“Please-please go and save them—Alfonse and the rest. The Ogre is chasing them!”

Hearing the man’s distressed voice, Roy was surprised for a second before regaining his cool. “Calm down, tell me what happened exactly.”

“We were just finishing up hunting a pack of goblins. I was the last that hadn’t awakened yet, and with just three more, I would have finished the ten kills. That’s when the Ogre came in. Like you said before since I was the only one who had not awakened, I escaped by myself while everyone stalled for time.”

The man, who seemed to be in his mid-thirties, cleared his throat before continuing. “When I came back here, I found Robb’s group already in front of the house. I explained to them what happened, and after they talked within themselves, Robb ran after our group’s direction, and Jack took out the rest to continue hunting.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Marth interjected. “Why would they not all go to Alfonse’s group.”

“I-I don’t know,” The man replied with a startled expression.

Roy scratched his chin for a few seconds before he understood Robb and Jack’s thoughts. When it came to dealing with the Ogre, more did not necessarily mean better. It just meant more people for the monster to chew on. It was better to have one skilled fighter battle against it rather than ten weak ones who would just take up space and die. And the fact that Jack immediately took out his group to hunt, only showed his seriousness in trying to strengthen both himself and his group.

The idea made sense in theory, but putting it into practice was another matter. Roy couldn’t help but smile at the thought of his friends being able to make such smart and disciplined decisions and execute them.

“Marth, when it comes to fighting the Ogre, you need one strong man, rather than many normal ones. Else, you’re just sending moths to a firepit.”

The knight captain thought for a few seconds about Roy’s words before nodding in understanding.

“I will be going to help Robb. I want you to let our group rest for half an hour before you take them out to hunt. I'll let you handle them, okay?”

“Yes, I’ll make sure to lead them properly,” Marth replied with a serious expression.

“Good, you just need to hunt two or three goblin packs before coming back. These Ogre attacks are very random, so we need to minimize the risk. We’ll also have to discuss and think of a system to deal with them later tonight.”

After finishing his talk with Marth, Roy made his way west toward Alfonse’s group. As he walked around the streets, roads, and alleys, he soon found large traces of battle—giant footprints, destroyed wooden signposts, ruined vegetation, and crashed houses.

Following the footprint of the Ogre was not hard, and soon, Roy found himself in an open field. Most of Alfonse’s group were laying on the ground with someone tending to them. Even Alfonse was not in his best shape, as Robb was carrying him over his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Roy asked as he rushed over to the duo.

“I could have been better, but all is good,” Alfonse replied with a smile.

Roy heaved a sigh of relief before looking around the battlefield confused. “Where is the Ogre?”

Robb pointed at an alleyway next to a destroyed house. “Go and look at it yourself.”

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Following his friend’s words, Roy went to the alleyway. The whole place was in ruins. The ground had giant craters making it unusable as a road anymore, and the houses that were situated on both ends of the alleys had their walls destroyed.

At the far end of the alley, the Ogre laid down on the ground motionless. Its blood painted the ground purple, and its headless giant frame blocked the road.

Looking at the dead monster, Roy could not help but feel a sense of pride well up in his chest, along with a tinge of relief. The fact that his friends were now able to kill an Ogre by themselves was a pleasant surprise to him. At the same time, he felt a sense of relief wash over him. He did not have to worry about his friends falling into a situation that they could not handle while hunting anymore. Well, at least not as much.

After checking on the Ogre, Roy went out to the open field and congratulated his friends. “Good work, Alfonse. You have done amazing.”

“I did nothing,” Alfonse shook his head. “It was Robb who killed it.”

“Stop with the fake humility,” Robb scratched his friend’s head with his knuckle. “You fought with it until it was about to die. I just came and took the kill at the end.”

“It wasn’t just me,” Alfonse replied. “Fred fought against it head to head and allowed us to strike it from the back. And Alric was the one who injured both its legs, so the Ogre could not move properly.”

Roy smiled as Alfonse recounted everyone’s accomplishments. However, now was not the time to chit-chat and feel good. They had to bring back those who were injured to the house so that Doctor Jacob could look over them.

Thankfully, no one was unconscious from the battle. Fred and Roy supported Alric and Thomas respectively, while the middle-aged volunteer Derek followed closely behind them. Soon, they came back to Roger’s house.

As they reached the house, they found mister Roger and Doctor Jacob waiting on the bench next to the front door. Next to them was the volunteer who had told Roy about the danger Alfonse was in.

Seeing Roy and Alfonse’s group coming from a distance, the middle-aged volunteer ran up to them with a relieved look on his face. “Thank the gods you made it out. I was worried sick.”

“Thank you, mister Brian,” Alfonse replied with a smile. “I’m glad you were able to escape and came back with no problem.”

“You boys really wanna work me to the bone today,” Jacob shouted while smoking his pipe. “Get those who are injured upstairs, I’ll patch you up real soon.”

“Let me take care of Alfone,” Brian said as he leaned in to support the young man.

“Are you sure?” Robb asked.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you guys are already tired.”

Brian took over Robb’s job and supported Alfonse as they slowly walked towards the front door.

Same as Brian, Derek took over Roy’s job of carrying Alric. Soon, everyone had made their way upstairs, leaving only Roy, Robb, and Jacob who was still smoking his pipe.

“How is Jaimie?” Roy asked after a couple of seconds of silence.

“It’s a miracle that he is alive,” Jacob replied with a serious voice. “Multiple fractures in the ribs and arms, bruises across his torso and legs, and dislocation in his right elbow and left shoulder.”

Hearing Jacob’s words, Roy furrowed his eyebrows in worry. Seeing the look on the young man’s face, the Doctor smiled and reassured him. “Don’t worry, his situation is surprisingly stable. Luckily, I didn’t find any trace of internal injury, and both his breathing and his pulse are normal. Now, I can’t predict when he is going to recover with the green light that heals and all of these new magical powers, but I’m sure it’s not going to take long.”

Roy sighed in relief. While he was still worried that Jaimie was unconscious, it was good to hear that the boy’s life was not in danger. “Thank you, mister Jacob. You’re a true lifesaver.”

Jacob clicked his tongue at Roy’s show of gratitude. “What is there to thank me for? I’m just doing my job.” He then took a large puff from his pipe before standing up. “Well, I’ll be leaving you guys for now, I have patients to treat. See you later.”

After Jacob followed Alfonse and the rest upstairs, Robb turned and asked, “So, what will you be doing now? Resting until your group comes back?”

Roy thought for a few seconds before replying, “I think I will go to Karthus’ house. I need to check if his kid is safe.”

Robb’s eyes turned serious at the mention of Karthus. “You know that the boy might have believed them. He could be thinking you truly went and killed his father. You sure you wanna go there?”

“Not a reason for me not to go and save him, is it?” Roy replied with a small chuckle. “If nothing else, it’s more of a reason for me to go there.”