Mike King Ceplano sat imposingly atop the remains of a fallen oak tree, lost in thought. Beneath his feet lay an Ogre's shattered skull, while his thick Dragon Skin Cloak was carelessly draped beside him, its lining covered in snow.
Whoosh!
A gust of snow swept past as a tall witch strode up to Augustus. She noticed a foot-tall black Big Crow perched on the trunk beside the wizard and frowned slightly.
The crow seemed frozen stiff. Even when the witch approached it, it did not move. A milky film covered its pitch-black eyes, as though snow had sealed its eyelids shut.
The witch ignored the anomaly and looked at the wizard seated on the oak remains.
"The school's designated hunting grounds have already been cleared. Hayato asked whether we should hunt a wild dragon while we're at it. He got a lead from Wander Bar about a wild dragon's nest not far from our hunting grounds."
Though the wind and snow were biting, the witch spoke neither quickly nor slowly, sounding exactly as if she were giving a report in an office. "...According to him, it's a Romanian Fireball. This weather works greatly in our favor."
Sephrano kept his head lowered, saying nothing.
The crow remained frozen in place as well.
The witch lowered her eyes without showing any intention of urging him. As the current Vice Captain of the Xiangqi Hunting Team and the vice president of the Xiangqi Society, she had long grown accustomed to Sephrano's occasional displays of "dullness."
After a long while, the wizard seemed to suddenly come back to himself.
"Gloria," he said, rubbing his stiff face, his voice somewhat muffled. "Without Friedman, how likely am I to win the loyalty of all Alpha?"
The witch raised an eyebrow.
"Without Friedman, there's O'Brien. Without