Chereads / Then Archery is my path / Chapter 47 - Scouts-Knights

Chapter 47 - Scouts-Knights

October 1, 3108

After the theoretical lessons ended, as usual, I made my way to the scout training area. On my way there, I stopped at my usual spot to wait for Liam so we could head over together. After a few days of going alone, he had given me a long and irritating monologue about social relationships and how being alone made me look even more suspicious.

When I spotted him, though, he wasn't alone. Nero and Elysia were with him, along with their usual group of fans. Liam noticed me as well and gestured for me to go ahead without him, which I did without hesitation.

Once I arrived at the training grounds, the crowd was much larger than I'd expected. Among the attendees, I recognized people from the usual scout group as well as a significant number from the Knights group.

Nero's group arrived shortly after me, followed by another group led by Astrel.

"As I see most of you have already gathered," Mr. Michael said, appearing at his usual spot. He didn't waste any time getting started. "Today, the Knights group will be joining the scout lessons. For today, the Knights group will perform the same missions the scouts complete daily. Meanwhile, the scouts will have a new mission: to prevent the Knights from fulfilling theirs. However, moving the mannequins or stealing objectives is prohibited. Instead, you are allowed to steal the plates you're all familiar with."

He held up the wooden plate used in the point-hunting challenges to illustrate his point.

"Knights, if your plate is stolen, you must return here to retrieve a new one. Completing missions without it will result in the need to repeat them. Does everyone understand?"

A boy from the Knights group raised his hand. Once Mr. Michael gave him permission to speak, he asked, "How will we locate the items we're supposed to retrieve?"

"Your bracelets will alert you when you're near the objectives," Mr. Michael replied. This sparked a wave of grumbling from the scouts, who had always been forced to rely on their navigation skills without any assistance.

"Any more questions? If not, the scout group has a 10-minute head start," Mr. Michael concluded.

I felt Liam's gaze on me and turned to see him making hand signals in my direction. "Gathering place, Follow me" Did something happen? 

"Start!" Mr. Michael's voice rang out.

As soon as the signal was given, the 100 members of the scout group surged into the forest, myself included.

I kept my eyes on Liam as we all moved. He veered off in a different direction from everyone else, heading to the right. Curious, I followed him. Once we were far enough from the other students, Liam came to a stop, and it was just the two of us.

"Did something happen?" I asked, puzzled by Liam's unusual behavior. Despite spending a lot of time together , we rarely interacted during scout lessons.

"Like no, something had to happen?" he replied in his usual casual tone, which left me slightly surprised.

"Then why did you call me?"

"To make fun of Nero, of course!" Liam answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to process the absurdity of his statement.

"No."

My response was short and definitive. I was already considering leaving when Liam grabbed my shoulder.

"Kail, this is going to be extremely funny. I'm already struggling not to laugh just thinking about the look on Nero's face when his confidence disappears!"

"No thanks," I replied without hesitation, removing Liam's hand from my shoulder.

"You leave me no choice, then," Liam said with a smirk. "I'll have to tell Michael that you're the person with the phrase."

I froze for a moment, slowly turning back to him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"'With the moon comes problems in your rank,'" Liam interrupted mid-sentence, quoting me.

I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at him.

"You're not going to tell Michael," I said firmly, confident in my words.

"You don't know that," Liam retorted, grinning in the most infuriating way imaginable.

I sighed, realizing I had no choice but to give in.

"Fine. Let's move closer to the entrance. That way, we'll at least know which direction he's going to head."

I didn't think I would be blackmailed by Liam, I muttered to myself, annoyed.

"That's better! And why all this resistance when, in the end, you're going to do what I want anyway?" Liam said, his grin widening.

"You've known for a long time, haven't you?" I asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Probably since the third day," he admitted nonchalantly. "You seriously have nothing in common with astrology. I might've let it slide hearing about the moon once, but three consecutive days? Yeah, no."

"Does Nero know?" I continued, still bothered by the situation I found myself in.

"I don't think so. I didn't tell him, and he doesn't seem like he's noticed. Even if he has, he probably just found it odd and shrugged it off."

"Ahhh, okay. But you know this will work only once, right?"

"It'll work more times than you think. I assure you," Liam said, sounding overly confident.

I had never seen Nero so angry before.

"Who does this!? Seriously, when I catch you, I'm going to destroy you! You rats! I PROMISE YOU THAT I WILL…"

On one hand, I could understand his frustration. This was the seventh plate we had stolen from him, and the best part was that he didn't even notice when we took it. For the first three times, he only realized he had lost the plate after completing the mission. By the fifth plate, he started walking with a spear in his hand, constantly on guard.

But for me and Liam, who was currently gasping for air because he didn't want to laugh out loud, it wasn't much of a challenge. We had perfected our method: one distracts, the other steals, and then we disappear before he even realizes what happened. Even when Nero started sensing our presence around the fourth time, it didn't help much. With our speed and coordination, we continued stealing the plates with ease.

Now it was Nero's eighth attempt to complete the mission. I suggested to Liam that we call it a day, but he refused, claiming this would be the last time—just as he had said the previous time.

Let's make your plan a little more difficult,

We switched roles, with Liam now in charge of stealing the plate while I distracted Nero.

A few trees ahead of Nero, I made a small noise to draw his attention. Then I moved quickly, showing a silhouette that darted in different directions to confuse him before vanishing into cover.

But this time, instead of letting Liam finish the job as usual, I pulled out my bow.

Take a little of your own medicine, Liam, I thought, chuckling to myself.

I released an arrow, and this one hit Liam's pants, pinning them to the ground just as he approached Nero from behind.

Nero spun around, furious, catching Liam red-handed in the middle of his attempt.

"Hello, how are you?" Liam greeted with a sheepish grin.

"I'm just going to kill you," Nero said, his expression dark but now sporting a twisted smile that promised anything but mercy.

For the next ten minutes, I stayed hidden, watching the chaotic scene unfold. Nero attacked Liam with every technique he could muster, while Liam darted and dodged, barely avoiding getting skewered.

It's already getting dark, I thought, deciding I had better things to do than babysit these two. They'll sort it out on their own.

I headed toward the exit, leaving the two troublemakers to their impromptu duel.

When I arrived back, I noticed something amusing. At first, the scouts and knights had been mingled together, their groups indistinguishable. But now, they were standing in two very distinct clusters—and from the sour expressions on the knights' faces, it was clear Liam wasn't the only person who decided to make a joke.

A few minutes later, Liam appeared, sporting a fresh bruise under his right eye. Without hesitation, he marched over to me, pointing an accusing finger.

"Traitor!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that what I hear from you? You're the one who dragged me into this."

Liam grinned mischievously. "Hehehe, and I don't regret it at all. If I had another chance, I'd do it again, 100%."

"It's important you don't say that in front of him," I warned, glancing toward the forest where Nero was likely still fuming. "Because next time, you definitely won't get away alive."

"If you don't betray me again, he won't even find out we did this," Liam said with mock seriousness.

Nero emerged from the forest moments later, his mood visibly sour. The moment his eyes landed on Liam, who was now smiling smugly, Nero's face turned an even deeper shade of red. I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears as he struggled to maintain his composure.

"I hope you all had a good time today," said Mr. Michael, stepping forward to address the group once most of the students had returned. "Tomorrow, you'll have your lesson with Mr. George, so you will head to the Knights' area directly."

The announcement shifted the mood among the students dramatically. The knights erupted into cheers, their spirits lifted instantly, while the scouts collectively groaned, their shoulders slumping.

This is how wars begin, children. I thought, observing the clear divide between the two groups.

While I remained indifferent to the situation, Liam and Nero had entirely different reactions. Nero's face lit up with uncharacteristic joy, while Liam visibly tensed, his smugness evaporating as he began to tremble slightly.

"Kail, you're just going to let me deal with this alone?" Liam pleaded, turning to me with desperate eyes.

"Absolutely," I replied without hesitation. "This one's all on you."

His hope shattered instantly, leaving him looking utterly defeated.

Fortunately, I had archery classes to attend today saving myself from escalating the situation tensions further in the ring. 

When I arrived at the dojo, Mr. Karlos greeted me with a new setup. Instead of the usual training area, the archery field was now fully covered but brightly lit.

"Go to the center," Mr. Karlos instructed, pointing to a spot in the middle of the field.

I followed his direction, standing in the indicated spot as he continued. "Aim only at the red objects and be ready to dodge anything that comes at you."

As soon as he finished, spheres of various colors—green, blue, black, red, and white—materialized around me. They moved chaotically, each on its own unique trajectory, with varying speeds and sizes.

I nocked my first arrow and took aim at a red sphere, striking it cleanly. Suddenly, a few of the other spheres seemed to "mark" me as a target and began hurtling toward me at considerable speed. I was forced to dodge quickly to avoid being hit.

After hitting three more red spheres in succession, Mr. Karlos's voice cut through the action.

"Now, green," he instructed, signaling the next stage of the exercise.

As the number of spheres flying in my direction continued to increase, and Mr. Karlos kept randomly calling out the next color I had to hit, the situation grew more and more chaotic. At one point, the spheres managed to completely surround me, leaving no room for retreat. That was the moment my training for the day came to an abrupt end.

Collapsed on the lawn, I struggled to catch my breath. My lungs and throat burned from the intense workout. The sheer complexity of the exercise was overwhelming—I had to dodge, aim, memorize the positions of the spheres, predict their trajectories, and keep track of my arrows. I even had to replace my quiver twice after running out of arrows.

"Still more work needed on spatial orientation," Mr. Karlos remarked as I lay there, staring up at the sky. "But the start isn't bad. Pick up all the arrows on the field, and if you still want, you can shoot the bow at the regular targets."

I let out a groan of exhaustion. The tests are over, but it feels like everything has only gotten harder.