Miss Benanis had no intention of concealing the group's tracks. She even deliberately wanted any potential intruders to know that people were here, so she was not at all alarmed.
The intruders who had triggered the outer perimeter warning also sensed the confidence of those camped here. They likewise stopped hiding and openly emerged from the woods to the edge of the camp.
Shade had actually been hoping to see among them one of The Truth Society's professors, dressed in a crisp suit and wearing glasses. After all, he still had many questions for Miss Pawo, who had retreated at the end of the Battle of Pantanal. Unfortunately, none of the five people who appeared looked like members of The Truth Society.
Of the five, four were men and one was a woman. Even the youngest seemed to be in his thirties. All wore black Cold Protection Cloaks, and at their head stood an elderly gentleman in his fifties with graying hair.
He surveyed the people in the camp, then looked toward Shade and Miss Benanis by the bonfire. When he saw the Unicorn, he showed an unusually startled expression, which quickly turned into vigilance and gravity. Clearly, he had taken Shade, standing beside the Unicorn, for the leader of this group.
"One High-Ring, two Mid-Ring, and two Low-Ring. I never expected that after what happened in Tobesk last autumn, the Blood Spirit School would still dare send people to the Old Continent."
Before the other side could speak, Shade spoke first.
He stroked the Unicorn that had risen beside him. The firelight from the leaping bonfire stretched his shadow across the snow surface in a strange shape.
The glimmer from the pure white little beast also illuminated half his body, making Shade's figure seem even more bizarre. Miss Benanis