"Have you both recovered, Jin and Sebastian?" Becky made her way to the campfire in the middle of the village where the rest were setting up for dinner. Following behind her was Aima who still looked fresh and full of pep.
"Yeah, thank you, Becky and Aima for continuing the patrols. Were there any difficulties you encountered?" Sebastian offered them a plate consisting of stewed meat and bread.
"Not much. We simply closed the empty rat imp burrows and Aima placed a few traps around the village. It was oddly empty. I'm not sure if the rat imps have been exterminated or if they went somewhere else."
"From what I've learned about rat imps, they're extremely territorial, aren't they? Why would they attack this village?" Sebastian looked up as he slowly went through his dinner.
"It's extremely odd. They don't just attack a village and they don't abandon an attack halfway through. Their hoard also numbers in the thousands, so I don't think the corpses here is their entire horde."
"More importantly, Sebastian how did you know that Oswin's party was going to attack us?" Aima chirped in while she prepared to sit around the campfire.
"Yeah, that reminds me. It was very cryptic, but you expected it. For Aima and me, it was good that I realised at the last minute before Bodeth attacked us." Jin also joined in the questioning as he remembered the fight that drove him to his limits.
"Jin, do you remember when we knocked on the warehouse and waited for a response?"
"Ah yes, but you simply waited and signalled for the others to stay in their positions right?"
"That's what it looked like, but I was using my augmented senses to listen for movements inside the warehouse. Someone was shushing the people inside and told them to cover up the bodies. However, that someone was not the person that responded first."
"So Oswin was hiding something? Is that what you heard? Then why didn't you tell us when we were outside the warehouse? We could have easily overpowered them as a team. That was why you didn't want us to split up in the first place, right?" Jin reminded Sebastian that he didn't want the team to split up while they were scouting the village, an act which he contradicted after a few moments later.
"I wasn't sure if they were hostile towards us at that point, but it did appear that they were hiding something and they were extremely wary of us. They strongly insisted that we split up so I had to agree. However, I did organise our units into manageable ones. I placed Aima and you to check Bodeth because your styles are both similar, while I asked Mel and Becky to go with Sylvie because their speed is similar as well. I'm sorry I didn't explain it properly beforehand, I didn't have time you see. They also stayed with us all the time, not giving us any chance to plan anything ourselves."
"How about Oswin, how did you survive his attacks? He would have tried to get the first strike as well." Mel came back from distributing the food to the villagers as she sat beside Sebastian while holding her plate.
"I used a specific set of [Augment] skills which allowed me to see his mana flow so I was able to see him preparing a spell. I'm sorry if I worried you, Mel, also I'm sorry everyone - I carried out a plan without consulting or filling everyone in on the details."
Everyone became silent after Sebastian's apology as everyone looked down on their plates while eating dinner. Becky swallowed a mouthful of her food as she broke the silence first.
"sigh. Sebastian, I think I speak for everyone, but it doesn't bother me as much that you kept us in the dark. Just as long as you explain to use afterwards. I'm just glad that no one was hurt because of their encounters. Let's try to avoid this situation if we can in the future."
"Yes, let's try to think up of ways to avoid giving each other coded messages which could spell a person's life or death." Mel quickly agreed to Becky's suggestion.
"However, it was a good idea though that you had us wait in different positions while you and Jin were checking the warehouse. The hand signals were very useful if I do say so myself. Also, the fact that you were also able to see Oswin's mana flow is quite intriguing. You better not use that ability to peek on us girls now." Without wasting an opportunity, Aima started to tease Sebastian again.
"sigh. It's quite different from what you are thinking Aima. I can't use it like that. Although I can see that your mana is pooling in your hands as if you're about to cast a spell."
"Wha-" Aima suddenly stood up she almost dropped her plate.
"I'm kidding. I'm not using [Augment] at the moment." Sebastian calmly motioned for Aima to sit down while remaining stoic as ever.
"Yeah Aima, his eyes are not turning amber like those times. You should know by now, right? Or do you really not notice anything around you?" Jin humoured her as well, easing the tension in their conversation.
"Only now does he tease and play along with the banter. Agh. Jin, you were so serious when you were talking to Bodeth did you know that? I felt out of place. Tsk."
"But we had to be serious. If I hadn't deflected his [Axe Cleave], the outcome would have been different for us."
"Stop it you two. From now on though, what should we do about this village?" Becky returned back to the topic as she asked for ideas from the group. It was ravaged because of the rat imp attacks, and the survivors only numbered 3. It was next to impossible to rebuild with those factors alone.
"First order of things is for us to gather and burn the bodies. It might take a day, but it takes precedence. Everyone knows that I hope." Aima surprisingly became serious when she made a suggestion to cremate the bodies.
Through long-term exposure to mana, all living things in Kalonia undergo changes. Unfortunately, even recently deceased living things are affected by this phenomenon. Learning from their ancestors' experience when they had to fight off mutated undead, everyone burned their dead no matter the status or condition. It removed the need for cemeteries and also kept the world clean from diseases. It was a basic lesson taught through their seniors and even in the monastery training as well.
"After that, we should bring the survivors to Wildecross City. They should be able to settle down there after this. Once they've recovered then they can come back if they want to. They're not in a condition to rebuild and it will take a lot of resources to do so as well." Sebastian also weighed in the discussion with regards to the rebuild.
"Let's also ask the survivors tomorrow. I'm sure they have their own ideas or plans. We can't decide for them, unfortunately. That's probably one of the shortcomings of the previous group. I've been talking to them earlier and I heard something interesting when they talked about you, Sebastian." Mel smiled as she waited for Sebastian to prod further.
"Eh? About me? What happened?"
With a mysterious grin, Mel continued. "The three survivors are considering the possibility of even becoming your slaves. They feel that they owe their lives to you. Seeing as how you killed Oswin and how you're not taking advantage of them, they want to follow you. I'll leave that up to you anyway."
"Sebastian? Managing slaves? I think that's still a bit..." Jin trailed off as he didn't continue his statement. He was seriously in thought as he rested his chin on his hand.
"Yeah, I agree with what Jin was trying not to say. Sebastian, it might be a bit too much for you to manage three slaves immediately. Considering that you also come from a remote village, it might be overwhelming, to say the least." Aima added.
"Please rest easy everyone, I wasn't going to consider that offer seriously. Although they might think that they're better off with me, I am a realist in the sense that I know my abilities better. I can't manage them as of now, and I am not that comfortable with owning slaves."
"Don't dismiss that thought entirely though. Has everyone else thought about what they will do in the city? They were born and raised in a small village, their skills mainly revolve around farming and poultry. Aima you should know better what might happen to them if they're suddenly placed in the city - even if they're young adults. Especially for the 2 women in the group." Becky grounded everyone back to reality as she sharply pointed out some important points they seemingly overlooked.
"I- I didn't think clearly about that part. Sorry, Becky. We can't just make them into Sebastian's slaves because they have nowhere to turn to. Where else could they go? I don't think anyone of us here wants to take them under their wing as well?" Aima suddenly panicked as she digested Becky's point. It was true that the survivors were close to their age, but they overlooked the fact that they would certainly be out of their element if they suddenly looked for new livelihood in a city.
Surprisingly, Mel shot her hand up as she gave her idea. "We can place them under the care of the monastery. They're usually short of workers even for the menial tasks. I'm sure Rivie won't mind a few more mouths to feed. I mean they can also work there while they're getting used to city life. If Sebastian or the survivors still want to form a slave contract after that, then they can decide at that point."
"Mel. It's amusing because you advocated for us to discuss with them tomorrow morning and yet here we are almost deciding what they should do after tomorrow. I'll also talk to them regarding a slave contract, but I assure everyone it won't happen soon. Let's decide on guard duties before we rest for the night." Sebastian took the lead as he summarised what the group discussed and even directed them to the next pressing matter.
"Should we do it like before? I have the hourglass in my rucksack." Aima took out the familiar hourglass as the rest of the party called out in which order they preferred their shifts.
*
"And that's how it is. I'm sure that each of you will still be under a bit of shock having gone through what you went through these past few days. The rest of my party and I feel that it might be intimidating to live in the city suddenly, but rebuilding Erimead Village will take a lot of effort. You should prioritise your safety and recovery first." Sebastian ended his short speech to the three survivors as they finished their first meal of the day.
"Are we lacking to be your slaves? We can work hard while we learn more about living in the city as your slaves as well." One of the survivors, a petite female elf shyly voiced her concern.
"It's not that you are lacking. I don't have any problems with that. The problem is I don't have any experience managing slaves. It might turn out to be a disastrous relationship for everyone involved. That's why we, especially me, wants each one of you to stay in the monastery first while you learn there. It might even help you find jobs in the city in the future. Please consider it from that end."
"We understand. It's just that we felt that we didn't have any other safer option after this event. We've lost-" She couldn't continue as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Don't be afraid to let it out. You will need time to process all of these events. We'll take care of the de- er, aftermath for today. The rest of you can stay in the warehouse and recover." Sebastian gave a tattered cloth for the survivor to wipe her tears and blow her nose into.
"That's really kind of you Sebastian. I see that you're gladly taking on the role of three people by yourself. We won't cut you any slack today." Becky crossed her arms as she casually threatened Sebastian after the survivors went into the warehouse.
"I'm prepared to use [Augment] for this. People should be allowed to grieve. It will be good for their mental health." Sebastian walked towards the nearest body as he started to drag them outside the village gates, where Jin and Mel were already building a huge pyre.
When he was out of earshot, Aima stood beside Becky as she commented. "Goodness. By now you think that they would know you're actually jesting with them as well Becky?"
With an inaudible grunt, Becky also picked up a body as she made her way to the pyre.