Chapter 7. Field Trip on a Clear Day (10)

That’s not crying? I stared at Alec, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and the teacher burst into laughter. Then he pulled a small stone out of the inner pocket of his coat. Huh, is that a small, pretty stone?

“So the teacher collects pretty stones as a hobby.”

“Could you not make me sound like a weirdo?”

The school nurse said that as he began handing out stones to everyone. I received one with a pinkish hue. Wow, it’s pretty.

“This is a stone imbued with teleportation magic. If you’re ever in danger, use it to instantly return to the tower.”

Then it must be expensive! My eyes sparkled as I carefully wrapped my hand around the stone. How much would this go for if I sold it?

“Just so you know, selling it is not allowed.”

Oops, the teacher must be able to read minds. The way he looked at me and said it so firmly—it was clear he had read my thoughts.

“Today’s weather is great. I feel like everything’s going to go well.”

To avoid the teacher’s gaze, I turned to Huan, who was carefully observing the stone beside me. He glanced at me, shifting only his eyes.

“They said it might rain in the afternoon.”

“Do you have to say it like that?”

Ugh, Huan’s so cold. I covered my face with my hands and pretended to cry, and to my surprise, Huan looked flustered. He tried hard to see my face as if to ask, “Wait, are you really crying?” It was so funny that I burst out laughing and lowered my hands.

“Uh…”

I was startled by how close Huan’s face was. Huan seemed surprised too, his eyes wide as he froze in place. I tilted my head, wondering if my crying act was too convincing, but Huan suddenly put distance between us and ran off into the forest.

“Huan, are you okay?”

“Hey, Huan! This is a group activity!”

Huan’s ears flashed red as he ran away like he was escaping. Hmm, even his ears are bright red… He looked like a girl who just fell in love for the first time.

And just like that, chasing after Huan, our group—named after the group leader, apparently, damn it—called “Radel’s Group,” officially began our exploration of the Dedlia Forest.

***

“Screw this!”

Two hours into the forest exploration, we finally hit our limit. The biggest problem was how absurdly vast and rugged the forest was. From moving trees to thorny vines with needles so sharp you couldn’t even approach them… The Dedlia Forest was far too hostile for students to explore.

“Should we take a little break?”

Even Seria, whether from exhaustion or still not feeling well, suggested we rest. But wait—weren’t you being piggybacked by Alec this whole time? With just one mention of her legs hurting, Seria had begun using Alec as her personal mode of transportation. Watching Alec hand her a water bottle while standing beside her, I thought, in some way, she’s really good at handling people.

Poor Alec… just look at how pale his face is.

“How many markers have we collected so far?”

“Three out of ten.” Huan said as he plopped down beside me.

Gasp—seven more to go… My vision darkened. Nope, I’m done. I can’t do this. I want to go home. My motivation crashed instantly.

“Huan, can I have some water?”

“…You can just drink the one Alec gave you.”

“But that’s Alec’s water. I can’t just take it.”

Hmm, something’s off between those two. Or rather, Huan’s attitude toward Seria is unusually cold. Did Huan also figure out Seria’s true nature? If so, how? I looked at Huan with a curious expression.

“……”

“Huan, hey—where are you going?!”

Huan glared coldly at Seria, then suddenly stood up and walked off somewhere. Huh? Where’s he going again? I had no choice but to follow him. What if he gets lost? Besides, there was something I wanted to ask him.

“Don’t go too far, students.”

The teacher, who had been lying down comfortably like he was watching a drama, didn’t bother following, probably too lazy to move. Ugh, that teacher is seriously so lazy! I cursed him out in my head and quickly ran after Huan.

“Hey, Huan.”

“What, why’d you follow me?”

“Then why are you walking off like that?”

Inside the forest where a stream was visible, Huan stopped and stared at me intently. Then, moving his lips, he spoke in a serious voice.

“Seria… that girl. Be careful.”

“Huh?”

That line sounded familiar… I racked my brain and finally remembered. I’m pretty sure Aren said the same thing to me once, after the goddess’s party. Hmm, so Huan has also started feeling suspicious about Seria. Well, to be fair, Seria has been acting noticeably strange lately.

“I didn’t realize it at first, but something about her feels off. And her relationship with Marquis Edwin is suspicious too…”

“The Marquis? What about him?”

“Yesterday, I happened to see the two of them talking in the hallway. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but something definitely felt wrong.”

Huan, looking uneasy, tightly held my hand. Then, slightly furrowing his brows, he spoke in a low, serious voice like a whisper.

“Be careful.”

“Yeah, I got it. But Huan, is it okay for you to be holding my hand?”

I appreciated the concern, but I wasn’t sure if it was really okay for him to suddenly hold my hand like that. Since this was the first time Huan had taken the initiative like this, I was flustered and shook our joined hands up and down.

“Well, I don’t mind, but…”

“……!”

Only then did Huan seem to realize what he was doing—he quickly let go of my hand. Then, he stepped back in a panic and completely froze in place.

Oh dear, Mr. Huan. Are you okay?

I walked over to Huan with light steps. Then I grabbed his wrist and started dragging him back toward where our group was. The teacher might get worried if we take too long.

Dragging a completely frozen Huan along like he was made of ice, I returned to where we had been. And what I saw was…

“Kkyuung?”

A rabbit?

‘Kkkyuuung!’

A giant rabbit?”

“W-what the. Am I hallucinating right now?

I was left speechless as I stared at the large, white creature in front of me.

My god, who knew rabbits could get this big… Genetic modification?

Ah, right, that kind of thing doesn’t exist here.

Then what exactly is this creature in front of my eyes?

Back at the spot we returned to, there was no sign of Seria or the school nurse.

Only Alec remained, frozen in terror.

No way… Don’t tell me those two ran off and left Alec behind?

“Aaaack!”

“Alec!”

The enormous rabbit, easily three times my height, looked at Alec and lightly poked him with its front paw.

Startled, Alec let out a scream, and the rabbit made a ‘kkyuuung!’ sound, as if amused.

Ugh… it looks cute, but this is definitely a dangerous situation, right?

“Alec… this is clearly a dangerous situation, so why isn’t he using the teleportation stone?”

“Uh, I think he dropped it?”

Turning my head in the direction Huan pointed, I saw the teleportation stone lying on the ground.

Oh no, Alec must’ve dropped it in surprise.

What now…

“Calm down, that’s a Giant Rabbit. It’s a monster known for being docile—”

Crunch.

Huan shut his mouth tight mid-explanation.

Because just now, the supposedly docile Giant Rabbit had grabbed Alec in its mouth and bolted.

“You said it was docile? What was that crunch then?”

“…Let’s chase it first.”

Huan avoided my gaze and began running after the Giant Rabbit.

R-right, rescuing Alec comes first!

And just like that, our adventure to rescue Alec began.

Dun dun.

To rescue Alec, who had been kidnapped by the Giant Rabbit, Huan and I ran tirelessly through the forest.

The Giant Rabbit was surprisingly nimble, and we quickly lost sight of it,

but we were able to follow thanks to the massive footprints it left behind.

“But why did Bunny-nim kidnap Alec?”

The name Giant Rabbit was too long, so I gave it a name myself.

Last name: Kim. First name: Tosoon.

Just looking at its soft, fluffy fur made the cute name ‘Tosoon’ naturally come to mind.

Hmm, it really suits it!

Huan stared at me, his mouth hanging open—maybe impressed by my naming sense?

“Tosoon?”

“Yeah, Tosoon. Isn’t the name adorable?”

“I’ve never seen anyone give a monster a name before.”

Huan let out a laugh, as if dumbfounded.

Then he leaned against a tree, trying to catch his breath.

Wow, he’s so good-looking that even resting looks like a photoshoot.

His sweat-drenched look was pretty cool, but more than that, I just felt bad for him,

so I quickly handed him a towel.

You’ve really been through a lot.

“Why would a normally docile Giant Rabbit act like that?”

“Right?”

The sound—crunch—still wouldn’t leave my mind.

It definitely sounded like a bone breaking somewhere…

I was starting to worry that some… delicate part might have been damaged.

“Do you think Tosoon kidnapped Alec to eat him as emergency food?”

“…No way.”

Huan couldn’t completely deny my grim guess.

Wiping his face with the towel, he turned his gaze deeper into the forest,

as if trying to sort through the mess in his head.

…Well, of course he was confused.

Who could’ve imagined something like this happening in the Dedelia Forest?

Seeing Huan’s serious expression, I let out a deep sigh and slumped down.

“But where did the teacher and Seria go?”

That, too, remained an unsolved mystery.

Why was it that only Alec was left when we returned?

Did they really run for their lives the moment Tosoon appeared?

No… Wait. With those two, it actually could’ve happened.

They weren’t exactly reliable people, so it didn’t seem that far-fetched.

“Anyway, the priority is rescuing Alec.

If it really comes to it… we’ll return to the tower and request a rescue team.”

Huan said that and began moving again.

Watching his back as he followed the trail of footprints, he looked incredibly cool.

Wow, Huan really is a man of honor!

He’s always grumbling, but deep down he’s such a good guy.

“You’re amazing, Huan! So cool, Huan!”

“…If you cheer like that again, I’m leaving you behind.”

“Aww, come on, Huan…” I was about to say,

but watching Huan stride ahead at a quick pace,

I realized he was dead serious.

Startled, I hurried to chase after him.

And then—

“This must be the place.”

At the end of Tosoon’s trail, we found a large cave.

It gave off an ominous, dangerous aura—like a tiger’s den—

and I couldn’t bring myself to take a step forward.

Hmm… if Alec was dragged into a cave like this…

Is he really being stored for the winter as food?

I imagined Alec lying helplessly on a giant plate

and shook my head to get rid of the thought.

“This is bad. I think we’re too late.”

“Yeah. By now… Alec is probably…”

Huan and I bowed our heads slightly and looked at each other somberly.

He must’ve thought Alec didn’t make it either, judging by his grim expression.

Sniff… poor Alec.

The poster boy of one-sided crushes,

always getting rejected… I won’t forget you.

Just as we were about to leave, having said our farewells in front of the cave—

BOOM!

A sound shook the ground.

“Kyaaahhh!”

“That pitiful, desperate scream!”