Chapter 107

That’s not it, so relax your expression.

I conveyed that to Allen with my face, giving him a sharp look.

Only then did Allen flinch and avert his gaze.

I subtly turned my head to check our surroundings.

Seeing that no one was around, I raised my voice a bit.

“…As you know, there are too many eyes here.”

Even excluding us, there were still 96 people.

It was impossible to avoid the eyes of that many people.

“Th-then should I go back…?”

Elaine said, touching her forehead with an embarrassed look.

“No… that would be even weirder.”

She had gone through the trouble of asking her close friend to come along.

Turning back now would be too strange.

“Then what should we do?”

“Hmm, for now, I don’t think we need to worry too much about ‘that side.’ No one will think much of it?”

Elaine joining our trio and abandoning her class for the mock battle?

Even if they saw us together, no one would think that.

It’s just too implausible.

“That’s a relief, but…”

Elaine still looked slightly anxious and sighed softly.

“That’s not the issue; it’s about our relationship.”

“Huh…?”

Elaine blinked rapidly.

No one in the second year knew about my relationship with Elaine.

Even if you broadened it, only Camian, who attended the swordsmanship hall, would know.

I had intentionally avoided approaching her within the school.

It was partly out of consideration and partly due to a sense of guilt.

It wasn’t my fault, and I had been forgiven, but I still felt that way towards her.

But now, it seemed like it was time to reveal it.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just come clean? It’s better than hearing all sorts of rumors.”

There was no one among the normal students who would be friendly with Max, but Elaine was especially known for having an icy relationship with me.

So, it was no wonder that the class president and her friend were shocked when she suddenly said she would follow me.

And that reaction would continue with everyone we met.

“What do you mean, come clean? What kind of relationship do we have?”

Elaine’s words got a bit jumbled, perhaps due to the sudden confusion.

“Ah, to be precise, it’s not about revealing it but rather it being revealed. If we keep hanging out together like this, everyone will know.”

“W-what kind of relationship do we have?”

Elaine’s eyes wavered.

She seemed worried that I might give a strange answer.

There’s no need to worry about that, my friend.

“What kind of relationship? Friends.”

I answered immediately.

From enemies to being forgiven and reconciling as friends.

A clean resolution.

“Y-yes. Friends.”

Elaine’s tension finally eased.

Seeing her like that made me want to tease her, so I blurted out.

“What? Did you think I was going to confess, ‘You’re my girlfriend’ or something?”

“W-what…? C-c-c-confess?”

Elaine’s face turned completely red, and she stuttered.

Her reaction was typical of a model student with no immunity to boys.

Her reaction was so cute that it was fun to tease her.

But I shouldn’t cross the line.

Just as I was about to say something to smooth things over.

“Haa… A person like me should just die… I don’t deserve to live…”

I heard Allen mutter in a lifeless voice.

I turned my head toward the sound.

There was a severe depressive patient.

Why did he get dark circles in such a short time?

Is it magic…?

“Mother… I’m sorry… I wanted to be popular too… No… I would have been satisfied with just one… Was that such an excessive wish for a human…?”

“…”

Why is he leaving a will…?

“It seems obvious why you’re not popular.”

Riviera delivered a final blow to the dying patient.

As expected of a named boss.

She’s brutal, brutal.

“Ugh…”

Allen let out a zombie-like groan as he absorbed the final blow.

This won’t do; I need to save him.

“Get some rest.”

Thud!

I knocked Allen out with a clean hit to the back of his head.

* * *

“…Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

After regaining his senses and hearing the explanation, Allen apologized.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I understand. I won’t joke about girls in front of you anymore.”

“Ugh…”

“Hey.”

Thud!

Riviera smacked Allen’s head with her fist.

Allen’s eyes, which were about to go blank, returned to normal.

“Saved.”

“Hey, are you some kind of fragile fish? Can’t even joke around you.”

“That’s too much… That’s too much, leader.”

Honestly, I was just teasing a bit, but it seems I need to hold back in front of this guy.

“Alright. Let’s focus.”

I said seriously, trying to change the atmosphere.

“Just to be safe, you two.”

I looked at Allen and Riviera.

“Even by accident, don’t let this information slip anywhere.”

Both the guerrilla unit and Elaine joining us.

If it leaked, my strategy would be ruined.

So I had to make sure, just in case.

“Of course, leader! I’ll keep it to myself.”

“Yes.”

Riviera’s short answer seemed more trustworthy… is that just my feeling…?

Anyway, I continued.

“Alright, I trust you. Now, we’ll check the terrain, so don’t worry about anything else. Just remember the locations.”

A guerrilla unit doesn’t need all four of us to stick together.

There are times when splitting up is more efficient.

Especially with a combination of two mages and two melee attackers.

That’s why knowing the locations was important.

To designate meeting points and operational points accurately.

If we shared locations among the squad members.

“Locations?”

Elaine looked thoughtful.

“Yes. You don’t need to remember them perfectly. It would be hard anyway. I’ll remind you several times after the reconnaissance.”

“It’s not hard.”

Riviera said.

“You… well, I guess you could.”

“I’ll remember them in one go too.”

Even Elaine.

Is this some kind of competition?

“You can do it too, right?”

The remaining person.

“…I should just die, right?”

It took some time to calm down the self-deprecating extra.

* * *

“Sa1.”

I pointed to a location.

“Sa” was a code because there were four of us.

“Ne1” would sound a bit strange.

And “1” was the number based on the order I planned.

Think of it as the order of the 90% completed strategy.

There would be many times we needed to move in order, so it would be easier to remember that way.

Elaine, Riviera, and Allen memorized it.

Meanwhile, I wrote something on paper and drew diagrams.

Reinforcing parts that differed from my memory or were lacking.

To complete the remaining 10%.

We continued like that.

“Sa7.”

“Here too?”

Allen tilted his head in confusion.

It was a swampy area.

A terrain no one would typically venture into.

But.

‘There are those who will.’

Information only I could know.

Given that, his reaction was understandable.

“Just trust me and memorize it.”

I said with a confident voice.

Elaine seemed to interpret my confidence differently.

“You’re preparing for every possible scenario, aren’t you?”

Her eyes reflected admiration for my thoroughness.

Receiving such a look from a beautiful woman naturally felt good.

I smiled.

“Well, yes. It’s a matter of second-year pride, isn’t it?”

“We need to establish dominance over the first-years.”

Riviera chimed in unexpectedly.

…Where did she pick up that phrase?

“A senior should have that kind of presence.”

There’s no way she came up with that on her own. Who’s been teaching her this stuff?

“Who said that?”

“A professor.”

“Which professor?”

“Professor Lapit.”

Our homeroom teacher?

“The professors made a bet.”

“A bet?”

“They all bet on the first-years winning, except for Professor Lapit and the fox… Professor Karen.”

“Huh?”

“They… they bet on us?”

Elaine, Allen, and I were all shocked simultaneously.

Someone bet on us?

I might have to rethink my belief that no one expected us to win.

That must be why the professor was talking about establishing dominance and presence.

Even if he’s our homeroom teacher, betting on a 99.99% losing chance? Did he care that much about the second years?

His teaching attitude was always so lackadaisical…

Well, I get why Professor Karen did it.

She had told me back then:

‘Excellent. You did as well as I expected. I’ll continue to have high expectations. Both of you.’

From that, I could infer that Professor Karen had taken an interest in Riviera and me.

She was genuinely intrigued.

True to her nature, she made a bold bet based on her interests.

If we meet her expectations, does that mean her favorability towards us will increase?

But honestly, the chances of winning are slim.

“With professors believing in our victory, we should give it our best.”

I said with a light smile.

Elaine and Allen’s eyes seemed to regain some determination, showing that the professors’ actions had a positive impact.

Riviera was already unusually motivated, talking about smashing everything, so she was fine.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next spot.”

* * *

“Are you sure that place is okay?”

Elaine asked as we were heading back after checking all the locations.

“What place?”

“The spot the class president chose.”

“Oh, that. Why? Is something bothering you?”

“It just seems too advantageous for defense with the wooden barricades and the earthen fort. It feels too artificially set up.”

As expected of Elaine.

She seemed to instinctively sense that it was a trap.

Indeed, the fort was an obviously artificial construction.

Not something you’d find in a typical plain.

It was something the academy had set up on purpose.

The students probably knew that too.

But using such terrain features effectively in battle was something the academy encouraged.

So they didn’t realize it was a trap.

That fort was a shiny but doomed ship.

“You’re right.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a trap.”

It does provide many defensive advantages.

But holing up there means you’re trapping yourself.

You’re restricting your own movement.

Sure, they’ll set up scouts around, but scouts are just scouts, nothing more.

In the end, they won’t be able to coordinate organically as a class and will end up isolated.

That’s how they’ll fail.

Of course, there’s an identical building on the other side.

But the first-years will undoubtedly go on the offensive, so it doesn’t matter.

I explained all this to Elaine.

She looked shocked.

“But then why did you say what you did earlier?”

She was referring to my praise of the defensive strategy in front of the Royal and Noble class presidents.

“Because it’s better that way.”

“What…? But you just said it’s a doomed trap…”

“Yes, but think about it without you in the picture.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re not there, they’ll fail even faster if they go out into the field. Holing up will at least help them last longer. And during that time, we make our move.”

From the moment I brought Elaine in, I had anticipated this.

If I couldn’t use the Royal class as I wanted, it was better for them to hole up.

“…So you had all that in mind when you said that.”

Elaine’s gaze was a bit overwhelming this time.

She looked at me as if she were meeting a strategic genius.

…I’m not that amazing, miss.

“Well, yes, that’s it.”

I replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Let’s go. There’s one last thing to check.”