Inside the Cube.It was when I was rolling around under a blanket beneath the air conditioner that was blowing out cool air, feeling blissful."Hey, I brought the Cubes."Wham—.Tepes, who had returned from the sortie, flung the door open and threw the Cubes she had gathered at me.A good dozen of them in one go, at that.I blocked the shower of Cubes, which felt slightly tinged with irritation, with my blanket and spoke."Hooh, you really did bring back a lot. Good work, go rest.""You’re the only one who got an air conditioner installed in your room. Are you some kind of thug?"Grumbling, Tepes plopped down on the floor and cooled off.Even though she was only wearing a single thin shirt, sweat was pouring down her.Since even I had to admit the jungle’s sweltering heat and humidity, I left her alone to rest for now.Lying on the bed, I pulled the blanket back over myself."‘Thug’, you say. I did run it for the whole lodge at first, didn’t I."Right now the base level had gone up too much and the space had become excessively large, so running cooling for the entire place would be inefficient.So for the moment, I had altered the structure so that only my room and Ciel’s room were getting cool air."Anyway, put cooling in my room too like you promised.""Sure."I nodded obediently.I had promised that if she brought back more than ten Cubes on this sortie, I would put cooling in Tepes’ room too.The more the chill got dispersed, the less cool my room and Ciel’s room would become, but Ciel and I both had separate temperature-control artifacts anyway, so it didn’t really matter.I asked Tepes, who was sitting on the floor cooling off her sweat."How’s the situation?""We’ve cleaned out everything in this area. The number of small teams is steadily decreasing. Most of them turned out to be scouts or detached units belonging to some faction.""Is that so."About three days had passed since the faction war began.The small teams of people huddled together were continuously decreasing, so now it seemed like everyone was being drawn into large factions.In a way, everything up to now had been the groundwork phase, and from here on you could say the real shape of the faction war was beginning.'In the end, it’s shaping up into the four academies competing, huh.'Right now there were four factions boasting strong power on this jungle island.Elena’s team from Saintea.The Noble Alliance from Eredor.Teon’s team from Ishtal.Silphiette’s team from Voltimir.The team gathered around me could be called a separate irregular."The problem is Elena’s team."As a result of using Hildegard’s [Observation] trait to scout the surroundings, we had confirmed that Elena’s team was the largest in scale."Yeah, I don’t know what trick she used, but it’s crawling with people. Just at a glance it looked like over four hundred. How did she even do that?""If it’s Elena, she could have easily grown her faction even without fighting."Growing your faction without fighting could be seen as an advantage of a reputable leader with tolerance and virtue.A situation where it teemed with people who wanted to crawl under her without her even having to flex her strength.If we compared it to the Three Kingdoms, she was in the Liu Bei position, and the current size of her faction was the largest on this jungle.'That makes it a little scary when you think about it.'She possessed benevolence and virtue and naturally drew people in, and on top of that her faction size was the largest.How were you supposed to deal with that.By contrast, would that make me in the Lü Bu position? A foul-tempered berserker punk.The fact that I wasn’t even as strong as Lü Bu was another problem.At my explanation, Tepes ground her teeth."Spineless punks, the lot of them. They surrender without even fighting and crawl under somebody? If they were my subordinates, I’d have rounded them all up and beaten the crap out of them.""Well, that’s their own way of surviving. On the other hand, people like you can fight first, get completely stripped, and end up doing forced labor under someone else.""The hell, you bastard?"I let Tepes’ outburst slide past my ears and spread out the map of the jungle island.A map of the jungle island made using Hildegard’s [Observation] trait through her ability.There was a reason I had put her in charge of the outpost.On top of her ability to read the stars, she had an ability similar to clairvoyance, letting her see farther and more clearly than others.Pointing to the western area of the island where Elena’s camp was, I spoke."For now, we leave Elena’s side alone."That side had already grown too big for us to meddle with. Both the quality and the quantity of their forces were far superior to ours.If it was Elena, she had probably already made strong figures like Adler her comrades, so I couldn’t confidently say we could win if we fought right away."First we need to either ally with or devour another faction and grow our strength.""Who’s going to ally with us?""There’s probably at least one group that will."The team with Silphiette, Kiriel’s aide, as host.Silphiette had received the grace of having their life saved by me, so if I asked for help, Silphiette would probably jump in with both feet."On the other hand, there will definitely be factions that want to fight me."Representative of that was the Noble Alliance, which had set up in the hilly region at the center of the island.On this jungle island, they were the next largest faction after Elena’s.From the matter of the Competition Battle on, they had consistently taken a hostile stance toward me, so they would no doubt come out hostile in this faction war as well.It even felt like they personally held a grudge against me.Their total headcount was around two hundred.As far as I knew, the number of people capable of fighting was around fifty.On top of that, since the structure was such that Cost recovered as time passed, if we kept dragging things out, their forces would continue to grow.In fact, after I recruited Tepes as a comrade on the first day, I recovered Cost overnight and then also made Hildegard and Caron my comrades."Let’s take this opportunity to stomp the Noble Alliance. How about it?""You’re going to launch a full-on war against the Noble Alliance? Are you crazy? They outnumber us by several times.""I’m not particularly crazy. If anything, it’s better to subdue them now."They were just in the right fattened-up state to eat. If we hesitated here, Elena would simply steal them whole.Now was exactly the time to hit them.We would devour them and then use that strength to face Elena’s faction."Of course, it’ll be hard for just us to hit them, so we’ll ally with Silphiette. Ciel, decide on the negotiation place and time and get in touch with their side."At my order, Ciel opened the window between our rooms and stuck her face out."Understood.""Wh-what the? When did you get here?"When Tepes asked in surprise, Ciel answered calmly."I’ve been on standby in the next room from the start. I heard the entire conversation.""……That maid is seriously loyal.""That’s all because my master’s virtue is so lofty.""…….""At any rate, this negotiation must not be exposed to the outside. So we’ll proceed in strict secrecy."***The next day.A certain seaside cave located on the eastern side of the jungle island.Swoooosh—.Here, the sound of waves surging into the cave drowned out other sounds.Ciel and I slipped into the cave, avoiding other people’s eyes.Inside the cave, Silphiette was already waiting for us with one team member in tow.Seeing me, Silphiette bowed."Sir Loen, you’ve arrived.""It’s been a while. I didn’t think we’d meet in a place like this. Feels fresh.""It really does."Seeing an acquaintance I usually only saw in Spiritology class in a remote place like this, and in a sort of clandestine meeting format, felt new.It was like that feeling in an American drama where survivor groups on a deserted island link up."The reason I called you here is to propose an alliance. I’d like to ask for your cooperation in bringing down the Noble Alliance faction.""The timing is quite coincidental. The Noble Alliance actually proposed an alliance to us yesterday as well.""Hooh, and your answer?"Silphiette adjusted their glasses and spoke."For the moment, I said I’d think about it.""The situation’s very good. For now, accept that proposal. And then……""You mean we should betray them and subdue them when they let their guard down?""Well, if you put it roughly, that’s what it is."I spoke with an awkward face.Nothing hit as hard as being betrayed by an ally you trusted."In the near future, I’ll be waging a full-scale war against the Noble Alliance faction. While we draw their attention from the front, your side can hit them in the back of the head and deal heavy damage.""It can’t exactly be called fair and square, but…… yes, if it’s something you’re asking, Sir Loen, I’ll give it a try."Silphiette readily accepted my proposal.Seemed that even with a straight-laced personality, it was hard to refuse a benefactor’s request."Thank you for agreeing to such an unreasonable request. By the way, judging from the fact that you’re here alone, it looks like Kiriel ended up somewhere else?""Yes, it seems Lady Kiriel landed on a different island. Kiriel formed a team with someone named Rinarun.""I see."Looked like Elena, Kiriel, Beatrice, and Freya had each been sent to different islands to adjust the balance.Although if you were going to talk balance, it felt like it would have been better to group them in pairs.If you put one of them on each island, each one would essentially become an ecosystem destroyer."Well, anyway, got it. Then from here I’ll explain the detailed plan.""The plan…… you mean?"At Silphiette’s question, I smiled and nodded."Yeah. A plan that’ll hit them a bit more in a place they won’t expect…… a fun plan."***The next day."A messenger?"The Ishtal faction on the jungle island, centered around Freya’s aide, Teon Flavor.A messenger from Loen’s side had arrived at the team, which was composed mainly of swordsmen."Yes, it’s a student named Hildegard, belonging to Loen’s team."At the report from a comrade, Teon crossed their arms and sank into thought.Their side had already joined hands with Eredor’s Noble Alliance in order to oppose Elena’s faction in the future.Judging from the fact that Loen had sent a messenger, he was probably trying to propose an alliance……'Meanwhile, the Noble Alliance itself is grinding its teeth saying they’ll hit Loen’s team.'They couldn’t form an alliance stuck between hostile factions, so for now it would be best to reject Loen’s side’s proposal.They could also turn this proposal around and use it, but that wouldn’t be a fair and square way.Just as Teon was lost ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) in thought, one person dispatched from the Noble Alliance opened her mouth."Hey, how about we use that proposal in reverse while we’re at it?"Esetra Lorvaker.With pink straight hair, she was a member of the Noble Alliance and the legitimate heir of House Lorvaker of Summoning Studies.The pink sparrow quietly perched on her shoulder showed that she handled summoned beasts.Esetra, who was also the current host of the Noble Alliance, continued speaking."We falsely accept Loen’s alliance and then stab him in the back at a critical moment. How about it?"At that, Teon slightly furrowed their brows."Even if it’s just an exam, using such a dirty tactic feels wrong.""Hey, the opponent is Loen. It’s only natural to respond to a despicable bastard with despicable methods. Don’t you think?"Esetra’s pink eyes sparkled as she pushed her logic."……."Seeing Teon hesitate, she kept up the pressure."Come on, Teon, you don’t really like Loen either. You say he keeps hitting on Freya.""……I never said anything like that."Inwardly, Teon did think that way, but that was purely personal feeling. Teon had never shown it on the surface.Since President Freya didn’t seem to particularly dislike Loen either, Teon had decided not to pay it special mind.Teon was, after all, President Freya’s aide, and only intended to support what she wanted as much as possible from the side.Of course, when Teon heard that Loen had obtained the date right with President Freya and had even taken all the cookies she had personally baked, Teon had been a little angry, but only that much.Teon had no idea that by taking the cookies, Loen had saved Teon’s life."Don’t act like you’re the only righteous one. Is it enough for just you to stay clean? You need to think about your comrades’ and your subordinates’ scores too. You’re going to let a golden opportunity like this slip?""……."Esetra’s words also had a point.Teon might be the host of this faction, but the team was not solely Teon’s.The scores of the students under Teon were also on the line in this exam."Sigh, all right. I’ll go along with your proposal. For now, step back. If you’re at the meeting, the other side will get suspicious.""Yeah, yeah. I’ll go hide somewhere and watch Hildegard suffer over there in Loen’s team, hehe."Esetra stroked the pink sparrow perched on her shoulder and then disappeared somewhere.Once Esetra was gone, Teon called in the messenger from Loen’s side."Show Miss Hildegard in."***"How did it go?"The day had passed without any particular disturbance.Hildegard, who had returned from Teon’s camp, spoke in a tired voice."It was a success. Teon’s side says they’ll accept our alliance.""Hmm, is that so."I tilted my head at the unexpected result.I had assumed Teon’s side would of course reject this proposal, but they had accepted it so readily.I’d only sent Hildegard over partly to scout their camp, so this was an unexpected gain.So now had a structure been formed where my faction, Silphiette, and Teon’s faction all opposed the Noble Alliance?I thought for a moment and then nodded."Good work coming back.""Then……"In a voice that sounded expectant, Hildegard asked me, and I decided to install the promised cooling system."Yeah, from today on I’ll put cooling in your room too. You’ll be able to live comfortably.""Hehe, thank you, Loen. I was having a hard time constantly maintaining Ice magic, so this is great."On this jungle, a cooling system was literally a ray of salvation.I’d been using it as a way to reward my subordinates, and it was working just as well as I’d imagined."That aside, was there anyone from the Noble Alliance present in Teon’s camp?"It was still suspicious that Teon had accepted the alliance proposal so readily.Just in case, I asked Hildegard."Mm, I didn’t see anyone when I visited.""Any traces of animals or barrier magic?""Surely you’re not thinking Teon and the Noble Alliance have joined forces, are you?""Yeah. Two is better than three. It would also lessen their worries about being hit from the rear."The Noble Alliance had already formed an alliance with Silphiette’s side, but they had most likely gone further and drawn in even Teon’s side.If Teon’s side entered the battlefield while we were fighting them, it could create variables, so they had drawn Teon in as an ally both to preempt that and to bring them under their banner.Geographically, the Noble Alliance’s base was in a location that was easy for Teon’s side to attack.When I asked again, Hildegard thought deeply and then seemed to recall something."Wait, now that I think about it……""What is it.""There seemed to be pink feathers lying near Teon’s camp. My eyes don’t miss those things.""Pink feathers, huh. Must be the pet belonging to the daughter of House Lorvaker.""Most likely. It’s not a common feather color. It’s probably the sparrow Esetra always carries around. Then…… are the odds high that Teon accepted my alliance proposal as a bluff?""That would be the case. The same way I coaxed Silphiette into hitting the Noble Alliance from behind.""……."Hildegard bit her lip, seeming indignant at the fact that she’d been deceived.I consoled her just enough."Don’t get too angry. You fulfilled your role completely. Just bringing back this information is a huge contribution."If it weren’t Hildegard with [Observation], who else would have paid attention to and remembered feathers lying on the ground.Thanks to her, we’d learned something important, and that was enough.I stroked my chin and sank into thought.'The Noble Alliance and Teon, and then Silphiette and our faction as well.'If I used these tangled relationships, it seemed like I could cleanly settle the situation without too much difficulty."The outline is finally starting to take shape."A plan that would overturn the structure of this faction war in one shot…… the outline of that plan was coming together.***The next day.A certain person came to our base."Loen~ Are you there?"Elena Sion Celestia. It was her sudden visit.

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