More and more sand crept through the [Cheese Pillows], slowly piling up around them. The ginger-cheese men dove into the pillows, reinforcing the only barricade standing between them and death, but it was barely a stopgap. The sand was already up to their ankles.

  Elaine hacked at the curtain of mold. Her blade carved a slit, only for dark green fibres to crawl back together, stitching up the wound without the slightest trace of a scar.

  She slashed again. Again. And Again. Each time the result was the same.

  Soon, she swung her last slash. Elaine stood there, panting, chest heaving.

  Then, she slammed a fist into an equally mold-covered wall.

  “Damn it! This is all my fault. If only I didn’t insist on investigating this on my own.”

  “That’s like saying it’s my fault for not getting rid of the Myconet before those Endruma people got their grubby little hands on it,” Colby said.

  “No, it’s not. You couldn’t have known.”

  “And I can say the same to you.”

  “It’s not the same, Colby. I knew it was dangerous. It’s my fault for getting you wrapped up in this.”

  “I mean… I did insist on leading the way.”

  “And as a Knight-in-training, I should’ve refused your help. I should’ve insisted you go home, where it’s safe. Then none of this would’ve happened.”

  “You know, Laine,” Colby said. “You’re right.”

  “Colby…” Porter said, trying his best to defuse the situation.

  Her head whipped toward Colby, anger flaring in her eyes. Then, the heat drained from them. Her gaze dropped, lips quivering as guilt settled over her face.

  “I’m serious! If we hadn’t tagged along, none of this would’ve happened. And I much prefer this scenario to the other.”

  “And what’s that?” Elaine asked, looking down at him, though for some reason it felt like she was looking up for once.

  “Best case, you become another puppet thing. Worst case, the entire town gets destroyed. Both are bad in my humble opinion.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Laine, we found what was controlling the Macronet. We even stopped it, kinda. I’m not sure if the fire is still going or not, but at the very least, the Myconet should be plenty hurt. And that only happened because the three of us were here.”

  Thornelius barked. The ginger-cheese men, those who hadn’t sacrificed themselves to the pillows yet, shook their heads.

  “My bad. You guys helped too.”

  “But Colby—”

  “No interrupting, please,” he said. “If even one of us was missing, things would’ve gone sideways. So it’s not your fault, Laine.”

  “Yeah, Elaine,” Porter echoed. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Thanks, Port,” she said. “And Colbs?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Cheese really is the only thing you’re good at. You suck at cheering people up.”

  “Rude,” he huffed. “And if this is your attempt at another Eureka cheese moment, well then, it failed. I’m out of cheese.”

  Elaine sighed, dropping to the sandy floor. “It was worth a shot.”

  “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be, you know, being a part-time gardener?”

  “I should. But I also shouldn’t have abandoned my orders and come here. And honestly? I don’t think I can cut through that. I’d rather spend my last moments catching up.”

  “Honestly, I’d rather not have any last moments,” Colby said.

  “You and everybody else. So you can either spend it panicking, or we can just enjoy each other's company one last time.”

  Colby sighed and conceded defeat. He dropped onto the floor, followed by Porter. Thornelius settled in Colby’s lap as he gave him pets and kisses for being the bestest boy in the whole wide world.

  Together, the three of them chatted about everything that had happened after the dueling incident between Colby and Helena. Elaine dominated the chat, complaining about how unjust their punishments were. Helena and Noelle were forced to assist Mr. Goodsell with his duties—running the General Store—while Elaine was forced to take up extra rotations of guard duty. Being forced to stand motionless for multiple hours a day under the grueling heat while in a full suit of armor was apparently a fate worse than suffocating in sand, which continued to pile up around them.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  That was also the inspiration for her latest move: [Flash Burst].

  After her rant session was over, it was Porter’s turn to grace the floor with his normally quiet presence.

  The little Supply Runner’s [Dash] and [Air Dash] had risen multiple levels, mainly because of how much he had been running. Because of the war, Supply Runner jobs were down. Only the riskier work was left, and it forced him to move faster.

  And it was on the return of one of those jobs that he saw the Macronet begin its attack. Monsters stampeded through the forest, either chasing him or running for their lives. He could outrun them, but not his nature.

  When he witnessed a huge hound-wolf-canine monster attacking double dagger girl at the gate, he dashed into action. That led him to Colby’s house, and everything snowballed from there.

  Taking the opportunity, Elaine inquired about who or what that beast was.

  Colby just shrugged.

  He was a man of his word. Unless, of course, Elaine offered a higher price than what Farmer Hound had paid him. However, all she could provide was a punch on his shoulder, which she promptly delivered.

  And now it was his turn. Rubbing his sore shoulder, he explained what cheesy shenanigans he had been up to. His cheese had improved by leaps and bounds, something that was quite obvious by what he had done today.

  Using nothing but cheese—and maybe a bit of help—he managed to take down Farmer Hound, Arcanists, and Knights from Endruma—even if they weren’t fighting at full potential. Plus, the Myconet—maybe. It might’ve survived the fire, it might’ve not. But at the very least, he burned it enough where its control of the Marconet and the monsters it controlled was weakened—hopefully.

  As more and more sand slipped through the [Cheese Pillows], they were forced to stand. They climbed on the growing pile as the space above them shrank. Something which Elaine made the largest fuss about, of course. She was the first to be forced to hunch, either that or whack her head on the ever encroaching ceiling.

  Thornelius rested on Colby’s shoulder, while some cheese materialized in his palm.

  “I thought you said you were out of cheese,” Elaine said.

  “It was a figure of speech. Here,” Colby said, passing the cheese to Porter and Elaine, and giving a special leaf-wrapped one to Thornelius. “A special treat for special people.”

  Porter and Elaine bit into the cheese. A sigh of satisfaction slipped out of their mouths as they devoured it.

  “It’s delicious, Colby,” Porter said.

  “It’s even better than that congratulatory gift. And that was already crazy good. Is this the real one?”

  “It’s not. Far from it.”

  Colby began to explain the faults in the cheese. What he had given them was ricotta mixed with candied ginger made from Butterfly Ginger. It made for an extra sweet combination, but food was more than just flavor; it was about texture, too. With the help of Curd-Cutter, he made the cheese extra soft and fluffy. Akin to, as Elaine would put it, eating a cloud.

  While it was indeed delicious thanks to his skills having improved, he knew there was still a lot of room for improvement. Anari would make for a better replacement than ricotta. And the sweetness balance was off. Right now, the sweetness from the ricotta and from the candied ginger clashed; they weren’t harmonizing properly, ruining the overall flavor of the cheese.

  There were plenty more ways he could describe how it could be improved, but time and space were running out. The sand had reached the point where only their heads were exposed. Soon, they would be completely submerged.

  “Sorry, guys, “Elaine said once more.

  “It’s okay, Elaine,” Porter said. “I’m just glad I could help you and Colby.”

  “I’m sad that I didn’t make the ultimate cheese,” Colby sighed. “At least the E.C.P will always be together, right?”

  “Only you call us that, Colbs. But yeah, I guess so.”

  Thornelius let out a series of barks that echoed within the small space and hurt their ears.

  “What’s wrong?” Elaine asked.

  “I think he’s upset that he’s not included. Which sounds better? E.C.T.P? E.T.C.P? I know! What about P.E.C.T? It sounds like pact. Also, do you think you could change your name from Elaine to something like Alaine?”

  She sighed and shook her head. “I can’t believe this is what we’re doing. You know you can use my last name, right?”

  “Aglow?” Colby said. “But then we’d all need to use our last names.”

  “Sorry,” Porter said.

  “It’s not your fault, Port.”

  “Yeah, Port. Just ignore Colby.”

  “Guess we’re going down as P.E.C.T. Happy now, boy?”

  Throughout the entire conversation, Thornelius just kept barking, barking, and barking. Even after being included in the group, his barks only grew louder.

  “Maybe he doesn’t like being last? But T.P.E.C. doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

  “I don’t think that’s the issue, Colbs,” Elaine said. “Wait, do you hear that?”

  “All I hear is barking.”

  “Me too, Elaine,” Porter said.

  “Shush.” She closed her eyes, focusing on a sound that wasn’t Thornelius’ rampant barking or the slow hum of sand filling the small space.

  “I think…I think I hear people.”

  “Other than us?” Colby asked.

  “Yes.”

  “We’re here!” Elaine shouted. “Quick! Help! Quick!”

  The sand kept rising. Soon they had to crane their necks up just to keep their face exposed, but even that was just buying but a few moments.

  Still, Elaine continued to yell, and Thornelius barked.

  Was it him, or was it suddenly getting hotter?

  A loud, blazing slash like vegetables being cut and cooked at the same time echoed.

  The next thing Colby knew, the sand under him lurched. The pile shifted, dragging him along with it. He fought his way up, coughing and spitting out the sand between his teeth that had a weird, crunchy sensation. When his eyes were clear and no longer stung, he looked up.

  Standing over him was Helena. She panted, leaning on her blade that still glowed red hot. Beside her was her sister, Noelle. And behind them, a small squad of Knights and Arcanists.

  As Colby spat out even more sand, he glanced over at Elaine. “Told you it was a good idea to let someone know.”