Boom! Boom! Boom......

  The Fire Barrier managed to send several Swordtail Magic Rats flying. Their fur ignited in flames, drawing shrill screams from the creatures—but more rats kept charging forward relentlessly.

  The Fire Barrier soon began to flicker and waver.

  Boom——!

  A few seconds later, the barrier shattered completely. Several Swordtail Magic Rats lashed out with their tails, lunging straight for Alicia Serions.

  Alicia wielded her sword with practiced skill, parrying every single one of the incoming attacks.

  But then,

  "Squeak——!"

  A Swordtail Magic Rat suddenly appeared behind her. It leaped high into the air, its razor-sharp tail stabbing directly toward her vital spot.

  It was too late to dodge.

  Alicia could only watch in horror as the attack drew closer and closer.

  Was this where she would die......

  Despair washed over her as she waited helplessly for death to strike.

  Boom——!

  A burst of searing flames erupted out of nowhere right in front of her.

  The force of the explosion sent Alicia tumbling to the ground.

  "Squeak——!!!"

  A scream of agony echoed from within the flames.

  "What——!?"

  Alicia’s eyes flew wide open in shock.

  What just happened?!

  I-I’m alive?

  Boom! Boom! Boom......

  Before she could even process what was going on, more balls of flame detonated around her one after another.

  "Squeak!!!"

  "Squeak!!!"

  "......"

  The cries of the Swordtail Magic Rats filled the air, echoing through the flames.

  The tide of battle turned in the blink of an eye.

  "Squeak!?"

  The remaining Swordtail Magic Rats seemed to snap out of their frenzy. Their blood-red eyes cleared, and the ferocity in their expressions was replaced by pure terror. They tucked their slender tails between their legs and fled.

  But they hadn’t gotten more than a few steps when the sound of footsteps rang out from ahead of the blazing flames.

  "Squeak!?"

  Clang——!

  A flash of faint violet swordlight streaked through the air. In the next instant, the blurry figure that had been standing ahead was already behind the fleeing rats.

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  Sizzle——!!!

  In the blink of an eye, gaping wounds tore open on the remaining Swordtail Magic Rats. Bright red blood sprayed everywhere, and the creatures collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

  "Are you alright?"

  Staring at the familiar academy uniform in front of her, Alicia slowly lifted her head.

  "It’s you——!?"

  ......

  Alicia was utterly stunned. She had assumed her savior was some powerful Rank C adventurer—but it turned out to be someone her own age, her classmate no less: Hulim Heyerar!

  "So strong......"

  Alicia watched as Hulim collected the tail blades of the Swordtail Magic Rats, a wave of admiration washing over her.

  They were practically the same age, yet Hulim’s strength completely outclassed hers. Was this really the extent of her own abilities?

  If she stayed this weak, she would never be able to defeat those people—or even protect her mother......

  "......Last one."

  Hulim chopped off the tail blade of the final Swordtail Magic Rat and added it to her collection.

  Swordtail Magic Rat tail blades were a versatile magical material, and the Adventurers' Guild would buy them too. While they weren’t as valuable as mana stones, they were easy to collect and didn’t take up much space in her backpack. It would’ve been foolish to leave them behind.

  "Your Highness, are you okay?"

  Having finished gathering the materials, Hulim noticed Alicia sitting on the ground, looking dejected.

  Alicia shook her head. "I’m fine. More importantly, Hulim—thank you for saving my life. I’ll never forget this kindness, and I’ll make sure to repay you handsomely later."

  "No need for a reward. It was just a small favor. Helping others in trouble is the code of adventurers. And besides, I already took my rightful payment as per the guild’s rules."

  Hulim held up the pouch filled with tail blades and shook it lightly.

  "Sorry, but even though you took down some of these rats, I can’t split the loot with you."

  Alicia was momentarily dumbfounded. That was not the response she had been expecting.

  "A-An adventurer...... You truly are one of a kind, Lady Hulim."

  "Please, don’t call me Lady Hulim. Just Hulim is fine, Your Highness."

  Alicia blinked, then chuckled softly.

  "Very well then, Hulim——"

  "......But since I’m calling you by your first name now, as an exchange, could you stop calling me ‘Your Highness’? Just Alicia is fine."

  "Huh? But isn’t that disrespectful to royalty?"

  "It won’t be—so long as I say it’s not. S-Stop!"

  Alicia tried to stand up, but accidentally pulled her wound. A look of pain flashed across her face instantly.

  "Please wait, don’t move."

  Hulim gently pushed Alicia back down to the ground, then raised her hands and pointed them at the gash on Alicia’s arm.

  "【????????????????????????????????????????????????????】"

  "Heal!"

  A soft white light bathed Alicia’s wound. The bleeding stopped immediately, and the flesh began to wriggle and knit back together at a visible pace.

  "......A Tier 3 Healing Spell. So you’ve truly mastered Tier 3 magic, Hulim?"

  "Yeah."

  Hulim nodded.

  There was no point in hiding it. They had been enrolled at the academy for a while now, and it wasn’t uncommon for students to reach Rank C by this stage in Manacos Magic Academy’s history.

  "It’s just luck that I progressed a bit faster. You’re not far from mastering Tier 3 magic yourself, Alicia."

  "......You called me Alicia."

  "That’s what you wanted, isn’t it...... Say, Alicia, where’s your backpack? And why are you here all alone?"

  Hulim had noticed from the start that Alicia had nothing on her besides her sword. It wasn’t like she’d dropped her backpack during the fight—there was no sign of it anywhere nearby.

  Most importantly, as a princess, Alicia had been accompanied by a squad of Royal Guards even during the academy entrance ceremony. It was beyond strange that she would venture into a dangerous dungeon all by herself.

  Alicia let out a bitter laugh and explained, "I ordered the guards not to follow me. If they were always hovering around to protect me, then this training would be completely meaningless."

  Hulim nodded in understanding.

  That made sense. The guards would never allow a princess to be put in any danger—but training without any risk wasn’t real training at all.

  "......In the end, I underestimated the dungeon. I thought it was a low-danger area, so I let my guard down. I lost my backpack full of supplies during the first attack by the Swordtail Magic Rats.

  I kept running to escape, but I had no idea where I dropped the bag. Worse still, instead of shaking off the rats, I just ended up attracting more of them. Eventually, I had nowhere left to run......"

  That explained why she’d been swarmed by so many Swordtail Magic Rats. When Hulim first arrived, she’d thought there was some kind of special anomaly in the dungeon.

  Most monsters in the Luminescent Dungeon were solitary creatures with their own territories. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t swarm a single target like this—but if you ran around recklessly, getting mobbed was inevitable.

  Hulim glanced at Alicia silently.

  It seemed that beneath that regal exterior, she was actually quite the rash person......