John wrapped his arms around Isolde and comforted her. "Don't worry, Fenric is smart. He'll be fine. We'll find him after we finish this patrol mission."
"Okay," Isolde nodded obediently. She looked up at him, her eyes full of hope. "John, it's rare to have time like this. Let's take a walk."
"Sure," John said happily. They hadn't really had a chance to hang out much since they started dating.
They wandered around the city aimlessly.
People were everywhere, and curses filled the air, all aimed at the Lord.
The game update had brought the Demon Race, and this patrol mission was more dangerous than ever.
Many couldn't afford 10,000 gold coins and had fled the city, becoming refugees.
John sighed at the dark world. Even in a Safe Zone, nothing was truly safe.
They enjoyed the quiet moment, and when they returned home, it was already late at night.
"Isolde, I'll help you with your class advancement," John said, looking at the beautiful woman in his arms. He fought down the urge to do more than just talk.
"No," Isolde said quickly. "Even if you help me finish the quest, I won't see much improvement in a short time. And I don't have an Artifact Core to fuse with reality. Tonight, you're mine!"
She leaned in, taking control with a greedy kiss.
After a few days together, she had lost all her previous shyness.
John's heart burned with desire, and the two of them wrapped around each other.
But they didn't go too far. They had to be ready for the patrol mission the next morning.
The next morning, John and Isolde dressed in full gear and made their way to the town square.
There were already over three thousand people gathered.
Karlove wasn't a big city, but it had over 20,000 residents. Besides the official staff, there were more than 10,000 others.
But only three thousand showed up now. The rest had probably paid the 10,000 gold coins to avoid the mission or had fled the city as refugees.
Refugees weren't recognized by the city. They had no official status and couldn't enter the Safe Zone. They had to wander outside, where it was dangerous. Most of them were people who had been kicked out or were criminals.
"This Lord's mansion really is greedy," Isolde muttered angrily. "Just one patrol mission and they get millions of gold. Don't they care about being caught?"
John said, "In a border town, who even cares? And besides, Tork probably already made some deals with the higher-ups."
"You're right," Isolde sighed, looking upset.
Then a group of city guards arrived. They were in charge of leading the people to the Buffer Zone.
The leading soldier stepped onto a raised platform and gave a short speech. It was just a bunch of empty words, trying to calm the people and promise that the mission wouldn't be too dangerous.
Everyone just laughed. They didn't believe a word of it.
The people left the city under the guard and control of the city guards, heading toward the Buffer Zone.
The Buffer Zone was about ten kilometers away. They could reach it before sunset.
The road wasn't safe. Sometimes, monsters showed up.
And the closer they got to the Buffer Zone, the more monsters there were. From weak werewolves to strong Demon Soldiers, John even saw a Stage 360 monster guard.
But the city guards were strong. They didn't suffer too many deaths.
John looked serious. He had underestimated the power of the monsters.
Now he could easily take down Stage 2 monsters, but a Stage 3 was way beyond his level.
If things got dangerous, he would have to run with Isolde. Even becoming a refugee was better than dying.
At around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the group finally arrived at the Buffer Zone. A tall wall stretched out, disappearing into the distance.
This was the human defense line against the beast waves. The wall was full of people. Soldiers were busy fixing broken parts of the wall or moving big stones and logs.
A group of soldiers came forward. The leader was a big man with messy beard.
One of the guards rushed forward and talked quietly with the man. He pointed at John and Isolde from time to time.
Something was wrong with that guy!
John was on high alert. It looked like the Lord wanted to get rid of him here.
"John, should we leave? Even if we become refugees, I have a way to get you into Celestial Academy!" Isolde also saw that these people had bad intentions. She whispered.
John shook his head. The man wasn't even at Stage 3. If he was careful, he could handle him.
The city guards and the soldiers finished their handover and left.
Their job was to protect Karlove. They wouldn't take part in this patrol mission.
The messy man walked forward, smiling. He said, "Don't be nervous. We're just assigning you simple patrol tasks. You work eight hours a day. The rest of the time is free. As long as you don't run into a beast wave, you won't have to fight."
The man's words made people feel a little safer. They prayed that no beast wave would come during the three months.
The man continued, "Now we'll split you into groups. Each group has ten people. You'll take turns on patrol."
More than thirty soldiers came forward and started picking team members.
These soldiers only chose fighters. John, a Cleric, was completely ignored.
"You, join my team," one soldier noticed Isolde. His eyes lit up. He said coldly.
But Isolde didn't move. She grabbed John's arm and said, "We're together. If you want me, you have to take both of us."
"A Cleric? And so weak?" The soldier sneered. "I don't want trash in my team. Think carefully. If you stay with this guy, you'll be in more danger if a monster attacks."
Isolde was angry. She wouldn't let anyone insult John. She said coldly, "Take me or not, just get out of here!"
"Hmph, you've got some fire," the soldier said with a cold laugh. His eyes narrowed, and his expression turned bad.
"Enough," the big man said, stepping forward. "You two will be with me. I don't care if you're a support class."
Isolde stayed alert. She knew this man was working with the Lord's mansion. He had bad intentions.
John just smiled and said, "Thanks, we'll do our best on the patrol."
The big man nodded in satisfaction.
John's group had only five people. Most of them were the leftovers that no one wanted. Except for Isolde, everyone else was a support class. One of them even hadn't fused any game stats.
With this setup, a strong monster could kill them all in seconds.
But the big man didn't care. He introduced himself. "I'm your temporary leader. My name is Daven. You can get to know the area first. Meet back here at midnight tonight for the patrol."
Patrol at midnight?
The group got nervous. Monsters were more aggressive at night, and the danger was higher than during the day.
John and Isolde wandered around, asking soldiers for info.
Things were even worse than they thought.
The game update brought the Demon Race. A lot of Demon Soldiers were gathering. Small beast waves happened almost every two or three days.
On the other side of the wall, there were deep scratch marks and the wall was in bad shape. But the wall was thick and strong, and the soldiers were holding their ground. It wasn't going to fall.
"Hey, big guy," John asked a soldier. "I heard there was a member of the Aurelia family here for training. Did she leave already?"
He was thinking about Aurora.
"Are you talking about that little girl?" The soldier looked respectful. "She's still here. And that's why we've lost fewer people."
"Aurora's still here?" John was surprised. Buffer Zone wasn't safe right now. And she hadn't been online for days. She must have been helping treat the soldiers the whole time.
"You know Aurora?" The soldier was shocked. "What's your relationship with her?"
"Just heard her name before," John didn't say much.
"Oh," the soldier looked relieved, then said, "If you know her, you might get some easier tasks. But right now... well, never mind."
The soldier shook his head and walked away.
"John, who is Aurora?" Isolde frowned and asked, suspiciously.
John felt a little guilty. He said, "She's just some girl I met in the starter village. A member of the Aurelia family."
"Is that so?" Isolde clearly didn't believe him. She warned, "I'm not the jealous type, but your taste isn't great. If you start looking at another Anna, I won't like it. If you like someone, I have to check them out first."
John opened his mouth but had no words.
He laughed bitterly. "Isolde, you're reading too much into it. Aurora's from the Aurelia family. She wouldn't even look at me."
"So what? In my eyes, there's no woman not good enough for you," Isolde said seriously.
John didn't say anything more. His heart felt warm. He walked to the assigned living area.