Chapter 42

May passed by peacefully, aside from the duels. The sales at the Bruto Trading Company steadily increased, and dedicated customers began to attach themselves to the salespeople, including Feira, and it seems that fan clubs were even forming behind the scenes. I only recently found out about this, and it seems that not only adventurers and mercenaries, but also soldiers serving the royal family and nobles, have joined these fan clubs.

While I do wonder if it's okay for soldiers serving the royal family to join fan clubs, having regular customers is good for the Bruto Trading Company, so as long as there are no issues with the current situation, I have nothing to say.

Recently, with the clan competition approaching, Carla has been going over past challenge sets and teaching Arda, Coda, and the rest of our clan members the necessary strategies. By the way, our clan is called "Mitsukuru," but when are we actually going to make magic items?

From my perspective, Carla's actions seem to have lost sight of the main goal, with the means becoming the end. However, seeing her enthusiasm, I can't really say anything.

May passed by in this manner. When June arrived, we began practical combat lessons, as the name suggests, involving actual combat. The Royal Magic Academy manages several dungeons, and we students will tackle these dungeons in party units.

"This time, you will be challenging the lowest-level beginner dungeon. This dungeon has five floors, and the monsters that appear are mostly rank G and F. However, monsters inside the dungeon are strengthened, so underestimating them can result in serious injuries or even death."

Mr. Bloom paused, looked around at the students, and continued.

"At first, you will act in 3, 3, and 4-party units, and we teachers will accompany you. I will now announce the party combinations for those who will be accompanying us. When I call the party leader's name, gather in front of your respective teacher."

For some reason, I am registered as a party leader. I should have been more careful when I left it to Carla.

When my name was called during Mr. Bloom's group, our party was assigned to be accompanied by Mr. Bloom. Besides us, there are two other parties, making a total of three parties and Mr. Bloom.

Actually, I have never spoken to the members of the other two parties... in fact, I don't even remember their names... I was scolded by Peron for not even remembering the names of my classmates.

You might think that I should at least remember the names of my classmates, but I have Carla and Peron as friends, and that's enough for now. Since I am a noble, I do think about superficial relationships, but I don't have that much spare time, so I consider this to be fine for now. I will gradually expand my social circle.

According to Peron, the members of the two parties that are grouped with us are mostly from the commoner class. Our class is composed of the top performers from the entrance exam, so there are few commoners, but this year's Class 1 has seven commoners. Peron, who is my friend and a party member, is also from the commoner class, so I thought the remaining six would be the members of these two parties, but it turns out there are five. One of them is the third daughter of a baron's family, but apparently, she, like Carla, does not look down on commoners.

"Christoph, you will be the overall leader. Unite these three parties and defeat the boss on the first floor."

Me? That's troublesome...

Did Mr. Bloom hear my inner thoughts? He pressured me, saying, "You're the top student, right?!"

"My name is Christoph. Since I have been designated by Mr. Bloom, I will take on the role of leader. Please work with me."

Everyone introduced themselves, so I memorized their names and faces. ...I could always use the Eye of the Mind to know their names, but that's not the point.

However, now that I think about it, shouldn't a party have both front-line and back-line members, with the front-line members holding back the monsters while the back-line members deal damage with magic? A party composed only of back-line members seems unbalanced, doesn't it?

Prompted by Mr. Bloom, we entered the dungeon. The other two groups had already gone in, so we were the last to enter.

The dungeon was dim but not completely dark. The walls and ceiling emitted a faint light, providing us with visibility. When I used the Eye of the Mind, it showed that the walls were converting the dungeon's mana into light. I should take a piece back for research.

After entering the dungeon and advancing a bit, we came to a crossroads. I was wondering who would decide which way to go when Mr. Bloom instructed us to go straight. It seems that each group has a predetermined path to follow.

I later found out that the straight path was the longest route to the boss room.

The first monsters we encountered were Black Rabbits, rank G monsters. There were four of them, so we couldn't just deal with one.

"Mr. Room, you're an earth element user, right? Can you use Earth Bind?"

"Um, yes. I can use Earth Bind, but I don't think I can bind all four."

I thought that using the lower-level earth magic Earth Bind would allow us to bind the monsters and beat them up, but the dwarf student, Room, said he couldn't bind all four.

"Ms. Bridget, you're a dark element user, right? Can you use Dark Bind?"

"Yes, I recently learned how to use it."

"Then, Mr. Room, you take the one on the left, and Ms. Bridget, you take the one on the right. I will bind the two in the center. The rest of you, please attack the Black Rabbits that your party members have bound with your preferred magic or spells."

Everyone nodded, understanding their roles. When I gave the signal, Mr. Room and Ms. Bridget channeled their mana into magic arrays, and Earth Bind and Dark Bind were activated. I also cast Dark Bind on the two in the center, and with that, all four Black Rabbits were bound. The other six then cast their attack spells.

Since the monsters couldn't move, it didn't take long for all four to be defeated.

After the monsters died, we had to strip them of their magic crystals and parts that the Adventurer's Guild and Commercial Guild would buy. Personally, I find this stripping process more time-consuming than the battle itself. Stripping is part of the monster hunting process, and if you're not good at it, the guild will buy the parts at a lower price, so it's actually quite important.