Chapter: 137
It was the evening of the third day of field training. In a corner of the forest, more than half of the first-year students of the Academy had gathered.
The reasons for their gathering were different, but their purpose was one. To take down Lucy Allen.
“We will make Lucy Allen, who turned this field training into chaos, pay for her sins!”
“Waaaah!”
As Arthur finished his speech in the center, the students gathered there let out their cheers.
What filled their eyes were hatred, grievance, and belief.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Arthur smirked inwardly. If you really think about it, Lucy Allen hadn’t done anything wrong.
After all, the plundering that happened during field training was something the Academy’s professors allowed. Lucy merely acted according to the rules set by the professors.
If anyone should be held responsible for the mess in this forest, it should be the professors who devised these rules.
If we were to find fault with Lucy Allen’s actions, it would be that she lit the signal flare for plundering a bit too grandly.
Arthur knew the truth but chose not to point it out. If she hadn’t riled up so many people, he wouldn’t have been able to rally the students like this.
Certainly, Lucy Allen showcased extraordinary talent in combat and knowledge, but in political matters, she was rather clumsy.
After all, it was obvious among the students who would collect the most loot, and if they had ambushed them just before the field training ended, such a coalition would not have formed.
Had Lucy Allen been a bit more cunning, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of this revenge.
After finishing his speech, Arthur returned to the gathering of party leaders.
The people present were quite impressive. None could be considered lacking for the bright future of the kingdom.
Just by entering the Academy, they could be called elites in the kingdom, and among the accepted students, they were well-known. No one here was incompetent.
“So, what’s the exact plan?”
The first to speak from the crowd was Meryl of the Baines family.
Though overshadowed by Lucy Allen and Frey Kent, Meryl, who possessed considerable strength and was among the top students of the first year, asked Arthur with passionate eyes.
She certainly had a vendetta against Lucy Allen. It seemed she was planning to take her revenge this time. Hopefully, she wouldn’t act on her private emotions recklessly.
“Meryl Baines. You’ve certainly been attending the Monster Hunting class, right?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
The Monster Hunting class teaches about various monsters that have existed throughout human history and how to hunt them.
For the children of the martial families who are to take on the role of commanders, it’s almost a must-study subject.
“Doesn’t that class show examples of dozens of people gathering to hunt a single monster?”
“It’s a ground assault, right?”
“Exactly. I plan to use what I learned in that class here.”
The course teaches methods for hunting humanoid monsters as well.
The standard method regarded as effective is this: several parties working together to gradually wear down and defeat the target monster.
Since humanoid monsters are small, it’s difficult to overwhelm them with numbers like with giants or dragons.
Therefore, it is better to gather a small elite force and take turns launching attacks, engaging in a war of attrition.
Arthur, who had aced the Monster Hunting class just behind Lucy, had memorized this method perfectly.
“What about the other party members aside from Lucy Allen?”
When Jack Burrows, who dashed over at the mention of defeating Lucy, asked the question, Arthur chuckled.
“I’ve already said it. I’ll be using what I learned in Monster Hunting class.
There are far too many people gathered here; there’s no need to use all of them to subdue Lucy Allen.
I’ll divide the party into four.”
Why would there be a need to face a single party with four members? They would be stronger when split into four rather than one.
“With a grand ambush, we’ll split them apart, and then take them down one by one.”
When considering the threat level of those four party members, the first is Lucy. The second is Frey. Then Joy and Phoebe follow.
The first two possess the power to protect themselves even when surrounded by dozens, but the latter two do not.
So, they would assign people to delay Lucy and Frey while the elite take down Joy and Phoebe first.
Then, after taking down Frey, everyone would gather to hunt down Lucy Allen.
After Arthur explained his plan, a murmur spread among the assembled crowd.
It was undeniably a sound argument in principle. There might be no better way to hunt an exceptional individual. However, there was a crucial aspect missing from his plan.
“Is it possible for the Academy students to coordinate such organized movements?”
One of those gathered raised their hand and posed this very reasonable question.
The students of the Academy surely possessed exceptional abilities, but they were not trained soldiers.
Most hadn’t even perfected coordination among four party members yet, so could a hundred people move organically?
The answer was all too clear.
“Of course, that’s impossible.”
If such a thing were feasible, why would they gather soldiers and knights from the territories for training? They could just call upon peasants whenever something happened and deal with it haphazardly.
“However, that doesn’t matter. Most of them will just need to buy time.”
If this meeting had been for discussing strategies against dangerous monsters, Arthur’s statement would have sparked significant controversy. It would have amounted to asking people to sacrifice themselves to buy time.
But this wasn’t a perilous situation. It was part of field training.
“Having coordination is only necessary for the elite gathered to take down each target.”
With this firm declaration, Arthur took control of the situation once again and began to refine the plan.
*
“Lady Allen, are you really okay?”
As Joy watched the sunrise, her anxiety about the upcoming ambush led her to mutter.
‘It’s fine, really.’
“Foolish Young Lady, what are you worried about? Those sloppy trash won’t be able to bring me down, right?”
“Still, it’s said that nearly a hundred people will be attacking…”
The night before, after the Sloppy Fox warned them about the risk of ambush, I was preparing for the academy raid centered around Arthur.
I had decided to become a villain, robbing everyone I saw in the forest, so I expected something similar would happen, but never did I think there would be nearly a hundred of them.
If it weren’t for the Sloppy Fox warning me beforehand, I would have been shocked seeing the crowd in front of me. Just how many perverts are there in the Academy?
‘It’s fine, really.’
“Do you think I’m the same person as the Foolish Young Lady who makes mistakes every day? I have thought everything out. Don’t worry.”
“Yes.”
Even though more people had gathered than I originally anticipated, that didn’t change my plans.
In fact, having more people was beneficial for me. The more people there are, the harder it will be to control the chaos once it begins.
‘More importantly, Joy…’
“Foolish Young Lady, instead of babbling nonsense, why not check the magic instead? Are you prepared properly?”
“Don’t worry about that. Do you think I haven’t cast that spell a couple of times?”
‘Still…’
“I have no confidence at all. Are you sure you haven’t made any mistakes? Really?”
“Yes, I haven’t made any mistakes… Huh?”
Knowing well how many mistakes Joy makes at crucial moments, I urged her to double-check once again.
Overcome by my pleading, she finally checked the magic she had prepared and suddenly looked wide-eyed before subtly turning her head.
Even I, an outsider to magic, could recognize what that meant.
‘You made a mistake, didn’t you?’
“Foolish Young Lady, what kind of foolish thing did you do this time?”
“It’s nothing major. Just a slight error in volume adjustment.”
Sigh. I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t asked her to double-check.
Truly the Foolish Young Lady. She makes mistakes at crucial moments.
Seeing me let out a sigh, Joy quickly defended herself, saying it was an issue that could be corrected.
Joy, that’s not the issue. The real problem is that you made a mistake again.
Just as my glare cooled down, Fray came running from a distance.
“They’re coming.”
Looks like the time has come.
‘Joy…’
“Foolish Young Lady, finish the corrections quickly. Don’t make another sloppy mistake.”
“I got it, so just wait a bit!”
*
“Prince, we’ve found Lucy Allen.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s waiting in the middle of a clearing.”
“…What?”
A clearing? What does that even mean? In this forest, where one can easily get lost, where could there possibly be a clearing?
Arthur frowned at the news conveyed by another student, but soon he would see for himself that it was indeed true.
Lucy Allen was indeed standing right in the middle of a clearing.
By the signs of the cut trees, it seemed that Lucy had created this spot herself.
Was she anticipating the ambush and preparing something?
She surely wouldn’t go down quietly.
Arthur clicked his tongue, but he wasn’t surprised that the opponent had caught wind of the attack.
It wasn’t strange that she, with intelligence that surpassed the average, had predicted Arthur’s scheme.
What’s this? Lucy Allen? What kind of trap did you set in that short period?
No matter how capable you are, you lack the means to turn the tables in this situation.
Then why can Lucy Allen stand there so confidently?
It’s just bravado. A show of strength to buy time. She’s probably thinking she can hold out until the field training officially ends.
Hahaha. I can’t fall for that! After a brief contemplation, Arthur was convinced that Lucy’s confidence was just bravado and was about to give instructions to the students he led.
But at that moment.
“Ahh.”
Lucy’s voice resonated throughout the clearing.
Is this… a voice amplification spell? Why would she prepare such a spell typically used for speeches?
“Hello♡ All you perverted♡ freaks who have gathered to harass one girl?♡”
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