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Chapter 247

The four-day training camp was held with Lenia’s unprecedented attack on the Demon Lord in the shadows. Her ambush was never made public, and the training came to a smooth end without accident. The only considerable incident was the occasional dead looks in the eyes of Kushli and Aznar as they went through with their training.

Although Christina and Dran were unable to stay by the youngsters and attend the training due to their work commitments, Selina, Diadora, Lynette and her sisters, and the dragons from Mores mountains trained with Lenia and the other students of Galois Magic Academy. As a result, the combat training remained to be of excellent quality.

The other four magic academies might be pushing their representatives hard all day and night for this year’s Magic Tournament, but it was safe to say that none of them could meet the level of training of Galois Magic Academy.

For Dran and his companions, the hard work of Kushli and Aznar was so impressive that it brought tears to their eyes. At the same time, they had to hold back their desire to applaud and praise Lenia for her ability to maintain her astounding firepower—and poor energy efficiency—that surpassed that of the dragons for a very brief amount of time toward the very end.

Lenia still remained the tyrannical girl who was hard to control and had little regard for the feelings of others. Despite this fact, she managed to maintain her patience for four days without breaking down. It was impossible for those who knew Lenia to avoid marveling at this great feat.

Selina and Dramina reckoned that it was time to acknowledge Lenia’s mental growth and stop the astonishment with every little thing she did. On the other hand, Dran was still the hopelessly loving father, moved by every little thing Lenia did. He would probably overreact to Lenia’s behavior for a while longer

Now that the fourth day’s schedule had come to an end, it was time for the students to return to Galois Magic Academy on the express transport once they finished their breakfast with Christina and the rest.

The numerous cloth bundles and bags filled with souvenirs by Dran and his companions rested at the students’ feet. Lenia, Nelneshia, Fatima, and the rest were exchanging farewells with Dran and his friends at the entrance of Christina’s mansion.

Dran and his friends would have liked to see the students off at the carriage station, but they knew that the presence of the baroness and her vassals at the crowded station was likely to cause an unnecessary commotion. With this consideration in mind, they decided to say goodbye at the mansion instead.

The clear blue sky seemed to declare that all sadness that came with this parting was unnecessary. The brilliant sunlight shining down on the party was as dazzling as an overturned jewelry box.

Lenia, who had been looking forward to visiting Bern village, was clearly disappointed to be leaving. However, her pent-up frustration seemed to have dissipated upon meeting Dran in a long time. She was beaming in front of Dran and his friends.

Kushli and Aznar had become accustomed to seeing Lenia’s smile during their training, a sight that was rare at Galois Magic Academy. By now, they were no longer surprised by it.

Lenia started her farewell speech on behalf of the Galois students.

「We’re very grateful for your help over the past four days. Thank you for making time in your busy schedules and accepting the request of an inexperienced party like us. Your generosity has enabled us to steadily improve. When the Magic Tournament comes to a successful start, we promise to deliver results that will live up to the achievements of Dran and his team last year.」

Lenia’s choice of words regarding the successful start of the tournament indicated that she understood the unsettling situation plaguing Arkrest Kindgom right now.

In the months leading up to the Magic Tournament, the Romal Empire in the west, Todorokuni and Korato in the east, and the dark wilderness in the north were all ticking time bombs that could explode at any time.

When these bombs finally exploded, it was hard to tell whether the aftermath would reach Arkrest Kingdom. On the other hand, there was a chance that mayhem would break out in the kingdom itself. There was a high likelihood that the Magic Tournament would be canceled in such a situation.

It was easy to imagine that Lenia would be furious if she lost the opportunity to demonstrate her skills to Dran. She would then build a mountain of corpses on the battlefield, thinking that she could do better at war.

「I’m glad I could be of help to you. It’s a great honor as your seniors to mentor and push our juniors to greater heights. It was a fruitful four days for us as well since we got to interact with the dragons of Mores mountains.」

「In that case, I can hold my head high in pride. Kushli, Blue Cat, you guys have to express your gratitude as well. You’ve had the privilege of enjoying the generosity of our great and benevolent predecessors!」

Kushli and Aznar grinned at Lenia, who showed no signs of recovering from her arrogance. They had learned over the past four days that this little tyrant was also a very caring girl. As a result, their fear and trembling had decreased greatly compared to bitter smiles.

「I don’t need you to tell me that. The baroness and everyone in Bern have treated me so well that I’m feeling bad about it. If I don’t deliver results after everything here, I’ll despise myself for being so pathetic.」

「You’re absolutely right. The generosity that we’ve received here is unthinkable, especially with the training with the dragons. I don’t think any other magic academy would have this level of cooperation from external parties. Even though I’m not feeling particularly pressured, but my body is tingling. If I can keep this up until the Magic Tournament, I’ll definitely achieve results. Though, maybe I’m just being complacent.」

Christina smiled and offered words of encouragement to the two who were already more confident than they were before their training. Although she did not have much time to get acquainted with them, there was no doubt that she was looking forward to their growth.

「I think you’ve become much more dependable. As the baroness, I’m thankful that the quality of the kingdom’s magic academies are this wonderful. From the point of view as a graduate of Galois Magic Academy, the other magic academies are also filled with talented students. I hope that you won’t be intimidated by the impressiveness of the other academies, but inspired to show your skills during the tournament.」

Despite the Agrilia’s Bracelet that made Christina ugly, she was still a lady with unparalleled beauty. A single smile from her was enough to brighten the moods of Kushli and Aznar. That being said, almost everyone present understood that Aznar would have been more thrilled by Lenia’s expectations of him than Christina’s

Dran and the rest came to a similar conclusion that Aznar had to start with working on getting Lenia to ditch the nickname of “Blue Cat” and call him by his first name.

It was one thing for Lenia, who was usually very close with Dran and Irina, to address Aznar by his name and recognize him as a competent junior. On the other hand, it was extremely difficult to tell whether their relationship would develop in the direction that Aznar desired.

While a large majority of the party sympathized with Aznar’s arduous journey ahead, Nelneshia added a slightly different color to her usual blank expression. She discreetly leaned close to Christina and whispered silently so that only Dran and his friends could hear her.

If the Magic Academy students who knew Christina had witnessed this scene, they would have exclaimed on the spot as if they had seen hell on earth or paradise.

「The turmoil in Romal and Korato are worsening. I don’t think Bern will be affected anytime soon, but please keep this in mind.」

「Got it. We won’t receive a request to mobilize troops, but the flow of people and goods will definitely be affected. We’re trying to build our economy on tourism, so that’ll be a problem. Besides, it won’t be pleasant to hear about deaths.」

「When the prestige of a nation is so strongly intertwined with individual desire, it’s inevitable that the lives of people will be affected on a national scale. Christina, your responsibility only lies with the people of Bern. You don’t have to feel responsible for the folks of other lands.」

「Fufu, thanks. You’re really kind, Nelneshia. I’ll make sure I understand what’s within my capabilities, and I’ll be careful not to do anything that’s beyond my ability to handle.」

「Yeah, that’s good. It won’t do to take on too much responsibility or to turn a blind eye to the responsibilities that should be taken on. You’re also surrounded by competent and dependable people, including Dran. That’s why you don’t have to feel embarrassed about relying on those around you.」

「That’s what Dran and the others always say to me. They tell me to consult them when I have doubts, and they want me to depend on them. Goodness, I don’t believe that I’m a person capable of managing a territory on my own anyway.」

「Yeah, as long as you’re with everyone, I’m sure that all troubles will be resolved well.」

Nelneshia was a warrior at heart, but she was still the daughter of a great noble family. With a charming smile, she conveyed her thoughts clearly to Christina. Nelneshia’s comments put Christina at ease. Even as Christina thought that she had received words of gold, she returned an equally beautiful smile.

With that, the four-day training camp in Bern for the contestants of Galois Magic Academy came to an end, and the secret of Lenia’s contact with the Demon Lord’s army remained in the dark.