"This..."
Before they could gather themselves, the monsters appeared.
ROAAARR!
The Old Lenok raised his Class C shield, covering them from another attack. He no longer had mana, so he could not reinforce this shield, but it should be enough to buy time, even if just for a few seconds.
"Just GO!" he said, and he heroically lifted the shield to cover them.
Unexpectedly, while he was in this pose, he was carried by the two, one under his arms and another on his thigh.
It looked stupid, really stupid, and the old man didn’t want to die in this position!
"You’re not going to die!" Pacco bellowed at his stupid father as they rushed to the house. They didn’t know if it was an illusion or something else, but it was the only place they could go to!
Even if it were fake, they could only cling to this light right now!
If there was light, maybe there was a group of people—mercenaries or adventurers, who cared —then people could help them out!
Anyway, they’re here to hunt, so it wasn’t them bringing trouble, they were bringing prey!
What they didn’t expect was that there was a small mob of monsters on this side, too. Some people were fighting back, but there were also some who weren’t moving, just resting.
If they had better eyesight and weren’t tired to death, they would even see some of the people resting looking envious of the people fighting. Right now, though, they had no idea about this.
What they could see was that the groups near the house were not from one group, seeing as how some were ignoring the few who were battling a small mob.
From the refugees’ angle, all they could see was the back of the mob, but that looked dangerous, didn’t it? There were half a dozen fortified-level monsters there! How could people look like they were having a picnic?
It was a confusing and worrying sight, but they had to adjust a bit and just change directions a bit, avoiding the areas with mobs.
Unexpectedly, when someone from the lackadaisical group saw them, rather than be scared at the mob behind them, they looked at them in interest instead.
Even more unexpectedly, some of these people even ’greeted’ them, rushing out to the monsters!
BANG!
They watched as several fighters met the fortified-level monsters, rushing to hit their necks or their eyes, as well as their joints. Their movements were a bit unusual, attacking some weakspots, but jumping back occasionally. It was almost like kiting, but close-ranged people were doing it.
Then they saw how the monsters were blocked by an invisible wall past a threshold, completely unable to go through, no matter how much they barreled against it!
Adding the monsters already here, this was about a dozen fortified-level monsters! Attacking altogether!
"What!"
They quickly understood why these people were so relaxed.
"Finally! Some more fortified!" More people arrived, emerging from the cave.
"Heh, we don’t have to go out to lure them here!"
"Saved us trouble!" Another one said, looking at the three bloody and exhausted men. He then handed them a jerky each and grinned. "Thanks!"
"..."
...
Some kilometers away, a certain redhead paused his steps as a notification echoed in his mind.
[Poison Detector Activated: Valya poison has entered the scope of the inn. Status: Ingested, active, currently breaking down the body’s proteins. There is 50% chance of death if not treated within 171 hours.]
"Eh?"
A large spike of ice skewered a monster down, and Syl turned to him in concern. "What’s wrong?"
"Another poisoned person, same poison as the elder’s. This time, it’s in the extension."
...
The old man, his son, and his apprentice gaped as they saw groups of adventurers deal with the monsters with ease. This team only had a few fortified-level person but they were managing well with minimal injuries.
Why? Because there was a miraculous barrier that could be used to attack from the inside!
"There is such a thing?" Quin couldn’t help but mumble, fascinated. His eyes would always gravitate to the pretty half-elf who was stationed at the side of the mountain, though.
The old man shook his head. "In all my years as a mercenary, I haven’t seen a barrier that worked like this."
"I’d like to meet the rich person who’d have such a good thing," he added, looking around. The flying monsters were also trying to get in, but they were blocked well, several meters above the ground.
Just how big was this barrier?
Anyway, a few hours later, all the monsters there had been dealt with, some of which were dragged inside the barrier for food, while the rest were burned.
They gaped when they saw the group naturally gather around the campfire.
The campfire was quite big. They would’ve asked if they weren’t afraid of attracting monsters if they hadn’t seen the barrier, but now that they had, it just made sense for them not to be afraid. Rather, it made more sense that they’d want to lure monsters to them.
They saw that the other group was also doing something similar and was already sizzling meat in front of them.
It seemed like there was an understanding of which part of the fire was for whose groups, and all of them grilled meat. Interestingly, the two groups also added some brown viscous fluid over the meat, causing it to caramelize and give out an enticing aroma.
When it was done, the groups started eating, and the three of them—all covered in bandages—gulped.
Someone turned to them. "1 gold for 2 sticks!" he said, waving the stick of meat in front of them.
Expensive, but they were very tempted.
Unexpectedly, another raised more sticks. "I’ll sell 3 sticks for 1 gold!"
They bought all five in the end.
"Here, Master!" Quin said, with a sweet smile on his youthful face. He was still very pale, the wound on his back no doubt very painful, but he had a high pain tolerance, so he didn’t show it.
Quin was surprised to see another stick in front of him though, and it was from Pacco, who wasn’t looking and eating his own share.
Acting unaware of Quin’s stare, Pacco looked at the adventurers next to him. "Is that barbecue sauce?"
"You know?"
"Hmn, a merchant caravan passed by our town and made a temporary stall," he said. "He sold meat by others, dabbed with this sauce, for tens of danas each dollop."
"Wow."
"That’s a pretty good business idea."
Just like this, the small group joined in the party, as if they had always been part of it.