Elemental Cats

"But why?"

Vatel voiced what the other three also thought, and they all looked at Toz with confused gazes as they waited for him to answer.

Toz didn't really have a reason to answer them or explain his plan in any more detail. If anything, he wanted to do the opposite since he didn't appreciate how they had interfered in his fight. Eventually, he settled for a compromise and decided to tell the Lightning Rascals a summary.

"An impromptu infiltration mission should be worth a lot of contribution."

Vatel and his friends looked at Toz in stunned silence. The answer was reasonable, but at the same time, not quite. Sure, an infiltration mission sounded good, and it did make sense that his bracelet would attribute him an incredible achievement for it. But that would only be good if he came out alive. Even before surviving, Toz had to successfully infiltrate the base of enemies who surpassed him in strength and numbers.

The Lightning Rascals briefly thought about what they knew about the Fortress of Death before looking at Toz as if he was crazy.

"Are you crazy?"

Vatel even spoke his thoughts out loud, which once again earned him stern looks from his comrades. Thankfully, Toz didn't take any more offense than he usually did when Vatel talked.

Eventually, after several moments of tense silence, Hullie spoke up.

"Not to be rude, but you do know that there are other ways to get achievements, right?"

"Yeah. And I would have chosen something safer if I had the time."

Since Toz had been so obliging with answering their questions, Hassandra and the others wanted to continue. For some reason, Toz was interesting, especially in the way he thought. However, at the mention of the time limit, Toz's mood shifted. Even Vatel sensed that something was off and decided to stay quiet.

Since everyone was just staying awkwardly silent, Toz ended up being the one to break the silence.

"If there's nothing else, I should get going. Oh, and don't forget to give me my share for those two."

Although Toz and the cats had been first to fight against the two robed figures from the Tribe of Death and the Lightning Rascals had rudely interfered in the fight, they had still played a big part in taking down and restraining them. He couldn't ignore their contribution, especially in the capturing part. Toz would have likely used a primitive method if he were to capture them, which could have led to them escaping.

But the Lightning Rascals seemed relatively reliable despite Vatel's presence, so Toz thought it would be easier to let them deal with the robed figures. He and the cats also wouldn't have to spend a bunch of time and effort lugging them back to the base where someone else could take them to prison.

Since their plan had flopped, Toz and the cats would need to save as much time as possible so that they could rack up more achievements in the year they had.

After saying his piece, Toz started walking away from the Lightning Rascals with the cats in tow.

"Wait!"

However, he didn't get very far before Hassandra shouted after him. Toz considered ignoring her and disappearing with either darkness or space magic, but something told him that it wouldn't hurt to hear her out. Toz decided to listen to his gut since it had never failed him before. If anything, his gut had saved him multiple times.

Toz turned around with a raised eyebrow as he waited for Hassandra to explain why she asked him to stop.

Hassandra looked hesitant, and she looked down, avoiding Toz's gaze for a few moments before she looked up with gritted teeth and resolved eyes. As if she had decided to say something that she shouldn't talk about openly. And the way she wrapped the two robed figures in a cocoon of invisible string further strengthened that impression.

Hullie understood what she wanted and quickly enveloped their surroundings in a gentle breeze that prevented sound from escaping. The wind also distorted the air, so it would be incredibly difficult to read their lips.

With the necessary preparations in place, Hassandra started speaking, but she didn't tackle the main issue right away.

"Do you have someone to vouch for you? Your identity and presence on the battlefield?"

Hassandra's words piqued Toz's curiosity and the others' alarm. But neither Toz nor Hassandra cared what the others thought. Hassandra continued talking, and Toz continued listening.

Vatel and the others seemed a little unsure about letting Hassandra continue, but eventually, they decided not to interfere. Even if they hadn't known Hassandra for long, they had fought together. They were brothers-in-arms. They trusted her.

After getting confirmation to her question, which was a nod from Toz, Hassandra continued.

"We're not supposed to talk about this. It's top-secret information to the point where making a vow or signing a contract could expose it, which is why I can talk about it without worry. However, if it comes out that I revealed this, not even the Spider's Web can save me."

Those words really caught Toz's interest, and he waited for her to continue while wondering why she was telling him about it. Not that he minded, of course. He was just curious, especially since the grave faces on the other three confirmed what Hassandra said.

"I am telling you this as a sign of my sincerity and as a way of apologizing. I don't wish to pry into your matters, but it seems like our interference caused you trouble. On top of that, we practically interrogated you with our questions. For that, I apologize. But I won't apologize for asking about how you saw through my magic. I sincerely wish to know how you did that, and what I say next is proof of that."

Toz was beginning to wonder if Hassandra had any plans of becoming a storyteller with how eloquently she drummed up the dramatic atmosphere with a few sentences and a couple of facial expressions. However, her following words made Toz realize that there was a reason for her severity, even if she was a little dramatic.