Chapter 4 - Part 38 (Book 1 - Fantasy World)

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"What do you want us to do?"

Valessandria sighed at the question, the sky turning orange to signal the arrival of night. Despite their best efforts, they had not found a suitable location to camp for the night, and now it was time for her to make a decision about how they'd proceed. She felt torn, knowing that rest was necessary for the group but also knowing the dangers in the grassland terrain. In addition to whether they should proceed or not, the scouts sent out ahead of them had yet to return.

"Do you want to send out more students to try to locate the scouts?"

Looking at William, she saw his hands tightly clenched into a fist. "I know you want to send people to find them, but you know I can not do that."

He bit his lips to stop himself from arguing with her.

She could understand why he felt frustrated, but she also knew that he understood why such authorization was unreasonable. They may only be trainees under the Disciplinary Committee, but even bandits would have a tough time handling them. That was in addition to how the students would know that protocol dictated that escape was all that mattered and to avoid any confrontation. This meant not returning had something to do with their inability to escape.

In her mind, she attempted to anticipate what would prevent the students from returning. What she did predict was how whatever prevented them from returning would attack them once night came. All around them were the tall grass of the grasslands, a terrain that allowed many things to conceal themselves. When dealing with an unknown threat, it was the type of environment that was the worse to engage in combat.

Behind her, the students were already pulling out portable mana crystal lamps. The bright light of the lamps fighting off the long shadows already emerging due to the sun beginning to go beyond the horizon.

"I want a few of the students able to use sensory magic to be on rotation, just enhancing their vision and hearing. There should be two on each side of the formation and one behind. If they hear anything, I want them to immediately report it. I do not care if the sound is made by a harmless rodent." She ordered.

"As you command," William stiffly answered as he made his way back to the students behind them.

She let out a long sigh, knowing William was unhappy with her.

Turning to the saddlebag on the other side of her water canteen, she pulled out the portable lamp. Opening the device up, she pressed a switch. In moments, a light began to grow as the mechanism inside was powered by the unrefined mana crystal. Adjusting the metal blinds so that the light didn't kill her night vision, she moved it to the other side of her so that the light was shown on the tall grass.

Grimacing, Valessandria didn't enjoy how the light made the grass feel more ominous with how innumerable shadows were made as the light poured out of the lamp onto the plants.

She could hear behind her the movement of the students as they got into position, trying to sense anything approaching their group. Compared to in the daylight, William's voice wasn't as loud. It was as if he was concerned about attracting anything beyond their view and concealed in the dark.

With the sun having set and the moon and stars replacing it in the sky, she couldn't help but feel a similar ominous sensation as the night before upon approaching the enigmatic pyramid. There was a strange mood that she couldn't shake off of her.

Looking ahead on the road, Valessandria felt a shiver pass over her as she saw the nothingness where the light from the lamps failed to penetrate.

"Stop being a child. You are the Lady Knight of Illumin. This is not the first time you have traveled such a path." She chastised herself and tried to regain much of the mental strength she seemed to have misplaced after that night.

"Lady Knight?"

She jumped slightly but realized that it was William returning to his position next to her.

The lamp was already set up on his horse, illuminating the other side but casting a slight shadow on his figure, which gave him a sinister appearance. It reminded her of how she and her classmates would try to scare one another as they told ghost stories instead of sleeping inside the dormitories.

But once he approached her, the light leaking from her side helped to remove some of the darkness and allowed her to see his eyes searching her face as though trying to understand what the issue was.

"Are you okay?" William reached out a hand and placed it on her back.

Wearily nodding her head, "Sorry. I guess the lack of sleep and using the sensory magic is catching up to me."

He removed his hand and paused before saying, "I would suggest that we camp here for the night, clearing out enough space to help defend our position..."

Valessandria nodded, comprehending what he had left out. The fact that the scouts failed to return meant that this region was far more dangerous than usual. Not only would they be exposed with no good terrain advantage, but they also didn't know what was out in the grassland and whether it was actively stalking them.

"Let us just pick up our pace for a bit. There is still the chance that the students ahead are making their way back after trying to find a place for us to rest." She tried to offer an excuse for the students to be missing. But deep down, her instincts were informing her that the students were either eaten or killed. Even with bandits, there would be no benefits to keeping them hostage when silencing them would be easier.

Signaling to her horse, Valessandria increased the speed they were traveling.

Behind her, both columns of students followed. There were no questions or doubts as to why they were moving faster, likely agreeing that they needed to return to Illumin as quickly as possible.

The lamp resting on the horse's side bounced and made the shadows dance. Occasionally casting what appeared to be faces and eyes between the stalks as though the inky darkness itself were tracking their movements.