38 Overwhelming Gesture of Friendship

Neil felt refreshed when he wakes up. He sits up on his bed before stretching his arms with a yawn.

Yesterday night, he have initiated a rescue operation for the people on the outpost, along with every people being oppressed by Brigg. He made sure to tell them not to leave a single person alone and incapacitate anyone who tries to stop them.

After that, he told them to put them on a clearing within the forest, which his units have predicted that those people are unaware of.

It's pretty far on the outpost, though he didn't know why they don't know that clearing. He didn't understand the explanation they give, like the position of the trees and how they are getting sidelined by the open pathway on the other side, which causes them to overlook this area.

Still, he is grateful that there is an area like this.

He is planning to meet with Grunt's group again to finalize their deal. He don't know how much they will pay because he leaves it up to them. He just have to buy some food from Odette's system and it's all done.

"Oh right... what about those people?" He wondered to himself.

"You called?"

"Woah!?"

He jumps in fright when a Homunculus suddenly appeared besides him. The homunculus maid had her head lowered and seems to be waiting for him to respond to her.

"Ahem... sorry. I'm just surprised..."

"I apologized for that."

He made a dismissal wave. "Anyway, did you give them some food?"

"Yes. Per your instructions, we gave each person a lunchbox to fill their bellies." She informed while her head is still lowered.

He nodded at that in satisfaction.

Despite knowing that this era have a shortage of food, he still decided to give them those food that can be considered as a luxury. He didn't want to leave them be malnourished like that. It just felt wrong when he can do something about it.

Also, it didn't cost him anything. He have a lot of points on his systems so he don't have to worry at all.

"Then, are there any casualties?"

"None." The maid succinctly answered.

"Great!" He clapped his hands once.

He felt relieved hearing that no one died. He knows that it is naive not trying to kill someone on this age, but he is someone who have lived a life that didn't experience it. It might be because he is on the better side of the neighborhood, but he haven't seen someone being killed personally.

He have seen it on news and documentaries, but those are not good reference points. He have a vague impression how different it is seeing it personally than hearing it on a news somewhere.

He goes to his bathroom and stops on the door before looking at the maid.

"Okay. Thank you for telling me that."

"I'm going inside now so can you go outside? I'll call you when I need something."

The maid nodded before she moves gracefully to the door out of this room and leave it.

After that, he goes inside his bathroom to clean himself.

~~o~~

After he is done cleaning himself and taking a new set of clothes, he left his room to get his meal.

The Homunculi are the one who are making his meals now, and he didn't want to put their effort into waste so it became his new routine to go to the meeting room to eat there.

Before he got to the meeting room, his phone vibrated which causes him to stop. He takes the call and put it on speaker mode.

["Master. We have gleamed some important info."]

"Okay. Please tell me about it."

["Roger"]

And with that, it explained that Grunt's group are the ones who have freed Bridgette on her slavery.

It seems like Bridgette is planning to go to that group along with her sister. She seems to trust the five a lot.

'Wait... this might be a good opportunity!'

"Okay. I want you to escort the two to Grunt's group. I think they might appreciate it."

["Roger"]

After that, the call ended. Then he goes inside the meeting room to start his lunch.

~~o~~

Grunt were waiting on their base with all their spare money.

The person behind the Sentai ripoff have promised food that are too luxurious on this time. It is pretty hard to cook in this world, much more if it's something like burgers and lunchboxes.

So they think that even with a thousand gold, it might still be lacking. They really hope that this expense is really worth it.

"What do you think? Will he come?"

"We don't know Nikka. The guy didn't set a specific date!" Rook retorted.

"You don't need to be so rude!" Nikka whined with a glare.

"Haha... nope!"

As the two are doing their usual back and forth, the the other three are waiting patiently and are ignoring the two.

"You think it's true?" Jasmine whispered to their leader.

Grunt is currently sitting on a fallen concrete pillar and is staring on the trees, waiting for the familiar robot to appear. He takes a breathe before sighing.

"He don't have any reason to lie to us. The only thing I am worried about is how much he is willing to give us."

Burgers and lunchboxes sounds good, but Grunt's concern is right. They don't care about the quality. What they need is something that they can store for a long time and an abundant amount of that.

Survival is more important than satiety after all.

They heard a rustle on the distance, causing all of them to stop with whatever and turn their attention to that general direction. From there, they can see the familiar figure of the ninja-like robot.

They widened their eyes when they saw who are behind him.

"Bridgette!?"

They suddenly tensed up, thinking that something has happened when Bridgette quickly raises her hand.

"Wait! This guy is friendly!"

She thinks they don't know who this guy. Well, she have also just met him awhile ago, but she sees that it's not hostile so she knows it is friendly.

Also, it escorts them up to this place. So that's already a plus for her.

"What are you doing besides that!?" Grunt narrowed his eyes at the robot as he questioned her.

"Actually, he escorted us to this place."

"Us?" The five looks at her in confusion.

Bridgette just sent a wry smile on her way before stepping aside. Behind her, they saw a blonde haired girl who seems to resemble her a lot. The only difference is that her blonde hair is shoulder length instead of the knee length one like Bridgette, and her eyes are green instead of bluish. Her hair is more like a dirty blonde, unlike Bridgette who have golden-like strands of hair.

"Isn't that...!?"

Grunt recalls that face. It is one of the person who is along with Bridgette when she was still a slave.

"Yes. Meet my sister, Lisa Brighton." She gestured for her sister.

"A-ah.... n-nice to meet you." She sheepishly bowed to them.

"There is no need to be polite!"

"Ahem. My name is Grunt. That guy there is Rook, the glasses guy is Eric, and the two girls here are Jasmine and Nikka."

"Yo!" Rook greeted with his one hand raised after his introduction.

Nikka just smiled brightly at her.

"So... what happened? I thought she is still in captivity?"

["I'll be the one to explain that."]

With that, the person behind the robot explained to them about the raid they did last night. The group of five are surprised to hear about it.

They also asked the sisters while listening to his explanation. It seems like after saving the two girls, the beautiful maids did something to take off the Slave Seal on her neck.

They feel incredulous hearing beautiful ladies wearing maid uniform. They haven't seen them yet but they think they'll just become more confuse if they did so.

"Anyway, I am really glad that these lads helped her!" Bridgette said with a large smile on her face.

That's also another thing. Grunt felt a bit weird seeing Bridgette this happy. It's like her snarky and serious air had suddenly vanished when her sister came back to her.

"So you helped them just because you heard about the slavery?" Grunt asked, feeling confused about that.

["Yeah... what's wrong with that?"]

He don't know what to say to him when they heard how confused he is. Slavery is just the norms of this world now.

A lot of people are unwilling to work for someone. So Slave Seals were invented just to deal with these stubborn people.

It's already a widely accepted fact of this world. So being angry just because it exists felt alien to them.

'Maybe this person's mind is still stuck to the lost age.' Grunt thought with a tint of sorrow in his expression.

The lost age. The peaceful days that have been lost forever. It is essentially the modern age, their life before everything from this apocalypse occurs.

They know some people like that. Their mind still trying to follow the old rules that doesn't really matter on this world anymore. They are still clinging to a faint connection from their past, where rules are still applied and people can live peacefully.

'Forget about it. It's his own problem. We're not involved with it.' Grunt shakes his head.

["By the way. About the trade...."]

"Right. I almost forgot."

Grunt slowly stands up and goes to their crate where the pouch of gold and silver is located. He carries it with one hand before going back to them.

"Can you show us the products first?" He said as he grips the pouch firmly.

["Of course."]

After he said that, they tensed up when beautiful doll-like maids suddenly appears out of thin air. They are carrying a large crate.

After putting it on the ground, they opened the large crate and shows some of the lunchboxes, burgers, and canned foods inside it, confirming the contents of the crate.

The aroma alone causes him to feel impatient, his eyes are glued to the crate like he is staring on a prey.

["So, what do you think?"]

"I'll take it!"

There are a lot of it, so they think it will last until a whole month, which is enough for them to recoup their losses by hunting some monsters and selling it to the nearby communities.

He gave the pouch to the robot, who takes a peek of it before nodding to them.

["Okay. I have certainly received the payment."]

With that, the trade is done.

Without waiting, Grunt quickly takes the large crate of food and goes on the shade of their base to put it on the dark corner. After awhile, he goes back with an embarrassed look.

Rook and Nikka have already left the scene and is now on that corner, taking a burger each. It seems like they can't wait for the conversation to finish.

"... I'll try and control them..." Eric whispered to him before slowly backing off, going to the crate of food also.

Jasmine seems to be enduring herself and is looking at the robot with a cold expression, to it looks so force. Her eyes kept glancing the crate of food that Grunt put on the corner.

Their leader scratches the back of his head sheepishly. He can see Bridgette laughing at them while Lisa is just there and looking in confusion.

"Sorry about that. It's our first time having something like that again."

["It's fine. I understand."]

They made some small talks first before they finally felt satisfied.

Though, he calls out to the robot before it can leave.

"Wait!" The robot stops on it's steps as it turned it's head to him again. "What do you plan on doing to those people?" Grunt asked while staring at him firmly.

[".... I am still thinking about that."]

Hearing that, Grunt decided to request something from him.

"Can you take care of them?"

["No."]

He is shocked to hear an instant rejection.

"Why?"

["Well. I think I am not cut out for it."]

He felt his impression of this guy rising.

He thought the mystery guy is just a person who thinks of those peaceful days and have some naive goals. It seems like the guy seems to be aware of this world, at least enough awareness to stop doing something stupid.

"I see...."

["... Well, I'll try to help those people with the best I can. But I won't shelter them on my base. That's another matter entirely."]

"Okay. Sorry if I ask that."

["It's fine. I think that's a valid concern."]

A lull in their conversation occurs. The two of them just stared on each other, his eyes pointed at it's glowing digital ones. Then he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you plan on doing to the outpost. Brigg's Gang won't just take this lying down."

["I know.... I am still thinking about that..."]

Grunt frowned. He didn't like his answer at all.

"You know, I really appreciated you helping one of our companions. So I wanted to repay it back by giving you advice."

"You should stop giving mercy to your enemies. You'll come to regret it if you keep doing that."

["..."]

Silence. The mystery guy seems to be speechless. Grunt felt a bit bad saying that bluntly, but he thinks he should let the guy know how much he is endangering himself.

"Sorry. I just don't want one of our benefactors to be killed like that. Your one of the rarest type of person on this world after all."

[".... I'll take that as a compliment."]

Despite sounding a bit casual, he can feel some reluctance in his tone. It's like he is deep in thought or something.

["Anyway. See you next time."]

The robot turns it's back, it's scarf billowing on the air, before it quickly blurs out and then vanishes on his eyes.

Grunt still felt a bit worried. He just owed that guy a big one after all.

He looks at his party before deciding to leave that thought for later. He vowed within himself that he will help that guy when the time comes. Just for this debt of gratitude that he did for them.