Sian Rudflica.
She was the person who had taken the archer's position in the Kardia Subjugation Party, as well as an elf from the World Tree Forest.
Even I had never expected to encounter her here, so her name slipped from my mouth before I knew it.
“Sian?”
“…Sian?”
“Senior... Rudflica.”
The moment I hurriedly corrected the way I had addressed her in my previous life, Senior Rudflica nodded once.
She probably meant that seniority should be observed properly even between students from different departments.
That reaction alone was enough to confirm at once that she truly was the Sian Rudflica I knew.
“Were you making that offer to me just now? You want me to join your party, Senior Rudflica?”
“That's right.”
“But wouldn't there be too many of us if we joined? Your party already has four members, Senior Ru... Senior Rudflica.”
Adding Stella, Lulu, and me would bring the total to seven, which would naturally violate the Hunting Festival's participation rules.
That was why I asked, but her answer was slightly different from what I had expected.
“What are you talking about? Obviously, I was only asking you.”
“Pardon?”
“We don't have room for the other two members of your party, and you're the only one we need in the first place.”
I glanced over Senior Rudflica's shoulder and took a brief look at her current party members.
One close-range fighter from the Department of Swordsmanship and another from the Department of Spearmanship. There was also a Department of Archery student other than Senior Rudflica.
There certainly was not much room for Stella and Lulu.
“Why me? Two archers should already provide more than enough firepower.”
“Because your party seems like the greatest threat in this Hunting Festival. I simply want to bring you, the apparent key member, into our party.
We're already strong enough as we are, but I want to make absolutely certain that we win.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
Even after all this time, her refreshingly direct personality was just as pleasing as ever.
“Your answer?”
“I refuse.”
“I see.”
She did not look particularly shocked.
Then again, she had never been someone whose emotions showed easily on her face.
“Why?”
“First, if I leave, my party members will have to find a new party.”
“Then they can find one.”
“There is only an hour left before the Hunting Festival begins.”
“That's plenty of time. One of them appears to be from the Department of Swordsmanship, so she'll be wanted anywhere and should find a party quickly. The other one looks like she's from the Department of Technology, so she can simply take her departmental examination.”
“That would be betraying their trust.”
If I abandoned the proper party we had gone to the trouble of forming, how could the two of them ever trust me and follow me afterward?
This was not a relationship that would end after a day or two. We would be together for years to come, so building distrust between us in this manner would naturally be a poor choice.
Even Senior Rudflica, who was trying to recruit me, would hardly want a long-term companion capable of betraying their allies at any time.
No matter how I considered it, accepting her offer would bring nothing but disadvantages.
“...That's true.”
Senior Rudflica seemed to agree, averting her gaze as she answered.
“And one more thing. Even if a Hunting Festival party may have up to six members, five people including me would be a little too many.”
“I agree, but then we simply need to hunt something larger and stronger.”
“You and your other companions have had time to learn how to work together, but I would be joining for the first time today. I would not be able to use my abilities to their full extent.”
“That is true.”
“You are not expecting me to increase your combat strength. You simply want to remove one potential threat, don't you?”
Unable to lie, she nodded once again.
“Even so, as long as we win, surely that much would be worthwhile for you too....”
“There is one more reason.”
“...What is it?”
“I gain nothing by joining that party.”
This time, a faint trace of surprise finally appeared on her face.
“Winning the Hunting Festival should be enough. We will divide the prize money equally regardless of contribution.”
“Winning the Hunting Festival is not a reason for me to join your party, Senior Rudflica.”
“Is winning not your objective?”
“Our party has already been decided as the winner of this Hunting Festival.”
This time, she did not nod, as though she could not bring herself to agree.
“You're arrogant.”
“May I make a proposal to you as well, Senior Rudflica?”
“Go ahead.”
“If you want to win, join our party.”
“......”
Faced with my astonishingly shameless proposal, Senior Rudflica instead looked utterly dumbfounded.
“That would be betraying their trust.”
With those words, she turned away and walked toward her party members without looking back.
I immediately turned my gaze away from Senior Rudflica's retreating figure and resumed explaining the plan to Stella and Lulu.
“Now then, shall we continue where we left off?”
“Are you sure, Conrad? You didn't want to switch parties but couldn't because of us, did you?”
“Nothing like that.”
“I am prepared to follow your decision at any time, Senior Conrad.”
“If that's what you think, then focus on the strategy meeting. We are going to win the Hunting Festival with this party today.”
Victory.
It was a word like a flower on a sheer cliff, not something to utter lightly.
At least, that had only been true for the old me, who knew nothing and could do nothing.
***
The moment the horn announcing the start of the Hunting Festival sounded, hunting parties composed of various roles entered the Demon Forest all at once.
Our party had only one objective from the beginning, so we charged straight ahead and quickly made our way deep into the Demon Forest.
Even while running, Lulu repeatedly used high-speed scouting to locate the monsters around us.
Thanks to the stamina I had built through steady training and the assistance of Fourth-Circle wind magic, I could easily match Stella and Lulu's speed.
A few minutes after entering the Demon Forest, Lulu gave her first scouting report.
“Two Goblins straight ahead, five seconds out!”
Standing still and feeling the vibrations in the ground would have been more accurate, but Lulu was not incapable of using her scouting ability while moving.
When moving quickly was important, as it was now, simply locating nearby monsters was helpful enough.
“Stella!”
“Yes!”
We had decided beforehand that Stella or I would eliminate any monsters blocking our path depending on their type.
With her skill, cutting down two Goblins would not even take a second, allowing us to continue without delay.
“Ah, there they are—”
SLASH—!
Both Goblins' heads flew off at once.
The movement had gone exactly according to plan.
...Except that Stella was not the one who had cut them down.
“Sorry, but these were my prey.”
The man who had swung his sword in Stella's place spoke with a smile.
Looking more closely, I recognized the face of the swordsman from Senior Rudflica's party.
“I was about to cut them down....”
“What are you doing, Stella? Let's go!”
“Ah, yes!”
I felt bad for Stella after her prey had been stolen, but our objective was not insignificant monsters like Goblins.
We left the Department of Swordsmanship student who had suddenly appeared and killed them in our place behind, then the three of us continued running deeper into the Demon Forest.
Several minutes later, Lulu warned us that she had detected something ahead.
“One Werewolf straight ahead, ten seconds out!”
“Stella!”
“Understood!”
Thinking that this time it was finally her chance to act, Stella drew her sword again and rushed forward.
Ten seconds later, just as Lulu had reported, we encountered a Werewolf.
It was lying on the ground and groaning with a sharp spearhead piercing its belly.
“Was this what you were after? What a shame. I already killed it.”
It was the student from the Department of Spearmanship who belonged to Senior Rudflica's party.
“Th-That was mine....”
“Let's go, Stella!”
“Y-Yes!”
We did not have time to wait for her to finish feeling dejected. The Werewolf was not our objective either.
We had to be the first to find the monster we needed to hunt today, so even wasting a few seconds would be unacceptable.
“One Orc straight ahead, fifteen seconds out! Its presence feels strong, so it may be a mutant!”
The third report came only after we had been running for nearly ten minutes.
Unlike the previous encounters, this one concerned a somewhat stronger monster.
Just in case, I asked Stella whether she was willing to handle it.
“Will you be all right, Stella?”
“Leave it to me!”
Stella's voice burned with fighting spirit when she answered.
Perhaps because her prey had already been stolen twice, there even seemed to be a trace of anger in her reply.
To be honest, I felt somewhat grateful that Senior Rudflica's party was killing the monsters for us.
It was not a bad thing that their party had saved us even a few seconds.
This was probably Senior Rudflica's strategy.
If they stole every monster that we, their strongest rivals, attempted to hunt, they could hinder us while increasing their own achievements in the Hunting Festival.
She also seemed to have realized that the monster we were targeting was no ordinary creature.
About ten seconds after I reached that conclusion and continued moving,
The enormous body of an Orc began to appear before us.
Senior Rudflica's party did not seem to have arrived yet. No one else was visible attempting to hunt it first.
“Judging by its skin color, it's a mutant! Be careful!”
“This time, I will finish it with a single strike!”
Thoroughly riled up, Stella charged the mutant Orc the moment she saw it, her eyes blazing.
She should be fine without my help.
Even the current Stella was more than capable of defeating a single mutant Orc.
“UOOOH! UOH!”
The Orc immediately sensed Stella's hostility and turned its attention toward her.
Just before her sword could reach it,
“That's mine.”
Someone's voice whispered from within the forest.
An arrow traced a beautiful curve as it wove between the trees and shot out.
Moving as smoothly as though it were dancing, the arrow buried itself precisely between the mutant Orc's brows.
“Uook!”
The mutant Orc let out only a brief groan before collapsing where it stood.
An arrow that clearly belonged to Senior Rudflica protruded from its head.
“......”
Seen from behind, Stella's entire body was trembling.
“Stop stealing our prey like cowards and compete fairly! Do none of you possess any sense of justice or chivalry?!”
Stella shouted furiously toward Senior Rudflica's party.
But they remained hidden in the forest, waiting for us to start moving again.
They did not offer even a single reply to Stella's protest.
“Th-That's three times already! I could have contributed plenty too!”
“Of course I know you would have killed them yourself, Stella. But we don't have time, so let's move quickly.”
“...Understood.”
Leaving the fallen Orc's corpse behind, we resumed our advance even deeper into the forest.
Toward the place where the master of the forest, the true objective of today's hunt, awaited us.