CHAPTER 19: Outdoor Drill & Greed (Part 3)

CHAPTER 19: Outdoor Drill & Greed

(Part 3)

The students had grown fatigued from walking around unfamiliar mountain forest terrain, and the goblin eradications they had been so enthusiastic about at first eventually wore down to monotonous chores to deal with. Only I continued to keep a cool, unwavering expression, which prevented the competitive male students from voicing their complaints.

"More goblins. Is it just me, or have their numbers increased?"

"It's just you. You know the saying: seeing one goblin is a sign of thirty more." Stewart and Alphonse continued to sound optimistic.

Roughly half an hour later, the woodlands that obstructed our view suddenly disappeared. A clear, blue sky spread endlessly before our eyes. All the students except me thought we had cleared the forest. Our goal is right before us — or so they all thought.

The tree line ended at an open area, but beyond that, the forest resumed its spread before us — or rather, below us. We had reached the top of a cliff.

Dumbfounded, all students walked up to the edge to look down at the forest roughly 100 feet below them, except Roanna, who came and stood next to me. Taking out the water bottle filled with pond water from the Spatial farm, I passed it over to her, "Here, drink this, it will eliminate your fatigue, and help you in recovering your stamina."

"Thank you," Roanna said with a smile as she took the water bottle from me and started drinking it.

While the two of us were doing this, others were trying to find a way to reach the bottom, then the goal would be right before them — but trying to descend without climbing ropes was a death wish.

"Hey, doesn't this mean the information was wrong...?"

"Yeah, what are we going to do? Retracing our steps is going to take forever."

Two male students glanced over at Stewart as they muttered to each other. The squad had been moving according to the information Stewart had provided; the thought of all their efforts until now being in vain dampened their spirits.

"Is there something you'd like to say to me?" Stewart asked the whispering students in an irritated voice.

"N-No, nothing of the sort. Right?"

"Right."

The students shook their heads in a hurry. They were both sixth years, but couldn't stand up to a single fifth-year boy. Their families couldn't afford to defy Stewart's family — Duke Huguenot's family.

Their disgruntled gazes naturally turned towards the commander instead. Alphonse was also from a rather distinguished family — the House of Duke Rodan — but it fell behind in prestige compared to Duke Huguenots.

"W-What's with that look? If you have a complaint, say it with your mouth," Alphonse threatened the students looking at him.

"Then, may I?" Christina took the initiative and spoke up first.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness?" Alphonse's expression froze at the appearance of the First Princess.

"Which way is it from here? The path appears to have ended," Christina asked, seeking an answer for the highest priority issue at hand.

Alphonse was thrown off guard, having been certain that she would make a complaint instead. But he soon realized that being criticized directly was the easier route, as he had no idea how to deal with this unexpected turn of events. His mind had been so focused on avoiding the blame, that he hadn't had the time to come up with a solution.

"About that... Umm..."

"You are the commander of this squad. You were the one who advocated the use of Stewart's questionable information for our strategy, so you must have prepared for such an outcome, no?" Christina questioned plainly as Alphonse struggled to find his words.

"M-My information was not questionable—"

"I am not speaking to you, soldier." Stewart tried to get a word in edgewise, but Christina shot him down with resolve. "In the military, the commander's words are final. This may be a training exercise, but we are following the same rules. If the commander tells us to move forward, then we move forward. I hope you understand that your single command can place the entire squad in danger."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Alphonse nodded with a pale face. An unbearable silence fell over the squad. It was then that it happened.

Three wooden spears came flying out of the forest behind us all, piercing the body of a male student and the other two flew towards me and Roanna but were quickly solved by me using the sword at my waist, then I quickly stood in front of Roanna in a shielding position.

"Huh...?" The student with the spear in his abdomen uttered a noise of confusion.

Roanna, who had also drawn her sword and stood beside me, quickly spotted the enemies immediately and shouted to inform the others with a stutter. "I-It's an orc! With other monsters too! Ready the defenses!"

Orcs were much more ferocious monsters compared to goblins. They stood over six and a half feet tall and had strength that far surpassed that of a human. They were also known to occasionally move together with goblin mobs.

"F-Front guard! Use your shields to block the spears. The rearguard cast Cura on the injured!" Alphonse promptly commanded, but the monsters made their attack before the students could react. Three spears came flying towards the squad.

One struck the ground, while another again flew towards us. I silently swung my longsword and sliced it away in an instant. On the other side of the group, the last spear pierced Stewart's torso.

"AAAHH! Take it out — someone takes it out!!" Stewart yelled as he thrashed about wildly, beyond all sense of shame or decorum. Panicking from the pain, he lunged toward some male students nearby.

"Whoa! Stop it!"

"H-Hey! Don't come this way!"

Terrified by Stewart's bloodstained uniform, the students shoved him away. The force of their push caused him to crash heavily into Flora. "Kya!"

Flora was in the middle of treating the injured boy from earlier when she was sent flying towards the cliff. She landed right beside the edge. The impact of her hitting the ground caused the unstable cliff edge to crumble away.

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