With the addition of Arisu to his travel party, the group trudged by the edge of the forest, absorbing the post-apocalyptic sceneries of destroyed cities that were right by the border from where they walked.

Kazuichi was genuinely curious about the Kazuichi Stronghold, and he couldn’t believe just how powerful Arisu made it out to be. He was aware that Arisu wasn’t overexaggerating, but based on what she said, he still couldn’t process it due to how ridiculous it was. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

As for Arisu, she was led to believe that all strongholds were twice as powerful as the Kazuichi Stronghold. No, she was positive that the other strongholds have an army of Hybrids and a gathering of survivors which were so efficient that they basically fuel the entire place.

Since she spent all her time watching over Kazuichi Stronghold, she had no idea how formidable the other strongholds were. Hence she assumed that they were impregnable like an actual fortress.

Because of that, she continued building the stronghold, not letting up for a single day even though it was formidable enough. Fortunately, the river behind the house as well as the expansive forest provided them with enough resources to keep building up on the stronghold, and they were able to reach an absurd level of formidability in a short span of time.

However, Arisu wasn’t even aware that the stronghold had become too strong compared to other strongholds. It was too strong that not even a group of Hybrids could infiltrate the place.

As such, there were some Hybrids who initially planned to raid the place, but they gave up on it and instead joined the stronghold since they’d be safe there.

With more people and more guards (Hybrids) in the mix, the stronghold grew, and laborers became common. With more laborers came more supplies and more resources, there were even talented people who could farm, build, and smith, and they took in apprentices to learn their trade.

Of course, all of these won’t be possible if it wasn’t for Arisu and her superior sense of smell. Not only could she smell feelings, but she could also smell bad intentions as well. That’s why those who planned to join the stronghold with the plan of betraying it in the near future weren’t welcomed in the first place.

And even after all that, Arisu still wasn’t aware of how powerful the stronghold was. She wasn’t even aware that she was the key to building such a force of nature thanks to her sense of smell.

While the group traveled, they effectively avoided Hybrids and infected from miles away, thanks to Arisu’s sense of smell. It was an easy journey, so much so that Amaya even felt useless.

"How far are we going to walk before we get there?" Kazuichi just had to ask since he had no idea how long before they reach the next city over. Even then, they had to cross that city before they could get to Tokyo.

And even then! Kazuichi Stronghold is located on the outskirts of Tokyo so they had to travel an additional couple of miles to get there.

"About a day’s walk. With our current pace, we can reach Yamanashi Prefecture. And then it’s another day or two before we could cross it. All in all, it’d take about three days, not counting our rest and sleep times."

"How long did it take you to get here?" Kazuichi couldn’t help but ask since Tris didn’t seem that exhausted.

"About five days. I didn’t hurry at all." She calmly responded.

...

The rich sunny weather suddenly shifted and grey clouds covered the entire skies, billowing as a brewing storm drew near. Kazuichi was always prepared for every attack, but a natural roadblock like heavy rain was something that didn’t occur in his mind.

"We have to find shelter." Kazuichi simply stated while he looked around. On one side was a dilapidated city, and on the other side was a deep forest. He felt the urge to continue the journey, but seeing that the rain was coming in fast.

From a distance, Kazuichi could already hear the steady heavy downpour on the other side of the forest. It would take at least a minute or less before they get caught up in the rain.

Left with no choice, the group decided to backtrack and head to the city right by the edge of the forest. While it would put a temporary halt to their journey back, they opted to do it. Besides, they badly needed some rest after walking nonstop for a couple of hours.

Even Arisu was surprised that not a single word of complaint came out of Amaya’s mouth. In fact, she was able to keep up with the group despite her small frame.

What she didn’t know was that Arisu was actually capable enough to go with scouts, and usually, they don’t wait for her so she had to keep up. She’d experienced plenty of close encounters with hordes. Fortunately, she was a Canary so she won’t have to worry about mindless infected.

The Hybrids were a different topic though, since they could easily abduct Amaya if they feel like it. Amaya was careful not to encounter one, if she did, she’d stick close to her companions whenever such was the case.

"Here!"

Fortunately, they managed to find a dilapidated house with a workable roof and they went under it. A couple of seconds later, rain started pouring in.

"Let’s set up camp here," Kazuichi advised as he put down his duffel bag. Tris and Amaya assumed one of the corners of the makeshift room while Arisu started unloading some of the firewood she brought.

"Oh, by the way, Arisu, could you smell if there are infected nearby?" Kazuichi asked since the only thing he could smell was the petrichor that came after the rain.

Arisu shook her head. That was the only weakness she had, she couldn’t smell that well on a rainy day.