I walked out of the cave and Ludo gathered his belongings back and soon followed me, i reached the truck where the Beastfolk stayed and i opened the door once again and entered inside directly, completely disregarding the weird glances that Ludo kept giving me .
The moment i entered, the males tensed and the females held their children tightly and some tried to hide the kids behind their backs fast, but after seeing me a few of the tensed Beastfolk began to be a bit at ease, but a few of them still appeared to be quite vigilant and on guard, but i didn't feel any offense from that .
What surprised me was the sparkling eyes of some of the courageous kids who were approaching me with small steps, once they they came close, i saw them looking at me with adoration in their eyes, they didn't see me beating any of those guys, so why would they react that way .
The answer came quickly, a woman that have black cat ears and white hair, she appeared to be one of the oldest women in here called for the kids and asked them to go back to their parents, saying :
Don't stand in the way of the hero, go back to your family .
A hero, i guess that could explain why they were looking at me somehow, the woman who appeared to be quite old was quite steady with her steps as she reached to where i was standing, she stood directly in front of me looked at me dead in the eyes with her auburn colored eyes and with her a bit wrinkled face she kept rolling her eyes up and down at me as if sizing me up, i didn't disturb her and only waited for her to finish what she was doing in silent .
A few seconds passed with us still standing there, i was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable, so i coughed a little as if to get her attention, she seemed to get my intention, as she stopped her gaze on me and without any warning, she suddenly bowed to me while saying :
Thank you hero, we will never forget this debt of gratitude .
And at her actions, all the people in place also hurriedly bowed their heads to me and said in one voice :
Thank you for saving us great here, we swear to never forget your gracious help .
I was a bit surprised by the sudden gesture, even the small kids were surprised at the scene unfolding, some of the kids even tried to mimick the actions of the adults, but they ended stumping their head in the ground accidentally, i found that i was unknowingly smiling witnessing the scene in front of me, i was a bit absent-minded, but after a few seconds i regained my focus and asked them pleadingly to stand up .
The men and women were the first to rise back up, but the old woman was still bowing in front of me, i stretched my hand and offered it to hear and once again asked her to rise up, which she finally did, she took my hand and rose up and said sincerely as i was helping her up :
We are eternally in your debt, sir Bloodlord .
I almost choked on my saliva as i heard the last part of her words, when did i become a Bloodlord, heck did she even know what that title mean, i looked at the woman in front of me and my relaxed mood tensed slightly, but the moment i saw her ears twitching, i was able to guess, that she previously heard that yelling voice of the enigmatic Demon named Ludo, so it's okey, i guess .
I nodded at her polite words and said with a relaxed smile :
Don't worry about it gra, cough, madam, i was just lending a hand since you may be linked to a friend of mine, so you don't have to take it to the heart .
She looked at me a bit strangely ( threateningly ) when i was about to call her granny, for some reason her look was having a more psychological effect on me, more than even the death stares of my enemies, even in a fantasy world, women are scary.
At my words she gave a content smile and shook her head before saying :
Then i guess you appearing her of all places, must be really our luck then .
It does appear so .
Was all that i said in response, i saw that she was about to ask me about something, but then a voice that blow away all the harmonious atmosphere came from the entrance of the truck that was just behind, Ludo said :
Hurry up darn it, i still have a lot of things to do .
The moment his frame came to stand next to me, the women hurriedly retreated back in fright, the wailing of kids started, the women also began to weep, the men all tensed and their bodies began lit up, if i'm not wrong that was them channeling and activating their Battle Aura .
Diffusing the current tensed atmosphere was a must, but i wasn't able to know how to exactly do so, the dispute between the two parties wasn't something that could be fixed by reconciliation, should i tie him up for them and let them beat the shit out of him, it could eased the atmosphere a bit, the binding on me didn't gave any warning, so if i really did so it won't be considered as a breach of the contract, so that was somewhat a relief .
But just as i was thinking about that idea, his instinct kicked in and caught up on it somehow, he said :
You wished an ill thing to befell me just now, didn't you .
I was thinking that it might be the binding contract was what warned him about this somehow, but when i turned my head and looked at him who instinctively moved a few steps back in a fleeing manner, i noted that his complexion have returned back to normal and the weird shaped pupil of his has even returned back, but it was much fainter than before as if he was in dormant state, i felt like it would disappear in any coming second now, but one thing was certain, he have recovered from most of his injuries, he probably should have taken one of those green pills i saw before .
But that will make him a bit difficult for me to get hold of him, guess i'm abandoning this idea of mine, but what could i possibly do to diffuse the current situation
I didn't answer his inquiry, i just motioned for him to get out of here with my hand, which was exactly what he did, albeit a little grumbly .
I then turned to the guys who were currently trembling and calmed them down before getting directly to the point i wanted to discuss with all of them, i coughed in try of clearing the awkwardness of the current situation and said :
Do you guys know where to go from here to return to Animagia .
A guy with red fox ears and tails came forward a bit weakly and said that he knew the way from here back to the capital Dorgon like the back of his hand, with the other nodding as well as to confirm their acknowledgement of what this guy said, i nodded at his words and directly asked for him to point out the direction for me, he hesitated at first, if before seeing Ludo, he wouldn't have hesitated, but now they were wary of me plotting something with the demon, another thought which I couldn't bring myself to hold any displeasure towards them for having such a thought .
But luckily the old woman from before came to vouch for me, seeing that the guy was asking for her opinion or maybe permission, she gave a nod directly, but for some reason i felt like she was looking at me a bit weirdly .
( Old Woman Zina POV ) :
The guy in front of me said that i'm old again, i feel it in his eyes, but i have no proof .
( Old Woman Zina POV end ) .
As she gave him the go ahead sign, the guy pointed his finger forward, seeing the expectant eyes of the kids, i was tempted to give a good show, disregarding of how flashy will it look, with Transmutation i conversed the whole truck into a big amusement park like cart, with everything in my mind coming perfectly as i had visualized it to, i willed the earth beneath us to begin to rise .
They all adults and kids alike yelped in surprise with the kids eyes shining brightly at the colorful colors they were now seeing in front of them, as i felt all the preparation were done, i motioned for Ludo to try and keep up with us, which angered him for some reason .
Then i took a seat myself, one that i booked beside the fox guy who will be pointing the way and the old woman, ouch, i felt someone pinch my side, something that shouldn't be possible considering the existence of my skills, but i attributed it to the psychological burden i felt for calling her something inappropriate, according to her at least .
She had only began to ask about what was going on here, when i raised my voice loud and asked the kids if they were ready to go, the voices quietened down at first but a second later a huge uproar came from their mouth while yelling loudly, saying :
Yeahhh .
Without further ado and without giving the woman next me a chance to speak her mind, we who were currently more than 20 meters above the ground, the moment i got the okey, the train began to move slithering through the air at least that what it looked like if someone were to look at it from a far distance but in reality, i was using Transmutation to both build the tracks and for moving the train to move as well, the visualization was the most difficult part, but as Mana wasn't an issue and with me beginning to have a bit of fun, the track kept becoming more bolder and bolder, but at the pace we were moving with the game was a bit short as i saw in the distance the rising of another different scene and atmosphere than the red skies and the lots .
An actual blue sky was on the other side of the scene in front of me with sun decorating it, the interaction between the blue and red colored sky gave an amazing sight to behold .
I saw a huge castle in the far distance, one that filled me with awe and a great desire to go and see it up close, but i guess i will have to wait for sometime before being able to visit it, i stopped the moving like bullet train of carts and directly dispersed it, allowing those guys to finally land on their legs, but the moment the carts dispersed, they all dropped to the ground unsteady, but with quite different expressions on their faces .
But the expression on the targeted audience's face which consist of mostly kids was that of a pure bliss, their eyes were screaming that they wanted to go for another round, sadly that just won't be possible, most of the adults had a horrified expression on their face .
The woman beside me was holding her mouth with both of her hands, i guess her stomach wasn't able to bear the tough ride .
I left them alone for a few minutes, so that they can catch their breath and i saw Ludo catching up from a bit far distance, i was beginning to think that he would take this as a chance to run far away from me, or even put the blame of his team deaths on me, but i guess i misjudged his personality a bit, but he also wouldn't be lying, i was the one who took the lives of those guys, before i would have already done the same to him as well, but now that we both under the binding contract effect, i can't even if i wanted to .
After they have fully recovered, they began to stand up one after the other, i confirmed with the ones that were able to currently speak on whether the rest of the road will be safe for them to continue going through on their own, which they all nodded in affirmation, so i wished them good luck and began to get ready to leave, when the cat eared madam suddenly called me and said :
Could you please tell me about that friend of yours, don't you want to send him a massage .
I never said that my friend is a Beastfolk .
And i don't need you to say it, i just know it, could you tell me his name so that i can give him my gratitude ? .
My friend is a girl whose name is Lora, she said she worked previously under the king of Animagia, if you happened to meet her, tell her that i said hi .
Will do, but that friend of yours won't happen to have a little sister .
Her words woke me up of my trance, Lora did say that she had a sister, could the woman in front of me really be an acquaintance of hers, that would be quite a big coincidence, but i did nod my hand in confirmation .
The name is Zina by the way, i would be sure to send your best regards to Lady Lora Leighton, i again thank you very much for helping us .
The name is Ryiu, nice to meet you madam Zina, please stop this, you have given me more than enough thanks already .
I was already tired of the thanks they kept giving me, so i dismissed those thanks that was being given by them by waving my hands, the kids began to wave me goodbye, which i responded by waving back at them with a genuine warm smile on my face, i waited for them to disappear in the forest, then i remade the train once more and motioned for the guy that kept watching in silent to come and join me, he didn't want to join me at first, but i baited him to by saying that he was scared, i blinked and the guy was already sitting in the seat behind me, without wasting any more time, i increased the train speed to the maximum and returned back to where we were before .
The moment the train came to a stop, the demon collapsed on the ground and start vomiting, so i guess even demons have a weak stomachs, his face was a bit paler than before, but he was able to regain his composure a second later, but he kept glaring on me for a few seconds, before saying curiously :
So who did you own this favor to ? .
Favor ?!
Saving those useless guys, i mean, doesn't that how usually these things work with you Bloodlords, a favor for a favor, i'm curious to know who was the one you owed this favor to and how did you even get indebted to a Beastfolk .
So that's what he was wondering about, i guess it's a normal misunderstanding, but one quite adequate with his way of thinking, but i guess there is no point in denying it either, that guy have really been of a great help to me .
I nodded at him and just as i was beginning to think what i should say, he surprised me with asking a quite unexpected question, one that i have been wondering when he was going to ask for a long time now, he said :
Whoareyoureally, Bloodlords don't go a favor for a favor, they prefer a favor for a debt, who are you really, your questions are mostly consist of common knowledge back in the Real World, even if you were clueless and ignorant about those pieces of information, you should have at least heard them being mentioned at least once, but you kept on asking these questions with a clear intention of acquiring knowledge, what really blow your cover was the fact that i still feel no mana pulse coming from you, even though i witnessed you just now doing a crazy thing, so who are you and what's your motive .
So i guess, i had been really found out this time, i'm aware that my impatient pursuit of knowledge might have been one of the main reasons for incurring his suspicions, but the head main reason might be the fact that he was able to fool me using my own lack of knowledge about much of how the Bloodlords acted, but i might be able to refute those by saying, that i don't agree with this way or anything like that, but the last reason he gave was different .
The last reason he gave baffled me and was like the last nail in my coffin, i could be able to refute the other reason, but i don't even know how to began refuting this one, i can try and tell him that i was using the power system in this land, yeah that might actually work, i did think it's a viable plan, so i carried on with it and said what i had in mind .
But his answer obliterated every ounce of my ability to maneuver my way out of this by merely talking, he said :
I could have believed you, if not for the fact that we have already tried before to make use of the power system here in try of deceiving it, before .
The results of those little experiments of ours made it quite clear, that the system in this world was made and molded perfectly to repell the invaders, most of those who volunteered for the experiment, was engulfed in flames the moment they stepped out of here, those who were unable to return at once, were all burned to crisps, even their ashes were completely vanquished, so you are telling me that you have use of some loophole to be able to appear here borrowing a body, i don't buy it, who are you, their is no way that you have successfully established a connection with the Shard's Will and was able to continue living as if nothing happened, since the moment you did so, all your secrets should have been laid bare in front of it, even your memories could be seen though easily .
And the moment the Shard know of your existence then it won't stop until you are obliterated, that's just how it works, no there is still a possibility, but that can't be right .
At this point, i was stunned by how fast his current critical thinking was working, i wasn't able to see a single loophole in his logic, i was calm thinking that even if he know it now, that i'm a human, thanks to the contract we signed he wouldn't be able to spread the news about me to anyone else, but in contrast to my calm demeanor, his was a bit agitated, he suddenly pointed at me with a quivering hand and said :
Unless you were connected to it from the start, you, youu , You Are A Human From This Side .