"There, all done."

  Hulim Heyerar dispelled the healing magic.

  Alicia Serions stood up and stretched her body. All the injuries she’d sustained in the fight were completely healed.

  She then bowed to Hulim with a sincere noble’s bow.

  "Thank you again, Hulim!"

  "No need to thank me. I already told you it was just a small favor. Now that you’re feeling better, let’s head back to the surface."

  Alicia nodded gently. "Alright......"

  Hulim stuffed her loot into her backpack, then set off directly toward the exit leading to the surface.

  "Um...... Hulim?"

  Hulim stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Alicia.

  "What is it, Alicia? Do you have something else to take care of?"

  Alicia wore a conflicted expression, as if she was hesitating about something.

  After a moment of hesitation, she finally made up her mind.

  "Actually, Hulim—I have an unreasonable request to make. I wonder if you’d be willing to agree to it?"

  "An unreasonable request?"

  Hulim looked confused.

  "What kind of request?"

  "It’s...... Would you be willing to team up with me for future dungeon delves——?"

  Alicia asked loudly, her tone earnest, her head bowed low.

  "......So you want to form a party with me, Alicia?"

  Alicia lifted her head.

  "More or less...... Is that okay?"

  "Hmm......"

  Hulim understood why Alicia wanted to find another teammate. After all, the royal guards were far from ideal companions for training. But still——

  "Why are you going to such lengths to get stronger, Alicia?"

  She was a princess of lofty status, so why did she have to push herself this hard?

  "......"

  Alicia’s expression visibly fell.

  "Because I have reasons that force me to keep striving."

  "You’ve probably heard about the imperial succession disputes, haven’t you, Hulim?"

  Hulim nodded.

  Heard about them? She’d even been dragged into one before.

  "Ever since the founding of the empire, the royal family has upheld the tradition of passing the throne to the most capable. Every prince and princess is tested for their aptitude using a unique ancient magical artifact as soon as they’re born. If their aptitude is deemed insufficient, they have no right to the throne—no matter how legitimate their claim is.

  Conversely, if someone shows exceptional aptitude, even a bastard child born outside the palace has the right to inherit the throne!"

  "Most of the time, there’s one person with outstanding talent who stands head and shoulders above the rest, making the succession undisputed. But this generation is different......"

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  Alicia seemed to recall something unbearable, her expression growing even more dejected, tinged with anger.

  Hulim had heard about the current situation in the Serions royal family. Rumor had it that this generation had produced multiple princes and princesses with extraordinary, nearly equal aptitude! This meant all of them had an equal claim to the throne—any one of them could become the first in line, any one of them could ascend to the imperial throne.

  And this had become the spark that ignited fierce political strife.

  "......My mother was a commoner. Although she came from a wealthy merchant family, she had no political connections to speak of compared to the empress and the other concubines. There were times when I couldn’t help but wish I’d been born without this kind of aptitude. Then my mother and I wouldn’t have been dragged into this conflict—we could have lived a peaceful life."

  "......"

  "......But that was nothing more than a futile wish. Even though Father favors Mother and wants to protect us, his actions only attract more hatred toward us. And even if I wanted to give up my claim to the throne, the others would never let me or my mother off the hook. After my mother survived an assassination attempt, I finally realized something."

  "If I truly want to protect my mother, I have no choice but to stand up and fight against them! That’s why I need to get stronger! Only by showing greater potential than everyone else can I secure the first succession rank! So——"

  "Please, Hulim! I beg you to agree to my selfish request."

  Alicia bowed her head to Hulim with a level of solemnity she had never shown before.

  Watching Alicia like this, Hulim hesitated.

  Form a team...... While team-based dungeons were part of the academy’s graduation assessment, that was usually something third-year students at Manacos Magic Academy worried about. It seemed a bit early to start now.

  What would Semirhythm do in this situation......

  "......Sigh."

  Hulim let out a soft sigh.

  Semirhythm probably wouldn’t have overthought it.

  "Then you’d better be prepared. I won’t slow down to wait for you. If you don’t want to get left behind, hurry up and reach Rank C."

  "Really?!"

  Alicia lifted her head, her eyes lighting up with joy as she looked at Hulim.

  "Don’t worry, Hulim! I won’t hold you back. If I ever become a burden, feel free to abandon me."

  No...... Abandoning someone outright was going a bit too far.

  Hulim silently complained to herself.

  Then she turned around.

  "Let’s head back for today. I’ll let you know when we’re going into the dungeon next time."

  "Okay!"

  Alicia nodded and followed closely behind Hulim, the two of them walking side by side toward the dungeon’s surface exit.

  "Hulim, what are those materials used for? I saw you collecting them earlier."

  "They’re useless to me personally, but the Adventurers' Guild buys them for cash."

  "Huh? Really?! Being an adventurer sounds so convenient!"

  "......Unfortunately, as a member of the royal family, it’s very difficult for me to join the Adventurers' Guild and become an adventurer myself. Otherwise, I would’ve registered a long time ago......"

  "It’s fine...... I’ll split the rewards with you from now on."

  "Huh? Split them with me?! Why?"

  Alicia was shocked. As a princess, she was always the one giving money to others—it was the first time someone had offered to share their earnings with her.

  "It doesn’t matter what our statuses are. We’re teammates now, and this is the rule."

  "......Fine, I’ll tell you all about the unspoken rules of adventurer teams then, including......"

  Their voices faded into the distance as they walked through the dungeon. And just like that, Hulim, who had always been a lone wolf, gained a teammate that day.

  ......

  ......

  Manacos Magic Academy.

  In the bustling academy cafeteria, Hulim was having lunch with her roommate, Miko Kedar—the white-haired cat-girl.

  Miko poked at the exquisite food on her plate listlessly, her ears drooping, her face the picture of dejection.

  "Ugh——! Teacher Grissa is the worst! He yelled at me again, really badly this time!"

  Hulim looked up at Miko.

  "I think you’re the one at fault for sleeping in class."

  "Huh? But...... But I can’t help it! Teacher Grissa always has that cold, grim look on his face. He wears all black, has black hair, and even uses a black wand. He looks just like some cold-blooded assassin who stepped out of a dark alley! He’s so scary to look at!"

  "......"

  That was certainly a vivid description......

  Still, Teacher Grissa’s appearance and personality did make a lot of students afraid of him.

  "Because of that, I can never focus during his lectures. In the end, I just end up dozing off~!"

  "Is that so?"

  Hulim lowered her head and went back to eating with her spoon.

  "......But you fall asleep in other teachers' classes too. Are all of them that scary to you?"

  "Huh——?!"

  Miko was left dumbfounded.

  Her ears twitched back and forth rapidly, clearly struggling to come up with a good excuse.

  But after living with Miko for so long, Hulim knew full well that her roommate wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed—and she didn’t think Miko would be able to come up with a reasonable explanation.

  "Hello there. Do you mind if I sit here?"

  Just then, a familiar voice sounded from across the table.