After that, I turned off the camera and changed into clothes fit for going out. Then, I switched the display to my GoBro and linked it to my phone before heading out.
Ah, I didn't bother telling the people of the hotel about the giant octopus anymore. I'd hate being treated as a liar once more.
After riding my bike, my one and only Handa Waterblade, I quickly drove toward the exit. The time was barely past an hour after midnight, so I was technically the first one to get to the exit. I managed to leave without much hassle.
"Right, the exits of most cities would be swamped with vehicles starting this morning, so you all should also leave as soon as you can!" I commented as I drove off at a moderate speed.
The next city was about an hour's drive or two away. It's not that it was far, but rather because there were a lot of checkpoints in between that required me to stop for a while.
When I passed all the checkpoints, I was already nearing my destination.
"So this is the military camp!" I wowed as I parked my bike somewhere nearby. "I wonder if I can enter now."
From what I could recall, the military began publicly calling for refugees on the 31st, a day from now. At this moment, the only ones present in the camp were the soldiers, their families, and others who lived nearby. Even with just that, the number of people has already crossed 5,000!
The shelter looked like a giant dome about 500 meters in diameter. It had several underground floors and could fit approximately 100,000 residents inside; comfort is out of the equation, of course.
I switched my GoBro from my helmet to my shoulder clasp before securing the helmet to my bike and walking toward the gate.
"HALT!" As soon as I approached, a loud voice called and ordered me to stop. "State your name and business!"
I cleared my throat before showing my best business smile, honed from my day job as a salesman. "Hello, good sir! I'm Hvir Shaloon, and I'm here to join the refugee camp."
Talking about my ability to revive as soon as possible would be detrimental, as I could be treated as a crazy dude. First, I need to enter; everything else comes after!
"Hvir!"
"...?"
Suddenly, one of the soldiers called from behind. He had a phone in his hand and an excited expression on his face. "You came! Ah, Corporal Henry, this person is going to be a great help to us, so I strongly suggest letting him in!"
"Y-Yes, Major Lucas!" The soldier who called out to me immediately stood in attention and saluted. "Sir Hvir, please enter!"
I scratched my head lightly, asking with confusion. "Uhh, what about the procedures? No background checks?"
"Please! You're an acquaintance of the Major; there's no need for such procedures!" The soldier added, sweat falling down the side of his face.
I turned to look at the blonde man wearing a military uniform who had called my name earlier. I tried to figure out who he was but ended up completely clueless. Before the soldier's mind changed, I entered through the gate and was immediately welcomed by the blonde one.
"Hvir, it's really nice to have you here! Ah, you must be confused about who I am. I'm the father of Selen, I mean, uh, xXSeren-something."
xXSerenityXx's father! So that's why he knew who I was! "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir!"
"It's fine, it's fine. No need for such formalities." The major laughed heartily while waving his hand.
"I'm thankful to you, you see? Selen was depressed after seeing her ability was unrelated to combat, but after hearing about the information you shared, she quickly became energetic and even asked me to fetch you like this!"
He waved the phone in his hand, showing the video feed of the camera on my shoulder. I see. This must be Selen's phone, then.
As we walked onward to the shelter, Selen's father, Major Lucas, continued to talk to me. I could tell from the way he spoke that he was trying to get as much information as he could from me, and I didn't have a reason to not help.
After talking for a good few minutes, I managed to relay everything ability- and monster-related that I knew.
"Thank you for sharing such useful information. If we continued with our planned formation, trusting the abilities of our soldiers, then we might've been met with a wipeout."
He patted my shoulder one last time before pointing ahead. "That is the entrance to the shelter. You can go through the reception there, and they'll tell you everything you need to know. Then, I need to get going!"
"R-Right. Thank you for guiding me here, Major!"
After a short exchange of pleasantries, he went off while waving goodbye to me. I heaved a deep sigh, wondering if the information I passed would even be useful for them.
Anyway, now I should enter the shelter. I walked toward the reception, manned by a friendly-faced soldier. After entering my name into the register and recording my signature and thumbprint, I was finally led inside.
The first thing I thought as I entered was that the place was so empty. There should be around 5,000 refugees already. Where are they?
"You must be wondering where the others are, right?" The soldier who was acting as a guide spoke as if reading my mind. "We're prioritizing filling up the lowest floors first before the top ones to make it easier to manage. It'll be hard to move around if the first floor is filled to the brim, after all."
"I see, that makes sense." I nodded my head.
Following the soldier, we headed for a lift. As soon as we entered, he pressed the 29th underground floor, making me wonder in surprise. That's a lot of underground floors!
Assuming there are about 30 underground floors, that means each floor could hold 3,333 people. Soon enough, the lift started on the 29th floor. As soon as I got out, I saw how many people were already present.
"This place looks full enough." I couldn't help but muse.
As I was looking around, I quickly noticed two figures approaching me. One was a familiar face, as beautiful as she could get. Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail like before, and she was wearing a dark purple turtleneck sweater. Her blue eyes were looking straight at me with a kind gaze.
"Garuda!" I couldn't help but shout in surprise. "You've arrived here before me?"
The smile on her face deepened, as if happy about me recognizing her. She extended a hand in greeting, which I accepted immediately exchanging a firm handshake.
"So the thing you said about meeting me before your last death was true. As you guessed, I'm Garuda." She spoke in a gentle tone while extending a hand forward. "Welcome to the shelter, Hvir."