Leaving the place where we fought the ogre, we continue to wander through the sixth layer.

It must be an incredibly vast and complex labyrinth. Even in my previous life, I never ventured into anything of this scale. Moreover, the sixth layer is far larger than the fifth and higher layers. This is no mere illusion.

In other words, the deeper one delves into this rare dungeon, the wider and more intricate it becomes.

It’s undoubtedly dangerous. This is not the kind of dungeon that should be explored by students.

“If we go deeper, it’ll get even larger...”

“Yeah.”

Bernald gave a nod to my casual remark.

Despite all the walking we've done, we haven’t encountered the commoner party even once. However, we frequently come across signs that they passed through—footprints, numbers engraved on the walls alongside arrows pointing directions.

I carve our own directional arrows beneath theirs. The earlier party’s arrow is placed on top. When a passage has two arrows, it becomes a shared route. By heading in the opposite direction of the arrows, we reduce unexplored areas while also securing our return path. The numbers indicate which party passed through. In this case, it’s Seneca’s Party 4.

This is a common tactic used when multiple parties explore large dungeons together.

But that’s not all we’ve been noticing. There are also the corpses of ogres—ones that Void and his group must have fought.

It seems they, too, have been battling ogres as they progress. However, unlike us, they haven’t encountered large clusters of them. Though there are many corpses scattered around, none of them are piled together in one spot.

And yet—

It’s surprisingly easy to tell who delivered the killing blows.

To be precise, I can recognize Void’s and Riona’s handiwork.

The ones with wounds so violently gouged that they hardly resemble blade strikes must be Void’s doing. In contrast, Riona’s kills are minimalistic—either a clean horizontal slash across the throat or a tiny puncture wound at the same spot. The corpses remain eerily pristine, as if merely sleeping.

They’re polar opposites, yet both unmistakably distinctive. One fights like a hunter, the other like an assassin. Well, at this rate, they should be fine.

The wounds left by other students are crude, clearly the result of unskilled sword swings. The only ones I can’t quite place are the ones that are partially scorched. Has Fix Ougus started using magic?

As we pass the corpses, a deep, guttural voice suddenly calls out from above.

“El-tan, love.”

Startled, I turn around to see Bernald gazing at me with a solemn expression.

W-what? Creepy... Was that a hallucination? Please let it be a hallucination!

As I stand there bewildered, Bernald points at the wall over my shoulder.

“It’s written here. And in rather large letters.”

“Huh?”

What the hell. For a second, I thought he was about to pin me against the wall. That scared the life out of me.

I turn around and see an arrow carved into the wall, pointing in the direction the commoner party took. Alongside it is a message. The number inscribed is “3.” This spot is a three-way junction where the path splits left and right.

Because I was too focused on the corpses, I almost missed the memo.

Bernald mutters again in that same deep, resonant voice.

“Cheating is bad. I love you.”

“I can read it myself! Stop reciting it out loud! Hearing it in your voice gives me chills!”

“Hmm.”

It’s obviously Riona’s message. If she had enough time to carve all this, she didn’t need to bother with the number.

But this... This is the first time she’s left a written message. It seems that the first and second parties ahead of us were too focused on the corpses and didn’t notice it.

Bernald is as tall as Blythe. His field of vision must be much broader than that of most students. I never really thought about it before, but back when I was Blythe, I also had an easier time grasping my surroundings than others.

“Letis, go call Ilga and Oujin.”

“On it.”

Letis runs off, stopping Ilga’s group at the front. Before long, the three of them return. The two male students from the first party take over the front guard position.

“What’s wrong, Eremia?”

“Take a look at this.”

Ilga reads aloud.

“El-tan, love. Cheating is bad. I love you…?”

“Why do you guys keep reading it out loud?! It’s creeping me out!”

“What is this? Some sort of ‘Look at how popular I am’ boast? Kids these days…”

Damn it, Ilga. Just because you can talk now, doesn’t mean you have to mock me at every turn.

Before I can respond, Oujin speaks up.

“It’s Riona’s message. What matters is what’s below it.”

“Exactly.”

Several white lines, crudely scratched into the stone with a rock, intersect at precise right angles. It’s a map—part of the sixth layer.

The three-way junction we’re standing at is marked with an X.

The path Ilga and Oujin were following is on the left, but the line ends abruptly, cut off by another short stroke. That likely means either a dead end or a collapsed passage blocking the way.

The right path, however, is marked with a circle.

I ask Oujin, “Did you see any footprints from Parties 4 or 5 in the left direction?”

Bernald and I are at the rear. Even if the commoner party left tracks, by the time we pass through, they would already be trampled by the noble parties’ vanguard and middle guards.

Oujin shakes his head.

“No, but partway through, ogre tracks mixed in, so I gave up trying to follow the footprints.”

“Yet we haven’t encountered any ogres.”

Ilga nods at my remark.

“Their tracks are scattered in all directions, like they fled in a panic. They might be the ones we drove off earlier. They seemed disoriented.”

According to Riona’s simple map, we have no choice but to take the right path. The commoner party should have gone that way first. We, however, were delayed due to our battle with the ogre horde.

Looking down the right corridor, all I see are large, jumbled footprints leading into the gaping darkness.

“……”

I stare into the abyss ahead.

A tingling sensation runs across my skin, raising the hairs on my arms. I know this feeling. Blythe had survived multiple times by heeding this warning.

And yet, Parties 4 and 5 have already advanced.

Oujin peers at my face. “Eremia?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

What is this? Something is there. Beyond the darkness.

Not just a presence—there’s nothing but silent darkness.

But it’s there.

The thing that tore its way out of the ogre’s belly.