The battle finally came to an end.
Adventurers, Guards, and reinforcements from the Kingdom of Avalon started to gather the dead bodies of the brave defenders who had valiantly given their all to protect the Town of Thaloria.
However, Alex didn’t join them, unable to stomach close proximity to dead bodies, let alone carry them.
For most of his life, he had been an ordinary person on Earth. Since he had neither been a medical practitioner nor a soldier, he was understandably not used to seeing dead people.
"You don’t have to feel so down," said Cairo to his disciple after seeing the latter seated on a wall that had collapsed in the battle earlier. "You’ve done your best, and things would have been worse if you hadn’t insisted on coming back to help the people of this town.
"If it weren’t for you, the Clawford Tribe wouldn’t have joined this fight. It’s actually great. After all, it has been a while since our warriors last participated in such a grand-scale mission. I’m sure they will boast about this battle when they return to our village."
"They’re amazing, Master," Alex replied. "Without them, things might have really ended differently."
All the Catkins who had joined the battle, except for Cairo, were Rank 4 and above.
They were the elite warriors of the Clawford Tribe, yet they had sincerely fought to protect complete strangers, all because their Oathkeeper had wished to protect them.
This battle made Alex realize the weight of the legacy that he carried.
Just because he was the Oathkeeper, warriors rallied under his banner and accompanied him back to the Town of Thaloria.
He was supposed to be the one doing the protecting, yet he was the one who got protected instead. At the thought of it, the young man couldn’t help but feel touched. This was the first time something had happened in his life.
Aside from that, Ramza had also pulled some strings from the back, which resulted in the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Avalon coming to their aid.
Cairo was very proud of his disciple. Deep inside, he was glad that he had met Alex on that fateful day.
"I talked to the Commander of the airships that came from Avalon," said the monk-like Elder of the Hartwell Clan, who went by the name Varro.
"According to him, Mages from the capital will be sent here to help with the repairs of the town. With their help, the Town of Thaloria should probably return to its original state in a month.
"They will also reinforce the walls and the gates of the city, and imbue it with magical protection. That way, even if another monster stampede happens, the town will not be overrun by monsters so easily."
Alex nodded and thanked the Elder for sharing the information.
In the game, the Town of Thaloria didn’t suffer any monster stampede.
The young man was starting to wonder whether his presence had caused a butterfly effect to take place, resulting in the calamity that had descended upon the quiet town.
’There’s also the fact that the level of my story mode difficulty is Hell.’ Alex frowned.
He didn’t want to think about it too much, but he couldn’t help but think of what-ifs.
What if everything had happened because of him?
Wouldn’t that mean that the deaths of everyone in the town were his fault?
Just as he was thinking along those lines, he felt something poke his cheek from his right side.
Alex glanced at his shoulder where Dim Dim was currently perched.
"Dim Dim." Dim Dim shook his head.
As if reading his mind, Dim Dim told him that this event wasn’t his fault.
The Dim Sum God added that the world of Arcana didn’t revolve around Alex. It followed its own destiny and would not be easily influenced by anyone.
On top of that, Dim Dim also thanked the young man. If he had decided not to return, the Town of Thaloria might have already been wiped out from the face of the Kingdom of Avalon.
The little guy’s explanation made Alex feel a lot better, and the guilt he felt subsided.
"Thank you for the wakeup call, Dim Dim." Alex lightly patted the little one’s head for giving him a pep talk.
"Dim Dim~" Dim Dim’s smile widened.
Clearly, it was very happy that it managed to dispel the doubts in the young man’s mind.
Now that the calamity was over, Alex started to ponder what his next plan was going to be.
The Goblins and the Orcs in the forest had suffered greatly from this battle. Their numbers had also decreased drastically.
With that in mind, Alex thought it was now the perfect opportunity to revisit the Floating Forest and collect some Rare Items like the Silent Striders, which he hadn’t been able to get in the past.
However, he wasn’t a fool, so he decided to ask his master to accompany him on his trip to the forest.
But while they were talking, Varro overheard them and volunteered to also accompany Alex to ensure that he would get back from the forest alive.
Alex blinked once, then twice, after seeing over a hundred Catkins looking at him with smiles on their faces.
"Alex, I heard you’re going to take a stroll in the forest? What a coincidence, I also plan to hunt a boar or two for lunch," said a Catkin Warrior cheerfully.
"This is the first time I’ve been here in the Floating Island of Thaloria," another Catkin commented. "That forest is one of its attractions. Since you plan to go there, why don’t we go together?"
"I believe there might be some rare herbs deeper inside the forest," a chubby Catkin added. "I’m an expert when it comes to finding them, so you can count on me!"
"A stroll in the forest after a great battle? Sounds good."
"Hahaha! This is going to be fun!"
"What are you waiting for, Alex? Are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?"
Cairo, who was standing beside his disciple, averted his gaze while doing his best to keep himself from laughing.
Meanwhile, Varro chuckled, knowing that it was his casual slip of the tongue that had caused the current scene. He had been with his comrades for a friendly drink last night, and he had accidentally mentioned that Alex wished to go to the forest to look for treasures.
The Catkins were strong, but they also had suffered various levels of injuries during the battle.
However, none of them died.
The injured Catkins were currently being treated and were now in recovery.
Those who still felt they could fight another monster stampede heard Varro’s talk about accompanying Alex in the forest, so they decided to accompany their Oathkeeper as well.
"Let’s go, Alex." Varro patted the young man’s shoulder. "With this, we can hunt for food to share with the townsfolk. I say it’s a win-win for everyone."
Somehow, the Floating Forest that was once scary to the young man no longer felt scary.
In fact, the monsters living inside it should be the ones scared because over a hundred battle-hungry Catkins were about to head deeper inside their domain and fight to their hearts’ content.
"Just give up, Alex," Cairo said. "Now, let’s go."
"Dim Dim~" Dim Dim giggled while perched on Alex’s head because it was fun seeing everyone feeling so excited to enter the forest.
"Okay, let’s go," Alex said, offering a silent prayer to the pitiful creatures that would be unlucky enough to block their way inside the Floating Forest.