Chapter 97

After everyone's memory processing was completed, Louis and the others finally reached the entrance of the dungeon. Inside the entrance made of old bricks, a staircase leading underground could be seen.

"This is the dungeon...! I've never seen it before, but it certainly has a mysterious atmosphere."

Louis could feel the mysterious magic of the dungeon through his skin.

"So this is the seal you mentioned. Indeed, this emblem is the same as the one on Sharo's sword."

At the entrance to the dungeon, the emblem of the hero's lineage floated in the air, blocking the entrance. When Seon tried throwing a nearby stone at the emblem, it sparked and the stone shattered into pieces. It was indeed a seal that couldn't be broken easily.

"Well, as you can see. Charlotte, can you help us?"

"...Yes. I'll try."

Determined, Sharo approached the seal. Louis then grabbed Sharo's sleeve and held her back.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, you see... if you're doing this for me, you don't have to force yourself. I'll try to break the seal myself."

Louis said this with a worried look, bowing his head. Seeing this, Sharo couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, what's so funny!"

"Hehe, thanks for worrying. But don't worry, this is for me too."

"For you? What do you mean?"

"I want to know about my ancestors too."

With that, Sharo approached the seal. She looked at the hero's emblem with mixed feelings. Before entering the academy, she had blindly believed in her heroic ancestors and felt a mission to do the same.

But now it was different.

Through interactions with Louis and other classmates, she began to think that relying on her ancestors for her actions might not be right. So Sharo wanted to know what her ancestors thought and fought for, and then consider what she truly wanted to do.

(I can't chicken out here!)

Sharo made up her mind and extended her right hand to touch the floating emblem... and touched it.

The moment she touched it, a tingling shock ran through her fingertips, but the pain quickly subsided. The emblem, as if its purpose was fulfilled, slowly disappeared.

"Hehe, it seems my guess was right."

Seon passed through where the emblem had been, followed by Louis and Aries, but nothing happened.

"Phew, that's good. It seems the seal has been successfully removed."

"But a seal that can only be broken by a descendant of the hero is not something to be taken lightly. I wonder what kind of treasure is sleeping inside."

"Well, we won't know until we go in. Let's proceed carefully."

"I will protect you, Master Louis, so please rest assured."

"You should worry more about yourself than Louis, you know?"

The five of them chatted as they started to descend the stairs. But just before they did, a voice suddenly called out from behind.

"Wait a moment!!"

"Wha?"

The five turned around in response to the voice. There, they saw a group of three people they didn't recognize: two men and one woman, each carrying weapons like swords and staffs. They looked like adventurers.

One of them, a man with a sword at his waist, said to Louis and the others.

"Um, can we join you!?"