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Latia whipped her head around, glaring at Davian.
Her long blonde hair swished, briefly disheveled before settling back into place.
"I won't forget what happened yesterday, Davian."
"You were the one acting drunk. Why are you glaring at me?"
"That doesn't mean you had to drench me head to toe with water!"
"So, should I have just let you turn the party into a sea of fire?"
"Th-that's..."
"Anyway, you two are banned from drinking for the time being."
"......"
Bonita, who was walking with an unusually haughty gait today, said,
"Yeah. You guys really shouldn't drink."
"You're banned too, Bonita."
"......"
In any case, once they became sophomores, they had to join a club.
In the previous iteration, Davian had joined the Magic Research Club, but this time, Davian was thinking of joining a different club.
'I definitely saw it somewhere...'
After fending off the solicitations of various seniors and wandering around for quite a while, Davian couldn't find the club he was looking for.
The group of seven had initially been together, but they had all gone off to different club tents that interested them, leaving Davian alone.
'Found it.'
There was no one outside the club tent Davian was looking for.
Only a roughly made wooden sign indicated the club's name.
'Dungeon Exploration Club.'
Not fun.
Can't learn any skill-improving techniques from seniors.
Nothing left behind.
Nothing gained.
Even dangerous.
That's why it only has around ten members, and hardly any students want to join.
Upon entering the tent, only two members were sitting at a desk, talking.
One was a female student with short hair, and the other was a male student with skin close to black.
Both had a great white shark drawn on their school emblem, indicating they were sophomores.
Whether they weren't expecting anyone to come or were just naturally oblivious, they didn't even notice Davian entering.
On the wall next to the two students, there was a large poster.
When a core amplification occurs in A to B-rank dungeons, the royal army is dispatched.
When a core amplification occurs in dungeons near major cities, the city guard is dispatched.
However, for C to E-rank dungeons, there are no troops to stop it.
This is because the number of royal army and city guard troops is limited.
It would be fortunate if these dungeons were located in remote mountains or deserts, but there are often villages near the dungeons.
The Elton Academy <Dungeon Exploration Club> exists to protect good people from dungeon core amplification phenomena in these locations.
Students who want to use their blessed powers to save people, please apply to our Dungeon Exploration Club.
While Davian was skimming the poster, the short-haired female student asked the male student next to her.
"Seniors... do you think they'll be okay?"
"They'll be fine. Ariel-senpai went with them, after all."
"Still. It's a D-rank dungeon. Not even an E-rank. Actually, it's the highest rank dungeon we can handle..."
"Don't worry too much. Our club seniors said they've already destroyed several D-rank dungeon cores."
"Yeah, that's right. There's no need to worry. But what if a dungeon core amplification occurs before they destroy the dungeon core? They went in such a hurry because it was said to be quite imminent, right?"
"That would be a real disaster. But then, wouldn't the seniors get out of the dungeon on their own? There's nothing academy students can do at that point."
"I heard there's a big village nearby. Do you think Ariel-senpai will just leave? I bet she'll try to stop it from the inside somehow."
"Sigh... I don't know. But what else can we do? We're the only ones who will do this."
Davian, who had approached right in front of the desk, asked.
"Excuse me..."
"Eek! You scared me!"
"W-who are you?"
Asking who someone is when they enter a club tent in a school uniform during club promotion season...
"Hello. I'm Davian Naone, a freshman. I'm interested in the Dungeon Exploration Club, so I stopped by."
"Ah? Ah! Please have a seat over here!"
The short-haired female student jumped up and pulled over a chair.
"I'm a sophomore..., no. I'm a sophomore! My name is Emma Baidy! Call me Emma..., no. Call me Emma-senpai!"
"Yes, Emma-senpai."
Davian turned his gaze to the other person.
"I'm Freddie Kijaniir. As you can see, I'm a sophomore. Nice to meet you, freshman."
Freddie, who had shouted "Eek! You scared me!" when he first noticed Davian, was now trying to act like a proper senior.
"But why are there only two of you?"
"The seniors are all in the dungeon right now..., no. They're gone. One of the D-rank dungeons is about to undergo a dungeon core amplification."
A place that doesn't help at all and is just dangerous, the Dungeon Exploration Club.
A club created to minimize civilian casualties from dungeon core amplification.
One of the oldest clubs in Elton Academy, with a history spanning hundreds of years.
In the early days, there were many members filled with a sense of justice, but the number of students volunteering gradually decreased, and now it was in a pathetic state.
"Do you happen to have any scrolls left that go that way?"
"What? Scrolls? We do have some... but why? You're still a freshman, so you can't join the club. Even if you did join, we couldn't send you to such a dangerous place."
"Is that so? Hmm..."
He needed to find a way to get to the dungeon.
To do that, he had to somehow convince these two clumsy sophomore seniors.
Because... this club would be completely disbanded today.
With two-thirds of its members dead.
"I'll be helpful. It's very dangerous there right now."
"W-we know. It's very dangerous. That's why the two of us stayed here."
Freddie looked at Emma in surprise.
"Emma! What? They left us here because it's dangerous?"
"What, Freddie? Didn't you know? Did you think they left us here to accept any new members who might come?"
"Wasn't that the reason?"
"Ugh, Freddie. Think about it. A D-rank dungeon right next to a fairly large village is about to undergo a core amplification. Is accepting new members more important in this situation?"
"What! Then they should have taken me too! Do you think I joined this club to accept new members?"
"Me neither. Everyone who joins here wants to protect helpless civilians from dungeon core amplification. Especially people who live in villages without a city guard. This freshman who just came here is probably the same."
Emma was right.
Dungeon Exploration Club.
The club wasn't a place to just hang out, with the word 'exploration' in its name.
A club created and run by students with a sense of justice and duty to protect civilians from dungeon core amplification.
A club that doesn't help with growth or friendship and is just dangerous.
Only students who believe that they should take the lead in protecting the powerless, having been blessed with high mana affinity, apply here.
That was the same for these two seemingly clumsy students standing in front of Davian.
Davian slammed the desk!
"That's why we need to go now! All of us!"
There was no need to take those two clumsy people to that dangerous place.
But it was obvious that if Davian went alone, they wouldn't give him the scroll.
"Isn't it more important to protect the villagers than to have a festival or recruit new members! There's a village right next to it! We need to send even one more person! So that we can stop even one more monster from coming out of the dungeon!"
Emma, overwhelmed by Davian's momentum, leaned back.
"Th-that's true... but Ariel-senpai told us to stay and protect this tent..."
That's when it happened.
Freddie, who had stood up abruptly, placed a hand on Davian's shoulder.
"You little punk!"
Davian turned his head to look at Freddie.
Freddie's eyes were filled with tears.
"You're a really just and cool guy! For a freshman!"
Freddie, moving away from Davian, strode to a drawer and took out a yellow scroll.
"Emma! And you, freshman! Let's go! To the dungeon!"
Emma shouted in surprise.
"Hey! Freddie!"
"Emma. Why did we join this club?"
"Well..."
"Go outside this tent. Everyone's chattering and excited about club activities. They're all caught up in the festival."
Emma nodded.
Freddie continued.
"Right now, in a D-rank dungeon in the western part of the continent, a core amplification could happen at any moment! Soon, the owner of the dungeon will change, and the D-rank monsters that were originally there will pour out of the dungeon! But no one cares. A D-rank dungeon in the countryside."
"That's true... even though there's a large village with hundreds of people living right next to it."
"Right! So, we have to go and protect them. Who else will protect those people if not us? We're new, so we should stay out of a D-rank dungeon and let the others handle it? No. That's not why I joined this club."
"Me... me neither."
They were easier to persuade than he thought.
'Should I be relieved that they're clumsy, or should I be worried about the future...'
Davian couldn't easily come to a conclusion.
Thanks to the clumsiness of the two seniors in front of him, he was able to go to the dungeon more easily than he thought.
But on the other hand, it also meant that these clumsy people would be his direct seniors, with whom he would have to spend his club life.
Emma and Freddie, who were already looking at each other with expressions that seemed like they were about to save the world from destruction.
Freddie turned his head to look at Davian.
"Let's go together! Cool freshman!"
"......Yes."
Davian slowly approached Freddie and Emma.
The two sophomores were already ready to leave and save the world, standing close to each other.
Freddie was holding a scroll in each hand.
"I was impressed by your words about going to stop even one more monster! I'll protect you if you're ever in danger! Just junior! Don't worry too much!"
"......"
Of course, Davian wasn't joining this club because he was a righteous junior.
To protect the poor villagers who don't have walls or guards like big cities?
Even less so.
To save them, knowing in advance that two-thirds of the club members would die today?
Also no.
Dungeon exploration activities are of no benefit to ordinary students.
But it was different for Davian.
Because of the 'Dungeon Core Destruction Event' that appears after defeating the final boss of the dungeon.
By defending against the monster wave that rushes in after destroying the dungeon core, you can earn a huge amount of mana points.
The mana points he gained after destroying the D-rank dungeon core during the mid-term evaluation and defending against the monster wave were 18,920.
Thanks to the double experience points acquisition ticket, the final mana points earned by Davian were a whopping 37,840.
'This is the club I need to be in.'
Of course, he couldn't join the club yet because he was still a freshman.
But if this club disappears today, he wouldn't be able to join it forever, no matter what grade he was in.
In the previous iteration, he knew about it, but there was nothing he could do.
He didn't have as much power back then.
But it was different now.
'First, let's save the club.'
And...
'Let's hunt for mana points while we're at it.'
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