The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

At this point, Retti from Rainey Town raised a question to Wolse.

"Excuse me, how is the team competition arranged? I have a regular partner who enrolled this semester with me. Can I team up with him?"

It's only natural to instinctively seek out one's regular teammates. Hearing his question, Tatya immediately focused her attention. If she could use this legitimate reason, she could see Naka again.

However, Walls denied it.

"I know everyone has their own teammate. However, this time the school aims to broaden students' acceptance and adaptability as much as possible, allowing you to interact with adventurers who are different from your familiar teammates, thereby developing the ability to quickly find a team with strangers. After all, anything can happen when you go on an adventure. The possibility of you getting separated from your teammates and having to temporarily fight alongside others is not low. Therefore, it has been decided that the team formation results this time will be determined by random lottery."

"Draw lots? That's stupid. I have a best friend who's always by my side. How could I possibly have to team up with someone else..."

"Yeah?"

Rhett was still grumbling when Wolse suddenly swung a punch at his face. She stopped just before it hit. Her punch was too sudden, too fast. Rhett stared at the fist for three seconds before he realized what had just happened. Terrified, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground.

"If I wanted to kill you right now, could your best friend come to your aid? The only ones who could stand against me right now are your classmates... If this were the case, can you honestly say that the ability of a familiar stranger to cooperate with another stranger would be useless?"

"Well... I didn't raise my guard against you because you're a teacher!"

"Because I'm a teacher? That's hard to say. What if I'm a monster disguised as a teacher?"

"Huh?"

"Of course I'm not a monster, I'm just giving an example. Monsters aren't just mindless beasts. There are also many that are just as intelligent as humans, and even more cunning. If they use similar methods to gain your trust and isolate you from your teammates, then you'll be left to fight alone, or try to win over anyone you can to help you. I don't think cultivating this kind of understanding is a pointless thing, teacher."

"..."

Retti could find no more excuses and had no choice but to shut up. The other heroes, especially Takia, were just as resistant to the absurd "random lottery" as Retti. But since they couldn't defy Wolse and the school, they could only remain silent as well.

"Alright. Since you have no further objections, let's draw lots."

Seeing that the students remained silent, Worse suddenly pulled a small cardboard box with a round hole in the top from behind her back. She gave it a slight shake, and the sound of paper rustling inside came from within.

"Huh? You're going to draw it now?"

"That's right. Otherwise, why would I be telling you today? The other classes are drawing lots today too. There's a number written on this piece of paper. After all the classes have drawn lots, a list will be released to show everyone's results. Five adventurers with the same number will form a temporary team. Understand?"

"yes!"

So the heroes lined up and took turns reaching into the box to take out a folded piece of paper.

After everyone had drawn their slips, they all opened them at the same time. Each slip contained only a number. Oz's number was 6, and Tatia's was 17.

Just having a number doesn't tell you who your teammates are. They looked at each other, feeling utterly unexcited.

Oz was indifferent. He was confident he could secure second place, or even first, regardless of who he partnered with. Tatya, on the other hand, was praying she'd draw the same number as Naka.

Mitian took out paper and pen and wrote down the number that each student represented. Then he announced that the class was dismissed.

"Alright, all classes will have a tally tonight. The team formation results will be announced tomorrow morning. Remember your numbers; just find someone with the same number. The assessment will begin this time next week. There are no classes for this week, so you can work out with your new teammates, get familiar with each other, and adjust your mindset. I hope everyone achieves good results! Now, dismissed!"

"yes!"

That night, carefree Oz slept soundly early as usual. Tatya, however, couldn't close her eyes a wink. Could she team up with Naka? And what should she say to her if they were on a team? Until dawn, she tossed and turned these two questions in her mind. She imagined many different ways she would say the first words to Naka, whom she hadn't seen for four months, and how Naka would respond. And how would she respond...? This still-young child placed so many of her hopes on something she couldn't possibly decide.

The sun had just risen when she eagerly jumped out of bed and rushed to the bulletin board announcing the team selection results.

There were nearly a thousand names written densely there, not arranged by the numbers drawn, but by class, with each person's drawn number written after their name. Taqia cursed this utterly inhumane arrangement as she desperately searched for Naka's name among the countless students.

"Oh..."

When Tatia left, Oz was still asleep. But when Oz came over, yawning, she still couldn't find Naka's location.

When Oz woke up, Tatia was already gone. He wanted to speak to her, given her anxious demeanor, but remembering her recent cold attitude, he swallowed his words. He silently stood beside her, searching for his own name.

Tatiana also sensed Oz's approach, but her mind wasn't on him. She continued checking one by one. Finally, she found the section for the Saintess's Elementary Class. But when she saw the first name and the subsequent number, she held her breath.

"Jasmine, age 19. Number 17."

The moment Tatiya saw the number, she knew she no longer needed to look for Naka's name. Her temporary teammate had been decided. It wasn't Naka, but rather Jasmine, who was very close to Naka. Everything she had envisioned last night vanished in an instant. Tatiya suddenly felt an urge to simply give up on the assessment. Although Jasmine was also an acquaintance, Tatiya had no intention or interest in teaming up with her. In fact, she harbored the opposite feeling towards Jasmine.

Before coming to school, she would respectfully call her "Sister Jasmine," but to Tatia now, Jasmine is just like Mittian and Oz—one of the persistent pests haunting Naka and herself.

"But it's fine... let's take this opportunity to let Sister Jasmine understand her proper position and identity..."

Disappointment began to be overtaken by dangerous thoughts. Tatsia licked her lips, completely ignoring the other people with the same occupational number as her.

"Oh, she's my teammate?"

At that moment, Oz also spotted a teammate with the same number as him. He then casually mentioned that person's name.

"Hmm... Naka"

Crushing defeat

Oz found it very strange. He didn't know why he was being pinned down by his roommate and having her grab his collar.

All he knew was that the moment he uttered his teammate's name, Tatia rushed towards him, ignoring the stares of everyone around them. Her eyes, fixed on him, held something Oz had never seen before. Oz asked timidly.

"Um... Tatsia? What are you going to do?"

Tatiana replied fiercely.

Give me your number.

"...What? You got the number? What am I supposed to do then?"

Here's my number.

"Is it really necessary to do this?"

"I won't allow you to refuse."

Why?

I have no obligation to tell you.

"No, even if you told me, I wouldn't..."

The team numbers were determined by drawing lots. Even if you didn't get the teammate you wanted, or someone else drew the teammate you had your eye on, you could only blame your bad luck. Oz didn't understand why Tatia was doing this. Besides, the decision wasn't in his hands. He thought that if Tatia wanted to change her number, she should go to the school to report it. This only left Oz completely confused.

"Hey, what are they doing?"

"Shall we fight? Or just be gay in public?"

More and more new students arrived at the bulletin board to check their lottery results. But before they even saw the board, the first thing they saw was this rather strange sight of one person riding on top of another. Among the reasonable speculations were some biased assumptions from women with unusual sexual preferences, heavily influenced by their own subjective biases. Seeing himself become the center of attention, Oz anxiously urged Tatsia to get off him.

"Um, can we talk about this when we get back? It doesn't look good like this, and it won't sound good to people."

"I'm just asking you, are you going to change it or not?"

"Well, you'll have to give me some time to think about it, won't you?"

Tell me now.

"...I said, haven't you made enough of a scene?"

Oz sensed that Tatsia's mood seemed a bit strange. At first, he didn't dare to provoke her too much. However, he wasn't exactly a model of gentleness and refinement. His previously suppressed wildness and irritability were reignited by Tatsia's overly rude attitude. Finally, even his tone began to become somewhat fiery.

If Tatsia were willing to sit down and discuss things calmly, Oz thought changing her number would be perfectly reasonable. He figured it wasn't impossible if he could just talk to Frost himself. However, her aggressive, uncompromising attitude, leaving him no room for maneuver or saving face, and her refusal to reveal anything, truly infuriated Oz. She had treated him like a stranger all day, and her first words to break the ice were so rude. His displeasure quickly escalated.

Even though Tatia understood that Oz seemed to be losing his temper, she was only concerned with her own goals, completely disregarding Oz's feelings and their image in the eyes of those around them. Faced with Oz's provocative retorts, Tatia refused to back down.

"I'm not arguing with you."

"What else is this if not arguing with me!"

Ultimately, Oz's anger overwhelmed his reason. He was polite to Tatsia, but received no reciprocation. Oz simply didn't want to clash with Tatsia anymore, but that didn't mean he was afraid of it. A rare combat genius wasn't someone to be trifled with. He roared, raised his right leg, and slammed his knee into Tatsia's back, sending her sprawling to the ground. Oz stood up as well. He addressed her, who was lying on the ground...

"I think you're still half asleep. Calm down."

The moment he kicked her away, the surrounding students erupted in chaos. Onlookers urged them to continue fighting, peacemakers tried to break it up, and others wanted to report it to the teacher—all chattering and arguing. But Oz only intended to let it go. Perhaps Tatia had simply been momentarily blinded by something.

But Tatsia didn't think so. Her hands, which were hidden by her body, were now clenched into fists and trembling uncontrollably.

His hatred for being able to team up with Naka, his hatred for being surpassed by her over the past few months, his hatred for not being able to draw a chance to team up with Naka, his hatred for being attacked by him, and even the hatred he felt from the moment they met—all of this was now concentrated in Tatsia's heart. She slowly stood up and said calmly.

"Fine. Since you won't listen to my reasoning, let's settle things with our actions."

"...What?"

The calm was merely a facade. In reality, her emotions had already spiraled out of control. With her back to Oz, Tatia uttered a single sentence to temporarily lull him into a false sense of security, then abruptly turned and punched him in the face. Still pondering the meaning of Tatia's words, Oz was caught off guard and struck so hard he was dizzy and fell to his knees.

When the freshmen saw that Tatia had retaliated, the onlookers, always eager for drama, fanned the flames even more enthusiastically. Even those who tried to intervene were pulled back by the excuse that "they're all combat classes; fighting is normal." After that, no one stepped forward to stop the farce.

Oz rubbed his chin, fighting off the dizziness, and shakily stood up, staring at Tatsia in disbelief. She was beckoning to herself with her finger and saying dismissively...

"This is for that kick I gave you earlier. Now we're even. Come on, I'll wait for you to get up before I attack again."

This kind of surprise attack was something Oz often did in the past. But Frost kept reminding himself to stay calm, to be tolerant and forgiving. So Oz had already given her a way out. But Tatiana not only didn't appreciate it, but instead wanted to escalate the situation. He couldn't believe she would do such a thing.

Even though he had tried to be more cautious in his dealings, Oz, who had been fighting since childhood, would never back down in the face of a provocation from an enemy. Since Tatia was pushing her luck, Oz readily accepted the challenge. He didn't know why Tatia was so insistent on exchanging numbers. Unlike her, Oz wasn't interested in numbers or teammates. It was just that he hadn't felt this itchy, urge to fight in a long time.

"I don't know what's wrong with you... but if you're looking for a beating, I'll give you a good beating today!"

"Okay. Whoever wins gets your number, and whoever loses..."

Tatia's goal was the number Oz had. Oz, on the other hand, just wanted a good fight. So, while Tatia was still discussing the gains and losses after winning or losing, Oz ignored all that trivial matter, instantly closing the distance between them and delivering a powerful punch to her stomach. She was only halfway through her sentence when the punch choked her. Tatia's mouth gaped open, and she clutched her throbbing abdomen as she crouched down.

If it were just a friendly sparring match, Oz would simply wait for her to recover and regroup before starting again. But from the moment she ambushed him, and he retaliated in kind, it became a real fight, no longer a sparring match. He steeled himself, raised his leg, and kicked Tatsia, who was crouching on the ground, in the face, knocking her to the ground once more. A torrent of blood gushed from Tatsia's nostrils.

"You...you damned thing!"

Now, Tatia, who had instigated the conflict, felt deeply insulted and aggrieved. She no longer cared about the consequences of winning or losing. Enraged, she scrambled to her feet, roaring and charging at Oz. The two began to fight mercilessly, their battle even more brutal than their first meeting.

The crowd began to cheer. And from the outermost edge of the crowd, two figures dressed in nuns' habit slowly approached.

"Huh? What's going on over there? Are people fighting?"

"It seems so."

The tall saint spoke to the short saint. The short saint nodded.

They were also there to check the lottery results. However, because they had eaten at the cafeteria first after getting up, they arrived later than the others. By the time they arrived, the battle on the other side seemed to have reached a fever pitch.

The new students had formed six concentric circles around the crowd. The two saintesses were completely baffled as to the reason for the fight, nor could they see who was fighting whom. They decided to ignore the spectacle and instead went to the now-empty bulletin board to confirm the names of the adventurers whose numbers matched theirs.

The first person to find her teammates was the tall saintess.

"Huh? My hero teammate is Tatya. What a coincidence... Naka, even though I'm teaming up with your boyfriend, don't be jealous. Don't worry, I won't steal him from you."

The short saint ignored her companion's mischievous teasing and continued checking whose name her number had appeared next to. Only when she realized it did she frantically turn around, looking towards the crowd still watching the fight. Her sudden movement startled her roommate.

"What's wrong, Naka?" the tall saintess asked.

"...Jasmine, I think I know who's fighting whom."

"what?"

There was one person who understood the dire consequences if Tatsia knew that Naka's number appeared after Oz's name. That person was the short saint: Naka herself.

She could imagine how disappointed Tatia would be to learn that she wasn't her teammate, and she could also imagine the foolish things she might do when she found out that the person she most wanted was Oz's teammate. After not seeing her for months, Naka hoped she could have some peace and quiet by herself. But this fact, completely contrary to her expectations, was still too difficult for a child Tatia's age to accept. It wasn't hard to guess what reckless things she might do in this situation.

When they parted, Naka had said, "Let's not meet for now." She didn't think it was the right time to see Tatia either. But because she was so worried about Tatia, Naka eventually ran into the crowd, pushing her way forward. The tall saintess, Jasmine, seeing Naka's pale face, immediately followed.

But when they squeezed to the front, they were stunned by what they saw. Naka had initially thought that the battle between Oz and Tatia would be evenly matched. But the reality was quite different.

The sparring match four months ago ended in victory for Tatia, but now she is no match for Oz. The difference in physique between men and women, the difference in talent between Oz and Tatia, the difference in comprehension... these innate differences that are extremely difficult to overcome through hard work determine the course of the battle.

Oz was unharmed except for a layer of sweat on his forehead, while Tatia was covered in blood from her nose, gums, and wounds. Oz assumed Tatia was a man, and therefore struck her mercilessly.

Oz's fist marks and shoe prints were visible all over her body. Severely injured, her movements were incredibly slow. Tatia attacked haphazardly, each strike easily parried or dodged by Oz, who then launched a counterattack. Tatia was knocked to the ground time and again, but she rose again and again. Dizzy and disoriented, she could barely recognize the person in front of her. Even so, she continued to silently recite her most fundamental conviction.

"I want...I want to team up with Naka...I absolutely won't let you have Naka..."

Her voice was extremely weak. Not only the onlookers, but even Oz, who was fighting her, couldn't hear it. Only Naka could decipher the exact words she was muttering from the movement of her lips. She silently closed her eyes.

"Hey! Naka! That boy's getting beaten up! We have to stop them!...Naka?"

Her boyfriend was being beaten unilaterally. This wasn't a fight anymore; it was abuse. But his girlfriend, Naka, remained unmoved. This puzzled Jasmine greatly. She tugged hard at Naka's sleeve, but Naka remained unmoved.

Naka wasn't unsympathetic towards Tatsia. Seeing her suffer so much trying to team up with her, Naka couldn't bear to watch and chose to close her eyes. But she knew she couldn't interfere this time. Even without witnessing the whole thing, she knew Tatsia had started the trouble. She had helped her far too much already. But all her efforts hadn't brought her happiness or joy; instead, they had led her astray into a twisted world. At least this time, Naka believed Tatsia should reap what she sowed.

With Naka not intervening, Jasmine had no power to do so either. The two saintesses, unwilling to accept defeat, could only choose to observe the situation quietly.

One side was constantly being attacked, while the other remained unscathed. Soon, the difference in their stamina and condition reached its limit. Facing Tatia, who was swaying precariously, her eyes glazed but still managing to maintain her stance, though no longer able to launch an attack, Oz raised his fist.

"It's amazing you've managed to hold on this long, Tatia. I initially thought you'd be down ten minutes ago. But unfortunately, the outcome is already decided. You did beat me last time, but this time, I'm going to take back what's mine."

With that, Oz threw a right straight punch at Tatsia's chin. The blow itself wasn't particularly heavy, but it was the final straw. Tatsia's body immediately fell backward, lying stiffly on the ground, motionless.

Oz blew on his fist with a "whoosh," casually declaring his victory.

"I won."

"Hey! What are you all doing over there! Scatter!"

It's hard to say whether it was a coincidence or not. Just as Tasia collapsed, Ms. Wolse finally arrived. After dispersing the crowd of onlookers and seeing Oz and Tasia lying on the ground, she coldly questioned the boy still standing.