Something Feels Wrong

The professors glanced at each other.

"Very well. We'll take your word for it."

A few of the students behind her sighed in relief. After giving several medical checkups, the professors left. The Olafssey students join the group sitting around Aayla's campsite. Internally, she very annoyed that more people joined. Aayla was serious about wanting dinner.

"It's been a while, captains Parlow and Tassiades. I trust that your teams' first days went well. Today was very strange for my team. I heard that something happened at the Tigurum camp, and that Nafriton had to suddenly move their campsite after losing everything. Are your teams alright?"

"Haha, Stojan Voronov. How wonderful to see you again. I forgot that Olafssey students could have a sense of humor. Tigurum has done well so far, though I also heard the same thing about Nafriton."

Aubrey resisted the urge to click her teeth. One of the professors must have blabbed to the other teams.

"Yes, thanks for your concern. We moved to better accommodate other teams since Tigurum can't defend their own and Olafssey can't even find theirs. Coincidentally, I heard that the Olafssey team didn't arrive at their camping area until this morning. That's slower than my grandma's tortoise! You didn't spend the entire first two days uselessly, did you?"

The captains continued their subtle glares and passive aggressive insults. Aayla kept the fire going. With no sign of them stopping, she decided to just ignore them. She hadn't had a decent meal in two days. She was not going to suffer another cold night without some decent food.

As the water boiled in a pot over the fire, a tentative deal was struck. Tigurum would take the other hill, while Olafssey would take a spot on the other side of the Havrevel. By the time her dinner was finished, the groups had grown tired of each other. The Olafssey students left as quickly as they arrived.

With the outsiders gone, both remaining teams could concentrate on the original issue: how to handle that afternoon's incident and following free for all? Aayla didn't know if the temperature drop was because of the lack of sun or the frosty gazes.

"With the professors and those dogs finally gone, how about we return to our original conversation, Captain Parlow?"

*munch* *munch*

"Fine with me, Captain Tassiades. How are you planning on compensating Ms. Glowery for pushing her off the cliff and the Nafriton team for starting a fight?"

Cisseus pretended to clean out his ears.

*munch*

"Did I hear something wrong? Mr. Arius accidentally frightened Ms. Glowery. The entire incident was caused by an accident, and my team just defended itself after your team jumped to conclusions. Mr. Arius will provide compensation to Ms. Glowery. However, Nafriton needs to compensate Tigurum for starting the fight after the accident."

*munch* *munch* *munch*

Suddenly all eyes searched for the source of the eating noise. Aayla was happily eating away at her simple dinner.

"What? I'm hungry. It's been a long day. You all don't need to stop talking on my behalf."

A certain oblivious jerk who couldn't control his mouth sniffed the aroma of a warm meal. Though simple, it was much better than what the students had.

"Oh! Is it dinner time? I'll have some – Ow!"

"That's not for you, idiot."

Iva leaned over to talk with Aayla.

"Ms. Glowery, what are you doing?"

Aayla blinked in confusion. Was that supposed to be a trick question?

"… Eating?"

"During a meeting?"

Aayla looked straight at Iva.

"I got almost no sleep last night due to the storm and checking if certain people were still alive during said storm. I attempted to search for survivors all this morning. In the afternoon, I fell off a cliff. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm going to bed after my meal."

She then looked at a snickering Kaeso and took another bite, purposefully making a loud crunch as she bit down.

"You all handle your affairs as you please. I'll get my dues from Mr. Arius bright and early tomorrow morning. After all, there's no way that a generous student from a top university would be stingy or renege on his debts. Right?"

Aayla finished the last bites of her meal. With a simple cleaning spell, her dishes were clean. Ah, how convenient. At least something went right today.

"That's it for me. I will see you all tomorrow. Just keep the noise down and put out the fire when the meeting's done. Now, what would be good compensation…? Oh, that could be fun. Hehehe."

She stared one last time at Kaeso as she cackled then went back into her tent. A slight shiver ran up and down his spine. Was he in danger?

As soon as Aayla crawled inside her rebuilt snow cave, she collapsed onto her bed. That last part was just an act so she could get some sleep. She was too tired to be devious right now. What should she request?

Early the next morning, Aayla got up just as the Nafriton camp began to buzz with activity. She had a wonderful dream last night that gave her a wonderful plan. Aayla had a quick chat with the professors who arrived for the morning check in to confirm some details.

The professors would be checking in on Olafssey next. Aayla happily grabbed a fourth-year to head over to the Tigurum camp. Coincidentally, Aubrey also had to pay that team a visit.

"Was everything resolved last night?"

"Mostly, Ms. Glowery. Only your compensation is left. Are you sure that you want to negotiate yourself? We can take care of that."

Her lips broke into a smug grin.

"Yup. It's best if we keep the teams out of this since I'm technically not on the Nafriton team. Besides, I have a most wonderful idea that I confirmed with the professors. I hope that your acting is good."

Aubrey raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. As soon as they arrived at the Tigurum camp, loud shouts and the clang of metal against metal could be heard from far away. As she got closer, Aayla realized that the Tigurum team was practicing. Cisseus and his officers lazily ate their breakfast while watching their teammates train.

"You're here early, Captain Parlow. I thought that you would take your time while finalizing our arrangement."

"Hmph. You just better be able to fulfill your end of the bargain."

"Enough talk for now. Mr. Arius should be here in a bit. Have you had any breakfast in that hovel you call a camp? We have some premade meals from our chefs back in Tigurum. They are some of the best in the world. I highly recommend them."

"Captain, I don't think that they have any dishes, so how could they have a decent meal? How kind of you to offer them something to eat! It would be a shame to win just because they couldn't eat and sleep properly."

The inner turmoil in Aayla's heart slowly disappeared. She was worried about getting Ramona in trouble, but since Tigurum was being this rude then Aayla was sure that Ramona wouldn't mind a little trouble. As soon as Kaeso arrived, he promptly plopped a large wooden chest on the ground.

"Good morning, Ms. Glowery. This should be good enough to pay you back for the scare yesterday."

When Aayla leaned forward to check, she suddenly hissed in pain. Barely keeping her cries muffled, faint tears formed in her eyes. Aubrey quickly stepped forward and helped her back up.

"Sorry. With the numbing spell I forgot all about the pain. Could you please open the chest for me, Captain Parlow?"

With the wave of her hand, the chest opened with a plop. Golden coins gleamed inside. Aayla gently rubbed her back. Tch. Such a simple payout. Unfortunately, that was not what Aayla wanted. An odd look flickered on her face.

"That's really sweet of you but… how do I say this… I don't want to be rude but that's not really helpful for my situation."

"Eh? Is it not enough? I have more if you want it?"

Aayla quickly waved her hand in refusal.

"No, no. That's plenty generous, but I have something slightly different in mind. For some reason, healing magic just isn't working properly on my back. I've been put on bed rest since the pain can be unbearable. The professors agreed to let me select a volunteer to take care of a couple of small errands."

She tossed a small sack to Kaeso.

"These are reigns?"

"Yes. You see, my horse went missing during the storm, but I really need them to do my work. CNU is camped far away and I might still need to travel to see other ruins. Rather than have you carry me around everywhere, I thought that you could find a suitable replacement. Up to my standards, of course. You wouldn't mind being my volunteer, would you?"

Aayla smiled brightly as Kaeso agreed immediately. Cisseus lightly frowned. This wasn't a bad trade off. Back injuries could be tricky, especially since she fell into a source of elemental mana. Helping her move around so that she could do her job wasn't unreasonable. However, Kaeso wouldn't be able to earn points.

This way, he would only lose a few hours yet they could still get more intel about Deputy Heston's goddaughter. Why did something feel so wrong?