Hearing my team approach, I reluctantly sit up and wrap the blanket I’m lying on around my shoulders. Orphelia watches every movement like a hawk. In fact, everything about her makes me think of a predator. Not the looming dread that is my wife. More of a quiet pair of eyes, watching and waiting for its prey to make a mistake. It’s more disturbing than threatening.

The surface thoughts Geneva pulled from her cement that impression. Her mind is incredibly focused. From what my succubus tells me, people’s thoughts tend to wander. They can be shopping for ingredients and suddenly their thoughts will turn to the makings of the universe before going to their first love and returning back to the unreasonable prices.

Orphelia’s mind does not wander. She is always focused on the present, always working to draw information from every observation. Taking those observations and comparing them to others stored in her memory like a scholar comparing historical tomes. Her focus is unnatural and, if I’m being honest, a bit intimidating.

I can practically see her mind working as my team crowds the entrance of the shelter, staring at my guests. Cloud and Bell don’t bother, my imp scampering over to me while our guide goes for more of the meat.

“Ah!” Arthur is the first to break the silence, his eyes on Robert. “You’re that pansy bastard that wanted a fight before!” He cracked his knuckles with a smile. “Or maybe not so pansy. Came to settle things, mudlegs?”

Robert quietly gets to his feet. His hand goes to his waist and he frowns when he finds nothing there. That’s right, he had a sword earlier. Did I make him drop it? Heh, I was trying to be gentle. I forgot how much mass I’m walking around with now. What I thought was a thin tentacle knocked him on his ass and sent him flying.

“Lou,” Alana says in a dry tone, her tone demanding an explanation.

“This team wandered upon me on their last legs,” I say, trying to put a hint of innocence in my tone. “They needed food and healing. I could hardly leave them for the monsters. Besides, they promised a reward for their safety.” I hardly need it but why say no to more gold?

Alana’s eyes move to Orphelia, who smiles at her, then to Cecile, who waves. She scoffs. “Mm. Well, there’s not enough room for everyone.”

“There will be if we share blankets,” Orphelia quickly counters. “I’ve already volunteered to sleep with Lou.”

My friend sucks in a quick breath. I know she misunderstood that statement but reason prevails, her glare collapsing before it can fully form.

“Is there room for a third?” Cloud asks with a toothy grin, flashing teeth that are a bit too sharp.

“Coo!”

I clear my throat. “We can make it work.”

“Or we can throw them out to fend for themselves,” Marthe says without mercy.

“How dare you?” The boy with the platinum blonde hair and blue eyes jumps to his feet. I barely noticed him before as he quickly settled down with his meal like the others but after a little rest, he seems good as new. “By no means are we lying out in the mud like animals. You should be honored to offer aid to us.”

I see him square his shoulders, preparing to launch into a tirade. Orphelia is ready to intervene but I stop here with a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” I whisper. “I have the final say. Sit and enjoy the show.”

She takes a breath of a moment to decide before settling down.

“You clearly don’t recognize me so allow me to introduce myself. I am Sebas Hoffen, son of Syrius Hoffen and blood of the king.”

Oh, wrong approach. Forget the monsters. Marthe seems ready to kill him herself.

“My team will be using this shelter tonight. If you are loyal citizens of the kingdom, it will be your honor to offer aid to the royal family. I will be sure to speak with the instructors on your behalf.” He finishes with his head tilted back, looking down on my team with imperious eyes.

Not a single one of them is impressed.

“You can sleep outside with Arthur,” I say lazily.

His incredulous “What?” is slightly covered by Arthur’s offended “Haaahh?!”

“Orphelia and Cloud with me, Alana and Marthe, William and the brown-haired guy there, and Cecile, you’ll sleep with Bell. Arthur, royal idiot, and Mr. Talented can all sleep outside the entrance. Geo will make sure you stay warm.”

“Why me?” Robert asks.

“Again, did no one around you have manners? Since when do men and women sleep in the same room? As a gentleman, you should have volunteered to sleep outside.”

“Then why is Lanston sleeping inside?”

I look at the brown-haired boy, or Lanston. He’s been quiet as a mouse and jumps to attention at the mention of his name. He flashes me a shy smile, a finger scratching behind his ear. “They hardly count.”

Lanston flushes having his masculinity called into question but wisely doesn’t protest. After all, he’s the one sleeping with a roof over his head. William is the same, shoulders sagging with a deep sigh.

“I don’t accept!” Sebas fumes. “I’m not sleeping out there when there is plenty of room inside.” He gestured toward Marthe. “Send the commoner, they’re used to rolling in dirt.”

“You’re not in charge, shiny,” Marthe growls.

“She’s right. You’re not in charge. I am.” I stand, the blanket falling off me. Credit to him for not looking away or flinching. “And I say you sleep out there. You should be kissing each of my toes for offering to protect you despite your horrific manners.”

“I won’t stand for this. Who do you think you are? I—kuh!”

His words cut off as I dash over to him and grab him by the throat. “A free lesson for you,” I whisper, channeling my wife’s ‘teaching’ tone. “You are a very important man. No doubt threatening people with your family has cowled people stronger than you and it will cowl many more. But in this world, there exists crazy people like me who won’t care about the consequences.

“The king and all his royal knights are in the capital, faaaar away from us. Much too far to stop me from snapping your neck.” I chuckle as his hands claw at me. “Sure, if I hurt you, I might face unimaginable consequences but…”

I grab one of his wrists, pulling it off me and casually twisting it. The bone snaps audibly. A strangled scream passes his lips and he kicks at me, the blows entirely useless. “That doesn’t stop me from hurting you.” I move down, grasping his pinky between two fingers. His eyes are wide with fear and he tries his best to shake his head. I snap it anyway. His scream comes out as a gurgle, tears leaking from his eyes.

“It doesn’t stop me from killing you.” I toss him away and he falls down. His teeth are grit as he cradles his injured hand to his chest, trembling and crying silently.

“What’s the saying? One man’s trash is another man’s gold. Things are worth different amounts to different people. To majority of the kingdom, you may be a living treasure as a member of the royal family. To me, you aren’t worth a damn thing. You have no leverage. So, when I say you sleep outside, you say ‘thank you Lady Tome for protecting my sorry ass’ and you sleep outside with a saints damned smile, dumbass!”

The shelter is silent except for his whimpering. I control an urge to roll my eyes. Really, people. I beat a prince senseless. Did you think I would be intimidated by a nephew? He’s not even allowed to use the royal Harvest name. The only thing that remains of my irrational fear of royalty is a lingering resentment. Hmph. If you want me to deal with a shitty attitude, you better at least be a beautiful princess.

“Bell, heal him. Is there anyone else that has a problem with the sleeping arrangements?”

“…you are an animal,” Robert says with clear disgust.

To contrast him, Arthur is wearing a big smile. “Aye, captain! No complaints from me.”

“Good.” I casually walk back to my blanket, throwing it around my shoulders. “How’d your hunt go?”

“We found a den and managed to get a couple.” Alana raises seven mamaroons by their tails. “They started running. Things can practically swim through the earth.”

“No problem. You’ve completed the bare minimum.” Geneva plucked a thought from Orphelia’s mind that a team only needs twenty-five points to pass. It begs the question how she knows exactly what the instructors are looking for, which contributes to my opinion that she is nowhere near as simple as she wants me to believe. “There’s always tomorrow if you want to give it another shot.”

“…no. We’ve demonstrated that we can accomplish the objective on our own. There is a difference between proving our ability and running ourselves ragged.”

Alana steps past me to drop her kills next to my pile. Then she settles onto a blanket, removing her sword and taking off her armor. The others follow suit, making themselves comfortable and grabbing more meat. A few conversations are struck up, the atmosphere becoming warm as new friendships are formed and old ones are deepened. Meanwhile, Robert and Sebas are wearing tight expressions as a malicious Arthur hovers beside them near the entrance.

Night falls on the first day of the test.