Monster village (part 2)

"...papa...? Papa...!"

The beastman child was kneeling by the corpse of the wolfman tribesman that Zorey killed and was crying pitifully, shaking it as if trying to wake it up.

*thump*

Zorey tried to support himself against the tree, but his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees as the weight of guilt crushed him.

The beastman child wasn't the only one crying either – there was a female wolfman tribesman kneeling on the ground, sobbing while hugging the head of the deceased one – and all of them were surrounded by mourning wolfmen.

The black-haired boy could not look away from the heartbreaking scene.

To make things feel even worse, as a priest of death, he could also see the black fog covering the settlement...

...especially since he was the one responsible for its accumulation as a part of his strategy to keep the monster village from developing too much...

"..."

Feeling the unbearable tightness in his chest, Zorey reached out to his heart but ended up blocked by the mask that Vernlily lent him.

"...ah...!"

At that moment, the black-haired boy's eyes lit up, and he gasped. Taking out the mask and putting it on.

Despite not having any holes for eyes, the faceplate didn't obstruct the boy's vision in the slightest – which was definitely one of the reasons behind the (epic) rank of the item.

Zorey took a few deep breaths, trying to pull himself together, and stood up and walked towards the settlement.

"Anotherrrrrr enemy!"

"!!!"

The masked boy was spotted before he could say anything, and the wolfman tribesmen moved to defend their village, shielding the bodies of their fallen brethren as well as his family.

"Hold on! I am not an enemy!"

Zorey, with his voice muffled by the mask, called out while raising his hands to show that he had no ill intentions.

"..."

The wolfmen looked at each other, not entirely sure how to act.

"...whhhhat arrre you...? Whhhhy can't I see what race arrrre you...?"

Finally, one of them asked cautiously without taking its eyes off the masked boy.

"It's a Skill that I use to hide myself from humans like the one who attacked you earlier."

Zorey declared lightheartedly, not even realizing that he was getting better and better with lying.

"My Skill makes me appear human-like, and even though my rank is still visible, if I'm fast enough, humans usually don't pay much attention to me since race is the one thing they pay attention to."

The boy lowered his hands and spread them to the sides boastfully.

"I neverrrr hhhherrrrrd about a Skill like thhhhat."

The wolfman who was first to speak to him barked with suspicion, raising its spear a bit higher.

"Tehehe~! The same goes for most humans~ After all, that's the only reason why I am still alive~!"

Zorey chuckled triumphantly, making the wolfmen tribesmen look at each other slightly less wary of him.

"...but let me get to the point... I haven't shown up here just for a chat..."

"...!"

The masked boy lowered his hands and turned serious, getting all the attention again.

"How much do you all know about the corruption of the System?"

"!!!"

Zorey asked, and the reaction was instantaneous – although their mostly animalistic facial features, the shock, and even fear were easily recognizable.

"I'll take it as a yes. Then do you know about a force called malice or resentment and its negative effects on the living beings?"

The masked boy moved his head as if he were looking at every single wolfman tribesman and went a step further with another question.

"...because your village is already full of it, despite being physically fit, you definitely feel its effects..."

Zorey added, seeing their hesitation.

"...strrrrangerrr... thhhherrrre is no point in hiding it, I guess..."

The most spoken wolfman barked, finally lowering its spear.

"Thhhhhe trrrrruthhh is thhhat our leaderrrrr trrrried to hhharrrrnes the powerrrr of malice to turrrrn it against the destrrrroyed village thhhhat hhhhhumans begin rrrrrebuilding but it turrrrned against hhhhim and weakened hhhhim grrrreatly."

The wolfman revealed while its comrades followed its example and lowered their weapons, visibly relieved that they wouldn't have to fight the mysterious stranger.

"That was a bad move on his part. Only humans with Priest of Death Class can deal with malice without getting harmed, but even they can just get rid of it and not control it like that."

"Whhherrre arrrre you going whithhhh thhhhis...?"

Zorey pointed out, but it seemed he was talking too fast for the wolfman to follow, or maybe that wolfman just had enough of the masked boy beating around the bush.

"I have the power of Priest of death inside of me. I can get rid of the lingering malice for you."

Zorey said so casually that for a few seconds, there was no reaction whatsoever, but then...

"What?! How?! Are you an enemy after all?!"

All of a sudden, all the wolfmen's tribesmen raised their weapons, and their spokeswomen growled.

"I only said that I have the power of Priest of death inside of me, that's all."

"...?"

Even though Zorey was on the verge of losing his cool, he managed to shrug his shoulders dismissively and patted his stomach suggestively, which made the most forward wolfman lean back and stare at him in shock.

"...you... Yourrrr species can use thhhhhe powerrrrr of crrrreaturrrrres you eat...?!"

"Tehehe~"

The monster barked in shock, bordering with reference to which the masked boy simply tilted his head to the side and chuckled, neither confirming nor denying the claim.

"I-if thhhhhat's trrrrue...! Please! Please use that power on my mate's body...! I... I don't want him to rrrraise as an undead...!"

"...!"

The female wolfman pushed past the other tribesmen and pleaded, shocking everyone besides Zorey, who counted on that exact outcome to come true.

"That was my intention from the start. I'll start clearing out the malice right away, as I do, think about my compensation."

"Of course! System bless you...!"

The masked bo pointed out before approaching the wolfmen, who all lowered their guard completely.

{Maggot. The time to strike is now.}

"..."

A message popped up in the center of Zorey's vision, but the boy ignored it.

"..."

Zorey kneeled by the corpse and put his hand over it while the tiny beastman boy looked at him fearfully with his wolf ears flat against his head.

"Prayer."

*Haaa~*

*whoosh*

[EXP points granted]

The masked boy used his Skill, and the corpse lighted up with a warm light, and the minuscule amount of black mist it emitted was eradicated with a soft sound.

"Curious pup."

"...!"

Zorey focused on the child and said, making the boy cower fearfully... but despite how scared he was, the child didn't leave the side of his father's corpse.

"...we werrrre surrrrrprrrised the most... We expected a litterrrr of puppied, but hhhhe was the only one I gave birrrth to."

The wolfwoman standing right next to the body barked, trying to smile despite tears gathering in her eyes.