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They just had a brush with danger and another mistake would surely spell game over for them. The aftermath had greatly influenced everyone, and they first needed to unwind their tense spirit. Leo judged that Bester was correct and went with the latter\'s plan.

"......I\'m sorry. I was the scout, so the reason for all this was due to a lapse of judgement on my part. I also became a burden when it came to battle."

Coco apologized, appearing dejected with his performance. Parry gritted his teeth on the other side.

"If you\'re a drag, then I basically yanked everyone\'s leg down! I- I was strong enough to deal with those two immediately...... but I lost myself and my calm in the heat of battle!

That guy (Allen) warned me that experience was important for an amateur like me and suggested that I become an explorer… but with my stubborn belief that only the poor would take on the role of an explorer, I didn\'t bother to delve into real battle during summer vacation! Call it my incompetence if anything!"

"No, but I gave everyone the sugges—"

After waiting for Lala, Dol, and Sophie to also finish stating their reflections, Leo concluded the matter with his speech.

"......All the responsibility lies on me as your leader. We shall learn from our mistakes, but for now, we have to confirm what to do moving forward. First, the most obvious issue is our unexpected mana consumption when we’re barely into our task. Particularly Dol, you already know this, but you\'re in a bind right now with your lack of mana.

I’m not reprimanding you, I was just hoping to rely on your light magic at night to light up our way while forming a group around the people with good night vision, so I only brought two lanterns for ourselves.

We at least need to reach the 4th checkpoint by tomorrow\'s dawn or else we would be truly hanging on by a thread. I need everyone\'s thoughts on this matter."

Checkpoint, while it was a unit with an undefined term, represented the time needed to reach the said location by foot in this world.

For a simple explanation, in the overall distance of 120 km, about 80 km was up to the 5th checkpoint, and while remaining 40 km was half its distance, the increasing strength of the monsters and the ruggedness of the terrain added to the difficulty, thus causing it to take the same time as the first 80 km.

In general though, it was a criterion for the normal populace. But Class A, with their top-notch combat potential, could up their pace shortly after in the second half.

They all knew the risk of bringing as few lanterns as possible. But the condition of \'transporting 800 kg of backup supplies\' was really too heavy for them and now their plan had backfired for taking that risk.

Then, just as everyone had fallen silent, cornered that they\'d need to take a non-optimal route, Jeu raised her hand.

"......Umm, I have to say this is truly a scenario made up by Godorfun-sensei, the supreme commander of the army. I dare say, he must have known about the nest of Gigantic Crows and included it in his plan. If anything, he probably designated this route so that we would inevitably end up here.

But… on the flip side, he must be sure that we could overcome this if we move smartly. Let\'s learn from our failures and move forward while making sure to minimize the risk. Since Fey-san and mine\'s combat abilities are nothing to speak of, and we have surplus mana left, we’ll carry Dol-san\'s baggage for a while. In the meanwhile, Dol-san should focus on recovering his mana now so that he can later light the way, and from there, we should race up to the summit immediately.

As long as there\'s a glimmer of hope, we can\'t afford to lose our motivation here."

Following Jeu\'s suggestion, Fey also chimed in, her expression laced with her typical snickering smile.

"Impressive insight! As your family motto says, dauntless and decisive. You\'re truly a prodigy of the Levarance family!

But your holy magic is the lifeline of our group, Jeu. So I believe you should save your mana as much as possible. I’ll carry Dol\'s luggage. It would be easy if I just hung one on my back and the other at my front. Ah, but that would make me look ugly, so don\'t you dare tell Allen, alright?"

Jeu glanced at Fey with a somber look.

There\'s no way it would be easier for Fey to carry two people\'s baggage alone. They might end up repeating the same mistake if Fey\'s mana also hit rock bottom.

Just as Jeu was contemplating this, Berd raised his hand.

"......I only have mana and power going for me, so I’ll carry Dol\'s baggage first. Besides, Fey-chan had been carrying Dan\'s luggage all this while too. I don\'t think you can even carry more luggage for so long, right, Fey-chan?"

Fey giggled and nodded.

"You\'re always so mindful of others, Berd. Alright then, but since my hands are free, I’ll use the time to slightly modify Dol\'s wand to make a makeshift torch. So please prioritize fire element monsters if you encounter them. I should be able to make something usable within this evening if we have a fire mana stone."

"Oh, I think one of the chicks of the Gigantic Crow Lala shot down had one...... You’re going to remodel my wand? Err, i-it can be reversed, right?"

Fey just chuckled, muttering \'maybe?\'

Seeing Dol\'s face twitch at Fey\'s reply, everyone else broke into chuckles. Jeu once again raised her bright tone.

"We fumbled earlier in search of a shortcut, but aside from the rotating baggage, there\'s no easy way out for us in this assignment. Just as Lala-san said, let\'s make do with our small tricks and try to shorten the gap with that."

Appreciating Jeu and Fey for lifting everyone\'s spirits, Leo then asked Coco.

"......Frankly, we don\'t have time to take that other route. But is the forest now safe for us to go through? Our decision will be affected by our degree of confidence, but it would be unwise to jeopardize everyone\'s safety due to that."

Coco assertively nodded.

"Enough time has passed for those stray Gigantic Crows to return to their nest. And also, they\'re not nocturnal monsters. It should be fine as long as we don\'t make any ruckus."

◆◆◆

"It\'s like we\'re on a hiking trip...... What do you think Allen, should I learn wind magic too? It seems like anyone can learn this technique as long as they put themselves to work, huh?"

In an amazed tone, Stella asked me.

Our journey through the mountains had been smooth. Well, I would credit my wind magic for that though.

Your average wannabe monster would immediately flee when threatened with wind magic. While we may have had to fight some belligerent monsters, there were no surprise encounters. Overall, it was just like Stella said, it was no different from hiking.

Of course, we did take a roundabout way if I spotted a troublesome monster, effectively avoiding battle.

At first, Stella gave me a doubtful gaze when I told her my wind magic could thwart most monsters from attacking.

"I’ve heard that through the application of outer mana circulation, it\'s possible to intimidate monsters. But are you saying you can keep that monster-warding aura 24/7? What a ludicrous story."

It was always better to show than to just tell, wasn\'t it?

When we trekked through the mountain trail like we were on a hike, even crossing the 5th checkpoint that she was so wary of, with little to no monster and even wild animal encounter, Stella finally had to recognize the greatness of wind magic.

My answer to her question was—

"Should you learn wind magic, huh? I believe only you can answer that. After all, what\'s your end goal?"

As if she wasn\'t expecting such an answer, her face harbored a doubtful expression, but as she saw me waiting for her answer, she quickly replied.

"......I want to be a strong knight. To be the strongest knight out there."

I asked further, "For what reason do you want to be the strongest knight?"

Perhaps thinking I was cracking a joke with her like usual, she stared at me with a glare.

"Is there something wrong with just wanting to be strong?! I\'m serious here!"

I stared back at her with a solemn gaze.

"I\'m also serious. It\'s just as important to think thoroughly about your path."

Seeing that I looked serious, Stella fell silent.

"I\'m not researching wind magic to become strong. To live however I want, this is my sole reason to seek strength. Also, wind magic for me is something that I just want to do. When I saw that by manipulating mana I can control wind, I knew I just had to do it, because it\'s fun.

It would be putting the cart before the horse to neglect wind magic to pursue strength, at least this holds true for me. Meanwhile, the process and goal is reversed for you, isn\'t it?"

"......I don\'t get it. So you\'re saying wind magic won’t help me become strong?"

I shook my head.

“I\'m not confirming or denying anything. This is why I’m saying it\'s just as important to think of how you want to see yourself in the future, and how you want to chase that path."

"How I want to see myself in the future...?"

I nodded solemnly at Stella\'s mutter.

Leading a vague life with no firm goal was just a recipe for a regretful future. I was about to say that, but I swallowed back those words in the end.

"I was dispatched along with the other members of the knight order during summer vacation to subjugate a Dark Wolf pack."

As I spoke to change the mood, a faint jolt crossed through Stella\'s eyes.

"Dark Wolf...? A stray group you mean?!"

......Hmm, was it something to be surprised about?

"No, it was a mission to clear out a pack led by a variant they named Black Lightning."

"......I didn\'t know you\'re already on a high enough level to tackle subjugation missions, much less take on a nomad wolf pack with a named variant… It\'s out of the topic, but did you know that the Dark Wolves created a demonic disaster on a large scale in our Achilies territory a few years ago......? So you could say we have some fate with them."

With an unconcealed bitter smile, she urged me to continue.

"Well, I didn\'t get the chance to slay anything though. The subjugation was led by Suzunami-san, commander of the 6th legion, and Dante-san of the 3rd legion.

They\'re strong as heck, just out of anyone\'s league, and honestly, just as cool. Meanwhile, my wind magic helped in keeping the pack in check and also in noticing the peculiar attack of the enemies.

I believe that the completion of that mission gave me a lot to think about, like the impact of an individual\'s strength versus the strength of a group. Well, in short, I just want to say that strength comes in various forms."

"......Forms of strength......?"

Maybe it must have started to click in her mind as Stella murmured and fell into thought. From here, she had to seek out the answer that lies beyond on her own.

Before long, as I continued to drive away the monsters, making sure Stella’s thought process didn\'t get disturbed, Stella finally came out of her thoughts.

"It doesn’t look like I’ll get my answer easily...... but I understand when you say it\'s just as important to envision how I want to see myself in the future, and why I want to be a knight… I’ll give it serious thought. But thank you, Allen."

Stella said, a lonesome smile stuck on her face. But unlike her usual expression, where she had her brows creased, her current expression showed a faint glimpse of her child-like innocence.

"By the way, the other guys researching wind magic have been putting in bone-breaking effort, even more than me, but it seems like they\'re still struggling.

Even Dan has been desperately learning it for his objective which is \'Sailing\'. This is why I suggested that you not join unless you have a concrete objective in mind."

"O-ohh... t-that Dan is putting in so much effort......"

With a cramped expression, Stella hung her face downward.

I firmly nodded. After all, one must know what they were getting into when they were thinking of walking the path of a Wind Mage!