Freya wet her throat with the water she had taken from her own backpack.“Haa.”She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and looked at me as she spoke.“Loen. Thanks to you summoning the golem, we secured enough Magic Stones. I extend my gratitude for that preparedness and resourcefulness.”If she was that grateful, she could have at least accepted the water I offered and drunk it. Making a guy feel awkward like that.Anyway, at her thanks I waved a hand.“It’s not worth thanks. If it won’t help in a fight, you use a trick like this at least. And it was a tactic usable thanks to your presence. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have summoned it.”It was while we were praising each other’s contribution after defeating the golem.“Over here, here!”At some point, Hakone had approached the golem’s remains, dismantled the engine part containing the Magic Stone, and brought it to me.“Good job. Leave the disassembly to me.”Click-I took a MacGyver knife from my breast and dismantled the golem’s engine.The task of ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) dismantling the engine and taking out the Magic Stone inside that served as its power source.[Structure Analysis].Thanks to Structure Analysis, an added effect of [Alchemy], this task wasn’t all that difficult.The engine’s structure surfaced before my eyes on its own, and the location of the Magic Stone I would pry out revealed itself.A Magic Stone giving off a lustrous blue light appeared as I dismantled the engine.As the power source that moved a giant automatic golem, it carried a score equivalent to 150 lower-grade Magic Stones.I stored it carefully in my pouch and hid it well so it wouldn’t get taken.Though honestly, who would dare attack a team that has Freya in it.“Now we can move a bit more at ease.”“Indeed, it seems we won’t need to raid other teams anymore. If you had such a method, you should have used it sooner.”I answered with a shrug.“The risk was high, so I pushed it back in priority. It was a trump card, after all.”Fighting an automatic golem is far more dangerous than raiding another team to steal their Magic Stones.In fact, Karon got hurt while we were fighting the golem. Serves him right, though.Once things were roughly settled, Hakone wagged the tail and spoke.“Anyway, good work, everyone~”“Mm, I shall carry Sir Karon’s luggage. You are injured; please take care of yourself.”As soon as we had secured a sufficient quantity of Magic Stones, the mood quickly turned amicable.As expected, you need leeway in anything for the atmosphere to improve.“Then let’s get moving again. Since we’ll have to spend the night in the mountains, from now on we should search not only for monsters but also for a place to sleep.”The sun sets quickly in a forest.It would drop before long, so it would be good to find a camping spot in advance.“A good idea.”Having secured the golem’s Magic Stone, we strolled through the woods while looking for a place where we could pitch a tent.And then—“Kyaaak-!”A sharp scream from someone rang out from somewhere far off in the forest.“…….”I stopped dead in place and looked toward where the sound had come from.Freya and the other teammates must have heard it as well; they were staring in that direction with hardened expressions.I slowly parted my lips.“……Seems someone is in trouble. Shall we go help.”When I sent a look, Freya also nodded.Thus, our team quickly headed in the direction the scream had come from.***At the mouth of the Howling Mountain Range. Inside a forest shrouded in thick fog.“Haa. Haa.”Yulina Evalanche, Beatrice’s chief secretary and Eredor’s chief administrator.Panting roughly, she glared at the dozens of dire wolves encircling her team.Growl-A pack of giant wolves baring red eyes and drooling strings of saliva.Yulina’s team was currently surrounded by a pack of dire wolves.'Danger, this is really dangerous…….'Dire wolves are high-tier monsters that shouldn’t inhabit the Howling Mountain Range, but for some reason Yulina’s team had run into this dire wolf pack.They had been fighting them, fleeing, then facing off like now and fleeing again for almost an hour already.“Huff, huff…….”From the continued fighting, the teammates’ stamina and mana were spent, and she herself was almost at her limit.Arms and legs trembling.From consecutive spellcasting, her mana circuits were in an overloaded state, and her Mana Heart was nearly empty.From blocking the dire wolves’ attacks, the protective barrier function of the student ID was almost gone as well.'……I don’t have the strength to resist anymore, nor anywhere to run. Moreover—'She bit her parched lips hard and turned her gaze to the side.Growl—To make matters worse, one teammate had fallen out of the defensive formation and was on the verge of being attacked by a dire wolf.“Hii…”Right in front of a female student who had plopped down on the ground and was scooting backward, a dire wolf was drooling heavily.From sheer terror, the female student couldn’t even cry; she was shaking all over.They wanted to rush to save her immediately, but if the defensive formation collapsed now, the rest of the team would all be in danger as well, so no one could rashly step out.In this desperate, life-or-death crisis, Yulina quietly clenched her fist.'……This whole situation is my blunder.'But if she lost her cool in a situation like this, it would be the end; Yulina kept her composure as much as possible and warned her teammates.“Everyone…… do not move and stay still.”Drawing up what little mana she had left to cast, Yulina recalled what had happened a little earlier.***A few days ago, Her Highness Beatrice brought a letter.In return for observing the Territorial War, information on the Dark Magic Stones that they were to receive from Loen.At first, we thought, since it was information from that Loen brat, how useful could it be, and read the letter’s contents without much expectation.But the preconceptions of the two were soon shattered.'Yulina, is what I’m seeing really true?''…….'Beatrice and Yulina compared the countless words written on the blackboard, the photos attached with magnets, and the contents inside the letter Loen had handed over, unable to hide their astonishment.Amazingly, there were clear commonalities between the information Loen had provided and the information Eredor’s Prefectural Corps had legworked to collect thus far.There was a clear correlation between his information and what Eredor’s Prefectural Corps had dug up to date.Even out of politeness, they could not call Loen’s information useless.No, it was information Eredor clearly needed.Thanks to the expected locations of Magic Stones he informed them of, it was obvious that the speed of future recovery would be much faster.And on the basis of this analysis, Beatrice gave Yulina one order.'The practical class this week. We have information that the test site for Group C, to which you belong, is the Howling Mountain Range. The candidate sites we predicted for the presence of Dark Magic Stones clearly include that region as well.'Dark Magic Stones that had already spread throughout the Academy.There was information that some of them had gone beyond Union grounds and into the Howling Mountain Range.If the mountain’s monsters came into contact with Dark Magic Stones, they could evolve into even stronger individuals.They had to recover them as quickly as possible.'Yulina, I entrust this matter to you. I’m slated to be assigned to Group A. Even if you cannot recover the stones, please at least ascertain their whereabouts.'***And now.Finishing the recollection, Yulina wrung out the mana she had left and fired a spell at the dire wolf.“Ice Bolt!”Keening-A sharp crystal of ice shot out from Yulina’s staff.It pierced straight through the skull of the dire wolf that had been slowly approaching the female student who lay on the ground.Thump-A heavy wolf corpse toppled forward over the female student as a hole opened in its skull from the ice crystal.“Kyaaa!”The female student screamed and scooted back, and using that brief gap, the paladin Jimi, who carried a shield, brought her back within the allied formation to protect her.“Hic…… hic.”“You’re all right. You’re safe now.”Jimi said she was safe for the moment to calm the female student, but in truth, it was not a safe situation at all.Growl-!With another comrade dead, the pack of dire wolves growled, casting off even denser killing intent.At the grim momentum that seemed ready to swarm them all at once at any moment, Yulina and her teammates felt their blood run dry.“Fuck. We’re completely screwed.”Gaurrel, a warrior from Ishtal, spat a curse as he watched the dire wolves tightening the encirclement.It was a bit crude to hear, but it was the perfect expression for this situation.Gaurrel had fought the bravest among the team, but for that very reason his stamina was already at its limit.Paladin Jimi of Saintea also seemed nearly spent; the hand holding the big shield was trembling.Even Yulina had nearly exhausted both mana and stamina from repeated spellcasting, and the other two female students were non-combatants focused on theory, so they weren’t of much help.There was…… no longer any way out.Biting her lip, Yulina looked at the pack of dire wolves surrounding the team.'But no matter what, this is too strange…….'True, the route she chose overlapped with the expected location of the Dark Magic Stones.For carrying out the mission Her Highness Beatrice had given, that was optimal.Given that, it was entirely possible there were monsters berserk-empowered by Dark Magic Stones.Those dire wolves also looked like normal wolves that had evolved after coming into contact with Dark Magic Stones.But even taking that into account, this number of individuals was clearly abnormal.There is no way a high-tier monster like a dire wolf could inhabit in such numbers near the Union.On top of that, the automatic golems that should be patrolling the area to safeguard the students were nowhere to be seen, and there was zero response from the faculty.'Something is definitely wrong—wildly wrong.'With his shield thrust forward, Paladin Jimi carefully asked Yulina,“What should we do now, Miss Yulina?”Judging by the lack of help so far from automatic golems or other faculty, they could no longer wait for external aid.After thinking deeply, Yulina finally made a decision.“It can’t be helped.”Rather than wait for the pack of dire wolves to slowly close in and attack, it was right to stake their lives and try to open a path.'I…… have to open the way.'Yulina bit her lip and looked at the other four students who were trembling in fear.In the end, they had been dragged into this by her mission to track the Dark Magic Stones.Yulina did not think herself a great paragon, but she judged she should at least keep a minimum of conscience at the end.'At the very least, I can’t drive all of them into a deathtrap.'Having decided, Yulina spoke to the others.“I’ll open the way. You two each carry one of the girls on your back and run along that path.”“Hey. Then what about you? The student ID’s barrier is almost worn down.”At Gaurrel’s question, Yulina forced a calm voice.“I-I have a self-defense artifact Her Highness Beatrice gave me. I can retreat safely on my own, so you don’t have to worry.”“Oh, yeah? That’s a relief then.”……Of course, she didn’t have such a thing.Her Highness had indeed given her artifacts every year as birthday presents, but they were too precious to carry around, so they were enshrined at the family home.If she had known this would happen, she would have worn one every day.“Then I’m counting on you for the rear. Hey, on my back.”“One of you, on me.”Jimi and Gaurrel each took one female student onto their back, and Yulina scraped together the last of her mana to open a path for them to flee.“Hoo.”Click-The spell she would use this time was Ice Field.The optimal spell to bind the dire wolves’ feet and buy time for the remaining students to escape. And the only area spell she could still cast with the mana she had left.'This will be…… my last spell.'Yulina let out a sigh inwardly and gathered all residual mana remaining in her body.Sssaa—As if the blood were draining from her, most of the residual mana bled out and her whole body began to tremble.So as not to waste that last gathered mana, Yulina exerted her utmost concentration and continued her calculations in her head.Just then, as the mana pooled at the tip of her staff and the mana was being arranged—Tap-One dire wolf, sensing the strange flow of mana, moved first and lunged at Yulina.Grrng-!In the blink of an eye, the dire wolf was upon her.“!”Yulina stared blankly as reality slowed like slow motion and thought.'W-what…….'Was it because she underestimated a monster’s instinct to sense mana.Momentarily flustered, her mana arrangement even collapsed, and the spell was canceled.'D-danger!'Crack—The dire wolf’s jaws drew near.Its maw gaped wide, and those giant fangs came closer and closer.This time, those sharp teeth would sink into my slender nape.'I-is this the end?'Before death, she recalled the things she had not yet done.She had not yet even begun to properly realize her aspirations, nor repaid Her Highness’s grace.And…… she hadn’t even had a proper romance; to lose her life to some monster in a place like this—'……Damn.'Now…… it’s all pointless.Just as Yulina gave up on life and closed her eyes—Flash-“!”Suddenly, a light sparkled before her eyes and a semi-transparent barrier sprang up to block the front.Thud—The dire wolf’s face was pressed and crushed against something transparent in the shape of armor.Yelp—The dire wolf’s teeth were blocked by the transparent shield and could not reach Yulina. Then—Whish—A hazy white afterimage swept past her eyes and, in an instant, severed the dire wolf’s neck.Slash-One, two, three.Dire wolves were hewn in succession by the snowy-white gleam, like scarecrows falling.Yulina widened her eyes at the unbelievable scene.A girl who had suddenly appeared and cut down all the enemies surrounding her.A shaft of light emerging from the darkness, a savior appearing in a desperate crisis.Having dispatched all the dire wolves in a flash, she stood proudly before Yulina and asked after her safety.“Are you all right, Miss Yulina?”Shaking the blood from her blade with a flick, the girl looking at me—Freya Gunhild.And behind her, a not-so-welcome face appeared.'……Loen de Valis.'From halfway up the slope, the bastard looked down at me and spoke.“You’re not dead. Good.”

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