The plan to hide the inhabitants of the town of Gust in the royal capital was in its final stages, and the decisive battle was just around the corner. As far as the reconnaissance with Sarge was concerned, they would probably arrive at the town of Gust in the next day or two.

Why? After a long march, they would be too tired to go straight into battle. That’s why I thought they would take at least one night off, two days at the most.

And now, we are having the final meeting in the conference room of the Reflexion Castle.

“Hmmm …… how about we raid the encampment?”

“That would cause damage to the people of Everlide. It would be better to lure them to the town first. It’s not difficult to capture them since we have traps set up in the academy grounds and plaza.”

The headmaster of Oblivion Academy, Libre, was concerned about Prince Ryde and had set various traps in the town to capture them without killing or injuring them.

“I understand. But we want to avoid any damage. If a battle is inevitable, that is not the case. Prince Ryde, is that clear?”

“…… Yes. I will try to persuade them, so I’m counting on you.”

When Frederick looked at Prince Ryde for confirmation, he nodded with determination in his eyes. With the training with the knights, his face seemed to have tightened up compared to a few days ago when we met. Then Prince Orden, who has not changed much, opens his mouth with his hands folded behind his back.

“I’m staying at home he said, even though I worked pretty hard?”

“‘Fufu, they still wouldn’t let me fight on the front lines. But thank you. Thanks to Prince Orden, I’m now able to fight reasonably well.”

“…… Come back safely, okay? Otherwise, it won’t be fun.”

“Yes ……”

It’s good that the two princes are getting along with each other, I thought, as we continued our meeting. This is where the leaders of the knights and us who will be participating in the battle gather.

The leaders of the knights who are spending time over there are going to tell them about the meeting. There should not be many discrepancies, but if the same number of troops were to intercept the enemy, the number of people would be enormous and there would be many troops, so we carefully discussed the situation.

…… If my plan works, the soldiers can do whatever they want. The persuaders are Prince Ryde and Lime, and since Lime’s face is rather well known in the town, the chances of success seem high.

“Hawk-san is with Ryuuze, Naru, and Kudelica. And stand by at point A with a few knights. At point B, the knights, Me, the headmaster, some teachers, and the castle’s magic troops will be waiting. And point C is Eagle-san, Lars, Makina, and Fass-san. Lars, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ve already calculated the magic power, so it won’t interfere with the battle. So you won’t put Retzel and the others in?”

“You never know what they’re going to do, so we’ve decided not to ask for their help unless it’s going to be a tough fight.”

Tigre-sensei folds his arms and lets out a sigh with his mouth in a heap. Well, it’s not a problem as it is.

At any rate, there are three points, which I checked carefully from above and had Ryuuze and Tigre-sensei confirm, and it turned out that two of them were the previous attackers.

And there was another man with a spear, who, like the other two, had green hair, so I guessed he was also One of Ten Chief Priests.

By the way, Tigre-sensei is taking the lead because the king said that since the battlefield is in the town of Gust, we who know the area are better suited to plan the strategy. Tigre-sensei, who had actually experienced war, was very helpful …… so please don’t ask me what is. 

“Then, I wish you all good luck. If possible, please come back without dying.”

“Ha!”

After a long meeting, we were given a pep talk, and we left the meeting room. Prince Ryde and Lime are going to spend some time with Dad and the others, so they are going to stop by my house and then go to the town of Gust with Makina and the others who are waiting for them.

“I wonder how strong Lime has become?”

“I think you’ll be surprised, Prince. I’d like to show you my swordplay.”

“Don’t get carried away, Lime? You’re still not even close to Lars and Ryuuze.”

“……”

“Hahaha, but I’m counting on you.”

Lime drops her shoulders when Tigre-sensei says it plainly, but I think she’s become able to take a closer look at her opponent when I saw her at the mock combat with Makina.

It’s not a good match with Makina or Ryuuze, but I think she’d have a good match with Kudelica? I don’t know if she finally trusted me, but she told me her skill.

She has a skill called [Penetrate], which is a very powerful attack when focused on a single point, and based on the fact that Tigre-sensei has been swinging his sword around, when I went to Arjan-san to repair Ryuuze’s armor, I asked him to make a rapier-like stabbing sword, which fit perfectly.

“Oh, I wish I could see you fight.”

“Prince Orden, I don’t think we need to go into danger, though? Prince Ryde has his own appointment.”

“Please, Lars? Protect Ryde for me.”

“Hmm? Yes, of course.”

For some reason, Prince Orden saw me off at the entrance to the castle. he waved goodbye with a disgruntled look on his face and I headed for home.

“Welcome home!”

“Kuoon!”

“♪”

“I’m home, Aina.”

As soon as I got home, I was greeted by Aina, Ash, and Sephiro, and Lime quickly took Ash in her arms and rubbed her cheeks.

“Ahhh …… Cute ……”

“Kuoon♪.”

“You can take him for now, but let’s go to the living room. Tigre-sensei, can you explain it to the others?”

“Yeah, sure.”

""

In the living room, Makina, Luciel, Ryuuze, and the rest of the A-Class had gathered. I can also see Milfy and Helena in the living room.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Oh, welcome back Lars! I’m going to go to the other side tomorrow, so Helena and Milfy-chan came to give their good wishes.”

“Yahoo♪ I wish there was something I could do, but I’m afraid there isn’t.”

“Helena has been taking care of them at the theater dormitory, so I can’t thank you enough. I’ll bring Urka back safely, so don’t worry, Milfy.”

“Ah, yes! I also promised with Urka-san that he would, after all …….”

And then she blushed and looked at Urka. 

Urka was also blushing and scratching his cheeks. Urka has a separate role and will be protected by the other knights, but he’ll have Sarge as his companion, so there’s no need to worry. 

“Then, now that Lars and the others have returned, are we finally heading out?”

“Yeah. Ryuuze and Kudelica and the others are on standby, so the members here are the last to leave. Tigre-sensei, please.”

I explained the outline, and Makina, Fath-san and Urka agreed. However, a voice of protest rises from an unexpected place.

“KUOON!!”

“Ash wants us to take him!”

Nora speaks for Ash, who lets out an unusually cute yelp, and I pick up Ash, who rubs his nose against mine, and tell him.

“I’m not taking you with me, Ash. You’re staying with Radia and the others.

“Kuon, Kuoon!”

“!”

But he grabs Sephiro and brings him in front of me. I’m supposed to bring Sephiro with me because of the Qliphoths that Aiatsubus took out, and he’s not happy about it.

“Haah …… You’re still small, and Radia and the others are monsters, so it’s hard to communicate with them. I’m not going to be able to help you in your time of need, so please stay here and protect Aina and the others. Schneider, take care of them.”

“Woof.”

“Kuoon ……”

As if he realized that he couldn’t be selfish with the approval of the mature Schneider, Ash sat down on the floor from his butt and squealed briefly.

“I’ll make you something delicious when I get back, so wait for me. Let’s go, then.”

“Be careful, Lars-kun …… Makina-chan too.”

“Well, it’s you guys we’re talking about, so I don’t think anyone’s going to die, though? But don’t let your guard down.”

The two sisters, Luciel, who is not a good fighter, and Luciela, who is a registered adventurer but not as strong as us, also gave us their good wishes before we left, and we left.

“Where’s Jack, by the way?”

“Oh, he was at home, but I thought he was talking to Urka, he already went home.”

“I see, I wanted to say my farewell to him, though.”

“Well, you can just do it when you come back! I’m not going to lose, after all.”

Tigre-sensei put his hand on my head and laughed.

And the battle, for better or worse, went as planned.

Now for the fight!

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“It’s been lukewarm here lately.”

I don’t have time for this ……

“if you don’t have time, make one! Show some guts!”

Why the hot-blooded style ……