Natasha's Point of View
I woke up to the sound of people talking loudly outside. The moment I realized where I was, I jumped out of my sleeping bag in shock.
Yesterday I had gone to bed and fallen asleep. After being accepted into the heroes' group, it took a while for it to sink in. Now, seeing that I was in the camp, I felt completely disoriented — especially when I noticed there was no one beside me.
Erika and Yumi were sleeping in that tent… Did I oversleep!? How embarrassing! On my very first day!
I'm weak and I don't really know them… I need to make a good impression, but how am I supposed to do that by waking up later than everyone else?
I had planned to wake up before everyone and prepare breakfast, but my plans went down the drain.
That's when I noticed there was some kind of argument going on outside — and I also heard my name being mentioned.
I quickly put on my shirt and stepped out, still a bit groggy from waking up so suddenly. As the morning sunlight hit my face, I saw all the heroes gathered outside with a very heavy atmosphere.
The first person I saw was Douglas. Because of his presence, he looked at me with a serious expression. When I looked at the others, I could see doubt and concern on their faces as well.
Before I could ask anything, Omar's dagger was already pressed against my throat.
I felt the cold blade and stopped breathing instantly.
"Speak now or your head will roll without mercy."
The man behind me held me by the waist while keeping his dagger against my neck. I could tell he wasn't joking when I felt a sting and blood trickled down my neck.
"W-what do you want me to say?"
I looked at Vick. Even though she was usually cheerful and virtuous, she was now looking at me with suspicion.
"Are you still playing dumb? It can't be a mere coincidence!"
Isabella pointed at me nervously.
I had no idea what was going on.
I assumed someone had stolen the fragments and they suspected me, but when I looked to the left, I saw bloodstains on the ground and my heart started racing.
I paid closer attention to my surroundings and noticed there were only 11 heroes present.
I already knew almost everything about the group. Among the explorers, everyone knew about the 12 Great Heroes. Because I was searching for my brother and hoping to join them, I had researched a lot about the group.
The one missing was Raul, the master marksman.
I remembered that last night he had mentioned something about a prediction. I didn't understand it at the time, but I started sweating coldly as the worst-case scenario crossed my mind. When Yumi spoke up, I realized the truth.
"I-it might not have been her… I have light sleep. I'm sure she didn't wake up once…"
"Are you kidding, Yumi? Raul was killed! And it happened on the exact night she joined us. How do you explain that?"
Vicente looked at me with contempt. Everyone there thought I was the murderer.
Damn it… This was probably a perfect plan by the traitor.
Raul had been killed? There was no better way to frame me! He could pin the blame on me and maybe even convince the others that there was no traitor — that I was the one working for the demon army.
"I'll give you ten seconds."
Omar pressed the blade harder against my neck. My legs were shaking.
I had never been this close to death before.
I was a knight-class warrior, but I had never faced anyone stronger than me. In truth, up until now, I had only defeated five monsters. I had no real experience. Even in the other world, I was just a support role.
"Remove that blade from my neck and maybe I can explain something."
Douglas looked at Omar.
"Step back. It's not like she can run away anyway. We're all here. With her level, she wouldn't be able to escape."
Omar looked irritated but pushed me forward.
I stumbled and tried to breathe deeply, but I didn't know what to say.
"I don't think it was her either. From what I analyzed on the body, the cuts were made with a thin blade. Her sword weighs almost 10 kilos."
Vanya was the one who spoke. She used to be a doctor before everything happened.
"So you're saying it was someone who uses a dagger or a stiletto?"
Li-Xeng said something that irritated Omar, who grabbed the boy by the collar.
"What the hell are you trying to say, you little shit?"
"Calm down, Omar. He wasn't accusing you. There are several people in the group who use thin blades."
Rayner stepped in while Omar turned his attention back to me.
"We should lock her up for now, at least to prevent her from escaping."
Sally suggested, even though she looked uncomfortable.
"No. We're settling this right now. If it was her, she'll tell us, right, Natt?"
Erika looked at me with the eyes of a killer.
She usually seemed like a normal, even adorable girl, but she had a dark side. Out of the entire group, she had killed the most monsters so far.
"Let's assume she took someone's weapon. It would be impossible for her to have taken Omar's, since he has the ability to sense anyone approaching him, even while sleeping."
Douglas raised a point that made Omar calm down a little, but Isabella made a comment that upset him again.
"Unless it was him. After all, they were tentmates."
The woman with Machiavellian eyes made Omar point his dagger at her.
"What? Raul was my only friend!"
"And how do you expect us to believe that? Actually, we should be suspicious of you. Putting a blade to Natasha's neck and acting all desperate… doesn't that seem suspicious?"
Her words made the usually cold and calm Omar even more agitated, which also left Rayner uneasy.
"Let's all calm down. There's no point in accusing each other."
I was finally released and managed to try to explain myself.
"I swear I didn't wake up once during the night!"
"And who's going to believe your word? No one knows you here. You arrive and on the same night one of us dies? The person who made a big revelation last night? Sorry, Natasha, but don't you think that's strange?"
Erika made a strong point.
I had very little way to defend myself, but I suddenly remembered something.
"Li-Xeng! Don't you have an ability that can check traces and see things others can't?"
The boy looked at me, startled and awkward.
"Y-yes…? If you're talking about the infra magic…"
He shook his staff, which glowed red.
"Indeed, that could at least show the footprints around the tents. You know more about us than we do ourselves, huh! Hahaha."
Vick gave me a pat on the back, seeming not to suspect me, but I could see in her eyes — even though they looked playful — a serious and angry woman.
Li-Xeng cast a red light from the crystal on his staff, and a humming sound could be heard around the area.
"The problem is that only he can see the 'traces'."
Isabella said while Li-Xeng sweated nervously, examining the areas around the tents.
"In that case, we have to trust him."
Rayner said, placing his trust in the boy.
Indeed, Li-Xeng didn't seem like someone who would lie. Out of the entire group, he was probably the most trustworthy.
He finished scanning and his expression looked even tenser than before.
Wait… Whoever did this did it specifically to frame me! That's why they waited for me to join the group. That means this person is capable of planting fake traces in front of the tent…
I looked at Li-Xeng in fear, but at that moment, he was only looking at leader Douglas.
"What did you see, young Li?"
Douglas asked, visibly uneasy.
"It's that…"
The boy hesitated for a moment. I saw Omar draw his dagger again and glare at me.
"Besides my own traces leading to the body… there are others… leading to the tent."
Everyone looked at him with apprehension.
Obviously, there were traces from everyone who had left their tents that morning, but the only traces that should lead to Raul's tent were from the people who had gone there. Even if everyone had gone, they had taken different paths.
Li-Xeng could track all kinds of footprints, blood, or traces.
He could see if there were traces from any tent to Raul's tent, since the killer must have gone there.
"Whose damn traces are they?"
Vicente asked angrily at the boy's delay.
"They're… from your tent and Douglas's."
Everyone became tense and stared at Douglas and Vicente.
"That must be a mistake. Look again."
Vicente glared angrily at Li-Xeng, who checked once more.
"It's certain. There are traces from your tent to Raul's tent."
"But we didn't even enter his tent when we discovered he was dead. You all are witnesses — we agreed that no one would go inside."
Vicente started getting nervous as Omar turned his gaze toward him.
"I have no way to defend myself from this. I trust Li-Xeng. He wouldn't lie."
"Wait, you're basically directing suspicion toward yourself, you know that, right?"
Isabella looked suspiciously at Douglas, who maintained his implacable and confident posture.
"I can't believe it was Douglas…"
Rayner's words made Vicente even more nervous.
"Now you're all going to suspect me?"
"No! Brother, calm down. I didn't mean it like that. I trust you and Douglas."
"Calm down, idiots. This could all be a setup, just like I thought. If the killer isn't Natasha, they planned everything so they could kill after she joined the group. That means they could also plan to frame someone among us just to confuse us. Or, if it really was Natasha, she did this to make us suspect Douglas or Vicente."
Everyone's eyes turned to me after Vanya's statement.
"It has to be her! There's no other explanation!"
Vicente started attacking me. Obviously, he was doing this to defend himself, but it only made me see how low he was.
"If that were the case, wouldn't there be traces from my tent?"
"Indeed, there are no traces from Natasha's tent to Vicente's or Douglas's."
Li-Xeng confirmed.
"She could have erased them."
Erika raised a point.
"Li-Xeng can detect everything, even erased traces. You know that…"
Yumi spoke up, even though her voice was low and discreet.
"Indeed, Li-Xeng can detect everything that happened up to 12 hours prior, even if someone threw dirt over it or anything like that."
Douglas said while Vicente approached him.
"You realize that by saying that, you're shifting the blame onto us?"
"Why are you so worried? Do you have something to hide?"
With Douglas's words, Vicente drew a blade from inside his jacket.
"You bastard, what are you implying? You have the Feline Perception skill. You'd know if I got up during the night."
Vicente pointed the blade at Douglas, but Rayner stepped in to calm him down and make him lower it.
"Indeed, I can confirm that. If you had gotten up, I would definitely have known."
"So we have a few hypotheses here: Either Li-Xeng is lying, or Douglas left the tent, or Natasha has some unknown ability that allowed her to hide the traces from Li-Xeng's skill."
Sally said without hesitation, making everyone even more apprehensive and suspicious.
"Isn't it obvious it was her? It can't be a coincidence she arrived and everything went to shit!"
Omar had turned against me again.
That's when we noticed a man in his 20s running toward the camp from the city.
When he arrived, panting, he saw the barrier and waited for someone to approach.
"And who the hell is this now?"
Erika stared at the young man, who was breathing heavily and looked deeply worried.
"Something happened in the city."
Vick and Rayner went to meet him, but everyone, curious, followed.
"What is it, man? Some kind of beast?"
Vick asked, already imagining it was a monster attack — something that was common even with the protection crystal.
There were weak creatures that could sometimes enter safe areas, but they usually didn't pose much danger.
"N-no… It's that… We received information from the southern scouts."
The man's expression was serious. That's when I felt a chill run down my spine.
The Returners had the ability to sense other Returners and demons nearby. The higher the level, the better they could sense them.
Until that moment, I hadn't sensed anything because I was focused on the current problem in the camp. But now I could feel a powerful energy coming from the south — and it wasn't just one person. It was hundreds.
Since I was the weakest there, the others only sensed it after Douglas dispelled the barrier.
I saw the expressions on Isabella's face and the others beside me.
This was nothing good.
"What… the hell did they report?"
Erika asked, turning pale.
"It's… the Fourth Demon Legion. They've reached the floor."