♢♢ ♢


　Alice's group, which quickly split off in the outside world from Tesfia, was heading straight ahead from a short distance away.
　If they hadn't lost their way, they were heading north, where their headquarters were located.
　The headquarters would be located four kilometers north of the starting point.

　It's been a long time since we split into the forest, but we still haven't encountered any demons. Alice was walking forward, almost crushed by the tension.
　Although she knew that a battle was inevitable, somewhere along the line she wished she hadn't encountered it.

'Alice-san, there's no need to rush it.

　It wasn't the speed at which they were going. It was the compassion that came from Alice's lack of room.
　She's similar to Alice in type, but she's able to stand a little taller because of her accumulated pride and her position as a senior.
　Seniat is at the back of the line, looking over the entire group. It's probably because of Alice's back.

''Thank you,''

　It wasn't out of impatience, but I thanked him for the kindness that was honestly thrown at me.
　He quickly turned his face forward in shame that it was so blatant.

　Alice and the others were especially slow in their progress compared to the rest of the group. It was partly due to her leading feet being too cautious, but that was not an option on this not-quite-a-way ground.
　The roots of the unusually large trees that had grown abnormally distorted the ground, and the shrubbery made it difficult to see through. This makes me less confident that I'm even going straight.

　Alice is leading the way through such a place that can't even be called a path, cutting through obstacles with her cleaver-type AWR. Its arms and legs were covered with scrapes and scratches that looked like scrapes.

　It wasn't limited to Tesfia or Alice's group, but there was a tendency for the chain of command to be the duty of those in the higher ranks. Although there are no such rules, after all, belonging to the academy is dependent on such a vertical social structure.

　I'm sure you've been walking for an hour or so, and you've found yourself in an open area.
　It's not even half the distance I would normally walk, and I'm only halfway to the headquarters.
　The place where the huge trees were spaced apart and the visibility was clearer than before.
　That's where we stopped.
　It's still mysterious. If I hadn't had the opportunity to go out into the outside world as a magician, I would have regretted never seeing it in my life.
　There are places like forests within our survival zone, but I can tell you that I've never seen anything as impressive as this.
　It was a sudden event that brought me back to myself after taking time out of such admiration.

'----!

　A cacophony of strange laughter sounded close by. An instinctive sense of caution arose, his body tensed up, and his hands cocooned in strength.
　I thought I was acting cautiously, but it emerged from the shadow of a huge tree without even warning.

　A wild dog.........not.
　The figure is definitely a demon's unique black body.
　The oddly developed canine teeth were as sharp as a blade.

''Hee........!

　Whoever raised it heard such a cry of fear at Alice's back.
　It wasn't because I saw that horrible figure. It was because she was shot and cowered by those red eyes.
　Its skinny body seemed to scream with joy at finding its prey.

''Lie!''

　An unconscious voice came out of Alice's mouth.
　Another one appeared from behind that demon.
　It was probably the same species, but slightly different.
　Its neck was thick and its dog-like face was tilted eerily.

　Seniat flinched and leaked a dismayed voice.

'Two E-Rates!　Dare Wolf!　Mr. Alice, we should pull out of here.

　Alice didn't know if the suggestion was out of fear, but she quickly shook her head.

'I can't. That one will catch up with you very quickly.

　Alice's voice was trembling. Even so, her thoughts were still able to move correctly enough to calmly grasp and analyze the situation.
　Alice and the others have been slowly advancing along an unfamiliar path, but it's not easy to escape against the demons that originally used this outer world as their base. With the speed of their feet, even if they bought some time, they would soon catch up with them.

''Then I'll buy you some time and in time.......''

　Seniat had bought the bait, perhaps out of his duty as a supervisor, but Alice had refused to take it either.
　It was simply unacceptable, but it was more because Alice had a more solid plan in mind.

''I'll take care of things here. You were able to use defensive magic, right, senpai? In the unlikely event of an emergency, you can use it to buy yourself some time.''
You're not going to be able to do this by yourself...

　There was almost no difference between Seniat and Alice's rankings. So I was about to say that it was even harder to do it alone, but Alice didn't let her finish speaking.

''It's fine. And if you're alone, you shouldn't have any trouble in the first place. So when you defeat one of them, I'll need your help.

　So he smiles gently and turns to his members.

　They shuddered in fear, and he had to give them the confidence to think about the battle that would follow.
　It wasn't a conscious decision, but I thought I heard in some lecture that it was an important thing to reawaken a mage who had succumbed to fear in the outside world. No, he'd heard it during the training he went through every day.
　Showing a scene where a demon is not only terrified of a demon, but can be defeated is a driving force to be able to move, even if only provisionally.


　Alice walked towards the demon with a naginata in hand.
　Her heart was beating faster than usual and her legs were barely able to walk as she trembled.
　Still, it was the duty of the highest-ranking of the lot to step forward, and she was proud of the fact that she had trained for this.

　Taking a deep breath only made my throat quiver and I was far from regaining my composure.
　Determined, he passed his magic power through the AWR.

''----!

　Any doubts that I had ever gone through so smoothly were quickly dispelled.

(Come to think of it ... you did your best.)

　I smiled out of place, happy at the tangible results. A strange confidence filled me. It must have served as a buffer to ease my fears.

(Don't worry!!!)

　It was an inspiration for the magic power covering the AWR to stagnantly elephant the blade.

　Alice closed the distance between her and the demon without a care in the world.
　Slowly, she begins to turn her cleaver - the slow initial speed is soon enough to create the illusion of a sphere surrounding Alice at top speed.

　Besides her magic power, Alice has an overwhelming skill in this spear technique.

　The demons that were in a state of warfare attacked Alice furiously as she approached the distance.
　The two bodies jumped on her in a straight line - swinging their sharp claws at her.

''Reflection [Reflection].''

　The reason I mentioned the name of the magic wasn't because my technique was inferior, but a sign of my spirit.......to inspire myself.

　[Reflection 《Reflection》] is a magic that reflects magic power and does not apply to physical attacks.
　However, the demon's claws were flicked off so that they were blocked by the wall.

　While feeling relieved at the result, I remembered what I had heard from Ars. It was time for training in magic manipulation.
''To begin with, the magic power is generated inside the body of a demon, but in the case of demons, their black bodies are like AWR, so their magic power is always clinging to the outside of their bodies.''

　He also said that this was why simple weapons wouldn't work against demons.
　Then he thought that it was within the application of 【Reflection】.

　But you can't defeat it with [Reflection] alone.
　That's why Alice focused on the one unit that was played and jumped backwards, and Alice ran to it.

　As soon as it landed, Alice swung the blade out from underneath.
　'Giggles', an eerie squeal, and a deep gutting - Dare Wolf, who floats off the ground a bit from the impact, should have had a hunch. Even more so if it was a four-legged one, that the ground was lovely and this stagnation was fatal.

''Not yet!''

　Alice doesn't miss that moment of stagnation. All the warnings she received from Ars had been reviewed beforehand.

　Immediately, the cleaver began to swivel in every direction, cutting up the demon's body without a trace.
　I felt a definite response at the last swing, and the blade stopped moving there with the cleave. It had caught the nucleus.
　The demon's body decays in tatters.

''Yay.......everyone the rest of them.......''

　Alice turned her face away from the group. This is the only way to defeat them if everyone else is on board, a buoyant feeling that this was a blunder to suffer. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get away with it. More to the point, from the moment you set foot in the outside world, all carelessness is erased from your thoughts.

''Watch out!

　Immediately after the voice, the sound of a demon hitting something behind her reverberated.
　A semi-circular protective wall covering Alice.
　This was Seniat's specialty in magic, 【Spiral Veil】.

　It's a protective wall that uses the vibrations of the wind. Just because it's a specialty, a fairly dense wind surrounds Alice.

''Thank you.''
You're so strong, yet somehow you're not very smart.

　Pointing out that she was more like a sister than a senior, Seniat quickly turned her gaze to the rest of the demons.

''You guys should join in. Are you going to let Alice-san do all the work?''

　That reprimand may have been part of the reprimand, but perhaps Alice found no less hope in the fact that she had defeated one of them. The AWRs that each of them held were filled with strength.
　Their eyes were not all fear.

　They arrive at a position to lay out a formation around Alice.

　The rest are outnumbered.
　They were able to take out the first defeat as a group without any danger.



　♢ ♢ ♢



　The headquarters, which received the news of the start of the extracurricular classes, looked like it was finally underway.
　No shortage of preparations.

　Inside the headquarters, equipment just like the operations center from when he was in the army is being brought in, and teachers who have experience in the army are being welcomed.

　Outside, a reinforcement unit of senior students was waiting. Loki doesn't have to say anything to the teachers, but that's not the case with the students who are waiting outside.

　Loki isn't naturally good at making an argument in front of such people. However, not being able to live up to Ars's expectations is more repellent.

　When I stepped out of the tabernacle-like tent at the headquarters, I sensed a subtle sense of unease in the air. It belonged to the students who, although they were reinforcements, had lost their fears before fighting.

　Naturally, the gazes of nearly fifty students are gathered.

''The extracurricular lesson has started at the present time. As I told you in advance, I will issue instructions with the 《Concensor》. We'll leave it up to each of you to determine the situation.

　The confirmation was told at length.

Please make sure to work in pairs. And we won't help you with any arbitrary decisions. Please understand that you do so at your own risk (...).

　It included a threat that he would not follow instructions and move on his own, and that headquarters would not deal with him if he was exposed to danger as a result.

　It was just a threat, of course. It's doubtful that you can take control with this, but from experience, you can expect it to be effective.
　In fact, this extracurricular lesson is expected to cause some damage, so if something happens, he thought it was okay to give priority to the big rather than the small. Of course, the chancellor also knew that and asked Ars to do it.　

　Most of the students gasped. It was probably because that was the word from a three digit wizard.
　And the silver-haired girl in front of me was also the commander of the headquarters with the teachers in tow. There is no one who turns a color-twisted gaze at Loki here. It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.


''Then teams one through ten, please deploy immediately.

　Since the headquarters is placed in the outside world, there is a good chance that the demons will target us. Right now, the surrounding area has been annihilated by Ars and Loki, but that's only to buy time.
　That's why ten groups, twenty of them are also guarding the surrounding area.

　Right after Loki turned on his heel, one of the reinforcements spoke up.

''Aren't two people not strong enough against the demons?

　She was a second year female student.
　The students here knew that the question was based on fear of demons, but this was already decided.

　Loki did not choose words of encouragement. He simply stated the strict facts.

'There are only demons below the D-rate in the area. I'm not going to tell you why because it's a confidential matter, but you're in the reinforcement unit because the chancellor thinks you're capable of doing so, and he's decided that two people are enough for a D-rated unit.

　It contained an element of encouragement, but that was not Loki's intended outcome.

But...

　And yet, the women still say they are anxious. It's just that anxiety is not something that can be resolved quickly.
　It would be a different story if they had experience in actual combat.

It's a good thing that you don't know what's going to happen in the outside world, even though it's the D-rate. So I will leave the situation to each of you. If annihilation is impossible, then you and the first year students can escape together.
Okay.

　Permission to escape, this was a means of support not only for her, but also for all those who were anxious about fighting demons in this place. Of course, it should have been made clear in the prior discussion.

　Loki wondered inwardly if he would have to bite off so much to understand what he said about leaving the decision to them.
　Even though he knew that was also unavoidable for Hina, a magician.......


''Loki-kun!''

　A wild teacher's voice came from inside.

'I'm coming,'

　With that, the reinforcements began to move.



　Loki's two con-sensors, one to give instructions to the reinforcement unit and the other one is a direct link to Ars.
　The teacher's report was that there was a slight response to the resident detection magic.
　Detection magic that is designed for high rates tends to take out less than that. But it doesn't ignore them completely. It's just that even if you're within the range of detection magic, it's hard to get a reaction. I could say I was lucky this time.
　Put your hand on one of the consensors.

'Four kilometers northwest of B-C rate, total number seventeen, sir.
They're on to us. We'll be right there.
Please.

　I quickly cut up and focus my attention on the reinforcement consensor for the reinforcements attached to the other side's ear.

'Group 13, 1100m southeast of Group 13, coordinates 1981/6145, reinforcements, please. Squads fourteen through seventeen, 500 meters east, 1123/4579, please reinforce 34, 60, and 79.
Copy that.
I'm on my way.
Twelve teams have arrived. We have wounded. We need reinforcements.
I understand. The 22 squad will reinforce and then head north to reinforce the 12 squad.
Copy that.

　Loki was able to give precise instructions in a dizzying array of situations.
　The teachers could not help but admire his skill.

　

'Group 4, we're out of the area.
"...and so on...

　There is no kind of impatience with Loki, which was expected. Except for the anger, of course.

　Outside the area, outside the area, outside the 7km radius around the headquarters is set as outside the area. This should have been sufficiently mentioned to the students.
　There was no doubt in Ars's work that the demons that appeared within this area were below the D-rate, but we didn't know up to the total number.
　However, when it was outside the area, the detection of demons would be almost useless because it was not accurate.

''Loki-kun, what do we do!
Calm down, please. Location.
1650 meters outside the west-northwest quadrant.
'Understood. Groups seven through ten will immediately head to the 1650 meters west-northwest, 2377/7467, Group 4 for cover. Please accompany them to the area.
"'Copy that.
Teams one through six, please lower your lines of defense.

　I hope I can make it in time, but at the same time a certain sense of discomfort arose in Loki.