"Yes, we are." Teresa Taylor smiled from behind her desk, her hands clasped atop the surface. "For the middle school students. And I want you to help out in it. We're more than willing to pay you, of course."

The talk of money caught my attention and I straightened up. Swallowing, I stared at the headmistress.

"Tell me the details again," I said.

"As you know, we are a mage academy. It is our goal to train Paladins, Sword Saints and warrior mages. As such, every summer we would camp out in the wild, to expose our students to controlled risks and have them gain experience from fighting monsters. Weak ones, of course. But it wouldn't do if we get them hurt or killed, so we need a lot of experienced supervisors who have actually seen a lot of combat. People like you."

"I'm flattered," I responded dryly. "But I'm sure there are more…appropriate people for the job. So why me?"

"Because you already have a connection with the middle school students, and also…if I'm allowed to be frank, you're cheaper to hire than professional mercenaries."

That was true. If she was going to pay the same rate, she might as well hire real professionals, not a kid like me.

"All right. The details?"

"It'll be taking on the edge of Flandor City, next to Flandor Forest. It's well known for being home to low-ranked monsters. Of course, these monsters aren't in very high numbers, and we still have a barrier protecting the campsite when they go to bed. We're training middle school kids, after all, and they are no use to us dead."

"Okay…"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but at least we weren't doing that whole "only the strong will survive" or "we'll make this training as realistic as possible, and real monsters will not show mercy!" nonsense. Even in the military, we had something called conditioning, and all training prioritized safety first. Dead soldiers were no use to anyone, whereas those who dropped out of training and didn't make the cut could excel somewhere else, such as administrative roles. There was no need to kill them off in the name of "training."

There was a difference between training and actual combat, after all. n.o.body expects you to go straight into a real battlefield without any training, and if they did, they were just being stupid. Carrying out a training regimen where 90% of the trainees ended up dead was incredibly inefficient, and you wouldn't have an army to fight when the real war began.

"The training camp will be held next week, from Monday to Friday. It will be five days and four nights. We'll gather in school on Monday morning, and take a bus to the campsite. From there…" Taylor conjured a holographic image to display the schedule. I received a notification from my smartphone, informing that she had sent a copy to my email. "As you can see, this will be our training program. There will be night combat training as well, so be prepared."

"All right." I saw that two of the nights – Tuesday and Wednesday – were dedicated to night training. Oh, this was going to be fun. Not. I wasn't a fan of activities that sacrificed my sleep, but then again I was a night owl and could stay up pretty late. Unfortunately, that only counted when I was allowed to sleep the day off…which wasn't exactly what the training schedule had planned for us. And if this was tough on the kids, then it was going to be a lot tougher on us trainers.

After all, how could we demand of kids things that we couldn't do ourselves?

"Your job is to provide security," Taylor elaborated, spinning another holographic window around to display the details of my contract. "We already have teachers…professional trainers from the Global Federation military, who will take charge of the teaching. But we don't have enough manpower to watch over everybody. That's where you come in. You will stick close to the middle school students and make sure no one gets hurt. Even with all the safety precautions in place, there will still be…unexpected things happening. It's your job to deal with the unexpected."

"Unexpected, huh?" I tried not to roll my eyes. Taylor chuckled.

"Stuff like stronger monsters showing up, appearing out of nowhere. Or a.s.sa.s.sins from the dark guild. Or even the Dark Church. I heard you have fought against them before. Your experience will be greatly appreciated here." She steepled her fingers and leaned over to stare at me closely. "This is why I believe you will be a great choice for this job. In fact, there are rumors that Grimaldus might be seizing this chance to launch an attack, with all the students so far away from the city. I'll feel more a.s.sured if someone like you is around to keep watch on them."

"I'll do it." I was planning on returning to Jing Tian City for the summer, go home to see Dad and all that filial piety thing, but the opportunity to make a bit of spare cash was too tempting an offer to resist. Besides, it might help me with my own training. Every chance I could get to pit my skills against monsters or a.s.sa.s.sins or dark priests, I would be more than happy to take. It would definitely improve my ability for the future.

"Excellent." Taylor rose to her feet and stretched her hand out to shake mine. "We have a deal then."

"Yes, ma'am." I shook her hand before signing the contract.

*

Monday came, and I was accompanying the kids to the school, where we were supposed to meet up to board the bus and everything.

"Eh? Brother Richie, you're coming along too?" Adrian was surprised. I glared at him.

"I told you the other day, didn't I? Have you already forgotten?"

"I didn't." Melina raised her hand, looking smug. "Sensei is accompanying us as security! He's coming to make sure we don't get into any trouble with high-level monsters and a.s.sa.s.sins."

"That's right." I was glad that Melina remembered. Adrian laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot."

"More like you weren't paying any attention!" Melina chided him. Before they could get into a further argument, I waved toward the entrance.

"All right, let's go!"

"Have a safe trip," Amelia said behind us, sending us off. We waved back at her, and then we continued onward.

The buses were already all lined up in the square, and the middle school students were milling around, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. There was no sense of danger present – the kids were viewing this camp trip as a fun one, and were really looking forward to it. That was fine – kids didn't have to worry about adult stuff.

I distanced myself and watched as Adrian and Melina ran off to join their cla.s.s after bidding me farewell. Leaning against the bus, I swept a gaze across the gathered cla.s.ses of middle school students. Remembering what I saw in the training schedule, I felt sorry for them.

They had no idea what's coming for them. Heh.

"Oh, you're here too!"

I turned around and caught sight of Rossetti Picket strolling toward me, in that rose-colored, frilly dress of hers. I frowned, wondering why she wasn't in her school uniform.

"Hey."

"The dress looks good on me, huh?" Rossetti giggled as she spun around, showing off her clothes. "I was trying to rip off a.s.sa.s.sin's Pride."

"We're going to get sued for copyright at this rate, you know?" I snapped at her. "Now take off that dress!"

Rossetti's eyes widened and she looked at me in total shock. Her cheeks turned red and she glanced away.

"Wow…Richard, I didn't think you would be this bold. Asking me to undress right here, in front of everybody…in public too…"

"No one asked you to change in public!" I growled, burying my face in my palm. "Just change out of that and wear something else before we get sued for plagiarism!"

"Eh…"

There wasn't any time for her to change, though. The teachers in charge of the camp were already herding their students into the buses, and I followed Adrian and Melina's cla.s.s into their bus. As the teacher sat at the front, I hid at the back, and naturally Adrian, Melina and their friends congegrated there as well.

"Pardon me, but what is your purpose here?" Iris asked curiously. "I believe that this is the training camp for middle school students. Don't the high school students have their own training camp?"

"No, I'm not involved in that one. I'm just an exchange student." I leaned back in my seat and snorted dismissively. "Besides, I'm here as security."

"Sensei is hired to watch over us, in case high-level monsters and criminals attack," Melina explained. I was glad that she didn't specify the a.s.sa.s.sins or Grimaldus. We didn't want the other students to panic and go into a mode of high alert. I wanted them to enjoy the camp as much as possible. That was why I was here.

"I…I see." Iris was saying one thing, but it was clear that she didn't see at all. Why would she? The normal students remained ignorant of the real dangers of the outside world, as shelted as they were. A lot of the students enrolled in Saint Teresa Academy were from wealthy, upper cla.s.s families. The modern version of n.o.bles, in other words. Not to mention, Fergus Franklin had kept the news regarding the abduction of his daughter and Adrian under wraps, covering it up and not letting anyone know about it. As such, the larger public remained ignorant of the threat that Grimaldus posed.

I wasn't about to underestimate them, and since I remained privy to the details – even being directly involved in the conflict – I was able to prepare whatever countermeasures I could.

The journey didn't take long. The bus pa.s.sed through the main road and exited the city. I watched outside the windows as the buildings melted away, replaced by houses. The urban landscape slowly gave way to the suburbs, and then the rows of trees grew denser and denser before we plunged right into the entrance of a forest.

"Oh! We're really going into Flandor Forest!"

"We're leaving the city!"

"This is my first time going outside Flandor City!"

"How exciting!"

I tried not to snort. These were really pampered, sheltered kids who had never been out in the woods before. They were missing out on a lot. Well, perhaps that was why Taylor organized this whole training camp in the first place – to get them out into the real world and gain actual combat experience. To remove the shelter that they sought refuge in and toughen them up. Better to do it now, when there were adults taking care of them and s.h.i.+elding them from the worst consequences and where they were still allowed to make mistakes and learn, than later in life when there was no one to watch out for them. People might celebrate "learning the hard way" but that was just dumb. Seriously. There were more efficient ways of learning, so why select the hard way over them?

I must have dozed off or zoned out, because the next thing I knew, the students were scrambling excitedly to press their faces against the windows, gazing outward in wonder.

"Amazing!"

"So that's the campsite!"

"We're finally here!"

Rousing from my state of half-sleep, I adjusted my gla.s.ses and glanced out of the window. I could see a row of one-story houses stretched out in a clearing deep inside the forest. There were fields, dirt tracks for running, and even a lake next to the camp. Boats and canoes had been placed next to a small jetty, probably for kayaking or water sports.

There was a ripple across the surface of the lake. I was pretty sure it resulted from something ma.s.sive swimming just below the water.

Oh boy…the kids are going to have so much fun in this camp.

Smiling to myself, I leaned back in my seat and tried to picture their expressions of horror when they saw what they would be up against for the next five days and four nights.

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