Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse-Chapter 184 As expected

"As expected, it's quieter than I thought," Zachary muttered, gazing at the empty area around the castle gate.

Justin chuckled, sensing the slight disappointment in his voice.

"Why? Feeling lonely?"

"It's not loneliness, just... I thought there would be more interest. Maybe we should've held a departure ceremony or something."

"Forget it. Who would want to bother with something that tedious? Neither the commoners nor the pioneers would've liked it."

The commoners were already drained from the waves and the recent territorial unification.

Even if a ceremony were held, all they'd muster would be weak cheers.

As for the pioneers, they wouldn't feel proud or motivated—they'd probably just get more exhausted.

"I know, but still, I thought at least a few people would come out of curiosity. Isn't anyone even the least bit interested in the fact that you're personally leading an expedition?"

"Curiosity? They're probably more afraid. It's no big deal for me to snap my fingers and kill dozens of people."

It was likely they thought it was safer to hide rather than risk catching Justin's attention.

They knew that even the slightest misstep could result in their heads rolling.

This wasn't a sign of indifference but more the behavior of prey trying to escape the gaze of a predator.

Even if the predator had no intention of eating them, the prey would still tremble in fear.

"Besides, it would be ridiculous to have a big ceremony for just twenty people going out. We can do that when the territory grows a bit more."

"You have a point."

"By the way, did you pack enough food and sleeping bags?"

"We packed more than enough. We spent a lot of mana stones, though."

The mere thought of the cost made Zachary shudder.

"The tents and sleeping bags alone were absurdly expensive. It'd be better if we could start producing Earth products ourselves at some point."

"Well, if the price of convenient items were cheap, everyone would just rely on the shops to get by. The system must have set the prices high on purpose."

The system was likely pushing them to eventually become self-sufficient by developing their own technology.

And in time, that's exactly what would happen.

Once they could lower the cost of essential items through technological advancements, they'd save a lot of mana stones.

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The amount of mana stones used by a territory would impact its national strength down the line.

No one would want to fall behind in competition with other territories, so they'd have no choice but to adapt.

"But for this expedition, we can't afford to be stingy. It's our first one, and everyone's already feeling the stress. We need to minimize any unnecessary mental strain."

"That's why we didn't hold back. From food to camping gear, we made sure to pack everything. The price, though... it's almost better not to think about it."

Zachary shook his head, clearly trying to avoid dwelling on the expense.

From Justin's perspective, it was worth the cost. But he had to admit, without the mana stone mine, he might've hesitated too.

"By the way, have you thought about how we'll handle camping outside the safe zone? I've never spent a night out there either," Zachary asked.

"I'll be handling that," Nathan cut in confidently.

"You?" Zachary blinked in surprise. His expression was one of clear doubt, wondering how Nathan could possibly manage it.

Seeing this, Nathan puffed out his chest with pride.

"Just watch. This is the perfect time for a tamer to shine."

"...?"

Zachary looked to Justin for clarification, confusion written all over his face. Justin simply smiled in response.

"Let's see what Nathan has up his sleeve."

It didn't take long for the expedition to find themselves on unfamiliar ground.

Up until now, they had only ventured half a day's distance from the castle.

In essence, they had never left their own backyard.

Beyond this point, they had no knowledge of what kinds of monsters roamed or how the terrain was shaped.

But there was no need to worry.

They had a scouting party willing to take on the risks for them.

"Keeek."

A hobgoblin let out a low growl as it meticulously scanned the surroundings.

There were a total of nine hobgoblins on scout duty, with three of them moving ahead to check areas beyond the party's sight.

Two of the hobgoblins, having completed their reconnaissance, returned to Nathan and reported in their gruff voices.

"Nobody! No one here! Now meat!"

"Alright, here you go."

"Keeek!"

With a grin, Nathan tossed a chunk of meat from his inventory to them.

The two hobgoblins gleefully devoured the meat, their eyes shining with excitement.

Soon, three hobgoblins gathered around Justin as well.

Since Nathan had just transferred ownership of them, they now recognized Justin as their new master.

"Here too! Nobody! Meat! Meat!"

"Here you go!"

"Meat!"

The goblins hungrily devoured the meat Justin threw at them before wiping their mouths and moving ahead to scout further along their path.

Watching the eager goblins, Zachary couldn't help but express his admiration.

"Taming low-level monsters and using them as scouts... I didn't realize the taming skill could be used this way."

"It's all about how you apply it. This wasn't a method often used in World Breaker, though."

"Really? But it seems so useful."

"That's because in the game, it was cheaper to sacrifice a small unit than to run around taming monsters. Early on, it was a viable strategy, but after that, no one bothered."

"Ah, that makes sense if you think of it as a game." Zachary nodded in understanding.

In the mid-game stages, losing a few low-level soldiers didn't really matter.

Instead of wasting time taming monsters, it was much more efficient to just churn out more units.

'But that logic doesn't apply in the real world.'

In a situation like this, scouting unfamiliar territory was akin to clearing a minefield.

One wrong move, and they could face unexpected dangers that could cost them their lives.

Naturally, no human would willingly take on that kind of risk.

Unlike game units, people couldn't be moved with the click of a mouse.

This was where the low-level tamed monsters came in handy.

Once tamed, they would obediently follow most commands.

Unless they were subjected to mental attacks, they wouldn't flee in fear.

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And even if they died, they could be easily replaced, without any guilt or remorse.

After all, these monsters would have attacked and killed humans if they hadn't been tamed.

They were perfect for dangerous tasks like scouting or standing watch.

"Got it! Got it!"