Seeing Glenn walking with such urgency, Hermione initially thought something had happened. When she inquired and discovered the truth, she cast a rather exasperated look at Feng Lian, who was laughing heartily nearby, shook her head in resignation, and decided to ignore the situation entirely, following the girls' group toward the stream for their evening wash.
Glenn's thoughtful act of heating the frigid stream water naturally earned universal appreciation, though it did result in the girls taking somewhat longer with their bathing. By the time all the female students had returned to camp, it was already past nine-forty in the evening. Since Lin Yu had scheduled lights-out for precisely ten o'clock, everyone simply crawled directly into their respective tents.
When Glenn returned to camp after retrieving his alchemical devices, he discovered Lin Yu standing alone outside the tents, clearly preparing to take the first watch. Glenn immediately volunteered for guard duty.
"I'll handle the watch tonight. You've been leading the expedition all day—you must be exhausted. Go get some proper rest."
Lin Yu appeared mildly surprised by Glenn's offer but raised no objections.
Lin Yu had volunteered for the first night's watch out of his inherent sense of responsibility as team leader.
Glenn's proposal, however, stemmed from entirely practical considerations.
First, Lin Yu was genuinely fatigued from the day's leadership demands, and insufficient rest would prove detrimental to their overall mission success.
Second, Glenn was naturally a light sleeper, and in this wilderness environment—strange, unfamiliar, and potentially dangerous—his perpetually alert mind simply wouldn't permit him to achieve meaningful sleep anyway. Any attempt would prove futile.
Far better to spend the night in meditation, refining and strengthening his mental faculties to forge greater resilience of will.
"Very well, I'll entrust it to you. If anything occurs—anything at all—call me immediately. I'll respond instantly."
Without unnecessary ceremony, Lin Yu rose from the tree stump and strode toward his assigned tent group, waving casually behind him at Glenn before ducking inside and vanishing from sight.
"Light as a feather—Lightness Charm."
After applying several magical enhancements to himself, Glenn took a brief running start, leaped gracefully upward, and tapped his feet against the vertical trunk in a series of fluid movements, vaulting smoothly into the canopy above.
Glenn instinctively preferred concealed positions with natural cover. In wilderness settings, the dense foliage high among the branches provided ideal concealment.
The expansive view from this elevated position allowed him to survey the entire surrounding area effortlessly, gathering comprehensive intelligence while providing Glenn with the psychological comfort of tactical advantage.
Suppressing his magical presence, Glenn settled cross-legged on a sturdy branch, activated his enhanced sensory awareness to maintain vigilance, and entered a meditative trance.
He could meditate, but only briefly.
Approximately one hour later, Glenn opened his eyes.
He'd detected Hermione stealthily emerging from her tent.
After glancing around cautiously and confirming no one was visible, Hermione directed her attention toward the trees overlooking the campsite.
The girl required only moments of observation and consideration before walking purposefully toward the base of Glenn's chosen tree. A flash of white light enveloped her form, and employing virtually identical technique to Glenn's ascent, she pushed off the trunk in several swift movements, reaching his elevation with impressive agility.
"Exactly as I suspected—you're here."
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
Glenn shifted slightly to make room and assisted Hermione up from below, settling her comfortably beside him as he posed the question.
"I honestly don't know. Sleep just won't come, despite the sleeping bag being quite comfortable."
Hermione shook her head, bracing her hands against the branch while swinging her feet in absent patterns.
"Perhaps it's the unfamiliar environment? I simply can't seem to settle my mind."
Perfectly understandable. After all, this represented Hermione's first genuine camping expedition, undertaken under distinctly unsettled circumstances. Mental tension was entirely natural.
"Closing your eyes and resting provides benefits even without actual sleep."
Glenn offered this suggestion—he certainly had no intention of allowing Hermione to remain awake throughout the entire night.
"That's precisely why I came to find you. I should be able to calm down and sleep properly when I'm near you."
In response to Glenn's recommendation, Hermione replied with matter-of-fact confidence, then produced a handful of brown pellets from her left hand. She scattered them backward across the branch beneath her position, then snapped her fingers decisively.
"Transfiguration—Vine Weaving."
Several magical vines materialized in the air, intertwining between two branches according to Hermione's precise will, forming an elegant suspended hammock.
Hermione spread her arms wide and allowed herself to fall backward. Her petite frame actually bounced twice due to the vines' natural flexibility. She then retrieved a luxuriously thick blanket from her protective charm pouch, arranged it beneath herself, and executed a graceful rolling motion, transforming herself into what could only be described as a Hermione-filled sushi roll.
Resembling an oversized caterpillar, Hermione wriggled behind Glenn's position, then relaxed completely and settled down again, releasing a deeply contented sigh.
"Could you please activate the heating device~"
Glenn reached within his robes and channeled magical energy into the alchemical apparatus. Gentle warmth began radiating outward from his position, enveloping and embracing Hermione in comfortable heat.
"Don't you have your own device?"
"Don't want to move. The blanket has me completely trapped—I can't reach anything."
Hermione's drowsy voice emerged from within the blanket cocoon, sounding adorably muffled. Clearly, sleep was beginning to claim her consciousness.
"Then rest now. We've essentially been traveling all day—you should have been exhausted hours ago."
"Just... talk with me a little longer..."
Gazing upward, Glenn studied the pristine, crystalline night sky visible through gaps in the leafy canopy. He realized his own heart had somehow achieved perfect tranquility, mirroring this night that had swept away all traces of gloom to reveal its authentic, peaceful nature.
"All right. What would you like to discuss?"
"I don't really know either..."
Drowsiness finally overwhelmed her mental defenses, leaving the girl's thoughts in complete disarray—she could barely articulate coherent words.
Glenn possessed limited skill at generating conversation topics. Generally speaking, their dialogues were invariably initiated by Hermione. Even with deliberate effort to conceive discussion subjects, he found himself momentarily at a complete loss.
"Um... so Hermione, what sort of magical creature are you hoping to discover as your companion during this expedition?"
"Something fluffy..."
"What other qualities?"
"..."
"Hermione?"
"ZZZ..."
"She's fallen asleep."
Glenn turned to observe the sushi-roll version of Hermione, verifying that the girl remained securely positioned within her blanket cocoon. All he could discern was a small tuft of disheveled, silky brown hair protruding from the top of the rolled blanket.
Well, she probably wouldn't shift around much now.
Adjusting his position slightly closer to Hermione, Glenn abandoned his meditation entirely and simply extracted his comprehensive magical creature guide, beginning to study its contents.
"Fluffy creatures, hmm... that encompasses quite an extensive range of possibilities."
A look of absolute determination crystallized in Glenn's eyes. Regardless of the challenges involved, he was completely committed to helping Hermione locate a magical creature that perfectly matched the girl's aesthetic preferences and emotional needs.