By Zephyria 
After that, I fell asleep with the Zela flower by my pillow as Zeon said.
Whether it was because of the cozy and subtle scent or because of some effect of the flower, I fell asleep more comfortably than usual, but when I opened my eyes, it was still dark dawn.
I had fallen asleep in the early evening, so I had only slept for a short time.
Nevertheless, I felt refreshed.
I felt that the quality and efficiency of sleep itself had improved.
I tossed and turned for a while and then got up. When I glanced at the window, the moonlight shining softly was illuminating the window frame.
‘…It seems like nothing has happened yet.’
I stretched and got up, then leaned against the window frame and looked outside the villa. It was a day when the moon, shining as brightly as the sun, looked particularly large.
A quiet night.
A cool midnight breeze blew gently and brushed my cheek. It was when I closed my eyes, feeling drowsy.
Weeeeeeng!
An alien and sharp noise heard from somewhere.
It was the alarm I had heard last time. In an instant, I quickly pulled up my mind that had been lost in thought and quickly looked around the villa.
I can’t see Professor Polajigen or Cloud in the positions my eyes can reach. It wasn’t a very kind start last time either, but this time it seemed to start randomly in any place.
‘Is this the real start from now on?’
I grabbed the window frame like last time and jumped down.
It was an inefficient route to go out through the entrance of the villa, so it was much better to shorten the time by using the window as an entrance. Anyway, if you achieve more than 2-star achievement, you will have a body that can jump off a 2-story building without any problems.
The moment I landed on the ground, I felt signs of people jumping out from the other side. When I turned around, I saw the children scattering in all directions, moving according to the existing plan. They were much calmer than on the first day, and there was no unnecessary movement.
-First, we’ll move in groups of three.
The content of the operation is as follows.
First, divide the group into three: three who move the shortest distance to enter the cave, three who escort them, and three who become ‘bait’ to tie down Cloud.
After that, the children heading to the cave immediately use the Eight-sided Command to blur the signs of Mana and move, and the bait, on the other hand, induces Cloud’s attention as much as possible.
The position I took on among them is ‘bait’.
From now on, the bait, including me, had to move in such a way that he couldn’t help but throw his fishing rod towards the bait. In other words, the bait will be as far away as possible from the direction of going up to the cave, and Cloud has to be made to chase those bait.
-Then Cloud Hunter will have no choice but to think. Which one to chase first, the one heading to the cave or the one that isn’t.
Of course, there was no guarantee that Cloud would move as we wanted, and he might quickly notice and aim for the one heading to the cave.
So this is only the first operation.
There was also a countermeasure in case he aimed for the one heading to the cave. Of course, it was unknown how much that would work against Cloud.
“Raymond!”
Tom’s voice was heard from behind, so I turned around. Tom and Herman were coming out of the villa together. They were also people who would play the role of bait, so they had to act with me from now on.
“Why are you coming out through the door? Isn’t it late?”
“But, I’m scared to jump…”
Tom, who had been intimidated by Herman’s urging, nodded. I sighed softly and was about to turn around first.
“What’s the reason for looking for me?”
Cloud’s voice was heard nearby.
Tom, who was startled, let out a shrill scream.
When I turned my head towards the direction of the voice, I saw Cloud landing lightly and coming down. He seemed to have been on the roof of the villa.
‘Since when…’
What was certain was that he had been watching how we were moving. I was a little upset because even I didn’t notice at all how well he was hiding his presence.
“Hmm, I wonder what kind of scheme it is. Our cuties.”
Cloud, who was walking slowly with his hands in his pockets, stopped at a position that was appropriately distanced. The way he smiled seemed to have noticed to some extent already… but he seemed to be trying to test our reaction a little more.
At that time, Herman signaled by nudging Tom’s arm, and the ‘bait’ including me ran down towards the forest all at once. It was the opposite direction of going up to the cave.
Cloud followed slowly.
It seemed he had decided to chase us.
However, he was chasing us as if he was taking a walk, and we were running away as hard as we could, so the distance quickly widened. It was an obvious show of leisure. He could catch up quickly if he used Space Transition, but he wasn’t doing that.
He’s a really arrogant human being.
Of course, it would take at least 20 minutes to run straight to the cave, so even if Cloud noticed our intentions, he didn’t have to rush.
There was a possibility that he would pretend to follow and aim for the other side, so we put our heart and soul into adjusting the distance so that we could feel his presence.
The time we have to endure from now on is one hour.
And how much did we go down the mountain?
“Are you following well?”
Tom asked in an anxious voice when we stopped for a moment to find Cloud’s presence. I had sharpened my senses, but I couldn’t find the presence of him following, so I thought he had gone to the other side.
So, at the moment I was about to convey my thoughts.
“It’s here, here.”
Cloud’s voice was heard before that.
From the opposite direction.
“……!”
I turned my head quickly. Cloud was sitting on a tree nearby, looking down at us. He seemed to have moved here using Space Transition while we were off guard for a moment.
“Is the escape over now?”
I could feel Tom and Herman getting nervous. Cloud, who had jumped down, muttered as he slowly approached us.
“Hmm. If it’s to tie me down…”
Then he pointed his finger beyond us.
“Is that the goal?”
At the end of that direction was a hidden cave.
‘He noticed after all.’
Immediately after, Herman, using Transformation Designation, tried to transform a tree to catch Cloud. But the tree vines, which had transformed into a living snake and were rushing at him, burned down and disappeared into ashes before they could even touch Cloud.
“……!”
Tom and Herman, overwhelmed by the sight, seemed very embarrassed, even though it was just Magic through Instant Cast.
“I’m sorry, but Professor Polargehen told me not to let you off the hook. I want to play with you a little more, pretending not to know, but if I do that, I feel like I’ll really score, so I’ll go to the other side first.”
Cloud smiled slyly and disappeared before we could do anything. He seemed to have used Space Transition to go find the children heading to the cave.
A heavy silence that came for a moment.
Herman sighed, holding his forehead. Tom, who was frightened and clinging to Herman’s back, made a crying face.
“I knew it was impossible for us…”
But it was quite a big achievement to have brought Cloud here. It was all thanks to his carelessness and leisure, though.
Anyway, the first operation failed.
It was necessary to move on to the second operation immediately.
I said to the two.
“There’s no time to dawdle. Let’s move.”
At that, Herman and Tom also nodded.
After that, we put the Eight-sided Command on our bodies.
And we moved by taking out each of our Mana little by little into a simple sphere that Tom had created through construction, and throwing it at intervals.
This is for distraction.
It wasn’t enough to escape Sense Perception, but by using the Eight-sided Command, they could mask their Mana signature, making it difficult for Cloud to distinguish between the sphere and them.
The ultimate goal was to escape the range that could be detected by Sense Perception, which also had its limits. If they succeeded, even he would take a considerable amount of time to find them again.
“It’s so unfair! We’re still students.”
Tom complained during the task. Herman chuckled softly, accepting Tom’s dissatisfaction.
“That’s true.”
“Even if it’s training close to real combat… there’s too big a gap between students and the Black Class!”
“Still, if they catered to everything, it wouldn’t be realistic. The world is inherently unfair, Tom.”
“Ugh. I’m already scared of how hellish the punishment training will be. Come to think of it, what assignments did Zeon and Ardian get?”
“I wonder.”
Just as I was running in the lead and listening to their conversation.
Thump!
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard nearby.
“……!”
The distance was close. I stopped the two of them and quickly turned towards the sound.
“W-what is it?!”
Along with Tom’s scream-like question, the dense trees began to shake violently. Soon, something emerged between the tall trees.
It was an Amorphous monster called a ‘Ramble.’
“Kyaaak! Fiends! Fiends!”
“Why is a Ramble here…!”
Herman panicked, sending Tom behind him. Due to the unstable Mana control, the Eight-sided Command was released, and their presence was revealed.
Why was a Ramble here?
That was what I wanted to ask someone too.
‘Could it be again?’
I was flustered, but quickly regained my composure.
The Ramble, called Amorphous because it had no fixed form, was still worth fighting if I, who had reached 4-star, was considered high-level.
So, as I was about to step forward to handle it myself.
The upper part of the Ramble, which seemed to have spotted us and was about to pounce with its mouth wide open, was neatly cut off. As the internal core shattered, the Ramble’s slimy body collapsed, and it scattered into the air without leaving a trace.
Such a clean disposal.
Who on earth?
Just as I was wondering, someone lightly descended.
Releasing the Eight-sided Command, I narrowed my eyes.
A slender figure turning towards us. Familiar silver hair shining white in the moonlight and golden eyes staring straight at me.
“Are you okay?”
It was Ardian.