The two groups arrived in front of the cafe.
As the group entered, the boy who was leading them began counting them.
1, 2, 3…
10.
That’s it.
Everyone is here.
Mixing the second group of Ren, Kai, and Elvan, there are a total of 13 people here.
“Did you find any other survivors?”
“…I meant other students,” Kai corrected himself.
Since the noble had mentioned that only students seemed to be here, there were no adults except Elvan.
So, while asking, he specifically asked about students.
The noble didn’t reply.
He just turned around, instructing others to collect supplies from the cafe and gather them here.
Although they had collected almost everything from the mall, collecting more was never a burden.
Besides, who knew how long they would be trapped here?
With that, he ignored Kai.
Sensing the tension, the grey-haired boy beside Elvan spoke up.
“No.
At least we saw no students on our way here.”
“…So, is there a possibility that there are more students here?”
“There is.” The boy nodded.
With that, he went to help the others gather supplies.
Everyone became busy.
Elvan, though he wasn’t talking much, too helped in gathering materials.
The white-haired girl and the blue-haired one were keeping watch on the door.
Behind them, Ren was sitting on a chair, not getting involved in anything.
Kai approached him and whispered what he found out from the noble boy in his ear.
“…So he is an exception.”
Kai shrugged.
“Seems like it.”
“So, what’s next?”
“We wait,” Ren answered while leaning back and closing his eyes again.
It took a whole day for everyone to settle down.
Once everyone had settled and had dinner, the blue-haired girl finally spoke.
Attracting everyone’s attention.
“Staying hidden and waiting for help from outside won’t take us anywhere.”
“What do you suggest?
We go out and confront that thing?” a youth asked.
“Thing?” another questioned.
“Yeah.
Last night, I saw a human-like figure on my room’s balcony,” someone behind them replied.
“It just stood there till dawn.”
“What?
It just stood?
You were so damn lucky.
Mine was constantly calling my name,” another complained.
“It seems to use the voices that it had heard to lure us out.” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“Not only that…” This time, the speaker was a girl.
“I took my parrot’s name instinctively in front of it and…”
The girl began sobbing.
“And my pet disappeared.”
“I searched my whole room, even my building, but it was nowhere.”
Another girl beside her gently comforted her, patting her back.
Kai leaned towards Ren.
“Seems like Tom wasn’t the only victim.”
“No.
That explains why these guys were acting that cautiously with us.”
Tap-tap-tap.
The blue-haired girl tapped the table, directing everyone’s attention towards her.
“It’s normal to be afraid and stay cautious.”
“But we can’t stay like this forever.
For now, we may survive, but what after the supplies run out?
What then?”
“Besides, you all know Orun almost avoids traveling from the Northern Ocean.”
“So, even if they send help, it will take a lot of time to arrive here.”
“And what if this ceremony is of some other type?
Like, everyone didn’t disappear.
Instead, they weren’t just chosen for this.”
“In that case, the people outside will first think of this incident as kidnapping rather than a ceremony.”
“So, what do you guys think?
Do you want to stay and wait for the ceremony to play with us one by one?”
“Even if it didn’t, hunger will, and most of the people probably won’t dare to go into the deeper part of Alren.”
“That makes supplies even scarcer.”
Silence fell over the entire cafe.
Then the noble boy broke the silence.
“What do you suggest we do, Class Rep?”
“…Rather than waiting for help, we should try different methods of escaping it.”
A pause.
The students began whispering among themselves.
“I suggest we split into different groups and try our own methods to escape it.”
“That way, our chances of survival will increase.”
The students pondered for a while before agreeing.
“Yeah, that will do.
Waiting won’t do.”
Another chimed in.
“Besides, we know it uses information.”
“We just have to expose a little.”
“Group splits are up to you guys to decide.”
“Split however you want.”
With that, the blue-haired girl exited from the crowd and returned towards the corner table, where Ren, Kai, the white-haired girl, and the grey-haired boy were already sitting.
She fixed her gaze on Ren.
As she said,
“We are six in total, so splitting into two groups shouldn’t be a problem.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The grey-haired boy nodded.
“I am fine with that.”
Ren didn’t disagree.
Kai didn’t argue.
The white-haired girl remained silent.
After getting everyone’s approval, she continued.
“How should we split?”
“Let’s draw lots,” the grey-haired boy suggested.
The whole group turned their gazes towards him.
He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, before offering an explanation.
“I meant, if known people ended up in the same team, then there will be a chance that they can expose each other, right?
So drawing lots seems appropriate to me.”
Kai nodded.
“Makes sense, but—”
Ren completed the sentence for him.
“If we end up in the same team even after drawing lots.”
“…Well, then…”
The grey-haired boy began touching his nose.
The corners of his ears turned red.
Kai broke the awkwardness…
clapping him on the shoulder.
“Lots it is,” Kai said.
Despite being a noble, this guy hadn’t behaved as arrogantly as that other bastard, so he didn’t want to pressure him that much.
This side, the division of this six-member group had been decided.
On the other hand, Elvan, who had been helping a student shift boxes, saw the sobbing girl.
He had heard that she lost her pet parrot.
After setting the final box down, sigh~
With that,
Elvan turned towards the group of students.
“Want to hear a story?”
Every eye in the room was now fixed on Elvan.
The sobbing quieted down a little.
The murmurs slowed.
Even the noble boy seemed interested.
As Elvan continued a traveller’s story, of course, he didn’t use his name or present it as his own story.
Kai glanced over.
“Seems like the boss has cheered up a little.”
“Seems like it.”
Ren replied from his seat.
The night continued.
The gentle lights of the cafe glowed softly amongst the sleeping town.
And under those lights, someone had found an outlet to let the stories of him and his companion pour out.
His mood didn’t improve, nor had he fully recovered from Tom’s departure.
But for now, he had placed his gloominess aside to create a comfortable atmosphere for the kids.
At the end of the day, they were only 14 years old.