Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Chapter 62

The pale glow of the herbs immediately illuminated the inside of the container.

Ingrid let out a quiet breath of relief and closed the lid halfway, making sure the stalks were arranged neatly rather than crushed together. She had no idea how valuable five stalks might be to the Hunter’s Guild, but she suspected they were worth enough to make people ask uncomfortable questions. For now, she only needed to get Lysander treated, and if giving away the herbs could help her accomplish that, she was willing to part with them.

When she looked up, she caught Soren staring at her.

His gaze had briefly shifted from the box to the fox’s bag, and a faint crease appeared between his brows. He seemed confused, he knew that there was nothing like that inside the box, but the expression disappeared almost as quickly as it came. He said nothing, instead turning his head toward the distant explosion with the others.

Sorren trusts Ingrid, after all, she had saved them along with the other foxes. If she hadn’t persuaded them to leave with her, they might have been dead by now. She had her secrets, there was no way he’d pry into it.

Ingrid however, pretended not to notice his earlier gaze.

She walked toward Hunter G and held out the box. "Here. This should be enough, right?"

Hunter G accepted it carefully and opened the lid to examine its contents. The moment he saw the five stalks resting inside, his eyes narrowed with concentration, and he leaned closer to inspect their leaves and stems. He even picked up one stalk to check its appearance before returning it to the box with considerably more care than he had used when handling ordinary plants.

After a few moments, he nodded.

"It’s genuine Star Glow Herb," he confirmed, looking at Ingrid with renewed interest. "And you have five stalks. That’s considerably more than I expected."

Freya immediately leaned over his shoulder, her eyes brightening as she examined the contents. "Five? Seriously? Do you have any idea how difficult these things are to find? I’ve heard of people spending months searching for a single stalk, and here you are carrying five around as though they’re ordinary weeds!"

Ingrid offered an awkward smile. "I didn’t know they were that difficult to find when I picked them."

Hunter G closed the box and regarded her thoughtfully. "Then maybe you can tell me where you found them. Star Glow Herb is extremely useful, particularly for treating serious injuries, and a reliable source would be valuable to the guild. Did you collect these from the place you escaped?"

"Yes," Ingrid answered, shaking her head. "I found them in a forest some time ago. I happened to come across a place where they were growing, so I picked a few stalks for myself. I didn’t realize they were so rare, and I haven’t been back there since."

It wasn’t an entirely convincing explanation, but she had no intention of giving him more details than necessary. If Hunter G wanted to know the exact location, she could always claim she couldn’t remember the route clearly and besides, they destroyed the place. She had bigger problems to worry about than satisfying his curiosity, especially when Lysander was still lying unconscious inside the bus.

Hunter G seemed ready to ask another question, but before he could speak, the bus doors opened again, and Jowe stepped down from the vehicle. His rifle was secured against his body now, although his expression remained as unpleasant as before. He approached the group with his usual stiff posture and looked directly at Ingrid.

"Now that you’ve handed over the herb, I think it’s time you told us what you know about the Evolved Ones," he said. "You claimed there was another creature in the settlement, one that was smaller but stronger than the giant we just killed. What exactly did you see, and how did you come to that conclusion?"

Ingrid stared at him for several seconds before her patience finally snapped.

"I’ve already given you the Star Glow Herb, and you haven’t even treated Lysander yet," she replied, her voice sharp with disbelief. "Do you seriously think I’m stupid enough to tell you everything I know before you’ve done anything for us? What if I give you all my information, you decide you’ve gotten what you wanted, and then you leave us to fend for ourselves? I’m not going to lay down every card in my hand just because you demand it."

Jowe’s eyebrows drew together, and he took a step closer. "Do you think we’re going to abandon you after accepting something as valuable as Star Glow Herb? And what makes you believe you have information worth withholding in the first place? We’re trained hunters. We have the manpower and resources to investigate the settlement ourselves, so why would we need to depend on a group of half-dead people who barely managed to escape?"

Ingrid almost laughed at his arrogance. "Then go ahead and investigate it yourselves," she said, spreading her hands. "I won’t stop you. You’ve already destroyed the first place where we encountered those creatures, and who knows when you’ll find another place with the same kind of information? By the time you gather enough evidence to understand what you’re dealing with, how many more people do you think will have died? How many settlements could be attacked while you’re busy congratulating yourselves for being able to handle everything without help?"

Jowe opened his mouth, but Ingrid wasn’t finished.

"You keep talking about how capable your hunters are, yet you don’t even know what happened inside that settlement. We survived an attack by creatures that were clearly different from the ordinary zombies, and we came here with information that could help you. Instead of listening, you pointed a weapon at us and accused us of leading the giant straight to you. If you want to waste time proving that you don’t need us, then that’s your decision, but don’t expect me to hand you everything I know for nothing."

The air between them grew tense, and several nearby hunters exchanged glances. Jowe looked as though he wanted to argue until Ingrid finally admitted defeat, but the voice that interrupted them came from an entirely different direction.

"Well, I think she makes quite a lot of sense."

Freya had folded her arms across her chest, and her scarred lips curved into an amused smile as she looked between Ingrid and Jowe. Her enormous mace rested against her shoulder, its red tassel swaying gently whenever she moved, and the four bells attached to its handle gave a faint sound when she shifted her grip. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jowe turned toward her in disbelief. "Whose side are you on?"

"I’m on the side of common sense, Dart," Freya answered cheerfully. "If someone has information that might help us survive, why would we deliberately make them hate us before we’ve even heard what they have to say? Besides, she has a point. We were sent here to investigate and destroy the threat, not to win an argument with an injured woman."

"That’s not what I’m doing," Jowe muttered.

"Really? Then you should try looking less like you’re about to shoot someone every time they open their mouth."

Freya laughed at her own remark, apparently delighted with herself, while Jowe’s expression darkened. Ingrid would have enjoyed the exchange if she weren’t so worried about Lysander, but she was grateful that at least one person among the hunters seemed willing to consider her situation instead of treating her like an enemy.

Unfortunately, Freya wasn’t finished asking questions. She tilted her head, studying Ingrid from top to bottom, and her playful expression gradually gave way to curiosity. Her gaze paused on Ingrid’s bandaged neck, where the fabric had become slightly stained during their escape.

"There’s actually something I’ve been wondering about," Freya said. "You and your companion came from a settlement filled with Evolved Ones, and you claim you managed to escape without being killed. That’s impressive, considering how dangerous those creatures are, but how exactly did you do it without getting infected or bitten?"

Ingrid’s expression tightened.

Freya pointed toward the bandages around her neck, her eyes narrowing slightly as she continued. "And what happened to your neck? Those bandages look pretty serious, and we haven’t even checked what’s underneath them. For all we know, you could have been bitten without realizing it. If you’re infected, we can’t simply take you back to the base and let you walk around with everyone else. So tell us truthfully pretty lady, did you get bitten by any of those zombies? Can we see the wound around your neck?"