After replenishing their sugar with the unidentified fruit, Ivan and Miliana immediately crossed the jungle.
They deliberately took a detour around the outskirts, following a route not marked on the map.
The sun quickly set.
The dense jungle was far more treacherous than the canyon or river. Swarms of insects assaulted the two through the darkened surroundings.
Roots, mud, pits, slopes, and countless other traps that slowed their pace lay everywhere.
They also had to take care to leave as few traces as possible.
“Why are there so many damned insects?”
Ivan frowned at the swarms gathering around him and waved his hands.
He wished they had a torch.
Unfortunately, it could reveal them to the special investigators, so Ivan had no choice but to advance through the darkness.
“Rub this on. It isn’t extremely effective, but fewer insects should approach you.”
Miliana smashed a nearby tree with a stone, scooped some of the sap inside with her hand, and offered it to Ivan.
“Are you sure this is safe? It won’t make something strange break out on my skin?”
“...Unlike you, I don’t pick up and eat things I know nothing about. Stop worrying about nonsense and put it on.”
Miliana frowned as she retorted.
Fortunately, her stomach did not hurt, but eating unidentified fruit still left her feeling uneasy.
Ivan spread the sap over his skin as Miliana instructed, and astonishingly, the insects approached far less often.
Their poor visibility made it difficult to gain speed, but the two continued onward without stopping.
Then the third day arrived.
After moving all night, Ivan and Miliana saw the faintly visible end of the jungle beneath the blue light of dawn.
“We’re finally here.”
Before long, Ivan and Miliana left the jungle completely.
A vast grassland greeted them.
Only then could the two catch their breath. They had fallen somewhat behind, but it seemed they could safely reach the safe zone without encountering the special investigators.
“My whole body feels filthy. I want to get back and wash.”
After fighting insects all night, Ivan was a mess.
The same was true of Miliana. Her mind was also filled with the desire to pass the test and wash herself as soon as possible.
After catching their breath, the two soon began running across the grassland.
The flat ground was easy to cross, and the lack of obstacles made it feel like heaven.
They repeatedly ran, then replenished their stamina with the food they had left.
When the sun had risen completely overhead, Ivan spotted the safe zone marked on the map in the distance.
‘This wasn’t as hard as I expected.’
The sight of the end put him at ease. Just in case, Ivan examined his surroundings.
Fortunately, the special investigators were nowhere to be seen.
Relieved, Ivan sprinted toward the nearby finish.
However.
“Hello, friend? We meet again.”
It did not take long for his expression to sour.
Could anyone truly be this unlucky?
“......”
Ivan was lost for words.
A bluish barrier stretched across the grassland before the safe zone.
Kainik stood with a smile.
Ivan’s face crumpled.
He had gone through hell erasing their traces, only to discover Kainik waiting at the finish.
“Are you allowed to do this?”
Ivan asked in a bewildered voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Kainik asked back confidently.
After thinking it over, Ivan could not find any reason Kainik would not be allowed to do this.
Unable to find a proper objection, Ivan changed the subject.
“Did you know I would come here? I took a considerable detour, so I find it difficult to believe I simply ran into you, Investigator, by chance in this vast grassland.”
The grassland was immense.
Yet Kainik stood there as though he had been waiting for Ivan alone, so Ivan could not help harboring reasonable suspicion.
“That’s right. I was waiting for you.”
Kainik readily confirmed Ivan’s suspicion.
The casual admission left Ivan even more bewildered.
“Tormenting me yesterday wasn’t enough, so you want to do it again today?”
“No, no. Yesterday wasn’t intentional. How was I supposed to know you still hadn’t awakened your aura?”
Kainik waved both hands, asking Ivan not to misunderstand.
“Then why did you ignore all those other trainees and wait for me?”
“Hmm. If I had to give a reason, perhaps it’s because seeing you take the test so easily annoyed me?”
“Are you doing this because I saved Miliana?”
“Bingo. I admit you’re exceptionally capable. But you know, that alone isn’t enough.”
“What am I lacking?”
Ivan replied, and a chilling light flashed in Kainik’s eyes.
“Will. The will to complete your mission no matter what happens. You lack will.”
He had suddenly started lecturing Ivan about will.
Ivan almost asked what kind of bullshit Kainik was spouting, but held his tongue.
“I’m always full of will......”
“Yet you took things rather easily, didn’t you? You didn’t know how quickly I might catch up. You couldn’t predict which route I would take. Yet you deliberately wasted time helping a competitor. If you truly had enough will, you shouldn’t have saved Miliana.”
Ivan thought to himself. What a ridiculous argument.
“So you don’t intend to let me pass?”
“That’s not it.”
Kainik looked behind Ivan. Miliana soon ran up to where Ivan stood.
“......!”
Miliana flinched and stopped when she spotted Kainik.
“I’ll give you a choice.”
Kainik alternated his gaze between Ivan and Miliana and curled his lips.
“Only one of you can pass through here. I won’t let the other one pass. Now, who will go in?”
“......”
“......”
Ivan’s and Miliana’s gazes crossed.
Kainik calmly waited for their decision. What choice would Ivan make?
Thick curiosity bloomed in his eyes.
“It can’t be helped.”
There was no proper alternative.
Ivan considered Kainik’s declaration for a moment, then turned to Miliana with a grave expression.
As though he had reached a decision, he finally spoke.
“Best two out of three at rock-paper-scissors. Sound fair?”
Rock-paper-scissors. The fairest game in the world.
That was the method Ivan had devised after racking his brain.
***
“Hmm... This isn’t what I had in mind.”
Kainik muttered, looking dissatisfied.
Events had unfolded completely differently from what he had expected.
Ivan faced Miliana in their match as though Kainik did not even exist.
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
“......”
Miliana won by an overwhelming margin.
Ivan stared blankly, then let out a deep sigh and gestured to Miliana.
“I lost... Go.”
“Are you... really all right with this......?”
“It was a fair match, so there’s nothing I can do... Hurry up. I’m starting to change my mind.”
Ivan scratched his head roughly as he spoke.
“What will you do?”
Kainik, who had watched their match with a dissatisfied expression, asked Miliana.
She hesitated. She could not help it.
Without Ivan, she would not even be standing here.
By rights, Ivan should have been the one to pass.
But the human heart was terribly fickle.
Now that the moment had arrived, Miliana was terrified of failing.
Step.
After hesitating for a long time, Miliana moved forward. She passed Kainik with her head bowed as though she were a criminal.
“I never expected this. Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
Kainik asked in a serious tone, as though trying to see through Ivan’s true thoughts.
“Of course I’ll regret it. No, I already regret it terribly.”
There had never been a time in Ivan’s life when he felt no regret.
“But what can I do? My damned head told me to do it. And we still don’t know how this will turn out, do we?”
Ivan clenched his fist tightly.
“Maybe I’ll beat you down, Investigator, and pass.”
“Hahaha!”
Kainik burst into laughter at those audacious words.
It was not mockery, but laughter born of admiration.
“You’re right. Beating me down is one option.”
“Just to be sure, you won’t use aura, will you?”
“Don’t worry. I have some dignity too.”
Kainik shrugged as if to reassure him.
Ivan steadied his wavering heart.
Even if the probability of failure was overwhelmingly high, he intended to struggle until the final moment.
That was how Ivan had lived his entire life.
That was when a fist flew at Kainik from behind.
Kainik evaded it with footwork as light as scattered leaves.
“Isn’t that unexpected? Are you throwing away the opportunity you finally earned?”
Kainik looked back at Miliana in puzzlement.
“...Yes. If I pass alone like this, I think I’ll regret it even more than failing. I’m different from that child. I don’t want to live with any more regrets.”
Miliana stood before Kainik with determined eyes. The hesitation she had shown moments before had vanished from her face.
She did not want to make another foolish mistake.
At least from now on, she wanted to be able to stand proudly before herself.
Miliana finally rejected Kainik’s temptation and steadied her wandering heart.
“Haha, interesting. My blood hasn’t boiled like this in a long time.”
A radiant smile filled Kainik’s face.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you.”
He began to loosen up.
Ivan and Miliana likewise assumed fighting stances.
“Are you an idiot? I gave you the chance, so why did you come back?”
Ivan laughed hollowly at Miliana for deliberately returning.
“Shut up. I refuse to receive any more help from you.”
Miliana replied with unwavering eyes.
“So beat that irritating man down and pass with me. There wasn’t any rule saying we couldn’t hit a chaser. Am I wrong?”
She turned and looked at Ivan. It was a first.
Miliana had never before looked someone directly in the face of her own accord.
Ivan bared his teeth in a grin and nodded.
“That’s true.”
If she did not want to go, he had no intention of forcing her.
Ivan steadied his breathing and rapidly heightened his senses.
Their opponent was a special investigator. A top-class one, at that.
Even bare-handed and without using aura, Kainik would take their tags the moment they relaxed.
Ivan measured the distance to the safe zone.
‘About twenty steps.’
Those twenty steps felt farther than any section of the course they had crossed so far.
“Hiss.”
Ivan roughly gauged the distance, then filled his lungs with air. And the next instant.
WHOOSH—!
He charged at Kainik as he forcefully expelled his breath.
Kainik moved in response. Lowering his torso, he lunged toward Ivan’s waist.
His hands followed serpentine curves toward the tag.
Ivan’s eyes moved in perfect unison with the direction of Kainik’s hands.
“Hmph!”
Ivan tightened his abdomen.
Ivan twisted his waist and pulled the tag behind him. He followed by driving his right knee toward Kainik’s chin.
He could not afford to hold back against a special investigator. Ivan used all his strength.
But Kainik tilted his chin back and narrowly evaded Ivan’s knee.
His expression still overflowed with composure.
‘As expected, this won’t be easy.’
Ivan kicked off the ground and threw a barrage of punches at Kainik.
Kainik turned his head along the flow of the attacks as though he could read Ivan’s every movement.
Ivan’s fists could not reach Kainik.
That was when it happened.
Miliana, who had waited silently for her chance, darted toward the direction in which Kainik had turned his head.
As someone from a renowned family, she targeted Kainik’s vital point with precise, restrained movements.
“Not bad. But crude.”
Kainik whipped out his left arm and seized Miliana’s wrist first.
Miliana clenched her teeth and resisted. But Kainik was stronger.
Kainik roughly pulled Miliana’s wrist.
Her body staggered, naturally exposing the tag at her waist.
Kainik was not one to miss it.
“With skill at this level, you can’t even force me to retreat.”
Kainik’s hand reached Miliana’s tag.
He was absurdly fast. Miliana stared in shock.
She felt the enormous gap between herself and Kainik in her bones.
There was no way she could evade him.
It was a critical moment.
Ivan grabbed Miliana’s right wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction.
His body had reacted before his mind.
Thanks to him, Kainik’s fingers brushed past Miliana’s tag by the narrowest margin.
“......”
Kainik flinched at Ivan’s extraordinary reflexes.
Ivan’s eyes flashed. He had spotted an opening in Kainik’s defense.
His response was immediate.
WHOOSH—!
Ivan launched a kick at Kainik’s exposed temple.
For the first time, Kainik’s expression stiffened. He hurriedly released Miliana’s wrist and retreated.
Ivan’s foot cut through empty air, and Kainik’s bangs whipped violently.
‘...If I had reacted even slightly later, that would have hit me.’
After retreating several steps, Kainik swallowed his surprise.
Ivan had been off-balance after pulling Miliana toward him.
Even so, he had launched a kick powerful enough to startle Kainik.
It would have been impossible without tremendous balance, agility, flexibility, and strength.
“Wow, are you really a trainee?”
Badly startled, Kainik asked in disbelief.
“I’m confident in my legs.”
Ivan answered with supreme confidence.