𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟑

̇ȧ̇𝔴ᴇ𝔟𝐬𝘵𝙤𝙧𝚒𝐞𝚜.ċ̇𝙤ᴍ

Swish.

Chirp.

「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩? 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚.」

A Black Bird flying outside was suddenly blown away.

Considering the distance, it couldn’t have been a party after the treasure in the cave, but they’re pretty skilled. At this level, it could be Hwang Ji-hak or Sophia.

“1Km to the west. There’s a party that’s noticed the shikigami. They’re probably high-rankers.”

『Do you think they’re after us?』

“I don’t think so. But it’s better to be careful.”

『Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.』

Before I knew it, Yoon I-hwa and the other students were relying heavily on my abilities.

It was only natural, since we had been able to avoid every party we encountered on our way here thanks to the shikigami.

“Ugh, another fork in the road! Which way do we go this time?”

“Left. The other side is a dead end.”

“. . .You already checked that? Don’t tell me all class A students are like you?”

Since I had already spread shikigami all over the cave, the search wasn’t as difficult as I thought. The other parties had only encountered the shikigami once, and they couldn’t find them after that.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚?」

In any case, less competition is always better, so we calmly continued our search inside the cave.

“There’s a secret passage here! It’s so narrow that only one person can fit through.”

『I should be able to fit through. Let’s check it out.』

The first one to discover the passage leading to the center was, surprisingly, Choi Seung-joon, a class C student.

Now that I think about it, he did have a trait related to searching when I appraised his information earlier.

Thud.

Thud, thud, thud.

As we broke through the dirt wall that seemed to have been blocked artificially and exited the passage, a huge space was revealed where the treasure could be hidden.

『A cave within a cave, this is exciting. Let’s split up and search in four directions.』

Following Yoon I-hwa’s instructions, the party members began to thoroughly search the inside of the chamber. However, despite searching every conspicuous place, they couldn’t find the treasure hidden in the cave.

“There’s no place that feels like it has a special aura.”

“Where the hell did they hide it? Could it be somewhere else?”

But there was no other space that seemed likely.

So I slowly walked through the interior of the chamber, using the most efficient detection spell I could currently use.

Whooong.

Step.

Step.

Boom.

How much time passed like that?

After searching about half of the chamber, I was finally able to discover a secret space where something was hidden.

「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨.」

I pointed to the ground I was stepping on in response to my party members’ questioning gazes.

“It’s down there. And it’s pretty deep too.”

『Is that for real?』

“At least I’m sure there’s something there.”

Since I’ve never spouted nonsense before, the party members, though half in doubt, began to dig the ground diligently, each using their own spells.

Puff!

Creak!

“Wow. . . I can’t believe they hid it this tightly. It’s jingling.”

“About how much more?”

“About 1.5 meters from there.”

As they were digging up the dirt, a faint vibration suddenly spread throughout the chamber.

And at the same time, multiple presences began to be felt.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡.」

It seemed that they were either thoroughly using a concealment spell or had found a new passage that we didn’t know about.

Thud!

Crash!

Soon, a group of people came down through a hole in the ceiling and spotted us.

The party members who saw the sight opened their mouths in dismay.

“Oh, crap. It’s Guilford. We’re screwed.”

“. . .Jin-ha’s there too. He’s the runner-up in class B.”

There were three of them in total.

In terms of numbers, we had the advantage, but in terms of individual average power, they were far ahead.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Clink!

【Eugene Ha】

▶Level 34

【Logan Bradlett】

▶Level 33

※

【Guilford Fisher】

▶Level 37

▶Ability Scores

【Stamina: A-】

【Spiritual power : B-】

【Spellcraft: B+】

【Mental Strength: A】

▶Traits (5/10)

【Thorned Ivy (S-)】

【Battle Instinct (A-)】

【Growth Acceleration (B)】

【Swift Sword (A-)】

【Eagle’s Eye (C+)】

Guilford, who boasts a top 5 ranking in the 2nd year class A, and the other two also seemed to be top-ranking students in the class B.

Then, Yoon I-hwa’s anxious voice came through the communicator.

Chirp.

『If we fight them head-on, we’ll all be eliminated. We have to somehow stall for time, take the treasure, and run away!』

“S-So how do we do that?”