Zoe guided the group of sixteen females through the dark forest while trying to keep everyone calm.
The girls Shin had rescued were exhausted and broken after being looked down on for a few days. Still, for most of them, not much time had passed. With the exception of the few girls who had been captured even before the test began.
Zoe was one of those women. She was a resident of the Tower and had lived among the beastkin for years, something clearly indicated by the long, sleek cat ears perched atop her head, twitching occasionally at every distant snap of a branch.
That being said, the girls were clearly tired and hadn't been treated well. Some of them struggled just to keep walking, their uniforms torn and stained with dirt and blood.
Still, they followed Zoe without questioning her. It had happened naturally. Among the frightened girls, she was the only one capable of keeping a clear head.
