Kim couldn't say that she wanted to leave as quickly as they could, but at the same time, it wasn't like she had anything she really wanted to get done here. Not when they were so close to getting out of this competition and out of the constant worry about what was going on with it. Or even what might come next.
However, she also didn't want to turn the others against them. There was safety in numbers and right now there was no telling what else those running this lousy competition had done. So many things were just uncertain at this moment. Not to mention the fact that pushing everyone to this could potentially affect their morale. Which was something that would also impact how quickly they'd be able to return to that dungeon.
After all, Kim was confident that part of the reason it'd only taken a single day for them to reach the village after leaving the dungeon had been because their morale was high and so were able to make good time. Although Kim deliberately pushed the incident with the spider out of her mind, given how that itself had slowed them down. Not to mention how it'd affected her and what she'd been able to do.
"What if we cook breakfast and eat it while we walk?" Kim asked interrupting the debate over that very issue, doing her best to keep her own impatience from entering her voice. "I mean, it shouldn't take that long to cook it, or at least heat it up, right?"
Owen blinked, looking like he'd been caught off guard. Even the others stopped their bickering about the issue with Kim's statement. Though, she hoped it was because of it being a good idea rather than any other reason. Especially since there wasn't any guarantee that it was going to keep them from devolving back into arguing again.
"Shouldn't we take our time and enjoy our breakfast?" Owen asked. "I mean, it has been a long trip for us from the library."
"Yeah, that'd be fine if we didn't have Stanley's group to worry about," Kim retorted, not caring how her words came across. "We took our time coming back to this village and even stayed longer than we probably should have at the capital just to catch up with Samantha as well as talking with the king."
"All the more reason to take our time here," Owen replied, sounding as if he'd lost sight of what they'd been pushing towards.
Or at least as far as Kim was concerned.
"What if we take our time and Stanley's group comes back because they hustled and found that the book didn't work?" Jonas asked calmly, as if this was merely an intellectual discussion and not one that could determine just how quickly they were able to get out of this competition.
"We can deal with that when the time comes," Owen replied, sounding rather annoyed. Not that Kim found that fact surprising, given how he'd been sounding before her interruption.
"Actually, that idea sounds good to me," Heather remarked, Sonya nodding next to her.
Kim couldn't help but find the sight a little strange, even though she knew that the wolf was merely Sonya shifted into another shape. It still felt like an actual wolf to her, despite what she knew about it.
"I'd rather sit while eating, but if we have to, it's not like we haven't eaten while walking before. It's just more of a pain," Bart chimed in.
"If we eat here, then I can take care of something else that could otherwise be a problem for me," Patricia remarked, the tone she was using not lost on Kim.
"If you really need to have sex right now, then go take care of it while the food's cooking," Kim said bluntly. She didn't have time to beat around the bush, no matter who else was present and could hear.
"Wait, who said anything about sex?" Patrick asked, looking a little alarmed. Kim wasn't sure if she should be surprised at that or not. She wasn't sure about the exact goings on between the two, but she wouldn't be surprised if Patrick wasn't the one with an elevated libido.
Although she also couldn't help but wonder if Patricia might have some sort of mental imbalance or issue that gave her such a high libido. It would explain a few things, but otherwise she was worried that it would create problems down the road. Even though it hadn't already, there wasn't a guarantee that it wouldn't later on.
Especially given how so much was already on the line for them and the competition was entering a more critical phase than it had before. Where even a small mistake could cost them big. Which was likely when Murphy's Law would apply the most. Or at least be the most likely to go into effect, since it would be the most damaging to their efforts at this point. Not to mention how things had been going rather smoothly for them. To the point where Kim couldn't help but wonder what might be coming down that would disrupt their plans.
"Well, I hate to say this, but I'd rather relax a little longer. If someone from Stanley's group is watching, then they'll see us relaxing and let their guard down a little more. I'm sure of that," Elwin said, making Kim wonder just how naïve he really was. It might be the first time she wondered that, but it would at least explain a few things to her.
"If you really feel that way, why not just argue about having given them the other book instead?" Jonas asked before Kim could. "The whole point of doing that had been so we could buy ourselves a little more time to get the dungeon. If we take our time, then we'll have squandered that advantage, no matter how much of an advantage it was. As eventually they'll figure out that the book we'd given them wasn't the one that they wanted and will come back to us to demand the book we're certain of as the one to complete this last challenge."
Elwin looked like he had more that he wanted to say but instead he just glared at Jonas. Kim couldn't help but assume that he knew what more he had to say wouldn't help his cause out any. That it just wouldn't do his cause any good, at best.
However, despite that it was clear that Elwin wasn't going to back down any. Which merely made Kim feel even more annoyed. A problem that she figured she'd solve by letting Jonas deal with. Simply because then she wouldn't have to try and work through the problem that was really causing her headache in the first place.
"If you really want to stay here and relax, there's nothing that any of us could do to stop you," Jonas said, surprising Kim a little. "While it would be a shame to have you leave us, your presence isn't required for us to complete the final challenge. So, if you really want to stay, we'll be fine with that, but you'll just have to remember that it was your choice that led to that."
Elwin stared at Jonas, as if uncertain he'd heard him correctly. Kim might have done the same if she were in Elwin's shoes. Especially since she hadn't seen that point coming. Likely because she hadn't thought of their combined group breaking up since they'd combined their groups after the fire dragon had been defeated. For some reason, it had gotten in her head that their groups would be together until the end. That splitting up again, for any reason just somehow seemed like it wasn't an option.
However, as Jonas spoke, she couldn't help but feel like it was a solution to this problem. Even if it somehow felt like they were abandoning what they should be doing, at least in regards to the unspoken agreement they'd made when they'd combined their groups. Or at least that's how Kim felt about it at this moment.
"You're not leaving me much of an option, you know?" Elwin said after a minute or two of tense silence.
Jonas merely shrugged. "Maybe. The thing is that if we wait too long, then we'll have to deal with Stanley's group again. Maybe we will anyway, but if we let it come to that, then we'll have a more difficult job to do here rather than if we seized this opportunity to complete this challenge before they're even aware of the trick we'd pulled." Jonas paused for a moment before continuing with a smirk, "Besides, if we rested for two days, then it'll be two more days before we can be done with this world and this competition. Two more days than we'd have had to deal with otherwise. Plus, there's the point that after we're done with this competition, one way or another, we'll be able to relax as much as we want, no matter what else happens."
Elwin sighed, as if he was giving up. "Yeah, I get it," he grumbled. "You don't have to get on me about that."
Jonas then looked to the others, even Elmo, staring at them until they nodded their assent to the matter. Kim couldn't help but wonder if Jonas even knew what they were agreeing to. As it didn't sound like anything had been officially resolved. Just that they'd caved in on taking it easy and moving in a more relaxed manner.
Though, when Jonas didn't say anything more about the matter, even as Elwin, Own, and Bart continued to cook their breakfast. Which made Kim wonder if they'd go with her suggestion. As it would at least make some sense at that particular moment.