Sword, Magic and Academic Society

"H-Hey, what's with the silence? I mean, I know it doesn’t look appetizing, but you’ll never know unless you try it!"

While stirring the soup, dyed purple due to the plants I had used as ingredients, with bubbles bursting out, I once again asked everyone to try it only to again be met by crickets noises from them.

The bubbles were, of course, just a simple occurrence due to boiling, and not the result of some occult-ish fermentation.

"There's plenty to go around! Feel free to ask for more!"

For the third time, I strained my voice, but there was only an incomprehensible tension weighing down on us all as none of them made as much as a chuu sound.

It was as if execution was waiting for them should they open their mouths.

Even Al, the bundle of optimism, was staring intently at the flickering bonfire while trying to avoid eye contact with me.

Then, with the intent to protect his classmates from the disaster, Leo stood up with a determined expression.

"It's impossible to make up our mind unless we know precisely why we're eating it. I want your reason."

Like a diplomat sweating his way through negotiation, Leo repeated the same words I had once prattled to him when he had found himself stiffly facing Sora's breakfast.

But… why in the world would my soup require willpower to drink? Sheesh, was he comparing my cooking with Sora's breakfast......?

They seemed to have taken me for someone with a bizarre palate, but I definitely didn't intend to pull them along with my whims in cooking though.

......No wait, I think I once taught Al and Coco the culture of hotpot in a dark party as a prank when we worked together on explorer requests.

The hotpot in a dark party was where everyone brought their own ingredients, and the catch was you’d never know what the others brought with them. Then we’d blindly throw our ingredients into the pot, letting it simmer, and then eat it in the dark.

In such cases though, the others would mostly bring something that shouldn't be put into a hotpot and later tease the others who got their ingredient.

I often heard the other students in college in my previous life chatting about their hotpot-in-a-dark-party adventure, I was quite envious of them.

Once, I heard them say that the climax of one of their parties was when someone picked up a cowhide shoelace. However, seemingly most of my explanation went over their head as Al ended up with exactly that, but he mistook it for noodles and slurped it forcefully in one go which...... certainly didn't age well.

It was my fault back then, and I wouldn't be surprised if word about that circulated among the others, probably with the story being exaggerated, and that hotpot was dubbed as my culinary masterpiece.

I replied to Leo innocuously to dispel their unfounded worries.

"Why should you eat it, huh?......

Well, the simple explanation is to fill the stomach with a delicious meal, but if you want more reason, then this soup is made from ingredients that boost the natural recovery of mana and stamina… Oh, and the ingredients are from Dolman Sheep and the roots of the wild plants I had gathered on our way here.

I can assure you that there's no harm and only benefits in eating this if you want to continue enjoying the outdoor classes later."

My explanation garnered bewildered looks from everyone. Bester then asked me, summing up everyone's thoughts.

"W-What're you thinking, Allen? Recovery-assisting drugs are said to inhibit your future growth, and their use has been forbidden in the Academy's training, have you forgotten?

There were other medicines in that warehouse tent, but there was not a hint of recovery drugs among them. They’d mark us as losers if they find out."

Argh~, these guys just had to be so hard-headed, for damn sake!

There was no way this would cause you to lose your potential, and the effect also dissipated with time.

Well, constantly using professionally compounded drugs might truly hinder one’s growth, but the soup was far from that and was made from natural ingredients.

I looked around and saw everyone shared the same look as Bester.

Damn that smelly fart, considering everyone's personalities, he purposely made a half-assed explanation and let them make their own assumptions......

"Bester, first of all, stop putting the training we had done in the safe environment of the Academy with the harsh outdoor class environment on the same pedestal. Tell me, what was stated in the Academy's guidelines on the goal of these outdoor classes?"

"What the goal is...... It's to train the student's stamina and spirit while in nature’s embrace, I guess?"

"Right. Now what do you think is the meaning of being in nature’s embrace? At least for me, I believe it means to take the items we lack from our surroundings."

Everyone fell silent at my words.

They wouldn't have been able to reach a conclusion when the answer was ambiguously hidden. An ambiguous situation was in itself a trap for elites. But still, they were too slow......

If anything, It would be easier to directly ask Godorfun, who had been surveying the situation here from afar, but it seemed like no one had caught a whiff of his well-concealed presence apart from me.

Godorfun appeared to be trailing after the main squad quite seriously. Well, I could understand where he was coming from.

—In case the students met a mishap where all the roads were closed, he would appear to deal with it.

Certainly, if everyone began to share the same thoughts, the outdoor classes would lose their meaning.

The much-needed component, pressure, would be non-existent then.

First of all, the world outside of the towns or cities here was fraught with danger that looked innocent at first for a normal noble or commoner, and if luck wasn't on your side, not even the presence of Godorfun could save you from the jaws of death.

Though I believe they must have taken their respective measures to reduce the variables as much as possible, the risk of 'monsters' could never be reduced to 0. It was even more so when you were within the mountains.

Monsters often had their defined territory, but the 'spawn spots' like in RPGs don’t exist in reality.

Hence, the most effective way to minimize the risk on an individual level — to raise one's strength aside from drilling the required training during normal classes — was to dispatch the students outside of the constructed safe haven to have them actively face the dangers.

For someone who simply was all talk, but never once faced that precipice, they would never been taken seriously, no matter their status or position.

This analogy wasn't just for the military as the same could be applied in other disciplines like fishing, farming, or business.

A useless civil servant, who was nothing but a mere arm-chair expert since the beginning would never receive the tremendous authority that came with the status of a Royal Academy graduate right after graduation.

My explanation got long-winded, but in short, since that geezer was keeping his presence concealed, me exposing him would probably be evaluated negatively.

This was something I would like to avoid for everyone's sake.

In that case, I could only try to get through to them with my words.

"Do you know the phrase— A healthy diet is the secret to a long life?"

They looked puzzled when I asked them this.

Well, of course. I would be surprised if they somehow knew a saying from Japan or China's traditional Chinese medical culture if we were to trace its roots.

"Before saying anything else, the line between meal and medicine is a delicate one. Like, do you think the meat you're eating now has any specific effect? Do you know how the salt sprinkled on it behaves inside your body?

If you tunnel your vision on one thing, then by that standard only the portable emergency rations from the warehouse tent are the sole option you have for food. Do you really think it complies with the goal of 'being in nature’s embrace'? Taking a few steps back, do you think this is what Godorfun wants?"

"The answer Godorfun-sensei seeks......"

I nodded to Bester's mumbling.

"What I’ve understood is that this is a test to see how well we can adapt when we find ourselves stranded from our usual support like in urgent subjugation missions or hostile territories.

The last time Godorfun had breakfast with us in the dorm, I still remember his words: They survived by eating tree bark when enemies assaulted their camp on the battlefield. Only by doing that were they able to come back home.

In short, come hell or high water, we must make it back alive. This tenacity to live and strong will is what they're expecting us to exhibit in this outdoor class.

Viz had asked me if I hitched a ride on a magic car and honestly, if I had the means, I would definitely pay for a carriage or anything else to complete my mission. Well, it's bound to gain a negative evaluation though, right?"

I finished and then stirred the creepy-looking soup again.

I already said my piece, so now it was up to them on how they would take it.

I doubt that it would come to this, but if we were to fail, I was confident I could protest against it and make him reverse his decision.

But then again, in contrast to me who didn't care about which class section I was in, they probably had much more at stake.

Leo seemed like he wanted to say something, but then he just closed his mouth.

Maybe he wanted to say 'Just eat, I’ll take responsibility', but it was something they had to decide for themselves instead of following the policy in an imagined scenario.

Due to this, if they dropped from their class, the aftermath would still be unchangeable even if Leo said he’d take responsibility.

Just as the silence got too suffocating, Dan, who had looking at everyone’s backs from behind, uncharacteristically spoke.

"......I’ll eat it. When the opponent is nature, it's not surprising to lose your life if you have bad luck. You’d want to recover as much as possible no matter what. Compared to life-threatening risks, I doubt class ranking matters that much. Besides, if I do drop out from this class, I have the confidence to once again raise my rank by the 3rd year."

"Atta boy, Dan! Right, we just need to get ourselves up even if we fail! ......I guess I was still underestimating this assignment. I will eat too!"

When even Al chimed in, it didn't take long for others to show their will successively.

Bester, who had always been a staunch conservative in such scenarios, agreed at the very last, pushing up the bridges of his glasses.

"The ideal situation would be to keep the risk minimum on both fronts. I just can't bring myself to blindly take risks like you, Allen. However now that we've been stranded with dim hope, eating is probably the only logical solution. Alright, I will eat. However---"

Pausing in his words, he fixatedly stared at the soup I was stirring.

"Only if someone takes the lead first and they don't suddenly turn purple or starting spouting bubbles."

" "...............H-Hey, that's unfair Bester!!" "

D-Damn you all, is that what you say to someone who take care of you!

Hah, fine then. I will also not try it first then, no matter what.

Then, a fierce battle of...stone-paper-scissors began between them, their expression as if they're facing their mortal enemy.

And the loser was, needless to say, Bester himself.

Well, the more you think about 'oh god, I don't know what I will do if i lose here so save me' the more you're destined to fail. The classic Murphy's law.

◆◆◆

After the meal, we all took a 30 minute rest in shifts and then left the respite point.

By the way, my soup received avalanche of rave praises.

Then again, I had received the recipe from Riyad-senpai himself, so there's no way it would be unpalatable. However Bester expression, as it was dyed in the colour of despair, looked so funny that I kept quiet until everyone had a taste.

"You know you really are a sick person, Allen. Everyone would have jumped to try it if they had known the soup was from Riyad-senapi's recipe. Do you know almost all of my energy was spent on thinking how to get away from drinking that?

Then otherwise, who could have thought meals can make the body so lighter~, no? Sure enough, Riyad-senpai is amazing."

Al said while placing his hand on his shoulder, rubbing in in circular motion.

Well, it's also easier to feel sleepy when your body is bathing in a comfortable sensation, though I kept quiet about it.

The preconceived notions were hard to change so easily after all. Though other reason was also that Al etc had taken their 30 minute power nap, completely trusting my wind magic.

"The key point is to crush the veins of the leaves from a citrus plant called the 'Yansa tree' and add them. Yansa trees, which are widely distributed throughout the country, are relatively easy to find due to their distinctive fragrance.

This helps to eliminate the meat's odour while simultaneously enhancing its medicinal properties.

Of course, compared to properly formulated medicines by specialists, the effect might be somewhat lacking."

The effect of these leaves had been similar to that of bay leaves (laurel) in my previous life.

Aside from Al and Coco, who had worked with me as explorers, everyone else looked at me with sceptical eyes.

To these people, whose futures were basically set, it must seem strange that I possess knowledge akin to that of a cook.

Even as an explorer, top-level explorers would typically hire porters or cooks and spend money to avoid having to procure their own food on-site, so it’s more of a hobby.

I did it simply because I enjoy it, so I wasn't surprised if they found my words doubtful.

"Alright, now I shall reveal the special recipe that I have made by myself."

With a grinning expression, I exclaimed.

Engaging in idle nothingness, we trekked along in the dim path under the night sky. As the elevation increased, so did the number of belligerent monster, unfazed by my wind magic intimidation, so it wasn't exactly a hiking like scenario this time, however we did managed to reach 1km right before our rescue point around 5AM, before the first crack of dawn.

The main squad decided to temporarily halt there, meanwhile Dan I creeped toward our objective, and after taking a glance at the situation around we returned back to give our report.

In our scenario, it was a defence point hijacked by foreign force, though it was actually a deprecated stone building.

It must have been abandoned quite a while ago. Though I'm not an expert, maybe it was the type of place they called ruins.

There were two entrances, from front and back.

"......If we ought to recapture it, then I think mounting a full frontal attack aligning with the dawn would be a better option. The more we wait, the quicker we might be discovered. Do you know what it's from inside?"

I shook my head in response to Leo's question.

"It's hard to check it from outside. They have magical tools to prevent detection magic placed around. Well, they should have placed somewhere recently."

Leo nodded.

"Understood, then I ask you to keep a tab on enemie's reinforcement and their vigilance level and the situation around. Stella, Parry and I would be the forerunner of our assault team while Dan, Regi, Viz and Berd would be holding the rearguard.

We will be leaving our luggage here. Shal, Kate, Dol and Lala; you will be guard here. The remaining one shall encircle around the target, keep some distance and follow Feyrune's order. Any objection?"

Leo fluidly remarked his order.

Confirming that no one had any doubt, everyone moved according to plan. And once it was dawn, the assault group broke in.

The inside of the building apparently had become the nest of a hairy, short three-eyed monster---Murun. There had been quite a lot of them but the assault team suppressed their enemies swiftly and precisely.

Afterward, we carried the support supplies to the defence border.

In achieving so, the long drawn 1st scenario of Class 1-A safely comes to an end.

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