Hours had passed and the light of day is already nearing its peak, however, the creatures inside their respective cages remained aloof and silent. Dein and the little girl had already spent some time watching these creatures yet Dein saw nothing of interest in them.
The nightmare creatures, monster of various different kind, neither moved nor make a sound. Instead, the creatures simply stayed still and silent, as if non of them are actually conscious.
Dein clicked his tongue in annoyance. When he did, however, his body ache slightly.
When he woke up, Dein had somehow managed to ignore it but now, he could barely even move without the blinding pain suddenly erupting on his body.
He looked down, watching his monster body whose now covered in stitches.
Honestly, Dein still has no complete idea how this stitches had come to be, in fact he doesn't even know why he's still alive. He's pretty sure the archer had shooted him directly in the neck and yet somehow he had manage to survive.
However, if Dein had to guess it's probably because of that woman whose face he did not even see on that night named Gi. That night, they spoke something about having to have to ask for her permission if they want to kill him but Dein never really heard the reason why.
Why did they have to ask for her permission and why the Gi woman doesn't want to kill him?
Once again, Dein could only guess.
'Tsk! Been stuck here for hours now and still nothing'
It really is annoying, to have so many questions and yet no answer. Much worse, he's stuck here with a weird little girl whose name he doesn't even know!
Speaking of the little girl…
Cutting off his train of thoughts, Dein looks up straight ahead as he noticed the little girl crawling towards him. Anxious for some reason.
Reaching him, the little girl poked Dein's knee softly, calling his attention from he sat. Then the little girl whispered, her voice nervous.
"Mister, misterr…"
"What's wrong?"
Dein questioned. Then, pointing behind her, the little girl answered.
"People…"
Before Dein could register the little girl's words, their cage begun to tug and before they knew it, they were descending.
The cage tremble.
'Now what?'
Are this people finally going to kill them? There's a chance but it's unlikely, there is no way these people went on their way to capture them just to kill them the next day. They probably have some ulterior motive that went beyond simple killing or torturing.
Dein could prove that much simply by looking around him and watching the dozens of nightmare creature that's also locked up just like them.
Finally, their cage reached the ground and strangely Dein found himself hiding the trembling little girl behind him.
Lips pressed together, he watch as the three people approach him, a frown on his already dark face. Meanwhile, one of the people – the fourth one – remained not far behind them.
He seems to be the one in charge of lifting and lowering Dein's cage and clearly of a much lower status than the three walking in front of him.
Finally, the people approach close enough for him to see their faces, it was exactly who he expected them to be. The swordsman, Lei – whose face is now covered in a loop of bandages – the archer, Clara, and another woman wearing a priestess clothing standing in front of the two, whom Dein presume to be Gi.
He gritted his teeth.
'What do these bastards wants now'
Dein could try to guess but there was no point as in the next second, his cage opened and Gi stepped inside.
Up close, the woman, Gi, looks beautifully striking. From her walk to her gestures spoke of elegance and yet her gaze sends shiver down Dein's spine. If he could move, Dein would've forced his way out of the cage already the moment the door opened but sadly, that was not the case.
Instead, Gi spoke, studying Dein with uncanny interest. Her voice calm yet arrogant.
"Most peculiar indeed…"
She paused, a hand flying to Dein's chin, forcing him to look up at her as she lean forward slightly. Her eyes moved around Dein's wounds and up to his face while Dein tried his best to remain still and calm. At the same time, however, Dein was also studying the woman…
'An awakened…'
Gi seems to be an awaken human of high status which somewhat answered the question why Clara and Lei were so obedient to her.
Gi continued.
"…A monster that can talk, corrupted yet not while also behaving strangely like a human"
The woman chuckled before pushing Dein to the ground, making the little girl behind him panic a little.
With a hum, Gi nodded.
"Hm, yes, peculiarity is good. The lord would be happy to meet you. I have already tended your wounds so you have three days to recover… after that…"
She smiled.
"…We shall meet again"
With that, Gi turned around and left alongside Clara and Lei, leaving Dein buffled and confused. After all, just what the hell was that! Dein felt like he learned something but at the same time he felt even more confused. Meeting the lord in three days? Why? Corrupted yet not? How?
It was definitely confusing but at least now Dein knows that he's not here just to be killed.
Meanwhile, the guy who remained behind the three earlier nervously approached Dein's cage. He tiptoed like an idiot caughting Dein's attention.
'What is this guy doing?'
"Hey what are you doing?"
The guy yelp like a little girl before nervously crossing his fingers to form a cross.
"Waa! I-it talks! Shit it really talks… I uh, d-don't come near me, I- I have a knife"
What's with this guy? Also, what does he mean don't come near him, isn't he the one coming towards Dein? Weird people really does come from weird places.
With a sigh, Dein reasured.
"I'm not going to kill you stupid"
The guy's eyes lit up as if he just got mocked.
"You say that but look at yourself… sharp teeth, razor sharp fingers and… and you have a tail!"
What! What wrong with his tail! Dein might just be inhabiting this monster's body right now but still! His tail is cool! There's gotta be something wrong with this guy to think otherwise.
The guy continued.
"Also, how do I know you're not trying to eat me? Monsters have a pretty large appetite y'know"
Dein's mouth hung agape at the barrage of insults he's receiving. How dare this guy! He's not even handsome himself nor does he have any bodily feature to boast off so how dare he! He's wearing a ragged tunic for spell's sake!
If Dein is inside his real body he'd be a hundred times good looking than this guy!
That said…
"Now that you said it, I am kinda hungry"
"Haa! I knew it, you monster"
The words made Dein clicked his tongue.
"But I'm not going to eat you, you dumbass!"
The guy's eyes widened as if in total shock before he uttered.
"D-dumbass? You foulmouthed beast!"
Foulmouthed? Really? That's what he's angry about? 'tsk, this is getting too annoying!'
"Listen stu– *ahem* good sir, I am not going to eat you. I just wish to know if you don't mind closing that door because if you must know it is tempting me to escape and also…"
Dein paused, choosing his words carefully. Then he added, a smile on his scary face.
"…Have a little chat with us?"