Hewinia slled blood.
She approached the two groundsn nonchalantly, their light snow-treading sounds muffled by their loud conversation.
"How could this happen? That thing should have been extinct by now."
"I don't know, haven't seen one in many years either."
"Should we continue searching then?"
"...It's tough, with this much blood loss, can it really still be alive?"
"It seems we need to report this to the higher-ups."
"Yeah, especially since the festival is coming soon. If at this ti sothing... what the hell?!"
They finally sensed soone approaching, their scrutinizing gazes swiftly shifted, and the Magic Wand in their hands glowed faintly.
Hewinia imdiately stood still obediently, "It's just , I ca to see what you guys were up to."
Upon seeing that it was Hewinia, the two groundsn relaxed.
Thanks to her persona as a clumsy, often late, and silly young lady, despite being of Golden Rank, Hewinia often managed to interact with various groundsn.
Moreover, her deliberately displayed harmless nature allowed her to maintain quite a good relationship with most of the groundsn.
After all, who would dislike a girl who had a higher status, greater talents, stunning looks, yet was still approachable and mingled with everyone?
"Be careful, Hewinia," said a groundsman as the glow from the Magic Wand extinguished. "Your sneaky footsteps made us think it was so troubling creature."
"Troubling creature?" Hewinia expressed her confusion, "What troubling creature could there be?"
The two groundsn exchanged a glance.
If it had been any other student, they might have just waved them away, as it was still unclear.
But since it was Hewinia...
"Tch, see for yourself," said the slightly plump groundsman as he stepped aside, "but I must warn you, be prepared."
"You should've said that before stepping aside," the thinner groundsman, holding his forehead, remarked. "What's the point of warning after?"
"Ah, I forgot... you should have reminded earlier, you know I always act faster than I think."
Hewinia was no longer paying attention to the conversation between the two groundsn, as she had already seen the blood-covered snow pit they had been blocking from view.
Hewinia's eyes widened gradually, her face paled, "This is..."
"Alright, Hewinia," guessing Hewinia's reaction, the thin groundsman imdiately raised his hand in a soothing gesture, "I know you are shocked, but please don't scream, to avoid causing panic."
He then pointed behind Hewinia.
Hewinia understood what he ant.
Their current location was only a few hundred ters from the academic building. Once Hewinia scread, countless people would notice what was happening here in an instant. So, Hewinia wisely covered her mouth, though her eyes were filled with palpable fear.
"Alright, alright, don't worry," the groundsn were quite pleased with Hewinia's reaction and quickly comforted her, "It's just an accident."
"Accident?"
"Yes," the plump groundsman shrugged, "You must know, this used to happen quite often, well, at least occasionally, about ten to twenty years ago."
He stepped aside again.
"Look."
He pointed towards the snow pit and further beyond it, as Hewinia followed his direction, she saw a trail resembling a tail.
It was a disorderly, clearly non-human set of footprints with splattered blood at the center.
"What is this?" Hewinia was stunned.
"It should be called a Snow Thorns Beast," said the thin groundsman, pointing to the snowy woods behind, "a fierce beast that used to reside in the Forbidden Forest, occasionally erging to ambush students. Very troubleso."
"Just like now," the plump groundsman pointed down at the snow pit and the long trail, "after the attack, it drags its prey into the forest."
Dragged into the forest?
Hewinia's expression turned instantly pale, as if imagining such a scenario, her speech beca stilted, "… but I've never heard of this."
"Just like I said, the last ti they appeared was more than a decade ago," explained the plump groundsman, "Not even students who graduate every four years would know, as even both of us hadn't joined back then. Now, apart from so professors, probably no one knows these creatures even exist."
Hearing this, Hewinia turned even paler, "So, has no one been managing this?"
"How could that be possible," said the thin groundsman, "If no one had managed, wouldn't you have heard about this creature? Over ten years ago, the three major halls had jointly organized a purging operation, over a hundred Players ventured into the Forbidden Forest killing thousands of Snow Thorns Beasts. Since then, they haven't been seen. Honestly, if this hadn't happened, I would've thought they were extinct."
"Then… should there be another purging?" asked Hewinia.
The thin and plump groundsn exchanged looks.
"Hewinia," the thin groundsman spoke, "Don't go into the Forbidden Forest during this ti, alright?"
Hewinia's mouth agape, "Wha-what does that an? Isn't the school going to purge it?"
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