Sword, Magic and Academic Society

After our match with Godorfun, we dragged ourselves to the Wangyush Villa, located at the shore of Citing Lake, for our long-awaited hot spring session.

With all the craziness that we’ve gone through, our bodies were as heavy as lead. Then again, no one was as tired as Leo. Like an idiot, he apparently had Tim-san as his practice partner in the dead zone.

Alas, no one was in the mood, so I couldn't even bring it up......

The Citing lake, famed for its scenic view, was as beautiful as the rumors said it was. Its surface reflected the scenery of autumn blossoming at the base of the Darre Mountain Range as precisely as a mirror. By the time we arrived in the villa courtyard, the other classes had already arrived.

"Sup Class A~! You sure took your sweet time arriving here! A pity though, the top spot was taken by us."

We heard Connie-kun's voice, a member of Class B and also part of the Hill Road Club.

"If one has to summarize what the outdoor classes are all about, it boils down to surpassing your own limit. We have plenty of tales to tell you on how we managed to be the No. 1! I’ll especially narrate everything to you guys."

This one was Rudeo from the Magic Research Club.

Having beaten us by arriving here first, all the members of Class B had smug looks as they bragged. It seemed like they gained quite a lot from the outdoor classes.

"......Oh, I see. You guys are amazing, honestly. I would love to hear your stories as well..... but let's save that for later. I just want to sleep for now. Our bodies are at their limits."

The ever bumbling Al, who was at the lead, said so while tapping Rudeo's shoulder, and immediately entered the villa while limping.

The people surrounding Class A had mystified expressions that couldn't be put into words. The obviously uncommon scene had the students of the other classes who were gathered around the courtyard gasping.

The tumultuous noise spread as we opened the entrance door and entered inside. One of the Class D girls from the Levarance territory called out to Jeuri.

"Jeuri-sama! Great work in the outdoor classes!...... It was a surprise to see Class A arriving so late, when they have Jeuri-sama... I was worried when I heard the savage content of Class A's first scenario, but my heart can finally be put at ease seeing that you’re unhurt.

They seemed to have said that the last arriving class would have to make do with the hall as their sleeping place, but you don't have to mind that nonsense, Jeuri-sama. Please use my room to rest. Luckily, Class D was second to arrive, so we have quite a good number of rooms saved."

Jeu chuckled and shook her head.

"Your room is something you’ve won with your hard work. You should be proud of what you’ve managed to achieve, and use it to your heart’s content. Don't mind me. More importantly... it shouldn't be any problem if Class A sleeps here, right?"

Jeu said, but didn't wait for a reply as she immediately dropped on the spot like a log. The rest of Class A, their bodies and minds worn down, also followed Jeu's lead and crashed on the spot successively.

The noise amidst the other class students suddenly died down as if they had been doused with water when they saw the state of Class A.

"Huh, hey, don't fall asleep yet, guys! Who sleeps without taking a shower first?! There's no way you should be alright with that icky feeling after sweating so much for a week, and only having that damned cold water from the river for a bath!

Wakey-wakey, Al! This is the time to surpass your limit! Look, Rudeo will laugh at you seeing how much of a lazybones his club president is! You, too, Dol! What will happen to your image as the Demonic Adjutant if you let others see your current appearance!?"

Flustered, I immediately called out to them, but not a single one responded. Like corpses, they didn't even twitch.

"Good work out there. It seems like you went through a tough deal, Allen-chan. But... you don't look tired compared to the others?"

Just as I was lamenting the deplorable state of my classmates, Lil' Dui appeared.

"Hey, you too, good work Lil' Dui. I definitely would have preferred otherwise, but I had all the time in the world to take a nap and all due to that damned old geezer...... Speaking of which, have you already taken a shower?"

Lil' Dui shook his head.

"Nope, I was just as tired, and in fact, I just woke up from my sleep. I was going for one just now."

Lucky!

"Well, let's go together then. We can talk there! Do you have someone you like? Maybe you already have a girlfriend?"

Lil' Dui's face turned bright red at my question.

"W-What're you talking about?! You're sometimes too sudden, Allen-chan! Also, I’m busy with the magic car club, so I don't have the time to care about romance!"

He said, and... averted his eyes.

Heeheehee! I snickered inside my heart.

"Let's hit the bathhouse first! We have lots of time to catch up with our stories! Aren't you happy, Lil' Dui?"

I firmly grasped Lil' Dui by his shoulder.

"C-Come on, I mean it when I say there's no one I currently like, Allen-chan! Well, maybe someone I’m a bit curious about, yes, but it's definitely only on the level of like!"

Then, after having a thorough bathing session, we moved to the large room allocated to Class E — these rooms were typically for servants, and separated by genders — and held our story convention there.

I listened to everyone's tales of their love while giggling when Lil' Dui suddenly retaliated saying 'Since you're so interested in other people's stories, what about you, Allen-chan?' Well, it wouldn't have been fair, yes, so I revealed my bitter ordeal with Rosetta-san. The Class E members all burst out in laughter hearing my story. It did embarrass me, but this was youth.

In this way, and at last, I finally managed to enjoy this aspect of the outdoor classes that I envisioned to my heart's content.

◆◆◆

The following day.

"I will now announce the result of the Outdoor Class Orientation! Starting with the arrival order, No. 5 - Class A!"

Rias, the class teacher of Class E, begins with the announcement of the results in descending order.

Meanwhile, Allen wasn't present. He quoted his disinterest in the scores, and had instead left for a morning bath.

On this topic, after gossiping about the others’ love life with the folks of Class E, he had made sure to have his classmates take a thorough bath after they woke up from their sleep.

In all of this, Allen was most fond of the compact bath facing the mountain, which was a semi-open bath typically used by the staff. It was in contrast to the open air rooftop bath that was popular among the other students since one could capture the entire scenery of Citing lake at a glance from there, making it a scenic spot.

Apparently, the popular baths had water added from the hot springs to maintain the quantity of hot water, but the compact bath — which was small enough that three people would end up sticking to each other if they entered simultaneously — drew water directly from source, and its temperature also topped the rest of the baths.

Since the student's favorite was obviously the ones that offered better visuals, plus with the compact bath only having the bare minimum decoration — even that being mere autumn leaves dancing in the air — it had seen no visitors. But for Allen, there couldn't have been a better spot.

The color of the hot water was also pale amber, and thanks to the Moor (a composite made using plant materials in the olden times) seeping into it, his body felt as slippery as an eel.

Since it wasn't for guests, it had no limit for boys or girls. You just needed to put up the 'In use' sign, and you were good to go.

Returning to the topic, the score was in the following order.

No.5 - Class A (50P)

No.4 - Class E (100P)

No.3 - Class C (125P)

No.2 - Class D (150P)

No.1 - Class B (200P)

"That is all. Now, I’ll start with the overall score, which will include the mission difficulty level and achievement rate."

Rias spoke as her tongue ran over her lips.

The difficulty level and achievement rate were the obvious part of the scorecard.

There was nothing much to write about the difficulty level as it was self-explanatory, while the achievement rate took into account things like if a class was able to finish the mission within the timeframe, had they missed a target in an extermination mission, or had they caught the designated targets in the capture or subjugation missions. As an example, had Class A let one of the five spies escape, their achievement rate would have been 80%.

So basically, the arrival order was the basic aspect of the overall orientation, topped by the difficulty level and achievement rate. Had any class focused on racing to the villa while ignoring the missions, they surely wouldn't have gotten their desired result.

"I will start with Class E.

«Difficulty Level - 10

Achievement Rate - 90%

Overall Score - 900P. »

Your performance rivals the scorecard of last year's Class C, so you can absolutely rejoice at that."

As Rias’ words were heard, a loud cheer arose from Class E. The rest of the classes showered them with applause.

Then, Rias revealed the score of Class D.

Difficulty Level - 12

Achievement Rate - 60%

Overall Score - 1080P

Their score rivaled Class B’s from last year.

Moving on to Class C.

Difficulty Level - 14

Achievement Rate - 80%

Overall Score - 1400P

Their score had surpassed the average of Class A from last year.

A major factor why the first year classes this year had achieved such results despite the basic orientation set by the academy team, whose leader was none other than Godorfun, was the existence of the Hill Road Club. The basic stamina training there had been incomparable to what the previous year's freshmen had gone through in classes, so this had enabled them to perform better than average in this orientation.

Cultivated temperament and strength was bound to bring bountiful results. And sure enough, the outcome of this orientation would become the precursor for the Hill Road Club to become the 'Unspoken Must Attend Club of the Royal Academy', granting it the status of a noted club with an unshakable reputation.

And moving onward to Class B—

Difficulty Level - 16

Achievement Rate - 85%

Overall Score - 2720P

"As far as the first years are concerned, this score is enough to put you among the top 3 scores of all time. Congratulations."

When Rias’ words echoed out, the hall remained still for a moment before a loud cheer erupted, covering the entire hall in itself.

"Hurray!!"

"We did it! We did it!"

"Did you see it!? This is the extent of our strength!!"

Students of Class B shouted while hugging each other. With the frantic effort they had put forward along with an adequate result, and this was a natural reaction.

Their Arrival Score was four times that of Class A, plus their achievement score had hit 85%. They had definitely beat down Class A, the folks of Class B were convinced.

Teacher Rias clapped her hands to calm down everyone's spirits. Then she uttered the following words with an expressionless face.

"Up to this point...... this academic year has recorded the highest average score for first-year students in history. Be proud of yourself that you have achieved this result."

A streak of confusion ran across the entire hall.

"W-What do you mean, teacher? Has Class A's performance fallen so short that we missed the overall No. 1 spot in history?"