Chapter 296: Military Settlement

From the moment we were close to the settlement we were greeted by soldiers. They approached us using armored vehicles. It was the captain who spoke with them.

After the captain spoke with the armored soldiers, we were allowed to enter the town.

The town was bustling with life. It reminded me a bit of Ryomen. The people here seemed happy, for the most part.

The settlement seems to mostly consist of soldiers.

While the captain was gone, the rest of us soldiers were left to do whatever we wanted.

The thing I noticed was that a group of people were waiting in watch as we arrived.

“A lot of the soldiers here have family. It’s normally a big commotion when a troupe comes back,” Ava explained when she saw my curious gaze, but for some reason, her expression seemed a bit downcast.

“What about your family?”

“My grandpa is all I have…” she paused. “I have a little brother. I don’t know what happened to him, but I hope he’s safe out there somewhere.”

Just then, Ethan approached her and rested his hands on her shoulder.

“This time, things will be harder,” he said.

“Why is that?”

“A lot of awakeners were left behind. We have to explain to their family why their son or daughter isn’t here. Since I’m the platoon leader of some of the soldiers that got left behind, it means I will have to explain their loved ones didn’t make it back with us.”

With a sigh, Ethan walked forward to some of the groups who were looking around anxiously.

“Come on, that’s our queue,” Rizor suddenly said, leaning against Liz’s shoulder.

“Queue for what?” I asked.

A wide smile appeared on his face, and at the same time, Ava rolled her eyes.

“Our queue to get drunk, of course,” he grinned, walking ahead. “Come on, follow me.”

With nothing else to do, we followed Rizor.

As I walked, my eyes wandered around the town. From what I’ve seen, it looked like they were still using paper currency.

To me, that seemed like a bad idea.

“It’s strange that you guys still use paper currency,” I said, trying to elicit an answer out of Ava.

Ava nodded along and smiled.

“Yes, we do. But it’s different. It’s the military that handles the distribution of cash. The military took everyone’s wealth and then redistributed it among the soldiers and people who decided to help them.”

I’m guessing that, just like in our old world, everything revolved around money. But since the military was in control of the money, it put them in control of the people.

Such methods were unnecessary for Ryomen. Everyone there was loyal to me, so I didn’t have to control them with money.

Of course, having currency would be useful, and it is needed for every society to thrive, but I didn’t need it to control my pack and keep them in line.

But one thing is for certain: the soldiers were at the top of the food chain here. Specifically, the awakeners.

As we walked through the town, the ordinary people stopped and bowed their heads every time we walked past them.

Even at one point, Rizor stopped, approached a vendor, picked up an apple, and walked off without paying for it. The vendor even thanked him afterwards and bowed his head.

From what I gathered, awakeners could do whatever they please without any consequences.

I could easily see this kind of thing leading to oppression, and soon, maybe some will rebel, and others will try to leave.

The ones that try to leave will most likely be killed the moment they leave their settlement. Some may survive and eventually might end up at the gates of Ryomen.

But most of them will be useless, so they’ll be turned away. Occasionally, though, we might find a diamond. Someone who might not have the strength, but they had the will and courage to fight.

Or someone who had skills that would be useless outside of combat.

Soon, we arrived at a bar. The moment I stepped in, I was hit with the scent of cheap alcohol and the sound of soft music playing in the back.

The bar was packed full of soldiers, and there were quite a few women entertaining them.

The bartender was a slightly chubby blonde woman that looked to be in her 40s. We went to order our drinks and took a seat at an empty table in the back.

Rizor greeted most of the customers as we walked by. He seemed to be a regular here. A few minutes after sitting down, a waiter arrived with our drinks.

“Alright, no more gloomy faces. This here is a place who come to relax and have fun. Forget about all the shit that happened today. Let’s just talk! Talk about anything else,” Rizor shouted as he downed a bottle of beer.

“Are there other settlements like this one?” I asked.

“You always asking questions. What are you, a spy?”

“Ignore him,” Ava said, shooting Rizor a glare. “As for your question, there are more settlements. Most of them belong to the military, but there are a few settlements that were created by awakeners like us.”

“I wonder if there are any other settlements that can match the military. It might be worth it to keep an eye on them,” I said.

Rizor snickered.

“Unlikely, most settlements fail after a few months. No matter how powerful the awakener is that started them, they always fail. There is just something about the military that keeps us on top,” he said.

Ava took a sip of her beer before speaking.

“Well, there is one settlement I’ve heard a rumor of. It’s a place far in the north from here. It’s a place that goes by the name Ryumon.”

“Ryumon?” I asked, repeating the name.

“Yes, you might not know it, but it’s a word that means dragon gate,” Ava chuckled. “It was a folklore I heard once when I was little. It was about a place that if you manage to jump over the gate, you’ll be transformed into a dragon.”

“What’s this place like?”

“I honestly don’t know much about it. Only that the people are happy and that they are thriving. The military can’t get close to it since there is a strange barrier guarding the settlement, and we’ve even heard reports of giant spider-like creatures protecting the area. We’ve had no contact from any of the soldiers we’ve sent to infiltrate them. The whole place is a mystery.”

“Yeah,” Rizor nodded and leaned back in his chair. “The military should do something about them. It could be demons there, for all we know. And even if there isn’t, then we could at least take over the settlement.”

“Why would you do something like that?” Ava frowned. “Maybe the reason they have survived this long is because they kept themselves a mystery. And there is also another settlement to the east that is doing well. I’ve even heard that Demon Slayer is planning on creating his own settlement.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of that,” Rizor said, sighing. “That guy is crazy.”

“Who’s Demon Slayer?” I asked, and immediately, they turned to look at me in surprise.

“Seriously, you haven’t heard of him? The guy that has been going around killing demons as if they are nothing. If he manages to create a powerful settlement, then even the military can’t stand against him,” Rizor said.

“Yeah, from what I’ve heard, he has already undergone 3 evolutions. The speed of his growth is just incredible. That’s why some say he’s a genius. If he continues, then one day, he could rule over the entire world. He could ascend until he becomes a god.”

Was that even possible? Could someone reach Godhood just from leveling up?

Still, it was good that there are other people leveling up at a high rate. We need more people who could fight against Conquest.

“If… If I get the chance, I would join him.” To our surprise, it was Liz who spoke up.

This caused a loud chuckle to escape Rizor.

“Ha! You’re the last person I expected to say something like that. Does Liz maybe have a crush?!”

Liz said nothing and only continued to sip her beer.

I was about to say something else, but then suddenly, a loud commotion erupted from outside.

Thinking that we might be under attack, everyone inside the bar rushed out, ready to attack.

We raced through the town until we saw where a crowd had formed.

Arriving at the crowd, we asked someone present what was going on.

“It’s the soldiers who they say had been left behind. They returned.”

“You can’t be serious.”

We pushed through the crowd until we could see what was happening.

Indeed, they were right. The soldiers had returned, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Just then, I spotted something on one of the soldiers who had returned. It was just for a brief moment, but I thought I saw something wriggling underneath his skin.

Feeling unsettled, I activated my thermal vision skill, but what I saw then left me even more disturbed.

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