Chapter 183

Chapter 183. School Trip (2)

The day of the school trip.

First, the candidates moved to the Holy Kingdom via the warp gate, then split into their respective classes and boarded the large magic carriages under the guidance of their commanding professors.

The candidates, excited about the unexpected school trip, took their seats.

“Ugh… I wanted to sit next to Dale…”

Iris, sitting across the aisle, glanced back at me with a sulky expression and muttered in a gloomy voice.

“I told you no.”

Camila, sitting next to her, shook her head with a firm expression.

“This is the Holy Kingdom. There might be prying eyes, so we need to be mindful of our behavior.”

“…Who’s going to peek inside the magic carriage?”

“As escorts, we must prepare for even the slightest possibility.”

“Hmm. Really?”

Iris squinted her eyes and stared intently at Camila.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Isn’t it just that you don’t want to sit with anyone else? You don’t have any friends besides me and Dale.”

Iris bluntly dropped the heavy fact of “You have no friends, do you?” right in front of Camila.

Camila’s face turned bright red.

“W-who said I don’t have any friends?”

“Hmm. Who do you have then?”

“Well…”

*Grit.*

Camila bit her lip and turned her head away, avoiding Iris’s gaze.

It seemed that, to some extent, it was true that she had no friends and had forced Iris to sit next to her.

Iris poked Camila’s side with a mischievous smile.

“Anyway~ Camila, you’re so cute sometimes.”

“S-shut up!”

Camila whispered back, trying not to let others hear.

‘As expected, Iris acts the most mischievous when she’s with Camila.’

I smiled faintly at the sight of their obvious friendship.

Well, anyway.

Because of that, Iris and I ended up sitting across the aisle from each other.

Instead, the one sitting next to me was…

“Uh… D-Dale.”

A face full of freckles and a slender build.

The first thing that came to mind when looking at him was how fragile he seemed—Albert Hoover, the representative candidate of our Class C.

“I… I brought some snacks. Do you want some?”

If Lanes were a male classmate, he’d probably be just like this.

Albert nervously pulled out some snacks from his bag.

“Thanks. I’ll have some.”

“Y-yeah. I brought a lot, so eat as much as you want.”

“……”

It was hard to believe that Albert, who seemed too fragile to even kill a bug with his bare hands, was the one who quickly gathered the candidates and headed straight to the battlefield as soon as the war broke out.

‘Is this also part of the changed future?’

In my past life, I had barely even spoken to Albert, so I didn’t know if he had changed because of me or if he was always like this.

“A school trip… I’m really looking forward to it. Right?”

It was a pleasant surprise for me to form new connections that didn’t exist in my past life.

“Yeah.”

“By the way, Dale, you seem really close with Iris… Is that okay?”

“What do you mean, ‘okay’?”

“Ah, no, I mean… You and Professor Elisha… You know, that kind of relationship, right?”

“Ah.”

I had almost forgotten.

I remembered that Albert had once caught me giving Professor Elisha a massage.

“That’s a misunderstanding…”

“Everyone, focus!”

Before I could finish, Professor Lucas’s booming voice echoed through the magic carriage.

“We’ll arrive at our destination, the Thermal Region, in about two hours! Once we arrive, we’ll first assign rooms and then have a dinner prepared in advance!”

“Woooooah!”

The candidates cheered.

“By the way, the dinner is a special Holy Kingdom cuisine prepared with support from the Holy Kingdom.”

“Ah…”

“H-holy Kingdom cuisine?”

The atmosphere instantly deflated at the mention of Holy Kingdom cuisine.

Professor Lucas chuckled as he looked at the candidates.

“I knew this would happen, so I specially requested the Holy Kingdom to prepare a menu full of meat this time. Don’t worry.”

“Yesss!”

“Professor Lucas is the only one we can trust!”

Professor Lucas shook his head at the excited candidates.

“Kids, isn’t this atmosphere a bit too different from usual classes?”

“Ahem.”

“Hahaha. Well, I understand the sentiment.”

Professor Lucas continued with a light smile.

“As I said before, this school trip is a kind of gift prepared for you who successfully defended against the Monster Legion’s attack.”

Professor Lucas held a microphone as he spoke.

“However, don’t forget your essence, even if this is a trip. You are candidates who will become heroes in the future, guardians who must fight against the Devil God’s minions for humanity.”

His heavy voice echoed through the carriage.

“Those who cause trouble will be sunk to the bottom of the hot spring, so be prepared.”

“Yes!”

“We understand!”

“At least the responses are good.”

Professor Lucas clicked his tongue as he looked at the candidates.

‘Well… Even if they’re hero candidates, they’re still just kids.’

Even though they’re all adults over 20 years old.

Becoming an adult doesn’t mean you suddenly transform like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, and people don’t change that easily.

And the word “trip” has a magical power that excites people regardless of age.

As clear evidence of that…

“In that spirit!!! For the remaining two hours until we arrive, we’ll hold a talent show where you can showcase your hidden singing skills!!!”

Even Professor Lucas, who had been an adult for a long time, was just as excited as the candidates… No, even more so.

“S-singing skills?”

“Even so, singing is a bit…”

“Isn’t the professor the most excited?”

To the point where the candidates felt burdened.

“Is there anyone who wants to sing a song first?”

Professor Lucas raised the microphone and looked around the carriage.

“……”

“……”

The excited atmosphere from earlier disappeared, and the carriage fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it.

Even though everyone was excited about the trip, there weren’t many who had the courage to sing in front of dozens of people.

“Hmm? No one?”

“……”

“……”

The silence continued.

The candidates’ gazes naturally turned to…

“…N-no way.”

Albert, seeing the candidates’ eyes focused on him, shook his head with a pale face.

“N-no! Absolutely not! I-I can’t sing!”

“Come on~ You’re the representative of Class C!”

“You should sing a song at a time like this!”

“Albert! Albert! Albert!”

The carriage was filled with chants of Albert’s name.

“Albert! You’re the only one!”

“Show us your skills as the representative of Class C!”

“N-no way…!”

Albert trembled as if he was about to cry, shaking his head as if to say he absolutely couldn’t do this.

“Everyone, stop.”

Professor Lucas’s low voice cut through the chaotic atmosphere.

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the candidates.

“Didn’t you hear Albert say no? Tsk tsk. You guys always go to Albert first… Huh? Is Albert some kind of neighborhood punching bag?”

“……”

“What…?”

The candidates looked at Professor Lucas with bewildered expressions.

If their thoughts could be put into words… Yeah, it’d be something like, “Who are you to talk, you jerk?”

“If no one wants to do it, then there’s nothing we can do…”

Professor Lucas sighed deeply and gripped the microphone.

“I’ll sing instead.”

…What?

Did I just hear that right?

It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking that, as the candidates stared at Professor Lucas with wide eyes.

Professor Lucas smirked and brought the microphone close to his mouth.

And then.

“Your memoryyyyy!!! Past loveeeeee!!!”

If a nightmare were to be expressed as a song, this would be it.

The explosive volume that shook the carriage windows, the pitch that twisted like a machine being hammered, and the rhythm that reached the realm of creation.

Combined, Professor Lucas’s singing produced a melody so despairing that it could be used as torture.

“A thorn in myyyyyy!!! Hearttttttttttt!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

“S-stop…!”

“P-please, someone stop him!!!”

Along with the soul-rending requiem.

Our magic carriage continued on its way to the destination.

* * *

“Huff, huff…”

“W-we’re alive…”

The candidates got off the carriage with pale faces.

At the destination was a massive hot spring inn that could easily accommodate a thousand people, and in front of it were candidates from other classes who had arrived earlier.

“Ah, Dale!”

Yuren approached our class as we got off the carriage.

He tilted his head as he saw the candidates’ pale faces.

“Everyone looks terrible… What happened?”

“…No. Nothing happened.”

I couldn’t bring myself to explain the tragedy(?) that had occurred on the way here and just shook my head.

“By the way, why is everyone gathered outside instead of going into the inn?”

“Ah, they said they’ll assign rooms first.”

Now that I think about it, they did say they’d assign rooms upon arrival.

“Alright, now that everyone’s here, let’s assign rooms!”

Professor Lucas shouted as he looked at the candidates gathered in front of the inn.

“Basically, rooms will be assigned randomly with six people per room… But for candidates who received commendations, there’s a special benefit!”

“Special benefit?”

“What is it?”

The candidates tilted their heads at the mention of a special benefit.

“Candidates who received commendations will be assigned special rooms in the annex and can invite one candidate of their choice to their room.”

“……!”

The candidates’ eyes lit up at the mention of the special rooms in the annex.

They looked at the candidates who had received commendations in this war with sparkling eyes.

Among them, the one who drew the most attention was undoubtedly…

“Ah, Albert! We’re friends, right?”

“Albert… I’ve had my eye on you for a while.”

“You’re a guy.”

“I’m actually gay.”

“What.”

The candidates swarmed toward Albert, who seemed the most approachable(?) among the commendation recipients.

In contrast, not a single candidate approached Iris or Yuren to ask to share a room.

‘Well.’

The two of them are famous figures in the school with an aura that makes it hard to approach them casually.

Most candidates probably felt too intimidated to ask to share a room with them.

“D-Dale! Then let’s share a room!”

Iris approached me with sparkling eyes.

I was grateful that she immediately asked me after hearing about the special invitation, but…

“Ah, of course. The invitation can only be used for candidates of the same gender.”

“…Ugh.”

Iris’s expression crumpled at Professor Lucas’s following words.

“T-this is unfair!”

“Well… There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Even though the candidates are all adults who know each other well, the school can’t allow male and female candidates to share rooms on a school-sponsored trip.

As Iris pouted with a disappointed expression…

“Then there’s nothing we can do.”

Yuren approached me with leisurely steps.

“Dale, let’s share a room then.”

“Yurina… Ah, no. Yuren! What are you saying?!”

“What do you mean? You heard it too, right? The invitation can only be used for candidates of the same gender.”

Yuren slung his arm over my shoulder and smirked.

“I’m a ‘male’ like Dale, so there’s no problem sharing a room, right?”