While Ren Isana and the others busied themselves with setting up camp, Ais was adjusting her mental state, quietly wiping down her rapier.
On the other side, her three companions were busy lecturing Bete. Tione glared at the werewolf, thoroughly displeased. "Do you have any idea that you almost caused a massive incident? This is exactly why I said you shouldn't tag along!!"
"Yeah, exactly! What if a fight actually broke out? You would have been completely carpet-bombed by their magic!!" Tiona chimed in, looking just as annoyed with him.
In fact, Tione felt that the handsome guy named Ren was absolutely right—Bete's mouth really ought to be sewn shut sometimes. He was far too prone to offending people.
Lefiya sighed, at a loss for words. The situation earlier had indeed been incredibly dangerous. If Bete had uttered even one more word, she had no doubt those people would have attacked without hesitation.
Bete knew he had nearly crossed the line, so despite being irritated by the scolding, he kept his mouth shut. He genuinely hadn't expected the other party to react so aggressively.
*Damn it, pointing that much magic at us over a single disagreement!* He had been genuinely startled by the sheer scale of it, but Ren's dismissive attitude toward Ais still pissed him off!
Thinking of this, Bete crossed his arms. He wanted to see for himself if that guy was truly as strong as Ais claimed!!
"I noticed something earlier," Lefiya said slowly, breaking the tension. "The magic those people used seemed to be identical. Everyone's Magic Circles were exactly the same. How strange."
Recalling the standoff, she remembered the Magic Circles the group had manifested. They were completely uniform. This made her incredibly curious—could their magic be mass-produced and learned by anyone?
*Magic from another world?* Lefiya thought back to what Lady Loki had said about them being from another world, and her curiosity only deepened.
"This is ridiculous. Ais, are you sure you want to fight that guy?" Tione asked, looking over at the blonde swordswoman who was still polishing her weapon.
"Mhm... he's strong. I want to fight him!" Ais's eyes burned with fighting spirit. Although she didn't know the depths of his abilities, her instincts screamed that he was strong. Incredibly strong.
He was an opponent worthy of her going all out. Ais didn't want to miss this opportunity; no matter what, she had to spar with Ren. Who knows, she might even use this chance to break through to Lv.6.
Seeing Ais's unwavering determination, Tione, who knew her personality well, sighed. "Then be careful, and don't push yourself too hard. What a pain. We just came out to relax, and we end up running into this!!"
With that, she shot a vicious glare at Bete. "I'm telling Finn about this. You can explain it to him yourself!!"
The Finn she mentioned was the captain of the Loki Familia, the existence known by the title of Braver. Bete had nearly caused a disaster and seemingly forged a grudge with the Hestia Familia. He could explain that mess to the captain himself!!
Bete just clicked his tongue, offering no rebuttal. He knew his big mouth had caused trouble this time, and he was secretly feeling a bit anxious about the fallout.
Regardless of the Loki Familia's internal bickering, Ren's group had already finished preparing dinner. They had made a massive pot of stewed curry, tossing in all sorts of ingredients and monster meat.
Once it was fully cooked and the curry blocks were mixed in, the rice was ready. Everyone grabbed a bowl of rice, ladled two scoops of curry over it, and quickly sat on the ground to dig in.
The taste was fantastic, especially since everyone was already starving. The meal was incredibly appetizing, and by the time they finished, much of their accumulated fatigue had washed away.
After eating and resting for a bit to digest, they began cleaning up. Once the trash was disposed of, the class gathered around Ren and began handing over all the Magic Stones and materials they had farmed.
"Class Rep, you hold onto these Magic Stones and handle them. We're relying on you to provide for us in this world!" Sora was the first to dump her squad's entire haul onto the ground.
Seeing this, Ren frowned. "Handle them yourselves. Why are you giving them to me?"
*What is this all about?* Ren had never planned on confiscating their loot, yet it seemed they all intended to do exactly that. Asuna and the other two girls looked over as well.
They were quite surprised by Sora's actions. No one expected her to just hand everything over, but would the others really agree to this?
Just as they were wondering, the rest of the classmates smiled and stepped forward, pouring out their daily hauls as well. It was obvious they had discussed this beforehand.
Sora explained, "We already talked it over. Until we return to our world, all the Magic Stones and materials we get here will be handed over to you, Class Rep, to manage."
She giggled before continuing, "But in return, you have to help us forge weapons and cover all our living expenses!"
As for how much money would be left over? She didn't say, nor did she care. Ren was their pillar of support and their designated leader in this world. To the class, handing over everything they earned to him was a no-brainer.
After spending so much time together, they trusted Ren's character completely. They knew he would never mistreat them, especially since he was going to be the one forging their gear.
"That's right, Ren, just take it. We agreed privately to let you manage these materials from now on," Leo chimed in. Following his lead, the others voiced their agreement one by one.
Listening to them, Ren was left speechless. He looked at the massive pile of materials that had suddenly become public property. After a moment of thought, he said, "Fine, I'll hold onto them for now and figure out how to process them later."
He paused, then looked at the crowd. "We'll do it this way for today, but moving forward, if you're going to hand things in, do it by squad. I'll keep a record of how much each squad contributes."
After all, some might farm more, and some might farm less. It was hard to say, and what if someone decided to slack off? It was best to make things clear from the start and keep everything transparent.
Having them submit by squad and keeping a ledger was the only way to ensure fairness for everyone.
Hearing Ren's logic, the class naturally had no objections. They realized they had been a bit hasty in just dumping everything into one giant pile. However, as everyone had just seen, the amount of materials each squad produced was roughly the same anyway.
Seeing that there were no complaints, Ren waved his hand and stored the mountain of materials into his inventory. He then looked at Asuna. "Let's take out our haul for today too."
Asuna blinked in surprise, then nodded. She unfastened her Spatial Backpack and began pouring out their materials.
The sheer volume was staggering—it was easily several times more than what the others had produced. Their single squad had farmed the equivalent of several squads combined. Seeing the mountain of loot, the classmates' eyes went wide.
"Whoa, that much?" "No way, Class Rep, you should keep your materials separate! Don't mix them with ours. Good lord, you're making us feel inadequate!" "Yeah, exactly! Asuna, put that away quickly!"
Seeing how much Ren's squad had farmed, everyone was shocked. If they mixed it all together, wouldn't it mean the class was taking massive advantage of Ren?
They immediately voiced their protests, stopping Ren from storing it all in the communal fund. Some even felt they had been too rash with their initial proposal; they hadn't expected Ren's squad to be *that* efficient.
Hearing their protests, Asuna didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She didn't say anything, instead looking to Ren to make the final call.
"How about this?" Ren said, looking at the crowd. "We'll stick to the initial quota you guys offered—about a third of your haul. Moving forward, you'll hand over a fixed amount based on your daily drops, and you can keep the rest as pocket money."
He decided to scrap the previous agreement and set a new rule. He would collect a fixed percentage based on what they farmed daily, and they could manage the surplus themselves.
"Deal! That works perfectly. We might even be able to save up some money!" The classmates exchanged glances and readily agreed to Ren's decision. Otherwise, the sheer output of Ren's squad would dwarf theirs entirely.
Their contributions were completely disproportionate to Ren's, and they refused to be freeloaders. No one in the class wanted to take advantage of someone else.
In matters like this, Ren's class was actually quite remarkable. They didn't let petty greed cause friction, which was exactly why Ren was willing to help them in the first place.
If there were any troublemakers in the class, Ren would have ignored them entirely. In fact, Ren suspected that the students in this class had been heavily screened before being admitted.
After all, there had to be more talented students in the school than just this handful, not to mention the ones Director Ken had poached from other schools. Ren suspected that raw talent was only one of the prerequisites.
The other deciding factor was likely their behavioral records from their years of standard education. Sometimes, good character was far more important than raw talent.
Every single person in this class was genuinely decent. Thinking of this, Ren silently stored away a third of the class's materials, leaving Asuna to pack up the rest of their squad's massive haul.
Regardless, Ren felt that everyone in this class was trustworthy—comrades he could safely entrust his back to. Even though... he probably didn't need to.
With the logistics sorted out, everyone found a spot to sit and rest, chatting about the day's events. However, through his perception, Ren sensed Ais approaching once again.
This time, Bete didn't follow her. He stayed far back, flanked by the two Amazon girls, who seemed to be guarding him to ensure he didn't say anything stupid again.
Ais approached with only Lefiya, the elf girl, in tow. Seeing them, the class stopped their chatter and turned their attention to the duo.
Ais still had that same blank, doll-like expression as she stared at Ren. Stopping about two meters away, she asked, "Are you free now, Ren-san?"
Asuna, Megumi, and the others looked at Ais and finally understood. Ren was right—this girl was a complete airhead whose mind was solely focused on fighting.
Beside her, Lefiya was incredibly nervous, gripping her staff tightly. She was terrified that Ren would refuse again and that his classmates would point their magic at her.
"No problem, let's go!" This time, Ren didn't refuse. With that, he turned and walked toward a nearby clearing.
Hearing his agreement, Ais's entire demeanor brightened.
"Okay!" she replied, immediately following him.
However, Lefiya was left standing there, completely lost. What was she supposed to do now? Should she go back? Or stay here?
But she didn't know a single person here! Was it a mistake to follow Ais? If Tione and Tiona were here, maybe it wouldn't be so awkward!
The elf girl felt incredibly out of place. *Ais, you just left me! What am I supposed to do? Are these people going to bully me? Tione, Tiona, can you guys come over here?!*
Just as she was panicking, Asuna walked up to her with a gentle smile. "Hello, I'm Asuna Yuuki. And you are, Miss Elf?"
Asuna's voice snapped Lefiya out of her daze. She hurriedly introduced herself, "I-I am Lefiya Viridis. It is a pleasure to meet you."
She blurted out her full name in a panic. Asuna smiled warmly. "Got it, Lefiya-san. Please don't take the unpleasantness from earlier to heart."
Looking at the nervous elf girl, Asuna felt completely at ease. Just as she suspected, Ais and Lefiya were perfectly fine; the only problem was that guy named Bete.
"An elf? It's my first time seeing one! Hi, I'm Sora!" Right on cue, Sora bounded over to join the fun. She wasn't the only one—the rest of the class quickly swarmed over to observe the rare sight.
For many of them, this was their first time seeing a real elf. Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, the class, who loved a good spectacle, naturally wasn't going to miss the chance to observe an elf up close.
Seeing the members of the Hestia Familia greeting her so enthusiastically, Lefiya let out a massive sigh of relief. She was highly sensitive to emotions, and she could tell these people harbored no malice toward her; they were just a bunch of curious kids.
This confirmed her suspicions—it really was all Bete's fault. If it hadn't been for him, they wouldn't have had that nasty confrontation earlier.
Lefiya began chatting with the group, though she didn't forget to keep an eye on Ais. The person she admired most was about to fight, and she absolutely couldn't miss it.
On the other side, the Amazon twins saw that Lefiya was getting along perfectly fine with the other group. Deciding it was safe, they ditched Bete and ran over to join the girls.
Seeing the twins abandon him to hang out with Lefiya and the others, Bete felt a gust of lonely wind blow past him. But he refused to go over there. After all, his big mouth was the reason they hated him in the first place.
*Tch,* Bete clicked his tongue, sitting down on a rock. He decided to just watch Ais and Ren's spar from afar. He wanted to see exactly what kind of strength this kid was hiding!
Ren naturally noticed his classmates befriending Lefiya, but he didn't mind. They were just looking at a novelty, and making friends with her was actually a good thing.
After all, Lefiya's magical firepower was top-tier. If they built a good relationship, he could definitely learn a thing or two from her. Elven magic? Ren absolutely wanted to copy that!
But now wasn't the time to think about that. He shifted his focus to Ais. The two of them stood facing each other, a few meters apart. Ais already had her rapier drawn, fully prepared for battle.
She stared at Ren with burning intensity, silently asking when they would begin. Meeting her gaze, Ren chuckled. He raised his hand, manifesting a Magic Circle in the air. The next moment, he reached in and drew his Tang Dao straight out of thin air.
This move caught Ais off guard. *What kind of magic is this? Pulling a weapon out of thin air?*
And this weapon... *Is it a saber or a sword?* Several questions popped into Ais's mind all at once, as she had never seen a weapon with such a unique design before!