An Utterly Ordinary Group Project (4)
Princess Lyla offered a faint smile. It was a beautiful one, yet at the same time it served as a mask that made her true thoughts impossible to read. It could have been irritation at the provocation directed her way, or perhaps the opposite—genuine interest.
“I see. We are fellow students, after all. And since we are also rivals, there is nothing strange about competing against one another.”
She paused, then added,
“Exactly as she says, you son of a vulgar merchant.”
A bold voice rang out, and a young man stepped forward. High nose bridge, tightly pressed lips. The arrogant-looking noble youth was Eagle Pendevig, eldest son of the Pendevig family—one of the most prestigious houses in the Morian Kingdom, once renowned as a kingdom of magic.
Beside him stood his twin sister, Hau Pendevig, arms crossed with a sour expression on her face.
“Just because you achieved decent results for a moment through underhanded tricks, you seem to be under the delusion that it reflects your true ability. How ridiculous, speaking of taking first place while ignoring the likes of us.”
Chrome shrugged.
“Isn’t it a bit much to bring up family status inside the academy?”
His tone had grown noticeably more casual compared to when he spoke with Princess Lyla. Eagle’s eyebrows twitched.
“What is wrong with calling a vulgar merchant exactly that? I did not speak of commoners, so there should be no issue.”
“That sounds like wordplay to me, but—well, it doesn’t really matter.”
At least he’s more fun to deal with than a wild boar, Chrome muttered to himself before scanning his surroundings.
At some point, Crow Vein—the dual-wielding swordsman from the Nahat Grand Duchy—had taken a position among the students and was staring at Chrome’s group with a smile full of fighting spirit. Next to him, Akasha, the youngest paladin carrying a massive greatsword, waved her hand in greeting. Alphons Betuart, a tall, handsome knight with golden hair and blue eyes from the old royalist faction of the Spero Kingdom, watched with quietly gleaming eyes. Flanking him were two knights and a muscular giant with his upper body exposed.
Among them were people Chrome had met and spoken with directly, others he only knew through ‘knowledge,’ and some he had never encountered at all.
One empire and three vassal states. And those who belonged to none of them.
At the center of it all, the imperial princess opened her mouth.
After the brief war of nerves ended, students began to leave one by one. The rest of the group also headed back to their lodgings, claiming exhaustion. Loto looked completely dazed, as if his brain had short-circuited from the continuous incidents. Pino grumbled that she would get dragged into trouble if he kept causing scenes, but the moment Chrome mentioned a bonus based on the final project grade, her attitude flipped instantly and she brimmed with motivation. She truly was the kind of talent Bern Midas would have slapped his knee and hired on the spot.
Rabaul seemed a little troubled, but surprisingly showed no sign of fear. Fiore was excited, saying it was going to get fun. His half-sister had courage in spades.
Only after everyone else had left and it was just the two of us did Ligret, who had remained silent until now, finally speak.
“I told you when we first made the contract. That once we got here, the place would be crawling with monsters stronger than me.”
“You did.”
I nodded readily, then added,
“But that was about a ‘mere female mercenary.’ You’re different now. That’s exactly why we spent the last two years preparing.”
Even if their opponent was Crow Vein—who possessed the highest physical talent among the candidate companions in Planetarium—I was confident that the current Ligret could claim victory without much difficulty if she fought seriously. Combat always came with variables, so she was not invincible, but there were almost no students she could not confidently defeat in a one-on-one frontal duel right now.
And between “almost none” and “none at all” existed a vast gap.
Ligret must have noticed that too.
“That princess is a monster. I’ve never seen her fight directly, but the perfection of her spells and her control over mana are on a completely different level.”
It was undeniable that she had been born with talent. There would have been environmental factors as well, and since she was older than us, she probably had a bit more time to spare. Still, even taking all of that into account, the fact that she was a monster could not be denied.
Which meant, in other words—
“Honestly, haven’t you been itching because you’ve only been dealing with half-baked opponents so far? Let’s work together and take down a boss for once.”
She was the perfect target to set their sights on.
Ligret made a dumbfounded face.
“Easy for you to say when you’re not the one fighting.”
“Hey, you’ve got to bring the right tool for the job. I’m guessing that princess is basically a walking fortress. Does it make sense to tell a person to break through a fortress?”
“And I’m fine?”
“You’re honestly more like a non-human at this point. You can crush iron pipes with just your grip strength. Keeping the ‘human’ title with that kind of power is a matter of conscience… Whoa—whoa—violence is wrong!”
I hurriedly backed away from Ligret, who was cracking her knuckles. Even a light jab by her standards would shatter bones by mine if it landed wrong. I couldn’t afford to get injured right before an important event.
“So you’re not doing it?”
“Who said I wasn’t?”
“Then we’re good.”
“……I should just stop talking to you.”
It was a truly uncool exchange, but it was enough. Simply knowing that we were still facing the same direction was more than sufficient.
The second stage of the assignment took place inside a vast forest located within the academy grounds. At this point, one might begin to question the fundamental meaning of the term “group project,” but this was the same academy that had subjected applicants to special-forces-level selection during the entrance exam. Expecting common sense here was foolish.
Professor Istal began his explanation.
“The name of this assignment is ‘Treasure Thieves’! The rules are simple! Find the ‘treasures’ scattered throughout this forest and take possession of them. The treasures emit a distinctive red aura, so they should be easy to identify. Every day at midnight, any treasures held by a team will disappear, and any team without a treasure will be immediately eliminated. The assignment ends once four or fewer teams remain. That is all!”
The expressions of most students crumpled at once. Setting aside the fact that they would have to survive in the forest for several more days, the structure made conflict between teams inevitable. The very name “Treasure Thieves” blatantly carried the nuance that they were supposed to steal from others—whether those others were the original ‘something’ that possessed the treasure or another team that had already obtained one.
Fiore Midas asked a question.
“If one team possesses multiple treasures, do they all disappear at midnight?”
“No. In that case, only one treasure will disappear.”
Alphons Betuart asked,
“What exactly counts as ‘possessing’ a treasure?”
“A mark is engraved on the student who has touched the treasure at least once and is currently closest to it. That mark is the standard.”
Crow Vein opened his mouth.
“Then—”
“Yes, well, you can figure out the rest of the minor details by experiencing them yourselves! Move out!”
“Wait, why are you only ignoring my—UWAAAAAAAAGH!”
Whoosh!
Crow’s body, which had been about to voice a complaint, soared high into the sky before slamming down somewhere deep in the forest. Professor Istal, having hurled a person like a shot put, casually dusted off his hands and smiled brightly at the remaining students.
“Now, everyone to your designated starting points!”
“……………”
The students thought to themselves:
Why does someone who hates explaining details always get put in charge of explanations?
At least hand out a summary sheet or something. Or make your subordinates do it.
There’s still so much more we need to ask, but if we open our mouths we’ll probably get buried upside-down in the ground, so let’s just stay quiet.
Complaints they dared not voice aloud. The unholy trinity of authority, violence, and madness proved effective at making even the most arrogant students keep their mouths shut.
After each team moved to their designated starting positions, I spoke up.
“For now, everyone spread out and look for a good spot to use as a base. I brought a simple camping kit for sleeping quarters, so we just need enough space to pitch a tent. We have plenty of water and food too. So put everything else aside and focus on finding a location where we can maximize our defensive capabilities.”
Fiore tilted her head.
“Securing the base’s defenses is certainly important since we don’t know when an attack might come… but shouldn’t we secure a treasure first? If we don’t obtain one by midnight, we’ll be eliminated immediately.”
I answered,
“It’s fine. I’ll take care of getting us a treasure.”
It was a somewhat special case, but it was still a form of item farming. Time for the Greedy Debauchee to run wild.