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Considering that Viviana was able to reach B-rank with the same handicap, there’s still hope for Belltina. However, she will need to work several times harder than the average person.

For our last lesson, we’ll be exploring the forest with our respective parties, tasked with defeating at least one monster.
We were not given the detailed evaluation criteria; we were only told to recall our previous learnings as we scoured the forest.
Some of the students interpreted this to mean that defeating more monsters will get you better grades, and they’re probably not completely wrong. The monsters appearing this time are goblins, one of the stronger monsters used in our previous lessons. For Palra and Belltina, it’s a monster that has given them great hardship. Perhaps to secure enough monsters for everyone, they are apparently more dangerous than before. In exchange, the teachers will probably be on high alert. After all, getting injured is one thing, but it’ll be a problem if anyone dies.

「There’s a group of 5 that way; let’s go this way.」

As we marched through the forest, Belltina stopped on her tracks and pointed to a certain direction. Ciel and Palra nodded, and we changed course.
Our target is to find a swarm of 2-3 goblins. I don’t know if 2-3 is enough to call a swarm, though. We’re also trying to find a lone goblin if possible. I’ve already found these through detection, but Belltina won’t be able to improve if I point it out, so I don’t. Ciel probably sensed it as well. After all, Ciel said that she’ll be on alert to practice her magic power control.

While there are parties that aim to defeat many monsters, our party’s goal is to simply finish the period as carefully as possible, to achieve our task without getting hurt or doing anything careless. I think that our lessons up until now put heavy focus on how to navigate through a forest instead of how to defeat monsters, so this shouldn’t get us a bad assessment.
Rather, if they purely grade students by the number of monsters they can defeat, it would lessen my opinion of the academy. After all, what is demanded from a hunter is the ability to reliably complete a request without being reckless. Knights and soldiers would probably be required to defend the common folk or their patrons against monsters and other threats, though.

「When we come across a goblin, I’ll attack first… right?」
「If there’s two of them, then Palra will defeat it with a surprise attack. If there’s three, then Belltina will have to attack with sorcery as well.」
「Y-yeah, I’ll do my best.」

Palra nodded with a shaky voice. As expected, our first encounter left a strong impression on them. After all, both Palra and Belltina were unable to do anything in our first goblin fight.
However, they’ve now grown strong enough for this not to be an issue. That’s what the course is for, after all. Besides–

「We’ll only deal with a number that won’t be a problem to handle.」
「That’s right, we’ll be fine.」

If it’s just three, then Ciel can keep them at bay by herself. The other two just have to defeat the goblins from behind us.
If things really get dangerous, we can also use sorcery to quickly deal with it. Who knows how that’ll affect their assessment, but it’s still better than getting injured.

As ten minutes passed since we took a detour, Belltina stopped on her tracks once more.
I feel the presence of three goblins ahead of our path. Belltina’s face is tense, most likely because she would have preferred us encountering two or less instead. If she’s really against it, she could just say there are many and urge us to take another detour, but Belltina diligently reported, 「There’s a group of three right ahead of us,」 with an anxious tone.
Seemingly affected by her anxiety, Palra replied,「Understood,」 but her hands were trembling as she gripped her bow. I’d personally rather we go somewhere else, but since they don’t know about my detection capability, I kept quiet. Each party apparently has a teacher watching them, so even if the worst comes to pass, we should be alright.
Nonetheless, it’s not good to feel too nervous, so I asked to switch with Ciel for a moment.

「For now, please take deep breaths. Tensed up, you won’t be able to properly fight at full capacity.」
「T-that’s right.」
「Just perform the same as always. Things are different compared to the first time, and we’ll be taking a request together during break, right?」
「Of course!」

While she probably isn’t completely fine, Palra’s hands have stopped shaking, so she should be feeling better. I barely ever had to cheer up someone else in my previous life, and Ciel tends to have blind trust in whatever I say, so it’s actually surprisingly difficult to do. That’s why I’ll just consider this a success.
Belltina, who was listening to our conversation, also followed my words and started taking what looks like the deepest breaths she could muster. I’m not really sure if this one’s doing fine.

「Now then, shall we go?」

With that, I switched with Ciel. While I urged them to go, we’ll have to be sneaky until we can actually see the goblins without obstruction. Following Belltina’s guidance, we found three goblins holding crudely carved wooden clubs. They seemed to be scouting the area as they turned to a different direction and started moving at around normal walking speed.
Seeing them like this, I can see how goblins can be troublesome. After all, they are, at the very least, better than most people at navigating through forests.

Since we needed to stay silent now, the three of us looked at each other, and with that signal, Palra readied her bow, and Belltina prepared to cast sorcery. Ciel also hovered her hand over her rapier’s handle to prepare for battle and began closely observing the goblins. As the situation grew tense, Ciel remarked, 『It’s our first time seeing goblins like this, isn’t it?』 with a cheerful tone, and, well, that’s just how Ciel goes. I then nonchalantly replied, 『We always defeat them instantly, after all,』 so I’m not really any better. And while there’s no sense of nervousness in our exchange, I continue being on guard just as I always have―excluding a certain time frame―ever since we were born in this world.

『Ain, you noticed them, right?』
『You noticed them too, Ciel?』
『Yeah, but only vaguely.』
『No, noticing them is more than enough. The past you would’ve had difficulty doing so, after all.』
『Really? That makes me happy, so happy!』

As Ciel responded with delight, an arrow coming from behind pierced a goblin’s skull. From the opposite side, a blade of wind flew by, heavily wounding the stomach of a different goblin.