Chapter 51 51
"Setsuka! Where have you been!? I looked for you in your tent, but you weren't there." A male student ran towards Setsuka.
That person was Satoru Ishida, the vice president of the student council. After he finished his task, he looked for Setsuka to take her for a walk and enjoy the beauty of the lake. But when he came to her tent, the female student at the place said that Setsuka had left a long time ago and still hasn't come back.
Then Satoru looked for Setsuka in the forest, fearing her wandering around at night when they still didn't know where the monsters were hiding. But he didn't say that to the teachers and senior Realizers because he didn't want them to find Setsuka first.
Satoru wanted him to find Setsuka first and show his concern for her. He hoped that Setsuka would look at him more when he did that. But he didn't expect the girl to return to the camp suddenly. Satoru ran to him with a worried face and thought Setsuka was touched by his acting. Unfortunately, reality didn't live up to his expectations.
"Ishida. Please don't call my name so familiarly because we're not that close. I don't want others to misunderstand when they hear it. Haven't I told you that before?" Setsuka said coldly and left the place. Satoru was dumbfounded and speechless when he heard those words. Setsuka ignored him when he appeared and didn't even look at his face. She walked away from Satoru and headed towards her tent.
Setsuka walked while looking around to find Tenku. The distance from that place to the male student tent was still quite far, so it was strange that Tenku had disappeared suddenly in the blink of an eye. Setsuka didn't think that Tenku had returned to his tent in such a short time.
(Am I seeing it wrong because I'm tired, and it's dark around me?)
Setsuka sighed and quickened her footsteps back to her tent.
"Wait, Setsuka!" Satoru returned to his senses after Setsuka had walked quite far from him. He clicked his tongue and quickly chased after her.
After returning to his tent, Tenku saw that the male student who was his tent mate was already asleep. Luckily they didn't feel his presence and woke up when he returned. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if they questioned why he had gone out for so long.
The students would suspect him when they discovered that Shinji and Masaru had disappeared. Although it was impossible in their eyes, considering his status as the weakest student in Suisei High School. But Tenku wanted to avoid any possibility that could make him suspicious by the teachers and senior Realizers.
Tenku quietly got into his sleeping bag and tried to sleep. But he couldn't do it because he was thinking about the hideouts of the monsters. Tenku had already checked the area around their camp and couldn't find any clues about them. So he could only give up for today and intended to do another search tomorrow in a more distant area.
The next day, Tenku was awakened by noise from outside the tent. He quickly got up from his sleeping bag to check it out. When Tenku came out of his tent, he saw the students, teachers and senior Realizers were busy looking for something. Tenku also saw Takaya and Noboru among them.
"Takaya! Noboru! What has happened?" Tenku raised his voice to call his friends. Takaya and Noboru heard Tenku's voice, and they ran toward him.
"Did you just wake up, Tenku?" Takaya asked Tenku, who came out of his tent while rubbing his eyes.
"Yes. I woke up to a noise outside the tent. What happened? Why are you running here and there in a panic? Have you found the hideouts for the monsters?" Tenku yawned and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
"This thing isn't about monsters! Shinji has disappeared!" Noboru said frantically.
"Shinji?" Tenku looked at Noboru confusedly and pretended not to know the name.
"He is the male student who mocked you yesterday while chatting with Akina! Apart from him, Masaru also disappeared with him. Their tentmates said they hadn't been back since last night! The teachers, senior Realizers, and students were now busy looking for them! Some thought they might run into a monster and not survive." Takaya explained.
"I will change into my combat gear and help you find them." Tenku went back into his tent to put on his leather armor. Takaya and Noboru were slightly taken aback by his response. They thought that Tenku would be indifferent when he found out that the missing student was the one who had mocked him yesterday.
Tenku came out wearing his leather armor not long after, and the three of them went to the forest area to look for Shinji and Masaru.
Several hours had passed since the teachers, and senior Realizers searched for Shinji and Masaru. But no matter how long they searched the area around the campsite, neither of them could find the two students.
They couldn't even get the slightest hint of Shinji and Masaru's whereabouts. Therefore, the teachers decided to regroup the students back to camp. The teachers were worried that the same thing would happen to the other students.
"We will stop the search for those two students. We will focus on our mission here. I hope those two students are still alive, and we can find them in the hideout of the monsters." A senior Realizer suddenly said, and Tenku recognized the person. He was Daisuke Okamoto, a Realizer of the Holy Union and the one leading the mission.
Daisuke had discussed the matter with the senior Realizers of the other two organizations and the teachers. They didn't want to waste any more time on the case. The senior Realizers and the teachers decided to continue the mission and forget about the two students for the time being.
The teachers and senior Realizers wanted to show the students that being a Realizer was a dangerous job. So it was natural that one or two students would die in their first mission.
When carrying out a mission, students from Suisei High School who have joined an organization will be treated like Realizers. There will be no favoritism regardless of their social status. But students who have great potential to become great Realizers in the future will get special treatment.
The students became noisy when they heard that statement, but none dared to object as it was already at their risk as a Realizer.
After the teachers announced that, they divided the students into three groups based on their respective organizations and would be led by a senior Realizer. They do it to train the cooperation of new members from each organization.
Tenku was in the Holy Union group along with Setsuka, Kaede, and Akina. Apart from them, Akio and Asuka were also among those students. The group leader is Daisuke, and they are assigned to explore the western part of the lake, not far from the forest that Tenku visited yesterday.
Tenku and the others sifted through their surroundings. They had to quickly get a clue about the whereabouts of the monsters in Lake Shima. Otherwise, they would spend a lot of time in that place for just one mission.
The school will not mind the students absent during the organization's mission. But wasting time on it is considered unproductive because a Realizer must act efficiently and quickly to solve a problem.
But no matter how long and far they searched, they couldn't find a clue from the monsters. It made the senior Realizers on duty confused. They even suspected that the reports received by the organization were fake.
"This is weird. Why haven't we found any sign of the monster after searching until the evening." Daisuke muttered. His face was severe because he felt something fishy about their current situation. His instincts told him that something dangerous was constantly monitoring their movements, but he didn't know what it was.
Daisuke had contacted other senior Realizers who searched the area opposite them, but they couldn't find anything either. None of them got any clues about the monsters even though they had explored lake Shima carefully and with many people.
"Mr. Okamoto, what are we going to do next?" Akio asked. He wanted to quickly fight against the monsters and show the prowess of his Phantasmal Object to the other students. But when he didn't find any monsters in that place, he felt a bit annoyed and impatient.
"We're going back to camp because the sky is getting dark! Please pay attention to the surroundings on the way back to the camp." Daisuke gave orders to the students. He felt they would only be wasting time if they continued the search.
Daisuke wanted to go back to camp and discuss this matter with the teachers and the senior Realizers from the other two organizations. If they didn't find a way to find the monsters, he would report the matter to his organization and ask for further instructions from them.
"Yes, leader!" The students answered in unison. Afterward, they returned to the camp using the same path they had taken to get there. But not long after they left the place, a shadow appeared above the tree and looked in the direction the students were going.
The shadow was a human wearing a black robe to cover his body. In addition, he also uses a mask to hide his face. If Ziel had been there, he would have recognized that the mask was similar to the spooky mask used by the black-robed person he had killed around his apartment, but in a different color.
"Hehehe… it's time to carry out my plan. It would be a shame if I had to eliminate them. Even though there are many beautiful girls among them, a mission is a mission. I have to do it according to the instructions and kill them all. If I fail, then Nebula Ghost will punish me severely." The black-robed person grinned and took a parchment scroll from within his sleeve. He opened it, and a blinding light filled the area.