Teamplay (1)
Teamplay. It was something I had never really cared about. Not only had my circumstances never allowed for it, but I had never particularly preferred it either.
But things changed after I practically recruited Yoo Seora as my companion.
I suppose I have to put some thought into this. It was too late to push her away now. Besides, it was highly doubtful Yoo Seora would just back down quietly even if I tried. Since I had accepted her, my only option was to make the absolute most of her. Transferring to Freira's class was also for this very reason. From now on, I would be able to employ tactics that suited my tastes much better.
Or so I had planned...
Nothing is ever easy.
I looked around at my teammates gathered for the tactical briefing. Everyone was frozen stiff, looking like mice trapped in a cage with predators. The only exceptions were the two predators themselves.
"Won't this do?"
A Knight positioned right in the center of enemy territory, a Queen protecting the King from the rear, and the other chess pieces scattered around them. This was the formation Elsie had set up on the tactical board.
"And who is the Knight?"
At Yoo Seora's question, Elsie smiled and replied, "You, of course. Our esteemed ace brought over from Swordsmanship Class 2?"
The current situation was clearly far from ideal. This was exactly why I had tried my best to send Elsie to a different advisor. But that had failed, and even my attempt to assign her to another team within Group 4 had been thwarted by her sheer stubbornness.
"What are you talking about? Didn't you beat me? Then you should be the one stepping forward."
"Oh, no. Shouldn't the Queen protecting the King naturally be stronger than the Knight?"
Elsie was undoubtedly strong. I could vividly picture the immense struggle Gwen must have gone through while mentoring her for over a year.
I'll have to apologize to her the next time we meet.
Yet, Yoo Seora refused to back down to Elsie. Of course, that didn't mean this was a good thing.
"But my defeat was already two weeks ago. If we fight again, I'm pretty sure I'll win."
"There is no way someone who lost without even landing a proper hit on me could have grown that strong in just two weeks."
"If you don't believe me, I don't mind settling this right now."
No, I minded. I had stayed quiet out of a slight sense of dread, but I couldn't let this go any further.
"Yoo Seora, stop. Are you trying to break the Holy Relic?"
Though I didn't say it out loud, the entire surrounding area would be obliterated along with the Holy Relic. Of course, I trusted that Yoo Seora wasn't entirely serious, but just in case, I had to stop her.
"Sung Yu-rang? Are you taking her side right now?"
No, it's just that you're a bit too terrifying to stop. The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but I barely managed to swallow them back down.
"It's not that..."
"Then why don't you decide, Sung Yu-rang? I heard in tactics class that there are many parties where the archer holds a degree of command."
"That sounds like a rather good idea."
For once, the two of them were in agreement. Though there was a slight problem with what they agreed on.
...Actually, on second thought, there wasn't really a problem.
Either way, they've both acknowledged my authority to command.
I had already received a degree of recognition for my leadership from Freira. However, whether the other teammates would actually follow my orders was a completely different matter. In a way, Yoo Seora and Elsie—two incredibly powerful entities—had just solved that problem for me.
So, is this a win for me regardless?
I examined the tactical board Elsie had roughly set up. The most powerful piece, the Queen, guarding the King. The other chess pieces scattered around them, and the Knight roaming the enemy lines.
It's a fairly standard tactic.
Come to think of it, the strategy of Elsie's previous Team 4-B had also been a textbook formation like this. Elsie had probably been in charge of their tactics back then too. However, the composition of the old Team 4-B had been far too unbalanced to pull off such a standard strategy.
And it's the same now.
Therefore, we couldn't use such a conventional tactic. In the first place, it didn't matter who was stronger between Elsie and Yoo Seora. Even though they both wielded swords, their fundamental natures were entirely different.
Yoo Seora has an incredibly powerful single strike, but that single strike is all she has. Elsie still lacks raw destructive power, but her combat endurance is exceptional.
Based on this, there was only one optimal conclusion. I reached out to the tactical board and began moving the chess pieces.
It's a bit risky, but...
In theory, this is correct.
A short while later, Team 4-B had their first mock battle after the trade. Their opponent was Team 3-A, led by Instructor Huff.
And Rian, Team 4-B's support mage, looked incredibly pale.
Is this really going to work?
The smug face of Sung Yu-rang, who had laid out the tactics as if pushed into it by the two women, flashed through his mind. It was a strategy Rian had never seen in any class, let alone anywhere else.
Normally, the textbook rule is to always pair a support mage with an offensive mage...
For some reason, Sung Yu-rang had ordered him to follow the two swordswomen. Fine, he could somehow accept that part. The real problem lay with those two swordswomen.
Is it really okay to put those two together?
The two women walking ahead of him—Yoo Seora and Elsie. Even after entering the mock battle, they were bickering over every little thing.
With them acting like that, there's no way they'll ever be in sync.
As he clutched his head in frustration, the two of them suddenly turned back to look at him.
"Oh? You've fallen behind again."
"If you keep staying so far away, you're going to end up dead, you know?"
No, teamwork wasn't the issue here.
Sung Yu-rang, you son of a bitch.
"No matter how much I think about it, this is just wrong..."
Meanwhile, the same complaint was echoing from the party consisting of two swordsmen and one spearman. Of course, forming a party with two swordsmen and a spearman was theoretically a well-balanced combination. The problem, however, was that this left the mage side completely devoid of any vanguard to protect them.
"His archery skills are mediocre at best. Does he seriously think we can win after abandoning our offensive mage?"
The only one left to protect the offensive mage was Sung Yu-rang, an archer. Without any close-range defense, they would be finished the moment their position was exposed. Just then, one of them spoke up in a casual tone.
"Who cares? Our team is just a dumping ground anyway. A perfect composition was impossible from the start."
"True. Even Yoo Seora, whom they brought in as an 'ace,' was basically Class B's leftovers."
"And Sung Yu-rang was probably just thrown in as a bonus."
It was while they were laughing and chatting that they saw a flock of birds suddenly take flight in the distance.
"Looks like they've already started fighting over there."
That was the direction where Yoo Seora, Elsie, and Rian's party had headed.
"Come to think of it, Rian is definitely the most pitiful one. Of all people, he had to be paired with those two reckless women..."
At that moment, his voice cut off. His mouth was clearly moving, but no sound came out.
"Wait, what was..."
Their conversation was completely drowned out by a colossal, air-rending boom. When the reverberations finally subsided and they could hear again, they were left utterly speechless.
Far away, on the opposite side of the battlefield, about half of the pristine forest had been completely swept away. And it had happened in a single instant.
"There was someone with that kind of power in Class 3?"
Even among the elite led by Instructor Sigrid, no one had ever displayed such destructive force. Or was it someone newly transferred to Group 3? As they speculated wildly, Sung Yu-rang's voice echoed in their ears.
"Tank" was the nickname Sung Yu-rang had given to the combination of Yoo Seora, Elsie, and Rian. They hadn't understood what it meant and had thought it was a ridiculous name at the time. But now, their thoughts had completely changed.
"That 'Tank' is insanely strong...?"
"What in the world...!"
Witnessing the catastrophe, Instructor Huff leaped to his feet in shock.
Freira looked at him and remarked, "Didn't you scold me last time for using such unrefined language?"
"...I misspoke."
Huff sat back down. Though he had uncharacteristically lost his composure, what had just occurred was impossible to ignore. He turned to Freira and asked, "I hate to admit it, but is this the first time we've seen that level of destructive power since that kid you used to teach?"
"Well, yes."
"Did you know about this and try to recruit her during the entrance exam?"
Freira shook her head.
"No, I just wanted to recruit her back then because I thought it would be fun."
"Then how do you explain that..."
"Who knows? Only she would know, wouldn't she?"
Huff gritted his teeth at Freira's half-hearted response. However, he couldn't afford to let his frustration show. He calmly began to re-analyze the situation on the battlefield.
Even so, that attack can likely only be used once.
Since the 2-Star Relic she possessed was now broken, another attack of that caliber would be impossible. Furthermore, Cadet Elsie, who was with her, seemed to have exhausted her stamina after running wild on her own to reach that point.
In that case, what's left is two swordsmen, one spearman, one archer, and one offensive mage.
He had already confirmed that the support mage was paired with Yoo Seora. This meant, without a doubt, that the offensive mage was left without any support. Perhaps the battle wasn't over just yet. Right then, a report reached his ears.
At that moment, Huff had an intuitive realization. The odds were actually still in his favor. Aside from Yoo Seora and Elsie, the swordsmen on Freira's side were all mediocre. Furthermore, the fact that they were all clustered together meant that the offensive mage was likely guarded by nothing more than a single archer.
Therefore, he commanded:
"Alright. The 'Tank' has completely annihilated the enemy's mage party."
Seeing the explosion in the distance, Sung Yu-rang muttered to himself. Belle, Team 4-B's offensive mage, looked at him anxiously and asked, "Are we really going to be okay?"
Even if Yoo Seora had indeed wiped out the enemy mage party, that didn't guarantee victory. The remaining two swordsmen and the spearman on their team were hardly reliable. On top of that, she was currently isolated with Sung Yu-rang, completely devoid of any proper vanguard.
We're doomed. Absolutely doomed...
Finding herself positioned alone with Sung Yu-rang, she suddenly recalled the looks Yoo Seora and Elsie had given her earlier. Those had undoubtedly been looks of pity. And now, she was painfully realizing the true meaning behind those glances.
"Yes, we'll be fine," Sung Yu-rang replied nonchalantly.
She really should have spoken up when he dismissed her by saying she could only cast Fireball. She should have made it clear that Fireball wasn't the kind of high-tier, high-destructive magic he seemed to think it was. Or would it be better to tell him now?
Yes, that's definitely for the best.
Mustering her courage, she opened her mouth.
"Um, I don't think you've ever actually seen my Fireball in action, but a Fireball isn't really..."
"No, I have a solid grasp of what kind of spell it is. I brought you along with that fully in mind, so you don't need to worry, Belle."
"What?"
His gaze shifted in an instant. It was a look she had never seen on him once, even during all the mock battles they had fought together back in Team 2-A.
He spoke to her in a quiet, steady voice.
"Put your worries aside and just focus on your casting."