The Villain is Too Good at Sniping

47. Social Evil (2)

……One hour ago.

The entrance to the dungeon was already in shambles, courtesy of the parties that had gone ahead. It was somewhat expected, but the progress was faster than thought.

Looking at the tangled magical residue, it seemed that the first team to enter was likely A-team, which Kyle belonged to. Perhaps due to their prior experience in the dormitory incident, they seemed to be making fewer mistakes than expected.

“Everyone’s going ahead, what about us?”

“What can we do, let’s just go forward.”

Since the dungeon had transformed into an underground shopping mall, the entrance naturally narrowed down to one point. It was only natural that the teams that went ahead were already there.

As a latecomer, having an open path ahead was rather fortunate, but it was essential to keep in mind that this wasn’t just a simple experience activity but a kind of “evaluation.” Just like during the entrance exam, the professors were watching, and each team would receive points or deductions in real-time.

Aira, who was leading the way, looked anxious.

“If we continue like this, won’t our team’s score drop?”

“It might, but it’s okay. We can still make up for it.”

“…Then that’s a relief.”

“What, we’ll find out when we go in and see below.”

Aira’s face was still pale, but in reality, there was no point in holding back now.

Originally, the entrance to the dungeon was the easiest part. According to the concept of the underground shopping mall, the dungeon became increasingly difficult as one descended. There were many traps, and the monsters that appeared grew larger and stronger.

The professors’ main evaluation criteria weren’t simply about defeating many monsters but were more complex and abstract.

For example, it included the balance within the party, their ability to respond to unexpected situations, and the leadership and communication between team members. The evaluation began the moment they entered the dungeon, and every action from now on needed to be cautious and deliberate.

Of course, the professors were human, and there were blind spots within the dungeon, so there was no absolute guarantee. In fact, there were cases where people were caught off guard in the blind spots, just like in the original story.

…And our team had a variable like Rian.

That’s why I placed Rian von Hildegarde and Rebecca at the rear. At least within Rebecca’s range of vision, Rian wouldn’t be able to make any reckless moves, I calculated.

-…So, you mean Rian von Hildegarde is at the rear?

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-Yes, I want Rian-senpai and Rebecca to take care of our party’s rear.

-You still call her senpai even in this situation.

-That’s because both of them are senpai.

Rebecca didn’t seem to like it, but she accepted her role. Perhaps she felt a sense of responsibility for delaying their entry.

Rian von Hildegarde was someone who didn’t appear in the original story. He didn’t make an appearance, nor was he mentioned.

However, just the fact that he was connected to Grande and Rebecca made it possible to roughly guess Rian’s fate.

He should have been Camille’s loyal subordinate like Rian, with a high probability of being ‘exiled’.

No, Rian has already been exiled. From the student council where he was a member.

– Rian Font Hildegarde is an incompetent who was kicked out of the student council during the process of reducing the number of council members.

– But… it seems that man still thinks he’s a member of the student council. I don’t know why he’s still staying in Arsene, but when I see his gaze towards me, I’m sure he’s related to me.

– Do you have any idea, Sion El’heart?

… Unfortunately, I have no idea. I can sense that he’s aware of me, but I can’t think of a reason why, and it’s all hazy like a fog.

If Rian had stayed in the student council, or rather, if he had stayed in Arsene, he would have definitely appeared in the original story.

Why didn’t he appear as the villain in ‘Grimoire Tales’, a story with the theme of ‘punishing evil’, where he would have caused a ruckus in the 1st-grade dormitory?

It’s obvious. Because he was already dead before the main story began. Rian’s death date, listed in the assassination book of Esperand, was the same day he left Arsene.

Perhaps Rian’s original fate was to be expelled from the student council, leave Arsene, and then meet his death at the hands of Esperand’s assassin.

‘… Maybe.’

A few puzzle pieces that were scattered around suddenly fit together.

In the original story, Grandeur pushes Esperand away first.

The reason is because of Camille’s loyal subordinate, who crossed the line. As a result, he was expelled from Arsene, under the name of Student Council President Rebecca.

Using this as an excuse, Esperand completely cut off ties with Grandeur, and Grandeur used Hildegarde to take control of Arsene according to the plan of Grandeur’s duke.

In the process, he clashed with Kyle, and their conflict intensified, leading to various incidents.

Rebecca appears as the final boss of Act 1, and the situation takes an unexpected turn. That’s the story of Act 1.

…… But now, the situation has changed greatly.

I didn’t act like Camille’s loyal subordinate, and I didn’t clash with Grandeur. Therefore, the relationship between Esperand and Grandeur didn’t become completely severed like in the original story.

As a result, Grandeur no longer has a reason to be interested in Hildegarde.

Hildegarde, who wants to curry favor with high-ranking officials, is still wagging its tail towards Grandeur, but Grandeur doesn’t care about Hildegarde. It’s not worth it.

The connection between the two families only occurs behind the scenes, like an underground organization, and doesn’t appear on the surface. In fact, it’s a custom to thoroughly ignore each other in public.

Therefore, the only legitimate connection between the two families is ‘Rian Font Hildegarde’ and ‘Rebecca Font Anastasia Grandeur’, who are currently students at Arsene.

Hildegarde is desperately trying to maintain the connection to ‘Arsene’, no matter what. That’s why they’re trying to bind Rebecca and Rian as ‘acquaintances’, even if it’s just a shallow connection.

-…… I don’t know why he’s still staying in Arsene, but when I see his gaze towards me, I’m sure he’s related to me.

Ah, I understand now.

Rian Font Hildegarde didn’t leave Arsene.

He didn’t leave because he couldn’t leave.

Rian was expelled from the student council and was about to return to his family, but his family wouldn’t accept him.

If Rian left Arsene now, the connection between the two families would be completely severed, which is why he’s still here. In the original story, Grandeur was more desperate, so Hildegarde could take advantage of the situation, but now the situation is different.

Rian received a penalty for his misconduct in the 1st-grade dormitory.

The way to redeem the penalty is to participate in school events, and he might have volunteered to help with the 1st-grade’s dungeon conquest instead of cleaning the professors’ building.

It’s unclear whether this is a coincidence or fate.

Rian Font Hildegarde is staying here because of my visit to Arsene.

As a result, he was able to escape his original fate of death. I’m also grateful, and Rian’s fate is truly pitiful.

“What…?”

“Where are we…?”

As we entered the shopping district, a grand plaza with several department stores came into view.

“Do you see those warehouse-like things in there? Maybe there’s still something left.”

“There should be.”

But.

“The problem is that there’s nothing to eat.”

“Huh…?”

“Did you not bring any food? This is a real training session.”

“There isn’t any…”

My mind went blank for a moment.

Considering this place has a post-apocalyptic feel, with rusty and crumbling structures everywhere, it’s unlikely that there’s any usable supplies left.

Even if there were preserved food in the supermarket, it would have all gone bad by now.

That’s why we have to hunt for food ourselves. The same goes for water.

In that sense, we’re pretty lucky to have fallen into this underground supermarket. There are a lot of monsters, but there are also plenty of ordinary insects that we can eat.

And most insects become edible when cooked. Even parasites and the like become a decent source of protein when cooked together.

If something tastes bad or smells awful even after cooking, we can just fry it in oil. If it’s still inedible, we can just use it as firewood.

…How did I know? Well.

In reality, humans are stronger than they think.

When our survival instincts kick in, we can do things that were previously impossible.

Especially when it comes to ‘food’, our standards become much more lenient. I’ve already experienced how our ancestors survived in the wild.

Of course, there’s no need to experience it twice, so I tidied up the runes in the guest house and brought a lot of food and dried meat instead.

Anyway, that’s that.

“Let’s take a look at the system now that we’re here.”

“The system? Huh?”

Rebecca, Rian, and Edel didn’t seem too surprised, but Kazuha and Airi’s reactions were quite amusing.

“It’s as it says. Our goal is to defeat the boss monster on the lowest floor of the underground supermarket. Other parties might have already gone down, so we should hurry.”

“Is the time limit really three days? Do we have to stay here for three days?”

I just shrugged in response.

Airi looked shocked, and Kazuha seemed somewhat calm. It seemed they had somewhat expected it.

“I thought we only had one class this week, so maybe… yeah, that’s right.”

“I thought we had a two-day break after today’s class…”

“…Did Arsen say that?”

There might be students who heard rumors about the dungeon before coming in.

From what I remember, there were some students with thick backpacks among those gathered at the Geord Observatory. Most of them must have prepared survival gear and food in advance.

It’s not bad to prepare in advance, of course. It’s better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

But our party is different. Only Edel De Byron had a backpack.

“Edel-senpai.”

“Huh…?”

Edel seemed to notice my gaze and grabbed her backpack.

“We need to reach the bottom as quickly as possible from now on. Do you feel anything unusual?”

“I’ve had a feeling since a while ago… hmm.”

“Your senses are probably better than mine, senpai. Can you just check the floor once using your senses?”

“Wait a minute!”

It seemed like a wave was forming somewhere, and a thin, spread-out magical power began to emanate in all directions. One part of the circular, widely spread magical power was trembling and shaking.

“Do you feel something weird down there…?”

I approached the spot where I had sensed an unusual reaction, with Airi by my side. At first glance, it looked like a normal floor, but as I got closer, my [Observer’s Eye] detected something strange.

“Airi, can you try hitting this spot with your sword?”

“The floor?”

“Exactly this spot, and don’t just tap it, try to break it.”

Airi raised an eyebrow at my strange request.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but… I’ll give it a shot.”

Airi took a stance and struck the floor with her sword. It wasn’t enough with just one hit, so she struck it two or three more times in succession.

A crack began to form on the floor, and soon it spread out like a spider’s web. Airi took a step back, looking uneasy.

“Is this going to collapse?”

“It’s okay, not yet.”

“Not yet…?!”

Airi looked at me in shock, and I stood in front of her, pointing my Glock at the floor. I had only loaded 1/10 of my magical power. Most of the magical creatures living here were sensitive to sound, so this amount should be enough to avoid causing a big commotion.

From now on, it’s all about luck.

I don’t know what’s lurking beneath us. In the original story, it was one of two possibilities.

Either a shortcut to the lower floor would appear, or a trap filled with mimic-like monsters would be waiting.

Originally, this was a gimmick that would collapse if you fought a monster nearby and got shocked, but since there weren’t any monsters strong enough to trigger it, everyone just passed by without noticing.

If you were a close-range dealer, you wouldn’t even notice the trap beneath your feet, making it a pretty deadly gimmick. However, as a support, it wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

“Take two steps back.”

I sent the signal, and then pulled the trigger. The dust settled, and the cracked floor caved in.

There was no reaction from my [Observer’s Eye] or [Sense].

As the dust was swept away by the wind, the clean, lower-floor corridor was revealed.

This time, I was lucky. I immediately sent a signal to approach, but there was no response.

“Are you trying to go down there…?”

“It’s faster than going around in a circle.”

“But isn’t it dangerous with the collapsed floor?”

“If we’re worried about danger, then entering the dungeon itself is dangerous. We have to earn points.”

I gestured again, and Airi finally approached with a resigned expression.

“Is there something weird down there…?”

“It’s faster to see it for yourself than to explain it in words.”

“Then let’s… Ah?!”

As the saying goes, “seeing is believing,” so I lightly pushed Airi to go down to the lower floor first. The floor had collapsed, creating a natural slope, so she ended up sliding down like she was on a slide.

As Airi looked up at me with a fierce gaze, I called out to the next two people.

“Edel senior, and Kazuha.”

The two of them seemed to have seen Airi get pushed, so they approached quite obediently. And then they jumped down to the lower floor on their own.

“Rebecca, the student council president.”

“……”

Next was the student council president, Rebecca.

With a stiff face, she approached me with a light jump.

“Then…”

Only two people were left in the end.

“Senior Rian.”

“Isn’t it the captain who should go down first, not me?”

“You’re also a captain, but now you’re the leader of X Team.”

“Huh.”

Rian looked at me silently for a moment, searching for an excuse to refuse, but eventually came closer with a reluctant expression.

“You, is this really your first time raiding this dungeon?”

But just before jumping down, Rian said something as if brushing past me. I couldn’t see her expression, but her question was filled with many implications.

“It’s my first time.”

“…”

There was no response. Rian jumped down with a stone-cold face.

After confirming that all team members had gone down, I briefly turned my head to check the direction of the escalator. The regenerating monster, playing the role of a gatekeeper, was slowly reviving.