"Agh! What the hell happened..." Colt opened his eyes slowly and saw three young nobles looking at him.
"Man, you sleep hard! It's been more than half an hour since we woke up," Hei teased.
Of course, this was all part of a play.
After handling everything, Colt had acted like he had fainted. Now, he was "waking up."
"Ah, I apologize for my language," Colt said, brushing off his embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it. We're all okay, and that's what matters," Myrin said kindly.
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked, glancing around. The carriage was already on the move.
"Well, your theory was solid—but wrong!" Hei laughed. "I was scared there for a second, though."
Myrin picked up from there. "Our guards handled the bandits. One must have slipped through, though, since he tried to attack the carriage we were in.
But, luckily, right after we were knocked out, the fight at the front ended. So he ran off without being able to hurt us since the guards came back."
Of course, that wasn't quite true. There had been a gap between when they fainted and when the fighting ended—but there was no reason for them to know that.
"I see. Then I must apologize sincerely. I probably scared you with my wild guess. Please forgive me," Colt said.
He saw Seila give a small huff, clearly displeased.
He hadn't expected her to get scared by something like that.
But Colt didn't know that Seila was thinking about something else entirely.
"No need. It's fine," Hei said. "You were just trying to figure it out. And when you fail, it means you've gained experience."
"Thank you! That's a wise saying."
"Hehe, I know. It's my father's," Hei grinned.
"What! That's a common saying! Why are you acting like your family came up with it?" Seila snapped.
"Huh? But my father said it was his when he first told me."
"You're way too easy to trick..."
While the two bickered, Myrin shifted closer to Colt.
"How do you feel? We actually wanted to wait for you to wake up before moving again.
But the guards said more bandits might come after they lose contact with the first group, so we had to start moving."
"Myrin, thank you so much for your concern. They did the right thing. I'm fine—nothing feels wrong with my body. Maybe I'm even stronger now?" he joked.
"Hehe! How can fainting make you stronger? You probably haven't fully woken up yet."
Colt caught a faint glance from his left, where Hei was sitting. It felt oddly focused. But maybe he was imagining things.
---
With the attack behind them, they reached Lofpus City by the next day.
The carriages rolled toward the city center, their sides marked with the emblems of three noble houses. But none of the townspeople paid them any mind.
In Lofpus, nobles were a part of everyday life—the academy saw to that.
Once they stepped out, it was time to part ways.
"Thank you, Hei, for letting me join your group," Colt said. "If not for you, the journey would've taken me two or three weeks longer."
Of course, that was only true for someone at level 66.
He turned to the others. "Myrin, Lady Seila, thank you both for accepting me, even though I was just an extra."
Myrin had told him to use her name. Seila hadn't.
So the formality lingered between them, a little out of place—but she didn't seem to mind, not now, when they were about to go their separate ways.
"Not at all," Hei replied. "If you see us during the exam, come say hi. If not, I hope we all meet again after we pass."
Hei wasn't especially close to Colt yet, but the guy seemed decent enough. There was no reason not to be friendly.
Myrin nodded in agreement.
With that, Colt said his goodbyes and left, though a part of him lingered.
***
After Colt left, Myrin asked, "Do you think he'll pass the exam?"
Seila answered, "Yes. He definitely will," surprising the others.
But Hei just smirked. "So, you've noticed it too."
"I have," Seila answered.
Even though Myrin was sharper than most, whenever she was with these two, she couldn't help feeling a little dense.
So she asked, "Noticed what?"
"Didn't you see how calm he was when the bandits attacked?" Seila said. "At first, I thought he was frozen in fear. He's a commoner—he probably hasn't seen something like that before."
She turned to Myrin. "Do you remember the first time your carriage was attacked?"
"Of course. I was with my grandfather. He smiled and told me everything would be fine."
"Yes, it was probably around the same for all of us. But he wasn't the same." Seila said.
"What do you mean? Can't he be braver than us?" Myrin asked.
"It is not that," Hei continued instead of Seila. "When we underwent that experience for the first time, we were scared.
But now, we are not scared. We know what will happen and trust our guards. However, he wasn't like us.
He wasn't just "not scared" as if he had gone through that before. He was like my father, or maybe your grandfather, experienced.
He calmly thought about every scenario and calculated. Thankfully, what he had assumed didn't happen, but it was in every way within the bounds of possibility.
We were just lucky that it didn't happen. But if it did, and if he was just a bit stronger, he would be the one saving us.
Like my father did when the guards weren't enough one time...
That could only mean he must have been through a lot of battles before.
That is the only way to keep calm during these kinds of chaotic moments.
So, yes, he will pass the exam."
---
Meanwhile, Colt was already on his way back.
He had just arrived in the city—and now, he was leaving again.
He couldn't ignore it after he'd seen a problem, and it needed to be handled before it grew worse.
And someone had dared to attack the caravan Seila was riding in. He couldn't just let that go.
Once he passed through the city gates, he vanished from sight and took to the air, flying back toward the area where the ambush had taken place.
That way, he could track the bandits down to their hiding spots.