Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 61 – Beyond the Wall

Adam had come to a rather obvious conclusion while listening to his companions argue among themselves.

Because although the mission stated that they had to capture a beast of rank C, D, or B, none of those present seemed satisfied with those options.

And the reason was simple: to them, any of those categories felt too easy, too insignificant, far below what they believed they deserved.

They wanted something stronger.

They wanted prey that would allow them to demonstrate their true power, something they could boast about when they returned to the academy.

A rank B beast was the maximum allowed according to the rules of the activity, but even that seemed like little to them.

And that was why every time they encountered a creature that met the requirements, none of them truly made an effort to coordinate the attack.

They preferred to show off individually, displaying their abilities without caring whether that ruined the capture or not.

’Idiots,’ Adam thought as he watched them argue. ’They’d rather fail with style than succeed by working as a team.’

The rain had started falling about an hour ago, which was why they had taken shelter in this cave.

The sky had gradually darkened throughout the afternoon, and when the first drops began striking the leaves of the trees, the group decided it was better to wait for the storm to pass before continuing.

"I told you to flank from the right!" Fernis exclaimed irritably as he pointed toward the entrance of the cave. "If you had followed the plan, the beast wouldn’t have escaped!"

Gareth let out a snort of disbelief at the accusation, his expression twisting into a grimace of disgust as he adjusted his grip on his spear.

"The plan? What plan?" he replied with sarcasm. "You charged in first without waiting for anyone, so don’t come to—"

"You’re both incompetent," Sophia interrupted with a cold voice, and although she did not raise her tone, her words cut the argument short immediately. "If you had half the talent you believe you possess, this would already be over."

Fernis and Gareth turned toward her with offended expressions, but neither dared respond to her directly.

After all, contradicting a princess was not something they could do without consequences, so they simply exchanged frustrated glances before returning to their respective corners of the cave.

Adam, for his part, remained leaning against one of the walls with his arms crossed, observing everything with a mixture of boredom and resignation.

Beside him, Lihua kept an amused smile on her lips, as if she found the spectacle their companions were providing entertaining.

Silence settled over the group again, interrupted only by the tapping of rain against the rocks outside.

The minutes passed slowly, and Adam was beginning to wonder how much longer they would have to wait when a different sound caught his attention.

It was a noise coming from one of the side walls of the cave. A soft scratch, barely perceptible, but clear enough that everyone noticed it.

Gareth was the first to react. He immediately stood up with his spear already in position, and his eyes shone with excitement as he walked toward the source of the sound.

Adam recognized that expression instantly: it was the same one he had seen every time a beast appeared, that mixture of ambition and ego that indicated he was already thinking about taking all the credit for himself.

"This time it won’t escape," Gareth murmured quietly as he approached with caution.

The others also went on alert, though with less enthusiasm than him. Sophia gathered mana in her palms as a precaution, Fernis drew his sword, and Lihua simply tilted her head curiously while watching the wall.

Adam, on the other hand, did not move from his spot. Something about the nature of that sound told him it wasn’t a real threat.

And he was right.

A small rodent emerged from a crack in the rock, its fur damp and its eyes shining from the light entering through the cave’s entrance.

It was not a magical beast, but a simple forest animal that had probably sought refuge from the rain just like them.

The creature stopped when it saw the humans, and for a second it seemed frozen with fear. Then, with a sharp squeak, it turned around and tried to escape the way it had come.

Gareth let out a growl of disappointment when he realized what it was. All the tension he had built up turned into pure frustration, and before anyone could say anything, he hurled his weapon at the animal with a rough, careless motion.

"Damn it!" he shouted as the spear flew through the air.

The rodent dodged the projectile out of pure luck and vanished into the shadows with another terrified squeal.

The spear, however, continued its trajectory until it struck the stone wall with a dull impact.

And then something unexpected happened.

The rock gave way.

It was not a collapse, but rather a controlled break. A section of the wall that was apparently thinner than it seemed crumbled inward, revealing a dark opening that extended beyond what the light could reach.

Dust floated in the air for several seconds while fragments of stone rolled across the ground, and when everything settled, the group found themselves staring at a passage none of them knew existed.

Gareth blinked several times, clearly surprised by the result of his tantrum. Then he walked toward the opening and retrieved his spear from the ground before cautiously peering inside.

"There’s more cave in here," he announced as he narrowed his eyes to see better in the darkness. "A lot more."

The others exchanged silent glances, and Adam could tell they were all thinking the same thing.

Because a hidden cave in the middle of an area supposedly investigated by the professors meant one thing: there was something in there that no one had found before. Maybe treasures, some beast, or simply nothing...

Fernis was the first to speak, and his voice betrayed an excitement he tried to hide without much success.

"We should investigate," he suggested as he sheathed his sword and walked toward the opening. "There could be something valuable in there."

Sophia nodded slightly, though her expression remained as indifferent as ever.

"For once, I agree with you."

Gareth was already crossing the threshold before anyone could object, and the others followed him one by one.

Adam waited until the end, watching as his companions stepped into the darkness with a mixture of curiosity and greed on their faces. Then he let out a silent sigh and entered behind them.

The passage turned out to be far more extensive than anyone could have imagined. It sloped downward, and the walls gradually widened until they formed a tunnel wide enough for two people to walk side by side without difficulty.

The air grew colder with each step, and the humidity increased until small droplets of water began forming on the stone surfaces.

Fernis had conjured a small sphere of light that floated above his palm, illuminating the path with a bluish glow.

Gareth marched at the front with his spear ready, while Sophia and Lihua advanced in the center of the group.

Adam closed the formation, keeping his senses alert in case something appeared from behind.

As they walked, Adam let his mind analyze the situation calmly. Because despite all the problems they had had so far, there was something he could not deny: every member of this group possessed solid abilities.

Fernis was a competent swordsman with talent for support magic. Gareth had brute strength and quick reflexes.

Sophia mastered elemental magic with enviable precision. And Lihua... well, Lihua was probably the most dangerous of them all, though she preferred to hide it behind that arrogant smile.

The problem wasn’t a lack of power. The problem was purely ego and communication.

None of them were willing to give up the spotlight, none wanted to follow someone else’s orders, and none trusted the others enough to coordinate a real attack.

They were five strong individuals who refused to function as a team, and that made them something far less effective than they could be.

’If only they’d set their pride aside for five minutes,’ Adam thought with irony. ’But that’s probably asking too much.’

-x- -X- -x-

Lihua walked in silence while her eyes occasionally drifted toward Adam’s figure.

She had been observing him since this mission began, trying to decipher what kind of person he really was.

At first she had assumed he would be just another useless fool, the same as Fernis and Gareth, someone who believed himself important only because of his surname or his position in the academy.

But so far, Adam had done nothing to confirm that assumption.

He didn’t rush to attack without thinking like the other two. He didn’t try to show off in front of her or Sophia.

He didn’t argue about who was to blame when things went wrong. He simply observed, evaluated, and acted only when it was necessary.

He knew when to move and when to stay still, when to speak and when to keep his mouth shut.

’Interesting,’ Lihua thought as she looked away from him. ’Maybe he’s not so useless after all.’

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that the rest of the group was a disaster. Fernis and Gareth were too busy competing with each other to realize how pathetic they looked.

And Sophia, despite all her power, was too arrogant to lower herself to coordinate with people she considered inferior.

And then there was herself.

Lihua smiled slightly as she thought about that. Because if she was honest with herself, the reason they hadn’t captured any beasts wasn’t only the others’ fault.

She had also contributed to the problem, though in a different way. She had no interest in rank C or D beasts, not even rank B ones.

She wanted something more challenging, something that would truly test her abilities.

’I suppose I’m not so different from them,’ she admitted silently.

-x- -X- -x-

The group continued advancing for several more minutes until the tunnel began to widen again.

The ceiling gradually rose, and the walls curved outward until they formed what appeared to be a natural chamber of considerable size.

Fernis’s light barely reached enough to illuminate a fraction of the space, but it was enough to see that they were in a place far larger than they had expected.

That was when Fernis stopped abruptly and turned toward the rest of the group with a serious expression on his face.

"Listen," he began as he lowered his voice. "We’ve already spent too much time without results, and if we keep going like this we’re going to fail the mission. I propose that we stop looking for higher-rank beasts and focus on capturing at least a rank B one."

Gareth frowned at the suggestion, clearly displeased with the idea of settling for something so "simple."

Sophia, for her part, showed no visible reaction, though her silence indicated that she was at least considering the proposal.

Adam, meanwhile, felt a small spark of surprise upon hearing those words.

’Wow,’ he thought with genuine astonishment. ’Looks like he finally came to his senses.’

Because Fernis was right. Their time was running out, and if they didn’t manage to capture something soon, they would all return to the academy empty-handed and with a failing grade on their records.

It didn’t matter how much talent they had or how many powerful beasts they wanted to hunt; if they didn’t complete the basic objective, everything else was meaningless.

"I suppose we don’t have a choice," Gareth muttered with resignation after a few seconds.

Sophia nodded slightly, though her expression made it clear she accepted the proposal with a certain displeasure.

"So be it, then."

Lihua, on the other hand, said nothing. She simply remained silent while her gaze drifted into the shadows of the chamber, as if she were thinking about something entirely different.