Chapter 484: Extra Hands (1/2)

From what he heard, the argument arose when a team had to be arranged to send the goods from Half Moon Village to Deadman Town and Smargdas. Without a leader in New Moon Village, after Monoman left to escort Jermine back to her village, these people couldn't come to an agreement. Raj tried to intervene but nobody listened to the 'builder'.

Currently, New Moon Village was divided into camps. The people who believed that the hunters who were better at combat should go were camp one. The people who thought that a balanced party based on hunters and intellectuals should go made up camp two. The last camp thought that they should hire some mercenaries or guards to assist with the escorting of valuable goods even if finances were limited.

Nobody knew what to do and the assistant leader who was a hunter called Rohan sided with the hunters in camp one. The man was an adept archer who rivalled a C-rank adventurer and could use minor healing spells. Zero didn't know the man or any of the villagers but he didn't want them fighting among themselves. Having a leader was very important and if it wasn't for the risk of the mission, Zero wouldn't have sent Monoman to escort Jermine to Lycantopia. Since he was the one who sent their leader away, Zero would take responsibility for New Moon Village as well in Monoman's absence as part of the alliance agreement to help each other out in times of need.

Accompanied by Raj and Ruth, Zero wondered if the villagers would readily welcome or accept him. Many people tend to judge others based on appearance and Zero knew that he wasn't the most intimidating or impressive first impression. He still hoped that they would at least give him a chance to talk and make his announcement before things became ugly. Ruth wasn't as tolerant as Raj and Zero didn't want anyone getting hurt.

New Moon Village was nothing like Zero expected. He heard that they were living underground but he never expected the above ground to be so barren. How did these people live without the sun? He couldn't understand it. Then, Raj pulled a lever hidden in the long grass and Zero finally understood why there was nothing on the ground level even if there was a faint perimeter drawn around what looked like New Moon Village's official territory.

Zero didn't mention how surprised he was when he heard that there were representatives. He only hoped that it would be a civilised discussion.

The treehouses and sky bridge were built in a very similar way to the one Half Moon Village had. Zero looked around and took in the view. He could see some small towns in the distance outside the forest. That should be the edge of Smargdas. From there, Zero didn't think that anybody would know about this new settlement and Zero wanted to keep it that way. Cleo worked hard to increase the foliage and used many branches and vines to hold the sky bridge up. Raj's carpentry made the structure seem like it was grown into the trees and Zero liked how stealthy the treetop fort was.

They went into a small outpost platform with some rope rails in a huge tree. Zero saw three men standing around, waiting with tension in their postures. Raj was the first to join them and Ruth helped Zero up the platform as the mossy branches were slippery. Zero took Ruth's outstretched hand and all eyes focussed on him.

”This is...?” the archer that Zero assumed was Rohan pointed at him with an uncertain look.

Ruth stood behind Zero and looked at the leaders. In a resolute voice, he introduced the leader of Half Moon Village.

”You've heard of him previously but because he was away, this is the first time anyone from New Moon Village apart from Monoman has met him. He is Zero, our leader and the one who offered New Moon Village an alliance. It has come to our attention that there are some conflicts over delivering the goods to New Moon Village so Zero has personally come to understand the situation.”

Nobody argued with the vampire. As one of the guards sent by Half Moon Village while they were harassed by the necromancer and undead bandits, nobody questioned Ruth's strength. In fact, Monoman openly declared his admiration for this vampire who was also the combat teacher of Half Moon Village's leader. His words had power that nobody wanted to defy.

Zero was pleasantly surprised that nobody questioned his identity or authority but he didn't dwell too much on it. It must have something to do with Ruth standing behind him and he was thankful for that. Ruth's presence assured him a lot and Zero could get things done easier this way.

”I heard about the situation from Raj on the way here. Who is the vice leader of New Moon Village in Monoman's absence?”

The men pointed at Rohan who raised his hand. Zero nodded. As expected, the man who spoke earlier was Mohan. Zero studied Mohan's physical build and found that he was indeed a good hunter.

”I heard that New Moon Village could not agree about who to send for the trip to Deadman Town,” Zero said and the three men stiffened. Raj simply stood by one side and watched as Ruth remained stoically behind Zero like a sturdy mountain.