Something's Wrong
Something's wrong. That's how the second day of the field trip began. Though calling it the "second day" was a bit of a stretch—there wasn't much difference from the first. Students wandered the massive island while the professors holed up in the base camp playing poker. Why the hell did those guys even come along...? If this was how it was going to be, they might as well have just sent the students by themselves. Still, the island had plenty of sights to see, so it wasn't boring. They'd even handed out portable magic tools in case anything happened. No real reason to complain. It just grated that the professors were lounging around without a care. Especially Sharon and Kate, who piled on mountains of homework back at the academy. Damn it. One day I'm going to overhaul the entire faculty. I'll use my family's influence to save every student suffering under all that work. Lucas was the exception, of course. His assignments were reasonable, and his lectures weren't overly difficult. Someday...
I was burning with revolutionary zeal toward the academy when Gold Tae-yang, walking ahead, tilted his head and asked, "Hey, do you even know where we're going? Feels like we've gone pretty deep..."
He pulled out the map from his pocket and tried to figure out our location, holding it upside down like the idiot he was. Just as I sighed and opened my mouth to answer, Maharet spoke first.
"We're heading to the place at the edge of the island called the Grave of Stars."
"The Grave of Stars? Let me see... Grave of Stars..." Gold Tae-yang flipped through the map at her answer, then let out a small yelp of surprise. "Whoa... that's literally on the opposite side of the island."
"Yes. It seems connected to a nearby gorge."
The opposite side. The island was fairly large. Walking all the way there? I wasn't sure we'd make it without someone collapsing midway.
"Hmm..." I muttered under my breath at the exhausting itinerary and reached into my pocket for a sa-myeol-cho stick. I lit it quickly and took a drag, letting the strangely addictive herbal scent curl around my nose. While I was soothing my tired mind with the smoke, Maharet—who had been looking at the map with Gold Tae-yang—glanced sideways at me. She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"......Aren't you tired?"
"Are you... asking me?"
"Then who else here would be tired?"
"You must've been worried about the night watch."
"Not really... it's not that..."
She was worried about me. Then again, Maharet had a kind heart. Hearing I'd stayed up all night must've bothered her. I gave her an awkward but genuine smile in return for her kindness.
"I'm fine. It's not like we're doing anything strenuous."
"......It's a long distance, so we'll be riding horses later."
"Good news."
At my calm reply, Maharet shot me an ambiguous look before turning her gaze forward and walking ahead. I followed behind, watching the way her brilliant silver hair swayed with every step.
***
Meanwhile, at Reynolds Academy's base camp. Inside the faculty tent lay three people side by side: Aaron, Kate, and Sharon—the homeroom professors for the second-year Riel, Xenon, and Serina classes respectively.
"Haaah... Aaro~n... where'd Lucas go...?" Kate yawned from beside Aaron and asked. Aaron, who had been meditating, narrowed his eyes at her with a tired expression.
"......How many times do I have to tell you he went out on patrol?"
"Hnnng... what are we supposed to do if the lunch duty guy just disappears like this...?"
"Why don't you do it?"
"But... Lucas's cooking is way better..."
"Hmm. Can't argue with that."
The three of them had skipped breakfast while herding students around. Sharon's stomach, sprawled out like a corpse, let out a loud growl.
"Let's eat as soon as Lucas gets back..."
"How about meat? Meat!"
"With drinks too?"
"Perfect!"
Sharon and Kate high-fived while still lying down. Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose with a look of utter defeat.
"We're on a field trip. Why the hell would we drink? Get a grip, please."
"C'mon~ One day won't hurt!"
"Right~ We even brought Rebellion wine for you and Litrona honey mead for Lucas."
"......When did you even pack that?"
At Aaron's question, Sharon winked and wiggled her fingers above her head. The space around them warped, and something dropped from thin air.
-Thud!
"Ta-da! Alcohol has arrived~!"
Sharon held up bottles that looked refreshingly cold. Aaron smacked his forehead at the sight of the frost-covered wine bottle.
"Freezing wine...?! No, more importantly—why are you wasting top-tier spatial magic on something like this?"
"Why learn magic if you don't use it for little things like this every now and then?"
Sharon grinned and shoved the bottles back into her pocket dimension. Kate, watching the scene, sidled closer to her.
"Did you bring Retoon dark beer?"
"Of course I did."
"You're the best friend ever..."
The three professors spent their time chatting about nonsense. The field trip was breathing life into the faculty as well as the students. They talked about the feast they'd enjoy once Lucas returned. But even long after lunchtime, Lucas never came back to camp.
***
We'd been moving for a while. It was almost noon, so we'd probably been traveling for about three hours. Not just walking, either—we'd ridden horses and taken a ferry along the way.
"......Even with transportation, this is still exhausting."
I muttered while trying to steady my spinning vision from lack of sleep. I'd taken breaks, but it wasn't enough to recover from two days of accumulated fatigue. I pulled out another sa-myeol-cho to clear my head. This was already the seventh one today. No—counting last night, probably three times that.
-Click, click...
The dry stick clung to my lips. I lit it and took a deep breath. As I exhaled smoke like the chain-smoker I'd become, my eyes met Violet's—she'd been glancing at me from up ahead.
"......!"
Violet flinched and whipped her head away so fast that her short purple hair floated for a moment. Between the strands, I caught a glimpse of her nape, flushed red.
"......?"
What's with her this morning? I tilted my head at Violet's strange behavior. Was it because of what happened at dawn...? Hmm. She'd been alone for so long, and I'd approached her so suddenly. Maybe I'd gotten too swept up in the moment. I should've been more careful...
I scolded myself internally and flicked ash from the cigarette. Only awkward smoke escaped my lips. I scratched my head while watching the smoke scatter in every direction...... Wait. Every direction...?
Feeling something off about the smoke's movement, I exhaled again. "Hoo..." The smoke drifting through the air should have flowed in one direction, but instead it tore apart and scattered irregularly, as if we'd entered a region with unstable mana flow.
"......"
I exhaled several more times to confirm, but the result was the same. The air currents were wrong. They weren't gently rippling—they were swirling violently. I quietly turned my head and scanned our surroundings. The forest looked like ordinary nature. Crimson autumn leaves and snow-like piles of fallen foliage. Dappled sunlight filtering through the branches and pure white clouds drifting across the blue sky. And... an eerie silence that had settled over the entire forest.
"......"
No sound at all. Not the cheerful chirping of birds from moments ago. Not the occasional rustling of small animals. Not even the distant sound of the waterfall. Nothing.
'Something...'
......Something was wrong. Gold Tae-yang, walking beside me, seemed to notice it too. He stopped abruptly, his voice unusually tense.
"Bastard, this..."
"I felt it too."
"This is fucked."
Gold Tae-yang cursed and scanned the area warily. Now that we'd noticed the anomaly, other things became apparent. A sharp killing intent that felt like it was slicing into our skin. A faint scent of blood in the air. ......And cold gazes watching us from up ahead.
"......"
"......"
Eyes brimming with ominous energy stared us down. A heavy silence fell over the peaceful forest. We stood in an invisible standoff with whatever was hiding behind those trees. The one who broke the tense quiet was Maharet. She turned to look at Gold Tae-yang and me, both frozen in place, and tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh...? Why are you two just standing there...?"
-Twang, shhhhhhhk!!
In that instant, a faint twang like a bowstring releasing echoed, and a small object flew straight toward Maharet's neck. It happened in a split second, but I recognized it as an arrow. Reacting late, I quickly chanted and reached out.
"Blink ×2!!"
-Crackle!
My body flickered forward, appearing right in front of Maharet. It was too late to dodge. So instead, I thrust out my right hand, shoved Maharet aside, and shouted.
"Reflect!"
-Crackle...!
The next moment, my mana-infused fingertips collided head-on with the pitch-black arrow of darkness.