Avalon's Dungeon

Sagrado Castle is peaceful today, but there is a terrible legend that has been circulating in this castle since the disappearance of Avalon.

　It is said there is a secret research room in the basement, where a mad scientist is working day and night to create a mysterious bio-weapon.

　In fact, the room is located secretly in the basement near the infirmary.

　The inorganic room, lit by a wall sconce and lined with shelves, is protected by a special bedrock to prevent the bio-weapons from leaking out—which is impossible.

「Fufu, fuhahahaha...」

　Now, the only girl in the room is standing in front of a metal table, smiling suspiciously.

　She has a slender figure in her mid-teens and wears a white lab coat. Her name is Sara Del Rey, the young head court physician of Sagrado Castle, not a mad scientist.

「It's done. It's done...!!」

　She is now happy in front of a foamy, bluish-purple chemical liquid poured into a flask, which looks suspiciously like a bio-weapon, of course.

「I name it, Object Activator! Ugokundesu!」

　She proudly holds up the flask of the chemical solution.

　As her small body sways, her lightly wavy light green hair sways softly and hangs over her shoulders. The gesture is cute, but what she is holding in her hand is not so cute at all.

「Three years of hard work! It's been two years since Alex built a sturdy basement for me instead of the lab that was blown up in the previous experiment...! Finally, I can see the light of day at last. I'm so happy...!」

　Sara rubs her cheek against her own chemicals as if she is deeply moved.

「But this will finally make it easier for Sagrado, which has been suffering from a manpower shortage, and I'm doing a good thing, you know. Mm-hm.」

　After enjoying her pleasure for a while, her narrowed eyes light up.

「...Well then」

　She returns nimbly.

「I haven't finished the test yet. But I'm wondering if there's a good subject for the experiment」

　Sara leaves this enclosed space in a good mood.

　But she doesn't know that this is the beginning of the incident.

* * *

　That day, Dorothea is alone in the workshop of Sagrado Castle, working on a prototype.

「Well... I think it's about time...」

　With her hand still clutching the hammer, she wipes the sweat dripping down her forehead and looks at the newly finished piece of synthetic armor.

　Leather, alloy, and a few magic crystals are the raw materials of this armor.

「Maximum hardening with minimum materials. According to my calculations, this ratio should be the best...」

　Nowadays, magic crystal is an extremely rare material unique to the Sagrado Kingdom. So, it must be used with great care. After all, the pieces of the crystal had been recycled over and over again, and finally, the crystal was made by gathering the pieces together.

「Now I just need to test its durability and check its wearability. Let's see, where to put it...」

　Dorothea puts a brand-new armor on one of the wooden figures in the corner of the workshop.

「Well...」

　With a swing of her long-handled hammer, she holds it over her shoulder.

　She then turns to face the wooden figure's armor.

「It might hurt a little when I've finished it, but that's the way it's supposed to be. Just bear with it...」

「Wait a minute!」

　Dorothea's hand stops as she is about to bring down her hammer at the sudden intruder.

「Huh!? What!? What happened?」

　She manages to keep her balance, but when she turns around, she sees Sara in a white lab coat.

「Dorothea-chan! You've got something good!」

　Dorothea looks down at the hammer in her hand, though she is concerned about the weird-looking chemical in Sara's hand, who is giving her a sparkling look.

「Eh...!? What do you mean, good stuff? This?」

「No, no! I mean this one!」

　Sara runs up to the wooden figure in armor, her eyes shining.

「Ahhhh~ I'm so glad I found such a good one! Yes, this will be perfect for my chemical test!」

「Chemical test...!?」

　Seeing Sara hugging the wooden doll, Dorothea turned pale.

「Wait! Wait! Wait! Are you talking about that weird blue-purple chemical? No, no, no! Don't do that to my precious prototype!」

　When Dorothea intervenes, Sara shrugs, "What a terrible thing to say to someone."

「Besides, it's good for Dorothea-chan's test, isn't it? From the looks of it, you were going to try to use that big hammer of yours to fight, weren't you?」

「I wasn't trying to fight... It's just an endurance test.」

「This medicine is called, fufu, object activator, Ugokundesu!」

　Sara confidently holds up the drug and says its fishy name.

「The object sprinkled with this medicine will be ready in a moment!」

　With this line, she pushes Dorothea away and sprays the liquid on the armor.

「Aaaaaaaaa!?」

　In front of the stunned Dorothea's eyes, the chemical is quickly absorbed into the armor, making a shuddering sound.

「Ahaha! It's as if it came to life and started moving on its own!」

　Sara exclaimed proudly next to the armored wooden figure that had just been doused with the chemical.

「Now we don't have to wait for the manpower shortage to be solved! Dorothea-chan's test will be more serious, and we'll be all set for the big day. Do you understand?」

　Sara's smiling face and her innocence make it difficult to be mad at her.

　Dorothea, with a disappointed look on her face, re-grips the hammer and faces the armor again.

「I don't really need it to work for the endurance test, but... It's true that I can get precise data from this test, and if I just do Sara-san's chemical test on the side, it'll be more or less...」

　Seeing Dorothea's determination, Sara quickly leaves the wooden doll. She is ready to make her move at any moment.

　Dorothea again takes up a hammer on her shoulder.

　She stands in front of the wooden figure and gulps her breath.

　Her heart pounds.

　When will it start moving?

　Where will it come from?

　Maybe the opponent is strong...

　Sweat beads on her hands as she grips her hammer.

　Do I make the first move?

　No, it would be foolish to make a move if she doesn't know the strength of the opponent.

　Dorothea waits for her opponent to make a move, holding her breath.

　Eventually, Dorothea heard the following words

「...it's not moving...」

「Yeah. I don't think it's moving...」

　Sara and Dorothea, from either side, sigh to each other.

　The wooden figure sits there for a long time, not moving.

「Hey, can't you move a little bit?」

　Sara walks up to the wooden figure.

「Whoa! Sara-san, watch out!?」

　Sara ignores Dorothea's words and taps the wooden doll with her clenched hand. Then she confirms that the wooden figure is still just a wooden figure, not moving.

「It doesn't move. So boring...」

　Dorothea laughs at Sara's obvious pout.

「Well, well, that's how it is sometimes, isn't it...?」

「Hmmm. I guess I failed.」

　Sara's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

「I must have mixed it wrong...I'll have to start all over again.」

　Dorothea waved her hand at Sara as she turned to go back.

「Maybe there is no need to start all over again...」

　She murmured.

　With Sara gone, Dorothea is left alone in the workshop.

　Once again, Dorothea turns to the wooden figure. She holds a hammer on her shoulder.

「Now, let's start the endurance test all over again...」

　Dorothea wields the hammer.