CHAPTER 37: CAMPSITE DRAMA

The day was moving from noon toward late afternoon. Ard and his group had reached their campsite, an empty clearing in the middle of the forest. The A-Class and B-Class teams began working to set up the tents for their respective groups. Ard also started taking equipment out of his dimensional backpack to begin assembling the tent for his team.

Alicia, Milia, and even Eva helped Ard set up the tent. Then, they turned to look at Beatrice, who was sitting casually on a rock, rubbing her arm.

"Hey, Beatrice, help set up the tent or help fetch water from the river for cooking later," Eva said.

"Huh... sorry, not interested. I can’t do things like that," Beatrice replied.

"Move it, you spoiled princess," Eva said, placing a tent pole on the ground and walking toward Beatrice.

"Oh no... they’re fighting again," Milia muttered.

"Prince... uh, Ard, please do something," Alicia said, turning to look at Ard.

But Ard didn’t listen to Alicia. He turned to look at the bushes near where several B-Class teams were setting up their tents.

"Sorry, I’ll be right back," Ard said, walking away.

"Hey, what about them?" Alicia yelled, pointing at Eva and Beatrice.

Ard approached the teams setting up tents near the bushes. The B-Class students who saw Ard coming toward them immediately watched him. A B-Class student who knew Ard immediately let go of his ropes and stood up, turning to face Ard, who was now standing behind him.

"Hey," Ard said.

"What is it, Ard?" asked a B-Class male student with a buzz cut.

"Nathan, can you guys move your tents a bit more toward the center?" Ard asked.

"Huh... why?" asked Nathan, the student with the buzz cut from B-Class.

"Just trust me," Ard replied as he walked past Nathan toward the bushes.

Nathan, seeing that Ard looked serious, immediately asked his friends to shift the position of their tents slightly toward the center. Ard stepped into the bushes and walked in. His eyes darted right and left. When he was slightly further into the woods, he stopped.

"Hey... don’t spy on us. Go back to the kingdom," Ard said.

"Rustle," suddenly, three men and two women wearing black leather armor and black masks came out and immediately knelt on one knee in front of Ard.

"Haaah... who ordered you to follow me? My brother Abel?" Ard asked.

"That is correct, Your Highness. His Highness Prince Abel instructed us to observe and guard Your Highness," replied the man in all black and a black mask.

"Tell him I’m fine. If anyone sees the Raven Corps from Fredonia here, my identity as a prince will be exposed. You should leave here. Tell my brother that I can take care of myself," Ard replied.

"But Your Highness, we were also ordered by His Highness Abel to guard Princess Eva," the man said.

"Don’t worry. Eva and I can take care of ourselves. If Eva sees you, she might get the wrong idea. Just tell my brother not to worry, and thank you," Ard replied.

But none of the Raven Corps moved. They remained bowed in front of Ard, staring at him. Ard rubbed the back of his neck. He understood perfectly that the Raven Corps only took orders from his brother Abel, and even as a prince, he couldn’t cancel Abel’s command that required them to leave.

"Fine then. You may guard Eva and me, but please erase your presence completely. If even I can detect you, that means the others can too... especially Eva. Please, you must understand," Ard said resignedly.

"Thank you, Your Highness Prince," the Raven Corps said in unison.

"Swoosh," they instantly vanished, leaving Ard alone in the middle of the forest. Ard sighed and turned around, walking back casually with both hands in the pockets of his uniform pants. After emerging from the bushes, Ard saw the B-Class team shift their tents slightly toward the center, even though they had to set them up again.

Ard walked past them and returned to his own tent. From a distance, he saw Eva and Beatrice appear to be arguing fiercely, while Milia and Alicia were trying to separate them.

"Oh, for heaven’s sake. Why do they love fighting so much," Ard muttered to himself with a tired, annoyed look on his face.

Ard walked closer. Beatrice’s sharp voice and Eva’s calm yet firm voice began to sting his ears. Added to that were the voices of Alicia and Milia, who were no less loud. Ard looked at the tent, which was still not set up at all, and shook his head.

"I said I can’t set up a tent! Why are you forcing me?" Beatrice yelled.

"Well, if you can’t, get water or find firewood... do something

! The important thing is you work, like the others," Eva retorted.

"Stop it, both of you! Our tent isn’t even up yet," Alicia said.

"Yeah, why are you fighting? Princess Eva, just let Princess Beatrice sit there," Milia added.

"No way. This spoiled child needs to be taught. She hasn’t changed since she was little," Eva said, pointing a finger at Beatrice’s face.

"Hah! Who are you calling spoiled?" Beatrice shouted, swatting Eva’s pointing finger away from her face.

"Hold on... that’s enough (looking at Beatrice) Beatrice, do you want to come with me to get water and look for firewood by the river?" Ard asked suddenly.

Beatrice, Eva, Alicia, and Milia immediately turned to look at Ard, who was standing behind them all. Hearing Ard’s invitation, Beatrice immediately brightened up, walked over, and linked her arm through Ard’s.

"Okay, let’s go, Ard," Beatrice replied cheerfully.

"Grr... we’re not finished yet... besides, I’m coming too," Eva said.

Ard gently removed Beatrice’s arm, then pulled Eva away from the others. Of course, Beatrice, Alicia, and Milia looked at them with questioning expressions. Once they were a little further away,

"Eva, please stay here and watch over things. I’m taking Beatrice because, among the five of us, she’s the weakest, right? I’m going to get the supplies and patrol at the same time. If both of us leave and something happens here, I’m worried they won’t be able to handle it," Ard whispered.

"Oh... I see. All right, but don’t try anything with Beatrice," Eva replied.

"Okay, okay, I promise," Ard replied.

They then returned to Beatrice, Alicia, and Milia. Ard then invited Beatrice to walk toward the river, carrying his dimensional backpack. Eva watched Ard and Beatrice, who was still clinging to Ard’s arm, while clenching her fist and wearing a cold expression.

"Princess, the... the tent pole is bent... hey, Princess!" Alicia yelled.

"Oh man... how are we supposed to get the tent up now?" Milia added.

Eva looked at her hand. It turned out she was gripping the tent pole so tightly that it had bent slightly from her squeeze. Meanwhile, Ard, who realized Eva was staring at him from behind,

"That settles it for now. They aren’t fighting anymore. Besides, if Eva, Alicia, or Milia had come into the forest and bumped into the Fredonia Raven Corps, that would’ve been a headache... this whole thing is exhausting," Ard muttered to himself and felt relieved but also felt tired.