Chapter 57: Trouble?
The day quietly passed in a similar manner. Mitch and Madeline chatted and ate the lion meat while he and Katherine continued to plan for the future.
All in all, Mitch had killed eleven lions, of which he and Madeline ate seven. He had already consumed enough for his mutation by the fourth one, but Madeline was adamant about continuing the conversation.
Mitch finally stopped her when she was about to reach for the eighth lion, telling her that those were for Isaac and the rest of the villagers.
From what Madeline had told him, the tribe was all but ready to start their wandering.
Mitch sighed, "It would seem that we arrived at quite the inconvenient time. We got a few days of rest, and now we once more have to resume our travels."
It hadn’t even been two days for him. He arrived in the evening the first day, went hunting the entire second day, and just woke up a few hours ago.
But Madeline shook her head, disagreeing with Mitch. "That’s wrong, Michael. They told me that they had built this place the same day we arrived. It’s just that they move frequently."
Regardless, they would migrate soon, and Mitch would be forced to carry the corpses.
He could force one of the legios to do it, but he didn’t trust that they wouldn’t take a bite in secret.
It was also too soon for Isaac to eat them. He could probably not do anything against Mitch even if he broke through and mutated, but Mitch didn’t want to take any chances.
Gambling with his life against the ant queen and the lion had been enough; he didn’t need to do it again against one of his followers.
Isaac had incredibly pure faith, but the amount was pitiful.
Whether it was because he’s a natural muscle brain or some other reason, Mitch had no idea. But he didn’t want to leave the possibility of him being betrayed open.
As such, he would hold on to the corpses until he had some kind of insurance.
Preferably, it would be in the form of Komutan also breaking through, but that would have to wait for a while.
With their stomachs filled and emotions vented, Mitch and Madeline returned to their hut and fell asleep. The migration would be arduous, and they wanted to be in their physically best condition.
Mitch was a little scared that someone would sneak into the storage house while he was asleep. Those worries were proven unnecessary by the time he woke up.
The entire village was packed up and ready to be translocated, with the corpses exactly where they had been last night.
He picked them up and moved to where everyone had gathered. Komutan was in the middle, giving a speech that Madeline explained was about where they were going.
The plan was to turn left from the rising sun and walk straight ahead.
’Is the rotation of this world the same as the one on earth?’
"Sure is. If you follow the plan, you will be walking north," Katherine confirmed.
The direction didn’t matter much to Mitch, but he couldn’t help but complain.
’It’s more arid here than it was by the rat nest, and I’m pretty sure that was to the south. Does that mean we are moving away from the equator?’
If they really were to go in that direction, they would eventually end up in a desert.
It was far too soon to even attempt crossing it.
He shoved his way through the crowd and reached the center.
Komutan looked at him in a mix of confusion and reverence. The fact that Mitch had defeated so many lions had left a lasting impression on him, with his faith being stronger than ever.
Mitch pointed to the north. "Bad." He then shifted his finger towards the southeast. "There, good."
Most adults were confused about what he meant, but the children, the chief, and some who desired to learn more about the language of the Khad understood what Mitch meant.
The chief would naturally not challenge Mitch’s judgment, but his curiosity was too much to hold back. "Whyyyyy...?"
He dragged the word out, trying to follow it up with something respectful. Mitch understood what he meant and pointed at the barrels.
"No water."
That was enough to appease Komutan’s thirst for knowledge. His face contorted, realizing that he had almost doomed most of the people here by walking in that direction.
He turned to the people who didn’t understand Mitch and roughly translated what the concerns were.
Everyone turned to Mitch after hearing how close they had been to their demise. They showed faces of gratitude, thanking Khad that he had sent someone to guide them.
Obviously, those prayers were funneled into Mitch in the form of clean Mynt.
With their new direction set, the group started their march. Every adult carried something in their arms. Some held barrels of water, others had stacks of hide. A few were like Mitch and carried corpses.
Meanwhile, the children were surrounding Madeline, speaking with her in broken Inglish.
They had heard from their parents that the archangel of Khad had battled and killed eleven lions on his own. Since then, he had become their role model.
And what do kids do when someone they like does something?
They try to imitate them.
It was still too early for them to join in hunts, so all they could do was learn the language he spoke.
The group kept walking for a long while. They would take breaks every now and then, filling up all their reserves every time they found a body of water.
Some became sick because of the impurities, but their natural regeneration made them recover swiftly.
It was taking so long that Mitch got scared the lions would start rotting before they reached an appropriate location to settle down.
Therefore, he gave Isaac just enough meat to reach the requirements for the mutated reflexes. He still kept all options locked, intending to unlock the desired one when they were done wandering.
Isaac also didn’t break through from it because Mitch started by giving him the weaker lions. That too would have to wait until they reached their final destination.
During one of their breaks, something unforeseen happened.
Several legios were nearing them from the horizon. They held various weapons, and their bodies were almost in as bad of a state as Isaac’s.
And from their expressions, they were there to cause trouble.
