One night later, the second day of training.
Maria and the others, who should have been making their way through the forest, were suddenly attacked by monsters.
"Damn, these guys are just coming out!"
With no time to brush the blood on his sword, Leon curses while cutting down the monsters that attack one after another.
"If you have time to slap your mouth, kill as many enemies as possible!"
Standing back to back with Leon, Julius unleashes his magic to blow away all the monsters that come closer, but soon the next monster appears and he is forced to deal with it.
There are already numerous corpses of monsters lying around them.
However, the momentum of the attacking monster has not yet subsided.
The students individually intercepted the monsters that were constantly attacking them in other places, and the surroundings were in a complete brawl.
"Too many!
At the center of the battle, Alberto, who is protecting the wounded and giving instructions to those around him, is unable to find a way to break the increasingly deteriorating situation.
Even though they are still apprentices, here are a thousand knights and knights.
Normally, he would not fall behind a monster of this magnitude.
This time, however, there were too many.
Three hours have already passed since the battle began.
Their bodies were exhausted by the seemingly never-ending battle, and more and more students were injured.
You can shake off the monsters and try to escape, but in this situation where the monsters are attacking from all directions, you don't know where to escape.
"Come on!"
"Maria!?"
When I turned around at the scream I heard from behind me, I saw that a monster that had been approaching before I knew it was attacking Maria and the others who were treating the students.
In the midst of this, Maria may have been injured when she fell, and slowly moves back on the ground with her butt as if to escape from the monster.
Maria must have looked like a good prey, and the monster smiled at its ugly face and tried to swing its sharp claws down at its prey.
"Get away from Maria!"
Rushing over in an instant with his strengthened leg strength, Alberto brandished the sword in his hand and severed the monster's body from his head.
The monster that was cut in half, the source of their power, was instantly killed, and relief spread to the surrounding students.
"Are you okay?"
"yes, I'm fine, I just rubbed it a little."
Alberto lends a hand to Maria who has fallen and makes her stand up to check her body for injuries, but apparently she just rubbed her knee.
"Oh, that's good."
"More than that, the medicine..."
"Well, I'll work together to collect it."
True to Maria's words, the luggage she dropped when she was attacked by a monster was scattered around.
Valuable healing medicines are also scattered inside.
We can't afford to leave this unattended.
"This is..."
Alberto was collecting the scattered luggage with Maria, but when he picked up the small bag that was the only one in it, his expression changed to a grim one.
「... There is no doubt about it, it's a "monster crowd". Why is this here?"
"What is it?" I didn't bring that."
"I guess, this is something that is strictly controlled by the state, both in manufacture and in possession. It's strange to be in a place like this."
If it is the effect of the monster crowding, it also explains this unusual monster attack.
This tool, which emits a special smell and has the effect of excitingly attracting the surrounding monsters, is supposed to be used by the Knights to exterminate large groups of monsters en masse.
However, because of its effectiveness, it should be strictly controlled by the state so that it cannot be abused.
"Oh, I see! I guess I was put in when I was bumped into the duo before I left! It wasn't in it when I prepared my luggage."
"Probably Isabella's instructions, but... Are you going to go this far?"
I knew that Isabella was an enemy of Maria, but I never thought I would bring something like this up.
One mistake could kill not only Maria, but everyone here.
That fact sent chills down my spine.
"What are you going to do?"
"Without any evidence, it would be impossible to accuse Isabella of this, but we have to do something about this situation now. At least if we throw it away, no more monsters will attack us."
Yes, survival is the top priority now.
Monsters are only attracted to this bag, so if you just throw them away, the number of monsters attacking Alberto and the others will decrease.
Once the policy is decided, the rest is a race against time.
We don't know how far the monsters will be affected, but the more time passes, the more monsters will be attracted and the chance of escape will decrease.
"Listen to everyone! I'm leaving now. Give the signal and break through the enemy's encirclement and break through to the south. You're not going to be late!"
"Okay, here we are!" Then I don't need to save it anymore. I'll put it together and blow it up!"
"You're always rough and don't like it, but for now I'll agree with that!"
As Alberto gave instructions to the people around him in a familiar voice, the still fighting students worked out their magic in unison and waited for the moment.
"Three, two, one, now!"
On cue, Alberto threw the bag in his hand into the distance, and the monsters swarming on the other side launched an all-out attack with the last of the students' strength.
"It's not within the range of what we can perceive, it looks like this is the last time."
"Yes, I'll leave after collecting only the magic stones.
Upon receiving a report from the student who was in charge of searching that the elimination of the attacking monster was completed, the Ojou-sama instructed the students of the lower nobility to run to the dismembered corpse of the monster.
They dismantle the monster's corpse with a knife in their hands and take out what looks like a bloody stone from it.
That stone is the "magic stone" that is the source of the magic power of the monster.
It is a crystallization of magic power in the body of a demon, and it is essentially the same magic stone that young ladies have.
However, in terms of purity, it is a degraded product that is far from magic stone.
I guess I just said that it is a fist-sized magic stone that finally has the same magic power as a magic stone the size of the tip of a claw.
Unlike magic stones, they can only be taken in number, so they are often used mainly as raw materials for consumables such as low-level magic potions and magic tools.
Since its size and purity change depending on the strength of the monster, it is common to collect the magic stone as proof of it when defeating the monster, like the young ladies of today.
It can be said that the process of the Ojou-sama's group is going well so far.
There were several battles with monsters along the way, but all of them were cleaned up by the other students without the Ojou-sama having to put down her hands.
(Although... is)
Secretly observe the profile of the Ojou-sama waiting for the magic stone to be collected.
On the surface, she seems to be calm, but my eyes, which have been watching her for years, cannot be misled.
It's just that I'm forcing my already tired body with energy and mental strength.
Looking around, the other students were in a worse situation.
Everyone is moving mechanically with dead eyes, and they don't feel any energy.
Apparently, the only people who are still okay with this are the students from the Empire, including Dixen.
Most of the aristocrats like the young ladies grew up in the city, so they are not used to walking in these forests.
In addition to that, the Ojou-sama decided to go through the forest before any other group in this training, so everyone has been walking almost non-stop since yesterday.
Somebody will eventually fall.
"Eins, are you there?"
"Yes, Mr. Crow, here."
If you move a little away from everyone and call out to the void, Eins in the form of a maid will appear soundlessly from the darkness.
For this training, he secretly brought the girls who were subordinates to escort the Ojou-sama.
As it turned out, the knights who usually guard the Ojou-sama belonged to the Duke's family, so they couldn't bring them, but they alone should be a sufficient force.
Of course, helping outsiders is prohibited in this training, but it is a story that is even more true when I, who was not originally a student of the school, is accompanying me.
Besides, if this was revealed, who could blame Miss Isabella, the daughter of the Duchess' family?
"I'm going to let the Ojou-sama rest today, I want to know a suitable place to camp near here."
"Then if you move far enough northeast from here, you will come to a small river.
When I heard the information I got from reconnaissance of the surroundings, I was relieved to find a place where I could rest in the immediate vicinity.
If you're near a river, you don't have to use magic to secure water, and maybe you can catch fish.
"I see...Okay, you can go down."
"Yes sir, Mr. Crow."
With the information he needed, he waved one hand to go down, and Eins gracefully picked up her skirt, bowed, and disappeared into the darkness.
She probably went back to escort again, but I couldn't see when she had disappeared.
As ever, I am impressed that witchcraft is a useful thing.
"Why do I have to tell you to do that!"
I got the information I needed and went back to the place where everyone was gathering, but something was wrong.
As I approached the center of the commotion, I saw Miss Isabella and a schoolboy fighting each other.
"We're all exhausted by now, I'm just saying that no further exploration is possible!"
"That's not for you to judge! I'm the leader of this group. You can't go against my decision!"
"That's ridiculous!"
At odds with the Ojou-sama is one of the students from the Empire, a man named Luke who is supposed to be the Lord of Dixen.
I'm not sure, but apparently the two of them have a conflict of opinion about this reckless forced march.
"Crow, it's just right, I was just going to get you."
While observing the two of them, they tapped me on the shoulder from behind, and when I turned around, Dixen was there with a troubled expression on his face.
"What the hell is this?"
"My Lord went to suggest that she stop exploring today, but it seems that he has made her angry.
"I see..."
It is true that it is difficult for other students who are from the kingdom to give their opinions to the Ojou-sama, but if they are from the Empire, it doesn't matter.
He may have proposed it on behalf of him with that in mind, but the other party is a Ojou-sama who does not like being instructed by someone.
As a result, he seems to have stepped through her landmines brilliantly.
It does the trouble at all.
But I was going to talk about it anyway. Let's consider it just right.
"Ojou-sama, I agree with his opinion, why don't you rest today?"
Why, I can still move!"
As soon as I joined the conversation, I agreed with the other person's opinion, and the Ojou-sama gave me a surprised look.
However, when I immediately saw anger on her face, she tried to dismiss my opinion.
No matter how you think about it, it may be the limit, but it is still terrible meanness.
However, if I don't get accepted here, I'll be in trouble.
"The Ojou-sama may be fine, but as a commoner, I am the limit."
"Hmm..."
When I raised my hands as if to ask for a hunch, the Ojou-sama slightly distorted her eyebrows into a letter of "C".
All this is true.
Even though they are just walking unlike the other students, the fundamental physical abilities are different between me and the Ojou-sama, who do not have magical powers.
I try to feign calm, but my legs are already rattling.
Apparently, the Ojou-sama understands this and looks like she's thinking for a moment.
"And..."
Taking another push, I took a step closer to the Ojou-sama and put my mouth to her ear.
"Imagine if we were to leave the forest, then everyone would be standing more exhausted than they are now. Do you want to be greeted by teachers in such a pathetic state?"
"Uh..."
If you tell her the future in a whisper, the Ojou-sama may have imagined the situation, but her beautiful face was distorted and she moaned slightly.
I don't think it's going down, but physical aspect is more important than anything else for nobles.
Miss Isabella in particular has a strong tendency to do so.
That's why I tried to attack from that side, and it seems to be working.
"In that case, wouldn't it be more correct to rest for today and finish gracefully after preparing everything in place?"
"Gununu..."
"Ojou-sama, please reconsider."
「... I get it. I'm not going to explore today. If there's a good camp nearby, let's rest there."
Looking straight into those emerald eyes and pleading, the Ojou-sama growled and worried for a while, but finally gave up and sighed and decided to stop the search.
Let's not say you didn't hear the students around you let out their voices of relief in unison at that moment.
"Thank you, Ojou-sama."
While everyone was preparing to leave to get to their destination, I bowed to the Ojou-sama.
Even though it was the Ojou-sama's final decision, she ordered her to change her opinion.
I'm ready to get hit by a couple of shots.
"Hmph, I don't care, and I'll be in trouble if you fall. Work for me again when you rest."
However, contrary to expectations, the Ojou-sama didn't seem to care much.
On the contrary, he smiled worriedly at me, who was confused by the unexpected reaction, and then turned away and went to see how the other students were doing.
"Yes, sir."
I bowed my head once more, deepening my loyalty to the Ojou-sama.
"Hmm..., you're manipulating that grumpy girl so well."
As I was about to follow the Ojou-sama, Dixen, who had only been asking how I was doing, approached me.
"Can I still help you?"
"No, I just thought it was stunning."
His voice became cold in response to the remark that could be taken as an insult to the Ojou-sama, but he didn't seem to care about such things and praised us with his usual carefree smile.
"Well, thank you, then I'll excuse you"
He's still a man who doesn't know what he's thinking.
In order not to get involved with him any more, I bowed my head lightly and immediately followed her.