"It wouldn't be Jake. He wouldn't help anyone if there was nothing for him," Lana said.
"Well, I believe that he would know that he would lose a good spot to sell loot if he let this place gets destroyed," Frederick said. "Although I find it weird that the guards said that he was very polite."
"Polite? Then definitely it wasn't him…" Lana said. "How Jake could be polite, it would be easier to make rain ice cream ."
"I agree," Karina added.
"In any case, he still must be around, probably clearing the dungeon," Frederick said. "Even if he isn't Jake, we need to hear about their perspective regarding this incident. Can I count you guys for that? I tried to contact him several times, but it seems he changed his base, so he doesn't want us bothering him, but it should be fine if you guys go."
"Jake will probably realize your line of thinking, and he will only feel more annoyed at you…" Louise said.
"It can't be helped. Right now, we have more important things to consider," Frederick said.
The girls nodded and accepted the mission. It was the first time that they had heard that Jake had changed his base, but it only made sense. There is no way someone with the powers humans could obtain now would live in a grove. Still, Louise felt a bit hurt, while Lana and Karina expected no less from Jake's lack of delicacy. They were supposed to be friends, but he never informed them of that.
After leaving the city when the sun rose, those three quickly found signs of battles nearby the walls. A few kilometers away, they also saw some blood… a lot of blood in two spots. They also found two spots where it looked like something had been burned to a crisp, and they recognized what could have made that…
In the end, they reached the area of the dungeon and found countless undead trents dead on the ground. Still, they didn't see none of them falling. Still, eventually, they heard some weird sounds around, and when they followed it, they found Jake hiding behind a bush, tossing a shield around. After he split two undead trents by half, he recovered his shield and then proceeded to move away from the monsters that chased him. Jake didn't show any surprise when he saw them.
"You should step unless you want to make my work harder here," Jake said.
"You noticed our approach?" Louise asked. "Shall we help?"
"No need. I want all the coins, experience, and loot for me," Jake replied.
"At least you are honest about your endless greed," Lana said. "Hey, we heard that a cloaked figure armed with a big sword helped the people there and killed some of the criminals. It was you, wasn't it?"
"Where is my big sword?" Jake asked. "Wait… I shouldn't have asked that to a girl, right?"
"Ew… leave me out of your dirty jokes," Lana said. "Anyway, you don't want to spread information that you were the one who attacked them?"
"Oh? You are getting smarter, very good, very good," Jake replied. "That is right, I want to stay out of their radar for as long as possible. A few days ago, I faced two guys and let them escape, so I believe that they must have joined that group of shitheads. Only those two know what I look like in detail, so I can surprise them if I leave things like that."
"That sounds like something you would do since it is stupidly risk," Lana said and then shrugged. "In any case, did you learn anything while you fought them?"
"If Frederick sent you guys, then I want some information in exchange as well," Jake said.
"... You still would ask for that if he hadn't sent us?" Lana asked.
"Who knows?" Jake asked.
In the end, Lana cut to the chase and told Jake what they knew. While Adam said that they shouldn't spread some types of information, Jake was their friend, and he was fighting solo, so he wouldn't spread anything, even less so information that might put him in danger.
"I see… So it is like that. It makes sense. I only saw a single guy using innate skills," Jake said. "Still, they weren't half bad considering that they didn't complete the tutorial. They must be training under the care of their leaders in some decent hunting ground. Another thing that I learned… I was ambushed when I went to check things in the city. That means some of them also kept an eye on that place and saw me earlier. Your friend Frederick isn't the only one who put some people to watch those kinds of places."
Those three got hurried. Even Lana, who was the most airhead of the group, recognized the problem. Someone was bringing players from the tutorial and training them to become criminals… They also were using spies to keep an eye on things while they selected the best places to attack. Their goal was still hard to predict.
"... Anything else?" Karina asked.
"It didn't seem like they were being controlled like you were once, so if you see them, you shouldn't hold back or be merciful," Jake replied. "If you do the right thing, you will survive and feel a bit guilty, but if you don't, the enemy will survive, and you will die."
"I will keep that in mind," Karina said.
"Well, that is all," Jake said. "Now, if you will excuse me, the undead trends won't hunt themselves."
The girls watched Jake for a while, and they saw that nasty-looking shield kill dozens of trents. It was useful to know that they could be customized like that, but Louise worried about Jake's mental health. It didn't seem like he enjoyed killing, but he didn't feel that bothered by it either. Not to mention, he was becoming more aggressive in his fighting style. It was clear looking at his shield.
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