"........."
I woke up.
It was still dark outside.
I crawled out of my sleeping bag, stood up, and stretched widely.
I did a few light knee bends on the spot.
Sumire and the others were still asleep.
So I quietly stepped out onto the student council room balcony to not wake everyone.
The morning air was cold.
In a few dozen minutes, dawn would break.
And the Red Dragon would manifest on the surface.
The people of the Dungeon City would surely be jolted awake by blaring alarms at that abnormal situation.
"Good morning, Eugene."
A voice called out to me from behind.
Sara was standing there, looking a little tense.
"Morning, Sara. You're early." (Eugene)
"You too." (Sara)
"Yeah." (Eugene)
We exchanged wry smiles.
Standing side by side, Sara and I looked out from the second floor student council room at the scenery of the Lykeion Magic Academy, the Dungeon City, and the Zenith Tower.
"So 'that' will come and destroy everything now, huh…" (Sara)
"In about thirty minutes, I'd say." (Eugene)
Sara's voice was stiff.
Mine too.
"We can't go and wait for it in advance…right?" (Sara)
"That was the Demon God-sama's advice -that we shouldn't." (Eugene)
Back when the Red Dragon appeared on the surface before.
We had no way of knowing it at the time, but apparently we drew the attention of the Gods of the Divine Realm and Hell.
So acting as if we knew the future in front of the Red Dragon would be extremely bad.
It's better to act the same as last time, at least until we face the Red Dragon.
——After the emergency alarm in the Dungeon City sounds, we rush to the Zenith Tower.
That is the first action we'll take today.
So for now, we just wait.
It's frustrating.
"G-Good morning~..."
Sumire came over, rubbing her sleepy eyes while Sara and I stood there silently watching the scenery.
"Morning, Sumire." (Eugene)
"Good morning, Sumire-chan." (Sara)
Sumire wobbled over next to me and leaned her body against mine.
Then she hugged me tightly.
Her soft body and chest pressed against me.
Sumire's body temperature is high.
"Sumire?" (Eugene)
"Just like this for a bit… Recharging~☆" (Sumire)
She said something that didn't really make sense.
If anything, I'm the one borrowing mana from Sumire, though.
Well, whatever.
"Hey! That's not fair, I want to do it too!" (Sara)
Now Sara clung to me as well.
"H-Hey. You two." (Eugene)
"Sara-chan, it's cramped!" (Sumire)
"Sumire-chan, you should show some restraint!" (Sara)
The serious, tense atmosphere from before completely dissipated.
After being jostled around by the two of them for a while…
"You're noisy." (Claude)
Claude had woken up.
"Morning, Claude." (Eugene)
"Morning. You're lively this early, Eugene." (Claude)
"T-That's not it, Claude-kun." (Sumire)
"Yeah! Don't say it in such a weird way." (Sara)
Sumire and Sara blushed and took some distance from me at those words.
Then I noticed something.
"Where's Airi?" (Eugene)
"Still sleeping, I guess?" (Claude)
When Claude and I looked over, Airi's red sleeping bag was still puffed up.
I slowly approached it and lifted the fabric.
"Kuu..."
Airi was sleeping soundly, wearing a blissful expression.
(We all woke up from tension…) (Eugene)
She didn't look like she'd wake up anytime soon.
It's much better than not being able to sleep from nerves.
(Come to think of it, was Airi bad at mornings?) (Eugene)
If we woke her up at the last minute, she'd probably be in a bad mood.
"Hey, wake up. Airi." (Eugene)
I patted her cheek lightly.
"Mm...?"
She slowly opened her blue eyes with a slightly irritated voice.
"Morning, Airi." (Eugene)
"......"
There was no reply.
She stared at me with vacant eyes, as if still half in a dream.
"H-Hey, it's about time—" (Eugene)
Just as I was about to say that…
"You're noisy." (Airi)
At the same time Airi said that, she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck.
(S-So fast!) (Eugene)
With movements reminiscent of the unarmed techniques of the Twin Heavenly Resonance Style, my body was restrained in an instant and…
"Eugy, mm♡" (AIri)
"!? "
My lips were stolen by Airi.
This idiot, she's still half-asleep…
I couldn't exactly shove her away, so I let it be for a bit…
"Oh? Eugy? What are you doing?" (Airi)
"That's my line." (Eugene)
It seemed her consciousness had finally cleared.
"Eugy-kun?"
"Eugene?"
My clothes were pulled from behind, and I was peeled away from Airi.
When I turned around, Sumire and Sara were looking down at me with cold eyes.
"Airi-chan, how about washing your face?" (Claude)
Claude said with a wry smile.
"!? Everyone was awake?" (Airi)
Airi looked a little embarrassed.
She quickly got out of her sleeping bag and straightened her clothes.
Sumire fixed her bedhead for her.
Now everyone was awake.
I looked around at them.
"In about ten minutes, the alarm will sound. After that, there won't be time to relax. Calm your minds in whatever way is easiest for you." (Eugene)
Everyone nodded slightly.
Sumire was reading the grimoire she always used.
Sara clasped her hands together and prayed.
Claude held his spear and seemed to be meditating.
As for Airi and me…
"Eugy, what do you do at times like this?" (Airi)
"Nothing. Same as usual." (Eugene)
"Right. You don't get nervous, do you, Eugy?" (Airi)
"I am, technically." (Eugene)
"No way. You were always calm even during the military school exams, and you're totally composed now too." (Eugene)
"I just make it look that way." (Eugene)
While we were chatting like that…
——Emergency alarm! Emergency alarm!
In the quiet morning, a desperate loudspeaker spell announcement from the Dungeon Guild echoed.
——All explorers in the Dungeon City, please assemble at the Zenith Tower immediately! Repeating…
"Let's go." (Eugene)
I called out to everyone.
And thus began the day the Dungeon City and the Lykeion Magic Academy would 'collapse'.