The cave was large enough to accommodate three or four people.
It was noon, the brightest time of day, yet the cave's interior remained pitch-black, indicating its considerable depth.
"Hunters active in this area say this cave has existed for a long time. Professor, have you never heard of it before?"
"...I rarely leave the Academy. I'm not very familiar with the mountains near the city."
Floy surveyed the cave, seemingly searching for traces of something.
Though slightly tense, I trusted Yuria. She would have thoroughly erased any evidence.
"There are traces of beasts and monsters here. They're quite old."
Floy's discoveries included slightly dug-up earth and animal fur.
"You know how to read these signs?"
"I learned during my time as a knight. One of a knight's duties is to periodically hunt monsters. Did the hunter know what was in this cave?"
"As you said, Professor, it was a lair for beasts and monsters. However, the cave's master reportedly changed frequently."
"The tracks are quite old. What kind of monsters inhabit this mountain?"
"I've heard they're goblins."
I took out a prepared lamp from the backpack on my back.
"The cave is said to be quite deep."
"Did the Demon's Trace really point here? I don't see any demonic traces."
"We didn't find any physical traces. Instead, we pieced together rumors circulating in the city to deduce that a demon might be here. We need to find evidence of a demon's presence now."
I lit the lamp and prepared to enter. Floy, her face tense, placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"There's no need to be so nervous. The chances of encountering a demon here are less than 10%. Even the hunters and herbalists who frequent these mountains claim to have never seen anything demonic."
We had dealt with the seven goblins living in the cave a few days prior. The cave was now empty.
"If you're uncomfortable, you can wait here. I'll go inside and check things out first."
"No. I can't allow that. I'm the professor, and you're the student. If anything happens, I'll protect you."
This was the reaction I had anticipated. I smiled and thanked her.
"I feel so reassured knowing you're here to help, Professor."
Floy and I entered the cave together.
As we ventured deeper, the temperature plummeted.
"It's freezing," Floy shivered. "Is this cave always this cold?"
"This chill is unnatural," I replied. "Could a Demon truly have resided here...?"
In reality, the cold was caused by magical devices hidden within the cave walls freezing spells concealed throughout the cavern.
You have to set the mood properly from the start.
I stumbled slightly, bumping into Floy's shoulder. My left hand brushed against her hip.
"What was that?!"
"I stepped on a protruding rock. My apologies."
"Even with the lantern, it's so dark in here. Be more careful where you step."
"Yes, Professor."
Floy showed no reaction beyond a brief glance at me.
It's probably because, in the dark, it felt like nothing more than an accidental bump.
The fact that her pants were made of thick leather also played a part. If she had been wearing thinner clothes, she might have shown at least a slight reaction.
"...!"
Floy suddenly stopped and drew her sword from her waist.
"Professor?"
"There's something here."
"Huh? I don't see anything."
"The sword moved on its own."
It was highly likely to be a shadow controlled by Yuria's magic.
"A Demon... perhaps?"
"I don't know. It's too early to be certain. I can't rule out the possibility that I misperceived it."
"...If we investigate, we'll find out what's here, right?"
We reached the end of the cave. The thick stench of blood made Floy instinctively tense up.
I shone my lamp around and gasped. Five burly male corpses lay scattered across the floor, and a bizarre magic circle, drawn in blood, covered the walls.
"This can't be..." I feigned shock. Floy was too busy scanning our surroundings to notice my performance, making it easy to act.
"Those corpses... they're bandits. Ordinary people don't carry such weapons. Yujin, do you recognize that magic circle?"
"I'm not a magician, so I can't say for sure... but I know that magic circles drawn with human blood are inherently evil! Even if there wasn't a demon here, a dark mage must have been involved!"
"Either way, they were doing something here. There's a hole next to that wall."
"That hole seems to lead downward."
It was a hole too low to walk through standing up, but wide enough to crawl through.
"Yujin!"
Floy called my name sharply.
Black figures writhed around us. More than ten of them had surrounded us, with four clustered near the exit.
These were Shadow Monsters created by Yuria's Shadow Magic.
I switched the lantern to my left hand and drew my sword with my right.
"Do you know what these things are?"
"N-no, I don't."
"We'll break through by force."
Floy swung her Aura-infused sword at the nearest shadow. The Shadow Monster's form collapsed like spilled liquid, dissolving into the floor and vanishing.
"Surprisingly easy. We might as well finish them all off here."
Floy moved with lightning speed, slashing through the shadows in every direction.
I faced one shadow myself, but my sword couldn't cut through it. There was no sensation of striking anything at all.
"Move aside!"
I stepped back as Floy's blade bisected the shadow vertically.
"My attacks didn't even register."
"There's only one difference between your sword and mine."
"Aura... you mean?"
"These creatures seem particularly vulnerable to Aura. Let's return to the Academy. I need to report what happened here to the Dean."
"Professor! There's something at the exit!"
I urgently called out to Floy. At the exit stood a human-like figure, pitch-black from head to toe, wielding two curved scythes.
It was Yuria, her form concealed by shadows.
"A demon...?"
Given her utterly alien appearance and my repeated references to demons, it was natural for Floy to assume she was one.
Blue Aura blazed around Floy's sword. But before she could strike, Yuria moved first. Her scythes aimed for Floy's neck. Terrified by the speed, Floy recoiled.
Yuria suddenly turned her attention to me. I raised my sword to defend myself, but her scythe, swung low, grazed my shoulder. It was barely a scratch, but a blood pouch I had prepared burst, splattering blood everywhere.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
I screamed and collapsed to the ground. The lamp I had dropped shattered, plunging the cave into darkness. In the gloom, only Floy's faint blue aura glowed.
"Yujin!"
Floy called my name and rushed toward me.
Yuria moved silently.
"Ugh...!"
Two scythes left shallow cuts on Floy's body. They deliberately avoided inflicting deep wounds, as our goal wasn't to kill her.
A pitch-black shadow writhed up from the floor, surging upward to engulf Floy. She couldn't evade it.
The shadow gradually enveloped Floy's body.
Yuria stood motionless, watching Floy.
"Are you... mocking me?!" Floy snarled, gritting her teeth as she hurled her sword at Yuria. The blade pierced Yuria's body or at least, it appeared to. Yuria would never fall to such a pathetic attack.
While Yuria staggered, Floy grabbed me and tried to flee the cave.
Thud!
Yuria's kick to the back of Floy's head knocked her unconscious instantly.
My eyes, which had been half-closed, snapped fully open.
"Good work, Yuria."
The shadows concealing Yuria's body melted into the floor, revealing her true form. She stood perfectly composed, Floy's sword in one hand.
"It was nothing, Master."
"Let's proceed with the next phase of the plan."
"Yes, Master. If anything goes wrong, please call for me. I'll be ready to move at a moment's notice."
"Don't worry. It's just two days of starvation. What's the big deal?"
I grinned and glanced at the hole in the wall, planning to descend using a rope.
"Before that, let's secure her sword and get down there first. The magic circle below will keep us alive, but it burns away anything worn inside it."
"...Ugh. Urgh."
Seeing Floy's only right eye roll upward, I urgently called out her name.
"Professor Floy! Professor!"
"...Yujin? Are we still alive?"
Floy, who had been lying on the floor, sat up abruptly, startled. Our clothes were gone, leaving both of us completely naked.
"W-what is this?!"
Floy hastily covered her vital areas with her hands, but her hands were too small to completely conceal everything.
While she managed to hide her bright pink nipples, it was impossible to fully conceal her ample breasts.
Thick brown pubic hair peeked out from the sides of her palms. She pressed her thighs tightly together in an attempt to hide more.
"Professor, calm down. When I woke up, our clothes were already gone. The magic circle must have destroyed them."
"...Where are we?"
Floy turned her head to survey her surroundings.
The space was completely empty except for the walls that enclosed us on all sides.
"There's a hole in the ceiling. We probably came in through there."
Floy's gaze drifted upward to the ceiling. There, a magic circle, drawn as if with blood, glowed faintly, illuminating the chamber. Beside the circle was a hole.
"What kind of magic circle is that?"
"I don't know. Considering it healed our wounds, the Demon might be experimenting on us..."
"...You were slashed by a Demon, weren't you?"
"Yes. When I woke up, the wound had been healed."
"And my eyepatch is gone... I showed you something unsightly."
A scar, as if from an animal's claw, marred her left eye.
"Not at all. It's not unsightly at all. Was it from an animal attack?"
"...A Werewolf. The price of carelessness... No, that's just an excuse. I lost my left eye because I was too weak."
Floy's gaze was fixed on the ceiling. She hadn't looked at me since earlier. The reason was simple: I was naked.
"A Demon who healed our wounds..."
"Isn't it more likely they're using the Magic Circle on the ceiling to experiment on us?"
"Perhaps they even want us to starve to death slowly."
"Demons are evil beings, so that's a plausible theory."
"..."
Silence descended, thick with awkwardness. We were both naked. I pretended to look away while secretly admiring her body.
Small scars dotted her skin, barely noticeable unless you looked closely. To me, her scars felt strangely fresh.
She had a toned physique, clearly the result of daily rigorous training.
"Climbing the wall to reach the ceiling seems impossible. The ceiling is too high, and the upper part of the wall has been smoothed flat by the Demon, leaving no handholds."
"Can't we use your Aura, Professor?"
"Unfortunately, I can only manifest my Aura through my sword."
The wall was smooth and the ceiling was over 15 meters high. Even Floy couldn't climb it without any equipment.
"...So, unless someone comes looking for us, there's no way out."
"I came here without telling anyone. Tomorrow is a day off, so... the students and professors might notice my absence and start searching for me the day after tomorrow."
"I have a maid. She'll start looking for me if I don't return to the dormitory by evening. I'm not sure if she'll be able to find this place, though."
"There's a good chance. All we can do now is wait and hope."
Floy carefully rose from her seat and moved to a corner, leaning against the wall. I sat down a short distance away, also leaning against the wall.
We sat in silence. Floy was deep in thought, her expression serious, while I stole glances at her body.
Covering her breasts and pussy with her hands makes it even more erotic.
I suppressed the urge to make a move on her immediately. She was more skilled than me, and more importantly, this wasn't something I could force.
I repeatedly tapped my fist against the wall a seemingly meaningless gesture that served as a signal.
There are monitoring spells hidden all over the walls. Yuria must be keeping track of us from outside.
A few minutes after sending the signal, the temperature began to drop.