"Did I... make a mistake, accidentally putting everyone in danger..."
"It's going to explode! What do we do?!"
"Adam-senpai! Use your invincible skills to think of something!"
"It's definitely going to explode!"
Everyone except for a certain perverted crusader — who had a peculiar fondness for explosions — looked like ants on a hot pan, frantically running around in circles.
Caught up in their panic, Adam also grew anxious.
He wasn't a genius with a brilliant mind. Solving this Sudoku puzzle in just three minutes was beyond his mental capacity.
But one thing kept him calm: knowing he could escape with everyone at the last moment.
That's right! If they failed the challenge, he could simply use Forced Teleport (from Wiz) to escape with everyone before time ran out!
This space wasn't sealed off. Teleportation Magic was their lifeline.
However, just as he was about to construct a magic circle, a savior appeared.
"Hmph, such a simple problem, and you're all panicking like this. It's really hard to watch."
Though critical and coming from a young girl, her words gave everyone hope, slightly calming their panic.
"Beatrice!"
Adam looked at Beatrice who was intently studying the Sudoku puzzle beside him, suddenly remembering he had a knowledgeable Great Spirit.
This small problem shouldn't be difficult for her!
It was all Kazuma and the others' fault — their panic had affected him too, otherwise how could he have forgotten about her?
"Beatrice... can you solve this difficult puzzle?!" Adam asked softly, turning to the loli beside him.
Beatrice didn't disappoint. After a brief pause, she confidently said, "Well... it looks quite simple, shouldn't be a problem."
Her usual tsundere expression, now brimming with confidence, made everyone place their hopes on her.
Adam happily picked her up, lifting her playfully without regard for the situation.
"Beatrice, you're a great help! As expected of my Only One, you're really capable!"
"Wha-! Put me down, Adam!" Her face turned bright red with embarrassment.
"We're running out of time, let's clear this first!"
"Oh... oh, sorry, got excited."
Rather than putting her down, he held Beatrice up to his chest, allowing her small body to reach the cards on the Sudoku mechanism.
"Beatrice, Megumin already placed a card accidentally. Is that okay?" Adam asked.
"Ah, it's fine." Beatrice said nonchalantly, "Maybe she got lucky. That card the little girl placed happens to be one of the answers to the puzzle. If she had placed the wrong one, the trap mechanism might have been triggered right from the start."
"Phew… is that so? That's great."
Not just Adam, but Kazuma, Aqua, and the others all sighed in relief.
They had suspected that if she had placed it wrong, the mechanism would have been triggered already. But in reality, the mechanism wasn't triggered — instead, a countdown was activated.
Considering that, Megumin's impulsive action didn't cause too much impact... or did it?
"So... Megumin, how long are you going to stay depressed?"
Since placing the card, Megumin had been hanging her head in silence.
She knew she had made a mistake. Even the usually reliable Adam couldn't handle it, and if Beatrice hadn't come to the rescue, they might all have been trapped.
"I-I... I'm sorry! Because of me, we almost made a terrible mistake!" Megumin apologized loudly, which was rare for her.
Usually, she would find nonsensical reasons and blame Yunyun. But this time it was clearly her fault, and there was no way to argue otherwise.
Adam looked at her with pretend sternness and said, "Since you know your mistake, you should know how to correct it. But punishment can't be avoided... We're still in the Dungeon, so it's not appropriate to discuss this now. Everything will be settled after we get out... Don't think about escaping, understand?"
"Yes! I understand!" Megumin accepted her punishment.
Meanwhile, Beatrice had successfully solved the Sudoku puzzle. Her speed was so fast that Adam and the others couldn't even come close.
They were all thinking: they might never reach this level in their lifetime.
Ding—
When Beatrice placed the last number card in the Sudoku puzzle, a crisp sound echoed around everyone.
Then, beams of light began shooting outward from the Sudoku puzzle at the center of the door, and a previously hidden pattern on the door was fully activated. At the bottom of the pattern, a message appeared.
"This is..." Kazuma once again stepped forward as the spokesperson, reading the text above, "[A simple appetizer that shouldn't be a problem for you. Of course, if you can't complete it, you'll just be blown sky-high by the bombs I buried below, hahaha]... No, that was almost a big problem! By the way, there really are bombs, you bastard!"
For a party with almost no one good at puzzles, if Beatrice hadn't come to the rescue in time, they might really have been blown sky-high.
"[The next level is going to get serious, be careful not to lose your life... By the way, I've buried many bombs beneath this Dungeon, so make sure you don't die...]"
One couldn't help but wonder if Darkness had some experience or intuition about this.
Just as she suspected, there really were bombs buried below!
"So there really are bombs down there!" The perverted knight's face flushed with strong anticipation.
It feels like she might cause trouble!
Better keep a closer eye on her.
"Alright… since the door is open, let's continue forward!"
"Oh—!!!" x5
With everyone's enthusiastic cheers, Adam led the way.
However, one person stayed behind. It was Beatrice, the biggest contributor to solving the Sudoku puzzle.
She was still looking at the pattern on the door, lost in thought as if contemplating something important.
Adam turned his head and asked, "What's wrong, Beatrice? Is there something strange?"
Beatrice was silent for a moment, then shook her head, "No, it's nothing."
She then came to his side, following his steps toward the second level.
It was still a long corridor, but unlike before, Adam sensed that the end wasn't a door but an open area.
After walking through the corridor, a small plaza appeared before them. At the front was a gap, and beyond it stood a stone forest with countless pillars in varied positions!
The pillars were about 3 meters wide and at least 30 meters high, spanning two floors!
"This is... a maze?!!!!"
Everyone exclaimed in surprise.
"Finally, a maze has arrived!" Kazuma looked at it with excitement, "A maze... isn't this the standard Dungeon mode?"
Just like every Dungeon, this Sage's Dungeon couldn't escape the cliché. Mazes were still included.
But! This maze differed from others they'd encountered!
Ding—
As if on cue, a mechanical voice announced from mid-air, and a transparent screen floated above their heads.
[Next, please complete the level within 1 hour.]
[0:59:59]
[0:59:58]
[0:59:57]
...
The futuristic technology that suddenly appeared before them, along with the countdown that gave no time to react, caused everyone to panic a little.
"W-what's going on?!!!" Kazuma immediately shouted in response to this unexpected development, "What the hell is this? Why is there suddenly such advanced civilization technology?! This is supposed to be a medieval fantasy world!!!"
In this fantasy world, the sudden appearance of modern technology was jarring and unacceptable — blame it on those predecessors sent here by Aqua.
"Well then, I'm going in!"
"Stop right there, you reckless perverted knight!"
Adam grabbed Darkness to stop her, while simultaneously giving her neck a gentle lick in a spot where others couldn't see.
Instantly, the perverted knight's eyes became misty, and her body went limp in his arms.
I've known your weak (sensitive) spots all along!
"Don't act rashly at a time like this. Have you forgotten what happened with Megumin earlier?" While scolding Darkness who had collapsed in his arms, Adam didn't let go.
Even worse, his hands were doing all sorts of things in places where others couldn't see! This excited the pervert even more!
Time was slowly ticking away as everyone forced themselves to calm down and think.
◈ Perception ◈
"As I thought... this Sage's Dungeon is deliberately screening people."
Adam wanted to use his skills to find a shortcut. But he discovered that in this Dungeon, all perception-type skills were restricted.
This was clearly intentional. The Dungeon was designed to make challengers rely purely on intelligence, not skills, to pass through.
"If you think about it, doesn't something seem odd about these stone pillars?" Kazuma said, "This Dungeon is at most 15 meters deep when we came down, right? So why do the stone pillars appear to be over 30 meters tall?"
This was a major discovery!
Thinking carefully, apart from the initial 15-meter drop into the stone forest trap, everyone had been moving horizontally without descending further.
Yet compared to the 30-meter-high stone pillars before them, something was clearly unusual!
"I think... it's about the slope."
"What?"
Looking down at Darkness in his arms — who had been flushed moments ago but now wore a serious expression as she tried to explain — Adam mischievously continued his inappropriate touching in the shadows.
"Mmm... mmm!" Darkness let out a soft moan, then quickly composed herself while secretly enjoying the stimulation, "As a knight who exercises regularly... and for someone like me who trains balance often... I'm quite sen-si-tive to it."
She looked up at Adam with hidden meaning.
Adam nodded and said, "I understand. You mean this Dungeon slopes downward at a degree we haven't noticed, right?"
His hands never stopped their movement.
"Mmm... mmm, y-yes, that's right..."
"But that has nothing to do with our current challenge." Kazuma pointed out, "Although this discovery is important, shouldn't we focus on clearing this level?"
"Yes, that's right."
Now, except for Kazuma, Adam, and Beatrice, everyone else stood behind them with blank expressions. They had completely stopped thinking.
These guys...
Time continued to slip away.
[0:51:30]
[0:51:29]
[0:51:28]
...
Just when everyone was at a loss, Beatrice suddenly seemed to understand something, and her delicate voice said something that raised everyone's spirits.
"I see, I understand now."
"...Beatrice? Can you solve this puzzle?" Looking at her excited face, Adam realized she had found the solution.
"I can't be completely certain, but... it's probably just as I thought."
Beatrice didn't state it definitively, but Adam understood that her solution was likely correct.
"Beatrice, please help us."
"Hmph, follow me, and don't get lost." Beatrice didn't refuse, but let out a proud huff before taking the lead.
As she walked, she explained to those behind her, her tone light and proud as if showing off her intelligence.
"The stone pillars in this maze connect both the upper and lower levels, eliminating any possibility of looking down from above — but that's just the first challenge. To pass through this maze, we need to find the correct exit... or rather, the pattern."
"Pattern?"
"Yes. Earlier, when we solved the Sudoku puzzle, wasn't there a special pattern on that door? Judging by your expressions, it seems none of you paid attention."
Beatrice realized everyone had blank faces and knew that besides herself, no one else had noticed.
"The pattern on that door is a panoramic view of this maze... no, it's also connected to the Sudoku puzzle, since its solution is the answer!"
Beatrice's words surprised everyone.
"That Sudoku wasn't testing arithmetic or intelligence, but reasoning and logic. Combined with this maze level and the hint on the previous door, we can deduce that the previous level's answer is the solution, except that one number is missing."
"What ultimately confirmed my theory was the initial placement of the stone pillars. Haven't you noticed? The pillars in this maze are arranged similarly to the Sudoku solution, just with a slight change in direction. If you were careful, you would have noticed — the hints were quite sufficient."
"… By the way, did you understand what I just said?"
Looking at everyone's dumbfounded expressions, Beatrice realized her lengthy explanation had been completely wasted.
"Sorry… I don't understand at all!"
"Me neither!"
"Me neither!"
"I'm sorry, m-me neither..."
"Me too!"
Everyone, including Adam, responded with answers that visibly irritated Beatrice.
"Ahem, Beatrice…" Adam asked, trying to redirect the conversation, "You mentioned a missing number? What is it?"
"9, the number 9!" She declared emphatically.
Clearly frustrated at explaining complex concepts to people who couldn't grasp them, Beatrice quickened her pace and took the lead.
"By combining the pattern from the previous door with the Sudoku solution, rotating it, and then removing the position of number 9, we can map out a clear path to the exit."
Without further questions, everyone followed her guidance and successfully exited the maze.
Time taken: just 20 minutes!
✧✧✧
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