I walked down the stairways, my eyes scanning the depressive atmosphere that filled the dining hall.
It’s only been around two hours since we killed the Giant Horned Bison, and the sun was still out, yet no less than ten students were sitting in the hall, slouching on their seats.
Their eyes were dark, and a few wounds covered their bodies. I didn’t even have to look at their fates to figure out what was going on, but I did it out of habit anyway.
Taking a casual glance, I narrowed my eyes down on the fate of one of the boys in the hall, Conner.
He was the leader of one of the Sacred Class teams, but right now he was currently staring off blankly into space with a dumb look on his face.
’Hmm... It’s not that different from what I expected, but this is a little...’
My eyes twitched a little as I turned my eyes to another table. On it was a group of girls who were similarly sitting in despair. They were the second team made up of only Sacred Class students.
The leader of this team was Fiona, a top ten student of the class.
Each team represented two different populations of the class, Conner’s being made up of only boys while Fiona was made up of only girls.
Both leaders were a part of my training program, and I believed each possessed sufficient skills to thrive and excel in the Field, but for them to end up looking ... I could only say that they were unlucky.
Both teams happened to run into each other out in the Field and started an argument over a prey they were both tracking, only to be ambushed by a Peak Rank One beast that heard their needless chatter.
Luckily they managed to escape; otherwise, the two teams would’ve been both wiped from the exam in one fell swoop.
It seems like I’ll have to teach them an additional lesson later...
As if sensing my gaze, I saw that both Conner and Fiona tremble slightly, but I had already turned around by the time they finally noticed my presence.
Walking over to another table, I sat down before looking at the pair of eyes that were glaring daggers at me.
"You’re not by chance, still upset about that small matter are you?"
"...If you call sending your subordinates into a life-threatening battle with incomplete information a small matter, I’m scared to find out what would count as a significant one."
I smiled as I watched Kate sigh as she shook her head.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I promise I won’t do it again."
"Strange. Even if you say that, I have a hard time believing a single word that comes out of your mouth lately."
"That’s fine too. You shouldn’t trust others so easily after all, Guildmaster."
"I already know that, but I thought I could at least trust in my own guild member. Now, I just feel betrayed having trusted you in the beginning." Kate folded her arms as she stared at me with a calm look.
Seeing her , instead of feeling guilty or pained, all I could do was smile.
"When you proposed to team up, do you remember what I told you was the reason why I accepted so easily?"
"...Because you wanted to train me..."
"And tell me, after this incident, besides from the battle experience you gained, what else did you learn?"
"...Not to trust others, even if they’re your closest ally..." The frown on Kate’s face grew deeper after hearing her own words.
My grin also grew wider seeing that she had finally realized my purpose.
"While it was true that I could have told you everything from the start, and you would’ve probably reluctantly followed my lead anyway, but then, you wouldn’t have learned, would you?"
"That as a Guildmaster- no, as a Hunter, you shouldn’t trust anyone, not even me." As I spoke, I leaned back as I stared at Kate with folded arms, a small smile on my face.
What I thought Kate needed to learn going forward. I had already agreed to join her guild, and I had no plans on going back on it.
The Blackheart Guild was one of the continent’s top ten guilds with over ten thousand hunters, hundreds of Martial Masters, and more than ten Martial Grandmasters. With a lineup like that, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything in the future and could comfortably nurture my strength.
However, Kate was in a slightly different situation, she was not only a member of the Blackheart Guild but also its future leader.
If I wanted to have a carefree and stable environment to grow, I needed to make sure that no problems would arise in the guild or even outside it that Kate couldn’t handle on her own.
Kate also seemed to have figured this out, but her expression had grown depressed in the meantime, almost matching Conner and Fiona from a few moments ago.
"...I hate you, and I hope you know that." Kate eventually spoke after releasing an exhausted sigh.
"It’s fine if you hate me, as long as you grow from it."
"And that’s exactly what I hate about you..." Kate muttered under her breath, but I paid it no attention.
"Now that we got that out of the way, where are the others?" I asked as I pretended to look around.
"If you’re referring to the rest of our team, they’re outside the Stronghold."
I raised my brows slightly at Kate’s answer.
"What do you mean? Why would they be outside?"
"Oh? I guess this wasn’t a part of your master plan then."
I tilted my head in confusion as I looked at Kate. After returning from the hunt, I had been cooped up inside my room, so I really didn’t know where Sylph and the other Fairies could have run off too, especially since I couldn’t read their fates.
"Well, since they’re outside, we might as well go check up on them ourselves." I said after some thought.
"Sure." Kate nodded simply before getting up.
I also got up and was prepared to walk out when I suddenly stopped and turned to look at the two teams who had been cautiously watching me ever since they noticed I entered the room.
"Hey, both of you, listen up. I want you to gather all the first years at the entrance of the Stronghold later tonight."
Conner and Fiona were the two to respond. Conner seemed to be stunned by my order while Fiona cautiously asked for the reason.
"Just gather them. Don’t ask questions."
"If you need a reason to convince them to come, tell them that I’m the one who’s calling, and if they dare to not show up, I hope they’re at least strong enough to go against my order."
As I spoke, I let a little of my King’s Aura seep into the surroundings.
Conner almost instinctively shouted out as he stood up with a military salute. I don’t know where he learned to do such things, but at least he seemed to understand the situation.
The other students, Fiona included, stood up as well and followed after Conner after seeing my gaze pass by them.
I nodded my head seeing this before walking out, Kate following behind me with a deadpan expression.
She seemed to have stopped caring at this point.
We stepped outside the Stronghold after leaving the inn.
Since we were going outside, we needed a Guardian Hunter to accompany us, so we just took a random hunter on standby without much thought.
We weren’t walking far either way as Kate said they were only a little distance away from the Stronghold.
As we were walking out of the Stronghold, however, someone stepped out in front of me, blocking my way forward.
"Excuse me, but are you a student of the Academy?"
Hearing the man’s question, I took a brief glance at his fate before confirming his identity.
"Yes. I’m a student of the Academy."
"That’s great! Forgive me for any rudeness, but would you mind if I followed you around on your hunt? I’m a reporter working for Hunter’s News Agency, and I’m here today to get some footage on and interviews on the students of the Academy."
After hearing the reporter’s purpose, I lost interest fairly quickly before looking over to Kate, "What do you think?"
Kate looked somewhat surprised after hearing my words, "You’re letting me decide?"
"Sure, it doesn’t matter to me anyway, and I feel like you’ll be better at navigating these types of situations than me."
Kate rolled her eyes before looking at the reporter standing before us.
"If you’re a reporter, shouldn’t you at least properly introduce yourself first?"
"Ah- Yes. Sorry about that; I forget to introduce myself because of how excited I was, haha."
"I’m a High Rank Martial Apprentice and a reporter for Hunter’s News Agency, Leon Ashward. It is my pleasure to get the opportunity to meet the next generation of top hunters."