The group managed to pass through the winter night as they headed north. The direction they were heading toward was away from civilization. Although a place where people gathered sounded like the safest option, Viktor believed that a place like that was instead more dangerous for him at the moment.
After walking a good amount of distance, they took a rest in a small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.
'Good thing they decided to follow,' Viktor thought while looking at the two bodyguards.
It was always good to have the two bodyguards around. Not only were they good lookouts, but they could also take turns in doing so while Viktor and the other two could have a good rest.
While Viktor might still be able to manage without them somehow, he could not deny that having them here makes everything much easier.
The next morning, Viktor was itching to hurry and continue their journey. The further away they went from Andrei's group, the better.
However, when he was about to tell the others that it was time to start moving, he realized that Eva was in the middle of doing her morning routine.
When she noticed that Viktor was looking at her and the two made eye contact, Eva smiled.
"Hi dear, I hope you don't mind. It's been three days since I last did this."
At some point in time, she had already taken out a yoga mat and changed into her exercise clothing.
Viktor had always admired her for always sticking to her schedule down to the tee. Although he did not think that something like that was very important, he understood that there were certain routines necessary for some people, so he let her be. Though, he could not help but notice...
'That yoga mat must have filled like one-third of her bag,' Viktor thought to himself.
Turning away, he told Barry and the two bodyguards to stay and guard the place while he himself would go out to look for food.
"I want to go see if I can hunt something for lunch," .
Barry and the two bodyguards were about to join him, but Viktor told them to just wait here to protect Eva. They were certainly surprised by his decision to go alone. Shouldn't it be their job to do something like going out to look for food?
Even though they thought that way, the three agreed since Viktor was the leader of the group.
As he walked out of the farmhouse area through the snow, he whispered.
"It's finally just the two of us now, Djinn."
"I'm hungry, so find me some food!"
"I thought being the owner of the lamp makes me your master."
"Bah. Speak for yourself, Djinn. I am my own master." Viktor really did not like the idea of being another's servant, no matter who it was.
"All right then partner, make yourself useful and get me some food!"
<.... There are mutated animals 500 meters to your right behind that big rock,> the Djinn finally relented.
"Now we're talking!"
Viktor swiftly walked toward the area the Djinn mentioned while holding the dagger he got from Anton's spatial ring. The dagger felt heavier than a normal dagger, but it was not a big deal thanks to his improved strength.
When he got closer, he finally spotted a large creature as big as a bull with fur white as snow. The creature was facing the other direction, so Viktor could not see what it exactly was.
Viktor did not know if it was because the creature had a sharp sense of hearing or smell, but upon realizing that someone was approaching it, it turned around and started making some kind of squeaking sound.
"What the hell?! Is that a boar?!" He spoke his mind out of shock.
However, because of the white fur, Viktor did not realize that there was another one charging at him from the side.
The creature took him by surprise but fortunately, his 30-point agility kicked in. Before the other boar-like creature could get near him, Viktor sidestepped and swiftly stabbed the dagger to the monster's neck. Because of his fast speed, the dagger cut through its body, cutting a large open wound and killing the creature right away.
An orb went out from its carcass and flew into his chest.
[You have received the spirit energy of mutated boar - level 15.]
[You have received one point in strength.]
[You have received one point in agility.]
Although he did not receive any spirit force from the kill, Viktor was still happy that he got two stat points.
Seeing its dead mate, the second creature quickly ran away. Of course, Viktor did not plan on letting it go.
"Leaving your girlfriend?! What a disloyal pig!"
He ran to chase the boar, but to his surprise, his agility was barely enough to keep up with it.
"Tch." He wanted to keep going after it, but attracting other unknown beasts was not on his agenda.
Viktor returned to the farmhouse while dragging the dead boar.
"Lunch is here!!" he shouted with a proud smile. The surprised look the others had on their faces was enough to lighten his mood for losing a race to a pig.
Eva got up from her exercising posture and approached him with a serious face.
"Welcome back dear. I'll cook it for you."
Being welcomed back by the smile of a beautiful princess after a hunt… it's almost like living in a fantasy novel.
With Barry's help, Eva did her best to prepare the meal.
The two bodyguards were still standing on the lookout. Meanwhile, Viktor was currently lying down to rest while waiting for lunch to be served.
Who said he wouldn't be able to enjoy his laid-back life in the apocalypse?
Almost two hours later, Eva was finally done making a bowl of stew. She hid her fingers as fast as she could after personally giving the bowl of stew to him, but Viktor still noticed that there were multiple band-aids on them.
He grabbed a spoonful of the hot stew and put it in his mouth.
"..."
Viktor looked at the beautiful princess with a wry smile.