If I could summarize our return from the dungeon in one word?

  Awkward.

  Not traumatized. Not glorious. Not even painful—though my bruised ribs would disagree.

  No, it was just deeply, stupidly awkward.

  Because after sying a literal Lich on the tenth floor of a dungeon we weren't even legally supposed to enter, we were rewarded with…

  ...a glowing blue teleportation gate that opened in the center of the boss chamber like a smug, magical "exit" sign.

  And let me tell you—getting out was way easier than going in.

  The Gate of ShameThe moment we stepped through the gate, we didn’t reappear in the dungeon lobby.

  No, no.

  We appeared in the middle of the academy’s central teleportation chamber.

  In front of—

  Three stunned faculty members.

  Five healers.

  The Headmaster.

  And Princess Sylvaria herself.

  Great.

  Exactly what I wanted after near-death: a royal audience for my walk of shame.

  I limped forward. My hair was half-scorched, my robes smelled like roasted skeletons, and I was dragging my staff like a cane.

  “...Hi,” I croaked.

  The Headmaster blinked. “Squad 7?”

  “Reporting in,” Rielle saluted, like she hadn't taken a Lich bst to the spine.

  Sylvaria narrowed her eyes at me. “Floor ten?”

  I pointed at Rielle. “She made me.”

  “She did not cast your spells, Wyrhart,” she shot back.

  Touché.

  Immediate Aftermath: The Meeting of DoomWe were detained. Politely.

  Which is to say, escorted to the faculty offices with “urgent administrative concern” levels of enthusiasm.

  All four of us sat in plush chairs, bandaged and tired, while seven teachers, the headmaster, and Sylvaria gred at us like we were war criminals.

  “I want to be very clear,” said Professor Denvar, the tactical training officer. “No first-year student is permitted past Floor Five. That is not a suggestion. It is not a guideline. It is a w.”

  “Well,” Gram said cheerfully, “we broke it in style.”

  “Shut up, Gram,” I whispered.

  “Expin,” demanded Headmaster Torgald.

  I rubbed my face. “We wanted to challenge ourselves. One floor led to another. We saw the gate. We didn’t expect a boss. Then the boss tried to kill us. So we killed him first. That’s it.”

  “That’s it?” Sylvaria’s voice was sharp. “You fought a Floor Ten Lich—an entity that has previously sughtered full exploration teams—and call it *‘that’s it’? Do you even grasp what you’ve done?”

  “Yes,” I said. “We survived. That’s the important part.”

  Wrong answer.

  The Verdict: School JailThey deliberated for about twenty minutes while we sat in silence.

  Then the Headmaster returned and gave us our sentence:

  Two-week suspension. Immediate parental notification. Dungeon privileges revoked for the semester.

  “Oh good,” I said. “A vacation.”

  “You’ll spend it at home,” Professor Riven added with a dark smile. “Your families will be informed.”

  My soul left my body.

  Parental Summoning: Four-Way FuryThe next morning, all four of our parents were gathered in the academy’s Grand Disciplinary Hall.

  That’s right.

  All of them. In one room.

  It was like a boss rush of disappointed adults.

  My father, Kael Wyrhart—the literal Court Mage—stood like a thundercloud beside my mother, who looked like she was one sigh away from casting Disown Son: Tier III.

  Rielle’s mother? Crossed her arms and gred at me like I had corrupted her daughter.

  Gram’s parents looked... actually proud, until the fine for alchemical misconduct was read.

  And Eli’s father? A former military captain who said nothing, but sharpened his dagger with increasing speed every time someone said “unauthorized.”

  The Princess, of course, sat like a judge above it all, observing.

  “Expin to me,” my father said slowly, “why my son—my only son—decided to casually enter a death-floor, fight a Lich, and nearly become undead kindling.”

  I looked at Rielle.

  She smiled innocently.

  “Don’t look at her!” my mom barked. “You’re not married yet!”

  “Yet?!” I choked.

  “Oh no,” said Rielle’s mother. “I like the sound of that.”

  Eli facepalmed. Gram offered everyone potion cookies.

  It was pure hell.

  Exile: Squad 7's Suspension BeginsThey didn’t even let us pack.

  One instant we were in the meeting.Next? Teleportation scrolls activated.

  Boom—back in the capital. Back at my house.

  Because apparently, Lucien’s home is now the unofficial base of operations for the Chaos Children of Squad 7.

  My Home, Not a HotelI opened the front door, exhausted, trying to process my coming two weeks of shame.

  Then Rielle walked in.

  Followed by Gram.Followed by Eli.

  “...What are you doing?”

  Rielle dropped her sword bag. “We’re suspended as a squad. That means we suffer as a squad.”

  “You have homes!”

  “Yours has better food,” Eli said.

  “Your mom makes healing dumplings,” Gram added.

  “She added sleeping powder st time,” I hissed.

  Rielle threw an arm around my shoulders. “Home is where the overachieving mage lives. Deal with it.”

  Reputation and Rumors: Thanks, DungeonThe next day, we found out that the entire academy now knew what we’d done.

  Senior students walked past our house, pointing.

  One noble sneered, “So the suicidal first-years really cleared floor ten? Must have been beginner's luck.”

  Another snorted, “I heard the Lich tripped and fell.”

  One offered a gold coin to see my “fire-burnt underwear.”

  I considered Fme Bolting them all.

  Meanwhile, the staff had quietly listed us in the high-risk watchlist—reserved for “unstable students with exceptional potential.”

  Oh good.

  Another bel.

  Peace? Never Heard of It.That night, I sat at my desk, trying to write in my spell journal.

  Downstairs, Gram was cooking a mana pie that glowed green. Rielle and Eli were arm-wrestling. My mother was giving them snacks and ominous prayers.

  I sighed.

  This was my life now.

  No peace.No quiet.No "low profile" survival.

  Just chaos.Dungeons.And death-defying roommates.

  I stared out my window and muttered, “I reincarnated for this?”

  And from the other room, Rielle yelled,“YES YOU DID!”