章 1448: -1429- Different progress
While the E601 squad was training in Rozen's dedicated training grounds, evolving toward new possibilities under Rozen's guidance, a figure floated high in the sky at a distance from Mistgun, from where the training grounds could be directly observed.
"Ah...!"
The figure, holding a telescope and watching the training scene below, suddenly let out a voice full of turmoil after a moment.
The reason was simply that the figure's owner had seen something.
She had seen Rozen kneeling on one knee before Lecty and putting a ring on her finger.
Seeing Lecty blushing furiously, flustered and at a loss, while Misora and Rico stood speechless on the side, the figure's owner finally gritted her teeth in frustration.
"So, that's why senpai who was so focused on transferring to the Alchemist Division became the instructor for an E-rank squad? So, this is the reason?"
The figure's owner was none other than Yuri Flostre.
Ever since meeting Rozen in the Sky Wizards Division Head's office and learning that he was currently mentoring an E601 squad, Yuri had been unable to shake the unease, turning the matter over and over in her mind, even losing sleep over it.
"Mentoring…"
This wasn't the first time Rozen had taken on such a role.
In the S128 special team, everyone had received Rozen's guidance and had grown to their current level under his tutelage.
Including Yuri.
Thus, Yuri knew very well that Rozen had a surprising affinity for nurturing talent and was highly skilled at teaching others. Even for those like Kanata Age and herself, who specialized in frontline combat and excelled in close-quarters battle, Rozen could offer a certain level of guidance, allowing them to grow significantly.
Yuri herself had grown into one of Mistgun's most renowned ace Sky Wizards under Rozen's mentorship. She had never doubted Rozen's abilities.
Thus, even though Freon Flamel questioned whether Rozen could elevate the E601 squad to the level of the S128 special team, Yuri had no doubt whatsoever, fully believing in Rozen's ability to do so.
However, despite her faith in him, Yuri could not suppress her unease.
Why she felt so uneasy, Yuri didn't understand.
All she knew was that after learning about Rozen mentoring the E601 squad, a huge sense of resistance welled up within her.
This resistance was so strong that it rivaled the feelings she had when Rozen had announced his intention to transfer to the Alchemist Division and leave the S128 special squad.
This showed just how much Yuri was bothered by this matter.
In the end, Yuri couldn't resist the agitation in her heart and, during the time Rozen was mentoring the E601 squad, secretly snuck into the sky above to spy on them with a telescope, desperate to know what Rozen was doing with the E601 squad.
As a result, Yuri witnessed this scene.
This made Yuri feel as if something snapped in her mind, leaving her unable to stay calm.
Yuri's emotions were completely overtaken by anger, leading her to a heavily biased conclusion.
"What nurturing talent? Clearly, you just find those girls cute and can't help but want to be close to them...!"
Yuri's thoughts were completely consumed by this idea.
Perhaps, when Yuri calms down later, she'll realize how unreasonable her current thoughts are.
But at this moment, Yuri simply couldn't calm down.
"So much for being straightforward! You're certainly true to your desires!"
Yuri trembled with rage, staring at Rozen, who was sitting at the edge of the training ground reading a report, with a strong impulse to rush over and confront him face to face.
However, despite her impulse, Yuri didn't follow through.
"Senpai... You're the worst...!"
Leaving those words behind, Yuri turned and stormed off, landing on one of Mistgun's streets, her steps heavy as if venting her anger.
In her state, Yuri failed to notice that she had been followed. Someone had been secretly trailing her, also using a telescope to spy on her actions.
In other words, this person had witnessed Yuri's every move.
The observer also knew exactly who Yuri was angry at.
This caused the observer's expression to twist.
"Why... why can't you notice me...!?"
The person muttered in a low voice.
Yuri might not recognize this person, but Rozen might have some recollection.
It was the same person who, during a quarrel between Rozen and Yuri on the street, had nervously held a letter, summoning the courage to give it to Yuri, only to be completely ignored by her.
The person was a male student dressed in the standard uniform of a regular undergraduate, indicating that he was from the Machinas Division.
However, unlike most Sky Wizards, he didn't wear an emblem representing a squad on his chest.
All Sky Wizards wore squad emblems on their chests, with their squad numbers marked on them.
For example, Rozen, Yuri, Chloe Sevegny, and Kanata Age all had emblems bearing the "S128" insignia, while Misora Whitale, Lecty Eisenach, and Rico Flamel had emblems with the "E601" insignia.
But this undergraduate student didn't have an emblem, indicating that he wasn't part of the Sky Wizard Division.
Yet, his face twisted with resentment as he muttered.
"Rorelai Arneet..."
Uttering this name, his voice was filled with hatred.
But he knew all too well that with his abilities, he was no match for Rozen and would be nothing more than a joke in Rozen's eyes.
"Rorelai Arneet...!"
He could only hide in the shadows, growling in a low voice.
Apart from this, he had no other options.
...….
Time slowly passed.
Not long after, dusk arrived.
After finishing reading the reports and issuing the necessary instructions to the Alchemist Division through the communication crystal, Rozen stretched and looked toward the training grounds.
There, three girls appeared to have made different levels of progress after a whole afternoon of training.
"Haaah...!"
Misora was shouting meaninglessly, her collar glowing as it released her telekinesis like a shockwave, kicking up a cloud of dust around her.
Clearly, Misora still hadn't successfully controlled her telekinesis. Rather than applying it to herself, she was just wasting it on random outbursts, creating a scene that made one think she might as well abandon her magic sword and use telekinesis directly as her combat method.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Rico was still practicing long-range shooting, and her magic bullets were now hitting the clay targets in the sky with pinpoint accuracy, showing rapid progress and standing in stark contrast to Misora.
However, Rico was still exploring how to use the Virtual Aether, probably trying to find a quicker, more efficient way to activate it while conserving magic power and adjusting the spell's power.
As for Lecty, she was standing alone in a corner, fiddling with her ring, the engraving on it glowing and dimming intermittently. Her expression constantly changed—sometimes blank, sometimes full of anxiety, sometimes tense, and sometimes confused.
It seemed that Lecty was also practicing using the suggestion to achieve fine control, hoping to avoid making herself do something strange.
The three girls each made some progress, though none had reached perfection yet.
Rozen stood up.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Rozen called out to everyone.
"You can all dismiss now."
After saying that, Rozen prepared to leave.
Seeing this, the girls hurriedly called out to stop him.
章 1449: -1430- Overturn your current situation
"Wait… wait a minute…!"
Just as Rozen was about to leave, the leader of Team E601, and also the most impulsive and impatient of the group, Misora, immediately called out to him.
Rozen turned his head and looked in the direction of Misora and her team.
He saw that Misora was leading the entire E601 team, all of whom were rushing toward him.
Among them, Rico and Lecty looked somewhat fatigued, likely due to the significant amount of mana they had expended while studying new engravings. In contrast, despite being out of breath, Misora was still the first to charge forward.
(Even though this girl wasted the most mana…)
Unlike Rico and Lecty, who were only practicing precise operation techniques, Misora had spent the entire afternoon trying to control her telekinesis but continuously failed. All she could do was release vast amounts of telekinesis energy, sweeping it around like a tornado or shockwave. It seemed as though she made no progress, showing the slowest improvement among the three.
However, despite releasing such a large amount of mana, she was still full of energy, demonstrating that Misora's magic levels were definitely far above those of an A-rank Sky Wizard team.
With such mana, Misora would surely excel if she switched to being a magic artillery user. Even if she didn't, utilizing her vast telekinesis in direct combat would also be a good strategy.
However, Misora was adamant about her identity as a magic swordsman, so it was unlikely she would give up fighting with the magic cannon sword.
Therefore, Rozen wasn't planning to persuade Misora; he just waited for her and the others to arrive.
That being said, Rozen had a pretty good idea of why Misora and the others were so eager to stop him.
It was simple.
"You… you haven't told us yet whether or not you'll be our instructor!"
Misora asked Rozen this while catching her breath.
That's right.
Up until now, Rozen still hadn't told Misora, Lecty, and Rico whether or not he would become the instructor for Team E601.
Although Rozen had already taught them an advanced technique, since he hadn't made any explicit statement, the girls of Team E601 couldn't feel assured.
What if Rozen just thought he could lend a hand and decided to give them three alchemized magic weapons without intending to become their instructor?
Don't forget, Rozen was ultimately the hero of Mistgun, even being hailed as a "Hero of Humanity." It would be beneath him to serve as the instructor for a mere E-rank team.
Misora and the others even wondered if Rozen becoming their instructor was a mistake.
The lack of a sense of reality yesterday was entirely due to this.
Only Rico seemed to have some idea, frowning with displeasure.
"It's that woman's doing, isn't it?"
Rico had already guessed part of the reason.
But Rico's assumption was only half correct.
Indeed, the person who initially proposed finding an instructor for Team E601 was the individual Rico was thinking of, and that person did seek out an S-rank special team, but they never imagined that Rozen would end up becoming the instructor.
The reason Rozen came was partly due to Chloe Sevegny's recommendation, but also because he recognized the rare talents in Team E601 and felt it would be a waste to let them go undeveloped.
Thus, Rozen genuinely appreciated their potential, which was undeniable.
However…
"If you want me to become your instructor, you'll have to pass my test first."
Rozen said this.
"May… may I ask what the test is?"
Lecty immediately asked.
"How dare you impose a test on a goddess like me? You should know how audacious that is, right?"
Rico, however, still maintained her haughty demeanor.
"Wait, we haven't passed your test yet?"
Misora became even more anxious.
Seeing that Rozen was willing to teach them, the three of them surely wondered if he had already acknowledged them.
However, if they wanted Rozen to truly recognize them, they were still a bit lacking.
"I've given you the possibility of becoming stronger, but a possibility is just that—it doesn't mean you're actually strong. And even if you do become strong, it's useless if you can't achieve victory."
Rozen pointed out this fact, leaving the members of Team E601 speechless.
But isn't that the truth?
If we're talking about strength, then leaving Misora aside, both Lecty and Rico are quite strong, possessing considerable power.
At least from Rozen's perspective, Rico's sniping skills are definitely at the level of an A-rank team's sniper, and Lecty's dual-sword technique is also on par with an A-rank team's members. It's just that, due to various reasons, both of them are unable to fully display their true strength.
And in this situation, Team E601 has never won a single match to date, accumulating a record of ten consecutive losses.
Given this…
"If you can't secure at least one victory, it doesn't matter how strong you become. After all, you're not in a competition. The true purpose of the ranking matches is to hone your skills so that you can survive against the Armored Beetles. So don't think that winning isn't important. In this world, if you can't win, your ultimate fate might be death."
Rozen's calm words weighed heavily on the hearts of Team E601's members.
This is the harsh truth of this world.
Perhaps in the previous world, the wielders of swords only needed to pursue strength and seek out strong opponents, but that's not possible in this world.
This is a world where humanity faces the crisis of extinction, with the dominant species status shifting to the Armored Beetles.
For humanity, not winning means losing.
And losing means death and destruction.
Of course, the girls understood this, but hearing it from Rozen, who had fought on the front lines, led humans against the Armored Beetles, and was hailed as a "Hero of Humanity," gave these words an undeniable sense of reality.
"So, you mean…"
Rico seemed to grasp Rozen's thoughts.
"…"
Misora and Lecty also seemed to understand.
Seeing this, Rozen directly spoke.
"I want you to overturn your current situation and achieve victory."
In other words…
"In the seasonal ranking matches, each team usually goes through about twelve matches in the first season."
Rozen looked at the members of Team E601.
"You've already suffered ten straight losses, which means you have two matches left in the first season."
If they can't win these two matches, Team E601's first season ranking match will end in a complete loss.
This kind of record might even go down in the history of Mistgun, right?
Given that…
"I want you to win the next two matches."
Rozen stated the content of his test.
"If you can succeed in securing a victory, I will agree to take on Team E601 and become your instructor."
Rozen finally laid down his conditions.
Misora, Lecty, and Rico exchanged glances.
In their eyes, a strong fighting spirit began to ignite.
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