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It was the second day of the preliminary guild rank placement battle royale.

Crim’s guild wanted to discuss their strategy before the next fight, so she was going to their usual meeting place which was a park in the southern district, where…

“Kyahh, so cutee! I can’t believe the real Crim-chan is this cutee!!”

A random girl she had never seen before started hugging her and would not let go, making her feel troubled.

“U-umm…who…who art thou?”
“Oh, I’m really sorry.”

The confusion almost made Crim forget to put on her usual act. Still, that seemed to make the girl snap out of it, as she took a step back and carefully patted out her clothes before standing up with her back straight.

Elegant was not enough of a word to describe her. Her figure was dignified, filled with confidence, and more importantly, her blonde hair arranged into straight vertical curls emphasized her appearance of a daughter of some affluent family.

“I’m White Lily, the Guild Master of Lily Garden.”
“Lily Garden… That’s the guild that won in the second block, is it not?”
“Oh, it’s an honor knowing you took notice of my name, Crim.”

Even though she was talking with such formality, she still stuck out her chest with pride, before snapping a finger and pointing it at Crim.

“Anyway, I absolutely adore cute girls, so if we win, I’ll have you join my guild!”
“Huh? Never. What is this all of a sudden, though?”
“…What?”

Crim felt like she had reacted in the obvious way, but somehow the girl had not expected that in the least and froze for a second.

“Then let’s put it this way, shall we? What dost thou wager if I emerge victor?”
“Ah, umm…well, in the very odd case that happens, I’ll obviously join-”
“Oh, no thanks.”

Crim blurted her answer without thinking, which left White Lily frozen for a moment again.

“I can’t approve of tying a player’s free will for senseless wagers like that, and so, I must decline your suggestion.” When Crim said that, the girl’s eyes finally snapped open with a realization.

It seemed like only now she understood how much she had been objectifying her guild’s members. But that also told Crim that White Lily likely had not meant what she said in bad faith, so she relaxed her face slightly.

“Lady White, I apologize for the intrusion but I believe this isn’t why we came here…”
“Ah, r-right, silly me, I always get so distracted whenever I see a cute girl.”

A servant politely began to remind White Lily of something when… The metallic clinking and clanking of chain mail and armor could be heard.

It came from the members of a very recognizable guild, Nord Glacier, who were heavily armed unlike their military uniforms from the previous day. Their arrival quickly made everyone nearby go silent.

Their leader, a young man with silver hair called Sorleon, was wearing a black hauberk with a surcoat draped over, which depicted the insignia of a lion. For a moment his gaze fixated on Crim, their eyes locking.

Try taking me down, if you can.

His eyes were like those of a beast with insatiable hunger, transmitting that clear message to Crim.

“…Look at them, flaunting and showing off like clowns.” White Lily spat those words out.

It was hard to fault her though, as Nord Glacier had worn completely different equipment the day before, and their chain mail, plate armor, and pauldrons all looked like high-quality items, having a dark shine to them.

It also showed they had access to rare ores, and the crafters with the necessary ability to work with them to create such armor.

“I see, that must be their true equipment.”
“Yes…it seems they were keeping their true power secret during the placement match.”

They had been able to easily smash their way through the placement battle royale, even without their true equipment. That enough explained their position as favorites to win the tournament to Crim.

“Let me go straight to the point, do you want to join hands with us?”
“Join hands, you say?”
“Yes, let’s cooperate to take them down, let’s get rid of Nord Glacier.”

Crim had actually expected someone would come with such an invitation. That was just how overwhelmingly powerful Nord Glacier was.

“Indeed, that might be a wise idea.”
“Th-then, will you..!”
“Regrettably, I must decline thy offer.”

Crim slowly closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I have this premonition, Sorleon from Nord Glacier won’t be vanquished by such trivial methods.”
“So you’re saying we should just keel over and let him win?”
“No, I’d never take up a challenge if my intention was to give up.”

A devious grin appeared on Crim’s lips as she slowly opened her eyes again. “I shall take him down myself,” Crim said with a defiant tone, her eyes brimming with a combative spirit.

The two members of Lily Garden stared at her with shock, understanding she seriously meant that.

“…Are you serious?”
“Yes, I…I almost feel chills when I think of fighting him.”
“You’ll just end up regretting that… Anyway, let’s go.”

The two members of Lily Garden looked at Crim, wishing they could really believe her words, but eventually they could only turn around and leave.

“So I ended up rejecting her invitation, and I apologize for that. I may have jeopardized our chances of winning by doing so, but it was my selfish desire. If this has worsened your opinion of myself, I respect that.”

Crim turned around and apologized to her guild, who had already arrived and had been watching the exchange behind her. But they all just shrugged and said nothing.

“What…you really have nothing to say?”

Crim tilted her head, half confused and half relieved. Freya soon walked up to her and gently took her hand.

“Nope. We all believe that if you say you can do it, you definitely will.”
“Huh…ah, I see.”

Seeing Freya’s innocent smile made Crim feel really flustered.

“Well, you going crazy and reckless is nothing new.”
“Don’t forget about Hinagiku! I also trust Master with my life, and I’ll follow any indications you give me.”
“M-me too…I won’t hesitate today..!”
“…Thank you, everyone.”

Everyone chimed in to support her. All Crim could really do was bow to them in appreciation.

“So where’s Ryunosuke?”
“Mm…it’s almost time, he really should be somewhere around here.”

As Freya asked that, Crim began looking around. They had not seen Ryunosuke since the day before, but today he had a really important role to fulfill.

The countdown before guilds were teleported to their respective battlefields had already begun, so if he did not arrive soon he would be left behind. Just as everyone was getting restless and afraid because of that, someone came running at them in desperation.

“S-sorry I’m so late! This really was such a last minute request though…”
“Oh good, you made it!”

Crim looked immensely relieved when she saw Ryunosuke, who came running with a large bundle.

“Still…all those crazy materials you threw at me and what everyone else gathered was something else. You won’t find anything of such high quality anywhere else!” Saying that, Ryunosuke opened the bundle in front of them to reveal its contents.

“Woah… Master, are these our uniforms?!”
“Incredible… This is so different from the equipment I had before..!”

Hinagiku and Lycoris also looked excited seeing their new gear. Frey and Freya smiled seeing that, and quickly began changing as well. There were five outfits in total there, which looked like formal attire of knights, dyed mainly dark red with black detailing.

They had been crafted last minute by Ryunosuke and a tailor he was friends with. The guild had spared no expense when providing the materials, making them high quality made-to-order items.

Everyone had some input on how their personal attire looked, which mainly affected the skirt and coat designs, but the overall design language was shared between all of them, identifying them as members of the same guild.

“We don’t have access to rare ores like Nord Glacier for better armor though.”

Crim also picked up her outfit, and opened her status menu to equip it. Gradually Crim’s goth loli clothes slowly changed into her new knightly attire.

“Schwarzwald’s monster and silkworms did provide excellent materials that rival what I had before…”

The uniforms had been weaved with the silk of giant worms that lived in the forest, and Crim compared the stats of her new uniform to the leather breastplate she obtained from The Strongest Monster, and then nodded satisfied. Then she put on her Cloak of the Young Red Lion Emperor and spun around to face everyone.

She also noticed that the countdown on her peripheral vision, which showed when they would be teleported to the battlefield, had almost run out.

“Well then, listen up Lua Cheia, we’ll use all abilities at our disposal, and employ any tactic, victory will be ours no matter what!!”
““““Understood!””””

Crim raised her fist into the air and shouted loudly, which was met with a loud response from her guild, and then they were all taken to the battlefield.

◇◇◇

~As soon as they arrived at the battlefield~

“Hmm… Maybe I should’ve asked for a pair of trousers like Frey too.”

Crim was restlessly feeling around her new skirt and readjusting it, continuously grumbling about it. The skirt barely reached down to her knees, and for some reason was lined with cutesy lace and frills, making it slightly baggy.

“Nah.”
“I don’t think so~”
“It’s perfect!”
“Um…it’s better this way…”
“Wh-why are all of you banding together now!!”

Crim looked around flustered seeing that no one agreed with her.