Althea: The Legendary Saintess [Shoujo]

Upon exiting the cave, familiar fountain spread out inexplicably before their eyes.

"Illusion magic is amazing, isn't it... I wonder what kind of people can use such magic."

Julia seemed curious about the user of the magic. While other members blinked in surprise, they looked around the surroundings.

After confirming the surroundings for a while, Siegfried judged that there was no danger and called out to everyone to start moving forward.

On the way from the back of building B to the central building, several traps were set up, but thanks to Laila and Claro, everyone safely reached the central building.

Upon entering the "second floor of the central building," there was a "green box" placed in the center of the hall.

"It's quite conspicuous. If it's this conspicuous, there might be traps... I'll open the box, so everyone should brace themselves for anything that might happen."

Siegfried signaled to everyone and approached the "green box" in the center alone.

Counting down "3, 2, 1," when he opened the lid...

A black mist-like substance burst out from within, heading towards the students behind Siegfried.

"Earthen Wall!!!"

In an instant, Althea's voice echoed. Then a wall appeared in front of everyone except Siegfried, deflecting the black mist-like substance.

"Well done, Althea! 'Let my hand be the sword, flame sword!'"

Immediately after the black mist-like substance was deflected, it was bisected by the flaming sword that appeared in Siegfried's dominant hand. And from the dissipated mist, a piece of paper fell to the floor of the hall.

As Althea dispelled the wall, everyone rushed to Siegfried.

During this time, Siegfried picked up the paper and read it aloud.

"'Next Stage'...?"

As he read aloud, the floor of the hall began to shine brightly, causing everyone to close their eyes. At the same time, they felt a sensation of being lifted up into the air.

Their lifted bodies were slowly lowered to the ground, and the brightness around them gradually subsided.

When Althea slowly opened her eyes, it was a place she had never seen before.

"Where is this...?"

First-year students, including Althea, voiced their doubts as they looked around.

"...It's an arena."

Siegfried spoke calmly.

"Is this within the school? I didn't know such a place existed..."

It seemed that even the second-year students were visiting for the first time.

Currently, the teams in the arena are represented by students, with 10 teams: gold, silver, white, red, green, blue, yellow, and two top-ranking teams, purple and light green.

"What are we going to do here?"

As Kaera asked with a slightly excited voice upon hearing "arena," announcements began in the venue.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. The teams gathered here are the top 10 teams with the most points cleared under each condition. Now, we will announce the points. Gold team, 500 points, silver team, 350 points..."

As the points were announced, a board displaying the points conversion appeared in front of them.

The breakdown of points seemed to be:

• 4 people who were designated to enter the cave door and cleared the conditions and were able to reunite: 4 people × 50 points
• People who were able to escape within the designated time after reuniting: 10 people × 10 points
• People who were transported from the hall to this location: 10 people × 20 points

It seems that points are given to each individual... Althea glanced at the other teams and noticed that except for the gold team, all the remaining teams were still intact.

"There seem to be fewer people in the other teams."

Althea whispered to Laila.

"Yes, maybe some teams retired during the trial or exceeded the time limit."

Laila nodded in agreement, and just as they felt someone's gaze, Althea looked to see Regalus smiling in the distance.

Feeling relieved at her brother's safety, she instinctively waved her hand.

"What are you doing?"

Erica stared at her with a puzzled voice.

"Even if he's your brother, he's an enemy now, isn't he? I don't think you should be friendly."

"Yes, you're right... I apologize."

"You don't have to say it like that. Althea and her brother are close, so I think they can rejoice in each other's safety. It's okay for them to feel that way."

Kaera interjected after listening to their exchange.

But Althea said, "Lady Kaera, it's my fault. As you said, it's not the time to relax. He cautioned me that we might fight here. I'll do my best to ensure our team wins... I'll give it my all to ensure our team wins."

As she firmly shook hands and smiled, Erica's eyes widened, and then she blushed slightly and turned away, almost simultaneously as the announcements for each team's points ended.

"Now, let's proceed with the explanation of the battles to be held here. The opposing teams will be randomly selected here. The teams are responsible for choosing who will participate in the battles and the order, but please select nine members from each team. One person is allowed to participate in up to two battles.

Also, only basic magic is allowed, and weapons are restricted to magical tools provided here. The victory or defeat of the battle is determined by the damage to the designated areas on the equipped magical tools. If any of the specified areas on the equipment are damaged by magic or sword, the battle ends.

If you wish to forfeit, please damage the specified area yourself. Furthermore, the designated areas on the equipped magical tools have been enchanted to change color when attacked by magic or sword.

After the explanation, there will be a 10-minute preparation time. Please decide on the participants and order within your team and place the information in the nearby boxes.

If the information is not placed in the box within the time limit, it will result in automatic disqualification.

Also, if there are not enough people and there is no opposing team, please write 'absent' on the box. It will be considered an automatic disqualification.

Ultimately, the team that wins the most out of 9 battles will be the winner. The winning team will receive points equal to the number of wins multiplied by 100 points. Also, each team gathered here will be given a treasure according to the outcome of the match... Now, let's begin the preparation time!"

With that command as a signal, a countdown appeared on the board that had previously displayed the point conversion.

After discussing, the gold team decided that Siegfried would be the first, Erica the second, Kaera the third, Claro the fourth, Laila the fifth, Finis the sixth, Richt the seventh, Siegfried the eighth, and Althea the ninth. Kaera, Finis, and Althea were allowed to forfeit if they wanted to.

"Miss Althea, the defensive magic you used earlier was amazing, but you don't have to push yourself too hard. You're allowed to forfeit if you want."

"Yeah, if we win five out of the eight matches, it'll be fine."

Siegfried agreed with Richt's words.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll definitely win too, so of course, so will Laila, right? So, Lady Althea, just watch as if you're on a large ship," When Kaera winked and said that,

"Hehe, understood. But, everyone, don't push yourselves too hard, okay?"

As Althea smiled and replied, the signal for the end of the preparation time sounded.

After the signal, a randomly determined match schedule appeared in the center.

Althea and Siegfried breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it. It was because the opposing team was the red team.

If it were the silver team with Regalus, their chances of winning would drop significantly. Currently, among the students attending the school, there was no one who could beat Regalus. ...Unless Althea might be the only one who could win, but Regalus wouldn't withdraw during team battles.

Anyway, they managed to avoid the worst combination.

And in one of the several arenas in the arena, matches progressed one after another, and finally, it was time for the gold team versus the red team.

The representative of the red team was Oliver Norland.

"...They're not even breaking a sweat. Of all teams, it had to be the gold team..."

"Isn't it better than the silver team, though?"

"No, you're probably the one who hates the silver Regalus team more, right? I'd rather face the gold Siegfried team. But... we won't go down without a fight."

There are still 7 members left on the red team.

In the first match, a female student came out, exchanged greetings with Siegfried, and declared a non-combat defeat.

In the second match, also with a female student, but since Kaera also wished for a non-combat defeat, both teams ended in a draw.

The third match involved a male student and was a battle against Kaera. After a few minutes of fighting, Kaera won by a narrow margin.

The fourth match was Oliver Norland versus Claro, both using magic in their battle. However, due to the difference in the types of magic available, Claro ended up losing.

The fifth and sixth matches were non-combat victories due to the shortage of students on the red team.

For the seventh match against Richt, Oliver Norland appeared again.

"Ugh, I'm having such bad luck... Of all people, I have to face the student representative... I don't feel like I can win."

"Oliver is supposed to fight with basic magic, so if you focus on swordplay like Miss Kaera did in the second match, you should be fine."

Siegfried advised Richt, who muttered anxiously.

"Um... I'm not very good with a sword..."

"...I understand. Well, we've already won four matches at this point, so you can forfeit without pushing yourself too hard."

"Thank you! ...Then, I'll forfeit."

After receiving the OK, Richt promptly went up to the arena, declared a non-combat defeat, and returned.

In the eighth match, Siegfried's opponent was a second-year male student he had never seen before.

He wasn't in last year's martial arts tournament... or maybe, like Oliver, he's good at magic. Either way, I can't afford to let my guard down...

While admonishing himself, Siegfried entered the arena and bowed to his opponent.

The opponent returned the gesture, and the match began.

Almost immediately, the opponent rushed at Siegfried. Dodging skillfully, Siegfried simultaneously cast a spell to enhance his speed. With increased agility, Siegfried circled behind his opponent, restrained him, and placed his sword against his neck, ending the match.

"We've won five matches first, so it's a victory for the gold team. The remaining matches will be decided on whether the losing team requests to continue. Red team, what will you do?"

Siegfried, Laila, and Regalus watched nervously as they waited for Oliver Norland's decision.

After discussing with the remaining member, Oliver Norland chose not to continue the matches. As a result, 600P was added to the gold team, and 350P to the red team, and each team received their respective 'treasures.'

The other five matches also concluded.

The winning teams in the arena were gold, silver, green, yellow, and purple.

"Now, we will transfer everyone to the schoolyard. Please gather in the center."

Following the announcement, all the students in the arena gathered in the center, and once again, they were enveloped in a dazzling light. When the light subsided and they opened their eyes, they found themselves at the location where the opening declaration of the exploration event had been made.

As they arrived at the location of the opening declaration, the results of all the events were announced promptly.

"Congratulations to all teams. Now, let's move on to this year's results. In first place with 1600P, the gold team. In second place with 1450P, the silver team. In third place with 1400P, the yellow team..."

The teams announced cheered and expressed their joy by hugging each other.

Of course, the first-place gold team was no exception.

In an attempt to share the joy, Richt tried to embrace Althea, but was blocked by Siegfried and Laila. Similarly, Erica, who tried to cling to Siegfried while he was distracted, was easily dodged and ended up jumping onto Finis, who happened to be standing nearby. Erica awkwardly lectured Finis to cover up her embarrassment.

After the announcement of the rankings, there was a summary from the school head, followed by a report of the addition of points to the first to fifth place teams' mid-term grades. Thus, the Exploration Event Explorer came to a close.

Finally, the exploration event is over. It wasn't supposed to be this long...