"Where did you get this? Did you snatch it from another team?"

"How rude. The Moon gave it to me."

"I-Is that from a fairy tale?"

There was a bit of commotion because of the food Luca brought, but the day ended smoothly.

Thanks to Hav, they were able to sleep comfortably in a sleeping bag that was almost as good as a bed, with no need for night watch.

The next day was not much different from the first.

Hunting whatever came their way.

With Luca's charge and Hav's support, even the strengthened monsters that were a disaster for commoners fell like autumn leaves.

"Everything's going smoothly!"

"At this rate, first place is pretty much guaranteed."

Looking at the piling up magic stones, herb looked excited, and Luca also seemed quite satisfied.

But Ottbo had a puzzled expression.

"But why haven't we run into any of the others?"

Indeed, they had yet to encounter any other students.

It was a bit strange, but Luca was indifferent.

"How could hot-house plants fight properly in a place like this? Archiond is probably by the river, coddling those girls he's with because they're whining that they can't do it. It's obvious."

"I-Is that so?"

"Don't worry about soon-to-be losers. Let's just mind our own business."

Faced with Luca's biting criticism, Ottbo couldn't say any more.

"Our goal is to hunt as much as we can around here before the day ends, then head to the riverside on time tomorrow. If we have extra time, we can hunt there as well."

"Got it!"

Following the pre-set strategy, Luca's team acted accordingly.

Thanks to the gift from the passing Moon, they didn't have to worry about dinner, so they focused on hunting and were able to wrap up the second day cleanly.

And so the third day arrived.

"With this much, we could beat another team even if they had twice as many members."

Ottbo couldn't help but marvel at the stacked magic stones.

Usually, Luca would say something indifferent but wouldn't be able to hide a look of pride. However, even he looked a bit exhausted, probably from fighting so hard for two days straight.

Hav, who had been firing capsule shooters for two days, was also spent.

"... What a relief."

"Ah, my fingers hurt."

"G-Great job, everyone."

Tidying up the camp was left to Ottbo and Moula, who hadn't done much otherwise.

"It's nice that we're getting a high score, but I feel a little regretful since I didn't do much."

Ottbo muttered as if he felt it was finally his time to contribute, but soon shook his head.

"No, it's better if it doesn't come to that."

"Hey, Ottbo, where's the tracker?"

"Oh, that? It's in the yellow bag."

Luca pulled out the tracker from the yellow bag and pressed the button.

"...?"

But the tracker didn't respond at all.

Luca fiddled with it and shook it a few times before speaking to Ottbo.

"Ottbo. This isn't working."

"Huh? That can't be. I made sure it was working before we left!"

Ottbo took the tracker with a puzzled face and examined it.

Then, doing just as Luca had done, he ended up with a dissatisfied expression.

"You're right. Why isn't it working?"

"Let me see."

Hav, looking annoyed, snatched the tracker from Ottbo's hand and began inspecting it—unlike Luca and Ottbo, using what looked like a magical circle.

"Huh? Why isn't it working?"

"..."

But he couldn't do anything either.

Moula quietly approached and inspected it as well, but she had no luck.

"It... it works, but it seems it can't find the location."

"What do you mean it can't find the location?"

"Well... it's not picking up the signal from the device it's paired with."

At Moula's answer, Luca scratched his cheek.

"Did we come too far out?"

"No way. The tracking device's range should be enough to cover from the edge of the forest to the workshop."

"Just to be safe, we checked if it worked when setting up camp here. It was fine then!"

The group was flustered, but Luca remained calm.

"Don't worry so much. Fortunately, Ottbo has the map, so we can just follow that. Since it's morning and the sun is in the east, we can use that as a compass."

"R-Right?"

"And if we're really late, professors will come get us. The points will drop, but it's still within expectations."

At Luca's words, the team looked reassured.

'Well, since we have Whistle, we won't get lost anyway.'

Of course, Luca's composure was because of this, but the others didn't know that.

"As expected of Luca. You stay calm even in this situation."

"I'll admit it. Your grit and composure these past two days—you're different from the nobles I've seen before."

"Don't flatter me. It's only natural."

"Luca, are you blushing by any chance?"

"In this regard, you're no different from us! Haha!"

While the boys chattered, Moula fiddled with the tracker and murmured in a small voice.

"But this isn't broken... why is it out of range...?"

* * *

"Ugh~ I'm so tired."

"You worked hard, milady."

"You worked hard too, Isella."

On the fourth and final day of the practical, most students reached the riverbank by lunchtime.

Even as S Class, first-years are still first-years.

There weren't any students as hardcore as Luca, so many who couldn't endure life in the forest returned quickly.

Milia and Isella had plenty of experience fighting to survive in extreme situations, so it was a breeze for them, but their teammates couldn't handle it, so they came back early.

"By the way, those two—was that intentional? How did he scoop up the two people I'd had my eyes on?"

Truthfully, Milia had her sights set on Moula and Hav from the start.

Both were commoners often poorly treated by the nobles, but their skills were outstanding.

For someone preparing to establish her own faction, they were tempting prospects. But Luca snatched them first.

"Luca Traverse isn't ordinary, after all."

"Isella, you've grown soft on Luca, haven't you? Usually you'd be angry, like, 'That sneaky guy! How dare he snatch up milady's prey!'

Isn't that what you'd say?"

"T-That's a misunderstanding, milady!"

Exchanging light banter, Milia tallied up the points.

She said Luca stole Hav and Moula, but thanks to him taking those two, she was able to put all her second-choice targets in the same team.

Those students certainly wouldn't want to group with more commoners.

'Not a bad haul. In points and in people.'

It was a fortunate turn of events.

At that moment, a noisy group appeared by the riverbank.

"What, Luca Traverse isn't here yet?"

"Looks like he's still hunting hard. Aren't we going to lose?"

"Hahaha! Archiond. Don't you trust me?"

Milia glanced at them out of the corner of her eye.

It was Archiond and his friends.

'The most promising students in current S Class... but a bit tricky to get involved with.'

The Hernan Empire is a country where magic has developed greatly, so they avoid giving too much power to alchemists.

But they can't ignore alchemists entirely, since both magic research and magic tool development require alchemist support.

That's why they're given just the right amount of authority. The fact that none of the ducal families are alchemy houses is because of that.

'Robette House is a bit unique so I'd like to make contact, but befriending Archiond is premature. I should observe a bit more before making a move.'

Having sorted out her thoughts, Milia turned her attention away.

By the time lunchtime passed, a boat arrived to take students back from the riverbank.

"If you want to finish the practical early, you may get on the boat. If you'd like to wait for your friends, feel free to stay."

"Let's go, Isella."

"Yes, milady."

Knowing there were no monsters in this forest that could threaten Luca, the two boarded the boat and returned to the workshop.

They tallied the scores and enjoyed a bit of tea time with the friends they'd made, then moved on to dinner.

By then, Luca had not returned.

After a while, the supervising professor gathered the students to make an announcement.

"Several students are missing. Until the situation is resolved, please do not leave this area for any reason and stay put."

"... Huh?"

It seemed that something had gone wrong.

* * *

"Hmm... we should be nearing the midpoint soon..."

"Are we sure this is the right direction?"

"It is... I think..."

Ottbo groaned as he shook the map.

Since he hadn't done anything up to now, Ottbo wanted to at least guide the way.

Based on how he found the camp, he seemed to have a decent sense of map-reading, so the task was left to him.

'But this is taking way too long.'

They'd been walking for hours already and still hadn't seen the river, much less the halfway point.

Luca's patience was wearing thin.

"I'm getting hungry. I want to get there soon."

"W-Wait a second..."

Ottbo said nervously, and Luca casually whistled.

Piiiit!

"...?"

But no birds or anything responded.

Luca looked at the sky, puzzled.

He whistled again.

Piiiit!

"A-Are you calling a professor?"

"..."

Maybe Ottbo thought Luca's signal was for calling a professor, because he had a distressed look on his face.

At the mention of professor, Luca paused, thinking about something, then frowned.

"Ottbo. Set off a flare."

"A flare? A rescue signal? Why?"

"Just do it."

At Luca's words, Ottbo immediately pulled a rescue flare from his bag and filled it with magic power.

Pyoung! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rescue signal painted the darkening sky brightly enough to be seen from anywhere nearby.

But even after several minutes, no one came.

"What is this...? What's going on?"

"...?"

Hav, who had been only half-conscious and following along, came to his senses as the mood turned serious, a confused look on his face.

Moula looked around and whispered.

"I think we've fallen into something like a dungeon."

"A dungeon?"

"Yes. It looks like the tracker wouldn't work inside a dungeon."

Not all dungeons are in towers or caves.

Spaces separated from the outside world by magic or ritual barriers are usually called dungeons. That means dungeons can sometimes suddenly appear even in a forest like this.

But the fact one appeared here was strange.

Luca shook his head.

"That makes no sense. There's no way there'd be a dungeon where students are doing their practical."

"R-Right. If there was something like that, the professors would have cleared it ahead of time..."

Luca's eyes twitched.

'The problem isn't that there's a dungeon. Why isn't Whistle responding?'

If this were an ordinary dungeon, Whistle would have followed them in.

So why not even an echo when whistling?

It meant Whistle couldn't enter this space.

'Whistle, a Divine Beast, couldn't enter? Unless something happened to Whistle, that means this is a barrier even Whistle can't break through. Is that even possible?'

Whistle doesn't have the sort of personality to get into trouble, and likes going solo, so nothing dangerous should've happened to her.

If so, this had to be an extraordinary barrier.

'A barrier even Whistle, who can see through even gods' veils, can't penetrate...'

Whatever it was, something unusual was definitely going on.

It was the moment Luca, with a cold, sharpened gaze, honed his senses—

Clatter, clatter.

A strange sound was heard from somewhere.Everyone's gaze fixed in that direction.

"Kiii... Kiiiii..."

A bizarre—no, revolting cry.Just hearing it was enough to give them goosebumps.

But what emerged through the trees was so grotesque that even that awful cry felt mild.

"...... Unbelievable."

Luca bit his lip.

― It was a creature he'd never seen before. No, could it even be called a creature?― Formed of materials that were rotting and melting together in ways unimaginable in this world, it looked like something clawed up from hell itself—not an exaggeration to call it a demon.― Human? Monster? It was impossible to tell anymore—all sorts of things were fused, twisted, and decomposed together.― Every part was horrifying, but the most revolting was:― At the center, a slumbering black fetus.

The descriptions surfaced in his mind unbidden—at the same time, Luca recalled Whistle's warning.

'Master, be careful! There's a strange power in that forest!'

'So it was real after all.'

The very thing Whistle had warned him about—

It was the first encounter with Demons' artificial devil entities.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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