Did Alice regret going down the 4-star dungeon gate despite her not only being inadequately equipped but not strong enough to conquer it by herself or with a party?
No.
However, she was afraid.
This was something much unlike the students in the academy. She saw it in their eyes: the anxiety and doubt and fear that most of them shared. It was because of that reason that she did not fear them.
Alice would never fear someone who did not hold themselves to a standard that was appropriate of a Central Ergo Academy student.
Regardless of their rank, they were gifted - or persevered enough - to be admitted to this school.
She knew worth.
And she knew when people saw themselves as worthy.
And many of the students did not see themselves as worthy.
Which is why they could never make her fear them.
This is a different story, though. She had been transported into a vast forest filled with these darkly-colored oak. And the branches sprung with leaves that it made seeing ahead difficult.
Her eyes scanned the area before she walked straightforward. Her left arm held tightly on the hilt of the blade and her opposite arm held her scabbard tightly. As she maneuvered through each tree, her body remained tense.
Calm down, Alice. Being tense is bad. Your movements will be hindered. Free yourself. She recited her father's words inwardly before she took a deep breath and released an exhale.
Her body felt more lax and limpid.
She continued onwards.
~~~
Anne didn't know what to think. When she looked at Grace and Ivan, she could only see two people who had a firm stance on their beliefs. She found this trait of theirs so enviable.
Because I can't do that. She knew she had the strength in her, but she didn't know how. She listened to what Grace had to say that one time, but it is not only strength that she wished for.
She wanted to be resolute with herself, as well.
As they carefully walked up the stairs of the household, their shoes - covered in blood - left nasty, profound footprints of blood with each step.
"It'll be okay," Grace whispered from behind.
Her bangs covered a bit of her eyes as her gaze was downcast.
"How can you be so sure?" Anne looked behind her and met Grace's gaze. It was tough and even, yet it yielded a certain softness.
"I'm not sure," Grace told her truthfully. "But I want to believe it."
His words struck her like thunder.
"How... just... why?"
Grace tilted his slightly, a small delicate smile revealing itself.
"Because there is more to life than just doubt. Between doubt and believing things will be okay--isn't it natural that I want to choose the latter?"
He walked pass, offering a hand on her shoulder.
"At the bottom of it all: it's a choice."
And you either choose to believe in yourself.
Or you drown in that doubt.
"There's some things here," Ivan spoke softly, not wanting to be too loud or they'd draw out unnecessary attention toward themselves. Grace and Anne followed, reaching a few rooms on the second floor.
Entering the first room, Ivan was holding a dirtied book. Grace initially thought that the book was the book that helped him pray to the Endless Astral Overseer, but there were engravings on the leather cover.
[Evan's Diary]
It was a man-made carving.
Opening the book, Ivan looked the first page. Grace and Anne peered into the page with curiosity.
[September 17, 1838.
The guards have been patrolling the village far more frequently than before. I overhead a few of them talk at the outskirts of the village.
A guard died a week ago from something unknown.
They said his arm was ripped apart and his body was cleaved with large scratch marks.]
Ivan then flipped to the next page.
[September 22, 1838.
Mrs. Crell's husband had gone missing.
He was a promiscuous man... a lustful bastard.]
Directly underneath this excerpt was another excerpt that was made the following day.
[September 23, 1838.
Mrs. Crell's husband has been found.
It was earlier in the day, but Adam was cleaning his clothes by the riverside. And he found his dead body.
Desecrated.
Claw marks and flesh chewed.
Could this be connected with the guard incident?]
Turning the page, there was not another excerpt until September 27.
[September 27, 1838.
Two more people have been found.
Dead. Both of them.]
[September 30, 1838.
10 people have gone missing all at once.
Their heads were missing. Their flesh, torn and chewed--
What is happening to us?]
[October 2, 1838.
The guards gathered everyone up.
They took Mrs. Crell and executed her.
They told us she was behind it all, saying she indulging in something dangerous; praying to an ancient deity, they say.]
However, they turned the page again and it jumped all the way from the 2nd of October to the 13th of October.
[October 13, 1838.
They were wrong.
It continued.
I'm afraid.
My wife and I--
will we be next?]
[October 14, 1838.
Everything is going to shit. During the middle of the night, the guards woke everyone up and made them go outside at the center.
There were two crying adults and a child. Everyone knew what was going to happen, and this sole fact shook everyone awake.
How could they do this to them?
Blamed when the reason is far more insidious?!]
[October 18, 1838.
They've lost it.
They've lost it.
They've lost it.
THEY HAVE COMPLETELY LOST IT.
THEY ARE KILLING EVERYONE.
THEY BELIEVE EVERYONE HAS GONE INSANE.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THEM?!]
The lump at the bottom of their throat hurt, and it was only when they turned to the next page did they swallow the gulp as they saw it.
[LET ME LIVE!]
Evan's last plea.
This village had become consumed by an invisible madness, and unable to shake themselves from such horrors--it turned into a massacre.
"But," Ivan began, his voice shaking with fear and anger. "The answer is within the manor." It was the undeniable truth.
Grace hummed.
He looked out at the window, briefly looking at the looming castle in the distance. It was foreboding as the clouds cleared and revealed the glimmering moon.
"We won't be able to kill anyone with our current strength."
"I know, but--"
"Then we set a trap," Anne butted in. Grace turned to Anne, widening his eyes as if she read his mind. He saw something within those beautiful, gorgeous eyes of hers.
A glimmer of resolve.
"Yes, that's right," confirmed Grace. "The guards here have a scarce amount of knowledge about mana. A little bit, but not enough. Their bodies may hold the strength of an intermediate-grade, but not necessarily the skill of one." They, too, had a scarce amount of strength compared to the guards, nor do they have the ability to outrun a guard unless out of pure luck.
But idiots in fear will always be vulnerable for trickery.
He held a finger.
"We light this whole village on fire and alert every guard," Grace began. "And, if they know any better, the heat will start to bother them in that junk of iron." And while they are intermediate-grade, they do not share the same habits as a well-trained knight in the real world.
"It's a gamble, but once they take off their helmet or suit--we kill them in one fell swoop. That is... if they do not have their guard up and know how to reinforce their bodies."
A plan filled with holes regarding the general knowledge of the world that they were standing in.
"Let's all gamble on black, yeah?" Grace smiled.
BOOOM!
Their discussion was suddenly disrupted once they heard a loud explosion. Their eyes turned towards the source and saw smoke rising from the manor.
And they saw Ray holding the head of one of the guards, bloody and battered by wounds. They soared beautifully through the sky. And below, in the streets of the village, the guards looked up.
And they were compelled to drop any and all duties in order to tend to what was happening in the manor.
"Never mind, we need to improvise."
~~~
"