Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 56: Field Exercise

"You really do love those, don't you?" Christina asked happily as Koko ate her second Sweet Bowl.

"Of course I do. I've always been a fan of sweets, but I could never afford them before." Koko replied, her tone full of bliss as she munched on a chunk of watermelon, which for some reason was called Tara Gourd on Elnor. "Not to mention that Wence is a coastal territory. We get a lot of fish from the sea, but the salt water isn't very hospitable towards fruit farming."

"I see." Christina replied while still smiling.

"What? Do I have some on my face?" Koko asked.

"No, it's just you look really cute whenever your eating something sweet... sort of like a puppy." Christina replied, making Koko freeze in her attempts to enjoy the Sweet Bowl as she had no idea how to respond to Christina's comment.

"Do you two mind if I sit here?" Richard suddenly appeared beside Koko, looking hopefully at them while holding his tray in front of him.

"What for?" Koko asked suspiciously.

"I'll give you my Sweet Bowl." Richard offered.

"The more the merrier!" Koko exclaimed, quickly claiming her compensation as Richard sat down beside them. Though, again, she noticed how the other two weren't eating and were looking at her with large grins on their faces instead, completely ruining her attempt to enjoy her desert.

"Seriously, what is it?!" Koko asked angrily now.

"Nothing." Both Christina and Richard replied at the same time, and Koko was just about to yell at them when the cafeteria's main doors suddenly opened and several instructors walked inside, which was strange seeing as they had their own eating area.

"Listen up!" Conner called out as he entered the cafeteria behind the instructors. "Classes will be cancelled after lunch for this year's first field exercise, so all of you will return to your dorms and pack three days worth of clothing and provisions into a provided travel bag before meeting with your classes in the field behind the arena! Be sure to be there no later than an hour after lunch ends!"

"O-our first field exercise!" Koko said, barely containing her excitement as the headmaster left the room. "Oh, I wonder if we'll be fighting any strong monsters! I can't wait!"

"You know, fighting monsters is supposed to be one of the worst things about being an adventurer." Christina gave an awkward smile towards Koko.

"Why?! What could be better than killing monsters and possibly saving maidens in distress?!" Richard followed up. "Defeating monsters, exploring new places with friends, saving captured villagers, becoming rich and getting all of the girls in the end! It's the dream of every adventurer!"

"That last part was wrong but I agree with everything else!" Koko agreed before the two high-fived and Christina buried her face in her hands.

"Seriously, you two are so weird." Christina sighed before removing her hands to reveal a smile. "Though I suppose that's why you can speak to me as if I were a normal person, which I rather like."

"You might be a hero, but don't let that go to your head." Koko smiled teasingly at her. "No matter how strong you are, there's always someone better. Take Richard for example. He got his butt kicked by a ragtag group of cultists the other day."

"Hey, they drained all of my MP first!" Richard yelled in his defense."

"You had more MP than I did when we fought them, and you still made me do most of the work." Koko acted pitiful as Richard seethed beside her.

"Richard Cowell, Christina Alma, Koko Cryner, Ethan Layatt and Shelly Norr, please head to the headmaster's office as soon as possible." The last instructor to leave the room suddenly announced, stopping Richard's next comment as they all looked curiously at each other.

"All of those names... I wonder what they want to top five students in the academy for..." Christina pondered.

"Maybe group leaders or something?" Koko asked.

"Like camp? That could be it..." Richard nodded his understanding, though Christina still looked as if she was completely in the dark. Though she didn't ask them about it as she got up to put her tray away, and both Koko and Richard were right behind her with Richard not eating most of his lunch and Koko quickly shoving the remaining contents of the Sweet Bowls into her mouth as she started walking. And by the time they reached the headmaster's office, her cheeks were still puffed up like a chipmunks as she attempted to finish her desert.

Waiting for a few minutes outside of the office, Ethan and Shelly eventually joined them before the headmaster's aide allowed them inside and the lined up in front of the man's desk while he hurriedly finished up some paperwork.

"I apologize for ending your lunch early, but there's something I'd like to ask all of you." Conner finally dropped his pen and looked up at them. "The coming field exercise is not only to introduce new students to the tactics of battling against monsters, but it's also a chance for them to gain experience and raise their levels early on. Thus, we have pulled adventurers from the city as supervisors in order to spread out the student groups enough to maximize their experience gains from monsters while also keeping them in balanced parties."

"But there's still a lot of students and not enough instructors or adventurers to make the ideal parties?" Koko guessed, and Conner hesitated for a moment before he smiled and nodded.

"Correct. Therefore, seeing as you are the most promising students in this academy, I would ask for each of you to lead a group of students on your own to battle monsters." Conner continued.

"But headmaster, we're only students ourselves. Are you sure that this will be alright?" Shelly asked.

"I wouldn't be speaking to any of you now if neither I or your instructors thought that you couldn't handle it." Conner answered. "And you shouldn't worry so much. All we're doing is spreading out through the nearby woods, and they never hold anything larger than a kobold."

"But they like to gather in groups, so you should still be careful." Koko added.

"Hm? How did you know that? I don't believe your class had reviewed kobolds yet." Conner asked with a suspicious stare.

"Oh, that's because I-" Koko tried to answer before Christina suddenly threw her hand over Koko's mouth.

"We heard it from a couple of adventurers in the city the other day!" Christina laughed nervously as Koko struggled to free herself. After all, it wasn't like she was going to tell the man that she'd secretly been going out late at night to kill monsters. The information could be found anywhere, geez...

"I see..." Conner didn't look like he bought Christina's excuse at all, though he still got back down to business. "So, would all of you accept this responsibility?"

"I'm sorry, but I refuse." Shelly replied instantly. "I don't feel that I'm ready to lead others yet. I'm sorry."

"That isn't a problem. Thank you for coming anyway." Conner nodded his understanding before Shelly turned and left the room. "And the rest of you?"

"I suppose I could try." Ethan looked unsure of himself, though Koko couldn't really blame him seeing as they would be responsible for the lives of their classmates on this trip.

"I'll accept." Christina replied with determination. "After all, while such weak monsters won't help me level that much, I could use the experience of leading others."

"Sure, why not?" Richard shrugged.

"If we run into any strong monsters, can I just tell the others to stand back while I fight it?" Koko asked hopefully.

"Why did I call you here again?" Conner looked evenly at Koko as he seemed to ask the question to himself. "No. If you meet anything stronger than a kobold, you are to retreat with your party immediately and find the nearest instructor or adventurer. There are no exceptions."

"Boring." Koko sighed. "But okay. I guess I can help out."

"Good, then all of you should go and pack. And when we meet out on the field, line up with the instructors rather than your normal classes." Conner explained with a smile. "You're all dismissed."