Stuck within the forest

James yelled.

"My sincere apologies," Kyle replied, tearing his eyes away from the forest

depths. They immediately resumed their march.

Meanwhile, deep within the forest where Kyle had been staring, a lone man

was hidden amongst the plant life.

He wore a black robe that covered his entire body as he moved as silently as

the dead.

"Oh my, that was close. To think he would notice me at this distance... What a

child," He muttered in awe. He actually wanted to draw a little closer than

this, but deemed it too risky to do so.

"He might actually be the one who defeated my subordinate five years ago.

The secret agent I sent to the House of Duke Anderson has been working well,

so I suppose I could use this chance to test his true strength..." He muttered

in delight, his mouth turning up in an eerie, devilish smile.

Their march progressed smoothly after that. The only monsters they came

across were goblins, which posed no real threat; male students tried to show off

in front of Annora and the other girls, and would compete with each other

over who could defeat the goblins.

The information Steven had procured turned out to be accurate, making

their early afternoon arrival seem more and more realistic with each passing moment.

Unbeknownst to them, however, the seams of their successful afternoon

were just waiting to come undone.

The students had grown fatigued from walking around unfamiliar mountain

forest terrain, and the goblin eradications they had been so enthusiastic about

at first eventually wore down to monotonous chores to deal with. Kyle — the

one who should have succumbed to exhaustion first — continued to keep a

cool, unwavering expression, which prevented the competitive male students

from voicing their complaints.

"More goblins. Is it just me, or have their numbers increased?"

"It's just you. You know the saying: seeing one goblin is a sign of thirty more."

Steven and James continued to sound optimistic.

Nathan mostly kept quiet triying to analyse the situation.

Roughly half an hour later, the woodlands that obstructed their view suddenly

disappeared. A clear, blue sky spread endlessly before their eyes.

They had cleared the forest. The goal was right before them — or so they all

thought.

The tree line ended at an open area, but beyond that, the forest resumed its

spread before them — or rather, below them.

Kyle's squad had reached the top of a cliff.

Dumbfounded, they walked up to the edge to look down at the forest roughly

100 feet below them. If they could find a way to reach the bottom, then the

goal would be right before them — but trying to descend without climbing

ropes was a death wish.

"Hey, doesn't this mean the information was wrong...?"

"Yeah, what are we going to do? Retracing our steps is going to take forever."

Two male students glanced over at Steven as they muttered to each other.

The squad had been moving according to the information Steven had

provided; the thought of all their efforts until now being in vain dampened their

spirits.

"Is there something you'd like to say to me?" Steven asked the whispering

students in an irritated voice.

"N-No, nothing of the sort. Right?"

"Right."

The students shook their heads in a hurry. They were both sixth years, but

couldn't stand up to a single fifth year boy. Their families couldn't afford to defy

Stevven's family — Duke Anderson's family. Their disgruntled gazes naturally

turned towards the Jamesinstead. James was the one who supported Steven's idea of chosing this route. Not to mention James was also from a rather

distinguished family but it fell behind in

rank compared to Duke Anderson's.

"W-What's with that look? If you have a complaint, say it with your mouth,"

James threatened the students looking at him.

"Then, may I?" Annora took the initiative and spoke up first.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness?" James' expression froze at the appearance of the

First Princess.

"Which way from here? The path appears to have ended," Annora asked,

seeking an answer for the highest priority issue at hand. James was thrown

off guard, having been certain that she would make a complaint instead. But he

soon realized that being criticized directly was the easier route, as he had no

idea how to deal with this unexpected turn of events. His mind had been so

focused on avoiding the blame, he hadn't had the time to come up with a

solution.

You were the one who advocated the

use of Steven's questionable information for our strategy, so you must have

prepared for such an outcome, no?" Annora questioned plainly as James'

struggled to find his words.

"M-My information was not questionable—"

"I am not speaking to you, soldier."

Steven tried to get a word in edgewise, but Annora shot him down with resolve.

It was then that it happened.

A single wooden spear came flying out of the forest behind them, almost piercing the

body of a male student. But Nathan quickly intervened and blocked the spear.

He then shouted" It's an orc! With other monsters

too! Ready the defenses!"

Orcs were much more ferocious monsters compared to goblins. They stood

over seven and a half feet tall and had strength that far surpassed that of a human.

They were also known to occasionally move together with goblin mobs.

"F-Front guard! Use your shields to block the spears. Rear guard, cast Cura on

the injured!" Nathan promptly commanded, but the monsters made their

attack before the students could react. Three spears came flying towards the

squad. One struck the ground, while another flew towards Kyle. He silently drew

the longsword at his waist and sliced it away in an instant. On the other side of

the group, the last spear pierced Steven's torso. "AAAHH! Take it out —

someone take it out!!" Steven yelled as he thrashed about wildly, beyond all

sense of shame or decorum. Panicking from the pain, he lunged towards some

male students nearby.