"Huh?" Silvia blinked, her face clouded with confusion. "That was...?"
Victoria hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Last night, after curfew... Greg came by."
"Senior Greg?" Silvia was even more surprised.
"Yeah."
Victoria nodded, recalling that brief but unexpected conversation in the corridor the previous night.
"He came to check on me and said a few things... Although his way of speaking is still as unpleasant as ever, I... I think what he said made some sense."
She paused, and as if trying to convince herself, her voice grew firmer.
"It's just one victory or defeat. If I lost, I'll just win it back next time. Life is long; there's no need to stop in my tracks just because of one fall."
"Mm-hmm!"
Silvia nodded vigorously, her pink eyes sparkling.
"Senior Greg's words were indeed very good! I told you, we might have really misunderstood him. He's actually a good person!"
Thinking about how Greg had saved her in the dungeon without asking for a reward, and now how he had used a few words to help Victoria pull herself together—and then remembering that both of them held the special status of Messenger of the Goddess—Silvia's sense of closeness and trust toward Greg couldn't help but rise a few more notches.
But just then, she suddenly caught a detail in Victoria's words.
"Wait, Victoria, you just said... Senior Greg came 'after curfew'?"
"Ah, yes."
Victoria didn't think much of it and nodded.
After curfew... late at night... a man and a woman alone... in the corridor outside the ward...
These words combined uncontrollably in Silvia's mind.
The smile on her face stiffened slightly, and a faint sense of awkwardness—one she couldn't even explain the reason for—suddenly bubbled up from the bottom of her heart.
Victoria seemed completely oblivious to her friend's momentary change in demeanor.
A very faint blush appeared on her face as she awkwardly turned her gaze toward the window, her tone intentionally becoming stiff.
"Well... I admit I've changed my opinion of him a little. But, but who told him to provoke me in front of so many people at the start of the term! So, I won't forgive him so easily! I still dislike him as much as I should!"
She spoke without much conviction, her words instead betraying a classic sense of denial.
"Oh? Why do I feel like someone's character is suddenly developing in the direction of a tsundere?"
A male voice, tinged with obvious teasing, drifted in unexpectedly from the window.
"Eek!"
Silvia trembled at the sudden sound, nearly jumping out of her chair as she hurriedly turned toward the source.
Victoria also whipped her head around.
A figure had appeared at the open window of the ward at some point.
Greg was supporting himself on the windowsill with one hand, climbing in with some difficulty. He stumbled slightly when he landed, clearly injured.
He looked even more disheveled than the previous night.
His academy uniform was covered in dust and new scrapes. A sleeve was torn, revealing a nasty, though already clotted, wound beneath. There were several bloody scratches on his face, his hair was a mess, and he radiated the exhaustion of someone who had just escaped a chaotic battlefield.
"S-Senior Greg!"
Seeing his appearance, Silvia immediately threw her earlier awkwardness to the back of her mind. Her pink eyes instantly filled with worry as she stepped forward quickly.
"Those injuries... what happened? How did it get so bad? Are you okay?"
Greg steadied himself and pulled at the corner of his mouth, offering an awkward smile that looked like a mix of a toothache and embarrassment.
"Uh... about that..."
His eyes wandered as he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. "It's a long story, so I won't get into it."
He couldn't exactly tell these two that he had secretly sneaked into the girls' dormitory area under the cover of night to find Silvia, only to find no one. Then, just as he was planning to slip out, that damned -10 Luck stat had suddenly flexed its muscles.
First, he was nearly spotted by a girl who had just finished her shower. While scrambling to avoid her, he knocked over a drying rack, triggering a chain reaction of collapses that alerted the patrolling magic puppets. Then, on his escape route, he happened to trigger a prank-type alarm barrier, causing the lights in half the dormitory area to turn on...
Finally, amidst the chaos that nearly triggered a manhunt by every girl in the school, he had only managed to escape by the skin of his teeth thanks to his familiarity with the terrain.
Sharing such an experience would be nothing but social suicide.
Although Victoria and Silvia didn't know the specifics, seeing him in this state and appearing at this hour naturally led them to think of the dungeon.
He really is working hard to fulfill his duties, exploring that dangerous place...
This thought surfaced in both of their minds simultaneously.
They thought of the mission they carried themselves, and subsequently, they felt a sense of closeness and a faint surge of goodwill toward this boy who shared a similar special mission and was clearly fighting for it.
At the very least, he was indeed a person with a great sense of responsibility.
Victoria was the first to pull her thoughts back. Her gray eyes looked calmly at Greg as she cut straight to the chase.
"So, you came here because you have something to ask of us, right?"
She wasn't stupid.
Greg had just visited her yesterday to confirm her injuries weren't serious.
For him to run over today with all these injuries, it couldn't possibly be just for a stroll or a second check-up.
Greg was a bit surprised by Victoria's directness, but he didn't plan on beating around the bush either.
He nodded, his expression turning serious.
"I do. Remember what I mentioned before? I want you to assist me in clearing the first layer of the dungeon."
"R-Right now?"
Silvia glanced at Victoria's still-bandaged shoulder and said worriedly, "But Victoria's injury hasn't healed yet. I'm afraid she won't be able to fight..."
Victoria didn't speak, she just looked at Greg.
She knew that for Greg to be in such a hurry, he must have his reasons.
Based on the personality he had shown before, he wouldn't rush the progress for no reason.
Greg did have a reason, and it was the death countdown he couldn't speak of.
If he didn't complete the quest to clear the first layer before the End-of-Chapter-One event finished, he would be done for.
But he couldn't say that.
His mind raced, and he instantly thought of a perfect excuse that could explain the urgency while also triggering their sense of responsibility.
"Because... some abnormal conditions have recently appeared in the dungeon."
Greg lowered his voice, his tone solemn. "I suspect something might have gone wrong down there, and I want to check it out as soon as possible. And..."
He paused intentionally, his gaze sweeping over the two girls before he spoke slowly.
"I've received some vague information that three upperclassmen entered the dungeon earlier and haven't come out yet. I'm a bit... worried about their situation."
Rate on N.U.
