The drinking party continued a little longer. Around the time when the atmosphere of the story the three of them shared was ripe.

“Here’s another glass of ale… .”

Lulu, whose face was already red, fearlessly ordered the third drink.

“Stop drinking, Lulu.”

“… What kind of protector are you?”

“I am worried about it. Drink more if you want to mess around in front of a new junior you’ve come to know.”

“… OK then.”

To the subject whose face was already red with just two glasses of ale.

After a little more alcohol, I had to carry her to the dormitory by carrying her, carrying her, or carrying her.

I stopped Lulu in a proper line before showing her ugly side.

She changed the topic of conversation with a embarrassed expression.

“But, as I said earlier, what is the thing that needs to be written again? Did you have another fight with someone other than Dyke?”

Lulu pointed her finger at me as if pointing to the broadsword in my cloak.

“It’s not like that, I’m going to the academy guild sooner or later.”

To the woman who asked with a slightly worried expression, he replied that it was not necessary.

“As for the Academy Guild, the Slime Meadow?”

“No, towards the Demon Forest.”

There were several hunting guilds in the Alexander Academy, an imperial educational facility.

A facility to help students gain practical experience and at the same time convert the labor that would otherwise be consumed by training into added value.

To put it simply, it was like a monster hunting ground that academy students could use.

If the slime meadow side hunting guild is a hunting ground for first-year beginners, the demon forest is intermediate.

In general, it was a guild for students with some experience, used by students from the 2nd year to the beginning of the 4th year.

“The Demon Forest? Are you okay?”

“First of all, it seems that you have roughly regained your sense of close combat from yesterday’s evaluation match, so you should be able to easily deal with monsters from the Demon Forest.”

“Well, if it’s your skills, that’s fine… .”

Lulu gave me a suggestion with a cautious face, as if she had something to say.

“Ah, don’t you need a search officer? Like a technician who can see how many enemies are around and whether there are any traps.”

I understood the true meaning of Lulu’s words at once, but this time I refused using a soft expression.

“I’m grateful, but it’s okay. For now, I want to go alone.”

“Yeah, that’s right… .”

Seeing his droopy ears weakened my heart, but I still thought it would be better not to take him.

“Senior Conrad, don’t you need a avant-garde by any chance? As for monsters, I have experience of killing them in the Arwen estate!”

As soon as Lulu’s proposal was rejected, Stella also made a similar proposal this time.

“Stella will only accept your heart. Because I want to find out how good I am on my own.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Excuse me.”

Again, he dismissed her proposal with similar expressions.

If Stella was there too, it wouldn’t be a hindrance, but considering what she had to do that day, even she could be a little dangerous.

Anyway, when the two of them really needed it later, I was going to ask them to go to the Demon Forest first.

There was no need to take the risk with the two of them already.

By escorting the two slightly depressed people to the dormitory, the evening meeting that day ended as it was.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

I had quite a lot of work to do today, so I diligently left the dormitory early in the morning.

It was the day to deal with the elite monsters that were scheduled to appear in the Magic Forest Guild.

While adjusting the schedule like this, he didn’t have enough money to hunt elite monsters.

The monsters I would face today were somehow special, so I had to hunt them by moving my body.

No matter how late it was, I had to deal with it before the final evaluation, the hunting festival.

Today was a good day to head to the academy guild in the Demon Forest.

He grabbed the staff he received from his parents as a gift for admission, and put the cloak he received as a birthday present from Lulu around his shoulders.

I hung the broadsword I received from Stella inside my cloak and stepped out of the Ministry of Magic dormitory.

It’s probably the first time I’ve hunted monsters since returning.

There were only two words needed to describe the guy we were going to hunt today.

Quick and toxic.

As you can see from the danger felt in the two words.

It wasn’t a very kind monster for beginners to deal with.

Even though the attack pattern is fixed, it is a fast movement that can only be embarrassing the moment you first meet it.

Somehow, the moment I allowed his toxic attack, I would have become a monster’s prey in vain.

It would have been a bit dangerous if Stella or Lulu had not been brought in.

Anyway, there are two main reasons for visiting the Demon Forest to deal with it at this time, not any other time.

One is that I, who has the time and ability, try to kill the monsters that are a little dangerous to deal with among the normal students of the academy first.

The other reason was that among the materials of the monsters to be dealt with today, there were materials needed to liberate the 4th circle.

Unlike magic circles up to 3 circles that can be unlocked just by chaining magic formulas.

At least two conditions were required to open the magic circle after the 4th circle.

One was ‘environment’ and the other was ‘material’.

As for the environment, renting the Academy’s Ministry of Magic training ground should suffice.

In fact, it is also a situation where we have already made a reservation to rent the next training ground in a week.

So if he didn’t get the materials for that week, he wouldn’t be able to properly use the rental training ground.

If you can’t find it, you can buy another material and replace it as soon as possible.

The materials used to raise the magic circle were all expensive, so it was a fatal expense for me, who doesn’t have a very comfortable living situation.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just like a thirsty person digging a well, finding and using it directly was the way to live as a wizard on this floor.

I was sorry to involve the two of you in meeting my personal needs like this.

He had no choice but to reject the offer of Stella and Lulu, who had sullen expressions on their faces.

“Senior Conrad! It’s a coincidence that we meet here! Did you come to the Demon Forest Guild for hunting activities?”

“… Oh, are you here? I didn’t really wait. I just came here because I was a little curious about the guild, so don’t worry too much about it.”

As soon as I faced the two people who were already waiting for me in front of the academy guild, a shallow sigh came out.

It would have been better if I had been a little more assertive.

“… … .”

“I really came here by accident! Today, I made a morning exercise course in a slightly different direction, and coincidentally, while passing by this area, I thought of my senior… .”

“… … .”

“What, what? I am also an academy student! You can come to the academy guild, what!”

They didn’t say anything, just exchanged glances quietly.

Stella and Lulu spat out urgent excuses with their reactions of bewilderment.

“No, that’s, uh, I didn’t really come here to hear about you yesterday… .”

“Senior Conrad… ? Are you in a bad mood… ?”

“Yeah, I can’t help it. If you’re going to go in, let’s go in together.”

It was a pity to send the two people who had come this far back, so I couldn’t help but express agreement.

Rather, Stella and Lulu seemed surprised by my attitude.

“… really?”

“Are you okay?”

“Anyway, I was thinking of asking you guys to go with me someday. Even today would be fine.”

If possible, I wanted to kill the high-risk monsters I was hunting today and bring them back in a slightly safer situation.

It was obvious that the next proposal would be difficult if I refused the help of the girls who had followed me this far.

Even though the guy I’m going to deal with today is a dangerous monster, I won’t be in any particular danger if I just deal with it as I prepared in advance.

More than anything, having the two of them in my field of view was much safer than acting separately.

“I will do my best not to hold on to Conrad’s ankles!”

“Me too. I’ll work hard, yes.”

I just hoped that I wouldn’t get hurt by overdoing it.

* * *

The hunting guild inside the academy is a student training facility, but it can also be seen as a student welfare facility.

The reason I called the guild in the academy a welfare facility was because this guild was not run for profit.

Like the real hunting guild, it is like receiving a request and purchasing monster corpses or materials, but the purchase price is quite high compared to the general guild.

At least 1.3x for common materials and almost 2x for rare materials.

If it was properly processed and trimmed, the value rose three or four times.

The result was possible because the academy was paying all the labor costs operated by the hunting guild, and the proceeds from the materials were returned to all students.

As long as he lived as an academy student, it would be a loss if he didn’t use it to the fullest.

As a poor outskirts aristocrat, life was on the tight side.

If I could earn an income this easily based on my abilities, there would be no reason to refuse.

Until now, I didn’t have time to use it because of so many things, but I had time to spare until the end of the year hunting festival.

The magic circle was also released up to level 3, and the annoying event called the midterm evaluation was over.

Even if I finish hunting the monsters I was going to deal with today, I’ll be visiting this guild often for a while.

“Conrad, have you ever been to a guild before?”

“Suddenly why?”

“I just want you to finish everything from reception to registration without asking a single question, considering it’s the first time.”

“I’ve never done it before.”

After shedding Lulu’s words with an appropriate excuse, she entered the forest of demons in earnest.

He lowered his stance and poured his mana onto the ground.

The nearest monster is west. Is it to the northeast?

“For now, advance northwest… .”

“Five goblins 500 meters to the northeast. A pair of werewolves 700 meters to the east. Twelve kobolds 300 meters to the west.”

“yes?”

I was planning to move towards its lair while avoiding a useless battle. A search report came in from Lulu out of the blue.

It is more accurate than my magic detection, and the range that can be found is also much wider.

“It’s fast.”

Involuntarily, admiration escaped from his mouth.

Although I knew that Lulu’s search ability was astonishingly accurate in her previous life.

I had no idea that she, who had just entered her second year, would already be at this level.

“Wait, you’re amazing, senior Lulu!”

“It sure is great.”

“That, is it? It’s just nothing… .”

Lulu, who had been sensing vibrations by placing her fingers on the floor, got up from her seat feeling embarrassed.

“Then let’s just head north. If it’s five goblins, there’s no need to avoid it.”

It’ll take less than a minute to process it all, so going back down the street will waste more time.

“There’s no need to avoid it, aren’t goblins the goal?”

“Because I didn’t come here to catch halfway things like goblins or kobolds. Let’s move away from things that seem too time consuming.”

“Then I will be at the forefront.”

Stella leaned in front of Lulu and me.

“If any troublesome battles are going to arise, I will deal with them all. Senior Conrad, please reserve your strength until a stronger opponent emerges.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll ask you.”

Originally, I was planning to prepare for battle by being ready to use magic at any time, but thanks to Stella who said she would stand in the vanguard, the need to waste magic has also disappeared.

Certainly, it was really comfortable.

The decision to bring the two of them in, in a way, may have been a really good thing.