Chapter 90: Lament

“Uh, Vice-captain.”

I paused my paperwork and looked up at Nova. “Mhm, Nova? What’s up?”

His model student face had a slight crease on the brows. Laughing in a troubled way, he asked, “I can’t figure out this part of my assignments.”

I glanced at the part Nova was indicating. “Oh, it’s about the distribution of monsters in a dungeon.”

“Yes. Normally, weaker monsters gather at the start of a dungeon, which ensues in a group battle. Then you encounter stronger ones the further in you go, right? Is there any reason for this setup? It’s so inefficient.”

“Mm… You can think of the inside of a dungeon as a kind of ecosystem. I should do some drawing to show you,” I said and fumbled through my papers for some scrap I could use. As I was doing so, Sevi and Julieta—who had been peeking over here all this while—scampered over.

“Ah, Vice-captain! Teach me too!”

“M-me three!”

Both of them were holding their assignments in their hands, the papers filled with words. However, those were unrelated to what I was talking about. I narrowed my eyes at them. “Have you thought it over hard enough? You’re not trying to get a free answer, are you?”

“No way!” Sevi shook his head wildly, but his reddened face made his lie obvious. Julieta, on the other hand, couldn’t even manage to tell a fib. Was this how Mayer felt when he scrutinized me…? The thought made me feel apologetic for some reason. I supposed this was what they call self-projection.

I pretended to be fooled and explained, “There is a common misconception that fellspawn might cooperate with each other. In truth, their relationship is one of kill or be killed. They have an ecosystem of their own.” I drew a rather fine circle using my years of organizing math notes skills. I drew another circle inside that one and continued. “They all want their own territory, but there’s a limit to the size of a dungeon. Then the territory of weak fellspawn can only be small, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And if even that bit of land becomes hard to keep?”

“They work together?” Julieta answered cautiously, seeming awkward at giving her thoughts.

I gave a large, exaggerated nod. “Right. Because that’s the only way to fight other strong fellspawn.”

“So that’s why they form a horde,” Nova muttered, nodding to himself. Sevi, who had been locked in thought, suddenly asked, “If the fellspawn don’t get along well, then could we use their ecology to make them fight each other?”

“That’s a good question.” Being a mage didn’t make you clever, but having a good head allowed one to use magic more efficiently. I gazed at Sevi, feeling proud of him. The boy was sure to become a good mage. “It’s quite possible. But not recommended.”

“Is it because they could cooperate?”

“That’s a possibility, but the main problem is the lower amount of experience you’ll get.”

“Oh…” Sevi gaped as if he’d never thought of this point. In his case, it was expected; he didn’t know how important experience was. Dungeons had begun appearing when he was young.

“Experience can only be gained from dungeons, after all. You gotta make use of every precious opportunity,” I lectured.

Before dungeons opened, people lived with their given level without much change. It was possible for someone born at level 10 to work hard their entire life and reach level 20. It was impossible, however, for someone level 50 to reach level 60. It didn’t matter, though. Whatever seconds people took to run 100 meters, however much you could use illuminating magic, whether you were level 10 or 50, there were no problems getting by in life… until the dungeons opened, that is. Gates could not be closed with the level people were born with. At the rate things were going, humanity was at the cusp of annihilation. Leveling up was a way for humans to adapt to the distorted world, the only way for humans to surpass their limits.

“Experience is extremely important and precious. There are cases of people backstabbing others for it. You should know that well, Sevi.” The boy nodded rigidly at the mention of the Blue Flames incident. “Anyway… We need to understand the distribution of monsters and their territorial habits to achieve the most we can in a dungeon with minimal losses. Dungeons are a limited resource.”

All three of them noted down my explanation. I could see each of their personalities from their handwriting. Smiling a little while seeing them bury their nose into their papers, I said sternly, “Now that I’ve given an explanation… I should hand out an assignment, don’t you guys think?”

“More assignments? On top of what we have?”

“I, I’m having trouble sleeping lately…!”

Sevi and Julieta shuddered, against the suggestion. Model Student Nova also didn’t seem to welcome the idea; he gave me an awkward smile.