Practical Training (1)
The Party System has been unlocked!
A massive amount of experience has been granted to the player and all party members!
Congratulations! Every member of the party has leveled up!
I was caught completely off guard by the unexpected reward. I had never even considered that they might grant me the party system of all things.
“Huh? I feel like I’ve gotten stronger somehow?”
“Right?”
“What’s going on?”
“I feel lighter.”
The girls seemed to have felt the level-up as well; they were examining their own bodies. I studied the now-stronger girls closely.
So this is what it looks like in reality.
In truth, I had been mildly curious about when the party system would appear. It had existed in the game, of course, but even when party members leveled up there, the only change was a number ticking upward. Now that it was reality, however, I could clearly sense that my companions’ mana had transformed on an entirely different scale.
And on top of that—
Risa’s level has risen quite a bit too.
Well, she had delivered the final blow, so it only made sense. Still, I hadn’t expected a production-class alchemist like her to gain so many levels. Honestly, aside from that cheap shot to the back of the head, she hadn’t done much of anything.
I’ll have to look into this later.
The moment I thought the test was finally over—
“Baran? More importantly, what exactly did you say earlier?”
A spine-chilling aura crept up from behind me. My head turned as stiffly as a broken robot. There stood the entire female half of the party, arms crossed, wearing the most terrifying smiles I had ever seen.
The moment I saw their expressions, a small gasp escaped me.
“Ah.”
That’s right. Damn it, I had said it out loud. The shock of the unexpected reward had made me forget all about it.
I quietly turned toward Elza. The next instant, she twisted her body with a bright red face, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
Wait, why are you acting like that after I hit you in the back of the head?
It would have been normal for her to be angry, but she apparently had zero resistance to such things and was acting all shy instead. Her reaction only poured fuel on the fire; the other girls’ eyes began burning even hotter. I had the distinct feeling that a single wrong word here would doom me completely.
It’s your own fault, my disciple.
“Seriously, why would you say something like that?”
At that moment, both Miroel and Risa shook their heads in exasperation. I couldn’t even argue with them.
And so, the survival training came to an end.
As a side note, clearing up the misunderstanding with the girls turned out to be quite the ordeal, but that wasn’t particularly important.
In the Demon King’s territory, a certain demon was quietly signing documents. He was Gram, commander of the Fourth Legion, superior to Grillish—the illusion specialist who had attempted to assassinate the Saintess in the Holy Federation—and Chris’s father.
It was while he carried out his duties as usual that it happened.
Vrrr.
The communication orb he had received from the Demon King began to resonate. Surprised by the unexpected call, Gram answered it at once. The Demon King’s grave voice flowed from the orb.
“Gram, are you busy?”
“Not at all, Your Majesty.”
Gram shook his head as he stared at the mountain of paperwork. In truth he was incredibly busy, but he could hardly tell that to the Demon God’s direct subordinate.
“Then I have a task I wish you to carry out.”
“What would you ask of me?”
“Mobilize the Fourth Legion.”
“?!”
Gram’s eyes flew wide open. The legion had barely moved at all lately. No—it would be more accurate to say they had not moved at all. After all, the legion had remained stationed in the Demon King’s territory rather than on the front lines. The only exceptions were Grillish and Chris, but they had simply slipped into enemy territory to feed back information. So it was fair to say the legion had been dormant…
To suddenly order us to move like this—what could the reason be?
He asked in a puzzled tone.
“Your Majesty, may I inquire as to the reason?”
“The Demon God has commanded it.”
“?!”
Gram was startled once again. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined the order would come directly from the Demon God himself. While he remained stunned, the Demon King continued.
“The Demon God has ordered the Fourth Legion to move. Therefore, do so without question or complaint.”
“Understood.”
“Then I leave it to you.”
With those final words, the Demon King ended the connection. Gram let out a quiet sigh.
“Hoo… I never expected the Demon God to issue a direct command.”
The Demon God had remained silent ever since the invasion. It had been hundreds of years since he last gave an order himself. Gram spoke aloud.
“You heard everything, didn’t you? Bahal, Bahil?”
““Yes.””
The two demons nodded at his question. Gram slowly examined the map.
“Do you see the village called Leshphon here?”
“Yes.”
“Terrorize Leshphon village.”
““Yes! Understood!””
The moment the order left his lips, the two demons vanished from sight. Gram leaned back in his chair and murmured softly.
“Many lives will be lost once again.”
With that, he returned to his work.
Roughly a week had passed since the survival training ended. The training had resulted in the formation of fixed parties. Naturally, our group consisted of the same members as before.
Kanya is included, of course.
I suspected the reason we had been placed together was simply that our coordination was excellent. In any case, that was beside the point.
Who should we use for our practical combat practice?
The academy would soon instruct us to enter the Time Dungeon. Before that, we needed to conduct some real-combat training among ourselves.
This is also where the route will be decided.
Though at this point I wondered what meaning a route even held. With every heroine already part of my party, routes had lost all relevance.
While I was lost in thought, Dale’s voice rang out.
“That concludes today’s lecture.”
He continued immediately afterward.
“As you all know, starting tomorrow each party will undertake missions accompanied by one senior student. Group leaders, please select a senior and report to me.”
With that, Dale left the classroom. The Class A students immediately began moving in a rush.
But at that exact moment—
“Baran!”
Risa and Kanya burst through the classroom door, running over in a fluster. They must have heard the news and hurried straight here.
“You heard, right?!”
“Yes, I did.”
“Who are you thinking of choosing as the senior?”
At Risa’s question, every girl in the party turned to stare at me. I stroked my chin and answered.
“Wouldn’t Senior Elza be the best choice?”
““…….””
In that instant, icy glares from the entire female contingent stabbed toward me.
Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Of course there had been a misunderstanding during the previous survival training. But I had clearly cleared it up, hadn’t I?
Sigh. Have you still not learned your lesson, my disciple?
Miroel, standing beside me, looked down with a frigid expression. Master, why are you piling on? This is completely unfair.
“It seems there’s a misunderstanding. I chose purely based on skill, without any other intentions.”
“…Hmm. Given your past record…”
“Agreed.”
“You really don’t have any ulterior motives, right?”
“It does seem suspicious.”
The girls narrowed their eyes and stared hard. I explained without the slightest hesitation.
“It is absolutely not like that, so please don’t worry.”
Indeed.
I could feel Miroel and the girls’ suspicious gazes boring into me, but I ignored them and headed for the student council room.
“I like you, Student Council President.”
In the student council room, Elza was reading a romance novel as usual. It should have been the perfect time to lose herself in the story. Yet one particular voice kept echoing inside her head.
It had been an incredibly serious tone. Of all the voices she had heard lately, it was by far the sweetest.
Ugh. I know he was deliberately waiting for an opening.
Why wouldn’t it leave her mind? She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the lingering thoughts, then returned her focus to the book.
Whew. Right, just forget it.
With that thought, she turned the page. A single sentence immediately caught her eye.
“I love you, Student Council President.”
“…….”
It was the exact same line Baran had uttered. She had been trying so hard to forget, yet here it was again. Even the situation was eerily similar to what she had experienced. The only difference was that the person who had spoken those words had meant them with complete sincerity.
“Ugh. What am I supposed to do!”
Seeing the line again made Baran’s face float up in her mind for no reason at all. On top of that, her cheeks were burning fiercely. She covered her eyes with both hands and shook her head wildly.
“Haa… I can’t stop thinking about it.”
The moment she muttered those words while picturing Baran—
“President?”
—Startle!
A voice she absolutely should not be hearing right now reached her ear.
Huh? What? Why can I hear it? She wanted to believe it was just her imagination. The problem was that she could sense the presence far too clearly. She had been so absorbed in the novel that she hadn’t noticed anyone approaching.
Elza cautiously cracked her eyes open and looked forward. In the next instant, Baran’s entire party was staring at her in utter shock.
“Ah……”
A small, quiet sigh from Elza echoed through the student council room.