“Aurora, are you hiding something from me? This is the second time I’ve seen you wander around aimlessly. You can tell me anything you want to.”
Aurora knew she was sweating bullets as Clove interrogated her. Aurora had never been able to lie successfully to her wife and it seemed like this would not be any better either.
“I…That is to say…I was feeling a little pain in my back so I decided to come here and get myself checked out. I did not look for you since I knew you were busy.”
Aurora had a lot of lies she could have told but remembered the best one right in the nick of time.
“Oh, and what did the doctor say?”
“I could not find her so I decided to head back. And then I ran into you.”
Thankfully, Aurora had a handy system that could sense the doctor’s current location and she seemed to have entered Natasha’s room to check up on her.
Even if Clove was to feel for the doctor, she would not be able to conclude that Aurora had lied about this topic.
“Is that so? If it is something like this then you should have told me before. I got worried for nothing.”
Aurora felt warm as she heard those words. It always felt good to hear Clove talk about her lovingly. It reassured Aurora that Clove cared about her a great deal.
“Come on. I just told you that I did not want to disturb you so I kept my pains to myself. What are you doing here anyway?”
Now that Aurora thought back, it was not often that love came to look for her during working hours. It was mostly Aurora that did the chasing around.
“Ah, about that. I wanted to retrieve you for the exchange of goods but if you’re not feeling well then you should rest. I will tell Quince that you are not feeling well right now.”
“NO.” Aurora took in a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. “There is no need for you to do that. I am well enough to see the exchange through.”
Aurora was afraid to miss the exchange. There was so much that could go wrong that it was not even funny.
“Alright. I got it. I will not ask you to site out of this exchange. But do take it easy. I’ll be there soon enough.”
Clove’s gentle words caused Aurora to sigh in relief. It seemed as if Clove had not taken her outburst seriously. It was reassuring for Aurora.
“I should take care of a few more things so I’ll be heading out now. I’ll see you at the exchange spot.”
Aurora had a weird feeling as she watched Clove walk off. It felt like she would not see the blond-haired girl for a long time.
But Aurora was not able to find an excuse to hold on to Clove and the blond-haired girl disappeared into the medical hall soon.
===========================
The exchange center was full of as much cheer and livelihood as Aurora remembered. It was a much-awaited chance to get resourced for the exploration team.
As such, no one wanted to make any mistake while they waited for the cargo ship to descend into the abyss. It was made specially to withstand abyss conditions.
No matter how many times Aurora saw it, she was still in awe of the large cargo ship the tower had built to make transportation easier inside the abyss.
“System, scam the ship’s blueprints. I need even the smallest detail available.”
Aurora had not thought of this as an opportunity initially but it was a good chance to get her hands on some classified data. She could hand it over to the outlanders to make changes.
Sooner or later, Aurora would have to invest in such gear. So it was lucky that she got her hands on such important information this early on.
“Why are you looking at the cargo ship like it’s your first time? Go ahead and supervise the exchange.”
Aurora’s good mood ended as soon as she heard Quince’s voice. He seemed irritated and also a little cranky.
It was likely due to all the stress that was piling up on top of his head. There were too many incidents around this time and Quince had been appointed as the team leader.
Aurora did understand his worries and she even sympathies with him. But that did not mean that she liked him.
“I’m still injured so I don’t think I’ll be of much use. It’s better to send someone who can ‘handle’ this role.”
“Aurora, stop making excuses and go help out. Don’t pretend to be helpless when Clove isn’t even here.”
Aurora rolled her eyes in irritation but she did get to work. There was no reasoning with Quince when he was in such a mood.
[Rita: Everything is ready. I am ready to initiate the plan as soon as you want me to]
Aurora tried to keep the grin off her face but she failed to do so.
Excitement coursed through her body as Aurora waited for the real show to begin. She had taken precautions against the monster and also thought of the routes to take once the monsters arrived on the scene.
As soon as the ground started shaking, Aurora knew that it was time. The monster had been lured over already and now began the show.
“R-Run away and save your lives. It’s the leviathan, the floor boss. We’ll be killed if we stay here any longer.”
Aurora paused before she felt her face go white.
Out of everything Rita could have chosen to bring over, she chose the floor boss? There was a reason the party was stuck on this floor and it was because they did not have enough confidence to be able to take the floor boss yet.
Just what was Rita thinking by bringing such a powerful monster after her?
“Aurora, set up a defensive formation. Get as many people to safety in the cargo ship as you can. As soon as you take them to the upper floor it doesn’t matter if the cargo survives.”
Quince’s voice cut through Aurora’s panic. He sounded calm even in such a situation which indicated why he had been chosen as the party leader.
‘This is a trial. This is not real so you do not need to worry.’
Currently, that was the only thought inside Aurora’s mind that was keeping her going. And it was only because of this thought that Aurora gathered the courage and turned her head toward the cargo.
She needed to find the mystic pearl and end this trial.
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