Chapter 50
Adela opened her eyes.
She felt someone grabbing her shoulders and shaking her firmly.
Emerging from her light sleep, the first face she encountered through half awake eyes was Leonard.
He had a serious expression deeply marked by alertness.
She looked around to check the atmosphere.
There was a strong indication that a battle was about to begin.
Leo turned toward Tania after seeing that Adela had woken up.
As Tania rose, everyone gathered at the camp, opened their eyes.
“Is everyone awake?”
Joshua asked, and Leo nodded his head.
“I will explain briefly. A zombie has appeared. It is a variant.”
The word variant made her spine tingle.
Among zombies, those that possessed intelligence or special abilities were called by that name.
Adela had experienced an encounter with a variant exactly once.
It was when she went on an exploration with Knight Captain Derek.
Its muscle fibers were exposed and its skull was sunken.
It had a hideous appearance no different from any other zombie, but uniquely, it held a weapon.
The monster wielding a sword was undoubtedly imitating kingdom swordsmanship as it attacked.
When the fight was settled.
Derek wiped the sweat that had dripped down to his chin and replied sarcastically that it had been a bothersome opponent.
Even in her own judgment as she assisted him, the variant was strong.
She thought that she and Serena alone could not win.
When she heard that such a monster was approaching the camp once again, her chest felt tight.
“I have bought about ten minutes. I plan to hunt the bastard.”
A proposal so radical that it overturned the gloomy atmosphere burst from the boy’s mouth.
Except for his comrade Tania, everyone was dumbfounded.
Even as the commotion grew intense.
The boy’s ice cold eyes remained unchanged.
“W-Wait a minute. It would be safer to go to the camp on the ridge and call the Captains.”
She spoke up quickly as if casting a dissenting vote against his opinion.
Giving up on the test.
She had thought it was unfair from the start.
The news that a variant had appeared was like pouring oil on those doubts.
“If we used Serena’s detection magic, finding the camp on a night road wouldn't be difficult, but the ridge is about two kilometers away from here. It might be fine on a flat road, but I don't know how long it will take by hiking. The bastard won't miss that gap, and in the worst case, half of the six gathered here will die.”
Faced with the expression of dying, Adela, the boy named Calvin, and Serena wore troubled expressions.
The weight of their lives being at stake crushed them, making normal thought difficult.
Adela thought it over several times.
Ultimately, she could not expand her options and returned to her initial resolution.
They had to run.
She opened her closed lips with the intention of appealing to that idea once more.
“Even if we fight... What is the guarantee that we can survive?”
“Higher than running away.”
“It means the method of fighting also carries risk.”
“Right.”
“If both are dangerous, I will not budge from my judgment to run away.”
If they ran, they avoided total annihilation.
It might be selfish, but it meant that some humans would survive through the sacrifice of others.
On the other hand, what if they fought?
Joshua, who overwhelmed Leo, possessed the most outstanding skill among the students.
She had no intention of belittling that part at all.
However, she did not know how far his ability would work against a variant.
“Senior already has experience facing a variant.”
Everyone stared blankly at the face of the person who offered the opinion with astonished looks.
It was Tania.
She intervened and replied as if defending Joshua.
Adela withdrew her gaze and looked at the boy once again.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
He replied calmly.
As if it were not a particularly great achievement.
“Why didn't you say so?”
“Because I didn't think it would be effective enough to change your mind. There is no way you would simply believe me if I said I caught a variant, right? Who was the opponent, what was the method, and what kind of help did I receive. Such thoughts would lead to one question after another and eventually end in suspicion. So I thought there was no need to speak.”
Adela could not counter him.
Despite the defense of the girl who had squeezed out her courage, there was no shaking in her resolution.
Perhaps it felt gratifying that Joshua saw through her intentions.
He spoke while mixing in a sneer.
“Let us divide into two groups. Adela, you take responsibility for those going up the ridge, and I will take the side facing the variant.”
It was a summary of the situation that was clean to the point of being plain.
She was not looking in a mirror.
Yet Adela could imagine what kind of expression she wore.
Her eyes must have widened, her skin turned pale, and her mouth hung wide open.
“Are you not planning to join forces?”
“There is no need to force gears together that do not fit.”
Joshua stood up.
These people were different from Tania.
He had not gained their trust over time.
He had no intention of rebuking them for having different thoughts.
Rather, doubting was a natural flow.
If they had cooperated blindly without any thought.
He thought he would have been disappointed in his own way.
“There isn't much time left.”
Over five minutes were spent on this short conversation alone.
He felt Urgon, who had escaped the trap, approaching the camp.
The bickering was over.
He had already achieved his initial goal.
He prevented them from being killed by Urgon while scattered.
Returning safely to the camp was beyond his influence.
“Choose either side.”
The first one to approach him was Tania.
Not long after that, Leonard followed.
The other three people watched the situation while remaining seated.
Then Adela stood up and turned her body to the opposite side.
At the moment she tried to turn away while holding the hand of her friend Serena,
“...Serena?”
The girl with golden hair flowing below her shoulders stood in that spot like a statue.
Her expression was smiling.
But seeing the brow between her eyes furrow, Adela swallowed a groan.
She was resisting.
She had never seen her choose something for herself since losing her hometown.
Doing as she was told.
Following when told to follow.
She had lived accepting the words of others like a lost puppy.
“Are you saying you will fight with him? What on earth can a girl who trembles at the sight of a zombie do!”
At Adela’s scolding, Serena closed her eyes tightly.
She held a ballpoint pen but repeatedly trembled without being able to write any words.
That sight was pitiful to the point of being heart wrenching.
“There are some things that simply cannot be resolved in a single day. Your promise with me must be that kind of thing.”
Joshua muttered lowly.
As if that answer were a key to liberating the girl’s actions.
The frozen footsteps slowly melted, and she was pulled away by her friend’s hand.
“Go, it isn't time for you to come to this side yet.”
Joshua stepped forward and pressed a scroll into Serena’s hand.
“Use it if anything happens on the way back. And your detection magic was quite decent.”
Adela, Serena, and Calvin.
The three people moved away toward the opposite side of the camp.
Watching the shadows of the forest swallow them, Leo let out a sigh.
His mind was troubled about whether this was the right choice.
“Is the departure of those three also included in your plan?”
“Of course.”
“And me staying?”
“That too.”
Leo kicked the ground with a look of displeasure.
He had an arrogant face, as if he had been reading Leo's actions all along.
“Shouldn't you at least say thank you? I took your side even in the face of a variant.”
“If you want to hear a formality, I will give it to you after you perform your role properly.”
“I don't know if your greeting has that much value, but regardless, I will do my best.”
Leo clicked his tongue.
He thought Joshua was an opponent who would not go his way until the very end.
“What is the plan?”
“Don't think of anything else, just focus on drawing the bastard’s gaze and cutting him.”
“W-Wait a minute. It's a zombie! If I get scratched or bitten, there is a possibility of infection.”
“Be at ease regarding that part. Even if you get hit ten times, I won't let you die.”
“Really?”
“Trust me. From now on, you will see how a support carries a game.”
“...What?”
His words were difficult to understand.
Regardless, Leo guessed it was an important role and moved on.
* * *
Tania held her breath.
She leaned her back against a pine tree and craned her neck to look forward.
A gray glint faintly visible in the pitch black darkness.
They were inorganic eyes where not even a speck of vitality could be felt.
It did not rush in immediately.
Even though it had undoubtedly noticed that they were here.
It looked like the hunting method of a beast when it was alive.
‘That, is the variant.’
Her breathing grew heavy.
Facing the professor at the research center had been Joshua’s task alone.
She had not seen it.
By imagining that pressure in her head.
She had been excited with the confidence that she might be able to do it too.
But she felt poignantly that it was a delusion of her own.
It was different from a normal zombie.
As if several zombies had been lumped together.
If interpreted in magical terms, it felt similar to a so-called Chimera.
“Would it be better to run away even now?”
Leo, who was beside her, spoke with a trembling voice.
Even he, who seemed to have a knack for hunting zombies, appeared to be facing a variant for the first time.
“It's been a while since I heard you talk weak, older brother.”
“...What about you, are you not scared of that thing?”
“I'm scared. Enough to wet myself.”
“Then why did you take Joshua’s side? Is it really because of affection?”
“No.”
Tania shook her head.
“I thought the possibility of surviving on this side was higher.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders as if it were unexpected.
“Senior is a person far removed from self sacrifice. He is a person who would not hesitate to run away if he judged it was impossible for him.”
It was a fact she had learned while staying with him for several months.
He was always calm.
He did not hesitate to use his surroundings, and she recognized the fact that she was being used by him too.
Taking herself in was a matter of necessity.
The fact that she had the Fire attribute.
The fact that she had a submissive side to those she relied on.
She was not displeased though.
Rather, it was her honest wish to be with him for any reason.
“If your words are true, he doesn't seem like a good person to get close to. Why are you following him around?”
“...He may be a calm person, but he isn't cold blooded.”
He did not abandon any of the comrades he was with.
Looking back, she wondered if that had been the best choice.
We were closer to being interlopers.
Even though she could do her part now, that was not the case at the beginning.
The Joshua she knew was a person who would have done better alone.
The fact that he had maintained that shallow connection until now.
No other way to express it came to mind other than the word kindness.
“I see.”
Leo nodded his head, as if it served as a reference.
He did not continue speaking and focused on the signal Joshua would send from the opposite side.
“I'm counting on you.”
“Right, good luck to you too, older brother.”
“If you want me to survive, shouldn't you be cheering for that bastard rather than me?”
“I’m way more worried about you, brother Leo.”
“This is driving me crazy.”
Shaking his head, Leo walked out through the bushes.
As he drew attention by kicking the fallen leaves.
The bear, which had only been catching its breath until now, growled as if it had decided on its target.
It approached slowly.
Using the moonlight fallen on the ground as lighting, he confirmed the opponent’s size with his naked eyes.
“...Hahaha.”
A bashful laugh lingered on his lips.
It was big.
It was not strange for a bear to be larger than a person, but even considering that, it was big.
A mass reaching four meters in size.
The size of the forepaws revealing the paw pads looked similar to his own upper body.
“If I get hit, I shouldn't fear becoming a zombie. I'll have to check if I'm alive first.”
It chewed on something as if it were chewing gum.
Observing closely, it looked like a human arm.
A streak of blood that started from there soaked the upper body and continued below the waist.
Dizziness rushed in.
A person was eaten before his eyes.
Even though it was something he had experienced several times, it did not feel real at all.
His heart hammered to the point of pain.
An indescribable fear tightened around his whole body.
“Brother Leo!”
Tania’s voice was heard.
But that alone could not free him from the fear.
The command that started from the head did not spread to the whole body.
It was a feeling as if something had tightly blocked it in the middle.
He had to draw his sword.
Where was the sword?
It was on his back.
He could draw it simply by moving his hand behind his neck.
At that moment, a thread-like emotion wriggled in a corner of his heart.
Simultaneously, the signal to his fingers was delivered.
Reflexively, he gripped the hilt of the sword, but the bear lunged a bit faster than that.
“Graaaah!”
A roar that made the air tremble.
However, his body, already liberated, did not shrink back at the enemy’s bloodlust again.
The problem was the method to take the attack.
Bang!
The bear collided with something in midair.
The identity of that thing that looked like gathered light.
It was Joshua’s shield, which had tormented him so much during the first test.
And he realized.
Where the thread-like emotion that protected him from fear originated.
It was the bestowal magic Joshua had cast on him before the fight began.
It was [Serenity].
And he had been bestowed with one more thing.
[Bless (Strength Enhancement)].
He clearly felt his physical strength, which was stronger than usual, at his fingertips.
Anger flared up.
He had received help twice from the same opponent.
He clenched his teeth.
It was a fact he had forgotten as the world became like this, but he hated losing more than anyone.