Vol. 3 - Chapter 87 - Katariona Encounters an Unexpected Development on the Last Day of Orientation
The first and second days went by in a blur as we concentrated on completing our studies.
Then came the third day of orientation.
The outline of the final day\'s magical battle and our team members were revealed.
The venue for the magic battle was a forest owned by the Academy. It is located near the royal capital.
As for the outline, Class S and Class A were split into east and west to establish a fort. Each team is divided into two groups, and the first one to take control of the fort wins.
The teams consist of six S class students, four A class students, and two upperclassmen. And each team is led by a teacher.
My team consisted of two boys and two girls. Chris and I were on different teams.
As for the senior students, Lady Marguerite and His Royal Highness the Dauphin came to help us.
On Chris\'s team, she had my big brother. I would have liked to have accompanied him if possible.
The only saving grace was that Tojurou-san was my assigned teacher.
And Leon was going to be with us since we were allowed to take our holy beasts with us.
"Katariona-sama. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"It\'s been a pleasure. Richard-sama, Marguerite-sama."
"My sister is in good hands. I look forward to working with you."
Golden hair and green eyes. Marguerite-sama looked a lot like Angela, which made me feel a little closer to her.
"I am the one who is grateful to you. Marguerite-sama."
Marguerite-sama, a fifth-year student this year, is one of the most capable girls in the school. She holds dual attributes, wind magic, and water magic, and is also skilled in martial arts. She is one of the most popular women in the nation and is known as "the elder sister" by many.
"Please continue to be good friends with my sister."
"Of course."
Marguerite-sama and I got along well, but the holy beasts did not.
Hawk kept relentlessly trying to frighten Leon, but Leon was having none of it and kept sighing absentmindedly.
"\'I hope that you have been enjoying your orientation life?"
I turned to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who interrupted the conversation I was having with Marguerite-sama.
His Highness the Crown Prince is a powerful fire magic-user.
I have an earth attribute even though I am a Plant Magic-user. And besides, I\'m a bit abnormal.
"It\'s not often that I get to experience communal living with my classmates, so it\'s quite refreshing."
Marguerite-sama was greeting the rest of my classmates. Their faces were red, no doubt due to the presence of the student body president, whom they adored standing right in front of them.
"This year\'s orientation is going to be interesting, don\'t you think? When I was here, it was just a classroom lecture on magic and a mock battle."
It had been bothering me for a while, but when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince referred to himself he had changed from using a formal "me" to the one used by close friends.
Did he decide to change his mind before his social debut?
"Yes, indeed. It makes me very nervous."
"The conversation is not going well. Rio, don’t you think it’s because your response is so curt?"
"Excuse me. I\'m trying my best to converse with him."
Leon’s mental note echoed in my head.
“Leon you should get along with Hawk.”
“I don’t know how to! He only threatens me to stay away from Marguerite.”
It sounded like the high-pitched cry of a bird of prey to me, but did Hawk say that?
"From today on, we\'ll have a magic lecture in the morning, and in the afternoon we\'ll work in teams. You may discuss your strategy for magical warfare and practice your magic."
Tojurou-san\'s clear voice echoed.
We\'ll be working in teams? I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed.
Our opponents are a six-member team from S class led by Kikuno-sama. Among them are Angel and Adeline-sama.
"Listen up! You guys will definitely win!"
As a result, Tojurou-san was in high spirits.
"I\'m sure that Kikuno-sama has prepared some pretty crafty ways to deal with us."
I may not be able to match Kikuno-sama in terms of sheer brute force or even mind games.
After all, for the past three days at the magic training center, she taught us to "read the enemy ten moves in advance."
If someone argued with her, saying, "It\'s not chess, you can\'t predict the future like that," she would smile and say, "Then you will die. "
Kikuno-sama wasn\'t the only tough one, however.
Angel\'s fog magic and special skills are not to be trifled with, and Adeline is skilled in the Marquis de Trevize\'s family art of magic inhibition.
"What is the plan of action Tojurou-san?"
Marguerite-sama raised her hand and asked Tojurou-san.
"It\'s Hikoshiro after all. Don\'t you think you could just break through the front, disable all the opponents except for Kikuno, and then have everyone attack Kikuno all together?"
Leon is being very disrespectful.
"We\'ll go head-to-head. I will draw Kikuno out. And you guys are going to have to take them out somehow."
Ah. Yeah. Leon’s words were pretty accurate.
Needless to say, the whole team fell silent.
The last day of orientation arrived. And the day of the magic battle arrived.
To be honest, we couldn\'t rely on Tojurou-san, so Marguerite-sama came up with a strategy.
To be honest, we couldn\'t rely on Tojurou-san, so Marguerite came up with a strategy.
For some reason, it fell on me and Tojurou-san to attack the fort. In this way, I don\'t know who is supposed to lead.
Marguerite-sama will be the one defending the fort here. And another girl from our team will also defend the fort with Marguerite.
The attack and defense were led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the other two guys were also helping.
The sound of fanfares echoed from all directions.
The fanfare reverberating through the forest signaled the start.
“Let’s go! Yurie!”
“Yes, Tojurou-san.”
I followed after Tojurou-san as he ran off into the forest.
I heard a buzzing sound and looked up to see Hawk flying overhead. He was guiding us to the fort.
"\'Is Marguerite, the student council president, a hawk practitioner?"
I wouldn\'t call it a hawk, more like a griffin."
"Birds of prey have excellent eyesight. I\'m sure they will be able to spot the fort easily."
So she\'s a falconer. That\'s cool. Maybe I\'ll be a cat wrangler?
"All right! Let\'s go, Leon!"
"Where are we going?"
Leon talked normally since it was only Tojurou-san and me now.
"\'We\'re going to find out where the other team is, like Hawk. Cats are supposed to be hunters, right?"
"I am not a cat. But I can at least find out where the other team is."
He jumped from my shoulder to a tree and ran up into the treetops.
"You\'re really like a kitty cat. You\'re very light."
"Rio, they\'re coming. Above you!"
It seems that he has discovered an opponent. I received a telepathic message from Leon.
"Tojurou-san. Above us."
Tojurou-san and I halted for a moment and looked up.
One of the boys unleashed a Wind Blade at us.
"You dare to use Wind Magic against me? Sweet! Wind Magic: Storm Tempest!"
As the name implies, a storm of strong winds engulfed the wind blade and blew the students up into the air as well.
"Uwaaaaaaaa...." screaming, the male students disappeared into the distance.
"Tojurou-sensei. Don\'t you think you overdid it?"
"I\'ve adjusted it so that the wind will catch them where they are thrown. I doubt they\'ll be hurt."
As a teacher, he had to take the safety of his students into consideration.
"You can use magic as usual without using your sword?"
"I\'m still a member of the Wind God\'s family."
"Rio! To your right!"
Some stone bullets flew at me from the right. I thrust my hand into the ground and concentrated my magic power.
"Plant Barrier Magic: Wooden Wall!"
A wall of timber instantly sprang up around Tojurou-san and me.
The girl who released the stone bullet exclaimed, "Is there such magic? I don\'t know what to make of it. It appears to have two attributes, earth magic, and fire magic."
Before the fire magic is unleashed, I removed the wooden wall. The moment my spell was unleashed, Tojurou-san drew his sword.
"What!? How can you cut fire?"
He used his sword to cut through the fire that the schoolgirl had unleashed.
It\'s a no-brainer for the Wind Saint. I can do it too, but I don\'t have a sword.
"Do you wish to surrender?"
In this magic battle, there is a system of surrender for the safety of the students. If a student surrenders, he or she will raise the white flag and become a prisoner of the other side. The only problem is that if the other side wins, you get a negative score. For the record, the student who was sent away by Tojurou-san earlier also scored a penalty point.
"Ugh! I surrender."
The girl raised her white flag nobly.
"This makes four students and Kikuno-sensei."
"I think some of them are attacking our fort through other routes."
"...... I believe so."
Did they think that all of us would break through the front as we did?
When it comes to strategy, Kikuno-sama is superior.
An emergency occurred when Tojurou-san and I reached the front of the fort.
The teachers\' communication crystals flashed, and we received a transmission from the magical academy that had jurisdiction over this forest.
"Emergency! A dungeon has appeared in the forest! All magical battles are canceled!"
A dungeon had appeared in the forest, and the students were immediately escorted out of the forest by the teacher who was leading them. However, it was said that several students disappeared around the dungeon. Those students were Chris and the rest of her team.
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