Chapter 193 Non-Combatants
Atticus turned his gaze to see Lucas approaching him with a group of 50 youths in tow.
"These are the youths who can't fight. What do you want to do with them?" Lucas asked as he got close to Atticus.
Many of the youths accompanying Lucas were a bit shocked at how casually he addressed Atticus.
Lucas was an easy figure to remember, especially when he was practically the only one among the Ravenstein youths who wore glasses.
Compared to the others, many remembered his performance during the battle with the horde being underwhelming. They had all assumed that he was the weakest amongst them.
"Thanks," Atticus simply nodded. Unlike what most people would think, Atticus truly didn't care about all those useless formalities.
From the way the Ravenstein youth acted around him, it was clear as day that they all respected him.
Most of them still even addressed him as 'young master,' which honestly sounded cringe as hell to him.
It was only Lucas and Nate who were a little closer to him that at least spoke normally to him.
Atticus turned his gaze to the 50 youths behind Lucas, causing many of them to turn their gazes to the ground.
It was still far too early to forget that this ordinary-looking boy in front of them was a monster in human skin. The last thing many of them wanted was to get on his bad side.
Looking at them, the first thing Atticus noticed was that they were all weak, weaker than normal. None of them were even Intermediate- ranked! All of them being within the novice rank.
They were all dressed differently, each with a different skin tone. Each of them were from different sectors all over the human domain, so it was only natural they had different cultures.
"I'll get straight to the point and stop wasting your time. I noticed many of you standing in the back lines during the battle with the horde," Atticus addressed the youths.
Hearing this, many of them couldn't help but flinch. But before they could panic, Atticus continued,
"You don't have to worry. I have no intention of forcing you to fight,"
Most of them let out audible sighs of relief as they heard this, but Atticus's next words instantly shattered that feeling,
"It's just that to buy anything, even food and water, you all need points. How do you plan on getting them?"
Atticus's question hung in the air as many of them exchanged unsure glances.
He was right; if they didn't fight and kill beasts, how would they get points? That realization seemed to frighten many of them as they started clattering. Would they have to fight?
"W-what d-do you w-want us to d-do?" As the students were all panicking at the thought of having to fight, a feminine voice suddenly sounded in the middle of the youths.
Atticus's gaze turned towards where the sound came from, and the students at the front all parted the way to reveal a 5'5 feet tall dark-skinned girl, who immediately flinched and bent her head down as Atticus's gaze landed on her.
Then, as if remembering something, she quickly bowed down lower and added, "Y-young m-aster,"
Atticus couldn't help but look at the girl who just spoke with slight interest. 'She's sharp,' he noted.
Atticus wanted to use the youths who couldn't fight for miscellaneous work around the camp.
But unlike what one might expect, he wasn't talking about cooks or even cleaners. The making of food and water were all automated, with no operators being needed.
Given the fact that they were all going to be fighting a lot for a year, they would need a lot of things in the camp. And one of them was weapons maintenance and repair.
Apart from the Ravenstein youths, Atticus doubted many of them would have rune-engraved weapons that don't need any form of maintenance at all.
And he had no doubt that purchacing them from the shop would be costly, which many wouldn't be able to afford.
They also needed a medical team, adminstrative and support personnel, and many other things.
Atticus had, of course, wanted them to fill all these positions, but he didn't want it to seem like he was forcing them.
He wanted them to realize themselves that it was their only choice.
But obviously, this girl knew what he had been trying to do.
Just as Atticus was about to talk, a boy with the same skin tone but blue hair suddenly stood in front of her protectively, shooting Atticus a threatening look, "Leave her alone," he said.
Atticus couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in major confusion, turning his gaze to the side, meeting Lucas's, who was also confused about what was happening.
"Stop it, Hen! He didn't do anything," the girl pushed Hen's hand away and stepped forward.
"Zara! You know what the tiered did to us; you can't trust him!" He whispered in her ears as she walked past him.
But Zara didn't listen; she kept walking determinedly towards Atticus at the front, bowing as she got to him, "Y-young master, p-please tell us w-what we should d-do," she said respectfully.
Hen gritted his teeth and clenched his hands, "Suit yourself," he muttered angrily, looking away.
Atticus watched all the drama that just happened with a neutral expression. He could guess what was happening, but he honestly didn't care.
"You're sharp. You're Zara, right?" Atticus suddenly asked.
"Y-yes, y-young master," Zara stuttered, finding it hard to maintain her composure. Being so close to the same person who had massacred thousands of beats as though they were nothing was tough.
Atticus took a good look at her, she was wearing a worn-out plain brown robe, but despite that, Atticus could see some signs of muscle on her form.
It was clear that before this, she had been doing something that required a lot of strength.
"Zara, you don't have to bow. Raise your head," Atticus suggested.
"I wouldn't dare, young master," Zara immediately responded, refusing.
Atticus sighed. Deciding to stop wasting time, "Alright then. What I want is simple, I want to form 3 groups for now. One would be in charge of weapons maintenance, the other would be a medical team, and the last would be adminstrative and support personnel," Atticus explained.
Allowing the words to sink in for a bit, he continued,
"Of course, you would all be given academy points for any services you rendered."
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