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I’m currently inside the forest with the members of group C. We’re somewhat off the area the others and I roamed around the other week, so with a slow traveling pace, monster trails can be seen everywhere. Following these, the group should be able to find a monster without any issue but……

「Uwaa!? I stepped on something!?」
「Bwahahaha! Lame! You got crap on you, Magnus!」
「Come on now Joaquin, don’t laugh at him. Isn’t he just pitiful?」
「Geez! Everybody! Please have some sense of vigilance!」

Magnus, Joaquin, Liev, and Mahara spoke in that order, but it seems that Joaquin and Liev, being part of the first prince faction, aren’t on good terms with Magnus since he’s of the second prince faction. The assigned leader Mahara tries somewhat to mediate between them, but I guess I shouldn’t have expected these children of nobility to listen to a red folk in the first place. Still, I won’t butt in at this point.

What Magnus stepped on was probably fresh monster dung. While monsters living in the dungeons don’t need food, the monsters outside aren’t the same. They normally eat and normally produce waste. And with it being soft still, the monster is likely still nearby.

This is something I learned from Urania, but it’s common knowledge among adventurers. Since Mahara hasn’t noticed that fact, I suppose she’s not an adventurer, but as she’s more vigilant of her surroundings compared to the other three, I guess she barely gets a passing mark?

「Arytte, you there?」
『Yes, yes; what is it? Are you feeling lonely with your beloved Urania away?』
「Don’t be like that. More importantly, can you sense any?」

I called for Arytte. While Arytte’s existence ended up being exposed to Tebby and Sola, they still don’t know that she’s a spirit. I told her to keep herself hidden when other students are around, so that fact shouldn’t get exposed anytime in the future.

And so what I just requested from Arytte was to search for monsters. I can’t track down the life essence of monsters, so while I can sense if there’s some nearby, I can’t grasp their exact location. From the fact that there are some monsters that can camouflage themselves, there are monsters that prefer ambush strategies. It’ll be dangerous to fall behind against them, so I asked for Arytte’s assistance since she can detect the location of monsters through their magic stones.

『No problems at all. There’s one nearby over there, for example.』
「Eh? Ah! Crap!!」

Looking at the direction Arytte pointed to, there’s a thicket that Mahara and the others are just about to step into.

「Uwah!?」
「What!?」
「Kyaa!?」
「Everyone!?」

The four of them showed varied reactions as they were ambushed by a type of monster that camouflages as a vine, a vine viper. These monsters gather in clumps and entwine with each other to form a thicket, and their fangs have a weak venom on them. While a bite from only one of them won’t result in anything serious, a bit from a lot of them could be life threatening.

Still…… the fact that they stepped into a thicket without checking first was enough of a problem, but then their reaction after was thoughtless as well. Magnus is haphazardly casting his magic and Joaquin is just wildly swinging his wand. Liev is screaming and running about, while Mahara is all flustered from a distance.

Vine vipers are by no means strong monsters. While there certainly are adventurers that have lost their lives due to their ambush capabilities, the bite from these monsters aren’t strong enough to pierce cloth, and as long as you handle them one by one, smacks from a wooden stick is enough to subjugate them.

「Haa…… It’s going to be rough from here, isn’t it? “Cut”」

Still, there’s a risk of them being poisoned at this rate, so I’ve decided to help them quickly. The scolding will be for after their safety is secured.

The “Cut” I cast chopped the heads of the cluster of vine vipers with precision. At the same time, I used the wind to gather them in one place. Ignoring the meat, their skin does have some utility value, so we’ll be bringing these back.

I cast “Cure” on Liev who got bitten. For vine viper poison, this much is enough. Now, it’s time for some scolding.

「Well then, can I ask you to kneel on the ground?」
「Ha? Why us!」
「It’s that woman’s fault!」
「Kneel.」
「「「Yes……」」」

I had them kneel on the ground and reflect on what happened this time. While the leader I assigned is still provisional, they ignored their leader multiple times, they lacked vigilance despite finding a sign of monster activity, they’re not displaying cooperation despite being a group, there’s just no end if I ever start enumerating the issues. Before all the magic related stuff, they’re not even acting as a team yet.

「I understand that each of you have your own political beliefs and factions. However, monsters do not care one bit about these.¹ Conflicts between people are, in the grand scheme of things, but a small trifling thing. Listen, alright? The ones that’ll turn into monster meal if they ever pull their group mates down will be you yourselves, you know? And Miss Mahara! I understand that you have a hard time speaking out because of the difference in status. However, you are their leader today. Publicly, the official creed of this academy is that education discriminates not in status. We of the student council aim to return things to that proper state. That is exactly why I assigned you, a red folk, as this group’s leader. As a part of the general populace, I’m sure that you have experience in activities similar to this. Please feel free to make use of your experiences.」

Hearing my words, the four of them hang their heads. The three nobles seem to have some resistance against me as I’m a red folk, but I wonder about Mahara. Still, I hope they at least get a grasp of something during this weekend’s training.

1. Lyly: Facts