I'm the Leader

When Leila returned and announced they would begin shortly, Team 7 rose to their feet.

"So what personal gear did you guys bring?"

Every tool used in the exercise had to be academy-issued, with one exception: personal weapons were permitted. Rai looked over the students, each of whom carried a weapon at their hip or across their back, and Aria quietly showed him the rapier at her waist.

She had only meant to display the weapon, but turning her hips slightly while still facing forward produced a pose so unexpectedly alluring that the surrounding students stared, dazed.

"Haa... my nose is bleeding all of a sudden..."

"Today was a good day..."

"Hang in there. The Goddess is right here beside me."

As every gaze in the vicinity locked onto her, Aria flushed with embarrassment, spun her hips away, and covered herself with her hands. Zeroa had brought a shortsword, shorter than the blade he normally used.

"You mentioned you'd worked as a forest keeper and a forager, right? Smart choice."

"Thank you."

The many jobs Zeroa had worked were already paying off. In a forest, long weapons were more often a liability than an asset. A short blade was useful in far more situations than combat alone. He had brought a shortsword rather than a dagger only because he had assumed there would be fighting; had he known otherwise, he would have packed a knife.

Zeroa was still glowing from the praise when Rai spoke again.

"But a soldier doesn't wander around without his own weapon. You heading off to war convinced there won't be a fight, so you leave your sword behind? Go grab the longsword you actually use. Being ready to fight at any moment is the baseline."

Chastened, Zeroa looked around in a fluster, searching for somewhere he could borrow a weapon.

"Worry not!"

Cesset hopped into Zeroa's line of sight, planted herself with her arms crossed, and struck a smug pose. Behind her, a maid held a large roll of cloth.

Servants and hired attendants kept their distance so as not to interfere with the students, but anyone of means always had two or three of them trailing nearby. Nobles brought bodyguards, attendants — even private sword instructors to continue family training while they attended the academy. During large-scale exercises like this, the retinues always clustered off to the side, looking for all the world like a crowd of spectators who had come to watch.

The maid unshouldered the roll, laid it out, and unfurled it. An array of weapons appeared in a neat row.

"I figured this might happen, so I packed every decent weapon I could."

"Been agonizing over what to bring this whole time, huh."

"N-no! I just thought someone might forget their own weapon, so I prepared extras!"

Rai's aside sent Cesset scrambling to explain herself. Zeroa studied the weapons she had brought. Every last one looked expensive at a glance. Even the plain longswords were quality steel, meticulously maintained, in pristine condition.

She had offered to lend them, but Zeroa — who had carried cheap longswords his entire life — couldn't bring himself to reach for any of them.

"My apologies for the late introduction. I attend Lady Cesset. I would be grateful if you called me Rin. You seem overwhelmed by the selection — if I may offer my modest opinion, might I recommend this one to you, Master Zeroa?"

Rin recommended a splendid-looking longsword in a gentle, unhurried voice, presenting it with both hands. She carried herself with poise and a thoroughly adult composure, and the elevated respect she showed him left Zeroa flustered. He waved his hands.

"I-I'm just a commoner. Please, speak comfortably."

"I must decline. You are a friend of my lady, and therefore someone I am obliged to respect."

The maid's pretty eyes and faint smile carried a pressure Zeroa found himself unable to refuse. While Aria stood beside him examining the weapons, Cesset held up her magic staff and asked Rai a question.

"What should I bring? Should I go get the one I usually use before you scold me for not having the basics down, too?"

"That staff's flashy as hell. You gonna carry that thing for five days?"

"...No."

Cesset's magic staff was so ornate that an honest "no way" was the only possible answer. A lavish gift from a doting father for her academy enrollment, it was forged from metal with excellent mana conductivity, and several high-grade mana stones of impressive size were set into the head. It was a heavy stick she would have been ready to throw away after half a day, never mind five.

"Bring the most basic wooden staff you've got. Use it as a walking stick while you hike."

"Ooh, so you're nice to me. You just chewed Zeroa out for not being ready to fight at any time."

"A staff is just a support tool, isn't it? If it isn't, you don't qualify as a Pure Magician."

"That's a fair point."

Cesset nodded, recalling the words of a famous mage of old: a magician's true weapon is vast knowledge. As Rai had said, a staff or rod was only ever an aid. The true power of magic depended on the caster.

"You running a weapons shop or something?" Rai asked, approaching Rin with easy familiarity. He plucked a dagger from the corner of the display and handed it to Zeroa.

"Leave the shortsword. Take the sword Rin recommended, and this too."

"The dagger as well?"

"Yep. Starting today, you're dual-wielding."

With that, Rai walked off somewhere. Zeroa stared blankly at the dagger in his hand. Rin smiled faintly.

"A loophole, if you will. He's sending you in with one extra tool that will be useful in the forest. A fine instructor."

"Not sure 'fine' is the word for someone teaching us to cheat."

"I mean efficient, my lady."

"Then should we all try dual-wielding?"

"Do it too openly and you'll catch grief for it. Best if only Master Zeroa takes one."

Rin chatted warmly with Cesset as she handed Zeroa the weapons, packed the rest away, then bowed to her lady, wished her fortune in the exercise, and returned to her original post. She looked delicate, but the precision of her posture and speech made it clear she was not to be underestimated.

Rai, who had vanished somewhere, returned carrying a sturdy-looking shovel, which he declared to be his personal weapon. The students nearby stared in disbelief. Rai slung it over his shoulder without a hint of shame.

"Will they even accept a shovel as a personal weapon?"

"Tell them to test it. Crack a few skulls with this and they'll recognize it."

"Where did you even get a shovel?"

"Borrowed it from Dan over there."

Cesset looked where Rai was pointing and spotted an academy staff member standing empty-handed in the distance. He had probably been digging a drainage ditch by the instructors' waiting tent when Rai relieved him of it. She narrowed her eyes at him. Rai insisted he had borrowed it very politely.

Leila issued the students backpacks containing the supplies they would use during the exercise and had them gather by team. Attached to each backpack was a bracelet fitted with a small disc that turned blue when the wearer used mana.

"This one's broken. Swap it out."

Rai held up a bracelet that was already blue and asked for a replacement. Leila's face tightened. She handed him a new one.

"If you channel mana into it again, your entire team is disqualified."

"Yeees~"

It wasn't broken. He had pumped mana into it the moment he received it, and the color had changed. Leila's warning came in a low voice, but Rai answered brightly and returned to his place.

After a thorough check that everything was in order, Leila set down the roster and looked over the students with a hard gaze.

"This exercise is a joint training involving the entire year. Among you there will be good people and bad people, outstanding students and inadequate ones. Learn what is worth learning, discard what is not, and develop your abilities. As you already know, the most outstanding team in the year will be granted a special reward regardless of individual scores. I would like to see a team from Class B among those who receive it. For these five days, I expect every one of you to display the utmost of your ability, and to leave this exercise with no regrets."

When she finished, Leila crushed the rune stone in her hand.

White light washed over every student at once, and each team was teleported to a different location.

The sudden change of scenery left Zeroa hanging in midair. He nearly toppled, caught himself — then Cesset crashed into his back and they both went sprawling.

"Uwaaah—"

Cesset, who had landed safely thanks to a cushion of Zeroa, apologized and helped him up. He had bathed and purified himself since dawn, only to get filthy the instant they arrived. Zeroa brushed off the dust and checked on the others.

"Ooooh — that's insane!!"

Rai was shouting with a look of pure, unfiltered delight. He patted his arms and legs, bounced in place, checking that his body was still intact. Cesset stared at him, incredulous.

"Is this your first time teleporting?"

"No, but this is mass-scale. Mass-scale. You're a Pure Magician and this doesn't even faze you?"

Mass teleportation consumed so much mana that it was all but impossible with current magical technology. Strictly speaking, it was possible if you had infinite mana stones — it was the astronomical cost that made it "impossible." The number of additional mana stones required grew exponentially with each extra person. Even the Keilen Kingdom, drowning in wealth as it had been, would never have teleported dozens of people at once — not unless the nation itself were in peril and the capital on the verge of falling.

And yet Class B had just been moved all at once. There was no reason Class B would receive special treatment, which meant the other classes were being teleported the same way.

Rai was buzzing with excitement. Cesset, a Pure Magician who understood the true scale of the feat, was distinctly unimpressed.

"It's one of Legandia Academy's famous attractions. You didn't know?"

"Ah, so this is that thing. I'd only ever heard about it."

Using the power of the ancient ruins, anyone within academy territory could be moved regardless of number. The academy was one of the Empire's flagship ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠institutions, yet it sat far from the capital — a peculiarity explained by the fact that it had been built on the site of those ancient ruins. During his active years, Rai had heard rumors that the academy used the ruins for such a function, but it had sounded so implausible that, sitting in the Keilen Kingdom, he had dismissed it as legend or hearsay.

"Yes. The academy's system, designated Area Target Point Teleportation."

An academy staff member approached from the side and spoke up. He had been sheltering from the sun in the shade of a tree, and he offered Rai a light bow.

"Hello. I'm Brown. I'll be observing and recording B-7's actions for the duration of the exercise."

Zeroa recognized the staff member who had introduced himself as Brown. He was the one who had refereed Zeroa's sparring match with Aslan. His eyes were still half-lidded, as if everything were a bother.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Mr. Brown. I'm Rai. Instructor. Name's Brown, but your hair's purple, huh."

"Yes, I was already informed an instructor would be included. Here. Your assignment. Please proceed to the rally point."

He was speaking a little more than usual, given that an instructor was present, but Brown clearly had no interest in conversation. He ignored Rai's lame joke and handed over a small scrap of paper.

The others gathered around as Rai examined it.

It was a palm-sized map with a rally point marked — except only the immediate vicinity of the rally point had been drawn, making it nearly impossible to read. The ragged edges made it abundantly clear that someone had torn it.

"Um... Mr. Brown?"

"Yes?"

"The map is rather... damaged."

"Yes. The Vice Principal tore it."

At the words "Vice Principal," Rai nodded and accepted it without protest. The other teams had received proper maps. Team 7, under the Vice Principal's special surveillance, had been given a scrap.

Cesset stared at him. Rai put on a dazzling smile and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Just trust me."

"You brought the problem, so of course you have to solve it. Stating the obvious, aren't we."

"Yeah, yeah. Obvious stuff."

The two of them started walking, chatting amiably. Once they were out of Brown's earshot, Rai whispered.

"Hey. You know the terrain, right? This exercise happens every year, so you must've gotten intel from a senior or somewhere. Slip whatever you've got into my pocket. Quietly."

Cesset looked at him like he was an idiot. She stared for a long moment, then sighed.

"You really have zero interest in the academy, don't you, Instructor."

"I just got here. There's a lot I don't know."

"This is the forest called the Forest of the Antipode. Another one of the academy's famous attractions."

"Man, this place has a lot of famous attractions."

Cesset, having been asked, explained. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The forest, influenced by the power of the ruins, shifted its topography on a monthly cycle. A small stream might appear overnight. A cliff might materialize. The changes were small, but they accumulated until a great deal had transformed. Without a massive investment of manpower, mapmaking was a pipe dream. And even if you spent a fortune producing one, you would have to repeat the entire process two or three months later. Pointless.

It lay within academy territory, so dangerous monsters and beasts did not encroach. But the endlessly shifting climate and terrain produced rare foraging materials that were hard to find anywhere nearby, which meant licensed alchemists and foragers from the academy visited often.

"They're small, but you even get clearings that feel like desert or open plains."

"That's sick. Perfect for tactical training."

"Yes. Which is why we're doing tactical training here."

Rai looked around the forest in admiration, then something occurred to him. He held up the little map Brown had given them.

"But you just said mapmaking is useless. What's this, then?"

"They invested that much money for the exercise, producing a map that will be kindling in a month."

"They're rotting in cash."

"It certainly demonstrates that the academy spares no expense on education. More to the point — what are we supposed to do with this napkin scrap?"

Cesset asked. Rai thought for a moment, then snorted a laugh.

"Just trust me. You've recruited an excellent ranger. You give the orders. I'll find the way."

He had started by telling her to hand over a hidden map, and now he was saying trust him. Cesset was skeptical, but she had no choice but to rely on Rai.

The students had been taught how to read maps and interpret forest terrain, but pinpointing a specific location in a vast woodland was another matter entirely. It wasn't just the three students. Even active-duty soldiers would struggle unless they were skilled rangers. If the assignment had been merely reasonably difficult, she would have solved it without leaning on Rai. But they had clearly been thoroughly marked by the Vice Principal, and the task that had landed in their laps was simply too hard. Cesset had no other options.

Rai skimmed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠map, called the group together, set down his pack, and spoke.

"Dump everything out of the packs."

"To check what's inside?"

The other teams had probably already set out. Zeroa was puzzled by the sudden demand to inspect the packs. The first day was nothing more than a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠march to the marked rally point. Once they arrived, they would have plenty of free time — they could check the packs then.

Rai read Zeroa's thoughts and asked with a grin.

"Alright. In this situation, what do we need to conserve?"

"Time."

It was an easy question, and Zeroa answered immediately. Rai shook his head.

"No. There's something more important."

"..."

"We're going to be walking for five days."

Rai added that for the students who weren't catching on. Aria spoke carefully.

"Stamina... is it?"

Rai nodded. In truth, Cesset had known the answer from the moment Rai first asked. The reason they needed to conserve stamina was entirely because of her, so she hadn't been able to say it. Aria had answered first.

"From this point on, we dump everything useless. Get it all out."

The three of them set down their packs and emptied every item they were carrying. Rations, water, sleeping bags, and other camping necessities came out first, followed by military-issue gear for equipment maintenance. Rai crouched in front of the items laid out in a row and began tossing the unnecessary ones aside with satisfying abandon.

"Whetstone — dump it. Weapons aren't going to rot in five days. No armor to maintain. Dump it. Sleeping bag? Dump it. One tent is enough — dump the rest. Why is there polish in here? Dump it."

It went beyond refreshing. Rai looked like he was grabbing things at random and hurling them. Zeroa asked, flustered.

"Don't we need the tent and sleeping bags to recover our stamina?"

"You said you worked as a hunter's assistant. You can knock together a simple bed easy. You can't even use mana, and you want to haul that weight for five days? Or would you rather set the pack down and spend an hour gathering materials, three or four times over?"

"...The latter's easier..."

Zeroa quietly conceded, then thought for a moment and realized they had kept only one tent. A one-person tent was cramped, but excluding Rai, the team members were on the small side. If they squeezed, three people might just fit. But there was Aria, and there was Cesset. If three people went into the tent, one of them would definitely be a different gender.

Zeroa's thoughts wandered briefly into the realm of fantasy. He flushed and asked.

"But men and women sharing a single tent is..."

"What are you even thinking about?"

Rai looked at Zeroa — who was trying to hide his embarrassment — as if he were an idiot, and continued.

"You and I are sleeping outside the tent."

"R-right. That's, that's correct. Haha, of course that's how it should be."

While Zeroa mumbled, looking mortified, Cesset and Aria's expressions were not good. Whether society accepted special treatment for women was beside the point. Both of them had entered the academy on the strength of their own ability. They were not here to play the weak, to be looked after and given special consideration. They were supposed to stand as equals.

Rai saw the discontent on both their faces and spoke as if he couldn't believe it.

"Look, Aria I get, but Cesset — why are you looking at me like that?"

"Mmmmm.... The instructor is correct."

Her pride stung, but her stamina was lacking, and she needed a means of recovering quickly. She had to keep her stamina up so she wouldn't be a burden on the team. It was the right call in terms of efficiency, so Cesset admitted it, even if it hurt.

Cesset had conceded. Aria still had not dropped the discontent from her eyes. Aria rarely showed emotion. The fact that she was protesting with those cold eyes told Zeroa exactly how angry she was.

"Aria. You conserve as much stamina as possible."

"I can endure it."

"I'm sure you can. Kids aiming to be knights who run out of stamina aren't useful for much of anything."

Rai acknowledged Aria's words even as he tossed the remaining items behind him.

"But you missed something, didn't you? Planning to just endure it on your own?"

"..."

"Three, four hours of crashing out isn't going to properly recover fatigue, and this one here is going to run out of stamina as time goes on. She's going to collapse. Guaranteed."

"I'm soooorryyyy-!!!"

Rai grabbed Cesset by the head as he spoke. She dangled like a cat caught by the scruff, apologizing to Zeroa and Aria.

"I don't know when it'll happen, but when she collapses, you carry her. That's why you're conserving stamina."

"I understand what you're saying. But Zeroa is here as well. Is there a reason you chose me?"

"Because he's far more useful than you."

She had just been told to her face that there was a gap in ability. Aria showed no emotion at all and waited for Rai to continue.

"He's used to the forest, so while I'm pathfinding, he'll handle most of the work. On top of that, he'll tire far less than the rest of you. He knows how to walk in the woods."

"I see. I understand."

Aria bowed her head in thanks to Rai, then looked at Zeroa.

"I'm sorry for loading so much onto you. I'll be counting on you, Zeroa."

"N-no, it's fine. Leave it to me. I'll get it done properly."

"Aww — thank you, Zeroa. When the exercise is over, I'll buy both of you a specialty from Mr. Soltane's shop, plus a Spoonful of Love. Let's do our best."

Cesset said it with a look of genuine emotion. Zeroa briefly wondered whether the teahouse even had a menu item like that.

While the three of them were filming an academy drama, Rai finished organizing the gear and slung the pack onto Zeroa's back. It was bulkier than the original size they had received, but considering there had been four packs, they had discarded a considerable amount. Cesset looked at the compressed load with curiosity.

"It shrank a huge amount."

"It's pretty much just rations at this point."

Team 7 had started later than the other teams, but they would be able to move with far lighter steps. Once everyone was ready to set out, Rai looked at Cesset and asked.

"So, what do we do now, Leader?"

"Huh? Why am I the leader?"

"Because you're the only one without a job."

The reason was so absurd that Cesset looked at Rai in utter distaste. She had already recognized Rai as the leader. From the moment he joined the team, he had naturally issued instructions — what weapons to carry, how to organize the packs. Not a single person here had any objection to him commanding the team. They all thought he was the one who fit the role best.

"You're saying I should be the leader, not you, Instructor?"

"I just filled the minimum requirement so you lot — who got slapped with a penalty for Abigail's unauthorized departure — could actually finish the exercise. You said it yourself. This training is for you, not me."

He was right. The students were the ones who needed to undergo the training. They couldn't just let Instructor Rai do everything. But the original plan had been for Aria to take command. Cesset was about to refuse when Rai spoke first.

"Aria's out. She'll need to pour her stamina into you later, and she's too gentle and passive. She's not the right leader for this. Zeroa? He's a complete beginner just starting to learn tactics. Plus, he can't be vicious. The Vice Principal raised the difficulty, so we need someone underhanded."

"...You're talking as if the rough, vicious, underhanded human in question is me."

"You're the right person for the job."

Rai nodded vigorously. Cesset bristled — but Aria and Zeroa spoke first.

"You don't need to worry about me. I trust Cesset."

"I agree. I didn't even make the candidate list, but Cesset is far more suited than I am. The instructor is right."

The two of them agreed and backed Cesset, but somehow it didn't feel like she had been complimented. Her mood was complicated.

"Fine, fine. I'm already the one holding everyone back with my stamina, and now you're handing me the juicy role of leader on top of that. You're all so very kind. Yes, a nasty piece of work like me is clearly the right fit, so I'll give it my all. Don't any of you complain later when only my evaluation comes back good."

"You have to do well for the evaluation to be good. If the team tanks, your evaluation hits rock bottom first."

"First order: Shut. Up. Stop talking nonsense."

Cesset growled her counterattack, and Rai snickered. Aria, watching from the side, seemed to find their exchange enjoyable; she watched closely.

"Then give your pathfinder an order. What should I find, Leader?"

"That's right — always call me Leader. Let's crush everyone in our way and win!"

"You are not permitted to crush anyone."

Brown, who had been observing from the side since the beginning — present and yet somehow not — answered. Cesset, mortified, slowly lowered the hand she had raised high.