[Lifespan Remaining: 20 days, 21 hours, 47 minutes.]
"Before you start looking so worried, we should probably introduce ourselves."
Noct turned toward the upperclassman beside him. The boy held a spear loosely in one hand, its shaft resting against his shoulder. A thick leather guard covered his other forearm.
"Anthony. I’m a Tamer."
He lifted his guarded arm and gave a short whistle. A second later, a hawk dropped from its perch, spreading its wings just before landing on his wrist. Its talons closed around the leather as it turned its head toward Noct.
’That was up there the whole time?’
"This is who’ll be doing most of our scouting," Anthony continued. "Once we start, I can send him ahead to watch their movements."
"Duncan."
The other upperclassman next to Anthony offered his hand. He was broad through the shoulders, with a heavy axe resting beside his leg. Despite the weapon, his expression was quite friendly.
"Noct de Arcadia."
"Figured. You look like an Arcadia."
"What does that mean?"
"You’ll see soon. She’s running quite late," Duncan sighed. "I’m a Berserker. 4-Stars. I’ll be in charge of disruption and trying to protect you all."
Well, everyone else seemed to already know each other. So all Noct had to do was introduce himself. They all quickly thought of a role for him, that being to accompany Marina, as she took some time to cast powerful spells.
The plan would be for both Noct and Marina to go on the offensive with the help of Duncan. Both Noct and the Duncan would defend Marina so she could use a strong offensive spell and hopefully clear enough of a path to reach blue team’s flag.
But throughout it all, something about the plan felt off. They were sending two casters and a frontliner on the offensive while leaving the scout and presumably the instructor in the back. However he tried to slice it, the plan was simply backwards.
’Why the hell were we sending the two frailest people to the frontlines?!’
Noct voiced his observation, only for Anthony to simply smirk. "Ahh, you haven’t played Capture the Flag with us just yet, so you wouldn’t have known."
He pointed toward Instructor Lilah. "Once we start, Instructor Lilah will go straight for Ronan. Those two will keep each other busy until the rest of us finish. You should plan around four against four."
Lilah was watching Ronan from across the field, her fingers occasionally adjusting their grip around the greatsword’s handle. Now that Anthony pointed it out, her expression seemed quite bloodthirsty.
’So she’s just here to fight him?!’
Noct guessed that explained some things, but that very fact made the plan sound even worse. "Then you’re defending the flag by yourself? How is a scout supposed to do that alone?"\
"I’ll see them coming."
"And then?"
Anthony didn’t reply, but simply looked toward the entrance door. Noct glanced toward their opponents. There were enough obstacles for someone to slip away from the main exchange, and Anthony’s hawk couldn’t watch every covered passage at once. Even if he spotted the attempt, Noct doubted the rest of them could disengage and return before the attackers reached their base.
’Am I missing something?’
"Sorry! We’re here!"
Duncan looked past him. "There she is."
Adelaide stood in the doorway, waving toward the instructor. A few strands of hair had escaped around her face, and she was still adjusting the strap of her bag as she stepped inside. But it was the person following her who caught his attention.
"Aurora?"
"Noct?"
He had not expected his fiancée to be here as well. And apparently, neither was she. They both made it down toward the training field, where Aurora stopped right beside him.
"What are you doing here?"
"That seems to be the question of the day."
"Instructor, I’m sorry we’re late," Adelaide approached Lilah before wrapping her arm casually around the instructor. "The matter I had to handle for Arcadia took longer than expected. I brought Aurora with me on the way back."
Lilah’s gaze shifted to Aurora, apparently not minding the casual attitude from Adelaide. "Miss Rosenthal?"
"Yes, Instructor."
"Good. I was told you’d be joining us."
’Her too?’
Well, at least Noct felt a little bit better that he wasn’t the only freshman who had somehow ended up in this class. But also a bit worse when he thought about how Aurora had been tricked into coming here as well.
Adelaide noticed both flags. "Ohhh...so we’re doing the classic again?"
"We were just finishing the teams," Lilah replied. "To make it fair, how about we put Aurora over on blue and Adelaide here on red?"
Adelaide turned over to the group that had gathered around the red flag. "Hmm...Noct, Marina, Anthony, and Duncan? That looks like a fun team. Will you be alright on the other side, Aurora?"
Aurora nodded, already putting on her gear before taking a glance at Noct. "That’s fine by me. Besides, a certain fiancé of mine keeps making unreasonable demands. I’d like a chance to return the favor."
Gulp.
"Everyone, take your positions," Lilah instructed. "We’ll begin shortly."
The two groups separated, making their way toward opposite ends of the field. Noct followed Anthony around a low stone wall, with Marina beside him and Duncan carrying his axe ahead of them. Adelaide walked along as though they were taking a leisurely tour of the training grounds.
"So," Noct began. "What are you supposed to do?"
"Our plan was for Duncan to protect Marina while we pushed forward. Anthony would scout and defend the flag. Apparently, Instructor Lilah will be busy doing something else."
They reached the red base, where their flag stood behind a raised platform. Several routes led toward it, some partly concealed by the artificial terrain.
Adelaide hadn’t given him an answer, only a small smirk. "Don’t worry and do what you were going to do. Leave the rest to me!"
’What does that even mean?!’
"Red team, ready?"
Lilah’s voice interrupted him.
Duncan rolled his shoulders and lifted his axe.
"Ready."
Marina took a breath beside Noct. He noticed her fingers tightening around the edge of her sleeve before she deliberately let go. Across the field, he heard Mei call out the blue team’s response.
"Then the Capture the Flag game begins—"
"Now!"