Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

When the startled young man rushed forward, Justin raised a hand, lightly stopping him. The young man flinched, stepped back, and looked at Justin.

"Wh-What are you doing?" the young man asked.

"Relax, it's not his blood. It's monster blood," Justin replied.

"Monster? You mean those creatures?" the young man asked, still looking worried.

"Yeah, those creatures. It got on him while extracting the mana stones from their hearts," Justin said.

The young man stared at him with a grim expression. It seemed he understood what was going on.

"Did you take him?" the young man asked.

"He asked to come along, so I brought him. He did well, and I plan on having him join us again in the future," Justin said.

"That's absurd...!" The young man stood up abruptly, his face flushed with anger. Just as he was about to start shouting, Justin dramatically pretended to clean his ear.

"If you have something to say, then say it. I told you before, you're free to speak your mind," Justin said, shrugging.

"...!" The young man clenched his fists, his entire body trembling. Essentially, Justin was saying that no matter what the young man said, he was still going to take Nathan along.

After a moment, the young man spoke in a voice that sounded like he was spitting out the words.

"Do you have no sense of guilt?" the young man asked.

"Guilt?" Justin repeated.

"He's not even an adult yet. And you're taking him into a forest full of monsters where he could die at any moment? Doesn't that bother you at all?" the young man said angrily.

Ah, so now that he was out of logical arguments, he was appealing to morality? Justin couldn't help but laugh at the shallow approach. The important thing right now wasn't whether Justin felt guilty, but what kind of future lay ahead for the young man and his family.

Justin shot a look of disdain at the young man. "I'd actually like to ask you the same thing. Do you not think at all?"

"What are you talking about?" the young man retorted.

"The law and order have collapsed, currency has changed, and the whole world is different now. But all you care about is staying alive with your family?" Justin said.

"What's more important than staying alive!?" Nathan's brother shouted, indignant. He seemed genuinely confused about why he was being looked down on for what he thought was the right thing to do.

But in Justin's eyes, this young man—Nathan's family—looked pathetic.

"Is survival all that matters? How do you plan to live after you manage to stay alive? Will you be content eating boiled potatoes and drinking water for the rest of your life?" Justin challenged.

"That's something we can figure out as we go along!" Nathan's brother yelled.

"No, you won't figure it out. By the time you think about acting, it'll be too late. From where I stand, the only person in your family who's not too late is your younger brother," Justin said coldly.

"Nathan is still young! He's a minor!" Nathan's brother shouted.

"I promise you, soon your entire family will be relying on that young brother for food, clothing, and shelter. If you want to be able to hold your head up in your own household, do better now. Don't block his path just because you want to play the role of a responsible older brother," Justin said.

The young man clenched his lips tightly, glaring alternately at Nathan and Justin. Finally, he turned around and left. He didn't leave without a parting shot, though.

"Get back home soon! Mom and Dad are worried about you!" he called out as he walked away.

Nathan watched his brother leave before turning to Justin. "Do you think it'll be okay?"

"What will be?" Justin asked.

"My brother and my parents... if they try to stop me..." Nathan trailed off.

"They won't be able to. No one can interfere with your actions inside the safe zone," Justin said.

Specifically, the system prevented any actions that could cause harm. Even if they tried to physically stop him, the system would intervene. Of course, that wouldn't stop the emotional guilt that might linger.

"If they really try to stop you, what choice do you have? Just break away by force if you need to," Justin said.

"They're going to be really mad..." Nathan murmured.

"And in less than a year, they won't be able to look you in the eye. Right now, continuing to hunt is the best way to be a good son to your parents. They might be happy if you stop now, but in the future, they'll spend their lives in regret," Justin replied.

"I know that, but I can't help feeling bad about it," Nathan admitted.

That's why he had a decent character, Justin thought. Cooper was the same; it looked like Nathan would stick around for a long time, too.

Justin divided the 48 mana stones they had gathered today into four equal parts. Derek and Nathan looked shocked; they hadn't expected such fair distribution.

"A-Are you sure I should get this much?" Derek asked.

"But I didn't even fight..." Nathan added.

"I know, but the experience points have already been distributed based on your contributions," Justin said.

If everyone had received equal experience points, then the mana stones would have been distributed differently. But in this system, experience was distributed strictly according to contribution. If Justin also distributed the mana stones unevenly, it would be an excessive level of discrimination.

'Levels have already determined the authority and position within the team. Getting less money on top of that would be too much.'

And it wasn't like they had any money to begin with; everyone was broke. They needed at least a small reward to stay motivated for the next hunt. More importantly, with fewer than 50 mana stones, the exact distribution didn't matter much. If they had gathered 50, Justin would have given them all to one person, but now, they had to carry over to the next day regardless.

For the sake of morale, it was better to distribute fairly. Cooper understood this and followed Justin's decision without question.

"I agree as well. If experience points are distributed unequally, and they don't get any money either, that would be unfair," Cooper said.

"Th-Thank you!" Derek said gratefully.

"Thanks a lot, brothers!" Nathan added.

Both were visibly moved by the fair distribution. Justin found it surprising that Derek responded this way. He had expected Derek to take his share without hesitation—maybe Derek still had a bit of conscience after all.

It was when Justin had finished distributing the mana stones and was about to head home after parting ways with his teammates.

"Ahem, may I have a word with you?" a voice called out.

"...?"

Justin paused as a shadow blocked his path. The man wore a robe that looked like it belonged to a mage, and he held a long staff. However, unlike Justin's black attire, this man's robe was red.

'An Elementalist.'

Unlike Warlocks, who specialized in dark magic, Elementalists were mages specialized in elemental magic. Judging from his gear, this man had completed the rescue quest and received the final reward, just like Justin and Cooper. This meant he was one of the few in the leading group.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Justin asked, intrigued.

The Elementalist smiled. "It's about how we, as pioneers, should lead these 'Ordinary' people."