Chapter 113

We were targeting the third group, specifically those who were still leisurely observing the war without fully engaging.

These guys basically didn’t like fighting.

That’s why they were dawdling.

But we couldn’t just leave them alone.

If left alone, they would eventually come out to earn points.

That meant they were a potential threat.

We had to eliminate them while we could.

“Wait a moment.”

At Riviera’s words, we stopped.

“We shouldn’t go any further.”

She seemed to have sensed something.

‘As expected.’

I thought.

Riviera’s strength was the real deal among the real deals.

She was a named boss you’d meet around Chapter 7.

Normally, the fact that she was with us as a party member at this point was absurd.

Given her strength, her senses were naturally at a transcendent level.

Her senses were warning us that if we got any closer, we might be detected.

Riviera’s super senses were already part of the plan.

The very idea of ambushing the enemy as a guerrilla unit wouldn’t have been possible without her.

For someone at my or Allen’s level to fight the first-year Royals would be like an egg hitting a rock.

“Do you see something?”

“Yeah.”

Riviera nodded at my question.

Her vision was also extraordinary.

It seemed all her senses were transcendent.

“Unbelievable… You can see them…?”

Even Elaine seemed surprised.

Though she was a genius, she still couldn’t match the Bloody Witch.

Soon, Elaine had a look of realization.

Riviera, with senses superior to her own.

The magic she had shown.

The final description in Professor Karen’s evaluation.

All these pieces fit together like cogs, revealing the truth.

Elaine looked at me with an incredulous gaze.

Realizing she had been completely fooled, it was understandable.

But soon, a subtle look of relief appeared on her face.

…Was she relieved that I wasn’t some rare genius with superior magical knowledge, but someone I knew?

Only she would know the answer.

“So, what do you see?”

I asked Riviera again.

“Two people. A man sleeping with his legs hanging from a tree. A woman praying.”

“I see.”

My memory was perfect.

Those two were Dewey and Anne.

Dewey, hiding his identity, belonged to a family of assassins, and Anne was the daughter of a bishop whose life was her faith.

Anne, a healer character, was a given, and Dewey was also more specialized in areas other than direct combat.

For Royal Class members, they were relatively easy prey.

“Let’s go with that.”

“With that?”

“Low-altitude flight.”

Contrary to my initial impression, I had grown fond of the power of low-altitude flight and decided to use the same tactic again.

“Again?”

“It’s the best. The best magic in the world.”

I mimicked Riviera’s tone and gave a thumbs-up.

“Heh. Of course.”

Even with such obvious praise, Riviera seemed pleased.

…She seemed like someone who hadn’t received much praise.

In any case, it seemed I could continue to draw the low-altitude flight card from the proud Riviera.

“Let’s go in 10 seconds. Riera, please. 10, 9, 8…”

I counted down while holding a wooden sword.

“…1, 0.”

Vroom.

The low-altitude flight bus took off.

All four of us flew like arrows towards the targets.

The distance closed in an instant.

Dewey and Anne, realizing our charge, turned with surprised faces.

“Anne, to the back!”

Dewey opened his eyes and shouted a warning.

“Eek!”

Anne stopped praying and hurriedly ran to the back.

But it was too late.

We had already arrived at close range.

Thud.

We landed on the ground.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a bundle of wooden shuriken flew at us.

An attack befitting a member of an assassin family, Dewey.

Thud thud thud.

But an ice wall appeared and blocked all the shuriken.

It was Elaine.

As expected of a specialist in fire and ice magic.

“Go, Allen!”

I urged Allen, who was hesitating.

Of course, I was already running.

My target was Dewey.

I had to take down the threatening one first.

Anne could be left to Allen.

“Common? Ridiculous.”

Dewey muttered in disbelief, seeing the emblem on my clothes.

He didn’t even recognize my famous face from the second year, indicating a lack of information.

This wasn’t just complacency; it showed how little regard they had for us.

‘Seeing it firsthand, it’s seriously bad, these guys.’

…Of course, the second years who got beaten like rats by such first years were even worse.

But this time it was different.

I intended to make them realize that with a bone-deep shock.

“Kid, shut your mouth.”

I taunted.

Dewey, immediately enraged, descended from the tree.

The provocation was too effective.

“I’ll rip that mouth of yours.”

Hey, this is a mock battle, you idiot.

Dewey’s form split into three.

The family’s secret technique, Phantom Slash.

He was taking this way too seriously.

“Sleep without knowing anything.”

Spewing a pretentious line, Dewey swung his wooden sword.

The three forms simultaneously delivered a deadly blow.

Which one was real and which was a phantom was impossible to tell… or not.

Knowing the technique so well, I was ready for it.

“What… is this technique…?!”

But I pretended to be surprised and confused, deliberately attacking the phantom.

He must have been inwardly smiling with satisfaction.

But it was a fake.

The swindler’s phantom sword pierced the real body.

Thunk!

“…Huh?”

Even after being stabbed, he seemed unable to believe it, his eyes wide with confusion.

Beep beep!

“How…?”

“If you don’t want to get penalized, shut up and lie down, kid.”

“Ugh…”

Dewey fell to the ground.

I threw a final word at him.

“I am Max Celtrine. Remember that, kid.”

“…”

Even in shock, Dewey trembled with frustration.

He would never forget my name now.

Perfect impression made.

I turned my gaze.

“…What are they doing?”

There, Allen and Anne were engaged in a tense(?) chase around a big tree.

“Stop there, junior!”

“You stop first, senior!”

“Stop!”

“You stop first, senior!”

…It looked like a lover’s quarrel.

No matter how much of a Royal, Allen still couldn’t catch a healer ?

“Ugh.”

Riviera, unable to watch any longer, fired a magic arrow.

A magic arrow three times heavier than usual flew and struck Anne’s back.

“Ahh?!”

Beep beep!

“Ugh, I’m done for… I’m sorry…”

Anne fell, sobbing.

That ended it.

“Allen.”

“Huff, well… she was much faster than I thought…”

Allen started to make excuses, sweating.

“No, it’s fine. Thinking about it, it’s probably too much to expect you to catch a first-year Royal alone.”

Even the weakest of the first-year Royals was a talent compared to Allen.

No matter how much he was growing, expecting too much at this stage was unrealistic.

“N-No… I’ll try harder…”

“Allen, if you just draw aggro and soften them up, you’ve done your job. Leave the finishing to Elaine and Riera. Got it?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Allen quickly agreed.

He knew his level well.

But he must have been stimulated enough to use it as good nourishment for growth.

“Then let’s quickly move to the next point.”

We moved again.

* * *

“Ha, are they herbivores or something? They’ve practically set up camp in the forest.”

Slane sneered.

In front of him was the forest where the second-year Common Class was hiding.

They thought they were hiding well, but Slane, with his predatory instincts, could sense them clearly.

“Shall we go right in?”

Lucia asked.

There were only five of them.

The enemy numbered 35.

But they were completely unperturbed.

They knew that even if 35 rabbits gathered, they would only be massacred by five predators.

“Of course.”

Slane said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lucia shot an arrow into the forest.

Ping!

Thud!

“Ugh?!”

A startled gasp was heard.

And soon.

Beep beep!

The alarm signaled that one person had been marked as a casualty.

“Damn it, we’ve been discovered!”

“Everyone, charge out! Now!”

The second-year students who had been hiding rushed out in a panic.

“Hahaha!”

Slane let out a maniacal laugh.

Even if they were insignificant prey, prey was still prey.

His blood as a predator began to boil with excitement.

“I’ll devour them all.”

Slane grabbed his wooden chain scythe.

Thus, the hunt began.

* * *

‘What on earth is going on?’

Hubert, the leader of the first-year Noble Class, frowned.

Their scouts had been attacked.

Four of them, no less.

They had lost four members before the battle even started.

What was more troubling was that they didn’t know who had attacked them.

Second-year Royals?

No.

Other scouts had already reported that there were only second-year Commons in the direction they were heading.

Then second-year Nobles?

He didn’t want to believe they had been taken out by such insignificant opponents.

Hubert only considered the second-year Royals as a threat.

‘…Could it be friendly fire?’

Hubert bit his lip, feeling uneasy.

He still felt guilty about betraying the Kingdom faction and changing their stance.

But that couldn’t be it.

No matter how angry they were, they wouldn’t do something that crazy.

Damn it, then what is it?

“Leader, we have a problem!”

At that moment, a scout who had been ahead came rushing to Hubert.

Hubert’s expression hardened.

“What’s the matter?”

“We’ve been stolen from! They stole from us!”

“Damn it, who the hell?”

“…It looked like Slane’s gang.”

“Those bastards!”

Hubert gritted his teeth.

The first-year Royals had split into three groups.

But even with just their current strength, they were more than enough to crush the second-year Common Class.

It meant they were already too late.

“Damn it, change direction. Head due north!”

There was a hill where the second-year Nobles were stationed.

Their plan to easily take down the Commons had failed, so they had to ensure they secured at least the next easiest target.

However.

“Leader, we’ve detected movement.”

The scout they had sent to reconnoiter that direction had returned.

“What movement?”

“The Princess and the Empire faction are heading towards the hill where the second-year Nobles are.”

“What? Damn it!”

Even the remaining prey was being targeted by the split Royal groups.

And it was the Empire faction with Princess Oscar.

Knowing the overwhelming strength of Princess Oscar, Hubert quickly realized that this route was hopeless as well.

Hubert clenched his fist so tightly it almost crushed.

“…It’s frustrating, but we have no choice. We’re heading to the northwest fortress.”

Where the second-year Royal Class was.

“Northwest? But there’s Senior Elaine…”

“I know. It’ll be tougher than other places. But aren’t we going to score points? At this rate, we’ll end up sucking our thumbs!”

Hubert shouted.

As he said, it wasn’t the time to be picky.

They had to attack the second-year Royals and score points before it was too late.

“Pick up the pace! We need to get there first!”

Learning from their mistakes, Hubert abandoned caution and ordered a forced march.

* * *

“Hoohoo, this is getting interesting.”

Professor Karen laughed.

The first-years might think they were overwhelmingly dominating, but that wasn’t the case.

The first-year Royal Class had already lost five key members.

And four Noble Class students were out as well.

“Using guerrilla tactics from the rear. Whoever thought of that deserves high marks.”

Said Professor Lawrence, who was beside her.

None of the first-years had predicted the guerrilla operation.

The strategy itself was excellent, but combined with speed, it had taken out nine key members, including five core ones, in a blitzkrieg-like manner.

“It must be Max.”

“Quite possible.”

“With Max as the leader, I’m certain. It was probably because of Max that Elaine was drawn in as well.”

“Are they special to each other?”

“Not exactly… They seem to be subtly aware of each other. I can see it, you know, hoohoo.”

“I see. Using the best card as a guerrilla unit. It’s a bold move. I’m honestly surprised.”

“So am I.”

Professor Karen smiled brightly.

The other supervising professors, listening to their conversation, had shocked expressions.

They had never imagined the mock battle would unfold in this direction.

“The second-years are doing surprisingly well. But I still think the first-years have the upper hand…”

One professor spoke up.

“Of course, for now. But I think something’s going to happen over there.”

Professor Karen smiled and pointed with her finger.

The direction she pointed was behind the first-year Noble Class.

Where the Kingdom faction was secretly following with their Hyena operation.