"Hulim~! We did it! We’re on the same team!"

  Fran threw her arms around Hulim Heyerar in excitement.

  "We’re grouped together!"

  "Umm...... Yeah, we are."

  Hulim struggled to push Fran’s overly enthusiastic face away from hers.

  "We really got lucky, huh?"

  In the end, Fran hadn’t been able to convince the teachers to change their minds. After all, the random draw system wasn’t a rule made up by Mentor Town’s instructors—it was standardized across all preparatory academies. There was no way they’d alter it just because a single girl asked them to.

  The only reason she’d ended up on the same team as Hulim was pure luck of the draw.

  "Haha~! This is awesome! Just you wait, Hulim—when the assessment rolls around, we’ll blow those losers out of the water and send them packing!"

  "Oh, there you two are! Hello, Hulim! Hello, Fran! Looking forward to working with you both!"

  Just as Fran was busy daydreaming about their future victories, a male voice suddenly cut in.

  At the sound of that voice, the smile vanished from Fran’s face in an instant, replaced by a look of pure disgust.

  "Tch—!"

  She clicked her tongue loudly.

  "Who wants to work with you? Scram! Get out of my sight!"

  "Huh—?"

  The smile froze on Ander’s face, and he looked thoroughly confused.

  "I’m sorry, Fran—did I do something to offend you?"

  "Beats me! I don’t care! And stop talking to me! You’re just annoying! Hmph—!"

  Fran let out a huffy little snort, flipped her hair, and stormed off—she clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

  "......"

  Ander stared blankly at Fran’s retreating back, then turned to Hulim with a helpless look.

  "Uh... Hulim? Did I accidentally do something to upset her? Could you tell me what it was? I’d really like to apologize."

  "Er...... No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Just... pretend she’s been in a bad mood lately and takes it out on everyone."

  "O-Oh... is that so?"

  Ander obviously didn’t buy it, but he didn’t press the issue any further.

  "......Since Fran’s gone for now, maybe we should talk about team stuff? Should we go round up the other two members of our team first?"

  "Sure."

  The Combat Teams for the Combat Training Course were made up of five students each. Whether Fran had the worst luck in the world or was cursed, she’d gotten her wish of being on the same team as Hulim—but also ended up stuck with the very person she least wanted to be grouped with.

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  The random draw was supposed to be fair. But somehow, the three students widely regarded as the strongest in the class had all ended up on the same team. The irony was enough to make anyone laugh—if it weren’t for the fact that all the other students were screaming in protest.

  "This is totally rigged! It’s like they already picked the winners!"

  "Foul play! There’s no way this is random! We demand a re-draw!"

  But reality was cruel—and moments like this were exactly why.

  Kuno shot down all the objections without a second thought.

  The draw had been conducted by him and several other teachers—there was no way it could have been rigged. And anyone who complained just because the results weren’t in their favor was nothing but a coward. If they wanted to blame someone, they should blame their own lousy luck!

  In fact, Kuno thought this outcome was perfect. After all, the power gap between the Himril Coalition and the Demon Lord’s army had always been this lopsided. It would do these naive kids some good to experience what it felt like to hold an overwhelming advantage for once.

  Either way, the Combat Teams were set in stone.

  And with the teams finalized, Kuno brought an end to the grueling physical training sessions, switching gears to teach the students basic marching knowledge and combat fundamentals instead.

  ......

  ......

  "Hulim! What’s the situation out there?"

  Fran called up from the bushes beneath the tree.

  Hulim was perched high up in the branches, hidden in the shadows, keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding area.

  "Just a little longer."

  A few more minutes passed.

  Whoosh!

  A figure dropped nimbly from the tree, landing on the ground without making a sound. Her agile movements were enough to draw looks of admiration from her teammates.

  "Hulim! What did you see?"

  Ander asked immediately as she touched down.

  Hulim glanced around at her four teammates, making sure everyone was present and accounted for, before answering.

  "It’s not good. If I’m not mistaken, at least four teams have formed an alliance. And they’re definitely gunning for us."

  "What?! That’s cheating!"

  One of the boys on the team—who’d considered himself incredibly lucky to be grouped with the three "top" students—exclaimed in outrage.

  Since each team had five members, besides Hulim, Fran, and Ander, there were two other students: a boy named Klein and a girl named Nia.

  The one who’d just spoken up was Klein.

  Nia, who was quiet and easily flustered, looked visibly nervous beside him.

  "W-What are we gonna do? Are we gonna lose?"

  She’d thought being on this team meant their passing grade was guaranteed. She’d never imagined the other teams would gang up on them like this.

  "Calm down. Don’t panic."

  Ander said, trying to reassure her. He then analyzed the situation calmly.

  "When you’re up against an opponent you can’t beat alone, joining forces with other weaker teams to even the odds is the logical move."

  "I-Is that so? Then what do we do? Are we really gonna have to fight all of them at once?"

  Klein asked anxiously.

  Ander turned to Hulim—she was the one with all the intel, so her opinion mattered most.

  Hulim shook her head. "Fighting them head-on should be our last resort. We might be the top students in the class, but our strength isn’t so great that we can take on multiple teams at once."

  As Hulim said this with a straight face—downplaying the massive gap between her own abilities and everyone else’s—Fran, who’d been listening intently, made a tiny, subtle face. But she quickly schooled her features, not letting any of the others notice.

  "Right, that makes sense. But what are we gonna do then? There are so many of them! If they do a sweep of the area, they’ll find our flag in no time!"

  Klein couldn’t help but grow more and more anxious.

  According to the Flag Capture Rules, once a team’s flag was placed in its hiding spot, it couldn’t be moved—if it was, the team would be disqualified immediately. The only way to win was to protect your own flag while capturing all the flags of the opposing teams.

  "Don’t worry."

  Hulim said calmly.

  "The jungle at the foot of the Abandoned Mine is huge. It won’t be easy for them to search every inch of it. We still have plenty of time."

  "Hulim, you already have a plan, don’t you? Just spit it out already!"

  Fran was growing impatient with all the hemming and hawing, and she blurted out the words everyone was thinking.

  Hulim glanced at Fran. She still found her friend’s blind faith in her a little baffling sometimes—but fine...... She did have a plan.

  "Hulim already has a plan?"

  Ander turned his gaze to her as well. In an instant, all four of her teammates were staring at Hulim, waiting for her to speak.