- Submerged Fish Hunt -

Khun wondered why is this girl, this little puppy, is being different toward him and Hoh when the two of them kept snatching Bam's attention from her.

He was curious about that.

But when he heard about the answer, he remained silent.

"Because....you are prettier than him?"

She wasn't even sure with her answer. She just hoped to find an opening to escape from this interrogation.

Her answer was simple yet sounded childish. It sounded like something a child would answer.

He chuckled when he heard that.

"So you don't mind me spending my time with your brother since I am more attractive than Hoh?" Khun asked.

Fortunately Altaira wasn't there to listen everything otherwise, he would probably laugh until his stomach hurts. Charlotte herself thought that maybe it would be better if she starts to look for a shovel to dig her own grave and jumped inside it. Her answer was getting weirder and weirder.

But she wasn't wrong though. Khun was more attractive looking than Hoh.

"Then what about Hatz? Is he also attractive in your eyes?" Khun asked.

Charlotte pondered about it for awhile before she innocently nodded her head, "Yeah. He isn't that bad."

"What about Altaira?"

"Of course he is also one" Charlotte immediately answered without hesitation.

Khun thought it Bam heard all her words, then he would definitely roll up his sleeves and figure out a way how to deal with this Altaira. The two of them never liked each other from the beginning because of this girl.

"Are you here just to ask me this kind of question?" She asked.

"If you want me to ask about something else, then let me ask you, why do you give the Black March to Anaak?" Khun asked. "Have you ever considered that there is the chance that she would betray you?"

Charlotte looked at him for awhile before she lowered her head. Being carried away by their conversation, Charlotte had just realized that she has been talking to this man while walking to somewhere else. She should go and look for Altaira and Celeste.

"Of course I know that she might betray me but....."

"But what?"

"Since I have given the Black March, I believe in her" Charlotte said to Khun. "Trust is something simple and plain, but it's quite dangerous since if you trusted the wrong person, then there will be the chance that you will be betrayed. I have given her the Black March since I believe in her and since I have believe in her, then why not believe in her until the end? Simple right?"

Khun didn't say a word for awhile. But he silently felt that Charlotte was taking everything lightly. But still, since she had given the Black March to Anaak, there would be nothing good if they tried to take it again.

"You take things too lightly" he said. "Don't regret your decision."

"I won't" Charlotte said. "Because my biggest fear is to die with regrets."

"Speaking as if you going to die soon."

Well, she had died once. And she felt that her death came too fast right when she had just started the new page of her life, after she moved on from the past and was about to start a new beginning.

When Charlotte saw a white butterfly, she knew that Celeste was looking for her. She must have left too long.

"I guess Celeste is looking for me now" Charlotte said. "Then I should be going."

"Do you know that whenever you want run away, you would always Bam, Celeste or Altaira as an excuse?"

This made Charlotte froze.

Awkwardly, she asked Khun, "Did I.....really do that?"

He just smiled without saying a word.

Charlotte will take that as a 'yes'.

But why she never notice it? Ah, it was because she was too focused in running away that she didn't notice it. Whenever she felt that the atmosphere was too awkward, whenever she didn't want to talk to someone even when the person wasn't Khun, she would always use their names to run away. It seemed like Khun had noticed it and didn't believe in her.

Or, he was just waiting for her reaction. He was just smiling as if he was waiting for her to make the move.

Thinking about her own situation, she recalled the story about a herder with his sheep. The herder felt bored and so, he kept tricking the villagers by saying that there were some wolves hunting down his sheep for his own amusement. After being tricked again and again, the villagers didn't believe in him again. When there were indeed wolves hunting down his sheep, none of the villagers helped since the herder had tricked them again and again. The herder was left with nothing at the end.

"I.... I...." How should Charlotte explain this to him? If she didn't explain it right, then he will think that she was just avoiding on purpose and she didn't want to risk offending him.

Khun glanced at the silver butterfly. He knew who was the owner of the butterfly and then looked again at Charlotte. He said, "I'm just messing with you. Why are you being so anxious? Since Celeste is looking for you, then you can't make her wait right?"

Charlotte didn't really believe in Khun. Charlotte found it weird when he suddenly let her off hook like this but she can't guess what he was thinking. It was seriously hard to guess what he was thinking.

But still, since he let her go, then Charlotte should take that chance. Thus, she left to look for the others.

•••

For some time, Charlotte felt that she had improved.

She had dodged Altaira's fist once for the first time and then attempted to hit him back. She smiled happily when she felt that she had improved. But her strength was still lacking from Altaira who then hit her head on purpose.

"Don't go ahead of yourself" Altaira said. "You are just lucky."

Her Brother Altaira didn't want to admit that he looked down upon her and that she managed to dodge that one fist.

"Really? My luck has always been harsh to me" Charlotte said. "This time, it seems like it has improved."

Altaira didn't want to admit it but Charlotte was indeed a fast learner. She had improved even though it wasn't enough and because he lowered his guard that she almost hit him.

"Anyway, where is Celeste?" Charlotte asked and looked around.

"Ah, I guess she went to buy me a drink" Altaira replied.

"She buys you a drink but doesn't buy one for me?" Charlotte asked. "Did something happen between the two of you that I don't know? I feel that I am missing something here-"

He hit Charlotte's head again.

"You don't train properly and talk about nonsense" Altaira said in irritation. "It seems like I am too lenient on you."

This time, his hit was harder. Charlotte hissed in pain and rubbed the back of her head. She looked at Altaira and said, "I was just messing with you, you don't have to hit me so hard." Then, she smiled again playfully and asked, "Or could it be that......?"

She dodged Altaira's fist that wanted to hit her and then ran away from him while laughing.

•••

Soon enough, the day of the final test has arrived. The regulars were gathered in one place. Hansung Yu the coffee addict and Lero-Ro were also there.

"We will now begin the final exam" Hansung Yu declared. "The name of the final test is...... Submerged Fish Hunt."

Just like its name, they were supposed to hunt the fishes. But the one who will hunt the fishes weren't the regulars, but the herders.

The herders were also called as Goby Dolphin or also the chaser.

"Since we aren't here to hunt the fishes" Khun asked Hansung Yu. "Then what is our role?"

Turned out, their rules were to protect those herders from the predators. Bam, Rachel or Michelle Light and Charlotte would be the fishes who will be guided by the herders to the queen. They will be inside of the special shinsu bubble and their lives will be guaranteed if they reached to the queen safely.

There were several predators for this Goby Dolphins. One of them was the Barnacle Goblins or the thieves. They were called as the thieves since they were the one who stole the fishes that the Goby Dolphins has been keeping by using their worms. If the three of the chosen regulars were devoured by the worm, then they would lose.

The thieves also had their own enemies, the dogs or the stripped earth pig. Since the dogs ate the Goby Dolphins that were supposed to deliver foods for the thieves, then the dogs were the the thieves' enemies.

Hansung Yu said that the dogs were similar with Rak, Charlotte looked at Rak. Looking at him from head until toes, Charlotte didn't see their similarities at all.

The last one was the bull. Hansung Yu said that the bull was the strange creature that appeared in the last few years and is also quite strong. The bull stood on the top of the food chains. They had huge appetites and they could also eat humans. If this creature appeared on the test, then it would be a trouble for the regulars.

Hansung Yu said that the bull's silhouette was similar with Rak. Charlotte thought that they did have a litttle similarity.

But she was still concerned about being the fish. She had very bad feeling about this.

•••

The shinsu bubble that has been prepared for the three of them was more comfortable than what she thought. It was also transparent as she was able to see the fishes swimming around.

If it wasn't for the fact that she was in the middle of the bubble with an enemy and that they were in the middle of the test, she would have relaxed for a bit. She thought that if she was about to jump from the shinsu bubble, then it would seriously be painful.

Noah who has been looking at the view then walked close to Charlotte. He sat down next to her, "These fishes are swimming against current."

"They look like as if they are struggling to go against the fate" Charlotte said.

Noah looked at her and asked, "Why do you say so?"

"Imagine the water as the 'fate' and the fishes are us, trying to survive and keep on moving forward" Charlotte answered. After several moments of pause, she added, "Forget it. I was just saying nonsense. Let's just admire the view here."

Noah didn't know whether it was weird for him to think like this but staying inside the shinsu bubble and looked at such interesting view made him felt calmer. And he was sure that Charlotte also felt the same. He didn't want to argue for this moment.

"If you say that it's nonsense, then let it be" Noah said and Charlotte smiled a little.

Bam, "........"

Rachel, "........"

'Who is she talking with?'

•••

The two Zahard Princesses, the strongest pair among the team arrived right on the time to save Shibisu. Celeste was also there.

"You guys come!" Shibisu happily said.

He was genuinely happy that the two of them come to save them but when the two of them were bickering like usual at each other, he remained silent.

Shibisu, "......."

Celeste, "........"

Celeste was blocked by these two princesses who kept bickering non-stop and can't walk to pass through them to save Shibisu. She can't disturb them either for she didn't want to irritate the two princesses and get hit instead.

When Khun said that the two of them were their wild cards, Shibisu and Celeste wondered whether he knew that these two wild cards, this pair of aunt and niece, these two Zahard Princesses would bicker around each other. The enemy was before them but bickering and insulting at each other seemed to be more important to them.

"I'm out" Endorsi said as she sat down after bickering. "This place is dark, annoying and disgusting. Why do I have to hunt for it? You look similar to the bull, why don't you hunt that bull down, lizard?"

Anaak and Endorsi were just like rivals but they were also close. The two of them would do anything to annoy each other. Since Endorsi asked Anaak to deal with the bull, then of course, she would do the opposite.

She sat down and looked away, "I won't. Deal it by yourself."

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" Shibisu shouted with his bleeding head. "DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE?!"

Endorsi, "Why not?"

Anaak, "Don't care."

Shibisu, "........"

"Then can I go now to save him?" Celeste asked. She felt that she had to ask these two princesses before she stepped from a certain line.

"Do whatever you want" the princesses answered in sync.

Without further hesitation, Celeste immediately pulled out her sword and then fought with the bull. But the bull was tougher than what Celeste had expected.

With her dealing with the bull, Shibisu was safe.

While watching Celeste doing her work, Anaak and Endorsi remained quiet for a moment. These aunt and niece had finally calmed down for a bit and for awhile.

"Be honest, you are actually scared, aren't you?" Anaak asked Endorsi.

Endorsi laughed sarcastically, "Haha, right. What about you? Do you feel bad for killing it since it is just like a family to you?"

"Right now, I really want to kill you" Anaak responded.

"Then...." Endorsi turned her head around to look at Anaak. "Let's see who could kill it first."

Anak wondered what was Endorsi up to by saying those words.

"We will take turn for 5 minutes" Endorsi said. "Whoever could catch down that bull first will be the winner."

"And what will the prize be?"

"Black March" Endorsi immediately answered. "In return, I will bet with everything I have.".

"Even if you bet with your life, it's unfair" Anaak said and looked uninterested. She had just gotten the Black March and didn't want to risk it.

But then, she grinned as she changed her mind.

"Alright, let's do it" Anaak said and Endorsi smiled. But her smile disappeared for a moment when Anaak added, "But if you lose, you'll have to be my slave. How's that?"

Endorsi smiled again, "Fine. But I will go first then."

"Whatever" Anaak replied.

Celeste who has been fighting with that bull realized that there was something wrapped around her ankle and then she fell down. The culprits were the two princesses.

"Your time is up, Arie" Endorsi said.

"I told you I am not an Arie....." Celeste said. But seeing the two of them have stood up, "Have the two of you finish bickering and decide to make yourself useful?"

"Yeah, it's my turn now" Endorsi said. "Just sit down and watch me finish it."

Celeste obeyed. She stood up, wiped the dusts from her clothes, walked and then sat down next to Anaak.

It was now Endorsi's turn and it took her less than 5 minutes to take down the bull.

Celeste wad sure that Endorsi could have killed the bull if she wanted to but the way Endorsi behaved looked like as if she was just playing with that bull.

And she was indeed messing with that bull and enjoy her sweet time.

When Shibisu was cheering for Endorsi and Anaak looked irritated, Celeste felt that there was something wrong. But she can't tell what it was. She just held her sword tightly since she had a strong ominous feeling.