The Thought of Losing You

Part 21

We found ourselves walking to F9 when we picked up a strange smell.

It was a rotten smell that came from a nearby tent.

I'd never smelled such an awful stench which is why I wanted to step back but my sense of curiosity did not let me.

I walked around to see where the stench came from until I came across a lone girl who was camping nearby.

I saw her covered in mud which made me think that she was the cause for the smell or she had something to do with it.

Hiyori walked behind us since I could no longer carry her, I had to carry Honami who said that her legs felt numb when we woke up.

We approached her without being unnoticed watching as she tied a rope on a tree.

A pure smile formed on her face as she covered herself with more mud.

I thought this was creepy and I decided to leave.

I looked at Hiyori to see what she thought of it and she seemed to be in a state of shock.

"Do you want to keep on going?"

"Yeah, we have to get going, I think I'll be able to keep up."

I nodded and we walked ahead ignoring the girl.

"Oh, there are friends nearby?"

Oh no!

We've been spotted.

I tried to play dumb by ignoring her but she immediately realized my plan and came running towards us.

"Could that be Ayanokouji-senpai?! I've been dying to see you!"

"And you are?"

I'm not sure if she was new since I haven't seen her on the OAA app.

"I'm sure you don't know about me but I'm a 1st year, my name is Jioral Flare Arlgrande, but call me Flare. Pleased to meet you!"

She held out her hand to me which I hesitated to shake since it was covered in mud but I had to do it.

"Likewise."

My hand was covered in mud which made me realize that the strange smell wasn't coming from the mud.

"May I ask why you're covered in mud?"

"That's a secret~" Her smile quickly faded once she said that and headed back to where she originally came from.

"Don't interfere."

I looked over at Honami who wasn't fazed by her sudden change.

Neither was Hiyori.

I knew exactly why.

They had already seen her true nature.

(I won't do a flashback since I'm lazy.)

Once we left our next designated area would be H7.

I wouldn't say it was the worst outcome, but it certainly wasn't ideal by any stretch of the imagination.

It wasn't clear whether we'd be able to make it there within the next two hours or not.

In which case, if the next area ended up being randomly designated and showed up somewhere off to the west of the mountain range, we'd be in a pinch.

"It would be quite troublesome if the randomly designated area were to happen at 9:00."

Under the assumption that everything went smoothly for these next two hours, we'd probably only reach I7 or I8 at the very most.

Of course, it's not like it would be impossible to reach H7 in two hours, but...