Chương 284: Chapter 282 – Into The Hedges.

Gwen groaned and rubbed her temples as she sat up. The dizziness was fading, but she still needed a moment to gather herself. Astrella was starting to look better as well. Her two fairies rubbed her shoulders while casting some kind of recovery spell that finally revived her.

"I thought I was going to die! Warn me before you're about to do that, Rusty!" She pointed a finger at Rusty in a slightly crazed fashion, though she understood why it had happened.

"I'll try, but we should focus on the current problem. We also need to watch out for more of those birds."

"Ah, that thing. It's just like that snake! Someone was clearly targeting our Gwen!" Astrella pointed at Gwen again as she recalled the small flaming swallow that had caused the whole ordeal.

"I agree. We need to be careful. What if they were trying to separate us from our main force?" Rusty voiced the idea, causing everyone who heard him to stop in their tracks.

"Separate us? Do you mean someone could be chasing us?" Astrella asked as she hurried over to Gwen and wrapped her in a hug, as though trying to shield her from harm.

"If they wanted to separate us, they succeeded perfectly. The question is, who are they?" Syber muttered, his feline eyes narrowing as he scanned the towering walls of shifting greenery. The white fur along his arms receded as he returned to his normal form, and a large white tiger summon appeared beside him, the same one he had been fused with moments ago.

"I don't know. I didn't sense the bird until it was too late. Do any of you have any idea? Did it come from our group or from somewhere else?" Rusty looked at the four summoners, who should have been better at detecting mana fluctuations in the air than he was.

"I do not recall sensing anything. The attack must have come from outside." Aranea chimed in with her expertise. In her opinion, it was unlikely that the attacker had been one of the knight cadets or the other summoners.

"You there. I have a question." Syber turned to the knight named Kaelen, who had been quietly listening to the strange conversation. He could not hear Rusty's words at all, but fortunately, the others spoke aloud.

"Ah, of course!" Kaelen straightened immediately, clearly on edge.

"Was the route we were taking decided in advance?"

"Ah? Yes. The hedges change at regular intervals each week."

"I knew it." Syber shook his head.

"Knew what?" Astrella asked, unable to follow his train of thought.

"Weren't you listening? They already knew which path we would take. A flame bird like that could have easily been planted as a hidden trap, ready to activate once we, or Gwen, approached."

"Ah... those bastards! When I get my hands on them!" Astrella fumed after hearing Syber's explanation, and Rusty simply nodded. It made perfect sense if their route had been known in advance. That still meant the culprit could have been anyone, or that multiple people were involved.

'A-Class was here before us... could it be her doing?' Rusty did not mention it, but Katherine Grandwell was still one of the main suspects. She had both the motive and the ability to influence others to do her bidding. If she had asked someone to place an enchanted item in the bushes the day before their arrival, proving her involvement would be almost impossible.

"We have to do something! This is already the second time!" Astrella, whose face had finally regained its color, was furious. A deep frown crossed her face, and the two tiny fairies perched on her shoulders mirrored her expression.

"What can we do?" Rusty asked as he looked toward Syber, who tended to become more talkative whenever something important had to be discussed.

"If we recovered the enchanted device, we might be able to determine who placed it, but the chances are slim. Those things usually have a self-destruct mechanism and are designed for a single use." Rusty nodded with his metallic head while the confused Kaelen continued staring at the strange conversation. It was probably odd to see a suit of armor being treated as a normal member of the group.

"I see... and the maze has already shifted, so we probably will not be able to return to that location. It could also be swarming with those Trimmer monsters." Rusty glanced toward the area where they had come from and could not see any smoke. While he knew Syber possessed some tracking abilities, returning there would be dangerous since the monsters were drawn to the disturbance. The odds of finding any useful clues were also low. Their best option was to regroup with the others or try to find their teacher.

"I think we should focus on finding our way back. We can deal with all of this later when we're safe and report everything to the teachers." Syber fell silent again after making his suggestion.

"I agree. We should find a way out of here first." Rusty then looked over at Gwen and Astrella.

"I hate agreeing with that idiot, but he's right this time. Let's find the teacher first." Astrella crossed her arms while Gwen, standing beside her, simply nodded.

"Let's do that. I don't think this place is safe." Everyone then turned toward Aranea, who was still sitting atop her spider.

"Indeed, we must return first. Do not worry. I shall also investigate this transgression. Thou art not without allies. I swear it upon the name of House Venomridge." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Ah, you don't have to go that far, Aranea..." Gwen lowered her head after hearing Aranea's solemn declaration. She clearly did not know how to respond, and things between them still seemed a little awkward. As always, Astrella was the first to break the silence.

"What do you mean? That's what friends do for each other!"

"Friends?"

"Of course!"

"I see..." Aranea seemed taken aback by the word friends. After a brief pause, she hid her expression behind her fan as she always did, but her eyes sparkled with more enthusiasm than usual.

"Now then, let's go." Rusty nodded as he looked at the giant spider. He felt confident in his own abilities, but with such a powerful ally at their side, perhaps some of his responsibilities could be entrusted to it.

"Aranea, why not let Gwen and Astrella ride your spider? They'll probably be safer on it." Aranea blinked behind her fan, her gaze shifting from Rusty to the two girls. The massive spider beneath her shifted its weight, its many eyes reflecting the eerie green glow of the towering hedge walls. For a moment, the noble girl hesitated. Then she lowered her fan with a click.

"Very well. It would be unseemly to allow thee to travel on foot when such danger surrounds us." Although she spoke with her usual composure, Rusty detected a hint of hesitation in her voice. He had grown accustomed to humanoids speaking, but their emotions could still be difficult for him to read.

"I've been meaning to ask. What's your spider's name, Aranea? We have Rusty over there, and Airy and Biry are with me." Astrella climbed onto the spider she had ridden before as she asked the question.

"Uh…" Aranea raised her fan again to cover her face, turned away, and mumbled something.

"... achy…"

"Oh? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you." Astrella did not give up, even though it was obvious Aranea was uncomfortable revealing the name. Before Gwen could say anything, the noble girl finally relented.

"This child's name is... Peachy." Rusty said nothing, but for such a ferocious-looking monster, it was a surprisingly cute name. Gwen smiled.

"Peachy? That's a cute name."

"It is... but why Peachy?" Astrella nodded with a wide grin and continued asking questions.

"She looked like a peach when I first summoned her... so I just..." It was obvious Aranea regretted revealing the name. She turned her head away completely to hide her face. As before, the tips of her ears turned pink, betraying her embarrassment. Peachy, however, seemed anything but embarrassed. If anything, the great spider looked proud of her name.

"I'll be relying on you, Peachy. Protect my summoner." Rusty, whose own name was hardly ordinary, did not understand why the humanoid felt embarrassed, nor could he relate to the feeling.

"..." The spider did not respond. Instead, she wiggled her forelegs slightly. Her mannerisms reminded Rusty of his ant friend Gleam, but unlike Gleam, this monster was not bonded to him, so he could not understand her at all. Even so, he knew she had acknowledged the command. She might have seemed like a simple beast, but she was clearly intelligent.

"Now that we are settled..." Syber said, breaking the lighthearted moment as he looked toward one of the available paths while his white tiger sniffed the air.

"We need to figure out which way to go. The layout has completely changed." He turned toward Kaelen. The red-haired knight was still standing off to the side, adjusting his gauntlets as he studied the towering hedges.

"Kaelen, can you guide us?"

"Me?" The knight trainee looked surprised by the sudden attention.

"Yes. You seem to know a few things about this place, and it doesn't look like this is your first time here."

"Ah... yes. I've been here a few times before." Rusty looked at the young man who was panicking. He looked ordinary, like all the other trainees, and did not really stand out. Perhaps he had never been asked for his opinion or given the chance to take on a leadership role, but he was still their best chance of getting out of this place since the others had no idea which way to go. If they simply picked a random direction, they could easily make things worse.

"Hey, we could also just wait. Remember these? The teachers said that if we got lost, they would find us." Astrella reminded them about the badges they were wearing. They were supposed to be enchanted so others could track their location.

"That's a wise proposition, but..." The knight cadet looked at the hedges and stepped closer. His metal gauntlet brushed against one of the roses, which was a deep, blood-red color.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to stay here for long." The others did not know what he meant, but almost immediately they saw the roses grow darker and darker until they began dripping with a liquid that looked disturbingly like real blood.

"What's happening?" Syber asked as he watched the unsettling phenomenon unfold before them.

"It's the Blood Rose phenomenon. The hedges guide the creatures toward the Blood Roses. If we stay here, we'll be surrounded before any help can arrive." Kaelen finished as his hand moved toward the weapon at his hip. The moment the Blood Roses appeared, they heard rustling from one of the nearby corridors. Something was approaching, and they needed to make a decision. They had two options. They could stay and fight whatever was coming.

Although that would put them in danger, they would remain in one place, making it easier for the adults to find them. Or they could run and hide, avoiding a direct confrontation. Both choices carried risks. Staying could get them killed if they were overwhelmed. Running could lead them deeper into the maze, making it even harder for anyone to find them.

"So, do we stay or run?" Rusty stepped forward with his weapon raised, but he froze almost immediately when he heard the familiar scrape of metal.

"It's one of those things again!?" Astrella was quick to point out that the sound matched the Hedge Trimmer monster they had barely managed to defeat before, even with a much larger group.

"What do we do?" Gwen asked, looking to Rusty for guidance. He knew that even with his current strength, he was no match for that monster. The best he had been able to do before was hold off its relentless barrage while the others attacked it. The creature had focused almost entirely on tearing his shield apart. If it had stopped attacking him for even a moment, the rest of the group would probably have suffered multiple casualties.

"What can we do? Just run!" Astrella shouted again, pointing toward their only escape route. Rusty had to admit she was right. Getting lost in the hedge maze was probably safer than facing one of those monsters, especially when it seemed to be ignoring the rule that they would not attack unless someone touched the roses.

"Let's go then. Perhaps this knightling humanoid can lead us through the maze if he has been here before!" He pointed his halberd toward Kaelen, who almost took the gesture the wrong way, but luckily, Syber was there to clarify.

"Lead the way. You probably know this place better than any of us." Syber said, giving the cadet a firm nudge forward. Kaelen swallowed hard, his gaze shifting from Rusty's halberd to the distant sound of shears. With a hesitant nod, he turned and sprinted ahead while the rest of the group followed close behind.

"I'll try my best!" The young man called back as he hurried forward. His armor clacked with every step, much like Rusty's, though his was only a half plate. The breastplate bore the emblem of the Knight Academy across its front. The group pressed deeper into the unknown passage, hoping that this time they would find a way back to safety before the maze trapped them once again. The shifting greenery seemed to close in around them as they ran, the towering hedges pulsing with a strange magical energy.

The scent of roses grew stronger, but another smell lingered beneath the sweet fragrance, one they tried to ignore. It was the unmistakable scent of blood, drifting from the roses as they twisted and changed while the group raced past them. Behind them, the screech of metal shears cutting through thick branches echoed through the winding corridors, confirming that the Hedge Trimmers were already on their trail. Kaelen took a sharp left, his boots skidding across the moss-covered ground.

He kept glancing up at the sky, searching for anything that could guide him, but before long, they reached their first obstacle. A pack of thorny beasts blocked the path ahead, their bodies covered in crimson roses that pulsed like living hearts. At first glance, they looked like the same hounds the group had encountered earlier, but these creatures were different. Their bodies had twisted into something far more grotesque and repulsive. Rusty did not hesitate.

Tightening his grip on his halberd, he charged straight toward the beasts. His mission was to protect Gwen, and just as before, he intended to see it through. After everything they had endured to reach this point, failure was simply not an option.