The Cursed Extra-Chapter 125: [2.73] The Coward Who Might Not Be a Coward

"Pay attention to the people who warn you without saying anything directly."

***

Challenging the assessment assignments was impossible.

Teams had been finalized weeks ago. Sections distributed by lottery under Professor De Clare’s watchful eye. The faculty had made it abundantly clear that any attempt to modify the arrangements would result in immediate expulsion.

The rules existed for a reason, they’d said. Every team faced equal challenges. Equal dangers. Equal opportunities to prove themselves.

No exceptions. No excuses. No appeals.

Rhys could try to warn his teammates. But what evidence did he have? An overheard conversation between two students he barely knew and some ominous passages in a tactical manual that anyone could access?

Petra Goldhand, Finn Redbrook, and Jorik Ironwill were good people. Solid in a fight and reliable in a crisis. But they were also first-year students who’d never faced real combat outside of controlled sparring sessions.

They’d probably dismiss his concerns as pre-assessment nerves. The same anxiety everyone felt when faced with their first real test.

And there was another problem.

His association with House Leone had already marked him as politically compromised. A commoner who’d accepted gold from a disgraced noble in a public display that half the academy had witnessed.

If he started making accusations about assessment assignments being deliberately dangerous, people would assume he was trying to sabotage the event for Leone’s benefit. They’d think Kaelen had put him up to it somehow.

Kaelen.

The name surfaced in his mind unbidden. Brought with it a complicated tangle of emotions he didn’t have time to sort through.

The pathetic third son who’d somehow managed to make Rhys’s life more complicated by trying to help him. The bumbling fool who’d publicly humiliated him with gold while saving him from a debt that would have destroyed his chances at the academy.

The person who’d known about the ambush in the western woods before it happened.

Rhys traced the tunnel layouts again. His finger followed the main passage that led to Team 7’s objective marker. The route was straightforward enough on paper. A series of connected chambers that should, in theory, provide multiple options for approach and retreat.

But if those passages were as unstable as the textbook suggested. If the goblins had already mapped the weak points and prepared their ambush sites...

A shadow fell across his table.

Rhys looked up to find Kaelen Leone standing nearby. His grey eyes fixed on the open books and maps with an expression that might have been curiosity or might have been something else entirely.

The third son of House Leone looked as disheveled as ever. His dark hair slightly unkempt and falling across his forehead. Academy uniform rumpled in a way that suggested either carelessness or deliberate neglect. His posture carried that familiar air of nervous uncertainty. Shoulders slightly hunched as if perpetually bracing for a blow that hadn’t come yet but surely would.

"Studying for the assessment?" Kaelen asked. His voice carried that same hesitant quality that had marked all their previous interactions. The words were punctuated by a small, awkward shift of weight from one foot to the other. Hands fidgeting at his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them.

Rhys nodded curtly. Unsure why the other student had approached.

They’d barely spoken since the incident in the western woods. And their last public encounter had made it painfully clear that any association between them was politically dangerous for both parties.

"Difficult material," Kaelen continued. Glanced at the tactical manual spread open before Rhys. His fingers drummed nervously against his thigh. A rapid staccato rhythm that matched his darting eyes. "All those warnings about underground combat. Makes you wonder if they’re trying to prepare us or scare us into making stupid mistakes."

There was something in Kaelen’s tone that made Rhys look at him more carefully.

The nervous fidgeting was there. The same uncertain mannerisms that had marked every public appearance since the term began. The slight tremble in his hands. The way he wouldn’t quite meet Rhys’s eyes. The hunched shoulders of someone expecting ridicule.

All the hallmarks of the pathetic coward everyone said he was.

But when his gaze returned to the maps and textbook, something shifted.

His eyes were focused. Intelligent. Studied the terrain layouts with an intensity that didn’t match his bumbling persona.

For just a moment, the mask seemed to slip. Revealed something beneath. Something that looked at the world like a chess player examining the board. Saw moves and counter-moves that others couldn’t perceive.

Then he blinked.

And it was gone.

"Some warnings are worth taking seriously," Rhys said carefully. Watched for any reaction.

"Oh, absolutely." Kaelen’s gaze lingered on the Collapsed Mine section of the maps. "Especially when they come from multiple sources. Textbooks, overheard conversations, personal experience..."

He trailed off. As if realizing he’d said too much. His nervous fidgeting intensified.

Rhys felt something cold settle in his stomach. A weight of suspicion that refused to be ignored.

"Personal experience?"

Kaelen’s nervous laugh sounded forced. Too high and too quick. "Not personal, exactly. But my family’s estate... we have some old mining operations on the northern border. Similar geology to the assessment site, if I’m remembering correctly. My father always warned about structural instability in abandoned workings. Said half the accidents in the family mines came from people who thought they knew better than the rock."

The explanation was plausible. Delivered with Kaelen’s characteristic uncertainty. Accompanied by all the expected physical tells of someone struggling through an uncomfortable conversation.

"Your team drew the Crystal Caverns section, didn’t they?" Rhys asked. Testing.

"Yes, unfortunately. Much safer than some of the other assignments, from what I can tell." Kaelen’s eyes flicked meaningfully toward the Collapsed Mine maps. Lingered on the red stability markers before sliding away. "Though I suppose every section has its challenges. The academy wouldn’t make it easy for anyone."

The implication hung in the air between them. Unspoken but impossible to miss.

Your section isn’t safe. You should know that. I’m trying to tell you without saying it directly.

Rhys studied Kaelen’s face. Searched for any sign of deception or manipulation. Any hint that this was some elaborate trick designed to compromise him further.

What he found instead was something unexpected.

Genuine concern. Carefully hidden beneath layers of performed incompetence. The same look his father had worn when warning young soldiers about the dangers of the borderlands. Knowing that words alone couldn’t prepare them for what they would face.

"The Fool’s Gambit," Rhys said quietly. Watched for Kaelen’s reaction.

The other student’s face went carefully blank. All expression draining away.

"I’m sorry?"

"It’s a term from the tactical manual. Chapter Seven." Rhys kept his voice neutral. Conversational. As if they were discussing nothing more important than homework assignments. "Refers to using complex maneuvers in unstable terrain. The kind of mistake that gets people killed."

For just a moment, something shifted in Kaelen’s expression.

The nervous uncertainty fell away like a discarded costume. Replaced by sharp intelligence and what might have been approval. Even respect. His posture straightened almost imperceptibly. Shoulders squared in a way that spoke of hidden strength.

Then the mask slipped back into place.

So smoothly that Rhys wondered if he’d imagined the entire exchange.

The nervous fidgeting returned. The uncertain posture. The darting eyes of a man who expected mockery from every direction.

"Well," Kaelen said. Gathered himself as if preparing to leave. His voice had returned to its hesitant register. Each word wrapped in layers of performed insecurity. "I should let you get back to your studying. I didn’t mean to interrupt."

He turned to go.

Then paused.

Looked back over his shoulder with an expression that was either concern or something far more complicated.

"Good luck with the assessment, Rhys. I hope you and your team stay safe out there. The academy loses too many promising students as it is."