Matthew, Angelie and Gon moved Pierre's body to his house after he fell unconscious. Matthew checked his vitals, and judged that he wasn't in a dire situation. After a quick talk with Angelie, Matthew was informed that Pierre was the first to arrive that morning. The doctor connected the dots and came to the conclusion that Pierre most likely didn't actually sleep last night, and fell unconscious from exhaustion.

Neon, Haru, and May were informed of the situation the moment they left their houses. However, nobody saw Hansel leave his house.

“Let's just leave him be. He seems to have his own agenda,” May voiced.

Angelie stayed at Pierre's house to nurse the unconscious musician, while those who remained vacant proceeded attempting to unlock their abilities. It was during this time when Haru revealed his ability to the others. The boy tightly held his pillow close to his body, followed by the object shining dimly before organically transforming into a white armor covering the front of his body.

“I don't know how sturdy it is, but it is surprisingly easy to take off.”

Haru grabbed the armor  by the edges and pushed it off. The armor tried to stick itself to the body as long as possible like a parasite before surrendering itself. As soon as it did, it changed its shape back to a pillow.

“Now that's what I call a cheat!”

“Not gonna lie, that's kinda creepy...”

“How did you find out your ability? Did you get a new memory with the instructions, or did you find out by accident?”

The boy gave a dry laugh before answering the question: “Sorry, but I just woke up like this. I was exhausted from yesterday's walk, so I went to bed immediately after I got home. The next thing I knew I was on the ground wearing an armor.”

At first glance, it didn't seem as if it gives any clues at all. However, given a few minutes of thinking, Neon figured out that the two items were simply fulfilled the purpose they were designed for. Swords were meant to be swung towards enemies while pillows were meant to be hugged.

“But there is something off about it. By my own logic, my gourd's ability should activate when I drink water from it. When we were at the waterfall yesterday, I filled it full with water, and on the way back I drank from it because I was thirsty. However, I didn't feel anything strange back then, and I still feel nothing now.”

“Maybe you had to fill it up with something else -liquor perhaps- or maybe its ability already worked somehow,” Matthew hypothesized. “It is something you drink from, so perhaps it acted like a potion in RPG games and healed you even though you were completely fine at the time. I don't know whether it would be worth testing out this theory though, since you need to be hurt before you can get healed.”

“Setting aside my sword, Haru's pillow, and Neon's gourd that we just talked about, we still have Matthew's needles, Pierre's harp, Angelie's hoe, and May's and Hansel's items. Matthew, you said those needles were meant for acupuncture, right? Do you know how to use it?”

“Thanks to the Eric's memories it feels like I know how, but I haven't actually tried to use it ever since I was summoned.”

“Great, then you can test it out on Pierre. If the pain doesn't wake him up, then maybe you could relief some of his fatigue. As for May--”

“Spare May the question, I already tried everything yesterday at Mr. Paranoid's house, including testing out my fan. Big Brother Neon was there with me; he can confirm that.” May gazed with tease towards the big man, who embarrassingly nodded in response. It appeared that he had given up fighting against the little princess.

“Either Big Brother's theory is wrong, or poor May doesn't know how to properly use a fan.” May then puts the back of her hand on her forehead while tilting her head slightly to the sky, making a ‘tragic pose’. The boys got a few good chuckles out of the small act.

It was at that moment when May noticed a certain librarian standing in front of his house. His eyes unamused, the lone wolf stared at the group before walking towards the center.

“I am afraid I have come bearing bad news,” he said with a grim expression. “It is difficult to explain, but we have to prepare ourselves quickly, for we are about to be attacked by wolves.”

“Hold up. Hansel, it's not that I distrust you, but how do you know this?” Gon asked.

The librarian clicked his tongue.

“I had hoped I could keep this a secret, but at the second floor of my house there is a security room with showing me real-time broadcast of other places --including this settlement.”

Everyone didn't even try to conceal their doubt on their faces. Hansel, thinking that explaining the situation and gaining their trust would take up too much time, led the five individuals to his house and guided them to the security room.

---

The center screen was the only one active, and it was showing everyone the settlement from the sky. It was basically like the map function from an RPG game, except there weren't any avatars to play with. Hansel zoomed out from the screen, changing the resolution of the map. The map then showed multiple red dots approaching the edge of the settlement.

“They have reached us already. I suppose my warning amounted to nothing in the end.”

“Wait a minute, Angelie doesn't know about this. We should hurry and warn her!”

“If she is lucky, then she could easily look outside the window and spot them. There are about a dozen wolves at most, so they shouldn't be that hard to spot. I doubt they will be able to break concrete, so as long as the door is locked, they should be safe for a while,” the librarian quickly responded. “For now, we should instead decide on our next action. Unlike Neon and Gon, I don't have any aptitude in physical combat, so unless the two of you are confident that you are able to exterminate the monsters outside, I advise you all to stay inside until they leave.”

The moment Hansel finished his sentence, Neon immediately went downstairs heading towards the door.

“Neon!”

“I don't know about you guys, but I am NOT going to leave Angelie and Mr. Pierre alone! Regardless of whether you come along or not, I am going!”

Unable to leave even one man march to his death, Matthew searched for anything resembling a weapon, before finding a fire poker and heading off outside. Going with the flow, Gon and Haru followed the doctor, with the latter equipped with his shining armor and a kitchen knife. With the four finally gone, May slowly walked over the door.

*click*

Instead of joining the fight, the girl with the red ribbon locked the door.

“Aren't you going with them?” Hansel asked emotionless. His penetrating gaze prowled over her face and pounced on her eyes.

“And risk May's life for strangers?” May shrugged. Seeing a lack of response from Hansel, the girl continued: “I was joking. I don't know how to fight in real combat, and I doubt this small body would last long.”

Hansel kept answering his guest with silence, before going back upstairs.

“...I will tell you when the wolves are gone. Help yourself in the meantime.”

“Got it, Mr. Rationalist!”

May sat down on the couch for a while humming a lullaby for a while before getting bored. She looked around, and noticed that unlike her own house, Hansel's house has windows from the kitchen to the front. She looked outside and saw cow-sized wolves trying scratching at what she assumed to be Pierre's house. Pools of blood surrounded a pair of wolves at the center of the settlement.

“Do your best, everyone,” May whispered with a faint smile.

---

The moment Neon exited the Hansel's house, he didn't think much about the wolves at the northeastern ‘gap’ between the houses, and kept running towards the house across. The settlement was very small, so it took him less than five seconds to reach his destination.

By the time he reached the door however, a wolf was already inside his arm's reach, lunging at him. His shoulder bitten, Neon was pinned to the ground in an instant. Perhaps it was the sudden adrenaline, but he didn't feel much pain as his flesh was being torn apart, and quickly returned the favor by punching to the temple of the heavy wolf.

A wolf rushed the man on the ground, only to be stabbed in the eye with a fire poker. Another one followed however, and jumped at Matthew. The doctor held out the fire poker horizontally, preventing the wolf from ripping off his face. When the wolf had hit the ground, a blade made contact with its neck with force and decapitated the overgrown mammal.

“Hurry! Enter the house and lock the door!” Gon shouted, and cut down the one-eyed monster Matthew had injured.

By the time a third wolf was cut down, Neon had finished killing his assailant and was supported by Matthew. The two entered the house and locked the door immediately. Angelie rushed to the entrance and screamed in confusion at the sight of the injured man in black. Matthew informed the farmer of the situation before undressing the injured man so he could tend his wounds.

Back outside, the swordsman and the boy were steadily mowing down the Anomalies one by one. After getting called by the boy, the swordsman immediately understood his plan and moved over to the narrow passage between the southern pair of houses. With Haru facing south and Gon facing north, the wolves could not attack in groups and were forced to enter the passage one by one.

Fortunately for Haru, he didn't have to deal with more than two wolves as the majority of the pack attacked from the center of the settlement.

*slash*

*slash*

*slash*

*slash*

The ‘fight’ didn't last long as every time the steel sword was swung by Gon the Anomalies were killed instantly. Although he was confused for a brief moment, the swordsman didn't stop cutting the wolves until all of them were exterminated.

Despite being able to kill the monsters with ease, the two hunters didn't drop their tension and kept waiting for the next wolf to jump through the piles of corpses. It was only after May approached two brave souls with refreshments when the two dropped their weapons.