"You. Come with us," Dan said to the young man who was huddled up in the corner of the room.
"Eh? Why?" Jude asked in utter confusion.
Dan sighed. "This town isn't safe anymore. It's best if you leave with us."
"Ah," Jude replied, appearing to be distracted.
Dan didn't bother with Jude anymore. If he wanted to follow them, then he could. If he wanted to stay, Dan didn't mind that either. Dan piggybacked Merell then he headed towards the door.
As the door creaked open, Jude suddenly woke up from his own thoughts. He literally had nothing to hold on to in the town. It wasn't even his hometown! He just stayed because he had nowhere to go. Now, another kind of uncertainty entered his life.
A hope for a future.
"Wait for me!" Jude yelled at the disappearing figures of Dan and Merell.
He scrambled towards the door, bringing nothing but a pouch full of coins.
….
Aeon and the others didn't bother going back to sleep. After cleaning themselves up, they went back to the lobby where the innkeeper served them free food for defending the town.
Aeon casually took a sip from the cup of milk he asked for. He was spacing out, like all the others. Even Levi, who was usually apathetic about things that didn't concern his interests, looked really down.
Suddenly, the door of the inn opened wide. Dan entered the room carrying Merell who was now conscious. Not long after their entrance, another person followed. A well-built young man who had curly black hair. He had tan skin and a pointy nose. He kept on looking around the area cautiously which made him look like he was always anxious.
"Assistant Supervisor Merell," Suri greeted while everyone stayed silent.
Merell didn't find any offense in this, though. Greeting someone was never mandatory. He knew that they had experienced something that most people in their age normally wouldn't. Along the way, Dan told him about everything that happened. Only the latter knew how many times he sighed.
"Enough with the sulking," Dan placed Merell on a chair, "after I replace Merell's bandages, we need to get going."
Hearing this, Aeon looked towards Dan who had already started his task. Aeon eyed him as he clumsily replaced the bandages on Merell's arm. It didn't seem like he was very good at it. Moreover, he was rushing, making the work even sloppier.
"What do you mean?" Aeon asked. He was not in the mood to point out Dan's mistakes.
"Merell and I will be leaving the town," Dan replied without even looking up from what he was doing.
"How come?" Aeon asked.
"There's an emergency. We need to head back to Sera City as soon as possible," Dan replied as he tightened the bandage on Merell's arm.
"And how did you know about this 'emergency'?" Levi asked.
Dan's hands froze then he slowly looked down. They were trying to keep the information from them as much as possible, but it seems that it really can't be done. What made it worse was that he was an extremely bad liar.
"There's no emergency, really," Merell suddenly chimed in as he looked at Dan in apprehension, "we just have this hunch that something is about to happen in Sera City."
"I see," Levi said as he leaned forward, "but hunches don't just come out of nothing. Would you mind sharing what you really know?"
At that point, Merell thought that hiding things from the kids was already useless. Also, he felt guilty about them leaving, so he subconsciously thought that answering their queries could pass as a form of compensation. "We saw a large group of colossal beasts heading directly west."
"The Lake Beasts!" Aeon exclaimed as he stood up.
Dan nodded. "The information you told us about those 'Lake Beasts' coincided with what Merell described. However, we have good news and bad news. Good news is, if those monsters would walk in a straight line, they won't be seeing any towns along the way. The bad news is, there's a high chance that they would bump into Sera City."
Hearing this, Aeon sighed then massaged his temple.
He felt his head hurt due to the turn of events. He didn't worry too much about the city because he had utter faith in the people of the Academy and the military, but he really didn't like the fact that many people would die in the process. After all, who would?
Especially now that they experienced it first hand.
"But wait," Aeon suddenly said as he looked at the sorry figure of Merell, "don't you think that when you arrive, it would already be too late?"
Merell immediately understood what his gaze implied. His body was really too battered. He couldn't even recall how he was caught.
"We have means to do this. You don't need to worry," Dan replied in Merell's stead.
Aeon cocked an eyebrow at him, but ultimately said nothing more. He went back to drinking his milk silently.
"But why did you say earlier that WE needed to get going," Levi asked as he stirred the coffee in his mug.
Merell turned to him and replied, "We suggest that you leave, too. For your safety, of course."
Bang!
Suri stood up, his hands on the table.
"Do you plan on abandoning the town?" Suri glared at Dan, "If this town suffers one more attack, then it would be over for all of them!"
The inn fell completely silent. Aeon and the others stared at Suri, dumbfounded.
Suri's nose flared. His chest rapidly rose and fell as he felt the blood in his body boil.
Dan harrumphed, invoking an extreme reaction from Suri. The latter moved forward, but before he could close the distance between the two of them, Dan spoke, "I think you misunderstood us."
Suri stopped dead in his tracks.
"When we said we, we meant us and the entire town," Dan continued.
….
When the group reached the town square after preparing, it was already extremely crowded. They stared dumbly at the people who were carrying large bags and various weapons. It truly was a town filled with hunters.
They didn't realize that Dan was capable of achieving such a feat in such a short time. Most of the townspeople should already be there if not everybody.
The group was told to meet inside the mayor's office. It was located directly north from the center of the square. Without dallying, the others moved forward.
In the office, Dan, Merell, and Jude casually sat on a long chair. The mayor who was quite plump stood in front of a large cabinet with glass windows. Inside the cabinet were various kinds of items. Obviously, it was the mayor's collection. He stared at them with affection, but at the same time, with sadness. Only he knew how much it mattered to him. Now, he was parting with them.
After a few moments, the mayor realized that Aeon's group, the one they had been waiting for, had finally arrived. He coughed to buy himself some time to shake off the thoughts inside his head. Then, he forced himself to smile. "We're all here. How about we start moving?"
Dan and the others nodded. They had wasted enough time already. The group left and headed straight towards the vast open plains, west of the town.
….
After the group exited the western gate, Dan, Merell, and Jude split from the group and headed right. The others immediately figured that they would be moving ahead of them, just as they said.
Aeon decided to give them a proper goodbye just before that happens. Contrary to his expectations, the others actually thought the same. They all ended up following Dan's group in awkward silence while the mayor was left to lead the townspeople forward.
Dan's group stopped on one spot as they started preparing themselves. Only then did they realize that Aeon and the rest were following them closely from behind.
Dan sighed. He carefully placed Merell on his feet. Although the latter was still feeling a bit weak, he was now capable of standing up on his own.
"Are you really sure you could reach the city in time?" Aeon's voice came from a distance.
Without caring if Aeon saw him or not, Dan nodded.
Surprisingly, Aeon responded, "Could you at least tell us how?"
These annoying kids!
Dan decided to keep quiet and just ignore them. He continued tying the knots on the piece of rope he was holding. He didn't know that Merell thought the opposite. In fact, the latter was quite in the mood to chat.
"Sure! Recently, I learned this high-level A-ranked support spell," Merell waved his hands in the air to show the grandeur of his achievement.
Dan immediately rolled his eyes. He finally realized why Merell had been enthusiastic about explaining. It turns out, he was just meaning to brag. He shook his head as Merell continued to prattle on.
"The principles are quite simple, but the amount of focus it requires is extreme…"
Merell kept talking and talking, even after Dan finished tying the rope he was about to use to secure Merell. The others could only smile crookedly and nod occasionally as he continued on and on.
After Merell's long narrative, it was only at that point that the group realized that Merell himself would not be running. Instead, he would be carried by Jude.
His spell, which he would be channeling for the entire time of their travel, would give them the ability to ignore air resistance and achieve some sort of short pseudo levitation.
Basically, instead of running, they would be just be hopping. After they hop, they would hover for a short period of time before landing softly on the ground. Then they would repeat the process.
Through this, the amount of energy used will become lesser while at the same time, their travel speed would become much faster!
According to Merell, even a non-mage like Jude would be just as a fast as a C-ranked mage. Alas, a non-mage still has his limits. The performance would still be based on the person who the spell is casted on.
Unfortunately, it could only be casted on a maximum of two people. Though it could be higher as Merell masters it. For now, two was his limit. Also, based on their estimations, Merell would be left with no magic energy after they reach Sera City.
Dan couldn't carry Merell on his own, either, because he needed to preserve his peak state. He would also be fighting monsters along the way, and there might be a risk of the spell being canceled when Merell suffers a blow.
Just when the two groups were about to part, Suri suddenly stepped forward.
"Why don't you bring Aeon with you, instead?"
….