— — — — — —
Leaving the fuming Sanchez aside, the match carried on and gradually reached a boiling point.
After recovering, Quinta finally understood what had just happened to her.
But getting revenge? Not a chance. She immediately turned and swam off in another direction.
Terrifying. Hogwarts was clearly full of monsters. Best to stay far away. As long as she lost fewer treasures than others, letting Daphne rob someone else meant she wasn't really losing.
...
As more and more treasures were uncovered, finding new ones became increasingly difficult. Naturally, the champions started setting their sights on each other.
Nassim ran into Fleur and was easily defeated by her mental magic, losing one treasure. Not long after, Fleur encountered Ariana. Surrounded by swirling black smoke, Ariana looked like bad news. Fleur didn't hesitate. She turned and left.
Ariana glanced after her. She hesitated for a moment but chose not to give chase.
They were all technically on the same side. There was no need to clash here. For a second, she had considered showing off her strength before letting Fleur go as a gesture of goodwill, but that felt too forced. Not worth it.
Watching all this, Tom couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the other champions.
This whole thing was starting to look like a chaotic free-for-all among his own circle. If his people weren't fighting each other, then naturally it was the "outsiders" who would suffer.
And sure enough, poor Miss Quinta ran into Ariana next.
Another treasure gone.
"Hard work really doesn't make you rich; stealing does," someone from Slytherin sighed.
The Slytherin students watching the match all shook their heads at the scene, their resolve to "do whatever it takes" only growing stronger.
"Oh no. My sister's about to run into Kamio from Mahoutokoro!" Astoria's expression shifted as she watched the screen. The little fox girl was heading toward the merpeople village too.
Kamio gave off an air of mystery. She had handled every previous stage with ease. Earlier, she had encountered a kelpie and effortlessly used the terrain to evade it, casually picking up the treasure.
Astoria had always felt that Kamio and Ariana were Daphne's biggest threats on the road to victory. Even Fleur didn't seem as dangerous as those two.
One was unpredictable. The other was simply overwhelming in raw magical power. Neither was easy to deal with.
...
..
At last, the two met inside the merpeople village.
Daphne was facing off against more than a dozen merpeople guards, who looked thoroughly enraged.
Just as Astoria's heart tightened, worried her sister would get caught between enemies, Daphne spotted Kamio and immediately waved happily. She opened her mouth and rattled off a string of words… which only turned into a trail of bubbles outside her Bubble-Head Charm.
Kamio smiled, pulled out her wand, and shaped the water into floating English words.
Daphne, I finally found you.
She honestly felt like she'd had it rough. Ever since entering the Black Lake, aside from briefly splitting up with Daphne at the start for appearances' sake, she had been searching for her nonstop. And only now had she finally tracked her down.
Was Daphne avoiding her? But they were supposed to be allies…
Daphne copied her approach, using magic to form words in the water.
You say you couldn't find me? I didn't even know where I was myself. I just wandered around and somehow ended up here.
Kamio: "..."
Incredible. The Greengrass family really was full of… unique talents.
Not wanting to get blindsided again, Kamio quickly changed the subject. "So, there's a treasure here?"
"Yep." Daphne nodded, pointing toward the passage blocked by the merpeople. Beyond it stood a stone house noticeably larger than the others. "There are several inside. But they said it's the chieftain's residence. We have to pass their trial to get the treasures."
"What kind of trial?" the fox girl asked, curious.
"No idea." Daphne shook her head honestly. "I don't understand what they're saying."
Kamio: "..."
Twice in a row now, Daphne had left her speechless. How did Tom deal with this airheaded young lady on a daily basis?
"Forget it," the fox girl said at last, decisively fanning the flames. "Why bother with all that? We'll just knock them down and take the treasures."
She had never been the cautious type. A few low-tier magical creatures thinking they could "test" her and Daphne? Please.
Daphne clearly thought the same. If Kamio hadn't shown up just now, she would've already made her move.
The two of them didn't waste another second. They turned and attacked.
With a flick of her wand, Kamio transformed the water plants rooted in the rocks into dozens of water serpents. They opened wide jaws and lunged at the merpeople.
At the same time, streams of heated water shot from Daphne's wand. The currents weren't just hot, they crackled with faint arcs of electricity. Any merpeople hit by them convulsed violently, as if struck by some strange illness.
The guards never saw it coming. One moment the girls were chatting, the next they struck without warning. By the time the merpeople reacted, it didn't matter anymore.
After defeating the guards, the two strolled into the stone house as if they owned the place and quickly found five treasures inside.
"You take three, I'll take two," Kamio offered, making the first gesture of goodwill.
Daphne tilted her head, about to protest, but the fox girl simply stuffed three envelopes into her arms.
"No time to argue. We've probably got less than forty minutes left. We need to start taking from others."
Hearing that, Daphne didn't insist. She tucked the envelopes away, and the two swam out of the house together.
"Let's go find Fleur," Daphne said, her eyes lighting up. "She must've collected a lot by now."
Kamio nearly broke into a cold sweat.
She wanted to get on good terms with Daphne, sure. That didn't mean she wanted to completely offend another ally.
So she tactfully formed a line of floating text: Would Mr. Riddle approve of that?
Daphne froze.
She wanted to say she'd take responsibility if anything happened… but the memory of her cute little face swelling into a pig's head just a few days ago made her think twice.
Better play it safe.
Fine. She'd let Fleur off this once… for the sake of her face.
But she'd already said it out loud. If she backed down now, wouldn't Kamio think she was scared of Fleur?
For a moment, the girl found herself stuck in an awkward dilemma.
The fox girl, sharp as ever, caught on immediately and offered her an out.
I ran into Jauncey from Ilvermorny earlier. I secretly placed a tracking spell on him. Let's go after him instead. That way we won't waste time.
Daphne nodded at once. Kamio grabbed her hand, picked a direction, and the two of them sped away from the merpeople village.
...
Outside, things had already exploded into chaos.
People couldn't read their lips underwater, sure. But the two had been communicating in floating text the entire time.
Every word had been perfectly clear.
What was this supposed to be?
A simple treasure hunt… and somehow they'd already escalated it into full-blown alliances and organized looting.
This… this... this was so damn exciting. Even the dragon task didn't feel this entertaining.
.
.
.