I remembered that day.
How could I forget?
The first person I ever loved had made that look at me.



　--From my seat, I could see her clearly.

She always had that long black hair, fluttering, neat and ladylike.
That's how she looked to me at the time.

"Hey Hidaka?　You were watching, weren't you?

'What? ... what?

It was Saeki who said that.

'It's Shirakawa. You saw that, right?　Do you like it?

'I don't think so!　I'm not good enough for her.

Can I help you with that?

Saeki said with a wry smile.

Saeki says he's going to give me a hand.
Of course not.
Naturally, I doubted it.
But at the time, the word "help" was more appealing to me than anything else.
That's why I wanted you to help me if you could.
He used that weakness in my heart to exploit it again.

"Actually...yes....

I said so.
But that was a mistake.
No, I knew that.
But I trusted him, even for a second.
I knew it was a lie, and I trusted that one percent.
So I had to try again.
I was wronged.

I knew he wouldn't have stopped anyway.
I guess so now.


　--And it happened one day at lunchtime.

My school doesn't have a cafeteria. We all eat lunch in our own classrooms or in the classrooms of our close friends. The rest is on the roof.
Every day my classroom was filled with students from other classes.
That's because the rearrangers would gather in this classroom.
Ichijo was one of them.

I was having lunch in the classroom.
And when the usual members had gathered in the classroom to some extent, Saeki stood up and said, "I've got something I want you all to hear.

"Everyone, I have something I want you to hear. To tell the truth.........I've been consulting with Hidaka recently.

'Consultation?　Saeki, what do you need help with?

One of the rear-enders asked.

'Shirakawa?　It's all about you.

'What?　Me?

Mr. Shirakawa was puzzled.
Naturally. Normally, if you say that out of the blue, what are you talking about?　You'd think.
And for a moment, Shirakawa-san looked at me and looked away.
Now that I think about it, she might have noticed what Saeki was going to say at that point.
No, I think she did.
The reason is that Saeki had anticipated that much and spoke in order.

I'm not going to be able to say it. I'm not going to be able to say it.

I stood up naturally.
I was stunned.
I couldn't think about anything.
So, as I was told, I stood up and turned to face her as Saeki had instructed.

'Hidaka, you say it from here.

We all knew that by now.

--"Hidaka is going to confess to Shirakawa."

Everyone says so.

And you know what happened after that?
I was humiliated.
And that's what Saeki wanted.
He knew it was going to happen, and he made me do it.
And from then on, Mr. Shirakawa avoided me, averted his eyes when they met, and ignored me no matter what.
However, we had never really talked before....
But the matter did not end there.

Each of them began to sneer at me behind my back.
And that's as far as Saeki wanted to go, I realized later.
He wanted to find enjoyment in embarrassing me.
He didn't want to just get in my way, he wanted to have fun.
By bringing me down.....

And Saeki had succeeded in doing so....................

-- "There's no way Hidaka is going to match up with Shirakawa, is there?"

For a while after that, Saeki and the students around him, and even people who had never had anything to do with me before, began to laugh at me whenever we passed each other.
Every time I passed them, they would laugh at me, even the ones who had never had anything to do with me before.
And they said this so that I could hear them.
Everyone.





　And now there she is, right in front of me.

Do you remember?

Shirakawa-san spoke to me.

I'll never forget it.

Hidaka-kun told me that he loved me.

What is it?
Shirakawa says as he looks back at me.
But surprisingly, I don't feel anything.

'You were happy, that time,'

So why did you avoid me?

"I wanted to tell you right away, but I was too embarrassed to let you know the truth. But I was embarrassed for you to know my feelings for you.

It's supposed to feel like something exciting.
That's what it's supposed to feel like.
I don't feel anything.

"You're lying.

What?

You're lying. You don't have those feelings for me. In fact, you find them rather disgusting, don't you?

'No!　I'm--

That's a person called Chihiro Shirakawa. She is neat and clean on the outside, but inside she is like a dried up fish. Now I know what a rotten smell that person has.

I noticed that in my right hand was the enforcer's axe.

'I wonder what it is?　Next thing you know, I've got an enforcer's axe in my hand and it's all connected."

I took a step forward.
To her.

Then I stood in front of the desk where she was.
Even though I was in front of her, I still didn't feel anything.

'Hey Hidaka-kun?　Can you say that again?　What you said to me that time ... what you said to me.

The slowness is amazing.
You can feel the detail in every word.
But I don't feel any emotion.

There's another reason why I don't feel anything.

It was simple.

"That's because you're simply ugly. To put it bluntly, the three people I see all the time are so beautiful that they make 'you' look sadly poor.

Hidaka-kun, please...

Please?　What does that mean?　Is that what you want me to say?　That's a big favor, isn't it?

I can't even make an expression because I don't feel anything.
That's how much I've grown up mentally.

Yeah, I need to ask you a favor.

I held the axe above my head.
Shirakawa had a question mark on his face, deliberately trying to look cute.

'Don't let me see that filthy face again.

I swung the axe.
At the nape of its neck.

"Refreshing...

At that moment, Shirakawa's raw head flew through the air, spattering blood, and hit the wall in front of me, falling to the ground.
Then, at my feet, its head rolled down.

'I don't want you guys anymore. I don't even have to.

Am I crazy?
No, I don't think so.
I'm normal.
They're all nuts to begin with.
And I think killing those people is the sign of normalcy.

"This place--

I stomped down on the raw neck at my feet.

It's my world.

At that moment, I felt something like a wobble.

--.

.........


"Masamune!　Get a grip!"

I heard a voice.
Then I gently regained consciousness to open my eyes.

Then I saw a beautiful woman with light pink hair next to me.

"...Toa?

I said, and Toa sighed in relief.

'Are you okay?　Master?

Nem looks at me like he's about to cry.

'Nem?'

Master Nito was asleep.

Then Sufilia told me about this situation.

'Were you asleep?　What do you mean?　I was by the window earlier...

I checked around and I was still at the window.

'He suddenly stopped talking as if he'd passed out, and when I got closer to him I saw that he was unconscious.

Apparently I was unconscious while standing.

'Unconscious?　Why.....

But I soon found out why.


-- "Due to the defeat of Nightmare , the [Goddess Blessing] has been activated. Please choose your loot."

-- "You have been leveled up from Lv:1221 to Lv:1262 by gaining experience."


Apparently I've been having nightmares about monsters.

That's what it means, I guess.
And somehow, it's supposed to be defeated.

'Is this a nightmare?'

Then Sufilia looked at me with interest.

''Yeah, it seems that I was attacked like that by a monster named Nightmare.

'The Nightmare?　It's not a monster, it's a demon!

...Oh, I see, a demon.

'Yes, nightmares are said to invade the psyche and show the subject trauma.

Trauma....
But for me, it was just a stupid dream where I got to kill someone I've always wanted to kill.

'Speaking of which, Masamune?　When you said you found out the truth before you passed out, what did you mean?

Toa asked, as he remembered.

'It's the truth about the dungeon. Well I guess so but you'll find out in person, won't you?

Toa tilted his head.

'But that's not what's important.... I just remembered, something important.

I looked them in the eye.

"There's one thing I need to tell you three. It's another reason why I'm on the road.

Reason?

'Yeah, the original reason I started my journey...'

Then the three of them were silent, waiting for me to say something.

'I have people I want to kill I've already killed the Princess of Grayberg and her relations. But that's not good enough. There are others I have to kill as well.

--"I'll kill them all..."

I swore at the time that I would kill them all.
But then I met Toa, then Sierra, then Nem, then Sufilia.
The more time passed, the less the pain faded.
I forgot another part of me that I had sworn to do back then.
I forgot why I said "all of them".
That's how much I enjoyed the adventure.
I was happy just to be in touch with magic, something previously unknown to me.
But then...

I remember now...

"...remember?　That's....

'Maybe I'll get the three of you into trouble down the road. But I'm going to do the best I can to handle it myself. Just as I did with Greiberg.... Still, as long as we're working together, I can't be sure.

'Master?　That's ... a bad thing, isn't it?

Nem must be waiting for me to deny it.
I can see it in his face.

"I don't think so. All right, Nem?　If you have the will and believe it's the right thing to do - that's what matters. That's what I think. I don't believe it's wrong.

'Then.........Nem will follow his master.......'

'Is that Nemu's will?　Then so be it.

Nem's expression showed a complex mixture of anxiety and hesitation.

'Nito-sama,'

It was Sufilia.

I (I) and Nito-sama are similar. Somehow, I think I understand now why Nito-sama saved me. We both cursed the unreasonable and cursed the oppressed. I will not be lost. I will follow you.

'Well thank you. Sufilia.

Sufilia bowed.

''Toa........''

I turned my body towards Toa.

'I honestly don't know what Masamune is talking about. But like before, I know I'm about to do something I shouldn't. But...it's something important to Masamune that she can't turn back, isn't it?

'Yeah, the important thing ... is that there's no turning back. If I turned back, I'd be the same in this world...

Then I'll come with you. I already decided then and there that I would trust you. Besides, you haven't given me a ride home yet.

Haha that's right.

As for Toa, I wanted to send him home.
But I didn't think of Toa as anything more than that anymore.

'And then?　As I asked earlier, what's the truth about dungeons?　Can't you just tell me what to do for a change?

Toa looked at me with an expression that said he couldn't wait any longer.

I'm still skeptical about it. But if my thoughts are correct, we should be able to capture it by now........

'Attack?　How can it be a strategy?

Well, simply put, there is no other place in this school that means anything to me anymore than this classroom.

Meaningful place?

'Yeah, I knew it was weird all along. How come the dungeon is the school I went to?

That reminds me.

Then Sufilia showed her understanding of my words.

''Indeed........The dungeon is a famous labyrinth that has existed in numerous fairy tales since long ago. The inside of them differed from time to time and seemed to be of various styles. But has it ever been a building like this before?　I (I) have never seen such a description. Of course, I don't believe that what I've seen is all there is to it.

What do you mean by that?　Master?

Yeah, right. The bottom line is that this dungeon has something to do with me. As for the rest, I don't know, but I can tell you that much for sure.

As I spoke, I chose the loot for defeating the Nightmare.
--It's the magic "dream-eating".

Is this a dungeon that has something to do with our master?

Nem was tilting his head.

''Yeah, just like the monsters that have come out so far and the nightmare earlier. It's the same with this school itself to begin with. I don't know what the logic behind it is, but it's all related to me.

And then?　What's the truth in that?

This may be a premature assumption, but this dungeon itself may be something that is meant for me. Before we left, the Khalifa told me to turn back if I was wrong. I was thinking about the meaning of those words, and if I think about it that way, don't you think it somehow makes sense?

Each of the three of them had a troubled look on their faces and seemed to be thinking about something.

Then it was that time.

''Hmm?''

For a moment, I felt a dizzying sensation in my head.
I thought it was another nightmare, so I looked around.
But it seemed all three of us felt the same tremor.

Masamune.

Yeah, I know.

I was alerted to the area.
It was then.

There was a nostalgic sound in the quiet classroom, like the metal feet of a desk and chair colliding with each other.
Reflexively, we looked in the direction of the sound.
Then the three of us frowned with a question mark on our faces.
But I didn't.

'Long time no see, huh?　Hidaka.....

It was Saeki who was there.