162 Chapter 162: Volunteer (1/2)
”Are you not going with them?” Alicia asked me teasingly. I turned to her quizzically.
”Go with who?”
”Them.” Alicia gestured toward the military squad who was moving out, Bu Fan trailing them sourly. ”I thought you would go help save someone.”
”Do you think I'm some sort of hero or something? An ally of justice?” I rolled my eyes. ”As much as I would like to, I can't save the whole world. I would only get in their way.”
”That's true.” Alicia nodded. ”I would have stopped you if you did volunteer.” She turned serious. ”I was worried that you would try and use this chance to follow in your father's footsteps.”
”You know my dad?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Alicia pouted.
”Of course! Who wouldn't? Huang Shu Yin, the Angel of Fire, one of the greatest mercenaries in the Global Federation. And a hero too.” She shrugged. ”I thought you were aiming to become a hero like your father.”
”I share the same values, but I know my limits.” I sighed. ”If I would only get in the way of a military operation, then lives would be saved if I don't go.”
”Is that really true, though?” Craig scoffed from a distance, resting his spear on his shoulder. Even though we were safely inside the shelter, he had his weapon out for some reason. He probably couldn't relax, knowing that monsters were running rampant in the city beyond those fortified walls. ”You're someone who has slain a rank A dragon. I daresay you're on par with those soldiers at the very least.”
”I had help,” I pointed out wearily. ”Unfortunately, Troy and Kureha aren't around to help me in fighting a rank A monster this time.”
Alicia gave me a look. ”You and Kureha have gotten on pretty friendly terms, haven't you?”
”I guess? We were comrades who participated in a life-and-death battle together against a rank A dragon.”
”That's not what I mean…never mind.” Alicia took a deep breath as she wrung her hands wistfully. ”But it's true…if Kureha had indeed been around right now, she would be able to help us out a lot.”
”Yeah,” I agreed, recalling her skill with the sword. She truly deserved her title as the Sword Saint.
”I hope Brother Fan is able to find his sister,” Zhang Hou Zi lamented as he watched his boss depart. ”It would be great if Xin Hua is all right.”
That reminded me. I turned to the rest of my friends. ”What about you guys? Are your families safe? Are you able to contact them?”
”My old man and mom reached the shelter near our house,” Craig replied with a dismissive wave. ”I just called them. They are all right.”
”My family's safe!” Harvey informed me brightly. ”What about you, Senior Richard?”
”My dad's not in the city,” I explained. He had gone on a mission overseas and still had yet to return. Even if he was still around, I doubted a monster invasion would have faze him. Dad would be out there fighting alongside the military and exterminating the monsters. Hell, his first target would have been the Silver Wing Wolf King.
”My brothers are safe,” Theodore said.
”Mine too,” Sheila added.
”I don't have family here,” Dong Fang Yue Chu admitted. Everyone turned to look at him sympathetically. I saw Lily squeeze his hand to comfort him.
”What about you, Alicia?” I asked. She shook her head.
”Father just told me he is all right. He was at a board meeting with the city council when the invasion happened. They are all safely seeking refuge in an emergency shelter under the town hall right now. They even have a large contingent of bodyguards to protect them. He will be fine. My mother is out of the city right now, but we've assured her that we're all right.”
”That's good.” Dad probably hadn't heard of the attack on Jing Tian City, or he would have called me. I hoped it stayed that way. He couldn't afford to get distracted, what with his deadly line of work and all that. Just in case, I had sent him a text message assuring him that I was safe and sound inside a shelter.
He would probably laugh and tell me not to be a hero.
”…”
As much as I wanted to be a hero, I knew my limits. I knew I didn't have the ability to go around saving people. I didn't have the training. Sure, I had some experience in slaying monsters, but rescuing people and escorting them to safety was a different matter. Moreover, those experiences had left me under no illusion that I couldn't afford to underestimate high-ranking monsters. I was almost beaten to death by a single rank B Crastrate, and I would have been incinerated or crushed by the Hellfire Drake if Troy and Kureha hadn't been on hand to offer their support. Draco might be able to fight on par with it, but I would have been slaughtered long before I could summon him, if it weren't for those two covering my back.
Unlike Troy and Kureha, I had never worked with these soldiers before, nor had I received any military training. They had their own methods and operandi modus, and my tagging along and trying to be a hero would only slow them down. I was sure of that.
Our group moved over to help Pearl and Teacher Cure with first aid, but there was a lull right now, with less soldiers being brought in. it seemed that the city was virtually entirely evacuated. The reinforcements had yet to arrive, so the soldiers from the northern fortress were taking care to avoid unnecessary fights with the monsters infesting the streets. Their numbers were slowly depleted as more of them became casualties during escort or reconnaissance missions. There were about a hundred injured by now, and the dead had risen to almost a third of that number. Less soldiers were moving and patrolling around the shelter, with many more squads dispatched to other areas for rescue operations, much like the squad Bu Fan tagged along with.
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With their numbers steadily dwindling, the soldiers of the northern fortress were being more careful with their engagements and trying their best to avoid combat as much as possible. We would eventually lose if this became a battle of attrition, and what few soldiers who were left were exercising increasing caution.
They were also awaiting the result of the battle between General Jiang, his command staff and the Silver Wing Wolf King. If the venerable officers succeeded in slaying the rank A monster, the hordes rampaging through the city would lose cohesion and coordination. We could begin to isolate them and destroy them small packs by small packs.
The rank A Silver Wing Wolf King was living up to its name, though. Without nuking it with a Strategic-scale spell, it would be difficult to obliterate it immediately. Thus General Jiang and his men were having a tough fight.
”Go rest, Pearl.”
Exhausted, Teacher Cure issued a command. The healer team had finally finished their duties and were taking a short break. Pearl nodded and ventured over to our group.
”Over here!”
Alicia had prepared a mat for Pearl to lie on. Too tired to argue, the blue-haired senior nodded before crawling onto the mat and immediately falling asleep.
”Senior Pearl has been working really hard,” Alicia remarked as she reached out and stroked her long, silky hair.
”Let her rest,” Lily suggested as she plopped down nearby, looking just as tired. All of us were. We only caught a couple hours of sleep here and there, not enough to fully recover from our trek through the three kilometer route between our school and the shelter. Unlike the other groups, our vanguard squad had experienced the most combat, surviving not just against a rank B Silver Skeletal Wolf but also a team of highly trained assassins.
It was no wonder we were so exhausted. Only Bu Fan's incredible desire to save his sister kept him going. As much as I disliked him for his arrogance and hypocrisy, I had to admire his tenacity and love for his family.
I pitied any enemy who dared lay a hand on his family, human or monster.
We must have drifted off, for I couldn't remember anything after that. My intense weariness had caused me to doze off into a dark, dreamless sleep, and the next thing I knew, there was panicked shouting.
”Eh?”
I snapped to full wakefulness at the commotion, springing to my feet. Did the monsters attack the shelter? What was going on?
”What's the matter?” Dong Fang Yue Chu asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Beside him, Lily stifled a yawn. Craig and Sheila, on the other hand, were already up on their feet, their weapons drawn. No, they never sheathed their weapons to begin with. At that moment, I thought that their paranoia was well placed and wished I was holding onto Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. But knowing me, I would cut myself on them while sleeping.
”It's nothing.” Theodore was the calmest out of us all, and he raised a hand. ”Something happened at one of the other shelters. Not here, so don't worry.”
”Phew…” Harvey let out a sigh of relief.