Chapter 132 - 34

At night in a vast meadow that was quite far from the Dwarven Royal capital, the academy students set up temporary tents for them to stay. They did so on the instructions Merlick had given them.

Merlick had previously explained that they could no longer stay in the capital area as there was not a single inn for them to stay in. All the citizens of the capital had been evacuated to a special underground shelter for the citizens of the Dwarven Kingdom and they couldn't possibly ask King Auva for that because their current relationship wasn't good.

Moreover, the distance from the Dwarven Royal Capital to other cities was relatively far. They needed 7 days on foot and 4 days by horse-drawn carriage. For Merlick, King Gustave and their teachers could fly and shorten the mileage to one day. But the students couldn't do that. Therefore Merlick and the others decided to set up a tent in a place quite far from the Dwarven royal capital. They chose that place because they thought it was the best and closest place they could find.

In one of the student tents, Ziel who was previously pretending to be unconscious slowly opened his eyes. He woke up after feeling that there was no one around him anymore. As he sat down, he felt someone approaching his tent. The person who entered his tent was an emerald green-haired elf who had a bowl of soup in her hand.

"Are you awake? I brought you some food." Kalya chuckled while remembering the acting they did before. She handed a bowl of soup to Ziel.

"Hmm...just now. Aren't you tired of going back and forth to this place?" Ziel accepted the bowl. He could smell the delicious aroma of the soup. As long as he pretended to be unconscious several people were also in his tent. He knew that Kalya was always going in and out of his tent because of seeing the condition of her students who were still unconscious. Not to mention she had to hold regular meetings with other teachers.

"Of course not. My tiredness will go away when I see you. Besides, if there are no regular meetings with other teachers, I'd rather stay here than go back and forth." Kalya smiled sweetly. Even though she said that her eyes looked a bit tired.

"Did you make this soup?" Ziel starts tasting the soup that kalya brought. After he tasted the first spoonful of the soup, he took the second and so on quickly. He seemed to enjoy it.

"Yes. Coincidentally, I brought a few ingredients from home. So I can make the soup for you." Kalya smiled widely when she saw Ziel devour the soup she made. It wasn't long before the soup bowl was dry.

"Thanks for the food. Now you better rest because your face looks tired." Ziel can feel the food made by Kalya is very delicious. Unlike the Japanese dishes that he makes, Kalya's dishes have their unique taste. It was probably the taste of her hometown. But after seeing the face of the person who cooked it, Ziel couldn't help but stare at her exhausted face.

"I'm okay..." Kalya wanted to try to refute what he said but Ziel cut him off first.

"Please rest." Ziel said softly to her. This makes Kalya's heart warm. But after thinking she had to go back to her tent to rest her face became sad. She suddenly smiled because she had just come up with an idea.

"Hmm... Can I sleep here? If someone comes you can wake me up right away." Kalya asked with a pitiful face and wet eyes. Ziel wouldn't be tempted by such an act, but he couldn't refuse her request even without doing so.

"Okay. You can sleep here." Ziel nodded slightly. He had already checked his surroundings. Fortunately, his tent was a bit far from the other tents.

"Thank you, Ziel. Eh, but where should I sleep?" Kalya glanced around and could only see Ziel's bed. Her face flushed red at the thought of what might happen next. Coincidentally, he didn't have a bed that matched the size of his tent, Kalya was the same as him.

"I'm moving. You can sleep here." Ziel was about to get up from his bed but Kalya quickly stopped him.

"Wait a minute! I feel bad if you do something like that." Kalya said awkwardly. She couldn't possibly ask him to sleep with her.

When Ziel saw Kalya confused, he quickly understood what she was thinking. Ziel changed his position slightly and made his thighs a pillow on the bed. He couldn't have let Kalya sleep with him in the same bed in a place like this. If anyone sees it it will destroy Kalya's image as a teacher.

"Sleep." Ziel patted his thigh allowing Kalya to sleep on his lap.

"OK!" Kalya still smiled happily even though this was not the same as what she thought. But she knew Ziel wasn't that kind of guy, he must be doing this for her good.

Kalya started to lay down on Ziel's bed and rested her head on his lap. She knew that this position was reversed, she should have given him the lap pillow. But somehow, he enjoyed this and felt very excited.

Kalya slowly closed her eyes and it didn't take long for her to fall into a deep sleep. She felt very comfortable and safe when she was around Ziel. She could let go of everything and rest her life and death on him. Her tired face now looked more relaxed. She even smiles when she sleeps.

Ziel covered Kalya's body with a thick blanket that he took from his space storage. He casts his spell and makes a clone of Kalya.

[Piqment Clone]

After that, an exact copy of the Kalya was formed. Kalya's clone came out of Ziel's tent and returned to her tent

Then Ziel made a barrier around Kalya who was sleeping soundly on his lap so she wouldn't be disturbed by the noise from outside and woke her up from her sleep. Besides, he had other reasons for doing so.

"You two come in." Ziel said nonchalantly. He subconsciously rubbed Kalya's head in his lap. This made Kalya smile widely in her sleep.

Suddenly Ziel's tent door opened, but no one was seen opening it.

"Ugh!" The person who entered the tent was shocked when she saw Kalya sleeping on Ziel's lap. One of them immediately appeared.

"What are you two doing in a place like this!?" Princess Freya said in a slightly high tone. But Ziel just ignored her. It wasn't long before the second person appeared as well. She is Princess Iris.

"I'm sorry to bother you on a night like this." Princess Iris didn't know what she wanted to say. But she had to apologize to him first.

"I don't mind that. I just want to know what did you guys come here for? You should know I'm fine." Ziel keep rubbing the head of Kalya who was sleeping. This made the two Princesses widen their eyes. Princess Freya and Princess Iris even know that Kalya is currently very happy in her sleep just by looking at her expression. The two of them couldn't say anything at all. Ziel just kept quiet and waited for them to answer his question.

"Ziel, do you have to do that? If anyone found out he was sleeping in your tent it would be a big problem!" Princess Freya was the first to speak while Princess Iris just nodded in agreement with her words. She felt her chest hurt a lot right now. Princess Freya also felt the same way with her.

"So you mean I should go and sleep in her tent?" Ziel replied with another question.

"You can't do that!" Princess Freya and Princess Iris shouted in unison. Fortunately, Ziel's tent has also been provided with a barrier. Otherwise, others would hear their screams. Princess Freya and Princess Iris look at each other and awkwardly avert their eyes.

"You guys don't have to worry about that. I already sent a clone to her tent. So everything will be fine. I've also created an illusion in this place so that other people who want to come here will turn around and forget about his intentions. You got to this place because you came before I made the illusion." Ziel explained to them what he had done so that Kalya would not be found out by others.

Princess Freya and Princess Iris were silent and didn't know what to say. What Ziel had done to hide Kalya's presence in his tent was perfect.

Princess Freya gritted her teeth. She couldn't let it stay like this otherwise Ziel and Kalya would end up in the same tent and bed. Suddenly she thought of a stupid idea. But that was the only way she had right now.

"Then I will also sleep in this tent!" Princess Freya said it loudly. This made Princess Iris open her mouth wide. He didn't think Princess Freya would be so bold. Princess Iris can only tightly clench her fists because she doesn't have the courage like Princess Freya.

"What do you want by sleeping here?" Ziel didn't know what Princess Freya's real purpose was.

"I won't do anything. I'm just keeping you from doing anything obscene!" Princess Freya said part of the reason honestly. Another reason is that she is jealous of Kalya.

"Do as you please. But I won't be responsible if you get caught." Ziel doesn't want to have a long argument with Princess Freya. So he agreed to her request.

"Eh? Can't you do the same thing you did for her?" Princess Freya looked at him with a hopeful face.

"That's... all right." Ziel wanted to refuse but after seeing her face, Ziel knew Princess Freya would not give up so easily. It would be more troublesome later if everyone realized that Princess Freya wasn't in her tent and looked for her in his tent The illusion will disappear if there are too many people heading to his tent. Ziel was about to make a clone of Princess Freya but was stopped by the voice of Princess Iris who had been silent all this time.

"Hmm... can I also rest here for the night?" Princess Iris finally got up the courage to say it. Princess Freya opened her mouth wide after hearing Princess Iris' request. Ziel was silent for a while before finally nodding. He didn't want to repeat the same questions and answers he did with Princess Freya before. He made a clone of Princess Freya and Princess Iris. They immediately got out of Ziel's tent and headed for their respective tents.

Princess Iris smiled in relief at Ziel's answer. When she glanced to the side, she saw Princess Freya was staring at her. Princess Freya can't do anything because it's Ziel's decision. She felt she had made a new friend as well as a rival.

The two of them pulled out the bed from their space storage. The tent was enough for the four of them to sleep crammed together. Fortunately, Ziel is currently not in a sleeping position. So the room was enough for the three girls to sleep together. Ziel who was watching them make their bed suddenly looked towards the border between the human and demi-human regions. He frowned but soon returned to his poker face.

"Looks like we'll be staying here a little longer." Ziel mumbled softly so no one would hear. Princess Freya and Princess Iris were getting ready to sleep. Their long night had begun.

***

In a tent that looks bigger than the rest. Merlick and King Gustave were sitting down discussing their situation.

"Where are Miss Kalya and her students?" King Gustave suddenly asks about Kalya and Ziel.

"The class D student is in his tent, he is currently unconscious. Kalya... I saw her talking to another teacher. After that, I don't know. What's wrong with you suddenly asking them?" Merlick was puzzled by King Gustave's unusual question.

"Ah, nothing." King Gustave wanted to say that he was a little suspicious of the two of them. He thought that they were the black-robed people helping them. But he didn't have any evidence and could only stay silent for now.

"Alright, let's put that aside for now. Have you given the news to the human region yet? We can't linger like this." Merlick was uncomfortable with their current situation. They were forced to camp in the meadows because they had no other choice.

"I've already contacted the other four kings. They said they would help us right away. But my connection was suddenly cut off for no known reason." King Gustave said with a serious face.

"I also haven't received any more news about the magic train coming to pick us up. What is happening?" Merlick had a gloomy face at the moment. He felt trouble after trouble came to them.

"Looks like something happened at the border." King Gustave said the strange feeling he had for Merlick. But he still didn't know what was going on there.

"I hope nothing bad will happen in the future." Merlick sighed heavily. He was feeling very tired right now.

"I hope so too." King Gustave nodded in response.

No one noticed at this time that the aurora had suddenly appeared and split the continent in two between the human and demi-human regions.