NOVEL NEXT Chapter 437: Just Four Days?
"How the hell are we going to get out of here...? I don't recognise any place like this from the textbooks about Hearth..."
"Well, maybe you haven't remembered hard enough? All islands basically look the same, don't they?"
"That's for our world... Each landmass on Hearth has at least some kind of geographical marking or a Corruption Zone..." Viesta scratched the side of her head, "But even when I climbed to the peak of that tree to get a good look, I found nothing..."
She then gave an exasperated sigh:
"Even with my knowledge, who knows how long it would take to complete this Trial without any clues... Days? Weeks? Months...? Even... Even a Year...?"
Veista's face hardened as she said the last part of her sentence. Sitting cross-legged, she patted her knee erratically before forming a tight fist.
Thump...
"Huh?"
Viesta picked up what seemed to be a protein bar, followed by an already opened can of food that had magically fallen into her lap.
Looking to the side, she found Lillian snacking on something similar.
She then watched as the girl flashed her a smirk.
"Don't worry about it, Viesta~... We'll make it out alive, I can promise you that."
Viesta smiled slightly, comforted by Lillian's words, before sighing again, "With the strength of both you and the Captain, it gives me some reassurance that we'll survive... But it still loops back to the question whether or not we'll be trapped in this Trial forever..."
After Lillian tossed Emilio his portion of food, she chuckled at Viesta's words.
The concept of "How long it'll take" wasn't something Lillian was very worried about. While it was normal—even expected—for Trials to take an obscenely long amount of time to complete, she didn't have that issue.
She had already devised a plan to complete this Trial, but that could only begin once a couple of days had passed.
It wasn't because she didn't want to complete the Trial sooner, but it was because her chances of completing the Trial would dramatically increase in 4 days' time.
That was because an event would occur.
'By the time I complete this Trial... It would also be the 2nd of May...'
Once they had finished their dinner, Lillian watched as the two went off to prepare some sort of bedding for the three of them for the night.
And as they did that, Lillian debated whether or not to keep the fire burning or to put it out.
'Eh... I'm not very knowledgeable about these things...'
Looking towards Viesta, who had already prepared the necessaries for the bedding, she asked:
"Hey, Viesta! Should I put out the fire?"
"Huh? Oh uh, mhm. Put it out so we don't risk a forest fire."
"Forest fire? Oh, right... But what if I just push away everything that could catch on fire?"
"Ehh... It's better to be safe than sorry, Lillian."
Nodding, Lillian put out the fire before walking over to Veista and Emilio.
After sitting down on her bedding, she realised that Viesta looked rather paranoid of their surroundings—afraid.
Seeing this, Lillian couldn't help but comfort her.
"My Beetle is patrolling around us. Its strength should suffice for the level of this specific area."
"I-I see..."
Viesta, seeing that Lillian was confident in her monster, laid down and tried to get some sleep as she did her best to calm herself.
However, the moment she did that, she felt a poke in her side.
Since all three of them were sleeping beside each other, it was easier for Lillian to grab Viesta's attention.
"Did you... Not something?"
"Kind of, you said you were single, right?"
Viesta sat up and looked at Lillian with a raised eyebrow.
"I am... I was dating before, but me and him broke up at the start of this year."
Lillian nodded, satisfied with the answer as she wrapped an arm around the woman's neck and whispered:
"Well~... How do you feel about same-sex relationships, then?"
"H-huh? W-why do you ask?"
"Just answer~! I'm sure you thought about it once or twice, right?" Lillian pushed forward, causing the Cowgirl's eyes to widen slightly.
Viesta looked into Lillian's eyes and chuckled with a wave of her hand. She then said in an embarrassed tone:
"I... I'm very flattered, Lillian... But..."
"But~...?" Lillian insisted, wanting to know about the woman's thoughts.
She had also sensed a hint of hesitation in the woman's smile, which had now become crooked as she insisted that she continue.
Viesta, seeing that Lillian wasn't going to stop, sighed, "I-I'm not into the idea of polyamorous relationships, Lillian... Especially since you're my junior..."
Lillian blinked at her silently, shocked at what she had just heard.
"Huh? Where did you get that from?"
Emilio, who was fidgeting with his blanket beside Viesta, finally found his chance to join the conversation.
But at the cost of eavesdropping, he couldn't help but gape in shock.
Polyamorous relationship?
Didn't that mean a relationship with more than one person in it?
"W-wait, Miss Arius, are you already in a relationship?!"
Lillian tilted her body to the side and looked towards the young man.
She then raised an eyebrow and said, "Didn't I say something like that already?"
She remembered saying it when Emilio was on the verge of going unconscious—
'Ah... He must've not have heard it... Fair enough.'
Emilio's eyes widened, but then he sighed in disappointment as he unconsciously summoned a glass shard, which seemed to mirror back a grotesque-looking monster.
***
After the three of them woke up and had breakfast, they quickly got on the back of the Beetle, which seemed to have had an eventful night.
As they strolled through the jungle at high speed, Lillian internally recounted what she needed to do.
The island was made up of three sections.
The Beach, The Jungle, and The Cliff.
And in each of these sections, they held the Lord of their individual territory, which needed to be defeated before they could escape from the island.
The Beach Lord, The Jungle Lord, and the Cliff Lord
If she remembered correctly, each of the Lords was around the Dire rank, so that meant that they were able to use mana to a degree.
[You have slain a Savage Gnarl...]
Viesta, who had just watched as one of the water spears that hung above Lillian's head pulverise a monster, couldn't help but chuckle nervously.
She also couldn't help but let her eyes wander over Lillian's chestplate and boots. She hadn't ever seen them before... Were they new?
"H-hey, Lillian, did you always have that chestplate and boots on you?"
"Hm? Oh, eh... My spatial ring holds a lot of stuff, being prepared, you know?"
"W-wow... You really are prepared... May I ask what the ranks of these monsters are?"
"Savage Gnarl, why do you ask?"
Turning back around, Lillian found Viesta looking down slightly with a hand over her chin in deep thought. Fortunately, Lillian managed to catch what she heard.
"A Savage Gnarl... That's a threat rating of a 2.4, isn't it?"
Lillian, who heard this, turned back around with a thoughtful expression.
'Ah... The Threat Ratings... Hadn't ever had to think about that before in this life, I almost forgot about it.'