We landed at the bottom of the fifth layer and immediately looked around.

As expected, the goblin corpses were gone. The large slime had digested them, and that slime itself had been incinerated by Bernald. Now it had shrunk down to the size of a small dog. It was probably somewhere on this fifth layer or had returned to its original dwelling on the fourth.

In any case, it was no longer a threat.

“Let’s move.”

When Ilga gave the signal, everyone nodded in unison.

Class One led the way, followed by Class Four, then Class Five. The class with the strongest defensive formation, Class Two, took the rear. Everyone walked spread out within the dungeon, ready to swing their weapons freely.

Our Class Three was positioned even farther behind the rear guard, Class Two.

Watching our classmates, Oujin let out a wry smile and muttered,

“Looks like we’re pretty idle this time.”

“Well, that’s not a bad thing, right? At least until the sixth layer.”

Void didn’t even pretend to be tense. He yawned widely. Honestly, I felt the same. Since Riona wasn’t reacting, it likely meant there were no enemies nearby.

“What should we do after the seventh layer? Should we take the lead?”

“Let’s wait and see. If we sense something seriously dangerous approaching, then it might be our turn.”

Even Riona didn’t notice that Monica from Class One had turned back to watch her and Oujin chatting. Her bangs were so long it was hard to read her expression, but the way she bit her thumbnail gave off a subtle menace.

Ultimately, nothing happened, and we descended safely to the sixth layer.

Even if there were any goblins left, they wouldn’t dare attack us after two crushing defeats. That much we had anticipated.

Supporting that assumption, Void looked down at me and muttered,

“The Ogre tribe will show up. They’re a warrior race. The females hide to protect their young, but the males are ferocious. Be ready. …Not that a monster scholar like young Master Neu needs me to tell him that.”

“I don’t care about the warning, but stop calling me a monster scholar. The Neu family is a fictional barony.”

“Heh heh heh, you mean that crazy baron deep in the mountains who trains his kid by throwing him into monster dens. If he were real, I’d love to meet him.”

I grimaced.

My desperate lie to cover why I knew so much about monsters had taken on a life of its own, turning Baron Neu into some deranged lunatic. I could just picture Kilpus Neu’s bitter expression.

“You should lie more convincingly. I won’t cover for you when it gets exposed.”

“…Shut up. I’m not that smooth.”

Void gave my back a light slap.

What was that supposed to be? Consolation?

We continued onward through the sixth layer.

Our destination was the large chamber where we had once fought a sub-dragon—the Ogre tribe’s residential zone. The path there was mostly mapped out. There was no staircase leading to the seventh layer. That meant the other side of the residential zone was still the most likely route forward.

After a while, the stench in the air changed.

The corridor was scorched black, and countless charred objects were scattered about. Marks from the sub-dragon’s breath attack.

Void wrinkled his nose and muttered,

“Come to think of it, they say the dragon’s corpse disappeared.”

“Yeah.”

I replied in a hushed voice. Oujin and Riona wouldn’t mind hearing this, but who knew how the other students would take it?

“According to what I heard from Lili, only a charcoal-like form shaped like a creature and a large pile of ash remained. The chamber was black all the way up to the ceiling.”

“That’s weird. Its breath spread across the ground. Sure, it scorched things, but it wasn’t that powerful.”

I nodded.

“That bothered me too. I suspect someone didn’t want that malformed dragon corpse to be seen and incinerated every last trace of it.”

“Hmm?”

He didn’t get it. Well, even if he had experience as a ranger, it’s not like he’d ever fought a dragon. It made sense he wouldn’t know their biology.

I kept my voice low and looked up at Void.

“Listen. This stays between us.”

“Huh?”

Dragons are flame-breathing creatures. Their bodies constantly produce flammable substances. Depending on the species, this could be a liquid or gas. The sub-dragon we fought had a black, oil-like substance seeping from between its scales.

It would spray that substance from its mouth and ignite it by clashing its fangs together, creating what we call a dragon’s breath.

Of course, when a dragon breathes fire, its own mouth and upper body are exposed to the flames. But if it got seriously burned each time, it wouldn’t survive as a species. That’s why dragons typically have fire-resistant bodies.

So what kind of flame could reduce that to ash?

“You’re telling me something stronger than that dragon’s breath is lurking deeper in here?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying from the start.”

Void grimaced and scratched his head.

“Couldn’t it be that things burn more easily after death?”

“No. The elder dragon we killed once was cut into five pieces. The five participating nations took one part each. The scales and skin were useful in all sorts of ways, but the meat was problematic. They either ate it raw or buried it for fertilizer. Kilpus buried his share, apparently.”

“You’re talking like you’ve actually hunted an elder dragon.”

Ah...

There I go again. That was Blythe’s memory.

“N-no way, of course not! T-that was something Kilpus told me when I asked about Blythe!”

“Oh really~?”

Why’s he grinning at me like that?

He’s not onto me... right?

“Blythe stirred an elder dragon’s brain with a zweihander, after all.”

“Heh, who was the real monster there?”

We were almost at the Ogre residential zone.

Even as we walked, Letis and the others in Class Five were diligently recording details of the corridors, mapping the area to track unexplored regions. It saved us the trouble of backtracking later.

Riona, who had been chatting with Oujin as she walked ahead of us, suddenly lifted her gaze sharply.

“Ah, probably Ogres.”

Honestly, I couldn’t tell at all.

The corridor was scorched. The Ogres’ beastly stench was masked by the burnt smell. With so many of us moving, it was hard to catch sounds of footsteps or breathing. Our vision was limited to the area illuminated by the magic lanterns.

How was anyone supposed to notice in these conditions? Still, no one doubted Riona—not me, not any of our classmates.

“Front, stay alert! Ogres incoming!”

As soon as Oujin shouted, Seneca followed up,

“Class One and Two, spread out up front! Class Four, hold position and support the vanguard! Class Five, guard the rear! —Everyone, draw your swords!”

The class leaders all responded in unison.

In an instant. Without a moment of hesitation, the formation shifted. A significant improvement. But our opponents were the Ogre tribe—intermediate monsters. Even a full knight would find them dangerous.

Just as Oujin, Void, and I started moving forward, Ilga, standing at the front line, turned and raised his right hand palm-out.

“Hold up, Class Three friends!”

Then, brushing back his neatly parted hair with a breezy smile, he said confidently,

“Heh, why don’t you leave this to us?”

With a gallant expression, Ilga delivered that nonsense—but the moment he looked forward again and saw the double-digit number of Ogres emerging into the light of the magic lanterns—

“Ahhh… so many still left, huh…”

—he muttered with distant eyes.