After resting for a while, Harvey stood up and picked up his shield.

"Break's over," he said. "Let's move."

Everyone rose, ready once again. Amon tightened his grip on his weapon.

He was ready too.

They ventured deeper into the forest but found nothing suspicious. It was getting late.

"Let's go back," Harvey ordered as the group started to move in the direction from where they came.

It was not too dangerous, nor was there anything special. But for Amon, it was a good experience.

He remembered the dungeon practice. His teammates who didn't feel like one. Then the time he was stuck with Arnold and facing an enemy.

'Arnold… he's really mysterious. Something doesn't feel right about him. But why?'

While walking back, Amon suddenly thought about Arnold. He didn't know why Arnold came to his mind all of a sudden. It wasn't just now...even before, he had been suspicious of Arnold.

'He's really like some protagonist of a good-for-nothing young master… then getting a cheat.'

His sudden growth and becoming as strong as Seraphina. Amon also remembered that Arnold had sent him on that cursed mission. At that time, Senior Selena had also told him that she was curious about Arnold.

'…Oddly… each time I get into a fucked up situation… Arnold was always involved there… in one way or another.'

He had never put much thought into this, thinking he might just be delusional. That this was not some novel world. But now everything was peaceful… at least for the moment. He was thinking more deeply.

'Damn! Once I go back, I will fucking confront him… or try to get more information about him.'

Honestly, despite Amon's overly friendly behavior, it wasn't like he was truly friendly with everyone. He might call Arnold his friend on the surface, but he never truly considered him one like Marcus, Seraphina, and others.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Mira asked from beside him. She noticed his thoughtful expression.

Amon came out of his thoughts and looked at her with a small smile. "Oh, it was nothing. Just thinking about my friends at the Academy."

At the mention of his friends from the Academy, Mira became more curious.

Not everyone gets the chance to attend an academy. Like her and the others present in this group. None of them had attended the Academy.

Rather, they had joined the army institute, where they were trained to become soldiers, or rather, knights for the kingdom. Because of that, they were curious about academy life.

"Your friends, hah… I really want to hear about your academy life. If you don't mind," Mira said. At her words, Amon grinned.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure, why not? But how about at night, when we are having dinner? At the campfire? Right now, we might need to fight if monsters suddenly come."

Amon observed his surroundings. The black forest was still ominous.

"Then at night, I guess," Mira nodded with a low chuckle.

"Let me join as well. Maybe I might get to hear some interesting stories," Lucien, who had been listening from beside them, also joined the conversation.

"Hehehe~ sure, sure. You can join us," Amon replied.

The trio talked from time to time while moving back to the base.

Harvey, Derrick, and Kaelra could also hear them. Kaelra was going to join them as well.

After an hour of walking, they got back to the base. They met few monster in their way back. But they were nothing dangerous.

"I will report to the leaders. You are all free to go. If there's an order from them, I will inform you."

"Yes, Boss!" Only Lucien responded. The way he said it was a little too loud. It felt like he was addressing some dangerous boss.

Harvey glanced at him briefly, then just gave a nod and left. Their group worked under Lyra. Harvey needed to report back to her.

Amon looked at Lucien. "What was that?"

Lucien looked back at him. "What was what?" he asked. Confusion was clearly written on his face.

"Nah… you just called him boss. It feels weird. It was as if you were talking to the leader of some bandit group. Your expression also matched that. Just call him leader and act like a normal soldier."

It was funny how Amon was telling someone else to act normal when he himself was the most abnormal one.

It was true that Amon was trying to act calmer and more thoughtful in front of these guys, not showing his usual playful side.

But slowly, it was coming out.

Lucien frowned. "What are you talking about? It doesn't sound like that at all."

Amon folded his arms and smirked. "Yes, it does feel like that."

"Bruh, what are you talking about? It was normal," Lucien didn't accept his words.

They started to argue over a weird thing.

Derrick snorted and left. Mira and Kaelra glanced at each other and went in the direction of their tent together.

Amon and Lucien continued. They were literally arguing over such a stupid topic. Lucien looked around to ask the others. "Hey guys, do you—" But he stopped, since there was no one there. Everyone had already left without saying anything.

Amon also looked around. "Oh, they left." He gazed up at the sky. It had already darkened. "Well, I'll get going then. I'll rest for a while. Let's meet during dinner time."

Amon turned back, putting both hands in his pockets and whistling.

Whistle~

"Hey, wait—dammit. Okay, let's meet later," Lucien said as he also started to go in the direction of his tent.

Amon rested in his tent for a while, then went outside. It was dark night now. The only light that brightened the darkness was not the moon or stars, but the mana lanterns hanging at the tent entrances, and some campfires here and there.

The sound of soldiers laughing could be heard. They were sitting around the campfire, eating, and some of them… were drinking?

Amon, who was walking toward the central area where food was served, gazed in surprise.

'Why are they drinking? This is a dangerous place. We might face anything at any time' Amon thought.

But thinking wouldn't change the answer or anything else.

Then he saw Lucien and the others standing in line to get food.

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