“Good evening, children. I shall now explain the next scenario.”
It had just reached 10 p.m. when Godolphen finally appeared to deliver the next challenge. While he’d presented the camp as a sort of race—with better lodgings and earlier access to the hot springs as the prize—it seemed like the “race” aspect would only really apply to the fifth and final scenario.
Because it’s kinda hard for us to get a head start when you refuse to pop up until the deadline’s passed anyway...
I wasn’t sure if the camp was designed that way—where finishing one scenario early merely gave you more time to recover before the next—or if Godolphen had simply decided to delay his arrival in retaliation to us smashing through his challenges with ease. Given his personality, I assumed it was probably the latter.
“Class A, fourth scenario. You have received word that five foreign spies, having previously infiltrated Yugria, are now attempting to flee the kingdom via the Mount Rodria border with classified documents in hand. You have thirty-six hours to apprehend the five spies. Kate Sancalpar shall lead the scenario. You may assign your classmates to either the second or the fourth scenario as you see fit. That is all.”
Though I knew it was probably pointless, I had to make sure. “And let me guess—each leader still has to personally oversee their assigned scenario?”
Godolphen shook his head. “Alas, at some point I am required to assess your cooperative capabilities, Rovene, lest I risk them becoming your downfall when it matters most. Therefore, I will now remove any restrictions as to scenario assignments, and leave it in your more than capable hands.” With that, he turned and left, promptly vanishing in much the same way as last time.
“Did you guys hear that?! My luck’s finally changing! I’m freeeeee!”
Finally, a chance to enjoy this slice of youth with my friends!
However, Kate didn’t share my joy. “I don’t know how you did it, Allen...” she said, sighing. “There’s three routes leading to the Cucola City Federation via the Mount Rodria border. I imagine Master Godolphen thought we’d struggle to decide which of those routes to prioritize, and how many people to allocate to each of the two scenarios... We wouldn’t even have time to discuss it, really. We’d just have to spread our forces thin and hope for the best. But with this plan,” she paused, unfurling the largest of Vesta’s sketches out in front of her, “we get to kill two spellbirds with one stone, because for some reason, you decided to build the majority of our fortifications along the border rather than around these ruins. We’ll divide into three teams, led by myself, Leo, and Vesta, and get to work constructing those fortifications while also capturing the spies as they come along.” She grabbed another piece of paper, and less than a minute later, she’d finished dividing us up into the three teams. There was just one problem.
There was, in fact, a fourth route over Mount Rodria. The seldom-used, perilous path wouldn’t have been traversable by any sizable force, which is why Vesta hadn’t deemed it necessary for us to build any barricades along it. However, a much smaller force—say, five or so foreign spies—would likely manage to cross it just fine.
That wasn’t the problem, though. The problem was that my name was missing from the paper entirely.
A cold bead of sweat ran down my forehead, and when I looked around, I realized that no one would meet my gaze. “Kate... This is a joke, right? If I end up on another damn solo mission, I’m really gonna go off the rails. C’mon, guys! I’m all rested up and ready to go! Take me with you!”
Now my classmates were looking at me, but their expressions weren’t particularly encouraging.
“Yes, I thought things didn’t quite add up,” Kate said coldly, sending a shiver down my spine. “I couldn’t think of any plausible reason as to why you hadn’t at least started construction, but there wasn’t one, was there? You already figured out exactly what Master Godolphen was planning, so you made Vesta handle the design while you just sat around waiting for us—oh, and getting your rest, of course.” She glared at me. “Well, thanks to Vesta, we’ll be able to complete the fourth scenario while also giving ourselves a decent chance at success in the final one, and all without your help, Allen. Put all that energy of yours to good use on your solo mission, okay? And be careful—it might be a little dangerous out there on your own.”
Seriously?!
I immediately protested. “Wait, wait! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have bragged about taking all those naps, okay?! But I didn’t ‘figure out’ anything! I didn’t know what the fourth scenario would be, or that I’d be allowed to join in—I’m not a freaking oracle, you know?!”
Kate turned to Vesta, ignoring me entirely. “So why did you come up with this plan while Allen was, as he’s just admitted, ‘taking all those naps’? Let me guess—this wasn’t the original plan, was it? I assume the first one was a little more realistic?”
Vesta adjusted his glasses. “Of course it was. But Allen said—what was it again? Right, he said it was ‘way too boring’ and used his authority as leader to force me to change it.”
Kate nodded, clapping her hands. “Right, let’s get moving! The sooner we apprehend those spies, the better. It’ll look suspicious if we leave this base exposed, so let’s quickly construct some barricades here and be off. I’ll need one person from each team to keep an eye on their assigned route while the rest of us start gathering logs,” she said, to the ready assent of the rest of my classmates.
“Just wait a minute, okay?! Let’s all have a nice cup of tea and talk this over! You’re playing right into the geezer’s hands here, you know?! That stupid line about assessing my cooperative capabilities or whatever was just to throw you off the scent! You’re falling right into his trap!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Allen. Master Godolphen hasn’t seen Vesta’s plan, so how could he know that we’d need you to work alone? He’s not an oracle, you know?” Kate said dryly before following the others from the ruins.
Hang on a damn minute! I’m the one who’s not—