On the evening of the third day of the field trip, more than half of the first-year students from the academy were gathered in a corner of the forest.
The reasons they had gathered there differed, but their purpose was the sa: to take down Lucy Alrn.
"We will make Lucy Alrn pay for turning this field trip into chaos."
"Woooooo!"
As Arthur finished his speech, the gathered students shouted out in unison.
What filled their eyes was hatred, resentnt, and determination.
Arthur smirked to himself amidst the cheers. If you think about it, Lucy Alrn hadn’t actually done anything wrong.
Raiding during the field trip was sothing the academy’s professors had allowed. Lucy had simply acted within the rules they had set.
If anyone was to bla for the ss this forest had beco, it should be the professors who created these rules.
If Lucy Alrn had any sin, it was that she fired the first shot far too spectacularly.
Arthur knew the truth but didn’t point it out. If Lucy hadn’t made so many enemies, he wouldn’t have been able to rally the students like this.
Sure, Lucy Alrn was an extraordinary talent when it ca to physical strength and intelligence, but she was quite lacking when it ca to political strategy.
If she had been more cunning, Arthur wouldn’t have even dread of getting his revenge like this.
After finishing his speech, Arthur returned to where the leaders of the various parties had gathered.
The people there were quite significant. Each one was considered the bright future of their respective kingdoms.
Even being admitted to the academy was enough to be considered an elite, and these were the students who stood out even among those elites. No one here was incompetent.
"So, what’s the exact plan?"
The first to speak was rrill of the Baines County.
Though she was relatively less known compared to Lucy Alrn and Frey Kent, rrill was definitely among the top in terms of strength within the first-year students. Her eyes were burning with passion as she looked at Arthur.
I heard she had so bad blood with Lucy Alrn. She’s probably hoping to use this opportunity to get revenge. I just hope her personal feelings don’t make her act recklessly.
"rrill Baines, you’re taking the monster hunting class, right?"
"Yes, that’s correct."
Monster hunting was a class that taught students about the various monsters that had existed throughout human history and how to hunt them.
It was almost a mandatory course for the children of noble families, who would have to take on commanding roles.
"In that class, don’t they show examples of groups hunting a single monster?"
"A war of attrition, you an?"
"Exactly. I plan to apply what we learned in that class here."
In that class, they even taught how to hunt monsters that took human form.
The most textbook thod was this: several parties would form an alliance and slowly wear down the target through repeated attacks.
Monsters in human form were small in size, so unlike when fighting giants or dragons, you couldn’t just overwhelm them with sheer numbers.
Thus, the most effective strategy was to gather a small, elite force and have them take turns launching attacks in a war of attrition.
Arthur, who had one of the highest grades in the monster hunting class, second only to Lucy, had morized that thod perfectly.
"What do you plan to do about Lucy’s party mbers?"
Jacal Burrow, who had co running at the ntion of taking down Lucy Alrn, asked with a smile.
"I told you, I’m going to apply what we learned in monster hunting class. There are a lot of people gathered here, but we don’t need all of them just to take down Lucy Alrn. We’ll divide them into four groups."
There’s no reason to take on her whole party at once. They’re stronger as a group of four than they are individually.
"With a grand ambush, we’ll split them up and take them down one by one."
If we rank the danger levels of her party mbers, the most dangerous is Lucy, followed by Frey. Then cos Joy and Faybi.
Lucy and Frey are strong enough to hold their own, even surrounded by dozens of people, but the sa can’t be said for Joy and Faybi.
So we’ll assign people to hold off Lucy and Frey while the elite mbers of the group focus on taking down Joy and Faybi first.
After that, we’ll overpower Frey and finally gather everyone together to hunt down Lucy Alrn.
After Arthur finished explaining his plan, murmurs spread among the gathered students.
It was, without a doubt, a sound plan. When it ca to hunting exceptional individuals, there probably wasn’t a better strategy. But there was still a crucial issue.
"Do you really think the academy students can move in such an organized way?"
One of the students raised their hand and asked the question. It was a perfectly reasonable concern.
The academy students, though undoubtedly skilled, were not trained soldiers.
Most of them still hadn’t fully adapted to working in sync with their four-person parties. How could a hundred people move in unison?
The answer was obvious.
"Of course not."
If it were possible, why would territories bother gathering soldiers and knights for training? They could just mobilize peasants to handle things when needed.
"But that doesn’t matter. Most of them only need to stall for ti."
If this were a discussion about hunting a dangerous monster, Arthur’s statent might have sparked outrage.
After all, he was essentially telling them to throw themselves into a fight just to buy ti.
But this wasn’t such a dangerous situation. It was part of the field trip.
"All that matters is that the elite mbers of the group move in sync for the individual takedowns."
With that, Arthur confidently wrapped up his explanation and began outlining the details of the plan.
"Lady Alrn, are you sure about this?"
Joy mumbled nervously as she watched the sunrise, clearly worried about the impending ambush.
‘Don’t worry about it.’
"Clueless Joy, what’s there to worry about? It’s not like those pathetic weaklings could actually beat , is it?"
"But still, there are nearly a hundred people coming after you..."
Last night, after the dumb fox had warned us about the impending ambush, I had been preparing for the academy raid Arthur was organizing.
I’d expected sothing like this to happen, given that I’d decided to play the villain and raid everyone in the forest, but I hadn’t thought the number would be this close to a hundred.
If the dumb fox hadn’t warned ahead of ti, I would have been shocked to see such a large group coming my way. Seriously, how many perverts are there at this academy?
‘It’s fine, really.’
"You think I’m as clueless and reckless as you, Joy? I’ve got a plan. Don’t worry about it."
"Okay."
Although more people were gathering than I had anticipated, it didn’t change my plan.
In fact, the more people gathered, the better it was for . The more there are, the harder it will be for them to control the chaos once it breaks out.
‘Besides, Joy...’
"Clueless Joy, instead of wasting ti worrying, why don’t you check your magic again? Did you prepare properly?"
"Don’t worry about that. Do you think this is my first ti casting that spell?"
‘Still...’
"Are you sure? No mistakes, right? Really?"
"I said it’s fine. I didn’t make any... wait, what?"
Knowing how often Joy screwed up at critical monts, I pressured her to check her magic one more ti.
Unable to withstand my nagging, she assured that everything was ready, but as she looked over her spell, her eyes widened, and she turned her head slightly.
Even soone like , who wasn’t well-versed in magic, knew what that ant.
‘You ssed up again, didn’t you?’
"Clueless Joy, what kind of stupid mistake did you make this ti?"
"It’s nothing big. Just a small miscalculation in the volu adjustnt."
Sigh. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t made her check again?
You really are Clueless Joy. Always making mistakes at the most important monts.
As I let out an exaggerated sigh, Joy tried to explain that it was no big deal and she could fix it quickly.
Joy, that’s not the point. The problem is that you made a mistake again.
As I gave her a disapproving look, Joy’s face started to flush with embarrassnt. At that mont, Frey ca running from the distance.
"They’re coming."
It’s about ti.
‘Joy...’
"Clueless Joy, fix it fast. And don’t make any more stupid mistakes."
"I know, I know! Just wait a minute!"
"Your Highness, we’ve found Lucy Alrn."
"Where is she?"
"She’s waiting in the middle of a clearing."
"...What?"
A clearing? What clearing? This forest is full of places perfect for getting lost—where would you find a clearing?
Arthur furrowed his brows at the student’s report, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he had to admit it was true.
Lucy Alrn was indeed standing in the middle of a clearing.
Judging by the cut trees around, it seed like Lucy herself had created this open space.
So, she was expecting the ambush and prepared sothing in advance.
Of course, she wouldn’t go down quietly.
Arthur clicked his tongue but wasn’t surprised that she had anticipated the ambush.
She is, after all, Lucy Alrn. It’s no wonder soone of her intellect could predict Arthur’s plan.
But what was she planning? What kind of trap had she set in such a short ti?
As talented as she was, her strength was purely in combat.
She wasn’t so great archmage who could change the situation with magic.
So why was Lucy Alrn standing there so confidently?
It had to be a bluff. She was trying to stall for ti, hoping to survive until the field trip was over.
Ha. I’m not falling for that! After a brief mont of thought, Arthur concluded that Lucy’s confidence was just a ruse, and he prepared to give orders to the students following him.
But at that mont—
"Ahem."
Lucy’s voice echoed throughout the clearing.
This… Is this a voice amplification spell? The kind normally used for giving speeches? Why would she prepare sothing like that?
"Hey there♡ All you sick freaks who gathered here to bully one little girl♡ You disgusting perverted pedos♡"
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