Episode 17

A large lake lay behind the Lagias Manor. In that familiar, usual spot, Hiroto trained.

Because the House of Lagias were lords, their estate boasted vast grounds. He went out of his way to the back to train not only to avoid people’s eyes, but for another reason as well.

“Freeze Shot.”

A quick strike that fired shards of ice. He prioritized speed over power.

“Freeze Shot. Freeze Shot. Freeze Shot.”

He cast spells in succession. With mid-tier magic and above, mana consumption spiked and openings appeared. Rear-guard strength only came alive when allies covered you—but Zeke had none.

In the story, Zeke always fought one against many. That was not due to the battle system, but to the character position of “Zeke.”

He trusted no one and always acted alone. Others were only stepping stones. The only thing he could trust was his own power.

Having grown up watching the Lagias couple, his values warped; combined with fierce ambition, he ended up denying others.

Unless he was number one by any means necessary, he could not be satisfied. It did not matter how many incompetent people died. That relentless upward drive birthed Zeke—the story’s foremost villain.

If he had been just a puffed-up small-timer, he would have exited early and no one would have cared—but Zeke was a villain with talent.

With a sword, he overwhelmed knights; with magic, he disgraced the mage corps. Being lauded as a prodigy had also helped twist him.

“Freeze Shot. Freeze Shot. …Ice Javelin.”

Whatever the personality, Hiroto was grateful for the talent.

In his former reality, even if you had talent for martial arts, it did not guarantee your life. You could live without strength; flaunt it meaninglessly and you were just a thug.

But the current reality was different. In this world where monsters prowled once you left human towns, you needed strength to live in peace.

“…Frozen Geyser. Freeze Shot. …Ice Javelin.”

Hiroto also wanted companions. There was no need to preserve the original character settings; the right people in the right roles—there was no reason to do everything alone.

Enemies came in kinds: human, monster, and other. Attacks fell into close, mid, and long range. Many problems could not be solved by force at all.

He could not reveal everything about himself, but sharing a common goal was not impossible. If he could, he wanted to gather allies and prepare for emergencies… if only that caustic auto-translation of his wouldn’t sabotage him.

“ Tch… finally.”

Hiroto stepped out onto the lake. He had not been wasting magic. Beyond testing power and chains, he had also aimed to freeze the vast lake’s surface.

“At this point, it should be just right.”

Hiroto stood at the lake’s center. He had chosen the lakeside as his training ground because, no matter how much magic he used, the impact would be small. If he blasted the ground at random, cleanup would be a pain, but with the lake, time would return it to normal.

He aimed his magic beneath the lake, toward directly below. He pictured the deeper layers.

“Ice Procyon.”

That day, a small tremor was recorded around the Lagias Manor. He overheard the servants and soldiers talking about it. Hiroto thought, like it was someone else’s problem, So this world has earthquakes too.

“Rejoice, Zeke. A new dungeon has been confirmed in our Lagias Domain.”

A dungeon. Said to hide an ancient civilization impossible to reproduce with modern tech. Weapons, magic tools, unknown materials unobtainable on the surface. Many adventurers sought a quick fortune by claiming them—that was the setting in the game as well.

“If I recall, they’re ruins left by people of the past, stuffed with treasure.”

“Correct. You’ve studied well. This will make the Lagias Domain wealthier still.”

It’ll make your purse wealthier, Hiroto retorted in his heart. And he was not entirely wrong.

Adventurers flocked to dungeons, merchants came to sell to adventurers, and once goods traded hands, the economy circulated. The payoff was big not only for the domain but for the kingdom—where money flowed, taxes followed.

(If it’s a dungeon in the Lagias Domain, then the one it could be is…)

“But exploration permission won’t be granted immediately. The kingdom needs to conduct a survey.”

(Right—the pretext was that they don’t know the risks, and there might be dangerous stuff you can’t let out into general circulation.)

The initial survey of a dungeon was basically led by the kingdom, but as an exception, the domain where the dungeon was found could take part jointly—since the domain would manage things thereafter.

“By the way, where exactly was it discovered?”

“In the Anseli Forest. We’ll be busy with zoning from here on.”

(…Knew it. I had a feeling.)

The Anseli Forest. In the Lagias Domain, a wide region densely packed with trees, home to monsters and animals.

In the game, you explored it when you visited the dungeon within the Anseli Forest, but there had been no depiction of prosperity from dungeon operations around it. —Because the initial survey had ended in failure and produced many casualties.

(I don’t remember an exact timeline, but it was probably around now—the Glanz Survey Unit got wiped out.)

Glanz Folt. In the story, he appeared as a party character: a wise, calm, “nice-senior” gentleman.

His combat style was mage-type, and since he manipulated every element, he was called “the Sage.”

He had originally belonged to the mage corps, but retired due to age; at the time of his story debut, he lived quietly for his own reasons.

(And the one who set up the cause of his retirement is… the guy right in front of me.)

At some point before the story began, Glanz accompanied a survey unit for a certain dungeon. Even at that stage he had already retired, but as an advisor to the mage corps he occasionally provided instruction.

“I hear a man called the Noble Sage will join this survey. In that case, it should end without issue.”

The dungeon survey Glanz took part in was the one confirmed in the Anseli Forest within the Lagias Domain.

(Then this idiot blundered into a trap and turned it into a catastrophe.)

The lord of the domain where a dungeon was found held the authority to join the initial survey. Using that as a pretext, the lord himself forced his way into the survey and did as he pleased.

Trying to grab anything that looked valuable, he triggered a trap. They fell into an inescapable state, and it came to the brink where everyone would die.

Only Glanz held a single, lifesaving move: teleportation.

Having mastered a special class of magic, Glanz could relocate through space at the cost of most of his mana. If he moved outside the ruin, he could escape the crisis.

But he could only take a maximum of two people including himself, and could not cast it back-to-back.

In that case, he preferred to perish there with his comrades—but they would not allow it. In tears, they begged him to live, and Glanz chose.

He deliberately took the Fool out—the one who had caused the wipe—to make him live and taste hell on earth.

But the Fool, far from repenting, condemned Glanz instead: You ruined the dungeon enterprise.

Afterward, Glanz fully left the mage corps and retired. Not because Fool condemned him, but to damn and admonish his own powerlessness.

(The reason this idiot bore no criminal blame was because Glanz said nothing and took all the responsibility… And yeah, this moron would never confess.)

The enmity between Glanz and the House of Lagias ran deep. If he joined the party within the story, he would naturally have to face it—face Zeke, the son of the man who sent his comrades to their deaths.

Even so, Glanz never blamed Zeke. Parents are parents, children are children.

Yet, unbelievably, Zeke dragged Glanz’s past into the open and hounded him: Your subordinates died because you’re incompetent.

(They really are the worst father and son… and that’s a boomerang, too.)

If nothing changed, Fool would join the survey himself and the team would be annihilated. If he went by “scenario correctness,” staying out of it would be fine, but…

“Father, may I join that survey team?”

“…Zeke—you?”

“I want to see a skilled mage’s magic firsthand. It will surely help the House of Lagias in the future.”

“…Zeke! You! You truly do understand!”

As always, Hiroto had absolutely no idea what exactly he “understood.” He kept his mouth shut anyway.

“I’ll handle contacting the other side. Show the survey team the might of House Lagias.”

He wanted to avoid straying far from the scenario and did not want to get close to original characters… but he was interested.

In the magic of one of the story’s greatest mages—and, as a fan of the original, he wanted to see a main character in person.

If there was technique to steal, he would take it.

—Because he needed it, to resist.