"This is not a good time to joke around, pup," says Velucan. His expression darkens as his eyes shine fiercely.
"Did you do something that accidentally revealed your identity as a Demon?" Eliseus asks calmly.
"Or perhaps, maybe my disguise was too easy to see through," Vibiane exclaims. "Yes, that must be the case!" She looks at me as if saying she got this.
Waving my hand, dismissing their questions and statements, I say, "No, it has nothing to do with our disguise. Yule is just too smart for her own good."
"Are you saying that her Tracking Spell is what has exposed us?" Velucan scrunches up his nose in annoyance. "Damn it! I should have paid more attention to that. Don't worry, you don't have to feel guilty. It's not your fault."
"No, the Tracking Spell has nothing to do with how Yule figured out our identity. Its sole role is proving my guess that Yule knows what we actually are." I shake my head faintly.
"How is that the case?" Vibiane tilts her head.
"Like me, she was also observing everyone the entire way to Brontes Kingdom."
Gesturing at our neck, I say, "Despite being the first group of people to come out of Amizanima Forest, unlike them, we don't have the necklace that the Temple gives to everyone who wants to enter Amizanima Forest."
Realization suddenly enters everyone's eyes. They immediately click their tongue bitterly as they can't believe they couldn't forget about it.
Our disguise was perfect; humans of Xenon's level, who is the strongest of the group, will never be able to see through it. Yule, unfortunately, is sharp enough to notice the strange things about us.
She questioned our identity just because she couldn't see the necklace from the Temple. She questioned the method we used to get out of Amizanima Forest, and made a correct conclusion that all of us were Cursed Creations in disguise.
She was, of course, was doubtful at that time, which is why she cast a Tracking Spell on me so she could monitor us.
"The destruction of her Tracking Spell proves her suspicion that we are Cursed Creations."
"Shouldn't she consider a possibility that we might be just a group of bandits or something?" Velucan quirks his eyebrow. "I think you are reading too deep into this, pup."
"She is a Paladin Disciple, which is why she was highly suspicious of us," I state surely, surprising everyone.
"She cast a Divinity based Tracking Spell that will only be noticeable to Cursed Creations. It is a common knowledge that only Paladins are taught that Spell."
Sighing lightly, Velucan approaches me and pats my shoulder with a smile. I blink my eyes in confusion at that as I don't get why he has the look that a proud father gives to his son.
"Congratulations!"
"Pardon?"
"Damn... You really are something, aren't you?" Velucan smirks at the same time Eliseus nods her head. "Here I am thinking that I will be able to pull a little prank on you. Huuh... I failed miserably, didn't I?"
Turning my head to Eliseus, hoping for an enlightenment, she immediately opens her mouth. "We have been testing you. The things you have mentioned about—all of us are aware of that fact."
"H-Huh?! I don't know anything about it!" Vibiane exclaims, flustered.
As Vibiane comes up to Eliseus to ask for what is actually going on, the rest of my troop mates, who Velucan said are waiting inside the forest, suddenly appear out of thin air.
I am pretty sure they didn't just teleport themselves here, so they must have been there since the beginning. That is absolutely bewildering to me, since I didn't feel any of their presence before.
"O-Oh! It's the integration tradition. No wonder I feel everyone is acting weird," I hear Vibiane mutters softly.
I still don't get what is happening, so I look around at my smiling troop mates, who have been treating me rather coldly for the past few days, and at Velucan, prompting him to explain himself.
"Kuhum! You see, the Legions I lead rarely receive a newbie Warrior. Because of that, everytime a newbie joins us, we throw an integration party for the newbie!"
"You didn't throw any party for me," I say dryly.
"Ku-ku-ku. Our party is different. We prank the newbie by accusing him of all the mishaps happening in the mission, and act coldly toward him. The newbie will then be forced to fix his 'mistakes' that will usually drive him close to insanity."
"... I don't see that as a party."
"Of course, that's not the party. We will only throw the party after the newbie passes through the shitstorm we have put himself in. How is that? Fun isn't it?"
As the others laugh while recalling their tragic memory with a nostalgic face, I question my choice of joining these people. No, I am actually questioning my sanity at that time for still choosing to join Velucan despite the red flags.
"So, pup... We are floored that you have managed to spoil our prank, so we don't know what to do next. The choice is yours—whether you want to have the party or keep focusing on the mission."
As soon as Velucan says that, everyone looks at me with curiosity evident in their eyes. They don't look like they prefer me to choose a certain option, but they look like they have finally accepted me into their pack.
The look they are giving me is the same look that they gave me when Velucan first introduced me to them. It is the look that any annoying but caring senior has, which I definitely haven't seen until just a few seconds ago.
I was sceptical about this prank thing at first, but upon seeing that, I am convinced that they are not bullshitting.
"I have never had a party, so I prefer focusing on the mission." I shrug lightly.
"Oh... That's disappointing." Velucan shakes his head faintly. "Alright, then. Prepare yourselves, everyone! We are going to lure out the Brontes Army and kill all of them!"
"Uwooh!"
"Wait! Are we just going to declare war openly?" I ask in bewilderment, uncaring to my other troop mates' reaction. "That is going to waste all of our effort to remain undetected."
"Well, it's faster that way." Velucan shrugs.
"What about Niles Brontes? He will definitely run away if we do that."
"We'll surround the Dukedom."
"There is not enough personnels."
"We'll Seal the entire Dukedom."
"We still have to set up the Barrier first, don't we? He will have enough time to escape with [Teleportation] by that time."
Frowning, Velucan stops speaking. He tries to say something, but the more he tries, the more he realizes how right I am.
"Well, do you have any idea?" In the end, he asks for my opinion.
"I do. Let me go inside the Dukedom to kill Niles. You can also give me the Isolation Array, so I can set it up in the biggest Temple in Dukedom. I know the Dukedom will be in our hands if I take control over it."
"... That's rather ambitious of you—to think that you'll be able to achieve that," Velucan remarks. "You know how high the Divinity level in a Temple, don't you? A newborn Demon like you will never be able to enter it."
"I am immune to Divinity," I say stoically.
"Why are you so eager to do it?"
Frowning lightly, I look down at my hand. Clenching and unclenching it twice, I look up at Velucan.
"I just want to kill stronger opponents."
I am saying it because I want to utilize Pride to the best I can, but Velucan seems to get the wrong message as he widens his eyes. He smirks in the next second, then pats my shoulder proudly.
"You just want to test yourselves, don't you? It's alright. Forget about the mission. You can take Niles by yourself. Leave the Sealing task to us. We will Seal the Dukedom while you are fighting Niles."
"I can do both," I say. "It's not that killing Niles is hard."
"Hohoho! Although he is a wounded veteran, veteran is still a veteran, you know. He has enough skills to protect himself."
I haven't heard of that information, so I am fairly surprised by what I have heard. I am about to ask Velucan to speak about it in detail, but he, unfortunately, doesn't have any intention to let me speak.
"Just do your best, and bring me Niles' head when you return." Velucan looks at me expectantly.
"Do your best, Layland!"
"Yo, I'll buy you three barrels of the best liquors if you succeed!"
"I wish the best for you, Layland."
"Don't hesitate to ask for my help when you can't do it, Layland!"
All of my troop mates are cheering for me. I have never been cheered on before, so it is actually quite touching.
The problem though, I am now doubting myself if I will be able to kill Niles. After hearing that information about him, I dread how capable he actually is.
"Well... It's better if he is strong."
It doesn't take me long, though, to realize that a stronger opponent is what I seek. Turning my back on my cheering troop mates, I dash toward Brontes Dukedom, accompanied by their cheers.
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