The Fifty-Man Alliance

The first-year cadets had gathered around Kim Young-han, and the so-called Kim Young-han Team had already swelled past fifty members.

"Hey, is that girl really a first-year like us?"

"...Don't ask me."

"You're still third in the one-on-one duels, though."

"I told you I'm not third."

Kim Young-han was staring in shock at the speed with which Nam Da-eun moved.

There's no way I could've beaten her...

He'd been saving a carefully prepared surprise attack for the finals, only for Lee Ho-yeon to shut it down, and he'd felt a little disappointed at the time. Disappointed? Please. If he'd run into Nam Da-eun, the finals might have been over in three seconds.

"How the hell did our pretty boy beat that...?"

Kim Young-han seriously considered whether gathering cadets would actually be enough to take down Lee Ho-yeon. But then Nam Da-eun finished her hunt and came over.

"Good work."

"Here. Points."

"Yeah. Thanks. I'll transfer you the contact token I got over there."

Kim Young-han transferred Nam Da-eun a contact token — the right to communicate with the outside world.

Transfer every contact token to me.

That had been Nam Da-eun's condition for joining the team. Kim Young-han recalled their first conversation.

"You just need the outside contact tokens?"

"I have enough points. I don't need them."

"...Alright. I'll give you all the contact tokens. Take the points too. We still have to split things fairly."

"Do whatever you want."

He still didn't fully understand it, but watching her hoard those mere five-minute contact tokens until she was spending over an hour a day talking to someone outside... she must have someone precious out there.

A boyfriend, maybe?

She'd been collecting contact tokens by killing every monster in sight even before joining the team, so it was probably a boyfriend or family.

"I'm going."

Nam Da-eun took only the contact tokens and vanished somewhere.

"She's always like that. Where does she even go?"

"Probably to make a call. Leave her be."

Kim Young-han didn't understand Nam Da-eun's behavior, but he didn't try to. Something told him that digging too deep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would only get him hurt.

"Finish it!"

At my shout, Elise dove between the Wood Giant's legs and swung her sword. A thunderous rumble shook the clearing as the colossus came crashing down. After about ten minutes of fighting, we'd felled the boss monster.

A Wood Giant — a colossus of living timber. The vines lashing from its hands and feet had made it a genuine nuisance.

I naturally hadn't gone all-out. No point wasting strength on something like this. Now that I knew Nam Da-eun was here, I needed to keep most of my power in reserve, just in case.

"Whew. Nice shot."

"Yeah."

Elise walked over, flicking dirt and grass from her blade. Her expression looked good — probably because her body was in better condition.

...She's definitely gotten faster.

It hadn't been long, but my mana massage seemed to be working. I scanned the code affixed to the back of my head to collect the points for killing the Wood Giant.

"Ah, this again?"

Why did these outside contact tokens keep dropping so much? They'd never shown up in the original work.

"You want it?"

"If you're offering, I'll take it."

I transferred the contact token to Elise, stretched, and sat down on a nearby rock. Elise was swinging her sword at empty air. Ever since the mana massage, she'd been training like this every spare moment.

That meant she'd be even more eager for my next massage — an excellent sign. Elise getting stronger was obviously a plus, too.

The survival exam had already reached Thursday. More than half the exam period had passed, so by now the ones who were going to get weeded out should have been weeded out. This was the stage where the remaining cadets should at least be able to read someone else's mana and brace for an ambush.

But somehow far too many people were still alive, which meant plenty of prey remained. Like the pair heading our way right now. They hadn't picked up on our presence at all.

I glanced at Elise, who'd already stopped training and slipped behind a tree. She caught my signal and drew her sword, ready to strike. The moment the pair passed in front of her, we moved as one.

Flames erupted from the ground, targeting the cadet in the rear, while Elise burst from behind the tree and slashed across the startled one's back.

"Gyaaah!"

The cadet whose back had been cut collapsed to the ground.

"Wh-what the hell!"

Elise ignored the remaining one and sliced the fallen cadet's smartwatch clean off. The cadet's body teleported away. That was a pretty deep wound — it was going to hurt.

The remaining one took one look at us and all but gave up, lowering the sword in his hand.

"Ah, shit. If I'd known I'd run into these two, I would've just joined Kim Young-han's team..."

But the words the male cadet muttered under his breath piqued my curiosity.

"Hold on, Elise. Hey — what did you just say?"

I stopped Elise's sword as she moved to finish him and asked the muttering cadet.

"Wh-what?"

He looked startled that I was asking questions instead of just ending it.

"You just said Kim Young-han's team. What's Kim Young-han's team?"

The male cadet's expression brightened a little. He'd spotted a chance he might not die.

"You still don't know? More than half the people left are in it, and the guy himself has no idea. This is pretty big intel — if I tell you, will you let me live?"

"Yeah. I'll let you live."

"F-for real?!"

After that, I heard all about Kim Young-han's team. It had started with people who had no food banding together, and then around Kim Young-han they began gathering one by one, rallying to the cry of Let's stop fighting each other and go steal Lee Ho-yeon's food! That had now become a massive group of over fifty people.

I was genuinely speechless.

That fox bastard, Kim Young-han.

The goal of taking me down was probably just a pretext. What he really needed was a large group of people. Kim Young-han wasn't that stupid. He was using me as bait to farm points. The more people you had, the better your chances of surviving to the end, and if they all made it through together, Kim Young-han — the one collecting points as their representative — would walk away with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the highest score.

But why was Nam Da-eun with them?

"S-so, can I go?"

"Yeah. Take care."

The male cadet finished talking and started watching my face. I waved him off, sending the crouched cadet on his way. Still debating whether to trust me, he stood up and started slowly backing away — and then Elise sliced his smartwatch.

"You said you'd let me live! You bastard!"

"I did let you live. Elise is the one who killed you."

If I let him go, he'd just join this Kim Young-han team or whatever. Why the hell would I send him off? The male cadet teleported away, still yelling something, and only the two of us remained in the forest.

"Sorry. Looks like I ended up being the target."

Elise hadn't done anything wrong, but now she was going to have to fight because of me. Wait. I hadn't done anything wrong either, had I?

"If we draw them into small-scale guerrilla fights, we can win."

Elise had a point. Honestly, if Nam Da-eun weren't in the picture, the two of us could take on about twenty people. If I went all-out, I could probably handle twenty on my own... or maybe not?

Of course, they'd already gathered over fifty, plus Kim Young-han and Nam Da-eun, so a frontal assault was out of the question. So what should I do?

The answer was simple: just keep seducing Elise. The subpar cadets would all get cleaned up on the last day anyway. Until then, we just needed to run.

Kim Young-han's method of gathering people by selling me out looked smart... but to someone who knew the future, it was just stupid.

"Forget it. Let's not worry about it until we actually run into them."

We'll deal with it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when we meet them. Of course, I was only talking this confidently because Elise was here. If we actually ran into them, I'd run. Fifty people? Come on. How do you beat that?

"Okay. Then... can we do it now?"

"Ah... I'll set up the tent."

The slightly flushed face, the way she asked — that was our signal. Elise was asking for a mana massage. Since she had to expose her back for the massage, we put up a tent even during the day.

I wondered if the professors might get suspicious, but it was fine. They weren't the sort to pry into a cadet's private life, and I had nothing to hide. What were they going to do about it?

Elise went into the tent first. A moment later she called me in. I opened the flap — and found Elise lying in a position I hadn't expected at all.

Until now, she'd taken her top off completely and covered her chest and stomach with her clothes, then sat with her back exposed, her face turned away. I'd assumed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it'd be the same this time, but now she was lying down still wearing her full cadet uniform, with only her stomach pulled up and exposed.

"...Elise?"

"I-I wanted to try other areas too. To see how effective it is."

"I see."

Elise was covering her face with both hands. The cheeks and ears visible between her fingers were red — she was incredibly embarrassed.

Even her belly button is pretty.

Smooth, lean abs without an ounce of fat, and a cute little navel. The most important parts of a woman's body — her breasts and pussy — weren't visible, but this alone was plenty sexy. Looking at Elise lying there with her face covered, it was like admiring a work of art.

"Alright. I'll start."

I wanted to take my time touching Elise's body again, but it was daytime and we didn't have much time. There was an upside, though. The stomach made it easy to stimulate what was right below.

The mana spreading from my hands split evenly between her abdomen and her genitals. Half stimulated the mana circuits in her stomach; the other half brushed against her pussy and womb.

"Hahp..."

Elise clamped a hand over her mouth, smothering her moans.

As long as they don't find out this is bullshit, we're fine.

If word ever got out that some guy had been groping his daughter's body under false pretenses, the Iris Guild leader wouldn't sit still. I might even get a hit put out on me. The Iris Guild was that terrifying.

"Hngh... w-wait a second."

"Ah, yeah."

I'd gotten distracted and accidentally lost control of the pleasure I was sending Elise.

Elise's body was damp with a sheen of sweat. Seizing the moment, I spoke up.

"Does your body feel a little hot? Anything like that?"

"Haa... a little. I think so."

"Then you must be the type who responds well to this. I was the same."

I tossed out a rough lie and kept the conversation going.

"R-really?"

"Yeah. Even if it feels weird, just go with it. I can keep you from getting hurt."

I couldn't tell if she trusted me or was just that desperate for a treatment, but she was listening to every word I said. I kept talking, matching her, doing everything I could to lower Elise's guard.

"Hngh..."

This time, too, I only stimulated the mana circuits in her abdomen and didn't work anywhere else. Though I didn't forget to slip a little mana into the womb below.

"Ha, ah... hah..."

Watching her reactions is pretty fun in its own way.

Whenever I let a trickle of mana slip through, she'd hold her breath, trying not to show how good it felt. It was hilarious.

"W-wait. That's too far down."

"Oh, sorry. I got focused."

I moved my hand toward her pelvis like it was an accident, but of course it didn't work. Shame.

For now, she'd lost all resistance to my massage, so I'd call that a win. All I had to do now was gradually expand the areas I touched.

I didn't know how far we'd get during the survival exam... but it didn't matter. She'd come looking for me even after we got out.