When Paige Summers set out again with Marcus Monroe and the others, her shoulders were already fully occupied. Besides Sweetie on her left, a small figure was now resting quietly on her right.

She now knew the girl was named Erin Quinn. The man who died had indeed been her father, but the woman who had decisively plunged a dagger into her own heart to join him had not been her mother. There was no need to dwell on the messy love affair involved. All in all, the little girl was now an orphan, just like Paige.

The reason she brought her along wasn’t out of pity because no one else would take her. Nor was it because the girl had pestered her relentlessly, even trying to launch herself into Paige’s arms like a bullet on several occasions. It was because of what she had said...

An extra child would inevitably hinder her movements. Paige understood this perfectly, which was why she had been so determined to refuse this burden at first.

But Erin Quinn had whispered in her ear, "That icy man staring at you over there is pretty interesting. He’s thinking, ’Women really are troublesome creatures, and Paige Summers is no exception. I just didn’t expect her influence on the boss to have reached this point. Maybe I should have a proper talk with him.’"

Paige’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t even have to look; she knew the girl was talking about Howard Everett!

Seeing Paige’s expression, a glint flashed in Erin Quinn’s eyes. She continued, "And that big, dopey-looking guy."

That was Grant Yardley!

"He’s still thinking about the woman who hugged him earlier. ’So this is what a woman’s body is like... smells so nice, so soft. Too bad we’re on a mission, otherwise taking her back wouldn’t be a bad idea.’"

The corner of Paige’s mouth twitched. She never would have guessed that Grant Yardley, who looked so unbelievably honest and straightforward, would be thinking something like that. ’So this is what men are like...’

"And that guy who’s always grinning,"—that was Martin Warren—"he’s dying to know what I’m telling you. He’s already decided he’s going to ask you about it later."

"As for the others, they’re getting impatient. They think you’re holding up the group..."

Paige rolled her eyes. ’And whose fault is that?!’

"I know I’ve taken up some of your time, but you absolutely won’t regret taking me with you. I can hear what everyone is thinking. If anyone gets any bad ideas about you, I can warn you ahead of time! Take those women over there, for example. You may have saved them, but aside from Maeve and Joy, who figured it out and are grateful, the others are all just scared and jealous of you. They’re thinking, ’We’re all women, so how come she’s so lucky she gets to travel with such a powerful Hunting Party, while we’re stuck either running for our lives or getting abandoned?’"

Paige’s lips curled into a smirk. "Are you suggesting I should kill them?"

Erin Quinn pouted. "That’s not my call to make, is it? The one in charge is the guy with the stone face, right?"

’The guy with the stone face...’ Without a doubt, she meant Marcus Monroe.

She let out a breath. She never would have imagined the girl’s superpower was the Mind Reading Technique.

"Then what’s he thinking?"

Erin Quinn’s body went rigid, and she fell silent.

Paige quickly pieced together the reason. ’She probably can’t read just anyone’s thoughts. It must have something to do with her and the target’s Superpower Levels, and the strength of their spiritual power. And maybe the intensity of the thought itself plays a part, too...’

Figuring this superpower would be helpful, and seeing the determination in Erin Quinn’s eyes—which made it clear she intended to stick to her—Paige decided she didn’t want to waste any more time and quickly agreed to take the girl along.

Marcus Monroe’s reaction was strange. He agreed without asking for a reason, which made Paige wonder if he had guessed something. The others, however, weren’t as understanding. They were clearly a little unhappy about the delay, but no one said much in the face of Paige’s sincere apology.

Paige felt rather bad about it herself, so she resolved that from now on, she absolutely, *absolutely* would not hold up the group again!

After they descended the mountain, Marcus Monroe decided to change their plans. They would head to Dawnbringer Base first.

Their original plan was to bypass Dawnbringer Base and take a different route to Glimmerlake Base, where Leanne Walsh had said there were vast amounts of supplies. But Marcus reasoned that since Dawnbringer’s Base Chief knew about the Beast Tide in advance, he might have discovered something important. Marcus wanted to confirm it.

He might have had other motives, but that was beyond Paige’s knowledge.

In fact, just keeping an eye on Sweetie and Erin was already a handful for her.

Ever since being trained by Clark Chandler, it was like a switch had flipped for Sweetie. It was incredibly enthusiastic, always eager to prove its worth, and incredibly proactive when scouting ahead.

And it had to be said, its skills improved dramatically each time.

With a much wider field of view from the air, it spotted dangers on several occasions that the ground scouts, including Isaiah Langley, had missed.

This earned it high praise from the whole group.

And so, it became even more proactive... It was a virtuous cycle. By the time the party was approaching Dawnbringer Base, Sweetie had all but taken over Isaiah Langley’s role.

It prompted the man himself to joke, "Good thing Sweetie belongs to Paige. Otherwise, I’d be out of a job, competing with a bird!"

Compared to all the excitement from Sweetie, Erin Quinn was much quieter, but she wasn’t merely a passive recipient of Paige’s protection.

Along the way, they encountered several groups of people coming from Dawnbringer Base. Whether these people had ill intentions or not, they weren’t about to pick a fight with Marcus Monroe’s party, so there was no major danger. However, Erin gathered some crucial intel with her superpower. For instance, she learned that one squad of about twenty people had heard the Beast Tide was just passing through the area and would soon move on. They had stashed their hard-to-carry supplies—including weapons, medicine, and even winter clothes and bedding—in a hidden cellar. Another example: a different group had spotted Zombie dogs inside Dawnbringer Base, so they had decided to leave the area, Beast Tide or not, and head for Norgate...

She relayed all these tidbits and more to Paige in great detail.

Paige was both pleasantly surprised and a little confused.

The girl never spoke to anyone but her, refusing to even look them in the eye. No matter how warmly Martin Warren smiled as he approached her, all he ever saw was the back of her head.

This prompted a certain someone to grumble in frustration, ’What a little brat!’

Little did he know, even that private little complaint had been read loud and clear.

Unable to resist, Paige quietly asked Erin for the reason.

From her perspective, Martin Warren might be overly curious, but he was a genuinely nice person.

Erin’s small frame hugged her tighter. "He’s curious about me like I’m a monkey in a zoo. But I’m a person, not an animal!"

Paige paused, then almost laughed. She was about to say that it wasn’t such a big deal. ’In many men’s eyes, kids are basically little animals. Of course, that only applies to *other people’s* kids! I remember a male classmate of mine saying exactly that once.’

But Erin continued, "Of all these people, the only one whose mind I can’t read at all is the stone-faced guy. I can get a sense of what the others are thinking, more or less, including that smiling tiger. To them, I’m no different from a rock on the side of the road—something they can pick up, and something they can toss aside..."

Her young voice was tinged with a world-weariness beyond her years, and Paige couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.

’So this really is a fucked-up world,’ she thought.

"If they knew you had a superpower like this, they definitely wouldn’t be treating you this way."

’They’d be falling over themselves to dote on you!’

But Erin was insistent on keeping her ability a secret, which gave Paige a headache. If they were really going to Dawnbringer Base, figuring out how to make good use of the intel Erin provided would be a problem...

"That’s what makes it so annoying!"

Hearing Paige’s words, Erin suddenly grew agitated, nuzzling against her shoulder for a long time before she calmed down. "I’ll always be good, and I’ll work hard to help, so... don’t leave me behind..." After a long pause, she added, "You patted my head. That means you have to be responsible for me."

As a great warmth flooded her chest, Paige understood the subtext behind the girl’s awkward words, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Is that all it took to earn her trust? Just a tiny bit of concern?’

The more she felt this way, the less she wanted to deceive the girl. She answered frankly, "As long as I don’t have to choose between your life and my own, I’ll do everything I can. Of course, that’s assuming you keep your promise, too."

"...Okay."

After the two of them—one big, one small—reached their "agreement," their interactions became increasingly natural.

After spending more time with her, Paige discovered that while Erin often acted mature or cold, she was actually a very sensitive child at heart. Paige knew this from the amount of goodwill she had received from her in such a short time—it was quite a lot!

’If this keeps up,’ she thought, ’there might be hope for activating both earrings!’

But her happiness didn’t last long before she discovered something incredibly frustrating.

It seemed the amount of energy she could receive from any single person’s goodwill was limited. From Martin Warren, from Marcus Monroe, from Erin Quinn... once it reached a certain threshold, it just stopped...

’How tragic!’

Touching the mark on her chest, which was almost full of energy, Paige let out a long sigh.

’Oh well,’ she thought. ’I can’t force it. I’ll just have to let things happen as they will.’

Two days and one night later, she, along with Marcus Monroe and the others, finally arrived at Dawnbringer Base.