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Putting their weapons back into their sheaths, the group awaited Albert's next words... but they never came as Albert just continued mindlessly gazing at the fog.

Whispering to Kevin right next to him, Liam asked.

"Hey, go ask him what we're supposed to do."

Nudging Liam's shoulders, Kevin met Liam's gaze and replied.

"Why don't you go ask?"

"...if you do it this time, I'll do it next time!"

"WHEN THE HELL IS THERE GOING TO BE A NEXT TIME!?"

Behind the two's bickering, Ruby was prepared to leave as she saw no signs of Ren, who was invisible to her unless she specifically looked at his location for more than a few seconds, and the battle seemed to be over.

On the other hand, Irene looked disappointed before meeting Ruby's gaze.

What were they supposed to do now?

Even further behind Liam and Kevin stood Lily, who stood there with her wand still ready to cast a spell, and Zach, who was just staring straight ahead without a thought.

Not a thought behind those eyes...

Finally, after what seemed to be ages, Albert noticed his companions growing increasingly restless, so he spoke with his gaze still locked onto the white fog.

"Before leaving this place, we must ensure the tree is no longer corrupted. If we allow it to be more corrupted, serious consequences will ensue."

Pausing for a moment, Albert scratched his chin before finally turning to face the group of students.

"And don't ask me how long we must stay here to keep guard. It could be an hour, a day, or even a week, depending on what the queen tells us. But don't worry, you all are free to leave; what you have done thus far has already been a great help."

Turning back to face the white fog, Albert raised his hands, waving goodbye, without even seeing their departure.

Looking at Kevin, who was about to utter complaints, Lily sighed before gesturing for the group to huddle.

"I think we should stay until, at the very least, the queen comes back and gives us some information."

As Zach and Irene nodded their heads with affirmation, Liam also replied.

"We've come this far, so it doesn't make sense for us to leave without seeing the conclusion anyway. It is quite sad that our last few days of vacation here might be spent in this tree..."

Patting Liam on the shoulder, Zach leaned over him and positively responded.

"Don't think of it that way, Liam. We're spending our vacation in a magical tree that only the queen and the prince know about! How lucky are we!?"

Stepping away from the ground, Ruby picked up a rock from the ground and stared at the normal cave for a second before muttering.

"Nothing special or lucky about this..."

Walking back over the group, Ruby had thought about leaving but quickly dismissed the idea, not because she wanted to stay but because she couldn't leave.

Staring at Albert's standing figure from a distance, Ruby pictured the smirk on his face even without seeing it before sighing.

"These kids would stay anyway to help... there was no need for you to lie or trick them."

As the group concluded that they would stay until more information arrived, everyone began hesitantly gazing at Kevin, who had been unnaturally quiet throughout the entire discussion.

There was only one question on everyone's mind.

How was Kevin going to react!?

It was like a game show!

Liam, holding his laughter, turned to Ruby and Irene before whispering.

"We're taking bets. I bet ten gold that he walks over to Albert and slaps him, and Lily puts ten gold that he just complains for an hour before giving up."

Holding out his cupped hands, Liam smiled before asking.

"You have any bets?"

"...we're good."

As Liam turned away from Irene and Ruby, the whole group became silent as Kevin stepped forward, and approached the cave's exit.

Showing no emotion, Kevin simply shrugged shoulders in response to the group's confused expressions before saying.

"What? You guys can stay here, can't you? You guys are more than enough to watch that stupid fog, so there's no really no need for me. I'll be taking my leave now!"

"FUCK, MY PARLAY!"

"..."

Ignoring Liam's outburst, Lily sighed before sitting on the cold, hard floor, oblivious to Kevin's actions.

This made Kevin even more angry as not even Irene and Ruby were paying attention to him as they were playing tic-tac-toe with rocks on the floor.

The only one paying attention to Kevin was Liam, who was on the floor in shambles after losing his ten gold coins.

Taking another step towards the exit of the cave, Kevin said.

"I'M REALLY DOING IT!"

But the outcome was the same: everyone in the room, except Liam, ignored him, more focused on whatever was in front of them.

Zach, who had remained silent until now, glanced at Kevin's departing figure before sitting down next to Lily and asking.

"...aren't you going to do something."

Shaking her head in response, Lily picked up a stick and began drawing an image on the cave floor while speaking.

"Don't worry, Kevin won't make it past the cave exit."

Completely missing Lily's point, Kevin quietly replied.

"Look, I know Kevin can have a bad attitude, but I'm sure he won't give up this time. I mean, look at him; he actually looks confident and ready to leave the cave."

Putting down her stick and staring at the scribbles on the cave floor, Lily sighed before replying.

"Zach... how exactly do you think he's going to leave the cave?"

Recalling their entrance to the cave and the spirit, Zach thought momentarily before realizing it.

"...ah"

Kevin didn't have any type of spirit, and Alya was gone alongside Albert being busy; it would be impossible for him to find a spirit and exit the World Tree.

In fact, there was no way for any of them to leave the World Tree!

Snickering from the corner of the room, Ren said to himself.

" 'Leave if you want,' my ass *PFFT* "

Noticing almost everyone's realization, Albert turned around briefly, with the exact smirk that Ruby had imagined, and said.

"Well... I can't watch this thing all day; we'll all just have to take shifts and split up the work!"

...What a shameless king!?

Kevin, who was almost through the cave exit and out of sight, stopped for a second, turning around to face Albert dead in the eyes.

"So you're telling me that you're not only trapping us here, but you're using us so that you can get some rest...?"

"...well when you put it like that.... I would like to think that w-"

"Shut it!"

Comprehending the situation, Kevin walked back into the center of the World Tree and sat next to Liam, who was hiding his eyes with his knees.

Lightening up, Liam removed his knees and asked.

"Bad day for you today as well, huh?"

Ignoring Liam's voice, Kevin simply put his head against one of the rocks, using it as a pillow, and attempted to drift off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Zach and Lily drew on the cave floor with sharp sticks, and Irene was still playing tic-tac-toe with Ruby by her side.

Looking at the students resting, Albert was somewhat tempted to take a break and pass on the shift to someone else, but it was too early.

Albert didn't want the damn night shift!

Turning back around to face the white fog, Albert resumed his duties and observed the fog, making sure to be aware of any peculiarities.

The World Tree needed time to recover after the demons' actions, so it's being further corrupted now, which could cause permanent issues.

At least, that was what Albert had surmised based on his mother's information, which he had learned only two years before.

"hmm?"

Although it was feint, Albert could now see a small black fog of grey, the same as the previous one, slowly creeping out of the wall.

Although it was far from the fog, Albert immediately left to investigate.

Was there another device that the demons had?

With his bow in his hand, Albert carefully walked over the source of the smoke, but as soon as he reached the wall, the smoke completely disappeared...

With his cloak wrapped around his face, Ren swiftly dispersed the device as Albert reached the cave wall before resummoning it on another side of the cave.

It was like a game of cat and mouse.

Ren knew that further polluting the World Tree spirit could be dangerous, so he wasn't doing that.

Remember, all he had to do was make it appear more corrupted.

And how could he do that?

By making its surroundings look polluted.