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As Davian said, the rest of the friends remained outside the cave.
Only Davian and Bonita entered the cave.
"How do you know all that?"
"Know what?"
"Things that are going to happen. Things like that. How do you know what kind of trap is hidden here right now?"
"......"
After a moment, Davian slowly opened his mouth.
"Bonita, this is the first time I'm telling you this."
"Yeah, what is it? How do you know all that?"
"Actually... I'm a genius."
"Crazy bastard."
"I'm serious. You could say I have foresight to see the future."
"Crazy. If you don't want to talk, just get lost."
"Okay."
The collapse trap is activated after retrieving the claw of the Mad Dragon Insanis.
Until then, it's just a boring cave trip anyway.
This time, Davian asked.
"But Bonita."
"What, crazy guy."
"Why are you always so headstrong? You should know how to protect yourself a little. Like yesterday."
"It's because I'm a genius."
"You'll die young that way."
Bonita stopped walking.
"...That's why I'm trying not to die young."
"What does that mean? To live long, you have to know how to step back, hesitate, and hide behind others."
"I've tried hiding behind others, and it felt like shit. And..."
Bonita started walking again.
"I know someone who died hesitating. I don't want to be like that. I will never hesitate for any reason while I'm holding a sword."
Davian nodded.
He decided not to ask any more questions.
He had a feeling that if he asked more, her family history would come pouring out.
After walking for a while, the cave gradually narrowed.
Later, it became a passage that only one person could barely pass through on their hands and knees.
"This is important, Bonita."
"What is?"
"Crawling out of here quickly is the key to escaping this trap without dying."
"So, the cave is collapsing, and we have to crawl through this narrow passage to get out?"
"Yeah."
After crawling for a while, the narrow passage ended.
And an enormous space appeared.
A space as large as the academy's main hall unfolded before Davian and Bonita.
And on the opposite wall, a dragon-shaped relief was carved on a massive scale.
"Wow, is that a statue of the Mad Dragon? They carved it so big. But it was a crazy dragon, right? What's there to praise that they made such a sculpture?"
"It's not a sculpture."
"It's not a sculpture? Then what is that detailed relief, did it just happen naturally... Ah?"
"What you're thinking is right."
"Th-that's the Mad Dragon Insanis? Not just a sculpture?"
"Yeah."
It was a sculpture with only half of its body sticking out of the wall.
One of the toes touching the floor was as big as Bonita's torso.
Above it was a huge body and a long neck.
A head with its mouth wide open, looking very angry.
It was truly an immense size.
Bonita, who had been staring blankly at the Mad Dragon Insanis for a while, came to her senses.
"Traces. Where are the traces?"
Davian quietly pointed to the center of the space.
There was an altar large enough for one person to lie down on, and a claw was placed on it.
One claw was bigger than an adult's upper body.
"Wait a minute. Can we carry that out through that narrow cave?"
"That's why I asked you to come with me."
Davian and Bonita stood in front of the altar.
"The trap will be activated the moment you pick up this claw. I'll tie it with a rope and pull it from the front, and you push it from behind. If it gets stuck on the corners of the passage and doesn't move, tap it to get it out."
Bonita, with a very tense expression, replied.
"Okay."
"Oh? You seem a little nervous? You never have that when you're fighting with a sword."
"This isn't swordsmanship. Who wouldn't be nervous about being buried alive in that narrow cave?"
"You do have some human side after all. Cowardly Bonita Portis."
"What? Cowardly? Me?"
Davian carefully tied the rope to the claw so it wouldn't move.
Then he took out the fourth trace from his pocket.
The fourth trace was a strangely shaped magical stone.
Davian held the magical stone and slowly circled the altar once.
"Here it is."
Davian's gaze stopped at a spot.
There was a hole that perfectly matched the strangely shaped magical stone.
"So you really have to bring the fourth trace?"
"That's right."
"But you said you can't get the next trace without the previous one. This is just on the altar? Can't we just take it?"
"All twelve traces are made so that you can't get them without the previous trace. There are places you can't even enter without the previous trace, and some places like here have devices set up before you can take it."
Davian was now openly explaining the events of the previous rounds, but Bonita no longer cared.
"So, this time we came here without the fourth trace, so if we try to take this without the fourth trace, something else will happen."
"That's right."
"Like the cave collapsing right away...?"
"Maybe."
Davian pushed the fourth trace into the hole.
Whoosh.
The magical stone shone, and the altar slowly began to rotate.
The altar rotated about 90 degrees.
Davian first pulled out the fourth trace and put it back in his pocket.
Then he pulled the rope and pulled the claw off the altar.
Click.
The sound of the mechanism activating.
Click. Tick. Click. Tick.
The altar began to slowly return to its original position.
"It seems like... that's a timer?"
"It's probably the time when the cave will completely collapse. If you didn't activate the timer with the fourth trace, it would just collapse right away. Okay, if you understand, let's run now. At full speed."
"Okay."
Thud.
Davian started running towards the narrow cave entrance.
Bonita, who was following behind, was surprised.
'Wh-what? That guy. Why is he so fast?'
Even though he was carrying a huge claw on his back, she couldn't even keep up.
'When did he build up his inner energy like that...?'
It was unbelievable, but there was no time to wonder about such things.
Rumble.
Rattle.
The cave began to shake with a strong vibration.
It was only after entering the narrow cave that she had to crawl through that Bonita was able to catch up with Davian.
Insanis' claw was stuck on a rock on the right side and couldn't move.
Bonita punched the right rock and the wall, shattering them.
"Hey! Be careful! You're going to collapse this cave?"
"It's going to collapse anyway! Just go faster!"
Bonita pushed the claw.
Davian and Bonita began to crawl through the narrow cave again.
Rumble.
Boom.
The sound and vibration of the rear passage collapsing were directly transmitted.
"Faster!"
The two barely made it out of the narrow passage.
But it wasn't over yet.
Large rocks were falling from above the cave.
"Run!"
Davian and Bonita ran forward, avoiding the falling rocks.
How long had they been running?
Bonita noticed something strange.
'He was much faster than me before?'
Davian was running side by side with Bonita.
"There! They're coming out!"
Luna shouted from the cave entrance.
"Oh! It's true! Hurry up! Hurry up!"
Davian wrapped his arms around Bonita's waist.
Then he threw her out of the cave.
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Rumble.
The cave entrance collapsed at the same time Davian came out of the cave.
"Huff, huff."
Bonita, who had rolled on the ground and got up, took a rough breath.
Bellum approached and asked.
"Are you guys okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Yeah, we're okay."
Bonita, who had caught her breath, straightened her back and looked at Davian.
"Davian."
"Yeah? Why."
"You could have run faster. Why did you run slowly?"
"Slowly? Was that running slowly?"
"No, anyway. You could have run faster."
Davian chuckled.
"What's the point of just bringing out the claw? I have to come out with you, Bonita."
"......"
Davian thought she was asking a pointless question.
He just needed Bonita to get through the narrow passage easily.
And there were many quests where he needed Bonita in the future, so he couldn't lose Bonita here.
That was all.
The next morning.
The Gray Bear Exploration Team, who had returned to the academy, put the fifth trace into the private warehouse.
"Wow, the collection has increased by one."
"Do we just need to collect seven more now?"
"We can do it! Gray Bear Exploration Team!"
"Where's the next trace? Where should we go?"
Liber hung his head as if he was in trouble.
"That's..."
Davian answered instead.
"The next trace is in the Campus Plains in the center of the continent."
"Really? I think I've heard of it. Campus Plains. But why is that fool down again?"
"Because that's the Specula family's territory."
"......Ah?"
Nubes asked in surprise.
"The Specula family's territory? Does that mean the sixth trace is in Liber's family's territory?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Bellum added.
"The place where Leonel, who left in a fit of anger, is?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Luna had a worried expression.
"How are we going to get the trace in such a place? It won't be easy to even approach...?"
Davian shook his head.
"It'll probably be easy to approach. Right? Liber. You know your older brother best."
Liber nodded weakly.
"Yeah. My older brother will probably invite us soon. Saying let's play the game again. He really hates losing."
"Right? It probably won't take long. If we wait, a letter will come to the academy soon."
Latia said with her arms crossed.
"It won't be easy as I thought. Collecting all twelve traces."
"Once we get the sixth trace, we'll keep running. So that Leonel can't handle it, we'll push him. Otherwise, we might have to face Leonel every time."
Liber nodded.
"I agree with Davian. Even if we keep running, we might face him two or three more times. But it's better than meeting my older brother every time we delay."
Davian clapped his hands.
"Okay, everyone has worked hard. Let's call it a day!"
"...That's what I said, but why are you all here?"
"We don't have anywhere else to go."
"Davian, your house is big and nice."
"The wall you're building outside is magically protected, right? Spacious, comfortable, and safe."
"Is there no beer? We worked hard today."
"Nubes, you're banned from drinking!"
"Who's banning who from drinking? I heard that Bonita also collapsed after hitting her head on the C-Burre door."
"...I don't remember."
"Me neither."
Knock knock.
Someone was knocking on Davian's front door.
"Who is it? At this hour."
"Davian, didn't another hidden lover come to find you?"
Bellus, who was bringing drinks from the kitchen, was surprised.
"A... a lover? A hidden one?"
Davian, who was getting up and heading to the door, waved his hand dismissively at Bellus.
"Don't worry about it, Bellus. It's nonsense."
Davian opened the door, and an old woman was standing in front of the door.
She could fool everyone else, but not Davian.
"You've come?"
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