I felt like Rio was entering his "dere" phase, and I wondered if I would be legally allowed to hold him... but I'm in the middle of conquering the Demon King, so let's be serious.

　So, let's get to work.

"Alright, go ahead then.

　When I said that, the three of them nodded and took their starting positions.

　Then all three of them jumped out from behind the trees where they had been hiding.

"Come on, Iris, Maifa!

　Rio, the only one who didn't stop, ran on.

　When Iris and Maifa got to the position where the line of fire to the cave would pass through, they stopped there, one with the bow at the ready, the other in mental concentration for magic.

　Their target was a sentry orc in front of the cave, some distance away from them.

　The sluggish orc seemed to stare blankly for a while as the girls appeared in his sight, weapons in hand, but then he shook his head in panic and took up a fighting stance.

　But the orc's panic was short-lived.

　The orc on guard, seeing Rio and the three of them not as enemies but as prey, walked up to them, drooling from his mouth and grinning.

　You idiot.
　My students are not just pretty girls.

　Iris was the first one to make her attack move.

"Hit me!

　She fired an arrow from her drawn shortbow.
　The arrow flew straight at the orc...

　Boom!
　It pierced the orc's overgrown abdomen.

　The guard Orc cries out in extreme pain.
　But it's far from a fatal wound.

　The orc, enraged, tried to run towards Iris, but...

"...... It's not over yet. Firebolt!

　And then... Boom!
　I'm not sure what to do.

It's one of the first class attack spells. It creates a ball of fire with magic power and sends it flying like an arrow to the enemy.

　It is one of the first class attack spells, but it has a feature that the number of fireballs it can create changes depending on the size of the magic power of the magician.

　With Maifa's current magic power, the number of fireballs that can be created with a single [Fire Bolt] is two.

　Those two fireballs hit the huge body of the orc one after another.

　Even a single fireball is powerful enough to strike down a small monster like a goblin with a single blow, but...

"GOOOOOOOOOOO!

　The orc took a direct hit from Iris's arrow as well as two of Maifa's [fire bolts] and still roared towards the sky without collapsing.

　As expected of an Orc that prides itself on its toughness.
　While staggering from the onslaught, it glared at Iris and Maifa with anger in its eyes and drooled sloppily from its mouth.

　But then...

"Not yet!　There's still one more person left for you to deal with!

　There was a small girl running furiously towards the giant orc.
　It was Rio.

　Rio was approaching from the direction diagonally in front of the orc at a very fast speed.

　In response, the Orcs rushed to raise their clubs, but...

　But it was much faster for Rio to jump into the Orc's pocket than for the club to be swung down.

...Aha!

　Aah!

　This is the first time I've ever seen a woman's face like that.

I'm not sure what to say.

　The orc finally let out a scream of despair and fell backwards, and then stopped moving.
　The target is defeated.

　As it turned out, Rio's last evasive maneuver was unnecessary, but it was also a good decision.

　Since this is a monster you have never seen before, it is desirable from the viewpoint of risk-aversion to consider the possibility of not being able to defeat it with a concentrated attack.

　I took Maifa and Iris and went to Rio in front of the cave.

　Rio, Iris, and Maifa first clapped their hands together and said, "Yeah! You did it! "We did it!" "......, that's what we're made of," they said, praising each other's efforts.

　And then...

"Hey, bro, how'd it go?

　The three of them, with Rio in the lead, looked up at me with eyes that seemed to want me to praise them.

　No, I can't stand it when they look at me like that.

"All right, all right!　Rio, Iris, and Maifa, you all did great!　You were great!

"Woof.
"Aah!
"Aww.

　I opened my arms and hugged all three of them together.
　Then I patted them all like a cat.

"Oh, ...... brother, now you're carrying us all together? ...... Well, that's okay. ......

"Oh ......, oh ......, oh ......, oh ......, to the teacher, to the teacher!

I'm not sure what to make of this. ...... But it's not painful.

　It's so cute. It's so cute.

　I'd like to kiss the cheeks of all three of them.
　No?
　No.
　I'm sorry.

　So much for ...... and getting carried away.

"Well...

　I released the three of them and looked towards the cave.
　And then...

"High Hearing.

　I used a spell that allowed me to hear even the faintest sounds in the distance.


　Starting with me, the sound sensor spreads out like a wave through the water.

　There was no response from inside the cave.

　The Orcs were screaming quite loudly, so I was concerned that the Orcs in the cave might have noticed me, but the cave itself is quite large, or perhaps there was no particular reaction.

　Rio noticed me, and tilted his head.

"......?　What did you just do, brother?

I was picking up sounds in the cave.

Sound ......?

Oh. If the Orcs in the cave notice the attack, they might jump out at once.

Oh, I see. That's my brother.

Oh, I'll take that as a compliment.

　To tell the truth, it would have been preferable to defeat the orc guards without letting them make a sound, but it would have been too much to ask of the three of them now.

　I would like to prepare small goals of appropriate difficulty for my pupils, and have them step up steadily.

　Then I gather the three of them together again and tell them.

"All right... now to explore the cave. I'll be flexible from here on out. You'll have to make your own decisions because you won't get there in time if you have to check in with me every time. Okay?

""Yes!"

　Cheerful replies from my students.
　Wonderful.

　I'd like to hug and stroke them again, but there's no end to it, so I'll refrain.

　Now, the next step is to explore the cave.
　As a teacher, I have to do my job well.