After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1004

Chapter 1004: Camping with Monsters

A/N: As promised, we’re getting an extra 3 chaps (total of 5) chapters today! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, EVERYONE! Hopefully, we retain it until the month ends. *prays*

Off to the chapter! Enjoyyy~

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Helios’ eyes widened as the monster went straight to him. The mercenaries saw this and turned cold.

“Watch out! Get out of there!” They yelled, and they knew it’d be too late for them to come and rescue.

Damnit! If the customer got killed at this point, it could be counted as their oversight. This meant they could get punished and their mercenary team could get penalized with the all-important Mercenary Points!!

Causing their Mercenary Team to move even farther from the Class B qualification—which was already years away—would be a shame!

Fortunately for them, Helios wasn’t the type to freeze in front of a vehemont. He managed to avoid it in the last minute, and he dashed towards one of the depressions they encountered before.

He laid down flat and it was just deep enough to cover him this way, and he immediately created a metal sheet to cover him.

ROARRR!

The metal sheet reverberated from the loud roar, and soon he could feel its weight. Helios used a good portion of his mana to reinforce it. He increased its thickness and added small posts to support it.

Bang! Bang!

Clank!

He gasped when a portion of the metal sheet dented a little, hitting his lower stomach.

“UGH!” he gasped, feeling his lower body slowly getting squished. He couldn’t reinforce it like this either. What if he ended up adding material to stab himself, instead?

Shit!

For a moment, he thought it’d continue to dent until it finally impaled him. However, after a few intense moments passed by, the pressure suddenly lifted, and he could hear muffles of sounds and yells above the ground.

Helios could vaguely hear the fight that happened soon after. It was safe to assume that the mercenaries finally got to his place to deal with the monster.

He was breathing heavily as he lay down, taking advantage of this time to repair his sheet. At his pitiful level, he knew he’d only be a burden outside, so he just decided to hide effectively.

Helios could finally breathe out as the metal poking him disappeared. He waited patiently for the fight above to end, desperately hoping they didn’t bring the fight to his area because he didn’t have a lot of mana left.

When rhythmic knocks sounded against the sheet, followed by someone saying a muffled ‘it’s okay now, come out’, Helios finally retracted it and heaved in a deep breath of his much-needed oxygen.

He saw that everyone was alive and well, although looking quite haggard. Enok looked at him in interest as he extended his arm to help him up.

“You’re an elementalist?” he asked as he pulled Helios up. “Where did you say you were from again?”

They naturally introduced each other. However, they saw his level and the fact that he was from a village, so they didn’t find any interest in his background. They just assumed he was a village noble or something with money to burn.

They didn’t even think much about the ‘broat’ and ‘bikes’ he mentioned to the old Beast Carriage driver a few days back, thinking it was probably just one or two contraptions village nobles used to traverse the interior of the territory.

Helios’ eyes sparkled, seeing their curiosity. “Alterra Village,” he said. “I’ll show you around when we get there.”

The men didn’t know what would be needed to see in a village but they didn’t say so out loud.

Anyway, with the current injuries and mana consumption, the group decided to spend the night there. Enok guided them to a decent camping spot, which was a slightly flatter land slightly above the trekking path.

Senson went around and poured some Beast Repelling potions around them, and they assigned two people every few hours to guard the perimeter and alert them of any threats that came nearby.

The remaining two mercenaries, then, would set up camp. That was to say: set the fire and take some meat from monsters and barbeque it.

A good thing was that they had some stock of the Ferrol Beef Sauce (someone from their mercenary team bought some during a fair) which made the meat much more palatable.

After this, they would take turns to sleep. Each one had a good blanket on them to cover their upper body as they slept. Either that or a big blanket, but on the thinner side so it could be folded well. After all, their spaces were only so big. How could they let a big and thick blanket occupy the entire thing?

It was something the mercenaries had done countless of times. It was just that there was something a little different this time.

They gaped as their employer took out item after item from his space. It wasn’t obvious what it was at first but then he opened it up and it magically expanded to a large cocoon-like blanket.

Puto and Raz were the friendliest of the bunch and they scooted over to look closer. “Is it a magic tool?” they asked.

Helios smiled and shook his head. “It’s just technology,” he said. “By pulling on a valve, air will enter and expand the thin insulating fabric.”

“Ah, so magic, then.”

“…”

“You must really be a noble.”

“Me?! Nah, I’m just a normal guard.”

“What?”

“A guard next to the lord, then?”

Helios shrugged. “Not really.” He didn’t even know who the lord was…

“But you’re an elementalist,” Puto mumbled, looking at him in confusion. Enok even looked at him like he was purposely messing with them.

They thought that although Helios was a little weak compared to them, he should still be a powerhouse in a village.

Helios didn’t dare spread they were all elementalists. “I’m nothing special in my Village,” was all he said. “Also, everyone who camps a lot has these things in their spaces.”

He proceeded to take out a few more things. For instance, his sauce set, a small box of instant noodles, and a papra pill which they gurgle after eating to serve as their mouthwash.

The mercenaries were very curious about Helios and the things he brought out.

Helios smiled and went to the fire, taking a small iron pot from his space. They watched as he cooked something brittle onto the pot and added a few things in the process, and then they gulped at the aroma that emanated from it.

When Helios handed them small bowls with crackers, they curiously took a taste, before eating them with gusto.

They drank the soup to the last drop, and they felt the flavor stuck in their throats and stomachs, the warmth giving satisfaction to their hearts.

Delicious!

“This is so good! Do you have more?” Puto asked, looming over Helios. He wasn’t purposely being intimidating, but he was.

“There’s a lot more in my home,” Helios said, never tiring of seeing aborigines’ reactions to their products. “I’ll treat you to good food—as long as you protect us well.”

The mercenaries looked at him and didn’t talk for a moment, before they all broke into smiles.

“Deal!”