“Shulim! This is great!”
Fran hugged Shulim excitedly.
“We're in the same group!”
“Mm... Yeah, it is,” Shulim said, straining to push aside Fran’s cheek as her friend desperately tried to nuzzle against her. “We got lucky.”
In the end, Fran had failed to convince the teachers to change their minds. After all, this wasn’t some method cooked up by the teachers of Mente Town; it was a standardized policy set for all preparatory schools, and it was impossible to alter just because of a little girl’s few words.
Being grouped with Fran now was purely a matter of luck—it was simply how the lottery had turned out.
“Haha! This is awesome, Shulim! When the assessment starts, we'll show them what we've got and eliminate all those idiots!”
“Ah, so here you two are, Shulim, Fran. I'll be in your care from now on!”
While Fran was still joyfully imagining the future, a boy suddenly walked over and chimed in.
The moment she heard that voice, the smile on Fran’s face vanished, instantly replaced by a look of sheer disgust.
“Tsk!”
She clicked her tongue sharply.
“Who wants to work with you? Beat it. Get out of my sight.”
“Huh?”
Ander’s smile froze instantly, and a look of confusion came over his face.
“I'm sorry, Fran. Did I do something to offend you?”
“I don't know! Who cares! And don't talk to me! You annoy me just by existing! Hmph!”
With a cold snort, Fran flipped her hair and walked away, seemingly unwilling to spend another second in his presence.
“...”
Ander stared blankly at Fran’s retreating back before turning to Shulim.
“Um, Shulim... Do you happen to know when I offended Fran? Could you tell me what happened so I can apologize?”
“Um... No, you didn't do anything wrong. Just assume she's been in a bad mood lately and acts like this to everyone.”
“Is... Is that so?”
Ander clearly didn't quite believe her, but he couldn't keep pressing the issue.
“Since Fran has stepped away for a moment, let's discuss our team first. Why don't we call over our other two teammates?”
“Sure.”
The combat teams for the practical combat course consisted of five people per group. It was almost as if Fran’s mouth were cursed; although she had gotten her wish and ended up in the same group as Shulim, the other person she least wanted to be grouped with had also ended up in their team.
Even though drawing lots was chosen for the sake of fairness, the fact that the three strongest students on paper had been assigned to the same team made it hard for anyone else to laugh. Because of this, the other students protested vehemently.
“How is this any different from rigging the first place!”
“Conspiracy! There's definitely a conspiracy! Redraw the lots!”
However, the cold truth of reality was that these kinds of things did happen.
Kunon dismissed those objections without a second thought.
Since the lottery had been conducted by him and several other teachers, there was absolutely no possibility of cheating. Furthermore, protesting simply because the outcome was disadvantageous to oneself was a clear sign of weakness. If they had to blame something, they should blame their own bad luck!
In fact, in his eyes, this situation was actually ideal. The power dynamic between the Shimulir Allied Forces and the Demon King's army had always been equally unbalanced. This was the perfect chance to let these naive students experience what an overwhelming gap in strength felt like beforehand.
In any case, the combat teams were finalized just like that.
With the combat teams established, Kunon also put an end to the high-intensity physical conditioning and began teaching marching knowledge and combat common sense.
...
...
“Shulim, how's the situation?”
Crouched in the bushes beneath a tree, Fran looked up and asked.
Still hidden in the shadows of the treetops, Shulim continued to observe their surroundings.
“Hold on a little longer.”
A few more minutes passed.
Swoosh!
A figure dropped agilely from the tree to the ground, making almost no sound in the process. Such nimble movements couldn't help but leave her other teammates in awe.
“Shulim, how is it?” Ander asked as soon as she hit the ground.
Glancing at her four teammates to make sure everyone was accounted for, Shulim replied, “The situation isn't great. If I saw correctly, at least four teams have formed an alliance. It seems they're targeting us.”
“What?! That's so cheap!” a boy who had been lucky enough to be assigned to this team immediately cried out in dissatisfaction.
Since it was a five-person team, besides Shulim, Fran, and Ander, there were two other people in the group: a boy named Klein and a girl named Niya.
The one who had just voiced his dissatisfaction was Klein.
Niya, who had a rather introverted and timid personality, also looked a bit nervous at this moment.
“What... What should we do? We won't lose, will we?”
They had originally thought that being placed in this team meant their grades for the practical combat course were already guaranteed, but they hadn't expected the others to pull off a move like teaming up.
“Calm down, don't panic,” Ander said comfortingly, then analyzed calmly, “When they know they're facing an opponent they can't defeat on their own, uniting other weaklings to win by numbers is an inevitable progression.”
“I-is that so? Then what do we do now? Are we really going to fight several times our number?” Klein asked apprehensively.
Ander glanced at Shulim. After all, the first-hand intelligence was in her hands, so it was best to ask for her opinion.
Shulim shook her head. “That's a strategy of last resort. If possible, it's best to avoid a head-on clash with their main force. Although our team has some of the top-performing students in the class, the gap in strength isn't so wide that we can fight off multiple teams at once.”
When Shulim solemnly uttered the words “the gap in strength isn't so wide,” the expression on Fran’s face, who had been listening intently, flickered subtly. However, she quickly hid it before the others could notice.
“Yeah, that's true. But what are we supposed to do now? There are so many enemies. If they do a sweep, our hidden flag will be found in no time, right?” Klein couldn't help but grow anxious.
According to the rules of the flag-capture game, once the flag representing each team’s life was set in place, it could not be moved again, or they would be disqualified. The only way to win was to protect their own flag while taking down the flags of all other teams.
“Don't be anxious,” Shulim said calmly.
“The forest area below the abandoned mine is huge. It won't be that easy for them to search all the way here, so we still have plenty of time.”
“Shulim, you've already thought of a plan, haven't you? Why don't you just say it?” Fran said, growing a bit impatient with her teammates' timidness.
Shulim glanced at Fran. Although she sometimes found Fran’s mysterious confidence in her quite baffling... Well, she did indeed have a plan.
“Shulim already has a plan?”
Ander also turned his gaze toward Shulim. Suddenly, the eyes of all four teammates were focused on her.
Rate on N.U.