The rock struck the head of the girl statue with pinpoint accuracy.
Boom—!
With a deafening crash, the statue crumbled to pieces.
The plan had worked perfectly. As a bonus, a few monsters nearby were crushed under the debris. Two birds with one stone!
Not all of them were dealt with, but a significant number of monsters surrounding Happy House began running toward the village.
“We need to go and get Mr. Ludfisher now.”
If we hadn’t seen him, that would’ve been one thing. But knowing Nox was still alive, there was no way we could leave him behind.
“We do, but I’m not sure how we’re going to find Ludfisher in that monster-infested hellhole.”
“Right? And of all times, we had to lure every single monster into the village...”
The number of monsters roaming the village had grown even more. The creatures that had been lingering near Happy House were now flooding toward the noise.
Ethan clicked his tongue and ran a hand roughly through his hair.
“Tsk. I was hoping to avoid a frontal assault.”
“If I’d known this would happen, I’d have just suggested breaking through from the start. You do realize the difficulty of getting into the village just skyrocketed, right?”
Completely unfazed, Ethan gave a calm nod and stood up. I pressed him further.
“Shouldn’t we come up with a plan to get into the police station and rescue the doctor? Even if we’re going with a frontal assault, we need some kind of strategy.”
I figured Ethan must’ve already been thinking about that while I was busy knocking down the statue.
As expected, he didn’t panic. Instead, he calmly pulled out the map of the village and spread it open.
“Are you aware there’s a clock tower on the south side of the village?”
Just as Ethan said, there was a clock tower marked slightly south of the central plaza. It was also close to the police station.
“If Ludfisher’s still alive, he’ll head to the clock tower first. That’s where we should go.”
“Why? Wouldn’t he just get trapped like the people in the plaza earlier?”
“It’s his habit. When he’s cornered, he climbs to a high vantage point to assess the situation and make plans.”
Ethan spoke as if he knew Nox inside out.
Which made sense. The two of them had been classmates at the Royal Academy. Even if they weren’t on good terms, they’d spent enough years together to know each other’s tendencies.
“Once we rescue Ludfisher from the clock tower, we’ll head to the police station, contact the capital through the waterway line, and then return here.”
Ethan folded the map as he spoke.
“What if Ludfisher isn’t at the clock tower?”
"Then there's nothing we can do. We can't just wander around that monster-infested hell looking for him."
Ethan's response was colder than I expected.
And yet, he wasn’t wrong. But still—we had to save Nox.
Nox was a doctor. In this ruined world, that made him just as important as Ethan.
After a brief moment of hesitation, I finally nodded. Of course, I was already considering going to rescue Nox on my own if it came down to it.
“Alright. But before that, let’s set up some signals—ones only we’ll recognize.”
“Any signal we use isn’t going to be noticed by the monsters anyway.”
“No, not signals for the monsters—signals for us. What are you going to do if something happens? Shout, ‘Sir Ethan! There’s a problem over here! Could you come check it out for a moment?!’ or something?”
I mimicked the motion of yelling, and Ethan quickly grabbed my hand, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Keep still. Are you trying to attract attention?”
“That’s exactly my point. The monsters are sensitive to sound. That’s why we need simple hand signals. I’m nervous—really nervous, okay?”
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When I pushed the issue again, Ethan furrowed his brows and stared at me. But soon enough, he nodded, signaling that he was on board.
I wasted no time and demonstrated the first signal. Pointing my index and middle fingers at Ethan like a gun, I flicked them upward.
“This means attack.”
Next, I stretched my right arm wide and swept it in a half-circle to the left, like waving a flag.
“This means we need to retreat to the mansion.”
Ethan nodded, clearly finding the gestures simple enough to follow.
“Easy.”
Finally, I crossed both hands in front of my chest, forming an X, and looked at Ethan.
“This means something’s wrong.”
Ethan mimicked the gesture and shot me a look as if asking, ‘Satisfied now?’
“All set?” he asked, extending a hand toward me.
I grabbed his hand and stood up, giving a firm nod.
“Let’s go.”
Ethan and I climbed down from the roof, each grabbing an empty bag before stepping out to the gate of Happy House.
Ethan gave me a quick nod.
“Let’s move.”