Hard Work Will Never Betray Me (WN) - Chapter 121

It has been about three months since we started training under the guidance of Marie. The weather has become much warmer, even in the Demon Forest located in the northern part of the empire, so hot that it is difficult to endure without light clothing.

We had already settled our initial differences, with the exception of a few things, and were engaged in friendly rivalry, aware of each other’s differences in ability, specialties, and weaknesses.

I am learning non-attribute spells at a faster pace than I had planned, and I have already learned a little over 500 new non-attribute spells. I think that’s a pretty good pace for me. Marie seemed to be having a hard time watching 18 people at the same time, but she seemed to be enjoying teaching me spells at least when it was my time.

　Everyone else was also improving their abilities in their own way, and about a third of the people had also succeeded in making a contract with a divine beast.

　First is Ash, Lily’s divine beast, “Fenrir the White Ice Wolf. He has grown a lot in the past three months, and his body, which was only the size of a puppy, is already as big as an adult dog, . His body fur is still gray with a beautiful blue-white lightning bolt pattern, and his fur is fluffy. His vital abilities have also grown stronger than would be possible for an ordinary animal, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for him.

Leon, the “Camouflage King Dragon King Chameleon,” the divine beast of Iris, has also grown quite a bit and is about the same size as the Komodo Dragon, a giant lizard that used to live on Earth. From head to tail, he is 2 meters long and weighs 50 kilograms, making him even bigger than his master, Iris, and therefore more powerful. The reptile’s cool skin was quite comfortable, and Iris often leaned on Leon to rest.

As for his strength, he has recently become able to mimic the surrounding scenery completely, so it looks like he is going to become quite a strong animal from now on.

　Incidentally, to avoid confusion with Leon Hofmeister, one of the participants in the training, whose family is a blacksmith, the human Leon is called by his family name, Hofmeister, but this is not so important, so I will only mention it lightly.

In addition, Oskar Dangermeier, who seemed to be a lighter character, summoned and contracted “Fire Dragon Salamander,” Helene, a poison user, summoned and contracted “Venomous Serpent Ouroboros,” and Christoph, a detestable man, summoned and contracted “Dark Lion Manticore.

　Marie is also a woman, so she must have a lot on her mind. If there are minimum accommodation facilities, there will be no problem, but if it is a complete camp, unmarried men and women spending time together is something to be avoided as much as possible. Especially for the nobility, who are expected to be virtuous.

I”f we ever do a one-day exercise, we may try to divide the team up into teams of both men and women.”

　”This is the first exercise. It’s best to keep as many unnecessary worries out of your mind as possible.”

Looking at it this way, there seems to be a bias toward herps, but is there a reason for this?　It’s not very nice to have only two mammal animals in the list.

And lastly, the egg of the divine beast I summoned is still lying dormant inside the eggshell. I’m sure it’s not dead because it absorbs magic power when I give it magic power, but I’d like to tell it to stop being a sleepyhead.

　I was worried and asked Marie about it, and she said, “It should be born soon. According to her, the slight glow of the egg was becoming pulsating and regular, which was a sign that the egg was about to be hatched. I still don’t know what kind of egg it is, but at least it’s absorbing so much of my magic power that I’m sure it’s going to be a very non-standard one.

Hopefully, it will be fluffy. A–human!

　　　　　✳︎

As I was reflecting on the fact that I had prayed to God even though I am not a Christian, and also regretting that I had reflected on the law when I realized that there is no God Yahweh in this world in the first place, Marie came to us in training and asked us to gather together. Apparently, she wanted to talk to us.

“What’s the matter?　It’s unusual to gather all of us together.”

Hemrut, the merchant’s son who can use magic to make an appraisal, asked Marie politely. He was right. We had been gathered several times for the same training, but most of the time it was just one person or a few people working on a given task. It was quite unusual for the whole group to be called together in this way.

“You have been here for about three months. You may not realize it yourselves, but you have grown quite competent. Today, we are going to do an exercise to help you become aware of this and learn how to use it.”

“Exercises?”

When I think of exercises, I imagine the military or some other group holed up in the mountains practicing operational maneuvers in a real-life situation. Or solving questions from previous years’ center examinations.

In any case, it means to do something in a realistic situation.

“You are now to form teams with the people I have designated for you and go to a specified place in the Demon Forest. All teams will be given the same task, and the team that successfully completes the task will pass. The team that fails to do so will have a week of hellish training ahead of them. Prepare yourself.”

“”What?””

　I, Oscar, and Werner all raise our voices in protest. It’s not that we have decided that we can’t do it, but I’m worried about my internal organs and bones. I don’t want to break my bones at my age.

　Gilbert, who is aiming to become a knight, is the vanguard and leader of the first team, and he cuts into the enemy. The first team is led by Werner’s lightning magic and Christophe’s four-attribute + dark magic to support and eliminate the enemy, making them a team with considerably high level of power. For this reason, they are a three-man team while the other teams except for Team 3 are four-man teams.

Team 2, led by the oldest person, Leon, a steel wizard, was the vanguard and leader of the team, and he fought with an emphasis on defensive capabilities. Johan, a magician, attacked the weak point of the enemy, which Hans’s water and telekinetic magic and Hemrut’s archery attacked. It was quite a steady battle strategy.

Team 4’s strategy was for Iris to scout with “optical camouflage stealth” and give instructions as the middle guard, while Claudia’s ” earth golem” kept the enemy at bay, while Nadia and Eleonora attacked from the rear with high power attack.

The fifth team would make up for Lieselotte’s lack of firepower in the rear guard with Lily, while Emilia’s power of attack and Helene’s poison would function well with Lieselotte’s disruption.

　And then there’s the third team I’m in. …..

‘Um, Marie. I know what a vanguard is, but a full guard is ……”

It’s exactly what it sounds like. You can be in the vanguard, the middle or the rear guard.

“Yes, I can.”

“Well, it’s Eberhard.”

” Eberhard, ”

Oscar and Werner were nodding at each other with a look like, “That makes sense! I’m glad they approve of me, but I’m not sure why I’m not happy about it. ……