Chapter 73
Joshua returned to the farm with his companions.
Zombies weren't in sight.
It was thanks to approaching at the exact ti the bell rang at the tower.
“Wow! What is all this?”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
Adela was amazed to see the chickens and chicks playing in the barn.
“With this many, we could have fried, grilled, or even stead chicken!”
Leo squinted at her as she drooled.
“You’re truly sothing, thinking about eating them the mont you see them.”
“I-I can't help it. I haven't even touched at for the past few months.”
“I understand the feeling, though.”
“What, you act like you haven't eaten any either.”
“I haven't. Our leader is a total cheapskate.”
Joshua paid no attention to the two of them bickering.
He opened his backpack and gathered the scattered chickens inside.
anwhile.
Adela, who was looking around the farm, let out an exclamation.
“No way, is that mana herb?”
There were only a few stalks, but it was unmistakably mana herb.
It was a rare wildflower said to increase mana when consud.
“There used to be much more than that originally.”
Talleon explained.
“Really?”
“Yes, but I know most of it was used for trading.”
“That’s amazing. How on earth did you do it?”
“We don't really know. They were just here since we first ca to the farm.”
When Adela looked at Joshua with a shocked expression, he was already heading outside.
“Pack your necessary items or personal belongings and co outside.”
“It’s truly a farewell to this place huh.”
Gavinu, who followed him out, spoke.
“There’s no need to linger on it. Moving bases is common in a disaster situation.”
“Don't you feel any regret? Sir Joshua made this farm from start to finish.”
“Indeed.”
The students who’d lived on the farm looked at him with respectful gazes.
He left the farm without looking back.
Because he didn't hesitate, they could follow behind him.
“I’ll explain the next plan now. Knight unit, follow . Female students, I’d like you to go to the location I ntioned and secure the path.”
* * *
“Move! We found this place first.”
“Bullshit! We aren't backing down either, so you guys get lost.”
Two groups clashed in front of Dormitory 2.
They were groups of survivors who’d survived in different villages.
“We’ve been observing this place for a long ti.”
“So what? Do you think we’ll back off because of that?”
“You know what happens if you don't back off, right?”
One survivor rushed forward and swung a spear.
The swung spear stabbed the thigh of the man on the opposite side.
“Aaaaagh!”
The man scread and collapsed.
Companions nearby each drew their weapons.
“So you want to have a go at it?”
“You guys don't plan on sharing either, do you? Then we have no choice but to fight and take it all.”
Everyone facing off growled with bloodthirsty expressions.
Just then, another group approached the dormitory.
“Quite a lot of you showed up while we were slightly late.”
A man wearing leather armor replied.
“Who are you people now?”
“Us?”
He swiftly drew a dagger from his waist and threw it at the head of the man who’d spoken.
The dagger sliced through the air and embedded itself exactly where he aid.
The person hit collapsed on the spot without even letting out a death cry.
“We’re a rcenary group. I don't know if you've heard of Black Chain.”
“M-rcenaries?”
“If it’s Black Chain, I know them as veterans corresponding to the Vetus (6) grade.”
“Oh, luckily there’s at least one person who knows about us.”
The leader of Black Chain pulled the dagger out of the head of the opponent he’d struck down.
“Give up searching this dormitory. Then I won't kill you.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“It’s the law of the jungle. If you don't have strength, you can't get what you want.”
The group of survivors only watched for a mont before withdrawing their weapons.
They couldn't handle a rcenary group with their own strength.
The rcenaries were equipped with weapons.
Their experience was also abundant.
“Do we have to give up like this?”
“How long I’ve waited for this mont.”
Dormitory 2 was a place used as a camp by a few professors and students.
For several months,
They had succeeded in packing relief supplies that remained near the building.
But they couldn't use them.
A sudden crowd of zombies had swept through this place and passed by.
Now, the items that lost their owners beca the goal of the survivors.
“Good, it’s nice to see you’ve beco quiet.”
The villagers who’d been rampaging just a mont ago hung their heads like terrified people.
They only watched as the rcenaries acted freely.
“I’ll explore the inside. A few stay here and watch the others.”
“Understood.”
The leader went inside, leaving only four rcenaries behind.
The villagers contemplated.
In terms of numbers, there were many.
They thought they could strike down these guys and then deal with the other rcenaries through a pincer attack.
“I have a rough idea of what you're thinking. But I recomnd not doing it.”
A rcenary advised suggestively.
The people couldn't open their mouths.
While everyone was stuck in fear and couldn't move.
Another group was seen approaching the dormitory.
“It looks like we’re a bit late.”
“There are more guests than I thought.”
Leo’s knight unit scouted the situation.
The villagers lost their will to fight.
The reason they gave up the fight was because of the humans guarding the front gate.
A group holding weapons and wearing leather armor.
Their gaze alone was different from ordinary villagers.
“They look like rcenaries.”
“Indeed.”
“What should we do?”
“I’m not sure. Joshua, I think you should judge for yourself.”
Joshua ca forward, crossing past the three people.
“The Black Chain huh.”
He spoke after seeing the tattoos engraved on the rcenaries' arms.
The rcenaries were flustered.
He was the first person to see through their identity just by looking at their group’s symbol without any special introduction.
“What is that?”
“A rcenary group.”
“Are they strong?”
“Among the enemies we et at this ti, they’re about average. You just need to be careful of the leader.”
The rcenaries' expressions crumpled.
The newly appeared opponents were students from the academy.
Fledglings who hadn't even graduated yet.
It was uncomfortable for such punks to be evaluating them.
“Average? Are these guys crazy?”
“You’d better watch your mouth. We don't see anything in our way, so we don't even care whether you're nobles or royalty.”
A rcenary held a spear and swung it through the air.
It was faint, but Aura was loaded onto the tip of the blade.
“See that? That’s Aura. Punks like you probably haven't even used it once.”
Leo reacted irritably to his provocation.
Joshua stopped him as he was about to step forward.
“You’re telling to hold back against that?”
“Yes.”
“I can do better than that.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you stopping !”
“I’m saying don't waste your strength in useless places.”
Leo let out a sigh and stepped back.
Joshua changed his gaze and turned toward the rcenary guarding the front.
“I’d like you to move from there.”
“Do you guys have business in this dormitory too? Unfortunately, this is a place we’ve already claid.”
“You’ll get hurt if you don't move.”
“Get hurt? Are you talking to us?”
The rcenaries chuckled and laughed.
While they were laughing for a while, the rcenary in the back aid a bow.
“You get lost, if you don't want to get hurt, that is.”
“The warning is only once, there won't a second.”
“This bastard!”
The rcenary fired the bow.
The arrow that left his fingertips sliced through the air at a terrifying speed.
When the arrow reached right in front of Joshua’s nose.
It shattered to pieces against the magic he had laid out.
“Is it magic?”
“What attribute is it?”
“It looked like a transparent wall blocked it.”
“The opponent is a student.”
The arrow just fired was different from an ordinary arrow.
It carried Aura.
It contained enough power to penetrate most shields.
“If it’s a student, Mithios (7) grade should be the maximum.”
The surprised rcenary flinched and backed away.
Every student they’d killed so far had their breath cut short in a single strike.
They’d tasted failure for the first ti.
“Soone go inside and report to the captain.”
Swish!
Leo rushed forward and cut the arm of the rcenary who was speaking.
“Aaaaagh!”
The rcenary let out a groan while clutching his cut arm.
Leo quickly adjusted his posture.
He kicked the opponent rushing in afterward and thrust his sword into the fallen opponent.
“Since you fired an arrow first, you have nothing to say even if you're cut, right?”
“W-Wait! Give just one more chance.”
“Didn't you hear what our leader said? You only get one warning.”
Leo swung his sword and cut the thigh.
anwhile,
Talleon and Gavinu took charge of and dealt with the remaining two people.
Everyone cut down the humans without hesitation.
They had adapted as survivors of this world.
“I eliminated them because it would be troubleso if they called out the people inside.”
Leo muttered while shaking the blood off his sword.
“Was this a useless action too?”
“No, you did well.”
“Haha, I know how to make this much judgnt too.”
Joshua smiled.
The judgnt he made after seeing the rcenary's behavior wasn't bad.
However, there was a fact more pleasing than that.
'I called them average, but Black Chain is a fairly strong group.'
His skill had beco better than when they first t.
As expected of a nad character.
The more he’s worked like this, the more he’ll undoubtedly grow into the person Joshua rembered.
“I kept one guy alive just in case, what should we do?”
Turning his gaze, he saw a rcenary kneeling and looking this way.
It was the man with the cut arm.
He trembled with fear and begged with his mouth to be saved.
[Clever] picked out the questions to ask.
They were different from the villagers who’d been observing Dormitory 2.
They ca here all at once after obtaining information.
He guessed where their starting point was.
Vilne.
It was our next destination.
“At what level is the Adventurer’s Guild being operated?”
“What do you an?”
“I know that you guys, unlike the villagers over there, ca this way after receiving information.”
Over half a year had passed since the disaster situation occurred.
People weren't fools.
Those who survived tried to adapt to the world in their own ways.
The Adventurer’s Guild was one of them.
They used rcenaries or adventurers, who originally handled chores for nobles or cities, as hunters.
Providing information.
And receiving fees accordingly to coexist.
“You, how do you know that?”
“You’d better not think about deceiving .”
The rcenary's pupils trembled.
The boy felt like he knew everything about him.
“Your guess is correct. I paid money to the Adventurer’s Guild and bought information about this place.”
“Where did you co from?”
“It’s a village called Vilne. It seems the branch manager of the guild managing that place is a person of skill. I heard that monsters can't even linger near the village because of that guy. Thanks to that, people gather to trade or receive requests.”
“I see.”
“If you guys want to make money with monsters, it’ll be good to go there.”
All the knight unit mbers looked at the rcenary with eyes full of curiosity.
Building a reputation through requests or adventures.
It was exciting for apprentice knights.
“What kind of work have you mainly been doing there?”
Leo asked.
“It varies from ti to ti, but usually we hunt zombies.”
“You hunt zombies? There’s nothing to gain even if you hunt them.”
“You’re on the slow side, aren't you?”
“What!”
Leo growled and grit his teeth.
“It ans the items you want are in places where zombies are.”
“Ah, that’s what you ant.”
“Well, besides that, it seems the zombies themselves are worth money.”
“What are you saying now?”
“I heard that mages are using them as research material.”
“Do they think they can cure them?”
“Who knows. You can never tell what those mage bastards are thinking.”
Leo turned his expression this way.
“Joshua, what do you think?”
“About what?”
“Ways to turn humans who beca zombies back to normal, or ways not to get infected from the start.”
“I’m not interested.”
“That’s very unexpected.”
“Is it?”
“Because I believed that you could even fix people who beca zombies.”
“If such a thing existed, I would've used it long ago.”
Leo looked at him as if he were surprised.
The other two boys were the sa.
He took pride in having done much research on zombies.
Even so, he couldn't find a fundantal solution.
Therefore, he thought.
That his ga progress was insufficient to reach the source where the zombies appeared.
“Hey, chat later and help out. I’ve bled too much.”
“Right, that happened.”
Joshua picked up a sword dropped on the ground.
[Cool] cut away his sympathy.
Even if it wasn't for that bastard’s help, he had no intention of keeping the man before his eyes alive.
Swish!
He brought the sword down on the man's neck.
After he collapsed, the companions nearby were silent.
“Pick out the usable items from the dead rcenaries.”
“Right. Talleon, Gavinu, move out.”
The knight unit selected items while reaching out to the corpses.
The villagers watching from nearby were horrified.
The boys had no hesitation in touching the corpses.
“What kind of kids are they, for heaven's sake?”
“Their skill wasn't ordinary.”
“If that kid is at that level, how strong is that kid called the leader?”
The villagers put on dazed expressions.
Those who were looking for an opportunity like hyenas also slipped away from the spot.
A short while later.
Leonard, who roughly finished organizing, opened his mouth.
“By the way, it was this noisy outside, wouldn't they have noticed us inside?”
“You don't have to worry about that.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who went inside won't even have the luxury to care about this side.”
“What do you—”
Bang!
A loud noise was heard from inside the dormitory.
Subsequently, the rcenaries who went in to search ran out this way as if being chased by sothing.
The spell sequence made in preparation for intruders entering.
They had stepped on it.
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