Part Five

Western Australia. Encampment Delta Three……..

[Alicia’s POV]

“Five D-Rank, Twenty E-Rank, and a hundred F-Rank items. Alright then, here ya go. Two months worth of provisions for ten people.”

“Thanks.”

Alicia put the supplies the man gave her into a magic bag before leaving the commissary. It was awfully convenient that they could trade in item for supplies, though something about how the soldiers looked at her made her uneasy. It wasn’t exactly hostile, but it wasn’t welcoming either. Perhaps the low-ranking soldiers had some complicated feelings about the government’s choice to let mercenaries in. At least the quartermaster had been nice enough.

While this was technically a military encampment, it more-or-less resembled a flea market with soldiers present. There were even civilians trying to hawk goods there, further emphasizing the market-like atmosphere. She’d questioned why they were allowed to be there, but since the defensive line was a fair ways back from the disaster zone, there was much less danger than other encampments.

All of this was part of Australia’s efforts to more thoroughly contain the monsters. They’d taken data from the first six disaster zones and compiled a plan that used mercenaries and volunteer fighters, rather than their own military. Though that wasn’t to say that there weren’t soldiers present in the zone. They’d deployed dozens of squads to scout and thin the monsters out. They were just doing that in conjunction with other measures.

One of those was the exchange of military rations for System-made weapons and armor, an idea they likely got from Ethiopia and Forzerenth. While they weren’t very tasty, it was a lot easier to secure a large amount in exchange for very little. Food prices had been on the rise lately, and would likely only get worse as more and more land was infested with monsters. Many nations were beginning to build countermeasure forces just in case they were the next to be affected. Australia had really gotten the ball rolling on that one.

It was all these incentives that had brought Alicia and the others here, especially after the mayhem they’d encountered in England. They were seeking a little stability, and this was just the opportunity they’d been looking for. And it wasn’t just that. Here, they were more likely to be working near other mercenaries, though that came with both risks and benefits. While it was nice to know that there were others nearby if something happened, those same people could become an even worse threat than the monsters.

It should also be mentioned that this wasn’t her first time here. They’d gone for a short “reconnaissance run" just a few days ago, mostly to get a lay of the land. They’d gone into England blind, and look what happened there. They weren’t likely to repeat that mistake anytime soon.

Haaaah, I wish Michael was still here. The thought of fighting other people is just…hard. He always took care of that before, so I haven’t really hurt anyone aside from Finnél, and he deserved everything he got. I know I may need to maim or kill other people, but I’m not sure if I actually can. The twins seem fine with the idea, and even Kalia seemed accepting of it. Am I the odd one here? No, I shouldn’t dwell on this right now, the others are waiting for me.

Having finally reached the edge of the encampment, Alicia began making her way towards where the others were waiting. Most of the stalls and tables out here were actually run by mercenaries, and many were either attempts to sell unwanted items or recruitment drives. As such, many people called out to Alicia as she went through, though she simply tuned them out and kept going. She’d already looked around here earlier, and nothing had really caught her interest.

Slipping through the crowd, Alicia finally spotted Gwyn and the others, though they were talking to a large group of people. That wasn’t actually all that odd, as Gwyn had been in negotiations with someone about a long-term guard job just the other day. What was surprising was that she recognized two of the other people.

That’s…Serena and Tiffany? That is their names, right? I didn’t really talk to them in the Dungeon, but I saw them with Michael once or twice. They’re wearing the same gear, though I think that scarf is new. Hm, well, I guess I can wait and see. It’s not important right now.

Deciding to worry about unexpected reunions later, Alicia quickly made her way over, causing Gwyn to notice her first. He gestured to the two men he was talking to, who both turned to face her. The first wore a lab coat over basic armor, while the second was using a full set of plate mail. All she could tell about him was that he was male. The armor obscured everything else.

“Ah, there she is. Warren, Leland, this is the last member of our group. Alicia, come over here and introduce yourself.”

“Ah, okay.”

Honestly, this caught her off-guard. Alicia was. Somewhat shy at the best of times, and didn’t always make the best first impressions. She also had a tendency to come off as annoying at first, so she was slightly worried about messing this up for them. Though it didn’t seem like she needed to have done so. Warren got real close to her, though his focus wasn’t on her.

“Ohoh? Hello there, madame! It is wonderful to meet you! But I feel that I must ask, what is that intriguing little fox poking out of your bag?”

“Huh?” “Ku?”

Alicia’s ‘huh' had been because of the machine-gun like way the man talked, not because of Regis. She’d taken to carrying him around in a sack like he was a Chihuahua. He’d poked his head out because he’d noticed an odd scent in the air, and his ‘Ku' had been a result of what he’d seen. After all, the other man standing there smelled distinctly of death, something that didn’t escape Regis’s notice.

The two locked eyes, a silent conversation passing between them.

“…?”

“…!?”

“…!”

“…Kyu.”

“”””What just happened?””””

As if deciding something based on some criteria known only to him, Regis ducked back into his bag, leaving only a very dismissive bark behind, along with a gaggle of very confused people.

***

“Pardon my earlier behavior. I simply got too excited after seeing an intriguing creature.”

“It’s no problem. I’m sure seeing what looks like a monster poking out of a bag owned by someone you were thinking of hiring would be alarming even in the best of times.”

“Mn, nonsense. It was merely that my curiosity got the better of me. Leland is always telling me to hold myself together. I must cause him an awful lot of trouble.”

“If you’re aware of it, then why haven’t you tried to fix the problem?”

“Ahahahaha!”

“Hey, it ain’t a laughing matter!”

Once things had calmed down from Regis’s sudden appearance, everyone had moved to a more secluded location to continue discussing business, though the other group of mercenaries had stayed back a fair distance.

Gwyn had filled her in on the way. The man wearing the lab coat was a scientist (big surprise, that) by the name of Warren Laurent. According to Gwyn, he was a ecologist of some renown, and was likely here to study the ecosystems of monsters and other magical fauna and flora. That made the other man his bodyguard, which somewhat explained why he wore full plate armor.

The two were in the encampment to hire more bodyguards for a long-term expedition they were planning, though they’d already recruited the other group behind them for the task. Normally, they would have already left by now, but one of the other mercenaries had seen Kalia, and realized that recruiting her meant they could get an extremely effective healer to aid them, drastically increasing their chances of survival. It was that moment that made Alicia realize all ten of the mercenaries were from the Siege Dungeon, including Serena and Tiffany.

And since they’d explained the events to the two, they’d come to the same conclusion, which is when Warren reached out to them, beginning the discussions. Honestly, this would be mutually beneficial to everyone involved, though there was a slightly dirty reason for Gwyn to agree.

He’d realized that Warren likely held a decently high position within the Committee. By using him, it could be possible to alert the Committee to the danger the Spirits posed, but without getting caught up into the organization itself. Granted, this was just a plan he’d thought up on the fly, so it was possible it would fail, but it was better than doing nothing.

And even if it did, that was just one plan he was trying. He was also spreading rumors that something ominous was happening in London, as well as telling people to be careful if they saw Miasma anywhere. He’d even contacted Braddock to enlist his aid, though he’d done so anonymously. Knowing him, there was a not-so-slim chance that he might independently investigate it.

The two groups hashed out the details over the next half-hour, each side making a few concessions to the other. Eventually, a deal was struck, ensuring that the four of them would be assisting Warren and Leland.

Well that went well. We were already going to be hunting here, so getting paid to do so is just the cherry on top. Warren seems a little eccentric, but I suppose anyone who comes out here would be. On the other hand, something about Leland bothers me, but I can’t put my finger on it. He seemed normal enough, but….

Maybe it has something to do with how he was wearing full plate mail even though it’s pretty warm out today?

Alicia wasn’t aware of it, but her Unique Skill had two effects. The first was of course the boost to her observational abilities at the cost of her ability to speak, but the other was more of a passive effect that boosted her sixth sense, or possibly her intuition. It was hard to quantify, but it essentially made it so that Alicia was taking in more of her environment than she knew. Honestly, it could make her a great poker player.

The reason she was unsettled by Leland was because she was subconsciously noticing things that were off about him, such as how he didn’t breath. These things dug away at her subconscious, alerting her to the danger she’d felt, but couldn’t identify.

Of course, if she’d consciously realized any of it, she likely would’ve realized that Leland was an Undead, and that would’ve caused an incident. Though since she hadn’t, the secret would go undiscovered for some time.

***

[Kalia’s POV]

It was late at night, and Kalia was still awake, ruminating. The anxiety and stress that had been plaguing her for the last several weeks was gone, though uncertainty had taken their place. Kalia knew she was at a crossroads, but she was unable to make a decision.

It should go without saying, but Kalia considered her friends to be extremely important to her. Her primary motivation right now was to help them in any way possible, but she was unsure how she could do that right now. Obviously she could continue using her Healing and Blessing Magics, but with the changes to her Mana, she thought she could help them even more if she used Dark Magic as well. Unfortunately, her own beliefs were getting in the way.

To Kalia, Dark Magic was extremely unnerving. Michael’s Grudge Magic was bad enough, but the other schools all had something about them that made her hesitant to use them. Necromancy was basically desecrating the dead, Curse Magic was too dangerous, Void Magic just scared her, and Chaos Magic was just wrong. Even Michael had warned her off of that one.

Only Abyss Magic was okay, and even that was just barely fine. For better or worse, her sensibilities were closer to that of a normal person’s than Michael’s were. He might be fine with it, but she felt that using Dark Magic would be opening herself up to something she wouldn’t want to experience. But at the same time, she was reluctant to spoil such a great opportunity. Using Dark and Life magic in conjunction with one another had the potential to be something amazing. She just couldn’t bring herself to do so.

Haaaaah, I’m just being pathetic right now. I know using Dark Magic won’t do anything to me, but I just can’t help feeling like it’s wrong. But at the same time, I don’t want to just keep doing the same things over and over. Mn, maybe I should try something else? But what…?

Unbeknownst to her, the aftermath of her run-in with the Phantasm was still scrambling her mind, causing mild confusion. And what was worse, was that any further run-ins would just worsen her condition, making it even harder to think. Most people would become indecisive under such an effect, though it would eventually clear up. All Kalia had to do was wait it out, but that’s not so easy when you can’t realize what’s happening to you.