On the flat clearing by the riverbank in the woods, the Expeditionary Team lit a campfire, making it the only source of light in the dim forest beneath the faint starlight.
They tied their horses to the trees along the riverbank and sat around the fire to rest, waiting for sunrise before continuing their expedition.
"The Training Corps rations are really awful..."
Since this was a proper expedition mission, they had naturally brought the corresponding amount of rations. Still, their rough, astringent texture could never be called "delicious."
"We should've caught that lizard earlier."
Sasha was still hung up on the game they had missed. A foodie really was a foodie.
"Forget it. I've had enough of lizards already."
The mention of that unpleasant incident made Jean, who had only just settled down, flare up again. Before they knew it, the two who had finally calmed down were arguing once more.
In truth, there had always been only one conflict between Eren and Jean.
Eren wanted to devote one hundred and twenty percent of his energy to Training Corps missions, honing the abilities and techniques needed to kill Titans; Jean, on the other hand, slacked off whenever he could and would never put in extra effort for anything that did not concern his own interests. It was only natural that two people with such vastly different outlooks could not stand each other.
"Could you two stop arguing already?" This time, the goddess Krista joined in trying to break up the fight.
"Quiet!"
Watching this farce over and over had become tiresome, even irritating.
Lianye, who had been concentrating on something, raised his head. His cold gaze swept over Eren and Jean, who had started quarreling again.
Sparks danced above the campfire. Even in the dim light, the displeasure in Lianye's eyes was faintly visible. That fierce glint remained unmistakable in the darkness—or rather, the darkness only made his intimidating presence all the more oppressive.
"!!!"
Eren and Jean turned their heads away from each other at the same time, ending their pointless argument. They did not care much about angering one another, but if even the captain had given an order and they still refused to rein in their tempers, Lianye would definitely make them suffer next.
Under Lianye's command, everyone in the expedition party quieted down and behaved themselves, silently chewing on the hard, astringent rations in their hands. Even Sasha stopped muttering things like, "Lizards are delicious~~~."
"Was that my imagination?"
Lianye tilted his head and rubbed his forehead. When he had sat down to rest earlier, he had sensed a dangerous aura flash past him. A hunter's instinctive vigilance had immediately sounded the alarm.
Places like dense, shrub-filled grasslands were inherently dangerous because of their limited visibility and all manner of things growing unseen within them.
The insects crawling everywhere, the scattered dust, and the wildly growing vines and clumps of fluff were all irritating enough. More importantly, if someone recklessly charged into a patch of grass, Garen, Xin Zhao, and the Prince of Demacia—those gay guys—might suddenly leap out right in front of them!
That dangerous aura had vanished in an instant. Without activating Ultimate Predator Instinct, Lianye concentrated as hard as he could, yet he found nothing else unusual. It was as though the presence that had put him on guard had completely disappeared from this space, from the surrounding area.
Most people would have dismissed that feeling as an insignificant illusion, but Lianye considered it a warning—or a provocation.
When one hunter invaded another ultimate hunter's territory, collision and friction were inevitable. They said one mountain could not hold two tigers—unless one was male and the other female.
"Heh heh~~~!"
Lianye unconsciously let out an increasingly contemptuous, chilling chuckle. A pitch-black hunting blade appeared in his hand, spinning through a practiced arc as its tip gleamed with a cold silver light.
Seeing Lianye looking ready to sharpen his blade, Jean and Eren both shuddered, afraid that he would pull out the real thing at the slightest disagreement.
As everyone knew, all soldiers, including those in the Training Corps, used the sharp steel blades on their ODM Gear to slice the flesh from the backs of Titans' necks. During training, of course, they used them against huge wooden dummy targets. Yet only that freak Lianye, though he was quite skilled with ODM Gear, occasionally used his shortsword and dagger instead. After all, he was more familiar with that set of equipment.
Anyone who had witnessed the astonishing effects of his attacks with those weapons would instinctively swallow whenever they saw Lianye draw such out-of-spec weapons.
Before you continue