Sian Rudflicka.

She is the one who occupied the position of archer in the Demon God Subjugation Corps and an elf from the Forest of the World Tree.

It was a completely unexpected meeting even for me, so her name came out of my mouth spontaneously.

“draft?”

“… draft?”

“Ludflica… . Seniors.”

As soon as he accidentally corrected the title he used to call him in his previous life, senior Xian nodded his head up and down.

It must mean that even in other departments, the senior-junior relationship should be made clear.

This reaction alone convinced me at once that the cyan Rudflicka I knew was right.

“Did you just propose to me? You want me to join Rudflicka sunbaenim’s party?”

“Yeah, right.”

“But don’t we get too crowded if we join? Already at… Rudflicka sunbaenim’s party has four members.”

With me, Stella, and Lulu, there would be a total of 7 people, so it would of course be a violation of the rules for participating in the hunting festival.

It was a question I asked because I was conscious of that, but the answer that came back from her was a little different from what I expected.

“What are you talking about? Of course, I was talking only to you.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s no room for the other two in your party, and you’re the only one we need in the first place.”

I slightly looked behind Xian’s shoulder and took a quick look at her current party members.

As a melee combatant, one swordsmanship and one spearman each. And there is one other archery club student who is not Xian senior.

Certainly, Stella and Lulu are already tight members.

“Why are you folding? Two archers are already enough for firepower.”

“Because it seems like your party is the most threatening thing in this hunting festival. That’s why I just want to bring you, who seems to be the core, to our party.

I’m already good enough for now, but I still want to win for sure.”

“It’s nice that you’re honest.”

Even after meeting him for the first time in a while, he still had a cool personality that I liked.

“Answer?”

“I will refuse.”

“yes?”

It didn’t look like he was very shocked.

Even though I was a person who didn’t show emotions well from the beginning.

“The reason is?”

“First of all, if I disappear, my party members will have to find a new party.”

“Can I save you?”

“There is only an hour left before the start of the hunting festival?”

“That’s enough. One child seems to be a swordsman, but since he is a talented person wherever he goes, he will find it soon. That kid who seems to be in the tech department just needs to take the departmental exam.”

“It is an act of betrayal.”

If I, the leader, run away after making a proper party at best, how will the two of them trust me and follow me in the future?

We didn’t see each other for a day or two, and we were supposed to be together for years to come, so it was obviously not a good thing to build distrust in this way.

Even senior Xian, who recruited me, would not have thought of wanting to have a long-term relationship with a colleague who could betray him at any time.

Complying with her suggestion would be a negative decision no matter which way you look at it.

“… That’s right.”

Senior Xian seemed to agree with that fact as well, avoiding my gaze and replying.

“And another one. Even though the hunting festival party has a maximum of six people, five members, including myself, are a bit too many.”

“I agree with that, but you just need to catch a bigger and stronger guy.”

“There must have been a period when Rudflicka and the other colleagues came together, but I, who will be joining today for the first time, can’t fully demonstrate my strength.”

“I guess so.”

“I’m sure you’re not expecting an increase in power when I enter. You simply want to eliminate a risk, right?”

Her head, unable to lie, nodded once again.

“If you still win, that much for you… .”

“There is one more reason.”

“… What?”

“I don’t get any benefit from going to that party.”

This time, a look of surprise showed on her face.

“Winning the hunting festival is enough. All prize money will be divided equally regardless of contribution.”

“Winning the hunting festival is not a reason for me to go to Rudflicka senior’s party.”

“Isn’t winning the goal?”

“Because it has already been decided that our party will win this hunting festival.”

She couldn’t help but nod her head up and down as if she couldn’t agree with this one.

“You are arrogant.”

“Can I also make a suggestion to senior Rudflicka?”

“Tell me.”

“If you want to win, come to our party.”

“… … .”

At my shockingly shameless suggestion, Xian-senpai put on an expression of indignation.

“It is an act of disloyalty.”

After saying those words, senior Xian turned around and walked towards her group members without looking back.

I immediately turned my gaze away from senior Xian’s back and continued the explanation of the strategy to Stella and Lulu.

“Now, shall we continue with what we were doing?”

“Are you okay, Conrad? Didn’t you just want to move the party because of us, but couldn’t?”

“It’s not like that.”

“I am ready to follow Conrad senior’s opinion at any time.”

“If you think so, concentrate on the strategy meeting. Because we will win the hunting festival with this member today.”

Championship.

It was a word like a flower on a cliff to say carelessly.

It’s a story limited to me in the past, who knew nothing and couldn’t do anything.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The sound of the horn announcing the start of the hunting festival was heard, and at the same time, a hunting party composed of different occupations entered the Demon Forest all at once.

Our party, which had only one purpose from the beginning, went straight ahead and quickly entered the depths of the Demon Forest.

Even while running, Lulu frequently identified the locations of monsters around her through high-speed search.

Thanks to steady training, I received the help of the 4th circle wind magic and the increased physical strength, so I was able to move at the speed of Stella and Lulu.

A few minutes after entering the Demon Forest. The first report of the search came from Lulu.

“Five seconds from the front, two goblins!”

It might not be as good as standing still and feeling the vibration of the ground, but even if you were moving, it didn’t mean you couldn’t use Lulu’s search ability.

When it was important to move fast like now, just figuring out the location of monsters in close range was helpful enough.

“stellar!”

“Yeah!”

It was decided in advance that Stella or I would eliminate the monsters that interfered with the passage, depending on the type.

With her skill, it would take less than a second to slash two goblins, so she could advance without wasting time.

“Oh, I found it over there… .”

Awesome! With a sound, the heads of the two goblins flew off at once.

It was a move according to the plan.

… Except for the fact that it wasn’t Stella who killed the goblin.

“Sorry, but this is my game.”

The man who wielded the sword in Stella’s stead said with a smile.

Looking closely, it was the face of a prosecutor who belonged to Xian-senpai’s party.

“I was going to cut… .”

“What are you doing, Stella! let’s hurry!”

“Ah yes!”

I feel sorry for Stella, who was deprived of her prey, but our goal wasn’t goblins.

Letting go of someone from the swordsmanship who suddenly appeared and killed the goblin instead, the three of us continued running into the depths of the Demon Forest again.

again a few minutes later. Lulu foretold that she had found something in front.

“A werewolf in 10 seconds!”

“stellar!”

“All right!”

Thinking that this was her chance to step out, Stella once again drew her sword and leaped forward.

And after 10 seconds. As Lulu reported, we were able to face a werewolf.

A werewolf moaning as it collapsed with its stomach skin pierced by a sharp spear.

“Is this what you guys were aiming for? I already caught it, so what?”

It was the face of a spearman who belonged to Xi’an’s party.

“It was mine… .”

“Let’s go, Stella!”

“Ah, I see!”

There was no time to wait to be discouraged. Warwolf wasn’t the goal anyway.

We had to be the first to discover the monster we had to catch today, so even a few seconds of delay was a waste.

“An orc in 15 seconds! Judging by the strong energy, it might be a mutant!”

The third report I heard after running for almost 10 minutes.

Unlike before, it was news that a slightly stronger monster had appeared.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just in case, I asked Stella for a doctor.

“Are you okay, Stella?”

“Leave it to me!”

Upon hearing my words, Stella’s voice burned with fighting spirit.

Perhaps because of his record of having already been deprived of prey twice, his answer seemed to contain a little anger.

To be honest, I was a little grateful that Xian’s party caught the monster instead of us.

The fact that I saved even a few seconds thanks to my senior’s party wasn’t bad in itself.

It was probably Xian-senpai’s strategy.

If we, the strong candidates for the championship, intercepted all the monsters we were hunting, they would be able to keep us in check and at the same time, they would be able to raise the results of the hunting festival.

It seemed that he already understood that the monster we were aiming for wasn’t a halfway guy.

When about 10 seconds had passed since I started thinking like that.

The body of a huge orc began to appear before our eyes.

It seems that senior Xian’s party hasn’t arrived yet. The person who was going to hunt first was nowhere to be seen.

“Looking at the skin color, it’s a variant! be careful!”

“This time, I will take care of it with a single knife!”

As soon as Stella, who had risen to the point where the medicine was rising, faced the mutant orc, she rolled her eyes and rushed at it.

Maybe it’s enough without any help.

Even with the current Stella, she should be able to defeat at least one mutant orc.

“Ooh! Whoa!”

When the orc, who had sensed Stella’s hostility at once, also turned his attention towards her, leaving her sword only a fraction of a second before reaching the orc.

“That is mine.”

With someone’s voice whispering in the forest.

An arrow shot through the trees in a beautiful curve.

The arrow, which moved smoothly as if dancing, flew right between the eyebrows of the mutant orc and pierced it.

“Whoa!”

The mutant orc let out a very short moan and collapsed on the spot.

It looks like an arrow stuck in his head that anyone can see belongs to Xian.

“… … .”

Stella’s body, seen from behind, was trembling.

“Don’t cowardly keep stealing, compete fair and square! You have no justice, no chivalry, no spirit!”

Stella, filled with anger, shouted at Xian-senpai’s party.

Senior Xian’s party was hidden in the woods, waiting for us to move again.

Not even responding to Stella’s protests.

“Bur, three times already! I could have been active enough!”

“Of course I know you would have caught it, Stella. But we’re running out of time, so let’s move quickly.”

“… All right.”

Leaving behind the corpse of the fallen orc, we moved further into the depths.

To the point where the owner of the forest, which will be the main purpose of today’s hunting, is located.