~~Magic University, Tenth Day of the Fifth Month, Five O’clock in the Morning~~

Now, I’m working with the committee in the temporary tent in the plaza in front of the Central School Building, where everyone is set to gather.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

There is a chair in the middle, but Gaston isn’t sitting down. He seems full of determination, perhaps because we are preparing for battle.

Although the area had been sealed by ropes, the outside was filled with students coming to watch our activities, be it ones from the Magic University or ones who slipped in, from the Warrior University.

Lina, Claris, Anri and Hornel’s team are here, and so are Dragan and his pupil Egd, faces I haven’t seen in a while.

“Hello there, Asley.”

“President Warren. You’re going as well?”

“I’m sure there isn’t any mage who doesn’t want to go. Sir Gaston holds so many connections in the Nation after all. Still, I was surprised when I heard that you were qualified with your Adventurer Rank. A freshman already making his way up to Rank C is… Well, I suppose it’s only natural for you, Asley?”

This boy’s smile feels as uncanny as ever.

That expression of his suggests that he knew I had been sneaking out of the dormitory at night. Now that I think about it from this angle, I suppose those who uphold the dormitory rules are more common than I think?

“I feel like I don’t have enough freedom of movement when I’m only a Magic University student, you see. So this is my way of taking care of myself.”

“I’m sure the rules are as such because they treasure the students as elites of the future. All that aside, I expect great things from you.”

Having said all that, Warren walked away. I looked around and observed the people who seemed to be students of Magic University. The only freshman here is me after all.

There are a few sophomores. They most likely received special permission to participate.

And there are indeed quite a lot of juniors and seniors. It seems like most of the seniors have signed up.

With the Beilanean adventurers ranked C or above joining in, the subjugation party should be at least 300 members strong.

“Asley! It’s been a while, man! Well, just a week though. Ha ha ha ha!”

The one who addressed me so casually was none other than Bruce.

Behind him were Blazer and Betty, pushing their way through the crowd.

“Hello there. I’ll be learning the ropes from you three once again.”

“You’ve taken a great leap forward, eh?”

“Huhuhu, this time we’ll be learning from you, mister tactician. “

“Oh, please give me a break… That was a surprise for me too, I swear…”

Darn it, those damned geezers…

“Hahaha, that’s what I thought. You didn’t seem like someone who would push forward much.”

“Nonetheless, we’re glad for your achievements. Maybe you can give us a good reference down the line someday, eh?”

In a rare gesture, Blazer joked around with me.

He seems to fully consider me one of his allies and is congratulating me in his own way.

“Asley.”

“What is it, Miss Irene?”

“Wha — This kid is Irene the Invincible Sprout!?”

I reflexively glared at Bruce and his loose lips. But I suppose that’s to be expected of him.

And Bruce promptly shrunk back, another rare gesture.

“Apologies for my friend’s impoliteness, Miss Irene. We’ll be in your care today.”

Blazer was the one who immediately came forward with an apology. And Betty followed suit, bowing her head.

“…It’s fine. So these three are the ones, Asley? The party you went with to the Labyrinth of No Return?”

“Yes. All of them are reliable A-ranked adventurers.”

“One of them doesn’t seem to be up to snuff, though?”

She took another glance at Bruce.

Bruce’s face suggested that he has taken back that blunder just now, but with both parties being sensible adults, neither pressed the matter any further.

“Oh, but that is not the case. He is… my trusted friend as well, after all.”

“…If you say so.”

Irene looked a little sad as she said that. Wait, did I say something strange?

Then her expression turned normal almost immediately. So it’s fine after all… I guess.

“Just to confirm, you three are A-ranked. Mind coming with me for a few minutes? We need some A-ranked adventurers to be squad leaders.”

“Yes. We’re happy to be of help.”

“You come along, too, Asley.”

Uh, I’m just a Rank B, though?

“I’d like you to assist Gaston. I was supposed to be just an adjutant, but I’ll be leading Squad 1 as well, you see.”

“Wouldn’t that mean… there are less capable personnel than we anticipated?”

“That’s right. At first, we planned to divide the force into ten squads, but most of the people who signed up are Rank C, so there aren’t many to whom we can entrust a squad. At this point, I’m expecting only seven or eight squads at most. I saw this coming, considering the low pay and high risk, but still…”

She didn’t seem particularly disappointed, just slightly demotivated.

Around this time of the year is the training period for new recruits, so it’s understandable that there aren’t many capable personnel available.

That was probably also why Gaston could get some vacation time.

Moreover… the ones who knew of the increasing A-ranked monster population may have been just the adventurers who had fallen prey to them.

There’s the considerable threat of the Laughing Fox from the other day, too.

With all that considered, this area may already have become dangerous, even if it’s a city.

After that, I went around with Irene in search of additional capable personnel. We only looked at the ones who had signed up, of course, so it was over quite fast.

Thirty minutes before departure, we gathered at the tent.

“Mmm-hmm, just by looking at the leaders, I’d say we’ve gotten ourselves a well-rounded force.”

Billy assessed the squads’ formation.

And he is right. Considering the fact that the subjugation party was formed in such short notice, what we have now is not bad at all.

Squad 1… Irene, the Invincible Sprout of the Six Archmages. 40 other Members.

Squad 2… Blazer, the Silver Lion. 40 other Members.

Squad 3… Bruce. 40 other Members.

Squad 4… Billy, the Holy Healer. 50 other members.

Squad 5… Betty. 40 other Members.

Squad 6… Warren, the Black Emperor. 30 other Members.

Squad 7… Dallas, the Scarlet Blade. 30 other Members.

Squad 8 and Subjugation Party Main Body… Gaston, the Great Mage of Flame of the Six Archmages. Asley, the Tactician. 43 other Members.

Dallas, the only one I’m not familiar with, is a swordsman and an adventurer. He came to register for the mission yesterday, just before the deadline.

In any case, he had just arrived in town and had been searching for a decently challenging job. His Adventurer Rank was A, but according to Billy, who happens to be old friends with the former, his abilities were pretty close to Rank S.

Dallas is a slender man, fifty years of age and has a long scar running from the centre of his face to the right.

Blazer’s team seems to have heard of his name as well, so it’s safe to assume that Dallas has some impressive achievements.

His nickname, Scarlet Blade, doesn’t mean his sword is actually scarlet, but stems from his reputation, that his weapons would always be dyed red in the enemy monsters’ blood.

From the short time I’ve talked with him, he seemed… boorish, and didn’t appear to initiate any discussion aside from what concerned the mission at hand. That’s my impression of him so far.

“Hmm, I never expected this little pay to attract the Silver and the Scarlet Blade into our ranks.”

“You know of us as well, Sir Gaston?”

“I’ve heard about you all. Members of the Silver – Blazer, Bruce and Betty. You separated from the Silver General to form your own group, or so I’ve heard. Argent was not happy at all, I’ll have you know.”

“Huh… You are an acquaintance of old Argent, sir?”

So that’s how Blazer’s team came to be?

Argent… If I’m not mistaken, he’s one of the few S-ranked adventurers aside from the Universities’ Duodecad.

“We were brawl buddies back in the day. I have a long history with the Scarlet Blade here, too.”

“I saw your and Billy’s names, so…”

“Mm-hm, you have our thanks. And you, that young man over there… you’re looking pretty confident. Warren, is it?”

“Hello again, sir. I am indeed Warren. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Gaston shot a sharp glare, but Warren kept perfectly cool and disregarded his intimidation.

And as if in a comedic cue, Bruce followed the exchange and whistled.

“This subjugation party seems exciting already.

“Hmph, quite. Now, Asley, time to explain our route of advance.”

“Yes, sir. Hi, I’m Asley, the tactician. Nice to meet you all. I’ll now explain the Ogre Subjugation Party’s route of advance. According to intel gathered by Sir Billy’s Eye-Dorr Familiar, the Ogres are currently based in the west over the hills, within the Forest of Deep-Rooted Sins. We could cover that distance within half a day, but the plan is to be on high alert at all times. So we’ll advance over the course of a full day. We anticipate Ogre activity as we approach, so the ones leading the march will be Squads 2, 1 and 3 in order from left to right. Advancing behind them will be Squads 4, 5, and 6.”

“What of me and Squad 7?”

Dallas interposed a question. A question anyone would have expected, at that.

“We’ll have your Squad prioritize defending Squad 8, sir.”

“Defense? Would Sir Gaston even need it?”

Indeed, one of the Six Archmages such as Gaston wouldn’t need defending, but we had other reasons.

Irene stepped forward and explained.

“It’s the rest of the Squad that needs defending. Squad 8 is composed of those with lower combat potential and has a high distribution rate of non-adventurer students. We’re not out to play around, of course, but a lot of them are still sheltered kids, so…”

“… That’s understandable.”

They may not say it, but it involves some complicated circumstances.

Among those who had signed up, there were naturally those who were here for prestige or were ordered by their parents to come. Even if only a few, there were bound to be those who weren’t ready psychologically.

We especially can’t let them die. Their parents are aristocrats who have invested good money into the Duodecad Conference and the Universities.

It’s unpleasant, but it is the truth nonetheless. Therefore, Gaston did not elaborate on the point, and Dallas did not press the matter further.

“And of course, if an opportunity presents itself, we may move your Squad to the raid unit as well.”

“Understood.”

“Asley, isn’t my Squad full of students as well?”

“I’m fully aware of your leadership skills, Warren. However, Miss Irene has planned the formation for optimizing efficiency.”

“Oh-ho, going to the specialist for the best results, I see… Not bad at all.”

“And with that, your Squad and Billy’s are to focus on providing logistical support. Betty’s Squad will be covering you both. Just leave the frontline battles to the first three.”

“I understand, Teacher Irene.”

Warren cracked a joke as he pushed his glasses up.

Following the explanation, Betty nodded.

“Just saying, we can take Imperial Ogres just fine, but probably not a Queen and King, all right? If we’re caught off-guard, we’ll most likely be wiped out.”

“Right.”

“Now you’re agreeing with me so easily…”

Bruce dropped his shoulders upon Irene’s nonchalant reply. Looks like these two will have some difficulty cooperating, considering their personalities.

Well, if I say so myself, they won’t be able to cooperate at all.

“Billy and I will be dealing with them if need be. The Kings aside, we’ve hunted some Queens back in the day.”

Hmm, all things considered, it looks like we do have a good chance at Rank S monsters.

So the only problem is the King… Well, we’ll manage… somehow.

“Now then, let us depart.”

The plan has been put in order and set into motion. It’s a good chance to see two of the Six Archmages’ abilities firsthand.

I’ll have to learn from this as much as I can.