"What's wrong, Instructor Rita? Is this idea no good?"
One student said, "I've been in a few fights. I can only provide support from afar, and the more I shoot arrows, the more I feel that archers have their limits. I think it's absolutely necessary to improve our close-combat skills."
"Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm!"
That statement received unanimous approval. More than half of them kept nodding.
So this was what they really thought?
Rita found it somewhat unbelievable and nodded in disbelief. "All right. I suppose it was a successful experience... and... not entirely unreasonable."
"Did we pass?" someone asked hopefully.
"You think you can pass with that performance?"
Rita smiled as she delivered the harshest possible words. "Giving you anything other than a zero would already be doing you a favor. Don't get your hopes up."
Well, damn.
For some reason, the students had been full of enthusiasm just moments ago, but now they all looked utterly dejected. That zero seemed to have taken their lives, wiping out every bit of joy from the outing.
"However... my score isn't really worth using as a reference. I just said it offhand."
Rita abruptly changed her tune.
"Take it as encouragement. After this combat lesson, pay close attention to the betrayal you may suffer at any time during battle."
Betrayal? What betrayal?
Oh, that one?
The expressions on their faces practically said as much. Their innocence was completely genuine, so much like Exusiai's.
Yet once they crossed that tall wall, it all vanished. Those young people, fresh and vibrant as blooming flowers, fell silent and mute, like a group of seventy- or eighty-year-old old ladies without a trace of vitality.
Rita sensed something and looked up at the high wall overhead.
Wall, oh wall.
Forcibly twisting people's minds was abnormal no matter