Chapter 215
I couldn't move for a while. Cecil had a talent for cleverly digging into the gaps in one's heart.
After staying like that for a long time, when I returned, the number of members had been reduced by half. It was because the Instrumental Music Club had all left.
Lilith saw me and came running, her skirt fluttering. She stood close in front of me and said, looking at my face intently, "Damian... are you sick somewhere?"
"Why?"
"Your cheeks seem a bit red."
"..."
Had my face heated up without me realizing it?
"Are you okay? Did something happen? That Cecil, what did she..."
"It's nothing. More importantly, have you heard any news about Senior Fabella?"
"Ah, Senior Fabella is resting at the investigation team's temporary camp. If the investigation is over, we were planning to go join her."
Soon after, Senior Tami approached me.
"Damian, you've really worked hard. Let's wrap things up here and return."
"Now we need to compile the information and write a report..."
But Tami shook her head.
"You've all worked hard until now, so leave it to me. I'm incredibly fast at writing. I'll write the report, so you all rest while returning."
At the mention of returning, Lilith objected, "Are we just going when we haven't clarified everything yet?"
"Yes. It's the conclusion Damian and I came to after discussing yesterday. It's unsatisfying, but looking at the state of the village, it's dangerous in various ways... I think returning is the right decision."
Lilith looked regretful but reluctantly agreed.
"...Okay."
"Then let's return to the carriage."
All the members trudged back to the carriage parked at the village entrance. While watching this, something gently touched my back.
Turning around, I saw a blonde crown. Luna was leaning her forehead against my body, seemingly without strength.
"Luna."
It was rare for Luna to initiate physical contact naturally.
Is she gradually getting used to my body now?
That would be a good sign.
"Damian..."
"Yes?"
Luna lifted her head weakly and looked at me.
"I'll... rejoin the Drama Club when I return to the camp..."
"I understand."
It would be difficult for her to accompany me while leaving the perfectly fine Drama Club members behind. She had also been receiving disapproving looks from the Art Club members, and since Fabella would join soon, it was appropriate to part ways here.
"Thank you so much for taking care of me all this time."
"Yes, but can you explain what that was about me clinging to you?"
"I, I don't... know."
Luna hastily evaded the request and quickly passed by my side, heading straight for the carriage.
***
The investigation team's camp was in an open field about twenty minutes away from Marbas Village. Although Marbas Village had the best location for camping, it had now become a cremation site and could no longer be used.
More people were staying there than expected. Roughly estimating, it seemed about five or six groups had gathered. Among them were the Drama Club members who had been hostile to us. The Dance Department members were also included.
When the Drama Club members saw us, they just quietly left their spots, watching us cautiously without showing any particular hostile actions.
However, the Dance Club occasionally watched us intently from a distance.
Despite the disapproving looks from the Art Club, Luna politely thanked them and joined the Drama Club.
And we found Fabella crouched in a corner of the camp, covered with a blanket.
"I've been waiting for you all day."
Fabella, finally reunited with us, smiled weakly.
She said she had been alone there all along, seemingly without friends.
She wasn't injured anywhere and her clothes were fine. While everyone else in the camp looked somewhat dirty due to camping for several days, Fabella's condition was noticeably good.
"Let's return now, Senior."
When I revealed the plan to return to Eternia, Fabella was disappointed.
"Really? I do have some information I found out..."
I shook my head.
"It's ominous."
Just then, the gazes of all the students in the camp turned to the sky. Soon after, they all started murmuring at once.
We also shifted our gaze to the sky.
There, something black was filling the sky like a flock of migratory birds.
Those objects flew quickly towards the camp.
They were Stitches.
A scroll dropped for each student staying in the camp.
"An official document?"
"Looks like something happened."
While the first-years looked confused, not understanding the situation after receiving these scrolls, the more experienced second-year students started taking action quickly, as if they had been trained.
"Everyone gather! The investigation mission ends here!"
"Guys! Pack up!"
"Return! We're returning to Eternia!"
All five or six groups immediately started packing up in an orderly manner to return to Eternia.
While I was looking around, not knowing what was going on, Fabella said, "This is an urgent official document. Eternia sets its own mission difficulty rating and entrusts it to students, but if there's an error in that rating, they send an official document like this on their own."
I unrolled the scroll and checked its contents.
It was written to stop what we were doing and return to Eternia immediately.
"Then what happens?"
"They don't send these for just one or two grade discrepancies. If it could be solved with numbers, they'd add cooperation points and somehow make us solve it. A return order means... there's a danger lurking that we can't handle even if we all work together."
"..."
"It means we could all die. Your judgment was right."
The Art Club seniors Tami and Sierra ran over to us and shouted, "It's a return order. You were really right about what you were thinking!"
"How did you know? Our first-year has good intuition, huh?"
The Art Club members seemed more amazed at my judgment for vaguely sensing this rather than being surprised by the return order.
But I couldn't feel entirely proud.
In fact, what I felt was closer to a sense of defeat.
If I had really recognized that threat, I should have at least taken care of my own people and returned safely. That would have been the right decision.
But I let go of Cecil and Luna who were accompanying me. I had momentarily let my guard down due to Cecil's confession.
"Hurry and prepare. If I don't come, leave without waiting for me. I'll move separately."
"Huh? Where are you going!"
I left the return preparations to the seniors and hurriedly looked around the camp. Looking towards the Drama Club, Luna was preparing to return with the members. But no matter how much I searched the entire camp, Cecil was nowhere to be seen.
Cecil had said goodbye to the Instrumental Music Club and would continue investigating with her friends, right? First, I went to the Instrumental Music Club members in the camp and asked about Cecil's whereabouts.
Hubert said while packing, "Huh? She split off saying she'd move with her friends."
"Is there anywhere you think she might have gone?"
"She understood everything that Gale's group was muttering in the northern language. I think it's because of that. The hidden reward, I mean. She said she had to do it because she owed you guys a lot."
I suddenly sensed that letting Cecil go was a fatal mistake. My heart started beating fast. I hope this ominous feeling remains just my delusion.
"Who went with her?"
"Naias and a few others were with her, but the Dance Club says they've lost contact since they left. I think they deliberately cut off contact. To prevent being tracked."
If so, there was no use in asking around the camp.
"Do you know Gale's group's location?"
At this, Hubert's eyes turned serious.
"No, that's not a good idea."
He seemed to have guessed my plan.
"You guys will be fine."
"That's not what I'm talking about. Do you want to get beaten up? Are you out of your mind? There's no rush. The official document would have gone to Cecil too, so just wait for now."
"Just tell me where they are."
***
The Drama Club leader Rilke returned to her original position while pretending to pack and probed Luna.
"Now that the boys are gone, tell me."
"That's... difficult."
"What kind of relationship is it?"
"Just... friends."
"Just friends? Is it possible for a handsome boy and a pretty girl to stick together and be just friends?"
"..."
"I guess someone is more than a friend while someone else is just a friend."
"We're good friends."
"Damian seems like he'd go to hell to save his friend."
"That's... right. And usually Damian... seems to cling to me."
Luna's face flushed, and she turned her back to Rilke, fidgeting with her hands as if doing something.
"My, he threatens me saying he won't let me off easy, but he takes care of you kindly and throws himself to save you, how can I live with this bitterness," Rilke spoke jokingly, but there was a hint of sincerity in it.
Luna sensed this and became restless.
"If, if you get close, he'll treat you well too..."
"Tell me clearly. Are you just friends or more than that?"
"We're friends..."
"Really? Then it's okay if I seduce him, right?"
"..."
"Goodness, how are you going to catch him being so wishy-washy? Fine, I'll go to Wiesel, the land of handsome men, and find a lonely-looking man myself."
Just then, an unfamiliar figure rushed into the Drama Club's tent urgently.
It was Victor from the Dance Club.
He asked Rilke, panting, "Senior, have you seen Cecil and Naias by any chance?"
"Huh? Wasn't Cecil hanging out with the Art Club kids?"
"No. We're looking for them now because we can't contact them since they split from those kids."
"There are quite a few kids who've left the camp besides them, so won't they return if we wait?"
"That's true, but... just in case, could we borrow Luna's power a little?"
Using invisible guardian spirits to search for missing persons would be as good as having an army. But Rilke shook her head.
"No. Or rather, she can't. Luna is in a mana-depleted state due to yesterday's fight and can't use magic."
“Mana depletion”, a side effect that occurred when drawing mana to its limit, required a recovery period of three to four days at the shortest, and up to a week at the longest. During this period, forcibly using mana could deplete one's life force as well, so great caution was needed.
Victor, seeming frustrated, put his hands on his waist and sighed deeply.
"Ah, I see. If you hear any news, please let me know."
Victor immediately ran off in another direction.
Rilke said, watching Victor leave, "It looks like something's going on, doesn't it?"
"..."
Luna had stopped what she was doing and was staring into space, lost in thought.
"...Luna?"
"Ah, I have somewhere I need to go for a moment."
"Wait, where are you going? We need to return right away!"
"It's okay if you leave without me...!"
Luna ran off urgently without explanation.
Fluttering her long blonde hair like that, she arrived in front of the Art Club’s carriage, which was preparing to leave.
The Art Club members gave Luna disapproving looks.
Luna, disregarding this, abruptly asked, "Damian... is Damian here?"
Sierra looked down at her disapprovingly from inside the carriage and said,
"Damian decided to return separately from us, probably thinking of rounding up the stragglers."
"...Where did he go?"
Then Fabella leaned out, peeking her face out and watching Luna as she spoke.
Her voice was soft, but there were thorns in her words.
"I don't really want to tell you if you're going to follow Damian around. You'd be less help than us right now."
"...I'm just looking for my friend."
Fabella smiled slightly and said,
"You act like he's only your friend... is that my misunderstanding?"
Fabella's words unexpectedly stabbed Luna's heart. Left with nothing to say, she lowered her head.
"...I'll be going."
***
"See that cave over there?"
Even without Hubert pointing with his hand, I could see it.
A huge cave. And its long passage was amplifying sound like a trumpet, propagating noisy sounds far away.
Flickering torches and the shadows of men cast by them stretched out from inside the cave.
"It's Gale's gang."
They were holding a feast, disregarding the official document from Eternia.
They were closer to bandits than students.
"Do you know why all the special clubs gathered in a friendly camp next to Marbas Village?"
"..."
"Because no one knows what that Gale gang might do. They're guys without any laws or rules."
"I had expected that."
"If we get any closer, the sentries will notice us, so what are you going to do now?"
Gale ambushed the Instrumental Music Club, and then Cecil stole information. Cecil would act before Gale obtained the reward. It seemed like Cecil might have fallen into a trap.
Either way, to know Cecil's current location, asking Gale would be the fastest.
Of course, he wouldn't tell us willingly. And I had no intention of backing down easily either.
I asked Hubert, "Are you the type to keep your mouth shut?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"I'm asking if you can keep a secret."
"Except for Queen Cecil's love affairs, I'm pretty tight-lipped."
"How much?"
"What? Why are you asking this now?"
"Enough to bet all your memories in Eternia?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'll tell you properly. Our family knows the location of the Dwarf Empire. Unlike surface dwellers, we have access rights."
"...So?"
"Even with all sorts of persuasion and threats from the Empire, the location of the Dwarf Empire has never leaked out. Without a heart of steel and a tongue as heavy as lead, one cannot bear the glory of the Dwarf Empire, that's what I'm saying."
I stood up first, leaving Hubert behind. Then I drew the wooden sword from my waist.
Hubert's eyes widened and he called out to stop me.
"Hey, are you crazy? I thought you had some clever plan, but you're just charging in? Even if you were the berserker Sion, you couldn't beat that Gale bastard. You know? Let alone..."
Soon after, I took out a mask from my pocket and fixed it on my face. My hair slowly began to turn dark red.
"Let alone if you're that, that..."
Hubert's mouth slowly opened like someone under the influence of drugs as he confirmed my appearance.
"If you don't want to get involved, wait here."
"Oh, t-that, if it's the famous pervert mask... that's a different story. Good Lord."