Chapter 172: The Next Step (6)

"It seems like things are only getting more complicated by the minute…" Mark rubbed his chin thoughtfully after he heard Luke's report. "Things are starting to proceed well here, but we can't drop our guard."

The possibility of a giant overlord appearing and stepping on them was quite scary. So, Amanda and Celia looked quite pale. Speaking of Amanda, Richter was looking at her pretty often, and while he was trying to be subtle, he was as obvious as one could be. As expected, he isn't that old… and he was dumb enough to let the appearances fool him.

"Still, Luke managed to defeat another overlord, huh," Jennifer said. "Richter helped as well, so he must be pretty strong. I feel like if we work together, we can overcome everything."

Rachel forced a smile since she said something similar a few days ago. Jennifer also had seen some pretty messed up situations, so her positive view was welcomed by her.

"I am truly sorry for hiding that information from you… in the end, I also put your son at risk for my foolishness," Rachel said and then lowered her head. "My little brother even attacked him without considering that he possibly was an ally… we will accept any punishment, but please don't do anything harsh with the others."

"Well… I also didn't tell you I would send a single person," Mark said. "Luke doesn't seem that bothered anymore either. How do you want to solve this, Luke?"

"His sword will be enough as an compensation for the problems he had caused," Luke said.

"Screw you… I am not going to give you my best weapon," Richter said.

"Sorry… this idiot has a sharp tongue," Rachel said after she smacked him in the head.

"No problem, I am sure Luke was joking as well," Mark said.

"I wasn't, though," Luke said. "Well, it doesn't matter. If he doesn't cause problems to me again, then I won't have anything to say, but if it happens again, then I will take his equipment, and no one will stop me."

"What a difficult kid you are…" Mark said and then sighed. "In any case, let's rest for today, and we can work together from tomorrow onwards. We will have to help each other if we want to hope to win this war."

Everyone nodded and then proceeded to head to their homes, which made Luke realize that someone's nose was missing. While it was for a silly reason, Danielle was pretty close to him, but she didn't show up to receive him. When Luke went to look for her, his mother told him that she Was sleeping in her room. To make her Koriri grow as much as possible, she hunts the fish at night when no one is doing that.

"Is she giving you too many headaches, mom?" Luke asked.

"Not at all. She is a very sweet girl," Julia replied while smiling. "She is a bit stubborn, but what can you expect from a kid at her age? She reminded me of you when you were young."

"I am plenty young, though?" Luke frowned.

Luke found her pet and the two dog-like pets outside the house his parents were using, and all of those had been growing quite a bit. Maybe Luke should give her permission to go on missions with his parents. She would develop some teamwork and also would decrease the chances of problems emerging from his parents.

"In any case, did Dad catch any messages via the radio transmitter these last few weeks?" Luke asked.

"No… everything has been dead silent since you left three weeks ago," Julia replied with a complicated expression on her face.

It has been more than two months since the world changed… it would be hard to believe that people would still be able to live out there just by running away from the monsters, and if they got in the way of the overlords… nothing but death would be waiting for them. 

In any case, Luke decided to meditate at the top of the walls for the rest of the day and speed up the return of Rina and Shalia's powers. They already knew that they also had to decide where they were going, but for some reason, both of them were hesitating in deciding that as well. It has been two months since they left their home planets, so the situation in those might have got a lot more complicated, and taking Luke to those might determine his death.

"Maybe we don't have to worry too much about this," Rina said. "With your current mana recovery, even without meditation, half an hour's worth of your mana is enough to travel to our worlds. So, we return and check things pretty often here. We can also check both of our planets and see which needs more help. It isn't like things are completely solved here, after all."

"You may have a point, but I wonder if things will be that simple," Shalia said. "Our enemies might have realized what we planned and might have in store some surprises for our return."

Rina didn't say anything, but she looked like it was possible. The overlords could do many things, so it wouldn't be surprising if they return and then find some sort of field over the entire planet that prevents them from escaping.

"Let's not think too negatively," Luke said. "Let's focus on doing our best and hope for the best possible outcomes."

"That sounds like something Rina would usually say…" Shalia frowned.

"Yes, Luke… a single mistake, and you won't be able to return and help your parents in case something happens," Rina said. 

"For them to be helped, for others in case I can't help them, it was the reason I looked for survivors," Luke explained. "I also helped most of the people here level up, so their powers are at least at a moderate level. Besides, I honestly think that my parents solve all problems. They raised me, after all, and I was quite the difficult child.. I suppose that I still am."