While the classes were all making an effort to reach the goal, the special class of 3 – A, who were starting deepest in the fields, had just broken through their exam area and were finally able to get some relief.
Although part of it was because they had gone from a lava region to a desert region, it was a bit chilly in the new region they’d entered.
Still, it was much better than earlier where they would perspire despite their exoskeletons.
“Haa, haa… Just what is happening? There’s way too many raybeasts lately,” a student said.
They took so much time just to move to a neighboring area because their area that was already crawling with high-ranked raybeasts suddenly had an influx of even more raybeasts.
The sight of all those falcons and lions made out of lava filling the earth and sky could only be described as overwhelming.
It felt as though they had fought for an eternity just to break through everything.
“Hmm, isn’t this part of those other abuses that Teacher Doneju said they’d prepared for us? They must’ve messed with the convergence device and increased the spawn rate just like last time,” Another student said.
“Huh? Wasn’t that a mistake?”
“You didn’t know? There’s a rumor going around saying that the teachers did it on purpose.”
“Enough gossip! We’re still within the A Rank area. This is no place for us to let our guard down!” Aristel said.
After overcoming one mountain, the students of 3 – A had started to relax, so Aristel, the person in charge of keeping the class together, scolded them.
The students she scolded obediently went quiet and renewed their focus.
“Fix the formation. Rizet, what of are surroundings?”
“Not good. The area we’re at right now is relatively safe, but regardless how we proceed from here, we’ll either encounter some raybeasts or some guard robots,” said
“I see,” she nodded.
It almost seemed as though the two kinds of dotted lights on the map were trying to surround them.
All the students of 3 – A agreed that neither group could be looked down upon. There were simply too many enemies in either group.
“Must’ve gotten past the other classes. What a bunch of useless fools,” said Ortho. [1]
The raybeasts spawned all over the fields, so they certainly weren’t anyone’s fault, but the guard robots had to enter the fields from the entrance, so the fact that there were still so many left meant that the other classes that encountered them chose to avoid combat instead of breaking their way through.
“…Is this him telling me to clean these up? Or is this him asking us to become the rear guard?”
Although
She felt as though she was able to hear a certain someone’s order, and she nodded mentally.
“Aristel-sama? A-A response on the radar! Another class is approaching!”
Rizet was suspicious of Aristel’s smile that was ill-fit for their situation, but when she noticed another class approaching, she immediately reported it.
They all turned to the approaching class, but because of all the dust being swept up, it was impossible to make out which class it was, but then a certain girl’s face appeared.
“Yahoo! Ari-chan, you doing well?” Myuhi said.
“Ruona-san!? What is 2 – A doing all the way out here!?” Aristel said.
This was a class that wore the same armor as them. A student with fox ears could be seen at the head of it, waving at them.
Aristel was relieved to see that Myuhi was the same as ever, but she was also surprised to see her here.
Their exam areas were supposedly quite far from each other.
“Ahaha, I could break through the surround if it were just me, but with everyone together, breaking through with just our class was kind of difficult, so we looked for an opening and made our way here,” Myuhi said.
『Besides, even 3 – A will have their hands full with these many, right?』
Myuhi wore that same joking attitude she always did, but she’d actually already informed Aristel that she’s figured out Shinichi’s intentions too.
『Thank you. It’s reassuring to have you here with us. 』
“Let’s meet up then. Our teachers don’t mind either, right?”
After thanking each other, they confirmed their plans with their teachers and got a curt nod in response.
Both class’s examiner knew that they made for poor commanders, so they had already left the command of their classes to Myuhi and Aristel.
They believed that their classes were both better off that way.
As for the reasons why Aristel and Myuhi were chosen as the leaders, well, the reasons for that were completely opposite each other.
“Ortho, Rizet, we’ll rendezvous with them and renew our formation. We’ll crush the guard robots with no reinforcements first,” Aristel said.
“I understand. I’ll take care of it posthaste,” Rizet said.
“I’ll leave it to you then.”
No matter how much the Garestonian Supremacists believed in the supremacy of the Garestonians, they would not look down on a special class during a group exam regardless how many Earthlings were in it.
This was the open-mindedness that the typical Garestonians held for those who’ve proven their strength.
“Can you spare a moment to talk, Ruona-san?” Aristel said.
“…Sure, I also have something I want to talk about,” Myuhi said.
Although they were both guilty of playing hooky earlier, they didn’t need to do anything here to find an excuse to talk.
That was just how much the people here trusted them, and it was because of that that Aristel and Myuhi were able to move to a place some distance away from the class.
They were still within view of the two classes, but with all the noise from the ever blowing winds, no one could hear what they were saying.
“Did you see?”
“Did you see?”
The two girls checked with each other one last time, though given their expressions, it was evident that their questions were merely rhetorical, and their questions themselves were proof that they’ve been
There were many camouflaged cameras installed throughout the fields.
The main reasons were to prevent unauthorized use and unwanted intruders of the fields, and to monitor the raybeasts. They were also used to record the classes, so that the students could review their actions.
Normally, one would need to ask permission to use them, but the high-ranking students could use them at their discretion.
Moreover, while relying on a display would limit the field of view and also make it possible for others to peek, choosing to pass the information directly to the brain would prevent that.
Consequently, because they chose to pass the information directly to their brain instead, they ended up feeling Shinichi’s finger when he flicked their eye, but no one would think that their eyes had suffered such pain given how much they were sparkling right now.
Those were the eyes of someone who was so excited that they’d finally found someone they could talk to.
“That was such a thrill, wasn’t it!!” Aristel said.
“I got chills just watching!!” Myuhui said.
That’s why they both ended up saying more or less the same thing.
Though they weren’t really confirming anything with each other. It was as if watching and being excited was a given.
The two ladies wore the same intoxicated face as they spoke excitedly.
“The way he looked as he gathered everyone with just a few words, raised morale, and led everyone!!” Aristel said.
“That amazing march where he led all those inexperienced and weak kids!” Myuhi said.
“That imagination that used tactics not found in textbooks and took advantage of everything!” Aristel said.
“And yet despite that he actually went around supporting everyone! He didn’t even have an exoskeleton on and yet he knew exactly where everyone was and what they were doing!” Myuhi said.
“Without showing the slightest opening, he showed that even the weak could bare their fangs and suppress the
“And on top of all that, he actually gave orders while standing in the front lines! Like seriously… Just what is he!? He can see everything! What kind of brain does Icchi have!? I wish I could abandon everything here right now and go to where he is just so he could give me orders too!!” Myuhi said.
“Oh, that part. That part really got to me too!! I mean like… Mmgh! Just what was that back as he stood there in front of everyone!? Oh, what I’d give to be protected by him right now!!” Aristel said.
Their words seemed to mesh and yet at the same time not, but the one thing they both shared was their desire to fight under him or with him.
That was the kind of yearning that the typical Garestonians held.
In the world of Garesto where a battle with the raybeasts was close by and inevitable, the most attractive point a person could have was the ability to deal with emergencies or the power to fight battles directly.
And just like how on Earth, people had their preferences, the Garestonians also had their preferences regarding the abilities that they favored.
“Sigh, just remembering how he looked is enough to get my face hot and my heart throbbing, ahh…” Aristel said.
“I like to think myself a little different from the other Garestonians, but I can totally see where you’re coming from. My heart just went ‘kyun’ and tightened up so much when I saw him,” Myuhi said.
Two leaders shamelessly taking advantage of their two classes needing to reorganize, so they could gossip by themselves.
Perhaps they’ve even already forgotten about their classmates.
Aristel’s face was beet red as she caressed her cheeks and exhaled a heated breath, while Myuhi smiled a gentle smile that was somewhat different from usual as she held her chest.
Aristel had always seen his actions in a positive light, so her being in this state wasn’t a surprise, but even Myuhi, who was a bit more neutral in that regard, was also in a similar state. This was because he had shown results and abilities that the two of them favored.
Leading people, protecting them, guiding them… After being shown all of that, there was no way the two Garestonian ladies could avoid being charmed.
What neither knew was that they were both reminded of the same person when they thought of him.
Tl Note: Oruto to Ortho.
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