Apocalypse Hunter

Chapter 60-62

< Purpose of Executor (Part 2) >

Ramphil headed to the office of the Warlord, and started talking to the Warlord after a quick introduction. The Warlord’s name was Hogan, but the name didn’t matter much, and Ramphil started calling him by the rank.

Ramphil’s objective was not to spy on the Harbin fortress, but to receive support. Ramphil briefly explained his needs, but the Warlord changed the subject.

“I’ve heard about the news. You fought the White Witch alone.”

The Warlord had received the battle report, and was astonished that such a powerful soldier was stationed in the fortress of a rural area. Seoul Fortress dispatched only a single soldier after receiving the order to pursue the White Witch.

It seemed that the Seoul Fortress was defying the order, but after receiving Ramphil’s battle data, the Central Asia division admitted that the Seoul fortress had dispatched a key person for the mission. Even though Ramphil was a temporary executor, the Warlords and the Wargrave high officials were aware of Ramphil’s mission.

Ramphil’s battle data suggested that he had power that surpassed the limits of a cyborg soldier who was treated with megaframe.

The Central Asia Division did not give out specific orders to the temporary executor. There were rumors that Ramphil was going to be summoned by the general of the Central Asia Division, but it was not confirmed.

Ramphil was still on standby and acting independently. He did not know much about the rumors and discussions around him.

“In the end, I was defeated.”

“But I think it’s remarkable that you were able to fight the White Witch face to face.”

Ramphil only reported the facts, and the Warlord praised him for his accomplishments. The Warlord continued to praise him for many things, and Ramphil started to wonder why the Warlord was continuing to flatter him when Ramphil was simply asking for a new armored vehicle.

The Warlord finally got to the point. “Executor, I understand you are in the middle of an important mission, but I need to bring up something with you.”

“What is it?”

“You know that the defense line along the Ak-rock and Doo-man rivers was destroyed. And it appears that the armored vehicle you returned was picked up from there, is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“That defense line was formed by joint forces from the Tianjin, Beijing, and Harbin fortresses, and Vladivostok naval base.”

“I see.”

It was definitely an emergency for Wargrave, as the massive defense line was formed by forces from three fortresses and a naval base.

“And as you can see, the forces on the defense line were annihilated.”

“…”

“And we’re not talking just about human casualties. We suffered massive losses to the heavy artillery troops.”

“So are you saying that you cannot provide us with an armored vehicle?”

“To be exact, we don’t have enough vehicles to operate our internal activities. I did not expect the forces to get annihilated.”

It was natural to think that a target would break through the defense line and go on its way. But in this case, the target moved along the defense line to destroy all the forces. It was unthinkable that a fugitive would start a head-on battle against a defense line.

But the fugitive made a surprising attack, and all fortresses that dispatched forces to the defense line were in danger. The naval base was relatively safe as long as monsters did not attack, but the Tianjin, Beijing, and Harbin fortresses were critically short on manpower and firepower to fend off the monsters from the MCP.

It was a problem that resulted from the annihilation. Ramphil had sensed the dark and gloomy atmosphere around the Harbin fortress. The people were not panicking, but they were definitely sad and gloomy.

The Harbin fortress was not able to send out the clean-up team to destroy the equipment on the battlefield. The Warlord did not even have an extra armored vehicle to spare for Ramphil.

“I didn’t expect the fugitive to have such power…” the Warlord murmured with a depressed tone.

Ramphil did not care much about the defense line, as it was unrelated to him. Ramphil had always done only what he was ordered to do, and he didn’t care about other matters.

He didn’t know how the White Witch was created in the first place. But now as an executor, he had to be proactive, and carefully plan out his actions.

Ramphil always thought he only needed to learn what he needed. Zin, on the other hand, knew about many things, and utilized his knowledge to his advantage. Ramphil started to change his approach after observing Zin.

There was no harm in gaining more knowledge.

“Who were we trying to prevent from moving up north past the defense line?”

It was a critical question.

“Of course, it was to stop from the White Witch from advancing.”

“That’s incorrect. I’ve seen the battlefield and the marks of attack. The White Witch did not attack the forces on the defense line.”

“…”

The Warlord’s statement did not match with what Ramphil had observed at the defense line.

“There was a battle with a Wargrave cyborg soldier.”

Ramphil was questioning what the Wargrave was trying to stop. The Seoul Warlord had not told the full story to Ramphil, and Ramphil did not ask anything. Nor did he ask about the origin of the White Witch.

“I’ll ask you again. Who was the Dooman and Ap-rock river defense line trying the stop?”

Ramphil was an executor. Ramphil had the right to demand the truth from any Wargrave personnel.

“On the surface, the Wargrave was trying to stop the White Witch from advancing north…” The Warlord had to tell the truth to the executor. “But, in fact, the defense line was formed to prevent lieutenant Charl, the undercover agent, from returning to the main continent.”

Ramphil had heard the name before. He hadn’t seen Charl in person, but he heard about him. Ramphil was now suspecting that something was going on.

“If the undercover agent returns to the HQ, there will be a war between Wargrave groups.”

That was something new to Ramphil.

—–

The Warlord explained to Ramphil what the undercover Charl had done, and how it was related to the White Witch. Ramphil finally understood what was actually going on.

The White Witch was an experiment project started by the Central Asia Division, and Charl was the undercover agent sent out to uncover the truth. If such betrayal were reported to the HQ, a war would start.

There were many secrets and long history between the two groups, but it was clear what was going to happen.

The Central Division wanted to stop Charl at all costs, so they set up a long defense line. An executor was usually treated with a gigaframe that strengthened their power. It was a more advanced procedure than what Ramphil had received. The gigaframe turned the subject into a very powerful combatant.

But it didn’t mean that one would be given the power to annihilate heavily armored troops. The undercover agent had a power that was beyond that of an executor. An executor did not have the power to single-handedly annihilate a Wargrave defense line and then disappear without a trace.

Charl was different than an ordinary executor. And it was clear that a war would break out if Charl returned to the HQ.

The Warlord was the leader of the fortress, but he did not know what exactly was going on. The Warlord was simply another cog in the wheel.

“Executor, I don’t know what kind of power struggle there is going on between the Central Asia Division and the HQ. And I do not wish to learn about it, either. I don’t know why such an experiment was performed in the first place.”

Ramphil knew that he was no different.

“After the defense line was destroyed, the Central Asia Division has given up on chasing the infiltrator. As an alternative, they are gathering all the executors to their base.”

“Why doesn’t the Central Asia Division utilize their executors to pursue the operative?”

“There were executors at the defense line.”

“…”

“Three executors were killed there.”

The undercover even killed the executors dispatched to the defense line. There was no point in sending additional executors to chase the agent, they would get murdered in a heartbeat.

The impending war was not preventable, and the operative possessed enormous power. Unnecessary pursuit of the agent would only result in more losses, so it was better to start preparing for the inevitable war.

“If a war breaks out, there will be massive casualties, that can’t be compared to the losses we suffered at the defense line.”

Ramphil knew what the Warlord was implying. Ramphil was in the middle of searching for the White Witch. The Warlord wanted Ramphil to search for agent Charl as well.

“You are a temporary executor.”

“I know that.”

The Warlord’s sentence might have sounded condescending, but the Warlord did not display any contempt. The Warlord of Harbin was just a soldier who was following orders from his superiors.

“No, you don’t know. You don’t know how important you are right now.”

General Hogan knew his limits and that he had to follow the orders from the Central Asia Division. He didn’t openly defy the orders, but he didn’t actively display his loyalty either.

“All executors are under control of either the HQ or the Central Asia Division. But, executor Ramphil, what about you?”

“…”

“You are the only executor who is not being controlled by any group.”

Ramphil was a warrant officer from SMCP Fortress who was temporarily given the role of an executor. All executors followed orders from the HQ. But Ramphil was different. He was given the mission to locate the White Witch, and he was not related to the Wargrave power struggle in any way.

“As I told you, I don’t know what’s going on between the two groups, HQ and the Central Asia Division. Important decisions were made at the Central Asia Division’s base, and I was simply given orders.”

“I see.”

The Warlord looked defeated. He knew that he would be used as one of the many chess pieces that were going to be sacrificed. He didn’t cling to either the Central Asia Division or the HQ.

“Executor, the reason that I am telling you this long story is simple.”

“Yes?”

“Think, and decide.”

Hogan did not mention what to think about, and what to decide. Ramphil was the only executor who was neutral. Ramphil’s only goal was to hunt down the White Witch.

The executors were not given the freedom to act independently. They were also soldiers, and they followed both the HQ and the Central Asia Divisions’ orders.

Ramphil was confused at what Warlord Hogan had said.

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say. I am just a temporary executor, and a combat soldier. I don’t get why you are saying that my thoughts and actions are very important.”

“Haha… Executor, you don’t even realize it, but you are extremely humble.” The Warlord laughed as he looked at Ramphil.

“Within the Wargrave organization, there is no one beside you, Ramphil, who can fight against the White Witch one-on-one. Other executors cannot possibly do so against the White Witch.”

All the people who looked at the battle data of Ramphil and the witch came to that conclusion. No one else possessed such overpowering battle skills. It was simple as that.

He was the most powerful soldier in the local Wargrave.

If there was no White Witch, Ramphil would have lived as an ordinary soldier at a rural fortress. He probably wouldn’t have risen up the ranks because of his background.

Was the new world in need of a hero?

This soldier was about to decide the fate of the Wargrave that was in crisis.

Ramphil might have been an uncaring person, but he was no fool. He knew what choices he would be able make, even though the Warlord did not speak.

He was the only neutral executor, and he had two choices.

He could chase after the agent in order to prevent the coming war. Or he could carry out his original mission of pursuing the White Witch.

Rank-wise, Ramphil was an ordinary combat soldier. But he was powerful enough to pursue and kill the operative Charl.

It was one man’s choice, but it would change the fate of Wargrave.

If Ramphil killed the operative, the experiment by Far East Asia Command would remain a secret. The White Witch would eventually get hunted down, and the power struggle between the Central Asia Division and the HQ would remain as it was before

“…” Ramphil remained silent as he thought about the consequences of his decision.

Originally, an executor followed orders from the organization that he belonged to. In the case of Europe, an executor was part of the HQ group, and in the case of Asia, an executor followed orders from the Central Asia Division.

However, Ramphil was a temporary executor, and was not part of either group.

The Warlord was also not a soldier who was loyal to the Central Asia Division. He remained calm even though he needed Ramphil’s help in order to survive.

“The time is coming when everyone will be responsible for their own survival.”

The Warlord provided enough hints for Ramphil to think about.

It was up to Ramphil to think and act.

< Madman’s Plan (Part 1) >

Ramphil couldn’t remember the last time he was in agony. As he thought about the consequences of his decision, he could not make a decision on a whim.

The Warlord was not asking for an answer, and Ramphil did not try to answer. The Warlord only started a topic. The Warlord simply wanted Ramphil to be aware of what was at stake.

“I have something else to tell you,” Ramphil finally spoke up.

“And what would that be?”

“I was attacked by a group of Reavers on my way here.”

At Ramphil’s story, the Warlord became gloomy. Ramphil’s group came to the fortress on a Wargrave vehicle. The fact that Ramphil was attacked meant that the Reavers attacked a Wargrave vehicle on purpose.

The Reavers were beginning to covet the Wargrave equipment.

“Were there any losses?”

“Fortunately, no. But we simply fended them off, so there are still Reavers remaining.”

“Hmm… We didn’t care much about them because they were scavenging trash… but this is a different story, then.”

The Warlord could not stay still after learning about the Reavers attack on a Wargrave member. If anyone was hostile to Wargrave, Wargrave would swiftly deal with the enemy.

“I think they are aware that many troops didn’t return to the fortress. It is possible that the Reavers learned of the defeat of the Wargrave forces and were acting aggressively.” The Warlord was furious that the Reavers were ignoring the power of the fortress. But the Warlord was even more furious that the fortress was unable to take action against the Reavers.

“As you can see, our hands are full dealing with the monsters in the MCP.

“We have no issue in defending the fortress…”

The fortress was safe because there was nothing the Reavers could do about the automatic turrets on the wall. But it was more about the pride of the Wargrave. The Warlord was mad that he couldn’t finish off some rogue Reavers.

“…”

But the Warlord couldn’t do much, and bit his lips. But his worry didn’t last too long. In front of him, there was a superb Wargrave soldier.

“Executor, I have a suggestion.”

“Please speak.”

“We will repair and use the vehicle that you brought in, and we’ll offer you a new vehicle.”

“Is it a fair exchange?”

“Yes. Please understand that we are short of vehicles.”

Ramphil would give up a beat up vehicle in exchange for a brand new vehicle.

“As part of the deal, would you be able to wipe out the Slaughterhouse?” The Warlord’s request was reasonable, as executors were usually given such requests. Executors were not usually compensated for fulfilling requests. However, the Warlord was willing to offer him a new armored vehicle. Whatever choice Ramphil made, he needed an armored vehicle to travel.

Ramphil had to discuss the matter with Zin and Leona. “Let me discuss this with my team.”

“Discuss?”

The Warlord couldn’t understand why a mighty executor would need to discuss things with his team. Ramphil walked out of the room after speaking.

—

Zin was eating ramen, and nodded as Ramphil talked about the situation. “It looks like things are going to get delayed either way.”

—Slurrrp! —

Leona was astonished as she watched Zin. Zin was eating his fifth bowl of ramen. Leona was worried that Zin, who usually ate a set portion, was eating too much ramen.

And after experiencing the fiery taste of ramen, Leona thought that Zin was not eating but inflicting pain on himself.

“It’s going to take some time to repair the armored vehicle anyways.” A delay was inevitable, and it was better to accept the request and receive a new vehicle. Zin finished drinking all the ramen broth and looked at Ramphil. “And I am pretty good at that kind of job.”

Zin looked like a hunter who was ready to score big. He was not going to let a good opportunity to earn some extra chips go by.

—

Ramphil went back to the Warlord with Zin accompanying him.

“This is hunter who I am traveling with.”

“…A hunter… I heard about you.” The Warlord quickly scanned the hunter. He looked like an old man, a middle aged man, and a young man at the same time, somehow ageless. The Warlord had a hard figuring out the age of the hunter. But he knew that Zin was definitely experienced based on his impression.

Unlike the other Wargrave soldiers, the Warlord did not underestimate this hunter who came from the wilderness. A seasoned hunter was more dangerous and fearsome than an old monster. The Warlord thought that Zin was not someone who should be underestimated.

“I am willing to participate in and wipe out the Reavers if you are willing to give me a small reward.”

“Executor, is this a tough request?”

The Warlord felt uncomfortable that an outsider was getting involved with a matter of the Wargrave. Zin also didn’t think that it was necessary for him to get involved. Zin was going to rest up if the Warlord was going to refuse. However, Ramphil gave an unexpected answer.

“It’s not difficult. But the hunter has far more experience dealing with the Reavers than I. I am sure that he will be able to provide great assistance in searching for and wiping out the Reavers completely.”

Zin was very surprised that Ramphil would speak of him so highly.

Ramphil emphasized that Zin would compliment him. Ramphil objectively explained that Zin’s role was important, and knew what areas he was lacking in after travelling with Zin.

As Ramphil stressed that he would be able to kill all the Reavers with the help of Zin, the Warlord pondered.

“Hmm… I see your point. You probably lack experience navigating the wilderness because you were just appointed as a temporary executor… That explains why you are travelling with a hunter.”

The Warlord didn’t exactly know why the executor was travelling with a hunter, but he believed the hunter’s knowledge would help the executor in carrying out his mission. He didn’t question them anymore.

The Warlord was willing to allow Zin to accompany Ramphil, as long as they could exterminate the pesky Reavers.

The Warlord started to get down to business. “How about fifteen hundred?”

“Good.”

That short conversation was enough for the negotiation.

—–

Wargrave was generous with chips, as they had an abundant amount of them. Zin received half of the promised amount, and waited a day for his coat to be cleaned.

“So mister. You are going out to smash the Slaughterhouse?”

“Yes, sort of.”

Leona shook her head, as Zin was talking as if he was going out for a simple walk. Leona was amazed that Zin spoke with such confidence.

“You wait here.”

“I don’t want to become a burden by following you.”

Leona knew when to follow and not to follow, and she believed that Zin and Ramphil would take care of the matter without any issues. She was more than happy to continue to stay at such a clean and comfortable place.

“Man… why are they staring at me, sheesh.”

Leona frowned every time when strangers walked by the unit and looked at Leona through the window.

Especially kids came right up to the window, and jumped to see the inside of the unit. They were not interested in the visitors.

Zin spoke up, “Why don’t you say hello to your fans?”

“… I am not used to this kind of thing,” Ramphil admitted.

All the focus was on the executor who had visited the fortress. News quickly spread throughout the fortress that an executor had come there. The kids heard about the news, and came to visit the executor whom they admired.

Ramphil did not expect this would happen, and didn’t know how to react. He had never received so much attention before, so he didn’t know how to respond.

—Zap! —

Ramphil closed the curtain on the window. Zin promptly started to tease him.

“The great executor just crushed the dreams and hopes of the young children. Oh, what a pity.”

“… I didn’t care much when Leona said that you were a jerk. But now I can see that you are a jerk.”

“Haha… I didn’t know that you could use such word.”

“I am a human too, after all.”

Zin smiled and laughed as he saw Ramphil get agitated for the first time.

Ramphil crossed his arms, and waited anxiously. Leona saw that Ramphil was shaking his legs, and soon she was laughing too.

It appeared that Ramphil was not a cold-hearted soldier. Ramphil was uncomfortable getting so much attention, and it seemed that the role of the executor was not a good fit for him.

“Alright, let’s rest up. We’ll have to leave tomorrow,” Ramphil said as he looked to Zin.

Zin pointed at the clock in the room. Surprisingly, there was a clock in the fortress. “Executor. We’re not even close to bedtime, yet.”

As Zin mocked him, Ramphil gnashed his teeth, and dropped his head. He was hoping that this shameful time would pass by soon.

——

The next day, Leona ate A-rations instead of C-rations. She had the chance to taste real cooked food. She was amazed after she tasted food that people used to eat in the pre-Apocalyptic days. She was also astonished to see the fortress kids complain about the food.

“This is a problem.” Leona was getting worried as she was getting lazier. Similar to the residents at the castle, the people in the fortress went to work after finishing the meal.

“People have similar lifestyles wherever they live. There are slight but meaningful differences between groups of people.”

“I agree.”

Zin and Leona chatted as they were eating.

Wargrave never shared any knowledge of technology with outsiders. Leona started to poke Zin as she remembered something.

“Can we buy Wargrave weapons?” Leona thought that she would become a powerful hunter if she got a handle on the modern weapons of the Wargrave. Zin shrugged as he listened to Leona’s question.

“Well, they don’t sell them in the first place. And they hard to use, and also hard to repair.”

There was a reason that Zin stuck to firearms. Wargrave weapons were powerful, but it was tricky for Zin, a hunter, to use such weapons. And Wargrave was extremely strict about the distribution of their weapons.

“And I don’t like using weapons that expose my location during battle.”

Laser weapons had the problem of exposing the location of the shooter because of the bright laser beam. It was optimal for long range shoot-outs, but suboptimal for ambush attacks.

“Good for nothing, then. Maybe Ramphil could help us…?” Leona shrugged, as she expected such an answer. Ramphil also felt uncomfortable about providing them with Wargrave firearms.

“Sorry, I can’t.”

Ramphil was part of the Wargrave organization, and he was strict about maintaining the secrets of the Wargrave technology. It was obvious for a soldier to follow the rules, and Leona shrugged as if she knew about it.

Before leaving, Ramphil took out some supplies that he had requested.

“I can still supply you with anything that is not a weapon.”

And Ramphil took out military supplies that were mostly clothes. Leona received new clothes, including pants, bags, and t-shirts.

“You will have to return the clothes that you are wearing now, but you can take these out with you.”

Some of the items were socks, underwear, and new shoes. Ramphil was detail-oriented and prepared five sets of clothes for the group.

“This is much better than weapons,” Zin spoke up in amazement as he put on boots that were made with synthetic leather. All the items had the Wargrave marks and logos removed. The team quickly changed out of the first clothes they had been given from the fortress.

“Awesome!”

Leona was so happy that she got a new pair of shoes, and jumped around with joy. Zin had a new pair of black pants, and a t-shirt. Zin always wore his coat, and Leona did not know how buff Zin was.

She finally saw how buff Zin was as he wore clean clothes.

Leona was briefly amazed and speechless at Zin, who looked so masculine. Of course, Ramphil was not interested in how muscular Zin was.

“Ok, let’s go. All the weapons have been repaired, so we just need to pick them up.”

“Hmm. The repairs are all done?”

“I gave orders to prioritize the hunter’s weapons first.” Ramphil gave out the orders as an executor as he wanted Zin to have his best weapons ready. All Zin’s weapons were cleaned and ready, in excellent condition.

“Don’t get hurt.”

“Okay,” Leona replied as she watched Zin walk out the door. Zin just nodded quietly and left. The two did not get too worried for one another, but they knew that they cared.

—

While the executor and the hunter were on a mission, all that Leona had to do was enjoy life in the fortress.

Leona rolled around on the bed, and then stood up all of a sudden.

“… so complicated.”

Leona didn’t know how to express her emotions. She knew that she would be of no help to Zin, but she didn’t feel comfortable.

It was hard to pick up the slack as part of the team, and Leona knew that Zin was no ordinary hunter.

Only someone like Ramphil would be able to help out Zin. In the last battle with the Reavers, Ramphil perfectly carried out the attack that Zin asked him to.

Leona thought that she had a long way to go before becoming a skilled hunter.

“… Feels like crap.”

Naturally, Leona was getting depressed. She knew that she couldn’t help Zin in any way. Leona kept on rolling on the bed, as she didn’t know what to do.

Do I need to leave?

Now I am thinking of stupid stuff because I am too comfortable and well fed.

Leona wanted to scream out loud, but she knew that people would look at her as a crazy kid.

—Knock. Knock—

“Hmmm?”

Leona heard a knock on the door that cleared her mind.

“… what is this?” Leona opened the door as she thought that Zin returned, but she murmured as she saw a big group of kids gathered in front of the unit.

One of the girls who had brown hair and seemed to be the same age as Leona walked up to Leona and started talking, “Hey! Aren’t you a visitor?”

The girl looked at Leona, and she seemed to be the kid who brought everybody else to the unit.

“Um, uh… yeah, what’s up?”

“If you are okay, let’s play together.” The kids started to nod.

< Madman’s Plan (Part 2) >

The girl in front of Leona and all the kids who were gathered around Leona were very interested in Leona. One of the kids shouted, “You look so pretty! Are all the outsiders pretty? I thought they were all addicted to CP and looked like monsters.”

“The adults always say that. They lied to scare us.”

Leona didn’t know what to do as the kids were all shouting at the same time.

“So, how do you like the fortress? Is this your first time at the fortress? Let’s all play together! Let me show you around!”

Leona was wondering why all these kids were showing interest in her. “Um, well…”

“What are you worried about?” The girl grabbed Leona by wrist and pulled her out of the unit. There were kids who were merely amicable, but the girl who grabbed Leona seemed to be very friendly.

“Let’s play!” The girl did not look like she was going to let Leona go.

“Uh, wait!” Leona did not know how to deal with someone so friendly.

—–

Zin and Ramphil had to go through another round of checkpoints to get out of the fortress. One of the Wargrave personnel received a radio call, and started to shake his head.

“Yes? Oh… hmm… uh-huh. Roger.”

After finishing the radio call, he seemed to be puzzled. Ramphil gesture him to tell what was going on, and he started to speak.

“A group of Reavers appeared outside the walls out of the turrets’ range.”

“Hmm?”

“Are they planning an attack? That does not make sense.”

“No.” The Wargrave personnel started to speak slowly even though he knew that it didn’t make sense.

“They created a pile of dead bodies and are bowing towards the fortress.”

“?”

“Hmm?”

Zin and Ramphil did not understand what was going on. After a quick discussion, Zin and Ramphil decided to scout and figure things out. Only Zin and Ramphil moved between the inner wall and the outer wall.

Zin was trying to figure out the motive of the Reavers, but couldn’t think of a good reason why the Reavers would be acting weird.

The Reavers couldn’t hear the warning message coming from the fortress wall, as they were too far away. At that distance, they seemed to be bowing and begging for forgiveness. Zin found the situation a bit amusing because the Reavers who he needed to kill came to him!

“I’ve hunted as many Reavers as I have monsters, but I’ve never seen the Reavers come to pay a visit.”

As Zin spoke out in disbelief, he took off the protective clothes and dumped them into the void storage. Ramphil also knew that it was an unusual situation. Zin pulled out his weapons and said, “Let’s be ready to pull the trigger at any given moment.”

“Sure thing.”

The Reavers seemed to be unarmed, but Ramphil changed the pistol into a rifle on spread mode. A massacre would be waiting for the Reavers if they made a bad move.

There seemed to be at least a hundred and fifty Reavers. There were ten dead Reavers in front of them.

As Zin and Ramphil came closer to them, the Reaver in the front spotted them, and then knelt down with his head touching the ground.

Slowly, Zin was able to figure out what was going on. In fact, he was able to see what the motives of the Reavers were.

“Sir! We’ve been set up!” As the Reaver in the front yelled out, the other Reavers in the back started to yell as well.

—We’ve been set up! —

It was a very rare scene.

“What a clown act.” As Zin spoke, Ramphil nodded with a serious look.

Ramphil was in charge of the mission, and Zin stayed back and let Ramphil take care of the situation. Zin did not want to get involved.

Holding his laser rifle, Ramphil started talking with the Reaver.

“Sir, we have been framed by someone!” the Reaver chief shouted loudly.

“Why don’t you start explaining, then?”

“Um, yes, sorry for taking your valuable time… I mean, yes!”

“…”

“That’s it!”

“What is ‘that’?” Ramphil pointed his rifle at the Reaver, and the Reaver started talking nervously.

“Ev…ev…evil plan. Yes! It was an evil plan!” The Reaver in front of Ramphil was trying to explain what had happened.

He started to explain how they respected Wargrave, and how they were thankful for being protected by the Wargrave before he got to the point.

He was part of the Reaver group that had been around for a long time in the area, and he mentioned that the Reavers were living peacefully thanks to the presence of Wargrave. They heard that an armored vehicle was passing by, but they did not come close to the vehicle because they didn’t want to interfere with it.

But they heard gunshots and explosions and realized that some accident had happened. When they went to the scene, the fight was over, and it appeared that they were part of the group that attempted to raid the armored vehicle.

The Reaver explained that his group of Reavers didn’t raid the vehicle, but a different group of Reavers raided the vehicle on purpose so that the Wargrave would attack his group. The Reaver insisted that the other Reaver group tried to frame his group.

He further explained that his group killed the Reavers of the other group, and brought the dead bodies to the front of the fortress.

“Those bastards were trying to use your power to wipe us out and take over the area. That’s what happened!”

“Hmm…”

“Why would we do anything crazy by attacking the almighty Wargrave? We have been exploiting the… I mean, we’ve been benefiting from your presence. There is no reason for us to attack Wargrave. So, we killed the bastards who attacked you and brought their heads here… So please, don’t get too mad…”

The ten dead bodies were of those who attacked Ramphil. Ramphil looked through the battle data and recognized some of the faces.

It seemed like the dead Reavers were indeed those who raided the armored vehicle.

“Hmm…”

The Wargrave soldiers had a different thought process. They didn’t care whether the Reavers were bad people or not. It was important for Ramphil to find out who was truly responsible for the raid, and punish them.

Ramphil thought that it was more important to accomplish the true goal of a mission than simply follow orders. Therefore, he didn’t just shoot and kill all the Reavers. He was going to listen to what the Reavers had to say.

“We can’t rule out the possibility of the Reavers killing their own comrades to avoid responsibility.”As Ramphil spoke, the Reaver was astonished.

“That… that could be possible, but we don’t betray our own comrades in such a way. If that was the case, why would we be visiting you? We would have fled the area right away. Look, we are all unarmed.”

The Reaver’s reasoning seemed to be plausible.

There were two possibilities. The Reaver’s story could be true and the other Reaver group could have raided the armored vehicle. They did it so that the enraged Wargrave would kill all the Reavers in the area. Or it might be that the Reavers were trying to raid the Wargrave and got scared of the repercussions.

It seemed odd that the Reavers would kill their own comrades and come to the fortress to beg for their lives. It would make more sense for them to flee the area.

“Hmmm…” Ramphil pondered as he watched the Reavers who were visibly starting to panic.

“If that’s the case, are you saying that the other group of Reavers who are trying to take over your Slaughterhouse has enough men to use twenty-some Reavers as a bait? Did they know that we were moving towards the fortress?”

If the other Reaver group knew about the movement of the armored vehicle, and were willing to sacrifice twenty-some Reavers, it meant that they were a big organization, similar to an army.

As Zin listened to the conversation, he thought of something.

Killing someone with the help of others…

Ramphil looked at Zin as if he were thinking the same thing.

“I’d like to hear the hunter’s opinion.”

All the Reavers started to look at Zin. Even though the Reavers were useless human beings, Zin did not find the urge to kill all the terrified Reavers right now.

He would not gain anything by killing all of them now. Zin did not like killing that did not benefit him.

“Hmmm, I don’t think these Reavers were betrayed and sacrificed.”

“So, you are saying that they are not responsible for the raid?”

“That’s correct.”

These Reavers had nothing to gain by attacking the Wargrave. They had set up a Slaughterhouse and did not have any reason to attack an armored vehicle.

Having an armored vehicle would be nice, but it was not important to the extent that it justified jeopardizing the Reaver group’s existence. The Reavers were crazy people, but not crazy enough to throw away their lives.

At the same time, it seemed very unlikely that another group of Reavers was trying to take over the Slaughterhouse.

“Then, we will need to find the group of Reavers that tried to frame you guys.”

“That’s correct.”

“Oh! Yes! Thank you, sir! Thank you for believing in us!” the Reaver chief blurted out.

The Reavers were so happy that they were ready to bow down in front of them. The relationship with the Wargrave fortress was important for the Reavers. But Zin could care less about it. Zin walked up to the Reaver who was kneeling down. It seemed like Zin was a thug ready to rob.

“This man is a Wargrave soldier, but I am a hunter, as he mentioned before.”

“Yes! Yes! Sir hunter!” was the immediate babbled response.

“Shut up, and listen to me.”

“Yes! We’re listening!”

“Let’s say we take care of the group of Reavers that put you in trouble. That is a good thing for us, but a good thing for you too, right?”

“Huh? Um… yeah… that’s true… but why are…” The Reaver felt uneasy. Zin patted the shoulder of the Reaver and smiled.

“How much can you pay?” A hunter was motivated only by the chips.

Hunter would never do something for free, even if it was a job that he had to do.

There was no way that the hunter would let this opportunity walk away.

“You know that there is no such thing as a free request to a hunter.”

The Reaver looked at Zin in astonishment. Zin was ready to milk chips whenever possible, as he had been doing right along.

——

Life at the fortress was comfortable in many ways, including great hygiene. There was plenty of food to eat, clothes to wear, and places to sleep. Anything beside this improved the quality of life even further. In the fortress, there were educational and medical facilities as well as buildings for leisure activities.

When Leona followed the kids into one of the buildings, she was surprised at the scene. There were many big screen monitors displaying sport stadiums.

People who were on break or done for the day came for entertainment.

“What is all this?”

“It’s called a game! Let’s play together!”

The girl who seemed to be leader introduced herself as Sara. The other kids also introduced themselves, but Leona was able to remember only Sara’s name.

Fortunately, Leona was able to read the sentences displayed on the monitors. Unlike other uneducated wanderers, Leona learned to read and write from her mom.

There were board games, and programmed video games. Some of the games were boring to the local residents, but there were people who professionally played these games. The environment to enjoy such entertainment was a privilege. There were not many people in the building, but Leona and the kids who entered the building were going around and having fun playing the games.

That day was an off day at school, so they were free to play.

What a luxury. I guess they have too much time in their hands.

Leona thought that it was foolish to build a huge place just for entertainment. But Sara thought that Leona was weird to make such a comment.

“Leona, you talk like an adult. Come over here! I will teach you the rules of the game. When you get familiar with the game, I will also show you how to play the ‘Wilderness’ game.” Sara laughed and had Leona sit in front of a board game.

It was a multiplayer board game that used dice. Leona did not know how to play. but started throwing the dice to play the game anyway.

This entertainment facility was a pretty important building in the fortress. The fortress was a large building, but it had a confined space.

Life in the wilderness was dangerous, and people living inside the confined area did not know about the life in the wilderness. At some point, people living in the confined space would become sick of living inside such a small area. Entertainment was needed to relieve the stress of the people.

After the Wargrave acknowledged the importance of entertainment and started building the facilities, the suicide rate had declined 90 percent. Leona didn’t know much about this fact, and simply thought that the entertainment facility was just a luxury.

Different fortresses invented new games, and if the games gained good reviews, those games were distributed to other fortresses. These popular games were necessities for stress relief in the many fortresses.

“It’s a six! You’re lucky, Leona!” Sara laughed as she looked at the dice that Leona rolled. Sara was happy at whatever Leona was doing.

Leona didn’t do much, and Leona never met someone who was so nice to her without a reason. And it was the same for other kids. They looked at Leona with curiosity, but they did not have any hostility against Leona.

It was the first time that Leona had seen kids who were acting like kids.

“Isn’t it hard walking around the wilderness?” While playing the games together, the kids and Sara asked Leona questions about the outside world.

Leona responded frankly, “Mmm… well it’s crappy.”

Leona cursed without hesitation, surprising the kids for a moment, But they started laughing again as they thought that people from the wilderness were cool enough to curse.

Kids were very curious about the wilderness. At one point, they stopped playing the game, and they asked Leona many questions.

“How about monsters? Did you get to hunt a monster?”

“No, I haven’t hunted one myself.”

“Are they scary? Were you scared?”

“Huh? Well…” Leona did not like the monsters but she wasn’t afraid of them. The monsters did not bother with Leona, so it didn’t matter at all.

“Eh… I wasn’t scared at all.” Leona’s statement was enough to impress all the kids.

“Leona! How are the monsters?”

What do you mean by that…?, Leona pondered when the little kid asked such a question. The little one was probably asking what the monsters looked like.

But Leona answered in a different way. “It’s not tasty at all.”

“!”

“!”

The kids were all shocked to hear such an unexpected answer. Leona was definitely the wackiest kid that they had ever met. And therefore, she was quite attractive to the kids who were getting bored of the life in the fortress.