A Predator’s Decoy

Ensi made no effort to hide his sigh at the foolish cheering. He hadn’t realized his classmates were quite this dim-witted. It made him wonder if they had grasped the essence of the exam at all.

‘Well, they are extras, after all.’

In stories, characters are often portrayed as dense in specific areas to push the plot forward, so he could somewhat understand it through that lens. But why did Lily join them?

Naturally, in this exam, surviving until the end was far more beneficial than securing mid-term eliminations. Even if one were aiming for extra points, it was much wiser to target someone easier to handle than Agniell.

Lily surely knew this. Perhaps because he couldn’t comprehend why she would choose a path with no gain, his thoughts were written clearly across his face.

“Ah, that look! Ensi, you’re treating me like an idiot right now, aren’t you! I know that face!”

Lily, who had become an expert at reading Ensi’s expressions and emotions, immediately caught on and stomped her feet in frustration.

“Oops. I forgot.”

Ensi raised a hand to touch his lips, looking troubled. He had been so baffled by the situation that he’d forgotten to manage his facial expressions.

He tilted his head and glanced at the group clustered around Lily—naive individuals who couldn’t hide their anxiety about whether Lily would flip to Ensi’s side. A faint, imperceptible smile brushed Ensi’s lips. He lowered his hand and crossed his arms.

“If you know, then stop this and judge the situation coolly. Lily, if you get eliminated here, everything goes to waste. How many extra points have you even gathered?”

“Extra points… about 30?”

“See? You’re in a position where you can’t afford to be eliminated. You said you wanted to make up for your written exam scores, didn’t you?”

His low, calm voice pointed out the truth she was trying to ignore. His words, which dissected reality with a mix of kindness and coldness, made Lily groan in agony.

“So, Lily, be reasonable and back off. If you leave, these friends of yours won’t engage in a useless fight either.”

They might have come up with the plan, but no matter how many of them gathered, they couldn’t have been certain of defeating Agniell. That was why they needed Lily as their centerpiece. She was the runner-up of the Knight Faculty, skilled with a blade, and someone who frequently sparred with Agniell.

If Lily stepped back, they would give up too. Being wise enough to know their own limits, they wouldn’t push it. Ensi stopped pressuring her and waited in silence for her answer.

“But… but still! Agniell is just such a jerk!”

“—Huh?”

“I’ve wanted to hit him at least once! Do you think there will ever be another day where I can legally hit him while holding a real sword? Ensi, you of all people should understand, we’re friends!”

‘What? Why me? Why on earth should I understand that?’

Ensi couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Lily’s outburst of grievance. Agniell, who had suddenly been called a jerk multiple times in the same spot, looked over at Ensi.

As Ensi naturally turned his head, their eyes met. Those familiar yet strange golden eyes seemed to be asking if Ensi actually sympathized with her feelings, causing Ensi to shake his head quickly.

“What a relief.”

Agniell let out a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing. His reaction suggested he cared only about how Ensi perceived him. Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Ensi let out a small dry cough to shift the focus.

“Well, I guess negotiations have failed.”

“I had no intention of accepting them anyway. Ensi, since you aren’t going to fight, why don’t you stay out of the way for a bit?”

“What are you talking about?”

Blinking blankly, Ensi smoothly drew his sword. Agniell, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Ensi, immediately grasped his intent and unsheathed the blade he had just put away. At Agniell’s wordless, instantaneous synchronization, Ensi’s eyes crinkled into a smile.

“Even if it’s you, Lily, it’s troublesome if you try to take away the companion I’m spending the night with.”

“What? I thought for sure you wouldn’t join the— wait! Where are you going!?”

Just as Lily shouted in protest at his declaration of joining the fray, Ensi grabbed Agniell’s arm and bolted toward the forest.

No matter how confident they were in their swordsmanship, the other side had numbers. Ensi, who never intended to face them head-on as they wished, looked back at Lily as she called after them and curled the corner of his mouth into a smirk.

“You said you wanted to eliminate us, didn’t you? Aren’t you going to follow?”

“……Ensi!”

Lily, who had lost the initiative in the blink of an eye, ruffled her hair violently. If it had been only Agniell, he wouldn’t have avoided it; he would have clashed immediately.

‘To run into the forest…’ Stunned by the shrewd yet wise move, Lily stamped her foot hard to vent her frustration. Having cleared her emotions with that single action, she shouted at her classmates, who were still dazed by the fact that the Agniell had “fled.”

“What are you doing? Pursue them!”

“Ah? Oh, right.”

Though they hadn’t quite shaken off their confusion, they managed to pull themselves together at Lily’s cry. Lily understood their feelings, but she couldn’t help but sigh.

Why did that blunt man bend his own principles and move according to Ensi’s lead, tangling the situation into such a complicated knot?

‘I thought this would be an easy fix!’ Lily closed and opened her eyes tightly at the situation that had veered so far from her expectations.

Agniell gazed down at the white hand gripping his wrist. They were cutting through the forest at a considerable speed led by Ensi, but that didn’t feel particularly important to him. All of his senses were focused on the skin where he touched Ensi.

“Agniell?”

Because the dazed Agniell had missed Ensi’s call several times, Ensi eventually came to a halt.

“Ah… I’m sorry. Did you call me?”

“While you deal with Lily, I will eliminate the others.”

“Aren’t you going to handle Florence?”

At Agniell’s questioning look, Ensi gave a light shake of his head. He generally didn’t want to deal with large groups if he could help it. But…

“We know each other too well. I’m not the right opponent to stall her time.”

Above all, Lily was better with a sword than Ensi. In a situation where both parties knew each other’s moves, it was only natural that the more skilled person held the advantage.

“I won’t ignore her entirely, though.”

“What does that mean?”

Ensi, about to add an explanation, felt the presence of the noisy pursuers. He looked back at Agniell with a troubled smile. Sensing them as well, Agniell gave a small, wordless nod.

“I’m not sure exactly what you’re planning, but do as you wish. I will move according to the situation, whatever you do.”

“Thank you. Shall we move for now? Since we’re at a disadvantage—”

Let’s go for an ambush.

At Ensi’s playful whisper, Agniell nodded as if enchanted.

Having easily gained Agniell’s cooperation, Ensi moved first. They doubled back along their path, but followed a route carefully chosen to avoid a direct encounter with the pursuers.

Quietly monitoring every footstep and breath, the two closed the distance until they could hear voices tinged with anxiety and confusion, and a voice calmly encouraging them.

“What if they just ran away for good?”

“They didn’t. They went into the woods to turn the situation to their advantage, so don’t worry.”

“How can you be so sure? Alemere, that guy hates moving more than anything.”

“I can’t argue with that, but still, Ensi hates leaving loose ends even more. He’ll try to settle this once and for all. Besides… even if Ensi doesn’t come, Agniell will. Definitely.”

Lily, who had a faint inkling of why Agniell had eliminated ten classmates in less than two hours, wasn’t swayed by her companions’ anxiety. Instead, she stood firm, guaranteeing that she at least knew Ensi better than they did. Suddenly, she looked around, her skin crawling with a chilling sensation.

It was a feeling of coldness, or perhaps a strange sense of déjà vu. She didn’t know the cause, but something felt wrong. She tightened her grip on her sword.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have a bad feeling— everyone, draw your swords.”

Ensi, watching the situation with bated breath, clicked his tongue inwardly. ‘How does that animalistic instinct of hers always hit the mark?’

Noticing the others hesitating despite Lily’s warning, Ensi signaled Agniell with his eyes. This was the chance—before they could fully prepare, while the atmosphere was still unsettled.

Receiving the signal, Agniell no longer hid his presence. Releasing his aura, he lunged straight at Lily.

“Ugh, you crazy—!”

Agniell burst from the cleverly concealed thicket and brought his sword down with massive force. Since Lily had been prepared, she parried the blade without much trouble, but she let out a groan at the sensation of being crushed under his weight.

“Why is your sword so… rough today!”

Holding her breath for a split second, Lily channeled sudden strength into her arms to shove the blade back. She let out a hollow laugh as she faced a raw, predatory aura that felt almost animalistic.

“Where’s Ensi?”

“He’s elsewhere.”

Agniell was about to state the truth as was his nature, but remembered the situation and told a lie. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, but it was so brief that only Ensi, watching from the shadows, noticed it. He smiled silently at the sight of Agniell telling an uncharacteristic lie just to follow his plan.

“Wow, you’re overprotecting him even in this situation?”

‘You’ve got it bad, really bad.’

Lily hadn’t expected him to actually come alone. Still, she didn’t want to ignore the possibility of Ensi hiding nearby. She wanted to check her surroundings immediately, but Agniell standing before her didn’t seem likely to let that happen.

In the end, she clicked her tongue and steadied her sword. Facing a sharp aura and relaxed muscles that were incomparable to their usual sparring sessions, Lily’s hand tightened on her hilt instinctively.

“So you’re alone? Do you really think you can handle this many people by yourself?”

“There’s no reason I couldn’t.”

Lily had asked a probing question on purpose, but Agniell’s voice remained calm and unwavering. Consequently, Lily’s suspicion began to fade. In her mind, Agniell was exactly the type of person who would leave Ensi in a safe place and move alone because it was dangerous.

While Lily parried Agniell’s moves, the others, now ready, surrounded him and swallowed hard. Perhaps due to Agniell’s fierce pressure, they felt all their focus being pulled toward him.

Crystalline shatter—!

At that moment, when the heavy tension lay as thick as fog and no one dared to move first, an alien sound pierced the silence.