"Hey, hey! Don't run ahead on your own!" I grabbed the student by the collar and pulled them back toward the group while simultaneously releasing a gust of wind to push the monsters away.
I was overseeing a group of students from the School District diving into the Dungeon. It's been a few days since I officially started working with the School District. At first, I was slightly nervous about how I would handle it all. But fortunately, I was able to guide them properly without significant challenges.
It also helped that most of the students were very well behaved.
Yes, most. Occasionally, I would run into some troublemakers.
Like right now.
Particularly, they were students from Nina's class.
"As I said, you should all work together. That would help you way more than simply going on your own."
At this point, I had lost count of how many times I had said the same line. Which, as always, was ignored by most of them. As they once again started focusing on their own fights instead of working together.
"I am sorry, Mr. Arin." And as always, Nina apologized for her classmates' behavior.
I shook my head, "No, you don't have to. It's not your fault after all." I said, and looked back towards the students.
Islin Mars, the dwarf student that I helped, had already gone back to his fight.
"Make way! Make way!" Christian Elvia, a prum, was swinging a sword the same size as himself around, cutting monsters to pieces.
And the last student, Legi Gisi, a dark elf with red hair. She was a quiet girl, but strong nonetheless, and fast, as she slit two goblin throats at once with her twin shortswords.
All of them were stronger than most others at the same level. It was such a shame they didn't want to work together. Otherwise, they would make a hell of a team.
Now I understand why they are called the 'worst party.'
"...Guess this party will need some serious work," I mumbled. Nina, standing beside me, tilted her head.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
After ending today's guiding session, I came to the school district to report.
"So no improvement in that group yet?" Balder rubbed his forehead tiredly. Even the always serene god seemed to have trouble thinking of a solution. "I expected some form of recklessness, but this…" he let out a long sigh. " That group is especially troublesome."
"And the others?" Leon, sitting on the same table, asked.
"They listen properly for the most part. Some were overexcited but manageable." I paused briefly before adding. "It's just this group that's difficult."
Balder nodded slowly, his expression turning thoughtful. "Islin is competitive."
"Christian gets carried away too easily," Leon added quietly.
"And Legi…" I thought back on the dark elf girl calmly dissecting monsters while verbally dissecting her teammates at the same time. "…Legi just has zero faith in others."
Leon gave an awkward smile. "That is true…"
Honestly, the problem wasn't skill. If anything, they had too much talent. That was exactly why they kept clashing. All three of them believed they could handle things alone, and annoyingly enough, they actually could most of the time.
Which only reinforced their bad habits.
Balder folded his hands together. "A team made of talented individuals is often harder to guide than weaker students."
"I'm starting to understand that," I muttered. Weak adventurers naturally learned to rely on each other quickly. The Dungeon punished isolation harshly.
But talented people?
Talented people survived long enough to develop terrible habits. Which most of the time ended up costing them their lives.
Balder suddenly smiled slightly. "Still, I'm glad."
"Hm?"
"You haven't tried to force them."
I blinked once. "Well…forcing them wouldn't really solve anything, would it?" It might make them obey temporarily, but that wasn't the same as trust.
"Exactly." Leon nodded approvingly and continued, "So, Arin…do you perhaps have any ideas?"
"…A few," I admitted honestly. "Though none of them are particularly pleasant."
Balder laughed quietly. "That expression alone tells me I probably won't like them."
"I don't think they will either." I leaned back against the sofa and crossed my arms. "The main issue is simple. They're too used to relying on themselves. So unless they experience a situation where they have to depend on one another, nothing's going to change."
Balder's eyes sharpened slightly at that.
"You intend to pressure them?"
"Not anything dangerous," I clarified immediately. "But they need a reality check. And even if something happen i can bail them out."
"Are you sure?" Leon asked.
"It'll be fine." I waved my hand lightly. "Probably."
"'Probably' is not a reassuring word," Leon pointed out.
Fair enough.
Still, I couldn't think of any other solution. Lectures clearly weren't working.
And honestly?
Watching them fight separately while accidentally sabotaging each other every five minutes was starting to give me a headache.
Christian charged ahead without warning.
Islin refused to cover anyone except himself.
And Legi looked one minor trouble away from stabbing her teammates instead of the monsters.
A wonderful group overall.
Balder let out another sigh before standing from his seat. "Well, I shall leave this matter to you for now."
"…That sounds like a lot of responsibility."
"You accepted the role."
"That I did." I sighed, wondering if that was even the right decision.
Leon stood up as well. "I'm counting on you, Arin. I know you can do it."
"Why does it feel like you're dumping this on me?"
"You're imagining it." He said with a bright smile.
"I sure hope so…"
Just as Leon was leaving the room, he stopped at the door, turned back, and asked. "Are you going to participate in the tournament too?"
Seems like the news about the tournament has leaked.
I could still remember what happened earlier after the practical session ended. The moment the students learned about the tournament being held and that I was participating in it too, the entire atmosphere changed.
Questions started flying one after another.
"Mr. Arin! Are you really going to take part in the tournament?!"
"Is it true you fought Dainsleif?!"
"Can we have the chance to fight you too?!"
"Do you really have four girlfriends?!"
That last one nearly killed me on the spot.
I buried my face in my hand at the memory.
The School District students really had no fear, huh?
The memory brought out a smile on my face, and I could feel the students had started growing on me.
"I have to," I replied. While part of me wanted to stay far away from the whole thing and just watch others fight, now that I thought about it, it was also a good opportunity to settle the score with everyone who had beef with me.
Mainly the elves.
And it could also become a good learning experience for the students as well.
"That's good." Leon smiled faintly. "Then I shall look forward to our battle…this time without anything holding us back."
I grinned at that. "Oh, I wouldn't be so confident. There are a lot of strong adventurers in the city. Who knows? You might lose before you even get to me."
Leon's smile only widened further. "If that truly happens, then nothing would make me happier."
There was no arrogance in his voice.
Only genuine hope.
The kind of hope carried by someone who truly wished for more heroes to rise. Someone who wanted the next generation to surpass him.
And honestly…that only made him harder to deal with.
I could only let out a helpless sigh. "You really are something else, you know that?"
Leon laughed quietly before leaving the room, the sound of his footsteps gradually fading into the corridor. I watched the closed door for a moment before letting out a long breath and leaning back against the sofa.
Meanwhile, outside the School District, the lights of Orario shone beneath the night sky.
And somewhere within that city—
Gods, adventurers, students, and warriors alike were all preparing themselves for the same thing.
The upcoming tournament.