Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 55

After Dean Madeline announced that all the Hunters had entered, the Butterfly perched on the wall fluttered its wings and descended to the ground.

Returning to human form, Beili (Bartholomew) spread her ten fingers and examined the Tracking Ladybugs on her nails.

The black spots on the red shells flickered slightly, as if the insects might take flight at any moment.

All ten nails were neatly trimmed, each bearing a Tracking Ladybug.

If a Tracking Ladybug on Beili’s nail opened its wings and flew away, it meant a Hunter student had just been teleported within a hundred meters of her.

The number of Ladybugs that flew off indicated how many Hunters were nearby within that distance.

This was the latest magical Tracking Ladybug device at the magic shop.

To ensure users didn’t expend Mana during use, Mana had been infused during the complex crafting process.

As a result, this device was expensive and quite rare.

While waiting backstage, Beili had walked around a bit, releasing the ten Tracking Ladybugs to tag each of the ten Hunters.

When releasing and retrieving the Ladybugs, she arranged them in order of the Hunters’ rankings, from her left hand to her right, so she could deduce who was nearby based on which Ladybug reacted.

The Hunt Banquet was unlike the Holy Island Competition.

The Banquet placed greater emphasis on entertainment throughout the process, while ranking was secondary; it also lacked the strict procedures of the Holy Island Competition.

Therefore, during the waiting time before entering, everyone present could move freely on their respective floors without restriction.

You could even walk right up to Cyril’s face – though that would be rather rude.

While waiting for the Ladybugs to return to her nails, Beili was spotted by Susanna, who was strolling around.

Beili didn’t mind.

Whenever the villainess was secretly up to something, the heroine always happened to catch her in the act – perhaps this was simply a trait Susanna had as the original heroine of the story.

“Miss Bartholomew… what is this…?”

Susanna widened her bright, clear eyes, asking in confusion.

“Oh, this is…”

Beili thought for a moment, raised her hands, and showed off her nails. “I did my nails especially for the Hunt Banquet. Do you like them?”

Susanna’s gaze fell on Beili’s fair, delicate fingers.

Each nail had a Tracking Ladybug attached.

Each had a pair of tiny antennae on its head, and six legs that occasionally twitched.

Susanna hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “Um… it looks… very unique.”

…

Watching the Tracking Ladybug on her left index finger, Beili saw its red-and-black wings gradually unfold, the insect restlessly turning on her nail as if about to take flight.

This was… the fourth-ranked one.

Beili quickly recalled Susanna’s description in her mind. After filtering out all the tedious family stories and related trivial gossip, she was left with this: the fourth-ranked Hunter was a female student from the Santos Kingdom named Quinna, whose beast form was a moth.

She hadn’t expected that as soon as the prey stepped into the maze, the academy would teleport the Hunters over so quickly.

Moreover, the one teleported near her could also fly in beast form, like her.

Beili immediately sensed trouble.

She quickly took out her Invisibility Cloak and draped it over her shoulders, took a few steps inward, then stopped.

Looking back, she saw the arched doorway had vanished, replaced by a wall of ‘hedge’ shrouded in gray mist.

Beili suddenly felt conflicted –

Should she take advantage of the very start of the Hunt Banquet to find a hidden spot and ambush this Hunter with her Miniature Crossbow, or shake her off and go deeper into the maze?

While she was thinking, the previously restless Tracking Ladybug on her nail gradually stopped moving, its two red-and-black wings folding shut.

It became quiet and motionless.

Beili noticed this change.

It must be that Cyril had used some method to successfully stall these Hunters.
Thinking of this, Beili stopped hesitating. She tightened the Invisibility Cloak around her, instantly beastified, and once again transformed into her Butterfly Form, flying above the ‘green hedge’ walls.

With the Invisibility Cloak, even in her Butterfly Form, she remained invisible.

Moreover, her form was so small and light that even if she flew right up to someone’s face, she would be silent and unnoticed.

……

She flew unimpeded over the rows of ‘green hedge’ walls.

Beili focused most of her attention on her ears. As soon as she heard footsteps beneath the ‘green hedge’ walls, she would fly down to investigate.

This was the most efficient and safest way she could think of to search for people at the moment.

After seeing no less than ten unfamiliar faces, Beili gradually shifted her search area to another part of the Gloomy Maze.

This area was somewhat different from what she had seen when she first entered the maze.

A thin layer of gray mist still hung in the air, and the maze was still constructed of sturdy ‘green hedge’ walls.

But now, the walls were adorned with small flowers of various colors.

As she was observing the differences in this area, she suddenly heard a clear and cheerful humming coming from beneath the wall.

Beili was slightly surprised.

Having just arrived in this area, she had checked the Tracking Ladybug on her fingernail again, confirming that there were no hunters active within a hundred meters.

So the person humming beneath the wall must be prey.

Either a prey who was very confident in herself, or one who was careless and oblivious.

She quickly flapped her wings and descended to the base of the ‘green hedge’ wall.

When she saw the figure humming, the invisible Butterfly was so shocked that her wings nearly faltered and she almost fell to the ground.

……

Round, dark eyes.

A head of soft, short brown curls had been cut even shorter.

The little Nun who should have been at the Holy Church Academy was actually here in the Gloomy Maze at the closing of the Hunt Banquet.

And she was wearing the white clothes that marked her as prey…

“Ai…li…?”

Instantly transforming into her human form, Beili frowned deeply and grabbed the child’s shoulder. “Aili, why are you here?!”

Aili was startled, turning around but seeing no one, only feeling a grip on her shoulder that made her wince in pain.

“Waa!! There’s a ghost…”

Aili struggled, just as she cried out, something quickly covered her mouth.

The next second, a gray-haired, red-eyed Young Woman brushed aside the brim of her hat and suddenly appeared before her.

The child’s deep eyes instantly lit up, “Mmm-! *&…”

From the muffled sounds, Beili guessed she was trying to say ‘It’s Miss Bartholomew,’ but when her gaze fell on Aili’s bare neck, Beili’s brows furrowed even tighter.

“Aili, can you whisper?” Beili asked.

Seeing the child nod, Beili said, “Now we’re going to play a game called ‘Only Whisper.’ In this game, you can only speak in whispers. If your voice gets loud, you lose. Understand?”

At the word ‘game,’ Aili’s eyes grew even brighter, and she nodded quickly.

Only then did Beili let go, and whispered, “The whisper game has started. Answer me, Aili, what are you doing here?”

“I’m playing…”

After a warning look from the Young Woman, Aili paused, squeezing her voice even softer, “I’m playing hide-and-seek, with lots of people. Beiji is here too, and oh, Sister Lisa.”

“Miss Bartholomew, are you playing hide-and-seek too?” she asked.

Beili stared at her in silence, her expression solemn. After a moment, she replied:

“I’m looking for Lisa.”

She paused, then said, “Aili, this is not a place to play hide-and-seek. If you run into someone wearing fancy clothes, you could die here.”