The carriage rattled as it traveled through the dense forest.

Aboard the carriage were the students of the academy.

Midterm Camp.

It was not only the game's first event but also the first event experienced by the first-year students after joining Liberion Academy.

Liberion Academy's midterm camp was quite different from the typical modern camp event.

It was not a mere event where they would make curry and laugh together with friends.

The apparent objective of midterm camp was survival.

An event where students were dropped off in a dense forest and had to survive for a week.

That was Liberion Academy's midterm event.

Of course, after enduring a week, the last day was spent gathering at a mansion in the middle of the forest to relieve the students' fatigue.

Everyone struggled for a week, eagerly awaiting the final day.

There was only one intention behind organizing such an activity at the academy.

Cooperation.

Competition was the norm within the academy.

Each student's rank was determined for that reason, and all other activities were nothing but competition.

However, there was no rule that stated they must always compete when they entered society.

There would be times when they needed to cooperate with someone and times when they needed to coexist.

That was why such events were designed to teach students the value of cooperation.

"Haah..."

"Rudy, are you alright?"

As I sighed, Luna, who was sitting beside me, looked at me with a worried expression.

"Ah, I'm fine."

However, there was a problem.

The original game's story had already been twisted.

The reason cooperation was necessary during the midterm event was that four teammates had to survive together.

The four had to work together to withstand the magical beasts for a week, securing food and living space.

But, the teams had changed.

"Hehe..."

In front of me, Rie was smiling happily, while Locke sat with an emotionless expression.

In other words, my current team consisted of Rie, Luna, and Locke – four of us in total.

However, the original story wasn't like this.

Rie should have definitely been in the same team as Evan.

I should have been placed with the delinquents.

But, I had no idea how this combination was formed.

Upon further thought, it was an absurd combination.

I was currently the second seat of the academy, Rie ranked third, and Luna was fifth.

Although grades were not everything in survival, it was a fact that in a forest where they had to withstand magical beasts' attacks, better grades were advantageous.

Overbalance.

That's how one could describe our team.

Even if our group was arranged like this, a single question lingered in my mind.

Just who was in Evan's group?

Originally, Evan's group consisted of the transfer student Yeniel, Rie, and the spirit mage Serina Rinsburg.

Together, the four of them formed a group.

With Rie missing from the original four, someone must have taken her place.

However, the identity of that person wasn't particularly important.

The problem was that Rie was sitting right in front of me.

Her meaningful smile was suspicious from the start.

I stared at Rie intently before speaking.

"Rie, you did this, didn't you?"

"What do you mean~? I honestly have no idea."

Rie replied with a sly expression.

It was almost certain that she was the culprit.

In the game, when she was in the same group as Evan, she would make cryptic remarks as though she had intervened in the group formation.

I knew this fact, but I never imagined she would use it like this.

Had getting closer to Rie lately caused this problem...?

It was a bit strange.

Rie and Evan hadn't interacted much.

Rie should have shown some interest in Evan, but she showed none at all.

In truth, I was somewhat aware of this situation.

Since I hadn't seen Rie interacting with Evan, I casually asked her what she thought of him.

-Evan? I don't know. I'm not interested.

I thought that even if she said this, she would at least investigate and keep an eye on him.

It was surprising that someone with no background had suddenly become top of the class, so wouldn't she be at least interested?

But she genuinely had no interest at all.

This was no small issue.

The incident that would take place during the midterm camp.

Not only did it involve an assassination attempt on me, but there was also one on Rie.

And both attempts would be thwarted by Evan.

Although the incidents occurred at different times, it wasn't a good thing for the two of us to be together like this.

Because we were both targets, they might try to attack us at the same time.

In Rudy Astria's case, he was alone when the assassination attempt occurred, but in Rie's case, the incident happened while she was with Evan.

But if they were not in the same group, then there would be no reason for Evan to be with Rie.

The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.

I had prepared enough power to protect myself, so I was relatively safe.

However, Rie was not.

Moreover, Evan needed to save Rie to receive a significant reward, and that was another problem.

"Ah…"

"Rudy, are you really okay? Should I call a professor?"

Luna took a stone out of her pocket.

That stone was a summoning stone capable of calling a professor.

It was an item distributed to all members to summon professors or student council members in case of an emergency.

I looked at Luna and smiled faintly.

"It's really alright. I just have a few things on my mind."

"Oh...?"

Suddenly, Luna reached out and placed her hand on my forehead.

"Huh?"

Seeing this, Rie's eyes widened. I was taken aback by Luna's unexpected action as well.

"You don't seem to have a fever..."

Luna tilted her head as she kept her hand on my forehead.

"...Huh?"

As we all stared at Luna with bewildered expressions, she seemed to realize what she had done.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I was just worried, and...um...!"

Luna hastily drew back her hand and grew flustered.

Just as she was about to offer an explanation...

Thud.

"We've arrived. You can disembark now."

The coachman's voice echoed from outside.

We stepped out of the carriage and into the open air.

The first thing we saw was a tree, followed by more trees.

We were in a dense forest.

However, the place where we stood wasn't completely forest, but a suitable spot for a camp.

Was this barren landscape where we were supposed to survive?

"I'll be off now."

The coachman left, guiding the carriage back down the road. Once the situation had settled, Luna approached me with an apologetic expression.

"Rudy, about that..."

I reassured her, saying, "No, it's not like you did anything terribly wrong.

Friends do that sort of thing, right? It's my fault for causing you to worry."

"Friends..."

Luna mulled over my words, gazing at me.

"Hey, Rudy!"

Rie called out to me while Luna and I were talking.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go check out the surroundings."

Rie pointed towards the forest. Her sudden suggestion caught me off guard.

"...Right now?"

"Follow me if I say follow."

Though I was baffled, I moved nonetheless, suspecting she must have something important to say.

"I'll go with Rie to explore the area for a bit."

"Alright..."

I left Luna behind and walked towards Rie.

She said nothing more and headed into the forest.

After a short walk, Rie turned around to look at me.

"Hey, what's your relationship with her?"

I frowned at her abrupt question.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"What's your relationship with her?"

"Luna? We're friends."

Luna and I were naturally close friends, weren't we?

Best friends.

She was my only friend in the Academy.

Of course, I was also friendly with Rie, but our relationship felt more like a business arrangement than a friendship.

However, I merely referred to Luna as a friend, fearing that calling her my best friend might make her uncomfortable.

"Hmm..."

Rie stroked her chin and eyed me with a hint of suspicion.

More than that, I was curious about something.

"Hey, what's the deal with these group members?"

"Ah, the group? I talked to senior Astina about it. Honestly, it's uncomfortable to be with strangers."

Rie spoke as if it were a matter of course.

"Is that allowed?"

"Even if the midterm event evaluation affects our grades, it's only a small part. No one really cares about this kind of thing as it's just a formality."

Rie snickered at my concern.

"You're more timid than I thought. Shaking just because of this."

"There's no harm in being cautious, right?"

I worried that a misstep could lead to disciplinary action and a headache.

"Don't worry. I heard there are other students who requested similar arrangements. Even the professors turned a blind eye."

Rie's words eased my concerns a bit.

However, it was surprising to learn that there were others who had made similar requests. Did they just ask to be with their friends?

"So, you arranged this entire group?"

"Yep, I just picked people I'm comfortable with."

Her response took me by surprise.

"Were you friends with Luna?"

I hadn't seen Rie and Luna interacting in the game, so it was unexpected that Rie found her comfortable.

"Well, she's the girl I saved, so we have some kind of bond."

Rie spoke nonchalantly. It was indeed more comfortable for me to have the group arranged this way.

I wished Rie had been in Evan's group though, but that was a minor regret.

Still, being in the same group, I thought I might be able to create events similar to the game.

"Ugh...!"

Rie stretched her arms.

She took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling, and then opened her mouth.

"Coming into the forest like this does feel healing."

Rie looked at ease, which was palpable to me.

She usually played the role of the kind princess, hiding behind a mask.

Today, however, her face seemed genuinely relaxed.

"But it doesn't seem like we'll always be this comfortable."

Rie gestured towards my back.

"Grr..."

Behind me, about three kobolds were scouting the area.

"Shall we relieve some stress?"

With that, Rie summoned her elemental.

"Sylph, cut them down."

In a shadowy chamber, two men stood.

"So, what have we decided to do?" asked one, his face concealed by a hood.

"For now, we'll proceed as planned. We'll take care of Rudy Astria first, and then target the princess amid the ensuing chaos."

"Very well, I'll tell Yeniel to move on the fifth night."

"No, Garwel is with Yeniel. Relay the message to him instead."

The other man nodded. "I shall do as you say."

"For the cause."

"Yes, for the future."

With that, the first man vanished, leaving the hooded figure alone in the darkness.

"How convenient it is that our targets are together," he murmured with a sinister chuckle.

***

4/4! Picking up finally!

Enjoy the chappy!