The next day, the princess and a few knights lead us to the nearby grasslands filled with horned-rabbits and mice. The horned-rabbits are about half a size bigger than those from our world. The horned-mice are just about the same size as the rabbits I am originally familiar with, so they are many times bigger compared to ones I was used to. We were told to ‘concentrate on an image for offence’ and ‘a means of attack against an enemy’ by the few magic users that accompanied the princess. Suddenly, an explosion resounds nearby. I turn to look towards the direction.

“W-Whoa… that was dangerous!” (Male Classmate)

“Princess, he must have an explosive type of magic, but that kind of explosion was much stronger than a 3rd rank mage.” (???)

I see a man wearing a robe move to say something to the princess, but the voice was too soft for me to hear. All I got out of it in the end was the princess' pleasant smile. I notice Kiku making a complicated expression as soon as turn to her.

"Eh? Is something wrong, Kiku?" (Mei)

I start worrying about her, but she shakes her head.

"No, it's... it's okay. Let's continue practicing." (Kiku)

"O-Okay." (Mei)

I try to make another attempt to use magic. After a few tries on imagery, a fireball suddenly fires from my hand from thin air.

“Uwa!!?-" (Mei)

It flies for a meter and disperses.

"W-Wow...” (Mei)

It was a weird sensation. As if warm air was gathering at my palm, before I knew it, a fireball manages to form and shoot from my palm. I feel someone poking my side and turn to find Kiku smiling.

“Ahaha, T-Thank you. Kiku why don't you give it a try?” (Mei)

“M-Me? I…” (Kiku)

Another surprise comes along, cutting off Kiku.

“I-Is this a card?” (Female Classmate)

Cards started appearing from thin air, and float in front of each of our classmates, one after another. One also appeared in front of Kiku.

"......?" (Kiku)

Kiku slowly reaches out to grab it, as if she knew something appeared in front of her.

“W-What is this?” (Kiku)

Kiku scrunched her expression, at a loss for words. She carefully inspected the card using her sense of touch with her fingers. Everyone had the same expressions by the turn of events as they inspected the cards now in their hands.

“It’s some kind of card...” (Mei)

“Does it say anything on the card, Mei?” (Kiku)

“Um… S-Sensibility?” (Mei)

"......" (Kiku)

"......" (Mei)

“I see. So it's something like our personal magic...” (Kiku)

“Eh? Do you know what this card is for?” (Mei)

“Eh? Didn't you hear the voice?” (Kiku)

“Voice?” (Mei)

“N-No, it's nothing.” (Kiku)

Kiku quickly puts away her card in her skirt pocket.

“UUUWWWOOOOOOOO! My partner is here!” (???)

I hear a loud voice and turn around to see Taiko making a commotion as he holds the card in the air with both hands, as if he was enshrining it.

“Eh? Did everyone get a card? I didn’t get a card though…” (Male Classmate)

“From what I noticed, these cards didn’t appear in front of those that managed to use magic. The rest of us that couldn't use magic right off the bat got these cards instead… probably.” (Jane)

“It seems these cards contain magic that only each of us can use...” (Sanna)

Sanna raises her arm with her card in her hand, and a sword materializes in her grip. A few other students follow Sanna’s lead, and the exact same plain-looking sword materializes in their grips.

“Hah!!” (Sanna)

Sanna swings down the sword. As expected of an active member of the kendo club, her posture is beautiful. At the same time, a wave of icicles form in a straight line for a few meters killing a few horned-rabbits from afar that were in its path.

“U-Uwa!?” (Torio)

Lightning sparks from his sword, surprising Torio.

"Heh. Yah! Hah!" (Taiko)

Taiko starts playing with his sword and smiles to himself. I watch him feeling second-hand embarrassment, it just looks like any other everyday sword to me. I look around to see everyone else just swinging their swords with no results, but they are all smiling to themselves. Only Sanna’s sword seemed to have demonstrated what could be considered as acually ‘using’ magic. As our classmates talk amongst each other, the princess seems to be having a discussion with the group of robed men a little further away from the group. Minutes pass, and the princess approaches us.

“Heroes, we have decided to give a try at conquering a floor of a nearby dungeon. I'd like to help everyone become more proficient at using their magic as soon as possible, because time is against us.” (Princess)

“D-Dungeon!?” (Male Classmate)

“Does she mean dungeons, as in monster dungeons...!? Like those dungeons from role-playing games?...” (Male Classmate)

“...If it were just some underground prison, I can’t imagine how we stand to gain anything from going there.” (Male Classmate)

“Our image of a dungeon might differ from this world, so I would like you to explain to us: What does entering a dungeon in this world entail?” (Jane)

Jane directs a question to the princess.

“Dungeons are full of monsters. They are built to trap surrounding monsters to disrupt the flow of monsters. These lands would be overrun if not for the existence of dungeons. Sometimes these dungeons become too full, so we send out armies to empty the first few floors of the dungeon from time to time. We request aid from the Travelers’ Guild for the lower floors. For knights, a dungeon is a perfect place to gain practical experience against various monsters.” (Princess)

“Isn’t it still too early for us to go to such a dangerous place?” (Sanna)

“The further down we go, the stronger the monsters we will encounter. As long as we don't head down too far from the upper floors, we will remain safe.” (Princess)

“This sounds fun though, like I'm in a game.” (Taiko)

“That's true. I play a lot of RPGs, and the princess’ explanation matches what a dungeon would generally be like.” (Male Classmate)

“Oh? You play RPGs too!? What have you played recently?” (Taiko)

“Bunny Burlack, that one was a great RPG.” (Male Classmate)

“Hey, can the two of you act more serious? We are risking our lives here, Have a little more self-awareness.” (Sanna)

"Ok, ok. We got it. Calm down, Ms. Class President."

Taiko and the male classmate turns to each other and shrugs. Sanna is exasperated from the laidback attitude.

“Do you want us to go immediately?” (Reinp)

“No, let's finish up for today. We will depart tomorrow morning.” (Princess)

“You said that time is against us. What did you mean by that?” (Jane)

The princess becomes silent for a moment. We all turn to the princess, waiting for her reply. She finally opens her mouth-

“Yes, we are being pressured by a neighboring country.” (Princess)

“Eh? Are we going to be fighting...?” (Female Classmate)

“You want us to fight against humans?” (Reinp)

“Yes.” (Princess)

“I thought we were only going to fight against monsters...” (Male Classmate)

“I want to protect this country from demons with everyone's help, but I want to conquer the neighboring countries before then, especially the one that has been placing pressure on us." (Princess)

The princess falls into thought once more before opening her mouth.

"The royalty in that country always had evil intentions on trying to conquer us for the past few years. They won't accept our request to ally against the demons. They keep on straining our borders, weakening our military power bit by bit, when we should be fighting together against the demons. Even if both countries were to return to neutrality, I am worried that in the future, they will stab our backs when we are to face the demons from the front.” (Princess)

“B-But... isn't this ‘demon invasion’ the biggest threat for the people in this world...?” (Torio)

“It’s true that not everyone can hold hands and work together. Even back in our world, there were still discord among various countries. I think this is interchangeable in any world.” (Sanna)

“But they were disputing over small things which were hardly harmful in the big picture. This ‘demon invasion’ has got to be a big threat to the people here.” (Jane)

“They must be idiots.” (Taiko)

Taiko shrugs.

“If you have nothing to contribute, could you just stay quiet?” (Sanna)

Sanna sharply glares at Taiko. Taiko brushes Sanna's glare off.

“Is the demon invasion as big a threat as it sounds?” (Jane)

“Yes, all across the land will be overrun if we don't fight back.” (Princess)

“Back in our world everyone’s goals aligned, and that was a world free of war; peace. Despite the strife, all leaders would visit each other's countries to ensure friendly relations and maintain peace. At the very least a logical leader would ally against a bigger threat to protect their people, or a country wouldn't be able to last long. This isn’t about competency anymore…” (Jane)

“Hah… Aren't they aware of the demon invasion that you mentioned?” (Reinp)

“It is recorded in books within every kingdom. The previous war against the demons is a legend that is always passed down to the next generation. But their actions seem to demonstrate otherwise. Most of my family is dead. Even recently, one of my family members was killed by an assassin sent by that country.” (Princess)

“Y-Your family was killed?...” (Mei)

The princess nods at me.

"We are extremely pressured. There could only be one plausible reason behind them being so determined on destroying my country, and that is the demons have most likely slipped amongst their royal family, controlling them from the shadows; or worse, they killed off the royal family and have already taken control of the country, deceiving the masses using the appearances of the deceased royal family with illusion magic.” (Princess)

I unconsciously voiced my reaction by accident... Kiku moves to hold my hand. My heart was beating hard, my body started sweating, but I take deep breaths to attempt on calming myself down.

“T-Thank you, Kiku. I'm okay now.” (Mei)

“Are you sure?” (Kiku)

Calm down, calm down. Yeah, it's not like it has anything to do with us. We're safe here.

“Yeah, thank you for always worrying for me.” (Mei)

I tighten my grip on Kiku’s hand as I see her worried expression.

“That doesn’t really change anything then, since we'd be fighting against demons. If the princess believes so, then there is little room for doubt that demons are already within that country." (Taiko)

"I am sure the princess has double-checked with her intelligence before sharing such important information to us. So how is it?" (Reinp)

"Yes, my intelligence proves so. I couldn't believe it at first because of my personal feelings, but the information says so otherwise. That's why I did not state such a thing confidently." (Princess)

"Even if there are humans that remain in that country, those that are unaware they are fighting for the demons are better off dead anyway.” (Taiko)

“They are still innocent if they are unaware. We can't go around killing everything in our path just for our convenience.” (Sanna)

“What do you suggest we do then? Waste resources and time to convince them that their upper brass could possibly be demons in disguise? What if they are also demons, and they find out our plan before we can even start? Even if they are humans, we can't ignore the possibility that many might even be working for the demons willingly for their own gain.” (Taiko)

“Sanna is right though. It’s better than losing the trust of the people in that country. We still don’t know if the royalty over there has been killed by demons. We'd also be losing more manpower than necessary, when we had an alternative... which was to communicate with them so to potentially avoid a conflict. If both countries did lose more manpower than necessary, then both countries would end up weakened before the demon invasion even arrives. It’s a lose-lose situation.” (Jane)

“Didn’t the princess bring us here to make up for that manpower? No. In the first place, why are you doubting the Princess' information?" (Taiko)

The princess and the mages accompanying her watches us to see how our discussion unfolds. Our classmates held their breath, feeling that the atmosphere has become difficult to speak up, watches the representatives silently from the sidelines.

“Wait, are you saying you want to fight against thousands of soldiers with just our class? What do you expect us 17 can make any difference?” (Sanna)

“We are stronger than your average person. We can become even stronger from now on as well. We won't be defeated so easily. Who said the Princess didn't have her own army too?” (Taiko)

“But we could still die! We are human, just like anyone else here!” (Sanna)

“Then what! Do you want to head over there yourself and ask if one of them are demons in disguise!? You’d just be giving it away that we know they have infiltrated the upper brass! I'd bet you'd be assassinated before you get any chance to leave that country!” (Taiko)

“Like I said, we could work together to come up with another solution! It's better than blindly killing everything down the road! You will regret it! Why don't you understand!?” (Sanna)

“So be it! If they want to be antagonistic to the princess, then it’s better to get rid of the lot of them!” (Taiko)

Sanna’s voice turns cold.

“You… Do you really understand what you just said?” (Sanna)

“Haven't you thought that If this country falls, we go down with it? How can we talk to a country that has evil intentions in the first place! Even killed the princess’ family!” (Taiko)

I hear a sigh beside me.

“...Isn't it possible that the assassin was some random demon that wanted to cause two countries to weaken each other…" (Kiku)

The princess twitched her eyes. Everyone's eyes turned our way. Kiku must of sensed all the pressure focused on her now. She covers her mouth in panic. She must have unconsciously voiced her thoughts on the matter.

"Ah... N-No, I'm sorry..." (Kiku)

Jane turns her eyes to Sanna. Sanna makes eye contact with Jane and sighs.

"That makes it all the more important that we need to find out if the country really has evil intentions." (Sanna)

"I see... There might be a third-party involved..." (Reinp)

"That's not the point here. Shouldn't we believe in the princess' intel?" (Taiko)

Kiku’s worries are beginning to form within me. Even I am not so dense as to not realize it. The princess is trying to do something...

“It's not that I don't believe in the princess, but I want to act confidently after my own actions. Did you gain a soft spot for the princess now? After hearing her story? If you want to look attractive in front of the princess, do it on your own, but don't drag everyone down with you.” (Sanna)

Taiko’s expression twitches.

“Then feel free to cowardly rot inside this castle, trying to come up with a peaceful solution; twiddling your thumbs as you wait for a peaceful outcome. During that time, they will come armed banging at our doorstep. What an idiot. It's actually you who doesn't understand.” (Taiko)

Sanna’s expression twitches.

“Ah, I've realized that nothing I say will make a difference, since it seems you're hell bent on labeling everything the princess deems as evil is evil.” (Sanna)

I anxiously watch the representatives, rather just Sanna and Taiko. The heated argument, or rather more like the quarrel, ends. Silence takes over the area. I feel as if something is about to blow up. The princess turns to look in our direction. I pretend I don't notice her glance, and unconsciously grip Kiku’s hand harder than I should have. Kiku wince from the grip.

“M-Mei? Are you okay?” (Kiku)

Kiku whispers under her breath. I was nervous and my palm was sweating.

“T-The princess turned my way.” (Mei)

My heart was beating hard. Kiku probably sensed something from my sweaty palm and beating heart and remained expressionless. Although I could also feel her palm sweating a bit too. The glance was thankfully fleeting.

“Is something wrong, princess?” (Knight)

“...No.” (Princess)

I suddenly hear a clap and turn to see it was Teacher Ku who broke the silence. Everyone's gazes turn to the female teacher.

"Let's end the discussion here for today." (Teacher Ku)

Sanna and Taiko makes eye contact and looks away from each other irritated. Most of our classmates’ nervousness was at its peak, we return to the castle for today carrying such feelings; and attempted to rest well at our quarters to prepare for tomorrow.

...

…

“Did you call for me, princess?” (???)

A man enters the princess’ quarters. It was a small room, with a desk at the end of the room, with stacked papers piling on the sides. There were shelves on the left side of the room, full of books. A room any person with political power, or a literate person would have. He glances around the room, and notices an aide nearby, watching his every move.

“So, what is your next order, princess?” (???)

If the princess called for him, it would always be to give a new order.

“You and you men have a new order.” (Princess)

The princess beckons him over, and hands him a ring.

“This is a magic ring that can record and store events.” (Princess)

She points at five people in the image the ring was displaying.

“Imprison them without causing any suspicion to arise. The locations and methods are up to you.” (Princess)

“Eh? Aren't these the heroes you managed to summon, Princess? You even lost seven talented magic users to summon them.” (???)

“Being too perceptive is a sad thing.” (Princess)

The princess narrows her eyes. The man’s expression twitches. He understood what the princess wanted to say. She really is competent, cutting it before it grows to become an obstruction to her.

“Be sure to hand-pick a few men that you deem fit and is willing to die for me. Tell them to act as a separate group, and to act as if they are assassins sent by Everard. Let them know that they can be at ease, as I will compensate their families accordingly.” (Princess)

The princess stops for a moment and carefully ponders over something, before she continues speaking.

“Tomorrow, you and your men will lead the heroes to the dungeon. There is an ancient magic crystal which works as the heart on the last floor of every dungeon. The reason ‘you will encounter stronger monsters the further down you go’ is that stronger monsters are restricted at a nearer distance from the crystal. By the crystal’s intention, the closer a monster is to the crystal, the stronger the magic that entraps them inside the dungeon becomes; preventing them from truly escaping on its own will.” (Princess)

“You mean to say to take advantage of that, and send the targets down the traps that lead to the lower levels?” (???)

“I'm glad that you catch on quick, but this is a last resort. I want them imprisoned within my reach. Keep them imprisoned until I say otherwise. Be thorough about the tracks you leave behind, or the sharp-minded ones will notice. I entrust it to you.” (Princess)

The man bows slightly, as he places his right fist to his chest in accordance to his loyalty.

“As you command.” (???)

...

...

Before we tucked in for the night, a few maids entered our room. They told us to prepare from now onwards, that we have to drink a strengthening potion every night starting today to strengthen our bodies. It was a blue liquid in a round glass bottle. It looked expensive, so I hesitated to drink it for a moment. It had a magical aura that even I could feel emanating from it, reminding me that we really are in a world of fantasy.

"Here is yours, Kiku" (Mei)

"Uhn. Thank you." (Kiku)

"Do you think we can trust the princess...?" (Mei)

"I don't know... I know she is trying to make us feel special, but I don't know if she is a bad person..." (Kiku)

"S-She's trying to control us, right? I finally noticed it because of your help..." (Mei)

"Uhn. She is trying to manipulate us. But..." (Kiku)

She shakes her head.

"...We can't say if she is a bad person yet... Her voice was sincere when she asked us for help. She even gave us these potions to strengthen our bodies for tomorrow." (Kiku)

"Y-Yeah, you're right..." (Mei)

Kiku sighs.

"I'm sorry for causing you to hold these unnecessary worries." (Kiku)

"No, please continue to share everything that's on your mind! I want to worry with you!" (Mei)

"Uhn. T-Thank you. Yeah. Let's go to bed now. We can discuss more tomorrow." (Kiku)

I nod happily. We move to the bed and finally fall asleep next to each other.

…

…