Chapter 156 Not an educated guess but a gamble

“So we are going to wait for Daniel to return with good news, right?” Leila asked, swinging her legs to and fro while sitting on a random desk.

“We don’t have much choice,” Mathew barked.

It took Leila only five minutes to bring him to the edge of his patience.

“Why didn’t we send two of us back to level up?” Leila continued to push while a smug grin adorned her face.

With every word she used to challenge Mathew’s judgment, her smile would turn brighter and more amused.

“Because it would stall the main plan if those two people would happen to be away once Daniel returns,” Mathew gave his answer before heaving a deep sigh.

He wouldn’t mind one, two, or even three problems with his reasoning. The young man was more aware than anyone else of his own imperfections. He lamented over his limited knowledge more than the girls in his group could imagine.

Yet, in the end, he could only make his choice based on this incomplete and clue-based information.

“We will have to waste that time once we establish the second merchant anyway, though?” Leila continued with her fun, turning her head to an angle. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small ‘o’.

The curiosity mixed with vicious satisfaction overflowed from her eyes.

‘Ever since I proved I won’t snap back at the voices of opposition, she found a new toy in me,’ Mathew lamented over his situation.

‘A man can deal with the quirks of a single woman,’ he thought before heaving yet another sigh. ‘Dealing with a whole bunch of them?’ the young man shook his head. ‘Maybe that’s why harems mostly come from the hands of virgin authors?’

“It’s all because of what happened before we came here,” Mathew finally said, opting to put an end to the continuous scrutiny.

‘I know she is just trying to pass some time, but enough is enough,’ he thought, raising his eyes and looking at the girl. Yet, rather than continuing, Mathew turned his eyes to Daria. “Don’t take it personally. Rather than a failure I meant to consider what happened as a valuable lesson,” he explained before turning his eyes back to Daria. “As such, I won’t put everyone in danger by making any hasty moves.”

“I don’t really mind mentioning that,” Daria chimed in, responding to Mathew’s words. “I fucked up, I’m well aware of that,” she added. “But speaking about the rest of what you said, I think you misunderstand Leila’s point,” she pointed out.

“How so?” Mathew asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

His psyche instantly pushed him to defend his words, treating Daria’s remark as an attack on it. Yet, after a second of thought, Mathew calmed down and opened up his wide while looking back at the girl.

‘I asked them to provide input, so I need to learn how to accept it, even if it’s not to my liking,’ he thought, tightening his fists as a new wave of determination filled his soul.

“By summing up your decision as an equation between risk, the severity of the danger behind it, and the potential benefits of taking it, you forgot about one major element.” Daria turned herself on her heel before approaching the window. And after looking outside for a short moment, she turned her head back and looked at Mathew over her shoulder. “The night is coming. We are running out of time to fight this army.”

Mathew opened up his eyes to respond to Daria’s points… Only to end up pulling his lips back together as he immersed himself in the new perspective.

‘It’s not like I forgot about that,’ he thought, gritting his teeth over his current dilemma. ‘We already fucked up when we underestimated the zombies once. And then there is this feeling…’

Everything until this point appeared to confirm Mathew’s idea about the new way in which the world worked.

For every challenge, Mathew could find several means of making it easier. He found several ways of leveling up, all coming from different types of games.

‘And for a huge showdown like this one, there is bound to be a tool to make it easier,’ Mathew thought, looking down on the floor. ‘And given the situation, I bet it would be something capable of illuminating the battlefield.’

Mathew heaved a deep sigh before hanging his head to the back and taking a long look at the ceiling.

“The problem is, this is not an educated guess but merely a bet,” Mathew muttered, mistakingly allowing his voice to slip through his lips.

“Whether it was a good choice or not, we will only learn in the future,” Nadia joined in on the topic right as she approached Mathew before calmly sitting down on her knees by his side. “I’m not saying Matty always takes the best, easiest, shortest, or any other kind of path. What I want you to remember, is that his choices brought us all so far,” she pointed.

Nadia then smiled gently and lowered her eyelids before shifting her balance to the side only to rest her head on Mathew’s shoulder.

“I understand the criticism. But you really took it too far,” she added, rubbing her cheek against Mat’s arm. “I believe we should put more trust in his decisions.”

Nadia didn’t bother to say anything else. Instead, she focused on enjoying her opportunity to snuggle up to Mathew, something that they partook for a surprisingly little amount of time given their shared feelings.

“I get it, I’m sorry,” Leila said as she raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t mean to put you down or anything,” she continued, her face tensing up as her words flowed out of her mouth, “I just couldn’t help myself, not when seeing a new side to you… AAAAGH!”

Leila released an embarrassing moan before hiding her face in her hands.

“It’s all because that dummy Daniel!” she then screamed out before turning around in place, then squatting down and hiding her face in her legs.

“I don’t know what you guys are talking about me while I’m away,” Daniel suddenly replied, coming out from the darkness of the corridor further down, “but I’m done with my part of the job.”

The officer walked inside the illuminated area. He was followed by a massive woman with an extremely complicated situation on her face.

‘What the hell?’ Mathew thought when his eyes fell upon her.

Just Robert’s descriptions were enough to associate the woman with the despot he spoke about. And yet, there were only three things that the young man could see on the woman’s face.

First came the bloodied cut on her forehead mixed with several bruises, all conveniently kept to one side of her face. Thanks to this, came to the second point of her eyes being filled with regret. And Mathew could see that only because no swelling hid the woman’s eyes away on the other side of her face.

And lastly, there was extreme exhaustion, expressed both with her haggard breath but also just how red her face was overall.

“It’s her!” Robert suddenly flared up, pointing his finger at the woman as he shouted and started to crawl back.

‘So it’s really that woman?’ Mathew thought, glancing over at the young adult acting like a scared puppy.

Yet, despite how shameful this kind of display was, it also served as undeniable proof that Daniel got the right person.

“Guys, her situation is not that simple, actually,” the officer reported. He then turned his lips into a thin line before shaking his head. “I don’t really understand a thing, so I will leave her to you,” he then said, as he pointed his finger right at Mathew’s face.

“I’m sorry, but that won’t work,” Mathew shook his head. “Since you claimed the room at the top, I need to go and summon a merchant there,” Mathew announced, standing up only to dust off his pants before looking at Daniel. “I believe there will be no problems with this plan?”

The two of them were working together. Yet, they didn’t represent a united front like the members of Mathew’s small harem.

And contrary to the girls in it, Mathew’s fate wasn’t bound to Daniel’s. As such, their cooperation was tight only on the surface, with the tensions and conflict of opinion constantly boiling underneath.

“Are there?” Daniel asked, crossing his arms on his chest and raising one of his eyebrows. “No, fuck that,” he suddenly announced as he shook his head before lowering his hand. “That sword, where did you get it?”

Mathew’s lips quivered, only for their corners to raise up.

“I see you are a man of a culture as well,” Mathew replied, unsheathing his saber before putting it out in front of his chest on both of his hands. “We can get them for two hundred fifty cores a piece at the merchant,” the young man explained as soon as Daniel took the weapon from his hands, freeing them in the process.

The officer swung the saber a few times. He then looked at the blade in silence for a little longer… Only to release a heavy sigh before turning the weapon around in his hands and passing it back to its rightful owner.

“While I can’t deny the craftsmanship or the quality, this blade doesn’t really suit my style,” he informed and shook his head. “I’m glad to see you are willing to show it to me with ease, thought,” Daniel said before backing off and putting a small smile on his lips.

“As for your plans…?” he shook his head. “Go ahead.”