Yuu frowned for a long time in hesitation, "So, Lotus must've done something to Rook... If he had used magic... Then, he either erased his memories or manipulated it."
"You believe me, then?" Trey looked to him in surprise.
"If I asked Lotus, he would struggle to lie to me." Yuu frowned, "Though I know he wouldn't do anything that would harm me, that would also be true if he lies in order to protect me and Grim, even if it means taking extreme measures. If Rook doesn't remember what he saw or heard, then..."
"His memories were probably being meddled with." Trey frowned with a serious expression across his face, "Normally something like this would be a really dangerous thing to do. So, why would Malleus and Lotus be so secretive?"
Yuu hesitated before he responded, "If Malleus is involved with this, then it's less likely that he would let Lotus do anything out of hand unless he didn't know. So, instead of erasing Rook's memory, it's more plausible that Lotus sealed away his memories. You have been with Malleus during this trip for a while now, Trey-senpai. Do you really think that he would let something like erasing memories from a student slide?"
Trey wore a dry smile, "Perhaps... Is what I want to say, but, since the start of the camping trip, he hasn't done anything manipulative or done any harm to anyone in the club. It is hard to see him as a bad person when he has yet to do anything bad. To be honest, I doubt no one would not know if he did try to do anything bad. However, since it is like this, then Rook must have heard something he wasn't suppose to hear about. Hah... I've warned him before that it wasn't a good idea to continue this bad habit, but, this time, it got him in big trouble... However, now Lotus knows that I am aware of her activities. No doubt I would be his next target. He is also aware of my unique magic, so he wouldn't be fooled so easily. To make matters worse, I don't know what else he is capable of."
There was a slight pause before Yuu opened his mouth, "Trey, have you ever tested the extent of your unique magic before?"
"The extent of my magic?" Trey looked to him quizzically.
Yuu nodded, "It's only a thought, but I'd like to give it a try."
.....
Lotus watched on as Grim cheered with a portion of the large fish Yuu presented before him not too far from the camp fire. Lotus watched on calmly as the other clubs returned with their catch slowly over time. Yuu glanced over to her before opening his mouth with a frown, "However, what about the fairies? You said that the catfish was vital in maintaining the ecosystem of their lake. We've been catching catfish for the last two trips."
"It will take a while, but they do have a breeding system. That being said, with the current situation in the gala. It would be best for the two things favors to cancel each other out... However, the damage to the ecosystem is still a problem. Thaumarks cannot fix a broken system as easily as we hoped, it would only fund the research but that's it. Moreover, the school would not have enough to cover the damage caused by this incident." Lotus took a deep breath and sighed, "Perhaps, the best thing now is for two things. One is education of the environment of dwarves' mine and the second is the aid to recovering their ecosystem. Hmm... It would be a problem is a lot of school's came here for the camping trip. This place is better left under protection if this place is to recover. With so many students here to feed during camping... If only I could somehow... No... perhaps, I can make it work..."
For some reason, ideas over the education of children and the connection to tie the matter with improving the environment of Dwarves' mine arose in her mind. She wasn't clear on how, but she somehow knew that she had resources that could help her tie these two together to benefit both the fairies and the children while also helping improve the relationship between the two. She was against the idea of allowing humans to be involved with the changes of the environment. However, the more she saw how they cared for the relationship between races, the more she pondered if it was actually possible to maintain such a relationship for long term. She recalled that her literature tutor was the headmaster of Nobel Bell College. So, perhaps, she had gotten to know the board of education through him at some point and did something that helped her gain some connections. However, her teacher was physically weak thanks to his state. Why would he take the risk of hurting himself just to take her across the world to meet with the board of education? Thinking this, she knew that she must find her teacher as soon as possible.
She responded, "Don't worry. There will be a way to make up for this problem. However, it will take time and perhaps years before the effect becomes more apparent. Yuu, can you keep an eye on Grim before he tries to eat the entire fish soon?"
"Ah!" Yuu was shocked to realize that Grim was about to pounce on the other student's lunch and grabbed the cat by the ribbon collar, "Hey!"
"Fgna! Come on! Just one more bite!" The cat complained.
"If you eat everything, the others would go hungry without food. Stop it!" He scolded the cat.
Lotus chuckled as she heard this and smirked, "Perhaps, instead of a squirt bottle, we need a water gun."
"Fgna! No way!" The cat hissed at her with a scowl. However, Lotus only laughed.
"It can't be helped though." Lotus chuckled, "After all, Trey managed to make the fish taste pretty good and enticing with the herbs he found."
"Yes, yes." Rook smiled wide at Trey's achievement, "Amazing job, Trey. What an enticing aroma."
Trey chuckled and said humbly, "Haha, don't give me too much credit now. All I did was roast the fish over the fire with a little salt."
"Oh no, this is more than a little salt." Rook shook his head in disbelief, "This is more than a little salt. I'm picking up several other herbs and spices just as Monsieur Snow Fox said! It smells delicious."
Lotus chuckled, "If you just stand there, Grim will start to eat your portion too, Rook-senpai."
"Would you like to have some?" Trey offered Lotus a piece much to her confusion.
"Sure." Lotus nodded as she played along and took the piece. Taste a piece, her eyes widen in surprise, "Wow, so you managed to find it."
"Huh?" Trey looked to her in surprise.
"That thing in the trees. Not bad..." Lotus chuckled as she handed her piece over to Grim, "Here, sit down quietly and eat this."
Hearing this, Trey was surprised! There was a piece of herb that came from the top of trees. The herb was small and does not produce in bundles making it very expensive to attain. However, he only used up a small pinch of it as the last ingredient. The taste of it shouldn't be too detectable. Yet, she only took one bite and easily hinted back that the ingredient he got was from the trees. As expected, her senses are very good.
"Really?!" Grim's eyes shimmered in awe as she took the fish piece in his paws, "Yeah! Thanks!"
"It's absolutely delish!" Yuu spoke up with a look of surprise as he took a seat next to Grim and tasted his piece of fish, "
"Haha, glad to hear it. Eat up, there's plenty more where that came from." Trey said with a small chuckle as he seemed pressured under the praises again, "We would've had a way harder time catching that thing if Grim hadn't lured it out of the water. Besides, it's so bit, I'm not sure all of us in the Science Club could finish it."
"Wahahaha!" Grim laughed tauntingly at the cooked fish over the fire, "Take that, Giant catfish! You'll have to get up a lot earlier in the morning if you wanna eat ME! Now I'm gonna devour YOU instead!"
With that, he took another bite triumphantly. Rook took another bite of his piece of fish and smiled, "Grim can't take all the credit, though. You earned this as well, Trey!"
"What?" Trey looked up in surprise before he reasoned, "Nah, it was a group effort."
"Ah, but your decisiveness enabled us to catch the fish." Rook reminded him happily as he put down his portion of the fish, "You flew into action and drove the fairies off as soon as they appeared. If not for that, we might have let the catfish escape."
"No, really..." Trey hesitated nervously and reasoned, "You're giving me way too much credit. I figured that since you're stronger than me, you'd be able to hold onto the rope. I had to do something, so I did. That's not really worth all this praise."
"Heh, heh," Rook chuckled in amusement, "You're so modest, whatever you say, I suppose."
"I'm serious, though..." Trey insisted before he finally gave up and took his share of the fish, "Fine, you know what? I'm just gonna eat my lunch."
After taking a bite, he swallowed with a satisfied look and smiled, "Mmm, this really is nice and fatty."
He then thought for a bit before thinking aloud, "Now, which challenge should we do next?"
"I'm going to check on the other clubs that went fishing. I'll be back later." Lotus responded with a satisfied smile as she got up, waved and then left the campsite.
"Ah, wait! Lotus!" Yuu called out to her, but she was already gone.
"Geez, that guy doesn't know how to sit still. Is he always so busy?" Grim sighed in dismay, "That reminds me. When I went to check on her last night, he was nowhere to be found. He should have gone to bed when he has the chance. I wonder if the ghost or Coach Vargas, called him?"
There was a moment of silence which confused him as he questioned, "What? Did I say anything weird?"
Yuu returned and patted Grim on the head with a reassuring smile, "No. Come on. Let's finish the fish and check on the other clubs too."
"If you say so." Grim shrugged and took the last bite of his fish with a still confused look across his face.