Chapter 45: Come to My Tent Tonight

For a while now, Elias had been sensing some kind of movement behind the bushes as he, Evelyn, Elysia, and Vladir walked back to camp.

He’d even checked it out once, but when he pushed aside the bushes that had moved earlier, he found nothing at all.

"What’s wrong, Elias?"

"Nothing... It’s nothing."

’Maybe it’s just my imagination.’

Elias rejoined the other three and kept walking, and even though he was still suspicious, he chose to brush it off, thinking he was just getting too jumpy.

But of course, that wasn’t easy, because his Magic Talismans were starting to lose their glow again, even though he’d clearly just charged them with mana.

This wasn’t just the second time, either. Even before they split from Team Two, the Magic Talismans they carried had already started to dim, even though Elias had fully charged every single one of them before the five teams set out.

Feeling like something was off, Elias raised his hand, and a Magic Talisman floating in the air drifted down into his palm.

Once it landed in his hand, Elias stared at it for a moment before charging it with mana again and letting it float back up.

"This is gonna take forever if I charge them one by one..."

Elias fell silent for a moment, looking up at the Magic Talismans above him while rubbing his chin.

"Alright, let’s try this."

Elias lifted both hands into the air, and ten threads of mana sprouted from his fingertips and attached themselves to the Magic Talismans floating above.

"With this, I can charge these Magic Talismans a lot faster."

Then he channeled his mana into the Magic Talismans. With the mana threads acting as a bridge between him and the talismans, he could charge ten Magic Talismans at once from a distance.

"Well, there’s probably an even faster way, though. But I’m just experimenting, you know."

Once all the Magic Talismans were recharged, he hurried to catch up with Evelyn and the others up ahead. Elias then pulled every Magic Talisman floating above the three of them back into his hand, and with just one grip while channeling mana into them, all the power in those Magic Talismans filled up completely in an instant.

’Yeah, this way is way more efficient.’

Right after that, he sent all the Magic Talismans floating up again before urging everyone to run toward the camp.

"Run."

Seeing Elias suddenly take off ahead of them made Evelyn and the others jump in surprise. But in the end, they ended up running after him on reflex.

"Why are we running, Elias?"

"Is there some strong monster, so you chose to run?"

Elias kept running while shaking his head at Evelyn and Elysia’s questions.

"No. I just feel like something’s following us. I don’t know what it is, but it’s making me uneasy."

"Seriously?"

"Then we have to run faster! What if it’s following us right now?"

*Whoosh!

Elias leaped from one tree trunk to another, and while he was still in the air, he twisted his body slightly backward and threw a Magic Talisman.

*Swish... Tak!

"It’s fine, I’ve already set up a Magic Talisman that messes with the senses. Whether it’s a human or something else, they’ll have a hard time finding us since their senses will be all scrambled."

The reason that Magic Talisman could scramble the senses was its ingredients. Elias had mixed several things into a single item, from the rotten flesh of an Iron Wolf Fangs corpse, to sound waves from a Blind Cave Bat, to smoke from a Steel-Skin Pangolin.

The combination of the stench of the Iron Wolf Fangs’ rotting flesh, the sound waves of the Blind Cave Bat, and the smoke of the Steel-Skin Pangolin threw off the three main senses of any living creature.

’It’s a pretty complicated recipe, and it doesn’t last long since I couldn’t catch enough of the Blind Cave Bat’s sound waves, but it’s enough for us to get away.’

"Pick up the pace, you guys."

* * *

After running for quite a while, Elias and the others finally reached the Nocturne Expedition camp.

The two girls might not have felt tired at all, but Vladir clearly did. And it wasn’t just Vladir. Even Elias felt worn out from running that far, though he hadn’t gone all out.

"I’m too old to be running this much."

Seeing Vladir gasping for air with his body bent over slightly, Elias first looked back toward where they’d just run from, then told the man to go rest.

"Then go rest. Besides, your body hasn’t fully recovered yet."

Hearing that, Vladir staggered off toward the tent that had been prepared for him earlier.

Elias then glanced at the two girls beside him before extending one hand toward his own tent.

"After you, Ladies."

Elias followed the two girls from behind as they walked to the tent. Once inside, the two of them sat on the chairs that were already there, and Elias poured tea into both of their cups.

As he was pouring their tea, Elias started to speak:

"Aren’t you two curious about my plan?"

Hearing the question, Evelyn and Elysia exchanged a glance before turning back to Elias.

"Do we even need to know your plan?" Evelyn said while sipping her tea.

*Slurp...

"If you really don’t want to tell us, fine. We won’t force you. Besides, the only reason this expedition is even happening is because of you."

What Elysia said was true, but still. It felt strange to Elias that the two girls weren’t asking about his plan to find the Heartbloom, which was the cure for their mother.

They should’ve been at least a little more panicked, worried, or even angry at a careless guy like him.

At least, that was what Elias had hoped for, so why were they sitting there drinking tea with faces that said everything was going to be just fine?

’Do they really trust me on this expedition? No, there’s no way...’

Elias then walked over to the table at the side of the tent, dug into his storage pouch for some snacks, and poured them onto a plate while still thinking about the girls’ attitude.

’Or maybe they’re actually super worried about their parents, but they’re hiding it on purpose so I don’t feel even more burdened?’

Elias picked up one of the snacks from the plate before his thoughts kept going.

’Wait, if that’s the case, maybe they’re just waiting for me to let my guard down. The second I fail to find the Heartbloom, those two swords are going straight through my neck!’

’Damn it! So they’re acting calm on purpose so I don’t feel pressured, and then they’ll kill me once I’ve got no reason left to run?’

Elias slowly put down the snack he’d just picked up.

’...but too bad for them. I’m not giving up on my life!’

As the two girls ate the snacks Elias had just set down, he took the chance to start the conversation.

"Ladies, there are a few things I need to tell you."

Seeing Elias speak with such a serious expression made Evelyn and Elysia stop what they were doing, and they looked at each other for a moment before going back to it.

"Go ahead," Evelyn said, drinking her tea elegantly with her eyes closed to savor it.

"Yeah. We’re listening," Elysia said, munching on a snack with her eyes fixed on Elias.

Elias drew in a deep breath as if he were preparing for something before speaking, then let it out slowly.

His gaze sharpened as he looked at the two girls, and then:

"Tonight, please come to my tent. Just the two of you."

"..."

"..."

*Freeze...

The moment Elias said that, the two girls turned to stone and didn’t move at all. Evelyn, who had been drinking her tea, ended up spilling it onto her thighs even though it was obviously still hot, but she didn’t react at all, and her eyes were still closed.

*Splash!

As for Elysia, the snack in her hand had already dropped to the ground, her mouth still hanging open and her eyes still locked on a single spot.

*Plop...

Seeing this, Elias could only scratch his head in confusion.

"What’s going on here?"

* * *