A Perfectly Ordinary Group Assignment (2)
After registering our six-member party, I gathered the members in one place that night.
Clank, clank.
"I did come fully armed like you said, but isn't this a bit too early...?"
Loto wore full steel armor and a helmet, with a medium-sized shield in one hand. Having focused entirely on defense, the mage student looked more like a knight than anything else. He kept glancing around nervously, bothered by the sound of his own footsteps echoing through the night streets.
I asked the slightly tired-looking Loto, "I told you to go straight to bed after we disbanded earlier. Didn't you sleep?"
"I was too nervous to..."
Pino, the green-haired girl, stepped forward. Her appearance was quite distinctive for a pure mage—she had a small shortbow slung across her back and wore light armor, giving her the air of a hunter.
"More importantly, is the assignment really going to start at this hour?"
"Professor Istal said 'tomorrow,' didn't she?"
"Normally that would mean tomorrow's class time, though."
Right. Normally. But when had this academy ever been normal?
I shrugged silently and pointed at the clock in the middle of the park where we'd gathered. Everyone's eyes followed.
The second hand, which had been ticking steadily, finally hit the exact hour.
—Everyone! Are you all ready? It's time for the assignment!
And at the same time, Professor Istal's voice rang out once more, just like the broadcast from that morning.
Pino muttered in disbelief, "Wow, this is actually real."
Despite my prior warning, it seems some students still haven't formed teams. How disappointing. Those teams will be assigned randomly, so do trust in your luck. You might just meet capable party members. Of course, those members are also the sad souls who couldn't find a team until now, so don't forget to look after each other.
"As expected, that professor hides a poisoned needle on her tongue," Rabaul remarked. Most of the gathered members nodded in agreement.
Now, let us begin the assignment. The first stage is 'Shadow Hunting'!
At those words, Ligret suddenly lifted her head. Staring up at the night sky adorned with a bright moon and countless stars, she spoke softly.
"—They're coming."
Thud. Something fell from the sky. Not one or two, but many, like rain.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
"Eek!?"
When a fragment of one of the things that hit the ground splashed onto his leg, Loto yelped and jumped. The black, sticky liquid-like substance slid off his armor and fell to the ground, then merged with other blobs to form a mass of a certain size. It had limbs and a body resembling a human, but no uneven texture or facial features. An alien existence, as if someone had grabbed a flat shadow by the hair and pulled it into three dimensions.
Hunt as many of the shadows wandering inside the academy as possible and collect their cores! Out of the 31 teams, the top 15 will pass! The time limit is until all shadows are hunted or until sunrise!
With Professor Istal's declaration, the Shadow Servants scattered throughout the area began roaming the streets.
"Talk later! Let's sweep up as many as we can before the others figure out what's going on!"
Shouting, I created five Low-tier Mana Arrows and fired them all at the black shadow lingering in front of a shop. Each time a mana arrow struck, black liquid splashed like blood and evaporated before hitting the ground. Having lost the black liquid that formed its body, the shadow—now child-sized—flailed and charged at me, but my follow-up arrows struck faster. The creature vanished completely, and a small black bead-like object dropped where it had been. I picked it up and put it in my bag, then looked at my companions.
"Wah! Uwah! Uwooooh!"
"Wait! Don't these things have a weak point or something!? Arrows aren't doing anything!"
"You fiends! Where do you think you're going!?"
Loto, told to hunt, was only hiding behind his shield and flailing his limbs to block attacks. Pino was horrified by monsters that kept approaching even after arrows pierced their heads. Rabaul was physically blocking shadows from reaching the other two, but there were too many for it to be effective. It was complete chaos, but this was more or less what I'd expected. If I'd given them a heads-up, they wouldn't have been this flustered, but explaining how I knew would've been troublesome—and besides, this kind of experience would be good for the future.
One unexpected element, however, was Fiore's attitude.
"Loto! Shadow Servants have high durability but their attack power is no different from an ordinary person swinging their limbs barehanded! Trust your armor and move! Pino! Slashing and piercing attacks have little effect! Instead of using a real bow, you need to use mana arrows to deliver impact and shake off the shadow composing their bodies!"
Even while surrounded by monsters, she calmly gave directions and sent healing light to Rabaul, who was taking the hits. I was impressed watching her. She was handling the situation far more calmly than expected, and her instructions were precise. I'd originally planned to step in and take command, but seeing this, it seemed I could leave it to her.
'Tactical class must be more effective than I thought. Or is it just natural talent?'
Come to think of it, I couldn't recall ever seeing Fiore genuinely flustered or shocked. Glancing around, I saw more and more Shadow Servants gathering near the park. Since no other students had finished preparing yet, our party was the only one active on the streets. At this rate, instead of hunting shadows and collecting cores, we'd be overwhelmed—but I felt no anxiety.
'I've already activated the cheat key. No reason to worry.'
And as if proving my confidence, the Nameless War Demon moved. In Ligret's hands appeared a long hammer with a wooden handle and silver head—the magical tool called the Impact Amplification Hammer. She swung it without pause, shifting her center of gravity from right to left and back again. At a glance it looked like she was being swung around by the hammer's weight, but the effect was absolute.
Thud! It was like throwing a water balloon in front of a speeding car. Every time Ligret swung the hammer, the Shadow Servants it struck exploded as if bursting apart. Often, multiple servants were reduced to pulp with a single blow. In her wake, Shadow Servant cores scattered like grains of sand, and I followed behind collecting them.
I shouted to the others, "Don't worry about dealing damage! Just gather as many nearby ones toward us as possible!"
Ligret was hunting Shadow Servants so quickly that this area was nearly cleared out. To keep hunting more, she'd have to run all the way to distant spots herself. Naturally, I wasn't about to allow such inefficiency. Low-tier Mana Arrows—ignoring power, speed, and accuracy in favor of sheer range and numbers—spread outward. Most flew off target or failed to land solid hits, but the Shadow Servants that recognized they'd been attacked began charging toward me, which meant straight into the area where Ligret was rampaging.
Pino also began drawing in nearby shadows with her long-range arrows. As for Rabaul—he threw Loto.
Huh?
"Rabaul! Throw him! With Loto's equipment, he won't get hurt even in the middle of enemies, and I'll heal any minor injuries, so throw him without worry!"
"My apologies!"
"Waiiit aaaaaaaaah!"
Loto, dropped into the middle of a swarm of Shadow Servants, scrambled up and began fleeing desperately while screaming. Several Shadow Servants chased after him furiously. Normally, being thrown while wearing that armor would've caused massive impact, but thanks to Fiore's healing and protective light, his movements were remarkably agile.
I stared for a moment, then marveled. "What an excellent tactic...!"
She was truly an ideal commander—and little sister.
"Uwah!? What the heck are these things!?"
"Monsters!? Why are there monsters in the middle of the academy!?"
"Wait! Hold on! That one's mine!"
Only then did the other students, having finally finished preparing, rush out into the streets and begin hunting Shadow Servants. But by then, our team had already claimed over a third of all the Shadow Servants. The advantage of going first was truly sweet.