“…I know,” Fran said after a few moments silence, but said nothing about regaining his Serenity.

  “…Forget it,” Alnea said with a sigh. “I doubt you will listen to anything I say right now. We will talk again after we have dealt with the Dark Priests. But till then, try to reign in your emotions. Otherwise, if I deem you too dangerous for the team, then I will have no choice but to either ask you to leave the team, or send you out of the Final World.”

  “…I understand,” Fran said, like he had been saying for the past couple of days. Though whether or not he truly understood, only he could tell. That was probably also the reason why the Star Seekers were looking at him with a worried gaze. After all, they had been part of a team for over half a year. It was only natural for them to look out for each other. Yet, it was exactly their instinctive behaviour, which would have satisfied Alnea to no end in normal times, that irked him a little.

  “What are you looking at?” Alnea said, glancing at the rest of his teammates. “None of you is better than him. I can understand why Fran would lose control of his Aspects, but what about the rest of you? What is your excuse? Just how many mistakes are you people going to make before you come back to your senses? Or do you want me to send you out of the Final World too?

  “Do not think that I am joking. Our next battles are going to be some of our toughest. And as you are right now, let alone the Dark Priests, even an average team would be enough to defeat you. Get your act together. Stop worrying about things that are not in your control, and focus more on maintaining your Serenity. Even when not in battles. Or else, if I think that you are a liability to the team, I will not hesitate to end your Final Trial.”

  “…It’s not that serious, is it?” Zain mumbled, a little unsure of his words, only to be met with the silence of his teammates. Then again, their narcistic teammate had always been a little clueless. To his credit, he was also one of the few who had barely made any mistakes. Except the one time he had tried to fight their dazed enemies as a Warrior. Still, his words alone were not enough to solemn silence that came in the aftermath of their Captain’s speech. Fortunately for the Star Seekers, Yuri came to their rescue in time.

  “Alnea is right,” Yuri said, mirroring their Captain’s solemn gaze, just a little toned down. “We have indeed been making mistakes. And quite a few at that. It is a miracle that we have yet to suffer from injuries. But like Alnea said, we have some of our toughest battles ahead. And as we are right now, full of flaws, I doubt if we would be able to win against any decent teams, let alone one as strong as the Dark Priests.”

  “…It is not as if we want to make those mistakes,” Aren said after a few moments of silence. “It is just that we have been through a lot, and have not had the time to digest the upheavals in our Hearts.”

  “…Maybe it is time we slowed down a little,” Yuri said, glancing at Alnea, before turning back to the rest of the Star Seekers. “After all, the only reason we have been hurrying through the Final Trial is because we were not sure if we could complete our Trial on time. Now that we have completed nearly four fifths of our Trial a couple of days ahead of schedule, taking a short rest should not affect our progress in the Trial. On the contrary, relaxing once in a while can help us digest our gains, and prepare us for facing new challenges.”

  “…Rest? Are we going to let those bastards just run away?”

  “…We are not going to let anyone run away,” Alnea said, staring sternly at Fran. “Because we are not chasing anyone in the first place.”

  “How can you say that when you know—

  “What did I tell you just a few moments ago?”

  “But those—

  “Do you want me to send you out of the Final World?”

  “…I… No.”

  “Then shut up and rest. Meditate if you cannot. But stop shouting to kill in every other sentence.”

  “…I understand.”

  “…I doubt that you do, but I will take it for now,” Alnea said, and glanced at the forest around them, before turning back to the rest of his teammates. “Since the Oren Beasts in this area have already been cleaned up before, let’s settle down here for now. Zain, Aren, Norren, Ralph, get rid of the bodies.”

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  “Why?”

  “Because dead bodies tend to attract a lot of Oren Beasts. Besides, the humidity in the forest would also make these bodies rot faster. You do not want to eat with the rotten smell of corpses covering the smell of your food, do you?”

  “…I am asking why me again?”

  “…Because I can trust only you for such an important task.”

  “…Tsk. It cannot be helped then.”

  “Vestia, prepare some fresh water.”

  “Give me a couple of minutes.”

  “Cecilia, I will leave the lookout to you.”

  “…Got it.”

  “Yuri, I will leave preparing the ingredients to you.”

  “…You always leave the most troublesome tasks to me.”

  “That is because I trust you the most.”

  “Maybe, if you had not used similar words to fool Zain, then that might just have worked on me.”

  “…I knew I should have used other words to fool him,” Alnea said, clicking his tongue in annoyance, before laughing out with Yuri. “Anyways, I will leave the meal preparation to you. Call me when you are done.”

  “Alright.”

  “Then I will—

  “What about me?” Fran said, when he noticed that his Captain had no intention of giving him any tasks. “What should I do?”

  “…You, sit down and meditate,” Alnea said, turning towards Fran. “If you cannot forget your past, then do not run away from it. Try to face it head on, to confront the darkness in your Heart. It would be best if you can deepen your Serenity. If you cannot, then just make sure to not let yourself be overwhelmed by your thoughts and emotions. That is the only thing I ask of you at the moment.”

  “…Understood,” Fran said, and gave a terse nod, before finding an exposed root to sit down on some ten or so metres away. And from the way he closed his eyes, it did look as if he was trying to meditate. That was enough for Alnea. Nodding to himself, he turned around, and—

  “And where are you going?”

  “…To make some preparations for the storm.”

  “Storm?” Yuri said, blinking twice, and glanced at the forest around them, before turning back to Alnea. “Here? In this humid forest?”

  “…I am talking about the storm that you mentioned,” Alnea said, causing Yuri to lose her playfulness in a fraction of a moment.

  “…You are not thinking of doing anything unnecessary, are you?”

  “Do not worry,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “I remember my promise.”

  “…Good. Remember, I will always be watching you,” Yuri said, nodding to show her satisfaction. Yet, in the very next moment, she recalled something, and hesitated a little, before finally adding, “By preparation, you do not mean Glyph tokens, do you?”

  “As expected, you can always guess what I am thinking,” Alnea, glancing at their teammates in the distance. “Most of them have already used up the Blood Spirit Tears I gave them, and Vestia was even forced to use the extra Glyph Tokens I gave her. Not because of her own carelessness, of course.

  “Still, given our current state, I dare not even imagine what will happen once we face the Dark Priests. Even if they can readjust themselves to their best state before we encounter tougher opponents, I should still prepare some life saving measures for these idiots. If not for anything else, then just to ensure that I keep my promise.”

  “Now you know how troublesome your promises are,” Yuri mumbled, but did not question his decision any further. “Do you have enough materials?”

  “I saved some just in case we needed some extra Tokens.”

  “What about your Heart? Are you in the condition to inscribe Glyph Tokens?”

  “Are you underestimating me?” Alnea said, letting out a light laugh. “Do not worry. I am better than ever. Or do you think I would have been so harsh with everyone?”

  “You were indeed a little harsh, but they needed to hear those words,” Yuri said, glancing at the Star Seekers, before turning back to their Captain. “As do you. Don’t overextend yourself. There is no need to make all the Glyph Tokens at once. Make them one by one. We are going to rest for the next couple of days anyway.”

  “One day,” Alnea said. “One day of rest is just enough for everyone to wound down, but not enough for them to lose their tense nerves. Anymore, and the rest would prove counterproductive. After all, we are still in the Final World, surrounded by all kinds of danger. Though I also want everyone to readjust themselves as soon as possible, we cannot lower our vigilance too much.”

  “One day is still a long time, enough for you to make quite a few Glyph Tokens even if you make them one by one.”

  “I know, I know. I will remember to not push myself to my limits. Happy?”

  “…You do know what will happen if you try to play with words, don’t you, Alnea Oathkeeper?” Yuri said, narrowing her eyes at Alnea, prompting him to let out an awkward laugh, as he quickly made his way to a somewhat even ground in the distance.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t worry. I know, and that is enough.”

  “…Alright, don’t disturb me next,” Alnea said, quickly changing the topic. “I need to concentrate to create Glyph Tokens.”