Chapter 28 – Community Leader (2)

“I’m still considering.”

There was no need for an immediate definitive answer. We hadn’t even confirmed the situation here yet.

“Originally, we were moving to meet with the remaining military or bureaucratic organizations.”

In truth, I had only enticed the party members to move using the Demon King as an excuse because I wanted to visit where I lived in my previous life.

However, there was no need to tell them that fact.

“But looking at the situation, it seems difficult to find any properly remaining organizations. So I’m conflicted.”

Hoffman and Zahina looked at me with puzzled expressions, but fortunately didn’t say anything else.

I also indicated with my eyes that I would explain later.

The reason I spoke vaguely was because of the man in front of me.

A man in his late 30s with the position of Community Leader.

From what I could sense, the naturally awakened person who had regained consciousness didn’t seem to welcome us like the others.

Several reasons came to mind, but in any case, if the representative didn’t welcome us, there was no need to forcibly stay.

It seemed better to use this, so I spoke ambiguously.

“You mean large organizations that still remain……”

As the Community Leader muttered in a small voice, the gathered people each spoke up.

“There’s nothing left, whether it’s military bases or whatever, right?”

“But there must be some places that survived, no?”

“Well, all the broadcasts were cut off quickly, and we lost contact with all the places we were in touch with.”

“The destruction of all the underground bunkers was a big blow.”

Indeed, various pieces of information were flowing in without even asking.

“Since there’s no contact with anywhere now, it seems you could just stay here.”

“That sounds good. If we hear any news later, we can look into it then.”

As expected, the others wanted us to stay here.

It meant that superhumans who could deal with the undead would be joining, whether they were from another world or not.

“Stop staring. If you stare that intensely, they’ll notice everything.”

“It’s not just me looking. Brother, you’re talking as if you didn’t look. I’m going to tell sister-in-law everything.”

“Everyone’s eyes are going crazy over the pretty woman……”

The whispering from behind stopped with one aunt’s words.

It seemed that wasn’t the only reason they welcomed us.

While it was all welcoming, the Community Leader’s subsequent words were different from the others.

“I’ll find out the information you want as quickly as possible.”

He continued speaking even as he saw the dissatisfied expressions of the people.

“More importantly, you must be tired from your journey, so let’s first prepare a place for you to rest.”

After finishing his words, he whispered to the man next to him.

“Guide them to an empty house. To the lower floor.”

“The lower floor?”

“It’s still difficult to trust them completely.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Come back right after you send them.”

“Understood.”

It was spoken so quietly that no one else could hear, but my ears, enhanced with mana, heard it clearly.

“I’ll guide you.”

The others seemed to want to talk with us more, but seeing our appearance, they didn’t stop us from leaving.

Our appearance was quite a mess after all.

As I obediently followed, the party members silently followed the guide as well.

“Please explain again what happened to Jun-ho.”

As we were going down the stairs, the Community Leader’s voice was heard from behind.

It must be about the story of the dead man he said he would talk about earlier.

It felt somewhat like a trial, but I paid no attention to the sound coming from behind.

I wasn’t close enough to him to defend him anyway.

We went down two more floors and were guided to a house with an open door.

“This is a house where no one has returned since that day. It’s clean, with no corpses or zombies. Since it’s empty, you can use the items inside as you wish.”

The man introduced the house proudly.

We were about to enter the house following him,

and seeing us just entering, he hurriedly waved his hands.

“Ah, please take off your shoes. You should take off your shoes inside the house.”

Oops, I seemed to have lived too long in places where shoes aren’t removed.

I thoughtlessly just walked into the living room.

The party members didn’t know they had to take off their shoes.

Anyway, at the man’s words, Hoffman and Zahina took off their shoes at the entrance and came inside.

But I entered without taking off my shoes.

I decided to take off my armor inside since I couldn’t take off my shoes separately due to the armor.

It was an apartment interior I was seeing after a very long time.

A spacious apartment of over 40 pyeong spread out before my eyes.

A large living room, a long hallway, several rooms. This apartment seemed to be a more luxurious one than I thought.

While I was taking off my armor in the living room, the man introduced the interior of the house to the other two party members.

“This is the bedroom, and this is the bathroom cum bath. You can wash up here. Unfortunately, there’s no water coming out now. That’s the kitchen, but you can’t cook because there’s no electricity. And this is used as a storage room.”

He took the two people to each room, explaining how to use them.

Seeing how he kept looking at Zahina every time he explained, I could guess why he was being so kind.

After introducing the entire interior of the house, the man stood at the door and asked us with a regretful face.

“Is it okay if I bring the food a little later? Is there anything else you need?”

We had food, but there was no need to refuse what was being offered.

And as for what we needed…

I looked at Hoffman and Zahina before saying to him.

“We need clothes.”

At my words, the man nodded while looking at Zahina.

Zahina had been wearing a military uniform until now.

It was a military uniform stripped from an undead, and although it had been cleaned with magic to some extent, it was still very dirty.

The man, looking at Zahina, carefully asked.

“Then… what size are you?”

“?”

Zahina made a puzzled expression at the man’s question.

It seemed the translation didn’t work properly.

But the man seemed to have misunderstood Zahina’s expression.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll come with another lady when I bring the food.”

In fact, I knew Zahina’s body size well.

I had observed it carefully when restoring her body.

However, I couldn’t pretend to know because the way of measuring sizes was different in this world.

Well, it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t say anything.

After the man left, I said to the party members.

“This place seems safe, so let’s rest properly today.”

“Is it okay?”

To Hoffman’s words, I pointed at the door.

“It’ll be fine if we just block the door.”

Even though we came down two floors, this was the 28th floor of an apartment made of concrete and rebar.

For now, it would be safe if we just blocked the metal door.

The lock had been removed so the door wouldn’t close, but there was nothing to worry about.

We had several ways to keep the door from opening.

But there was no need to block it right away.

Instead, I sat in front of the door and started cleaning my armor.

“There’s a bathtub, so take a bath after a long time. There seems to be another bathroom inside too, so you can use both.”

Although no water was coming out, we had an elf shaman who could create water.

She filled the bathtub with water as I said. She created fire and made the water in the bathtub warm.

‘She’s a much more useful party member than I thought.’

I had such a thought as I watched Zahina go in to take a bath.

When I first saw her, she was a disappointing party member due to her lack of combat power.

She was a party member I kept around because I couldn’t abandon her.

Her value skyrocketed when she became able to infuse mana into guns.

Moreover, being able to freely handle water and fire made her an essential party member for traveling together.

‘If only she wasn’t an elf, I would have revered her.’

Such thoughts grew stronger when I saw Zahina come out wrapped in cloth after bathing.

Zahina’s appearance, having taken off her military uniform and cleaned herself, was extremely beautiful.

I knew elves were pretty and handsome from before, but Zahina was exceptionally pretty even among them.

It seemed natural that others couldn’t take their eyes off Zahina when they saw her.

If I hadn’t been hurt by elves before, I might have been tempted by her beauty too.

“I’ve refilled the water. You should wash too, Sir Knight.”

At Zahina’s words, I quickly put down my armor and got up.

A warm water bath, whether she was an elf or not, was something to be grateful for.

A few hours later,

We were sprawled out in the living room with bowls laid out on the floor.

“This is really nice. It’s been so long since I’ve rested properly like this.”

Hoffman was patting his stomach, half-draped over the living room sofa,

and Zahina was sitting with her legs together, examining the clothes she was wearing with a curious face.

It was clothes brought by the women who brought dinner after checking Zahina’s size.

Sweatpants and leggings, a two-piece set and a dress, even jeans.

If I hadn’t stopped them midway, they probably would have brought a bundle of clothes.

And the clothes she was wearing now were comfortable sweatpants.

I too had taken off my armor and was wearing indoor clothes for the first time in a long time.

Wearing soft clothes after such a long time made my body feel ticklish.

A safe and full comfortable evening.

I too was sprawled out lazily like the other party members.

I felt like resting comfortably like this today.

‘That’s not possible though.’

I straightened my posture and opened my mouth.

“I think we need to talk for a moment.”

The two who had been sprawled out looked at me.

The lazy atmosphere disappeared immediately.

“There are things to talk about, and you’re probably curious about what I said earlier.”

Both nodded at my words.

I hadn’t told the two people in front of me what I had said to the Community Leader earlier, about looking for a proper organization.

I had told the two that we would head south to avoid the Demon King until the gate opened.

“Actually, I said that to test the man called the Community Leader. From what I saw earlier, the Community Leader doesn’t seem to welcome us like the others. He seems to be hiding something too.”

Even if he had been hit by me, the Community Leader should have welcomed us.

When powerful weapons came looking for them on their own, not welcoming them meant there must be some other reason.

“I’ve shaken him up with ambiguous words, so there will surely be a reaction.”

After explaining that far, I looked at Hoffman.

“Now it’s time for Hoffman to step up. Can you do it tonight?”

“You mean rock climbing in the dark night and gathering information while avoiding the eyes of naturally awakened people.”

I nodded at Hoffman’s words.

“It shouldn’t be difficult. Leave it to me.”

As time passed and everyone was asleep,

Hoffman began climbing up the apartment wall.