The Art of Gold Digging

Ch.47— Preamble to the Siege

"The left corridor, third intersection," Amy said with a sigh as she cleaned some droplets of blood from her nose with her hand. "Maybe twenty of them this time."Once the information had fully flooded into her brain, her eyes stopped shining, signaling the end of her ability.

In front of her, a tired-looking Lain nodded while a sweaty Iris grinned, both already moving toward the left corridor, just as Amy had indicated.

Amy watched them go before shifting her attention back to herself. How long can she keep this up?

Feeling discomfort in her ear, Amy touched the inside with her finger. It seemed some blood was coming out of it.

The blood that came with overextended use of her ability usually only came from her nose, and sometimes her eyes, but it seemed it could come from her ears as well.

She had thought that after the last manga update and the power-up it came with, the days of bleeding had come to an end. Unsurprisingly, she was completely wrong. This was without a shadow of a doubt the longest time she had ever used her ability without a break.

She'd lost count of how many times she'd activated her ability in the past hour. Or was it five hours? Time had started blurring together somewhere around the fifteenth use.

Her head throbbed with a persistent ache. Her vision occasionally tilted, and she had to blink hard to keep everything in focus.

"Amy."

A voice suddenly called from beside her. It was Lyra. She stood close by with the look of someone who hadn't rested in a while.

"Sit before you fall down," Lyra said, stretching her arms toward Amy.

Amy tried to sit down; instead, her legs gave out.

Lyra caught her before she hit the ground completely, guiding her to sit against the wall.

"Hold still," Lyra murmured, and warm light enveloped Amy's body.

Soon the healing magic started taking effect. It didn't restore her mana, but it helped with the physical symptoms — the headache receded slightly while the bleeding stopped…temporarily. It would all come back the moment she used her ability again, and they both knew it.

"How many more?" Lyra asked softly.

Amy closed her eyes and let out a long exhale. "I don't think they'll end any time soon," she said after a moment. "Abaddon seems to be trying to exhaust us before the main assault."

"It's working," Lyra said bluntly.

Amy couldn't argue with that. She looked around the makeshift command center they'd established in the main entrance.

Zayd sat against the opposite wall with a teacup resting in his lap and his eyes closed, though his posture suggested he wasn't actually sleeping. He'd returned from his trial about two hours ago looking like he'd aged a decade. Whatever he'd faced there had left him exhausted.

He didn't talk about it — he just handed over his crimson red sphere and quickly positioned himself where he could monitor both the main entrance and the corridor leading to the trials. How he managed that with his eyes closed, Amy had no idea.

As she lost herself in these thoughts, her foggy mind registered the faint sound of footsteps echoing down the corridor. Amy's head turned instinctively toward Zayd, but upon seeing his calm expression, she relaxed.

Sure enough, a few moments later the source of the sound arrived — Lain and Iris came into view.

Iris was grinning despite the obvious exhaustion in her movements. "There were twenty-three, not twenty-two. Your count was a bit off, Stake. Your ability isn’t as impressive as I though, honestly. Zayd’s was better."

Amy's eye involuntarily twitched. "I said probably, not exactly," she retorted, her voice coming out more defensive than intended. "If I had wanted to, I could have known the exact number, but I didn't."

[There is no embarrassment in admitting one's shortcomings, human girl.]

Amy face contorted at the voice of Bloodedge coming from her mind. She did her best to try to ignore it but for the look of it it, it was evident in her face as Iris for some reason, began grinning like an idiot, misunderstanding Amy's reaction to be due at her childish try for teasing.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Stake~." Iris said with a smile, she dropped down first, her back sliding against the wall until she was seated on the floor. "Gods," she exhaled. "My thighs are going to unionize after this."

Lain, meanwhile, stayed standing, her gaze looking distant.

For a moment, no one spoke as everyone seemed to be catching their breath.

As usual, it was Iris who broke the silence.

"So," she said quietly, her eyes settling on Amy. "How many more?"

The same question Lyra had asked her. Different voice, same weight. The message was clear: if they kept going like this, their situation would only get worse. Things needed to change.

"Ash should be done soon," Amy responded after a pause. "Then we can rotate and catch a break."

"Can't rest yet, then," Lain said quietly, then met Amy's eyes.

Despite Lain's usual stoic expression, Amy—who had always been good at reading people—found herself gradually more capable of understanding her thoughts at random moments, just like right now.

No words were necessary. Lain's eyes were clearly asking a simple question: Can you keep up?

Amy thought seriously for a few seconds, trying to answer as objectively as possible.

Could she keep going, or should Zayd take over? The answer was obvious—she hadn't fainted yet, and Lyra still had mana to heal her. Moreover, the more she worked now, the longer she would rest later. So…

Amy nodded, with a hint of hesitation.

Lain looked at her, exhaled through her nose, then turned toward the dark corridors again. "Alright," she said quietly. "Then point."

Amy closed her eyes again, reaching for her ability. She focused on locating the next group of creatures for her companions to deal with and soon got her answer in the form of knowledge erupting into her brain.

"Right, all the way," she managed. "Five minutes of walking. Larger group this time. Maybe thirty."

"How much do you want to bet there are actually more?" Iris said, forcing herself back to her feet with a grunt. "Come on, Ice. Let's go smash some more shadow bugs before they reproduce or something."

Lain nodded once and began walking.

As they headed toward the southwest corridor, Amy felt another trickle of blood start from her nose. Lyra was there immediately with her magic, but Amy waved her off. "Save your energy. You'll need it more after the next few rounds."

"Amy—"

"I'll be fine."

It wasn't a lie. Amy truly believed she was still far from her absolute limit. Her control and understanding of her ability had grown that much over the span of these few days, even before entering the nightmare.

Lyra didn't look convinced in the slightest, but she stepped back anyway.

Amy wiped the blood from her nose and rested her head against the wall.

It wasn't much, but she would take all the rest she could get.

This day was far from over, after all.

-————-　■　-————-

Amy stared at the ground, looking at nothing in particular, wondering which of her decisions had gotten everyone into this situation. It was something that tended to happen when she was tired, her mind drifting.

Ash had come back at some point, and just like Zayd he was quiet and exhausted—not physically, though, so he was put to work right away.

After his return, Zayd took over Amy's role, and they had been trading off since, trying to recover as much energy as possible.

Right now, the only ones left to complete their trials were Lyra—who was doing so at this very moment—and Crow.

Amy, Zayd, Ash, Iris, and Lain had finished theirs. Of them all, Lain looked the worst, with her eyes constantly on the ground and her speech having returned to the few timid words she used to offer back when they didn't know each other very well. Amy hoped that whatever was wrong with her was only temporary.

As for Iris, she was surprisingly fine, actually fine was perhaps an understatement. For some inexplicable and completely irrational reason, she had come back more energized and happier than before.

…

Amy sighed as her hand moved across the obsidian ground. It was her turn to rest, yet the only thing resting was her body. Her mind felt like it was still running.

Again, the question came back. Which of her decisions had brought everyone into this mess? Looking back, it must have been her cowardice, her failure to act from the very beginning with full intent to change their fate.

Maybe the trial had been a blessing in disguise. She could only see now how blind she had been before.

She should have prevented this from happening. She should have foreseen Abaddon's arrival. She should have at the very least been better prepared for unexpected situations.

If she had been enough—just once in her life—if she had only been better, Libris wouldn't be in the state they were in right now.

Amy bit her lip and clenched her fist, her gaze on the ground intensifying.

After the trial ended, she had been struggling to make sense of where her emotions stood. Sometimes she felt nothing, and sometimes she felt too much. This was one of the times she felt too much.

She wanted to destroy Abaddon so desperately. In her mind, Libris's coma-like state, and everyone's current suffering, were as much her fault as they were Abaddon's.

She had promised Libris she would take care of the rest. And she would. The exhaustion she felt right now wouldn't stop her, nor would his swarms of insects, or whatever bizarre creature of chaos he chose to throw at her next.

And by the looks of it, she wouldn't have to wait long.

Footsteps echoed. Amy lifted her head just enough to see Lyra stepping back into the chamber.

She wasn't alone. Beside her walked Iris.

The two stopped a few paces away from the group.

No one spoke.

Zayd straightened where he stood. Ash crossed his arms, his gaze flicking from Lyra to Iris. Lain's shoulders tensed.

Almost as if scripted, they all turned to Crow. They all knew what came next.

The silence stretched until it was nearly unbearable.

Amy considered speaking up, but in the end it wasn't necessary.

"So," Crow suddenly spoke, his voice tense but steady. "It's done."

Lyra nodded once. "It's done."

She looked tired, but surprisingly, didn't seem as bad as some of the others. If anything, her eyes were completely focused.

Another silence.

Crow's eyes flicked briefly to Amy before settling on the ground as he took a deep breath.

"Then I'll trust you all to hold on while I'm gone."

Lyra was the only one who nodded. The rest stayed unsurprisingly silent. Even Iris looked tense.

Life or death. The moment Crow left the blood formation, the barrier protecting the Academy would fall, and it would all be decided.

Amy could only pray that during these last few hours before the assault, they had prepared enough for what was to come.

Not only to survive, but to defeat the prophet hunting them down.