The Villains I Taught Became Heroes - Chapter 67



66 – Jealousy – 2

– W-What are you going to do?

A familiar voice reached Lena, who was sitting alone in the room.

It was Sylphid, the wind spirit she had contracted with.

“B-But…”

Lena placed her hand on her chest, recalling what had happened earlier.

The image of Sowol proudly speaking about her date with Lee Hyun made her heart sting continuously.

‘D-Does the Master like someone like Sowol too…?’

Sowol, the Sword Saint.

A beautiful woman who seemed confident in everything and had no trouble conversing with others.

Like herself, she was also a disciple of Lee Hyun and had been accepted by him before Lena.

Thinking of her made Lena’s heart ache even more.

‘I-I’m completely the opposite…’

Unlike her gloomy and introverted self, Sowol was always bright and extroverted. Thus, she couldn’t help but compare herself to her.

– W-Well, it seems the Sword Saint likes Lee Hyun too. So…

She needed to move.

Sitting alone, groaning, and indulging in fantasies would yield nothing in reality.

Lena squeezed her eyes shut.

The Master she respected, revered, and loved came to mind.

The warm gaze that had always been directed at her was now looking elsewhere.

Sowol. The Sword Saint.

To her, a woman, she was incredibly beautiful.

It was no longer the gaze of a Master looking at a disciple, but rather that of a man looking at a woman, as Lee Hyun gazed at her. And Sowol accepted that gaze, shy yet confidently.

They suited each other well.

Lee Hyun, who easily got along with everyone, and Sowol, who was confident with anyone.

And here she was, forced to watch them from a dark corner.

The two, who looked so happy, began sharing the same room one day, and when she secretly spied on them, her heart sank.

Sweet moans, the rough breaths of an adult man.

The sticky sounds made as a man and woman tangled their tongues.

The gestures of their desires were utterly lewd, and soon they…

“I-I don’t like it…”

Lena hurriedly denied the fantasies created by her brilliant mind.

No, she didn’t want that.

She didn’t want to lose him. Clutching her body tightly, Lena trembled.

She could concede many things.

She could easily let go of the fact that Sowol was the Master’s first disciple.

But she couldn’t let him go.

Lena bit her lips tightly.

—

If I just sit here like Silphid said, my delusions will creep into reality. So.

I must move.

***

“Today’s class is a dungeon exploration class.”

Regardless of whether the Asura Academy has infiltrated, the class must go on.

Today’s lesson is about dungeon exploration.

There’s nothing special about it.

It’s literally a class on how to conquer dungeons.

Unlike ruins, the interior of a dungeon isn’t that vast.

Typically, it consists of about four or five rooms, and the number of traps is far fewer than in ruins.

Yet, the reason dungeons are dangerous is that they continuously spawn monsters unless their core is destroyed, and the monsters created to protect the core are sent outside the dungeon to attack the surroundings.

“Dungeons grow. They become increasingly massive, using the blood and lives of those nearby as sacrifices, and as they continue to spew forth monsters, we must destroy any dungeon we discover.”

Everyone’s eyes sparkled with focus.

Most of the people in this class belong to the ruling faction. As such, they were keen to listen about dungeons that could cause significant social issues.

“Over there is one of the Academy’s prides. An artificial dungeon.”

The students’ gazes turned to where I pointed.

From the entrance of the small temple-like dungeon, golems began to emerge. There were ten of them. Unless we could defeat all ten golems, we wouldn’t be allowed to enter the dungeon.

“Inside the dungeon, numerous golems are deployed to take the initiative against aggressive monsters. Since we’ll have to engage in many battles with enemies, combat ability will be a crucial skill, right?”

“Yes!”

“Now, I will form teams. Dungeon exploration is generally organized into groups of six, so pair up into groups of six.”

Our class has a total of 25 students.

If we split into four groups, one person will be left out, and I’ll either have to fit them in as a spare or take them with me into the dungeon.

As I was thinking this and waiting, someone spoke up.

“What do we do about the one person left over?”

Sowol raised her hand and asked.

As Arisha and Lena nodded beside her, I replied nonchalantly.

“Well, how about I take them in for a check?”

The reason I wanted to go in was simple. Similar incidents to the last time could occur.

Now that I had a rough idea of Asura Academy’s intentions, there was no need to leave any unnecessary openings.

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I planned to enter the dungeon, assess the situation, and then come back out.

“In that case, I’ll go with you!”

Sowol raised her hand high.

Certainly, with her level of skill, she wouldn’t need to practice dungeon exploration.

She could probably break through a decent dungeon on her own, so the fact that she wanted to train was amusing.

“Isn’t the reason you want to go in alone because there might be some trick from Asura Academy? If something happens, I can help you.”

That was indeed a reasonable suggestion. With someone like Sowol, she wouldn’t be a hindrance to me.

There was no need for her to undergo dungeon exploration training…

“Honestly, I think I should go in with the Master…!”

Lena, with her fists clenched and head bowed, averted her gaze slightly as she spoke.

Sowol looked at her in surprise at her sudden remark.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised.

I never expected Lena to speak so strongly.

“Lena, what do you mean by that?”

There was a hint of reluctance in Sowol’s voice.

Lena flinched slightly at her somewhat sharp tone, but she didn’t back down.

“I-I’m just saying, like last time, there might be a giant rockworm or something, so it’s, it’s because the Master is going in, right?”

“And?”

“With my magic detection, I can check the state of this, this artificial dungeon and eliminate any dangers. And through Silphid, I can also identify any monsters that might be nearby. Th-that’s possible.”

The smile on Sowol’s face deepened.

It was clear to anyone that she wasn’t smiling out of genuine happiness.

The atmosphere was becoming too heavy.

I should intervene here.

“Enough.”

“Master.”

“Teacher.”

“This time, I’ll go in with Lena.”

“But Master…”

“Just this once, let it be. I have things to discuss with Lena.”

“…I understand. But remember, it’s not because I’m inferior to Lena that I’m conceding.”

“Right. Right. Thank you.”

I patted Sowol’s head.

Only then did she seem to relax a bit, wiping the smile from her lips as she returned to her seat. I gave Lena a light tap on the back.

“Not bad, huh? Even resisting the Saint of the Sword.”

If we were to measure actual strength, I couldn’t say who was stronger.

But in terms of disposition, Sowol was practically Lena’s natural enemy.

For Lena to overcome Sowol’s opinion and assert her own was truly commendable.

“I-I was scared…”

“But you did it. You’ve grown.”

“Hehehe…”

“Good. Then I should talk to the kids and head in.”

I looked around at the students who had formed their teams.

Let’s see. Arisha’s team is… hmm. Not bad.

That should be just right.

“Lena and I will go into the dungeon first, so class president and vice president, keep the kids in check.”

“Uh? Teacher? Why are you going in with Lena unni?”

“Because there might be a situation like last time. We need to check.”

“Hmm. Then can’t I go with you?”

“You’re in charge of the students here. You have to fulfill your role as class president. And it could be dangerous inside.”

“…Okay. I got it. I’ll do my best!”

She looked a bit disappointed, but Arisha smiled brightly.

As she waved her hand, I infused the instructor’s token with magic.

As the token began to glow, the golems that had been attacking indiscriminately relaxed their hostility.

“Alright. Let’s go in.”

“Y-yes!”

I took Lena with me into the dungeon.

As soon as we entered, Lena spread her magic to sense the state of the dungeon and tilted her head in confusion.

“It seems like there’s something different from the design at the center of the dungeon.”

“Really? You found that out well. But how did you know the structure of the dungeon?”

“Hehe. This dungeon was created by the Ivory Tower and the dwarves working together. The blueprints are in the Ivory Tower, you see. Since today is a dungeon exploration class, I requested them from the Ivory Tower and memorized them.”

Oh. So that’s how it is?

What a clever girl.

I took a praise sticker out of my pocket and handed it to her.

Receiving it, Lena jumped up and down with joy.

She’s truly worth the effort.

“What about the other monsters?”

“J-just a moment…”

Lena summoned a Sylphid.

As the Sylphid appeared in response to her call, it looked at me with a hint of surprise before gently bowing its head.

It’s been a while since I last saw it, but it hasn’t changed at all.

– There are monsters within 300m of the dungeon’s center.

“Really? You’ve got a good grasp on things. Keep checking, and let me know if it seems like they’re approaching.”

– Okay, got it.

Hearing the Sylphid’s response, I continued deeper into the dungeon with Lena. When we arrived at the place where she sensed something unusual, Lena pointed to a spot and said,

“Th-that. It’s not in the original design.”

It was an unremarkable decoration.

If Lena hadn’t mentioned it, I might not have noticed it at all, as it blended in with the surroundings.

I removed it to check inside and burst into laughter.

“It’s a magic stone bomb. I didn’t expect to find something so precious.”

A bomb that delivers a shock by containing magic was hidden as decoration.

This is one of the weapons that appears in the later stages of the game, used by a boss that performs self-destruct attacks.

“Is it… dangerous?”

“Very dangerous.”

From the looks of it, it seems to operate with magic from the outside.

This can be disassembled.

By the way, if someone could install this here… it means one of the academy staff is an Asura cultist.

“Well done, Lena.”

Thanks to you, I got a good item.

“Eh, eheh… I-I’m glad because the m-master will be happy. Th-that… since you did well… um.”

“Do you have something to say?”

“…If you have time this weekend, w-would you like to go to town together…?”

“On the weekend?”

It’s the weekend.

Not that I have anything in particular to do.

“What an honor. To meet the Lord of the Colorless Tower on a weekend. I suppose I must do my best to escort you?”

“Eh, hehehehe~!”

Lena’s expression looked brighter than ever.