Chapter 415 (1/2)

Randidly approached the village warily.

Not that he thought, from his passing investigations with Phantom's Lanterns, that there was anyone in the village strong enough to be a threat. But they did appear relatively prepared to fight, which was to be expected, considering the location.

Also considering the location, there had to be a group of people in the village that had enough strength to fight off the Raid Boss magnitude monsters on a daily basis. Sure, they weren't super numerous, but the few that Randidly's expedition encountered were relatively aggressive, once they laid eyes on the people. Perhaps they associated people with weak targets...?

But then why was this village... almost idyllic? There were two elf children playing with a fucking wooden hoop by the gate, for god's sake.

To try and seem as non-intimidating as possible, Lucifer, Thea, Chrysanthemum, Annie, and Clarissa elected to remain in the forest, grinding more experience from the nearby monsters. The remaining portions of the group, Randidly, Ptolemy, Ace, Drake, and Rose would be relatively low key, and un-intimidating compared to the whole of the group. Plus that aside from Ace, most of the people had enough introversion to not cause any personality friction.

Honestly, the only reason that they brought Ace was that Randidly couldn't deny that despite his... abnormal behavior, he was still charming.

”So you've always wanted to be a doctor?” Ace asked, walking easily next to Ptolemy.

”Well know,” Ptolemy, a man who hadn't said more than 10 words to Randidly, admitted with a blush. ”...I was honestly going to nursing school when the System hit. I was willing to put in the hard work, and I've more than enough bedside enthusiasm... But the amount of memorization you needed for medical school...”

Ace scratched his skin, a small smile on his face. ”Hell, rich kids pass medical school all the time. And there is no way in hell that they have half of the gumption that you do. Head Triage Specialist of Donnyton right?”

”Doctor Northwind is the head, but she prefers to leave most of the healing close to the battlefield to me.”

It was almost maddening. It's not that Randidly couldn't understand how that Ace had bridged the gap with Ptolemy, with leading questions and low-pressure curiosity. Plus, it was no doubt extremely beneficial for the group for them to grow closer together. Even the thought of doing it, however, filled him with an unending sense of exhaustion.

Which was why he was useful here.

Finally, Ace and Ptolemy's talk caught the attention of the two children, who hopped backward like scared rabbits and scurried back behind the walls. Which was exactly the point that Randidly was abruptly thankful that Ace had been talking, and then he narrowed his eyes, as he realized that Ace was probably speaking on purpose, for just that reason. So there wasn't just abruptly a group of people who silently appeared at the treeline. Perhaps it would mean nothing because the children wouldn't spread the details of what happened. But if they did...

Randidly revised his opinion of Ace as they approached the gate and stood before it. It was open, but he figured it would be more polite not to cross the threshold until they were invited.

His senses were not really focused on it, but Randidly easily caught the dozen or so departing figures from the village as he stood there with his group. They crept out through flaws in the stone wall around the village, which Randidly reflexively noted. The group scrutinized Randidly and company, but they stayed some distance away, slowing surrounding them. It seemed like these people wanted to have an ambush ready, should Randidly's group turn out not to be friendly.

Randidly was delighted when one stopped underneath his spare lantern he had left hanging in the woods. As Annie had indicated, their skin was a dusky grey, and they had extremely long limbs. They simply seemed to be humans who were made of wax, that had been slowly stretched a bit. This one was a bit above two meters, so it was possible that they were also a good deal taller than normal people.

After around 10 minutes of shifting, the ambushers were apparently in position, because the gates to the village swung open, and four people walked out. The front person was a tall man with a thin, white mustache. Beside him was a woman who was more weapon than person. Every inch of her was covered with a different sort of dagger or hatchet that was strapped to her. In addition, immediately when she appeared, Randidly felt a strange wariness in his heart. This was an opponent that he couldn't take casually.

He supposed it made sense. These people were here, at the edge of this forest that was absolutely lousy with Raid Boss strength enemies. If they didn't have their own experts, they would be swiftly overwhelmed. But it was just the first time since Randidly had left Shal's world that Randidly wasn't absolutely sure he would defeat an opponent. It appeared there was more to this village than it initially appeared.