Chapter 105
"Wake up."
Cecil tapped Bertrand's shoulder.
Due to taking watch duty, he had fallen asleep late and wouldn't get up easily, frowning irritably.
"Ah... um. Why..."
"We need to move."
"Ah... yawn, the sun hasn't even risen yet."
"Lights in the distance are getting closer to us. Dark clouds are gathering too. The entrance area is all plains without proper shelter from the rain."
"Ah... there's no guarantee they're plunderers. And we could block rain with barrier stones. Can't I sleep just a bit more?"
"You idiot, if we set up barriers we can't move—are you planning to stay here forever? And I got a Stitch message that Teina's group already got plundered."
Hearing this, Bertrand suddenly became fully alert and jerked upright.
"W-what?"
"Just as I said. Teina's side already had all their supplies taken. If our leader could block all the plunderers, we could just sleep too."
Bertrand rubbed his eyes and looked around. Except for him, the other group members had already completed preparations to leave.
Seeing the group members' expressions, he couldn't complain anymore. Martha, Cecil, and Trisha all had tired faces.
This group was vulnerable to plundering. Though they could resist somewhat, it was impossible to block Combat and Magic Department students who came determined. Among group members, only Martha had decent combat power. If they got plundered and lost all potions and magic tools, they would have to walk a path through hell.
And the weakest person in this group was Bertrand.
Having finished calculating, he quickly got up and organized his blanket.
Martha spoke complainingly, "We should have brought someone good at fighting after all."
Even during the entrance exam, they had suffered the humiliation of forced disbandment due to weak combat power.
Back then, they were lucky enough to regroup, but there was no guarantee that luck would be on their side this time too.
Before the atmosphere could worsen further, Cecil immediately dismissed it, "What can we do about how it's already arranged? Let's move before it's too late."
They finished preparations and began marching.
Having become prey being chased seemed quite unsatisfactory, as all team members' movements lacked energy.
And Trisha's face in particular was gloomy.
Noticing this, Cecil matched steps with Trisha and quietly spoke, "Why do you look so down?"
"Sis..."
Trisha looked up at Cecil once then dropped her eyes listlessly again.
Cecil's group's member composition was already well-known to others, and moreover, thanks to Cecil's rare magic tools, they were walking treasuries to plunderer groups.
Cecil smiled slightly and patted her back reassuringly.
"Don't worry too much. I promise. We absolutely won't get plundered. Sis has plans."
Martha also stood alongside and encouraged Trisha, "That's right. There's no shortage of guys who would come running drooling when this foxy Cecil asks for help."
"..."
She didn't reveal her true feelings. To Cecil, Trisha seemed to be constantly worried about Damian, whom she had suggested adding to the group earlier. She had even suggested working together with Iris' group that Damian had belonged to. For some reason, those plans had all fallen through.
Does she think the situation would be different if Damian were here?
Group leader Bertrand, following behind them, cut in subtly, "It might be better to cooperate with another group. Though Elias had to separate from us unavoidably, if we requested help, their group might cooperate with us too. Elias's group has Victor after all. He could easily repel plunderer groups."
He was talking about Victor Dmitri Barton, the unprecedented genius produced by the Clodinas Brotherhood who ranked third in the Combat Department entrance scores.
Though Trisha pretended to be okay and nodded appropriately, seemingly worried about group morale dropping, she couldn't completely hide her regretful expression.
Noticing Trisha's attitude, Bertrand added one more comment, "Having one Combat Department student in the group would be nice. But one person is far from enough to block determined plunderers. We'd still end up refugees either way?"
Even if he came, nothing would change.
It was an indirect jab at Damian, whom Trisha had recommended. She didn't respond.
After advancing like that for a while, when they couldn't see the following lights anymore, they took a brief rest on a low hill.
And Cecil called Martha separately behind a tree to discuss future plans.
Both Martha and Cecil felt equally uneasy and uncomfortable. Being prey being chased wasn't exactly pleasant.
"We should probably head toward the dangerous zone."
Martha answered with a troubled expression, "Is there no other way...?"
Most plunderer groups were composed of top-ranking students. With them prioritizing Cecil's group, getting caught was just a matter of time.
The remaining option was moving near the dangerous zone that everyone avoided.
"Yes."
"Haa, I’m suddenly envious of Elias."
Elias had also been a friend who always traveled with them. But this time, with Cecil's group quota full, she had to move to another group. But luck was on her side as Elias formed a team with Victor.
Cecil stared at Martha's face for a moment then said, "Should I bring one?"
Even Victor couldn't block all plunderer groups. Even he would struggle against plunderer groups formed by those ranking close to him.
Cecil knew one person whom no plunderer group would dare touch.
That man would probably be heading to the dangerous zone to take the head of the strongest one, ignoring trivial matters.
"Who?"
Cecil touched her pocket and smiled silently. As if she knew something only she knew.
***
Luna suddenly turned around while walking.
"...What's wrong?"
Behind were only green hills spread out, nothing else.
"I'm not sure. Something feels like it's following us."
"...Did spirits tell you?"
Luna shook her head. Though it was probably just an intuitive feeling, Luna's intuition had faint traces of precognition ability so it couldn't be ignored.
If someone following us.
Well, I had one person in mind.
There was a high possibility that Sion was asking around about me.
After I dealt her defeat and vanished afterward, she must be quite worked up.
Though she probably wouldn't know and track my location, the problem was that Sion's route would likely overlap with ours.
The dangerous zone wasn't somewhere that must be avoided. It was just somewhere one shouldn't go to “if your abilities are insufficient”.
Sion, the incarnation of competitive spirit, wouldn't avoid that place. Her challenging spirit of deliberately seeking out strong opponents would lead her to the dangerous zone.
If Sion discovered me, there would be no answer. She ran about three or four times faster than me using artifacts. During the entrance exam, I escaped easily because Sion had injured her ankle, but now, simply running away wouldn't work.
If I faced her, there was no choice but to fight, but I honestly wanted to avoid it.
If I drew my magic sword to fight, the scale of battle become too large. I didn't know how to control my power and Sion would fight at full strength too, so it seemed the fight would only end with one of us having our limbs cut off.
I wasn't keen on facing her with normal swords either. I knew well that my skills didn't match up to Sion's. Sword technique and experience matter greatly in human combat and I lacked both. With foundationless swordsmanship, there were limits to facing a Sword Master's disciple.
I didn't particularly want to fight battles I'd lose either.
I, too, hated losing after all.
What should I do? She doesn't seem like she'd be appeased with a few candies.
Luna carefully asked seeing my thoughtful expression, "What... what's wrong?"
I should tell Luna in advance.
"There is someone who might chase me."
"...?"
"Sion will come looking for me. Though she probably won't harm you, you should know she's not coming with good intentions."
Luna's eyes widened slightly as if interested.
"...Can you tell me more details?"
There was nothing to hide from Luna since we were in the same group.
"She wants to fight me."
"..."
"She's incredibly fast at running so escaping is difficult. There's no choice but to fight."
"Damian... has many sins."
"..."
Luna hesitated for a while then asked, "Perhaps, would fog be okay?"
"...Huh?"
"Would magical fog be enough to escape from Sion?"
"Fog?"
"When I wanted to avoid family interference, I made fog to escape. If that..."
Fog. Quite plausible. I was familiar with it thanks to staying in the labyrinth, and since we couldn't beat Sion's speed, there was the possibility of strategizing toward blocking senses.
"Could you show me once?"
"Yes."
Luna took a deep breath and whispered in an unknown language to the air.
Soon after, blue spirits in horse form appeared around her and began jumping around like wild horses. When Luna swept the air once, the number of spirits gradually increased one by one.
Dense water vapor trailed like tails where the horses passed.
The spirits circled around us and within minutes, thick white fog covered everything.
Like clouds had descended to the ground. The density was so thick that even Luna five steps away looked blurry.
Luna, left as just a silhouette in the fog, asked me, "...Is this enough? I can't maintain it long when the sun is up."
I waved my hand in the air. The density was so thick that even my hand movements stirred it.
She’s not the top seat of the Magic Department for nothing.
It was so excellent I was momentarily speechless.
Though temporary, if she could create fog rivaling the labyrinth's thickness, it could be very useful for escape.
"Excellent. Luna, did you play a lot of hide and seek when young?"
"Yes. Though not with people..."
That's enough.
***
Sion kicked at the cold ashes of an extinguished fire.
There were traces of camping. Just two lying-down marks in front of it. A two-person group? Not remembering any, they must have been acting secretively. Footprints continued northwest.
Are they heading to the dangerous zone? Or maybe they’re just trying to go around it.
There were almost no clues to find. Sion took out a piece of jerky and chewed while following the footprints.
Just then, a dirt-stained scrap of cloth caught her eye.
Sion immediately picked it up to examine it.
The texture suggested it was someone's worn clothes. Seeing the blackened edges, it seemed the wind had blown it away before complete incineration when being burned.
What reason would there be to burn clothes?
No reason could be found besides hiding identity.
"Could it be..."
Suddenly recalling something, she slowly brought the fabric to her nose.
Earth smell and burnt smell. And beneath those, a faint herb scent.
It was that exact scent from Candy.
Evidence that he was undertaking practice here. Moreover, with a new companion she didn't know about.
The corners of Sion's mouth lifted slightly.
With her extensive field experience, she was already at a veteran level when it came to tracking magic creatures. So meeting that guy again was just a matter of time.
"...Finally found you."