"So, what's our plan, Allen? Have you thought of anything?" Dol's question flew toward me, only to meet a shrug of my shoulders. "Don't ask this from a substitute, Dol. You're the vice-president. Feel free to horse around me and Purim-senpai." Hearing my reply, Dol wore a doubtful expression. "You really do have a way for words, eh. I bet you will follow them for the most part, and when we're in the climax, you're going to pull a move that will toy with only opponent, but even throw us off, while conveniently making excuse that "I was only acting under the command of our leader."" H-How rude, that Oafish has no respect... "And why would I sabotage the match I had been waiting for? Well, but on a serious note, the role of Martin-senpai is too big to be filled by me alone. I do not have any firepower in this format, so I can only be the team's scout. Purim-senpai will have to keep on offensive all the same to compensate for it honestly. In that case, you're left to be in the support attack role, Dol. You're the balance among us three, so it makes sense that you lead us." It sounds quite gibberish even to my ear, but I ad-lib my reasoning. I was quite confident of my point-blank range magic wind cutter, however the principle it functions on was quite opposite of typical Emission Magic. A typical emission type magic worked by transmuting their mana into trained attributes, and increased the might by channeling more mana into it—aka increasing mana density. But, my wind cutter required me to create a pocket of vacuum, which meant lowering down the density of mana into the air. I had attempted it on the pendant we were distributed before entering the ground, but it didn't react at all, just as I had presumed. I fear they would see the wind cutter as a physical damage dealer, and that may jeopardize my qualification. "...It's your 'I had been looking forward to' that concerns me the most, Allen. Anyway, then I presume this also nullifies your command as coach for the match, is it?" Dol, still ever so doubtful, asked for another confirmation. I nodded unhesitatingly. "Of course. I mean, I hadn't thought I would be participating at all, so I am blank slate about rules for this team royal battle. As I said, I will be sticking to my role as substitute, only playing the support role. Kukuku." Dol cradled his head in his arms when I chuckled at the end of my speech. After that, we exchanged details about basic information and rules, while also setting our coordination. Once everything was set, we were guided to pick a lottery determined which gate we would be taking entry from. And once that was over, the 2nd day of the Rising Dragon Cup officially began. As soon as we passed through the designated gate, it was apparent we were in the Village Zone. There were eight entrances to take into this field. Of which, six of them led to Jungle Zone, while the other two led to Battlefield Zone, and Village Zone respectively. ".........Heh, that's quite a lucky break. So, what do you have for us, Dol?" This match also forbids carrying simple tools, or medicines, but, as long as they’re not too late, such commodities could be collected from Village Zone. Since we're the first, we obviously would have a monopoly on all the important stuff. In the lottery, Village Zone was desirable, but Battlefield Zone wasn’t also a bad draw. In case of later, first arrival teams could familiarize themselves with the terrain as well as pick a prime spot for themselves. "......We sure are lucky, but I can't help but feel icky. Anyway, let's act on the basics and search apotherapy. We should get any mana recovery medicine if there's. Then we will jump into the jungle as planned." The Royal Team Battle had participants from eight nations, each hoping to score a victory. Of course, not everyone was a super hitter, which meant confident teams would be more straightforward. However, anyone who knew their limit would surely try to fish for an advantage, and play it sneakily. Once more than a few teams were locked in a chaotic battle, it would be a battle of survival of fittest. This year, everyone’s vote leaned on Rosemieu as the fan favourite winner, and stack against Yuglia were very few, That's the conclusion Dol reached. It was just what I had expected. I might be a wild card entry, which would throw some calculations off, but I could barely do much. You could've combined the score of every grade, and even then, it was dwarfed by Arichi-san and Purim-senpai. I doubt our opponent would dare underestimate us. And a lot of team's first thought would be how to reap profit with minimal effort, so challenging others without a strategy could provide other teams a chance to wipe us out in one full swoop. The participants were each elites among their peers, and with a baggage like me, it would be impossible for Yuglia's team to overpower our challengers in 2 versus 1 or 3 versus 1. So, even if we had managed to draw a lottery for Battlefield entrance, our strategy was to jump into the Jungle, and try to snipe out enemies. It was just a dumb luck that we pulled the luckiest spot.   Follow current novᴇls on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵 A team's victory was guaranteed if they'd managed to eliminate all their opponents within the time limit, but in the scenario of two or more teams making it out until the time limit, the ranking would be decided by points—or to say, how many opponents they'd eliminated. Thus, it prevented anyone's attempt to play safe by hiding themselves until the time up. After all, if they did so, the lack of points would immediately put them at the bottom rank. It was quite a balanced, but important rule, encouraging the participants to be proactive. It didn't take us long to find the apothecary. We promptly searched it for any useful items, and during the search, Purim-senpai found a certain object, bringing in confusion. "......Tranquilising Poison? It's strange, why would there be poison mixed among......" Tranquilising poison was a type of paralysing drug used against monsters in hunting. It was similar to what I had used in the outdoor orientation. The vial that Senpai found had a big skull—a marker for poison—etched into the label. Dol and I reflexively looked at each other. "......I know. 'Use it,' is what they're saying huh." However, the last I heard, details about orientation—of me using and spreading paralysing drugs with my wind magic was supposed to be a 'classified' intel. Hmm, but again, several hundreds of soldiers had fallen prey to my poison attack. The more mouths there're, the harder it was to keep a secret. It wasn't an entirely unexpected outcome. Conversely, it also revealed the limited information the other side had. After all, had they knew the exact details, they wouldn't have bothered with such tricks. "This is why I hate politics....." I had no idea whoever that executive was to allow it, but it was apparent they didn't care even if the poison—an illegal item that wasn't supposed to be in the game—was used against their own team members. I could have still understood if they'd used it to cheat their victory. But, to ignore participant's will, and even turning one's own participants into a sacrifice just to extract information from me was an act unforgivable. I took the poison vial from Purim-senpai, and after a short glare at the monitoring camera, dropped it into the ground. They wanted to know what I did, right? Fine, I will give them a live demonstration on how it’s done. Katalina grinned to herself when she watched that scene on the display. "Uh-huh, it was a *honest* blunder of the officer, but I didn't expect you to be so straightforward, Allen. Come on, I am waiting to see what more is in your gourd, eh?" "Battlefield, huh. It's a bit of a letdown. If we truly stick to this place, no one should be able to bring us down even if the other teams band together. Well, Yuglia alone had some prospects against us, but with the dropout of Martin Gabananty, they're a joke now. What do you think, Aricihi-sama?" Eclair murmured off in a brisk tone. She was an avid supporter of Arichi, even supporting her from her position as the Student Council of Olympus Magus Academy. She was also a 2nd year student, and in yesterday's preliminary match, she regrettably found herself falling behind Martin, having to be content with 2nd rank. As such, she had been quietly burning in her enthusiasm to fight off Martin in today's team royal battle, but the news of Martin dropping out was like a thunderbolt to her. In her mind, she felt betrayed, and naturally, it was now seeping into her tone. Arichi, however, shook her head, her eyes drawing a steep look. "The detection range of Allen-san's wind magic is extremely troublesome. And with his unpredictable personality, he's dangerous in a different sense from Martin Gabananty. I feel we would only be cornering ourselves if we do nothing but stick to defense." Arichi cautioned her teammates, however Kybaria—she was also a member of  student council as their secretary—srcunhed her expression as if she just saw something disgusting. "You overestimate him, Your Highness. It doesn't change that he can't transmute his mana into other attributes, leaving him with no means to attack. Even our weakest first year would emerge unscathed against him for the same reason. He's nothing more than a bonus target, whose fame is only in his name, and I dare say every team should be thinking of defeating him. I have decided. I might as well use him as a stepping stone." "You can never be cautious enough, Kybaria. I am repeating myself here, but his scouting range is at least 50 metres. As soon as you're in his range, you're like an open book to him. You cannot hide yourself even behind a cover, and there's no whisper that you can keep away from him." "I heard you, Your Highness. But this is why I am going to give that pompous vermin a funeral for the audacious declaration he made against the Emperor. He's going to snatch you from the Empire with force, he says? He has lived long enough." Kybaria said, displaying an incensed look. The sudden statement brought a scarlet hue to Arichi's cheek who then broke into sprinting. "A-Anyway! Being a turtle in a shell wouldn't suit us. We will burn them down to cinder face-to-face.” It wasn't the first time there had been a marriage proposal to Arichi in her absence. There were quite many interested in political marriage for her status as a descendant of the imperial family, and quite possibly an emperor down the line. However, for the person herself— "I also have my own responsibility to take care of myself. So I can't let you do as it pleases, Allen-san." Arichi murmured, more so in a tone as to remind herself, and shook her head for a change of pace.