An ox that plows fields can be worked to death—and the same goes for a horse that runs without rest.
After galloping at full capacity for a long time, the ghost horses finally collapsed just before the group reached Academy Gate Town.
The saddest one was Roger. He had thought he might tame a new monster. He had just been about to pull out a "Poké Ball" when the ghost horse died on him.
After grieving for a moment, he even tried to reenact the traditional knightly scene of burying a fallen horse.
But the instant the ghost horse died, it turned into drifting ash.
Which made him look extremely awkward—especially since he had already dug half a hole.
Compared to him, the others didn't care at all whether the ghost horses lived or died. The only thing on their minds now was Raya Lucaria Academy.
But before entering the academy, Gapar suddenly suggested they sit by the bonfire for a while.
Tursey and Hades didn't really understand the point—after all, their whole high-speed ride hadn't actually drained much stamina—but they chose to respect Gapar's request.
So after their long journey, they returned to the blazing bonfire in Academy Gate Town, letting its warmth drive away the chill from their bodies.
Naturally, the person who felt most relaxed near the bonfire was Gapar.
Second place went to Roger.
Both of them could claim they were already veterans of the Sein Dungeon.
Whenever Gapar failed to farm a Larval Tear, he would sit by the bonfire for a while to encourage himself.
Roger, meanwhile, often got chased by monsters while studying their ecology and would retreat to a bonfire to catch his breath.
So to them, bonfires represented comfort and safety.
In fact, most adventurers felt the same way.
Without realizing it, the Sein Dungeon had already instilled certain habits in people.
Tursey and the others, however, didn't feel much about it. They simply found the bonfire's leveling system interesting.
Tursey leaned closer to examine it.
Then she suddenly noticed something unusual.
"…Is this a bone?"
The bonfire's flames could actually be touched. They weren't much different from ordinary fire—aside from the fact that they would burn you.
To be safe, Tursey used Mage Hand to pull a charred black bone out of the fire.
Examining it carefully, she suddenly asked,
"Did anyone eat roasted meat?"
The question puzzled everyone.
They had been together the whole time. The only things they had eaten were dried meat and stamina potions. If someone had roasted meat, everyone would have noticed.
Normally, every bonfire had the same fuel—ashes and firewood. Those materials never seemed to run out.
Every time adventurers entered the dungeon, they would check, and the ashes and wood inside the bonfires never changed.
So why was there a bone inside the fire?
That was… suspicious.
"That's a Bone from a Meat Tree," Gapar suddenly said.
"It's a specialty from the Gourmet Zone. A tree that grows large chunks of meat with bones. Tastes exactly like ordinary roasted meat."
"Oh, that thing." Tursey had heard of it.
The Magic Association had already received reports about ingredients from the Gourmet Zone, including the Meat Tree.
It was something that baffled both botanists and alchemists.
Scholars had argued endlessly about whether it should be classified as a plant or an animal.
Botanists were confused about why a plant would grow meat—yet no matter how they analyzed it, the substance was undeniably real meat.
Alchemists, on the other hand, were baffled because they had spent their entire lives researching flesh transmutation, only to discover that meat could apparently grow naturally on trees.
Alchemy… defeated. (Tragic.)
Chefs, however, were delighted.
Since the Meat Tree simply tasted like ordinary roasted meat, it didn't threaten their livelihood. Instead, they could process it further and sell dishes made from it.
For Gapar, it was incredibly convenient food.
Whenever he got tired of killing monsters in the dungeon, he would grab a few pieces and eat them. That was why he recognized the bone instantly.
Incidentally, his favorite was the Donburi Fruit, which produced different kinds of rice bowls. Every time he opened one felt like opening a blind box.
"We didn't bring any bone-in meat," Tursey said slowly as she stood up and looked around.
Everyone understood what she meant.
Something—or someone—had recently come to Academy Gate Town, eaten meat beside the bonfire, and tossed the bone into the fire as fuel.
"Could it be monsters?" Roger suggested.
But the moment he said it, he rejected the idea himself.
Monsters couldn't enter Academy Gate Town. Anywhere lit by warm bonfire flames was forbidden territory for them.
Besides, how would monsters from Liurnia of the Lakes obtain ingredients from the Food Area?
That left only one explanation.
One that made everyone uneasy.
"…There are other people here?"
But how was that possible?
When they had entered the dungeon, they hadn't seen anyone else wandering around.
Could it be an invader?
But they hadn't received any invasion notification.
Whatever the case, those people clearly hadn't tried to hide their tracks.
Gapar soon found several empty potion bottles inside a house that had previously been empty.
"There were definitely none of these here before."
"There were at least four people… no, five," Tursey said.
Her eyes glowed faintly with magic, but she soon shook her head regretfully.
"The footprints are over half an hour old. Tracking magic won't work."
An uneasy feeling spread through the group.
But more than fear, it was confusion.
Roger glanced at the Sword Saint and the professors beside him.
Honestly, if strangers had entered the house…
Those strangers were probably the ones who should be afraid.
Still, the incident made them more alert.
Roger even tried asking Kale whether he had seen any strangers.
Kale stared at him blankly.
As if saying: You're the strangers.
Right.
No help there.
Before leaving for the academy, Tursey secretly hid a recording crystal near the bonfire and connected it with transmission magic, allowing her to monitor the area in real time.
If only she had a familiar capable of sharing vision—it would save the trouble of setting up recording stones.
"Ready? Let's go."
Gapar once again stole a ghost rider's horse.
Four riders, four mounts—Speed and Passion once again.
They advanced up the mountain road toward the academy.
The robbed ghost riders once again summoned monsters to chase them.
But this time, when the monsters saw the group approaching the Magic Academy, they all stopped.
None of them dared come closer.
"Clang! Bang!"
Battle erupted again as the group fought their way forward.
Roger frowned.
"Strange… why does it feel like the number of soldiers here is the same as before?"
In the Sein Dungeon, monsters normally didn't respawn unless you died or the next day arrived.
And last time, they had clearly wiped out every enemy here.
So why were they back?
Liurnia of the Lakes had many strange differences compared to the earlier dungeon areas.
What exactly was going on?
---
Academy Glintstone Key
Key used to break the magical seal of Raya Lucaria Academy.
The glintstone automatically records its users. Each key can register up to five people.
The academy does not wish too many outsiders approaching.
Five users maximum.
There were four of them.
Lucky.
Gapar walked at the front, holding the key. The others followed closely behind.
When the glintstone key began to glow, they successfully passed through the magical seal.
This time there was no blackout transition.
It was a seamless loading screen—something that would make Starfield weep with envy.
Before them appeared a vast plaza.
And at its center—
A bonfire.
Roger's eyes lit up.
"Thank you for your mercy, Sein," he muttered as he immediately lit it.
If he died inside the academy and got sent all the way back to Academy Gate Town, he would absolutely curse the dungeon's ancestors… even though dungeons didn't have families.
This must be the academy's main entrance.
No wonder the area was absurdly large—it was a matter of pride for the mages.
Roger suddenly had a thought.
This place would be perfect for battles between adventurers and invaders.
So much space—you could roll around freely.
Wait…
Why did I just think that?
"Beautiful," Tursey sighed.
From here they could overlook the entirety of Liurnia of the Lakes.
Gapar, however, was analyzing the surroundings.
To the left was a massive elevator.
To the right was a broken bridge.
Then he suddenly realized something.
That broken bridge… wasn't it the same one Kale had mentioned leading toward the eastern mountains?
Looking carefully, the other half of the bridge was indeed visible across the gap, connecting to the mountains.
Ah.
The map connected perfectly.
Wonderful.
There seemed to be only one magical seal at the academy entrance. They hadn't seen another.
Although it looked like both directions were accessible, the only viable path was the left side.
The broken bridge on the right didn't seem worth exploring.
"Rumble… rumble…"
The elevator slowly carried them upward.
Once their line of sight could no longer reach the academy entrance…
A strange figure suddenly appeared.
He wore a helmet that hid his face.
An eye symbol was painted on his armor.
Silently, he waited beside the mechanism.
After Gapar's group had left, he pulled the lever to bring the elevator back down.
Was he following them?
What was his purpose?
Even Gapar's sharp senses hadn't detected him.
Why?
But even if someone told Gapar right now that they were being followed…
They probably wouldn't care.
Because when the elevator finally reached the top…
They saw a long staircase.
And at the top of those stairs stood ten glintstone mages, waiting in formation.
Their Swift Glintstone Shards were already eager to fly.