“Ugh…”
I confirmed the transformation of the giant orc into ashes and slumped to the ground, letting out a deep sigh.
Certainly, the trials were trials, as the difficulty increased drastically with each descent. But thanks to that, I could properly confirm. The trials I had passed 6 trials. It was a number far exceeding my expectations. I thought it would end around the third floor at most… Surprisingly, the minor encounters had been quite helpful.
Looking at the record of the protagonist who had broken through to the fifth floor, it meant I was stronger than Lucy back then. That implied not only being stronger than the mid-level boss “Hypocrite Feasting on Soil” but also being able to compete with the mid-level boss “Lord of the Black Moon.” Despite their somewhat cheesy names, they were undoubtedly formidable opponents. In other words, if you weren’t at their level, you wouldn’t be my opponent.
“Hehe… I’m… stronger than I thought, huh?”
Originally, I thought having enough strength not to die would suffice… But now that I found myself in this situation, my heart raced with a strange feeling. Although I had preferred light novels over game scenarios, the romance of being engraved with instincts as a man was undeniable.
And above all, what excited me the most was… “It’s fun.”
Dodging enemy attacks and counterattacking, finding weaknesses, and ultimately defeating the enemy—it all felt like playing a game.
“But I still need to go back.”
I was quite tired. No matter how much the romance of being a man stimulated me, I had separate dreams, after all. Moreover, it was already 5 a.m. If I didn’t start heading back soon, I might not make it to the Grand Duke’s territory on time.
As I tried to get up and head back along the path I had come, Kugugu–
The ground started to tremble faintly, and the pillars I had seen at the entrance began to appear in front of me.
“Huh…?”
This wasn’t in the novel.
In a dazed state, I checked the front of the monument, where a large inscription was written.
[What?]
Tears welled up in me instinctively as I read the inscription, but I forced myself to suppress the anger and walked past the stone pillar toward the entrance.
Kuuuu–
Once again, a pillar rose from the ground to block my path. Unlike before, this pillar had quite a few inscriptions on it.
[Are you just going to leave this? If you go all the way, there are sweet rewards waiting.]
“I don’t need it.”
The sound of a crisis.
These were all things our protagonist should have taken care of, and I didn’t want to meddle unnecessarily.
At that moment, when I was about to pass by ignoring the pillar once again, countless pillars suddenly sprouted from the ground and blocked the entrance I had descended from.
“What… what…?”
In an instant, I blinked blankly at the situation of being buried alive underground.
No… such words weren’t in the novel, were they…?
It had been said that this was an exam where giving up midway was possible. In fact, many students had given up around the second floor. Since it was a trial that everyone at the academy faced, there was no threat to life whatsoever.
So I came here with a light heart.
“To bury people alive like this…?”
In a bewildering situation, I looked around blankly, and a completely different white pillar rose behind me.
[Put your hand on top of the pillar.]
Apparently, the person conveying this message had no intention of letting me go if I didn’t follow their words.
“Just do it, and it’ll be fine.”
It was truly unbelievable, but given the current situation, I had no other choice but to let out a deep sigh and place my hand on top of the pillar.
It felt uneasy, but I wasn’t anxious.
After all, it was a place designed by the righteous and wise Great sage herself. She wouldn’t harm a pure and kind child like me.
“But… nothing is happening?”
Even though I raised my hand, the pillar remained silent, just standing there.
Amidst the situation where there was no change whatsoever, as I pondered what this could possibly mean,
“A quite charming rabbit has entered my dungeon.”
A woman’s voice came from right behind me.
Startled, I turned around, and there was a woman wearing a tall hat reminiscent of magicians from movies, smiling at me.
“Who are you…?”
“Oh my, you don’t know me?”
Well, of course I didn’t.
Beneath the white hat descended sky-blue hair.
A somewhat daring dress with revealing curves hidden within a long robe, making it hard to find a place to rest one’s eyes.
And above all,
The clear star-shaped pattern engraved in her eyes told me exactly who she was.
“Great Sage Melianne…”
“Hehe… quite a brave rabbit, aren’t you?”
Why was the character who would later appear in front of the female protagonist after a deep sleep here in front of me now?
“I felt a strange presence, so I came to see… It’s my first time encountering such a being.”
The Great Sage swept my chin with her long fingers, then looked at me with a peculiar smile.
“You. You’ve come to change the fate of the world.”
I blinked blankly at her astounding words.
“Me? No, I haven’t.”
“Huh?”
The Great Sage tilted her head in confusion.
She looked at me with slightly flustered eyes.
“Uh… is it not?”
“No. Why would I change fate?”
Changing fate when it’s time to go home is ridiculous. That’s something our protagonist Lucy should do. It seems like she mistook me for someone else…
“If not that, why did you come here to take the test?””Ah… that’s… I wanted to confirm my abilities.”
Melianne looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Just for that reason you came here?”
“Yes. Is that not okay?”
“No… it’s not that it’s not okay, but…”
Melianne pondered something alone for a while.
I pointed to the pillars blocking the entrance.
“I… need to leave now, could you move these?”
“Just a moment. I have something to think about.”
“The journey to the north is long. If I’m late, I might have to spend the night. Besides, being late from the first day could be disastrous. Even though the salary is high…”
Melianne scrunched up her face in irritation and snapped at me.
“Ugh, really! I’ll teleport you straight to the North, so come here and sit still!”
“Okay.”
I promptly sat down and waited for the sage’s words.
I didn’t like sitting in the carriage anyway… I’d be grateful if they teleported me. Magic seemed the most convenient wherever you went.
‘Looking back, she really talked a lot, that lady.’
After the unexpected encounter with the sage passed, and after various twists and turns, now.
I pulled out the black dagger stained with blood.
The gift she gave me before parting ways with Melianne.
I had refused it because I didn’t want to take the protagonist’s plot, but she insisted I take something in my hand.
[A weapon suitable for a rabbit.]
A sturdy and sharp dagger with no special abilities, Since such a dagger was never mentioned in the original work, I thought it wouldn’t cause any problems, so I accepted the sage’s gift.
.
.
Back to the battle with the assassin-
“Quite… sharp…”
The man stood still, not even flinching, looking at me.
“Do you endure that?”
Despite the blood flowing, the man seemed to think lightly of it as if it were a mild inconvenience.
As soon as he placed mana on his hand and pressed it to his side, the sound of flesh burning accompanied the cessation of his bleeding.
“Wow… a monster…”
“That’s my line.”
With a hearty laugh, the man picked up his sword and looked at me.
“I’m sorry. It seems I underestimated you instinctively.”
Mana once again emanated from his sword, enveloping not only the blade but his entire body this time.
“Now, prepare yourself for battle as if you’re ready to kill.”
With his demeanor noticeably changed, I also solemnly prepared myself. This person isn’t someone to take lightly.
Although I didn’t think I would lose, I also didn’t believe it would be easy to win. While I secretly thought I had the strength of a mid-boss in a novel, I felt I might get seriously hurt if I continued to underestimate him.
I gripped the dagger given to me by the sage with one hand and seized the sword I had taken from the assassin last night with the other, preparing myself.
“I won’t go easy on you either.”
The man looked at the longsword I held with a serene expression, then nodded gravely.
“Very well. Since we’ve come to this, I’d like to introduce myself properly.”
“I’m Alice, the exclusive maid of the adorable Miss Adrielle . No last name.”
The man widened his eyes at my words, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!! A maid until the end.”
As the man lifted his robe wrapped tightly around him towards the sky, his bulky figure hidden within was revealed.
“Good! I am William Panvelthrium, the commander of the Knights of the Grand Duke Valaxar!”
With his declaration, he rushed towards me with explosive energy.
Normally, I would have reacted immediately, but I blinked blankly at the man’s incomprehensible words.
Huh?
Wait a minute.
What did he say?
“In this crucial moment, you’re spacing out!!”
“Ugh!!”
I snapped out of my reverie at William’s shout.
Instinctively, I tried to step back to avoid his attack, but I was already within his range.
I can’t dodge this.
I have to block it.
But can I withstand the blow of a knight wielding a sword?
‘It can’t be helped.’
I clenched my teeth and firmly planted my feet on the ground, crossing both swords to intercept his strike.
At that moment, when I was prepared to sacrifice an arm to block his blow—
“Stop.”
With the cold voice of the man.
Small droplets of ice crystals appeared around us.
Crackling—
In an instant, the ice crystals rapidly grew, reaching out towards me and the man, freezing our arms completely.
As we both blinked in confusion at the sudden situation of our arms being frozen, a figure appeared before us.
“Seeing you again.”
“Uh…uh…”
My mind went blank at the appearance of the incomprehensible figure.
“This place once again reminds me of the world in a romance novel, with a dazzling appearance that is unbelievable for someone of middle age.
Blue eyes emanating a chilly aura amidst neatly arranged pure white hair.
I unconsciously blurted out the words as I looked at him.
“Your Grace..!!!”
…
“Th… no… Your Grace..!!”
I tried to retrieve the belated words I uttered, but his brows were already furrowed deeply.
The air around us gradually grew colder.
The man, frozen in his stance as a knight commander facing me with a sword, turned his head to the side a few times before warmly addressing me.
“You were a worthy opponent, Alice. I’ll remember you.”
Ah…
He’s delivering the death sentence with such warmth.
“Ugh…”
I confirmed the transformation of the giant orc into ashes and slumped to the ground, letting out a deep sigh.
Certainly, the trials were trials, as the difficulty increased drastically with each descent. But thanks to that, I could properly confirm. The trials I had passed 6 trials. It was a number far exceeding my expectations. I thought it would end around the third floor at most… Surprisingly, the minor encounters had been quite helpful.
Looking at the record of the protagonist who had broken through to the fifth floor, it meant I was stronger than Lucy back then. That implied not only being stronger than the mid-level boss “Hypocrite Feasting on Soil” but also being able to compete with the mid-level boss “Lord of the Black Moon.” Despite their somewhat cheesy names, they were undoubtedly formidable opponents. In other words, if you weren’t at their level, you wouldn’t be my opponent.
“Hehe… I’m… stronger than I thought, huh?”
Originally, I thought having enough strength not to die would suffice… But now that I found myself in this situation, my heart raced with a strange feeling. Although I had preferred light novels over game scenarios, the romance of being engraved with instincts as a man was undeniable.
And above all, what excited me the most was… “It’s fun.”
Dodging enemy attacks and counterattacking, finding weaknesses, and ultimately defeating the enemy—it all felt like playing a game.
“But I still need to go back.”
I was quite tired. No matter how much the romance of being a man stimulated me, I had separate dreams, after all. Moreover, it was already 5 a.m. If I didn’t start heading back soon, I might not make it to the Grand Duke’s territory on time.
As I tried to get up and head back along the path I had come, Kugugu–
The ground started to tremble faintly, and the pillars I had seen at the entrance began to appear in front of me.
“Huh…?”
This wasn’t in the novel.
In a dazed state, I checked the front of the monument, where a large inscription was written.
[What?]
Tears welled up in me instinctively as I read the inscription, but I forced myself to suppress the anger and walked past the stone pillar toward the entrance.
Kuuuu–
Once again, a pillar rose from the ground to block my path. Unlike before, this pillar had quite a few inscriptions on it.
[Are you just going to leave this? If you go all the way, there are sweet rewards waiting.]
“I don’t need it.”
The sound of a crisis.
These were all things our protagonist should have taken care of, and I didn’t want to meddle unnecessarily.
At that moment, when I was about to pass by ignoring the pillar once again, countless pillars suddenly sprouted from the ground and blocked the entrance I had descended from.
“What… what…?”
In an instant, I blinked blankly at the situation of being buried alive underground.
No… such words weren’t in the novel, were they…?
It had been said that this was an exam where giving up midway was possible. In fact, many students had given up around the second floor. Since it was a trial that everyone at the academy faced, there was no threat to life whatsoever.
So I came here with a light heart.
“To bury people alive like this…?”
In a bewildering situation, I looked around blankly, and a completely different white pillar rose behind me.
[Put your hand on top of the pillar.]
Apparently, the person conveying this message had no intention of letting me go if I didn’t follow their words.
“Just do it, and it’ll be fine.”
It was truly unbelievable, but given the current situation, I had no other choice but to let out a deep sigh and place my hand on top of the pillar.
It felt uneasy, but I wasn’t anxious.
After all, it was a place designed by the righteous and wise Great sage herself. She wouldn’t harm a pure and kind child like me.
“But… nothing is happening?”
Even though I raised my hand, the pillar remained silent, just standing there.
Amidst the situation where there was no change whatsoever, as I pondered what this could possibly mean,
“A quite charming rabbit has entered my dungeon.”
A woman’s voice came from right behind me.
Startled, I turned around, and there was a woman wearing a tall hat reminiscent of magicians from movies, smiling at me.
“Who are you…?”
“Oh my, you don’t know me?”
Well, of course I didn’t.
Beneath the white hat descended sky-blue hair.
A somewhat daring dress with revealing curves hidden within a long robe, making it hard to find a place to rest one’s eyes.
And above all,
The clear star-shaped pattern engraved in her eyes told me exactly who she was.
“Great Sage Melianne…”
“Hehe… quite a brave rabbit, aren’t you?”
Why was the character who would later appear in front of the female protagonist after a deep sleep here in front of me now?
“I felt a strange presence, so I came to see… It’s my first time encountering such a being.”
The Great Sage swept my chin with her long fingers, then looked at me with a peculiar smile.
“You. You’ve come to change the fate of the world.”
I blinked blankly at her astounding words.
“Me? No, I haven’t.”
“Huh?”
The Great Sage tilted her head in confusion.
She looked at me with slightly flustered eyes.
“Uh… is it not?”
“No. Why would I change fate?”
Changing fate when it’s time to go home is ridiculous. That’s something our protagonist Lucy should do. It seems like she mistook me for someone else…
“If not that, why did you come here to take the test?””Ah… that’s… I wanted to confirm my abilities.”
Melianne looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Just for that reason you came here?”
“Yes. Is that not okay?”
“No… it’s not that it’s not okay, but…”
Melianne pondered something alone for a while.
I pointed to the pillars blocking the entrance.
“I… need to leave now, could you move these?”
“Just a moment. I have something to think about.”
“The journey to the north is long. If I’m late, I might have to spend the night. Besides, being late from the first day could be disastrous. Even though the salary is high…”
Melianne scrunched up her face in irritation and snapped at me.
“Ugh, really! I’ll teleport you straight to the North, so come here and sit still!”
“Okay.”
I promptly sat down and waited for the sage’s words.
I didn’t like sitting in the carriage anyway… I’d be grateful if they teleported me. Magic seemed the most convenient wherever you went.
‘Looking back, she really talked a lot, that lady.’
After the unexpected encounter with the sage passed, and after various twists and turns, now.
I pulled out the black dagger stained with blood.
The gift she gave me before parting ways with Melianne.
I had refused it because I didn’t want to take the protagonist’s plot, but she insisted I take something in my hand.
[A weapon suitable for a rabbit.]
A sturdy and sharp dagger with no special abilities, Since such a dagger was never mentioned in the original work, I thought it wouldn’t cause any problems, so I accepted the sage’s gift.
.
.
Back to the battle with the assassin-
“Quite… sharp…”
The man stood still, not even flinching, looking at me.
“Do you endure that?”
Despite the blood flowing, the man seemed to think lightly of it as if it were a mild inconvenience.
As soon as he placed mana on his hand and pressed it to his side, the sound of flesh burning accompanied the cessation of his bleeding.
“Wow… a monster…”
“That’s my line.”
With a hearty laugh, the man picked up his sword and looked at me.
“I’m sorry. It seems I underestimated you instinctively.”
Mana once again emanated from his sword, enveloping not only the blade but his entire body this time.
“Now, prepare yourself for battle as if you’re ready to kill.”
With his demeanor noticeably changed, I also solemnly prepared myself. This person isn’t someone to take lightly.
Although I didn’t think I would lose, I also didn’t believe it would be easy to win. While I secretly thought I had the strength of a mid-boss in a novel, I felt I might get seriously hurt if I continued to underestimate him.
I gripped the dagger given to me by the sage with one hand and seized the sword I had taken from the assassin last night with the other, preparing myself.
“I won’t go easy on you either.”
The man looked at the longsword I held with a serene expression, then nodded gravely.
“Very well. Since we’ve come to this, I’d like to introduce myself properly.”
“I’m Alice, the exclusive maid of the adorable Miss Adrielle . No last name.”
The man widened his eyes at my words, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!! A maid until the end.”
As the man lifted his robe wrapped tightly around him towards the sky, his bulky figure hidden within was revealed.
“Good! I am William Panvelthrium, the commander of the Knights of the Grand Duke Valaxar!”
With his declaration, he rushed towards me with explosive energy.
Normally, I would have reacted immediately, but I blinked blankly at the man’s incomprehensible words.
Huh?
Wait a minute.
What did he say?
“In this crucial moment, you’re spacing out!!”
“Ugh!!”
I snapped out of my reverie at William’s shout.
Instinctively, I tried to step back to avoid his attack, but I was already within his range.
I can’t dodge this.
I have to block it.
But can I withstand the blow of a knight wielding a sword?
‘It can’t be helped.’
I clenched my teeth and firmly planted my feet on the ground, crossing both swords to intercept his strike.
At that moment, when I was prepared to sacrifice an arm to block his blow—
“Stop.”
With the cold voice of the man.
Small droplets of ice crystals appeared around us.
Crackling—
In an instant, the ice crystals rapidly grew, reaching out towards me and the man, freezing our arms completely.
As we both blinked in confusion at the sudden situation of our arms being frozen, a figure appeared before us.
“Seeing you again.”
“Uh…uh…”
My mind went blank at the appearance of the incomprehensible figure.
“This place once again reminds me of the world in a romance novel, with a dazzling appearance that is unbelievable for someone of middle age.
Blue eyes emanating a chilly aura amidst neatly arranged pure white hair.
I unconsciously blurted out the words as I looked at him.
“Your Grace..!!!”
…
“Th… no… Your Grace..!!”
I tried to retrieve the belated words I uttered, but his brows were already furrowed deeply.
The air around us gradually grew colder.
The man, frozen in his stance as a knight commander facing me with a sword, turned his head to the side a few times before warmly addressing me.
“You were a worthy opponent, Alice. I’ll remember you.”
Ah…
He’s delivering the death sentence with such warmth.
