"I… in truth…."
"I shouldn't have been alive all this time because of me."
Rafi's facial expressions darkened, and sadness appeared on her face. She stared at the river with lost eyes that did not know where to go.
While Rafi was in this state, Rain was drowning in an endless sea of questions. He did not know what he should say.
"Why?"
Rain's curiosity overcame him, and he asked a simple question for him.
But for Rafi, it was not simple at all. Rain looked at Rafi and saw her drowning in her sorrow.
After a short silence, Rafi finally responded.
"Do you know—"
Both of them fell silent for a moment when they heard the sound of a tree branch breaking on the ground behind them.
Each of them took a combat stance.
"Rain."
Rafi whispered, signaling that they would jump on him after 3
2
1
They jumped at the source of the sound and saw what they did not expect.
"Ah, why are you attacking me?"
Both of them were shocked when they found a girl with red hair and red eyes. It was Alya.
"Ah, this…."
And soon the misunderstanding became clear.
"Alright, no problem, but what are you doing here at this time?"
Rain replied to her,
"Just sitting."
'Damn it, why did you come?' Rain said to himself, because it really was not the right time for anyone to appear.
"This forest looks scary, right?"
"And if it's not scary, then what is it?"
"If it's not scary, what is it? It's even more horrible and frightening."
Both Rain and Rafi swallowed after the conversation between Alya and Rain.
Alya continued talking to Rain.
"You know, I have a guess about where we are."
"So what is it?"
They waited eagerly for Alya's answer in silence. The silence was so heavy that they heard the sound of the wind.
"Hell Forest."
Rafi almost fainted when she heard Alya's answer; she even seemed on the verge of suffocating.
Rain stood there expressing his shock at what was happening, then finally asked,
"What is Hell Forest?"
Both Alya and Rafi slapped their foreheads and told him,
"Seriously, you don't know Hell Forest?"
A provocative smile appeared on Rain's face.
"No."
In the end, Alya began to explain to him.
"Hell Forest, or as some call it, the Forest of Death. It is located in the far south of the Azo Empire. No one who entered it ever survived, except that some legends say that someone managed to enter and leave it. He was the hero of our empire. But who knows? Maybe we will come out alive?"
"Who knows?"
Rain once again remembered that nightmare he had dreamed of and lost hope of getting out of the forest.
'What should I do?'
Silence lasted a long time between them after they almost knew their fate.
"But we will try, right?"
Rafi broke the silence with her words.
Rain and Alya looked at her and answered together,
"Of course!"
After that, Rafi left to enter and continue her sleep in her tent.
When Rain was about to leave, Alya stopped him.
"Rain!"
"What?"
"Come with me for a moment."
Rain complained because she was interrupting his sleep, but he followed her in the end.
"Let's take a little walk."
Rain was surprised by this. For a daughter of one of the ruling families to ask him to walk at night was like a dream.
"You know, Hell Forest is no less frightening than hell."
"Alright,"
Rain replied with a short answer. Alya did not want short answers and looked a little angry at him.
"You know that I didn't bring you to walk only, right?"
"I kind of expected that."
"Alright, I'll get straight to the point. Don't you think these events are strange? For the great Nimura Academy to make a mistake with the teleportation gates and send us to Hell Forest? And in the fight against that bear, Professor Caster did not fight with his full strength. He only gave him a small blade of wind that had no effect on it. What do you think about that?"
Rain nodded his head when he heard her words. In truth, she was right. How could an academy like Nimura make such a mistake? It was not logical.
"When you put it that way, I really feel that there is a traitor."
"Indeed, you are right."
A smile appeared on Rain's face after her praise.
"It seems obvious, right, Rain?"
Rain thought a little, then said,
"Professor Caster!"
"Well done again, you get two points," and she raised two fingers of her hand.
"What is this?"
Her face turned a little red from embarrassment.
"Nothing, don't mind it."
They continued walking, and Rain said,
"So what should we do?"
Alya stayed silent for a bit. The current situation was a big problem and not easy to solve at all.
"Waiting for academy support is a failed plan. I guess it will come after ten days. By then, we will all be finished."
"So we have to think of a plan."
"Yes, you're right, but we don't know their goal from doing this."
Both of them thought deeply, but in the end they gave up.
"Ah, I can't think anymore. I'm going to sleep, Alya."
"Alright, we can go back. We'll think again tomorrow. After you sleep, that will be good for your thinking."
They returned to the camp, and they were about to enter their tents, but Rain asked Alya,
"Alya, why did you talk to me about this among all the students?"
It was strange for an important figure in society like Alya de Valen to talk only to you and tell you something.
"Hmmm, let's see. I thought you were smart after seeing your duel against the fire user in the academy, and also because I'm curious about the Ash element."
Rain blushed from her praise and turned his head away.
"Alright, if that's the case."
"What? You just turned red."
"I didn't."
Rain was a little annoyed by her teasing.
"If you don't want anything else, I'll go now."
"No, just…"
Alya grabbed Rain's hand suddenly.
"I look forward to working with you from now on, Rain!"
Rain blushed again and replied,
"Thank you."
Rain turned his back and entered his tent.
Alya approached her tent, and when she reached it, she stopped for a moment and took out a transparent crystal ball that looked like a pearl taken from the seas, except that it was a little bigger.
Alya brought her head close to the ball and said,
"It will be useful, right?"
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End of Chapter Eight