Unknown to both Levin and Mira, they were being watched since they left the building after the fight against the fire mage earlier. What spied them was a mechanical eagle that stared from about twenty meters in the sky, and even now, it followed them both when they were trying to relocate their position in the forest.
Inside one of the abandoned buildings in the abandoned city they just left, a middle-aged man with full white hair, thick glasses, and wearing a lab coat, couldn't help but nod at himself. He had been watching the entire fight from the beginning to the end, and to say he was impressed was an understatement.
'So, is that gun firing lasers? If so, how does it work? What kind of power source does it use? Is there any technology from a different dimension that I have never seen before? Man, I want to see it so badly!'
Yeah, as a mechanic, he definitely felt more enthusiastic toward a futuristic weapon like Levin's laser gun compared to any other fantastical things like magic or something like that. He was fortunate that the crow man, the ruler, whoever it was, was kind enough to bring all of his things to his workspace in his old world before transporting him to join this silly game, and one of the things brought was this eagle remote control.
It was his first-ever creation, a device that allowed its users – which was him in this case – to soar high above landscapes, offering a bird's-eye view for spying and surveillance. Equipped with advanced cameras and real-time transmission capabilities, the device mimicked the agility and flight patterns of a real eagle, providing unparalleled aerial insight while also making it hard to be discovered by the others who was not familiar with it.
Just like right now, even though Levin had been maintaining his vigilante all the time, the soldier hadn't even noticed that he was being watched, and it told the mechanic a lot about his creation's ability.
However, compared to that, he still had trouble in front of him.
'A military soldier, a veteran fighter either with a weapon or in a close-combat situation, a cold-blooded killer, yet somehow has a soft heart toward the little girl. He could just leave her alone or even kill her in the first place, yet he still took her under his wing. What is his motive? Is it because of love? Then, what kind of love is it? Or is it because he could still use her? Does he realize that allies are important in this death game? If so, maybe I can approach him for cooperation.'
Yeah, the mechanic was trying to figure out whether it was worth his life to cooperate with Levin or not. He knew that, unlike Levin, he couldn't just bulldoze his way to kill the other players at this stage. Hell, even walking for about one kilometer was a pain in the ass for him, and that was why the mechanic's first creation was an animal-based robot to do the heavy-lifting task for him. So, fighting was a big no, but his ability was so unique and useful that the other players would beg for him to join if they knew it.
Oh, no, he wasn't being too cocky or too arrogant. The ability to see the surroundings from the bird-eyed view like this was very valuable in any kind of situation as long as the stage was still an open world like this, and he was also a genius mechanic who was hailed as humanity's last hope when facing the disaster back in his original world. So, after all of that, he felt that he deserved the proud feeling that he had for being a rare commodity even in this death game.
Now that Levin showed him that the soldier was a capable fighter and also didn't discriminate even if the little girl's ability was not fighting-related, the mechanic pondered for a moment before saying, "Let's wait and see how it turns out. It will be no good to make a hasty decision like this. Let's see what they are going to do next."
-0-
Levin and Mira didn't know that they were currently being monitored by a flying device above them. Right now, since the sun was already below the horizon, they started preparing themselves to camp in the forest. Fortunately, the crow man was kind enough to bring Levin his bag from his world, which contained a lot of survival tools that any soldier always required to have during the operation. One of the tools was a small tent, which gave them shelter for about a night.
"Uncle, I don't know what kind of world you lived in, but I want to visit it if I have a chance in the future," Mira said, still munching the food prepared by Levin. "Your food is so good! And you tell me that this is a soldier ration and probably the worst kind of food in your world?!"
Levin just chuckled a little, yet somehow feeling a bit distressed when he heard that. What he gave was a portion of a heated beef stew with pilaf rice and a pack of biscuits as the snack, the last ration he had in his bag. Even though it sounded delicious, the quality was not as good as the homemade one, and except for soldiers like him, no one would think to eat something like this on a daily basis. So, for Mira to say that the food was delicious, he wondered what kind of life did she have in her old world.
"Just eat slowly and chew the food properly. You will choke if you gobble it like that!" He chided the little girl gently, inwardly convincing himself that from now on, he would try to provide better food for her.
"Yes… Uncle…" Mira just said that casually, yet still with her mouth full of food.
Levin just shook his head once again before he went into the tent. "Here is a sleeping bag. You should've known how to use it, right?" He asked, making sure that something similar existed in her world. The girl nodded without saying anything, enough to tell him the answer to his question. "Well, tonight, you will sleep here, and I will take a guard outside. Do you mind?"
Mira furrowed his brows immediately at that. "Why would you want to sleep outside?" She asked.
"Of course, someone has to take a guard," Levin explained patiently. "We don't want to get caught off guard if something bad or dangerous happens, so, it is better to take a cautious approach. Don't worry, I am a soldier, I am used to a long, sleepless night like this." He tried to reassure the girl.
It was clear by the frown deepened on her face that she didn't agree with what he said. However, this was something that they needed to do. They still didn't know what the other players from this sick game were capable of, so they couldn't lower their guard even for a second.
Levin didn't know how right his decision was, as something dangerous was lurking from the shadow, eyeing them both like they were just two weak prey who were waiting to get slaughtered.