*****

A sunny morning at the academy.

Around half of first-year students are gathered in the plaza, a total number of forty-two.

These are the people who decided to join the expedition to West Zircon after receiving a notice three days prior. For them, this is a rare chance to inform themselves of the Neveah church's training programs, as well as get more practical experience dealing with monsters.

Those who declined the offer are either not interested in the church, already have a sponsor, or don't want to step into the infamous Zircon Forest. One such person is Amelia Luminous - The only one missing among the students of class 1-A.

While waiting for the church people to arrive, the students naturally get to gossiping. The main topics range from the top dogs, which are the usual class A and B students, all the way to 'Miss G' and the recent cult subjugation or the content of this expedition. The materials are abundant, so the conversations thrive freely.

Soon, two people step on the stage, prompting the students to stop talking altogether. One of them is an old man in a priest outfit; the other is a knight clad in silver armor.

''Ahem.'' The old man coughs. ''It is an honor to know everybody here; I am Cavil, a servant of goddess Neveah.''

Although Cavil introduces himself like that, everyone can easily infer from the number of four edge stars on his shoulder that this man is a bishop.

''First of all, I sincerely thank you for your time here. Let us get right into the details of this expedition. Since there are forty-two students present, we will form exactly seven teams, each of which has six people to explore the outer layer of West Zircon.''

Hearing the phrase 'outer layer,' some breathe out in relief.

''Additionally, as mentioned in the prior notice, we will assign two holy knights to each team, ensuring the safest experience for everyone.''

Each of those knights is at least over level 30, on par with the best students of the academy. This is to demonstrate the military prowess of the church or, more broadly, the holy country of Neveah.

After briefly explaining the safety protocols for the expedition, Cavil wraps up his speech.

''The team placements have already been decided, so please follow the instructions of our holy knights. Then, I wish you a safe and fruitful journey. May the goddess be with us.''

With that, Cavil leaves the plaza, and close to twenty holy knights pour in. As the students start to move, a knight with more extravagant armor, who seems to be their captain, steps in to organize the teams accordingly.

Once everyone is in their correct team, the captain checks everything the last time, and they begin to move. The distance between the plaza and the entrance to Zircon forest isn't exactly far, so there is no car prepared.

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The trip is quiet; part of it is because the students are quite awkward around these upright-looking knights. This is especially true for team one, but maybe for another reason.

''We're together quite a lot, aren't we?''

A mischievous-looking pink-haired speaks up, her twin tails bobbing along her light steps. Team one consists of all four present A class students and three top B class ones, including Scarlett.

''Oh, are you guys usually paired together?''

The captain of the holy knights—Astra branch—Lionheart turns back to ask Luxia. He and another formidable knight are assigned to this team, specifically to protect these highborn students.

''Yeah, I wonder when they're going to split us. That would be quite sad.'' Luxia replies. ''We're all good friends, after all!''

In reality, Luxia can tell from her mind-reading skills that only she thinks so. The crown princess doesn't really care about her; the same can be said about the transfer student. The two students from class B don't have any interaction with her, so they can't consider her as a 'friend' either.

Only Scarlett and the boy from Apollo Duchy have positive thoughts about her, so at least that is good. Though, it's not like Luxia cares either way. This is just her way of speaking.

''Hahah, geniuses getting along with each other, is there a better sight than this?''

The burly captain laughs along. He is genuine, and Luxia feels terrible for his innocence.

''Well, we are missing one here, aren't we?'' Aaron Apollo chimes in.

''Right, I already miss Ame so much~'' Luxia whines. ''Our number one is slacking off, tch, tch.''

Luxia can smell it. Something is fishy around here, as with every time the prestigious Luminous lady and her maid are involved.

With that thought lingering in her head, Luxia advances into the forest with everybody else.

Meanwhile, inside the Backrooms.

The master of this forest herself, Aurora, is currently eating potato chips while reading a novel she brought from the academy's library. Gathered here are the usual members: Amelia Luminous, aka Chloe, Slen, Smiley, Ariel, and Nova. 049 is currently playing chess with Skely out in the cave. They seem to be getting along quite well the last few days.

The little, well, no longer little place has now become quite cozy if one looks at it from the outside. Even Nova, who usually finds ways to fight Aurora, is now relaxing in the air. Not only that, but the static buzzes in the Backrooms are now no longer noticeable to everyone, so being here is no different from staying in a totally silent area.

''...''

Engrossed in the book, Aurora suddenly finds something disrupting her immersion. She closes her book with a slight frown.

'Hah... I just reached the intense part...'

Seeing this, Chloe speaks up.

''Aurora?''

''They just entered the area. Get ready to move.''

''Oh. Good luck~''

Since Chloe has no reason to appear in this operation, she is just here for emergencies. The same can be said about Nova, and Ariel can't handle the sun, so Aurora and her two horror summons begin to move out of the Backrooms.

On the way, they decide not to bother the skeleton and the doctor plague friends since they seem to be focused on their battle of wit.

Once outside, Slen and Smiley swiftly go off to the distance, each in one direction, as per Aurora's instructions. Aurora also begins to move.

This operation's intended goal is to scare away potential 'intruders' in case they get too close to their operational base or the owl family. That is precisely what Aurora will say if she is asked to make a random excuse on the spot.

In reality, she just wants to assert dominance over these people, and she doesn't like her hard-earned territory to be treated like a practice field in the first place.

But she is willing to make some compromises. If they only explore the outer layer, as announced, she is ready to let them go scot-free, but if they try to do deeper in...

'Well, probably not.'

Sitting on a relatively tall tree's branch, Aurora lets out a sign. She had to change her sleep time yesterday for this; how annoying.

Nevertheless, she has kidnapped a few monsters from other areas and put them near the border with the academy, so hopefully, they are satisfied with those.

Needless to say, things aren't going to go as she wishes.