You tell me—Is it open or not?!
"..."
After a pause, Zanze seemed to feel that she had explained quite enough, so she continued with a soft sigh in her usual flat tone:
"Besides..."
"I'm not the only one following you."
As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward the shadowy passage behind them once more, as if hinting at something.
"Some people may not be all that strong, but their brains..."
"Work just fine."
It sounded as though she was judging some particular group, yet at the same time she could have been speaking in general. Fern was left thoroughly confused.
"Tch!"
Ilena looked at the examiner standing before them, shamelessly "tagging along." Though she felt just as awkward as Fern did, she could see that arguing any further wouldn't get them anywhere. Reluctantly, she gave in.
"Fine, fine. Come along if you want!"
"But don't go out of your way to cause trouble. We're not to be messed with!"
As she spoke, she saw that Examiner Zanze didn't react at all. Then she abruptly changed tack, gloating a little as she said:
"However..."
"You might be out of luck!"
"Because we're lost too, aren't we, Teacher Annie?!"
As she spoke, she turned to look for the troublesome little girl's teacher.
"??"
"Teacher, what are you doing?"
But she discovered that the troublesome little girl had somehow left the group without her noticing. She hadn't listened to their pointless chatter at all. Instead, she'd wandered to the end of the dead-end passage and was now standing before an ancient wall, patting it here and there with her little hands!
What's more, a focused, curious look was on her little face, as though she'd really found something.
"!!"
Ilena immediately perked up at the sight.
"What is it, Teacher Annie?"
"Did