, the Magic Academy student who had slain the Catoblepas.

He was looking at me with quite a smug expression.

Taking down a Catoblepas with beginner magic, huh? It reminds me of Elenora in the old days.

As I was considering what words of praise to use, Lilith stepped between me and Savey.

"Did you see that, Lilith? With a monster of that level, even beginner magic is enough for me. Did you notice? That power without even a full incantation. As your fiancé, you must be pro--"

"Apologize."

"Huh?"

Lilith was glaring at Savey with a hint of anger.

"To oni... to Ruruk-sensei, please apologize."

"I'm the one who defeated the monster, right? I'd understand if you were thanking me, but apologizing? What are you talking about?"

"Don't you understand? Savey-san, you fired magic towards a teacher who was confronting a monster, from behind. What if it had slightly deviated and hit the teacher? What if the teacher had been injured, could you take responsibility?"

"W-what? Are you saying I'd miss? I'm not that unskilled."

"That's not the issue. Didn't we hear at the beginning that it's a breach of manners to interfere with an adventurer fighting a monster? It was a dangerous act and unauthorized behavior, please apologize immediately!"

"What's with you! I don't need to be told--"

"Both of you, calm down."

As the argument was about to heat up, Mamared intervened.

"Savey-san, that was indeed a dangerous action. Lilith-san has a point. It's fine to show off your magical skills, but in non-emergency situations, please get permission first."

"Ugh... yes."

"And Lilith-san, we will instruct the students if their actions are inappropriate. This is a dungeon, so it's even more dangerous if you become emotional and lose sight of your surroundings. Please be careful."

"Yes. I apologize."

As expected of a researcher, she's calm.

Both Lilith and Savey reluctantly nodded and held their tongues. Lilith glanced at me with a dissatisfied expression, and our eyes met.

It seems she spoke up for my sake, so I waved my hand slightly while smiling to convey my gratitude. She blushed and looked down.

My sister is too cute.

"...By the way, why is Ruruk-sama grinning?"

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something else."

"I see. Do you have anything to say to Savey-san, Ruruk-sama?"

"Lilith-san and Mamared-sama have already said it for me, so not particularly."

"What about the dangerous act? Shouldn't you be a bit angrier?"

"It was a breach of manners, so just be more careful next time. And it wasn't that dangerous, so I wouldn't get angry when it didn't even hit me."

"As expected of the teacher! There's no way I'd miss my target, right!"

Savey raised his voice in joy. Lilith pouted next to him.

I was a bit unclear. That's a misunderstanding.

"That's not what I meant. I just thought it wasn't dangerous because even if it had hit me, there wouldn't have been any damage from that level of attack."

"Huh?"

"Oh my!"

Savey was surprised, and Lilith smiled happily.

Well, I am level 94 after all. My stats aren't so low that I'd be hurt by beginner magic. Plus, I have cheat defense skills, so there's no chance at all.

"Overconfidence is dangerous in a dungeon. If I were shot in the back, I'd be angry even without damage, and someone else might have been seriously injured, so please don't do it again."

"...!"

Savey hung his head, his face bright red.

No matter how excellent you are, there are times when you die unexpectedly. I hope this teaches him not to let his guard down.

"Shall we move on then? I'm also curious about why the floor boss was running backwards."

"Teacher, was that unusual?"

"Yes. Bosses are monsters too, so they sometimes change their territory when food is scarce, but they usually head to lower floors. There might have been a strong adventurer or monster on the lower floor, forcing it to go up."

However, today's practical is only for one day, so we're scheduled to end at the 10th floor.

We don't have time to go check what's below.

We continued walking and descended the stairs from the 9th to the 10th floor.

Like other dungeons, this Mataisa royal capital dungeon has transfer devices every 10 floors. The structure of this 10th floor seems to be just the boss room beyond the transfer room.

The boss room was empty, so the Catoblepas from earlier must have been here.

After recording the floor information with the transfer device, we gathered in the boss room.

We were originally planning to end with a boss battle here, but there's nothing we can do without an opponent.

"Tanya-san, how much time do we have left?"

"We still have about two hours until the scheduled return time."

"We're quite ahead of schedule. Well then everyone, we'll have some free time, so please take a break as you like. Just don't leave this floor, okay? That includes you, Mamared-sama."

"...Yes."

I warned her in advance as she seemed likely to go off to defeat monsters on her own. She looked quite displeased.

Although there was no danger, we had walked quite a bit, so the Magic Academy students seemed quite tired. They all sat down.

Half of the Knight School students also put down their weapons and rested as they pleased. The other half started doing muscle training.

Surprisingly, the toughest were the young ladies from the Ladies' Academy.

None of them sat down, and they were all looking this way with straight backs. Why are they looking this way?

"Ruruk-sensei, since we have the chance, may we talk with you?"

"Of course, Lilith-san."

There's no reason to refuse.

I immediately created a chair for Lilith using "Synthesis".

"Ruruk-sama, may I join as well?"

"Yes, Mamared-sama, please do."

"I'd like to hear the conversation too!"

"P-President, may I join as well?"

"Me too!"

"And me!"

The Ladies' Academy students and Margaria gathered around in a crowd.

I can't leave the ladies standing, so I made chairs for everyone.

I won't be able to talk alone with Lilith, but just being able to see her face and talk leisurely is a blissful time.

"Let me introduce myself again. I am Lilith Muuteru. I serve as the student council president at the Ladies' Academy. I've heard rumors about you, Ruruk-sensei. It's truly... truly an honor to meet you. I'm so happy."

"The pleasure is mine. Student council president... that's impressive."

Lilith used to always follow behind me.

She's grown so much.

"May I ask about you, sensei?"

"Well then, let me introduce myself again. I'm Ruruk, the leader of a party called [Rozewill]. As you probably know, I'm a mystic arts user who can't use magic."

"[Rozewill]... I've heard it's been quite a topic of conversation lately. I hear you have Saaya Schreine, the viscount's daughter who became the youngest S-rank adventurer in history... and I've heard rumors that she's very beautiful..."

Wait, is she glaring a bit?

Must be my imagination. Well, it must be my imagination.

"Haha. Saaya is only 11, so 'cute' might be more appropriate than 'beautiful'."

"...I see. I've also heard you have a lovely sheep-folk in your party?"

"You mean Elenora. She's probably one of the top magicians in the world. Lovely... or perhaps fierce?"

"She must be adorable, right?"

"Well, being a sheep-folk, she's popular wherever we go. Though she's always unfriendly herself."

"...And I hear you also have the dragon princess of Bargia in your party. A princess..."

"She's the strongest as a species, but she's the biggest klutz."

"...And I've heard a very strong swordswoman has also joined?"

"The swordswoman is quite sharp-tongued. She's an S who enjoys teasing me. They're all unique, and it's quite a struggle."

"Hmm..."

She's definitely glaring...?

But even that face is cute, so Lilith is indeed my angel, Q.E.D.

[TL notes: It's an abbreviation from a Latin phase "quod erat demonstrandum," which means "that which was to be demonstrated".]

"Ruruk-sama, may I ask a question as well?"

"Yes, please go ahead, Mamared-sama."

"What kinds of monsters have you fought so far? Have you seen any rare monsters? If you have any valuable monster materials, I'd love to see them!"

"Please calm down a bit."

Mamared started getting excited.

She really loves monsters.

"Speaking of rare monsters, my familiar is a mutant individual. It's a highly intelligent slime."

"The talking slime! Yes, I've heard rumors about that. Is its ecology different from other slimes as well?"

"Other than its intelligence, it was a normal slime. Well, it's undergone an incredible evolution and is now S-rank level..."

"An S-rank slime!? Which element did it evolve into?"

"Its element is earth, but it's not a mud slime king Shoggoth. It's metal-based."

"Metal! If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me more--"

"It's terrible! Ruruk-kun, it's terrible!"

Tanya's voice stopped Mamared just as she was getting overly excited and breathing heavily while drawing closer.

"What's wrong?"

"Some of the Magic Academy students are missing! While I took my eyes off them for a moment..."

"Oh. That is a problem."

"Did they go back using the transfer device, or did they go ahead on their own... I'm sorry, I was talking to the Knight School students and didn't notice. What should we do, Ruruk-kun, what should we do?"

"Please calm down. It's not your fault to begin with."

This dungeon practical is conducted under the students' own responsibility, even with us instructors present. There's a consent form, so we won't be held responsible for their unauthorized actions.

Tanya also properly warned them not to leave this place.

"The missing kids, it's that Akuninaru ducal family's child... and two of his friends."

"I see. Well then, Tanya-san, please keep watch over the other students here. I'll go look for them."

Actually, I've already found them with "Eye of Fiction".

They've already entered the 11th floor. They're still within visible range.

"Shall I accompany you?"

"No, Mamared-sama, please stay here. If I'm late coming back, please use the transfer device to return with everyone first."

"Understood."

I immediately started moving. I descended the exit stairs.

Since it's the 11th floor, the monsters are weak, basically E-rank, at most D-rank. They're progressing without much trouble.

On this floor too, adventurers have clearly marked the path, so there's no reason for them to stop.

"It'll take time to catch up on foot. Can't be helped... 'Relative Transfer'."

It's troublesome to run after them, so I warp to the exit of the 11th floor. Now I just have to wait leisurely.

Thanks to the great "Eye of Fiction", I could clearly see them smoothly conquering the dungeon.

I'll ask later why they went ahead on their own, but as expected, Savey's magic is very good. It's understandable why he's overconfident.

In contrast, the students who came along with him are quite ordinary. They hide behind Savey when monsters appear, and their levels are still 1. By the way, Savey is already level 13.

After waiting at the exit of the 11th floor for about 30 minutes while watching their exploits through clairvoyance,

I lightly raise my hand to greet them as they appear at the last corner.

"Hello there, good work."

"Huh!? Why are you here!"

Savey's eyes widen in shock.

His two accompanying friends showed expressions of relief.

I have no obligation to answer his question, so I'll keep it brief.

"Now then, Savey-kun. Let me praise you for successfully conquering the 11th floor. It's admirable that you didn't fall into any traps or get injured, and your courage to be so confident in your first dungeon is impressive."

"W-what's with you all of a sudden..."

"I'm here as a teacher, you know. I want to be a teacher who praises where praise is due."

I myself claim to be the type who grows with praise.

However.

"I have a question for the excellent Savey-kun. Why did you decide to conquer the 11th floor? I believe you were warned not to leave the boss room, as today was only up to the 10th floor."

"...That's my business."

"You won't tell me?"

Savey turned his gaze away with a sullen expression.

He doesn't seem willing to tell me.

By the way, when I turned my gaze to the other two, they seemed about to say something but were glared at by Savey and hung their heads.

"By the way, what do you plan to do now? It would be helpful if you could come back with me."

"...Fine. I'll stop playing around now."

Savey sighed.

He was unexpectedly obedient there.

Well, even if he tried to force his way through, I'd stop him by force if necessary.

"But teacher, let me ask you one thing before we go back."

"What is it?"

"How did you get ahead of us? We should have come by the shortest route."

"It's a breach of manners to try to learn an adventurer's hand, you know."

"...Is that so."

Savey looked displeased.

After that, he obediently followed, so we backtracked to the boss room on the 10th floor.

Savey and his friends were thoroughly lectured by Mamared until it was time to return. It was a thorough, slow grilling. Maybe because her monster talk was interrupted, it seemed a bit personal.

As the scheduled evening came, we left the dungeon using the transfer device.

After completing the exit procedures, we gathered in the plaza.

Everyone's here, good.

Before dismissing, Tanya called out to the students.

"The next practical will be conquering up to the 20th floor! It's scheduled for two days, so please don't forget to prepare the necessary luggage! If anyone has scheduling conflicts, please let us know in advance~"

The next one is at the end of the month.

The main items next time are light combat and staying overnight in the dungeon.

"Next time you'll actually be fighting~ Everyone, please come in good condition."

"Yes!"

The real thing starts from next time. The students seemed excited too.

The escorts from each school had already arrived, so we handed the students over to them and ended.

"Ruruk-sensei."

"What is it, Lilith-san?"

Lilith came running to me before getting into the carriage.

She sent me an intense gaze.

"...I'm really glad I got to meet you."

"Me too."

Now we're student and teacher, so we can only role-play like this, but I fully understand what Lilith wants to say.

We gaze at each other.

"I want to... meet you again soon..."

"No need to rush, we'll meet at the next practical."

"Yes... that's right."

Her tone sounded a bit lonely.

However, without showing that emotion, she put on a dignified smile befitting a lady.

"Then, sensei, I'll be going now. Until next time."

"Yes. See you then."

I see off Lilith as she reluctantly waves and gets into the carriage.

I also waved until the carriage was out of sight.

"Hey, could it be that Ruruk-kun is popular?"

Tanya was grinning while poking my shoulder.

I answer with a smile full of composure.

"Oh, I'm very popular indeed."

"Ahaha. But Lilith-san is a student and a duke's daughter, so don't lay a hand on her. It would be terrible if you were found out."

"Don't worry. If I were to make a move, I'd do it in secret."

"Wow. You've become quite the bad boy~"

Joking like this, we also set out on our way back.