Once everyone had fallen back into formation, Kuno cleared his throat, his expression turning frosty once again.

  "Did all of you see that little demonstration?"

  The students: "......"

  "Twenty kilograms didn’t faze him one bit—but you lot are whining about fifteen?! And he ran two extra laps on top of it!"

  "So listen up—and listen good! From now on, anyone who dares complain about the weight gets five more kilograms added to their gear for every whimper. Am I making myself clear?!"

  "Y-Yes, sir......"

  "Am I making myself clear?!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Good! Dismissed——!"

  "Oh, and those of you who lagged behind earlier—you don’t get to leave until you finish those five extra laps!"

  "Huh——?!"

  "What was that? You got something to say? Make that ten laps if you’re feeling chatty!"

  "......"

  ......

  "Ugh, everything hurts! My muscles are screaming!"

  Enlightenment Day.

  The Heyerar Residence.

  Fran sprawled lazily on the sofa, moaning in agony.

  "What happened to you?"

  Hulim Heyerar asked, eyeing her friend’s dramatic display with curiosity.

  "Blame that demon of an instructor! I tripped a little and fell behind yesterday, and he glared at me like I’d insulted his mother! He goes, ‘What’s this? You’re mimicking a worm now? Crawling along the ground?’ Then he made me run five laps with the weighted gear!"

  "......"

  Hulim wanted to offer some words of comfort. After all, Kuno doled out punishments for the flimsiest excuses every class. But Fran’s physical fitness was easily the worst in the class—she ended up on the receiving end of those punishments nearly every single time. Hulim honestly didn’t know what to say.

  Pinch~, pinch~.

  "Hmm?"

  "Fran... what are you doing?"

  Hulim asked, watching as her friend pinched her arm repeatedly, then squeezed her own.

  "They feel exactly the same! Both are so smooth and soft!"

  Fran muttered, comparing their arms side by side.

  "Hey, Hulim—how do you train? Your physical strength is insane! And don’t even get me started on your magic! Everyone else might not realize it, but your magic is ridiculously powerful, isn’t it?"

  "Well...... I just trained really hard, I guess? It sort of happened without me noticing?"

  "Really hard?! That’s amazing! How hard exactly? I’ve been trying my best too, but I can’t keep up at all! And I’m always getting punished by that devil instructor... Oh! Speaking of which—you never get punished by him, do you? It’s like you don’t even break a sweat after those brutal workouts!"

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "......Do I not?"

  "You totally don’t!"

  Fran nodded vigorously, her eyes shining with certainty.

  "I’ve been watching you this whole time, y’know~!"

  Hulim: "......"

  There wasn’t much she could say to that. The so-called "hellish training" that left everyone else gasping for air was child’s play to her—her usual training routine was far more intense. She genuinely never felt the least bit tired.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t know any spells that could make her look exhausted.

  Thankfully, aside from Fran, the other students were too busy collapsing from fatigue to pay her any attention.

  "Oh! Speaking of training—what do you think about the Combat Teams thing, Hulim?"

  Fran switched topics suddenly, perking up a little.

  "Combat Teams...... Isn’t the grouping going to be decided by random draw for fairness?"

  The Combat Training Course had two main assessment components: first, an Individual Combat Assessment—self-explanatory—and second, group battles with Combat Teams, which evaluated Team Coordination Skills and Leadership Abilities. Both assessments would count toward their final grade in a set ratio, and the results would be filed in the official academy records.

  According to Instructor Kuno, the students’ physical fitness was far too poor right now. Putting them into teams immediately would be a waste of time—better to build up their strength first.

  And that was how his three-month-long hellish training regimen got underway.

  "Ugh—that’s exactly the problem!"

  Fran latched onto Hulim’s arm, her cheeks puffing out in frustration.

  "I wanna be on the same team as you, Hulim! Can’t we find a way to rig the draw or something?"

  "Even if you ask me that... I’m not the one in charge of the lottery. There’s nothing I can do."

  "Aww—!"

  "But if it’s random, we’ll probably get split up! And what if I end up on the same team as that Ander guy? That would be awful!"

  Fran practically spat out Ander’s name, her face twisting with annoyance.

  Ever since the instructor had singled him out for praise, Ander was constantly being made to demonstrate techniques for the class. His consistent, above-average performance had led everyone to label him the strongest student in the grade. Boys and girls alike flocked to him every day, hoping to be on his team for the group battles.

  This infuriated Fran to no end. In her eyes, Ander was nothing compared to Hulim—who was obviously the strongest person in the class. But everyone else only believed what they saw with their own eyes. Sure, Hulim was the undisputed top of the class in magic theory... but most students thought that had nothing to do with real combat. No matter how many times Fran argued with them, they insisted Ander was the best.

  It made her absolutely livid.

  "That jerk! Who does he think he is, strutting around like that! And that devil instructor is just as bad—has he got blind spots or something? Hulim’s the real strongest, plain and simple! Ugh, I’m getting mad just thinking about it! Hey, Hulim—when the team battles roll around, let’s team up and teach Ander a lesson! We’ll make him look like a total fool, what do you say?!"

  Hulim stared at her friend, who was dead serious about the idea, then replied calmly.

  "......Fran, I couldn’t care less about stuff like that. Besides—even if you wanted to get back at him... what if you do end up on his team, like you said?"

  "Ugh, you’re way too laid-back, Hulim! Those losers don’t stand a chance against you......"

  Fran sighed, then tapped her chin, looking deep in thought.

  "You’re right, though. I can’t let that happen......"

  "I guess I’ll have to talk to the teachers about it!"

  Hulim: "Huh?"

  "......Fran, don’t go pulling any strings using your family’s influence or something like that. That’s not right."

  Worried her friend was about to do something reckless, Hulim added quickly.

  "Relax! It’s not what you think!"

  Fran waved her hand dismissively.

  "I’m gonna go have a nice, polite chat with the teachers. I’ll just point out that since teamwork is the whole point—wouldn’t it make sense to let people team up with friends they already know and trust?!"

  Oh. That was actually a surprisingly reasonable argument.

  Though, her friend seemed to have forgotten that on the real battlefield—no one would ever get to choose teammates they were familiar with...

  Still, Hulim didn’t have the heart to shoot down Fran’s idea. It couldn’t hurt to try, right?

  "By the way...... Fran—how long are you planning to keep pinching my arm?"

  "Huh? Hehe~!"

  "......"

  When it came to dealing with her playful, stubborn friend, Hulim had a surefire tactic.

  She held up one finger, then poked it gently at the soft, sore spot on Fran’s thigh—the one that was still aching from the day’s training, the one that made her cringe in pain if anyone so much as brushed against it.

  "OWWW——!!!"

  ......

  ......