"I Was Reincarnated Into Another World So I Want to Teach Them a Lesson in the Dungeon." ~I May Have Been Expelled as a C-Rank Sorcerer, but Since It Seems Everyone Wants My Cheat Skill, I Think I'll Teach Them a Lesson~ - Chapter 4

The C-rank group was relegated to sleeping on the ground, surrounded by worn stone walls and lying on a stone floor covered in moss—a hard and cold surface.

Ryner’s words, “Let the C-rank weaklings sleep huddled together on the floor!” might have been a cruel jest.

Beyond us, a large tent that had been erected by the goblins stood, from which the overlapping shadows of Ryner and Caroline stretched outwards.

Their body curves were clearly outlined, making it wise to keep my distance.

Despite their efforts to keep quiet, the hooting of owls could be clearly heard, accompanied by Lokiel’s loud snoring.

Contrary to his claims of being a light sleeper, it was unmistakably a lie.

“Ah, you’re Soma-kun, right? Thanks for keeping watch.”

“Thank you, uh—?”

As I fumbled for her name,

“I’m Miria. I’ve just finished my watch too.”

Miria was a young archer, wearing a fresh green nithsdale so deep that she had made quite an impression on me. Counting the number of arrows in her quiver, she tended to the fire to keep it from dying down.

“Thanks for all your hard work, Miria.”

“Thank you… It really is hard work, isn’t it? I wonder if all investigation teams are like this.”

I pondered her question because I didn’t have any information on other investigation teams to compare to. Although I was slightly more senior than her, like Lokiel, I had been repeatedly rejected from joining teams.

“I wonder—

But maybe this place is particularly peculiar? Ryner and the others only judge us by our unique skills.”

“Hmm…

Well, I guess I can understand their approach. Without unique skills, dungeon exploration would be difficult. It might even seem like the right strategy. Sort of like a war of attrition?”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

Miria too, like Lokiel, voiced her dissatisfaction with the Ryner Investigation Team. However, she also seemed to understand the dungeon system to some extent.

It’s natural for anyone to question Ryner’s treatment and want to flee from it.

But once you’ve entered this dungeon, the only ways out are to wait for the reset or to die.

If you act independently from the investigation team, you don’t know what dangers await you. Even if you stay put, fear that evil could strike at any moment lingers.

There’s another consideration; your conduct within the team affects your evaluation by the Magic Association, which could lead to demotion or, at worst, expulsion. Perhaps that’s why Lokiel, ambitious for S-rank promotion, hasn’t acted out.

So, should I speak out against the Ryner Investigation Team’s methods and report them to the Magic Association?

I considered it, but it’s well-known that Ryner has some pull behind the scenes. That’s probably why they’ve managed to maintain their provisional A-rank status without changing their ways.

“Could you keep me company for a little while longer? I’m still not sleepy.”

I was very tired, but I replied with an “Okay.”

“But you can close your eyes if you want. It’s okay to fall asleep while listening.”

“Thanks. The ground doesn’t look too comfortable, so I don’t think I’ll fall asleep that quickly.”

Miria’s milky white thighs, peeking out from her tunic, glistened as they repelled water droplets.

I only looked because Miria had guided my gaze there with a gesture.

“My lap is warm and soft…?”

“What are you suddenly saying? I’m a guy…”

Miria smiled happily at my reaction,

“Fufu, Soma-kun, you’re so easy to read. I feel calmer when I’m close to someone too. And since I’m okay with it, don’t worry, I won’t get mad.”

Slowly lowering my head onto her thigh, I naturally turned my gaze away because through the gap in her loosely opened thighs, I could see dark undergarments, intricately woven and hardly innocent.

The skin, sticky with sweat from the heat of the campfire, clung together like suction cups.

It felt as if my cheek was becoming a part of Miria’s thigh.

“How’s the comfort?”

“It’s really good… I think.”

“That’s good to hear.”

With a tone akin to a mother reading a bedtime story to her insomniac child—that is, a gentle voice mixed with plenty of breaths—

“Soma-kun, you joined the investigation team for a reason, right?”

Miria asked, stroking my head with her slender hand.

“I want to close the Necronomicon… I don’t remember much from the past. All I know is that I woke up in the Necronomicon. So, I think I wanted to close it.”

My memories, even to myself, are largely uncertain.

Fragments of my past life remain, such as the short span of it, the fact that my mother drove a “car,” that we lived in a single-family home in a new residential area, and that I was an ordinary high school student attending a “public high school.”

That was me.

But what about in this other world?

I must have adopted the name Soma because my previous life’s name was Souma, but—

“I had been entering the Necronomicon before… but apparently, the Magic Association has no record of me.”

Thus, there’s no trace of my path after reincarnating into this other world.

I might have been challenging the dungeon, ignoring the Association’s rules, and while I did have some magical knowledge (albeit low-level), I couldn’t remember how I came to possess it.

“To challenge the dungeon again after losing your memory…

I couldn’t do that.”

“Miria…”

“Think about it, you could die at any time. And while a certain amount of the Necronomicon’s system has been uncovered, the number of areas is unknown, right?

Even if this area is destroyed, it’s still possible that the dungeon continues to expand infinitely. Doesn’t that thought terrify you? That this book is a magical tome of the demon race, perpetually adding to the necromancy…”

Miria’s slender hand trembled.

“My father was a B-rank team member. I always waited for him by the window because a week felt so long—

He would return with stories of his adventures in the dungeon and bring delicious food as souvenirs. He also taught me archery, which he was good at.”

Warm droplets fell on my cheek.

Miria was crying, and I understood that I shouldn’t ask what happened to her father.

The worn bow handle and the weathered quiver seemed out of place for her, likely keepsakes from her father, also an archer.

“I wonder if my father also felt this terrible fear… Even though he always appeared cheerful when talking to us, was he trembling with fear…”

“Let’s go home—

Just like Miria’s father did, let’s overcome this fear and make sure we return home.”

“Yes—!

Thank you, Soma-kun. I feel like I can overcome this fear with you.”