Dusk came to bring up the moonlight, to the time of reflection upon the day passed and awaiting the day to be renewed by the light of the sun.
It was at the night like this I remembered about my mentors' words. 'You don't need to be the strongest or the fastest or the smartest or the richest or the most skilled. You just need to be the most prepared one.'
And that was what I did. After I bought the necessary supplies from the business district, I was sitting alone in my room, concocting the majority of the alchemical mixtures such as herbs, Magic Beasts liver, fangs, pelts, bones, and Magic Dust.
If I had to say, creating the Alchemical Potions almost felt like as mixing cocktails; plus the weird ingredients. Huh, who would've known that the skill my mentors forced me to learn would be useful, and all this time I thought they forced me so I could be their personal bartender.
By the way, even when I was using 16x Fast Forward, I still needed 1 or 2 hours of boiling time to create one Alchemical Potion.
Speaking of which, I'd been doing this for about 4 hours straight after I went back to the inn. With 4 different 20x20 stone plate that had been imbued by Elemental Magic Stone (Fire), I had created 3 Potions of Dexterity, 3 Potions of Strength, 2 Potions of Intelligence, 1 Werewolf Concoction, and 2 Minor Healing Potions.
Then again, this wasn't enough. Today, my status might be increased by tons, but it was clear I didn't have enough power to fight someone stronger than me, I still needed another attacking method.
The only method I could do for now was using poisons, I did find some poisons ingredient when I was buying other supplies. Anyway, without hesitation, I started forcing myself to remember the poisons that I could make with the available ingredients.
First, I was boiling the water herb in clear water for about 15 minutes until the water turned blue. After the water turned blue, add a pinch of sleeping weed while slowly stirring it with Virgin's Anguish stem until the Essence completely dissolved. Then poured the water onto the sterilized empty glass vial while adding Power and Mind Magic Dust while slowly stirring the vial until it turned blue-violetish.
Voila, this blue and violet liquid would lul mortal creatures into a deep slumber. The shortest duration should be 10 minutes and any creatures with Constitution lower than 32 should've instantly got affected by this. The creature with Constitution 32 or more should've still gotten affected by this poison, though it was depended on their body and mental condition.
Anyway, there weren't that many reagent and material vendors that sold poisons ingredient, especially the Essence of Pain. Maybe tonight I should look it up at the black market, after all, each town always had one or two shady vendors.
"Yeah... let's surveyed the place right now."
And just as I stood and wore my cloak.
"Eiji!"
Azusa was opening the door with a bang. She barely blinked, just picking up her breath, her hair was messy and her face was as white as the cloud. No longer was she the calm beautiful girl, it was as she got trapped with some worries on her face.
***
The moonlight had replaced the dusk, to the time the stars welcomed us above our heads.
My mentors once said. "You don't need to be the strongest or the fastest or the smartest or the richest or the most skilled. You just need to be the most prepared one."
The most prepared, not only by making the plan, selecting the tools, learning the targets or preparing the escape path. But also prepared mentally, one of it was always preparing for the worst.
Somewhere in the distance, a scream could be heard. In the room illuminated by the moonlight, we stood there and saw the second shift.
“Let me go! They're still in there! I promised! I said I will protect them! Let me go!”
Towards Shishio who looked as pale as a ghost with blood covering his shiny armour and face. His friends and the knights desperately held him back. But, the difference between his strength and theirs was crystal clear.
He kept struggling as they continued to restrain him. If he didn't stop, he might injure himself, if not, injuring the others. Nevertheless, they could not just let him go. If they released him, he would definitely run back to the Catacomb. He did not have a shadow of his usual brightness, looking completely frantic. No, it might be more appropriate to say that he had a pained expression.
Besides me, Azusa had this horrified expression, she didn't even bother to keep her calm and cold mask. No, not only her, even the others such as Momo, the super happy looking energetic loli and Kabuto, the super unmotivated emo boy had the same expression as Azusa.
I guessed that was normal... I didn't know what happen, but considering the amount of the wounded students and the knights, some only had scrapes on their body, others were losing a limb, if not another fatal injury. Not to mention, several bodies were lying still under the white blankets. ...Considering the height and the body width, I assumed two students were falling to their demise.
And by what Shishio said before, some of the students must be still in the Catacomb.
Maybe because the others couldn't understand his current feelings or still shocked, they could not find the right words to say. If the others said too much, he would only talk back and then exert himself even more. They did not know what to do as they just stood around, unable to speak
"Are you also trying to die? It’s already too late for them! Calm down! You’ll hurt yourself!"
Jorgen tried his best to show Shishio how worried he was. However, this was not the right place and time to say something like this to the already confused Shishio.
"What do you mean by that?! They are not dead yet! I have to go, they surely seeking for help!"
No matter I looked at the situation, it was already hopeless for 'them'. However, the guy in front of me did not have the composure to accept this reality.
At that moment, I coated a needle with the sleeping poisons walked over and wordlessly pierced the back of Shishio’s neck. He jerked for a moment before he lost consciousness. His friends held the weary Shishio and looking at me, wondering what I'd done. But before they were able to complain, I already explained what happened to them.
"Since you guys couldn’t stop him, I had to do it. You guys understand that, right? We don’t have much time. Before his shout starts to affect everyone’s spirit, or before he has a mental breakdown, I did the necessary thing to stop him... And this is sleeping poisons, don't worry, he should wake up in 10 minutes or sooner. Now just take him as far as you guys could."
Lifting Shishio up, one of them seized the opportunity to stop and saying his gratitude to me.
Seeing the person fellow classmate died in front of their eyes, clearly had left a deep impression in all ours minds. Everyone had a blank expression as they looked towards the white blankets, they had blank expression but their face clearly showed another emotion.
Some had a pale face, almost felt like they were seeing a ghost.
Some were crying for as loud as they could, some were holding back their cry.
Some were trying to hold back their relieved expression, relieved they weren't the one that died.
Some were shaking in fear, worrying if they would be the next.
Some were putting up their brave face, trying to console their loved ones.
The locals were looking at us with disgust, they stare alone clearly showed death was an everyday occurence in this world.
Some were trying to show their sympathy, even though the one who died, injured or missing wasn't their friend.
There were even some who shouted "I’ve had enough of this already!" and slumped on the ground. Yeah... The group needed a leader right now. And certainly, it wasn't me.
I had observed and counted, even when Tadano, whom others would say as my friend wasn't here. I still couldn't bring myself to mourn for him. I only met him less than three weeks, and I didn't talk much to him either.
Still, I was making sure to show my sadness, no... I might be felt a little sad, but that was all. From the start, I'd prepared myself to face the casualty, either someone else or mine. And this was my self-defence method. This way, whenever someone betrayed me, getting caught or died, I still could make the beneficial judgment for me.
And I knew what I needed to say, but I also knew words from my mouth wouldn't reach their heart. No... it might reach them, but definitely not for the long term.
"All of the healer! Don’t just stand there! Make yourself useful! They won’t be able to get stay alive if you start relaxing here! Try to treat the critical one first!"
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Indeed some nearby adventurers had already treated them, but we were the cheat ones, right?
And this wasn't the morale-raising speech. I glanced at Azusa, hoping she would be the one to raise their morale, but in the end, only the healer that managed to get their self together. Clearly, they wanted the time to process everything, but a few with healing skills or knowing healing magic staggeredly stood up, they moved very sluggishly but eventually, managed to treat everyone.
We went back to the inn. But the way to the inn was long. It wasn't dark but I could not see anything on their expression as they continued to walk forward. Clearly, the long and gloomy atmosphere somehow made me felt weary.
The moment we arrived at the inn. Sighs of relief escaped from the students in succession. There were a few that once again burst into tears and others who were embracing each other. Some of us still had dark looks on our faces, especially the 2nd shift groups.
We had obviously not even spent one day in this town, and most of them must feel like it had been a long time since we arrived here.
Somehow, I only sighed. (Yeah... let's sort my mind first.)
Before me was Azusa. She only slouched on the nearby chair after passing through the door, with her head facing downward.
"Azusa."
I tried to call to her, but she didn't respond. Heck, somehow I was surprised by the fact she could reach this inn without getting any help.
"Azusa."
Once again I muttered in a low tone as my hand gently pat her back.
"O-oh...sorry, what?"
Azusa asked me that while looking around at her surroundings as if she'd just realized she was sitting in the inn. Despite that, there was no sign of relief on her voice.
With each stroke on her back, I could feel her warmness, the vibration from her heartbeat, and the sticky shirt after getting drenched by her own sweats. After waiting until her situation somewhat settled down.
"Can you do me a favour?"
Azusa had been looking downwards until now, but she suddenly raised her head and silently nodded with a serious expression.
"Can you make the list of the injured, the dead and the missing person? Just a simple one is fine."
There were probably a lot of things that she couldn't digest, but in some case, it was better for someone to keep their mind busy at a time like this. Not to mention she seemed adept at this kind of task.
Maybe it was because I suddenly asked that, she could only reply by asking "For what?" in return.
"Duh... The damage report." I said.
Standing up and messing with her hair. "Anyway, I need to go to somewhere. And if this too much then don't force yourself." I said while walking away.
It certainly didn’t look like that was the case, but if I consoled her any further, she seemed would abandon the task.
Stealthily I began to approach the knight group. I knew Jorgen and most of the knight were waiting on the outside, near the door entrance, leaving only 2 knights to watch us. No matter how I looked at it, my first suspicion was the knight. It just didn't make any sense for the commander to not give us any morale boost, considering our situation back then.
I walked, intently listened to the sound from the outside, and it was faint but I could I heard Jorgen familiar voice. I leaned on the adjacent wall, leaning on the wall while lighting my cigarette to avoid the suspicion from the other 2 knights while eavesdropping to their conversation.
From what I could hear, they discovered a new trap... no, the new trap suddenly appeared on the 15th floor as we, the 1st shift and they themselves already checked the whole area. The trap was summoning several ranks A monsters, and it was thanks to Shishio, and if I didn't hear wrong... Tadano that they could make it to the outside.
(Huh... I wonder what he did.)
Although the trap had been disarmed, they didn’t know if the trap was still active, hence they needed to report it.
"And maybe I am being too hard with these children." Said Jorgen.
"But... commander, that's our order." Said one of the knight.
"I know. As a commander there's no way I can disobey the order, but what kind of commander am I if I can't lead my own soldier, especially them... this isn't their war and yet they're still trying to help us." Said Jorgen.
Their conversation went on for about a few minutes before they decided to step into the inn. But, after hearing their conversation, it seemed they were having a hard time. Either by reporting the casualties and preventing their sadness from showing.
There were several points that I got regarding the knights.
First, they were good, none of them stating the name or the rank. But it was clear that someone higher than the commander itself was commanding him to not do any unnecessary action. King? The prince? or the Archbishop?
Second, The whole purpose of this training was readying us to become a soldier. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh when I thought about it. If they bothered to invest this much on us, I worried they didn't want us to go back to the Earth.
Third... the whole new trap thing was stink. I didn't know how dungeon traps worked in this world, but one thing for sure, If it wasn't there when we arrived, then most likely someone was setting it after we left? But who? And the way they set the trap... It was almost felt like the setter knew our path? .
..If I was a demon race spy or assassin, I definitely went after the weakest one... no, that wasn't right. Unlike Earth, in this Exceed, status was everything, and there was definitely a need to kill Shishio before his status skyrocketed.
Then, the culprit set it because they knew Shishio was there was the correct answer.
So the setter knew our path?
But who and how?
A Spy? Yeah... somehow... there must be a spy that gave our information away.
And it was useless to think about this right now, there was not enough information for me to make the assumption either.
In the end, after a brief meeting from Jorgen, the student dejectedly returned to their rooms. There were a few students who were discussing at the lounge, but the majority of them had already fallen into a deep sleep.
As for me, other than feeling suspicious... and I really had nothing else to say.
Once again, I took a moment to make several potions. However, the weariness and the suspiciousness finally had gotten to me.
In order to let my tired body and brain rest for a while, I decided to sleep earlier. However, when I was about to doze off, I heard someone knocked on my door. For me who frequently pulled all nighters in Japan, it was still early, but it was already very late for Exceed.
I reached out for my daggers and took my potion pouch, just in case if somehow the said spy was noticing what I did.
However, I eased up after hearing the voice.
"Eiji..., are you still awake? It’s me, Azusa... Can I bother you for a moment?”
Seriously? I froze for a moment and cautiously proceeded towards the door, with daggers on my hand. She might be the spy, or the spy itself was noticing I was talking to her.
But after fetching the key and opening the door, Azusa stood there with a blue-sky negligee on. She was wearing an unbuttoned sweater over the negligee.
When presented with such a scene, I unexpectedly switched off my cautious mode. There was no hostility and she didn't seem to be a fake one either. Though it was hard for me to not say her current appearance was stimulating.
"What do you want?"
"The report?"
"Ah... right, thanks. I almost forget about this."
And just when I was about closing the door, under her slender arm and snow white skin, she held it back.
"....In case you don't know, if someone is closing the door right in front of your face, that means he doesn't want anyone to bother him." I said as I tried to push the door, tried hard enough to make my muscle popping out.
"I just... need someone to talk. Am I bothering you after all?"
"Yes."
But by the time I replied, she already opened the door and invited herself into my room without any precaution.
She sat on the chair near the window. But after I was sure she didn't mean any hostility, I prepared the tea while still being slightly annoyed.
"So, what do you want to talk about?"
To my question, she only replied by hugging me from the back as I put the tea bag into the cup.
She circled her hand around my body, from the vibration of her arm and the warm wet feeling on my back, I knew she was crying.
"....If you turn your body, I'll break your bone."
I felt a chill run down my spine when I heard Azusa said that in a low voice.
In the end, we stayed in this position for a while until Azusa started to speak.
"I envy you."
"...Why?"
"You... you are strong... back in the dungeon... even though you are weak... you aren't afraid to fight monster... you aren't afraid to get hurt... you don't show any hesitation on your decision... just how? how? also back then... you don't falter... you're not afraid... how? how can you be so calm? how can you do that?"
"I... I don't think I can do this anymore. They're not even died in the war... why can we have a normal high school life? ...Just a few weeks ago... we're still living the normal life... two days ago... we're still joking at the cafe... eating mysterious food.... and right now... Tada-dano is...."
Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew what kind of expression she'd made right now.
As I poured the hot water onto the cup, her emotions swirled as streaks of warm water burned her cheeks.
For each new drops of water fell to the cup, a hot trail of agony shown as bare arms shook in each rake of emotion through her frame.
As I was stirring it the tea slowly mixing with the water... slowly but sure it turned black. At the same time she wasn't only showing her sadness, but also regret, shame and anger burned just under her skin and a deep emptiness filled her heart as the sentiments mixed over and boiled past the seams she could no longer hold together.
"Why? Why? Why? Why us? What should I do? What should we do? Why he needs to die?" Cried Azusa.
"What happens if I am the next one? I don't want to die, I don't want to get hurt, I don't want to kill. I just wanted us to have some foods together... sneaking out from the palace... I was ordering a beer... where does it go wrong? This morning... I thought you will ask us to go to the town again... seeing another place, together... the three of us... but where does it go wrong? I-I'm not prepared for this kind of life."
...My mentors always said to be the most prepared... but in the end, one of them was crying like a baby when she was about to die... In the end, no matter how much someone preparing themselves, no one would know the exact outcome.
But there was another thing that one of my mentors always said.
"Let it all out, the harder you cry, the better you'll feel. And you'll be able to forget... whatever is making you sad."
After she heard this, on her next cry there was a rawness, like the pain was still an open wound. She would clasp onto anything for support, anything, a table or the back of a chair, and this time it was me.
Her sobs were stifled at first as she attempted to hold her grief, then overcome by the wave of her emotions she would break down entirely, all her masks washed away in those salty tears. Minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before hurling her again into howls of misery.
When she, at last, let me turned my body to her face, she had the kind of face as I imagined. It was a picture of grief, loss, devastation. It was the face of one who had known suffering for the first time and didn't know if she could do it again.
On that night, the moonlight shone my room, a diffuse glow, lighting the mood from pitch black to charcoal grey. She slept on my lap, her hands tightly clenching my shirt as her tears dried out, completely soaked into my pants.