After that, Ardel and I started preparing for the morning. We gathered firewood, set up a makeshift stove, and began to prepare breakfast for when everyone woke up. As the aroma of cooking food filled the air, I felt a sense of normalcy returning, despite the lingering unease from the events of the previous night.
Just before the sun fully rose, casting its warm rays over the campsite, I sensed a presence behind . Instinctively, I turned around and noticed Aurelius erging from one of the tents.
"Ah, you're awake," I said.
Aurelius looked at , his expression a mix of shock and confusion. "Y-You! You... Where were you this whole ti?!" he asked, his voice tinged with accusation.
Welp, I could understand his reasons, after all, I watched what happened from the beginning to the end.
For my fortune, nobody knows it.
Well then, how should deal with him, the protagonist then?
"Calm down first," I said, shifting into a indifferent tone. "And I have sothing to ask as well, what happened here?"
"Huh? What do you an?" Aurelius asked, probably confused by my question. He paused for a mont and then asked. "Weren't you here when we were attacked?"
"So, there really was a battle." I sighed inwardly, realizing that I couldn't avoid the subject. "I... I left the camp for a short while to check sothing," I replied, deciding to stick with a half-truth for now. "When I returned, I found everyone unconscious. There were signs of a struggle, but I couldn't figure out what happened."
"Y-You left the camp?" Aurelius asked, calming down. "Why? And you also didn't tell anyone about it."
"Well. Did I need to?" I feigned ignorance.
"You-!" He was stunned at my response. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "Look, I get it. You probably had your reasons, but leaving without telling anyone... It's not exactly responsible, especially in a situation like this."
"We all were almost killed, you know. Perhaps if you were here, things would be otherwise..." He muttered, his voice being low at the last sentence. "..."
"Can you tell what happened?" I asked as he approached . "Take a seat here." I showed the opposite direction of my seat.
He nodded and sat down. Just as he was about to start, we heard footsteps approaching and turned around.
"Adrian, I found-eh, A-Aurelius?! Y-You are a-awake?" Ardel stopped midway, noticing Aurelius, his shyness and awkwardness kicked in.
"...Yes," Aurelius replied shortly and then looked at . "Was he also with you?"
'Hoh, you noticed huh.' I muttered inwardly, knowing what was he hinting at. He probably didn't see Ardel during the incident as well. That was the reason.
"No, he was sleeping. And it seems he is quite a deep sleeper." I replied.
"Hmm... I see..." Aurelius nodded. He probably doesn't suspect anything since he saw others fainting from the Spectral Shades influence.
"So, what exactly happened?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the main topic.
Aurelius took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. "It all started just after a while I took the turn to keep the watch..."
He recollected everything that happened honestly, till the part where he awakened that power. Instead, he lied by saying it was thanks to my sister's ability they managed to scare off the Spectral Shades.
Well, I already expected it. After all, even in the original novel, he didn't tell anyone about it and told the sa lie because he wasn't certain about that dark power and a few other things.
Good, everything going smoothly.
"Sorry, I wasn't here." I decided to at least apologize, even then in my usual indifferent tone.
"No, you don't have to." Aurelius shook his head. "Maybe, it was blessing in a disguise you weren't here. Or else who knows what would happen to all of us."
"Yes, you are right." I got along with his words.
"But... please warn us next ti, ok?" He continued, his tone softening.
I nodded. "Ok, I will try."
"..." He was left stunned yet again. "Well, at least there is so improvent..." He muttered in a low voice, though I heard it clearly.
Was he talking about agreeing? Probably.
"By the way, there is good news on our part." I then decided to share sothing as well. I then looked at Ardel, gesturing for him to speak up.
"U-Um... W-We found the e-exit." Ardel spoke in his usual stuttered tone.
"Good...?! Huh? You found it? When? Where?" Aurelius asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
Calm down will you, you are the MC, why are you getting so frustrated for? But then again, it must be due to today's events.
"The thing that matters the most is we found it." I cut in. "Now, we can leave the forest without a worry. But we should wait for others to wake up and have breakfast first."
"Ah! R-right, sorry." Aurelius nodded, collecting himself. "That's... that's great news. Thank you both for finding it."
"No problem," I replied with a nod.
Ardel smiled shyly, happy to have contributed sothing useful.
As the sun fully rose, casting its warm light over the campsite, the others began to stir awake one by one. I instructed Ardel to cooperate with Aurelius in distributing the breakfast and so on.
anwhile, I left the campsite mainly to seek peace and a place to relax. About an hour later, I returned to the camp.
And as soon as I did, several eyes locked on . I ignored their gazes and looked at Aurelius. "You ready?"
"Yes, we are. You can lead the way." Aurelius replied with a smile.
"Good." I nodded and then called out to Ardel. "Ardel, lead the way."
He was first startled, but then nodded and silently started packing up his things. With Aurelius and the others following closely behind, we set off toward the exit of the forest.
Since we already knew the route, it took only about an hour to reach the exit.
The students' eyes brightened as they saw the sunlight streaming through the trees, signaling the end of their ordeal in the dark forest.
"We made it," One of the students exclaid, relief evident in his voice.
"Yeah, we did," The other replied, feeling a sense of happiness.
"Argh! Finally, we are out of this damn forest!"
"Co on, let's hurry!"
As we stepped out of the forest and into the open, I couldn't help but feel a weight lift off my shoulders. The fresh air and warm sunlight were a welco change from the oppressive darkness of the forest.
Finally, the first event ended...
_____ ___
Volu 1. End.
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