Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 07 - Underprepared and under-siege - Part One {Rewrite}

Nadine was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement, and I couldn’t blame her. Field Surgeon seemed like an amazing Class. Granted, Nadine would still need protection from monsters, because it didn’t have any offensive Abilities, but I doubted she would have any shortage of volunteers. Not only could Nadine heal other people's injuries, but both herself and whatever party she was part of would receive Exp as well.

I could understand why the surgeons Guild would charge hefty fees for training and membership. Basically, once you were in, you would be set for life. Judging by the shoddy suturing done by the surgeon the Guild had hired, you didn’t even have to be that good at it.

I wondered how much they had been paid for their time.

“It only costs one mana!” Nadine declared excitedly, Promptly activating the ability for a second time.

Clarice stifled a yawn, “I’m gonna head to bed.”

That wasn’t a bad idea. “Come on Toofy, we should be getting to bed as well.”

“Kay,” Toofy let out a quiet yawn and followed me out the door.

Heading down the stairs to the second floor, I stopped in front of the door to our room as I remembered that I didn’t have a key. I sighed and continued down to the common room instead.

Toofy was beginning to drag her feet, so I picked her up and let her head rest against my shoulder.

Toofy snuggled in to make herself comfortable and was lightly snoring before I reached the bottom step of the stairs.

Kirk looked like he was about to call out to me, but took a look at Toofy and thought better of it, opting to wave me over instead.

There was currently no one besides us in the common room and since Toofy was already asleep, I carefully took a seat at the bar.

Kirk made a point of checking to see if anyone was lingering near the stairs before moving in closer, “You should get your collar marked before the Guild manager sees it,” he whispered softly, making a point of rubbing at his neck where the tag of the collar was located around my neck.

The nature of these collars was new to me and I suspected it was for Jacque as well since her oversight didn’t seem intentional. Nipping my middle finger enough to draw blood, I then dragged my lightly bleeding finger across the tag plate. I probably looked suspicious as heck, but at least I tried.

[Bond Successful.]

I hadn’t expected that so I looked to Kirk for an explanation.

Kirk nodded slightly and leaned over the bar so he could viciously attack a particularly stubborn grease stain with his cleaning cloth, “Not all Slave collars are used for enslavement. In fact, rumour has it that you can use it to protect yourself and hide in plain sight,” he gave me a surreptitious wink and leaned back again, apparently satisfied that the grease stain had been taught a lesson.

I smiled and nodded at Kirk to show I understood his meaning and appreciated the advice. I honestly doubted I would have thought to Enslave myself as another layer of camouflage and protection.

Hearing someone quickly coming down the stairs, Kirk and I both looked over to see who it was, albeit with Kirk managing the effort in a far less obvious fashion.

I relaxed when I saw that it was just Rose. I wasn’t sure what I had been thinking, but talking about slavery had left me a little jumpy.

Rose hurried around the bar, aggressively dragged her husband in close and began whispering excitedly in his ear. Or, at least I assume she was whispering because I could see her lips moving but couldn’t hear anything she was saying.

Kirk’s eyes grew wide and he looked at me with surprise before turning back to his wife.

Rose said something else and nodded emphatically in my direction.

“Ahrm!” Kirk made a show of awkwardly clearing his throat as he turned his attention back to me again. “Ah, Tim?” Kirk asked somewhat nervously, “Is what Rose told me true?” Asking in such a way that he clearly believed his wife and just wanted me to confirm it aloud.

Keenly aware that there was only one thing I had done recently that would interest them so much, I nodded. There was no sense trying to hide it, they both already knew generally what I had been doing.

Kirk’s balding head began to sweat and he mopped at it with his washcloth, “Ah, do you think perhaps you could give our daughter Millie lessons?” Kirk asked respectfully while wringing the washcloth between his hands nervously.

“Ah, I guess?” I answered noncommittally. I honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen with this raid and more specifically what we would do afterwards.

Rose gave her husband a none-too-subtle jab to the ribs, while still making sure to maintain her smile.

Kirk took it in stride, barely seeming to notice, “We would pay you for your trouble of course!” He insisted, “And both you and your party would always be welcome to stay in our inn free of charge!”

I couldn’t help but flush a little in embarrassment, “Ah, that’s not the problem, I am just not sure what we will be doing after the raid,” I explained nervously, “If I am available, I don’t mind teaching her the basics.”

Kirk and Rose glanced at one another for a moment and seemed a little confused.

“The basics?” Rose asked curiously.

I nodded, “That’s what I did for Nadine. That’s what you wanted right?”

Rose looked surprised, “You know more?!” She gasped incredulously.

I nodded slowly and realised that I had probably made a mistake. I was committed now and at least Kirk and Rose had been decent to me thus far. “What I taught Nadine was field surgery, treatments for the battlefield, you know?” It was senior first-aid, but I had already learned that the term didn’t carry the same weight it should.

Rose and Kirk nodded, after all, the description of the Class was in its name.

“It would take much longer than an afternoon to cover the other important but more time-consuming components,” I explained, “I don’t know if it would unlock a different or higher class, but it's important information all the same.”

“So you will need to stay and teach Nadine this advanced knowledge,” Rose insisted with a predatory smile, “You can teach my Millie at the same time!”

Kirk gave me an apologetic smile.

“Ah, ideally, I guess,” I agreed nervously. There was a lot of medical theory to cover to meet Earth’s basic medical standards. I had just taught Nadine what I considered to be the bare minimum to qualify for a senior first-aid certificate.

Granted, this world rendered a great deal of earth’s medical diagnostic theory irrelevant by healing people's injuries in a matter of moments. Similarly, the existence of the status and HP stat itself made it obvious when someone was injured and what stage of recovery they were in. Still, the theory side of things seemed to be important in unlocking more advanced forms of a Class, so I decided it would be better to teach Nadine more if I had the chance.

“So you will do it, right? Teach our Millie the advanced knowledge alongside Nadine?” Rose pressed relentlessly.

I gulped and nodded, unprepared to deal with this sort of intensity.

“Good!” Rose replied cheerily, pecking her husband on the cheek before disappearing into the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Kirk apologised, scratching at the back of his head awkwardly, but clearly pleased that his wife had closed the deal.

“Could I have the key to my room now?” I asked awkwardly.

“Oh!” Kirk looked a little embarrassed, realising that it was probably why I had come downstairs in the first place.

Accepting the key from Kirk, I walked back upstairs and unlocked the door to my room. It was a little strange to think of it that way, but I really did consider this room to be mine, a place where I belonged.

Taking care to lock the door behind me, I sat down on the bed and grimaced at the sight of my dirty feet. I should have taken a bucket of water from downstairs so I could wash them.

Filled with regret, I pulled back the blanket and got Toofy settled before replacing the blanket again. Removing my apron, I carefully laid it out at the foot of the bed, so my feet wouldn't dirty the blanket or sheets. I was going to lay down but remembered that the Shadowcat had damaged my tunic as well and it probably had blood on the back of it. So I stripped my tunic off and left it on the bedside table. I decided I would take a closer look at it in the morning, but for now, I needed sleep.

As I began to drift off to sleep, I could feel Toofy wriggling closer until she was just about pressed up against me through the blanket. Thinking that perhaps she had woken up and was feeling a little frightened or anxious, I raised my arm and let her snuggle in closer. Within less than a minute, she fell asleep again and I wasn't far behind her.

Waking up early, I found Toofy humming the counting song to herself and marking off her progress with her fingers. It was something of a pleasant surprise. I could only hope that this world's alphabet was similar enough in structure that I could adapt a nursery rhyme for teaching the alphabet as well.

[ 0d : 6h : 34m ]

I hadn't intended to look at the countdown for the raid, but now that I had, I couldn't bring myself to look away. There were six and a half hours left before the protective barrier surrounding the town would disappear. Feeling myself begin to panic, I decided that I needed to do something, anything to keep myself busy.

The moment I began to get up, Toofy’s attention locked onto me hungrily, “Breakfast!” She demanded happily. Leaping off the bed, Toofy unlocked the door, having apparently acquired the key while I was asleep, “Breakfast!” She repeated, waving her arms insistently to make me move faster.

Taking a quick look at my tunic, I could see that while it was not particularly dirty, the Shadowcat had torn two large holes in the back of it. It wasn't beyond saving, but I would need to cannibalise the sleeves for materials. Seeing that Toofy was just about on the verge of tears, I just put on my apron instead.

Making sure to take the key and stow it in my apron, I smirked as I watched Toofy race from the room over to the top of the stairs and begin waiting impatiently for me to catch up again. Toofy did the same thing again when I reached the top of the stairs, racing to the bottom and giving me an exasperated sigh when she realised I was still on the topmost steps. I was tempted to tease Toofy a little but decided against it. She was probably more than a little stressed herself and I didn’t want to make it worse.

Making a show of moving down the stairs faster than I normally would have preferred, I could see that this earned a satisfactory nod from Toofy and a stifled chuckle from Kirk.

Taking a seat at the bar, Toofy looked at Kirk expectantly, “Breakfast,” she reminded him curtly. No doubt wondering how he could manage to keep his job when Toofy had to keep reminding him how to do it.

Acting contrite, Kirk bowed in apology and went to the kitchen to fetch them some food. When he returned a few moments later with two bowls of stew, I motioned for Toofy to wait.

“How many bowls of stew are there Toofy?” I asked, not expecting much progress on her counting just yet, but still interested to see her try.

Toofy furrowed her brow at me and pursed her lips for a moment before looking at the bowls of stew.

“Think about the song I taught you,” I offered helpfully, “If each bowl of stew is one finger, how many is that?”

“Oh!” Toofy began loudly humming the nursery rhyme, “This!” She held up two fingers on her right hand.

‘Very good!” I tousled Toofy’s hair, “You can eat now.” She was struggling to remember the words, but the principle of counting had stuck at least. Not bad at all considering I had only taught it to her yesterday evening.

Toofy grinned and eagerly began wolfing down her meal.

As an extra reward, I scooped a few spoonfuls of meat from my own bowl into hers.

“You are teaching her to count?” Kirk asked with no small amount of surprise.

I nodded, “It’s an important skill.”

Kirk nodded in agreement but was still somewhat perplexed, “Did Nadine teach you to count?” He asked probingly.

I shook my head, “No.”

“You taught yourself?” Kirk asked in surprise.

“Pretty much,” I lied, unwilling to expose my true origins at this point in time. If Jacque hadn’t done so, then it had to be for a reason.

Kirk was giving me the same appraising look Nadine had. Obviously coming to his own conclusions on how I knew the things that I did. “Oh! Right, Don, the butcher, has put up a special request for Vrabbit meat. The Guild is footing the bill, but with so many injured adventurers and few willing to leave the foothold, we are running dangerously low on food reserves. I think he was offering twice the normal rate, which means about half a copper per Vrabbit, not including the mana stones.”

It did seem like easy money and I had foolishly left Toofy’s coins out in the bunker. “I will talk to the others about it,” I shrugged, with the raid drawing closer, I was not particularly keen on the idea of hanging around outside the walls.

Kirk nodded, although he also seemed somewhat worried, “There is another reason for the increase in reward. During the raid, monsters will not respawn and monsters normally only respawn around midnight. So every Vrabbit taken care of now is one less to worry about later.”

That sounded like something someone should have told me a while ago. The thought of that tide of vermin descending on the town sent shivers down my spine. “I’ll go talk to the others,” I repeated with more conviction.

Kirk nodded appreciatively, “I am sure that if you're out there, other adventurers will be emboldened and join the effort,” he said encouragingly.

I nodded and let Toofy finish the rest of my stew, I wasn't feeling particularly hungry anymore.

Once Toofy had licked clean both bowls, we headed back upstairs to speak with Nadine and Clarice.

Knocking on their door, I was surprised to hear that they were already awake.

The reason quickly became obvious as Jacque was the one to open the door, “Particular reason you are visiting a room of young women without a shirt?” She asked with a smirk.

I tried to ignore Jacque and walked into the room.

“Morning!” Clarice grunted distractedly, pulling on her thick knee-high boots.

“Good morning Tim,” Nadine smiled happily, “Was there anything you wanted?”

“It's probably about the Vrabbit hunt, right?” Jacque asked, a knowing look in her eyes.

I nodded, “Kirk said the Guild is paying double for the meat because supplies are running low.”

“Right,” Nadine nodded, “And they want as many of them culled before the raid as possible. Makes sense. Was that something you wanted to do?” she asked curiously.

I shrugged, To say I wanted to do it would be a gross oversimplification. I didn’t want to get eaten alive by a swarm of Vrabbits during the raid, but that didn’t make me thrilled at the idea of culling them en masse either.

“I was planning on doing it too,” Clarice interjected, now strapping on her padded armour, “You never know, getting rid of a few of those Vrabbits now could make all the difference later.”

I was about to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Jacque looked bemused as she moved to open the door.

Emelia staggered somewhat unsteadily into the room, nearly falling over in surprise as she noticed Toofy and I standing over by the wall.

“What do you want?!” Clarice spat irritably.

Emelia shrunk back as if Clarice had threatened her, “Ah, uhm, I just wanted to apologise...” She murmured timidly. “I...I know what I did was wrong. I...I’m sorry...” Emelia looked ashamed of herself and was staring at the floor.

“Bullshit!” Clarice snarled angrily, “You're just scared of being alone during the raid!”

Emelia flinched but said nothing, shrinking further into herself, trying to appear as small as possible.

Jacque watched the exchange with vague interest but showed no signs of intervening one way or the other.

Toofy wasn’t thrilled to see Emelia either, apparently understanding her role in what had happened and was understandably upset about it.

I had thought that seeing Emelia again would have made me angry, but it didn’t. What Emelia had done to me and Toofy was callous and ultimately quite cruel. But she had done it without malicious intent. I was actually a little surprised that Emelia had agreed to hand us over to the Guild manager Gilbert in the first place. I had been too stressed out to think about it clearly before, but it didn’t seem to fit Emelia’s personality. Or at least I didn’t think so anyway.

Emelia was admittedly quite lazy and didn’t seem all that bright, but she also didn't seem to understand how any of this adventuring business actually worked. When I considered what I knew of Emelia, I was left with the impression that she was in over her head and making mistakes because of her impulsive nature.

I wasn’t going to forgive Emelia so easily, but I felt like I could give her the chance to earn it. If Emelia was truly sorry for what she had done or at the very least the role she played in what happened, then I was willing to give her a second chance to do better. After all, Emelia had no power over me anymore, I didn’t even need her for a disguise. Even after the pain Emelia had caused me, if it weren't for her, I would very likely be dead right now, Toofy too for that matter. If Emelia turned out to be lying, then I would have lost nothing. But giving her a second chance might save the life of someone I cared about.

“That’s enough,” I interjected calmly as Clarice was about to say something else. “I can’t forgive you, Emelia, not after what you did...”

Emelia slumped further, moaning quietly as her tears fell to the floor.

I could empathise with the fear and isolation she must be feeling right now, it was quite familiar to me after all. “That is, I can’t forgive you yet,” I amended.

Emelia grew still and glanced up at me, her expression desperate and afraid.

Toofy and Clarice stared at me incredulously, while Nadine and Jacque were more pensive.

“If you truly meant what you said, then prove it,” I challenged Emelia.

“Anything!” Emelia blurted, “I-I’ll do anything!” She cried desperately.

“Ah, how about we start simple then?” Nadine suggested tactfully, “Clarice and Tim were going to hunt Vrabbits in preparation for the raid. Why don’t you go help them out?” She offered.

“I’ll do it! Urk..” Emelia agreed eagerly but flinched from the pain of her chest injuries.

“Come lay down for a minute,” Nadine insisted, motioning to the bed.

Emelia nodded reluctantly and did as she was told.

Seeing Nadine pulling up Emelia’s tunic, I decided that it would be best to take Toofy and wait downstairs.

“Why?” Clarice demanded flatly as she joined me in the common room, evidently unimpressed with my decision.

“Because I don’t blame her for everything that happened. I owe Emelia at least a second chance to prove herself,” I replied bluntly.

Clarice frowned, “Even after what she did to the both of you?”

“Emelia Enslaving us is the reason we are still alive Clarice,” I reminded her, “I meant what I said earlier, I haven't forgotten what Emelia did, I honestly don’t know if I can ever forgive her, but I at least owe her the chance to try and earn it.”

Clarice grew quiet, her expression now more thoughtful than frustrated. “Fine,” Clarice agreed, “But I won’t cut her any slack!” She promised somewhat coldly.

I shrugged, there wasn’t much I expected from the others. I was only acting according to my own conscience. ”How did you want to handle the Vrabbit hunting?” I asked, not so subtly steering the conversation towards a more productive subject.

Clarice sighed and scratched at the back of her head, “I dunno. Do you have any ideas?”

I nodded, “We are meant to reduce their numbers as much as possible right?” I asked rhetorically.

Clarice nodded, “Yeah.”

“Do you think we would be able to borrow the handcart or sled from the Guild?” It would make delivering the Vrabbits easier afterwards, so I really hoped it was doable.

Clarice smiled and nodded, ‘Yeah I reckon we could get the sled,” she agreed eagerly.

“I figure that we set up shop at the barrier and lay down a lure just outside of it. I’ll be the bait and deal with most of them and throw them back to Toofy to store in some sacks or whatever on the sled.” I explained.

“And what do you want me to do?” Clarice asked curiously.

I shivered, “Try and stop them from swarming me.”

Clarice nodded and gave me a resolute smile, apparently satisfied that I wasn't just putting her on babysitting duty.

“I was thinking Jacque and Emelia could do the same, assuming they are coming,” I added, “The more of us there are, the more comfortable I would be in using a stronger lure.”

Clarice had looked somewhat irritated at the mention of Emelia again, but it quickly passed and she nodded in understanding.

“It might be worth investing in some clubs or staves to keep the blood levels manageable,” I suggested, remembering how the adventurers were hard-pressed in staving off the Vrabbits during the Orc ambush.

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Clarice agreed, growing noticeably paler for a moment.

[Nadine has healed a {Heavy Wound} +100 Exp]

Clarice and I were both surprised as the golden notification appeared. We shouldn't have been, it was pretty obvious what Nadine had intended from the start. But it was still quite new and we weren’t used to it yet.

Clarice smiled and shook her head, “I still can’t believe how much Exp we get from Nadine healing someone,” she muttered with a little jealousy.

I nodded. For native humans, who only had Class levels to compete against monsters' stats and Abilities, gaining so much Exp from healing people was borderline overpowered. I wondered if it would be possible to power level someone that way assuming you had the patients to heal for Exp. I figured that was why the surgeons didn’t roam around the Labyrinth like the other adventurers. They just didn’t need to. The surgeons get all the Exp and money they want, just by healing patients in the comfort of their office or by making a few house calls.

No wonder Nadine had been so excited. Theoretically, she could retire from the Labyrinth after this raid was over. Perhaps that was why Nadine wasn’t nearly as upset as Clarice.

[Emelia - HP: 15/25 - Normal ]

Noticing Emelia's information appearing in the group status, I could only assume Jacque was fine with her joining the party. The other thing I noticed was the amount of HP Nadine must have restored using her Ability. Assuming that Emelia had been recovering one HP a day as Nadine told me before, then Emelia had just recovered roughly ten HP. That was pretty crazy since it only required bandages and thread.

Judging by the shock in Clarice’s expression I assumed she just noticed as well. “Bloody hell,” she muttered.

After a few minutes of waiting on the others, Clarice decided to go purchase a couple more cheap blunt weapons and borrow a sled or handcart from the Guild. It was a pretty good idea, because Nadine, Jacque and Emelia seemed to be taking their time coming downstairs.

[Nadine has healed a {Heavy Wound} +100 Exp]

While waiting, another alert appeared in front of me and predictably I found that Emelia’s HP had now fully recovered. Shortly afterwards, the trio of young women descended the stairs. Each of them were now wearing their padded armour and other equipment.

Jacque gave me an amused look while sitting down at the bar.

I avoided looking at Jacque and the others, instead, focusing my attention on Toofy. “Do you want to sing the counting song while we wait?” I asked.

Toofy grinned and nodded, “Ten fat sausage, frying in pan-”

I countered, rather pleased with myself.

“-All suddenly, one BANG!” Toofy curled one of her fingers before continuing.

Toofy’s grammar wasn’t all that bad considering, although her pitch could use some work. As Toofy counted down her fingers, she grew progressively more despondent until reaching the end of the rhyme and happily starting over again.

Jacque was giving me a pained look from over at the bar.

I shrugged,

Jacque looked surprised,

I nodded,

Jacque abandoned the seat at the bar and brought the remainder of her breakfast over and sat down by Toofy.

Toofy eyed Jacque warily but continued singing the nursery rhyme.

“Toofy, how many fingers am I holding up?” Jacque held up four fingers on her right hand.

Toofy stopped singing and eyed Jacque warily, “Four sausages,” she replied after counting on her own hand.

Jacque was amused, holding up her other hand with three more fingers raised, “And how many now?”

Toofy blinked and stared for a moment, “Seven sausages,” she replied slyly.

Jacque smirked, pushing the remains of her breakfast over to Toofy as a reward, “Oh but she is clever isn't she?”

Toofy looked at me for approval.

I nodded and gave her hair a good tousle, “You earned it for being so clever.”

Toofy grinned, her eyes practically sparkling at the praise before she began hurriedly shovelling the food into her mouth in case Jacque or myself changed our minds.

After a few minutes, Clarice returned with the sled, a few dozen sacks, some lengths of rope and a bundle of staves. Since Nadine was going to remain behind and negotiate a deal for mana potions in exchange for healing wounded adventurers, the five of us set out for the town gate. Toofy insisted on riding the sled and I suspected it was to put as much distance between herself and the tall grass as possible once we entered the plains.

Passing the gate we entered the plains and continued until we reached the approximate position of the barrier.

Setting up a lure in a similar fashion to how Nadine had done days earlier, I continued ahead of the group and waited until the telltale signs of the displaced grass gave away the approaching Vrabbits.

Carefully walking backwards, I tried not to flinch when the carnivorous rodents came jumping at me out of the tall grass.

With one Vrabbit gnawing ineffectually on my calf and the other firmly lodged on my arm, I was somewhat unnerved when the Vrabbits were forcibly wrenched off of me as I passed through the invisible barrier.

I honestly hadn’t known what to expect but was quite relieved that untamed monsters couldn’t just piggyback a ride through the barrier. But that raised an interesting question, “why didn't adventurers just establish lures at the edge of the barrier and kill the Vrabbits from relative safety? Why was there a need to put themselves in danger?”

I looked back at Jacque in surprise and she smirked. That was an interesting tidbit of information.

I wasn’t sure how useful it would be, but it was still quite interesting.

Clarice removed a few short wooden stakes from her pack and a wooden mallet, “Quartermaster said we should mark the barrier to prevent accidents,” she explained with a shrug, carefully driving the stakes at least a foot back from the approximate edge of the barrier. “I think that should do it,” Clarice declared, now warily eyeing the small cluster of Vrabbits congregated around the lure.

I nodded and stepped through the barrier again. I was immediately set upon by the Vrabbits and had to act quickly to stop them from swarming over me and biting my more sensitive areas. I was glad that the kill notifications were now comparatively unobtrusive so I could just ignore them. Being informed of every fluffy murder rabbit I killed kind of felt like I was being judged by an unseen bystander.

Just like last time, I began to find a rhythm and lost focus. Even with Clarice, Jacque and Emelia opportunistically whacking at the Vrabbits flanking me from the sides, I just couldn’t help but let my mind drift. I supposed adding another layer of psychological and emotional distancing made it easier to handle what I was doing. I knew that objectively the Vrabbits were more like wolves than rabbits, but the appearance still made me hesitate all the same.

Jacque’s question caught me by surprise and it took me a moment to adjust.

*Thwack*

Jacque brought the blunt end of her spear down on a Vrabbits neck, deftly retracted the stave, thrust it forward again and flung the limp Vrabbit’s body back to Toofy.

That was a pretty good idea, assuming Emelia would be on board with it. Having a pair of tier one monsters to help protect the group during the raid, even if they were just Vrabbits, could be the difference between someone's life or death. I was also far more comfortable with Emelia being responsible for animals than sapient beings, so occupying her taming slots would take a load off my mind.

Stepping back through the barrier for a moment, I turned my attention to Emelia, “Emelia? How do you feel about taking a pair of Vrabbits as your tamed monsters?” I asked bluntly.

Emelia seemed surprised, glancing briefly at the gathering mob of Vrabbits just beyond the barrier before answering, “Uhm, aren’t Vrabbits really weak though?” She asked meekly.

“They are,” Jacque agreed, “But if we upgrade them a tier, they should be able to fight the weaker Goblins pretty easily."

Emelia looked more nervous than before, “Would it really be okay? Ah, I mean, aren't the mana stones expensive?”

Clarice snorted and rolled her eyes, apparently upset by what she had said.

Emelia shrunk back and grew timider.

“It’s fine,” I reassured her, “Better to spend them on something to help keep us all alive.”

Emelia gulped and nodded, nervously turning to the Vrabbits beyond the barrier and giving one of them a solid smack with her stave.

*Thwack*

The Vrabbit turned on Emelia and hissed angrily at her, pawing against the barrier and baring its teeth dangerously.

Emelia stared intently at the Vrabbit for a few moments, some sweat beading on her forehead.

[Vrabbit - HP: 4/8 - Bloodied ]

The Vrabbit stiffened and suddenly looked around itself in a panic, instinctively backing away and accidentally leaping through the barrier as it desperately fled its now incensed kin. The tamed Vrabbit had crimson smoke-like tendrils radiating off of it and it took me a moment to realise what was happening. It had to be the effect of one of the Vrabbit's Racial Abilities. I didn’t think it would be so noticeable.

“Stay!” Emelia commanded, pointing down at the ground beside her.

The Vrabbit stopped bounding away and slowly began hopping back to Emelia’s side, if somewhat reluctantly.

Emelia chose another Vrabbit seemingly at random, thwacking it on the head and bringing it to heel like the first, albeit after it took an unfortunate bite to its flank.

[Vrabbit - HP: 2/8 - Bloodied ]

“Uhm, so what do I do now?” Emelia asked nervously.

“We begin feeding them,” I shrugged somewhat awkwardly, “They will need to recover their HP to be of any use in the raid anyway.”

Emelia nodded submissively, apparently willing to go along with whatever I decided was best,

I felt a little bad about how subdued Emelia had become, but not much, given everything that had happened.

With the intent of killing two birds with one stone, Jacque had taken out her cleaver and begun beheading Vrabbits from one of the sacks and throwing the heads to Emelia’s recently tamed pair of Vrabbits.

Unfortunately, the combination of spilt blood and the tamed Vrabbits Bloodied Condition had begun to attract Vrabbits in positively terrifying numbers. I was quickly forced to retreat behind the barrier or risk being swarmed outright.

Jacque just gave me a noncommittal shrug, “I guess you will have to just cull them from the inside like the rest of us,” she suggested.

I sighed and nodded, the Vrabbits had not been generating much Exp for me in the first place, so I had assumed it wouldn't be all that different to what I had been doing before. Except that it wasn’t. With the Vrabbits now in a frenzied state, they had taken on a more horrific appearance, actively brandishing their sharp teeth and pressing against the barrier in an attempt to break through. This meant that I was now reaching my hands and fingers directly towards a mass of razor-sharp teeth. It was an entirely unpleasant experience, to say the least.

Forced to exercise far less control than before, I resorted to crude yet effective tactics instead. Grabbing a fistful of fur, I would squeeze and yank my arm back to the barrier, usually killing however many Vrabbits were caught in my hand before pulling their lifeless bodies through the barrier. It was an entirely unnatural motion, like starting a belligerent lawnmower, so I couldn’t psychologically mask what I was doing by letting my mind drift as I had done before. The murderous behaviours of the Vrabbit swarm did make me feel slightly less guilty about it though.

Clarice and Jacque had given up on retrieving any of the Vrabbits they killed, prioritising thinning the growing swarm as much as possible instead. After all, it was the primary reason we were out here. Every Vrabbit culled now, was one less we would need to face during the raid.

In their frenzy, the Vrabbits tore into their own dead like rabid piranhas, apparently capable of even eating the bones, they left no traces of their fallen.

By the time the swarm was depleted, I was breathing hard and my hands were covered in blood and loose clumps of fur. Glancing back at the sled for a moment, I couldn’t help but stare at the mound of bulging sacks piled on top of it. The pile was easily almost twice as tall as I was and was only still standing because someone, probably Jacque, had bound it all thoroughly together with rope.

“It’s pretty impressive huh?” Jacque gloated, “We ran out of sacks, so Clarice and I made buttresses from the already filled sacks and started tossing the remaining Vrabbits into the middle. Pretty clever if I do say so myself.”

It took me a moment to overcome my shock, “How many...” I couldn't even finish the question before becoming overwhelmed again.

Clarice shrugged, “Hundreds?” She guessed, “You’ve been at it for a couple of hours after all.”

“Easily more than a thousand,” Jacque corrected, shaking her head in amusement.

“Really?!” Clarice regarded the sled again and whistled, clearly impressed. “The Guild is going to throw a fit!” She declared happily, “With the double rates for the meat and so many mana stones!”

Jacque nodded in agreement, sharing Clarice’s enthusiasm.

Strangely, Emelia was still quite subdued, standing off to the side of the group with two rather large unfamiliar monsters flanking her. Still somewhat resembling rabbits, the two monsters looked more like rodent-like dogs with long rabbit ears. They had lost their fluffy bunny tails and instead, each had a pair of whiplike tails similar to that of a mutant twin-tailed rat. The two monsters were covered in bristly dark rust-coloured fur with protruding bone spikes from their shoulder blades.

Taking a second look at the two monsters, I didn’t quite understand how they had descended from the Vrabbits at all. Although I supposed when it came down to it, most rodents were incredibly similar, especially when it came to rabbits and rats. Did the Vrabbits perhaps share an evolution with other rodent monsters? I vaguely recalled Nadine mentioning something like that when she was reading through Emelia’s Monster Tamer book, but I couldn’t be sure. Briefly glancing at my peripheral vision, I could see that Emelia hadn’t changed the names of the monsters yet.

[Bloodhunter - HP: 16/16 - Normal ], [Bloodhunter - HP: 16/16 - Normal ]

Bloodhunter?

I supposed the Vrabbit origins now made a fair bit of sense.

I wonder what Racial Abilities they have?

“Status,” I ignored most of the status information and focused on the Group Synergy.

[Group Synergy: {Vicious: 1 }, {Underfoot: 1 }, {Agile Reflexes: - }, {Scent Blood: 3 }.]

Scent Blood? “Emelia? Can you share the Bloodhunter stats with me?” I asked, genuinely curious.

Emelia hurriedly nodded and a few moments later I was able to look at their stats.

[Bloodhunter - Bloodhunter Pup: 1 ] [HP: 16/16] [MP: 0/0 ]

[Emelia’s Slave*] [Class: ??? ] [Exp: 0/0 ]

[Strength: 7 ]

[Agility: 13 ]

[Toughness: 8 ]

[Intelligence: 3* ]

[Willpower: 4 ]

[Presence: 2 ]

[(Racial Ability: Scent Blood {Rank 4}): Detects and highlights {Bloodied} and {Bleeding} targets within a predetermined range. {Intelligence} increases the range of the effect.]

Well, I couldn’t see the synergies on either of the Bloodhunter’s statuses, but I had their Racial Ability as a synergy, so I guessed that it confirmed that certain information is restricted when shared. On the whole, they more or less had the same stats, one had a point higher strength and the other had a point higher agility, but that was it. So I could probably safely assume that going forward, most monsters would probably follow similar patterns in progression to others of their kind. The Bloodhunter’s didn’t seem all that special either, but I supposed that considering they used to be just somewhat large rabbits and were now around twice as large, it was still a rather significant improvement overall.

Just as Kirk had predicted, it seemed like our presence on the plain emboldened other adventurers to do the same. I could even see Tobi and his Shadowcat Shady helping out as part of one of the other groups.

“We should probably head back now right?” I asked, Glancing at the remaining time before the raid would begin.

[ 0d : 3h : 13m ]

By the time we brought the sled of Vrabbits to the Guild office, there would be only around three hours left. I had no idea if the Guild staff would even bother trying to count them or not, let alone when we would be paid. So I wanted at least a couple of hours to work on a few things for Toofy before everything got out of hand.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Jacque agreed.

Clarice nodded and regarded the overburdened sled somewhat guiltily, “Are you sure you can pull all that?” She asked.

I shrugged, “I honestly don’t know. But we will probably get back faster if the three of you push while I pull,” I suggested.

With everyone in general agreement, I was about to begin pulling the sled, when I noticed that Toofy was missing and that I hadn’t seen her for a while. “Toofy?” I called out worriedly, quickly looking around the sled, “Toofy! Where are you?!" I was beginning to feel more than a little panicked as I searched the surrounding area and couldn't find her. The only thing stopping me from losing it entirely is that I could still see Toofy’s HP was at full.

“Heeheehee,” I very nearly missed the muted giggling coming from above me.

I looked up just in time to see Toofy’s head disappear from view at the top of the Vrabbit filled sacks. Thoroughly relieved, I couldn’t bring myself to be angry with her. With the raid drawing closer, I had been worried that Toofy had wandered off beyond the barrier and towards the forest. All the same, I decided I should probably discourage Toofy from playing such tricks for the time being.

“Boohoohoo,” I made a show of being upset and searching through the tall grass around the sled.

Toofy’s giggling stopped and I could see her hurriedly climbing down from the sled, “No sad Tim! No sad!” Toofy cried out as she jumped down the remaining distance and raced over to comfort me, “See? Toofy no hide! Se-eee!” Toofy squealed as I stopped pretending and snatched her up in a hug.

“Found you!” I laughed and began mercilessly tickling Toofy’s sides.

Toofy’s squeals of surprise turned desperate as she began laughing and trying to escape.

I didn’t let her go so easily, ruthlessly tickling her for another couple of minutes before draping her over my shoulder and moving into position to begin pulling the sled.

Toofy seemed to be incredibly ticklish and was panting heavily as her small body trembled on my shoulder.

“She isn’t a child, you know that right?” Jacque asked somewhat derisively as she took her place behind the sled.

I shrugged. To me, Toofy was Toofy. The main reason I indulged her child-like behaviour was for a degree of much-needed normalcy. Particularly given that I rarely needed to eat or drink, having fun with Toofy anchored my mind in the present without miring me down in the darker tasks that necessitated my survival. I liked to think that I provided the same service for Toofy in return, but I had no real way of confirming it one way or the other.

Dragging along the sled behind me, I was thinking about monster evolutions and why Nadine, Emelia and Clarice had not tamed a Vrabbit and levelled it up sooner. Granted, the Bloodhunters did not look particularly impressive and they lost the swarming ability the Vrabbits were meant to have, but they were still much better than nothing. The impression I had of the three young women desiring more money and easy Exp was at odds with their early behaviour.

I vaguely remembered Nadine calling it not worth the effort, or something along those lines. But was it really?

I hadn’t seen how many mana stones Jacque had fed each of the Bloodhunters, but they had just been Vrabbits. It would only have taken them a couple of days at most to evolve a Vrabbit into a Bloodhunter. And once they had one, it would have been easier to get the second. Then again, if they had done that, then neither myself nor Toofy would have been tamed, so...hrm.

I wasn’t prepared for Jacque’s sudden input and it took me a moment to gather my thoughts again,

Bringing the sled to a halt in front of the Guild office, it was hardly surprising that we were getting a great deal of attention. Adventurers and Guild staff members alike were gathering around the sled and staring in disbelief at our accumulated bounties.

Toofy was preening pridefully from her vantage sitting on my shoulder as if it was all her doing.

Emelia’s new pets were getting some attention as well, albeit for a different reason. To call Bloodhunters grotesque was somewhat of an understatement, not that Emelia seemed to mind.

“Are you alright to watch the sled?" I asked Jacque and Clarice.

They both nodded.

“This will take them at least a half-hour to sort through,” Jacque explained, “So you can go do your own thing if you want.”

“Yeah,” Clarice agreed, “We got this.”

Emelia and her pets showed no signs of leaving either, so it was very unlikely that anyone would do anything stupid.

Taking Toofy back to the inn, I glanced at the raid countdown timer and tried my best to stay calm.

[ 0d : 2h : 56m ]

There was now less than three hours to go...

*****

Nadine Worked alongside Rose to take stock of the medical supplies provided by the Guild. The sheer volume of the supplies unnerved Nadine as she was forced to readjust her expectations of how dangerous the raid was going to be.

Injured adventurers were moved to the highest floors, both as a safety precaution to move them farther from harm, and to make the rooms closer to the ground floor available for any wounded from the raid itself.

Following Tim’s advice, Nadine made sure to leave a bucket of clean water and some food in every boarding room of the inn. That way, the wounded would be able to somewhat take care of themselves after being treated, freeing up Nadine and anyone else to handle critical cases in need of their attention.

Some of Tim’s advice had the definite impression of high standards of care, but it was also rather obvious that Tim was also compromising far more than he was comfortable with. It was something Nadine found profoundly strange given the already intensely high standards he was both exciting and demanding her to attempt and maintain. If Tim hadn’t been the one to facilitate unlocking both her Basic and Advanced Surgeon Classes, Nadine might have been tempted to disregard his advice.

However, even after all Tim had taught her, Nadine was keenly aware that he had far more he could teach her if given the time to do so. Just that fact alone seemed insane. All the more so since Tim’s only excuse for not performing a number of the treatment methods was because of his own self-professed clumsiness.

Acquiring Tim as a front-line fighter for their party had seemed like impossibly good fortune, especially considering his temperament. But with each passing day, Nadine had come to realise that it was his mind that was the true treasure. The fact that Tim did not hoard his knowledge or demand unreasonable favours or compensation was downright bizarre.

If it weren’t for Tim’s profound sense of loneliness and the haunting sadness in his eyes, Nadine would have been tempted to expect he had ulterior motives. However, Nadine was fairly certain that Tim still didn’t fully trust them. Given what had happened and how they had first met, Nadine wouldn’t be all that surprised if it was true.

She felt ashamed for having thought of him only as a tool. All the more so considering how deliberately helpful he endeavoured to be and how that helpfulness was repeatedly punished by those around them. Regardless of the outcome of the raid, Nadine knew that she would need to get Tim as far away from the foothold as possible. Tim wouldn’t survive in captivity, and after all he had done for them, Nadine knew she owed him enough to risk being blacklisted by the Guild at the very least.