Subtle Consideration

It wasn’t exactly a wrong statement, but if she had known she’d be forcibly wedged between two people who might just be starting to emit a pink, romantic aura, she would have seriously reconsidered her life choices.

“But you seem totally fine with this?”

“With what?”

“You’re in the same group as Agniele too. Aren’t you being a bit too nonchalant?”

As Lily grumbled while shooting him a side-glance, Ensi let out a short, dry laugh. It was a laugh tinged with self-derision and resignation, causing Lily to let out a sigh of lament.

“It’s easier once you give up.”

“Excuse me, teacher? Aren’t you giving up a bit too fast?”

Despite Lily’s prodding to devise some sort of plan, Ensi couldn’t shake his skepticism. From the moment they failed to counter the assistant instructor’s logic, the possibility of changing the situation had essentially vanished.

“What if you just lie down and say you’re sick?”

“If I’m so sick I can’t even participate in a mandatory practical, they’d probably advise me to change majors.”

“Damn it, you have no intention of changing majors.”

He nodded, wearing an expression that said there was no need to state the obvious. With her ideas rejected without even being worth a second thought, Lily went back to gnawing on her innocent fingernails.

“Should we pray for rain?”

“This isn’t a school field day; would that even work?”

If it rained, the faculty might actually welcome it. Considering there was a professor who repeatedly emphasized during lectures that the first practical shouldn’t be too comfortable, the exam certainly wouldn’t be canceled just because of rain.

“Is there really… no way?”

Her brain felt like it was hardening. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, so Lily continued to chew until she finally managed to crack a nail.

“The practical is in just two days. Wouldn’t it be too tight to plot anything?”

They had to prepare for the trip, so they couldn’t afford to cling to a plan with an uncertain chance of success. At Ensi’s thoroughly negative attitude, Lily made a tearful face.

“Florence. And…… Ensius.”

It was a simple call, but both Lily and Ensi recognized the speaker instantly.

Lily’s ears perked up at the tone, which was distinctly different from when he addressed her. She then nudged Ensi’s forearm, as he hadn’t reacted yet.

The moment her eyes met Ensi’s, she conveyed her will through a slight tilt of her chin, a silent whisper, and busy eye signals.

All of this happened in less than three seconds from Agniele’s call.

“Good morning, Agniele.”

The sum of her signals was: Hurry up and answer first. Letting out a silent sigh, Ensi turned around. When he offered a standard greeting with his habitual smile, Agniele responded as if he had been waiting.

“Good morning.”

Once Agniele said those words and closed his mouth, a heavy silence descended upon only the three of them.

Consequently, Lily, who had intended to stay as still as possible, felt like she was suffocating.

If someone greets you, they should naturally move on to the next topic; what was the point of just clamping one’s mouth shut? No, Agniele aside, wasn’t Ensi being a bit much by staying silent too?

Ensi seemed perfectly comfortable with the sudden quiet, but Lily, who couldn’t stand this kind of atmosphere when with someone she was still awkward with, twisted her body slightly as if she weren’t doing so.

Should I step in, or not?

While she agonized over it, time flowed and the silence piled up solidly. It meant that while the surroundings were bustling with talk of the practical, only their group was morbidly quiet.

“The practical! How are we doing the prep? Individually? Or should we share supplies?”

Finally, unable to endure it any longer, Lily broke her private vow to stay out of their business as much as possible. It was a vow destined to break easily the moment she was assigned to the same group as these two anyway.

In any case, as Lily squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out her voice, Ensi’s gaze turned toward her.

“Before that, we need to get the information on Mount Lakes and the monsters we need to subjugate.”

“……Didn’t the professor tell us?”

“He didn’t.”

Specifically, they were told to visit the assistant instructor’s office separately before the team announcement to get the information. It seemed the memory had evaporated due to the disastrous team assignment, so Ensi lightly patted Lily’s shoulder.

“I’ll go get it.”

At Agniele’s sudden offer—having done nothing but stare fixedly at Ensi until then—Lily’s face brightened. Ensi, seeing no reason to refuse, nodded, and Agniele left.

“I can’t breathe.”

Lily spat out the words the moment Agniele completely disappeared from the training hall.

Ensi laughed softly at the voice so full of sincerity.

“Seriously, I’m suffocating! Are you really okay with this? Do you honestly think this is going to be fine? No, but why on earth are you both not talking? Was it always like this while I was running away from you two?”

Ensi simply nodded at the rapid-fire questions.

“Why act like this is the first you’ve heard of it? I told you before.”

“I didn’t know it was this bad……!”

She had wondered how serious it could be. She had her own image of Agniele from the novel, and usually, he was the type to speak his mind without hesitation when he had something to say.

She just hadn’t expected him to keep his mouth shut as if it were glued together. Lily pressed her hand to her forehead at Agniele’s behavior, which was “unique,” to say the least.

“What are we going to do about this practical?”

Are they going to stay silent even when discussing important matters? If so, this might turn out to be a much more grueling practical than she had imagined.

Ensi showed no particular reaction to Lily’s worried lament. In fact, he merely shrugged with a face that didn’t hold a single grain of concern.

Contrary to Lily’s worries, the practical would proceed without a hitch. Probably.

As Ensi predicted, no problems arose during the preparation stage for the practical. It was thanks to Agniele taking the lead, having apparently grasped all the information from the assistant on his way back.

“Harpies have wings, but due to their heavy mass, they are monsters incapable of long-duration flight. Their flight altitude will be relatively low, so it’s not impossible to catch them with a sword, but I believe it would be more efficient to use bows as per standard procedure. Are you proficient in handling a bow?”

“They’re big, so it’s possible…… but I’m not great at precision shooting. If it’s bows, Ensi is the best among us, isn’t he?”

Agniele looked visibly surprised at Lily’s addition. He had learned yet another new fact.

“So, you handle the bow well.”

“I don’t handle it that well.”

“Still, if Florence is confident enough to say so, doesn’t that mean you have the skill to hunt a Harpy?”

“He’s more than capable of aiming for a Harpy’s wing. Right?”

At Lily’s remark, Ensi silently nodded. Since it wasn’t actually impossible, he had no reason to deny it.

“We should probably discuss this more later. There’s also the method of using spears instead of bows.”

“Spears? Why bother? Can’t you not retrieve a spear once it’s thrown?”

“……It will also be important to identify the Harpies’ habitat. Their activity radius will change depending on where they nest.”

Lily, naturally ignored, wore a puzzled expression while following Agniele’s words. The preparations were certainly being made steadily, but she kept feeling a sense of hesitation.

Because she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, Lily temporarily kept her mouth shut and watched the situation.

“The habitat…… since Harpies prefer steep cliffs, I suspect it might be around here, though I think we’ll have to confirm it once we get there.”

“Indeed, there’s a possibility they’ve settled on a cliff with a running valley. Since that location seems dangerous, I will handle it.”

Lily’s silence had been a bit abrupt, but the conversation didn’t break.

“The distance between each sector is quite far, so it will be hard to provide support if we act separately. Wouldn’t it be better to move together?”

“Hmm…… instead of moving together, I will be the only one to approach the cliff side.”

“Ah!”

This guy is a pro!

The silent Lily realized the identity of that lingering disharmony the moment she heard Agniele’s cautious proposal.

“What is it?”

“No, uh—, it’s nothing. Keep talking.”

Whether her involuntary exclamation had drawn attention or not, Ensi turned his head to look at her.

When a startled Lily waved her hands with an awkward gesture, Ensi tilted an eyebrow curiously but continued the discussion with Agniele.

Once the attention she had briefly drawn naturally dispersed, she let out a quiet sigh of relief and stealthily glared at Agniele.

This guy… acting like he wasn’t, but he’s working his heart out to look good to Ensi.

She didn’t know his exact objective, but Agniele was subtly shifting the burdensome tasks onto himself.

The bow was one thing, and the exploration of the cliff by the valley was another.

Using a bow is the general strategy for catching a Harpy, yet he intentionally mentioned spears to steer the conversation—likely out of concern regarding the Harpy’s intelligence.

Harpies, who belong to the category of intelligent monsters, are more wary of those with long-range weapons than those with short-range ones. They also have needlessly good eyesight and can distinguish objects clearly.

Meaning, if Ensi were to hold a bow, the probability of the Harpy attacking him would naturally increase.

The cliff by the valley was also critical for Ensi. Wasn’t it a given that the area near water would be cooler than other places?

He was already suffering from Utia’s disease, so the sensation in his fingertips and toes would be dull; exploring a low-temperature cliff was more dangerous for Ensi than for anyone else.

Agniele didn’t say all of that out loud, but his attitude—volunteering for most things or trying to take the long way around even when an easy way existed—made no sense otherwise.

“Since Mount Lakes is far from the Academy, the assistant instructor suggested it might be better to depart a day earlier than the other teams.”

“I don’t mind, but Lily? How about you?”

“Uh, what? Me? Of course, I’m fine with it.”

Lily gave a quick answer with an awkward laugh, but she couldn’t stop her wandering thoughts.

‘Is this just going to turn into an Agniele one-man show?’

Somehow, that possibility seemed quite high, and Lily’s expression turned mysterious once again.