"Ah, really!"
Seridan stomped on the floor in frustration.
"That bastard Hans. Just wait until I catch him! He's dead in my hands!"
Seridan gritted her teeth thinking about Hans who had disappeared.
Hans was definitely with her until they were swept away by Nirva's sand.
But when she came to her senses, the only person remaining by her side was Rudger who had fallen asleep.
Seridan couldn't just stay still, so she carried Rudger on her back and wandered through the labyrinth.
Due to their size difference, Rudger's legs dragged on the floor, but who cares.
It was better than grabbing his legs and dragging him.
If Hans were here, she wouldn't have had to do such hard work.Seridan planned to return more than the pain she suffered when she met Hans.
"Stupid bastard."
Although she was annoyed, she wasn't unaware of why Hans had left.
Hans, who was more loyal to Rudger than anyone else, wouldn't have run away and left him behind.
That fool deliberately ran away because he thought he couldn't control his instincts.
He wouldn't want to go berserk and hurt someone like before.
"How impudent. Who's worried about whom?"
Seridan was planning to catch Hans by force if necessary.
If he wouldn't listen, she would beat him, and if he went berserk, she would put a leash on him.
With that thought, Seridan, who was carrying Rudger on her back, decided to fix this uncomfortable posture first.
"Let's see."
After pondering for a moment, Seridan decided to make a 'stretcher' to carry the injured person.
There were no materials visible nearby, but it didn't matter since this was Dreamland.
"Stretcher. Stretcher. Stretcher."
Seridan muttered to herself and squeezed her eyes shut.
She could make bombs and such right away without closing her eyes, but other things required considerable concentration.
"Stretcher!"
As she shouted and opened her eyes wide, a stretcher for moving the injured person had been created next to Rudger.
It looked somewhat crude and shabby, but it seemed able to fulfill its role as a tool sufficiently.
Seridan, with her small body, grunted as she loaded Rudger onto the stretcher.
Then she tied the rope connected to the end around her waist and started walking again.
Since it was easier to move than carrying him directly on her back, Seridan's steps were much lighter.
"But I wonder when the young master will wake up."
A rare sight unfolded as a small-bodied dwarf girl dragged a full-grown man loaded on a stretcher.
* * *
"It's damn hard to gather everyone."
Alex finally let out a sigh of relief looking at the members gathered in one place.
It took quite a lot of time to meet up in a three-dimensional maze-like space.
It was partly because the space itself was strangely twisted, but they also spent twice the time it should have taken because everyone was only saying what they wanted to say.
"Wow. The view from here is different, isn't it?"
As Arpa tried to hold onto the railing and look down, Violetta hurriedly stopped him.
"Hey! Arpa! I told you not to wander around on your own!"
At the scolding, Arpa pouted his lips.
"If it were the teacher, he would have kindly explained."
"I'm not the owner. And I'm telling you, individual actions are even more dangerous at times like this!"
Watching Violetta nagging Arpa, Alex couldn't help but mutter.
"What kind of mother is this?"
Violetta's head turned sharply at those words.
At her expression with anger in her eyes, Alex involuntarily flinched.
"How can you call someone who's not even married a mother!"
"Ah, no. That, just...I mean it's similar. Not that you actually are. Hahaha."
Arpa, who had been listening to this from the side, seemed to be pondering something deeply, then said with a smiling face.
"It certainly seems that way!"
Arpa honestly expressed what he was thinking.
"Then is teacher the father?"
"Wh-what...?"
"If there's a mom, there should naturally be a dad, right? And to me, the only person who's like a father is the teacher."
Arpa carefully asked while checking Violetta's reaction.
"Uh, did I say something rude by any chance?"
"Well, ahem. Not really."
Violetta, who instantly managed her expression, spoke in a gentle voice.
A completely different reaction from when she was glaring at Alex earlier.
"Ahem. Arpa? You shouldn't act too recklessly in this kind of situation. Understand?"
Now even her tone became gentle as if she had really become a mother.
"...Sigh. They're good at this."
Alex shook his head.
What's important now is how to escape this bizarre space.
No, there is a way to escape.
Just grab one of the doors scattered around and move.
But he couldn't be sure if that path was the right one.
What if they open the wrong one and fall into another strange place?
"I don't even know where this is in the first place."
Franz, who could explain this, had fallen away, and they hadn't even met Rudger, whom they actually needed to meet.
'At this rate, we have no choice but to put our heads together with the people here and coordinate opinions as much as possible.'
But with no knowledge, there was no choice but to seek advice from someone else.
Alex stared at Pantos for a moment.
"What is it?"
"No, nothing."
"...?"
Alex's gaze turned to Arpa and Violetta.
Not there either.
Those two didn't seem likely to have extensive knowledge about this place either.
Finally, Alex's gaze turned to Bellaruna.
His eyes did not linger on Bellaruna for more than a second and naturally moved away.
"...Excuse me. Why aren't you saying anything to me?"
Bellaruna, realizing she was being ignored, questioned Alex but Alex glibly replied as if he didn't understand.
"Huh? When did I?"
"Y-you did! Just now, you had something to say to me, but you swallowed it and moved on!"
"That can't be. I just didn't think you would know much about this place, that's all."
"That's rude! I-I have my own ways of knowing about this place!"
"What?!"
Alex widened his eyes in surprise.
Violetta and Arpa were equally surprised.
"...Is that true?"
Pantos also unfolded his arms and listened to Bellaruna's words.
"...It seems like my evaluation is strange, but that must be my imagination, right?"
"No, that's..."
If you think about your usual behavior, wouldn't you understand?
Alex barely managed to swallow those words down his throat.
"...It's your imagination. So what do you know about this place?"
"Franz said so. This whole world is inside a dream."
"When did you two have a conversation?"
"I asked him everything I was curious about while coming down. He answered quite well, you know?"
Alex was dumbfounded.
He had formed a temporary alliance with Franz, but they weren't trustworthy enough to each other.
So he deliberately didn't engage in lengthy conversations, but this tactless elf lady apparently couldn't contain her curiosity and had asked everything from behind.
"This place is like a prison labyrinth created by the dream demon. Naturally, everything that makes up this place is related to dreams."
"Is that so?"
"That means these doors are likely passages leading to other dreams."
At her logical and convincing words, everyone listened to Bellaruna.
"To escape from here, I think we need to enter any door and break through the world beyond."
"Why do you think so?"
"Dreams must eventually be awakened from, right? Franz said so. That's the fundamental nature of dreams."
"Must necessarily awaken. Hmm. Strangely convincing."
"Opening a door and heading through it is like dreaming a new dream. And as we wake up from there, our consciousness gradually rises to the surface."
"So this is a prison made with that meaning."
Alex stroked his chin.
Bellaruna's words seemed flawless. There was insufficient evidence to prove it, but Alex's instinctive feeling was shouting that it was the truth.
The intuition that came with reaching the master level also sided with Bellaruna.
The fact that Alex made such a judgment also meant that Pantos had made the same judgment.
"Then I guess we have to give it a try."
"I suppose so! Looking at all these doors, they probably each have different characteristics. We just need to choose the least dangerous ones."
Bellaruna got excited as everyone showed interest in her words.
She stood in front of the nearest door and said boldly.
"In my estimation, this door seems the safest!"
As she said so and opened the door with a click, a strange cry was heard from beyond.
-Kuwoooooo!
Along with the cry came a gust of wind that roughly shook Bellaruna's hair.
-Slam.
Bellaruna, closing the door again, smiled awkwardly.
"Ahem. It seems like it should be a different door."
"No. I like that door."
"P-Pantos?"
Pantos stood in front of Bellaruna with his gaze fixed on the door.
More precisely, it was focused on the entity that had just let out that strange cry beyond the door.
"There's excellent prey inside."
Inside the door Bellaruna had opened was a jungle with humid air.
It was surprising that a completely different landscape was unfolding, but Pantos didn't even care about such things.
Only the fact that prey that would make his heart race had appeared right before his eyes was important.
"B-but...!"
"Weren't we going to break through the world beyond the door anyway? Then there's no need to bother looking elsewhere."
Isn't that right?
Pantos looked at Bellaruna with a gaze as if seeking agreement.
But although it was asking for agreement in words, his fierce eyes were full of determination to use force if she didn't agree with him.
Bellaruna felt her breath caught and looked to others for help but everyone just shook their heads.
"Well, as long as we reach our destination, the route doesn't matter, right?"
"We don't have a choice anyway."
"Jungle exploration! Sounds interesting!"
The result was decided by majority vote.
Bellaruna drooped her shoulders.
"Let's go."
Pantos opened the door and entered first.
The group followed behind, and Bellaruna reluctantly took the last step.
* * *
Nirva's enormous prison endlessly swallowed people.
Infinite Prison or Ethereal Labyrinth, the world where space was twisted and all kinds of dreams were mixed was somewhere dreamlike yet sufficient to evoke fear.
"What should we do?"
Tracy crouched down and hugged her knees with both arms.
It was a completely different appearance from her usually active self.
However, there was no one to comfort Tracy.
The reactions of other students around weren't much different from hers.
Two people watching the scene quietly muttered.
"This is serious."
"Indeed."
Only two people were maintaining their sanity, Aidan and Flora Lumos.
The two who hadn't lost their reason even in this situation were pondering how to escape from here.
"First, wouldn't it be better to enter any door?"
The brave Aidan argued that they couldn't just stay still and should try something.
"No. We've already checked before. Beyond the doors, completely different worlds unfold."
They had already opened and checked beyond the doors.
They saw a total of 3 worlds beyond the doors, and each time a different world unfolded.
The deep depths of the sea.
A barren rocky valley with sandstorms raging.
A swamp full of poisonous gas.
Everywhere was an extreme environment where ordinary people would die within an hour.
"If all these people move at once, there will certainly be casualties."
Flora, prioritizing minimum safety, argued that they shouldn't move hastily right now.
Aidan also agreed because he thought she was right, but.
"But if we continue like this, everyone will go mad with anxiety."
"...That's right. That's the problem."
It's practically impossible to sit still and wait for rescue.
Then they need to move despite the risks, but will people follow their will?
'If it were Teacher Rudger, he would have used his charisma to lead everyone here.'
Flora shook her head at such a thought that arose unnecessarily.
'There's someone I'd like to ask for that role, but look at the state.'
Flora's gaze turned to the 3rd Imperial Princess Erendir, who was crouching in a corner.
Even though she's an imperial princess, it would be difficult to maintain reason in a situation like this.
The child named Rene, who usually accompanied her, wasn't even visible, so her anxiety would be worse.
Then Aidan came up with an idea as if something had occurred to him.
"Let's try breaking the wall instead! Then we might learn something, right?"
"What? Talk sense."
"I can do it with my magic!"
Aidan, who judged that they would achieve nothing if they continued like this, drew out the staff from his waist.
"Wait...!"
Flora tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
Aidan swung toward the wall with anti-magic power.
It would have been fortunate if the staff didn't break, but surprisingly, the wall revealed a clean cross-section and split.
Beyond the wall was not another world, but a three-dimensional space similar to where they were now.
Success? This easily?
Flora, surprised with her eyes wide open, heard a sound just then.
Some sound came from beyond the dark space Aidan had opened, a dragging sound.
"Wh-what is that? What sound is that?"
The students stared at the space beyond the split with frightened faces.
Something is approaching.
Flora bit her lip and prepared magic.
Aidan, who had split the space, also tensed and gripped his staff.
Something popped out through the split gap.
"Huh? What's this? There's a gap here?"
What appeared was a young girl, which made their tension seem silly.
Cute pigtails with white hair, brown skin.
The students were perplexed at the appearance of Seridan Ironfeet.
"A-a child?"
"Oof. Wait. Can someone help with this?"
What was even more surprising was that this dwarf girl had tied a rope around her waist and was dragging something.
The students were even more shocked to see the person revealed on the stretcher.
"Teacher Rudger?!"
Why are you coming out from there?