CHAPTER 296: 296-A LURKER’S DEAD BODY

Clementine:

"What do you think happened? Why did they send us back to our room so suddenly?" Troy asked Yorick as we entered our dorm room.

"I mean, it kind of took me by surprise too. I don’t understand why they would be so scared. Do you think it’s related to the monsters?" Yorick replied.

They all sat down on their beds. Zian, however, caught my attention. He looked anxious, almost as if regret weighed on his face.

He avoided my eyes and went into the bathroom.

"And someone can’t stop staring at the man who forced a mark on her," Haiden remarked, making me turn toward him with a frown.

"And someone should stop observing me. I’m a free woman. I can stare at whoever I want for as long as I want," I replied, noticing how it bothered them.

If they really thought I would sit and cry over them, they were completely wrong.

I would cry, definitely. I’d flood the mainland if my loyal mate was hurt.

But the moment I found out my mate was disloyal, my tears would dry.

"Because of her, we’re now heading north to fight the ogres," Oriana muttered, pouting.

The small wrinkles on her chin showed she was genuinely about to cry.

"You shouldn’t have started it," Troy muttered, making Oriana snap her head toward him in shock.

She got up and folded her arms over her stomach, stepping in front of him to face him.

"Okay, fine. Yeah, it was her fault," Troy quickly corrected himself when she glared at him.

I watched them with a smile. At this point, it wasn’t even sad, it was funny.

"And what are you worried about, Oriana? We’ll stick together, and we’ll be fine," Yorick called out from his bed, lying down comfortably.

"Yeah, we four will stick together," Oriana mumbled happily, flashing me a cheeky grin that reminded me of what she had said the other day about never being alone in the North again.

"Not four—I mean, our squadmates should stick together," Yorick muttered, sneaking a glance at me before quickly looking up at the ceiling.

"You mean her?" Oriana asked, pretending to be shocked as she pointed at me.

I didn’t argue. In the North, no one knows when someone might need help, and I wanted to stay professional.

If they needed me, I’d be there. Killing someone isn’t an answer.

But not accepting them, that’s my choice, and their punishment.

After a while, we were called to dinner.

Zian, surprisingly, still hadn’t left the bathroom.

They knocked on his door, telling him they needed to use it, but he didn’t come out.

It made us wonder why. At one point, we even thought he might have escaped through the window, but that didn’t happen.

When the dinner announcement was made, he finally came out.

His face was pale, and his fingers were white and wrinkled.

It was clear he had been under the shower for a long time.

His eyes looked empty as he stared at me before joining us in the hall.

But things had changed. The ringleaders were barely eating.

Their eyes kept wandering around the room.

The lurkers were standing in strange groups, six in each.

Even when I left the dorm, I didn’t see a single lurker alone.

"What’s going on?" I murmured to myself, sitting alone beside a table of four.

After dinner, when everyone began clearing their dishes, I noticed Troy lingering near the ringleaders.

I guessed he needed to talk about his uniform’s boots. When he returned, it seemed like he had news to share.

We were already back in our dorm room. We weren’t allowed to leave either.

Six lurkers were standing right outside our door, and that had never happened before.

Once inside, I was sure everyone had their own thoughts about why the rules had suddenly become stricter, but one of us seemed to know more.

"Shh, Haiden, come here," Troy whispered, gesturing for him to come closer to his bed.

I had just taken a shower and was lying on my bed, feeling left out.

I wanted to be part of the conversation if it was about the academy, but they were acting like children.

I hadn’t told them anything I’d learned either, so maybe it was tit for tat.

Soon, Troy asked both Oriana and Yorick to join them. Zian seemed to be asleep, or maybe pretending, whatever helped him cope.

I watched the four of them whispering, and then Troy’s eyes shifted from Haiden to me for a brief moment. I quickly shut my eyes, pretending not to notice.

A moment later, I heard them returning to their beds. As I lay there facing their side, I felt a presence close to my bed.

I didn’t open my eyes, but I was ready to defend myself if they tried anything strange.

Then I felt someone breathing near my ear, and I knew one of them had leaned over me. I could sense who it was.

It was Haiden.

"Troy found out from the ringleaders that one of the lurkers was found dead in the woods today," he whispered.

That was all he said before straightening up.

My eyes flew open, but Haiden had already walked back to his bed and lay down.

I saw Troy and Yorick lying in theirs, watching me for a moment before closing their eyes.

Then my gaze went to Oriana, who had a deep frown on her face, clearly unhappy that they had told me.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Haiden’s words that a lurker was found dead.

At this point, my wolf was my only confidant, so I included her.

"That’s odd," Mint said quietly in my mind. "From the way the ringleaders are acting and not letting the lurkers be alone, it doesn’t seem like he died of sickness, illness, or accident. It sounds like murder."

Her thought sent a chill through me.

Something was coming, something big. But who would attack a lurker?

Maybe the one with the mole under his eye? He was the only one who seemed alert.

Or maybe the others were too, but had been told not to respond to anyone. So many questions, and so few answers.

And tomorrow, we were heading to the North.