Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

This overwhelming talent is ruthless enough to be described as cruel. Faced with such talent, one's own foul language is utterly meaningless.

I can't remember how many times this has happened; the anger and humiliation surging through my body are enough to make my blood vessels burst.

How many times has this happened? Cursing their own weakness, they ignore everyone else and only know how to provoke those guys.

And then, how many more times did you taste the bitterness of failure?

The wild boars and dwarves who had repeatedly stumbled with them called this humiliation "mud."

Pah! This is just 'dog shit,' not something as elegant as 'soil.'

This is absolutely intolerable filth and stain.

"It's you again. You lowly brat. -- Or have you already managed to cut through the 'hill'?"

However, upon closer reflection...

Those guys, those "heroes," always seem to be spurring us on to overcome "mud" and "dog shit."

It's as if it's telling us, "Become stronger," as if it's urging us to overcome humiliation and move forward.

While they always looked down on us, this rabble, with disdain, they always stopped at defeating us, never delivering a fatal blow, as if to say, 'We can take you down anytime,' and they relished our 'roars of the weak.' They didn't care about our reasons or motives, but as long as we showed the will to become stronger, they would never refuse us. They always accepted us completely and constantly incited us.

A torrential downpour of injustice and irrationality, destruction and violence, baptism, and promotion.

Since those tyrannical incarnations vanished without a trace from the city, what remains is the genuine strength residing in this body.

And, these eyes and this heart, chasing the last glimmer of the heroes (those guys).

"Heroes" is indeed garbage, but it still left behind guidance.

Those guys were incredibly strong from beginning to end, revealing both hope and challenges for us.

As long as you are weak, everything you do is wrong. You must become strong.

They continued to preach the supreme proposition that the end was still approaching the lower realm, and now, having been defeated by the "Dark End," they left behind these final words on this land.

—Let us cross over and surpass us—.

Now it's time for us to reach that figure and surpass it.

Or perhaps, it is the existence of those who are pursuing themselves that will cross the pinnacle of 'heroes'.

To achieve this, we still lack both strength and quantity. We have already experienced firsthand how fragile a will without strength is.

The tasks ahead are piling up, and the time pressure is so intense it's almost despairing.

But even so.

Even so, these hands were finally able to easily cleave the 'hill'.

Student strife erupted.

Its impact and aftershocks spread rapidly throughout the labyrinth city.

"The recruitment of dependents in the 'school district' has been halted!?"

As previously announced, the school district has officially announced an indefinite suspension of recruitment of dependents.

Orario's Familia originally planned to go to the Super Battleship to hold faction briefings and Familia recruitment events for students, but now all of these have been forced to be canceled.

The various factions in the city gathered together, lamenting their plight; for them, this news was undeniably devastating.

Not just for the exploration factions, but for all types of [Familia], the "talent acquisition" event accompanying the return of the school district is undoubtedly a golden opportunity to expand their power. No matter how inexperienced, students from the [school district] are still outstanding talents. For the various factions eagerly anticipating acquiring new combat power, this blow is immeasurable.

This is especially true for the chief deities of their respective factions.

The large-scale recruitment event that was originally scheduled to be held has thus been canceled. The reaction from the Orario [Familia] is as follows:

"What the hell is the guild doing?! Stop kidding me!!"

"Why don't you just die, you fat pig?!"

"While the school district can be quite extreme, the guild is way too impatient. I'm talking about you, you fat pig."

"A disgrace to the entire race!!"

"Royman, you'll be facing the death penalty soon!"

Whether it was a member of a clan or a deity, the scene was filled with such curses.

Faced with this unexpected situation, the guild quickly dispatched envoys to the 'school district' to negotiate, but because their attitude was not sincere enough, they offended the student representatives and were directly ordered to be sent back.

The school district remains furious, even secretly threatening that it is ready to set sail from the port city and part ways, even if it means changing its affiliation—of course, the fact that the magical superpower laughed loudly and simply stated that it was "fully prepared to welcome them" also played a role in fueling the flames.

The guild was the one at a loss.

The guild condemned the other side's arrogance and unreasonable behavior, stating that it would not tolerate such actions. However, the "school district" completely ignored them, as if to say, "You were the ones who were being unreasonable first." In addition to the student and teacher camps, even the gods casually brushed them off with reasons such as "the students' voices represent the will of the school district."

Guild Master Royman looked paler than anyone else at the school district's stance.

"W-Why did it turn out like this...!?"

He probably didn't expect it to provoke such strong resentment. He is now suffering greatly and is taking twice the usual amount of stomach medicine.

Having strongly objected to the forced requisition of the hardest metal, the half-elf, who was both a guild employee and a former student of the "school district," couldn't help but sigh to the heavens.

"That's why I said..."

The economic benefits of what was once known as "school district special needs" have now vanished.

The students who were apprehended on the spot by the city's military police and forcibly evicted from in front of the guild headquarters have all vanished from the city without exception since that day. After all, with students who spend money like water in Orario, along with teachers and school district officials no longer entering or leaving the city, this outcome is perfectly normal.

This was followed by strong condemnation from the merchants. The Chamber of Commerce released a large number of rental shops in various districts of the city targeting students, but all the shops were deserted, resulting in huge losses. The impact even extended to the residents who went to work every day. There was even a reversal phenomenon where "Port City Melen," which was usually an appendage of the labyrinth city, became more bustling.

"Things have developed largely as expected... so how do you plan to take responsibility, Uranus?"

"Go, Royman!"

"This is just too cruel..."

There are rumors that the black-clad magician and the old god had such a conversation at the guild's underground altar.

In summary, this "student struggle" eventually escalated into a "serious situation" and a "major tragedy" that involved ordinary people, merchants, and their families, and even other countries.

The rift with the 'school district' has been fatal, and the guild is now facing unprecedented condemnation.

The current situation is that all personnel related to the 'school district' have been recalled and are now stuck in the port city where the super-giant ship is docked.

Even the students who were sent to various clans to participate in factional experiences were no exception.

"Ahhh!! Lady Nina has been taken away just like that~! A promising talent~! A valuable healer who made great contributions to the frugal exploration of the [Family]~~~~~~!!"

Lily's heart-wrenching cries echoed in the living quarters of the base.

Surprisingly—though it's a bit of a stretch to say it—it was Lily who was most affected by Nina's departure.

She lay on the sofa, her arms and legs flailing back and forth as if she were swimming.

Lily wasn't the only one lamenting.

Miss Mei and Miss Haruhime were also plunged into sorrow.

"Even the faction experience has been canceled... Lady Nina has unfortunately been forced to return as well...!"

"If this continues, will Lady Nina's chances of joining the Hestia Familia be virtually nonexistent...?"

"No, this won't do! My sister-in-law, Nina-kun, is incredibly capable!!"

"Not just capable, they're indispensable! Considering the combination with level advancement! Now that I know how convenient their abilities are, there's no going back to the past...!"

The god suddenly leaned out, and Lily also jerked her head up from the bench.

Lily, her two friends, and the pillar of the god huddled together, muttering things like, "The addition of a major newcomer...!" "A super potential asset...!" "Ready-made combat power, a healer we absolutely want...!" Just watching from the sidelines, you could feel the seriousness of the situation and their grief.

"Ever since the 'school district' sent people to pick up that half-elf, they've been like that ever since..."

"I can understand their feelings. After all, her abilities and personality are so charismatic. Even I am looking forward to her joining us."

"Yeah, that's right... If we really have to part ways like this... I'll be really sad too."

Welf, Ms. Ryu, and I watched Lily and the others from a distance. To be honest, I was initially quite hesitant. But thanks to their panicked state, I calmed down.

Even the ongoing faction experience was forcibly stopped, even at the cost of offending the receiving party's [familia]. The fact that they went to such extremes shows that the 'school district' is serious.

"Things will work themselves out," "Things will get better," but Orario is in such chaos that such optimism is no longer acceptable. I realize that this turmoil is not something that can be easily resolved.

As the group leader, I was powerless to do anything. Just as I was sitting there feeling embarrassed and restless, a gentle aroma of black tea wafted over, as if soothing my nerves.

"Um, Miss Hill... what exactly happened during our 'expedition'?"

"Hmm--We just felt that 'it seems a bit noisy in the port city'... But after everyone set off, the guild seemed to have started some kind of forced collection of the hardest metal."

I asked about Miss Hill, who had also come to the clubhouse to pour tea for us today.

Miss Hill, holding the tray and resting her index finger on her delicate chin, told us what had happened.

"Lord Baldr and the others seem to be planning a cautious negotiation, but Guild Master Royman appears quite aggressive. 'The school district was established with the support of Labyrinth City, and it's inherently Labyrinth City's property. It's only natural that we receive the benefits!' Then there's things like, 'Lord Uranus has already approved it!' And then they practically forced us to move the hardest metals to Orario."

As a result, the students who returned from the special internship and faction experience witnessed all of this, which eventually developed into the current commotion... that's basically it.

Miss Hill herself seemed to have heard the information from other gods and acquaintances in the port city, but it was indeed very convincing.

Faced with the aggressive guild, Lord Baldr and the gods of their "school district" seemed to have uttered this statement.

"It is entirely up to you. However, we will not be responsible for any consequences arising from this."

...Lord Bader and the others had seen through even this.

Faced with Orario's near-violent use of force, the "school district" has also implemented corresponding countermeasures.

There's absolutely no need for any deities to incite anything; the students in the "school district," with their strong sense of self-determination, will naturally adopt a stance of fighting injustice to the bitter end. Even though I was only a student for a short time, I could personally feel this.

(And what about Nina...? What will become of the 'school district' and Orario in the future?)

At this moment, my strongest feeling is unease.

Since I live in Orario, I've at least spent time in the "school district," which is why I hope we can reconcile quickly.

Just as I was worrying about whether there was anything I could do to help,

"Ugh, really, isn't there any way to do this?!"

"Even if we wanted to do something, the information is pitifully scarce right now! If only we could at least figure out the situation regarding the 'school district,' and where the compromises are...!"

"But wasn't it said that the 'school district' is now completely closed? If you want to find out what's going on inside, you'd need to be a student approved by the gods of academics..."

Lady Hestia, Lily and Miss Fate were talking about this—when suddenly—*snap*.

The three of them stopped at the same time.

Huh? Miss Haruhime tilted her little head cutely, and just then—rolled around.

All three of them turned to look at me.

Huh! Just as Miss Chunji and I both suddenly felt a jolt in our shoulders, the three of them spoke up.

"Bell-kun".

"Lord Bell."

"Lord Bell."

"Could we sneak into the 'school district' again to check on things?"

My eyes widened in surprise, and my face twitched uncontrollably.

Miss Hill smiled and said, "Good luck~", then turned around and took out the "school district" uniform and a full set of costume props that she had prepared beforehand. There's no need to say more about that...

"Lapi-kun!"

After a moment of being immersed in the faint scent of the sea and the cool lake breeze.

Nina clattered down the gangway that had been in use for a while and came to stand in front of me.

Instead of arriving at 'Bell Crane', he went to 'Lapi Flem', who was wearing a white school uniform and a rabbit wig.

"Sorry, Nina... you just suddenly came over."

"No, no! I... I don't want to... part ways like that."

In stark contrast to me, who bowed my head in deep remorse and apologized, Nina kept shaking her head... her eyes were a little moist, and she looked very moved.

I widened my eyes slightly, and then couldn't help but smile calmly.

I keep feeling like I'm hearing a voice saying "Ah, youth~" from afar... It's probably just my imagination, yeah.

"The students who participated in the faction experience should all have returned yesterday... Is everything really alright? I'm the only one coming back so late, won't people suspect anything...?"