Chapter 6: James

It was very, very late by the time Allen and his group returned to the camp. Today, the heavens were truly kind to Allen; not only did it not rain, but the moon even revealed itself from behind the clouds, and the group slowly made their way back to the camp by the moonlight.

Just after returning to the camp, Allen arranged for everyone to rest and then asked James to prepare food. Yamila and Desaiwei, who had worked hard all day, immediately refused, stating that they would prepare it instead.

Because there were so many people who had returned, including the original warriors of the camp, there were well over one hundred and fifty people.

In the end, Duosili led a few village women to assist Yamila, using the deer that Desaiwei had half-roasted at noon, along with potatoes and cabbage, to boil several pots of thick soup.

They also found a way to heat up the several large baskets of bread purchased in Rivacheg, finally managing to arrange a hot meal for everyone in a short time.

During the meal, Allen summoned all his original core members to the camp's command tent, though Desaiwei was currently on guard duty and did not come.

In fact, this camp of Allen's was quite good; it covered several hundred square meters, and heaven knows how many golden Dinars Allen's predecessor had spent to build it.

Seen from the outside, it was a fence made of wooden planks over a meter high, with a mound of earth nearly a meter thick piled inside, so that those guarding the camp could stand in a relatively high position and use bows and crossbows to attack incoming enemies more conveniently.

On the southeast and northwest sides of the camp, there were wooden watchtowers, which allowed for an unobstructed view of the situation around the camp; most of the time, the night watchmen would stay in these two places.

The camp gate was on the south side—facing south, after all—and in the very center was a wooden hut for storing supplies and spare armor, with several wooden carts placed around it.

On the west side was a row of stables where all the horses of the team stayed, with some hay stored next to them for the horses to eat; of course, just feeding the horses grass wouldn't do, as they would lose weight, so there was also a portion of bean feed stored in the hut.

On the east side were two large conical tents where the Cavalry, Archers, and all the men including Fatis slept.

In the center of the north side was the largest tent in the camp, the so-called command tent, reserved for meetings to discuss the next steps; the small tent where Allen rested was on the east side of this large tent, while the west side was where the women slept and cooked.

At this moment, almost everyone was gathered in the tent with a bowl of soup in one hand and bread in the other. The tent was packed full; some were sitting, some were standing, and the sounds of chewing food and slurping soup filled the entire tent.

Allen, sitting in the center of the table, took a light sip of the scalding meat soup, cleared his throat with a "Cough, cough," and scanned the crowd, which had gradually quieted down, before speaking the words he had prepared for a long time: "I am very happy that the companions who went out to fight with me were all able to return alive, and I am also very grateful to the partners who worked hard guarding the camp at home. Everyone has worked hard."

After finishing, he paused for a moment and continued: "I am also grateful to you all for making brave and correct decisions in critical moments, and for offering up the Longswords in your hands when I issued the call. Here, I express my gratitude."

As he spoke, he lowered his head to take another sip of meat soup, put down the soup bowl, and waved his hand, smiling at the increasingly nervous crowd: "Everyone, don't be so reserved. Actually, I don't want to say these strange things at all, but I just feel that since I am thanking everyone, I should be a bit more formal. Next, I have a few pieces of news to share with you. I think everyone is very curious about our current location and our future plans. It's fine; what I am about to say is exactly that."

At this time, the tent gradually filled with the slight sounds of soup drinking and food chewing again, but it was not loud and did not affect Allen's speech.

Allen looked at the relaxed crowd and said:

"The first piece of news is that this is not Calradia, not our homeland, and the time to return is remote and uncertain. I can only say that for a short time, or perhaps forever, we will have to live here."

As soon as he finished, slight gasps of surprise rang out one after another in the tent. Allen raised his hand, the noise stopped, and then he paused for a moment, wanting to see if anyone wanted to ask a question.

Unfortunately, no one had that idea; they were all just looking at him. Allen had no choice but to continue: "The second piece of news is definitely good news, and that is that we are not alone. Our sudden appearance in this place is not a coincidence. I now have a new ability: every once in a while, I can bring a group of people who are willing to follow me away from that war-torn continent and come to this place to live with us. They all come from our homeland, Calradia. Similarly, I can also bring some weapons, equipment, and supplies. But here I must explain: our appearance here is not my doing. I know this kind of thing is strange, but it is the truth."

To prove his words, Allen waved his hand, a flash of white light flickered, and a bag of wheat appeared on the table. But strangely, everyone did not show too much surprise at this act of conjuring something out of thin air.

At this moment, a Si Qi raised his left hand holding bread and asked cautiously: "Boss, can you bring my mom and dad over? I've saved a lot of money, ready to spend on them." Then he looked around at the companions staring at him, lowered his head, and muttered: "If you can't, it doesn't matter..."

Allen looked at this young man who had fought bravely with him during the day and replied: "My ability cannot do such a thing at the moment, but I can guarantee with my Honor that if I can, I will definitely bring your parents over."

Watching the young man in front of him nod, Allen stated the third piece of news: "The next thing I want to say is also good news. I am not unfamiliar with this place; I once read about it in a book. This place is quite far from Calradia. The book also has detailed descriptions of today's enemies: they are called Orcs, and the locals generally call them Orcish. They serve extremely dark forces and are the eternal enemies of Humans. The book also included a simple map, and I remember a part of it. The place where we are now is called the Wilderland. It is not safe here; although it is not like Calradia where there is fighting every day, this place is full of such dirty scum. Of course, there are also other peace-loving intelligent species living here. Besides the Humans we brought back today, there are also Dwarfs, Elves, and the like. Some of them are different from us, and I believe everyone will have the chance to see them in the future."

Allen paused again here, scanned the crowd, and hoped someone would come out to ask a question or play along, but everyone in the tent just looked at him quietly; even Cress and Artimenner had no desire to ask questions at all.

With no other choice, Allen had to continue: "Today we saved a large number of our compatriots from the hands of the Orcish. I conclude that the so-called Orc King will not forget this matter so easily, so I have a few arrangements that require everyone to go back and prepare."

Seeing that the crowd had nothing to say, Allen directly began to issue his orders: "Fatis, I need you to divide all the Si Qi into two teams tomorrow. One team will be led by Desaiwei, and one will be led by yourself. Then one team goes south, and one goes north, patrolling along the big river continuously to see if there are any signs of large-scale enemy gatherings on the other side of the river, or traces of Wolf Rider scouts. Once a situation occurs, do not engage; come back and report immediately. Can you do that?"

Upon receiving the order, Fatis first nodded to indicate he could, then thought of something and said: "During the battle today, seven horses were injured and five died, and the horses are also very tired. We might need to use the horses previously allocated to the Archer team."

Allen waved his hand to indicate there was no problem, then continued to Yamila: "Yamila, I need you to take good care of the women and children we saved today, and I hope you can compile their information and keep a record. We are no longer just a Mercenary Group. My initial thought is to find a good place in the surrounding area to build a village. I need your help with this work, and I have some ideas about the general location that I need to verify tomorrow. If time is fast enough, we will move tomorrow morning."

Yamila nodded after listening and said: "If our current food supply is only for our original people, it can last for half a month. But the number of people has suddenly increased by more than two times. Even if we arrange for people to hunt and fish, it is impossible to last long. Food will be a big problem."

Allen indicated to Yamila that this was not a problem, and that he would find a way to handle the food shortage when the time came.

Just like this bag of wheat on the table, Allen had checked when exchanging: a portion of wheat enough for 50 people to eat for one day only costs 10 Dinars, but changing it to bread requires 30 Dinars, salted fish is 45 Dinars, fresh beef even requires 100, and there are also cabbage, apples, dried meat, and other foods with different prices.

With the resources Allen currently has, if all exchanged for wheat, it would be enough for everyone to eat for more than a month. After a month, he might find more ways to seek food, so Allen was not worried about the food problem at all.

After discussing the food problem, Yamila raised the issue again that there were not enough places to live. Although the camp still had some spare tents, they were not enough to accommodate everyone.

Yamila suggested that they could use the spoils brought out from the Sea Raider lair—a large cart of linen—to make simple tents using the linen and branches for everyone to live in temporarily. However, if they did this, the linen would be considered defective and probably could not be traded anymore.

Allen indicated that these were not problems, as long as they could take care of them temporarily.

"Then, my lord, if there is nothing else, I will go and prepare first. They might need to do a lot of work tonight." After receiving Allen's consent, Yamila got up and left the tent; after all, her work was very tedious, and she might not even have enough time to sleep today.

"Artimenner, Cress, Alayen, the three of you follow me at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning and run north together. I need to confirm something there."

Watching the three nod, Allen turned back to Bandak and said: "Bandak, I still need you to guard the safety of the camp. If—I mean if—Fatis or Desaiwei bring back news that the enemy might attack, you must organize the guard work immediately. Don't worry about whether others have returned; guarding the camp is what you should do. Do you understand?"

Upon receiving the order, Bandak didn't say anything, just nodded to indicate he understood.

Watching Bandak nod silently, Allen felt a bit strange. In his impression, Bandak was not such a taciturn character; his personality was a bit cynical, plus a little bit of misanthropy.

He had been a veteran in Rhodok for 20 years and had even become a Sergeant, then he was burned by the "three fires" of a newly appointed official, and he had even beaten a noble in the team. In his impression, he seemed to have an illegitimate child, so he shouldn't be like this now, right?

Does not being able to go back have no effect on him at all? Could it be that his predecessor had done something to him? Allen didn't understand, but Allen also knew he couldn't ask too much.

"If there are no other questions, everyone go down and get busy. Cress, repeat my words to Desaiwei later. If there are any problems, you can have her come to me. Alright, everyone, if there is nothing else, the meeting is adjourned."

After speaking, Allen picked up the bread, dipped it in the warm meat soup, and started to eat his dinner. This was Allen's only proper meal of the entire day.

From Allen's perspective, the taste was indeed not very good, but at least it was hot, and Allen was indeed extremely hungry. He ate with a slurping and messy sound, and finished it in a while.

After Allen finished eating, he looked up and found that only James was left in the tent. James was sitting across from the table. Seeing that Allen had finished, he got up to pour a bowl of water for Allen, then sat down beside him, picked up his own cup to drink water, and looked at Allen, saying in a calm tone: "Allen, you are not acting like yourself?"

Allen was startled, sprayed a mouthful of water onto the table, and replied: "What?"

"What did you say?"

Allen's heart was now as turbulent as a stormy sea, and countless chaotic thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant; he hadn't been this panicked even when he woke up in the morning.

A smug smile appeared on James's face. "Don't understand what's wrong? It's normal that they can't see it. You are Yamila's savior; all her thoughts are on you. Of course, I know you don't have those kinds of ideas. You live under her nose every day, and she might think it's normal no matter what you become. As for Fatis, as long as you are upright, kind, and willing to help those who suffer, he never doubts your orders. Desaiwei and Bandak recognize you as their master; as long as you still acknowledge this relationship, how could they doubt you? Alayen worships you, and Cress is just a thoughtless little girl, but I am different."

As he said this, a look of recollection appeared on James's face.

"We have known each other for a long time, Allen. We have been together for more than two years. I still clearly remember the scene when you carried the injured Yamila and rushed into my room, shouting for me to treat her. After that, we started traveling together. You were very much like you are now back then—polite to people and patient in communication. You always said you were a descendant of a noble, and I never doubted that point, only that compared to the nobles I have seen, you were a bit too kind."

James drank some water here, thought for a moment, and continued: "Later, you changed. When was it? More than a year ago, when there were more and more people in the team? Your temper became more and more irritable, your actions became more and more arbitrary, and you became increasingly taciturn and unwilling to communicate with others. Of course, you were still upright and merciful, and the team was getting better and better under your wise leadership, but the way you expressed yourself became more and more rough. Last time you scolded Cress, we all knew you were doing it for her own good, but even so, those words were too harsh. Not to mention the past, you definitely wouldn't have said the words you said tonight yesterday. You would likely have issued the tasks directly, wouldn't have explained everything in such detail, wouldn't have paid attention to anyone's questions, and you wouldn't have allowed others to question your orders. So tell me, my friend, I suddenly saw the you from two years ago in you. Shouldn't you give an old friend an explanation?"

After listening to James's words, Allen was stunned for a long time, so long that impatience appeared on James's face.

Allen looked at James, who was staring at him closely, sighed heavily, and said helplessly: "James, my friend, I think, I might—I mean, I think I have lost my memory."

"Lost your memory! Amnesia?" James shouted in surprise.

"Is something wrong, my lord?" Alayen's voice came from outside the tent.

"It's nothing, James and I were just discussing some matters."

Allen responded loudly to Alayen, then turned back to James and whispered urgently: "Yes, yes, I don't remember any of these things you're talking about. I only remember the names of you few, the general situation of the team, and maybe... maybe some unimportant tasks or something, but I don't remember the specific details at all. How we met, how we developed step by step to where we are now—these, I've almost forgotten all of these. I don't even remember the names of the guards at the door. I don't know what happened, what can I do? I can only rely on my own intuition to keep moving forward step by step."

As Allen spoke, he silently said in his heart: I'm sorry, James, I don't mean to lie to you, I really don't remember the things you mentioned; after all, we are two different people.

"Is it that serious?" James pondered for a moment, then suddenly said: "Could it be caused by those special abilities of yours? I told you before that using such abilities inevitably requires paying an extraordinary price."

"Huh? What abilities?" Allen was stunned; this, I really don't know.

"You don't even remember this?"

James took a deep breath and said: "Alright, as a friend, it seems I need to refresh your memory. Look at those warriors outside, their combat strength is quite good, right? In fact, two years ago, most of them were just young men farming in the countryside. How could they become warriors stronger than noble private soldiers in just two years? This is all thanks to you. Every time a battle ended, you would always select some young men. Afterward, they would become stronger and more experienced in combat amidst a white light. The next day, you would even bring out equipment matching their strength for them to use. Look at those people outside, those horses—with the money we earned as mercenaries, it would be impossible to afford them. Do you have any impression now?"

Holy crap, was my previous cheat so powerful? I don't want this Simulator anymore, please give me back my old cheat!

Allen was frantically complaining about the Simulator in his heart, but the expression on his face did not change much. He nodded and said: "I still have this ability now." It's just not as easy to use, Allen added silently in his heart.

"Allen, I suggest you try to use those abilities as little as possible in the future; it's very dangerous. Forget it," James shook his head and continued: "I know I can't persuade you, but I hope that if anything happens in the future, especially regarding your health, you must take the initiative to tell me. I am a doctor, and even more so, your friend!"

Facing James, who looked full of concern, Allen felt a little moved and couldn't help but nod to show he understood.

James sighed and continued: "Go to sleep early; getting more rest is good for your body. I'll go think about whether there are any treatments for soul-loss syndrome. By the way, I will keep this matter a secret for you. It's not appropriate for them to know these things right now, and besides, I believe they will like the current you even more. So, I won't disturb you anymore. Good night."

After finishing, James walked toward the tent entrance. Allen watched James's back, quietly let out a breath, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Suddenly, James seemed to remember something, walked back, and said with a slightly strange expression: "By the way, I think I should reintroduce myself, my newly acquainted friend. I am a cleric, and even more so, a doctor. You can ignore the former profession; what I want to say is, that... if there is a chance, bring me a few of those Orcish corpses. I want to do some research, you know."

"Ah? Oh, okay, I understand."

Allen nodded to show he understood. Hearing Allen agree to his request, James left the tent with satisfaction.

Finally managed to bluff my way through it, Allen kept wiping the sweat oozing from his forehead, feeling lucky in his heart, and then a bold idea popped up: Could it be that I really have amnesia, and I really transmigrated to Calradia!!