I Can Make Everything Level UP
chapter-194

"Why? I treat them like kids all the time, though," Billy said.

"How am I supposed to understand how girls feel?" Alexander asked.

"True, you only succeeded because you had my help, after all," Billy said.

"Aww… come on, you know that I have my charms," Alexander said.

"Someone is getting pretty confident… and you are asking that to the wrong person," Billy said.

"Putting that aside… I am not sure about Sarah. I can't get a good read of her since she is always so composed when she talks about everything," Alexander said. "Now I see why you get annoyed from time to time. If I weren't happy, I would be jealous of someone who attracted two girls such as them… Anyway, what are you going to do? Don't give me your usual bullshit."

Billy clicked his tongue since he was just ready to give his usual bullshit, but now it wouldn't be that effective or funny. In any case, he didn't know what to do. He could only see those two as friends as of now. He decided to change his gears since they were going to reach their destination the next day, and he had to focus on the task ahead. However, things wouldn't be so simple…

After night falls and they had dinner, the group went to sleep, and Billy took the first turn of the watch. However, he noticed that the wind was more eerie than usual… they had camped under a tree, and Billy had extinguished the fire a while ago, so they had never been noticed, but Billy could see some shadows crossing the road nearby, and then another group appeared, a lot faster and they were being transported by some monsters. Both of them came from the direction of the dungeon town…

"I smell blood," Natalie said and then left her tent.

That was some sense of smell… acting heroic wasn't Billy's style. Still, he dashed toward both groups while ready to fight because he recognized the shape of those beasts… they belonged to the tamers, and the guys riding them certainly were the tamers themselves. They were too far away from the border of the new Neles state, so it didn't make sense for them to be there.

The others quickly followed Billy, and thanks to that, the tamers noticed their presence and grabbed their crossbows. Billy clicked his tongue when he saw that… They had five crossbows, but anyone would have a hard time dodging bolts in the darkness of the night. In the end, before they could aim, Billy picked his and then made it turn into one and fired several times in a row.

The five projectiles flew faster than the enemies could move their fingers and pierced their bodies. They fell on the ground, unable to move, and the beasts carrying them slowed down until they completely stopped moving. That was weird, but Billy didn't feel threatened by them. Even though they should have been free from the tamer's control. Or maybe they never become free once they become their pawns…

Nevertheless, the first group noticed Billy and the others approach, and while they stopped, they kept their guard raised. Now that Billy thought about it… why would they run in the opposite direction of the dungeon town? If they were from that state, running away from a place filled with Adventurers was stupid if they were hunted by enemies. Unless…

Just to be safe, Billy aimed his crossbow at the monsters, but they didn't react in any way. So, Billy finished them off without any problems. The others finally caught up with him, and they finally noticed who the enemies were.

You obtained 300 experience points.

The skill Archery obtained 300 experience points.

You obtained 300 experience points.

The skill Archery obtained 300 experience points.

...

"So, these are the tamers…" Kate said. "Those beasts sure are dungeon monsters, but…"

"Who are you guys?" Natalie asked when she approached the group.

She had sensed that something was off despite the fact that she didn't have the same suspicious as Billy. Those guys who were running away were covered from head to toe in a dark cape, and moving as a group like that only meant that they had something to hide and something not good.

"We are traveling merchants who had their things stolen by bandits and…" A man approached and said but stopped when Billy fired a bolt near his feet.

"If you lie again, you won't have the chance to say another word," Billy said.

The man gulped and then looked at his companions. He probably thought that he could fool that group because they are young despite being strong. Still, he clearly didn't think of a better excuse.

"We are inhabitants of the former Toles state… we escaped once the war was over," the man said.

"That is a good start for an explanation…" Billy said. "However, why would those guys chase you so deep in this territory? Do you have some connection to the previous leader of the state?"

That wasn't something the man didn't expect to hear… his silence answered the question, and Billy could feel the tension in both sides rising. Alexander lost many friends in the war, so it was hard to imagine him keeping his cool if those guys were hiding someone close to Ignace.

"Answer the question," Alexander stepped forward and said it.

Alexander was clearly angry, but before he could press forward, Natalie stopped him and shook her head. It seemed that she had noticed something that the others didn't. When Billy looked at the others cloaked figures, he noticed that one of them was short like a kid and behind the others. So, they were probably a young relative of Ignace… Alexander took a deep breath to calm down.. He knew that he didn't have to blame the whole state or everyone close to Ignace for the death of his students, but the blood rushed to his head for a moment.