“Okay, so let me see if I’ve got this straight. The magic items the dungeon staff used were Ambrosia Tears, which can revive any explorer who dies in the Last Dungeon within twenty-four hours. But you can only use them on floors below the 100th Level?”
“Sorry, Sumire,” I said. “I forgot to explain that to you.”
It was basic knowledge that all students learned at the academy, but I hadn’t anticipated that she would need to know it at this point. I figured that her teacher would tell her about it in time, and so I’d neglected to inform her prior to our exploration of the lower levels. Besides, when we entered the dungeon, I wasn’t expecting we’d have to fight against a Boss, let alone a Divine Beast.
“Does that mean it’s okay for us to die in here?” Sumire asked with a conflicted expression. She might’ve been thinking that being scared had been a waste of energy.
“Mm, not really,” I replied. “Babel penalizes you if you die.”
“Penalizes you?”
Ambrosia Tears could revive the dead, but it had lingering side effects.
“Sumire, someone brought back using Ambrosia Tears can suffer from amnesia,” Leona explained. “If they’re particularly unlucky, it may even cause debilitating damage to the body!”
“What?!” Sumire shrieked.
Leona was right. Ambrosia Tears weren’t omnipotent; their purpose was to resurrect the recently deceased, nothing more and nothing less.
“Fortunately, that didn’t happen to me.” Leona twirled on the spot as she examined herself.
“Doesn’t it also leave you feeling sick?” I said.
“Mm-hmm, that’s right. To tell the truth, I’ve been feeling really uncomfortable ever since waking up.” True to her words, Leona’s face remained pale.
“O-Oh, is that so?” Sumire said, her expression serious again.
“This is important, so keep it in mind going forward,” I added. “You can’t be brought back if a monster eats you.”
Sumire sucked in a breath, the color draining from her face. She must’ve realized anew that our earlier confrontation with Cerberus wasn’t the kind of thing we could be optimistic about in general, even with Ambrosia Tears.
“That goes for Divine Beasts too. Granted, Cerberus only ate the Goblins this time and left all of us alone.”
The body we’d heard it munching on had been a Goblin. Apparently, Cerberus didn’t eat humans. I wondered why not.
“That’s because Berry is a Divine Beast with principles,” Eri’s voice echoed in my head. “It won’t eat any challenger brave enough to face it.”
“Really, Eri?”
“Of course! It’s been forever since it was summoned for a Deus Discipline, so it got a little overexcited. I don’t think even Cerberus expected to appear on the 20th Level.”
Her comment gave me pause. “Say, Eri, why did a Divine Beast appear on such a low floor?”
“Who knows? It’s a mystery for the ages.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
“How could I? In case you forgot, I’m sealed deep underneath the academy.”
“Right.”
Eri’s tone made it impossible to tell if she was lying. I would have to see her after I returned to the school. Besides, I had a lot of things I wanted to ask her about. My most burning question had to do with the cost of the contract. She was a Demon Queen, so I doubted she would let me off easy. Though I didn’t yet have any reason to regret the contract, I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy either. What would she ask of me?
“Oh, my sweet Eugene. You did so well in the fight against Berry! ☆ I’ll be waiting for you!” With that, Eri cut off the telepathic conversation.
“Eugene, what’s wrong? You were spacing out.”
“O-Oh, it’s nothing, Sumire. I’m a little tired.” I smiled to soothe her worries.
A little farther away from us, Leona was chatting with the middle-aged dungeon staffer.
“You’re the captain of this team, yes?” he was saying. “We’ll go revive the other explorers you came with, so could you accompany us to make sure we don’t miss anyone?”
“Of course. I understand.”
“Also, we’re covering the cost of the Ambrosia Tears for now, but we’ll be sending an invoice to your academy some other day. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that you’re responsible for paying the fee, yes?”
“O-Of course. Um, just out of curiosity, how much do Ambrosia Tears cost right now?” The dungeon staffer didn’t immediately respond to Leona’s question, and his expression grew darker. “Um, what’s the matter?”
After a pause, he replied, “Three million gold.”
“HUH?! That’s over three times the market price! How does that work?!” Leona screeched.
“A recent incident forced us to use the majority of our inventory, which is why the few bottles remaining have skyrocketed in value.”
“Th-Then, how much will it cost to revive all the members of our club?” Leona asked in a trembling voice.
If I remember correctly, there are over twenty members in the third string of the Martial Arts Club, right?
“You’ll be buying in bulk, so it’ll be cheaper, but it will still cost fifty million gold at minimum.”
That’s an insane amount of money!
Leona froze for a moment before chuckling weakly. “It’s all over... Farewell, my carefree student days. It’ll take my whole life to pay off that debt. I-I’m ruined.”
Sumire, who’d been listening quietly this whole time, raced over to her. “M-Miss Leona! You don’t have to shoulder everyone’s debt, you know?!”
“I have to. In times of crisis, a captain has to take responsibility. That’s the rule. I was the one who planned this trip too. Ah, it’s over! All the years of my youth, gone in a flash! I can’t believe it!” Leona’s eyes took on an empty look as she chuckled dryly to herself. Next to her, Sumire looked uncomfortable and concerned.
No matter how you slice it, what happened on this trip was totally unfair. I wish there were something I could do for her, but it’s not as if I have millions of gold sitting in my bank account.
A scream broke through the awkward silence. “Th-This is crazy! Everyone, check this out!”
It came from another member of the dungeon staff, who was hurrying over to us. Judging by his clothes, he was in a more managerial position. Everyone else gathered around to see what the matter was.