Having finished our lunch along with Bernald’s herbal tea, we began discussing what to do next.

Fix, the magician who had transferred to Bernald’s Team Two, murmured as he packed his cup into his luggage.

“Are we going to cross to the other side? I mean, is there really another side at all?”

Within the range illuminated by the magic lanterns, the underground lake vanished into darkness halfway through. Even the stone slab that Void had hurled as far as he could had sunk with a deep splash.

It didn’t seem like a lake that could be crossed in just a few dozen steps. But the water was far too cold to swim across. Depending on the distance and depth, it might be difficult for everyone to make it across.

In response to Fix’s question, Ilga shook his head.

“There has to be something. If this place really is the magical creature research facility as described on the stone slab, then we still haven’t found the actual facility. It’s possible we overlooked it, but I think that’s extremely unlikely.”

“I see.”

To add to that, there's the presence of whoever burned that defective dragon. A being with such power wouldn’t fear us humans. If we haven’t encountered it yet, then it must still lie ahead.

Seneca muttered with a sigh.

“If only we had a boat. Even a small one—if we made a few trips, we could take everyone across.”

Bernald shook his head.

“Impossible. The passage from the sixth to seventh floor is too narrow. We can barely get lumber through, let alone a boat. —More importantly, Fix, can’t you use your magic to part the water?”

He crossed his enormous pectorals and directed his gaze at Fix.

“Sorry, water’s too heavy. I can control fire no matter how big it gets, but when it comes to things with a large mass, there’s a limit.”

“I see.”

Currently, Team Five, which doubles as the intelligence unit, had spread out on the seventh floor to search for a route to the opposite shore. As usual, Void and Oujin were roaming around on their own.

To be honest, I’d like to end the exploration of this Lehan Dungeon here, treating it as the lowest floor. But if we withdraw the students now, the next to arrive will be the Kingdom of Galliant’s Royal Knights. And there are inconvenient things buried here that we don’t want discovered first.

I stared into the underground lake.

I want to move forward somehow. Even if I have to swim. If it’s just me, I might be able to manage.

As I sat on a rock pondering this, Riona suddenly whispered into my ear.

“You shouldn’t swim, okay?”

“Wha…!?”

How did she know!?

“I put my foot in earlier to check the water temperature and the slope of the lakebed, not just to play around.”

“So that’s what you were doing.”

Impressed, I looked at Riona, who beamed proudly.

“Yeah. The range illuminated by light is small, but that stone slab Void threw landed way, way further, right?”

“Right.”

“I estimated the distance based on the speed of the thrown slab and the time it took to hit the water, then considered the lake’s shape based on the splash sound to guess the depth, but—”

Ugh, I have no idea what she’s talking about anymore…

“But?”

“With the information we have now, it’s so wide we can’t even estimate it.”

“O-oh…”

Riona scooted closer to me and sat down, pressing up against my side. Then, without hesitation, she placed both her feet on my thigh.

Was she trying to seduce me? This kid…

“Cold, right?”

“Yeah.”

Now that she mentions it, her feet are cold. I guess the herbal tea wasn’t enough to warm her up.

“Hehe, so warm~ ...Huh? You’re not shaking me off?”

“You’re cold, aren’t you? As long as you don’t try sticking your feet between my thighs, I don’t care.”

“If you say that, I can’t exactly do it, can I?”

So she really was planning to! Girls these days, honestly.

“Well, anyway, El-tan and I are definitely out. If your body is small or thin, it’s harder to maintain body heat. Maybe Bel-tan or that stray dog could manage. You know, doggy instincts and all.”

Then we’ll have to wait for Letis and Team Five’s report.

“Don’t ignore me!? I’ll get lonely!”

“Ugh, enough noise!”

“I knew you’d react like that. That’s what I like about you~”

As I pressed Riona’s face back with my palm while she pouted, a familiar exasperated voice called down from above.

“You’re at it again? You two never stop, do you?”

“Oh. Welcome back~. Did you find a path?”

Void shrugged, spreading his arms.

“I see. What about Ryoka-chan’s side?”

“Nothing, apparently.”

Where Void pointed with his thumb, Oujin had just returned and was already being cornered by Monika. His eyes pleaded with me for help, but I subtly looked away. Lately, Monika had this intense, scary aura.

The way he mouthed words desperately made him look like a koi carp begging for food.

“Void, do you think this is the lowest floor?”

“Who knows. But if I were the facility’s architect, I wouldn’t build anything below an underground lake.”

“What about you, Riona?”

“Depends on how wide the lake is. But like Void said, building directly below the lake would be too risky.”

So the likelihood that this is the lowest floor is high.

As we were thinking about all this, Letis and Team Five returned from their reconnaissance. Everyone quickly gathered around them.

“How was it?”

Letis nodded, her twin braids swaying.

“Um, there’s no path, but far off in the distance, along the wall—well, along the lakeshore—there’s a shallow area that continues for a while. I’m not sure if it reaches the other side. We didn’t have time to test it.”

“There was no other path. We don’t know how wet we’ll get, but what’ll we do?”

One of the boys in Team Five said that, and Seneca answered without hesitation.

“Of course we’re going forward. We still have time before retreat. There’s no way we’re turning back just because we’ll get a little wet after coming this far. —That’s fine with everyone, right?”

Ilga nodded.

“Of course. We’re on the verge of a discovery that could shake the entire Kingdom. No matter how it’s handled, we can’t leave it to someone else now that we’ve come this far. In order to present the answer we’ve reached together as Class One to the nation, we must be the first to make this discovery.”

Bernald spoke up.

“Yeah. That’s right. Our answer is ‘No.’”

“Yup! And to deliver that answer to His Majesty, we’ve gotta give it one last push!”

Letis laughed with her hands on her hips.

Seneca turned to look at us.

“Team Three is okay with this too, right?”

Everything we wanted—and needed—to say had already been said by the students. We nodded with wry smiles.

Right now, their growth was dazzling.