Luna, Zel, and Ramza set out for Tenrou Mountain——home of the Leonard Faith’s ‘Divine-Demonic Union Sect’——to recover the Saint’s dark history and rescue, while they were at it, Wembley and the other Saint Faith members.
“Hmm, so this is Tenrou Mountain……(Oh wow, what a beautiful mountain.)”
Standing at the base, Luna is moved by the beautiful mountain landscape.
Tenrou Mountain is a great peak reaching nearly three thousand meters. Its summit is crowned with white snow, and rich green vegetation grows thick down its slopes.
“I’m told the Leonard Faith’s base is ‘inside’ the mountain, but……to bore through such a beautiful mountain, what a graceless bunch.”
Zel, as a beastman who lives in harmony with nature, makes no effort to hide his displeasure.
“Follow this stream upstream and you’ll find the entrance leading into Tenrou Mountain’s interior.”
Scout Ramza walks at the front with map in hand, while Luna and Zel follow quietly behind.
After following the stream’s flow for some time, they spot a small cave in the far distance.
“There it is.”
Ramza points out the location, and Luna and Zel peer ahead intently.
“Hmm……it appears there are no sentries.”
“Most likely they’ve retreated inside the mountain to defend their base against the Saint Faith.”
After thoroughly confirming that no Leonard Faith members are anywhere in the vicinity, they move to the cave entrance.
Ramza, leading the party in his role as scout, clears his throat to get their attention.
“From here on, we are quite literally ‘inside the enemy’s belly.’ The cave interior is rigged throughout with dangerous traps, and magical beasts born of forbidden arts are roaming freely. Advance with the mindset of ‘tackling a treacherous dungeon’——stay sharp.”
His words are meant to brace them——and yet——
“Yes, of course. (Fighting through a dungeon with Zel, after three hundred years……. Heheh, I’m actually starting to feel kind of excited!)”
“Naturally. (To think the day would come when I could challenge a dungeon with the Saint-sama again……. Heheh, it pays to live long.)”
——Luna, reminded of old times, feels her heart lift with eager anticipation, while Zel is filled with a warm and nostalgic glow, and if anything their tension only loosens.
Knowing nothing of this——
“I intend to study the legendary Saint’s party’s dungeon tactics at close hand.”
——the entirely earnest Ramza alone wears an expression of absolute seriousness.
(Leticia-sama most likely recommended me as scout with my benefit in mind……. To move alongside the great heroes, the ‘hidden hero’ Silver and ‘great swordsman’ Zel Zezed——there will surely be much to learn!)
Setting Zel aside, there is nothing whatsoever to learn from Luna.
As Ramza burns with a sense of mission, Luna flashes a bold smile.
“Hmph, I suppose it can’t be helped. Our Saint’s party dungeon tactics——just what they look like——allow me to show you, as a special privilege!”
The Saint-sama is catastrophically susceptible to flattery.
(Ahh, this feels wonderful……!)
The completely unthinkable reality of herself in the role of teacher——it felt so very good. So enormously good.
(Heheh, I need to show Ramza-san something impressive!)
With more fighting spirit than usual, Luna immediately begins taking charge.
“Ramza-dono, could I ask you to use <Heaven’s Board> to scout for enemies inside Tenrou Mountain?”
“Yes, of course. ——<Heaven’s Board>.”
Ramza closes his eyes, deploys the wide-area detection magic, and begins analyzing the information from inside the base.
“Hmm……there are small-scale skirmishes breaking out in various places. Most likely Saint Faith believers and Leonard Faith believers clashing.”
He slowly expands the detection circle to avoid placing too much strain on his body, and when he reaches the deepest level——
“Th-this is——!”
Ramza’s expression turns sharply grim.
“What is it, did you find something?”
Zel, sensing something off, calls out to him.
“In the deepest level……there is a ‘monster’……!”
“A monster?”
“What is this magical energy……a disturbing, unstable magical energy unlike anything human or beast or demon. But fearsomely powerful. Equal to Natasha when she unleashed the Worm Pit——no, even beyond that……!”
“Hmm……(Natasha’s level or above, that could be troublesome.)”
Zel deepens his wariness, while——
“Hmm……(Natasha’s level or above, that’s……strong, I think?)”
——Luna deepens her uncertainty.
With each of them turning their thoughts over, they proceed further into the cave for the time being.
Inside, as befitting ‘the Leonard Faith’s base of operations,’ the passage is rigged throughout with traps designed to repel intruders.
However, with ‘top-tier scout’ Ramza Crantzelt present, this poses no problem whatsoever.
“——Silver, there’s a trap set in the floor ahead.”
“Understood, I’ll just——hm?”
Despite having been warned mere seconds ago, the Saint-sama carelessly steps directly on the trap and——receives a volley of poison arrows from behind.
“Ngh……a double trap, of course.”
Naturally unharmed, she mutters something appropriately dramatic and brushes it off.
Shortly after, Ramza’s keen hearing catches the rough breathing of magical beasts.
“——Silver, there are three goblins hiding behind the large boulder to the northeast.”
“Understood. (Northeast……that means up-and-right, doesn’t it.)”
Sadly.
The Saint-sama, who has yet to grasp the concept of cardinal directions, stands on alert toward a perfectly ordinary boulder with nothing hiding behind it——
“H-hey, not that way——!”
——and despite Ramza’s frantic warning——
“Huh? Waah——!”
——gets ambushed from behind and takes three consecutive club hits.
Naturally unharmed, she immediately dispatches all three at light speed and——
“Phew……can’t let my guard down.”
——once again mutters something appropriately dramatic in an attempt to brush it off.
As they advance smoothly deeper in——Luna’s exceptional vision spots something thirty meters ahead.
(Oh, a treasure chest!)
The Saint-sama cannot resist a treasure chest inside a dungeon.
She is generally a person of minimal material desire and there is nothing in particular she wants——but the ‘heart-pounding thrill’ of opening a treasure chest is something she simply loves.
(Zel and Ramza-san don’t seem to have noticed, so I’ll claim it for myself!)
Like a child enchanted by a butterfly, Luna charges straight for the obviously suspicious treasure chest without a moment’s hesitation.
“Hey, wait, Silver——that is clearly a trap——”
“Hm?”
The instant the Saint-sama grabs hold of the treasure chest, the <Alarm> spell activates and a jarring noise blares out.
“‘The reverse of the reverse, and the reverse of that as well’——is it.”
Luna mutters this as if it means something profound——
“So it would seem.”
——Zel agrees with her——
“……No, that was obviously a trap……”
——and Ramza is left dumbfounded.
“Sometimes what appears to be a trap turns out not to be. Take this treasure chest, for instance——perhaps it might be——”
The instant Luna recklessly wrenches the lid of the chest open, a tremendous explosion erupts.
“……Empty, then.”
“What a shame. Let’s find the next one.”
Faced with Luna and Zel’s complete absence of any tension whatsoever, Ramza has no choice but to speak up.
“Zel-dono……what exactly is going on here? Everything has been going wrong from the start!”
“Hmph, you’re young. Our Saint’s party’s adventures were always (because of the Saint-sama’s mistakes) full of hardship. This doesn’t even register as trouble.”
What flashes through Zel’s mind are the numerous catastrophes Luna caused three hundred years ago.
By comparison, today’s Saint-sama is if anything behaving rather calmly.
“I-I see……is that how it works……”
Being told this plainly by none other than the great swordsman himself, even Ramza has no choice but to accept it.
As they advance even further inward, their way is blocked by a massive barrier.
“Wh-what is this——!?”
An enormous spherical barrier deployed from the deepest depths of the Leonard Faith base.
“What incredible power……! But——why didn’t this show up on <Heaven’s Board>……?”
As Ramza is baffled, Zel offers his assessment.
“Hmm……this closely resembles the barrier that guards the Divine Realm. ‘The law of the divine transcends the law of the demonic.’ Naturally <Heaven’s Board> cannot detect it. (Could it be that a ‘god’ is involved in this matter……? If so, we will need to raise our alertness level……)”
“Zel-dono, is there nothing we can do?”
“Barrier analysis is outside my expertise. If Shasha or Fiona were here they would break it in an instant——but as things stand, I’m not sure what to do.”
As a somber air settles in, the silver armor smiles with an air of unshakeable confidence.
“Hmph, not to worry. A barrier of this degree——allow me to analyze it in short order.”
“……Huh, analyze……? (The Saint-sama should not possess any such advanced skill……)”
Zel tilts his head with a suspicious look——
“Oh, she has knowledge of barrier magic too……(As expected of the ‘hidden hero’——a complete skill set across the board.)”
——and Ramza holds a mixture of astonishment and admiration, as Luna gets straight to work.
“Hmm……this part goes like this, and that goes like that……(I think it was something like this in that novel ‘The Villainess Who Loves Magic’ I read recently……)”
Muttering appropriately dramatic things at random, she challenges the barrier analysis for three minutes.
(……It’s no good……!)
The barrier’s structure is nothing short of bafflingly complex.
Even the legendary saint brain operating at full capacity cannot make the slightest headway with the analysis.
“How’s it going, Silver, are you close to breaking it?”
“Y-yes, of course, absolutely……!”
At Ramza’s prompting, Luna forces a stiff smile.
Five more minutes pass——just as white smoke begins rising from the saint brain——
“……Right, analysis complete!”
Luna declares this and swings her right arm down with full force.
In that instant, a tremendous shattering sound rings out——and the enormous barrier is erased without a trace.
(……I knew it would come to this……)
The loyal retainer, who had predicted this outcome from the start——
“Splendidly done.”
——immediately moves to cover for his master’s dignity——
“Yes, this particular barrier was quite formidable.”
——Luna behaves as if the analysis was a success——
“Wait——the analysis……wait——(Unless my eyes are deceiving me……it looked like she just punched it apart……?)”
——and Ramza stands in blank stupefaction.
“Ramza-dono, is something the matter?”
“This is enemy territory——let’s press on.”
“R-right, sorry……!”
Snapped back to reality, he rejoins Luna and Zel at a quick pace.
(Silver and Zel-dono……these two are absolutely unhinged……!)
The Saint’s party’s dungeon tactics were genuinely, completely unhinged.
Stepping on traps, getting ambushed, even falling for an obvious treasure chest.
It was exactly like a party of inexperienced adventurers on their first dungeon run.
And yet——they don’t stop.
Lethal traps, fearsome magical beasts, powerful barriers——not one of these means anything at all before the legendary Saint’s party.
Enjoying the adventure as they go, they overpower absolutely everything with ease and continue forward without a care.
(So this is what a legendary hero does——’dungeon tactics as an absolute powerhouse’……this is a real education!)
And so the once-in-a-generation genius Ramza Crantzelt continued accumulating entirely incorrect knowledge.