I Can Copy Curses

Chapter 402 402. Doubt and Trust

They headed in the direction of the forest, and after a few minutes of flying through the air, they arrived in what appeared to be a dense forest.

"This is the forest, right?" Orion asked, turning to the others.

"Looks like it," Zeref replied, checking their surroundings. "There's a city out there, and there's a forest just before it, so this should be Druid City, and this forest should be called the Forest of the Druid."

Orion looked at her, surprised she knew this.

"I bought a book on the general knowledge of the Limitless Void," Zeref smirked.

"Well, let's go," Mark said at that moment.

Orion and Zeref nodded as they made their way into the forest alongside Mark.

They moved through the forest for some minutes when they heard something.

"Let's go up the tree," Orion whispered.

Without a second thought, they scrambled up a nearby tree, moving quickly and quietly until they were hidden among the dense branches. Settling in, they peered down cautiously.

Below them, a young man, around twenty-three, was leaning close to a woman with striking purple hair. He whispered something in her ear, his expression intense, while she nodded, her gaze scanning the area as if on guard.

They looked serious, their voices hushed and their actions deliberate, as though they were involved in something secretive.

"They're at the peak stage of platinum rank," Orion noted their strength and focused his perception on what they were whispering about.

"Are you sure this is the place?" the woman asked as she looked around.

The man nodded slightly. "I think so. It mentioned a forest located to the east of the academy, and this is the only forest within 10 km east of the academy."

"They're like us, drawn here by the message on the paper," Orion thought and pondered whether they should take down these two or observe for the moment, deciding to wait since any action could alert others.

"Let's go deeper into the forest. I think they should be there," the man said, moving with the woman.

Orion watched them go before looking at Mark and Zeref. "Let's follow them," he said quietly.

They nodded and flew through the shade of the trees, just behind the man and woman.

Some more time passed as they followed until they stopped because the man and woman had also come to a halt.

Orion observed the surroundings and sensed many presences, though all were hiding in the shadows.

"That's one big peak," he noticed a mountain peak ahead where the man and woman had stopped.

Just then, the man shouted, "I know everyone is here. Just come out."

Orion frowned, wondering if they'd also been detected. "It could be us," he thought, though he was certain it wasn't him, so it had to be Mark and Zeref.

"I know some people have been following us, and there are many who gathered here before us, so there's no need to hide," the woman said.

"You're right; there's no need to hide here." Just then, a group of two men and two women appeared before them, seemingly from the same faction.

Only a moment later, more and more people revealed themselves, emerging from hiding around the peak.

"Is that everyone?" someone in the crowd asked.

"Nah, there are three who've been following us the whole time," the man from before laughed, pointing at the tree where Orion and his group were hiding and calling them out. "Come out now. No need to hide."

Orion frowned, looking at Mark and Zeref, then nodded. Since they'd been detected, there was no point in hiding.

Orion, Mark, and Zeref jumped down, revealing themselves to everyone.

"Is that everyone?" someone asked again.

"Yeah, I think everyone is here," another person replied.

"Wait a minute; I think I've seen most of these faces before," someone said, looking around.

"Yeah, everyone seems to be from Dollas Academy," another added.

Orion frowned and shouted, "Who called us here?"

The crowd fell silent.

"Is he not here?" Orion muttered, looking around, then shouted again. "Who called us? Come out, or we're leaving."

But again, no one responded; the crowd remained silent.

"Everyone, let's leave. It's just a prank someone might have tried out with the paper, and it somehow turned out to be true," Orion said, smiling. "I bet whoever sent that message doesn't even know we've come. It's pointless waiting for someone who isn't coming."

The crowd began glancing at each other, considering Orion's words.

"What if he's among us? What if he doesn't want to reveal his identity?"

"You could be right, but what that guy said could also be true."

"We're here to test if we can break the paper's limits by combining them, but have we even thought about how to go about this?"

"I think this is just a prank, like that guy said. We should leave."

Many began doubting after hearing Orion's words, and some even planned to leave. They hadn't come to waste time.

They'd come because they were interested in what the message said, but the sender's absence left them disappointed.

"How about we try the limit-breaking thing by combining more pages?" someone suggested, catching everyone's attention.

"I don't trust anyone with the paper here."

"Me neither."

"What if this is a trap to steal our pages?"

"If it is, why did you come here? Are you a fool or what?"

No one in the crowd trusted each other and began shouting. They had every reason to be cautious. The pages were too precious to give away.

"EVERYONE!"

A loud shout attracted everyone's attention to the sky, where they saw three individuals descending. All three appeared to be men around their age, landing on the ground nearby.

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