Some time later…

—

Clink!

Dion and I clinked our bottles of alcohol together as a cheers before gulping down the burning liquid.

Currently, it was just the both of us, sitting on the ashen ground. We had ended up trading three rabbits for fifteen bottles of strong, low-quality alcohol.

The others didn't drink, so the fifteen bottles belonged to Dion, Aika and I.

Alcohol wasn't the only thing we traded rabbits for. The others finally got some fresh clothes as they had been wearing the same thing since coming to this realm. Most of their clothes were torn and all were dirty, so the new clothes were a massive relief for everyone.

The dominants in the party also each got a haversack. They needed something to store most of their stuff and it wasn't nice if they came to me to store every little thing for them.

With everyone now having a haversack, the only things that I would keep storing for the party was food, as the haversacks did not stop them from rotting, as my inventory did. And objects that were too large to fit in the small schoolbag-sized haversacks.

Finally, the girls also got some personal hygiene supplies.

At the end of the trade, we had ended up trading a total of fourteen rabbits.

When we left the tents area, the girls went off to take care of their personal needs while Dion and I headed out to find a spot on the ashen ground. The crowded campground had hundreds of cadets from all the different bastions on the floor, but we looked for somewhere a bit further away from the other cadets where we could just stay and not be bothered.

When we found a relatively quiet patch of ground, we made a fire, laid some banana leaves on the ashen floor, and dropped down on them.

Before now, I had given each party member a feather of mine to keep on themselves at all times. That way, when they needed to find us, all they had to do was speak to the feather and I would hear. Then, I would change the feather into a raven that would guide them back to our location.

It was a simple way to keep us connected in such a crowded and chaotic place. It was also my way of protecting them.

In the meantime, as I drank my alcohol and listened to Dion mumbling nonsense in his drunken stupor, I was also sharing my vision with Aika. Unbeknownst to anyone, she was currently flying around the entire grove. As she flew, her feathers kept falling to the ground, and by the time she had finished her lap, I had lots of feathers scattered across the area. This included the barracks where the most influential parties resided.

'Is that… princess Aurora?' I thought, lowering my bottle of alcohol slightly as I caught sight of a girl within the barracks through Aika's vision.

The girl, who I could immediately recognize as the third princess of the Lumierian Empire, was a striking beauty with long flowing white hair and she was dressed in a silver gown. Everything about her screamed royalty and she looked completely out of place in such a bleak environment.

Two boys were following behind her as she walked gracefully from her shelter past a few other tents before stopping at one. In front of it, a proud-looking boy with short, swept-back auburn hair, dressed in a pristine white military uniform, stood waiting for her. He had a peregrine falcon on his shoulder which obviously was his bond.

I could also recognize the boy. He was the son of a duke in the Lumierian Empire and just like all those who were really high up in nobility, he was a very powerful dominant. If I could remember correctly, his name was Xavier Von Caprio.

Princess Aurora stopped in front of him, and he gave her a small, respectful nod. As they began talking, Aika, who was perched high above on one of the branches of a weird-looking tree, shifted her weight. One of her feathers came loose and fell slowly through the air, drifting down until it landed on the ground right near Xavier and the princess.

When it did, I could immediately hear the conversation between them.

"…I'm sorry, my lady, but my cousin Leon is still adamant on not joining us. No matter how many times I've tried to convince him, he refuses to see reason," Xavier said, his voice sounding smooth but clearly frustrated.

"So far, he still stays alone in the tents area and for some reason, he even refuses our offer for a shelter here in the barracks."

Princess Aurora let out a small, tired sigh. She didn't look angry, just disappointed, as if she was used to Leon being difficult.

"It's really frustrating. Why does he keep refusing our invitation? Does he already have a party he is interested in?" She asked.

"That… I do not know," Xavier replied. He paused for a moment, then as if remembering something, he quickly added, "From what I hear, many other powerful parties have been approaching him in the hope to recruit him right from the moment he got here. Yet he refuses to even have an audience with them. I was even surprised when I heard he also rejected the offers of Alicia's and Roben's parties."

Xavier paused again before adding, "I think… he believes he is better off on his own."

"I don't think that is the case." Princess Aurora closed her eyes, shaking her head gently. When she opened them again, she added, "I know Leon well. No matter how strong someone is, no one can survive this realm alone, and he knows that too. There has to be a different reason he has yet to join a party."

She looked lost in thought for a bit, then sighed. "Anyway, keep approaching him. We need him in our party before the day when all parties have to leave for the conquest of the Red Bridge."

"Yes, my lady." Xavier gave a short bow as she turned away.

At that moment, Aika flapped her wings and began returning to my side.

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