As soon as I rushed into the hall, I instinctively stopped in my tracks.

The range illuminated by the magic lamps extended at most twenty paces. But even within that small area, chunks of flesh and corpses lay scattered about.

"Ugh..."

Ilga covered his mouth, overcome by the stench.

"This place is..."

The glow of the magic lamps did not reach the far ends of the hall.

Even so, I could make out various objects—metal weapons, what appeared to be wooden tableware, and perhaps a loincloth made of fur.

The air was thick with the scent of beasts, the stench of entrails, and the occasional charred odor.

Oujin muttered,

"Looks like an ogre dwelling. Though it's already been wiped out."

He was right. In addition to weapons, everyday items were strewn about.

We moved cautiously along the walls. Toward the edges, small bones lay scattered. The size of the skulls was about the same as my own head.

Ilga gasped.

"Th-These are...?"

I kicked one of the bones aside and replied,

"Don't worry. They're not human. These are goblin skulls. Likely used as food by the ogres."

Goblins are weak omnivores that eat anything—bugs, grass, whatever they can find. They reproduce rapidly; if not for that, they would have been wiped out long ago. A single litter produces far more offspring than dogs or cats. For ogres, who are known to abduct children, goblins make for ideal livestock. Especially in a closed-off dungeon like this one.

And yet, a dragon has appeared—one that feasts on ogres.

No, rather than appeared, perhaps it settled here.

Oujin murmured,

"If they had built up this large a settlement, then this place must have been a safe haven for the ogres. At least, until recently."

"Yeah. If the homunculi appeared just as we started diving into this dungeon, and today a dragon showed up as well..."

It was an unsettling thought.

Before our curriculum began, this place had been a sanctuary for the ogres. They had ample food in the form of goblins and, while primitive, they seemed to have built a semblance of cultural life.

Ilga muttered,

"You're saying... this feels artificial? Deliberate?"

"...I can't say for sure. But if we hadn't entered the rare dungeon, the ogres and goblins might have continued their peaceful existence, as they always had, within these walls."

Oujin nodded.

"It's just a possibility. But looking at this settlement, it does seem plausible."

There was something I couldn't say aloud with Ilga here, but we'd already discovered that the Republic was involved in the appearance of the homunculi. But this time, it's a dragon. Regardless of whether it's an ancient dragon or a lesser one, dragons do not obey humans. Not unless they were hatched and raised from an egg.

It should be impossible for someone to artificially introduce a dragon into a dungeon. And yet, the timing was far too convenient to dismiss as mere coincidence.

"Eremia!"

At Oujin's shout, my gaze shot up.

He was pointing at something—

"...!"

My heart lurched with an odd squelching sensation.

A Bundi Dagger. A bloodstained Bundi Dagger lay among the scattered chunks of flesh. Only one of them.

Oujin picked it up and turned it over.

Engraved on it was the insignia of the Lehan Knight Academy.

"Damn fool...!"

The broad blade was bent at the tip, and the handguard was dented. It was no longer usable as a weapon. The thick blood clinging to it had dried into a dark crust.

It belonged to Void. No one else would be using a Bundi Dagger.

Looking more closely, I noticed that scattered among the ogres' crude iron weapons were several swords and spears unmistakably issued by the knight academy.

They fought here.

Oujin muttered, his voice low,

"There are no bodies. Not a single one."

"Yeah, because they were eaten, weren't they!?"

I knew it. Dragons devour people.

I snatched the Bundi Dagger from Oujin and, fueled by frustration, hurled it onto the blood-soaked floor.

The dagger clattered as it bounced, then slid across the ground.

"We were exploring an uncharted dungeon! Why the hell would they be using such cheap weapons!?"

"Calm down, Eremia. You're being too loud."

My vision blurred.

Pathetic. Since taking on this body, how many times have I cried?

I can't control my emotions at all. Blythe never would have lost his composure like this.

"Most of the instructors are full-fledged knights, aren’t they!? How could professional warriors fail to anticipate something this basic!? What the hell is wrong with the knights of this era!?"

The only one who understands is Lili.

Having fought alongside me—Blythe—on the battlefield, she alone truly knows the horrors of combat.

"Eremia!"

Ilga suddenly clamped his hand over my mouth from behind.

"What—!?"

"Be quiet!"

Something was approaching. Even without focusing, I could hear its damp footsteps squelching against the floor, drawing closer from straight ahead.

Its breath was thick with the stench of blood.

Damn it. I’d been so caught up in my emotions that I hadn’t even sensed it coming.

Oujin silently drew his sword.

Ilga, panicking, asked,

"Are we really doing this!? I-If it’s a dragon—!"

"It’s already spotted us. We can’t escape now."

I knew exactly what that meant.

Oujin had a way of being both kind and brutally honest. He never sugarcoated anything. In that way, he was even less restrained than Void.

Which meant that his words just now were a pointed remark—a stinging rebuke aimed squarely at me.

Because of my carelessness—because I let my emotions take over—we had been discovered.

And on top of that, I was slow. No matter how desperately I ran, I was five years younger than Oujin and Ilga. There was no way I could keep up with them.

They couldn’t escape because they had to look after me.

Even though I, more than anyone, understood that our best chance was to regroup with the Fourth and Fifth Squads and retreat before the dragon found us.

"We’ll take it down here, Eremia."

"...Damn it... But you two have a purpose you need to fulfill. If worst comes to worst, leave me behind and run. I’ll buy you time."

Oujin chuckled.

"Don’t throw a tantrum just because you’re a kid."

Damn it. I never thought I’d end up being the burden.