The Academy’s Guide to Useless Students – Chapter 47

47.

Ice Dragon’s Castle.

This dungeon belongs to the northern territory of the Alkaid Federation, far removed from the Bitraise Empire. It’s called a dungeon, but in reality, it’s an unexplored area with no information whatsoever.

Several expeditions were sent from the northern territory ‘Noella’ ruled by the Grand Duke, but due to the harsh environment and powerful monsters, these attempts were always met with failure.

As a result, it was categorized as an unexplored “dungeon” and left unattended, with the name Ice Dragon’s Castle originating from rumors circulating among expedition teams. The thunderous noises that echoed through the area were said to be fierce and brave, much like the dragons described in legends. However, in reality, it was an exaggerated tale spread to deter other adventurers or factions from taking it lightly.

However, the Grand Duke of Noella is not an easy foe. His soldiers are the same. The difficulty of the ‘Ice Dragon’s Castle’, where those expedition teams could never set foot and were obliterated, was certainly not an exaggeration.

“Yuto! Take me with you!”

“Same here! If it’s ice attributes, there are a lot of things that could help me!”

Ellie may look like this, but she holds the status of a princess of the Empire. It’s not surprising she’d be concerned given what she’s heard about the neighboring country. Cletta also can’t resist her desire to grow. However, I resolutely refused the requests of both young ladies and turned away.

“No, you two must stay put.”

“Why not? Are you only favoring the ‘Mad Woman’?”

Favoritism?

The audacity of someone who has been treated so specially to say such a thing is unbelievable.

If Ellie had questioned me, that would have made sense.

“Well, if you say so, Yuto. I guess I have no choice but to wait.”

She complied quietly.

Now Ellie had turned into a well-behaved girl. Maybe I should reward her soon.

“There’s no place for Cletta in my plans. Please bear with it.”

“Tch, what’s so special about the ‘Mad Woman’ anyway…”

“It’s not that. Laura is trying to retrieve something she lost.”

“Did the ‘Mad Woman’ lose something?”

I mean, that’s the expression for it.

After all, it’s something Laura Freeze used frequently.

Laura seemed to catch on to my intent and shot me a lingering glance.

“…For me?…”

She must be mistaken.

I have never done anything for any of the heroines.

I approached her and whispered softly.

“It’s for the world, not for you, Laura.”

“Oh, I know…”

That’s a relief, then.

Additionally, I advised her.

To recover that, the opportunity would only come once.

She needed to be prepared if she didn’t want to mess it up.

“Trying to retrieve ‘that’ in your current state is a gamble. Be well prepared.”

“Why? Are you worried I might fail?”

“Yes.”

“……I’m a veteran who’s rolled in battle. I’ll be just fine.”

I found that hard to believe.

In any case, I hurriedly finished my preparations.

Today’s class was over, but dragging the use of Instructor Oliver’s ‘Portalation’ would do us no good. It was wise to make use of it while the iron was hot.

Speaking of which…

I felt a slight twinge of concern.

As if Laura read my expression, she suddenly asked.

“You look extremely anxious.”

“Just a little something is bothering me.”

“What’s bothering you?”

“It’s nothing. I can only hope it’s just unnecessary worry.”

Yeah, now, I really have to hope so.

I’m not a god, just a player who knows a bit about game scenarios. I can’t predict everything, nor can I move everything as I wish.

“Then, please stand in the center. I’ll teleport the target.”

Instructor Oliver activated the coordinates stored in ‘Portalation’. Soon, Laura and I would warp to where the coordinates were saved. That was one of the reasons for my concern.

Ice Dragon’s Castle is an unexplored dungeon.

In other words, the process would involve warping to a location near the Grand Duke’s territory ‘Noella’ that is listed in the Portalation’s coordinates before heading to the dungeon. This also meant that an event would inevitably take place during that process. For example, an unexpected encounter could occur.

“Warping!”

My thoughts were whisked away with Instructor Oliver’s shout.

Afterward, I was engulfed by a blue column surrounding Laura Freeze, and the surroundings went dark.

━━PAA-KAAN!

Even though the surroundings were still pitch black, a tremendous explosion echoed in my ears.

The ground shook, and a thick stench assaulted my nostrils.

Hot liquid covered my cheeks almost immediately, mixing with the smell of burning. It didn’t take long for me to recognize that smell. Laura Freeze, who was beside me, most likely caught the whiff as well.

“Yuto… what is this?”

I didn’t respond.

There was no need to, as she would soon see with her own eyes. At last, the dark scenery transformed into a vast white expanse, accompanied by the howls of the wind.

All around was an endless field of white snow, and scattered upon it were indiscriminately placed chunks of meat.

━━PAA-KAAN!

Just as I was distracted by the chaotic scene, another explosion sounded nearby.

In the distance, a long beam of fire shot up into the sky. That beam arched toward Laura and me.

“Second squad! Prepare the barrier! Third and Fourth squads, get ready to counterattack immediately! We will retaliate with wide-area spells!”

“““Old school!”””

With the end of a commanding shout from a woman, the armored soldiers lined up in formation. It was a strategy for the “connections of truth”, not based on an individual’s spells.

Their magic harmonized to form a massive barrier.

KA-WAAAANG!

The fireball that flew in collided with the barrier and ignited. The shockwave reduced the arms and legs of two soldiers creating the barrier to mere ashes.

“Gaaah!”

“Kek!…”

They writhed in pain, rolling in the snow.

Yet, no one attended to them. Not a shred of leisure permitted even as another beam of fire began to descend.

“Damn it!”

The woman who seemed to be the squad leader cursed and kicked the ground. They had lost two soldiers forming the barrier. Naturally, they wouldn’t be able to block the next wide-area spell.

However, using the soldiers preparing for the wide-area spell as a defense wouldn’t have been the right measure either.

Soon, her hesitation began to drag the remaining soldiers down, leading to a catastrophe where they could not make any decisions.

“We’ll take care of the defense. You focus on preparing the wide-area spell.”

I jumped into their battle.

Although I was an outsider, there was no time to be picky about details.

I had a hunch.

What weighed on my mind was the ‘timing’ of the scenario. The failures of expeditions to Ice Dragon’s Castle were recounted from a player’s standpoint, during the early to mid-story. If this was now, it meant the expedition was not in failure but in the height of the ‘quest’. I had indeed been dragged into the climax of the expedition at the worst possible time.

‘This situation is more than a simple expedition.’

Look at those wide-area spells; they aren’t the work of monsters but of ‘humans’.

In other words, it was clear that the Caroline Principality was attacking the Noella expedition.

This had really become a headache.

If I had to get caught, it had to be now.

The game scenario didn’t specify a precise timing, so I took it lightly.

“Wait, who are you? When did you get here? Are you a spy from the Caroline Principality?!”

“If I were, I would have taken your head by now. Let’s explain later; we need to deal with that first.”

“Gah…”

The fireball I pointed at was about to fall.

Swish.

I drew the Insight’s Blade, releasing waves of frost. The manifested Ether rapidly encased my sword in ice.

The squad leader turned her attention from me to focus on the Ether.

“Is that… attribute Ether? Who are you?”

Even those wide-area spells were no threat to their suspicions. I had anticipated this entire situation.

Just in case such a happenstance occurred, I hadn’t brought anyone other than Laura.

Using ice attribute Ether was in the same context.

For the North Continent, every ethnicity tended to have dark hair. It’s simply a genetic trait they possessed.

Thus, Laura Freeze and I could make excuses from their perspective.

Moreover, the Grand Duke, treated as a hero by them, also specialized in ice spells—meaning there was a way to navigate this situation.

Swoosh!

The ice pillars extended from my body, transforming into multiple spearheads targeting and obliterating the fireball.

The wide-area attack was nullified.

I quietly addressed the dazed soldiers pondering the scene.

“Aren’t you going to counterattack?”