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This level of control is probably only possible with Ciel’s good grasp of the goblin’s movement, or rather, its rhythm. According to Ciel, everyone has their own attack rhythm, and by moving to its flow, you can deal with most anything. Breaking the enemy’s rhythm can also allow you to stop their movement. Though I can’t help but think that this feat is only possible for a Dance Princess with abundant combat experience like her.

Now then, the battle has taken a turn for the better, with the two finally landing their hits; the goblin is almost torturously wounded little by little, but as the end of the period was quickly approaching, Ciel eventually took it out of its misery with one last strike.

The now dead goblin’s body has abrasions, burns, and shallow cuts all over the place. Meanwhile, the two torturers were breathing heavily and anxiously stared at Ciel as if to ask if it’s finally over. Ignoring the two dazed girls, Ciel retrieved the goblin’s magic core and burned its body. By the time Ciel finished the usual routine and returned to the two, they had finally regained composure.

「Good work.」
「Thanks, good work.」
「Good workkk—…」

The apologetic Palra and the exhausted Belltina both seem to be unhappy with their performance. Considering that this is their first battle, I personally think they did well enough, but it looks like they don’t see it that way.

『That was a struggle, but it reminded me of Ain in the past; very adorable.』
『You were so cool, Ciel.』
『In that case, I’m happy. But this was only possible because I trust that Ain is protecting me, you know?』
『Glad to be of strength.』

I couldn’t help but respond somewhat curtly from embarrassment. Had I been in control, my cheeks would have surely been bright red. Ciel’s understanding expression shows that she easily saw through my veneer of curtness, which only makes it more embarrassing.
Seeing the two being gloomy, an idea appeared to have popped into Ciel’s mind, as she suddenly called out to them.

「You might have some dissatisfaction with your performance, but you’ll gradually get the hang of it.」
「That might be true, but still…」
「To celebrate our victory and safety, I’ll give you this.」

Saying so, Ciel handed over the recently acquired goblin magic core to Palra. She stared at the magic core for a while but then shook her head in refusal.

「I can’t accept this; you should be the one to keep it, Ailneige.」
「In that case, I’ll hand this over for now, so you can repay me after you manage to defeat a goblin during our stay in the academy.」

Despite the twists and turns, that is the magic core of the first monster we party defeated. It should make for a perfect memento. We don’t need it ourselves, but it may end up having sentimental value to Palra.
With Ciel being so adamant, Palra folded and was about to reach for it when the two of them noticed Belltina staring with envy. Upon realization, Palra quickly turned away.

『Is it possible to make alterations to a magic core?』
『Magic cores used for sorceric tools are characteristically small, so it should be possible.』
『Understood.』
「Alright, then I shall keep this in the meantime. Once I find a way to cut and process it, I will return the magic core to you two, so pay it back eventually.」

After saying that, Ciel asserted, 「If we don’t leave now, we won’t make it in time,」 then turned around and walked off without waiting for their reactions. While watching over the two hurriedly chasing after her, I posed Ciel a question.

『Why are you so adamant about giving it to them?』
『I suddenly remembered.』
『Remembered what?』
『See, when we became a hunter and were choosing requests, Ain said that the first request should be herb collection, right?』
『I did. It was the first thing that came to mind about hunters.』

It’s actually more so about the adventurers in the stories in my old world, but I remember wanting to do those kinds of tasks since hunters were kind of similar.

『It made me think about how important a first experience is. Looking back, every first experience I had with Ain has become an important memory for me.』
『That’s certainly a fair point. Let’s experience many more things in the future then, shall we?』
『As long as Ain is with me, I don’t really mind if it’s not the first time, you know?』

*Wouldn’t that be boring, though?* I thought at first, but if that day, that one day, were to continue on forever, I couldn’t help but find it to be a very tempting prospect.

◇◇◇

「Tomorrow will be your first rest day since the academy opening.」

As the day ended, we returned to the class A homeroom, where Ms. Claura spoke of tomorrow’s rest day. After defeating the goblin, we managed to return at a decently good time. We then split up with Belltina, whose face was overflowing with sadness, and this was enough to understand her situation in her own class, making me feel a bit bad. Live strong.

「I’m sure there are many of you looking forward to it, already making plans on what to do or how to unwind, but please take caution on how you spend your days. You are all allowed to leave the academy premises, but make sure to behave in ways befitting of a second academy student.
Students who are planning on doing hunter work, in particular. While there’s nothing wrong with that, do avoid causing problems. If trouble is unavoidable, please make sure to protect yourselves, but do not be the one to start trouble! Alright?」

Based on how much emphasis is made, there must be a consistent number of students causing problems every year, or someone who has caused a major issue in the past years. I can’t deny that there are potential troublemakers in this class. There are already some names in my mind, and I’m sure the name Ailneige is also counted among these problem children.
In the sense of getting dragged into trouble, we’ve already been involved with trouble since the announcement of enrollment passers. And in situations like this, both sides usually end up being treated as troublemakers.
Honestly, I can’t confidently say that we won’t get into further trouble. After all, there are already at least two people who could rope us into trouble within the academy.

After reminding us to be on time the day after our rest day, the class was dismissed.