"Dagger?"

Racheal extended a hand towards me.

'She's already seen my dagger, huh?'

Still, I didn't deny her request, pulling a somewhat clean dagger out of its sheath before passing it on to her. I'd only used it to divide the prey we'd eaten back in the outer ring, so it would be fine.

Wordlessly, she took the blade from my grasp, before turning to face the skewers once again. With experienced, steady hands, she divided both slabs into a total of five separate pieces before skewering each on sticks of their own.

She moved back, taking in the glory of her work for a moment, before picking the obviously largest skewer for herself.

Not that I could blame her. I would've done the same too.

The remaining skewers were of relatively similar sizes. Racheal took a bite out of the skewer, her face remaining impassive as ever, before giving the rest of us a curious scan.

"What are you waiting for?"

She needn't say more, as we immediately went for it. Well, most of us, Maki hesitated a bit before picking hers as well.

But I could understand the reason for it. Regardless of whatever bullshit I'd told her about Song being a seer and our current collaboration.

At the end of the day, they were still on an opposing team and, logically speaking, had every right to want to kill us. Poisoning the meat was an easy way to do so.

But knowing Racheal, at least from the novel, she wasn't the type to resort to such lowly methods. At least regarding matters as trivial as this.

Still, I sent Song a message.

[It's not poisoned, right?]

The girl didn't even bother replying, just going straight for a bite. Though, in typical Song fashion, she tried to do so as dignifiedly as possible.

'I guess that's my answer.'

Blowing gently on the roast, I took a careful bite.

"Ohh…"

The meat was cooked perfectly, tender and still retaining most of its juiciness. There was no bitterness, gaminess, or even the lightest taste of rot. Plus, the marination had done wonders for the crust and flavor.

In short, it was leagues above whatever rubbish I'd prepared back in the outer ring. Hell, it would be a crime to even compare the two. That shit was barely even considered food compared to this.

While it certainly wasn't on the same level as the cafeteria, considering what I'd been eating for the past few days, it might as well have been a five-star meal.

"Mmmm… thish goosh"

"Mhm."

Lily added from the side. She'd started eating as well, though I couldn't tell if it was before or after me.

Seeing us both, Maki reluctantly took a bite from hers as well, only for her eyes to widen in surprise. She didn't say anything though, and just silently began digging into the meal.

Song shot me a dirty look, still 'gracefully' eating off the skewer. A message soon popped up.

[Is talking with food in your mouth some peasant thing?]

[Just focus on your food, isn't that etiquette?]

She rolled her eyes, before deciding to leave it there.

Racheal still looked indifferent, though I could almost feel the palpable self-satisfaction radiating off her as she held her skewer to the side while watching our reactions.

Noticing my gaze on her, she wordlessly began eating her skewer again before pausing, pointing towards the ration cans.

"Use those as dips."

'I thought those were for eating?'

Regardless, I didn't doubt her, immediately dipping a piece into the sauce, before tossing it in my mouth. The taste did not disappoint.

I suddenly found myself growing increasingly jealous of Song.

Unfortunately, like all good things, the skewers finished rather quickly. Giving the now empty stick a look of longing, I sighed before dropping it to the side.

The girls were all done with theirs as well. Though I reckoned I was the first to finish.

Clearing my throat lightly, I began.

"I suppose it's about time I told you about our plans."

That got their attention, as they all turned to face me with looks of expectation. Smiling wryly, I continued.

"In all honesty, it isn't that complicated of a plan. Mainly consisting of five parts, two of which we have already done."

I began tracing numbers on the concrete with my blackened stick.

"First was staying away from the monster. The second would be successfully meeting up and finding its weakness. As you can see, both are already pretty well done. The third, fourth, and fifth are Trapping the beast, Sniping it, then finishing it off."

Maki looked at me with a narrowed gaze.

"Do you have any idea what the Predator's rank is?"

"From her Visions, Song was able to guess it to be a peak-level Beast. On the cusp of advancing to the next rank."

Her face only grew more confused at that.

"So how exactly are you planning on trapping a monster like that?"

"Oh, I won't be trapping it. You will."

She looked at me like I was insane.

"What?"

"Those steel threads of yours, they only have to restrict the beast for a few moments. Even a second is fine, I just need enough time to take a shot."

She retorted skeptically.

"Against a monster like that, I can't be sure if I'll even last a second."

Racheal added to the pool of suspicion, though her question was asked with a straight face.

"How do you plan on even drawing the beast to that trap in the first place?"

I nodded understandingly.

"Those are all valid concerns, I was just getting to explaining them. You see, tomorrow is the day we predict the bastard will eventually reach the center ring, I need you two to…"

After multiple rounds of explanation, questioning, bullshitting, and plotting, with Song's occasional help, I was finally able to convince both girls to trust my plan.

Lily needed no explanation, since she played no particularly significant part in it. She was really just there for the ride.

But then again, given how hard it'd been for her to actually kill a beast, the girl likely wouldn't have wanted any part in it to begin with.

Racheal carefully examined the red crossbow bolt in her hand a bit, then passed it on to Maki. Before the girl could begin her own examination of it, the space around the bolt distorted, then it was gone.

She shot Song a glare, though the girl only replied with a self-satisfied look.

I cut in.

"It's settled then, we begin our preparations tomorrow."

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