“This will be your group in the upcoming test.”

Kai and Ayaka were searching for their names.

Kai Carter

Kudo Ayaka

Fujino Chitose

Carmina Elvera

They finally saw their names. It seemed to be for the sake of convenience, or maybe because their teacher was too lazy to divide them equally, but she just paired up two groups together. Even though she was supposed to make a group of five for this event. Shirotsuka Sanae didn’t have time for that… No, in fact, she didn’t want to make time for that.

Bullsh*ting would be easier than making a balanced group for her students. Ayaka and Kai were paired up with a group that had performed well in the party. But of course, they were nowhere compared to them.

Kai also looked for George’s name. Even though they didn’t talk to each other that much, he was one of the first people he knew in this school. So, at least, he wanted to see who he was grouped up with. However, surprisingly, when he found George’s group, he saw a name that made him frown.

Inshov Tanas Georgiy

Ebinuma Sae

Katsuragi Takaki

Wada Miyako

Kai was dumbfounded when he saw that. He never expected that George and Katsuragi Takaki would be in the same group. Although his investigation this time didn’t bring any results, he already knew that the Katsuragi family was suspicious.

After all, there was no way that Ikeda Kenzo warned them and made them leave Hokkaido for no reason… Not just Hokkaido, but United Asia. They didn’t know what the Katsuragi family was planning, but it also wouldn’t be that easy to leave the entire region.

The closest region from theirs was the US base. However, they needed to fly across the entire Pacific Ocean if they wanted to fly there safely. After all, various flying magical beasts would most likely intercept them and ruin their plan.

The only way was to fly across the sea. At first, mankind tried to cross the sea, but to no avail. All of it was because they got intercepted by the magical beasts in the sea.

It would be very costly if they were to try to fly toward the US base. Because of that, Kai and Tasha didn’t tell their parents about this yet. Only special people could fly to another base.

Although Kai and Tasha weren’t scared by this incident, they were scared that something would happen to their parents. So Tasha tried to make some money to prepare themselves. At least enough money to get their parents away.

Suddenly, George turned his head and looked at Kai. He gave him a thumbs up. “Hehe, you got yourself surrounded by beauties.”

Kai’s eyebrows twitched. Fujino Chitose was a Japanese beauty. Coupled with her black hair and black eyes, she had an elegant aura around her. Not only that, but she was also strong. According to the circulating information, she was one of the aces for the first-year students in the Kendo Club. Her element was wind, and it complemented her fighting style very well.

The other girl in his group was Carmina Elvera. She was half-Filipino half-Japanese. Her ancestor fled from the Philippines to this place when the outbreak occurred and settled down. She had brown hair and crystal black eyes as well as a graceful body. Although she was a C-rank magician, it seemed that her element was a rather unique one.

She could control the plants around her. Kai didn’t know much about her, but it seemed that she would be a perfect support for the team.

Kai already got a role for all of them. He would be the scout and occasionally a vanguard to support in the battle. Ayaka would be the leader since Kai felt that she was the most well-known person in the group. He didn’t mind about it since he knew Ayaka had matured up. At least, she had matured enough not to make a stupid mistake in the outside world. Of course, he would step in if he had to.

Fujino Chitose would be the vanguard or attacker since he thought that she would be perfect for the job. And lastly, Carmina Elvera would be the support. She should be able to support them in restricting the enemy with her plants.

Kai looked at George for a while. He was hesitating, but ultimately, he said in a low voice that only George could hear, “Be careful of Katsuragi Takaki.”

George was surprised to hear that. Although Kai might have a little friction with this Katsuragi Takaki, he shouldn’t have told him something like that if that was the case. He felt something was wrong when he heard Kai mention his name.

George only nodded his head while laughing. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about me? Wait, we’re not that close. Well… we know each other at the opening ceremony, so I guess we’re sort of closer. Anyway, good luck to you too.”

He didn’t take Kai’s words seriously. He just thought that Kai hated Katsuragi Takaki because he kept pestering Ayaka.

When Kai saw him like that, he could only shake his head. Well, he already warned him, so Kai decided not to care anymore.

He then looked at Ayaka.

“Ayaka, I think you should be the leader of this group,” Kai said.

“What? You’re more capable than I am,” Ayaka was dumbfounded when he asked her to be the leader. After all, Kai’s ability was beyond hers, so she thought that he should be the leader.

“Well… I don’t know whether they’ll believe me in the battle if I take the job. Or maybe they’d want to be the leader. Anyway, I think you’re the ‘biggest’ person in our group. They should at least respect you with your status,” Kai said.

“What about you? You also have a big status. I mean, you’re Tasha Carter’s younger brother.”

“Nah… Although I’m Tasha Carter’s… I mean, an S-rank magician’s younger brother, unlike you, I’m only a D-rank magician.”

“But you-!” Ayaka wanted to complain, but Kai stopped her.

“Sometimes, someone’s rank is more important than their actual ability. Don’t worry, if we”re stuck, I’ll take over. At that time, you should use your status to convince them,” Kai said with a smile.

She looked at him, frowning. After contemplating for a while, she nodded. “Fine, I’ll be the leader. But you-!”

Before she managed to convey another thing to him, Shirotsuka Sanae continued, “You might be confused as to why the group only consists of four people instead of five. This is also for your growth. With one less person in your group, you’ll feel more pressure and grow faster.

“It’s certainly not because I was too lazy to make a balanced group for each of you,” Shirotsuka Sanae explained with a poker face. She even told them her real reason that made the entire class twitch their eyebrows and curse in their heads.

“Anyway. I’ll tell you about the region where all of you will be deployed. We have practically almost conquered the entire South Korea and most of North Korea. And since this is your first practical mission, you’ll go to an area that’s considered safe.

“The front line is in the Manpo region, around China’s border. And you’ll be stationed in the Kanggye region. Your mission is to kill the magical beasts that the soldiers on the front line had missed out on.

“Don’t worry. I”ll also try to observe each of you and save you if I need to. However, don’t put any trust in me coming to your rescue. After all, that area is big, and only all of you will move around the area unless you meet any soldiers that are stationed around there. So unless you can buy time long enough until I get there, do something by yourself.

“Ah, if you’re wondering about the other classes, they also have this mission. However, they’ve been stationed in Hyangsan or Hyesan.

“Anyway, your task is just to scout around the area and kill the remaining magical beasts. Your exact position will be above Kanggye Stadium. There’s a mountain range area above this stadium,” Shirotsuka Sanae explained while showing the map on the screen.

She looked at the students that started getting anxious since they knew that they might die for real in the mission.

“Most of the magical beasts have been cleared, so you don’t need to be that anxious. There will also be two other teachers that will join me in supervising you.

“However, what I want all of you to remember is never panic in any kind of situation. The moment you lose your cool, your chance of survival will decrease dramatically,” Shirotsuka Sanae said with a serious expression.

The students gulped down.

Ayaka and Kai knew what they needed to do after school. They would immediately search for any information around the area.

“You”ll be in this place for three days. Remember, there is no ranking in this mission. You only need to kill and survive,” Shirotsuka Sanae shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s all. You can discuss with your teammates right now and make your plans.”

After that, the students started gathering with their respective groups. It seemed that Shirotsuka Sanae made every group have at least one guy in it. And a group like George’s had two guys in it because all the groups already had one male.

Kai then looked toward the two beauties in front of him. Ayaka then said without any reservation.

“We”ll start with an introduction first. Will that be alright with all of you?”