The night of the third day.
For the first time in a while, I enjoyed a satisfying meal and then elegantly soaked in the bath.
Masha had handled everything—from crafting the tub, to supplying water, to regulating the temperature—all using the combination of magic cards I'd given her.
"This is seriously amazing. All you have to do is picture the right combination, and you can use really complex magic."
"Hey, those magic cards—where did you get them?"
Aina questioned Masha, who had just let out an admiring sigh.
Of course she'd be curious. You wouldn't find this kind of convenient magical item anywhere, no matter where you looked. Its performance was so absurdly broken that it didn't even exist among ancient excavated relics.
"Well, they were given to me by one of Professor William's acquaintances. Apparently, he wanted me to cooperate with a performance experiment and left them with me. It was when I was helping Satoru-kun, and he said they'd be perfect for the occasion."
"Hmm, I see. But you mastered them in just one day? If they're that high-performance, are they really that easy to use?"
"Exactly! There's no way you could control such complex magical formulas with just a card! If I had to guess, the card already has a certain amount of spell formation built in, and the magic is activated by combining them together—right? But even so, the patterns would get complicated—"
It wasn't just Aina—other students had become thoroughly interested as well.
As expected of elite students, they were able to vaguely guess how the cards worked.
That was both correct and incorrect.
They were right about the principle of rearranging meanings to produce diverse effects, but embedding spell formations into the card wouldn't actually activate magic.
Rather than embedding the magical formula used to cast spells, what was embedded were the source words of power themselves—thus preventing interference between spell formations.
Put simply, the true mechanism was that the words would autonomously rearrange themselves based on the caster's imagination, automatically generating spell formations.
Therefore, it was necessary to select cards with the correct meanings.
Frankly, this was impossible to achieve with current magical technology.
I had been thinking of using this to assess what level of troops in my nation could be equipped with these cards, based on how well Masha—a layperson from my perspective—could use them.
Naturally, this was classified as a state secret.
Well, technically it was only a "secret" because I was the only one who knew about it.
The moment this item's existence was discovered, I could already see people fighting over it, insisting it absolutely had to go to their unit.
Having expectations placed on it before it was even complete was troublesome, and if someone caught wind of it carelessly, it would be a headache.
Besides, if I decided on my own, it would seem like favoritism—so I'd need proper justification.
I'd considered handing it to some random subordinate to test it out, but Masha was perfect. She wasn't even a subordinate, which made her an ideal candidate.
As for information containment, this island served as an ideal testing ground.
The only remaining concern was getting the students to keep quiet, but that could be dealt with later.
It wasn't like I was trying to hide this thing for real. In the worst case, once it was completed, there'd be no reason to keep it secret anymore.
It wasn't a magical item I planned to unveil to the world just yet, but it would be interesting to observe the students' reactions.
In fact, distributing it throughout the academy and establishing it as an entirely new magical system was entirely viable.
That said, it would instantly elevate the status of mages, so some kind of restrictions would probably be necessary.
As I mused on these things, I listened to the conversation while soaking in the bath.
"But seriously—you only got them today, and you already understand how they work?"
Aina pressed the point, and Masha gave a wry smile.
Then she answered.
"As it turns out, there was a memo tucked inside the instruction manual. It had detailed explanations—like examples of how to regulate temperature, methods for compacting soil, techniques for gathering water, and so on."
As she spoke, Masha scratched her cheek.
"It was almost like the magic had been prepared specifically for this situation, which honestly surprised me."
She finished with a laugh.
"Oh come on! So Professor William secretly helped you out!"
"Right? Just discovering the correct combinations would normally take days of research!"
"But it's really sweet of Professor William to support us from behind the scenes like that."
"Hmm? But he's an old man..."
The students nodded in understanding.
That conversation was gradually going off the rails.
Calling William an "old man" felt like a bit much, didn't it?
I was the one who had arranged for that memo to be prepared. But the one who actually wrote it was William himself, so that it would appear as though he'd quietly helped the students.
It was perfect that they'd made that assumption on their own, but I wished they'd show William a little more gratitude.
Needless to say, the reason the memo existed was because I wanted to take a bath. It would have been unnatural to include these specific instructions in the official user manual, so I'd come up with this little workaround.
I'd prepared the memo as an example of how to use the cards—naturally, and in a way that would let Masha use magic easily.
Thanks to that effort, I was finally able to take a bath for the first time in three days.
Being in there with girls wasn't ideal, but regardless of who you shared it with, having your body seen was out of the question—so the advantage of being able to cover my whole body with a towel was welcome.
"But you know, if this kind of magic existed, all that effort we put into hauling water on the first day feels pretty dumb," Masha said with a wry grin.
Making it rain and collecting the water, or using ice magic to refine ice and then melting it into water—preparing water with magic alone was quite the hassle.
Noble families who had dedicated water-gathering tools wouldn't understand that struggle.
But now, thanks to water I could collect effortlessly, I could enjoy this bath.
Since this was supposed to be a training camp, some of the girls had brought soap for daily use.
I borrowed some and washed my hair, feeling refreshed.
This was really more of a mental thing, actually.
Since my body was built the same as a human's, I could sweat. However, if it ever became truly unbearable, I could shut that function off.
I'd left it as-is because I wanted to enjoy this experience.
And because of that, it felt wonderfully pleasant.
Maybe a lifestyle like this wasn't so bad from time to time.
Listening to Masha's conversation drift by, I savored my first bath in days.
◇◇◇ I finished my bath and returned without my identity being exposed.
Well, technically I'd announced that I was male, but nobody believed me.
They had zero wariness and treated it as perfectly natural to share a tent with me.
Should I be concerned about that? I wondered, but it was too late now.
Outside the tent, a line of female students who'd heard the rumors had already formed.
The bath was fairly large, but it could only fit about ten people at a time.
I'd reserved one big tent for this purpose, after all.
So it would be quite a while before every girl had gotten her turn.
And one more thing—it was a pleasant miscalculation that I got to see the frustrated faces of Julius and his crew.
Since Masha had built the bath, there was no way anyone could cut in line.
I certainly wouldn't allow that.
I'd arranged this bath because I wanted to use it—why on earth would I give up my spot?
There was absolutely no reason for that!
All in all, today had been a good day.
Better food than those insufferably arrogant young nobles, and a bath—the ultimate luxury under these circumstances.
I'd satisfied both of those desires.
Content, I headed back toward my tent.
That was when my Magic Perception picked up a violent surge of mana.
I detected a magical beast bearing down on this basin—which served as our base—driven by an overwhelming wave of emotion.
This emotion was... an appetite!?
[So it has come to this, as expected. As you may have noticed, the spices mixed into Julius's group's meals belonged to a class that stimulates the appetite of magical beasts. The effect has finally attracted the surrounding monsters.]
I hadn't actually noticed, but whatever.
Wait—so that was why I'd felt oddly hungry and irritable yesterday. It was because of those spices.
It wasn't a lack of self-control on my part.
That had to be it. There was no way a mature person like me would lack self-control—I'd thought something was off.
But now was not the time for that.
—Did the teachers notice?
[Several appear to have. As expected of the elite.]
Hmm, good. I was relieved to know they weren't incompetent enough to let their guard down.
Now then—if Julius's group had been mixing appetite-stimulating spices into the food...
What was the purpose?
If they'd been the ones eating that food, the most endangered person would have been Julius himself— —Could it be that Julius was being set up?
[That possibility is highly likely. The injuries Julius sustained have increased compared to the first day, so I'm certain of it. However, this development may have been unexpected for the culprit as well. Leading the pack is the Poison Green Tiger—one of the most powerful creatures on this island. They likely wanted to eliminate Julius's faction quietly, but this outcome will inevitably draw attention. No—furthermore, if they're holding back the power they've surely been concealing, surviving this battle will be difficult. Once we observe this confrontation, we should be able to identify the culprit.]
The Poison Green Tiger—a resident of the southern poison jungle. A major threat.
It wasn't the kind of creature you could reason with. It looked like the only option was to fight.
But setting that aside—eliminating Julius, huh?
Whether they'd intended to kill him or not, the method left a bad taste in my mouth.
The fact that spices had been mixed into the food suggested there was an insider involved.
This was quite the calculated crime—it could only have been set in motion before my survival plan even began. Which meant I'd been used as well.
That was not a pleasant realization.
But could those culprits actually defeat the Poison Green Tiger? I might want to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
My plan had never intended to put the students in danger.
Deaths caused by this kind of interference were absolutely unacceptable.
—Do you think the students will all make it through safely?
[It will be difficult as things stand.]
So it was going to be tough after all.
Then I'd lend a little helping hand.
I dried my wet hair and walked away from the tent.
Pretending to take a leisurely stroll to cool off, I made my way to an area without any people.
Confirming that no students were nearby, I activated my Sense Obstruction magic.
The noise vanished, and I was enveloped in silence.
"You're there, aren't you,
I called out into the darkness.
"Here, my lord."
As if answering my summons, a small figure appeared and bowed deeply before me.
Moss was a Great Demon.
A Grand Duke of the Netherworld, one who reigned at the apex of the Demon Dukes.
And yet—despite being the adjutant of Demon Lord
Did he really not mind being treated that way, for a Great Demon? You had to wonder. But he was incredibly useful to have around.
Testarossa was something else, too—letting her own subordinate be used at Diablo's whim like that.
I could say all I wanted, but I was guilty of the same thing, using Moss for my own convenience, so I really had no room to talk...
And sure enough, the moment I called, he appeared instantly and offered his vassal's bow.
But he really was convenient.
With power that surpassed even the former Demon Lord, even if this was a clone body, he wouldn't be outmatched by any monster on this island.
"I have a job for you."
"It would be my supreme joy."
What's more, whenever I asked him to do something, he accepted with evident delight.
Maybe I should treat him to something next time.
A barbecue, perhaps. No—I'd think about that later.
"Good. Tell me—can you protect everyone in this area from the approaching beasts? Minor injuries are acceptable, but I need you to prevent any lethal blows."
"It is a simple matter, my lord."
"Good, then I'm counting on you. No deaths—that's all that matters. But try not to let anyone notice your presence."
"Ha ha, understood. I shall watch over them from the shadows."
Moss bowed once more and vanished from my sight.
With that, I could relax.
I returned to the group as if nothing had happened.
Oh—I'd forgotten to invite him to dinner as thanks.
I could ask Diablo to pass along the message, but that might lead to complications. Better to tell him directly next time we met.
Expressing gratitude in person was only proper, and once this situation was resolved, I'd treat Moss to a meal.
Now then—how would things unfold?
The worst-case scenario could be prevented, so I'd focus on observing.
Who was the culprit who'd set Julius up, and what was their goal?
How would the teachers respond to this crisis, and how would the students under Julius's command handle it?
In the face of a crisis, everything would become clear.
I would use this situation to my advantage. With that thought, a small smile crept across my face.
And then— The first thing that rang through the air was the savage roar of a beast.
It served as the signal that marked the beginning of the long night.