MCFATTKM

7

"I took this a bit too lightly, but..." The others had mentioned that the base was somewhere in the middle of the mountains, but it seemed like they'd already passed the middle checkpoint.

"Was the road or base location magically changed?"

That would be a big problem! Lelia glanced at the backs of the others walking far ahead of her. Suddenly, out of nowhere ...

She heard a bang and a yelp echoing from in front.

Kalix had lost his footing and tripped while walking on the path. The perfectly smooth, dusty path.

"Wha – Hey! Be careful!"

How did that idiot manage to fall over nothing?!

Of course, in the original story, Lelia had also lost her footing and fallen into a pond. But even so, she had the responsibility to point out stupidity.

Anyway, when Kalix fell, the lamp in his hand shattered to pieces, and a wave of silent darkness descended upon them immediately.

Kalix swore under his breath.

"Damn it, what doI do now?"

"I can't believe you actually tripped over nothing! You fool!"

"What, you idiot? Hey, what did you just say!?"

The two glared at each other intensely and Lelia almost groaned aloud in frustration at her companions. The two had never spoken in a civil conversation before. Even their first conversation, if it could even be called that, was simply a lot of swearing.

It went something like ...

"Hey!"

"What a moron!"

The two soon began to fight, throwing vicious punches and kicks at each other. Lelia fought back the urge to scream when she saw them tussling about.

"Those stupid ten-year-olds!"

The children were rolling around wildly in the middle of the dark mountain path as they both tried to grab the other by the collar, illuminated only faintly by a silver moonbeam.

Lelia heard the sounds of birds startling against the silence of the forest, now joined by the sounds of bratty voices and fighting.

"Stop fighting, you morons!"

Lelia really wanted to scream at them, but even the brats would be surprised if she suddenly started screaming in the dark. She resolved not to provoke the children further; their fear and tension was understandable as they underwent a test of courage.

Lelia repeated the mantra to herself in an effort to remain calm.

The children must not be traumatized.

"Ugh, stop fighting, you idiots. Please...!"

Lelia was almost beside herself with anxiety. In fact, what she read in the original book was only a brief reminiscence and the vague lines that they'd spoken while recalling the events of the day.

She couldn't remember such details now. Lelia became even more nervous as the two continued to fight, fearing that the beast would appear at any moment.

Then Griffith swore again, untangling himself from the mess of limbs, stumbling back down the path in the direction they'd come from.

"Yes, go, go! You coward!" Kalix screamed at Griffith's retreating back.

And thus, just like that, Griffith left Kalix alone in the middle of the dark forest.

Lelia hid herself behind a tall tree and glanced at Griffith's back, a solitary form disappearing into the shadows. In fact, Griffith was born with a special power, but he didn't know how to use it yet.