Chapter 23: First fight

    Eryndor grabbed his hair due to frustration of not being able to think of any other possibility.

    The possibility that Rodrick might have mind controlled an anomaly was too scary.

    Should I tell other people?

    Perhaps.

    That was the only choice left. He decided he would tell his teammates first.

    As for why he couldn''t just leave all of it aside?

    He already knew how Rodrick wanted them to head towards the fake bear area. Eryndor could choose to avoid it, as their mission would be completed without heading there.

    But he didn''t feel like leaving it here.

    Since he already knew about how Rodrick was trying to drag them deep into some scheme of his, it would leave a bad taste in Eryndor''s mouth if he just let him be.

    It was also not as if Rodrick was an unsurpassable existence in the face of whom Eryndor could only run.

    No, with denial of his human identity and an almost certain guess that he was an Eldritch Entity came pride, with it came ego, with it came confidence which was only boosted by his various abilities.

    Rodrick would pay a steep price.

    Eryndor had to continue gathering information and strategize how he could change the situation.

    He slept with restlessness that night, his subconscious brain still trying to come up with solutions.

    *****

    "I have something important to tell you guys."

    Eryndor spoke in a rather serious tone, his voice cutting through the idle chit-chat his group was having.

    "There were problems with the blue haired guy who shared us his contact card."

    Eryndor went on to tell them the result of his findings without exposing any of his abilities.

    They were free to interpret it anyhow they deemed fit.

    There was a stark silence on the table as the three of them stared at each other, stunned at the revelation Eryndor had given them.

    "You sure Rodrick is behind all of this?"

    Valentina asked.

    "Huh? Don''t lie, you simply wanted a reason to contact professor Melissa is it not so?"

    Drakarion grinned.

    Eryndor helplessly raised both his hands and replied.

    "Don''t keep accusing me or I''ll beat you black and blue someday.

    "You can contact her instead. I don''t mind."

    The rest of them laughed at that, with Drakarion not taking the joke to heart.

    He simply shook his head while replying.

    "Don''t worry, I have no interest in these things. Contact her yourself."

    Eryndor smiled, but told them he would still need to wait a few days for more evidence.

    Eryndor could feel the shift in atmosphere as they talked about other things over breakfast.

    It was only a tiny bit more serious.

    He wasn''t sure if it was because they had confidence in themselves or had a reliance he wasn''t aware of.

    He simply shrugged.

    After breakfast, the four of them headed towards the outer parts of the town once again, carrying big green leaves on them.

    Today they would be fighting infected dogs the entire time as all the infected cats had been captured.

    So far there wasn''t a single casualty on the side of infected animals.

    It helped that the storage compartment of the vehicle of the Academy was inscribed with healing spells.

    They walked leisurely, having already settled on a schedule and how many infected animals to capture. There was no hurry.

    When they finally reached the location of one such infected dog, Eryndor once again activated his ability.

    One, to more easily locate their target, and second, to keep manipulating the contact card.

    After a couple minutes he had already found their first target.

    Handing the assortment of equipment on him which included safety pills, antidotes, tranquilizers and a few other stuff to Valentina, he walked ahead.

    Putting a hand on Drakarion''s shoulder, he stated.

    "Let me handle this one."