Chapter 374: The Gate Remembers

By the time they reached Forest Hidden the next day, the academy looked almost offensively peaceful.

Martin noticed the contrast as soon as the familiar forest paths came into view. After hours inside the Sunken Belfry, where every bell had become suspicious and every road required verification, the trees surrounding the academy seemed too normal.

Branches moved in the wind, birds called somewhere beyond the path, and nobody was trying to lure a child into a tunnel with a stolen signal.

Alexandra walked beside Kumoe a few steps behind Martin. Mireva and the elderly Sairren followed together, while the route-keeper spent most of the approach studying everything except the road directly in front of him.

Rias carried the evidence records they had agreed to reveal, while Cassandra walked with them too. She had never suggested that she should stay behind, and Martin had never asked her to.

The group slowed when they reached the point where Forest Hidden’s territory began.

Cassandra stopped first.

No dramatic barrier appeared, nothing flashed across the path, and no force threw her backward. She simply stopped at the boundary she already knew she was not permitted to cross.

Martin took several more steps before noticing she was no longer beside them and turned back.

Cassandra looked toward Forest Hidden. "This is far enough."

Mireva glanced between her and the academy grounds. "You are certain?"

"Yes."

"You could test it."

Cassandra shook her head. "Being banished does not become less clear because I annoy the boundary again."

Alexandra looked toward Martin.

He knew that look. "No."

She frowned. "I didn’t say anything."

"I’m learning."

Rias walked past both of them. "Slowly."

Martin ignored her while Mireva remained beside Cassandra instead of immediately crossing. The elderly Sairren stopped as well, and the route-keeper studied the invisible division with obvious interest.

"You are comfortable waiting here?" Mireva asked.

"No."

The answer surprised her.

Cassandra continued before Mireva could respond. "But comfort is not relevant."

The elderly Sairren studied the academy beyond the trees. "You accept a punishment from people who call themselves monster hunters."

"I accept that Forest Hidden had reasons to impose it."

"That is not the same thing."

"No."

Cassandra did not pretend otherwise.

Mireva looked toward Martin. "If some of us choose this place, she remains outside?"

"As things stand now, yes."

"Would you ask them to change that?"

Martin hesitated, but Cassandra answered before him.

"Not as part of this."

She met his eyes. "The Sairren are not bargaining material for my sanction."

That ended the question more effectively than anything Martin could have said.

Mireva nodded slowly. "Good."

Cassandra’s eyebrows rose. "Good?"

"I wanted to know whether anyone would try."

Nobody did.

The route-keeper walked closer to the boundary without crossing it. "Can you feel anything?"

Cassandra looked at him. "Not the way you mean."

"So there is no physical barrier?"

"I didn’t say that."

He crouched to inspect the ground, prompting Rias to stop beside him.

"Please don’t start experimenting with the academy boundary while we’re asking it for shelter."

"I was observing."

"That is how experiments begin."

The route-keeper looked offended, and Martin almost laughed.

The ordinary exchange did something useful. It made the invisible boundary feel less like a dramatic punishment and more like what it actually was: a serious rule that Forest Hidden expected Cassandra to respect.

Mireva finally crossed first. Nothing happened. The elderly woman followed, then the route-keeper after one final look at Cassandra.

Rias entered next. Alexandra brought Kumoe across only after all three heads moved forward willingly.

Martin lingered beside Cassandra.

"We’ll come back."

"I know."

"You could log out."

"I could."

"Or go somewhere else."

"I could do that too."

Martin glanced toward Forest Hidden.

Cassandra sighed. "Go. I am perfectly capable of existing alone near a tree for a while."

"You make it sound depressing."

"It is a very respectable tree."

Martin laughed despite himself.

Cassandra’s expression softened, but her next words were more serious. "Do not soften it."

He understood immediately. "What happened with Victoria?"

"All of it that matters."

"You already told them."

"I told them what I did. Forest Hidden should tell them why it decided that deserved account-wide banishment."

Martin nodded.

"If they are considering trusting Forest Hidden with families," Cassandra continued, "they should hear Forest Hidden defend its own judgment."

"You really want them questioning the elders about you?"

"I want them questioning the elders about everything."

That sounded much more like Cassandra.

Martin finally crossed the boundary.

The first part of the inspection happened before they found Rangar. The route-keeper slowed repeatedly as they followed the path deeper into Forest Hidden, watching hunters moving between training areas while most of his attention remained on the beasts around them.

Some traveled beside humans. Others moved independently, and a small group crossed one path without anyone trying to direct them at all.

The route-keeper glanced toward Alexandra and Kumoe. "Are they bonded?"

Alexandra followed his gaze. "I don’t know."

"You cannot tell?"

"Not every beast standing near a player belongs to that player."

The wording made the Sairren look at her.

Alexandra noticed. "You know what I mean."

"Yes."

His attention returned to the academy grounds.

Martin did not tell him what conclusion to draw. One quiet path proved very little, and that was why they had come to inspect instead of accepting Martin’s description of the academy.

The elderly woman noticed something else.

"No cages."

Martin looked around. "Not here."

She gave him a sharp look. "You almost said no."

"Yeah."

"Why didn’t you?"

"Because I don’t know every room in Forest Hidden."

That answer earned him a small nod.

Finding Rangar took longer than Martin hoped and less time than he feared.

The NPC was near one of the academy’s working areas when Martin finally spotted him. Rangar noticed Martin first, then Alexandra and Kumoe, and finally the Sairren delegation he clearly had not been expecting.

His gaze returned to Martin.

"No."

Martin stopped. "I haven’t asked anything."

"You arrived with a Sairren delegation, Rias is carrying enough records to ruin someone’s week, and Kumoe is looking at my food pouch."

The curious head immediately looked away.

Rangar pointed at Martin. "Whatever you are about to ask is not small."

Alexandra smiled. "He knows you well."

"Unfortunately."

Martin stepped closer. "I need a strange favor."

Rangar closed his eyes. "There it is."

"It’s not exactly a favor."

"That makes it worse."

Mireva watched the exchange without interrupting. The elderly Sairren woman appeared to be reconsidering whether Martin knowing Rangar was actually reassuring.

Martin gestured toward the delegation. "The Belfry was attacked."

Rangar opened his eyes again.

The humor disappeared.

"Start from the beginning."

Martin looked toward Rias.

She already had the first evidence record open.

Of course she did.