When they reached the entrance of the camp, the night guard on patrol noticed them.
"Captain, is there something wrong with the vice captain? Why is she walking as if she's injured? Should I call the medics?."
Ayaka's face turned as deep red as a tomato.
"Is not necessary; shes just tired from the fight; you know the stress finally got to her; theres nothing wrong; she will need a little bit of rest."
Kay grinned at Ay after finishing talking to the guard. The guard simply nodded and went back to work. Ay let out a sigh of relief as they headed back to their tent.
Upon entering the tent, they noticed that Lau was already asleep, and for some reason, the tent had a strong smell of sunflowers. They chose to ignore it, thinking it might be a unique scent from the dryad presence.
Kay carefully assisted Ay in getting inside her sleeping bag. Before she did the same, they were both too exhausted to do anything else, so they decided to rest until the early morning sun began to peek through.
Early in the morning, Laurelena was the first person to wake up. She saw the two girls sleeping and felt embarrassed thinking about what happened a few hours before and what she did while watching them.
Lau got out of her sleeping bag, heading towards the tent opening to bask in the sun and recharge. Kaylessa was the next to wake up, looking at Kay, who was still asleep, before making sure everything was fine and getting out of bed.
Kay picked up the sword that the shadow creature had thrown at her the day before, and as soon as it touched her hand, it transformed back into a spear. She then examined it closely.
[Simbiot arsenal]
A powerful weapon from an unknown origin that can transform into any weapon its owner wishes. The only way for someone to possess this arsenal is by killing the current owner. The more the weapon is used, the more abilities it can take on.
"(Mmm this is indeed a good weapon, now I know why the shadow creature threw it at me; it seems like he accepted its defeat, but... what kind of creature was he?)"
After spending some time thinking by herself, she made the decision to wake Ay from sleep. She approached Ay and gently poked her face until she opened her eyes.
"Morning, Ay, had a good rest?."
Kay looked at Ay's face with a warm smile.
"Mmm, yes, I did. Ouch. Im still sore. You had not mercy."
Kay's ears turned red with embarrassment as she assisted Ay in getting out of bed. As she helped Ay, the sensation of Ay's skin against her hand brought back lovely memories, but she quickly shook her head to push those feelings away. This was not the right time to dwell on it.
Kay left the tent and instructed her troops to prepare to depart. They had originally planned to leave at night, but due to the Hive invasion, they were delayed and needed to leave immediately.
After receiving their orders, the soldiers began taking down the tents, while some quickly finished eating breakfast. A soldier who worked in the kitchen gave Kay 2 plates of food so she could share them with Ay.
"Thank you"
After expressing her gratitude to the soldier, Kay went back to the tent to bring Ay her breakfast. An hour later, everyone was prepared to depart. The soldiers and wagons were lined up, with Kay and Ay in one of the wagons and Lau soaking up the sun on the rooftop.
The soldiers morale was being affected by the hot weather, as anticipated, but not as severely as before. They received permission from Kay to use fabric from tents to create makeshift umbrellas.
After a few hours of walking in the desert, they eventually spotted the next village. However, when they arrived, they found it abandoned and in ruins. The walls had been destroyed, indicating that they had been attacked by something.
"Laurelena, come with me; Ayaka, stay with the unit; Squad 4: come with me; we will go to inspect the village."
Everyone agreed with their captain's order, so Kay and Lau cautiously approached the village. As they entered, evidence of a battle was clear; dried blood stains could be seen in different areas, and there were claw marks on the houses as though some wild animals had been there.
Laurelena walked close to Kay.
"The marks on the houses are from ghouls; I can recognize them because I saw similar marks yesterday during the fight. The ghouls we fought were likely transformed villagers."
Another soldier arrived and said he had seen large footprints near the center of the village, which confirmed that they had been attacked by the nightmare hive.
"Um, tell Ayaka to instruct everyone to go into the village and gather at the center."
The soldier nodded and began walking towards the exit. Soon, all the soldiers had entered the village.
"Since there are no survivors in the village, it is allowed by law for us to loot and take whatever we want so that the resources do not go to waste. We are expected to view it as payment after burying the bodies of the dead, but as they were all ghouls and there are no bodies left, that step is unnecessary."
Laurelena informed Kay after she finished reading a book about military law.
"Okay, everyone needs to look for food, water, and coins. I want everyone to loot everything valuable from the village. If our wagons get full, find another one in the village. All the coins will be stored in the first wagon. Now, go ahead and start searching."
Kay issued instructions, and everyone complied. Ayaka and Laurelena oversaw the soldiers, while Kay counted the coins they had collected.
The looting went on until early evening, during which they found 4234 coins. Kay then called her [Thunder Militia 0/2] to protect the wagon. They also found a chest full of jewels that they plan to sell later on the frontlines.