We keep fighting a few more times until we meet up with Argo and the others.
Maybe it’s because we’re moving on our own in alleys, but monsters don’t come back after we take them down.
Is it because we’re in inconspicuous places? Or…
I don’t know exactly why, but thanks to that, we reach them pretty quickly.
Rurika’s group is also here.
I let out a sigh of relief when I see them. And Herc along with the others from Ale and Ironhammer are here too. But that’s not surprising, considering this is their home.
The difference compared with yesterday is the townspeople that either ran here for safety, or were brought here.
“We’ve lived here for a long time. If we see people in trouble, we can help.”
Says Herc when I look at him, with his arms crossed while looking away.
I didn’t even say anything.
Then we talk about the monsters we fought. Rurika’s group fought goblins, orcs, and ogres, and Argo’s found a pack of wolves.
There were a lot of wolves, including ones that used magic, so apparently Ale and Ironhammer and the townspeople took damage.
Mia is healing, and I join her.
She says she treated the more seriously wounded ones with potions, but not the others. It’s not like she was being stingy, she wanted to be economical in case it turned into a long battle.
I think that was the right decision, because the situation wasn’t clear yet.
She can use holy magic as long as she can recover MP, but disposable items are gone once used, and more importantly, anyone can use potions.
Mia and I split up to heal, but don’t heal everyone. This really is an MP problem, so being economical is definitely important.
The people who aren’t healed complain, but the battle isn’t over yet. We can’t start drinking mana potions here.
If we start drinking them one after the other, they’ll stop having an effect for a while.
For now, we should let it recover naturally instead of rushing it.
Depending on the conclusion we reach, we might have to go out again. And we have to look at their wounds and try to have as many people who can fight as possible.
“Let’s take turns resting. Sora, you and your group rest first, we’ll take the first watch. Herc, send some of yours too.”
“Leave it to us. You can go rest too.”
“Okay then. You guys aren’t used to this, are you?”
Asks Argo, and Herc and the others nod.
Argo talked about keeping watch, but it’s actually going around the building looking for monsters.
Thankfully, there don’t seem to be any around here, but from what I can see on Map, there’s still fighting going on.
There are multiple groups in several places in town, and I see reactions coming and going in the middle of the road.
I also see groups that appear to have hunkered down like Ale and Ironhammer.
That’s just what I see on Map anyway.
As I rest, I hear worried voices wondering what will happen.
I understand how they feel, I think as I look at Map.
These monsters… These replicated ones, can’t be picked up as reactions for some reason. Because of this, I can’t tell how many are still out there, or if they were all hunted.
Not being able to see the goal leaves me on edge, and even though I’m resting, I feel myself becoming even more nervous.
It would be different if this wasn’t happening in a town.
I close Map, and my eyes, while using Presence Detection and Magic Energy Detection just in case.
◇ ◇ ◇
I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I was asleep for an hour. And a lot of information has been gathered in the meantime.
There are zombies among the enemies, and this mess started when the bodies being kept in the church started moving.
And these are the bodies of the soldiers that went out to look for the goblins.
“I want to cast Appraisal on one if I can.”
Zombies, replicated…
Well, it’s not like learning that actually changes anything. I don’t even know what the attacker is after. Killing townspeople? The dungeon’s resources? Is it a conspiracy? Thinking about it just makes it more confusing.
Even if I cast Appraisal on everyone I see, I can’t tell what skills they’re using, so I won’t be able to tell who did something this big.
And even if I could, I don’t know if the skill is actually called Replication.
It would be nice if someone who can tell what skills people have, like Ignis, was here. But I think there might be a skill for that,
Ignis can tell what skills people have, but not all demons can.
That means knowing what skills people have is not an innate ability of demons, it’s the power of a skill.
I look through the list of skills to see if I can find something like that, but don’t see anything that fits the bill.
There aren’t any above Analysis.
My Analysis skill is currently at seven, so maybe a superior version will appear if it’s maxed out.
Thanks.