Deciding to continue or not

Three hours had passed, and the black rain that had fallen earlier had stopped. Alex also did not detect any vicious monsters around him. Feeling safe, he immediately removed the debris surrounding him.

Iris, who had been asleep for the past three hours, woke up to the rumbling sound of the debris being removed by Alex.

"Good morning, Iris," Alex said, greeting Iris, who woke up.

Iris, who had just woken up, looked up at the sky. It was still overcast and beginning to get dark. She was sure it was still afternoon and not morning. After that, she faced Alex. For some reason, Alex's face was very close to hers. After a few seconds, Iris realized that she had fallen asleep in Alex's arms for the past three hours.

"W-wha- I'm sorry, sir. I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Alex didn't mind at all. Instead, it was a good fortune to be able to see Iris's cute face asleep on his lap. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Putting this aside, Alex asked Iris to help him gather back their luggage. The items they were carrying were saved with the same magic that protected them from being buried by the rubble. So their belongings were not damaged and crushed. Well, except for one thing, which is the handgun that was given to Iris. The gun slipped out of her hand, and Alex didn't know exactly where it fell when the building started to collapse.

"I'm so so sorry, sir. I'm so sorry." Iris said while bowing her head many times.

Iris was truly ashamed. How could she not be? A gun was considered precious and expensive. It's really valuable because it's more likely a gun user would survive a monster attack than using any other weapon. Hence everyone wanted to own a gun if they could or preferred to have a companion who was a gun user.

And now, because of him, Alex lost an item that was very valuable to him. "I've made a great mistake, sir. Please, I deserve severe punishment, sir."

Alex didn't know what to say. Granted, the gun wasn't cheap, but this wasn't purely her fault.

"It's not your fault, Okay? Anyway, we need to decide where we go. It's going dark soon." Unsure of how to respond, Alex chose to be evasive. "You think we should go back or continue to Karlingford? If we decide to head back, I doubt we'll make it back before it becomes dark.."

She felt even more embarrassed when Alex let slip the fatal mistake she had made. She felt useless but had to suppress this feeling deeply because of Alex's will. This matter was not important.

"I believe the road to Karlingford from here would be infested with the monsters, sir. So if you still wish to go to Karlingford, we must take a detour. But if you wish to go back, I also believe to what you said that we won't arrive before night."

"I see, so either way, we need to camp out."

Alex thought about what to do. If they went back, it seemed the same as continuing the journey. If they wanted to be safe, the best option was to return to Alex's grandfather's house. But they had come this far. Not gonna lie. He really wanted to continue.

"Is it safe if we take a detour?"

"Yes, there is an outpost that is used for a temporary stopover for travelers. It's a relatively safe zone. But the distance is the same as we walk to Karlingford."

It was the same distance, which was why Iris did not lead their trip there.

"I think we can get a ride from there to the city, sir."

"Oh." Hearing that, Alex was immediately a little happy. If they could get a ride and the trip to the city was safe, why would they need to go back then?

"Alright, let's go there then." Settled with his choice, they prepared their luggage again. "Let's make a move there until night comes. Then we set up a camp, okay?"

Iris just nodded. She just needed to do what Alex said.

After walking quite a distance, night came. Alex prepared everything needed for camping, such as raising the tent and cooking. Iris felt useless. She just lit the campfire and waited for Alex to finish doing everything. The food Alex made was also delicious, even though he said it was only from canned food.

However, a chance to redeem herself came when Alex asked her to take the first guard duty for tonight.

"I think I'll fall asleep if I take the first one. So I'll leave it to you."

Not forgetting, Alex also gave his rifle to Iris. After that, he briefly told her how to use it, and then he entered the tent and went to sleep.