NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39
#039 The Extremely Ordinary Group Project (1)
It had been a month since the founding day of the Barhart Academy.
Three professors representing the combat subject were gathered in one place.
The alluring beauty with flowing red hair, reminiscent of flowing blood, Istel von Lebenshtein spoke up.
“The ‘Martial Arts’ department is ready. Although the fundamental abilities haven’t dramatically improved yet, they should have a decent understanding of their limits by now.”
The gentleman with slicked-back black hair, dressed in a formal suit, Neville Brix, also chimed in.
“The ‘Magic’ department is likewise on the same page. All students have learned the basic [Low-Level Magic Arrow] and [Low-Level Magic Shield], and those with some leftover energy have picked up an additional low-level spell of their choice according to their preferences.”
Emilio Lafeur, the white-haired boy with an innocent expression who looked suspiciously youthful, responded with a slightly hesitant expression.
“The students in ‘Support’ have reached a level where they can heal wounds that pose no threat to life. However, isn’t it a bit early for this?”
At Emilio’s statement, Istel chuckled.
“Oh my, it’s quite the wait having kept them calm for a month. The repetitive daily life must be getting boring, so it’s time to throw a little event for the students, don’t you think?”
Neville nodded in agreement.
“We’re not just raising a set of high-spec catalogues. Now that they have the essential means at hand, it’s time they learn how to use them.”
Emilio shook his head.
“I think you’re both lacking a bit of compassion… A-choo!”
Neville raised an eyebrow at Emilio, who was sneezing.
“You seem to be sneezing quite a bit lately. Are you ill? If you’re frail, we need to find a new professor, so speak up quickly, old-timer. There’s nothing more annoying than the person in charge dropping dead in the middle of a grand undertaking.”
“Kid, who do you think you’re calling ‘old’… Ahem! Haha, no, I’m fine. It’s just that my nose has been a bit sensitive lately.”
Ignoring that he couldn’t mention it was due to the perfume trending among the female students he taught, the two continued their conversation.
“To forge a strong sword, one must hammer the iron.”
“There’s also the joint training session in June. If we don’t achieve decent results, all sorts of riffraff will start biting at us, claiming the orders of His Imperial Highness weren’t executed properly. Don’t you want to keep your position, old man?”
Emilio Lafeur said seriously.
“How could an educator prioritize personal advancement? However, it’s unacceptable to let unqualified individuals teach students.”
*Clap.*
Istel brought her palms together to conclude their discussion.
“Now then, based on this collaboration among the three professors in the combat department, we will commence the first round of integrated group projects. As an educational institution, let us devise a fun project that fosters teamwork and responsibility. I believe our lovely students will surely manage to overcome this challenge!”
With a short addendum, “If they can’t, that’s too bad,” Istel asserted, drawing no objections from the other two.
They weren’t raising delicate flowers in a greenhouse, and if the students couldn’t overcome this level of hardship, it would mean they had failed in their teaching mission.
#040 The Exciting Group Project Announcement
The next day, Sunday.
A cheerful female voice echoed through the sonic transmission magic tools installed throughout the academy.
[-Hello, students! This is Istel von Lebenshtein, your professor for Martial Arts. Today, I have some delightful news to share with you all!]
The students murmured among themselves.
“What’s going on from the morning on a weekend?”
“Delightful news?”
“Ugh, I’m feeling nauseous.”
Over the past month, the students of the martial arts subject had experienced nausea from Istel’s relentlessly cheerful voice, yet the announcement continued unabated.
[Starting tomorrow, a week-long integrated group project will commence, with all current students participating! During this assignment, all existing classes will be temporarily suspended! Students will work together regardless of their classes.]
“Classes suspended? For a whole week?”
“What in the world are they planning…?”
[The project will be team-based, with each team consisting of six students. Please gather with members you want to work with in the staff room or various administrative offices to sign up. Students who do not apply for a team by today will be randomly assigned. With the total number of students not perfectly divisible, one team created later will consist of three members, which will be inherently disadvantaged, right?]
“Well, it sounds interesting, whatever it is! Want to team up?”
“Sure! We can gather six just with the martial arts folks.”
While many students optimistically aimed to team up with their usual friends from class, some had different thoughts.
‘Six-member team competition? Depending on the assignment, this might turn into a lengthy battle. There might even be various stages involved.’
‘If the team composition is too lopsided, it could be disadvantageous. Especially, we need to bring at least one from the support department!’
The number of students in each combat subject was 108 for Martial Arts, 52 for Magic, and just 23 for Support.
The situation of healers being nobles applied here as well.
[Students who excel in the project will be provided with separate accommodations, not the usual single rooms, and two teams will receive special rewards from the professors in charge of ‘Combat’. If you wish, I can easily grant you a vision or two, so do your best!]
“Yeah, that’s the spirit! This place is way too cramped!”
“What? A vision? Really!?”
At the announcement of rewards by Istel, the previously skeptical and wary students’ eyes lit up with enthusiasm.
For the noble students, the cramped single rooms they were currently using—by their standards—were exceedingly uncomfortable, and even aside from that, the prospect of receiving visions appealed greatly to the ambitious students.
[Detailed project information will be announced later! For now, focus on gathering your teams! This is the end of the announcement!]
As soon as the broadcast ended, the students began moving around energetically.
“Hey, gather around! Let’s form our teams quickly!”
“Does anyone know any kids from the Magic or Support departments?!”
“Damn it, I was planning to go out today, and now this mess has ruined it!”
“Visions! New accommodations! All mine!”
<><><>
Listening to Professor Istel’s broadcast, I thought to myself, ‘Fortunately, this is true to the original.’
“…What sort of prank is she up to this time?”
Rigret, munching on a bread stuffed with oversized sausages and vegetables, squinted as he spoke. The girl with green hair, Pino, sipping on a lemon drink, looked at me suspiciously.
“Chrome, did you know about this? It seems like the number of people we gathered for lunch just happens to match the project requirements perfectly.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s just a coincidence. Crow dismissed me because he’s got a duel scheduled with some other martial arts student, and Akasha didn’t come because she said she had to visit the Star God Church.”
As a result, the six people gathered here were me, Rigret, Fiore, Roto, Pino, and Rabaul.
In fact, if we tried hard, we could have formed a party with stronger members, but I saw no need to do that.
‘This assignment is going to require cooperation just as much as combat power. Even if we’re not the strongest, having members who follow my lead is better.’
The third son of the famous swordsmanship house in the Duchy of Nahat, Crow, would probably listen to me if I reminded him of the favor from when I bought him a sword, but it felt too soon to play that card. Moreover, I had no real connection with the youngest Paladin, Akasha, and the distance between us remained due to the encounter through Fiore.
I also tried calling Prelia from the alchemy class, but she hesitated and said she couldn’t join after thinking for a long while. While we had become quite friendly through our discussions and interactions in class, it still felt like we weren’t quite ready to meet outside of that environment.
Fiore chimed in. “But isn’t the team composition a bit skewed? It’s one thing that I’m the only support since there aren’t many of us, but having Rigret as the only martial artist with the rest being mages is a little…”
“That’s alright; as long as we have Rigret, we can handle just about anything. Plus, Roto here is also an excellent frontline agent!”
At my words, Roto choked on his drink as if he hadn’t heard it right. “Wait, what!? You want me to take the front line with Rigret? Well, there’s Rabaul too!”
“Well, it does make sense for me to take on the shield role since I can’t use magic right now…”
I placed my hand on Roto’s shoulder as he tried to inch away. “Massive potion supply, portable mini accommodations, and weapon repair costs covered. Could it get any better than this?”
After about five seconds of contemplation, Roto gave a very serious answer. “Chrome, if it’s the choice, I’d prefer to be a supporter—”
I smiled slightly. “Do you really think Professor Istel would just let those underperformers slide?”
“I absolutely want to be here together! Whether as a vanguard or whatever, just leave it to me!”
The party recruitment was officially finished.