Darius didn't assign them to any specific place; he had just merely told them to investigate the southern part of Raneil Barony. Therefore, Basil asked Iliana where they should head to before departing.
"Well, you're familiar with this place—I am not. Why don't you just take us to wherever you want? We'll follow," was Iliana's simple answer. She even gave a shrug to show that she really didn't care.
Looking at the nonchalant Iliana, Basil lightly frowned. "I will only be the Pathfinder, not the leader. I hope you keep that in mind."
"I know, sweetheart. Don't worry." Iliana smiled pleasantly.
While the others had heard of the rumour about the two's relationship, seeing it firsthand was a little bit bewildering for them. They had never seen Iliana could speak that sweet.
Though not as sweet as a lovestruck maiden, Iliana had just spoken sweet enough to bewilder the people who knew her—her cold and merciless nature. Of course, Basil had none of it; he knew Iliana was just messing around.
He merely quirked his eyebrow lightly, then glanced at Cecilia, who was watching the entire scene silently not far away behind him. "None of us will return, at least, until two days. Don't open the door for anyone, until I come back."
"Understood, Young Master." Cecilia bowed politely.
Basil gave a hum, and exited the hotel without even saying a farewell to Cecilia or any other staffs that were seeing him off. The people who were teamed with him bade their farewell to the staffs, before following his lead.
No one frowned upon Basil's cold attitude toward his employees; they had seen worse. Mages were naturally detached—they were full of themselves. Not caring to anyone was the norm for them.
However they knew Basil was different, since they had seen how well he treated his employees. Therefore, they believed that Basil's reason for not bidding his farewell, was because he was socially awkward.
Unrelated to what the students who had just known Basil were thinking, Iliana was still thinking about the time she had spent with Basil in the bathroom.
Iliana was a very competitive individual; that is to say, regardless of anything she could do and any other people did, she needed to be the best at it. She was annoyed that her "prank" on Basil didn't work—the bath prank. This is her attempt to get him back.
Instead of being flustered—as what she had expected—Basil had casually undressed himself like she hadn't even been there, and bathed himself nonchalantly, uncaring toward the staring he had gotten from her.
Iliana had only regained her composure the moment Basil had dipped himself in the large bathtub that had been filled with warm water.
As she had been annoyed by Basil's nonchalance, she had undressed herself right in front of Basil, entered the large bathtub in the next moment, and positioned herself right beside him. They had been so close, their shoulders had been touching with each other.
Still, Basil's reaction had been as dull as ever; Iliana didn't even see his little guy had reacted. When her thought had been about to travel to a weird direction, Basil had quickly taken action.
"Wait for another 5 years; you might get a reaction out of me by then." Of course, it didn't actually diffuse anything; he had made everyone's goddess, Iliana, feel insulted even.
This is the reason why Iliana was throwing every one of her responsibility to Basil. Was she being petty? Not actually. Although she didn't like to be a loser, she had never being petty.
Her reason of telling Basil to lead them was justified; he knew Raneil Barony the most—his family lived there. Although Iliana could still lead them, it would just be a waste of time since she would only follow the Demons' Mana Signature to find them.
While that method would definitely work, there was still a quite high possibility she might miss some parts which were actually infested with Demons. Therefore, letting Basil—who knew of the places that a visitor didn't know—lead them was the best course of action.
She made sure to explain this in the way ... The reason why Basil was the best guide, that is; she didn't say anything about their little "competition."
"As expected of Vice President Iliana, you have planned everything thoroughly!" Jocelyn, who was riding on her Transportation Artefact beside Iliana, exclaimed.
5 meters in the back, the other four members were riding their Transportation Artefact in a semicircle formation. They were looking at the running Basil, and Jocelyn who was right beside Iliana in amazement.
In Basil's case, they were amazed that the Art he utilized allowed him to run at such a high speed that their Transportation Artefact couldn't keep up without a constant supply of Mana Crystal. They didn't know of the fact that Basil was also a Knight.
In Jocelyn's case, they were amazed at how rich she was. Although Iliana, who was definitely richer than any of them, wasn't particularly riding her Transportation Artefact that fast, Jocelyn still needed to sacrifice a considerable amount of Mana Crystal to make her Transportation Artefact move that fast.
Though none of the students were poor—they had done many jobs to earn money—they were unwilling to spend it on Mana Crystals. They could use Mana Crystals for a better purpose; it would be a waste spending them on Transportation Artefact.
"Although my father is an Earl, seeing her spends her Mana Crystals that way still bleeds my heart..." Robert muttered audibly, and the other people around him quickly nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm glad to know the rich can also appreciate money," Cray commented.
Alexandra turned to Cray, and frowned lightly. "Being a Noble doesn't make you rich. Sure my father is a Viscount, but I myself don't depend on my father's money to live." At her word, Robert nodded his head in agreement.
Gesturing at herself and Robert, Alexandra continued, "Furthermore, I believe the two of you are far richer than us. I had a senior who attended Rehearsal Class. She earned a quite crazy amount of money from all the crazy tasks she had accomplished."
Upon being called out by Alexandra, Whitney and Cray coughed awkwardly. They didn't say anything, as the statement was quite true. The reason why it wasn't spot on was because the tasks they took to earn money: they weren't crazy, but super crazy.
"Kuhum! From the way you talked about it, I picture this senior of yours has already fallen ... Am I wrong?" Whitney asked.
Shaking her head lightly, Alexandra said, "No, you're not. Senior Eva has been dead for two years already."
"Oh! You knew Eva!" Cray's eyes lit up. Turning to Whitney, he said, "Hey, wasn't Eva your... Sorry." Upon noticing Whitney's bitter smile, Cray stopped speaking.
"I've heard about you from Senior Eva ... She complained a lot about you." Alexandra smirked.
"I see... I was a bad fiancé, wasn't I?" Whitney muttered lowly.
Robert, who attended the same class as Alexandra, turned to her and motioned her to stop from talking any further. He didn't do that out of consideration; he did that simply because it was unprofessional of her to talk about a dead Mage's private life in public.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"Nah, it's alright." Whitney waved his hand lightly. "I have failed once, and I won't for the second time." His mind instantly recalled the remaining students of the Rehearsal Class. He had vowed to make the number remained the same until he graduated.
"I heard all of you don't think much of your comrade's death, is that true? Pardon me if I'm being insensitive." Robert bowed his head at Whitney as he asked his question.
Cray was the one who answered the question. "Well, it's not that we don't think that much of our friend's death; we mourn over their death too. But frankly speaking, death surrounds our activities. We are... Kind of desensitized."
Pumping his hand, Cray exclaimed, "Rather than mourning over them, we talk about the good things they had, and laughed at all of the stupid things they had done." Cray shrugged lightly. "You know, it's better to see them off while laughing than in tears."
Robert hummed to himself in amazement. "Hmm... That was... An interesting mindset to say the least." His eyes lit up in interest, as he nodded his head in understanding.
"I thought all of you were a bunch of lunatics. It seems I was wrong; you are better than most of us, Mages, who simply don't care about camaraderie," Alexandra commented in appreciation.
"We are the best, right? Everyone from Rehearsal Class is an amazing individual!" Cray patted his chest proudly.
The others smiled lightly, then turned their gaze to the front. Basil was slowing down his pace; even Iliana and Jocelyn were just a meter away from them. Curious, they were about to inquire about it to Iliana when Basil took out Death Howl's Sealing Sword.
"Ah, crap. Nothing good will happen, if Basil takes out his sword," Cray muttered under his breath.
When Basil completely stopped in his track, the other six students stopped their Transportation Artefact from gliding any further 3 meters behind him. They were about to get down from their Transportation Artefact, when Basil raised his hand.
"Stay on your Transportation Artefact if you don't want to die." Upon hearing that word, Whitney immediately materialized his Grimoire, and Cray quickly utilized his Art.
Rumble.
The ground shook in the next moment, and a powerful aura could be felt approaching them from the front. They couldn't see what it was yet, since there were buildings blocking their view.
Only when the three storey building that was right in front of them was knocked down could they see what was coming at them.
They were bewildered of what they saw, to say the least.