A demonized tiger had appeared.

After it was subdued, everyone was amazed.

…Well, I wonder if it was a good thing that everyone wouldn’t experience traumas like Alfred-sensei and Chris neechan?

“As for you guys, you need to keep in mind that s.h.i.+n is abnormal. You shouldn’t use him as a reference. When it comes to disaster-cla.s.s demons such as tigers and lions, we, members of the army, have to put our lives on the line before we can finally defeat one. When you look at this spectacle, don’t misunderstand that ‘a demonized tiger is weak."”

“Yes!” [Said by all the students.]

What is this, even the students from other groups responded.

“Because the way s.h.i.+n-kun subjugated the demon was too astonis.h.i.+ng, it won’t be much of a reference.”

Even Sicily said something similar.

“Is that so… I won’t serve much as a reference…”

“But because s.h.i.+n-kun is partic.i.p.ating in the training, I can feel relieved. If anything happens, s.h.i.+n-kun will be here. I think it’s because of this, everyone can put in their best effort and train hard?”

“Isn’t that part of Sieg-niichan and Chris-neechan’s work?”

“Ah, hehe. It is, isn’t it?”

Sicily agreed with what I said. As I thought, she’s very gentle. If possible, I want her to only be gentle towards me… But since Sicily is kind, it’s probably impossible…

“Alright, although there was a slight incident, there’s still some time before the scheduled hour. We’ll raise your skills even if there’s only a little time left.”

Sieg-niichan declared after parting from the other groups. Although a disaster-cla.s.s demon did appear, everyone else just watched as it got defeated, so it seemed they could still continue.

Because they didn’t take part in the fight, they had no time to be depressed.

“Si-Sicily? Stay right by our side…”

“Tha-that’s right. Because we will protect you.”

“No, you’ve already done plenty. And also… Since we’re on the topic of safety, it would be safer to stay right beside s.h.i.+n-kun.”

Sicily responded, turned towards me, and smiled.

She splendidly cut them with a single strike. Kreis and the others seemed to have gotten really depressed…

“Although I’m glad that you guys are willing to protect me… It wouldn’t be a form of training if there is no cooperation between us. We all came here to train. Also… I don’t want to keep being protected all the time…”

She’s probably referring to what had happened before. She was probably really worried about it and thought she was a nuisance to me. She probably wants to be able to protect herself.

“Alright! Sicily probably wants to become stronger, right?”

“Yes! I want to be able to protect myself when the time calls for it!”

“Is that so. If that’s the case, I will train you to the point where you’ll be able to defeat a demonized tiger by yourself!”

“Eh!? Nooo! Ummm, I don’t mean it to that extent…”

Sicily said in a fl.u.s.ter. When I started laughing, Sicily finally realized that she was being teased.

“Ah! Re-really! s.h.i.+n-kun!”

“AHahaha. Sorry, sorry. Because it looked like you were really pa.s.sionate and determined, I said that in order to loosen you up. You don’t have to worry about anything, Sicily. Before you knew it, you’ve already gotten stronger.”

“Is that true?”

“Yeah.”

“Hehehe, I’m really happy…”

It’s because her shoulders were really tense. It definitely has nothing to do with my personality.

“These guys… As I thought, they’re going out?”

“No, not yet… Or so I thought…”

“Still, it’s really hard to believe.”

“…Magi-sama and Guru-sama’s grandson, being taught swordsmans.h.i.+p by Sword Saint-sama, and in the end, even Sicily…!”

“How enviable… It makes people too envious of him!”

“As I thought, I can’t come to like Walford…”

“You guys… are acting really uncool…”

You guys are really noisy, whispering here and there!

Because the students from the Knight Academy held Sicily in high regard, they kept looking over here with irritated expressions.

Nn, this kind of mentality is good to have when they’re young!

Although I’m already using Search Magic, Sicily, and the others were also using it. In the meantime, everyone was copying me? and concentrated more on detecting enemies around us.

“Gus, pay attention on where your foot is landing. There’s a large stone there.”

“Eh? Okay, I understand.”

“Maria, you realize you’re getting separated from everyone else, right?”

“Eh? Ah! Since when did I—!”

“Kyaaa!”

While I was paying attention to Maria who was on the verge of separating from the group, Sicily lost her footing on a hollow cavity on the ground.

“Oops.”

I managed to grab Sicily before she hit the ground.

“You are concentrating too much on using magic to search for enemies. You also have to look at your surroundings.”

“Ugh, I’m sorry…”

And in my arms, Sicily murmured in vexation.

“d.a.m.n you… d.a.m.n you, Walford…”

“I’m so jealous, I’m so jealous, I’m so jealous…”

“If it were me…”

“You guys… are looking really uncool…”

There were feelings of resentment coming from the students of the Knight Academy. Miranda seemed really embarra.s.sed for them…

After we advanced for a while, there was a reaction to the Search Magic.

“Ah, this is…”

“Ah, I also detected it with my magic.”

“I detected it, too. But this is… Although it is smaller than the demonized tiger, it is still bigger than what we’ve seen so far.”

“Oh, everyone noticed it as well. Now then, what type of demon do you think it is, Your Highness?”

“Now not you mentioned it… Is it a bear?”

“Oh! You got it right, Your Highness. What a surprise, that small Prince has turned out to be so remarkable…”

“…You’re too noisy. I won’t always be that kid who used to play with you all the time.”

Gus was being teased by Sieg-niichan.

This kind of scene is very rare.

“Sieg-niichan.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Later, tell me stories about Gus when he was young.”

“Oh, all right.”

“What! Hey! Don’t! Don’t do that!”

Gus was literally panicking. I’m looking forward to the end of this training. Kukuku…

“Even though there’s a demonized bear not too away, why are you people more interested in that kind of story!?”

“Ah? it’s because it’s just a bear, right? It’s something s.h.i.+n subdued when he was 10 years-old.”

“Even though s.h.i.+n is here to a.s.sist us! You guys should feel a little more apprehensive about this!”

Sieg-niichan got angry again.

“I’m also referring to you, s.h.i.+n!”

“Me too!?”

“He has already partic.i.p.ated enough…”

…Eh? An a.s.sist from Sicily?

Everyone’s eyes were focused on both myself and Sieg-niichan.

“A-ahem! It’s like this, I’m just trying to ease everyone’s tension.”

“Th-that’s right! I’ll be here in case you guys need a.s.sistance! So let’s take it easy!”

“Haaa~… Although it is certain that s.h.i.+n can subjugate a large-sized demon all by himself and can a.s.sist the group if anything happens… But still, please do it seriously.”

“Yes.”

“Hmph! You’re just trying to boast…”

“Hmmm? Was there something you wanted to say?”

“Ah? I’m saying you’re being too noisy!”

“Chris-neechan is noisy as well!”

With that, I returned Chris-neechan’s words to her.

“Nn! Well then, we’ll now subjugate the demonized bear. First, we’ll use magic to attack it, and then the students from the Knight Academy will deal the finis.h.i.+ng blow. Make sure you adapt to the circ.u.mstances. Especially the students from the Knight Academy. Since you fight in close-range, magic cannot be used freely, so make sure you survey your surroundings while fighting.”

” ” ” “Yes!” ” ” ”

Chris-neechan forcefully changed the topic of the conversation. She then conveyed the instructions before the subjugation commenced.

Everyone advanced a little more, heading towards the bear.

After a period of time, we discovered the demonized bear targeting an ordinary deer between some trees.

“Are you guys prepared? Now then, magic… shoot it!”

Under Chris-neechan’s order, three people shot magic in unison.

In order for the effects not to overlap each other, the three of them shot “Fire Arrow,” “Wind Blade,” and “Rock Bullet” respectively.

When the spells. .h.i.t the bear, it fainted in agony.

I wonder if this was the result of the Research Society? The power of their spells had gone up.

“…Haaa!? Knight Academy students, go for it!”

“Ye-yes!”

Chris-neechan was surprised at the result of everyone’s magic, and in an instant, she shouted an order to Kreis and the rest.

“You guys… You guys could actually use those kinds of spells?”

“That’s not it. It’s only until now that we thought to cast the spell with all our might and subjugate the demon with one blow…”

“Because if we subdued them with just one blow, it wouldn’t be practice for the Knight Academy students, would it?”

“That’s what s.h.i.+n-kun had instructed us to do. Unless it’s a medium-sized demon, he said not to use our full strength…”

“Well, although it’s your first time firing spells at a demon, I’m glad you guys followed s.h.i.+n’s instructions.”

“That’s right. We didn’t think that our magic power would go up by this much…”

That’s right. Since I’ve been monitoring everyone’s progress during the Research Society meetings, I thought they would probably defeat small-sized demons in one hit? In that case, it would be best if they did not use all of their might unless it was a medium-sized demon.

Because if they didn’t hold back, the students from the Knight Academy won’t have a chance. I’ll say it as many times as needed, this is practice.

While they were having their conversation, Kreis and the others took down the demonized bear.

Although they are still unable to subdue it with one blow, the demon has certainly acc.u.mulated some damage.

Only when Kreis and the others were a.s.sured of victory, did they head over to deliver a decisive blow.

Nevertheless, the wound already present on the demonized animal was frightening. In addition, before it will be killed, the demon was. .h.i.t by spells and was on the brink of death with just a single shot.

Kreis swung his sword and tried to amputate the demonized bear’s left arm.

However, the sword dug into its arm and didn’t fall out. With its right arm, the demonized bear attacked Kreis.

“Watch out!”

Although Chris-neechan yelled out to warn him, I already predicted that this would happen. Prepared, I shot two “Wind Bullets.”

The purpose of the first one was to blow away the bear’s right arm descending upon Kries, while the other one was for its left arm; to push Kreis’ sword in deeper.

The power of the demonized bear’s left arm had been reduced, and Kreis was able to pull out his sword. This time, he grabbed the hilt of the sword and wielded it without overswinging.

After they finally defeated the demonized bear, they returned to where we were standing.

“… Ugh, Walford… Thanks for your help back there…”

“Ahh, nn. Don’t mention it.”

Uwaahhh… He gave me his grat.i.tude with a reluctant expression.

“Kreis! Noin, and well as Kent! You guys really need to stop acting that way! If it wasn’t for Walford-kun’s magic, you guys would have been dead! And because of that… I feel really embarra.s.sed looking at you people!!”

Uwaahhh, Miranda finally lost her temper.

I guess it’s only natural. Although she, herself, is a girl, Kreis and the others only cared about protecting Sicily. On the other hand, Sicily had given them her grat.i.tude, refused their guardians.h.i.+p and started to quietly follow me.

She has probably never seen them act this way until now. She would certainly feel like she had been disillusioned.

“Please calm yourself down, Miranda.”

“But, Christina-sama!”

“They’re just a bunch of people who attended a school full of guys. And also, the girls at the Knight Academy… They can hardly be considered as lady-like, can they?”

“That is… Well, it is as you said…”

“Did my previous cla.s.smates’ thoughts also lie along those lines? They were always talking about girls… Speaking of girls, there was one nearby! Was I… Was I not considered a girl?!?!”

“Chri-Christina-sama?”

The darkness in Chris-neechan’s heart is leaking out…

I see. So Chris-neechan wasn’t all that popular during her academy days either. She probably worked really hard after graduating…

“Adolescent boys are just like that. With a cute and lovely looking girl, they want to look n.o.ble and dignified while protecting that kind of girl. They’re probably envious of s.h.i.+n because he has taken most of the good parts.”

Uwaa… Chris-neechan looked like she swallowed a mouthful of poison… She’s probably trying to absorb the actions of the guys in the Knight Academy during her days there.

Kries and the other guys turned red and lowered their heads. Please stop this foolishness already!

…Now that I think about it, Sieg-niichan hasn’t said a word for a while now. I wonder what the matter was?

While I was thinking so, I turned to look at Sieg-niichan…

“No way…? Their magic power is greater than mine? Is it because of s.h.i.+n? Is it because they were taught by s.h.i.+n? Should I also ask him to teach me? No, because… until now, I’ve always treated him as my younger brother. So to ask him to teach me, my pride will be… Wait a minute, he is the grandson of Merlin-sama, so if I think about it, it’s indirectly receiving guidance from Merlin-sama… No, but…!”

This one, on the other hand, was battling against his pride.