The morning of the fourth day.
As if last night's battle had been nothing but a lie, brilliant yet gentle sunlight poured down from above.
The fierce battle against the Venomous Green Tiger had raged throughout the night.
Now, they had barely managed to repel it, and everyone slept as though dead.
Well, "barely managed to repel it" was putting it mildly — a lot had happened, to be honest.
There were zero deaths, but plenty of seriously wounded.
The damage had been kept to a minimum because I'd ordered
Rather than Julius having commanded poorly, the enemy had simply been too strong.
It was like telling an elementary school student to beat a professional soldier — there was a vast gap in their fundamental combat abilities.
After all, it was one of the strongest creatures on this island.
Its near-Demon Lord-class power was no joke.
But more important than that, a far more significant incident had occurred...
So let me rewind time a bit and explain what had happened.
◇◇◇ The combat-oriented teachers had stepped to the front lines and faced the Venomous Green Tiger.
Unlike the time with
Physical enhancement through magic and skills, physical enhancement through items, and finally, full armament with Extraordinary-grade equipment.
Their power was equivalent to A-rank — but even within A-rank, there was a wide range.
A-rank — proof that one had reached the strongest level in this world.
To be recognized as A-rank required overcoming a massive wall; only those whose strength far surpassed everything below could reach that pinnacle.
But that had been the case only recently — specifically, before the Great War.
Now, with Tempest-manufactured Extraordinary-grade equipment circulating on the market, it had become surprisingly easy to reach A-rank.
But even if you obtained Extraordinary-grade equipment that way, you couldn't bring out its true potential.
It was only natural that you couldn't break through the A-rank barrier without your own foundational ability reaching a sufficient level.
That was why each school had A-rank-caliber teachers on their staff.
But even so...
When faced with the threat of monsters, you couldn't call it an over-supply.
Disaster-class, Calamity-class, and the old Demon Lord-level Catastrophe-class.
And all the way up to the off-limits Extinction-class.
Since only we qualified as Extinction-class, there was no need to worry about those, but Disaster-class monsters had established territories in various regions. So, in order to increase the number of people who could stand against them, the circulation of Extraordinary-grade equipment was permitted to some degree.
Thanks to that, monster-related casualties across the world had decreased dramatically.
And the combat power ratio between the teachers and the monsters was, as I'd predicted, overwhelmingly lopsided.
I'd thought that even a Disaster-class would be too much for the teachers to handle, so the Venomous Green Tiger — a Calamity-class monster — was completely out of their league.
Truly, a mixed bag. There was always someone above you.
Even so, the teachers had surrounded the Venomous Green Tiger in numbers and attempted to restrain it.
The result was that everyone had been gravely injured by the Venomous Green Tiger's virulent poison, each one facing death.
The teachers had done their best.
They had truly given it their all.
After all, I was watching. They couldn't afford to put on a pathetic show in front of me, so they'd desperately charged at an opponent they couldn't possibly beat.
I had been tempted to shower them with praise.
Meanwhile, Julius and the others hadn't been idle either.
Facing the oncoming horde of monsters, Julius had stood at the very front, inspiring those around him while fighting with everything he had.
"We will definitely win! Don't give up!!"
He'd strained his voice to encourage the students who were on the verge of losing themselves to terror.
He had more grit than I'd expected.
His swordsmanship was quite impressive, and he could even wield magic proficiently.
His equipment, purchased with money to spare, was first-rate and seemed to outperform even the teachers' gear.
Despite being a student, his strength was such that it might rival A-rank.
Handsome + prince + high skill!
This was too much.
He had all the advantages lined up, to the point where the other guys around him seemed pitiful by comparison.
But that meant nothing to monsters. They treated him with equal impartiality, with no reason to hold back against Julius — viewing him as nothing more than prey.
They attacked, wave after wave, all at once.
Julius fought valiantly.
Julius's entourage was fighting hard too.
Even
And their butlers.
Even the students whose spirits were about to break had regrouped and were desperately cooperating.
Those who could fight stepped forward, while those who couldn't took on medical duties.
It was quite well organized.
The area, lined with tents, was situated on open terrain.
There was nowhere to hide, so those who could fight had formed a circular formation, creating a wall to protect those in the center.
There were some students who simply screamed and cried, but those ones were herded toward where I was — right in the center of the defensive formation — presumably because they'd be in the way anywhere else.
Probably to keep morale from dropping.
That pompous academic teacher, Eugilas, had apparently been sneaking around in hiding too...
I was definitely punishing him later.
Setting that aside, I thought Julius's handling of the situation had been appropriate.
If even a part of the wall collapsed, the monsters would start rampaging through.
Fearing that, the teachers had lured the Venomous Green Tiger away by itself.
But with over a hundred monsters bearing down on them, the students alone couldn't hold.
It wasn't about Julius's command one way or another — the situation itself was a dead end.
As I'd said before, the enemy had simply been too strong.
Even so, Julius kept fighting.
It helped a great deal that Moss, following my orders, had been blocking any potentially fatal attacks, but they were still managing to hold off the monsters for a time.
Members of the combat-oriented exploration team, like Karuma and Magnus, were also pitching in.
"Don't let your guard down, Julius!"
"— Karuma. Thanks for the save."
"Don't mention it!"
Karuma had intercepted a charging monster's body slam aimed at Julius.
Then, using beastification — the true strength of a beastman — Karuma transformed into a red-furred werewolf and took up a position beside Julius to fight. His power was enough to put adults to shame, and he possessed combat ability on par with Julius.
Karuma's actions were based on Magnus's instruction: if the commander fell, it was game over.
Karuma had followed that directive without hesitation, and Julius had cast aside his usual composed demeanor to accept the joint fight.
Julius had said various things, but he must have acknowledged Karuma's abilities.
Students from different schools, cooperating across their rivalries.
Up to this point, things had been fine.
Up to this point...
What struck me as odd was Magnus's movements.
He'd sent Karuma to reinforce Julius while moving himself to an area where the monster attacks were comparatively weak.
With Magnus's abilities, he should have been taking the most intense combat zones.
Curious, I used Magic Sense to observe Magnus's movements from a bird's-eye view.
I noticed that a girl named Rosalie — the one who was always flattering Magnus — had left the front line and run toward a group of people rallying the reserve forces.
The reserve forces — I'd assumed they were those who'd finished receiving treatment for their injuries or had finished equipping their summoned weapons, but when I looked closer, something was off.
No treatment was taking place there; instead, the wounded were being hurriedly carried off to a different location.
And that group — Looking more closely, I could see they were all wearing matching white sacred robes and were fully armed.
Among them, I spotted Clad — Julius's bodyguard knight — as well as Ingracia's combat teachers who hadn't participated in the fighting until the end.
Could they be...? Just as that thought struck me, everything happened at once.
First, the teachers holding back the Venomous Green Tiger collapsed from its poison.
Brown and Peter, teachers from the Tempest Human Resource Development Academy.
Master William and Blam, teachers from the Ingracia Comprehensive Academy.
And two combat teachers from NNU Magic Science Academy whose names I didn't even know.
The Venomous Green Tiger, which had been held in check by a total of six people, was now free.
The teachers weren't dead.
Because Moss was protecting them, they hadn't died, but they were as good as dead — unconscious, every one of them.
Ignoring those downed teachers, the Venomous Green Tiger charged straight at the wall of students where Julius and the others stood.
"This is bad, Julius!"
"Tch! If only the Hero were here —"
"Lord Julius —!?"
Karuma.
Maria and Carol, who'd been sticking by Julius.
They looked at Julius with expressions mixing frustration and despair.
And then, Julius — "I — I won't give up. If Lord Masayuki were here, he would surely —"
Hmm... how would Masayuki fare, I wonder?
Actually, with a pretty high probability, he'd be the first one to run away.
He'd ask someone like
Then he'd get lectured by that person, who'd effectively become Masayuki's supervisor, and be dragged back.
But the timing would work out just right, with Venom being on the verge of defeat.
And to those watching, it would look like a Hero rushing in to save the day, which was incredibly annoying.
I figured Venom had drawn the short straw, but that was their problem.
Masayuki was irrelevant right now.
What mattered now was the students.
Julius gripped his sword with unwavering resolve and stood before the Venomous Green Tiger without a hint of fear.
"I'm with you, Julius!"
"I'm sorry for how I've treated you until now, Karuma. As someone in a position of leadership, I —"
"Don't bother. I get it. From now on, we're friends, right?"
"— Yeah. We'll survive this. I swear!!"
Julius, Karuma, and all the other students too.
Even in this desperate situation, they refused to give up.
In my book, that was a passing grade.
I liked that fighting spirit.
As for Julius, I'd probably need to coach him a bit on his way of thinking, but he at least had the minimum qualities of a leader.
They wouldn't win this time, but maybe I'd look after them a bit after the Venomous Green Tiger took them down.
Those were the thoughts running through my mind as I watched Julius and the others fight.
I'd known from the start they couldn't beat the Venomous Green Tiger, so I planned to have Moss drive it away after everyone had been defeated.
The remaining questions were those suspicious white-robed figures and what Magnus was up to — They hadn't made any move to help until every last student and teacher had fallen.
I observed them with growing indignation at what kind of people they were.
And only after confirming that the last combat student had fallen did they finally spring into action.
Two of the white-robed figures began annihilating the monsters at speeds that surpassed even the combat teachers.
One of them stepped forward before us survivors and activated a barrier spell.
The surviving students were engulfed in shock and confusion.
"Relax. I'll protect everyone."
The one who said that was Magnus.
As if to prove his words, he faced the Venomous Green Tiger alone.
Reckless? No, that wasn't it.
Magnus moved with absolute confidence, clearly understanding that victory was certain.
And he was right.
He unleashed power that truly exceeded A-rank and began fighting the Venomous Green Tiger.
And he succeeded in driving it away.
"Tch, it got away. Oh well. The objective's been accomplished anyway."
Magnus said, with an air of composure.
In fact, Magnus didn't seem to have gone all out yet, as if the Venomous Green Tiger hadn't been a concern in the first place.
At this point, it was virtually confirmed that Magnus and his people had been the ones to set Julius up.
Clad, as Julius's bodyguard knight, could easily have slipped something into their food when no one was looking.
And above all — "Well then, everyone. You have two choices before you."
A woman suddenly stepped forward and said.
Those words were directed at us — the non-combat students.
She had been waiting for exactly this moment, when all the fighters had fallen.
I was fairly sure this woman was a research instructor at NNU Magic Science Academy, named Irina.
Her silver-rimmed glasses glinting coldly, Irina continued.
"Cooperate with us and follow our lead. Or remain here and live freely as you are."
Irina paused, checking whether the students understood.
Once she confirmed they were listening, she continued.
"We will now set out to send a rescue request to our homeland. It wouldn't hurt to take down the so-called Clown Troupe of Greed, but they seem to have other uses as well. But setting that aside — let's talk about you. If you agree to become our allies, we'll take you with us. Your safety will be guaranteed, and you'll have a reasonable degree of freedom. And naturally, returning to your home countries is also your choice. You will, however, need to accept a few 'constraints' and 'oaths.' If you don't wish to cooperate, that's fine too. You can stay here and live freely —"
Saying that, she let her gaze drift across the face of every student — "So, what will it be?"
She said.
◇◇◇ The students were plunged into the depths of confusion.
They believed their teachers and Julius's group were all dead, which was only natural.
"Wait! Who are you people?"
Teacher Puri emerged from a tent, her face stern as she demanded answers.
She was so exhausted that her beauty had all but vanished.
She must have been treating the wounded nonstop for that long.
"She's right, Irina. What exactly are you —"
Heinrich followed behind Puri, stepping forward protectively in front of the students to question Irina's true intentions.
These two were the only unharmed teachers left.
Neither of them was skilled in combat, so they'd be useless in a fight. More importantly, faced with the strength of those white-robed figures, any half measures would be meaningless.
"Oh, right. I haven't introduced us yet. We are the 'Human Liberation Alliance.' Our goal is to break free from the evil Demon Lords' dominion and seize the future in humanity's own hands. This plan is built on a long-term vision, and I'm sure all of you will prove useful."
There it was — some weird organization.
"Human Liberation Alliance"? What the heck was that?
All I wanted was to enjoy a little vacation on a whim...
Huh? Where did things go wrong?
Actually, now that I thought about it, maybe the mistake was the moment I'd decided to board the airship.
"Just so you know, please stop suspecting me."
No, no, suspect you or not...
No matter how you looked at it, this was sketchy. There was no room for doubt.
There must have been someone who wanted to use me to crush this mysterious organization — one whose very existence was questionable.
And the real culprit was undoubtedly — "You're suspecting me again! How rude. Hmph."
I'm not suspecting you!
I'm already certain.
Forget it.
Now that it's come to this, I'll see this through to the end.
"That's exactly what I'd expect from my Master!"
So it was all according to your calculations after all,
Besides, it was too late to do anything about that now — and there had been plenty of things that seemed off.
I'd deal with this "Human Liberation Alliance" while I was at it, during the process of re-educating the students.
Organizations like these were a pain while they lurked in the shadows, but once they showed themselves, they could be taken down surprisingly easily.
Thinking about it that way, Ciel's strategy had been perfect.
The moment I became aware of them, the Human Liberation Alliance was done for.
Even if I hadn't gotten involved,
"And I, too, am a member of the Order of the Glorious Guardian Knights, one of the component organizations of the Human Liberation Alliance. I've been conducting an internal investigation while posing as a student."
When I declared my intent to destroy the Human Liberation Alliance, Magnus had said this.
I see — since anyone could pose as a student, it was perfect for infiltration.
Using a school for such purposes was nothing short of a direct challenge to me.
Naturally, Ciel would never let an organization like that go unchecked.
She must have calculated the perfect timing to secure evidence and set me in motion.
I was foolish for taking the bait of the word "vacation," but the truly unlucky ones were those in the Human Liberation Alliance who didn't know of Ciel's existence.
After all, making Ciel your enemy was far more terrifying than any Demon Lord.
Irina and Magnus appeared to be high-ranking members within the organization.
They extolled the virtues of their organization, heaped insults upon the ruling class of Demon Lords — that is, myself and the others — and asserted humanity's legitimacy and rights.
After that, they made their recruitment pitch to the students.
In order to have the students testify that those they'd left for dead had been killed by monsters.
And to place the students who'd been nurtured into key positions in their respective nations, expanding the Human Liberation Alliance's influence.
Julius and the others had probably refused the organization's overtures.
So they'd been a nuisance, and the organization had been waiting for an opportunity to eliminate them.
Then this survival event had fallen into their laps like a godsend, and they'd seized the chance.
"I'm sure it's difficult to give an answer right away. We'll head to the coast, complete our rescue request to headquarters, and then return. I'd like you to have your thoughts organized by then. It's painful for us too, having colleagues and schoolmates die. Let's hope you make the right choice."
With that, Irina concluded her speech.
Magnus was setting up a barrier around the area to keep monsters away, securing their safety.
The purpose was probably to put us at ease and reduce our hostility as much as possible.
"Magnus. You were deceiving everyone?"
"Hey there, Satoru. Sorry for dragging you into this even though you weren't a student."
"You left Julius and the others to die. Are you fine with that?"
"— No, I'm not. But... those who don't share our ideology are nothing but obstacles."
Magnus murmured, looking somewhat lonely.
But he seemed fully convinced that his way of thinking was right.
This idiot was also one of the academy's students.
"Hey Magnus, you've made me angry. Next time we meet, you'd better be ready."
Either he couldn't understand what I'd said, or he simply shrugged.
Then, after finishing the barrier, he regrouped with Irina and the others, and they departed.
And so, the long night came to an end.