A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

However, there's no need to imagine that these people live in a backward way. After recycling and refurbishing the scraps, they have enough sleeping bags and commonly used tools.

"How are they going to deal with the monsters?" Bray asked.

“There will be shifts for night watch, but if there are powerful monsters... they'll just abandon this place.” Atwood shrugged.

Although he didn't live in the camp, he was quite familiar with the lives of the homeless.

After all, we're in the same industry, so we should still show some concern.

Without weapons, no one in the camp could stand up to the powerful monster.

Because most of the survivors were simply lucky, not because they were particularly strong.

The majority of the people struggling to survive in the wasteland are ordinary people, and many of them may have been cooking at home before the disaster.

Most of the skilled adventurers were outside the city, and they were all gone.

So if a camp of wanderers really encounters a powerful monster, they can only accept their bad luck and flee for their lives.

As for how many will die and how many will live, that's up to fate.

“So in order to live here peacefully, loud noises are not allowed.” Atwood even made a shushing gesture.

Not everyone has Atwood's ability to completely conceal his presence.

"Don't be nervous, just don't be too loud. I don't mean you have to say nothing." He patted Bray on the shoulder, acting a bit too familiar.

Bray glanced helplessly at the shoulder that Atwood had patted him on the shoulder.

He still hoped to get close to the female elf, as it was common knowledge that there were many handsome men and beautiful women among the elves.

The guy in front of me, although he was very strong, had a rather androgynous appearance.

She's the kind of person who would look perfectly natural even if she wore women's clothing.

However, Bray was still not interested in male elves.

“Because it can’t be too noisy, there will be a few children here, but absolutely no babies.” Atwood’s expression suddenly darkened a little, but from his tone, it was clear that he didn’t actually object to this approach.

"There can't be a baby..." Bray immediately felt something was wrong, but after thinking about it for a moment, he could understand.

Atwood casually shook his head, not continuing the conversation on the topic.

Afterwards, Atwood greeted the people in the camp, because he had been there before and they hadn't forgotten him.

As for the content of the greeting, simply put, it was something like, "He brought someone with him."

After a brief greeting, the others got to know the stranger, but they didn't discuss Bray himself.

Their attention was mostly focused on the message Bray brought about the "safe zone." Since Bray was the "messenger," he honestly told them everything he knew.

Sure enough, these people living a nomadic life had no idea that a safe zone existed.

Even worse, some people didn't believe Bray's words, thinking it was absurd.

Whether they believed him or not was irrelevant to Bray; he was simply fulfilling his duty as a "messenger."

Although he added the identity of "messenger" to himself, no one forced him to do this.

But since we've taken on the role of "messengers" in the Second Age, we should be more dedicated.

If he hadn't met that male elf, Bray wouldn't have believed that anyone could wander in the wilderness.

No, I doubt that apart from this amazing guy, there's anyone else who could live like this all by themselves in the wasteland.

Bray felt he couldn't do it; no matter how good he was at fighting, he couldn't wander around in this era for several years without dying.

“By the way, I’ll take you this far, and I won’t be responsible for the rest,” Atwood said to Bray.

"I'll have to continue wandering myself."

"Do you have a destination in mind? Or are you planning to go to the safe zone?" Bray asked.

“Destination? No, we’ve just been going and looking around. There’s no way to determine the exact direction in this wilderness,” Atwood said helplessly.

Even though Bray pointed in a direction, Atwood still had a hard time finding the safe zone, so he didn't really crave it.

"Well, I guess we'll meet again someday, although I have a feeling we'll see each other soon..."

“But I still want to meet some pretty girls,” Atwood said with anticipation.

“I think so too. I’d rather meet a female elf,” Bray said honestly.

---

Atwood ran away without looking back, taking a lot of meat from Bray before he left.

Bray stood in the camp, looking around, as if he could rest there for a while.

Despite its simplicity, Bray didn't care about the living conditions; as long as he could sleep peacefully, that was enough for him.

After several days of surviving in the wild, sleep became a real problem.

"By the way, may I ask if food can be exchanged for anything here?" Bray asked a woman who looked rather delicate.

He still had plenty of food; it would be even better if he could exchange it for something useful.

At that moment, there were actually many people nearby who, upon hearing the word "food," almost instinctively looked over.

Bray naturally noticed these gazes immediately.

"..." The moment Bray was stared at by those gazes, he sensed that there was malice mixed in with them.

I imagine some people would think they could just take the food off their bodies.

Even though they don't yet know where Bray can fit so much food.

This group has long formed a small circle, and if it's for survival, they wouldn't feel any guilt about taking action against others outside the circle.

Even so, Bray remained calm, and his expression hardly changed.

He had originally planned to rest here for a while and get a good night's sleep, but it seems a bit unsafe.

Bray didn't want to be stabbed in the back by a stranger while he was sleeping soundly.

He knew that surviving in a place that was not a safe zone was almost a miracle in itself.

To live comfortably under such circumstances is simply a dream.

For these people, being able to have a good meal is the greatest luxury.

Therefore, he did not intend to pursue these malicious acts. If he did not have some strength and sufficient resources, he would probably have become one of the mob.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll have any pity for these people; it’s absolutely impossible for him to give up his food.

"Food?" The woman who had been spoken to looked at Bray with suspicion.

“Yes, I still have some food. What do you have to exchange for food?” Bray repeated his previous words, intending to begin negotiations properly.

Bray's negotiation skills are poor, but he still has to speak up; he can't just not negotiate because he's bad at it.

"Uh..." The woman paused for a moment, then turned to look at her companion.

Their companions looked at each other and began to whisper among themselves.

"Do you have clean water?" Bray asked, noticing that the other person hadn't spoken for a while.

"Yes, we..." The woman wanted to mention that there was a clean water source nearby, but she stopped herself in time.

If Bray knew there was a water source nearby, why would he trade food for it?

Bray raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"That's fine. Besides water, let me see if there's anything else I need."

Water is a scarce resource in Bray; in the vast wilderness, it is difficult to find enough water for their own use.

To avoid contracting the disease, Bray had to keep himself clean, which required water.

You also need water to replenish fluids.

You still need water to make soup.

"Of course, feel free to take a look around," the women's soccer player said immediately, pointing to their simple camp.

At first glance, you might think the people at this camp are very welcoming, but that's not actually the case.

Many people are still wary of Bray, presumably because they don't want him to take away resources they already lack.

They are unwilling even if it's called a mutual transaction.

The people in the camp do not want any changes other than an increase in resources.

Although the transaction is supposed to be a two-way street, the act of taking out items still touched a nerve with many people.

Moreover, this outsider might intend to stay in this camp, which would make things even more complicated.

The camp already struggles to maintain the resources needed by everyone; if another person of unknown origin takes over, it simply becomes unaffordable.

To this, Bray could only say that they were overthinking it, and that he had no intention of living there.

It's not that I don't want to live here because it's shabby, but it's too dangerous.

He had originally thought he could get a good night's sleep here, but now it seems that's not going to happen.

Bray wandered around the small camp and made deals with some people.

During the process, he carried several buckets of water and stuffed them all into his waist bag under the astonished and greedy gazes of everyone.

Not only water, but Bray also found some interesting little things, including many items that could be used to maintain weapons.

After cleaning himself of his filth with water, a refreshed Bray tossed out the corpses of three monsters.

Although it was called a corpse, it had actually been processed by Bray and was edible.

These monsters were hunted and roasted whole by Bray not long ago. He originally intended them as food for the near future, but now he can use them to trade for other things.

Since there's no market price to research anyway, the deal will be fine as long as both parties are willing to agree in the end.

Of course, hopefully the other party is genuinely willing and doesn't end up robbing you.

Bray successfully made a deal with the people in the camp and then rested there for a while.

Surprisingly, the people in this camp didn't really try to negotiate with Bray.

That's true, the water could actually be drawn directly from the water source.

There may be dangers on the way to the water source, but those dangers are definitely less than those of hunting monsters.

"Great, this meat is enough for all of us to eat for a long time."

"It's meat... I haven't seen such good meat in a long time."

"If you save a little, you can last a long time."

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves, but those inside the camp seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

This amount of meat may not seem like much, but if each person eats only a small amount, it can last for a very long time.

Moreover, with the support of this food, not too many people will die when moving camps.

Because when moving camps, in addition to being killed by demigods and monsters, you will also starve to death on the way.

Bray's food was a great help, and what they got in return was almost unnecessary for the camp.

Then the people in the camp warmly invited Bray to stay and hoped he would get a good night's rest there.

This seems normal, after all, Bray had just done them a big favor.

Bray nodded and accepted the offer to stay from the people in the camp.

He looked up boredly, counting the number of clouds, completely emptying his mind.

Constantly thinking and fighting, Bray's spirit was actually quite exhausted.

Gradually, night fell, and darkness enveloped the surrounding scenery.

This complete darkness brought with it endless fear.

But the firelight beneath the Ghost Face Stone Gate dispelled most of the fear, giving the weak some comfort and a sense of security.

Although it's not as safe as a safe zone, the camp is a place where homeless people can feel at ease.

Time passed by, and the bored people all went to sleep.

As time goes by, nothing can stop it.

In the darkness, some people in the camp stealthily made their way to where Bray should have been lying.