[Lifespan Remaining: 8 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes.]
Even in the game’s lore, the Wayfarers were repeatedly mentioned as Rexford’s strongest adventuring party. They had slain beasts considered impossible to defeat and ended conflicts that had dragged on for years.
The party was co-founded by Amon de Arcadia, and it only took in those with a 5-Star Class or above. Many members joined and left as the party traveled, so it wasn’t too unlikely that some decided to leave at certain places to retire.
Apparently, the Graveyard itself was first discovered by them, but Noct didn’t know how true that was.
’Who would’ve thought that they would be connected to me in some way...?’
Still, that explained much of what he wanted to know. These four were given the knowledge and their talents were developed by legendary figures. Though as commoners, they still lacked the proper resources.
He had to give it to them. Without the Ice Dragon Core, the Spiral Pool of Castalia, and Sylpheed’s Contract, would he have performed any better in this examination?
Probably not.
Under the original examination, all four would have passed without much trouble. Their Rare Classes alone would have attracted attention, and with the techniques they had inherited from the Wayfarers, they might have even stood out among the successful candidates.
But this new format demanded results immediately. It didn’t matter how much potential they had if they couldn’t turn it into enough cores within three days.
’And I told them they’d probably get expelled later.’
The Academy was supposed to give them access to the things they lacked. Judging whether they deserved to enter based on what they could accomplish without those things felt somewhat backward.
Noct glanced at Gareth, who was quietly tending the fire. "...You still have time."
"Two more days," Noct continued as he stood. "There’s no reason to gamble everything on another monster like the Bone Hound. Hunt things you can handle. Build up your cores slowly."
"That’s what we were doing," Gareth muttered.
"Then try another area. South, maybe."
Noct brushed the dirt from his clothes before adding. "But whatever you do, don’t head north. It’s the only zone marked with black for a reason. You’re already injured. Don’t make things worse by going somewhere you can’t handle."
Airy lowered her gaze while Gareth stared at him with an expression Noct couldn’t quite read. Even Alex, who Noct thought was the most predictable, was constantly avoiding eye contact.
Noct sighed softly. "I’m going to bed. You should get some rest, too."
He barely managed to reach the tent when he heard footsteps behind him. Alice had left the fire as well and was practically racing toward him.
"Something wrong?"
"Instructor Klein asked me to help him with something tomorrow," she explained. "I’m probably not gonna be able to join you."
"With what?"
"The camp’s defenses. Apparently, there are magic tools buried around the perimeter that make undead avoid this place." She pointed toward her eyes. "He wants me to check them."
’Instructor Klein knows about her eyes? I guess I’ve severely underestimated him, haven’t I?’
Noct considered it for a moment. Klein was a known character in the game. He continued teaching at Rexford well after this incident, and nothing Noct remembered suggested that he had been involved in the betrayal.
That wasn’t absolute proof, but it made him considerably less suspicious than the custodian. Besides, inspecting the camp’s defenses sounded like something an instructor should be doing.
"How long?"
"I’m not sure. We’re leaving in the morning."
"That’s fine. Come find us when you’re finished."
Alice blinked. "You’re not going to ask anything else?"
"Should I?"
"No! I just thought you’d complain about losing a party member."
"We can survive without you for a few hours."
"Wow. I’ll remember that."
It wasn’t exactly bad. Klein could account for her whereabouts if anyone tried to implicate her in anything. Still, he should hear about the assignment from Klein himself.
Alice had been rather eager to help Group Eleven earlier. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure she wasn’t using the instructor’s name as an excuse. Besides, there were other things they needed to discuss.
The missing key, for one.
If the Academy had removed it, Klein should know. If it hadn’t, someone needed to investigate. And regardless of the answer, preventing candidates from entering the northern black zone would save Noct a considerable amount of trouble.
’He might actually listen if I explain it properly.’
Noct retrieved their bag of cores and headed back outside.
He would have to be careful about how much he revealed. Knowing that the chapel contained something valuable was one thing. Explaining exactly what would happen if someone used it was another.
As he walked toward the staff tent, Noct loosened the bag’s drawstring. Before making plans for tomorrow, he should check how close they were to passing.
’...Only fifteen? And here I was, laying it on thick to Group 11.’
They were the ones Alice had hunted.
Everything from his own hunt had gone straight into his lifespan. The Bone Hound’s core had followed shortly afterward as well.
’Good thing I didn’t show them ours.’
Apparently, tomorrow’s hunting was going to require a little more effort than he had anticipated. Noct tucked the bag away and resumed walking. First, speaking to Klein was the priority.
Entering the instructor’s tent, Noct found the man sharpening his sword on a grinder before applying oil onto it.
"Noct de Arcadia," he asked without turning around. "Is there a problem?"
"Alice mentioned that you asked for her help tomorrow," Noct answered, stepping inside the tent.
"With inspecting the camp’s deterrents, yes. Her eyes should allow us to examine the buried tools without excavating every one of them."
So she hadn’t been lying, at least.
"Is something wrong with them?"
"One of the readings was inconsistent. It may be nothing, but I would prefer to check."
Klein set the sword down, before pulling another knife from the weapon rack and continuing to sharpen it. "Did you come here to object?"
"No. I wanted to know when she’d be available again."
"I’ll return her to camp once we’re finished."
Noct nodded, then glanced toward the entrance before lowering his voice. "Actually, there’s something else. About the northern grounds."
"Hmm?"
"The abandoned chapel to the west. The recess in the podium is empty. And I wanna know if the Academy took it or someone else..."
Before Noct could continue, Klein simply reached underneath his shirt’s collar and produced a thin chain, which was followed by a rusted silver key.
’So it really was the Academy.’
"This was removed when the Academy established camp here," Klein said. "It has been transferred to my possession."
He had been imagining someone walking around with the means to open the tomb. Instead, the key had been hanging around an instructor’s neck.
"That’s good," Noct breathed a sigh of relief. "Still for safety reasons, could you please seal off the northern hunting grounds and establish a patrol there. It’s still very dangerous and—"
"Why do you know all of this?" Instructor Klein cut him off.
"I’m an Arcadia."
"So?"
Noct simply sighed. "Instructor, I know that you’re kind of an ’all-brawn’ type, but at least know the location of your workplace..."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" the man tilted his head. "I know what’s there! It’s the Archlich. And I know the responsibility of—"
"Yes, yes..."
It was Noct’s turn to cut him off. "I know you’re probably qualified to manage this place. But you really should listen to me."
"Asking me to close a whole examination route and deploy a patrol. You’ll need to give me more than your surname if you want me to listen."
"My father, Amon de Arcadia, was the one who defeated that monster and sealed it."
"Ah...noted."