19 Three reasons

When they walked into the village, Desire was quickly met with a variety of women.

He talked with them about the forest fire and Percia. After all, they were very curious about the child who saved a member of their race.

Surprisingly, when Desire was talking with them, he noticed that some women were wearing proper clothes.

It was quite a surprise, being in a village wherein most of the residents were naked.

He also quickly found out that there was quite a variety of hair colors among the Suckus.

Within the village of Lyra, all of the women had the color of green for their hair. It was to the point that when he first went there, he couldn't tell who is who.

He also learned that the residents of the Skinjur were the village heads of the scattered villages of the race, Suckus.

Considering that many of them live here, it could be surmised that the number of villages was a lot.

Desire also learned of the fact that there were a lot of forests in the world. What with a single forest consists of a single village rule of the Suckus.

It seems that was established to prevent infighting and to procure males for every member of their race.

When Desire felt that it was now night time, which he couldn't feel or see because it was always the deep purple sky, Lyra guided him to a house.

Lyra said that it was the knowledge of the Suckus that have stockpiled during the years. It was quite big, and when he entered, all kinds of books were stationed on a shelf.

Although the place had many books, it seems he was only allowed to read one book.

That book was about humans. It was because of the kindness of the daughter of the head that he was allowed to read.

The reason being why was because they learned that Desire didn't know anything about his race. After all, he came upon Lyra when he was a baby and was brought to her village.

Reluctant as he was, Desire was in the process of reading it. He always mentioned his reflection back then every time he thought about how humans were nothing, making him read about half of the book.

There were three things that he learned about humans. All three of them were great enough to influence how his life will be, considering how he hates them.

'Country...'

The first thing was that humans formed countries all over the land. Unlike the monsters which only roam around in their natural habitats, humans always go beyond theirs, looking and hoping to cultivate the land, making it their own.

Even with his general knowledge, he only knew that humans formed groups and societies. He didn't know anything about countries and how much land they had.

He also learned of a country that seems to be the culprit behind the forest fire, Haroldus kingdom. He wasn't sure of it, but according to the book, that was the kingdom nearest to the forest.

And because of how countries and kingdoms are all over the land, Desire was bound to interact, one way or the other, with them.

'It's not like I can avoid them.'

Desire knew how unrealistic it was, hoping to avoid humans during his life. The probability of him meeting some humans was high. And this leads to the second thing that he learned that would affect him.

'Anyways, rules and regulations, huh.'

Humans in their countries have rules and regulations, order, or law to preserve peace— the king of a kingdom or lords of the area handed down these laws, making matters worse for Desire.

As a human, Desire needs to follow them. No, he is forced to follow them. After all, if he does whatever he wants in a place under the influence of a big shot, he would die.

Killing a human wandering in the forest or a city, stealing from humans and disrupting order in places...Once he gets found out, the situation would soon turn dire.

As a child with no means of protection, he can't have those kinds of attention to himself. Meaning, if he ever meets a human and kills them and continues to do that, people in charge would soon hunt him down to apprehend or even kill him on the spot.

'It's not as if I even want to meet them in the first place.'

Even if Desire meets them and is forced, just like in the previous occasion, to make a move, humans or kings wouldn't acknowledge his reason.

He can't just say, 'I hate humans, so I killed them.' in front of the authority. And Desire understood this, having read the book about humans.

Desire stood up from his seat and stretched up his arms while yawning. He put the book to where Lyra got them and soon walked away while thinking about the third reason.

'I guess I should be happy about it, ranks...'

The third and most important thing that he learned was about ranks. It applied not only to monsters but humans also. He already knew that but what was important was that it decided the humans' pecking order.

Even though Desire doesn't know the inner workings about it, he knew that he would get stronger as long as he increases up in ranks.

It was different for both humans and monsters, but if he could rise in ranks and make a name for himself, humans wouldn't carelessly touch him.

The forest fire could be prevented by just saying that he owns that land. That was how he interpreted the knowledge in the book.

'Hah. But, humans...'

And this was the reason why Desire was also troubled about it. If he wished to make a name for himself, he needed to live in human society.

If he lives in human society and able to reach the pinnacle of ranks, he doesn't have to worry about attacks anymore. After all, who would dare attack a person sitting at the top?

The issue relies on Desire's hate for humans. He would rather live in the forest with the Suckus than living with humans. But then again, if he wants to protect them, it doesn't need to be said what must be done.

Desire also knows that from the bottom of his heart, and his worries don't stop there. He read about how the humans rank up, and he compared it to how he ranked up.

'It was different.'

Humans rank up from 'experience' accumulating from battles and training. When one reaches the pinnacle of one's rank, he would naturally reach the next stage.

However, the same isn't true for monsters.

Liya taught him the monster-way-of-training, and that was how he got his first rank.

The method was Magic Infusion; though Desire didn't know how Magic Infusion works, it wasn't a method for humans who gains 'experiences.'

'No...I am different.'

The system has identified him as a human, and yet the Magic Infusion worked on him. Clearly, Desire was the one out of the norm.

And thanks to his growth, Desire knows that if he nonchalantly walked in human territory and people saw him growing like the one from before...he would be questioned and, in the end, be killed.

Thinking about how his future seems to be so bleak, he couldn't help but give a self-deprecating smile.

His shoulders slumped down from exhaustion, and he reached out to open the door.

Standing beside the door was Lyra, who was waiting for him. She wasn't allowed in because she wasn't granted permission to read. Desire could be said to be a fortunate fellow.

"Lyra, are you alright?"

Seeing her face drenched in sweat and a look of exhaustion over it, Desire quickly asked.

"Y-yes. It's just..."

"Just?"

"You stayed for too long! A day has already passed, you know!"

Desire tried to look up to see if the sun has risen in the east, but he couldn't get the answer that he wanted. After all, there's no sun here, and only the moving purple sky could be seen.

"Has it been that long?"

"You weren't aware? I'm surprised you could last that long without eating."

"Now that you mention it...I do feel hungry."

Rubbing his stomach with his right hand, Desire said with saliva dripping from his mouth.

"I'm appalled with you. Not even me could last for that long...Anyways, let's go."

"Go where?"

"Miss has arranged a dinner with you. She said that after you finish that book, she wanted to see you. I bet she hasn't expected that you'll finish after a day, though."

Lyra said that while gesturing for Desire to follow.

Desire didn't reply and just nodded his head while walking. He already received a heads-up about who wanted to meet him.

It was the one who arranged for his entry and the one who allowed him to read a book...it was the daughter of the current head!