“Vulture?”

  The Lieutenant nodded. “Yes, engrave that into your mind. And if one approaches you, minimize the contact you have with them. The less, the better.”

  Leo nodded. “Consider it memorized.”

  The Lieutenant smiled. He lifted his palm to his chest, giving a light bow. “May the Stars favor you.”

  Leo walked back to his dorm with Anthony, organizing his thoughts together after the many revelations the Lieutenant gave them. The vulture mark? Was that a group of people?

  Whatever the mark meant, he knew that it was just straight up bad news because if someone as strong as the Lieutenant is scared, what does that mean for them?

  Leo knew worrying would do nothing, because if the Lieutenant couldn’t do anything, how could he?

  Pushing aside the thoughts, he sat back down with Patrick and Connie, who were in their usual round of bickering. Surprisingly, they didn’t seem to really care about his visit as they just continued with their rambling.

  Weirdly enough, that relieved Leo a bit knowing that they weren’t one to pry too much.

  Starting a conversation, Leo asked, “Say, since we’ve got time, what’s up with you two?”

  Raising her eyebrows, Connie asked, “What about us?”

  “Well, what’s your story? What did you guys do outside?”

  Patrick straightened up. “Well, I’m not exactly from an external settlement like most, I was actually from Central.”

  “What, you’re from Central?” Shocked, both Leo and Connie looked at him incredulously. He remained skeptical though.

  But something didn’t add up, why would he be in here taking a trial?

  “Why’re you taking the trial though? Wouldn’t they have sailed you in?” Connie asked.

  “Well, I’d say I was just about average for my generation…I wasn’t the smartest nor the strongest of my generation. They sent me here probably because they didn’t want to deal with me anymore.”

  Patrick lightly laughed to himself, his eyes closed as he did so.

  “They sent me on a boat, but I guess it got caught up in a storm, so I ended up washing ashore somewhere outside the city. Then I just wandered here.”

  “How’d you find the city?!” Leo asked.

  “Well, the wall’s pretty big so…”

  “Ah.” Connie and Leo exclaimed in unison. The wall was indeed quite the spectacle. Somebody would have to be blind not to see it.

  “So, uh, the Lin Family huh? Must be an important family.” Leo said warily, not wanting Patrick to break out in tears again.

  Looking at Leo weirdly, Connie pointed out, “Dude, they have two colonies under their control.”

  Pausing for a moment, Leo slowly turned to Connie. “What?”

  “Yeah, they own Chang’an and New Anglia. The Gatekeepers are both part of the Lin family.”

  “...”

  ‘Uh, am I gonna get executed?’

  Seeing Leo’s shock, Patrick began to awkwardly laugh. “Ah, but please don’t treat me any differently than now, if anything it relieves me you treat me like a normal person. It’s a good change compared to those fakes who approached me for my status as a Lin.”

  Softly, Leo said, “I’ll, uh, do my best.” He tilted his head downward, slightly concerned for his own safety. “Were you close to anyone in your family?”

  “Eh, even though we’re in the same generation, they treated me like trash. Probably because my mom was in a lower class than the others…”

  Patrick, desperate to change the topic, pointed to Connie. “What about you, Connie? What’s up with you?”

  Connie sighed. “Not much, just running errands for my gramps outside the city, odd jobs so-to-speak. None of that fancy shit like his lordship over here.” Connie pointed to Patrick with her thumb.

  Embarrassed, Patrick’s ears turned red, his head tilting down like a kid caught doing something bad.

  ‘Wow, she got him real quiet.’

  Connie redirected the conversation to Leo, “So, what about you? It’s only fair if you give us something from yourself.”

  Coughing, Leo replied, “Well, I just happened to hear of this place from my friends. So I came over here with them. But we ran into a demon, or three actually. The dogs hunted us for miles…I lost two friends just yesterday to it actually…”

  Leo lowered his head as he was reminded of the scene.

  Flustered, Connie panicked a bit, fidgeting with her hands as her voice noticeably went softer. “Ah, you don’t have to talk about it. That’s my bad…But, you said you ran into a demon?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  Patrick and Connie both looked at each other in confusion.

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  Concerned, Patrick asked, “How close was the demon getting to the city?”

  Confusion painted onto Leo’s gloomy face. “Uh, like right in front of the gate entrance, why?”

  This time, their eyes widened. Connie firmly said, “That shouldn’t be possible.”

  “Why not?”

  Patrick seriously looked at Leo. “There’s a secure perimeter surrounding the wall in general. The Frontier soldiers would’ve taken care of that demon, no way would they have let it get through, especially that close to the gate itself.”

  Shocked, Leo said, “That…But how’d it get so close then?!”

  Bringing her hands to her mouth, Connie thought about the peculiar situation carefully. “There’s only three possible reasons that could’ve happened here, Leo.”

  Taking deep breaths, Leo calmed himself and motioned for Connie to continue.

  “The first reason is that the Frontier forces really did just miss the demon, although highly unlikely, but could happen considering the vast size of the wall. But if that’s the case, there’s no way the demon would be able to get out, though as that gap would probably be filled by the time the demon runs.”

  “The second reason could be that the demon could’ve had some teleportation ability or something similar to it, allowing it to bypass the defenses altogether. I’d say this would be a very likely reason as to how you encountered such a demon.”

  “Now, the third reason would be the worst possible reason for you, Leo.”

  His heart pounding, Leo worriedly asked, “Why so?”

  “Because the third reason would be that someone allowed it to attack you guys.”

  Standing up, Leo furiously asked, “The fuck you mean ‘allowed’ to attack us?!”

  Patrick’s eyes also widened at the mention of such a scheme.

  Connie continued, “I mean that someone wanted your group to be attacked for some reason. Or they just wanted the demon to cause some disruption around the gate. I’m not saying the scheme was directed directly at your group, but just overall they let the demon inside. For what reason? Fuck if I know.”

  Patrick, trying to confirm this idea, asked Leo, “What rank was the demon, do you remember?”

  His mind in disarray, Leo had to settle himself down on his seat with a loud thud. The mere idea of someone targeting his group hadn’t even occurred to him. His hands holding his head, he leaned onto the tables, resting on his elbows.

  Thinking carefully, Leo said, “I-I think they said A-rank?”

  This time, the duo stood up, unable to hide their horrified faces.

  “What!?” they yelled in unison.

  Patrick, first looking at Connie, then looked to Leo and asked, “Leo, do you understand the gravity of the situation you were in?”

  Leo weakly shook his head, still trying to grasp the situation he was in. His heart was threatening to rupture now.

  “Bro, an A Rank demon is enough for the city to call a General-level individual. A breach of that level would warrant a complete reform for the Frontier forces! There’s no way it could’ve been an accident! How the hell did you survive that demon?!”

  Leo, seeing the image of the smiling dog, coldly answered, “We survived because it was playing with us…” He slowly turned to Connie. “You really think someone let that demon in?”

  Connie, collecting herself, said, “For sure. An A-Rank threat wouldn’t be treated so lightly unless they were prepared for the demon to come. You’re lucky to even be alive.”

  Patrick smirked and puffed out his chest. “As expected, my eye for talent is absolute! I knew from the moment I saw you that you weren’t the average-joe!” He then laughed with a ‘hohoho’ sound, his head facing the ceiling.

  Upon seeing this, Leo saw Connie’s eye twitch.

  Leo, in complete disarray, said, “I’m…I’m going back to my dorm for a bit…Oh, and here’s the flower you wanted, Connie.”

  Handing her the hyacinth, she thanked him with a light smile and tucked it into her shirtpocket.

  Bidding farewell, the group dispersed, going back to their dorms. Leo racked his brain at this revelation.

  If someone truly had let that damn dog to come and kill his group, he'd figure out who it was.

  He had to.

  He needed justice for Chris and Sophia…

  Not just him, but his friends needed it…

  Not only that, if they were still after them, Anthony and Amanda would still be in danger.

  With a new fire burning in his eyes, Leo swore it.

  The air seemed to vibrate with the newfound rage Leo felt.

  He’d kill them with his own two hands.

  Deeper in the walls, a brightly lit mess hall was packed with officers, both those managing the trials and recruiters waiting for the surviving contestants. In the mesh of people, Sina and Teddy sat across each other, enjoying their dinner.

  “So, did you listen to what I told you, TJ?” Sina asked, her head leaning on her arm, poking at her food.

  Teddy nodded. “I would’ve done it even if you hadn’t told me, Lady Wegerer. Amanda is an extraordinary find that we can’t just have die in these trials. I’ll ensure she masters her Refraction.”

  Nodding, Sina took a bite of her chicken tender. “I’ve told you, drop the ‘Lady’ thing, I’m no noble.”

  Sighing, she complained, “I feel bad for the group though, having to separate them from their friend like this. Is it the right thing to do, TJ?”

  “The line between the right thing to do and the thing we must do are almost one in the same, Lady Wegerer. In this case, it was a decision made out of necessity, you did nothing wrong in my eyes.” Teddy said firmly.

  Sina sighed. “I hope so. If fate speaks true, I’ll have to get Leo under my team as well, but from what I saw, the other teams won't just let him go…how do I make sure he joins us…?”

  She shook her head in resignation. “I’ll deal with it later, I guess…I’ve already got enough on my plate with Laura’s antics…Say, do you know where that pair went, TJ?”

  Pinching his chin, Teddy said, “If you’re talking about the two guest overseers, then the white one was briefly down with the contestants at the first trial, but as for her partner, I’ve got no clue.”

  Tensing up, Sina asked, “What’d she do?”

  “Nothing much, she just moved Amanda to a different line, I was going to move someone anyway because the lines were uneven.”

  Relived, Sina let out a sigh as she raced her fingers through her hair. She had been stressed too much by these people! She’s had to take a few all-nighters just because of this pressure!

  ‘Curse you, Castellan! Curse you, Laura!’

  “God, I hate all these politics.” Her head collapsed onto the table, planting her forehead on the table.

  “If I may say, Lady Wegerer. Leo and Anthony are quite reliable. They’re smart enough, they’ll do just fine in the city.”

  Sina frowned.

  “If only that were true…”