The first thing Red heard when he came to was the sound of birds. The sunlight shone from above, making him squint from the sudden influx of brightness.

‘So it’s already been a day?’

The boy wasn’t surprised. He lost track of time inside the hidden realm, but he was certain at least a day passed. He collected himself, examining his surroundings.

Red was in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees. This alone told him nothing about his location, though, and he couldn’t see any signs of the hole he used to enter the underground.

The hawk said it would teleport them back to a safe spot away from prowling bandits, yet it never said where this was going to be. Red could only hope that Narcha and Eiwin were close by.

Before anything, though, the boy put on his magic bracelet. He didn’t feel anything happen to his body, and when he ran his hand over the side of his face he could still feel the scales. However, using the reflection of the shiny silver bracelet itself, Red saw his appearance had seemingly returned to normal. Satisfied, he hid the bracelet beneath his uniform’s sleeves and moved forward.

The boy walked in a random direction, using his crimson sense to scout the way. His detection range had increased to just over 200 meters since he entered the trials, and he felt himself capable of pinpointing even more fluctuations, as well as telling them apart.

It didn’t take him long to notice a handful of human fluctuations. It wasn’t whom he was expecting, though.

‘What are they doing here?’

Red was puzzled. He approached their location, and the sound of frantic conversation reached his ears.

“Quick, young master! We need to bring him back to the sect!” a man’s voice said with urgency.

“I-I’m trying my best.” a child’s voice said back.

Red continued to approach them, and he finally spotted the figures. Rimold was carrying Rog’s unconscious body on his back, while Allen struggled to keep up with his rhythm.

They all froze as they came face to face with Red.

“Y-You…” Rimold looked as if he had just seen a ghost. “What are you doing here?!”

“Red!” Allen exclaimed in joy. This joy was soon replaced by dismay. “Wait, Red?! H-How can you be here?! You said you were going to help Rog and the others!”

Red frowned in confusion. “What do you mean? The trial has already ended.”

“What do you mean, you bastard?!” Rimold glared at him. “We have just left that place! How could it have ended?!”

The boy’s frown deepened. He understood something strange was at play here. How could Rimold and Allen still be in the forest after so many hours had gone by since they left the trial? He recalled the hawk’s words.

“I’m telling the truth.” he said. “The trial has already ended. I was inside there for more than half a day since you left.”

The rogue’s expression faltered as the boy said this. “B-But how is that even possible?!”

“I don’t know, but you saw it yourself.” Red said. “I told the spirit I was going to continue the trial, so why would I leave immediately after?”

“I-It must be temporal magic!” Allen interjected with an eager expression. “I heard about it before!”

“Ugh, listen, none of this matters right now! I believe in him!” Rimold shook his head in frustration. He looked at Red with anticipation. “Did you get the medicine?”

The young master also seemed to remember something as he stared at Red with worry. “What about Narcha and Eiwin? Did you find them?”

“I don’t have the pill.” Red shook his head. “I gave all the spirit stones I collected to Narcha and Eiwin, though.”

“And where are they?” the rogue asked in confusion. “Shouldn’t they have left with you?”

“We got split up. It’s hard to explain right now, but… They should have the pill. As long as we can find them, then we should be able to feed it to Rog.”

Allen showed genuine joy at these words. “That’s great! We should hurry to find them!”

Rimold sighed in relief. “Let’s do that. The sooner we find them, the sooner we can heal Rog and leave this cursed place behind.” he looked over at Red. “You seem to be in a very good condition, so why don’t you lead the way?”

Red examined his companions’ state. They didn’t have time to heal any of their wounds from the battle with the flaming stag. In contrast, the boy didn’t seem to have suffered the slightest injury, despite his torn uniform.

He nodded. “Then follow me. I think they should be nearby.”

Red moved ahead, while his companions followed behind him in a hurry.

Allen, however, was far too curious to remain silent. “What happened in there, Red? Did you fight any more monsters? Did you win the trial?”

“I fought plenty of monsters. No, I did not win the trial.” Red didn’t hesitate to lie. It would be far too troublesome for him to reveal this information to his sect members at the moment, much more so after what he had learned about Hector.

“What kind of monsters did you fight? Were they as strong as that stag? Did you go through any more labyrinths?” the young master barraged him with questions. “Wait! What about Reinhart? Do you know what happened to him?”

“It’s not convenient to speak about this right now.” Red shook his head. “We can talk about it once we return to the sect.”

Allen seemed to be disappointed by this, but he kept silent. As for Rimold, he gave the boy a meaningful gaze, but Red ignored it. There were still certain things he would like to confirm before speaking about anything that happened in the trial.

The group continued to walk through the forest while Rimold carried the unconscious Rog on his back. It didn’t take long, however, for Red to detect the fluctuation of the rest of his companions.

“They’re close.” the boy said.

“Then let’s hurry!” Allen said, urging them on, even in his limping state.

Red thought about warning the young master about what state he might find Narcha and Eiwin in, but he thought better about it. They moved forward and soon found the women sitting against a tree side by side, tending to their wounds.

Much to Red’s surprise, it seemed like Eiwin was conscious.

Allen’s face lit up upon spotting them. “Eiwin, Narcha!”

He ran towards them.

“Wha- You brat!” Narcha glared at the boy as he threw himself to hug them. “We’re injured! Be careful, you-”

“I-I was so worried…” Allen’s figure trembled, as he seemed on the verge of tears.

The warrior grunted, some of her anger subsiding. “Worried for what?”

“I-I thought I was going to die. B-But then when I heard you two were still there… I wanted to keep going, but… I was too weak.”

“It’s fine, young master.” Eiwin patted the boy’s back. “You did your part, and that’s all that matters.”

Allen nodded and stepped back, holding back his tears. He tried to put on a brave expression. “N-Next time I won’t run away… I learnt a lot from Red. I-I will be prepared.”

Rimold cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation. “I’m sure this is all very emotional, but must I remind you lot about the unconscious hunter I’m carrying on my back?”

“Ugh, it’s you.” Narcha frowned, staring at the man in disgust.

“Didn’t you mean to say ‘thank you for saving the two kids, Mister Rimold’?” the rogue spat back.

“If anything, I bet it was the kids that saved you.”

“Please, Miss Valt, Mister Rimold.” Eiwin interjected. “Let us tend to our wounded companion before devolving into another spat, shall we?”

None of them complained about it. Rimold stepped forward, laying the unconscious Rog on the forest ground.

Eiwin stood up and approached the hunter, examining his wounds. She had a sad expression. “Thankfully, you managed to save him. We should have stayed behind with him instead of rushing into that cavern.”

Behind her, Narcha’s expression worsened, but she remained silent.

Eiwin took something out of her pouch. It was a bright red pill. She fed it to the unconscious Rog and made sure he swallowed it. Once she was done, she stepped back and examined the man.

Complete silence settled around them as everyone waited with bated breath for something to happen. Still, even after a minute had passed, Rog showed no signs of waking up again.

Rimold frowned at this sight. “Is that it? Wasn’t something else supposed to happen?”

“Stop yapping.” Narcha glared at the man. “Not every medicine has a showy effect.”

The rogue gritted his teeth, but didn’t respond.

“This pill is meant to expel the hostile energy lingering inside his body and repair his crippled veins.” Eiwin said. “The spirit didn’t specify a time frame for this recovery, though, and there are a lot of pills with slow acting effec-”

“ARGH!”

A scream of pain interrupted the woman. Rog lurched up from the ground, eyes wide open as he grabbed onto his chest in pain. The man took a few deep breaths before devolving into a fit of coughing.

Everyone watched the hunter in shock, afraid of even breathing too loudly. Finally, though, Rog seemed to calm down as his coughs ceased. He looked around himself, surprised at having so many people staring at him.

“Where are we?” the hunter asked.

“In the forest.” Red was the one to recover from his shock first. “You were wounded in that fight against the deer. We had to carry you out and get some special pill to heal you.”

“Huh.” Rog went to scratch his beard, only to notice an absence of hair on his chin. “… Where did my hair go?”

“It got burned off.” the boy said. “Most of your body was burned, actually.”

“I see.” the hunter nodded with a sad expression. “Thanks for saving me, I guess.”

“There’s no need for thanks.” Red shook his head. “If it wasn’t for you, I would be dead.”

“Hey! This brat wasn’t the only one that helped!” Rimold interjected. “We all did our part! Narcha and Eiwin even had to exchange twenty spirit stones for a pill to save you!”

Rog frowned. “Spirit Stones? Exchange? What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Eiwin shook her head. “What matters is how you feel right now. Can you walk?

The hunter nodded. “Should be able to. I feel weak, but it’s not immobilizing.”

“Good. We can explain everything once we get back to our sect.” she looked over at Red. “How did it go?”

The boy shook his head. This was to indicate he hadn’t won - an absolute lie, but Red wouldn’t entertain telling them the truth until he had weighed all the risks involved in the process.

The others observed this interaction with interest, all but Narcha, who still seemed to be sulking by the side with her own thoughts. Most of the warriors’ wounds had healed, which Red assumed was due to some pill she had exchanged with the spirit, but he wasn’t going to ask about it at this moment.

“Then let us be on our way.” Eiwin said. “Even with the trial done, there are too many dangers still remaining in this forest.”

The others were quick to agree. They didn’t know if there were any more bandits around, or any more imperials, for that matter. Not to mention, Red also knew Rickard hadn’t died at that last part of the trial, and although the man was grievously injured, the boy would rather not cross paths with them.

They were about to continue walking, when Red felt several fluctuations enter his detection range.

He warned his companions. “Someone’s coming!”

They all immediately went for their weapons, but before they could even draw them, the new arrivals had already reached them.

“Worry not friends.” a man’s voice called out. “We are not here to fight. We merely wish to ask you some questions.”

A man completely covered in dark plate armor from head to toe stepped out from behind a few trees. There was a strange symbol of a golden sun in his breastplate, and the man had a large hammer strapped to his back. Behind him, four other individuals dressed in similar equipment stepped out to his sides too.

They didn’t surround the group, but their simple presence there was more than enough to intimidate Red and the others. The boy examined their fluctuations. Each of them, without exception, was in the Lesser Ring Realm.

“Cursebreakers.” Rimold said in a fearful tone.

Red recognized the name. They were the undead hunters.