"HELP ME! PLEASE!!"
The Mercenary Evo narrowed his eyes at the man and wondered what to do. This person was not bad and quite strong if he were in peak condition. Could they really lose someone they invested so much in?
At the same time, no one was willing to go outside lest they were unable to get back in again. They hadn’t seen such a high-quality barrier before, but it was certain that it was at least such a thing.
While they did not know how the heck something like this was doing in a place like this, why would they risk going out when they could rest here?
Some of them already paid gold to stay as well. They remembered how they could only stay for five hours without payment, and they could turn out like that guy if they forgot to pay later.
Evo crossed his arms and looked at the inn, approaching it, and the merchants and most of the mercenaries followed after him.
That said, unlike them, Clen was not one to just dismiss anything without thinking a bit. With deep eyes, he looked at the monsters outside the barrier.
He wanted to test something. He almost took his spear to test. However, in case he couldn’t take back his weapon, he took a branch and pushed the tip out. Only when he confirmed he could take it back did he use his weapon.
Clen had already reached the toughened rank at the age of 30. He was not weak. Even without using a skill, a single stab of his weapon—even if it was a careless, effortless stab—was enough to make it bleed!
ROAARR!
"You’re just making them angrier!" the mercenary yelled while Clen’s face didn’t change.
Stab!
He stabbed and parried, hitting monsters, making them bleed each time. The monsters were livid, of course, becoming more rabid every hit. At the same time, everyone saw how they were not able to hit back!
"What—"
They were mercenaries who had been in the field for years, if not decades. They were not stupid. The mercenary outside also yelled for his teammates to do the same. It would definitely buy him some time!
Regardless, everyone could recognize an opportunity if they saw one!
Holding up their weapons, they looked at the monsters on the other side of the barrier. "Let’s go!"
....
The mercenaries immediately went to work and did their jobs, swiping the monsters away and pushing them.
While the fight was going on, the feline woman who had been left outside groaned in pain. "Ah..." she yelped when a monster accidentally stepped on her.
Using her insticnts, she barely avoided their fangs, and she started crawling to the side.
She felt pain all over her body, getting worse as monsters stepped on her. Several brootrats also started to bite her. She gathered essence to her skin to guard herself, so she ended up keeping her flesh rather than being torn apart.
She crawled and crawled, and used her remaining mana to guard her body, but she felt it draining quickly.
Soon, her reinforcement did give way, and she gasped when she felt a few brootrats burying their teeth in her skin.
Unexpectedly, she felt a new force and the sound of blades. Immediately after that, the biting pain disappeared, leaving the sharp stings of the aftermath.
"Here," a voice sounded at the side, and she lifted her head to look at the newcomers.
One—a dwarf—was fighting off the monsters that surrounded her. The other one squatted down to reach her. He almost got bitten, but the dwarf pushed it away.
Her petal-like eyes widened as she saw the handsome man with reddish hair, leaning down to grab her arm and lift her up, just in time before they both got bitten by a rat.
Soon, she felt his warmth, and they left that place behind. Suddenly, she felt a lot less in pain.
...
They brought the girl to the dwarf’s room. They had added another double-decker bed in their room, saying it was for more staff members in the future.
Fortunately, the rooms weren’t that small, and having two bunk beds still left a decent space to move in between them.
He gently tried to put her down, but she looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. She tightened her hold on his shoulder, obviously reluctant to let go. His eyes twitched, and he was about to just drop her, when she climbed up to him like a koala instead.
Heck, even her tail was trying to wrap around him.
Sigh.
Then he felt her stomach gurgle, and he looked at Durgan at the side.
"Can you get our guest some snacks and drinks?" he said. She looked weak and had obviously been through tribulations.
She really reminded him of a cat, so he was inevitably a little soft on her and felt pity for her situation.
Anyway, they had a lot of ready-to-eat food now, especially with all the preservation functions of the cellar, so it didn’t take long for Durgan to return with some light soup with vegetables and some meat, as well as cool water to drink.
They didn’t know how long the girl had been starving, so they didn’t give her anything too oily or heavy.
Of course, Durgan still did put a bit of meat. "She’s a halfkin and their stomachs are far more amenable to meat than ours."
Finn nodded and was relieved when her hold on him finally loosened at the scent of food. She still made sure to sit right next to him, ensuring they always had skin contact as if she was afraid he’d disappear.
Durgan laughed. "She’s really attached to you," he said, all while kindly adding a bit more vegetables over her meat.
They watched as she ate her food with gusto, watching the meal disappear within a few moments.
"What’s your name? I’m Finn. Nice to meet you," he said, his voice gentle to avoid intimidating her. He smiled as he pointed at himself, indicating it was an introduction.
The girl’s feline eyes stared deeply at him. "Katnia," she said. "Me, too. Katnia happy to meet you."
Finn smiled. And that was the beginning of his first halfkin friendship.