Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

Remembering the scene when Professor Tresde locked the metal belts on mine and Freya’s waists actually made me a little angry and annoyed.

-How is this fair?!

And I wasn’t the only one pissed.

The chain that bound me and Freya was about two meters in length. Enough to ensure that we were at each other’s sight at most times. Still though, it was uncomfortable. I could imagine how much of a disaster it would be if we ever face a dangerous monster.

“Let’s just get this over with.” I grumbled at the fuming wind mage. “Three days is not that long. At least we can stand each other’s presence at least that much.”

“Fine.”

We looked at the map provided to us. It showed the sector of the island where our exam was held. It was safe to say the monsters we were about to hunt were also roaming around the same area.

“”Let’s go this way.””

I tried to walk in a direction and was startled when I was held back. I almost lost my balance but fortunately, I managed to regain my footing. I looked behind me and saw Freya walk on the opposite direction.

We shouted each other’s names in frustration.

“We’re going this way!” Freya exclaimed and pointed to the direction she was about to head.

“No, we’re going this way!” I argued. “This way has more woods and the river is this way too. Most of our targets are water-based monsters so we should head to a water source!”

“We should hunt the ones scattered first! At least that way once we’re finished with them we can hunt the water-based ones in once swoop!”

Yeah, we were getting nowhere on the first few minutes we were stuck together.

“We should choose a leader.” I suggested.

“Huh? There are only two of us! I’m telling you, we should go with my suggestion! And you should listen to me! I-“

“Don’t use the 'being a noble’s daughter' card on me.” I growled. “Not all children of nobility ends up with a leadership position.”

“But I-“

“Let’s settle this then!” I exclaimed.

“You want a fight? You may have forgotten, but we’re locked together with special chains. If we fight now, it’s only going to be a disaster!”

“At least you know that. No, I’m not saying we should face each other via combat. What about rock-paper-scissors? The one who wins will be the leader and the loser will have to follow the winner’s orders and suggestions.”

Freya looked at me strangely. Seconds later, she sighed and agreed to my proposition.

“First three wins, okay?” she suggested.

I’m happy to say that I won and Freya had no other choice but to listen to me. We headed to the direction where the river was and hunted first the water-based monsters which were mostly in the area.

It was quite hard to move around since I was bound to another person, so we stuck with attacking at a distance and run around together as we tried to nail a few of our targets.

The first day was quite fruitful since we managed to hunt almost all the low-class monsters in our list. We also managed to perform one of the three tasks in our list; collect fifty leaves of a full-grown Waterspout Tree. It was quite unfortunate that the tree was on top of a waterfall but we did manage to succeed it and it was what mattered.

The sun was about to set, so Freya and I headed to a safe zone to set up camp. There was food provided for us in our backpacks, but I caught a few freshwater fishes in the river so I was planning to cook it and make it our dinner. It was much better than the bread, beef jerky and water the teachers provided us with. Plus when I checked the amount of food we had, I guessed it would only last for two days.

-So this is what they meant by surviving.

Since the two of us were chained together, we had no other choice but to work together. Freya and I set up the tent together. I even provided us with the sleeping bags I used to equip whenever I would go hunting back in the Celestine Territory which would last for days.

-Hmm… I guess it’s true that I do have an advantage in this.

Thankfully, Freya and I did not argue much the rest of the night. She even helped in cooking the fish even though it was her first time doing so. We paired the fish with the bread we had with us so our dinner was quite something.

In fact, the only weird thing about our night together was when we had to heed to nature’s call. Now that one was awkward. Then despite many protests on Freya’s side, we took a bath together. I was so glad to be partnered with a girl rather than a guy. That would be even more awkward.

We also agreed on the guarding schedule during the night. Even though it was a safe zone, we were still in a monster infested island where unexpected things could happen. I ended up taking the first watch (first four and a half hours) while Freya took last watch (the other four and a half). I was very surprised at how compliant she was. It almost made me suspect that one of her other personalities was the one in-charge, but it wasn't.

As I spent my time guarding our camp, I kept thinking about my friends, wondering how they were doing on their own exams. I was sure nothing untoward would happen since the teachers were around but I just couldn’t help but worry after all. Our experiences on our first semester had not been best and it just showed that trouble could show up at unexpected times.

-I just hope you guys are doing well.

The next day, I woke up earlier than usual, probably because I was on guard about my surroundings. I headed out of the tent and saw Freya already doing a few exercises. There was still a little slack on the chains that bound us so I was not bothered.

I then joined her in stretching my limbs and prepared for the second day of the exam.

“What do you think we should do today?” I asked Freya who was drinking water.

“Huh? Why are you asking me? You’re the one in-charge, remember?”

“But we are a pair. Plus I was the one who decided everything yesterday, today let’s do yours. Although you should probably still listen to me on how to act it out since I’m the one with the most hunting experience between the two of us.”

“Fine.” she paused for a bit to think. “How about we finish the tasks then carry out the hunting? It should be easier to do that. And if we come across the monsters on our list while we’re doing the other tasks then we just get into action.”

I couldn’t help but nod my head in agreement. She did have a point.

And so, we did just that.