A medium-sized bus rolled steadily down a forest road shaded by lush greenery.
Kashu flipped through a travel guide in his hands, quietly discussing their plans for later with Fou.
Stella, seated beside him, seemed distracted. From time to time, she would glance toward the Kurogane siblings in the back of the bus.
The look on her face—eager for the story to progress yet terrified that things might spiral out of control—was truly amusing.
Utakata Misogi, the student council vice president, held a guide flag and spoke with great enthusiasm.
"Everyone, we'll arrive at the training camp in about fifteen minutes."
"Touka and Kidehara have already gone ahead to make arrangements, so we can head straight up the mountain."
Stella scratched her cheek awkwardly and nodded.
"I feel a little bad making them prepare everything in advance."
Misogi smiled kindly and waved her hand.
"Don't worry about it. This place belongs to the Kidehara family to begin with, and it's often used as a student council vacation spot. It really does need to be tidied up first."
Stella gave an awkward smile and reluctantly agreed.
"I-Is that so?"
Kashu closed his travel guide, cast a sidelong glance at Stella's extremely unnatural expression, and teased, "I noticed you've been fidgeting ever since we got on the bus. What exactly are you worrying about?"
"Nothing! I'm not worrying about anything!"
Stella's cheeks instantly flushed red. Flame mana spilled out of her uncontrollably as she hurriedly waved her hands in denial.
"It's just an overnight training camp! Things like getting attacked at night after falling asleep... I-I wasn't thinking about anything so shameless!"
Kashu nodded silently. Though he was somewhat curious about whom Stella had imagined launching that nighttime attack, considering safety concerns—
He decided not to provoke the truck that could explode