CHAPTER 68: REUNION

I followed Akina as she went out the door and waited for the tower to collapse behind us but nothing seems to be happening. Except instead of collapsing... It suddenly starts to go back into the ground as if it was never there in the first place.

Akina didn’t seem bothered by it at all either which was strange but I guess she did make up her mind on what she was doing.

"Rokuroooo!" Ghost shouts as she runs over.

I feel the warmth as she hugs me, something that I haven’t felt much since the abyss. It always feels so rare to get such a feeling but it was nice to see her.

Of course I hugged her back for a moment before looking past her at Lilly who was standing with Velia and Mira.

"I did miss the two of you so it’s nice to see you both again." I say with a smile.

I hear footsteps approach before noticing that it is just Akina moving to stand next to me. "I’m very happy to meet you both, I’m Akina." She introduces herself with a slight bow.

Ghost let’s go of me and observes her for a moment. "I’m ghost and the red hair girl is Lilly, nice to meet you." Ghost says with a polite tone.

I wasn’t really expecting ghost to say anything nice to this woman since I just keep bringing them along. There is definitely going to be quite a conversation later on once we get out of here.

"Tch. Another woman joining us, here I thought it was bad enough with Velia and this Mira lady. This group is getting too big." Lilly speaks up with an irritated tone.

"We’ll be figuring that out when we setup a home base." I respond with a laid back tone.

There was no reason for me to stress about this since we have quite the group for the time being. We’ll definitely be able to afford getting a place big enough for everyone to stay at.

Actually, what if we just upgraded the junkyard a bit to make it a bit more sustainable? It was my home for a long time anyway so it wouldn’t be that bad of an idea.

Plus everyone here is strong enough to handle monsters anyway so it won’t ever be a problem.

Poke. Poke. I can feel a finger poking my cheek as I drift out from my thoughts. "Best to head off before more trouble arrives right? Hehe." Akina questions with a bit of a chuckle.

"It would be a good idea. We have quite a long walk to the place I have in mind." I respond while looking ahead.

"Oooh another fancy hotel?" Lilly chimes in with a bit of excitement taking over her annoyed tone.

I shake my head as I walk down the steps. "Back to my home, my shop in the junkyard. We can do some upgrades to make it a lot better for everyone." I answer with confidence.

Akina starts to laugh from behind me for a few moments as everyone else remains silent. "Sorry, sorry. I can definitely help with making it a lot better so let’s get going." Akina says after calming down.

There was nothing further to say so it was time to start heading back, even though we have to travel throughout the wasteland again. I mostly listen to the chatter between everyone as we continue to walk.

Listening to Lilly and Ghost talk to one another as Velia remains quiet. The main people who also seem to be rather are Mira and Akina.

It made a lot of sense for Mira to be on the quieter side since Akina is here master so it makes sense.

No monsters will bother attacking us right now, especially not with Akina here.

Her power must be on another level for them to just ignore us outright like this. I figured monsters would be a bit dumb still since they still attacked us back then.

Some are but not the ones around the wasteland. Maybe some hunters that lurk in the wasteland will approach but that’s the most I can see happening.

Depends if anyone saw the fight between me, Velia, and the guys from before. I wouldn’t want to mess with us if I witnessed everything that happened.

A lot of people died from Velia alone so I wouldn’t think to attack with her around.

There are other groups that lurk about, not just that one.

I kind of guessed that much since the world is full of powerful hunters, both good and bad. I’m sure we will get to see them soon enough, a fight that I don’t look forward to at all.

Killing multiple humans will truly make the bloodlust uncontrollable which is something I’d like to avoid.

"Perhaps I’ve figured it out. It’s not just you in that head of yours is it?" Akina asks quietly with a bit of curiosity.

Her words definitely caught me off guard but I can’t just tell her that Rika is talking to me since I don’t know what that’ll mean. I’m not trying to put myself in a risky situation because of my answer to this question.

"Nah, it’s just me." I reply with a calm tone.

I can tell she was grinning... Even without looking at her directly as we walk. "Hmm. It was worth asking. I’m just interested in you is all." Akina says nonchalantly.

This woman is definitely quite a mystery with how she thinks... But at least she’s on our side for the time being which makes a difference in this world.

Having someone with her power will definitely make the journey a bit more interesting. Still, it kind of feels like we are cheating with her on our side but I guess sometimes people get lucky.

"Anyway I’ll have more questions for you as we travel together Rokuro. I look forward to it all." Akina continues on with happiness in her voice.