Compared to the training that followed, the first trial seemed surprisingly easy. Every day, it was like training in the ninja village where she stayed, except five time tougher. Her reward was food, perhaps the best reward among the ones her companions got. That apple pie definitely gave her enough motivation to continue... Ah, it was amazing. Pauline managed to get it once though, that one time when she hit all the targets. Most of the other times... Let's just say that she got used to eating wild fowl.
The second mission was up in the mountains. This environment was a lot less appealing to Pauline than the forest they were in for the last trial and she hoped that her stealth skills were enough to attack someone without getting noticed.
It seems that they were not the only squad who tried to complete the challenge. Pauline whimpered slightly when she saw the dead bodies of another squad. She knew she would need to deal with gore, death and murder, but still, it was incredibly distressing. A female scream drew her attention and Pauline ducked slightly, ready to dash off and help, yet when she glanced behind her back, she saw bandits approaching. The ones Hirotsuka mentioned…
Pauline barely noticed the wyvern rider in the sky when Tybalt called her and explained his plan. Thankfully, the bandits were slower than the mounted enemies they fought with, so they might have some time. The ninja waved her hand to get Hyakuya’s attention and glanced at the leader. ”We’re lucky their leader didn’t come from the mountains. Let’s go while there’s still time, I certainly hope you’re good at climbing, because you’ll probably be attacking from up there,” – she pointed at one of the less steeper hills and rushed towards it.