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“… Do you understand now, Lily? We have to remain as a group. It’s the best way safety will be guaranteed!” The leader, also known as Ana, spoke in a low tone, trying to convince the younger girl.r

Lily, as she was called, appeared hesitant and somewhat distraught to hear this. She attempted to weakly protest against it, but seemed to realize that doing so would only insinuate her selfishness.r

“Besides, I’ll soon be leaving to look for supplies… you can’t stay alone, Lily. There’s no way I would be at ease if I left you by yourself.” Ana added.r

Upon hearing those words, Lily said no more. Doing so would not only be insensitive to Ana’s good intentions of protecting her, but would also mean that she was needlessly acting stubbornly by throwing the team in jeopardy, all because of her phobia of men or preference for privacy.r

“I… I understand…” She muttered in defeat.r

“Heyy, don’t look so down. You’ll be fine, okay. If any of them tries anything funny, they’ll have to answer to me. Got that, boys?” Ana said, glancing at the group of men who tried to ignore the conversation going on between the mentor and mentee.r

Immediately she said this, they all jumped in response, out of fear perhaps… or maybe respect.r

Either way, they received the message loud and clear and would not even bother trying anything funny.r

They were still injured, and the leader was the strongest out of all of them, with or without injuries. It wouldn’t end well for the guys to try anything they liked.r_.

‘How sad. I feel your pain, fellas!’ I wept for the men.r

Being in a closed space with such a girl, it was every man’s fantasy to try some things at least once. Yet, they were bound by the cruel shackles of hierarchy.r

“Now then, I’ll be taking my leave,” Ana said, carrying a small backpack that had many compartments to keep anything she would find.r

The group was slightly flustered when she said this, expressing slight looks of guilt for not being capable enough to accompany her. However, they couldn’t complain or try to aid her. They would only be a burden to her, so the best they could do to help their leader was to sit still and recuperate.r

“Alright, please be careful…”r

“Please come back soon.”r

“Remember to be quiet!”r

“T-thanks for doing this…”r

As they admonished their leader, she felt a surge of pride and excitement, as well as a sense of responsibility.r

She appeared determined to find something, anything, to redeem her expedition team.r

A wide grin formed on my face as I laughed internally.r

‘Too bad! Hahaha, I’ve taken everything!’ My thoughts exploded in depraved laughter.r

After staring amusedly at her as she descended the stairs and searched the building, I realized the time was drawing near for the next phase of my plan.r

‘For that, we’ll have to meet!’ I thought, a little flustered.r

Even though this wouldn’t be our first encounter, it was most likely going to seem like it. Everything depended on this strategy.r

Ana took her time to check out the rooms, slowly advancing to the lower floors until she was done with the whole building. She saw nothing valuable within it.r

“It looks like I’ll have to check the other buildings, after all!” She said to herself in a deep sigh.r

I smiled expectantly as I watched her approach the structure I was on. My body throbbed with excitement and my eyes gleamed in anticipation.r

“Now then… it’s showtime!”r

Ana looked around her with caution as she approached the building beside where her companions rested. It had gotten considerably dark, but dim glimmers of sunlight blessed the evening, allowing her more time to explore the house before her in the hopes of finding something useful.r

“I have less than an hour before it becomes unsafe… I’d better hurry!” She mumbled to herself.r

After some moments, she arrived at the entrance of the building. It had the appearance of an apartment, as did many others in the area, which were already run down, for some reason.r

Paying no mind to the surrounding area, and only on her goal, she entered the structure. Ana braced herself for whatever she might find within and steeled her fists in case she needed to use her Gift or Skills.r

‘Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that!’r

Minutes passed and she hurriedly explored everywhere she could, yet couldn’t find anything of worth.r

“Why…?!”r

Taking her time and risking the chances of her taking more time than she budgeted, she scoured the area with extreme diligence. Yet…r

“Why can’t I find anything?!”r

Ana’s breathing was now heavy, and she felt weary to her bones. Despite her healing, she still experienced fatigue, and her body wasn’t exactly in top form after her encounter with the monster that nearly made short work of her group.r

“I need… I need to… keep going!” She huffed, advancing slowly across the hallway as she just climbed the stairs to the third floor.r

Over an hour had passed since Ana started, yet she had nothing to show for it.r

She was tired, having had no rest or food for a long time while at the same time exerting herself so much, Ana’s body couldn’t take much more.r

“I have… to find something! Something for my group! Or else…” She muttered, nearly sobbing in frustration.r

Suddenly, Ana felt a presence behind her. It was so abrupt that she could have mistaken it for a passing sensation. However, she couldn’t deny the feeling she was having.r

‘Someone… Something… is definitely behind me!’ Her mind rang.r

Quickly facing her rear, she rested on the wall to hide herself while squatting. Since the presence seemed to be coming from the stairs, she waited close to the intersection between it and the hallway, hoping to catch whoever it was off guard.r

‘Could it be… a Demon?!’r

Her body shuddered at the thought. In her current state, fighting a Demon would prove difficult, especially if it was a powerful one. Since the area was close to a Red Zone, the Demons anyone was likely to encounter would be powerful, and not your average monsters.r

Also, no human could possibly be living in such an area since it was such a dangerous place. There was only one possibility, and that was something Ana was too weak to face.r

Still, whatever it was, she had to engage it. There was no doubt the Demon had sensed her presence since it seemed to be heading in her direction. Her only choice at the moment would be to catch the creature off-guard.r

To do that, she needed to be precise and fast. There was no room for error!r

“Brace yourself, Ana, here it comes!”r