Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

Chapter 64: Here we come, elves! (1)

As we walked silently from the town hall to the courtyard, I kept sneaking a peek towards the weirdest general I had met that was walking in front of me. After he handed me those bags of clothing, he just told me to change into one of those new clothing that he bought.

I actually didn't mean it when I said I would've had 3 luggage of clothing if he paid me. Heck, I almost forgot I said it, even. But what surprised me the most was that this aloof general remembered my words? And even acted on it?

Could he probably...?

"Hey, eel." I called out to him as I twirled my hoodie's drawstring.

"Yeah?" He peeked back at me over his shoulder, giving me a smirk.

"Did you, perhaps..."

"Perhaps?"

"Did you cut my winning money to buy these clothes?" I glared dagger at him.

"Eh? Why do you say that?" His eyebrows raised, and he looked genuinely surprised.

"Because maybe you didn't want to pay me? Gah, how much do I have left?" I scrunched my hair in a panic. Oh my gosh if it was true, those clothing must've cost a lot. Couldn't he just give me cold, hard cash instead?

"Well," he put his hand on his chin and looked up, "I didn't intend to, but now that you've suggested it, why not?"

"Don't go dictating what I should buy." I pouted.

"I'm joking. That one's on me. You'll need a lot of clothes soon, anyway." He shrugged and continued walking.

"Soon? How soon? And why?" I questioned as I fasten my steps to walk side-by-side with him.

"Not too soon. I have to prepare everything before I make my move." He winked at me.

"Sometimes you talk as if we're in a detective movie, and sometimes you talk as if we're on a Sunday cartoon show." I let out a long sigh. I knew that he wouldn't be telling anymore hints about his 'plan', so why would I bother asking?

"Hey, as they said, get you a man who can do both, right?" He laughed annoyingly.

"That's not how it's supposed to work..."

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Upon arriving at the courtyard, I saw 2 figures standing near their respective horses, each one of them clad in armors, ready to take on any enemies. I knew that there would only be 4 people participating in this raid, including me, but it still felt a little bit surreal.

Sure, I had been in a private squad mission during my serving times, but it was mostly assassination, stealing something, or intercepting something. I had never been to a war where we fought with only 4 people.

"Ah, Chaerin." Jeanne noticed me first and approached me with a worried look on her face.

"Jeanne! How's your leg? Are you feeling better now?" I asked as I checked her from her head to her toes. Everything seemed to be in place, yep. I was no doctor, but at least every limb was placed correctly now. Great.

"I'm perfectly fine now, Chaerin," she smiled at me, "rather, are you sure you're going to participate?"

"That's great to hear. And of course, I have something I wanna do there." I laughed a bit. By 'something', I meant meeting an edgy grumpy man who might or might not be there.

"She'll be okay. Does she still look like a weakling to you?" General Zhang suddenly came up behind me and patted my shoulder, while giving Jeanne a smirk.

She stared at me for a while, before finally giving us a weak nod.

"She's strong, but that doesn't mean she won't be in danger." Jeanne frowned.

"You worry too much, Jean-jean~ Life is always dangerous anyway. Tee-hee!" General Zhang winked.

Well, of course I was stronger. I basically trained like a maniac for a little more than a week. Furthermore, I got this 'system' thing that helped me grow faster than most people here.

"Status." I whispered under my breath, making sure it was barely audible for everyone else.

[Stat points: (Yoo Chaerin)]

[Strength: 36]

[Intelligence: 79 (+5)]

[Agility: 28]

[Physique: 35 (+5)]

[Stat points available: 15]

I put my hand on my chin for a while, trying to remember Jeanne's stats. If I remember correctly, our stats should roughly be similar, right?

I glanced at Jeanne, and muttered the same keyword as before to open up a new floating window in front of me.

[Stat points: (Jeanne Chevalier)]

[Strength: 42]

[Intelligence: 28]

[Agility: 35]

[Physique: 30]

Oh? Her stats also rose from the last time I checked. I see. That made sense, the people here must've trained a lot too, and of course they'd be constantly growing. That being said, I was pretty sure my growth rate was far better, though.

"Oi, little cub, what are you doing staring into the void? Have you finally lost your mind?"

"Eh? Ah--" I was snapped back to reality when general Zhang waved his hand in front of my eyes.

"Um, anyway, mind briefing me on what we will do?" I cleared my throat.

"Oh, right. Let me introduce you to this raid's leader, general Emilio." Jeanne said as she gestured towards the expressionless man who was leaning against his horse. His face was flat, that was for sure, but somehow, I felt intense killing intent coming off of him. So much that I instinctively adopted a wider stance.

"Greetings, general Emilio." I briefly greeted him with a small bow and a slight nervous frown.

"Yes." He replied concisely, only sparing me a quick glance before he turned his head away again.

"He's just focused. Don't mind him, he's not good at expressing emotions, but he's a good guy." Jeanne said as she smiled at me.

"Yeah, I don't mind that part. But is he always hungry for blood like this?" I whispered to Jeanne in a low voice.

"No, he's usually a very soft-spoken guy, although he's often misunderstood... But I think his brother's kidnapping really took a toll on him. They were never separated before." Jeanne answered me.

"I see..." I glanced at the general, and now his bloodlust didn't feel as scary as before.

Even though he seemed dangerous, but after hearing what Jeanne said, all I saw was a broken and confused man, who was desperate and didn't know what to do. Again, I felt a pang in my chest when I recalled the moment when I was in his shoes. When Eli suddenly disappeared.

At that time, what helped me the most was...

"General Emilio, may I please see your hands?" I approached him slowly, half-nervous but also half-confident.

"What do you want?" He frowned.

"Just for a second. You can sense that I mean no harm." I stood in front of him, stubbornly waiting for his hands.

He clicked his tongue, but eventually he took out both of his palms in front of me.

"Thank you." I smiled, and took out a...