Aravel

Chapter 52

Moments after Kaze got forcefully taken away from the group by M, Sera and the others quickly found themselves in a difficult situation. They were to decide whether to retreat or stand their ground.

Obviously, with the way things were, it would be no surprise if one of them suddenly ran away. Thanks to them being huddled together along with the quick reaction from Sera and Rena, they were able to prevent some of them from running after Kaze. Not that it was a bad thing to do, but that would cripple their already fragile structure even more since Lunaea and Luniel had left in pursuit of Kaze.

Sera quickly ushered everyone under a pile of rubble, out of plain sight. Not wanting the same thing to happen to any of the others, they knew full well that Kaze's wellbeing would be left up to the dragonkin twins.

"We have to make a decision, immediately," Sera pressed her words to the others in a harsh yet silent manner. "Leave and let the officials handle the work or stay and do practically nothing."

"I don't think we have a choice, do we?" Irene asked nervously, looking around them while trembling. "We should definitely leave."

"I'm with Irene," Chris nodded, supporting his girlfriend's choice. "We can't do much even if we are here anyway."

"Are you saying you want to leave without Lunaria?" Shoko widened her eyes at their words and stomped her foot. "Fine. Whatever the case, I'm staying."

"Shoko, this isn't the place to be stubborn. We know that you are worried about Lunaria," Rena tried to persuade her foxkin friend. "Heck, we all are! But at the same time, do you want to risk the lives of everyone here?"

"That's why I said I'm staying. I never forced anyone to stay with me," Shoko muttered. "Sera, Rena, bring the others away. I'll stay here till Lunatea or Lucentia comes out with Lunaria."

"... Alright," Sera nodded after considering it for a bit.

"Wait, are we really going to go along with that?" Yuuji asked, feeling a little surprised that Sera was willing to allow Shoko to stay back.

"What? Are you willing to accompany her?" Rena raised an eyebrow at the prince's question. "I don't know about you, but I trust Shoko. She might have seemed useless to you from the centipede battle, and only because of the circumstance at the time, but I can assure you she is much more capable than that."

"No, I wasn't questioning her ability; I am concerned about her safety," Yuuji rephrased his question in a frustrated manner. "Mitsui, what are you going to do?"

"W-Well... if I was Mia... I'm pretty sure she would rather you return with everyone else and leave someone capable here..." Mitsui stammered, her eyes darting all over the place in fear for her life. "Yuuji, please... lets listen to Rena."

When faced with such a situation, it wasn't just Yuuji who was reluctant to make a choice. Albert and Noel, who both fell silent since earlier, were also unsure of what to do at the moment. They joined the group in their search for Lunaria on impulse. Now that the situation had gone out of hand more than they had expected it to be, the answer, which should have been clear, had now gone murky. Fear was interfering with their decision-making abilities that normally would guarantee their lives over anything else.

The hesitancy quickly spread to the others. Since there was no considering what could happen next, they were all on the fence. With Sera and Rena being put in charge as usual, it was up to them to lead the group to make the next best possible move before the situation could worsen any further.

"... Alright, we leave," Yuuji nodded after taking a few seconds to think about it. "Everyone's safety comes first."

"Y-Yuuji, don't do anything rash," Noel looked at him desperately, taking out her sword as a precautionary measure. "We leave quietly, okay?"