Surviving as the Second Main Lead: Second Lead's POV

Once again, Horas found himself in the club room he had managed to avoid for over a decade. He was not sure why he was even here today.

"Hello everyone. Thanks for responding on such short notice but we just got a message from the principal that we can go to our first outing as long as two teachers are supervising us. You all got the message, right?"

Everyone present held up their physical consent forms. Horas was sure that more than half of the signatures on these papers were fake.

"Good to see that all of you are so excited about this trip. Now, the ones who volunteered to overlook your trip this time as Instructor Harris and Horas. You all need to be mindful of then, alright?"

The club leader of the exploration club stressed these words and many seniors flinched as soon as they heard Horas's name.

He might be younger than half of this club member's current age but he had a far more bloody reputation due to some rumors about him. And those who had seen Horas in action were often left speechless as well.

"Oh god, it's that reaper."

"I wonder if this trip would go alright? I heard that the grim reaper causes everything to fall apart. I guess we will finally get to know if the rumor is true or not."

People began to gossip all around the room as soon as they saw Horas standing in front of them. He did not mind the gossip since he was rather famous in the school circle.

He took a quick look around the room, wanting to see if there was anyone he recognized or not among the crowd but no one stood out.

Well, Howard and the other protagonist stood out but no one except them stood out to him. Most people avoided his gaze when he looked at them but Howard waved at him cheerfully.

"Wow, that's Howard Spencer waving at you, right? Looks like you managed to make a friend after all."

Instructor Harris pointed out as she grinned and waved back at Howard. Horas ignored both of these idiots, not wanting to associate with them any more than he already had.

It was soon time for them to head out. The forms were collected from the students and they were hurdled into the boat that would take them to the ancient island that was their destination.

"Now remember, just because this is a relatively safe place does not mean you can do what you want to here. I want you all to be constantly vigilant and to report back in case anything out of the ordinary happens."

The club prescient reminded everyone and the kids gave a boring 'yes' before running around.

Since this place was modeled behind an existing dungeon without any of the traps or wild monsters running around, everyone was having a good time. There was nothing for the students to be worried about.

Horas decided to shut his eyes for a minute and rest and that was his mistake.

In his hurry to rest, he forgot one very key point of this world - if things had the potential to go bad, then they would go bad. Especially if the protagonist was involved.

The island they were on shook and the quaking caused many students to lose their balance. It was an unnatural phenomenon so no one knew what to do about it.

"Everyone, start heading back right now. We need to get out of this island as soon as possible."

Instructor Harris began to hurdle the kids back and Horas helped him out as well. He helped some students up before looking around for Howard and the other main characters. Knowing then, they would be at the center of this problem.

"Instructor, I will look around to make sure no one is left behind on this island. You go and help these kids up."

Horas yelled as he began to run toward the other side of the island. Instructor Harris had no time to do anything but agree with his world. He was busy enough with his one baggage to carry.

Horas quickly covered the rest of the distance and soon reached his destination.

As he had expected, the main party was stuck in a small hole, unable to go out. They had activated some kind of mechanism that was not supposed to be on this island.

"Hey kids, are you alright? Can you get out of this hole?"

Horas asked this question despite knowing the answer. He just wanted to hear from these kids about what happened here.

"Are you blind? If we could get out of this hole, then would we be stuck in here at all? Now hurry up and pull us out of here. I have a lot of work to do today anyway."

Duke Verteramo yelled these words out in an angry tone. He had not wanted to join today's exploration team but he had been forced to once he knew that his rivals would be joining.

This kid was a volatile person but he was also one of the protagonists so Horas tried to cut them some slack.

He threw a small stone where the hole was and it instantly evaporated into nothing.

"There is a weird mesh covering this hole. It must be some kind of ability so I will look around to see if I find anyone who is operating this."

If the energy of this ability was this strong, then the caster of this spell had to be nearby. Horas was sure he would be able to find the caster if he looked around a little more.

"Do whatever you want to do. Just get us out of here, alright? And don't worry about us, you take your time and do not get hurt."

Howard yelled those words out. He yelled loudly over Duke's complaints so that Horas did not have to hear Duke for some time.

Horas felt amused at Horas's attempt to make him feel better. Howard was a good kid and Horas was glad he had written him this way.

'Now, let's find the rat that managed to sneak onto this island without getting detected. I will need to capture him alive and hand him over to the interrogation unit.'

………………..

Soon, the sound of footsteps leaving reached the group's ears and they sagged in their places. The quieter Horas's footsteps got, the more these people got nervous.

'Let's just hope nothing happens to Horas. He is our only hope to get out of here.'

Howard was glad that it was Horas who stayed behind for them. The elder was someone he found himself trusting right from the start.

Meanwhile, Regina hit Duke for what he did a while back. The sudden slap on his back caused Duke to flinch and blush at the same time.

"What the hell, woman? Can you not be any more gentle than this? What did I ever do to make you angry at me?"

Duke asked back, not knowing what he did wrong. Since he was an heir to a big guild, he had never been scolded or told that something was wrong. That caused him to grow up with a twisted sense of what was right or wrong.

According to his logic, Duke was always right and he expected everyone to know that as well.

"You are an idiot. You should be nice to someone who is here to save us. Why would you go and say all those words to Horas anyway? What if he decides he does not want to save us, huh? What then?"

Duke tried to rub his back but his hands were unable to reach his stinging back. All Duke could do was pout at Regina's words.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Someone will have to come for us sooner or later. Why does it matter if I complain a little to Horas or not? He deserves it for not saving us right away."

Regina sighed before slapping Duke once again. She had no idea how her childhood friend had gotten to be this way. Duke used to be a sensible child once upon a time.

"Duke, you will get in trouble one of these days if you do not change your attitude. And as your childhood friend, I don't want to see you go down that path of destruction. So when you meet Horas next time, you have to apologize to him, alright?"

Duke had a sullen look on his face that said that he did not want to follow Regina's words. But Regina was not giving him a chance to continue his thought process. He was in the wrong and he needed to know this.

Howard watched the two people in front of him fight with an awkward expression on his face. He did not know what he could do to help these people feel better in this situation.

'Horas, please hurry up and free us. I don't think I will be able to survive much longer in this company.'

Howard was afraid that someone would die soon if they were not freed soon. And he did not want to see a murder take place in front of very eyes.