The squad in the clock tower was also acting as the team’s command tower.  Therefore, reaching Lutiya’s ears was the progress of battle.

“No good, the right unit has been completely cut off.  They’ll most likely be picked off one by one.”
“What about the Gold Dragon Class Vice-class leader’s group that went left!?”
“They were eliminated, all of them.  But we lost three on our side, and one person has apparently run out of magical power.”

Their gains and losses were mismatched.  A sparkle of magic power flickered within Lutiya’s eyes as he bit his lip.

—Help.

It was a distress signal, one without any sort of encryption.  He shoved his flag at Nasser.

“I’m going to help the right side. You all join up with the left.”
“Don’t, it’s a trap!  It was just a distress signal!?”
“Either way, Noin’s over there!  No one but me can go!”
“We should give up on the right side!”

Nasser was always reserved and never raised his voice.  Lutiya faltered at his strong attempt to stop him but immediately shouted back.

“Abandoning them here will hurt our moral!”
“You being deceived will hurt our moral more!  Not even they would want that!”

“Then how about I go?”

Raising his hand was the eldest student within the Blue Dragon Class.  As the most senior, he continued with a deliberately playful tone.

“I’ll gather everyone remaining on the right and meet up with you.  How’s that, good?”

Lutiya’s eyebrows squeezed together at his soothing and gentle gaze.

“—I get it, this… is most likely a trap.”
“That it is, yep.”
“But, if no one goes to help, that’s would just be…”
“I get it. So… good thing this is a mock battle, right?  Imagining this as the real thing gives me chi-lls.”
“I- I’ll support either option.  Right now, I think that sort of trial and error is allowed.  I think the Gold Dragon Class feels the same way.”
“That Noin even sent his vice-class leader on a suicide charge, after all.”

Noin is the same.  Strength left Lutiya’s shoulders.  He slapped both his cheeks and looked to the right.  There were no longer any signs of battle.

Going to help would only mean dying for nothing.  That was both a prediction and an excuse, and it was so infuriating his intestines felt like they were boiling.  His choices were either swallowing that down or not.

Just before he could reach his own conclusion, the entire clocktower shook.  It was as if he wasn’t being allowed the time to think.  Or maybe, it’s a kindness meant to keep me from deciding to abandon them.

Is this a joke?

Lutiya repelled the strike aimed at them with a barrier.

“What do we do, Lutiya?”
“Don’t move to the left side yet.  They’re trying to lure me— no, the flag out with this attack.”
“But, if the flag gets destroyed like this, we’ll lose.”
“And we don’t even know who’s holding their flag.”
“That last attack let me grasp their position and formation.  Judging from the number of troops Noin was leading, the ones firing at us now must be a small group.  The left side won’t push in right away; they’ll link up with Noin and the others.  We have time. —I have an idea.”

This time, everyone nodded back at Lutiya as he gave his instructions.

■

Once the attackers stopped firing, figures emerged from the clocktower.

“Do you know how many?”
“Probably five or six… They’re heading for the left, probably to meet up with the others.”
“There’s no sign of magic power in the clocktower.”
“Were they carrying the flag?”
“I couldn’t see it.  All of them looked like they were carrying something though.”

Noin gave a wry smile.

“I thought that if it were Lutiya, he would come help at that distress signal.  Guess he’s not that naïve.”
“What should we do?”
“—Those of the vice-class leader’s group have already been declared eliminated, right?”

The other student nodded back at Noin.  Looking down at his feet, he spoke.

“…Imagining this as a real battlefield gives me chills.”

The earnest vice-class leader had stepped forward, insisting she was the one most suited for that role.  However, they could only rely on her because this was a mock battle.  She herself surely knew that too.

Yet if they were to one day step onto a real battle, they needed to keep this as one of their possible options.  Thanks to the team lead by the vice-class leader, most of the Gold Dragon Class had been able to maintain much of its fighting strength without being worn down.

“I want to get stronger.”
“Let’s become stronger.”

The other students agreed to Noin’s muttering without hesitation.  They keenly felt that if they themselves were stronger, they wouldn’t have had to resort to tactics like this.  With that simple, crystal-clear shared understanding, Noin took a deep breath.  The match had not yet been decided.

“We’ll crush the ones at the clocktower before they can join with the left side unit.  Avoid Lutiya as much as possible.  We’re going to keep shaving down their fighting strength.”
“Don’t handle your flags carelessly or they’ll figure out it’s a fake.”

Everyone nodded at the words of the student assisting Noin, and they began to move.

It’s heavy…

This sort of weight… Lutiya is carrying it, and so is that Dragon Emperor.

Noin lifted his head.

“Send a pair of scouts to the clocktower.  We’ll be leaving a pair of ambushers here as well.”

Alright, it was time to choose which of his comrades might become the next sacrifice.  That was his job.

---

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