Chapter 145: Chapter 143
The excitement vanished instantly. Some students looked disappointed while others outright pouted while staring at me.
"That’s it?"
"I wanted to get closer to her."
"She really doesn’t want a loyal servant?"
One student looked genuinely heartbroken. "I don’t even need a salary. Being close to her would be enough."
Another nodded solemnly. "Having her as a master must be nice."
"Right?"
"She acts cold but she’s actually sweet."
"I’m so jealous of Gawain."
"I wish I was Gawain."
"Same."
"Honestly, same."
I chose to ignore every single word coming out of their mouths for the sake of my sanity.
Instead, I grabbed a nearby chair, sat down, then crossed my legs. "Like I said, let’s exchange flags."
The students blinked.
"Then I’ll willingly stay here."
"Let’s exchange flags then I’ll willingly stay here."
One of them immediately raised an eyebrow. "Why would we do that when you’re technically our hostage?"
"Simple."
I folded my arms and did my best to look convincing.
"Altaire class would do everything just to rescue me."
Meanwhile, inside my head—
They are probably celebrating right now.
There’s a good chance they’ve thrown a party.
Somebody is probably giving a speech about finally having peace and quiet.
Outwardly, however, I maintained a serious expression.
"My classmates would completely go crazy if they found out I was captured."
The Soltaire students exchanged glances before nodding.
"Fair."
"She’s Blanca."
"I’d launch a rescue mission."
"I’d launch several."
"I’d launch one even if she wasn’t from my class."
"Same."
I paused.
’Why were they helping my argument?’
I wasn’t even sure I believed my own argument.
Still, since they seemed convinced, I decided to keep going.
"So if we exchange peacefully, you get a cooperative hostage and can spend your energy kidnapping someone else’s flag instead of wasting your resources defending me."
The students began murmuring amongst themselves.
"That makes sense."
"It actually does."
"But keeping her sounds exhausting."
One student looked at me. "How exhausting?"
Meanwhile, I unconsciously reached toward my side for a drink but my hand grabbed air.
I frowned but before I could even lower my hand, several students suddenly lunged into action.
In an instant, students were kneeling in front of me and presenting different drinks.
They were staring at me expectantly but I was staring at the student who was holding a coconut.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Where did you even get that coconut with a straw?"
The student proudly puffed out his chest. "Outside."
"We’re in the middle of a forest."
"Yes."
"There are no coconut trees here."
The student immediately pointed at another student. "He found it."
The accused student looked offended. "Don’t drag me into this."
A fourth student was now approaching with iced tea.
A fifth had somehow acquired soda.
A sixth was carrying what looked like fresh squeezed fruit juice.
I felt a headache coming. "Why do you all suddenly have drinks?"
The students looked confused as one of them bravely answered.
"You looked thirsty."
"That’s not the point."
Another immediately stepped forward.
"What do you prefer?"
"Coconut?"
"Soda?"
"Juice?"
"Tea?"
"Or me?"
The entire camp went silent before the nearest student shoved him in the back of the head. "Stop dreaming."
A second student pushed him too. "That’s Blanca."
A third joined in. "I’m sure she has completely unreasonable standards."
A fourth crossed his arms. "You as one of the choices made all the drinks look bad."
A fifth looked offended. "How did you even make the list?"
The unfortunate student was gradually pushed farther and farther away until he was practically exiled from the conversation.
Meanwhile, the others continued as if nothing had happened.
"I can make hot chocolate! You want it sweet or not?"
I looked toward the student. "We’re in a combat exam."
"I can still make hot chocolate."
The terrifying part was that he sounded confident.
I looked down at the collection of drinks surrounding me then looked back at the students waiting for my choice.
"I’m not thirsty—"
"Choose."
"Choose."
"Choose."
"Choose or we’ll tie you up here."
"Excuse me?"
The students nodded seriously.
"Until you choose."
"Nobody leaves."
"The camp’s future depends on this."
I sighed and leaned back in my chair.
"Fine."
The students immediately leaned forward only to back away when I casually dropped the bomb.
"Tie me up and Altaire Class will empty all your supplies, rescue me, and capture your flag."
That shut them up.
"Seeing how none of you are willing to surrender your flag," I said as I stood up from my chair, "then this is goodbye."
The students immediately panicked.
"Wait—!"
"No—!"
"Please—!"
"Stay a little longer!"
"I haven’t finished preparing the hot chocolate!"
I ignored them all and continued walking towards the edge of their territory.
Several students looked like they were about to physically block my path while others looked like they were debating whether kidnapping me was worth the consequences.
Fortunately for them, I made the decision first.
The moment I stepped across the territorial line, a sack suddenly dropped over my head.
"What—"
Before I could react, someone grabbed me and the next thing I knew, I was being hauled off the ground.
The Soltaire students collectively lost their minds.
"DAMN YOU FILTHY RATS!"
"GIVE HER BACK!"
"SHE’S OURS!"
The students carrying me didn’t even slow down.
"What do you mean she’s yours?!"
"She’s ours now!"
"Finder’s keepers!"
"She willingly crossed the line!"
"BYE SUCKERS!"
The Soltaire students erupted into incoherent screaming.
"You monsters!"
"You thieves!"
"You barbarians!"
"We were negotiating!"
"She was about to choose which beverage she wants to drink!
The other class only cackled like villains.
Meanwhile, I was slung over someone’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Trees blurred past, branches smacked against my legs, and every step felt like my internal organs were being rearranged.
I bounced once.
Thrice.
Five times.
By the tenth bounce, I was seeing my ancestors.
"DAMN IT!"
Nobody listened.
"CAN YOU SLOW DOWN?!"
Still nothing.
"MY STOMACH IS HURTING FROM THIS BUMPY RIDE!"
The student carrying me finally answered between breaths. "We can’t!"
"WHY NOT?!"
"Because half of the Soltaire class is chasing us!"
"Oh."
Behind us, I could hear dozens of students crashing through the forest.
"DON’T LET THEM ESCAPE!"
"GET BLANCA BACK!"
"WE SPENT TWO HOURS TRAINING HER!"
"What do you mean training me?!"
Nobody answered.
The kidnappers somehow ran even faster while I could only rely on my hearing.
I hear leaves crunching, students screaming, someone tripping, and someone else yelling tactical commands.
This was no longer a combat exam.
This was a custody battle.
And apparently I was the child being fought over.
"Put me down!"
"No!"
"Why?!"
"Because you’re worth too many points!"
"I’M A PERSON!"
"YOU’RE A FLAG!"
"THAT’S WORSE!"
The student carrying me actually had the audacity to pat my back.
"There, there."
I immediately smacked the back of his head as he nearly ran into a tree.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Voltes Class Territory
The student carrying me finally skidded to a stop at the edge of a territory marked with violet ribbons, the sack covering my head finally slipping off.
He immediately turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"HAHAHA! COME ON!"
The Soltaire students were still gathered at the border.
"STEP INSIDE! I DARE YOU!"
He even spread his arms dramatically as if welcoming honored guests into a palace instead of a combat exam.
To my complete shock, all of the Soltaire students actually took a step forward and the moment their feet crossed the territorial boundary—
WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Metal panels hidden beneath leaves and dirt slid open.
My jaw dropped when I saw three VX-99 Nova Lancer unfolding from the ground with glowing blue barrels.
Beside them, two Aegis-X Particle Mortars rotated into firing position.
Then came the enormous Titanbreaker Rail Cannons, their magnetic coils humming ominously.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, two Helios-Class Orbital Marker Array unfolded from the top of a tree and locked onto the intruders.
One of the Nova Lancers stopped less than an inch away from a Soltaire student’s face.
The student immediately crossed his eyes trying to look at the barrel.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Nope."
He slowly stepped back and the weapon returned to its original position.
The Soltaire students collectively retreated behind the border as I kept my gaze at the weapons, blinking multiple times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
’How the hell did they even carry these things here?’
More importantly—
’HOW WERE THESE EVEN INCLUDED IN THE SUPPLIES?!’
One of the Voltes students proudly patted a nearby artillery cannon. "Beautiful, isn’t she?"
"THAT’S A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION!"
"Technically it’s for defense."
"Defense against what?!"
"Students."
I shut up. ’That’s fair enough.’
Meanwhile, the Soltaire students could only stand outside the border and suffer.
"You thieves!"
"Give her back!"
"We fed her!"
"We gave her drinks!"
"We were emotionally attached!"
The Voltes students immediately burst out laughing.
"Yap all you want!"
"We have her now!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
One student climbed onto a crate. "Your hostage crossed the border willingly!"
Another pointed at me. "Look at her!"
Everyone looked to see I was still staring at the artillery.
The student proudly nodded. "See? She’s already happy here."
"I JUST GOT HERE!"
"Well she’s amazed."
"I’m terrified."
"Same thing."
The Soltaire students looked ready to commit murder.
Eventually, the Voltes students stopped taunting them and retreated deeper into their territory.
Only after they were a safe distance away did they finally put me down.
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