109 – The Circulatory System (11)
A dark night with a full moon.
Three men and women sat together in front of a campfire and started eating without speaking.
Trisha lamented as she chewed the cud over and over again with a dry expression on her face.
“It doesn’t taste good.”
It’s been only two days since I entered the joint class, but the food has been bitten. Tricia had little tolerance for her repetition and boredom.
Bertang said to Trisha in a deliberately grown-up tone.
“To achieve great goals, sometimes you have to learn to persevere.”
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Tricia said with a straight face.
“I hate holding on the most.”
“….”
Meanwhile, a stitch flew to Martha, who was watching the conversation.
As soon as the letter was left there, all eyes were on Martha.
She opened her letter and read it through.
“A letter from Cecil.”
Tricia said suddenly intrigued.
“What is your sister doing?”
“They found some kids to help us. It’s very strong, and I eat delicious meat with that group, and I’m very comfortable.”
“Who are you?”
“They say it’s Candy’s group. I saw it once during the entrance exam. Remember?”
Then suddenly Trisha raised her voice and asked.
“Why is your sister in their group??”
Martha answered Tricia with her bewildered eyes.
“Why? Do you have any ill feelings toward him?”
“No, it’s not like that….”
“There are rumors that he is as strong as Shion. Well, there is a saying that your grade was lowered as a punishment for doing something perverted. But he seems to be quite close with Cecile. We met separately a few times.”
Tricia raised her voice even more.
“How many times have we met????”
“… ?”
Bertan, who judged that Tricia’s reaction was not good, subtly expressed his disapproval of Candy.
“Looking at the fact that I ate grilled meat, I don’t think I have any intention of getting good grades. I don’t like most of the rumors about him because they seem exaggerated.”
Bertan nodded her head at Tricia, as if giving her a sign, but she didn’t even look.
“Then you have to decide quickly. Intelligence has come in that Zion has plundered the six groups and is coming our way.”
“Is it candy or what, who are the members of his group? If it’s halfway, wouldn’t it be better to ask Elias’ group instead? They say they are going through the danger zone too. There’s Victor and the second-in-command of the Ministry, right?”
“It says Candy is a two-member group.”
“The game doesn’t work. Isn’t it s*xually impolite to use prime numbers?”
“Hey, but one member of that group is Luna.”
Martha turned over her Cecile’s letter and gently shook it as if to read it.
“… Wait, what? Big!”
Bertang’s food almost turned into prayer.
Luna was the person with the highest ransom and fiercest competition in this joint class. She was in a position where she could group with virtually anyone she wished. That’s why the person she chose was a candy or something. Even with two people.
“Yes. I like how she seduces Luna and her skills. We made up our mind and together….”
Cutting Martha off, Tricia shouted.
“Join Cecil unnie!!”
“… ?”
“… ?”
“Otherwise, I will go alone.”
Then, with angry eyes, she stuffed her jerky into her mouth and mouth.
Seeing Tricia’s puffy cheeks, Martha blinked at her in bewilderment.
***
When I woke up, Cecil and Luna were already ready to leave.
The cave wasn’t very wide, so I went to sleep at a distance from the girls, but it seemed cold to be alone, and there was a new bonfire next to me.
Luna was brushing her hair in the soft morning sunlight coming into the cave.
And she must have used some kind of magic, Luna’s clothes were changed into a yellow dress with floral patterns. It’s just amazing how she did it.
As she stood up, Luna turned to me.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Let’s start with breakfast… Let’s move.”
“Yes.”
I turned my attention to the meat that I had saved yesterday and wrapped in large leaves.
There was an unseen item on top of it. It looked similar to Cecil’s magic bomb, and the lid spun like a top, locally spraying white frost underneath it.
Thanks to that, the meat was frozen fresh. It seems Cecil had touched her hand the night before.
And charred skewers were strewn about near the simple barbecue rack I had made the night before.
Looking at the steam still rising, it seems that it went up on the fire a little while ago.
“But… Did you eat first?”
Luna suddenly turned her gaze away from me and said.
“… No.”
“…… ?”
I went outside, warmed up, and retrieved the saplings and maladiroot planted next to the entrance. The leaves were more lively than usual, probably because of the heavy rain.
As they turned around, they ran into Cecile.
She was squatting about ten paces to the side of the cave entrance, smoking a cigarette with a tired face.
“Did the candy wake up?”
Cecil threw what she had in her mouth on the floor and took out a new cigarette and lit it.
As I stared at her, she hinted.
“… Would you like one?”
I shook my head.
“Looks good.”
“Yes, very refreshing. I secretly looked at your wooden sword, but it was amazing. Where did you come from?”
“I stole it from the planter next door.”
“Can I study it later?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Yes. Please borrow it later.”
“By the way, did you do that skewer over the campfire?”
Then Cecile looked at her surroundings and beckoned her to come closer.
As I approached her, Luna whispered softly so that Luna couldn’t hear.
“Luna burned everything while preparing breakfast.”
“… ….”
Thank you for being so considerate, and since there is a lot of meat, I’ll just ignore it.
“Oh, and I got a call in the morning. My group members said they would join us. I’ve decided on an assembly map… Even if we move slowly, we should be able to get there before noon.”
That meant going with Trisha. It’s going to be a little embarrassing.
I just hope that you can fully demonstrate the results of your training in the theater department.
We finished our meal and headed straight to the assembly point.
The wind was damp and cold, but the sunlight was moderately warm, which was nice. It feels like going on a light picnic.
Cecil and Luna didn’t talk much to each other.
Cecil must have been bored with her mouth. She came to my side several times and asked me miscellaneous questions.
“How did you get close with Luna?”
“Where did you learn crafting skills?”
“Are you close with Shion by any chance?”
Cecil could not satisfy her interest. It was the best for me to be around in moderation.
We arrived at the assembly point earlier than expected. Cecil checked the situation by exchanging stitches several times.
After waiting for a while, Trisha came running, waving her hand from a distance.
“Sister!”
“Trisha!”
And after that, a couple of unfamiliar faces followed.
One of the girls has the look of a nerd that you would often see in a bookstore, and the boy has the look of a nobleman’s late son.
Tricia and Cecil hugged each other as if they were quite happy.
Me and Luna stood at an appropriate distance and watched it. On the surface, the ‘candy’ status and Trisha had no contact.
However, when I saw Trisha’s face, an ominous feeling crept up in me.
Luna whispered next to me.
“Hey… Anyone know?”
I had no choice but to ask that question.
It was because Trisha’s eyes were glaring over Cecil’s shoulder as if to kill her.
“A friend who knows who I am. But being friends has to be kept a secret from them.”
“… Huh.”
Luna’s expression is that she doesn’t know why she opened her eyes fiercely.
I can’t explain that part. Because I don’t know.
Cecil brought her group members over to us and introduced them one by one.
“This is Trisha. This is Captain Bertan, and this is Martha.”
Tricia greeted me with a wide grin that made the bloody eyes in her eyes from just now colorless.
“You said candy, right? I heard a lot about it.”
“….”
“Can’t you say hello?”
“Nice to meet you.”
He threw a short word and turned around. We have no time to waste on emotional tug-of-war.
There is a reason why the danger zone is called the danger zone. Unpredictable weather, wild animals that could be beaten to death. And circulatory apex predators also live here.
It is better to quickly send those who could become burdens. After sending them out, my goal was to further explore the danger zone and hunt down the apex predator, the so-called ‘wingless dragon’.
Shion must be aiming for the same target as me. And whenever possible, she wanted to be one step ahead of her. I have no intention of giving up my prey.
When I gave the signal to move, Bertan stiffened his feet and asked a suspicious question.
“Hey, do you know Zion is coming our way? To be honest, I’m still anxious. Is there any way to protect us?”
“When Zion comes, I will stand up and fight, and in the meantime, you guys will run away. That’s the plan.”
“You don’t necessarily say that Zion is plundering, but that she is interested in you?”
Cecile should have explained it sufficiently, but why was she clinging to it? It seems that Trisha isn’t the only person who wants to engage in emotional tug-of-war.
Cecile interrupted and dismissed it.
“You are interested, so shut up.”
Trisha also helped.
“Right, shut up!”
“….”
Bertan’s lips trembled as if he was shocked.
Luna, who was next to me, also helped me so quietly that others couldn’t hear.
“… Shut up.”
I whispered to Luna.
“This is… Don’t follow me.”
Then Luna’s blue eyes fluttered slightly and she looked at me and nodded her head.
Bad influence