18 Scaring Kent, Securing the Area

"What should we do now?"

Now that they had a sick mother and two unconscious little girls, it would be much harder for them to continue their journey.

Kent opened a small gap in the window to observe the situation outside. The sky was darkening and he could hear the cries of the evolved monsters from afar. "We'll stay here for the time being. Once the girls are strong enough to walk by themselves, we'll resume the journey."

Ralph heaved a sigh of relief at his words.

"We should secure the area before night arrives. Phillip, Celine, Aurora, and Rendell, you guys should search the vicinity and eliminate all dangers." Kent said while pushing up his glasses.

Celine frowned and protested. "Aurora should stay here. It's dangerous outside." She didn't want Aurora to be involved in such a dangerous task.

Kent stared at her and replied in a calm voice. "You need her there. Only Aurora can sense those monsters from afar. With her by your side, there will be less risk."

"I will be fine, Celine." Aurora grabbed her hands.

Celine wasn't convinced by this. "Aurora, there are a lot of evolved monsters out there! How can you agree to this?"

Aurora revealed a rare look of anger as she said. "Celine, I need to learn how to fight them! I don't want to remain weak forever! There might come a time when I need to face them all by myself. Please, let me go with you."

Celine saw the determination in her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to reject her after hearing her words. In the end, she relented while sighing deeply. "Fine, but you have to stay by my side."

Aurora smiled and nodded.

Phillip had no objections so he didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Rendell stared at Kent with a sharp gaze.

Kent became nervous under his intense gaze. "This is a request. I can send someone else if you don't want to do it." He hurriedly said while pretending to be calm.

Rendell smiled, feeling slightly amused. He walked by his side and moved his head closer to his ears.

"Hey!" James thought that he would do something to Kent so he grabbed Rendell's shoulder.

Rendell ignored him and whispered to Kent. "You don't give me orders next time. Do you understand?"

His cold voice sent shivers down Kent's spine. He immediately nodded.

Rendell gave him a sidelong glance while patting his head. "Good." He then pulled his head back and pushed away James' hand.

"Let's go," Rendell said to the three as he stepped out of the room.

Phillip snorted in response, while the two ladies followed him in silence.

After they left, James went to Kent's side and asked. "What did he tell you?"

Kent shook his head. "It's nothing." He intentionally asked Rendell to join this task. It was a test to see if he could be a true part of their team.

'We need that guy to become a part of our group. To do that, we have to decrease his wariness towards us. The only way for that to happen is by involving him in various tasks together with the others.' He thought deeply as he stared at Rendell and the others through the small gap in the window.

***

Rendell paused his steps and glanced at Aurora. "Girl, tell me if you see a monster."

Aurora was still a bit afraid of him. "You can just call me Aurora. Anyway… there are no monsters nearby." She shook her head after activating her Gift.

Rendell looked away from her and turned his gaze to Phillip. "Buzzcut, go and search the houses. See if you can find more survivors."

"What did you just call me?" The veins on Phillip's face protruded.

Celine quickly grabbed his arm and said. "Just go. I'll protect Aurora."

Phillip sternly looked at Rendell and warned him. "If you hurt them, I'll beat you up real bad!"

Rendell merely chuckled at his words.

"You-" Phillip almost released a punch after seeing his arrogant face.

"Just go!" Celine pushed him away to stop them from fighting.

Phillip gave Rendell the middle finger before he left with heavy strides.

"How childish…" Rendell shook his head.

"Please don't mind him. Phillip is just like that, but he is a good person." Aurora said with a wry smile.

"Oh really?" Rendell chuckled.

…

While Phillip was searching the houses, Rendell and the two ladies searched for monsters that could potentially endanger the group.

"Wait! I can see something!" Aurora said with a grave look.

Rendell looked at her and asked. "What did you see?"

"It's a Level 3 Green House Fly," Aurora replied.

"Tell me the location."

"One hundred meters in that direction you will see a big house with a red roof. It's on top of that roof."

"You two stay here," Rendell said before he went in the direction that she gave.

It didn't take him long to find the house that she mentioned. It was very noticeable because there was a huge insect on top of the roof.

"It's quite big, probably as huge as two refrigerators combined…" He muttered as he grabbed his sword.

The huge fly noticed his presence and it immediately emitted a weird noise.

Rendell didn't know what that meant and he also didn't care. He jumped on top of the rubble and leaped his way up on top of the roof.

The huge insect's compound eyes stared at him. Its wings were shaking, ready to fly at any moment.

The creature's hairy face made him feel disgusted. It also emitted a very revolting smell similar to that of sewers.

Rendell frowned in disgust.

He faced off with the creature for a few seconds, waiting for an opportune moment to attack. Knowing how fast flies are at escaping, he had to be extremely careful and accurate with his strike.

He slowly adjusted his stance and prepared himself for one quick strike.

To his surprise, the huge fly actually took the initiative to attack him.

While grinning savagely, Rendell dashed forward and slashed his sword.

Whoosh!