Some time later, the party all trudged through the wide path towards the Puppeteer's Grove. Our boots crunched on the dense leaves littering the forest floor.

After a few grueling hours, the massive, strange-looking tree that had been our landmark grew even more imposing, its twisted branches blocking out the sky and signaling that we were really close.

…While Ino took the lead with the others joking and chatting around her, I trailed slightly behind with Audrey beside me.

At some point, Celeste slowed down to match my pace and asked, "Can I please have two pouches of water? One's mine, the other's Evelyn's."

"Sure…"

Since I was currently the haversack of the party, I took out two pouches for her, after which she brightened. "Thanks."

She then left and quickly caught up to the others in front, joining Evelyn. Apparently, Celeste and Evelyn had grown to become best friends now.

As I watched her hand one pouch of water over to Evelyn, Audrey leaned closer to me and asked quietly, "Since when did you and your sister get this close?"

I looked at her, and she shrugged and added, "I thought you guys hated each other's guts."

"We did," I muttered, looking away from her. "Honestly, I don't really know when we got close." I paused for a moment, my expression softening as I got lost in thought, and added, "She just started acting all protective and sisterly after I saved her once. Next thing I knew, she wouldn't leave me alone."

I gave a casual shrug. "She did apologize properly for everything. So I kind of just let shit go, you know?"

Audrey arched a brow. It looked like she had something to say, but she didn't say anything and looked away.

About only a few seconds later, an unfamiliar male voice drew our attention. "Woah, is that you, Evelyn?"

I looked forward to see two boys talking with the others up front.

One of them added while also giving Dion a friendly pat on the shoulder, "Dion too? Gosh, it's so nice seeing more of those from class Gamma."

The other asked, "What took you guys so long to get here?"

Dion chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a long… crazy story. By the way, what are you guys doing all the way here?"

The blue haired boy sighed and gestured vaguely towards the surrounding trees. "My party is one of those that's to keep watch over the boundaries today, so we were just doing our rounds."

By now, both Audrey and I had reached the others. I could see the faces of the two boys properly.

It was not that I couldn't recognize them; it was that they were too insignificant to store in my head. I would say, though, that they did look familiar in passing, if that makes sense.

'So just like Dion and Evelyn... these folks are from class Gamma too?'

The two boys turned to look at me. One was a boy with messy blue hair and blue eyes. The other was an average-looking boy with black hair and tired brown eyes with dark circles underneath them.

The black-haired boy blinked in recognition. "Oh, it's you. The bondless." He quickly corrected himself, clearing his throat. "I mean… you have a bond now, so I can't call you bondless anymore, haha. What's your name?"

I was still studying both of them when Dion suddenly pulled me under his arm. "This right here is my boy, Cedric."

As I kept struggling to free myself, Dion added, "I don't want none of you calling him bondless anymore."

The black-haired boy nodded curtly, "Sure, sure…"

The other boy then spoke. "By the way, I can see that you guys are probably already a party. But I'd just like to put the offer out there. Would you guys be willing to join our party? We are over twenty members and we stay in the shelters. Surely, you know what that means, right?"

…In the Puppeteer's Grove, being a part of not just a party, but a party with lots of strong and powerful people was a must for survival.

It was perfectly normal for someone to try and recruit us in this manner. After all, if we joined, it would be a win-win situation for everyone. While their party would gain more members, and thus more influence and power at the Grove, we would gain protection, shelter, and most of the time, food.

However, I wasn't so keen on the idea of joining another party, no matter how strong and influential they were. My party was self sufficient and strong enough in our own way. We had been doing fine on our own until now, so we'd do just fine even at the Grove.

…After the boy spoke, he kept looking at Dion.

But then Dion chuckled and shook his head. "Come on, Vincent. You know that sort of decision is for the party leader to make."

Vincent looked surprised. "You're not the party leader?"

Dion shrugged. "No. Why would you think that?"

Vincent didn't say anything for a moment. He looked at the other members of the group and then back at Dion. "If it's not you, then is it Evelyn?"

At first glance, my party already looked weak. Audrey wasn't really known, and those who did know her saw her as the shy girl who walked around with the bondless. Celeste was known to be even weaker and was only respected at the Bastion because of Levi. As for me, well…

It was understandable why he would think Dion or Evelyn was the leader.

Dion finally freed me from under his arm, and while I was still trying to fix my clothes, he pointed to me and said, "He's the leader."

"Huh?" Vincent blurted.

The other boy turned to Dion in disbelief. "The bondl— I mean… Cedric's the leader?"

"Yeah," Dion replied, hitting my back with a heavy hand. "Surprised, right?"

Vincent and his friend looked bewildered for a moment. He turned to me, then cleared his throat. "Uhm… so…"

But before he could finish forming his words, I cut him off. "We won't be joining your party."

"What?" Vincent stuttered. "Think about it first before—"

"I did. I've thought about it for like three seconds and decided no."

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