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"Now that we know how to fight them, there is no point being worried!

" Layn shouted in order to encourage his people. Even though he met Al just a few moments ago, the man already proved his usefulness, earning himself the right for Layn to consider him a comadre.

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"Are we finally going to get serious?

" The burly man asked as he glanced towards the monsters rolling towards them.

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"No,

" Layn shook his head after casting a quick glance to the back.

"Others already left the danger zone. We are withdrawing as well,

" Layn protested, unwilling to chase the endless glory and put everyone at risk because of that.

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"What a bummer,

" Al moaned, almost as if he was in real pain before shaking his head.

"But well, you are the leader here,

" he grinned at Layn before theatrically taking a step back and resting his ax on his shoulder.

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"Are you sure?

" Irea asked in a low voice, not trying to contest Layn's decision at all. From her tone and curiosity, one could tell that she was just ensuring herself about the following course of actions.

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"Yeah, there is no point fighting them. We won't be able to recover more stones either way,

" Layn said as he shook his head before taking a step back. Then another one. And then he pulled the entire group along, making them all jog out of the local overlord's sphere of influence.

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"They are still chasing us,

" Antion would report every now on then. It was thanks to his keen eyes that Layn could keep a record of the behavior of the monsters.

nThe first batch to give up were the slow monsters, the one that appeared right before the balls of the reverse effect steamrolled through the battlefield. Once those monsters realized their attempts at giving chase would be futile, they simply turned around and returned to the forest.

nWith all the waves that Layn's group eradicated before, only those massive, reversible monsters and a bunch of the quick and agile ones remained.

nAnd while the fast group also gave up on chasing them in roughly an hour, the big balls of reverse influence continued to roll towards them as if nothing in the world could even stop them.

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"Don't you want to kill them?

" Irea asked while turning her head to the side to look at Layn.

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"I'm still hoping that I would find some use for them,

" he replied, looking over his shoulder to make sure his group keeps roughly the same distance from those monsters as before.

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"Use them? Are you for real?

" Irea muttered, unable to just accept such a ridiculous sentence at its face value.

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"Look, we have a way to quickly get rid of them if necessary. But we could also make a proper use...

" Layn spoke as he watched the monsters, only to suddenly stop and shout,

"SLOW DOWN! They are losing interest!

"

nWith his eyes glued to the back, Layn instantly became aware when he realized that the monsters suddenly started to roll back to the forest.

n'Was it the distance? Was I really wrong about them targeting us?' he asked himself before burying his feet in the ground to stop himself before turning around and rushing towards the ball-like monsters.

nNot waiting for anyone to follow up on him, Layn rushed to the back as if he wanted to suddenly charge alone into all the monsters that remained on the chase.

nAnd sure enough, in a short moment, the balls that already started to roll away suddenly changed their directions and started moving towards Layn once again.

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"So that's it,

" Layn muttered before sharply moving his head to the side and looking at Al.

"Can you get rid of the small monsters around them?

" he asked before moving his eyes on the next target.

"Antion, you make sure to gather their stones,

" Layn's eyes moved once again,

"Irea, make sure to keep our backs safe!

"

nWith the orders set and people ready to get in motion, Layn waited for a few moments to let the monsters gain a bit of distance from him before turning around once again and starting to run.

nThis time, though, his speed was even slower. All for the sake of keeping those rolling and incredibly useful balls of meat on the leash.

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"They are coming!

" Al shouted as the wave of the agile monsters reached towards him. In a flash, his surroundings started to glister when the sunlight started to reflect off the afterimages of Al's ax.

nRight behind him, Antion continued to either throw knives, pebbles, or just lumps of mana at the approaching enemies, making sure to throw them off the balance before they could clash with Al.

nWhile improvised, those two made for a pretty efficient and simplistic meatgrinder on the battlefield. 'If I could get the two of them to cooperate with the idea of the academy... Their cooperation would make for a good class for our new students to take!' Layn allowed himself a tiny bit of luxury of thinking about the future despite still standing just a step away from the battlefield.

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"What do you even need those big meatballs for?!

" Irea suddenly protested as she threw a simple fireball at a sneaky beast trying to get behind so that it could attack the group from the rear.

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"Can't you see how much we could use them?

" Layn replied with his voice infused with so much shock that Irea twitched. 'Huh? Was I supposed to understand it right away?' she suddenly thought, allowing the worries to momentarily take over her heart.

n'He's been away only for a few days... But he already brought a new girl with himself? What if my position on his side will get threatened?' Irea thought, instantly feeling the shock paralyzes her body.

nShe wasn't interested in exploiting the man. She was more than capable of achieving a peaceful and simple life with her own hands. 'I didn't follow him for the benefit's sake, but because I actually started to like him,' Irea said to herself in her thoughts, unwilling to voice this simple realization out.

nThis belief, this feeling, was something that she was long aware of. It's just that she never had the courage to properly spell it out or at least address it.

n'Is he dissatisfied with how slow I am? Is he going to throw me away?' Irea's thoughts continued to spiral down and down the dissaray valley, eradicating all the focus that the girl was so proud of.

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"Huh? Are you okay?

" Layn asked as soon as he noticed that there was something strange going on with Irea.

"Did something hit you?

" he built upon his question when the girl fell to her knees.

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"Ah, I'm sorry,

" Irea said in a shaking voice, unable to as much as focus her eyes. With her head lowered down, she refused to look at Layn's face, too scared to see what his expression was.

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"Dang, get a hold of yourself!

" Layn shouted before leaning further and grabbing the girl underneath her knees and armpits.

n'Something must've happened to her,' Layn thought with anxiety while carrying the girl away. Right now, he could only count on Antion and Al to keep up the leash on the monsters.

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"You should be safe here for a while,

" Layn said when he finally found a suitable place to lay the girl down.

"Listen, can you tell me how did you defeat that ball from before?

" he asked while pushing the hair out of the way of Irea's eyes.

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"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

" The girl continued to sob, clearly unable to gather her thoughts.

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"Tsk,

" Layn couldn't help but click his tongue. 'Whoever made her like this, I will make him or her **ing pay,' he thought as his expression darkened. But as he stood up, Irea reached forth with her hand and grabbed the cloth of his sleeve.

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"Don't leave,

" she suddenly spoke some nonsense, staring at Layn with her teared-up eyes. She then lowered her head and looked down yet refused to let go of Layn's sleeve.

"Don't leave me...

" she muttered in a sobbing voice, already tearing up all over.

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"I'm not leaving you. I'm just putting you in a safe space,

" Layn said as he sighed before sitting down beside the girl and looking in her teary eyes.

"Irea, if something happened, you know you can just tell me,

" he started, not sure what he should do at this moment.

n'To be fair, if I were to choose between the two of them and Irea, I wouldn't even need to think about it,' Layn made sure to figure out his feelings on the situation before even attempting to tackle the problem Irea had.

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"I'm sorry, I'm so useless,

" Irea lowered her head again, unable to sustain eye contact with Layn.

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"Useless?

" Layn asked in an exasperated voice, confused by the situation to no end.

"Just where this kind of bull** came from?

" he asked, startled by the sudden revelation.

"If you call yourself useless, then we might as well just lie down and wait to be killed!

" Layn suddenly shouted before pointing his hand in the direction where the ball-like monsters were coming from.

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"I don't know if you forgot it, but you are the only one capable of killing them!

" Layn shouted, hoping that his passionate voice would reach across the wall that Irea already built around herself.

"I have no idea where those doubts of yours came from, but you are crucial to my plans of using those monsters,

" Layn said before his eyes suddenly widened.

nHe had to hear himself speak those words in order to fully understand the situation.

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"But that's not where your value lies,

" he suddenly spoke in a soft voice while kneeling in front of the girl.

"For me, you are the most important person in this new life of mine.. That's why I will never leave, nor will I ever leave you alone.

"

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