Exciting magic herb gathering operation.

"Ah... what a shame, I could only collect 40..."

I had gathered a total of 62 roots.

If I had been gathering alone, I might not have reached 100 this time...

Who would have known that a senior would go crazy over magic herbs?

'I must bring someone else next time...'

I should bring the person among the second-year seniors who seems most unattached to material things. Or maybe... should I try to persuade Laurent from the Disciplinary Committee?

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a senior; as long as there are two people, it should be fine. I'll suggest we go together for some weekend stamina training.

"Ah! If only I could launch my drones, we'd be rich..."

Despite our substantial haul, Elki senior muttered regretfully.

And then, suddenly, she summoned her unique weapon.

"Senior?"

"Ugh... can't reach... It seems like I need something like an antenna... I don't know."

An antenna?

Was she trying to summon her drones?

But as far as I know, you can’t fly drones in the operation area...

I remembered reading about the Operations Commander getting furious, accusing people of spying when someone flew drones in the operation area.

It was just text, though.

I assumed that she wouldn’t ignore the Operations Commander and call in her drones just out of greed.

It seemed likely that her drones hadn't been prohibited from flying yet.

In any case, she put away her unique weapon again, opened my pocket, and put the magic herbs inside.

"These 40 are mine! Remember that!"

"Ah, yes..."

Then she climbed onto my back, and I carried her as we headed to the next area.

[Dig out the part with the symbol and erase it thoroughly.]

We confirmed that the next boundary stone also had the same symbol.

Following the post’s instructions, I damaged the symbol, causing part of the stone to chip away.

"That much doesn’t matter, just erase it completely."

Following Elki's orders, I more aggressively destroyed the symbol.

With the time saved, we went to gather other herbs.

Energy Herb, used to develop characters related to tanking. Consuming it temporarily makes you stronger.

Enrage Herb, used to develop characters related to berserkers. Consuming it temporarily boosts your strength.

We collected a few other herbs and minerals as well and stuffed them into our pockets. When they were quite filled up, Elki senior spoke.

"...I see, you came out to collect those."

"Hehe... got me."

"Well, of course… I thought you were a crazy guy sacrificing your weekends to volunteer for the school."

"Who on earth would do that?"

Oh.

The mere thought of it is horrifying. What would you call that if not voluntary slavery?

Such a person couldn’t possibly exist.

Rather than that, I was curious why Senior Elki volunteered for a reconnaissance mission.

"Well, that's..."

"If it's uncomfortable to talk about, you don't have to."

Seeing that she didn't seem eager to share, I decided to let it go.

I could guess anyway...

'For some reason... it must be something like information gathering.'

There were no first-year members in the Punitive Squad, so the most available person, Senior Elki, came herself.

If my guess was right, there shouldn't be any issue for me. It's not like I'm up to anything shady...

Wait, hold on—picking magic herbs during a mission, isn't that deserting the mission area? Could I get punished for this?

A chill ran down my spine, but I reassured myself that since Senior Elki was with me, it should be fine.

Just then, something huge suddenly charged from my peripheral vision.

-Fshoo!!

It looked like a giant wooden log.

Before I could even recognize what it was, it reached me.

I threw myself backward in panic to avoid it.

-Boom!!!

As it collided with the ground, a massive cloud of dust erupted.

Within that dust, a pair of glowing red eyes lit up, and a terrifying voice reverberated.

"You dare erase my magic circle... so, it was you!!!"

There stood a creature with the head of a cow.

The one who fought against me as the detachment leader during the previous cultist attack had appeared.

“…Cultist scum, how did you get here?”

I was both flustered and alert, drawing my unique armament by gathering my magic power.

In one hand, I held a standard-issue shotgun, and in the other, a folding shield.

I received additional rounds from my bulletproof vest and promptly reloaded, completing my battle readiness.

[Reloading Procedure]

Thanks to repetitive training, I finished all preparations within 30 seconds.

Whether he noticed or not, the creature cleared away the dust with his club and shouted.

“The night is deep, so let's have a long chat, ha ha ha…”

He was certainly poetic about expressing his intent to beat me down for a long time.

“Operations Commander, the second-year Punitive Squad's operator contacted us. They’ve encountered a cultist and requested immediate deployment.”

The Intelligence Commander checked the message from the operator on her personal terminal.

It was a call for help, stating he was isolated with a senior and asking to contact the Operations Department…

‘But why did he include her personal coordinates? Could it be, he didn't realize we were tracking him from our intelligence office?’

The Intelligence Commander felt a strange sense of déjà vu from the operator's message.

‘Our intelligence team has grown a lot.’

She didn’t think much of it, after all, the operator had only one operational terminal with them.

The Intelligence Department had attempted to track his location using the entire intelligence office and its equipment.

After hearing the Intelligence Commander’s report, the Operations Commander sprang to his feet and shouted.

“Haha!!! Has that damn bastard finally shown himself!!! I was bored to death for the past three hours!”

In the operations room, the Intelligence Commander, the Operations Commander, and various combat personnel summoned on the weekend were ready for battle, their eyes sharp with determination.

The target location was the operator's terminal, the source sending the location information.

"Everyone!!! Let's tear apart that cultist trying to brave us!!!"

-BOOM!!!

“Stop running away and fight back!!!”

I regulated my breathing while keeping my distance from him. Neither my senior nor I were in a position to defeat him, so running away was the best option.

When he occasionally swung his club, I used the shotgun.

-BANG!!!

“Aagh!!! You bastard!!!”

I used it just to disrupt his trajectory, without making any additional attacks.

“Phew…”

I calmed my mind through breathing and assessed the situation.

He was definitely stronger than me, but that was it.

He couldn't crush me in one blow, and this place was almost like my home ground.

All I needed to do was buy some time, just like when I first saw him.

Until the Operations Department's search team arrived.

However, if there is one problem...

"Leroy Abrio!" (magic incantation)

-Crackling!!!

It was the black lightning he threw.

That lightning that paralyzed the entire body and made it difficult to stay conscious was the problem.

"Damn it..."

-Kaboom!!!

The feeling of electricity hitting my shield.

It crawled up my arm vividly, resonating in my skull.

-Buzzzzz...

Ugh.

My brain... it feels like it's shaking...

"Hey, hey! Are you okay?!"

I chewed on a stamina herb that was in my pocket.

The bitter taste spread in my mouth, and only then did I feel somewhat clear-headed.

But the enemy didn’t wait for me to recover.

-Kaboom!!!

"Even you can't withstand a bishop’s power!"

He kicked off the ground and drop kicked me.

I was blown away, rolling on the floor.

‘Damn it…’

As I spat out the bile rising in my throat, I took out another stamina herb from my waist and bit into it.

…I might die at this rate.

The magic attack is too strong.

It feels like it’s piercing through my defenses and searing my brain.

I can’t endure much longer like this.

“Senior, are you okay?”

“I-I'm fine, but you should...”

I worried that my senior might have been injured from rolling on the ground…

But since she’s a second-year, even though she doesn’t have attack capabilities, her body should be sturdier than mine.

After confirming she was fine,

I took out a berserk herb from my belt and chewed on it.

It cleared my head, but made my heart pound wildly.

That’s typical of berserker herbs.

At the same time, I chewed on a mana herb.

I could feel the mana pumping from my heart.

The excess mana escaped my body in the form of sparks.

This should be more than enough.

I took out three grenades filled with mana from my pack.

“Senior, if you head south, there should be an outpost. Please go there and call for reinforcements.”

“I already called. I contacted the Intelligence Commander using my personal communicator, so they’ll be here soon.”

“That’s a relief, but...”

I threw the grenade at the cultist charging towards us.

-Kaboom!!!

-Boom!!!

-Kaa-boom!!!

“Hahaha!!! It's ticklish!!!"

The grenade had no effect.

It was pathetically weak.

'Is this all I can do now?'

Oh well, fine.

"Senior, you need to leave the battlefield."

I couldn't say she was just getting in the way. But she probably understood what I meant.

Elki bit her lip as if she felt wronged and frustrated. However, she also knew that, being nearly powerless in combat, she would only be a burden.

"...Don't get hurt."

There was nothing else she could do but say that. Elki ran quickly towards the outpost.

"Hmm? Ah, so you have a companion. Let's see here..."

Watching her, the cultist raised a lightning weapon.

The moment I saw that, I took out some ammunition and infused it with a massive amount of mana, then shot at him.

-BOOM!!!

The projectile flew, destroying his unique weapon.

Since I packed it with as much mana as I could, this should definitely deal some damage.

"Aaaah!!! You damn bastard!!!"

As I expected.

When the shot hit his arm, it bent in a strange direction.

The black lightning he had been preparing was canceled, shaken through his body, and caused him to collapse while screaming.

"Heh..."

I was a mess, too.

My unique weapon, the shotgun, exploded, and the damage was transferred to my body.

Just before I collapsed, I mixed a potion with some stamina herbs and managed to endure it.

'I think I can hold on a bit longer...'

I had to hope that the Operations Department would find me within that time.

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