Chapter 565 - 559. Search Party
"Oh, if it isn’t Captain Abe!"
Han Shin opened his arms wide when Naoya crossed the field and arrived at their camp the next morning. He even had a welcoming chocolate for the archer, while Ashur held up a glass of iced coffee. How they had better delicacy than the main base was beyond Naoya.
"Shut it," Naoya quipped--but still received the high-quality chocolate anyway. "You ended up pulling us to the other side anyway."
It was clear that Naoya was disappointed and considered his first mission as a leader a failed one. But Han Shin and Ashur glanced at each other and grinned. "Eh, that’s true," they said while shrugging and rolling their eyes.
"Ruthless bastards," Naoya grumbled, before letting out a self-deprecating chuckle that invited the two espers to laugh too. "Damn, I miss you guys."
They cackled and brought Naoya to the dining table they set. Right after the war, Naoya climbed the Tower, and once he returned to the Deathzone, [Anzus] was being split everywhere. It was his first time alone in an operation, and it was rather lonely.
Bassena patted the archer’s back, who looked rather down. "Well, no one gets hurt, so...good job, Naoya."
The archer only smiled subtly despite the praise; perhaps because it sounded more like a consolation.
"He’s as competitive as his big sis," Bassena smirked, prompting the others to laugh. But he followed it with a pat on the archer’s shoulder. "Don’t worry, you still have a lot to do."
Naoya glanced at the field of fog he just crossed for the first time. "I guess..."
Finding a path to cross the field was just the first step. High-level espers like five-stars might be able to cross without much difficulty, but it might be a different story for the others. Not to mention the guides.