8: Beast-kin find a home

[Year 11 Month 9: Continued]

The beast-kin all jerked in surprise, my voice seemingly coming from all around them, unable to tell it was just in their head. Several unsheathed their blades with uncanny speed. Combat-oriented.

“Who’s there?!” the man who I presumed was in charge shouted. “Show yourself!”

I saw that he used a skill, it’s mana sweeping through the surrounding area. His eyes grew confused, and he muttered, “Nobody is there?” His wolf ears were twitching.

No longer speaking to the group, I sent a wave of calming emotions, targeted at the leader. Curiously, I watched as he seemed to realize what was happening.

“Spirit!” He cried out, drawing the attention of those near him. “It’s a spirit!” The group seemed to grow excited at that, with all of them immediately putting away their weapons.

What?

Not having been the reaction I expected, I quickly questioned Astrid, who seemed to know the most about them. “Oh gods! I completely forgot!” She hit her head with the palm of her hand. “Beast-kin aren’t aligned with the two gods of the churches, and consider most spirits to be good luck.”

That made a lot more sense.

Recalling what the leader had said, I made sure only to ask the three adults. “Would the churches maybe hunt them down because of that?”

They paled.

Turning my attention back to the beast-kin, I once again projected my thoughts to all of them, but addressed the leader. “Are you being hunted by the churches?”

The question snapped the leader out of his revelry, and the mood quickly soured. “The Church of Selium, without the threat of the Vexus, began a purge of beast-kin.”

He gestured to himself and those around him. “I am one of the chiefs of a small village, and they are some of our best hunters and guards. We come seeking shelter; we didn’t know your claim to this place.”

I sighed, “If you truly have positive intent, we can work something out. For now, we will wait till the others come back.” Apparently, they didn’t know I had been watching for as long as I had, as I saw some signs of unease sweep over the small group.

Ignoring this, the leader merely nodded his head.

And so we waited.

It took half an hour for the others to arrive. Not including the ten that returned, there were an additional 113 people. Meaning they had a total of 133 beast-kin.

The leader, who had introduced himself as Nobu while we waited, quickly ran out of the village and explained the situation to the other two chiefs. One of which was a woman, so I guess Chief and Chiefess? I imagine the ability to level has somewhat accelerated the whole equal rights thing here. I mean, obviously, it still exists, but maybe it’s better?

I still didn’t like the fact that Penelope’s class was [Homemaker]. Maybe I can find a way to level her up and get her a class evolution.

That aside, Nobu’s news of a local spirit had the obviously tired people in a good mood. The vast majority of their people were likely not used to having to walk extensive distances in a short period of time, although they do look quite fit overall.

A few minutes later, the three leaders came together and spoke to me. The woman spoke up, “Hello, spirit? My name is Mika. We wish to settle this place. Nobu mentioned you had terms, however?”

I responded, having received permission from the humans and Safli to reveal their presence, “I have a small group of survivors from the previous village. I expect you not to harm them and treat them as equals.”

Apparently, this was a surprise to the three, but Mika replied shortly after my statement. “That is acceptable, we have come to live in their homes. I promise we will do our best to treat them as equals.”

Considering their supposed reverence for spirits, they would do their best to keep their promise, or so I hoped.

[Year 11 Month 10: 1 month has passed]

So far, there had been no significant conflict between the new and old villagers. The beast-kin were surprisingly kind to the children and treated them similarly to their own. The two human women also had similar treatment.

The only person who had received any negativity was Osbert, and Nobu had mentioned it was possible, as it was a large force of armored men that had forced the beast-kin out of their homes.

“It will fix itself,” the chief said. “It just will take some time.”

On a more positive note, after a week or so of keeping up my [Warding Pillars], I let the newcomers receive my blessing, which was greatly welcomed by all, especially the sickly.

[You have gained 133 Blessed]

[You have 371 Blessed]

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With the old houses still mostly being intact, with only a few being completely unrepairable, the families slowly began to split up, claiming a home and fixing up whatever they could.

The beast-kin had no issue with the previous name and opted to keep the same for ease. So Gorn Village had once again been established.

Interestingly enough, rather than spreading into the entire village, they chose to stick near me, preferring the houses closest to the hill. This habit was especially apparent when I removed my [Warding Pillars], bringing the number of [Protection Pillars] up to four. The health regen is now more valuable since there were proper guards once again.

Possibly the most saddening change to my daily schedule was the survivors. Penelpe and Astrid decided to live together, along with several of the younger kids.

Now that two of the seven children had grown old enough to get their classes, and with more people who could watch over them, the only children that really stuck with Penelope and Astrid were their own toddlers, and Salfi, although the elf generally stuck around me for most days.

Osbert had joined up with the new guards and had even made some friends, sleeping in a house closer to the walls that had been repurposed into a little barrack.