Chap 81-Eve

 

As the sun began to slant towards the west, the heart of the ‘Farm’ forest seemed to regain a moment of peace.

But behind that tranquility, a suffocating tension lingered.

Team H had been moving non-stop since morning.

Constant skirmishes with the endlessly appearing lower-level monsters.

And fierce battles of wits and strength with other teams they unexpectedly encountered.

After a day of fighting, all five girls were exhausted.

Their uniforms were stained with dirt and sweat.

Their faces were etched with fatigue.

But it wasn’t over yet.

The moment that would require the most strength had not yet arrived.

The Ending Point would open at dawn tomorrow.

There, the last remaining teams would undoubtedly engage in a final clash for survival and high scores.

Therefore, rest was essential at this point.

As planned, Camilla decided to establish a base about 70 percent of the way to the Ending Point.

They quickly moved to find a relatively secluded and defensible location in the forest, where darkness had begun to fall.

The base wasn’t anything grand.

Camilla and Lea combined their powers to cast layers of concealment magic around the area, making it difficult for magical beasts to detect them.

They used fallen trees and rocks to create makeshift barriers for easier defense.

And they set up a few simple traps as a precaution.

After completing all the preparations, they decided to take turns standing guard, allowing each other to rest their weary bodies.

And surprisingly, the first to volunteer for guard duty was…

Yeon Bennet.

Despite having fought the most battles throughout the day, she showed no particular signs of fatigue and said calmly.

“I’ll take the first watch. You guys get some rest.”

No one knew what she was up to.

But since she volunteered to take on the difficult task, the other four were able to rest more comfortably.

Currently, Yeon was standing guard alone outside the base, while the other four were taking a short break inside the makeshift shelter.

Camilla was simply fidgeting with a ring engraved with her family crest, her hand trembling slightly.

Lea and Clara leaned against a rock, dozing off with exhausted expressions.

And Lina…

She had her eyes closed quietly, but she wasn’t asleep.

Her mind was filled with a complex web of thoughts.

She felt that recently, Yeon Bennet was opening up to her, little by little.

She was still cold and curt, but she no longer pushed her away or blatantly rejected her as she had before.

She even bought her desserts at the café, and she didn’t react as violently to her playful physical contact as she used to.

But…

What if…

All of that…

Was a lie?

It was then.

Lina suddenly opened her eyes, sensing a very faint wave of magical power emanating from one corner of the base.

There, Camilla was holding a small crystal orb in her hand, secretly sending a signal to the outside.

“…What are you doing?”

Lina’s voice was cold and low.

“…Oh. I guess you weren’t asleep?”

Camilla hid the crystal orb with a nonchalant expression, as if nothing had happened.

But Lina wasn’t fooled.

She stood up and strode towards Camilla.

Pure white divine power began to bloom on Lina’s palm.

“Contacting the outside during the exam is a clear cause for disqualification. Are you trying to get our entire team eliminated because of you?”

Despite Lina’s threatening demeanor, Camilla faced her head-on with confidence.

“Hmph. Disqualification? There’s something far more important than some silly exam.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Anger laced Lina’s voice.

Red magical power began to emanate from Camilla’s body as well.

“Rather, there’s something I need to ask you.”

A tense atmosphere flowed between the two.

“Yeon Bennet.”

Camilla spoke the name.

“Why are you so protective of that woman?”

Lina scoffed at Camilla’s question.

“I don’t think I have any obligation to answer that question. Why don’t you start by explaining why you contacted the outside during the exam, Lady Camilla?”

“Hmph. If you tell me why you’re so abnormally protective of that woman, I’ll be happy to tell you.”

“I have no reason to speak first.”

“Then I can’t tell you either.”

For a long time, the two girls glared at each other without giving an inch.

A deadly energy filled the base.

In the end, it was Lina who backed down first.

“…Haa. Fine.”

She withdrew the divine power she had gathered in her hand and took a step back.

She seemed to have judged that there was no point in continuing the confrontation.

“Yeon and I have known each other since we were little.”

Lina said quietly.

“What?”

Camilla asked back in surprise.

Yeon Bennet and Lina had known each other since they were little?

That was information that even her family hadn’t been able to grasp.

“And… Yeon saved me from magical beasts back then. I almost died… thanks to her…”

Lina’s voice was sincere.

“I think that’s when it started. When I started wanting to be with her, to help her.”

Camilla looked at Lina with a serious expression.

An unexpected confession.

But at the same time, she felt as if the scattered pieces of the puzzle in her mind were coming together.

‘If what she’s saying is true…’

Perhaps Yeon Bennet’s real purpose is…

‘…Lina?’

If she had been a Contamination Worshiper since long ago.

Using magical beasts to attack Lina and gain her favor?

As a Saintess Candidate, she was someone the contamination worshippers would want to eliminate first.

‘Perhaps… their plot started a long time ago, right then and there.’

Saving the Saintess Candidate to gain her trust, staying by her side to extract information, or plotting to eliminate her at a crucial moment.

‘If I can perfectly prove to Lina that Yeon Bennet is a Contamination Worshiper?’

The Medici Family’s plan had already begun the moment she sent the signal.

If she could even involve the Holy Theocracy…

Camilla’s mind began to race.

“So.”

Lina’s voice became sharp again.

“Why did you send a signal to the outside…?”

“…….”

Camilla was silent for a moment.

And then, as if she had made up her mind, she looked straight at Lina and said.

“…There’s something I want to show you.”

…

I was leaning against a tree a little away from the base, looking up at the night sky.

The surroundings were all darkness, and only the occasional sound of insects broke the silence.

Others might think it was pathetic to call this guarding, but it was enough for me.

My already heightened senses were clearly perceiving the presence of every magical beast within a radius of several hundred meters.

A few lower-level monsters were wandering around, but they showed no signs of approaching our base.

The level of security was perfect.

Thanks to the excellent skills of my teammates and a bit of sincerity I had shown, our Team H was able to easily cut through the lower-level monsters blocking our path and pass through the ‘Farm’ much faster than the other teams.

Frankly speaking, even if we went near the Ending Point right now and waited, there would be few teams that could touch us.

But Camilla, the team leader, had some ulterior motive, and insisted on creating a base in the middle and taking a break.

It seemed she was planning to spend time here until dawn tomorrow before heading to the Ending Point.

‘I wanted to get to the Ending Point early and check out the surrounding situation… What a shame.’

“Haa…”

I let out a small sigh.

‘If the Medici Family is really involved with the contamination worshippers… how much does Camilla know?’

Camilla was also one of the important playable characters in the original game.

Of course, compared to other righteous characters, her personality was a bit twisted and calculating,

But she was basically a character who fought on the side of good.

She also extremely hated trash like Contamination and contamination worshippers.

Even recently, when I, who is more sensitive to the energy of Contamination than anyone else, examined her thoroughly, I couldn’t find any traces of Contamination on her, except for that suspicious ring she received from her mother.

Therefore, the possibility of her being a contamination worshiper herself was almost non-existent.

But what if…

She knew all this and was cooperating with them for the sake of her family, or for some other reason?

‘What… should I do then?’

‘Camilla… with my own hands…?’

That was…

Unpleasant.

At that moment, I sensed someone approaching with familiar footsteps.

“Haa… I told you to stand guard, but you were resting too?”

Camilla.

She approached me with her unique, seductive yet somewhat dangerous smile.

‘…What’s her ulterior motive this time?’

I felt suddenly tired, unable to figure out her intentions.

But…

Behind her, towards the shadows of the trees further away.

A very faint, but clearly felt, familiar presence.

‘…Huh? Why is Lina hiding all the way over there?’

I sensed Lina’s presence, hiding in the darkness behind the tree and peeking this way.

She seemed to be trying to hide her presence in her own way.

But it wasn’t nearly enough to fool me.