How To Survive In A Isekai World [On Break]

Sieg and the others continued their discussion.

"We should think about finding shelter, a place with water, and then maybe food resources. In case that our classmates are not there and the scouts return we should immediately be ready to pack our stuff. Maybe the bandits will notice our presence after some while and Gorst's disappearance will also cause some suspicions to rise up sooner or later. We can't stay here any longer in any possible scenario. If we wait till after the night is over, they will immediately catch onto our trails and hunt us down, do you all agree?", somehow Sieg felt like the pressure on him had lessened now that there were fewer people present. Tony was still stuck in his own thoughts and he wouldn't be clear-headed in the short term.

The other's agreed with his thoughts and recognised his plans. They didn't have much of an impression of Sieg, the new one, but the first was good at least.

"We should ask the big guy if there are any rivers or lakes near this place. He wouldn't want to starve and dry out just as much as we don't want to.", said Jafar.

"Wait, do you mean- we should take him with us? Are you crazy? He is too dangerous and not a single bit trustworthy! He would become a burden to us!", argued Sasha angrily. She still harboured grudges against him for what he did to them.

"Yes, he is dangerous and I don't deny that but he is also an important source of information. At least for now I think, it could be a little better to have someone who is familiar with this place with us.", insisted Jafar. He also tried to be less biased against Gorst. It was not the best time now to have petty thoughts about past events. Their survival in this foreign place had a higher priority. That's what Sieg told him and he agreed as well.

Sasha still seemed reluctant but swallowed her words for now.

"What about weapons?", asked Anastasia, "We should find ourselves more of those wooden clubs in case of unavoidable dangers."

"You are right. Craig could you and Tony take care of this?", asked Sieg those in question.

They agreed as well, though Tony only nodded his head absentmindedly. They got the axe as well to cut the trees and branches when necessary. Or maybe if some animals crossed their paths they could defend themselves. Gorst assured them that inside the so-called 'Calm Zone' the beasts in the forest wouldn't come near them, in general after his small conversation with Panda he became more cooperative and talkative, but still better safe than sorry.

After that he turned his attention back to Gorst. They needed more information about their surroundings even it was illogical and sounded too strange to be true, they needed something. But before he could get to that, Gene pulled on his sleeve a little to get his attention. He was confused at first but then she started speaking:

"I-I don't if I should say this because it sounds really weird. But don't you also have this strange feeling? As if ... as if something is watching us? The whole time? I have only recently noticed it and it just didn't go away ..."

....

Several hundreds of meters away from the main group, the scouting party made a path for themselves through the thick bushes and grasses on the ground. Their trousers protected their legs from sharp branches or thorns, yet their hands couldn't escape from small cuts every now and then. The ground was really uneven to walk on and Claire had stumbled once already. The night was unusually quite except for their single heavy breaths though they sometimes got scared beacause of sudden noises and rustling bushes. Neither of them had experiences with climbing or hiking through the woods and they relied and pure willpower to get through. Being together in a group also helped to deter negative thoughts and fears creeping to their minds in this darkness. Thankfully they were in possession of the glowing gemstones, the Gemini Stones, or else they might have lost their way before even crossing the halfway point in their journey. The moon was half covered in clouds and only slightly provided them with enough moonlight to plan a couple steps ahead.

"I didn't think, huh, that our Claire would give us the honor of her presence, huh.", Panda remarked with a little difficulty.

"Don't take me lightly Panda, huh, or you will regret it. Just because I am a girl, huh, doesn't mean I can't beat you up, huh. It's the 21th century.", she responded undaunted.

Panda smirked and let out a chuckle when he heard that and Vincent told them to be more quite. He was on guard against any kind of disturbances in their surroundings. He also had his troubles keeping up with the pace, but there were other more important thing to consider right now.

After more than 40 minutes they reached the hill where they were supposed to check out the camp from. It took them more time than estimated but at least it wasn't in vain. When they got on top of the hill, their view was half covered by a huge settlement.

"Wow!", Claire murmured under her breath.

There were a huge number of tents placed in all four corners all around the encampment. The roads between the corners connected with each other and formed a cross and in the centre of the cross stood a tall building. The gaps between the tents were filled with vessels of fire that illuminated the camp in the dark. Some people roamed all over the place, it was difficult to recognize their facial features, but these were probably the guards. Contrary to the huge number of tents, the guards only numbered to around 20-30, it was hard to count from their point of view. This was still a big number but if spread over the whole camp it looked less frightening when considering their endeavor. The guards mostly seeemed to be gathered at the four entrances, north, east, south and west but few also went from place to place.

Only now did the children realize the seriousness of the whole situation. They were currently in the turf of the enemy, an enemy they actually knew nothing much about. But judging from Gorst's personality and his descriptions about this place, it shouldn't be filled with saints either. They wanted to safely infiltrate the camp, look out for their friends and then get out just as quickly as they came in, but was this really feasible? They weren't spies and this wasn't a James Bond movie, their lives were at stake here.

"*whistle* I know it's inappropriate maybe, but I have to say ... I totally feel like I am in a 'Far Cry' game right now!", Panda exclaimed,

"You know, the camp, the guards and the look out right now, but we are only missing the guns!"

" 'You know' this isn't a game right? If they hit you with a bullet or their weapons, you won't respawn. And I also don't want to become a captive either.", said Vincent while looking at him with suspicion.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you earlier, but why the outfit? Do you like wearing stinky sweaty clothes from fat old men? I also have some fetishes but this ... urgh", Panda asked and made a puking expression at the end.

"It isn't as bad as one might think actually ..."

"I knew it! Get away from me urgh!"

Claire didn't stop the boys from talking. She knew they just did it to distract themselves from their real thoughts and feelings. She knew, because she was just as afraid when thinking about their next actions and the possible consequences. Her eyes were lost in the light of the fires but Vincent noticed her uneasiness. He walked up to her and told her:

"I have already talked about this with Panda, you don't have to do this if you got cold feet now. This doesn't mean you're a coward but that you hold your life dear. You could just stay here and wait for us ... to come back when we ready or go back. I can give you the gemstones for safekeeping ..."

"No!", she declined resolutely,

"Thank you but I have already decided to go through this with you! And I won't go back on my words!"

Vincent looked deep into her determined eyes and let out a smile:

"Ok, well if there is nothing else to say ... then let's set off!"