Chapter 200: Suspicious Presence
After staying at West Port, the students were getting their teams ready to return to the academy, fixing their carriages, and re-stocking their food supplies.
I asked Melina if she had taken any food out of her void pocket during the test, but she denied it, saying that their chaperone would deduct points for it.
I chuckled, thinking that it was fair she would say that, or her team would have been the only ones feasting while the others ate the awful beef jerky.
Once everyone was ready, they each took their respective paths and began the trail back to the capital.
Yoru and Vespera went with other teams on my command since I wanted to see if it had just been my team and Melina’s that got stalked by the strange monster. Still, I told them to stay hidden in the shadows unless it was necessary for them to get out.
On our way back, I stayed more alert than on the first trip, periodically using my "search" spell to see if the presence returned. Nonetheless, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
We stopped a few times so the students could clear the road from a few low-level monsters until nighttime arrived.
When they all went inside their tents, only Keiko stood outside with me since it was her turn to keep watch for the night.
"Are you not going to sleep, professor?" she asked.
"Hmm, maybe later..." I replied, focusing on my "search" spell so that I wouldn’t miss a single heartbeat from a creature.
The atmosphere was a little awkward, with the two of us sitting in silence, but noticing that Keiko seemed to have something on her mind, I inquired what was wrong.