“I’m glad your clothes are all right, Sumire,” I said.
“Huh? Oh! Are these clothes fireproof?”
“There’s an unlimited budget for equipping reincarnators, so you’re wearing the best money can buy.” And I was glad for that, even though this was only her first exploration. It would have been terrible if she’d lost all her clothes here.
“E-Eugene, are you all right? I didn’t burn you, did I?”
“I’m fine. My Barrier Magic is always active.”
I’d defended myself against Sumire’s flames during our first meeting as well. Had anyone else been her partner, they might have been in danger, though. Didn’t that mean there were only a handful of people with whom Sumire could form a viable party?
Having come to the same realization, she and I stared at each other. Maybe it was a trick of my mind, but even the red light emanating from my magic sword seemed unsure of what to do. Since I hadn’t needed to use it, I dispelled the mana, and the color of the blade returned to its normal silver.
“Congratulations on your first monster kill in a dungeon,” I said.
“R-Right.”
My words sounded empty even to me, and Sumire didn’t seem like she felt any sense of accomplishment. Just in case, I made sure Sumire’s magic hadn’t caused yet another fire, but Firestorm had only been active for a short period of time, so it hadn’t gone out of control.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Okay...”
We pressed on. Though small monsters like Goblins and Kobolds appeared, we got rid of them without any trouble. Then, after walking around for a bit, we discovered the stairs to the 12th Level. We should stop here.
I told Sumire that we should probably head back, and she agreed with me. She’d made amazing progress through the dungeon for her first time. There was no merit in trying to go any higher. Instead of ascending to the 12th Level, we chose to return to the Dungeon Elevator.
Carefully, we made our way through the Rainforest Area. The giant pillar of the Dungeon Elevator stuck out and was easy to recognize. A barrier around it barred any monsters from approaching, so the immediate vicinity was safe, and it was here that we were likeliest to run into other explorers. The door to the elevator was slowly coming into sight when I noticed something.
Hmm? Before us was a group of almost twenty explorers. As their clothing all bore the Lykeion Magic Academy emblem, they were students from our school. They had pitched several tents and were cooking over a fire. I guessed they wanted to spend the night at this camp. Some of them noticed us and looked up. Sumire and I gave them quick nods of acknowledgment as we passed them, but...
“Huh? Hey, you two go to our school, right? Heeey!”
A girl who was sitting at the campsite rose and approached us.
♢ Sumire’s POV ♢
“Hello! You’re Eugene from the Biology Club, right?” a female student said to Eugene. She had a slender frame, and she moved quickly and lightly. Her large, almond-shaped eyes reminded me of a cat’s. “My name is Leona Bianchi, and I’m a member of the Martial Arts Club. Nice to meet you!”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eugene Santafield. How did you know my name?”
“Everyone knows you! You’re Headmaster Uther’s favorite,” Miss Leona giggled. I’d assumed she only knew about Eugene, but it turned out she knew me as well. “The one next to you is the girl who came from another world, right?”
“Y-Yes! My name is Sumire Sashiougi! I’m pleased to meet you!” I quickly lowered my head in a bow.
“Are you two heading back?” Miss Leona asked.
“Yeah, we’re done exploring,” Eugene said.
“Then why don’t you join us for dinner?”
At the word “dinner,” my stomach began to growl as if on cue, and I realized that there was a delicious smell in the air.
Eugene hummed in thought and gave me a curious look. “What do you think?”
“I’m fine with that!” I said.
She had gone out of her way to invite us, and I might make a new friend. Miss Leona seemed easy to talk to.
“All right. We’ll take you up on your offer. Um, how much do you—”
The moment Eugene started talking about money, Miss Leona laughed, her voice loud and clear. “No worries! We always make too much and have tons of leftovers. Don’t hold back—dig in!”
Miss Leona’s such a friendly person.
She guided us to our “seats,” which were just sheets of fabric, similar to picnic blankets, which the club had laid out on the ground. The person who had been stirring something in a giant pot handed me and Eugene some bread and bowls of thick soup. The aroma that filled my nostrils was fragrant, spicy, and somehow nostalgic. Wait, is this...?
“Go ahead! Eat up!”
“Th-Thank you for the food!”
At Miss Leona’s urging, I spooned up some soup and carefully placed it into my mouth. I sucked in a breath at the flavor that hit my tongue. Th-This is...?!
“It’s good,” Eugene said.
“Isn’t it? There’s tons, so feel free to have as much as you want,” Miss Leona said.
As I listened to their conversation, I shoveled more and more of the soup into my mouth. After I finished, I let out a satisfied sigh.
“Wow, Sumire, you eat so fast!” Miss Leona’s eyes widened.
There was something I absolutely needed to ask her. “What’s the name of this soup?”
“Um, it’s called curry and— Oh! Right!”
“Yeah! It’s something from our world!”
The taste was so familiar I wanted to cry. I’d been living in this world for a while now, and it was my first time eating something from home. According to Miss Leona, a past reincarnator had popularized the dish after arriving here. Right, I’m not the only reincarnator. There were others before me, and they introduced curry to this place. I wonder what country they came from?
“Eat as much as you can, okay?” Miss Leona said.
“Thank you!”
Now that I thought about it, maybe I was a little unsightly inhaling all that food in front of Eugene. As we ate, he chatted with Miss Leona and they exchanged information on the dungeon. Right when it was about time for us to take our leave, Miss Leona smiled and made a suggestion.
“Would you like to join our camp?”
“Is it okay to invite outsiders? Aren’t you in the middle of dungeon exploring?” Eugene asked, looking bewildered. He’d told me that dungeon exploration teams were basically all rivals; they usually weren’t so friendly to each other.
“We’re part of the third string, so our goal is to help the new club members get used to the dungeon and gain experience. The first string, who are aiming for the 200th Level, are way intense,” Miss Leona explained with a shrug.
Wow, first string and third string? That means these people aren’t part of the regular lineup. This really is like a club activity to them.
“I see,” Eugene said. “Sumire, what do you think?”
“I’d like to chat with everyone some more!”
“Then we’ll take you up on your offer.”
“Okaaay! I’ll introduce you to the other members! To tell you the truth, a lot of us have been dying to speak with you, Miss Sumire the Reincarnator!”
With that, Miss Leona rushed off to the others. Meanwhile, Eugene gave me a rundown of the Martial Arts Club, which he said was one of the biggest and most popular clubs in the school. They were a group of individualists, each aiming to perfect their own unique fighting techniques. Many of them were oddballs, but there were a lot of friendly people as well. I could see what he meant after our conversation with the amiable Miss Leona.
He also told me about some of the other famous clubs at the school. The Swordsmanship Club was the largest combat-oriented club as well as the strongest when it came to dungeon exploration. Magic-focused clubs existed as well, but there wasn’t a single large club; instead, there were many small clubs separated by element, with bitter rivalries between them.
“The Fire Magic Research Club will definitely want to scout you, Sumire,” was Eugene’s guess—apparently because I was an Ifrit.
Hmm, I wonder what I should do if they really invite me to join them. The last thing I want is to get involved in some rivalry.
Eugene also mentioned that the Student Club Task Force took itself very seriously. That reminded me of the time when members of the Student Club had tried to pick a fight with Eugene. It must’ve been full of terrible people.
After a while, Miss Leona returned with several new members of the Martial Arts Club in tow, and we all chatted for a while. When I talked about the world I’d come from, they listened to me with awe on their faces. It’s not as if I have anything interesting to tell them, though.
But apparently, to them, just being able to speak with an otherworlder was a valuable experience. We talked about lots of different things until Miss Leona invited me to take a bath with her. Meanwhile, Eugene accepted a training invitation from some other members of the Martial Arts Club.