I shook my head from side to side, my face full of tears.

As pitifully as possible. As adorably as possible. I had no choice. I didn't want to go with Ilga.

But Void and Riona...

“Eremia.”

“El-tan, fake crying isn’t good, you know?”

Void’s hand rested on my right shoulder, and Riona’s hand on my left.

“You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? If you send me off with that bastard, I’ll turn this into a disaster big enough to cancel the entire dungeon curriculum.”

“Ow, ow! My shoulder hurts! Don’t grip so hard!”

I could already picture it—Void, standing in the center of about ten fallen students, his fists drenched in blood, grinning like a demon.

“Sorryyy~. But I guess I just can’t stand him on a fundamental level. I kept wanting to slit his throat to shut him up.”

“...That hurts more than my shoulder…”

Another vision appeared in my mind—Ilga, mid-sentence, suddenly falling silent, blood bubbling from his throat as he made gurgling sounds.

I forced myself to hold back my tears as I looked up.

Nooo... I don’t wanna...

“Oujin...”

“...Take care, Eremia...”

“Oujin!?”

But Riona’s hand had already landed on Oujin’s shoulder as well.

“No way, Ryoka-chan, you wouldn’t actually send a ten-year-old child off as a sacrifice, right?”

“Ugh...”

On his other shoulder, Void’s large hand settled into place. Normally, he had a gentle heart and a harsh gaze, but today, for once, it was the opposite.

His eyes held a soft light as he quietly nodded.

“Give it up.”

“Fine…”

With slumped shoulders, Oujin and I trudged after Ilga Freiges.

It was supposed to be the long-awaited dungeon curriculum. But we had only just arrived, and I already wanted to go home.

Oujin and I followed Ilga, joining up with the noble groups of Team One and Team Two, who had gone ahead.

The location was at the base of the buried staircase leading to the fifth layer—the remains of our previous curriculum’s second outpost.

As Ilga caught up, a large man at the rear turned to alert the group ahead. The students clearing away the rubble quickly stepped aside for Ilga.

“How is it? Can we move on to the fifth layer yet?”

The large man answered.

“Yes. The rubble has been mostly cleared.”

“Impressive. Your efficiency is remarkable.”

“Mm.”

Ilga strode confidently to the front, stopping before the cleared rubble. Then, he turned around.

Oujin and I didn’t want to get too close, so we stayed at the very back beside the large man.

However, Ilga pointed directly at us and raised his voice.

“Everyone, from today onward, the baron’s son, Neu, and the Eastern exchange student, Oujin, will be joining us. As you all know, both of them fought against the homunculi. They are skilled swordsmen. Treat them well.”

The group welcomed us warmly.

People called out to us, patted our backs, shook our hands, and smiled. It was somewhat unexpected. Oujin looked just as bewildered.

I had assumed Ilga’s group would be structured with rigid hierarchies, given that he was an upper noble. But the atmosphere felt no different from Team Four or Team Five.

Ilga raised his voice again.

“Alright. Now that the introductions are over—”

“Haha, what are you talking about, Ilga-kun? We did introductions ages ago during Class, didn’t we?”

A twin-tailed girl teased him, and Ilga smiled sheepishly.

“Ah—true! Letis, you’re always so strict with me. …Could it be that you’re starting to see me as a man!?”

Letis spread her arms and gave a half-smile as she denied it.

“Not at allll. Eremia-kun is way cuter~.”

“Guh... You’re right. I could never win against his cuteness...”

The group burst into laughter. The mood was light and friendly.

I, on the other hand, was left stunned. Their attitude toward me was completely different from how they treated commoners. What the hell is this?

The large man beside me bent down and murmured in my ear.

“Don’t worry. He’s not rotten to the core.”

His voice was incredibly deep, and he spoke slowly.

He gave off a slightly dull impression, but the weapons he carried were formidable—a halberd and a spear, both polearms.

“Your name?”

“I am Bernald Balkin. Call me Bern.”

His build was immense, far surpassing Void. He might even be as large as Blythe.

His long hair was tied at the nape, almost making him look feminine.

He wasn’t a noble. He must be from a tribe.

The Kingdom of Galliant had many tribal settlements of various sizes. Since most tribes valued freedom and spirits, Kilpus never forcibly annexed or ruled over them. Even though they were within the kingdom, they were treated as equals. A tribal king was not a feudal lord, but to Kilpus, a sovereign of another nation.

Because of this, Galliant rarely had conflicts with the tribes. In fact, most maintained good relations, trading alcohol, crops, and livestock.

Since he was among these nobles, he was likely the son of a chieftain.

His eyes were narrow, almost indistinguishable between open and closed. His skin was even darker than Lili’s.

He looked strong, yet he only carried polearms—perhaps he disliked close combat?

Maybe he wasn’t much of a fighter.

No… that wasn’t right.

Now I remembered.

During the battle against the homunculi, there had been a man who dismantled his own polearms to create a stretcher for Ilga. If he had no weapons left, he couldn’t have fought even if he wanted to.

I looked up at Bernald’s towering figure.

“I’m Eremia Neu. This is Ryoka Oujin.”

Oujin straightened his posture and bent forward in a bow.

A Hinomoto-style greeting. The precision of his movements was beautiful.

“Pleased to meet you, Bern.”

“Ah. Likewise, Ryoka. And you too, Eremia. I saw your battle. I’m counting on you.”

His already narrow eyes squinted further, and the corners of his lips lifted.

He smiled. A pure, carefree smile.

Then, Ilga’s voice suddenly turned sharp.

“…Even so, Team Four and Team Five are terribly slow. Are they seriously leaving all the work to us? Honestly, commoners are all so useless. But fine, this is our duty. We’ll move ahead and clear the way for them.”

Now that he mentioned it, they were really late. Too late.

Nothing should have happened with Void and Riona around, but…

As I turned to look back, Oujin muttered with a wry smile.

“No need to worry. If I were Void, I wouldn’t take the obvious, troublesome route. There’s a safer shortcut from the fourth to the fifth layer, right?”

“Ah…”

Right. They must have jumped through the giant hole the homunculus made last time. It led straight to the old first outpost and was much closer to the stairs leading to the sixth layer.

That meant Seneca’s commoner party was leading the way.

Well, we weren’t competing, but… I couldn’t help but worry a little.