"Goddammit! What the hell is this!"Noble Alliance camp.Esetra clutched her head as she stared at the completely emptied food stores.At her shriek, the pink sparrow perched on her shoulder chirped and fluttered up into the air.At the same time, the wolf-type summoned beasts standing guard around her whimpered and fidgeted uneasily.Esetra kept yanking at her hair and shouted in a voice full of outrage."Charlotte! Where are you! Get out here right now!""……Y-yes."At Esetra’s command, Charlotte stepped a pace forward out of the group with a cowed expression.Esetra grilled Charlotte for responsibility for this mess."Hey, I told you to guard it properly. I even stuck that fire-using commoner on you because you insisted, so what is this, huh? Everything’s gone, everything, damn it!"She raged, pointing at the empty food stores."……."Charlotte just hung her head in silence and listened as Esetra’s curses rained down.Of course, that didn’t mean she was actually reflecting.'Stupid bitch, why are you taking it out on me alone.'She’d been duped by Loen, dragged almost the entire main force out, and come back with nothing.If she hadn’t gotten greedy and rushed off with the main force trying to fish in troubled waters, this wouldn’t have happened.Charlotte also had plenty she could say, but opening her mouth now would obviously only make things worse. So she didn’t bother.She was just planning how she’d take it out on Bell later instead.Yurkov, a member of the Noble Alliance, checked what food they had left."How much do we have remaining?"At Yurkov’s question, the students guarding the food stores answered in gloomy voices."Probably just about a day’s worth……."At that, Esetra, who had already been throwing a fit, jumped even higher."A day? A dayyy? We barely got this much food together by hauling in every crate nearby, and now you’re saying there’s only a day’s worth left? Huh?"The students guarding the food stores dropped their heads without a word.To begin with, the food situation inside this jungle island wasn’t very good.There was a limit to how many of the crates Union had scattered they could even find.There might be fewer mouths as more people got eliminated, but for a huge faction like this, food was a constant concern.And now their food stores had been robbed and they only had one day of food left.In this situation, Yurkov let out a sigh and spoke."At this point, we have no choice but to attack Loen’s camp tomorrow."Originally, they had enough faith in having at least a week’s worth of food that they could take their time, make future plans, and wage the faction war at a leisurely pace, but that was no longer possible.With only a single day’s food remaining, the only answer left was a swift battle.Even if they couldn’t completely crush Loen’s faction in this fight, they absolutely had to steal at least his food.Esetra agreed."Yeah, we have to smash that bastard’s team tomorrow. At the very least, we have to take their food. Messenger, get in touch with Silphiette immediately!""Yes ma’am."Esetra barked at the messenger she’d called over as if browbeating him."Go tell them we’re going to hit that bastard Loen at dawn tomorrow! Tell them to get ready to fight! Leave now!""U-understood."Ssshhk—.At Esetra’s enraged shout, the messenger fled the scene as if running away.Esetra clenched her fist as she watched the messenger’s back recede into the distance.At this rate, far from getting revenge on Loen, she would end up being eliminated from the exam on the spot.If they slipped up, they might go down in the record as idiots eliminated for lack of food.'But we still have a chance.'Even if their food was almost gone, in terms of raw fighting power they still held the advantage.They would stake everything on this attack."We’ll crush him. Absolutely, definitely crush him."Esetra ground her teeth and swore revenge.***"……That’s what they said."Meeting room inside the Cube fortress.I listened to the report from the messenger dispatched from Silphiette’s faction and slowly nodded."Just as expected."As predicted, the Noble Alliance camp, whose food had been stolen, opted for a quick, decisive battle.They had rallied their subordinates and followers and finished their preparations, planning a massive raid for dawn tomorrow.Together with Silphiette’s team, whom they believed to be an ally.I looked down at the map spread out on the table and confirmed the enemy’s most likely attack route."Good. From the hilly region where the Noble Alliance formation is, the fastest route to us is through this ravine. Tomorrow they’ll pass through here on their way to attack our camp."At that, Tepes frowned and asked."No matter how dumb they are, would they really be that stupid? Ravines are dangerous terrain for moving large numbers of people. Anyone who knows the bare minimum of tactics would take the safe route around.""No, they’re not in a state to weigh their options with their feet to the fire. Their eyes will be clouded with rage."They were already mentally cornered.They had no leisure to search for safe paths or carefully scout ahead.All they would be thinking about was crushing our team as quickly as possible and stealing our food.At best, they’d toss a few scouts ahead to check whether there were traps at the choke point.We’d turn that mindset against them.'Taking down an opponent whose nerves are on edge is easy.'And there was a way to stir their emotions up even more."All right, then tonight, to celebrate our recent victory, we’ll throw an all-night feast for the students from Teon’s faction who surrendered to our team.""A feast?""Yeah."We’d stolen plenty of food, so we might as well throw a feast for the students from Teon’s camp who had surrendered.If they heard that our team had thrown a big feast tonight, the Noble Alliance would see it as the perfect opportunity and come charging in even more hastily.It was a blatant ploy, but precisely because of that, it would be effective.Tepes nodded, seeming to understand my intent."It’s bait to make the enemy drop their guard.""Exactly. But not our entire team will be at the feast. I, along with a small detached unit, will be setting traps in the ravine."The traps were a sort of ruse meant to confuse the enemy so that Silphiette’s team could easily hit them from behind.Something simple where if it worked, great; if not, oh well.Once I had put the plan in order, I adjourned the meeting."All right, that’s it for today’s meeting. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin drawing up plans to subdue Elena’s team."Rustle—.I folded up the map and dismissed the commander-level members gathered in the meeting room."Go enjoy the feast and get some rest. Just make sure you’re back here by four in the morning."At my order, students like Hildegard, Caron, Dandol, and Teon left the room, leaving only Ciel and Tepes behind.Once the situation had been roughly sorted out, Tepes cautiously asked me."By the way, did you study tactics or something on the side? You seem more used to large-scale battles than I expected.""I did, in a way."I’d played a lot of strategy games. A little something called StarCrXft.I’d read a lot of strategic texts too. Like something called Romance of the Three Kingdoms."……Did you study royal governance or something? Interesting."Tepes looked at me with fresh eyes.I brushed off that burdensome gaze and spoke to Ciel."Ciel, you can go rest too. You worked hard today, so get some proper sleep.""No, I’ll stay and help you finish the planning, Sir Loen."Rather than rest comfortably, Ciel chose to attend me. I didn’t bother stopping her."Do as you like, then."But Ciel was one thing, why was Tepes still here?"You’re not going?"Tepes grumbled as she answered."What am I supposed to do if I go alone. It’s not like I know anyone out there. You knocked out all my academy’s students, remember.""No friends, huh. Tragic.""……."As I clicked my tongue, Tepes’ face twisted into something fierce.I stopped joking and readily said."All right, then stay. We’ll share something tasty instead of the feast.""Something tasty? Like what?"I took out the food I’d stashed away separately from my subspace pouch and laid it out on the table.White ice crystals piled up like snow in a clear bowl.Syrups of various kinds and appetizing fruits spread over the top."This is…….""Bingsu. A dessert I bought on the sky-ship."Since time didn’t flow inside the subspace, even something like shaved ice that would normally melt quickly could be stored perfectly fine.I handed them spoons."Let’s share. Sorry, we don’t have individual dishes."On a ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ sweltering jungle night.Under the air conditioner, the taste of shaved ice we shared was nothing short of heavenly.***Rustle, rustle—.At dawn, when the sky wasn’t even properly light yet.The Noble Alliance advanced with all their forces to raid Loen’s team.Before entering the ravine.Esetra asked the scouts for confirmation again."There’s nothing up ahead, right?""Yes, from what we saw, there are no ambush forces or traps."In truth, there were traps, but they weren’t large enough or obvious enough to be detected that easily in the dark of night, so the scouts failed to spot them.Having no way of knowing that, Esetra believed the report without much suspicion.Even the summoned beasts she had sent ahead of time hadn’t seen any sign of enemy ambushes or traps."Good, we’re entering the ravine. Just in case, pick up the pace and get through it as fast as possible."Led by Esetra, the Noble Alliance students charged through the ravine at speed.Once they got past the ravine, they’d reach the waterfall area where Loen had built his base.'They said those bastards partied all night, didn’t they.'According to the scouts’ report, to celebrate their latest victory, they had thrown a big feast.There was even a report that they were staggering around drunkenly, sharing alcohol from who knew where.'Of course they’d be happy enough to throw a feast.'They had absorbed Teon’s forces wholesale and even cleaned out the Noble Alliance food stores.Esetra quietly ground her teeth.'But that’ll be your downfall.'History was full of cases where someone, drunk on accidental victory and careless, suffered a crushing defeat.Loen’s case would be exactly that.Of course, there was a chance that was a bluff too. If it was despicable, ruthless Loen, it wouldn’t be strange if he had faked a feast to lull them into relaxing.However.'The difference in strength is obvious anyway.'Even if this was Loen’s plan, it didn’t really matter.Right now, after absorbing Teon’s team, Loen’s fighting force was roughly equal to the Noble Alliance’s.But their forces had only just been merged, and they wouldn’t have had time to build a proper command structure.Let alone properly grasp the abilities of each individual.Even just looking at that, their side had the advantage.On top of that, they had joined with Silphiette’s team and numerically overwhelmed Loen’s side as well.As long as they engaged properly, victory was a foregone conclusion.As Esetra continued her thoughts and led from the front.Ssshhk—.A messenger approached her and reported."Lady Esetra, Silphiette’s forces are heading this way.""Good, we’ll join up with them and immediately hit Loen."As promised, Silphiette’s team had come all the way here to attack Loen.All that was left was to join forces with them and subdue him."Hehe, just wait, Loen."Just as Esetra smiled in confidence and let out a chuckle.Flash—.Blue lightning flashed in the distance."What the?"Esetra and the other students, startled by the sudden flash of blue light, looked around in all directions.At the same time, they heard the sound of something collapsing with a tremor.Rumble—.All at once, the back of the ravine crumbled, and their retreat vanished."Lady Esetra! The entrance of the ravine has collapsed! The back is blocked!""A trap, is it a trap?""……."The Noble Alliance side searched their surroundings on edge, but no follow-up attack came."For a trap, there’s no subsequent attack. It looks like the ground gave out from the mass of people moving all at once. Let’s not panic and keep going forward. We have nowhere to go back to anyway.""R-right."At Yurkov’s words, Esetra pulled herself together and continued pressing forward.'Right. Even if the retreat’s cut off, it doesn’t really matter.'There was no need to go back, and no reason to.The only way to win was to push straight ahead and absolutely subdue that bastard Loen.As the Noble Alliance forces made their way through the ravine with their nerves on edge."!"A group appeared beyond the ravine.Judging from the leaf-shaped flags fluttering there, they seemed to be their allies, Silphiette’s team.An ally they met in the midst of their unease.Esetra, relieved, ran toward Silphiette and waved."Hey, you got here early."Silphiette also raised one hand in greeting from afar."……."No—Esetra thought they were raising a hand in greeting, but the reality was a little different.Suddenly, mana gathered in Silphiette’s hand, and a bow and arrow of mana formed there.And that arrow was aimed squarely at her."Huh?"Just as Esetra tilted her head blankly.Fwoosh—.The mana arrow fired from Silphiette’s bow struck Esetra’s barrier head-on.At the same time."Woooooaaah!"With a roar of battle cries, the fight began.

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