Laughing awkwardly to hide his embarrassment, Alnea led the Star Seekers down the stairs. Just not directly to the canteen. Though they were famished, there were a few things they had to do before they could address the grumblings of their stomachs. Like getting treatment for their wounds. At least the more serious ones. And more importantly, updating their Blood Cards.

  “…Speaking of important things… Where is the flower I gave you, Lia?”

  “Why? Are you regretting giving it to me?”

  “…Since I gave it to you, it is yours.”

  “Even if you wanted it back, I still would not give it to you. Do not think that I forgot what you did back then,” Cecilia said with a snort, turning her face slightly to the side to avoid letting everyone see the flush on her cheeks. “Pervert…”

  “What are they talking about?”

  “…Flowers?”

  “In that god forsaken forest?”

  “…While I was fighting for my life, you two were flirting around with flowers?”

  “…You surely know how to play around…”

  “…That he does,” Vestia added, lacing her voice with a hint of resentment. Almost as if she was the one he had played around with. “Especially with a girl’s—

  “I am serious,” Alnea said, cutting off Vestia before she could embarrass him even further. Though he still could not help himself from smiling awkwardly. Thankfully, he had more important things to diver everyone’s attention with. “That flower… Have you forgotten where it came from?”

  “…The ancient being…”

  “Ancient being?”

  “…What ancient being?”

  “…It is a long story… We will tell you about it later. The more important thing right now is to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the flower.”

  “…The flower that you got from the ancient being?”

  “…Not exactly, but I guess you can take it as such…”

  “…Just what exactly did I miss?”

  “We. Not just you. We missed it too…”

  “…The only thing you missed was getting surrounded by over a hundred Wanderers,” Alnea said, rolling his eyes at his teammates, before turning back to Cecilia. “Ignore these bastards. Just take out the flower.”

  “…I don’t want to.”

  “…What?”

  “…I don’t want to take out the flower.”

  “Stop fooling around, Lia,” Alnea said. “You can keep the flower with you, but we really need to get it checked. Though I doubt if anyone in the city besides master can even recognise it, since we are in the Blood Hall anyway, we might as well let the city appraise it for any hidden dangers.”

  “…I knew that the flower was just an excuse… pervert…”

  “…He is indeed a pervert, but he is not wrong, Cecilia,” Yuri said with a faint smile on her face. “We do need to get that flower checked.”

  “…But…”

  “What are you worried—

  “The flower… It is gone.”

  “…Gone?”

  “…It is not where I kept it,” Cecilia said, biting the edge of her lower lip, as she shifted her gaze down to her waist. “I remember putting it next to my pouch…”

  “Next to your pouch?” Ralph said. “Not in it?”

  “The flower… It refused to get into my pouch…”

  “…A Spatial Treasure?”

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  “…You got a Spatial Treasure in the Final World?”

  “That is not the important point here,” Alnea said, glaring at Zain, before turning back to Cecilia. “Are you sure that you kept it next your pouch?”

  “I am sure—

  “Did you drop it in the Final World?”

  “…How stupid do you think I am?” Cecilia said, glaring at Ralph, before turning back to Alnea. “I really did keep the flower next to my pouch. I swear. I can even—

  “Forget it,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “The flower was not that important anyway. And it disappearing only shows that the Fire Spirit must have played some tricks… In a way, it is for the best that you do not have the flower anymore. At least we do not have to worry about any hidden dangers.”

  “But it was my flower…” Cecilia mumbled with a tangled look on her face. “And it was so beautiful…”

  “…I will get you an even better flower later,” Alnea said, as the Star Seekers walked out into the main lobby of the Blood Hall, prompting the Wanderers around them to scramble around, making way for their team. And the more that the Wanderers acted as such, the more attention they drew to the Star Seekers. To the team, that had against all odds, come back alive from a near impossible Final Trial.

  Though most of those Wanderers should still not know that the Star Seekers had cleared their Final Trials, coming back alive after facing Wanderers over a hundred times their number alone was enough to create legends. Besides, they should have also heard some rumours from the Wanderers that had come back alive from the Final World. Especially since, despite their apparent injuries, the Star Seekers were all grinning to their ears.

  “…Are they…”

  “…Did they really…”

  “…Impossible…”

  “…But…”

  Ignoring the shocked gaze and murmurs of the Wanderers around them, Alnea led his teammates to the Blood Hall’s Healer. And for the first time since he had known the man, the Healer greeted them with a smile. Probably a fake one. It was hard to tell with True Wanderers. Unless they made it obvious. But the change in the Wanderer’s attitude was too abrupt. Not to mention the hint of regret flashing in the man’s eyes.

  Turing down the Wanderer’s offer to heal his teammates for free, Alnea had everyone get some quick treatment, just enough to not let their wounds open from moving around, before thanking the Healer and leading his team to the reception counter of the Final Trial.

  “…You… You really came back alive,” Wanderer Bains said, greeting the Star Seekers with a complicated gaze. One overflowing with relief and surprise, the latter matching with the other Wanderers around them. In contrast, Wanderer Maxel was much more composed. Though he too showed a hint of surprise on his face.

  “…Welcome back,” Maxel said. “And congratulations.”

  “…Did you get the news already?” Alnea said with an awkward laugh. “Then again, given your position in the Blood Hall, it does seem reasonable… Anyways, thank you, Wanderer Maxel and Bains. If you had not let us into the Final World in advance, our Trial would not have gone so smoothly.”

  “…That was the least we could do,” Bains said, shaking his head. “Are you here to update your Blood Cards?”

  “And learn about our new privileges.”

  “…Then you have come at the wrong place.”

  “But—

  “In the Blood Hall, anything related to the Blood Card is handled by the registration counter.”

  “…Registration counter?” Alnea mumbled, glancing towards the counter near the Blood Hall’s entrance. The one where Wanderer Martha stood in silence. Waiting. “…Then we will visit you later, Wanderer Bains and Maxel.”

  After a brief greeting, the Star Seekers walked over to the Registration Counter, and in Martha’s complicated gaze, handed over their Blood Cards, asking her to update their information. Which she did, but not before staring at the Star Seekers in silence for a few moments. Though it was still Alnea who took majority of her attention. Especially after she updated their Blood Cards.

  “You…” Martha trailed off, staring at Alnea with wide eyes, with his Blood Card in her hands. It was not until he called her a few times that she came back to her senses. Even then, she did not return his Blood Card right away. Instead, she stared at it, as if she was looking at some treasure. Or hope. Unfortunately, she was too late…

  “…It looks like you have had quite a few adventures in the Final World.”

  “…I would not call them as adventures,” Alnea said, glancing back at his teammates, before turning back towards Martha with a grin. “But we did gain a few things in there.”

  “…And lost a few things,” Martha said, glancing at the Star Seekers. “I see that you are missing a number…”

  “…We did not lose him,” Alnea said, losing his grin. As did the rest of the Star Seekers. “We merely parted ways for our objectives… for the Stars we chase. But we are still friends.”

  “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Martha said with a sneer. “Friends do not abandon—

  “That’s enough, Wanderer Martha,” Alnea said, with his brows furrowing together in a frown. “We did not spend the last thirty days, running around in a forest, surrounded by enemies, fighting for our lives, just for you force your views upon us. After all that we have been through, we should be qualified to judge whom to trust, and whom to treat as our friend.

  “More importantly, right now, we are wounded, tired, and famished. And given how we usually get on your nerves so easily, you should also not want to deal with us any longer than necessary. If you have nothing else to say about our Final Trial, or our rewards, then we would like to have our Blood Cards back so that we can be on our way.”

  “…I was just reminding you…” Martha mumbled, biting her lips to suppress the breath building up in her chest. After a few moments, when she was faced with a scowl even after she chose to back down, she simply stopped suppressing her anger and let out a snort. “So be it. It is your loss anyway.”

  Taking one last look at the Blood Card in her hands, she reluctantly handed it back to Alnea, before driving him away. But Alnea did not mind. He did not even bother checking his Blood Card in detail, giving it just a cursory glance. At the moment, most of his attention was occupied by his grumbling stomach. So, after the Star Seekers all got their Blood Cards back, he urged them to quickly head to the canteen. Though while they were on their way, he did not forget to stop at a few counters.

  “What are you doing?”

  “…Just buying a few things.”