"Pfft. You were all talk, but no substance. Pathetic. You couldn't even get a single headcount to your score!"
"Fufu... fufufu. Sure, but would it have happened if you hadn't destroyed the passage?"
"Tch, damn you, Saturn. You just lucked out, so what's with that smug."
"And dare you leave behind this Venerable. Ridiculous."
Pouring another service of juice, I walked up to Saturn and Co. Saturn had a huge smile plastered on his face, giving a gaze as if they're beneath him.
Ah, what a familiar scenery.
"Hey, how are you doing, everyone? You sure look excited."
"Oh, you can tell, Zephyr? Fuhahaha!"
"Fufu, I must say, that smile is getting on my nerves."
Saturn was certainly in a bright mood given his boisterous laughter. But his teammates—they're glaring at him with furious gaze.
"Hahaha. That said, you have my gratitude, Zephyr. I did get eliminated ultimately, but it was a great upheaval battle to bring down 8 of them alone. We also nearly brought down that squad wearing the emblem of alliance, protecting the Class-51's leader. Uh-huh, if only Jilong had taken down Class-51's leader, we might have won long ago. Truly, that was such a pathetic performance, Jilong."
"! Fufufu, and who do you think is at fault here? I could have achieved... if only certain soone hadn't stupidly blown away the fortress's corridor."
With his hands on his waist, chest puffed up, Saturn spoke. Jilong protested with a reproachful gaze.
I had heard of their act later. Apparently, Helck and Tom had been eliminated during their fortress exploration, bringing their ambush into a failure. When caught in pincer, Saturn caused the explosion in a sacrificing act, bringing down 8 of the opponent's strongn with himself. He definitely had achieved quite a rit there.
When the defenders of Class-51's leader, Rina, were down, It made for a golden opportunity to eliminate Rina. Alas, Saturn being himself, he also brought down a portion of the fortress with himself. The destroyed floor put a space between Jilong and Rina.
In the end, Jilong was eliminated while he was perplexed by the situation, and this was why he now glared at Saturn. Perhaps, he also felt that it was a pathetic way to go down, just what Saturn said, so he didn't try to argue in a louder voice.
Then again, Saturn's action indeed helped us steer the situation our way by significant margin. And the person knew that very well, hence Saturn was so boastful. It was quite a turn around for him, in contrast to the fumble he had in our first battle. Jilong, though, was unfortunate......
"You know, we were quite confused at the beginning, why would you ask us to do so many things? But we always believed in you, Zephhyr. Fuahaha!"
"W-well, as long as it helps you, it's all that matters."
Hmm, we also believed in them... as the disposable pieces. But I had never expected he would use that thod of all things, much less turn the tide of the situation. You really did surpass my expectations, Saturn.
After my chit-chat with them, I turn my heads to other classmates—ignoring the pleading exasperated gazes of Jilon and others on , hoping to put Saturn in his place.
***
"Hey, Celestine, and Alan. You have done a great job. Thank you."
"You overpraise , Zephyr-sama. I wouldn't call it a better result, with my inexperience leading to the elimination of four of my squadmates. I would like to reflect on it."
"Hahaha, co now, Celestine. You're brooding too much over it! If anything, we failed ourselves with insufficient muscle strength. I will take this as a sign to further train our muscles!"
Celestine seed to be hung up on the losses of their squad—apparently, the others had dubbed them as "The Machos of Gracious Smile," though I had no inkling why—since they had lost 4 out of 6 mbers. A grave loss, indeed. As the pioneering squad, it was an obvious result when they'd to challenge the landmined filled places.
Nevertheless, he was bearing a guilt for the imperfection as the adjutant of the offense team. In my opinion, though, the fact that he managed to even coherently lead the—troll jobs holders—«Machos» was an act comndable. I had wanted to repeat the sa, but they're considered 'excellent jobs' in this world. Maybe this was why he had felt the guilt? If Machos were considered strong, then to him, it was akin to losing 4 of the valuable gems. But like hell that was true. Nope. No way!
"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself, Celestine. You gave your best shot, and that's enough."
"Thank you very much, Zephyr-sama."
In the end, I laid my true opinion. Inwardly, I took note to put up a more balanced team for him to lead next ti.
Just then, I caught a group of four detaching themselves from the hubbub of celebration, already jumping on their debate for muscles (?)—no, I didn't see anything. The last thing I wanted was to have any dealing with them! Also, status over muscles any day!
***
"Thanks for your hard work, Karua."
"Hm, Zephyr. You, too."
"Oh? Hey, Zephyr. On a round to greet the classmates?"
"Sothing like that. Also, thanks for your effort, Rika."
"Hehe, likewise, it was great to have you as our leader."
Next, I approached Karua and Rika.
"Zephyr, no curry."
"At least leave the curry out of the classroom."
"Pity..."
"You can later have enough to your heart's content."
"Hn, I like it."
The fondest mory of this celebration would have slled curry if we had it in this enclosed classroom, hence I left it out of the party. She would have had her fill afterward. I an, she deserved that much for her amazing scouting. It wouldn't allow her to indulge for a while.
Still, she sure didn't hesitate to jump on invitation when it's about curry. Uh-huh, what would happen if soone lured her away by the promise of curry? I was a bit concerned frankly.
"You know, Karua. Maybe you should try to resist the temptation of curry more."
"Indeed. But, how do we train her? She'll be sad if there's no curry in her life though."
"!?"
Rika readily nodded after . Oh, it seed she had realised that as well. On the other hand, Karua gave such big, googly eyes as if she had seen the worst betrayal of her life.
"Relax. We're not saying to forbid you from curry at all."
"Hn, I believe in you."
W-woah, the way she had that extrely serious look... It was such a big contrast to her usual listless expression. Uh, maybe we ought to avoid bringing up that topic much.
Anyway, I left a few words and walked to Shizu, and other classmates.
***
"Hey, great work out there."
"If it's not Zephyr-kun! Thank you, too!"
"You're here! You’re amazing too!"
"Congratulations on the championship, Zephyr-kun. And, thank you for your hard work."
"'Sup, Zephyr-san! You seem to be running around, let pour a drink-desu!"
"Likewise, your effort was appreciated, Zephyr-dono."
As I stepped into the zone of Harmonic Trip, Pala and Shizu, I was imdiately blasted with excited greetings from the forr. They squealed around , returning back the appreciative words. Pala poured a different kind of juice on my glass.
It was quite a nice atmosphere, lively. Though Shizu was uptight as usual.
As I listened to them, it gradually explained the mis-match gathering. Harmonic Trio heard of Shizu's achievent, and had gathered around to inquire about her tactics etc. Well, she was great, indeed. The «Battle Maid» was like a match-made for «Capture the Castle» or «Fall of the Base».
I also praised her for her efforts. A lot we managed to because she had succeeded in rescuing Karua while avoiding Rina's «Dragon's Miniature Garden». She also had led a successful surprise attack while we pushed Quartet to lure the attention, chipping their defense, laying traps, and even subjugating the chief force of Class-5. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was given so kind of special prize for her performance.
"You really were like the wheel for the entire class to move. I will be counting on you onwards!"
"Understood, I will do my best. However, Zephyr-dono, you should also be careful to not make Lana-sama cry, and if you did... I may have to subjugate you there."
"Huh?"
Wait, are we talking about responsibility for a match, right? Uh, I guess... Lana may indeed cry if we had failed horribly. That's what she ant? Defeat = Subjugation of ??
Hmm, whatever. After all, there's no second to ! I was a bit confused, but replied with confidence.
"Leave it to , Shizu. My second na is undefeatable! I am planning to keep winning no matter where!"
"......I would be counting on you, then."
Alright. Now, it's turn for Sierra.
***
"Hey there, thank you for stellar effort, everyone"
"Oh, Zephyr. You, too, thank you for the hard work."
"Ohh, you know, we're going to have the sweets there. See ya~"
"Then, later~. C'mon, Myu, everyone. Ti for sweets~."
"Nyu~."
"Haa... these girls really are."
Sierra was among a girl's group, and when I showed up, they suddenly left for the sweet counter. Myu, though, didn't seem to be intent on sweets, but others dragged her away.
So, in the strange turns of event, now Sierra and I were left alone. Oh, right. The banquet is already sliding toward its closure, and there were still plenty of sweets left behind, so I presu they'd all gone to have their fill to their heart's content. Sierra was the kind to enjoy her tea in quietness, so they didn't bring her.
Oh, well. I gave her my congratulatory words similarly, following on what I had co for.
"I really appreciate your work, you know. You really were steadfast whether it was our first match, or the finale, protecting everyone. We would've incurred more obstacles and damage during the fortress raid or in the final clash against Class-8 without you."
That wasn't so flattery. The might of unique skill was nothing to scoff at, however we managed to gain an edge there by facing less damage compared to Class-8. Without her, the result could've tipped in either side without any assurance.
"Everyone managed to stretch their legs to the best of their ability since they'd your protection. The more I think about it, the more your contribution shines."
Even during our 4th Fortress Raid, she didn't stand out in a flashy way, but she had held the frontline. Everyone knew she was our immovable shield, which inspired morale in everyone. To be honest, no words were to appreciate her effort.
"The more I think about it, the more I see your shine there, Sierra. Especially when you were controlling those autonomous shields, man, that was so cool. Also when we—-"
"Stop, just stop. I understand, alright? Your words of appreciation are enough. I don't think you need to list out everything."
Ah, I got too much in praising her. Sierra stopped just as I was rambling off, her face red. Welp, a pity. Atleast, she did seem to know how I felt about her. That's a good enough result, I guess.
Though, while I was on my train of appreciation for Sierra, I believe I had felt constant glances of girls who had gone out for sweet counter. Was there sothing wrong?
In this way, we took a last look at our finale, often discussing where we could have done better, and soaked into the reverberation in the victory along with everyone.
Soon, all the food and drinks—all of them sothing we had been awarded during our first match, semi-finale and finale—were down to the last bit. I had wanted to distribute the rewards, too, but everyone was too indulged in rry making, so I postponed it for another day.
The classroom reverberated with the giggle and gleeful voices of everyone. Everyone had fun. , too. I might have done this many tis in gas, but reality was just... sothing else. A fresh experience. Then again, it was possible to have fun with everyone's effort. You all did great in the competition, everyone! The five days would be sothing to rember by!
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