Under the watchful eyes of her fellow elves, Stella "voluntarily" began recounting her experiences in the Sein Dungeon.
For example—how she and her companions worked together to defeat the Crucible Knight, how she became a righteous Warrior of the Sun, how she punished invaders while helping weaker adventurers…
Of course, she only talked about the good parts. Who would openly recount their own suffering and hardships in front of a crowd?
With this kind of narration, she painted herself as a resilient warrior who had grown through adversity and trials—a shining, heroic figure. Honestly, it was inspiring enough to qualify her for this year's "Top Ten Most Moving Figures of the City."
Anyone hearing this would feel that way…—but only if they hadn't seen the letter she wrote earlier, where she exaggerated her misery to the extreme just to trick people into coming.
It's like when Ace Ultraman says that Super Beasts don't feel pain—if you were one of those beasts, you'd just think he was talking nonsense.
So now, the people who had seen that letter looked at Stella—who was desperately talking only about the good parts while completely avoiding her suffering—and their gazes gradually filled with pity.
Poor child. Trying so hard just to save face.
Even Liznai, at this moment, quietly covered her mouth, unable to bear exposing Stella's "lies."
What's with those looks? And those expressions?! Don't look at me like that!
Stella's voice grew weaker and weaker. Everything she said was true, yet in this atmosphere, it all seemed to take on a completely different meaning.
"That's enough, Stella," Wienma said, looking at her like a pitiful little thing. "If you want, you can come home with me. You don't have to keep fighting anymore."
No, I want to fight!
A surge of frustration welled up inside Stella, with nowhere to go. Only beating up ten invaders might relieve this pent-up anger!
But her expression was interpreted as disappointment. And so, Wienma's protective instincts as an elder elf kicked in.
After gently comforting her, Wienma quickly made a decision—
Once Stella had rested, they would all enter the Sein Dungeon together to help her reclaim her pride and settle all the grievances she had suffered.
(And, incidentally, to research the dungeon's magic… quietly.)
After reading the manuscript Roger had brought back and filling in the remaining information through Sid, Wienma had grown quite interested in the dungeon.
She wanted to see for herself what kind of book pages could allow even an idiot to instantly learn magic.
Besides, since Professor Set and the others were also here, she intended to find out their true objectives—and perhaps make things difficult for them along the way.
After all, her departure from the Magic Association had something to do with them.
With permission granted, Stella fled back home as if escaping. The others gradually dispersed as well.
"Melga, you're not leaving?" Wienma looked at the elf who had just sobered up—not a butterfly, but Melga.
"Is it over already?" Melga yawned lazily, scratching her stomach. "Perfect timing. I already figured out why those professors came here—nothing particularly interesting."
Wienma nodded, signaling her to continue—but suddenly noticed a small figure hiding behind a pillar.
"Liznai," the elf aunt sighed, "if you want to listen, come out openly."
"Fair enough."
The moment Liznai spoke, vines suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped tightly around her, squeezing her flat figure into something slightly more… noticeable.
Her face instantly flushed red, as if she were about to suffocate.
"That mouth of yours really needs a mute mask," Melga said with a grin.
"But it's not really your fault. After all, you were cursed by the 'God of Sharp Tongues.' What we hear is completely different from what you actually intend to say."
"I think she enjoys it," Wienma said darkly, though she eventually released Liznai.
As Melga explained, the expressionless elf had been kidnapped by cultists as a child and nearly sacrificed.
Though she was rescued at the last moment, she was cursed by an evil god. Her words could be misinterpreted by listeners, turning into harsh or cutting remarks.
Because of that, she lost her friends—and eventually, even her expressions.
Before her speech completely deteriorated, she fortunately met Stella.
Stella had a carefree and competitive personality. Ordinary harsh words couldn't hurt her—instead, they only provoked her into fighting back.
And so, Liznai often sought her out for "conversations." Those moments became some of her few chances to relax.
"By the way, are you still transferring money into that forest bank card every month?" Melga asked teasingly. "Stella has never used it—you can bet she doesn't even know. You might as well keep your royalties."
Liznai rolled her eyes.
"Mind your own business. A failed older sister who can't get along with her sibling shouldn't let jealousy interfere with our relationship."
"What relationship do you even have?!"
Watching the two bicker below, Wienma's smile twitched.
Calm down. These are her own people—no matter what, she couldn't just give up on them.
Besides, these were already some of the more normal elves… the others were even worse.
She covered her eyes, her skirt shifting slightly, silently feeling that the elf race might be doomed.
(***)
Stella ended up resting for three full days—it was clear just how exhausted she was.
If it had only been physical fatigue, one day would have been enough. But this time, it was mental exhaustion. She didn't even feel like going outside.
Even so, she continued gathering information through her own channels, focusing especially on intelligence about the Magic Classroom and the Lake Zone to better prepare for her next journey.
Knock, knock.
The window was tapped.
She removed a miniature statue of Maldron from the windowsill—custom-made—and opened it.
A white eagle stood outside.
"Thanks for your hard work."
She took a small bundle from the eagle, fed it some dried meat, and after it left, opened the bundle to examine its contents.
Papers in various handwriting styles, all kinds of materials, and even a few recording stones.
These were sent by her companion Dany, using the Shadow Brotherhood—who loved stirring up big news—to gather first-hand intelligence.
Together, they essentially represented the current frontline progress of the Sein Dungeon.
After reviewing them, she gained a rough understanding of the situation.
A little over a week had passed since Luluwo and her group released information about Liurnia of the Lakes and its related areas.
During that time, leading adventurers had already obtained transfer certificates, allowing them to freely enter and exit the classroom area and explore the lake.
These certificates were steadily spreading among mid-tier adventurers, and even some ordinary people had begun to obtain them.
Within one or two months, their distribution would likely become widespread enough for most people to skip the fake classroom area entirely.
Wouldn't that make the area obsolete?
No problem—the mastermind would intervene. At worst, the area could simply be reclaimed.
Although access to transfer certificates had increased, only a few could actually pass the seal and reach Liurnia of the Lakes—because they couldn't defeat the gatekeepers.
Not even mentioning Moongram—even ordinary Carian Knights were a major hurdle for many.
During this time, Luluwo had analyzed the combat patterns and abilities of Carian Knights. With her strategy guide, their difficulty could be reduced to around D+ level.
Two types of Carian Knights could appear: one resembling Moongram, and another—the Troll Knight. Their strength was similar, but adventurers found the slower Troll Knight easier to handle.
So naturally… the mastermind slightly reduced the spawn rate of the Troll Knight.
This raised a question:
Wasn't the appeal of the Val Dungeon supposed to be its accessibility and the ability to learn magic easily?
Why block people from entering?
Because if you couldn't defeat the gatekeeper, you could simply travel to the teleportation gate in Val City and enter from there—no one would stop you.
Moreover, the classroom wasn't the only place with Glintstone Crowns. Simplified versions existed in the lake area as well.
Though fewer in number and fixed in selection, they didn't require defeating Carian Knights—making them more suitable for the general public.
However, this hadn't been discovered yet.
Meanwhile, the first group of adventurers who chose the "long route" had already reached the ruins of Val City and entered Liurnia through the teleportation gate.
Since Gapar and his team lit the bonfire, newcomers were teleported near the Town of the Academy Gate.
As long as you weren't blind, you could see the smoke rising from the bonfire.
Follow it, defeat a few weak monsters, and you could reach a major safe zone—the Town of the Academy Gate. After visiting once, future teleportations would take you there directly.
"The monster classifications are compiled too…" Stella flipped through the reports.
First came the Lobster Family: small / medium / large / variant / boss-tier lobsters.
"…At the end of the day, they're still just lobsters."
Though it looked like asset reuse, people in this world interpreted it as the dungeon finally having a "structured ecosystem" of monsters.
Still, something felt off.
After thinking carefully, she realized that reports about the long-range water cannon lobsters were unusually rare.
Not just lobsters—giant crabs, octopuses, multi-armed spirits—monsters that had thoroughly tormented her and Leon's group were barely mentioned.
Most adventurers seemed to encounter relatively easy enemies.
What was going on?
It couldn't be that people just rarely encountered those monsters—because during her exploration, they were everywhere.
Had the monster distribution in the lake changed while she was resting?
It almost seemed like the danger level had been lowered.
Map data was still scarce. The lake region was massive, and with few explorers, much remained undiscovered.
"What's in this recording stone? This is my first time receiving one."
She injected magic into it, and a rectangular projection appeared in midair.
Since it was daytime, the image looked washed out, so she closed the curtains tightly and replayed it.
"Is it recording already?"
Luluwo's beautiful face suddenly filled the screen from a terrible angle.
"It's already started? I haven't prepared my lines yet. Ahem… hello to all our patrons who bought this recording—welcome to the… hey, what's that term again?"
"Vlog," Belto's voice came from off-screen.
"Right—welcome to our adventure vlog!"
"Recording like this is way easier than writing guides…" she muttered under her breath.