Sword, Magic and Academic Society

"How effectively can you see in the dark, Stella?"

I asked Stella as we ran along the road.

"In the dark...... It's a bit worse but definitely not something that can pose a hindrance in walking through the mountain trail. However, my combat ability would drastically lower."

I see. As she worked as the president of the Hill Road Club, I had already grasped her running ability.

Oh, and speaking of her being the president, Stella had assumed the position starting the second half of the school year, meanwhile Leo was serving as the vice-president.

Leo was definitely the strongest between the two, however he turned down the suggestion to be president. When it came to him, it was mainly his busy schedule, which meant he wouldn't be able to lead everyone as efficiently. Also, he considered himself unfit to be a leader.

I could see where he was coming from. After all, the way he ran technique-wise, mainly the finer details, was parallel to most of the other students. The cause of the gulf was due to his mana capacity.

"I don't think you need to master the technique to be the president. No one is perfect. You just need to be at the front while people behind you can deal with the finer details."

When I tried to persuade him, he turned to Stella, a smile tugging on his lips.

"I had sorely misunderstood you. To be frank, I thought you're perhaps the one with the most wild personality among us, but… I changed my view after having a good look at you in the last half year as you took care of the other club members, taking note of even the subtle details and concerns.

I believe Stella is the most fitting person to lead and nurture this still growing club. For me, I’ll stay under her and learn from her management ability."

Leo put forth his reason with a dead serious face.

Seeing Stella stuck between a tug or war in her reply, I mildly joked, "How rude, Leo. Don't misunderstand her frank attitude with the boys as her being a brute girl!" Though, I received a heavy punch in the pit of my stomach for my trouble.

Good lord, I guess Japan's humor was foreign to the people here.

Meanwhile, Dan, who had been acting as the vice-president, relinquished the position after he and I became busy with the activities of the Sail Club.

Anyway, this was the long and short story of how Stella became the Hill Road Club's president.

At present, she could complete a lap around the Academy, which was 40 km long, along with 10 sprints on the hill road within 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Through her completion of the run and dash that totaled 50 km, I assumed her average speed right now was about 33 km/h. Excluding me, the honorary coach of the club, she stood behind Leo and Dan among the other first-years, taking the No. 3 spot.

I believed she was even close to overtaking Dan as well. Well, Dan was dividing his efforts in the activities of the Sail Club along with learning and researching about wind magic in the Emission Magic Research Club.

Compared to Stella who was focusing on her forte, the premise was just incomparable, so it was bound to happen.

Then again, neither Dan nor Stella had made any significant progression in the Instantaneous Mana Compression, so it was impossible for either of them to run 250 km at the same pace.

A rest was a must along the way to replenish lost mana. Plus, the 250 km distance was more of a strain on the body than the mana consumption, not even I could achieve that distance without having a break in-between.

I looked at my plan, traced it in reverse, and notified Stella.

"I’ll leave the selection of the journey's route and pace to you. I’ll take care of the monsters no matter if we take the highway or some dilapidated road. Just make sure to finish the run in 12 hours, including breaks.

We’ll have to drop our pace either way when we enter the mountain, so you don't have to worry about leftover mana. We don't know what variables we may encounter in the mountains, so I at least want to cover our journey ‘til there as soon as possible."

As I stated my plan, Stella nodded and slightly up her pace.

From there, we continued to run, stopping only beside the few bodies of water we passed by where we took our short breaks.

The route Stella had chosen was a highway through the countryside that ran precisely for 250 km.

It seemed like there was some sort of shortcut route as well, but she must have judged that taking a route similar to what we ran through during our Hill Road Club's activities would serve us better as it would minimize our exhaustion since it was closer to the 'running form' we had cultivated.

Running with the help of Body Strengthening magic was honestly fun. It was a sensation specific to me, a reincarnator.

At a glance, learning about how to effectively increase the pace or how to minimize unnecessary movements might seem dull, but only until you get into it do you realize the intricate nature of running.

While covering my body with mana, we ran the 250 km distance.

We reached Impala City before 8 PM. I guessed that it took us close to 9 hours and 50 minutes to arrive here.

Impala was quite a well-facilitated city with a water moat, a rarity in the countryside.

Overall, I believed that this town must hold a strategic significance whether it was due to the stationed troops here to deal with the monsters that appear around the area, or the distance to the national border.

"Impressive, Stella. You managed to lead us here an hour earlier than I expected."

After crossing the drawn bridge, I passed the water to Stella who had crumbled on the spot, praising her for her effort.

"Huffff Huffff D-Damn you, you don't even look too out of breath......"

I guess she must have been near her mana exhaustion threshold. She gave me a reproachful glare, her eyes barely holding any shine, as I replied.

"Hey, I really am not as okay as I might appear. Even my leg muscles are cramping now...... If only we had time, I would have asked you to guide me through the local delicacies. Alas, time is something that we lack right now. I’ll contact the garrison right away, so you stay here and recover your mana as much as possible."

Technically, I had plenty more of my mana left, but my muscles were truly aching, and my soles were already hurting.

However, I was solely driven by the offer that Godorfun had held out, the first come, first served hot spring. In the corner of my mind, I felt like that geezer was using his cunning tricks again, but......

At the entrance of Stella's town, I asked her to take a rest and wait there as I headed to relay the news to the military garrison.

At the entrance, I found a battle-worn knight on guard duty.

"Hmm? I had heard that the other side would depart around 10 AM from their location, and you managed to reach here on foot in just 10 hours? Hmm, you’re also not that tired either. I see, you haven't slacked off and put every possible effort in training, huh?

But since I am speaking to the one the foremost genius in the history of the Achilles family has already acknowledged, I guess that's normal.

Hmm......

Very well......

Win against me and I shall have no question against your courtship of Stella!"

The knight, donned in well-used silver equipment, said and drew out his long sword in one clean movement.

"Report!

Located at the Roderia Mountain Summit, an unidentified force has appeared near the national border close to the Kukora Metropolis Federation, and the report says that the national defense post has fallen into their hands!

The No. 8 troop of the Northwest Division shall head to the location immediately and aid the forces there in recapturing the defense post!

Report over!

......I have confirmed that the message has been received."

I swiftly announced and turned on my heel.

"W-W-Wait, hold on boyyyy!"

◆◆◆

"It seems like we're in for a rough ride......"

Leo informed Coco, his expression scrunched up.

Having made it to their current location at quite the speed, they had thought as long as they kept their pace for the day, they should arrive at their destination in around 2 to 3 hours before the appointed time. This included their march at night, and took into account the monster encounters that may cause them to drop their pace a bit.

However, all it would take was an accident for their supposed perfect plan to become moot.

Coco had thought that as long as they weren’t unlucky, they should be able to avoid the strong monsters, however realistically, he knew he couldn't leave the uncertainties to luck.

"We already knew it was going to be tough. If anything, this is just as we had expected. We need to think out of the box to lessen our load. If only Allen was here, he could have given us his usual freakish ideas, but it's a pity...... Hey, y'all. Do any of you have any other ideas?"

Following Coco's question, Shal, who had selected the route alongside Coco, and was also a member of the Geography Club, timidly raised his hand.

"Err, so the thing is...... the route we have planned is full of twists and turns as it has been recorded on the map. It shows that just right ahead of the 2-C rest spot, we’ll be forced to take a steep turn. I think the reason is that a strong monster must have made that place its habitat, or maybe it's dangerous terrain.

But I believe we may be able to make it through perhaps without having to take a detour. So there's enough reason to...... investigate it......"

While repeatedly tapping his index fingers of both hands against each other, seemingly showing his lack of confidence, Leo turned to Dan.

"......I am well aware of the danger of scouting an area alone, but can you take on the task? We just don't have the manpower to allocate people on this and the main squad needs to maintain its current pace.

If you deemed it impossible, we’ll scrap the idea and take our original route. I’ll carry your load until your return."

"Roger! Give me 30 minutes and I’ll be right back."

Receiving Leo's suggestion, Dan immediately dashed off in the distance.

Seeing his suggestion being taken seriously, Shal took a deep breath, puffing his cheeks while staring at Coco.

"Honestly, you should be aware of it too, right Coco-kun!? Why did you leave it for me to explain! Sheesh!"

"......Well, you too must have noticed the changes ever since we passed the earlier checkpoint, eh? It would be best if you started to speak out your heart occasionally. No two minds think alike and there are definitely chances where I miss something, but you pick them up instead. It's true for everyone else too. If everyone can’t frank with each other, it would be a steep journey ahead for us."

"Kyahahaha! You know you sound so much like Allen, Coco?...... Anyway, I’ll carry Dan's luggage. I'm not much of an expert when it comes to combat, but I do have enough strength to carry an extra burden. Besides, it would only worry the others if you were to carry the load, and then be unable to fight because of it. The fewer things to worry about, the more everyone can keep going."

"......Huh, you can still go on, Feyrune?"

The reason why Leo appeared dumbfounded was because in addition to the 50 kg backup supplies, Fey was also carrying an additional 20 kg— all of which were tools that she deemed necessary for the journey.

She slipped her hand through the straps and carried the 50 kg bag in front of her. As she did that, crunch the ground cracked a bit.

"Well, this truly took away my chic vibe, huh? It's great that Allen isn't here. I don't think my heart could take it if he called me a gorilla girl again."

Fey said with a mischievous vibe.

As everyone recovered their breath at the 2-C spot— a name given just for convenience's sake, Dan came back from his scouting trip.

"I found it. The route ahead has indeed become a steep cliff, but I believe we can climb it using ropes. I also found a group of ivies growing enmasse right ahead, so let's use those. They might appear thin, but they’re quite strong. They shouldn't snap if we climb one by one even with the load we're carrying. Everyone, hold on to your luggage and march ahead."

Leaving behind his words, Dan traced back the road he had come from.

By the time everyone reached the cliff, Dan had just finished coiling several vines together.

While staring at the almost vertical cliff, Pish asked Dan with a cramped expression.

"......Using rope to climb up is fine and all, but how will the first person go up? This cliff has to be at least 70 to 80 meters tall......"

"Hmm? Duh, of course by climbing it normally. It's a bit risky but you should relax. I’ve already tried it and it's perfectly doable. I’ve made two bundled vine ropes, one can be used to carry the luggage. See, tie the vines like this when I throw them down from the top."

After securing several vines by tying them together to ensure their length, he looped them through his backpack and tightened them down.

"W-Wait, just a moment, Dan! I didn't even catch what you said properly."

Pish hurriedly pulled Dan.

"......I’ve done rope work back at my home too, but… it's still incomparable to your speed, Dan. This should be the strengthened bowline knot style, huh? Alright, go ahead, I’ve already noted down how to tie things up here."

Coco added. Dan nodded in acknowledgment, clung to the cliffside like a lizard, and smoothly started climbing.

"......He typically doesn't speak about himself, but how in the world did a Count's child grow up this wild?"

Pish muttered as he looked at Dan, who had already scaled half of the cliff, in surprise.