The blazing flame made the four students' shadows look huge behind them. Their eyes glinted orange as they stared at the appearance of the person standing in front of them.
Coleen pointed her finger at the man. "That's one of the goons earlier! The one who pushed me!" she said with a muffled voice due to Link's hand covering her mouth.
Eirin's forehead creased as she squinted, trying to see the man's face. His face was pale as a white sheet of paper and he was sweating buckets as if he ran miles away from something terrifying.
"H-Help! They're going to kill me!"
Coleen pulled Eirin to her side. "Why should we help you? You people harassed us, don't you remember?" she said, holding Eirin's hand.
"Y-You don't understand!" There was genuine fear in the man's eyes as he begged the students to listen. "Those villagers— they're going to kill us all. M-Miasma!" He screamed as if he had lost his sanity and knelt on the floor pleading.
"Please, help my brothers. They are going to die if we don't help them now."
The huge and sturdy man looked so little in Eirin's eyes as she watched him grovel on the ground, begging for their help. He once looked terrifying, but now, he's the one terrified.
"Why don't you try scaring the villagers? Like how you people did earlier?" Coleen glared at the big weeping man.
Link sauntered towards the man, and despite Coleen's call for his name, he didn't hesitate to talk. "First things first, explain what is going on so we can understand your situation," he said. Helping the hysterical man to relax.
"Hey! You're seriously going to help him?" Coleen screamed in disbelief.
The man calmed himself, but his trembling body did not stop as he talked about what the villagers did as soon as the four students left earlier. His words were straightforward and didn't censor anything at all.
Everything the man said seemed like a horrible nightmare. Something that no person would even expect to happen in real life.
"Are we seriously going to believe that guy? He's a mercenary who hurt both Eirin and me!" Coleen retorted, gawking at the injured man.
The big man cried and cried. "Er so sorry for what I and brothers did, but I'm not lying!" His thick accent started appearing as he rubbed his palms, pleading. He knew how powerful Shade was based on how he showed off his ability earlier.
"Please! My brothers—"
The man couldn't finish his sentence as he grabbed onto his chest. His mouth started foaming and he fell flat to the floor with his whole body shaking nonstop.
Coleen's eyes widened as she backed away. "W-What is going on?"
The man continued shaking violently, and the students were taken aback until he finally stopped. Link immediately checked the man's pulse.
"He's gone."
Coleen screamed and hid behind Shade. "H-How did he die? We didn't even do anything to him."
"This is why I told you children to go home."
Someone else's voice came from the dark woods. The moon shone at the fiery red hair of the woman walking towards the campfire. The clicking sound of her heels resonated making Eirin's heart thump louder.
"Ms. Jenkins."
Scarlett gazed at Link and said, "You've grown. But what's with the flashy pink hair?"
The way Coleen and Link talked to Scarlett Jenkins, it appeared that they had known one another for a while now, and only Eirin was left in silence. Inevitable, since she had just arrived for months, and the others had been living in the academy as long as they could remember.
"Princess Coleen as well? What is up with the flashy hair colour?"
Coleen twirled her twin tails while blushing as if the fear she felt vanished in an instant. "Link and I love the colour purple," she said. "Anyway, what is happening in this place, Ms. Jenkins?"
Scarlett sighed, "This is why I told you to leave this place immediately, hard-headed student of mine." She lifted the man lying on the ground as if he bore no weight. "Report to Regina— I meant the Queen about the situation in the village."
"What situation?"
Scarlett Jenkins' green eyes glowed as she floated into the air. "I have no time to explain. Leave and inform the Queen of the little information you got, she'll know." She rushed away from the teens with the corpse of the mercenary man.
The four students left in confusion as they looked at each other. Were they supposed to follow what Scarlett Jenkins said?
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's pack up and leave."
"No."
Coleen's forehead creased after Shade cut off any ideas of leaving as he gazed in the direction Scarlett went to.
"This is a mission. Either we succeed, or fail." His eyes were dead serious. "I don't fail."
Eirin gulped as the tension between the group rose.
"Must we do this? If the Queen learned that there's something wrong going on in this place, she would send some help, wouldn't she?"
Shade rolled his eyes. "Are we not trained to handle the worst-case scenario?" His tone caused Coleen to raise a brow. "You three stay here or go back to the academy. I can handle this on my own." He did not say anything crude like he usually does, but it left Coleen offended.
It was not tough to figure out whatever goes inside Shade Cromwell's head, and at the moment, Coleen knew he thought of them as a burden.
"I can't let you go by yourself," Link grabbed Shade's arm.
The chilly night breeze was filled with tension as they could not get to an agreement. Eirin stood in silence as she did not know what to say either. Everything was a first for her, and not even her teammates could help her with that.
"For now, we all must get plenty of sleep to prepare for tomorrow. What do you guys say?"
Coleen rolled her eyes and went towards the tent while Shade shook his head and went in the opposite direction. Eirin gulped, eyes filled with worry. If their group start breaking up right here, what would come to the plague that's haunting the academy?
"Rest," Link patted Eirin's shoulder. "We need it for tomorrow."
They built two tents for the four of them, one to be shared by Coleen and Eirin, and the other for Shade and Link. Eirin could not look Coleen in the eye as she entered the tent, her mouth felt dry as she fiddled with her fingertips.
Would it be fine to talk to her? The teenage girl was afraid to sully their newly established friendship.
"Am I also a burden for you, Ei?"
Eirin gulped as she looked in Coleen's direction. She noticed that the word 'burden' bears so much weight for Coleen.
"Shade might not have said anything, but I know he's thinking of me as a burden. I know that already… I know that coming here with you guys would only become a burden. But… I still wanted to come."
Tears welled in Coleen's eyes as her lips trembled. The hurt in her voice sounded so clear to Eirin's ears.
Eirin sat on the sleeping bag beside Coleen and patted her arm. Comforting her, saying words that would stop Coleen from overthinking things.
'To be completely honest, it's me. I think I am the burden,' Eirin thought as she caressed Coleen's hair. She could not say those words aloud, afraid of invalidating the feelings of her friend.
However, Eirin could not deny it anymore. She neither has the ability nor the knowledge to deal with the problems going around this world. Eirin doesn't have anything but herself.
Coleen pouted as she continued ranting regarding Shade's cruel and arrogant personality, while Eirin comforted her by listening quietly. They also talked about the peculiar things circulating the village and even discussed the topic of the mercenary losing his life in front of them.
Just remembering the sight of the man dying terrifies Eirin to the bone. As soon as the tiredness sank in, Coleen immediately fell asleep, but Eirin was too afraid to close her eyes. Whenever she does, she sees the mercenary man dying in front of her over and over again.
Eirin inhaled as she stared at the top of the tent. The blowing of the wind caused such hollow sounds which hindered Eirin's mind. She tried to close her eyes, singing inside her head until she gradually fell asleep.
"Ei."
Eirin gasped, her eyes wide open, expecting to see the top of the tent again. However, she found herself lying on the muddy ground with her arms wrapped in vines.
"What the?"
The teenage girl tried to escape, but it was futile. She could not move her body the way she wanted to.
"Why did you leave me, Ei? Come back. I want to be with you forever."
Eirin gulped, hearing her friend's sweet and enchanting voice. As if something was gripping her heart, the pain would not subside.
"It's just a dream," Eirin repeated with her eyes shut. Knowing that she could only hear her friend's voice through a dream was a lot more painful.
"I didn't want to die. It feels cold here, I don't like it."
Eirin took deep breaths. "It's just a dream," she said as she calmed herself down. Upon hearing nothing else but the wind, Eirin slowly opened her eyes. She gasped and a shrill sound filled her ears as her eyes focused on Ava's bloody face right in front of her.
"Do… b….e…lie…it"