"Keep going," Unno spat out in between the tired spasms.
His heavy armor weighed him down, a prideful plate that proved to be nothing more but a massive drag during his travels.
"And what do you think I'm doing?" Trisha snapped back, struggling just as much to drag her feet.
Ever since their encounter with the bandits, their group traveled without any rest.
They had to get as far away from the scene so that no one would ever bother implicating them with the crime. It would take at least a day or two for a random patrol of knights to encounter the remains, giving them just enough time to reach the city before that would happen.
That is, assuming they could walk fast enough.
"At least they all died," Duffan remarked with a morbid smile. "When there are no witnesses, there is no crime!"
The rest of their group didn't bother to speak up.
Ten hours of just walking ahead proved to be much more tiring than any of them would imagine.
A type of walking that was on an entirely new level when compared to their usual pace. A stroll that lasted ad infinitum, for ten hours straight, with no break for a meal or even a small rest. Ten hours of walking ahead at a steady, brisk pace.
Ten hours just to reach the eastern end of the forest, stepping into Euledian Plateau, the last straight before the Frontier. A vast, barren land often plagued by some miracles of past deities. Only by traveling down one of its carved-out roads could one hope for a relatively safe and uneventful passage.
Still, it would be the last straight before they would gain a proper alibi for the crime.
"That was quite uncalled for," Grayson rebuked his friend quite a while later, his voice muted and weighed. "If not for their numbers, we could try to fight them off. I understand that we need to, first and foremost, take care of ourselves, but still…" the young man said while raising his deep, green eyes to give his morbid companion a burdened glare.
"I know, I know," Duffan rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue before looking away. "Save me the lecture," he then scoffed before rolling his eyes again, this time more aggressively. "This world is a brutal place. And if we are to survive, we have to serve ourselves first. It's that dumb bitch's fault she skimped on the reward for this quest."
Duffan didn't raise his voice… but within the group of people so tired they could only struggle to breathe as they continued to move, pretty much everyone heard him.
"Wait," Trisha's body jerked as the girl suddenly bristled up.
"What are you doing, keep…"
"Something…" Trisha threw, only to turn over and look back at the way they came from.
By stepping into the carved path of the plateau, she could see all the way down the straight road.
And there was nothing, absolutely nothing to warrant such a reaction.
"Trisha, I know you are tired, but," Grayson awkwardly attempted to cheer the girl up.
"Hmph! Whatever," Trisha threw her chin over a small arc, squinting her eyes like someone too smart and mighty to bother with others. In the end, however, she picked up the pace and joined the group's effort of avoiding the responsibility for the fuck-up.
"You know, guys," Grayson, seeing the utter failure of his efforts to cheer Trisha up, attempted to speak up again. "Once we get back to the city, I'm going to send the letters back home. I didn't want to tell you before this mission, but…"
The young man stopped for a second, forced by the utmost exhaustion to halt his steps for a second and take a proper breath. The exertion of both walking and speaking proved to be a bit too much for him.
"I've actually got the token for the academy games!"
The news was like the much-desired bucket of water thrown on everyone's heads.
"Wait, seriously?!" Even Duffan's mood improved, almost making him do a dance on the spot. "That's the chance we were looking for, all along!"
"That's some really great news, man!" Unno cheered as well, somehow regaining enough of his energy to actually engage in the conversation and even turn his head to look over.
"Hehehe…" Grayson laughed. "Wait until you hear this!" he shouted before nearly jumping on the spot as if to wake the girl he carried on his back. "Sylvie got one too!"
Another shock went through the group.
Grayson continued to smile.
"We can sell one then participate in the games as a group, and then…"
The young man's face melted at the mere prospect of what was finally within his arm's reach.
"I took this quest because I wanted to earn some more money before the games, but I guess I didn't really have to!" Grayson somehow managed to laugh out before coughing and calming down.
He had to save the energy to walk for another ten hours, after all, otherwise, the fortune in the form of two meticulously engraved coins would be worth jack-shit.
"Wait, if you both have one, why did you even drag us to this quest?" Unno inquired, reinvigorated by the news enough to not only uphold but also actively engage in the conversation.
Even though he carried his heavy armor, he was still the most athletic one in the group.
"I didn't know," Grayson shook his arms. "I only learned of this yesterday," Grayson laughed, scratching the side of his chin while Trisha and Unno exchanged glances. "You know how it is with her," the young man looked to the side where the girl's face hung over his shoulder. "Rarely a word."
"Don't you think she will be pissed?" Crayon, the deaf of the twins spoke in place of his mute brother. "We tricked her, didn't we?"
Greyson rolled his eyes.
"This is how this brutal world works," he muttered, lowering his gaze as the weight of the moral responsibility once again pressed down against his shoulders. He then raised his head and smiled, as if to ignore the pain of the physical exhaustion. "She doesn't really understand it yet."