Unbeknownst to the crew, people began to move in the background. However, the continent-wide battle tournament would be taking place soon.

The top members of the solo battles got ready as well as some other people to fill in for their teams.

So, for the freshmen, it would be Nolan, Emeril, and surprisingly, Tetra. For the seniors, it was to be Hector, Lily, and another guy who focused on magic. But for support, Gina, Ilya, Delania, and Josine came as well. Ophia was the princess and had to appear for ceremonial purposes, so she came, too.

The other members of Rise to Prominence worked hard on their studies. It was difficult for Zack, as he needed tutoring. He was sent to the Succubus’ office to receive ‘personal’ education. However, she was a sadistic woman and tended to get violent. It was a complete difference from her outer appearance of a shy and awkward assistant teacher.

That was because she would start off earnest and eventually get stricter over time. Then, her provocative self began to like it. Much to Zack’s unfortunate health. He almost quit the tutoring, but when Sylphia mentioned that she could not put in a good word for him, as she was not prestigious enough, he put forth the effort. Otherwise, he would be expelled from the school and lose his harem!

The crew that left for the tournament went by magical portals. These were expensive to use to travel around the continent in the game, as not only was Zack a child, but he also didn’t have a noble background. Nolan, on the other hand, just had to use some identification and then he could easily use it. However, there weren’t that many portals. Essentially, only five were made. One was located in each region, the Northern, Southern, and Western, but there were two more. One was located in the neutral area between all three regions, which was where the tournament was to be held, and the other was located on a small island off the southern coast.

This island was home to the last Dungeon available in the game, so it was extremely hard. Thankfully, it shouldn’t be that difficult since the people were getting really strong now.

The neutral territory found itself along the large river the trisected the continent. Instead of building the city outwards from the river, they built it along the river straight to the coast. So, it became the Riverwall City, a place where only the richest could live.

The matches in Riverwall City were pretty cool, as the arena was placed on a floating ring. No, it didn’t wobble, but it was fun to knock the enemy into the water in the game.

As easy as it was to win at the Academy, it was also easy here. However, the second years had to actually participate this time, since if they didn’t win, they would lose a lot of face. Think about it, if the seniors and freshmen were the only ones to win, then the second years would look like garbage in comparison, and those snobbish guys wanted nothing to do with bad appearances.

Even though the various schools all tried to get stronger quickly, thanks to the aftermath of the ball, they still couldn’t handle Nolan who managed to barely control his power.

The tournament only lasted about three days, but it felt even quicker than that. On the way back home, Emeril received a message from his father.

“Huh? Dad said I need to head towards the eastern border. Otherwise, we may be in some trouble.”

“Does it say we can come?”

Nolan still had the idea of the awesome team they could make, so he asked Emeril if he could come or bring along Hector and Lily. It wasn’t that he was afraid or suspicious because it was often that Emeril would go off during the summer.

Well, in the game, anyway. It was there to make for some forced conflict. If you were having too good of a time with your girl(s) and/or boy(s), then Emeril would come and ruin the fun.

“Yeah, let’s all go!”

Before he could laugh, Nolan felt himself get grabbed onto from all sides.

“You’re taking us with you, right?”

“I want to go exploring, too!”

“What if you meet another girl while you are away?”

‘Ah! Delania, don’t jinx it!’

Emeril laughed at the goofy situation Nolan was in until a little girl and a Saintess latched onto him as well.

“Aww, drat. We’re in public, so I have to behave myself.”

Ophia was just behind him, staring at Emeril warmly. When Emeril realized his own goofy situation, his laugh sputtered and died out. Hector, on the other hand, actively reached over and wrapped his arm around Lily’s shoulder and pulled her close.

“I can wrap both of my arms around her! Hahaha!”

Hector had thought they were comparing their hugging power, so he took Lily in a bear hug, practically enveloping her. Her face was red, but at least she wasn’t hurting.

All of the girls stared at Lily’s expression and then turned towards their guy and looked at him expectantly.

“I don’t have any extra arms. You will have to take turns.”

“Umm, what?”

Nolan’s reply was quick and understanding, but not very bright. Now the girls wanted to be first to be hugged.

However, Emeril was dense and didn’t know what to do.

All in all, the trip was fun and their summer was already planned out.

That is until they were stopped.

“Actually, it would be best if the Saintess and Princess remained in the kingdom, sorry.”

Everyone just stared at the Prime Minister who looked upset as well before looking down at the ground.

“Well, I have to keep little Arga safe, so she can be my fourth member. Hector and Lily can fill in for the other two…sorry, Nolan.”

“No, no problem. Thank you for letting me hang out with the girls. You go have fun.”

“Yes!”

The Prime Minister was anxious, as he could feel that this abrupt mission had some strange connotations. He had hoped Nolan would go along with Hector, but it was unfair to split up not just one group, not to mention Hector and Lily. He could only sigh as he filled out the required paperwork for them to travel safely through the land.