The sun rose bright and golden over the Royal Academy, birds sang, flowers bloomed and students shuffled to class, bleary-eyed and over-caffeinated.
And somewhere deep in the east wing, Emilia Rosenhart tried to quietly put on her school shoes.
Keyword: tried.
Because her route to first-period Alchemy now resembled something out of a dungeon crawler video game.
The moment Emilia stepped into the main hallway, she froze.
The usually pristine corridor had transformed overnight into a full-blown war zone. Desk barricades blocked every ten meters. Blackboards were nailed over windows like storm shutters. Tripwires glimmered faintly with mana.
And carved into the marble floor—seriously carved, with what looked like holy spears and dragon claws—was a massive warning:
"NO EMILIA ALLOWED. – Signed, The Sanity Purge Alliance."
Emilia sighed, adjusting her satchel.
"I told Rei I didn't want to get dragged into this. Now I'm literally a dungeon boss."
