When Kendra arrived to the west.
Kendra hid herself in the bush, moving in silence as she roamed the west area; Kendra has decided to observe the situation first, so Kendra can make the appropriate plan for the team that is here.
There are about ten teams lurking here in the west including the one from Kendra's class. In Kendra's opinion, the S-Class team in the west is the most timid team out of all the participants in this tournament.
Because this team is composed of students who don't know how to hunt. Probably since this team are all city folks. And city folks know nothing about how things work in the forest or the rural area.
Kendra thinks it was the reason why the S-Class team on the west are awfully timid. After all, Kendra grew up in the rural village area, or more like, she grew up near the mountain forest.
Life in the rural and urban areas are totally different. For one, people in the city no longer need to hunt food in the forest. Since there are many traders and merchants that would sell goods inside the city. In return, shop owners like restaurants only need to buy these goods and cook them. People in the city don't experience how hard and tough life can be in the rural areas, especially when there are storms or floods or natural calamities.
So Kendra thinks that the S-Class team here in the west is someone who grew up in the city. After all, their upbringing screams city life to Kendra.
If Kendra didn't return to the past and doesn't have her memories from the future; Kendra would probably behave like a country bumpkin; it's also why Kendra got bullied in her original timeline, but it was when Kendra became a queen that Kendra started studying etiquette and manners that many city folks and nobles have.
That's why Kendra thinks that it was expected; that this team of city folks would act timidly, when thrown into an unfamiliar environment. But Kendra doesn't have time to baby-sit them; nor guide these students on how to adapt to these kinds of things.
If only Kendra had a choice; Kendra wouldn't waste her time on these things. However, Kendra must do this. In order for Kendra's class to get united and to grow strong, and also, for the sake of Kendra's future recruits to grow strong.
That's right, Kendra finally decided to hire these students as her ally. Because the matter of her true power being exposed will make Kendra targeted by the cult members. Kendra will need strong people on her side; this is also for the sake of the kingdom. The stronger Kendra makes these students; the stronger the kingdom will become.
But of course, Kendra still has to shape these students to her standards. Kendra doesn't have that much free time, so Kendra decisively chose her own classmates; Kendra plans to recruit all of her commoner classmates. While the nobles? Kendra still hasn't decided yet.
Currently, the team of three sits together under the tree, hugging their knees as they stare at the night sky. This team is the same team that got scolded by Chef Stern at the start of the competition.
The male student in the middle is the timid student who proposed to leave the competition. However, because they would receive minus points; he and his team cancelled that plan.
Kendra knows this male student.
If Kendra remembers correctly; this male student's name should be Coy Silverwater; his parents are both commoners, but as far as Kendra knows, his mother had a wide network and connections. Meanwhile, his father is a skilled rich merchant and has business tradings even outside the kingdom. This environment should make a normal child grow conceited and confident, especially since Coy's family is so rich that it could buy a city.
However, on the contrary, Coy Silverwater grew up timid for whatever reason that Kendra has no idea about, and in the future, Coy Silverwater will differentiate to an A-Level omega.
Sadly, even after transitioning to a powerful A-Level omega, this male student remained timid until the end.
In the end, Kendra heard from the rumours that Coy Silverwater ended up being forced to an arranged marriage to a noble man with a low level pheromones, who cheated on Coy Silverwater openly.
That was the unfortunate ending of Coy Silverwater's life, and this made Kendra feel that she and Coy are just the same; this also made Kendra decide to help Coy and his team.
Kendra plastered a friendly smile on her face, walking out of the bush and approaching Coy Silverwater and his team under the shade of the tree; Kendra stopped in front of them.
Coy and his team stared at Kendra with pulled up brows of anxiousness.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Kendra Salamanca," Kendra said, laying her palm in front of them to shake hands.
Coy and his team just stared at Kendra's palm with confused wary brows; they glanced at each other, then they stared at Kendra's whole existence with a vigilant timid gaze.
"I'm your classmate, we're in the same class," Kendra said again, still smiling courtly at the three.
Coy swallowed nervously as he opened his mouth and said, "wha-what do you need from…from us?"
Kendra retracted her hand as her smile deepened seeing that despite Coy's timidness; Coy still acts as the leader of their group, and it means that Coy still has the potential to grow.
"If I said I need your team to complete the first task for the competition, would you believe me?" Kendra asked, staring probingly at Coy with a soft elegant smile on her face.
Coy weaved his brows deeply as he fidgeted with his fingers in anxiousness. "I...I don't know, uhm, it...it doesn't seem that there is benefit in helping us, so why…why would you...?"
"That's right, I won't get any benefits in helping you, but..." Kendra trailed, taking Coy's hand; Kendra used Coy's palm to draw each letter of the remaining words that Kendra wanted to say.
After Kendra finished, Kendra let go of Coy's hand as she smiled even more gently; Coy, on the other hand, only stared with shocked eyes at Kendra.
"Do you understand?" Kendra probed, maintaining her friendly and gentle facade.
Coy nodded twice in slow motion, looking at Kendra even more suspiciously. "But…but, what makes you think I...I would let you...with my fa-family?"
"Right now, the three of you don't know how to hunt, right?" Kendra asked, looking at the three.
The three in front of Kendra nodded in agreement with a helpless gaze; their shoulders were slump, looking dejected and hopeless.
Kendra remains calm, smiling pleasantly. "Well then. I'm a person who grew up near the mountains. I know a thing or two about hunting; I could guide you on those things, what do you think?"
Kendra doesn't really know anything about hunting, but back in her village, people there like to boast their hunting skills by re-telling their stories during meal time. Which is why Kendra is not completely uneducated when it comes to these things. Even if Kendra didn't personally experience it herself; Kendra can still use that knowledge in practice here.
Meanwhile, Coy bit his lip as he fidgeted even more with his hands; his eyes turned to look at his two friends, sitting beside him; the three of them are childhood friends.
Kendra's perceptive ocean blue eyes noticed this; Kendra could tell that Coy's motivation and strength came from the two students beside him.
If Kendra remembers correctly; the two students beside Coy are his merchant friends, who will differentiate to an alpha and beta in the future.
The name of the male student on the right is Paz, while the male student on the left is Beck.
Paz and Beck both changed their timid and shy personality after transitioning to a powerful A-Level alpha and Beta. Out of the three, only Coy stayed timid until the end.
However, Kendra has already decided to help Coy, so naturally, Kendra will help Coy realise his own capability.
"So, I help you and you help me, deal?" Kendra asked again, offering her hand once again in front of Coy's vigilant face.
Coy is still hesitant and anxious.
Seeing this, Kendra turned to look at the two male students beside Coy. "What about the two of you? As a team, you should also help Coy decide, right?"
Startled, Paz and Beck glanced at each other, then their eyes went to Coy.
Coy smiled at them in comfort, which made both Paz and Beck both feel guilty; they had been depending everything on Coy, which made Coy feel burdened and pressured.
The two glanced at each other; Paz and Beck nodded with resolute gaze.
"We accept, classmate Kendra," Paz and Beck answered at the same time.
Hearing the two beside him; Coy glanced at them in surprise.
Paz and Beck smiled at Coy comfortingly, nodding at Coy encouragingly. "We will carry out half the burden of the deal. Is that fine, classmate Kendra?" Beck asked.
Kendra nodded. "As long as Coy agrees..."
The two turned to look at Coy, and Coy nodded back; he stood up, shaking Kendra's hand formally. "Then, I...I know it's a bit late, but it's a pleasure to meet you, Kendra. Please call me Coy," the timid boy said with a gentle smile.
"Likewise," Kendra replied simply, smiling lightly.
Kendra and Coy both retracted their hands after the formalities.
"So, uhm...wha-what's the pla-plan?" Coy asked, still timid.
Paz and Beck stood beside Coy, waiting for Kendra.
"Well, for now, let me see your recipe," Kendra said.
Coy handed the paper containing the recipe to Kendra.
Like what Kendra had expected; the recipe that Coy's team has also needed different types of monster from Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind element; the four common types of element.
"Let's divide the task based on your attributes, what do you think? Of course, I'll help you on hunting them, but I'll just act as a support," Kendra said, returning the recipe to Coy.
The three glanced at each other, nodding their heads as if they had reached a consensus.
"We agree," Coy stated.
Kendra nodded. "Then first...for hunting a fire type monster, who wants to volunteer to take this role?" Kendra asked, looking expectantly at the three.
Coy Silverwater raised his hand shyly. "Uhm I…I'll do it."
"Good, then Coy and you," Kendra said, pointing at Paz. "The two of you will work together to capture a fire type monster."
Paz nodded happily.
Beck, who was left out, raised his hand. "What about me?" Beck asked, pointing to himself.
"You will work with me to hunt the remaining monsters," Kendra said.
Beck slumps his shoulder dejectedly.
"Alright, let's go to the streams, there are probably fire type and water type monsters lurking around there," Kendra said as she started walking.
Coy and the others followed Kendra to a nearby stream somewhere in the west.
They saw a fire type Orange Tomato monster, a middle-grade monster.
Fortunately, it was still night time, and no fire type monster can use their fire attribute to spit fire.
It became easy for Kendra and Coy's team to capture the Tomato monster alive. At first, they weakened the Tomato monster with water, drowning it a little bit and submerging the Tomato monster's body under the stream. Shortly, the Tomato monster stopped struggling.
After capturing the Tomato monster, the rest were also captured alive fairly easily. Because Kendra made the three work together while she works as a support on the rear.
Kendra made Coy's team the first team to complete the task; this made Coy and the others leave the Greenfield since they already gathered everything in the recipe.
Next, Kendra went to the south since it was still midnight; it means Kendra still had time to handle the remaining teams.
When Kendra arrived in the south; Kendra discovered that the two S-Class teams seemed to be in a conflict against each other.
Kendra approached them, using the skill Eavesdrop; a C-Tier skill that would let Kendra listen to the voices in disputes.
While using the skill Eavesdrop, Kendra is also using Zoom skill on her eyes, so she could zoom in and see clearly from a far distance; it's an augmenting type that enhances eyesight through Kendra's light attribute; Kendra is using the light from the moon to boost the sharpness of her eyes.
"Leon, you bastard! I knew you would play dirty, but this is crossing the line! Stop pretending to be a fool and hand out my team's ingredients!" Axel bellowed; his whole face getting scarlet like his red spiky hair from anger.
Leon, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes with coldness. "If there is anyone playing the fool here, it's you and your team, Axel."
The veins on Axel's neck bulged; he gritted his teeth as he punched the tree next to him out of anger. His teammates pulled him, dragging him far away from Leon's team. Axel yelled, cursing as he pointed at Leon and his team.
It turns out that it was Axel and Leon, who have separate teams joining the team cooking competition. Kendra didn't notice them since she was absentminded all those times.
Axel's team thinks that it was Leon's team who stole their hunts and ingredients. Leon's team thinks the same towards Axel's team; they think it was Axel's team who stole their hunt and ingredients.
On the other hand, Kendra thinks that neither of these two would do such underhanded tricks, considering their abilities and personality.
Kendra went to the other teams, lurking around somewhere in the south Greenfield; Kendra had a hunch that it was the other teams doing.
"Those idiots in the S-Class, to think it was this easy to manipulate them into fighting. Hahahaha~"
"Hahaha, indeed, maybe all S-Class are just idiots with some kind of skills?"
"No, I think it's because our A-Class is just the best! Ahahahaha!"
Kendra, who heard this, went to Eavesdrop on the other teams as well, and Kendra discovered that the one who instigated Axel and Leon to an adversary is someone from the teams in the A-Class, B-Class, and D-Class.
D-Class is the one who actually stole those ingredients and ate them, but the one who manipulated Axel's team is the B-Class, and A-Class seems to be intentionally and indirectly pointing to Leon that they saw Axel's team doing it.
If Kendra recall, this should be the reason why Axel's team and Leon's team both lost in this competition. Because Axel and Leon can easily be instigated to fight against each other.
Discreetly, Kendra took some of the leftover ingredients in the D-Class, so Leon and Axel would believe her words by showing solid evidence.
Kendra went to Leon first to explain the situation.
To Kendra's surprise, Leon didn't believe Kendra.
"You don't have to speak for him, Kendra. I know very well what Axel is capable of, and thank you for bringing these ingredients back, even though it's only a mere leftover," Leon said as he turned around, walking back to his camp and teammates.
So Kendra went to Axel next, and like Leon, Axel didn't believe Kendra either.
"That bastard is the type to do something like this! Stop defending that malicious bastard, Kendra! You'll just end up being used!" Axel said angrily.
Kendra pursed her lips; it seems Kendra's plan backfired instead. Seeing that talking won't solve anything; Kendra decided to use force.
Kendra grabbed Axel's red coat collar, dragging Axel to Leon's camp.
"What are you doing! Let go of my collar!" Axel exclaimed, struggling with Kendra's strong grip.
Kendra narrowed her eyes at Axel, smiling gently. "Stop moving around, will you? I might accidentally break your bones otherwise," Kendra whispered in a voice that the only two of them could hear.
Axel shut his mouth instantly, especially when he felt Kendra's monster-like aura and the strong pressure on Kendra's grip.
With that, Kendra drag Axel to Leon's camp. When they arrived, Leon gazed at Kendra and Axel with vigilance.
"What do the two of you need from my team? We don't have any ingredients left aside from that leftover, if that is what you're looking for," Leon said coldly.
Kendra pursed her lips again, dragging Leon as well.
Leon instantly felt Kendra's strong aura; he immediately understood how Kendra managed to make Axel follow her.
Kendra drags the two to listen to the other team's conversations behind the bush. When Leon and Axel heard what the other classes did; Axel wanted to give those teams a beating, but Kendra dragged them back to their camp.
"Kendra, why did you bring us back here? We should beat those teams to a pulp, so they won't dare scheme again!" Axel said in anger, kicking the rocks around him.
Leon narrowed his eyes as he nodded in agreement. "I hate to say this, but I agree with this moron," Leon stated.
Axel glared at Leon. "Who are you calling a moron!?"
Leon rolled his eyes at Axel, which only made Axel even more mad.
Kendra pursed her lips, feeling how troublesome it is to handle these two. "You two need to be silent and listen," Kendra said.
Axel instantly shuts up, and Leon only rolls his eyes again at Axel.
"I know that the two of you want to get your revenge against those teams, and I understand why. But I need you to prioritize the competition first. You can get your revenge afterwards once the competition ends," Kendra stated.
Leon, who has a sharp mind, seems to vaguely sense that there is a reason why Kendra is doing this; this made Leon somewhat understand why Kendra helped settle his dispute with Axel.
On the other hand, Axel doesn't understand anything, but Axel feels in his gut feeling that he could trust Kendra and should listen to Kendra.
Which is why the three of them reach a consensus in silence. After that, Kendra made team Leon and team Axel to work together, so they could quickly complete the task.
Soon, Leon and Axel both completed the first assignment for the competition, and Kendra also made them leave Greenfield, so their ingredients will not get stolen again.
Afterwards, Kendra walks back straight to the cave in the northeast. On the surface, Kendra appeared calm, elegant, and gentle. But deep inside, Kendra is feeling exhausted, complaining to herself…
[In the end, I still end up babysitting my classmates…haaah.]