Bad luck

The day passed, and Rohan went into the forest. Just as Welli had said, no one was following him, which relieved Rohan. He began to collect the white runes, and as he did so, the day passed naturally.

As no one was hindering him this time, Rohan managed to collect twelve white runes. 

A few days passed, and he continued to collect at least ten runes every day, which brought him to a total of thirty-three white runes, already taking into account the expenses he had incurred with the shelter.

Another day passed, and Rohan was in the forest collecting runes when he suddenly heard a commotion in the distance. 

He thought, 'What's going on? People are noisy sometimes, but I've never seen them shout so much.'

He started heading towards the noise, and after a while, he saw several people heading in the same direction. 

He then approached one of them and said, "What's going on?"

The person said, "It seems they've finally found a red rune. That's why everyone is coming here to see what it looks like."

Rohan was surprised to hear this and headed towards the place to see the red rune. 

After a while, he arrived at the spot where everyone was standing and saw that they were looking at a small cluster of water divided into several parts.

The cluster was almost like a natural pool, and it was possible to see a red light coming out of the water. When you looked closer, you could see the rune. 

Rohan began to look around and saw that practically all the people who were taking the test were there. He then saw Welli waving in his direction and went over to him.

Once there, Welli said, "Glad you made it, Rohan. They still haven't managed to get the red rune."

Rohan said, "What do you mean they haven't managed to get it yet? Are people worried about getting wet? The red rune is worth much more than the blue one."

"Yes, everyone knows that. The reason no one has entered the water so far is its temperature."

"The temperature? Is it that cold?"

"On the contrary. It's extremely hot. Everyone who has tried to get in has given up as soon as they put a finger in the water. Myself included."

"I see, but why are we here if no one can get in?"

"We're waiting to see if the water temperature will drop over time."

"Well, I don't plan on waiting here. I don't even have fifty white runes so far because of everything that's happened. I'll go back and look for them. You can tell me what happened later."

"Okay. See you later."

Rohan then left and went back to collecting white runes. 

Some time passed, and he returned to the city gate. After paying for the shelter, he got a total of six more runes, which brought his total to thirty-nine runes.

Rohan thought, 'If all goes well, in another two days, I'll have enough white runes for the first procedure. After that, I can start focusing on collecting other runes.

Two days passed, and just as Rohan had thought, he managed to collect enough white runes for the first procedure. He had accumulated a total of fifty-one white runes.

During these two days, even after several attempts, no one had managed to catch the red rune so far. From what Welli had told him, even after a long time had passed, the temperature of the water had not changed once, making it impossible for anyone to enter it to get the rune.

Rohan was curious about how to get the red rune but decided to put that aside for the moment and focus on the blue and green runes.

He then headed into the forest, and after getting the white runes to pay for the shelter, he started heading towards a river that was close to where he had found the black rune. He had passed this river several times in recent days and saw that there were at least five blue runes in it.

After a while, he reached the river and entered it. He started picking up the runes at the bottom of the river, and after a while, he came out with six blue runes. As he would have had to spend twenty white runes to get new clothes, the number of blue runes he would have been able to keep was only two.

Right after that, he decided to return to the city, but on the way there, he heard a sound of water and thought, 'Is there another river nearby?'

He went towards the noise, and after a while, he saw that there really was a river there. He then thought, 'Well, I'm already wet like this. It doesn't cost me anything to get into the river to get some more blue runes.

He got closer to the river and started to hear some noises. He thought, 'Looks like there's already someone in the river. I'd better run before they get all the blue runes.'

Rohan arrived in front of the river and didn't think twice about entering it. He started looking around, and after finding a blue rune, he quickly went towards it. He picked it up and then went to the other rune he had seen.

After a while, Rohan had picked up three blue runes and thought, 'How lucky of me. It looks like the person who's here hadn't been in the river for long, so there were still plenty of blue runes. Maybe I can pick up a few more.

Rohan started to look around and saw another blue rune. He went toward it quickly, but as he got closer, he saw someone picking it up.

As he looked at the person, he thought, 'It's not possible! I must have done something very wrong in my past life to be punished like this! Why does it have to be Mai who's here?!'

Mai also saw him and said, "What are you doing here?! Are you stalking me?!"

Rohan said, "No! It was just a coincidence! I heard a sound of water and decided to try my luck after seeing that it was a river."

"I see, but were you lucky?!"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I'm asking if you got any blue runes!"

"Oh yes, I did."

Rohan showed the three blue runes he had gotten, and Mai said, "Perfect. Give me the three blue runes, and you can leave."

Rohan said, "Hm? What are you talking about? Why should I give you my runes?"

"Isn't that obvious? I was in this river long before you. So the runes that were in it were mine. Don't you remember the deal we all made?"

"I've heard about it, but I don't know the details."

"Well, no problem. I'll explain it to you. Since each river has around five to nine blue runes, and each change of clothes costs four blue runes, everyone made a deal to avoid wasting runes. The agreement is quite simple. The first person to enter the river is entitled to all the runes in it. That's why I'm telling you to give me the runes you got here and leave."

"Hm, I understand, but unfortunately, I wasn't present at the time of this agreement, and I never agreed to be part of it. So I don't intend to give you the blue runes I got here."

"I thought you might say something like that, but it's okay. In fact, that's even better."

"Hm? What are you talking about? Did you like the fact that I didn't give you the runes?"

Mai started towards Rohan and said, "Yes. After all, this way, I can take them by force."

Rohan said, "By force? Pfft, are you kidding? You know it's forbidden to take other participants' runes by force."

"I know that, but unlike the gate, there's no one here to watch or protect you. So, in the end, it will be your word against mine."

Rohan started to back away a little and said, "You're not serious, are you? You're not going to risk being disqualified from the test because of three blue runes, are you?"

Mai moved closer to Rohan and said, "Don't worry. This isn't about those three blue runes. Honestly, they're just an excuse for me to vent all my anger at you. So please don't give them to me."

Rohan moved further away from her and said, "Hey, there's no reason for things to be like this. Weren't we cool with each other? Let's talk about it. I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

Mai then said, "That's true. Maybe we can come to an agreement, but I don't want to make a deal with you."

Immediately after saying this, Mai started to walk quickly towards Rohan, and when he saw this, he began to run away from her while thinking, 'Damn, she's serious. I've got to get out of here as soon as possible.'