Chapter 100 (Self Edited) – Resolve Successfully

The reason why Sylvia was abruptly smiled was because it happened suddenly and it was over too soon. Soma, who appeared suddenly, landed on the spot with his usual face, but when he looked to the side, he tilted his head.

“Hmm… Ooh? Is it over already…? It is too soon, but… I thought that it would revive back.” (Soma)

It was a familiar voice that responded to the words. Just like Soma, there were other three made their appearance abruptly.

“When I thought about traveling until here, I didn’t expect that we would reach this place, you know? Why did you come up with that idea in the first place…?” (Aina)

“Well, that’s because there will be no other monsters except the area boss. In that case, I don’t think it’s strange if the monster here is strengthened.” (Soma)

“Yeah, this is certainly only an area boss that will come out, but basically, you can’t escape once you get into this place. When I think about it, it is unnecessarily strengthened.” (Hildegard)

“Aah, it is definitely normal that you have to fight it at first look. It seems reasonable to think so.” (Lina)

Sylvia was definitely overflowing with the feeling of tension as if she was about to die until they came here. But now, the atmosphere was like how they were at the corner of the training ground after school hours… and her mouth naturally loosened.

For some reason, the blurred vision she had was wiped out, and she let out a breath. Then, she finally opened her mouth.

“Ehm… thank you for saving me.” (Sylvia)

“Hmm… shall I say ‘you’re welcome’? It seems you have other things to say.” (Soma)

“Aah, yeah… you’re right.” (Sylvia)

There was no way they got here by accident. Therefore, Sylvia was certain that they came here to rescue her. That meant that they knew the circumstances… well, she supposed that she would receive scold for that.

…They could scold her.

It shouldn’t be a pleasant thing, but still, she couldn’t suppress her loosened mouth.

“You understand that you will be scold, and yet, you are happy about it… I don’t want to know that the students of my academy are masochistic.” (Hildegard)

“No, that’s not it… is that you, Headmaster-san?” (Sylvia)

She was aware that the two out of the three, who appeared, were Aina and Lina. However, the last person was the headmaster, Hildegard. It was somebody who she didn’t expect. There were a lot of things going on, and she was only able to notice it now.

“Hmm, of course I am.” (Hildegard)

“Eh, uhm… that mean even the Headmaster-san came here to rescue me?” (Sylvia)

The headmaster of the Royal Academy directly came to rescue one student. It might look like a brilliant story depending on the perspective, but Sylvia wasn’t so naive that she thought so. For that person to be here meant that–…

“Aah, well, you don’t have to think too much about it, you know? I brought her here because it was the quickest way to reach this place. She was merely leading the way, or just a map. She is a map that conveys through words about the best route to reach your current location. …It’s pretty convenient if you think her that way.” (Soma)

“Hmm, it would be good if you praise me to the heart content, but… why did you say it in that way? You’re supposed to praise me, but I don’t feel like being praised at all.” (Hildegard)

“It’s probably just your imagination.” (Soma)

Hildegard stared at Soma, who was shrugging his shoulders while feigning ignorance. They were extremely friendly toward each other.

That wasn’t the attitude of a student should show to the headmaster of the academy, and at the same time, the headmaster was showing an expression that shouldn’t be shown to a student.

“Uhmm… are Soma-kun and Headmaster-san friends? Perhaps, you know each other from long ago?” (Sylvia)

“Aah, come to think of it. I was also concern about it while on the way here. You are unusually friendly toward the headmaster, huh?” (Aina)

“Since I don’t remember of meeting the headmaster before coming to the academy, I don’t think he has meet her before, but… did something happen during the interview? I mean during the examination entrance. Now that you mention it… I heard that you were going to the library to meet someone during the holiday… was that her?” (Lina)

Soma and Hildegard were directed with the eyes of the three, that overflowed with curiosity and suspicion, but when they both looked at each other once, they just shrugged their shoulders.

“Well, there were a lot of things happening.” (Soma)

“Yeah, it’s a secret.” (Hildegard)

“Muu… it’s suspicious.” (Lina)

“It’s suspicious isn’t?” (Aina)

“How should I put it… it’s not a big deal. There are people who are worried about us, so how about returning first?” (Soma)

“Aah… yes, you’re right.” (Aina)

Although Sylvia was relieved since she was rescued, there were still people who worried about her. It looked like other people also knew about this situation… especially when those three displayed a face that they should go immediately.

“Let’s hold the scolding for now.” (Soma)

“Uhh… please easy on me.” (Sylvia)

Anyway, Sylvia and others began to return to the surface.

—

“Eh… what is this?” (Sylvia)

Sylvia stopped her feet as she said that. It was when they came to the front of the staircase to escape from the 40th layer.

She was pointing at something… Of course, that was obvious. There was a crack on the space from where they entered. It was a trace that was caused by forcibly slashing it.

“When I came here a while ago, there was no such a thing… could it be…?” (Sylvia)

“Whatever that is, there is only a person who can do that, you know?” (Aina)

“…Yup.” (Lina)

Sylvia turned her eyes together with those words, but they just shrugged their shoulders. Soma was certainly the one who did it, but it seemed there was nothing strange about it.

If the space was shut, it was only necessary to slash it and created a gap to penetrate it. To begin with, he just need to destroy the outer wall of the shut room. That was still a better method.

“Err… will it be alright? I mean in many ways…” (Sylvia)

“Since we came through it for the time being, I guarantee it’s fine in a sense.” (Lina)

“The crack on the space is something that will heal if you leave it alone. Therefore, there is no problem.” (Hildegard)

“But since this area boss has been defeated, the shut space should be released, right? There is no need to trouble ourselves that much, isn’t it?” (Aina)

“I’m not going to say that it isn’t necessary, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Well, if you are interested, you can go through it, you know?” (Soma)

“I’m interested, but… I’m not going to do it now.” (Aina)

“Is that so?” (Soma)

Well, even if they went through that in this situation, it was really no different from a normal place. In that case, there must be a reason to it. Soma didn’t go through it but he walked on the side of the space crack. Of course, he could proceed through it.

Then, they climbed stairs without incident… Now, he narrowed his eyes as he wondered what it would be like. If this was about trapping them, it would be a good timing.

However, there was no sign of it even when they reached the 39th layer. It was the same as usual. While indirectly looked at the surrounding, Soma looked at Hildegard and ask a question.

“…What do you think?” (Soma)

“Hmmm… well, someone desires this to happen.” (Hildegard)

Soma also agreed. Otherwise, the other party wouldn’t bother to do it the hard way.

Yes, Soma and Hildegard didn’t consider this incident to be an unfortunate or careless incident. No, it was true that Sylvia was careless. They would ask more details from Sylvia after this, but that wasn’t the end of it.

There was no doubt that someone had their hands in this incident. Obviously, it was too convenient.

Sylvia and her party were overconfident, but she was forcibly removed by a spatial transition even though she was the third person went pass that trap. On top of that, she was sent to a place where it was impossible to escape and rescued. There was no such thing as a coincidence.

In other words, Sylvia was clearly targeted.

However, the reason was unclear. There were too many possible reasons. Just because she was a royalty, there would be fifty thousand reasons to target her life.

That was why it was pointless to think about it… and the problem was it was inevitable. If the enemies were really after Sylvia’s life, it would be bad to rescue her this time around. If Soma didn’t interfere their plan, there would be two possibilities.

They gave up because they were at disadvantage, or from the beginning, Sylvia was a decoy.

However, if the enemies gave up because they were at disadvantage, they wouldn’t have done this much. If they had done this much, it didn’t pay the effort until they finished their objective. Despite this, there was a high possibility that it was actually the latter.

If something like this happened to Sylvia, a significant number of eyes would be directed to her. The result would be the same even if someone went to the rescue or no one would go for rescue. Perhaps, the enemies were trying to do something while there was an opening that happened in this location.

Soma didn’t know what it was–

“…Well, for the time being, we were able to rescue her, so it should be fine to think about this later.” (Soma)

“Yes.” (Hildegard)

No matter what it was, if the life was lost, that was the end of the situation. In that case, it was natural to give a priority to rescue her, and Soma had no problem with that. Even if something happened because of this situation, it would be fine to take action when that time came.

As Soma thought that they were able to come back safely, they hurried on the way back.