Under the Veil of Night

Kanae returned quite late to the inn. When the two of them came back, most of the students already returned to their room. They shouldn't be asleep yet, but it was close to that. Some of them were not used to doing a lot of exercise, making them sleep faster than usual.

"Don't forget to wake up early. We're going to hike again."

Kanae nodded her head. "I'll remember that. Good night, President."

Kevin nodded back at her and walked towards his own room. Mike and Neo were already waiting for him. They smiled happily when they saw their leader return in one piece.

"You shouldn't walk around alone, Boss. There are a lot of people who want your life in this city," Neo reminded.

"I know," Kevin answered promptly.

Mike smiled wryly. He took out the neatly folded paper and handed it to Kevin. "This is the list of the students who came on this trip. There are some of them who didn't come because of various reasons."

Kevin didn't bother taking the paper. "Let's rest."

"Yes."

At this time, Kanae returned back to her room. She looked towards the two yawning girls and giggled. These two were truly funny to yawn at the same time and it was coincidentally at the exact moment she returned.

"You finally return back, Kanae," Misae smiled widely and yawned again.

Kanae shook her head. "You better sleep now. We're going to hike tomorrow."

"Can't I just sleep? I don't want to come along."

"No way, you rarely go out of the city, right? This is the perfect chance for an eye-opener."

"But I'm tired!"

"You're going to be alright tomorrow."

They argued back and forth a few times until Misae and Alice gave up. They knew that they wouldn't be able to escape the fate of hiking again. In the end, they slept early as they didn't want to waste their time arguing even more. It was too tiring.

Early in the morning, Kanae woke up first. She quickly woke up the others as she took a quick bath and changed her clothes. Her activities caused Alice and Misae to wake up. The two of them lazily moved around to prepare themselves.

"Why do we have to wake up so early?"

"Because you're going to have another activity later, so you have to wake up early," Kanae answered lightly.

Misae groaned. "Why is this trip filled with activities that require a lot of physical strength?"

"Let's go."

The three of them got out of the room fully prepared. Feeling the cold wind nip her cheek, Misae frowned. It felt chilly at this altitude early in the morning. Even if she liked the cold, this was far colder than what they usually experienced in the city.

Most of the students chose to pass on this event, but there were still some who participated. They were wearing thick clothes as the morning was still rather cold. Only a handful of them dared to wear thin clothes because they were used to the cold.

"I want to return back," Alice shivered. It was really cold.

Misae glanced at Kanae. "You seem fine with the cold temperature here."

"It'll be warm pretty soon," Kanae shrugged. The cold temperature only lasted for a few hours at this height. She was already used to training and fighting when it was snowing, so this was not a problem.

"Let's go to the hall, Neo has prepared some warm snacks before our departure."

Alice and Misae nodded their heads as they followed after Kanae. Most of the students gathered in the hall to eat the snacks that Tommy had prepared. Misae took the ginger ale and sipped it. The warmth from the ale caused her throat to feel much better.

"We're going to hike again. Are you two ready?" Mike asked the two girls.

Alice and Misae nodded their heads. Even if they didn't want to come originally, there was no other option right now. Kanae wouldn't let them back off when they were already prepared.

The group of students departed. They hiked for quite some time before Alice and Misae felt rather tired. However, they had to keep moving or they would feel the chilling wind. Rather than shivering in the cold, they better off moving, walking, and walking again.

"How long will it take to reach the waterfall?" Misae asked worriedly. She was afraid that her physical strength wouldn't allow her to move forward for too much longer.

"Based on the speed, at least 1 hour," Kanae smiled faintly.

"One…."

"We can do it, Misae," Alice patted her friend's back. She was also starting to feel tired, but if she didn't move, the chilling wind would seep into her bones. That would be worse than feeling tired.

"You can ask Mike to carry you again," Kanae teased.

"NO!"

Kanae laughed when she heard the immediate refusal. "Come on, you can do it."

They stopped talking and focused their attention to their steps. After nearly two hours, they heard the faint sound of the waterfall. The students' eyes lit up. They simultaneously looked towards Kevin in hope that he would allow them to charge up first.

Kevin responded to their hopeful gaze with an indifferent tone. "You can go first, but don't get too close to the waterfall. It's dangerous."

"Yes!"

The students ran towards the source of the sound. Each person wanted to be the first to arrive, so they raced against each other. Of course, they would pay heed to what Kevin said because they didn't want to die yet.

"You're not going to run?" Tommy asked the girls.

Alice shook her head. "I'm already too tired. It's really cold here."

Tommy slowed down his pace and stood beside Alice. He was standing right in the direction of the incoming wind. This made the wind hit him rather than the girl beside him.

Towards his kind gesture, Alice smiled sweetly. "Thank you!"

"It's nothing much."

On the other side, Mike already held Misae's hand because the girl couldn't stop shivering. Actually, he wanted to hug her, but if he did that, they wouldn't be able to climb up.

"I feel like the number of couples increased," Neo shook his head in amusement.

Kanae nodded her head. "What about you? Don't you want to search for one too?"

"Nah, I'm marrying my laptop."

Kanae: "…"

They continued to walk until they arrived in front of the waterfall. This place was covered with trees, which caused the wind to be blocked slightly. Most of the students already arrived and they were staring at the beautiful waterfall in front of them.

The waterfall was quite big. The faint light from the daybreak caused a vivid rainbow to reflect off the water spray. It was a breathtaking scene and many students were stunned when they saw it. For those who came from the city, they could only see this view on the television. Having seen it in person for the first time, they finally realized how overwhelming it was.

Kanae also stood still as her eyes were glued to the beautiful waterfall. It was exceptionally stunning and she felt like she could stare at the raging water for hours without getting bored.

"Let's take a seat," Neo pointed to the flat area around them.

Mike looked at Neo with a confused expression. "What did you say?"

The sound from the waterfall caused them to be unable to hear what others were saying to them. They couldn't communicate at all, so Neo instead tapped their shoulders and pointed to the flat area. While they were looking at him, he sat down on the area he pointed to. This gesture caused them to understand what he meant.

Kanae smiled slightly. They should have been prepared to either yell loudly or learn body language before they came here. Communicating like this was quite difficult.

They sat down and looked towards the beautiful waterfall. Misae got an idea and took out her phone. She handed it to Kanae and made a gesture of clicking a camera.

"Okay," Kanae answered while nodding her head.

Misae stood up and pulled Mike up. Facing the suddenly excited Misae, he was startled, but he quickly understood when he saw her point to and pose in front of the phone that Kanae held. He wrapped his arm around Misae's shoulders and smiled at the camera.

Kanae took a few pictures before handing the phone back. Misae squealed in delight when she saw how they turned out. It was a beautiful sight.

Kevin tapped Kanae's shoulder and pointed to the trees. She was confused at first, but Kevin already pulled her hand. He sat down near the tree and used the big tree as a backrest. She immediately understood and sat near him.

They quietly watched the waterfall while some students were busy taking pictures. It was very peaceful and comforting.

Neo looked towards the close distance between Kevin and Kanae complicated gaze in his eyes.