Rise Of The Hoarder

“Hey! Don’t ignore me, twerp!”

Melissa kept barking as I continued my duties, using the bag provided for me by the group. It was exhausting pretending to be so slow.

‘Thanks to my high vitality, my recovery rate is very high… I’m not in top condition yet, but I’m not too far off…’

Having a girl as weak as her yell so loudly at me made me so irritated, but at the moment, nothing could be done about it. After all… I had plans for her.

Within a few minutes, I was done with picking the Demon Cores. At this point, the Subjugation crew had caught their breaths.

“We should leave this place and return to base. We’ll have lunch, and prepare for our afternoon/evening assault.” Daniel smiled.

They all nodded, grunting as they stood from the ground. Carrying the bag behind my back, I also nodded as we followed behind the leader and moved back to base.

It wasn’t going to do any good to loiter by the path that Demons could transverse, which was why we had to leave as soon as we had concluded our business there._.

Melissa walked ahead of everyone and took her place beside Daniel. In contrast, Tasha slowed down her steps and approached me from the front. Everyone was too tired to take note of this, plus it wasn’t strange for the vice-leader to talk to someone carrying the Demon Cores, so no one said anything.

As I walked, bag behind me, Tasha began speaking.

“So, how did it go?”

Her voice was hushed, clearly not wanting anyone to notice the conversation we were having. I doubted those around would be interested since they were either thinking about lunch or clinging to their lovers.

That last part was for Melissa and her energetic walk with Daniel who was clearly too tired to reciprocate her vibes.

“We felt tremors on the earth when we fought the Hobgoblins and also heard some explosions from a far distance. That was you, wasn’t it?” Tasha added.

‘Oh? Was the battle that fierce? To think they heard it from this distance…’ I smiled amusedly.

I indeed went a little too far.

“Yeah. It went well, though. I reduced the numbers considerably. However, I still haven’t found the Boss nor the Gate that keeps spawning them…” I explained, also keeping my voice low.

Tasha had no idea how many Demons I killed, so I decided not to tell her the details. Furthering our conversation, I told her about the existence of the second gate and the likelihood of more Demons being there. She nodded in response, taking in all the information I told her calmly.

“The Gate is most likely at the furthest area, and the Horde keeps building fences and large gates to create more room for their numbers. This will hide their forces, as well as serve as a good base, instead of appearing on a bare field.” I further explained.

“The Boss will be where the Gate is, and since it needs to be defeated before the Gate closes, we will need to get past the forces defending it. Sigh, what a hassle…” Tasha said, a little frustrated.

From what I had told her, the Subjugation was bound to be harder than any of us thought. Still, there was no real need to worry.

After discussing for a little more, Tasha excused herself and returned to the front. Not long after, we reached our Base. Fortunately, Daniel seemed to think that it was probably another group of Gifteds that caused the explosions they heard.

Since they also pinned the massacre of the Hobgoblins last night on the very same parties, he decided not to further investigate it.

“It’s a little annoying that they’re interfering with our subjugation, but as long as they whittle down their numbers, it’ll be possible for us to get out of here earlier than expected.” Daniel had said in my absence.

It was quite informative talking to Tasha. We needed to have more conversations often. However, from her reactions and clear displeasure being in my presence, I doubted that.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. As I already told Charles, I don’t like this at all. I’m only doing it because it’s necessary.” I remembered her telling me.

Well, we had that in common. I also didn’t appreciate dead wights slowing me down, but it was essential, anyway.

“In the next wave… I should allow a few to die. No, let’s be patient a little. I haven’t experimented with it yet… There’s still very little information…” I muttered.

There were still quite a number of things to do. It was a good thing that so many Demons were still present.

Upon reaching the base, lunch was prepared and given to us. Melissa was in charge of food distribution, so I was a little skeptical about even bothering to receive my share.

‘No, it’ll be suspicious if I didn’t…’ I reasoned.

Dragging my feet to her, I stretched my hand to receive my meal. As she stared at who was next on the line, our eyes met.

Instantly, she scowled at me and quickly curled up her lips in a scheming fashion.

“Uh? What is a loser like you doing here? We are only giving lunch to those who were actually useful. Last I remember, weren’t you just hiding like a scared-cat and only showed up when the fight was over? There’s no food for you!” She said to me with a sadistic grin.

Well, it wasn’t like I wanted the disgusting porridge being served, to begin with.

Still, though… I wasn’t going to let her have her way so easily

“I picked up the Demon Cores, though. Does that not count?” I asked.

“Tsk” I clearly heard her click her tongue in frustration, but still refused to pass the bowl to me.

“Well, I suppose there’s no helping it.”

She poured the contents of the pot into my bowl. However, judging by what I saw in the plates of others, what she gave me was so despairingly little.

“Here, you should be grateful I’m even giving you this much!” She barked at me, stretching the plate forward.

‘I’m supposed to receive this?’ My thoughts rang, now looking at her with a slightly offended grin.

Now, this girl was trying me… I had to teach her a little bit of manners, didn’t I?