Chapter 696: Shut down

The rest of the day dragged on as it usually did in this place, leaving everyone thoroughly winded by the end of it.

When dusk finally came, the setting sun painting the barren but beautiful landscape in different shades of orange, the group of nine found a sheltered spot behind a rocky outcrop to camp. Once they had settled down, Rina passed around dried rations and water.

At least, unlike Mira’s fire magic, using water magic didn’t bring any unpleasant consequences. Isolde had proven quite useful when it came to replenishing their drinking water.

And so, they ate while conversing among themselves. The guys kept to one side of the encampment and the girls to the other, with a wide gap between them, though the horny young men continued stealing glances whenever they could.

They had been unlucky enough to find nothing of great value during the past two weeks, but they hadn’t encountered any untold dangers either. Everyone was still in one piece, which had to count for something.

Mira had just finished her ration when she noticed movement on the other side of the camp.

The three second-years were exchanging looks, and after a brief argument conducted in poorly concealed whispers, they finally rose.

Makho watched them go before lowering his gaze to his food.

He had already offered his warning, and there was little reason to repeat it to people so determined to embarrass themselves.

“Mind if we join you?” the strongest of the three asked, approaching with a smile he clearly considered charming.

Mira looked up at him, then glanced towards the considerable stretch of empty ground behind him. “Why? Is something wrong with where you were sitting?”

The smile on his face faltered, though he recovered quickly. “Nothing’s wrong with it. We just thought we should get to know each other better. We’ve been travelling together for two weeks, after all.”

“And we’ve been getting along quite well without doing that,” Mira replied. She folded the wrapping from her ration, smoothing its edges between her fingers before putting it away. “I don’t see any reason to change things.”

One of his companions laughed awkwardly, thinking that she must be joking. He stepped forward, casting a brief glance towards the place beside her.

“Come on, don’t be like that. We’ve been doing our best to take care of you first-years.”

Tessa slowly turned her head towards him.

“Taking care of us?” she repeated, her brows rising. “You mean when you needed us to save your asses earlier?”

“That’s not what I—”

“Or when Isolde had to make sure you had water?” Tessa continued. “Or perhaps you mean all those times Mira covered you because you couldn’t get out of the way quickly enough?”

His mouth opened, but for a moment, he seemed unable to decide which accusation to answer. Mira gave him a pleasant smile that somehow made the whole thing worse.

“I’m sure we appreciate your contributions,” she said. “But if you expected us to start swooning because you cut open a few corpses, you should have mentioned that before accepting the opportunity to come here.”

Across the camp, Makho abruptly lowered his head. His shoulders shook once, though he managed to disguise the sound that escaped him with a cough.

Cody, the strongest guy’s expression soured. Deciding that speaking to Mira and Tessa was getting him nowhere, he turned his attention towards the elf sitting behind them.

“What about you, Isolde?” he asked, softening his voice. “You’ve been rather quiet, you must be lonely. Perhaps you’d like some company?”

Isolde glanced up from her cup.

She had been watching the exchange with growing embarrassment, grateful that Mira and Tessa occupied most of the space between her and the three young men.

Now that his attention had settled upon her, she drew her knees a little closer and shook her head.

“No, thank you.”

“There’s no need to be shy,” he replied. “I’m only trying to be friendly.”

“And she’s only telling you no,” Mira said, her smile disappearing. “Was there something difficult to understand about that?”

The young man looked back towards her, his clenching his jaw as he was becoming increasingly annoyed with her.

Behind Mira, Isolde lowered her gaze to her cup again, though the faint smile threatening to appear on her lips suggested she was finding it increasingly difficult to remain solemn.

The last of the three cleared his throat.

“Well, you two certainly have a lot of spirit,” he said, looking towards Tessa. “I happen to like that in a woman.”

Tessa stared at him for a moment, then raised her hand and extended her middle finger.

“Fuck off.”

His expression went blank.

A loud burst of laughter came from the side of the camp. Rina had been listening quietly until then, but the sheer bluntness of Tessa’s response proved too much for her.

She bent forward, laughing so hard that she had to brace one hand against her knee.

“Oh, gods…” she managed, looking at the three stunned young men. “What exactly were you expecting?”

They exchanged uncomfortable glances, their carefully prepared confidence rapidly falling apart. The one who had approached Tessa looked especially offended, though he seemed to be struggling to find a response that wouldn’t make things worse.

“You don’t have to be so rude,” he muttered.

“Then stop giving me reasons,” Tessa replied. “We’re tired. We’ve spent the entire day walking and fighting, and now we have to waste what little rest we get listening to you idiots.”

Mira nodded in agreement. “We were having a pleasant conversation before you came over. You’re welcome to let us continue it.”

The three remained standing there for a momennt, unwilling to accept that the encounter had gone quite so badly. One of them clicked his tongue.

“This is because of that Elion guy, isn’t it?”

Mira’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“What about him?”

“You keep talking about him. We’ve all heard it.” He folded his arms, trying to recover some dignity. “You do realise he’s already betrothed, right?”

“Yes,” Mira replied calmly. “So am I.”

The young man blinked.

“To him,” she added, looking almost delighted by his expression. “Thank you for your concern.”

Another fit of laughter escaped Rina, while Tessa grinned openly. Even Isolde had to hide her smile behind her cup.

By then, there was little left for the three to salvage. They finally turned away, returning to their side of the camp amid a few muttered complaints that none of the women bothered asking them to repeat.

Rina watched them retreat, still smiling, though her eyes gradually narrowed.

‘These bastards actually had the gall to approach the first-years while completely ignoring me.’

Her gaze moved briefly towards Mira, Tessa, and Isolde. She could admit that the three were beautiful, but what exactly were her fellow second-years trying to imply? That she wasn’t attractive enough to be worth approaching?

The thought irritated her more than she cared to admit.

Watching the girls reject them had been thoroughly entertaining, but now that she considered it, those peers of hers deserved a little more than wounded pride.

“You three,” she called.

They stopped before reaching their belongings, looking back with wary expressions. Rina rested her spear across her knees and gave them a bright smile.

“You can take the first watch tonight.”

“What? All three of us?”

“You seem to have plenty of energy left,” she replied. “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

Tessa snorted, while Mira finally allowed herself a proper laugh. Behind them, Isolde’s shoulders shook as she lowered her cup, her embarrassment having become considerably easier to bear.