[Lifespan Remaining: 8 days, 20 hours, 48 minutes.]
Noct managed to pocket one of Annie’s contraptions before they left, and by the time they returned to Base Camp D, the other groups were still out hunting.
Finn and Annie had already settled inside their tent with a few dismantled devices between them. Finn supplied a steady stream of affinity-less mana while Annie adjusted something with a screwdriver.
Apparently, whatever strange connection the two had developed was still going strong. Well, Noct decided not to look for too long.
Alice, meanwhile, was with Lucy and Airy, who somehow ended up helping Albert near the cooking area. The butler had been struggling with several wooden crates, and with Alice being the most physically capable, she lended him a hand.
"You really didn’t have to help me, Young Lady," Albert said politely.
"It’s fine. Everyone else is still hunting, and I have nothing to do."
"Then you have my gratitude."
Alice placed the crate beside several sacks of grain. The butler thanked her once more before backing off and studying her for a while.
"Alice Alstromeria, was it?"
"That’s right."
"I don’t recognize the family name. Are you from the Capital?"
"No, sir. I came from a small village near the southern border."
"I heard that you’re quite accomplished, being personally scouted by the Headmaster of Rexford herself is no joke."
"I was just lucky, that’s all."
Albert maintained his pleasant smile, but for a moment, Noct could see the man’s eyes dart toward their tent, their group number, and finally back to making eye-contact with her.
"Could you place this final crate inside the staff tent?" Albert asked. "It contains several...precious ingredients that I don’t want anyone digging into."
"Of course, sir."
Alice accepted the final crate and carried it through the tent flap without hesitation. Several seconds later, she emerged empty-handed.
"Thank you again," the butler bowed gracefully. "I’ll make sure Instructor Klein knows you were kind enough to help with our supplies."
Alice smiled happily before returning toward Group Thirteen’s tent. But when watching the conversation, Noct couldn’t help but feel like something was off.
At that moment, Robin’s team had just returned from their hunt at the Northern Gate. His eyes caught a glimpse of Alice returning to her tent from the staff’s, before turning away.
’Whatever, I have bigger fish to fry.’
Noct waited until Albert returned to the cooking fire and for Robin to stop paying attention, while also confirming that Instructor Klein had remained on the opposite side of camp before moving.
He approached the mirror and quietly placed Annie’s dectection trap on it, and just a few meters away, he placed the explosion trap to hopefully catch the culprit if they tried to make an escape.
Noct wasn’t too afraid of the trap going off accidentally. Since the mirror was so efficient, it wouldn’t need to be checked on so regularly. The only reason someone would approach the mirror’s back panel now...was to steal the core.
’Now that I think about it, someone could easily pin the blame on me...’
’Ugh...better be careful.’
?Alter Shade — Gardine?
Noct felt a bit better now, but as soon as he was relatively safe, he thought about the implications a bit more. Proximity-wise, there were only two tents near the mirror—Robin’s tent, and the staff tent.
But just as he was about to move away, a few voices echoed from a nearby tent that caught Noct’s attention. And specifically...it was the staff’s tent.
"I don’t care how you do it. I refuse to spend another day trudging through corpse-infested mud!"
The voice belonged to a young woman, that much was certain. Noct shifted closer to the back of the tent and peered through a narrow opening between fabric and the ground.
Inside stood one of the girls who had returned alongside Robin. Her dark magenta hair remained in perfect princess curls despite the morning’s hunt.
However, the hem of her uniform was stained with mud, and she stared at it as though the dirt was a personal insult to her dignity and appearance.
’Violet Reine...’
A heroine from the original game, House Reine controlled several of the kingdom’s private banks and were quite influential. More importantly, they were among the most prominent financial supporters of First Prince, Axel de Rexford.
Violet herself was remembered for her talent with Light Magic, and for possessing enough elitism to illuminate the entire kingdom.
"Lady Violet, please lower your voice," an older man pleaded. "If Instructor Klein hears you—"
The man wore the plain gray uniform of an Academy custodian, evident by the badge by his side. His shoulders were hunched, and his hands remained clasped in front.
"I cannot simply guarantee your admission, Young Missus..." he said. "Your group must collect the required number of cores. Those are the examination rules."
He then stared outside at the crate positioned right in front of Robin’s tent. "And besides, your group has already collected more cores than any of the others. You only need two more...So what’s the problem?
"The problem..." the girl raised her tone. "Is that I don’t want to spend another goddamn minute of my time out here! Do you not understand that?!"
"Lady Violet...please...calm down—"
"My father’s money was the reason why your family still has a home," Violet replied coldly, cutting him off. "Or have you forgotten about that fact?"
"If so, maybe raising the interest by...I don’t know, twenty-percent? Would that jog your memory?"
The custodian’s face went pale. "No...no please—"
"Then find a way."
The man lowered his head, thinking hard about his options. Then a second later, the man looked toward the tents outside.
"I could..." he began reluctantly. "I could move several cores from another group’s crate into yours. Would that suffice?"
"...Are you stupid?"
The man flinched.
"Every group knows how many cores they collected," she continued. "The moment any disappear, they’ll report it. Then the Academy will investigate all of us."
"I—I apologize."
"You should. Think of something else."
The custodian looked increasingly desperate, and in his nervousness, the man looked directly back. Noct thought the man had caught him and started moving away quickly.
But the custodian wasn’t looking at him. His frightened gaze had dropped toward the ground past him and underneath the tent and toward the only other monster core in the entire camp.
"There is...another source."