cause Tom had returned to her side, Mimuru stuck out her chest as if she had regained her momentum and turned her proud face towards Shīna.

Originally, Mimuru had been the one to suffer the consequences, but it seemed that for Tom, it was more important to be by her side instead. The reflection writing and her dozing off during class were no longer on her mind. In these situations, she would fall asleep again in the next lesson.

As Shīna was holding her head due to Mimuru's selfish behavior, Irisdina and Tima came and called out to Nozomu.

"Nozomu, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"S-Sorry to make you wait ..."

"N-No, I haven't waited that long."

"That's right. I wasn't even bored."

Irisdina and Tima apologized for being a little late, but since both Nozomu and Mars were talking to Shīna and her friends, they didn't feel like the wait was that long, telling them not to worry.

"Iris, actually, Shīna and her friends are requesting to participate in our training."

"Hmm? Is that so?"

Nozomu relayed Shīna's request to Irisdina.

"Yes, would you please let me participate?"

"... I think it's fine. What about Ai?"

"I think it's okay. Nozomu already agrees to it hasn’t he?"

Neither Tima nor Irisdina had any reason to decline, so they were willing to accept Shīna's request.

Shīna was also relieved that her request was accepted.

"I'm glad. Then, please treat me well."

"Oh, about that, I also agreed to it!"

Mimuru listened to Irisdina and the others' conversation and raised her face. She regained her energy due to Tom's voice, but she was still rubbing the spot on her head that was hit by Inda-sensei. It still hurt.

"Su~re, with more people training together, we can have a variety of experiences and the range of training will expand."

"Alright! If we've decided to do so, let's go! Let's go right away!! Hurry up!"

Since Mimuru was in a good mood from their request being accepted, she wrapped her arm around her lover's arm, grabbed Mars' arm with her other hand, and rushed out.

"Wha, Oi!"

"Mi-Mimuru! Uwa!"

"Ah, Mars-kun!?"

"Please, wait a minute!"

Tima and Somia hurriedly started chasing after Mimuru who suddenly rushed out while dragging the two men.

"Haa, good grief ..."

"Haha! It looks fun. Alright, we'll follow them too."

"Eh~? Wa!"

"Wait, Iris!?"

Shīna was astonished by Mimuru’s sudden high spirits, but Irisdina wondered if Mimuru was having fun, so she also grabbed Nozomu and Shīna's hands and started running after Mimuru.

"Wait a minute! Fast, it's too fast!"

"If we don't hurry, we'll lose sight of them! Do your best, Shīna-kun!"

"Hahaha ..."

Shīna couldn't keep up with the sudden turn of events, and sometimes her legs would get tangled, but Irisdina kept running. Nozomu gave himself up, and only a bitter smile appeared on his mouth.

However, at that moment, Nozomu noticed something strange. Someone was peeking at him.

"Hmm?"

Nozomu traced the source of the gaze he sensed, but he couldn’t clearly identify it; however, Nozomu remembered this gaze.

(This is ....)

"Nozomu, we don't have time to be in a daze. If we don't hurry, we'll lose sight of them!"

"...... Eh?"

Nozomu tried to look for the person gazing at him, but suddenly the power pulling his hand became stronger, so he hastily accelerated.

In the end, when they arrived at the outer edge of the city, Nozomu and Shīna were exhausted, and Irisdina was in a good mood as she smiled because she felt like she was returning to her childhood for the first time in a long time.

====================================

"Take this!"

"Fu~!"

After discussion, they decided to first get to know everyone’s special abilities and battle styles. Then Irisdina and Mimuru would fight in a mock battle first.

Mimuru tried to take advantage of her high physical capabilities, which were the characteristic of the beastman, but she still couldn't break through that gap in power due to Irisdina's swordsmanship and high-speed magic casting by [Immediate Deployment].

In the beginning, Irisdina didn't go on offensive because she was waiting and observing; however, after she had determined Mimuru's abilities from exchanging blows to an extent, Irisdina gradually increased the intensity of her attacks.

"Hyaah!"

"Ha~ !!"

Irisdina's rapier grazed Mimuru's cheek. Moreover, Irisdina immediately activated her magic, wind swirling around Mimuru. Mimuru and Irisdina were trapped inside the wall of wind.

"This is bad!!"

A voice escaped from Mimuru's mouth.

The generated wall of wind completely separated the space between them and the outside, and within that narrow space, Mimuru couldn't make full use of her agility.

Of course, that was Irisdina's goal, and she didn't miss this opportunity.

Irisdina used her body strengthening magic, closed the gap with Mimuru in an instant, and unleashed a storm of thrust towards Mimuru.

"Haaa!!"

"Wawwa wawwa!"

Mimuru managed to dodge the storm of thrusts with her reflexes, but Irisdina's thrusts, which were strengthened by physical strengthening, were not only fast but also heavy, and Mimuru was gradually pushed.

Since Mimuru had reached her limit, the knife was blown away from her hand and the rapier was struck at her throat.

"Game over ... Right?"

"... Ahh, that's right. I lost."

After Mimuru admitted defeat, Irisdina put her rapier back into its scabbard and Mimuru also picked up the blown knife.

"Thank you for your hard work. It was a good match."

"Thank you, Nozomu"

Nozomu handed the water bottles to the two who came back.

"Thank you! A~a, I couldn't win after all"

She didn't think she could beat the A-ranked Irisdina, but she still felt disappointed, and Mimuru dropped her shoulders for a short time. Her ears, which were usually moving energetically, seemed to hang down.

"But Mimuru is amazing. You can last that long against Irisdina-san, so I think you should have a little confidence."

"Is that so? Ehehe ..."

However, as expected, Mimuru recovered very quickly. As soon as Tom complimented her a bit, she smiled and her ears rejuvenated. Still, her face became red. Perhaps she was embarrassed at being praised by her lover.

"Next, Nozomu and I will do it. Be my opponent for a bit."

"Alright, but wait a minute"

"Mars-kun ..."

"... I know ..."

Mars asked Nozomu to be his opponent, and Nozomu agreed.

Tima was worried that Mars would do something reckless again, so she called out his name in a faint voice.

Mars knew he was a little reckless in today's mock battle, but maybe because there was still a hint of impatience in his heart, he answered Tima's plea but his voice was a little stiff.

Nozomu and Mars faced each other and prepared their own specialized weapons.

Mars took out the greatsword from its scabbard and held it in a Seigan-no-Kamae (Kendo Stance), and Nozomu lowered his back and put his hand on the hilt of the katana that was still in the scabbard.

"Who do you think will win?"

"Hmm. Mars has higher physical strength, but his opponent is Nozomu ..."

"I don't know what will happen if he uses attacking techniques such as [Phantom] ..."

"He had never used it in mock battles until now. It was because it was too deadly ...... Anyway, how come Shīna, Tom, and Mimuru knew about his technique?"

When Mimuru asked about which one would win, Tom and Shīna predicted that it would depend on what tactics Nozomu used, but Irisdina responded to the speculation by asking why they knew about Nozomu's technique.

Shīna and her friends were petrified at once.

Irisdina's doubts were justified, and both Somia and Tima by her side also turned their gazes to Shīna and her friends.

They didn't know how Nozomu befriended Shīna and her friends.

Nozomu and Shīna had been told by Jihad that they shouldn't talk about the black demon beast to anyone else, not even Irisdina and the others.

However, Irisdina and the others also felt concerned about this matter.

Reason being, Nozomu was clearly acting strange before the incident of the black demon beast occured.

Nozomu didn't want to answer no matter how many times he was pressured to answer the questions, even though it was so obvious he did something reckless again.

They knew something was going on, but they couldn't make any progress as if they were being blocked by a transparent ice wall.

Two weeks after the incident, Nozomu and the others seemed to be gradually recovering over time, but what stuck to their chests hadn’t disappeared.

Irisdina didn’t think she should interfere too much, but just as she was wondering why Shīna knew about Nozomu's technique, she instinctively asked.

Now, because of her own words, the lid covering her heart opened albeit slightly and resulted in a strangely awkward atmosphere.

"Well, various things happened ..."

Shīna whispered to Irisdina who stared at them.

"Various things ....?"

"Yes, various things ..."

The two were completely silent.

No one was able to say a thing, remaining silent; however, Nozomu and Mars looked at each other's appearances because they weren't aware of the conversation between Irisdina and the others.

Finally, when Nozomu lowered his body's center of gravity further, Mars also exhaled and started sending Qi throughout his body.

Nozomu also focused his Qi on his feet and as he tried to move forward, a voice could be heard, telling them to stop the battle.

"Could you give me a minute?"

It was not a loud voice, and when everyone turned to the source of the voice, they could see a male student in Solminati Academy uniform walking towards them.

".... You"

"Yo, Nozomu. Can you give me a little of your time?"

Golden hair, ears and tail. His slit pupils and the smile that appeared on his neat face should have been attractive, but on the contrary, his smile looked suspicious because they had no idea what he was thinking, and in his right hand he carried something like a sling bag.

3rd year, 2nd class, Feo Rishitza.

He was the previous Fox-tailed boy who collided with Nozomu in the corridor.