Once I’d finished changing and stepped out of the prefab hut, the only people left in sight were Genya-san, Ririka-san, and Muroi-san.
Wait. Where did all the other disciples go?
"Sorry to keep you waiting... Uh, where did everyone else head off to?"
"They’ve already moved into the mountain," Genya-san replied.
"Wait, all of them?"
"A few stayed behind to work on the trucks, but the rest are already in the woods."
That meant more than ten people were currently lying in wait as the opposition. That was nearly double the number of infiltrators from the Phase 1 training!
Between the newly set traps and the reinforced enemy count...
"Isn't doubling the numbers a bit much all at once?" I asked.
"What are you saying? If you set your sights low from the outset, you will never see any real growth."
"I mean... I guess that’s true, but..."
It didn't look like Genya-san had any intention of budging on the numbers. That meant the training was starting as-is. I wondered how many times we’d be blasted by electricity today. Sigh.
Well, even if it wasn't by choice, I’d started getting used to the electric shocks lately, so maybe we’d manage somehow...
"Oh, that’s right. I nearly forgot. Regarding those electric shock devices you’re wearing—since it seemed you were becoming quite accustomed to the sensation, I went ahead and increased the power. Should you feel a more intense shock than usual, rest assured it isn’t a malfunction."
"Eh?!"
The three of us let out a collective groan.
He increased the power?! Sure, we’d built up a tolerance to the pain lately, but being able to endure it didn't make it stop hurting! If he turned the power up any higher, we were going to end up dead!
"If you grow too accustomed to the pain, the training loses its edge. One must maintain a certain level of... stimulation."
"Stimulation? He’s gotta be kidding..."
"Fear not. Should you suffer any minor burns, I have lower-grade recovery potions on hand. They can be treated without issue."
"...Is that so?"
It felt like the safety brakes on this training had been completely removed just because recovery potions could fix the damage. It was true that our levels made us resistant to severe burns from electricity, and minor injuries could be wiped away with a potion, but I’ll say it again: pain is pain.
We stared down at the electrode wristbands on our arms and legs with growing dread.
"No need for such long faces. I only bumped the intensity up slightly. The goal is strictly to maintain a sense of tension. There is no benefit in turning the voltage up to the point of rendering you unconscious."
"Right... I suppose so..."
The smile Genya-san wore while telling us to rest easy was genuinely terrifying. Nothing but anxiety welled up inside me. My gut was screaming that taking his words at face value would be a grave mistake.
Yuji and Hiiragi-san seemed to feel the same; both of them looked like they were fighting off a facial twitch.
"Now then, shall we begin the briefing for Phase 2?"
"Y-Yes, sir."
"The core of Phase 2 is the same as the first: make a round trip from here to the summit within the time limit. The difference is that various traps have been laid along the route, and the number of infiltrators acting as the opposition has increased."
Genya-san explained the training content in a casual tone, but hearing it laid out like that, the difficulty felt like it had jumped several tiers.
"If you focus solely on the infiltrators like you did in Phase 1, you’ll fall prey to the traps. Conversely, if you focus only on the traps, the infiltrators will take you down. The trick to clearing this is to avoid tunneling your vision. You must maintain a wide perimeter of vigilance while searching for presence equally on all fronts."
"Hah... right..."
Lacking the confidence to actually apply Genya-san's advice, we could only offer a strained, nervous response.
"Well, you’ll learn the rest through experience. Ririka, you know the drill—no helping them."
"Yes, Grandfather. I understand."
Genya-san gave Ririka-san a firm reminder not to intervene during the exercise.
"The men in the mountains should be in position by now. Muroi-kun! What is the status of the preparations?!"
"All clear, sir! I just received word from the last man that they are ready!"
"Very well!"
After confirming the status with Muroi-san, who was working near the van, Genya-san turned back to us and signaled the start.
"Then, let us begin. The clear conditions are the same as Phase 1: return here within one hour without taking a single hit. Understood?"
"Yes!"
We shoved down our fear of the souped-up electric shocks and steeled our resolve.
"Then... begin."
On his mark, we entered the mountain, keeping Ririka-san in the center of our formation.
The mountain scenery, which should have been familiar after the last few days, felt like it had transformed into a completely different beast the moment I knew traps were involved. Every tree and every patch of dirt looked suspicious.
"He just said 'traps,' but what kind of stuff are we looking at here?" I whispered.
"Who knows," Yuji replied. "Looking at that pile of equipment they had earlier, it’s definitely more than just one or two types."
"Right," Hiiragi-san agreed. "At the very least, we should assume there’s as much variety as we saw at the trap training facility."
"Good point."
We exchanged low-voiced comments while scanning our surroundings. It wasn't that we were relaxed; rather, we’d learned that if we didn't maintain some mental breathing room, we would miss things that were staring us in the face.
We’d failed to dodge ambushes and taken electric shocks due to careless mistakes when our concentration broke more times than I cared to remember.
"...Ririka-san, do you happen to know how many types there are?"
"I’m sorry. I do know the count, but I can’t tell you while we're in the middle of training..."
"Ah, right. Sorry. That was a bit of a cheap shot."
I apologized to Ririka-san, who offered a wry smile. These jokes and casual asides were something we could handle now, but when we first started, we were so focused on the threat that we didn't have the mental capacity to even speak to her.
We’d grown, in our own way.
"...! Everyone, stop!"
"What is it, Yuji?!"
Yuji’s voice was sharp. He’d stopped dead in his tracks and raised his right arm to halt us. I called out, my heart hammering.
"...I think it’s a trap."
"Wait, where?!"
"The base of that tree. The color and texture of the soil are off compared to the rest of the ground. It’s been dug up and filled back in."
Following Yuji’s finger, Hiiragi-san and I scrutinized the base of the tree. He was right; the soil there was darker and looked damp, as if it had been recently turned.
"If the trap itself is there, then there should be a trigger or an activation switch nearby."
"A trigger..."
I scanned the immediate area.
I spent nearly two minutes looking for wires or any other mechanism that might serve as a switch, but I found nothing.
"Yuji... I don't see anything that looks like a trigger."
"Neither do I."
Yuji tilted his head, then picked up a fist-sized stone and tossed it toward the tree. The stone sailed through the air without incident and landed right on the discolored soil, rolling a bit before coming to a stop.
So there were no motion sensors either.
"Huh? Was it just your imagination?"
"Maybe. But let’s bypass it just in case."
"Agreed," Hiiragi-san said. "Better safe than sorry."
"That’s weird, though..."
Yuji kept muttering to himself, wondering if his instincts were failing him, but we adjusted our path and continued forward.
A few minutes later, we stopped again. We’d found another tree with a similar patch of disturbed soil.
"The same thing again..."
"Yuji, do you think this one’s a dummy, too?"
"Probably. They might just be using dummy traps to slow us down."
"To slow us down?"
"Think about the clear conditions—we have a time limit. If we spend several minutes analyzing every single suspicious spot, we’ll never make it back in an hour."
That made sense.
For a group as cautious as us, they didn't even need to set a real trap. Just making us think there was one would be enough to kill our momentum. With the clock ticking, we had to make split-second decisions about what was a threat and what wasn't.
"So what’s the plan? You want to test it like the last one?"
"We probably should, but we’ll run out of time if we check them all. Let’s just give it a wide berth and keep moving."
Yuji suggested a detour to save time. Compared to the minutes spent verifying a trap’s validity, simply walking around the area was faster.
"Yeah. Since we’re on the clock, we need to be efficient."
"Agreed. Let’s bypass it and push on."
Considering the time limit, Hiiragi-san and I both sided with Yuji.
"Alright, let’s go around."
We kept our eyes glued to the base of the tree with the damp soil as we began to circle around it.
However, that choice was a fatal error.
"?!"
From the opposite side of the trail—the side we were turning our backs toward to avoid the "trap"—the sound of a spring snapping rang out. Something was launched into the air. Because our focus was entirely on the suspicious tree, our reaction was a second too late.
The object launched was cylindrical, roughly the size of a soda can. It shot up to about chest height, and the moment a tiny red light flickered on its surface, an agonizing surge of electricity tore through our bodies.
"Gah!!"
The power was on a whole different level than I’d imagined. Our knees buckled, and we hit the ground like sacks of lead, rolling miserably in the dirt. Since the devices had triggered, that cylinder must have emitted a 360-degree infrared pulse.
We lay there for a while, enduring the lingering pain, before shakily climbing back to our feet.
"Dammit... A bounding mine? Are you serious...?"
"Y-Yuji-kun... what’s a bounding mine?"
"It’s an anti-personnel mine. It launches the explosive into the air and detonates at a certain height to spray shrapnel in every direction."
Yuji explained the mechanism to Hiiragi-san through gritted teeth. Both of them looked pale, their muscles likely still twitching from the shock.
I couldn't believe it. To use a mine for a "trap"... at this rate, what other horrors did they have waiting for us?
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yeah, barely. But I never expected them to use anti-personnel mines. I have no idea what Genya-san was thinking when he put this together..."
"...I’m so sorry."
Ririka-san had checked on us with genuine concern, but because I was so frustrated by the pain, I’d accidentally snapped my complaint out like a snarl.
Seeing her look down with a guilty, apologetic expression made the realization of my own behavior sink in, leaving me feeling like garbage.
"Ah... no, I’m the one who should apologize. I shouldn't have lashed out at you, Ririka-san. I’m just... a little on edge from the shock."
I bowed my head slightly, feeling incredibly awkward.
"Please, don't worry about it. It’s only natural for your temper to flare when you're in pain. I’ve been through it myself, after all."
"You have?"
"Yes. I underwent this exact same training once. I believe I understand how you feel."
She offered me a gentle, empathetic smile.
After a few moments, the electricity finally faded from our systems, and we managed to pull ourselves back together. Now that we were calm enough to think, we held a quick post-mortem.
"We thought we were being smart by detouring, but we totally let our guard down."
"Yeah. Thinking back, that first dummy was just a setup for this one. They wanted us to think they were all dummies so we’d focus entirely on the ground near the trees."
"Exactly," Hiiragi-san added. "Because of that, we completely ignored the possibility of a trap being placed on the other side of the path."
"Sigh..."
The three of us let out a synchronized sigh of disappointment. We had walked right into the psychological trap Genya-san had laid for us.
"Also, it was a mistake not to consider that there might be multiple traps in the same area..."
"Right. As if Genya-san would be satisfied with just one trap at a time..."
"Traps are most effective when they’re layered or linked. We completely forgot the basics."
"..."
We all held our heads in our hands, lamenting our own naivety. If this had been a real dungeon, Ririka-san might have been lethally wounded even if we survived. As guards, we were total failures.
Man... can we actually clear this?
We had barely even started into the mountains and we were already looking this pathetic. I felt a wave of profound dread about what lay ahead.