udents who couldn't keep up at school. Nozomu was particularly despised even among the 10th class students due to the rumors that flowed and the suppression of his own abilities, but that didn't mean the 10th class students never received the same treatment as Nozomu.

As they walked through the corridors, they were sometimes seen with contempt, and sometimes they were struck by heartless words.

"But thanks to Nozomu, we were able to beat students from other classes. You proved to us that we can win."

That's why Nozomu, who proved that they won't lose to any other classes, looked dazzling to Deck and Hamria. They believed that they could win if they followed this person.

"That's why I want to win. To the students in other classes and Anri-sensei. Above all, I want to prove to those in the same class that we won't lose."

Hamria staring straight at Nozomu without hesitation. Deck also stares at Nozom with a strong will in his eyes.

Nozomu was overwhelmed by their eyes.

Unlike himself who continues to worry, they aim to win without hesitation.

And Irisdina, who had previously told him about her dreams, seemed to overlap with them.

Nozomu stared straight back at them.

Hamria looked straight at Nozomu without hesitation. Deck also looked at Nozomu with a strong will in his eyes.

Nozomu was overwhelmed by their gazes.

Unlike himself who was constantly worried, they aimed to win without hesitation, and?Irisdina, who previously told him about her dream, seemed to overlap with them.

Nozomu looked straight at them.

"....I get it."

Nozomu, whose back was pushed by their gazes, told the two of them the strategy he had in mind. To those two who wanted to win and wanted to prove that they wouldn't lose.

"....Eh?"

"... Seriously?"

Hamria and Deck, who heard Nozomu's plan, all opened their eyes wide while letting out surprised voices. Nozomu's strategy they heard was too crazy.

However, their shocked expressions were only momentary. They immediately tightened their facial expressions, they were ready to confront Anri.

"Are you done~?"

Anri's voice reached the ears of Nozomu and the others.

"Yes, with this we will defeat Sensei."

"Hmm~. I wonder if you can really do it~."

"Yes, for sure."

" !"

Nozomu and the others responded with their premature declaration of victory to Anri who had a provocative smile on her face. Anri's expression, upon seeing such a declaration, instantly changed from a provocative smile to a gentle smile that looked happy.

Deck also followed Nozomu's victory declaration, and Hamria replied while squeezing her wand tightly.

"... I see. Then, show it to your Sensei. Your "growth"!"

Anri swung her whip. The Qi-strengthened whip cut through the air and approached Nozomu and the others. Nozomu stepped forward and called out to Deck, exposing himself to the approaching whip.

"Deck!"

"Yea, I know!"

Deck was chanting a spell behind Nozomu. The air around him gathered at the tip of his spear.

Eventually, he created a fist-sized wind mass and pierced the ground with the spear along with the wind mass.

The exploding wind mass blew up a large amount of soil and hid the appearance of Nozomu and the others. Anri's whip disappeared into the smoke, but she didn't feel any reaction. Looked like she missed her targets.

The next moment, a number of air bullets appeared from within the smoke and attacked Anri. She immediately swung her whip and knocked the air bullets down. But just as Anri was about to knock down the last air bullet, a shadow shot through the smoke. It was Deck.

"Oooo !!"

"I predicted that ~"

Anri immediately responded to face Deck who was thrusting while dashing. She aimed her whip on Deck's legs as he ran towards her, reducing the momentum of his rush to gain time, and suppressed her Qi at the tip of the returning whip. She swung the whip towards Deck's temporal lobe.

Deck tried to block it by raising his spear in a hurry, but he was unable to block it completely. When the whip hit Deck's spear, it coiled around the spear and hit his shoulder strongly, and at the same time, the Qi that was infused into the whip exploded. Deck was burned, blown away, and fell to the ground.

(I wonder if it's Nozomu-kun next? or maybe Hamria-san's magic? But that alone won't be able to reach me~)

Anri suddenly heard a burst of noise and someone cut through the smoke.

Anri looked back at the smoke and held her whip again to intercept it.

"So, next is Nozomu-kun~. But at this point, you will... eh?"

"Ee~i!"

Anri thought Nozomu had rushed in, but it was Hamria who rushed in instead. She rushed towards Anri at a speed that didn't seem like the usual mage.

"Eh~, eh ~~~ !!"

Anri thought Hamria was supposed to be at the rear end. She didn't expect Hamria to rush in instead. She swung her whip and tried to intercept, but the whip that was swung was repelled in the air and didn't reach Hamria.

Hamria, who was rushing towards Henri, hugged Anri's waist and slammed Anri's body against a tree trunk without slowing her momentum.

"Wh, wait a minute~. Hey~~!.

Anri swung her black iron rod down and tried to tear off Hamria, who was clinging to her, but the black iron rod was repelled again in midair. When she took a closer look, a thin film of light surrounded Hamria's body.

In fact, the thin film of light was a magical barrier, and because of this film, Anri's whip was also repelled before.

Hamria also activates the magic that she had chanted beforehand.

Earth chains wrapped around Anri's body and restrained her body. The chains also restrained Anri's whip, tying her whip to a tree along with her body so she can't use it.

"Eh? Eeh? Eeehhh!?"

When Anri was shocked, suddenly a wind blew towards her. There, Nozomu appeared in front of her.

He put his katana into its scabbard and showed his sword-drawing stance.

Anri's body was already completely restrained. She could free herself by force if she wanted to, but now she didn't have the time.

When she realized it, Nozomu's katana was pulled out. The accelerated slash with the scabbard as the launch pad cut Anri's pendant in half.

"... This is our victory."

Nozomu declared their victory. His aim was to disqualify Anri by destroying her pendant, which was proof of the training participants.

Everyone was hiding in the smoke created by Deck, and first, Nozomu retreated and goes to Hamria's back.

Deck then plunged in to divert Anri's eyes, and Hamria cast a magical barrier on herself to strengthen her own defense.

In addition, Hamria cast restraint magic, and when her magic was ready to be cast at Anri, Nozomu blew Hamria towards Anri with his Qi technique *Cannon*.

And while Hamria was clinging to Anri's body and restraining Anri with her restraint magic, Nozomu aimed to destroy Anri's pendant.

"A~ a~. You got me~."

Anri made a slightly disappointed voice, but her facial expression was gentle and looked very happy.

"It's a shame I was defeated. But I'm happy to see everyone's growth."

Anri smiled in satisfaction. For her, her students grew more than she expected. And that might be enough to ensure that Nozomu fits into the party.

(Yup! With this, he'll be alright! Nozomu-kun and his party members, I wonder how far they'll go~)

"Oi Nozomu! Are you okay!?"

At that time, Mars and his team came from the depths of the bush. Looked like they arrived just now.

"Lies... They won..."

"....Are you serious"

"Are you all okay?"

Jin, Tommy, and Cami appeared from behind Mars. Tommy and Cami were looking at Nozomu's team who defeated Anri as if they were looking at something incredible, and Jin helped Deck who was lying on the ground.

"I'm alright."

Hamria answered Jin's question in a?cheerful?voice. She had protected herself with a magic barrier, and she had no visible scars on her body.

"Yea, somehow I can still move ... but I'm disqualified ..."

"Ah~...."

However, it was not the case with Deck who sustained damage by Anri's whip. His pendant glowed red, announcing his disqualification.

Nozomu's face was distorted when he knew it. He was disappointed that he had disqualified Deck even though Deck had come to help him.

However, Deck didn't seem to be depressed at all and he had a cheerful expression instead.

"Don't worry, Nozomu. I'm rather grateful because we were able to beat that Anri-sensei ..."

It was a pity for him to retire on the way, but Deck didn't feel any regret.

He was able to win twice against opponents he had never thought he could win. He who wanted to win but couldn't win. The victory he had gained by confronting the existence that was supposed to be stronger than himself.

It gave him a feeling of satisfaction that he had never experienced before.

Therefore, he was grateful to Nozomu and had nothing to blame.

"....Ah."

Perhaps his feelings were transmitted to Nozomu, his stiff expression was slightly loosened.

"Everyone, congratulations~. You've done your best~. You've beaten me, a special target, so I'll give you this~"

Anri happily gave the pendant she got from other students from her pocket to Nozomu's team. The number was more than 20. Considering the points for defeating the special target and the points Mars earned, it would be enough points to get to the top of the ladder at once.

"... W-with this... how high is our ranking?"

Deck was shocked that they have earned so many points at once. The rest of the members were the same, and only Nozomu and Mars weren't surprised by it.

"It's hard to say, but I think it's possible."

"For now, let's move to another location. We have to move because we just had a flashy confrontation with Anri-sensei in this place..."

Mars and Nozomu calmly assessed the situation, and they tried to move to another location. The special training wasn't over yet. The ranks of the fighting parties from now on would rise all at once. The incompetent parties will be defeated leaving only those with solid abilities.

"I'm done here so I'm going back to headquarters. Nozomu, thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you. If Deck and Hamria hadn't rushed in, we would have been defeated."

Nozomu and Deck bump each other's fists. It was the moment when Nozomu was united in trust.

"By the way, Nozomu-kun. That's... umm~."

"Hmm? What's wrong Anri-sensei?"

Anri suddenly stopped Nozomu who were about to bid farewell. Her face was red with embarrassment. Moreover, for some reason, she was holding onto her skirt while fidgeting.

"It was about something earlier~.... Did you see it?"

"See? ...ah~"

The skirt that Anri was holding. When he saw it, a scene reappeared in Nozomu's mind. The white and dazzling skin that could be seen inside the skirt fluttered gently in the air. Her slender and smooth legs. And a cute pink cloth.

Nozomu's face suddenly turned red due to the things that came back to his mind. With that alone, Anri understood everything.

"So you saw it~! My...my...!!"

Anri started to get flustered with her face brighter than Nozomu. She was so embarrassed that she swung her hands around like a child, and steam was rising from her head.

"W-, w-, what should I do~! I haven't shown it to anyone yet~! I've decided that I'll only show it to the person who will become my husband~~!"

"... Nozomu, what on earth were you doing to gain time?"

"What's with that eyes! That's not it! I was fighting to earn time !!"

Suddenly receiving such ridiculous words that came out of Anri's mouth, Mars glared at Nozomu.

For Nozomu, it was an unexpected accident during the battle, but due to the atmosphere dropping at an unreasonable speed, it made his voice unintentionally loud. However, it only deepened the misunderstanding even more.

"W-what should I do~!! If it's like this then, Nozomu-kun has to take responsibility~!!"

"Wait! Why did sensei say something like that!!"

""Nozomu-kun...""

"Nozomu... you..."

In the end, Anri even came up with disturbing words, "take responsibility." Nozomu finally got cold stares from Jin and the others.

"I-I'm so enviou- ... N-no, what a rude guy! ... but, what color was it?"

"...E-even I can only see such things in my dreams..."

Somehow, Tommy and Deck's gaze began to exude bloodlust.

However, it was somewhat mixed with their desire, jealousy, and delusions that shouldn't be leaked.

"It's a misunderstanding !!"

Nozomu's scream echoed in the forest. He desperately explained that it was an accident to clear up the misunderstanding, but he ended up spending more than 30 minutes trying to resolve the misunderstanding.