It's difficult to rest at night, away from home. Although I was aware of that, I consider myself to be an exception. Where and at what interval I had to sleep was irrelevant to me. That makes waking up often a hassle, obviously. But that's hardly that interesting of a story, is it? The other members of my party, however, couldn't help but scrutinize every detail of this two-story flat as I made my way up a narrow staircase, unable to prevent myself from peeling the worn tapestry from the walls with my fingertips.

Gradually, the only conclusion we reached was that the previous owner wasn't home when the Overflow happened. On the other hand, there weren't any items of value to be taken. I couldn't tell whether we were fortunate or not...

"I like it," Logan declared, plumbing his enormous body onto the sofa's washed fabric without a damn in the world as the axe's metal collided against the parquet. Yeah, I bet you're used to be taking the sofa all to yourself, I mocked the barbarian in my head.

"Are you really getting comfortable in this place?" asked Mara, quite pissed at the candid attempt at relaxation within this devastated district.

"Yeah. We're here to rest, aren't we?"

I lifted my eyes from the soiled carpet and gazed around the living room, curious about its appearance. It wasn't that large, and if anything stood out besides the mold forming in the corners, then it would be the lack of television. Apparently, the previous owner wasn't willing to leave that behind. Beside the sofa was a small table, probably meant for coffee, but not it was used as a resting place for Logan's trunk-like legs. He truly made himself at home from the looks of it. That wasn't something one could learn with ease, especially in his line of work.

"Nothing in this place either," grumbled Edward, hurling himself onto the couch beside the sofa facing us. Even after removing the quiver, he held the crossbow between his fingers, an arrow waiting to fly at any given moment.

Now all seats within the living room were taken... With a sigh, I kicked the carpet away—leaving me to sit on the soft chunk of the enormous backpack where our clothes were—while Connor stood on the ground beside me.

"Come here," I told Mara, who merely kept her arms crossed and leaned against the doorframe. I didn't want her to feel excluded. It must be difficult for her to feel at ease in such close quarters, presumably since we were a bunch of guys.

Well, Logan had Ava, and Edward never really expressed any interest in the opposite sex. Maybe Lucas might be interested, but I doubted it as he had his hands full with Melody. In short, there was no actual reason for her to be concerned about things like that.

Hearing that, Mara allowed her arms to fall by her as she came over to the table Logan put his feet on. Our party's leader wanted to argue, but the way she tapped the scabbard of her blade, which was hanging by her hip, simply made him choke those words. As I hid my chuckle, he simply put one foot on the floor while flinging the other over the sofa's pillows

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"I figured it out," Edward murmured, staring at the ceiling and unfazed by the silent display going on around him. I'd say it was fairly amusing. Lucas appeared to be having difficulty suppressing his laughter.

"Figure out what?" I felt compelled to ask after I calmed down.

"Why we couldn't find anything whatsoever. Think about it. It's related to that picture Mara showed us."

My gears began spinning. How would that picture lead to the absence of items within the 4th District? As I pondered about that, I gradually figured out what Edward was referring to.

With her name being called, the scout asked: "How so?"

"There could be some other mercenaries trying to gather some fame. Hunting down that anomaly might lead to that," I responded.

"Which means a lot more people got the incitement to scrounge through this wasteland," Lucas continued with the explanation on my behalf, his gaze lingering someplace behind the darkness that has fallen outside.

"So the reason why there isn't anything left for us to take is because those fuckers came here in large numbers to make a name for themselves," Logan snarled, his sturdy fingers interlocked behind his head.

"Exactly," Edward confirmed.

With that being said, Mara sank her head between her shoulders, her willpower completely shattered. Although it wasn't a moralizing sight to behold, she didn't seem to care as she spat out: "So we're either going back or—"

"—move toward the center," I said, that raw conclusion baffling all of us.

Everyone knew that as you got closer to the center of the 4th District, where the Overflow emerged, the chances of encountering a monster would spike up. It could get to the point where you might find monsters taking cover in some buildings. And the commotion of a battle might entice even more of them. Furthermore, most structures would be weak in comparison to those on the outskirts of this hellhole.

In short, higher risk. It was a bad idea, but there was still something else that only two people within this room knew about. Melody's existence, I thought as I glanced at Lucas. He gave me an acknowledging look, too.

With her assistance, we might be able to detect monsters before they even find us. But that secret wasn't something we could say aloud, so unless we steered things in the right direction, there was a good chance this was the point where we might have to consider turning back.

"No way," Mara grumbled, her brows twisting into an unfocused glare. "I'm not leaving this place empty-handed."

"You can stay on your own if you want to—" Edward's words were covered by the sound of rattles against the floor. Without uttering a single word, Mara only looked down on him.

"Why are all of you acting like a bunch of idiots?" Logan yawned before tapping his index finger against his temple. "If the number of mercenaries visiting the district grew and the quantity of goods we could take dropped, doesn't that imply that the number of monsters we have to deal with has lowered as well?"

"You're not necessarily wrong..." grumbled Edward, pondering about the matter before shrugging. "You're the leader, so it's your decision at the end of the day."

"Do you have any complaints about that, Mara?"

Putting some distance between herself and Edward, she hissed: "Not at all."

"Good. Then we're heading further into this crap hole tomorrow. I hope there aren't any complaints on your parts either, Gray, Lucas."

"Not at all," the beast tamer muttered as I switched my position and leaned my head on the backpack's soft portion.

"Gray?"

"I'll keep the night watch on my own," I spat out, my eyelids drawing closer to one another. Before closing them entirely, I noticed Mara staring at me with a blank expression. I was too exhausted to care. "I'll take the second turn, so just wake me up after a few hours..."

I couldn't stay awake for another second even if a monster screeched beside me and straight into my ear. Despite my efforts to conceal it, I was at the end of my rope. Still, I couldn't help but say a silent prayer.

Please let tonight pass without any hurdles...