Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Having lost their leader, the pack tried to flee, but knights were more than competent enough to prevent that from happening. A majority was hacked by Suzunami-san, Dante-san, and Rangra-san while the remaining Dark Wolves who escaped into Clover Valley were exterminated by Romambo-san that had been lying in wait there.

Thus, the Dark Wolf pack subjugation battle in Baron Brier's territory ended on a safe note, albeit with one injured coming out of it.

After the battle, a review session was held with everyone.

Rosetta-san said they were required to create a report, so she asked for a detailed retelling of what had happened at the scene when we were surrounded by the Dark Wolves.

Amidst this, I noticed her gaze was a bit... prickly whenever she glanced at me. Was this what they called tsundere? Though I didn't sense any 'dere-dere' element from her business-like gaze. Hmm, maybe that was how a tsundere reacted in reality...?

Anyway, going back to the details of the report--- it happened when we were trying to flush out the pack of Dark Wolves toward the designated place inside the siege when their leader, 'Black Lightning,' mounted an attack on us.

It was just my guess, but he was apparently disgruntled by my detection range, which was actually quite wide due to my wind magic.

The Black Lightning and its mate were different from their peers, as they were capable of neutralizing passive sonar (Enhanced Hearing Magic) by disturbing the mana around themselves, which created a 'zzz' like sound from detection magic tools.

I narrowly managed to avoid the attack when I noticed the disruption of mana, jumping forward with my active sonar skill (Enhanced Vision Magic). However, Manon-san couldn't and received a claw strike from the mate of Black Lightning.

I swiftly informed Dante-san about the enemy's specialty and that the Dark Wolves had been gathering here from other places in succession.

Dante-san's judgement was to hold the stalemate as it was.

There was a chance that the Dark Wolves might run away once I stopped using my active sonar that was getting on their nerves, but there was an even bigger danger of further assault.

However, as long as we knew there would be following attacks, it wasn't actually that tough to defend against their them with my magic and Dante-san and other's abilities.

Besides, if Black Lightning that led the pack decided to target a section of the siege by chance to make their escape, I was sure that the siege wouldn't be able to hold them back.

We concluded that it was best for us to keep them stuck here and, if possible, take down that boss. Besides, even if we couldn't finish the boss, Captain Suzunami and Rosetta-san would surely come to check as long as we held them down here.

With Captain Suzunami's strength, it should be possible to mow down a great majority of the Dark Wolves even if not completely.

In light of Manon-san's injury, the group's safety, and the success of the mission, Dante-san's decision couldn't have been any better.

In the meantime, the small fries among the Dark Wolves jumped around here and there to create a diversion. However, the boss and his mate didn't come to attack us again after the initial surprise attack.

"And well, just as we were stuck in a stalemate, Captain Suzunami and Rose jumped into the fray. You guys were really lifesavers. Rose, too, thank you."

Dante-san conveyed his appreciation with his usual gentle smile. It was quite hard to imagine he was the same person who had been going wild with a demon-like expression in the battle earlier.

Though Rosetta-san shook her head in response to his gratitude.

"No, you shouldn't be saying this to me. If anything, we should have arrived earlier, and it was a flaw in my plan to split much of the manpower toward the valley.

I can't apologize enough for the trouble my hindsight has caused you all. Manon-san even got injured."

Manon-san waved his hand in fluster.

He just finished receiving healing from holy magic by the medic accompanying us. The wounds had been healed, but his face was still pale from the blood loss.

The possibility of damage to the bone couldn't be denied, so only first-aid measures were taken for now.

"I only got injured because of my weakness! There is really nothing for you to apologize for. I don't think I could have dodged that even with Suzunami-san in the team. Besides, injuries like this are everyday matters for knights like us."

Yet, the self-reproaching look didn't vanish from Rosetta-san's face completely.

I did want to somehow console her, but I just couldn't think of anything. Well, if anything, I didn't really have experience with it, even taking both of my lives into account.

Just as I was wracking my brain for an adequate line, Captain Suzunami crossed her arms with a complex expression and said,

"The Dark Wolves were not only capable of changing their colors, but they even knew how to use magic to interfere with enhanced senses... It's honestly a startling fact taking into account their concealment characteristic. I thought it was just a unique species... We need to put in a detailed report about its existence."

After saying that, she put her hand over Rosetta-san.

"Well, even if I don't say it out loud, I can guess Rose must be blaming herself for the mishap. The ability to make quick decisions and swiftness is something that will automatically tag along with experience. Take today's ordeal as a lesson and strive to become stronger."

With tears pooling in her round eyes, Rosetta-san nodded quietly.

"By the way---"

After clearing away the serious air drifting between us, Suzunami-san then circled her arm over my shoulder.

"I was really surprised you can use enhanced vision magic. Heck, what even is your detection range? I couldn't have skewered that Black Lightning without your arrow... I'm sure the distance should have been around 30 m."

Ah, that reminds me, even Master Dew was surprised by my range. In fact, even master's active sonar range was only 15 m. Though my detection accuracy was quite rough as you would expect compared to him.

"My master has also praised (?) me, saying that I was an 'out of the norm fella'. Actually, I'm researching wind magic which utilizes the outer mana circulation trick. I think I can roughly grasp the area of around 45 m from my location by circulating mana and causing wind to move at a speed of 5 m/s. I can more or less get a rough idea within that range.

Well, I also lose precision the larger the range is and expanding any further requires more effort and concentration."

It was just like my archery training. It was easy to grasp the basics, but it required much more effort and time to reach the next stage of its mastery, like climbing up an endless stairway.

Just like how it was tougher for a guy with a record of 100 meters in 10 seconds to reduce his time by 0.01 second than for a guy with a record of 100 meters in 15 seconds to reduce that time to 14 second. The former was much more difficult.

Besides, my control over the wind speed dropped the larger the range was, and similarly, the might of the magic and the precision of the detection followed the same rule.

Hmm, there were honestly many more walls I needed to break through before I could achieve my ideal wind magic. I had been expanding my creativity and repeating my training to reach that stage one day. Aside from that, it was a bit sluggish to keep going though.

"Woah, 45?! Pfft-hahaha. Oh boy, hold on for a second, there should be a limit to absurdity! I myself can't use it but from what I've heard, enhanced vision magic works by perceiving the flowing mana with your eyes, right? Then what's with that mask?"

"Well... how should I explain, I don't think I can put it in words well. The general gist is that I basically use Wind Eye Expansion magic, think of it like focusing entirely on feeling the wind, instead of looking at the flowing mana with my eyes. I kind of felt it would do more good to close my eyes physically, which will sharpen my senses to perceive the wind hence this mask."

It wasn't a lie per se, or if anything, it was indeed the truth. Though I actually don't need to close my eyes.

This was also my first time using a mask on a mission, so I just brought it thinking it would help in training to lessen my reliance on my vision.

Well, the fact that it was a night mission and everything was so dim without the usage of magic was another matter. It was just that physically blocking my eyes with a mask gave me a deeper impression of using my 'Mind's Eye' and it also tickled my chunni heart, so I just kept it on.

I mean, the main reason was I felt it was cooler that way.

Of course, I would have to be an idiot to say this when Rosetta-san was crying, so I just said the right explanation with false motive.

I took a quick glance at Rosetta-san. She was looking at me with a wide-eyed expression.

"Wind magic... So that's what you mean. I thought that 'The wind whispered to me' was just to tease me."

......Ack, it seemed like my best signature phrase did nothing but to invite some serious misunderstanding.

Now that I think about it, I was an idiot to care about face angle with the mask over my face.

But at the very least, that prickly sensation had completely disappeared from Rosetta-san's gaze.

"Heavens, no! I just didn't have enough time at that moment, so I tried to put it in the shortest way possible...... Though I guess it just made things harder to understand. Of course, I had no intention to mock you either!"

I hurriedly rectified my meaning and brushed off my pick-up line like it didn't matter.

Or at least, that was what I intended, but Suzunami-san's lips curved into a huge grin while chiming in---

"Oh-ho? 'The wind whispered to me', huh? For a random line, it's quite poetic, no? Say, you just didn't happen to prepare that cool pickup line beforehand and used it to score some brownie points with my adorable Rose in that tense situation, right?"

Immediately, everyone looked at me with their teasing or skeptical gazes.

My face turned scarlet after having my motive seen through.

I gingerly turned to glance at Rosetta-san who muttered 'Cool line?...... What was cool about it?' in puzzlement while looking at me with a crystal-clear gaze.

""Pfft!""

A sudden laughter escaped many throats on hearing that.

Kah, I wanted to lock myself in the restroom right away, but Suzunami-san didn't release her grasp over my shoulder.

Since all my paths to retreat were closed off, I slid down the laughing old man mask, which I had put on my head, over my face.

The sound of everyone's laughter echoed into the mountains that night.

E/N - Yep, totally expected that after his attempted flirting. Poor guy... Not 😆