Building The Strongest Territory With My Sacrifice System
Chapter 30: Scouts return

Chapter 30: Scouts return

"We also discovered that a certain gang is delving into the evil practice of birthing monsterborn," Roger divulged.

"What do you mean?" a frown quickly appeared on Old Man James’s face as he heard this. Ragnar, on the other hand, was shocked—but he could not react, as any response would have ended the discussion.

Kendrick helped his colleague explain the situation more clearly: "This gang is currently in control of dozens of hamlets. They use brute force to bend people to their will and run forbidden experiments on those who stubbornly refuse their rules. The identity of their leader is still unknown, but we’ve heard he has the capability to turn loyal gang members into powerful monsterborn and use them for his own benefit."

"We even spotted a few of them," Milan added. "They fit the description you gave: a combination of human and monster. Most of them could fly, and some of them could bore into the earth and tunnel stealthily toward their destination to wreak havoc."

The three of them took turn explaining the devastating nature of the gang and their evil practices.

Old Man James bristled with anger and surprise when he heard them.

Ragnar was filled with rage when he learned that the same gang responsible for his death was also the one producing the monsterborn. The same monsterborn had killed one of his farmers and stolen their harvest.

"No wonder it always returned to steal every day," Ragnar murmured. "That food must be for his fellow gang members, those fucktards."

The scout also shared more information about the gang and monsterborns.

By the time they were done, Old Man James could not smile anymore.

"My disciples have come into contact with one of those monsterborn," he revealed. "There was a murder yesterday: one of our farmers was killed, and the main suspect is that same ugly creature they saw."

"What?" Kendrick and the scouts reacted.

"This is very bad, if they have discovered our hamlet, our only option is to run away and rebuild elsewhere," Roger suggested.

"I agree with Roger, this land is not safe for us at all," Milan added.

Even Kendrick was forced to agree silently with his colleagues.

Ragnar was disappointed when he heard their suggestions.

"We cannot leave," he lifted his head and declared boldly.

Old Man James and the scouts turned their eyes to him.

"Huh, you are not drunk?" they asked, surprised.

"I’m not drunk, but that is not the issue right now," Ragnar spoke in a serious tone. "We cannot leave this place for now."

"But you heard what we said, right? A goblin attack is brewing, and a powerful gang is targeting us. Not only do we fall in terms of population, none of us is even as strong as their weakest member."

"That is true," Ragnar stood up and declared, "but if we leave, we would be disappointing the ancestors who resurrected me."

"Resurrected?" the scouts were even more surprised.

"Oh, I forgot to share that with you guys," Old Man James said.

The three of them turned to him with even more dumbfounded expressions—how could they believe that someone was resurrected? Such a thing was unheard of.

Old Man James decided to share the truth with them. He told them the entire story, how Ragnar was killed and how he was resurrected after two days.

"What!"

"How is that possible?"

"You must be joking, right? Oh wait—you’re not joking!"

The three of them had varying reactions.

"You were killed by this same gang and you somehow resurrected?" Roger asked, refusing to believe the story he just heard.

Ragnar nodded, "Is that hard to believe? Then what would you do if I show you this?"

Ragnar telepathically communicated with his system, opening his inventory and equipping one of the swords.

"Holy..."

The three scouts leapt from their seats and stared at Ragnar with dazed expressions.

"W-where did that come from?" they stammered.

Ragnar explained to them briefly, lying that it was the ancestors. But even that lie could not convince the three of them.

Old Man James had to assist him, narrating his awesome deeds in the past. He even told them about the incredible offering activities that took place in the morning.

He even told them about the mysteriously delicious food in cans that the ancestors gave them to eat. He emphasized the extremely delicious taste that he could not forget.

The three scouts recalled the swords and cans they saw with Ragnar at the beginning.

Now that they thought of it, those swords and canned food were nowhere to be found.

They could not help and asked Ragnar about them.

Ragnar smiled, he telepathically opened his inventory and equipped three canned food which he tossed at them.

The three of them held the canned food, observing it for a few seconds before keeping it aside. The matter this time was too serious and they could not settle down and eat.

The three of them returned to their seats but their eyes remained fixed on Ragnar.

Ragnar took the opportunity to explain to them why they could not leave.

"If we escape, we are only proving to the gang that we are weak, that way, we are ruining the image of our ancestors," Ragnar began.

"Also, where on earth can we escape to when they have monsterborn that can fly and tunnel through the earth?" he asked, leaving them speechless.

"We only have one option, and that is we stay back, prepare ourselves, and fight. The goblins might be strong, but they are dumb, we can use well-planned attacks to easily overpower them. As for the monsterborn, we would deal with them after dealing with the goblins," Ragnar declared.

His voice was bold and loud, forcing everyone to pay attention.

The three scouts were surprised at his outspokenness — the Ragnar they knew wasn’t shy but he wasn’t this bold either.

During his speech, they exchanged surprised looks with each other.

When he finally ended his statement, the two of them who suggested they leave the village were speechless. They even felt somewhat embarrassed that a kid was manlier than them to face the challenge instead of running.

Kendrick secretly appreciated the fact that he did not agree openly. He would have died of embarrassment.

"You have spoken well, Ragnar," Kendrick responded on behalf of his colleagues, "We have heard all the wonders the divine had performed through you, we believe their hands are on your shoulder hence victory is almost guaranteed. However, I would like to know more about your plans."

The other scouts nodded their head in agreement.

"My plan is simple," Ragnar smiled and replied, "Before your return, I already planned to master the ways of the sword from Old Man James alongside my friend Noah, we planned to go on an adventure afterwards to slay wild beasts and low-rank monsters for experience. But the ancestors work in mysterious ways, your return yields more advantage and makes our plans a lot easier."

Ragnar told them his new plans, the scouts debated amongst themselves and finally agreed.

"Fine, we would stay behind and follow your plan," Milan responded.

"How many of those swords do you have in your possession?" Roger asked.

"Seven," Ragnar answered.

"That is enough," Roger nodded and continued, "The three of us have already concluded our training regime with Old Man James a long time ago. While you guys train, we would task ourselves to guard the Hamlet."

"That is a very good plan," Ragnar easily agreed.

"How long would their training last?" Roger asked Old Man James curiously.

"They just need a week at most and they will be as knowledgeable as you three," Old Man James replied with a soft smile.

Nevertheless, his response confused the three adults.

"One week? How long have they been training?" they asked.

"They started two days ago."

"What!" Roger stood up from his seat, dumbfounded, "Our training took more than a year but these two only need less than two weeks?"

Kendrick and Milan’s gazes remained on Old Man James, awaiting answers.

Old Man James shrugged and replied, "You will not understand how talented these two are. Ragnar is a fast learner, and Noah has strong tenacity and endurance."

The scouts did not believe him.

When they observed Ragnar and Noah, they saw two scrawny kids.

How could they believe these two are actually sword geniuses?

Roger especially felt embarrassed that two scrawny kids had beaten them in the arts of sword mastery. He heaved a long sigh but his eyes did not let go of Ragnar and Noah.

Ragnar on the other hand brought out enough swords and equipped the three of them with it. He also warned them about the storage house and the monsterborn that always comes at night.

After he was done sharing important missions with them, they left.

Leaving Ragnar and old man James alone.

Since Noah was still intoxicated and fast asleep, they could not continue their training so Ragnar used the opportunity to discuss important issues with the old man.

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