Chapter 358: Departure Strategy 1
「It's finally time ~desu~wa.
Are you both prepared ~desu~wa~ne?」(Marcella)
Monica and Oriana nodded to Marcela's words.
Yes, tomorrow will be their graduation ceremony.
...and also the day of their Female Royal Guard squad enlistment ceremony.
Morning is the graduation ceremony of Ekland Academy.
And the afternoon is the entrance ceremony of the Female Royal Squad.
Yes, right now is "The night before the campaign".
It was the last night for them to spend in the school dormitory.
Actually, there is barely anything left in their room other than the original furniture.
Most of Marcela's and Monica's personal items have already been carried out by their families during the day.
Oriana originally intends to dispose of the cheap personal items she has bought in the last three years,
Most of it will be passed on to junior juniors, others will be disposed of.
Rather than sending such a cheap thing all the way to her rural home, it's a little cheaper to throw it away and buy it again in a city near her parents' home.
Thus, what is left in their room is
A set of uniforms to return after tomorrow's graduation ceremony,
It was just a piece of plain-clothes and their luggage can be fit in one bag.
... By the way, upon graduation, all uniforms, etc. are to be returned.
Originally, it was provided as a "loan".
There are a significant number of people wishing to buy a commemorative one each year, but they are not allowed, it's to prevent abuse of uniforms.
So, it was really a problem for the 2 uniforms brought out by Mile, but it wasn't a problem because of the circumstances.
...In other words, it's impossible to recover, so they had no choice but to give up.
Until now, it is a strategy that has been repeatedly examined by three girls.
They don't need such things now.
The three nodded again and returned to their rooms to get enough sleep for tomorrow.
There will be plenty of opportunities to talk.
Yes, during a long journey from tomorrow.
* * *
「We will be going for a new world!」(Student Representative / Marcella?)
「「「「「「Depart!!」」」」」」(Students)
A common, graduation ceremony.
Not for royalty or senior noble children,
It's not Ardley Academy where children of large-scale merchants and VIP's children attend.
There might be some low-rank noble children, medium-sized merchant's children, or poor but talented enough to get scholarship students.
This is the graduation ceremony of Ekland Academy.
Both guests and parents rarely attend.
... if it's a normal year.
Yes, if it is "an average year".
This year, both the guest and parents' seats are full.
Why is that?
Probably because the guest's seat is filled with the first in history honor guests, the King and Queen, both Princes, other ministers, and senior nobles.
The best friends of "Zero Maiden", the Miraculous girls loved by the goddess.
A Trio of beautiful girls together, all are offense magicians, the best friend of the third princess,
The first attempt to be the special royal guard for the princess, founding members of "Female Royal Squad".
And one of them got both princes' considerable attention,
The first candidate for the future Crown Princess.
And when people heard that the Royalty, The King and Queen, both princes, the princess, and other higher-ups will attend the graduation ceremony,
The three girls' classmates and the parents of the same grade can't help but be present.
It could be a face-to-face connection and could be an event to talk again later when they meet.
There's no way a noble or merchant would miss this opportunity.
The graduation ceremony was over, and the graduation ceremony was over.
As usual, nothing happened.
* * *
「Let's go (Ikimasu~ wa~ yo!)」(Marcella)
「「Yes (Hai)」」(Monica + Oriana)
Marcela and Oriana were alumni representatives and replies, but they weren't as nervous as they were.
They have to do it perfectly and then move on to the entrance ceremony of the Royal Guard Squad.
They don't have the Royal Guard's uniform here.
They have to go to the royal palace, receive it, and change clothes.
Since their measurement has been completed, it's unlikely that they will be given a faux uniform.
Seniors are also supposed to help with dressing.
... There has never been a female-only guard squad, but that doesn't mean that there are no female guards at all.
Although there are few, there are female guards who are active with men,
Thanks to this, the hurdles for setting up the female guard squad were quite low.
If this were a male-only position, this would not have been smooth.
When they change into their own clothes in their own rooms, put on the undressed uniforms on the bed, Marcela and her colleagues carry their bags and hurry to the Royal Palace.
They don't have Lunch.
The guests and parents were interacting at the luncheon,
They don't have much time because they have to prepare for the ceremony and rehearse.
A significant number of those who attend the luncheon attend the afternoon ceremony.
... However, Marcela and Monica's parents do not come to the entrance ceremony.
It is natural.
Aside from the school's graduation ceremony, parents can't stand the entrance ceremony of their employers.
And Oriana's parents have not come to the graduation ceremony.
The reason is that they don't have enough money to come from the countryside to the royal capital at the graduation ceremony.
It was a matter of course for a local farmer.
* * *
「I wonder if this is...」
Marcela's trio asked the senior female guard to help them to put on uniforms.
It's for the ceremony today, so it's not gear for battle,
It's Gorgeous and cool uniforms for women.
There are also girls who are enlisted in the female Royal Guard squad other than Marcela's Trio.
They are all noble and senior military children,
Since childhood or in a hurry after hearing the talk about forming this female royal guard squad, they trained in martial arts and attack magic,
At least enough to protect the princess.
They have acquired the will and skills to stall the enemies for a few seconds before the male guards rush to help.
...It should have been.
Marcella's Trio was provided with two things, besides the uniform and the accompanying goods.
A sword... and a dagger.
Rena, Pauline, and most of the hunter magician have their main focus is on using magic,
The staff is selected as the weapon to use so that they can protect themselves by swinging without thinking and staying focused on the chant.
However, even if people say "it's rarely happened and you don't need to worry as the rearguard because the vanguard will protect you, so you only need to defeat the enemy using your magic"
There's nothing strange about equipping a sword with great killing power.
Just concentrating on the magic won't be good if the can't cast the spell in time or your magic power is exhausted.
But if your weapon is a sword, you might be able to stab one of your enemies.
The Royal Guard's job isn't to survive.
It's to protect your master using both your body and life, just like a disposable throwing knife.
It was the Royal Guard.
Hunters fighting every day, ordinary soldiers fighting a lot of enemies, "Protect yourself and not die" is their top priority, but guards are not.
The dagger is a spare sidearm for the sword.
Prepare for battles in places that are too narrow to swing the sword (like the dungeon in Goblin Slayer), or where it is difficult to fight with swords such as underwater.
In general, it's much shorter than the swordsman's spare dagger in case the sword breaks,
That dagger, which is clearly too long to be called a knife,
It was a reasonable length for Marcella.
...As for the sword, it was obviously not just a little long, but obviously too long.
But that doesn't matter.
Other women are about 16-20 years old, Marcela's Trio is still Lolis (little girls) who are a little over 13 years old.
「Okay, Let's go (Ikimasu~ yo)!」(Marcela)
And led by senior female guards,
The rookie female guards moved to the entrance ceremony venue.