Chương 364: Chapter : 364

"You promised me a soda," Ken said. He pushed himself off the tree. He started jogging again.

"I will hold you to that promise. But I am still very annoyed about the cardio." The hunt began with high-speed intensity. The elite girls tore through the foliage. They checked every single bush. They looked under the large stone benches. They searched inside the giant flower pots. They moved as fast as they could. Laxmi punched her open palm. A small orange flame popped between her fingers. She looked at a massive, tangled wall of green vines.

"This is taking too long," Laxmi stated. She raised her glowing hands.

"I can just burn this entire hedge maze to the ground. The fire will clear the leaves. We will see the golden rings shining in the ashes. It is a perfect strategy." Sayma walked over quickly. She lowered Laxmi's hands.

"No fire, Laxmi. Please stop."

"Why not?" Laxmi pouted.

"These rings are magical artifacts," Sayma explained politely. She opened her neat notebook.

"We do not know their melting point. If you use your intense fire magic, you might melt the gold. If you destroy a ring, we cannot collect it. We must search manually. We must use our eyes." Laxmi groaned loudly. She extinguished her flames.

"Fine. But manual searching is incredibly boring. I want to fight someone." The 13th Unit split into smaller groups to cover more ground. Zinia walked toward the ancient stone ruins. The strong earth mage cracked her knuckles. She grabbed a giant stone pillar. She lifted the massive pillar entirely over her head. She checked the dirt underneath it. She found a family of small bugs. She did not find a golden ring. She set the pillar down gently. Luna shuffled toward a patch of soft green moss.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes. She let out a massive yawn. She poked the moss with her foot.

"There are no rings here," Luna mumbled lazily. She looked at the soft ground.

"But this moss looks very comfortable. It is like a natural mattress. I think I need to test it. I will lie down for just five minutes."

"Do not go to sleep, Luna," Ira stated. The water mage stood perfectly still. Her face showed zero emotion.

"Statistically speaking, closing your eyes reduces your visual detection rate to zero percent. We must remain alert." Luna sighed. She stayed on her feet. She continued poking bushes with a long stick. Risa walked carefully through a beautiful flower bed. The sweet healer wore her yellow dress. She looked at a large, bright blue flower. She smiled softly.

"This flower is very pretty. I wonder if it needs some water." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Risa, please focus on the glowing rings," Princess Iris called out gently. She checked behind a small waterfall.

"We can look at the flowers later." Ken walked with Naomi and Elma. They moved through the winding hedge maze. Elma walked very stiffly. The blonde girl wore her pristine white and gold uniform. She stepped very carefully over a mud puddle. She looked completely disgusted by the dirt. She brushed a dry leaf off her sleeve.

"This is completely unacceptable," Elma complained. Her voice pitched up slightly.

"There is dirt everywhere. My boots are getting stained. We are royal servants. We should not be crawling around in the bushes like stray dogs." Ken walked right beside her. He popped a piece of strawberry candy into his mouth. He chewed happily.

"I totally agree with you, Elma," Ken said. He gave her a goofy smile.

"This place is a mess. My navy blue suit is getting completely ruined. But look on the bright side. You look very nice today. Your hair is very bouncy." Elma froze. Her blue eyes widened. A bright, vibrant blush instantly flooded her cheeks. She quickly turned her head away. She stared very hard at a green bush.

"Do not talk about my hair!" Elma stammered quickly. She crossed her arms tightly.

"Just keep looking for the rings! You are a terrible distraction!" Naomi chuckled softly. She patted Ken on the back.

"Good job keeping her on her toes, Ken. Now check behind that stone statue." Ken walked over to a large marble statue of a horse. He did not look behind it. He looked at the base of the statue. There was a smooth, clean stone bench right next to it. Ken smiled a massive, lazy smile. He sat down on the bench. He stretched his legs out. He leaned back and let out a long breath.

"This bench is fantastic," Ken announced loudly. He closed his eyes.

"I am going to take a quick break. My feet are currently filing a formal complaint against my brain."

"Ken, get up," Naomi laughed. She walked toward him.

"You have only been walking for ten minutes." Ken shifted his weight on the bench. He felt something hard poking his leg. He frowned. He reached his hand under the seat cushion. His fingers touched something small and round. He pulled it out. It was a bright, glowing golden ring. Ken blinked his sleepy eyes. He held the ring up in the air. The golden light shined brightly.

"Hey, look what I found," Ken stated casually. He gave Naomi a goofy grin.

"It was hiding under my seat. This scavenger hunt is incredibly easy. You just have to sit down and let the prizes come to you." Naomi stared at the ring. Her jaw dropped open.

"You literally just sat on it. You are the luckiest person in the entire world."

"Skill," Ken corrected her playfully.

"It is pure skill." Naomi grabbed the ring. She smiled widely.

"We got one! Great job, Ken!" A few minutes later, a loud cheer echoed from the ruins.

"I found one!" Laxmi yelled happily. She stood on top of a crumbled stone wall. She held a glowing golden ring high in the air.

"It was buried in a pile of ash! That is two for our team!" The 13th Unit felt a small surge of hope. They had two rings. The game felt manageable. But their hope did not last long. Princess Iris walked near the central river. She heard a rustling sound. She quickly hid behind a large oak tree. She peeked around the trunk. A patrol from the 7th Unit ran past the river. Scott led the group. The wealthy nobleman wore his sleek dark gray combat suit. He held a glowing golden ring in his hand. He did not look around.

He ran with intense, focused speed. Two other servants ran right beside him. They also held golden rings. They moved like shadows. They did not stop to fight. They did not talk. They just scanned the area, grabbed the artifacts, and vanished into the thick foliage. Princess Iris narrowed her violet eyes.

"They are incredibly fast. They are completely ignoring us. They are only focusing on the objective." The 13th Unit tried their best to match the pace. Naomi dashed through the maze. Zinia tore through the ruins. Sayma checked the fountains. But thirty grueling minutes passed. The search turned into a massive struggle.