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As Ervas used Gaia's help to heal Pekorina's wounds, the little Rabbit Girl explained a bit of what had happened to her village. ??
"It was a bunch of scaled savages, peko!" she shouted.
"Scaled… savages?" asked Jason.
Pekorina began to break into small tears once again as she remembered what had happened in her village.
"Yes, peko… Lizardmen… We Rabbit-kin have been living in peace and coexistence with them for generations, but all of a sudden they became aggressive, peko. Lizardmen, despite being monsters are very calm and as long as you do not bother their territories, they would easily coexist with others, peko… They were never aggressive neither as savage nor barbaric as we saw them be… their eyes were completely red; it was as if some kind of ghost had possessed them, pekoo!" said Pekorina, enraged.
Lizardmen were a race of humanoid scaled monsters, the smallest one would be one meter and eighty centimeters, with the biggest ones towering over two meters tall. Lizardmen are born with the base Rank of 2 and can develop furthermore through intensive training.
The Lizardmen that Pekorina was referring to were originally a nomadic tribe of monsters, but the ones that lived in the Devil Forest developed small farms near ponds and swamps. They created farms of freshwater fish, ducks, and aquatic rats and sustained themselves through this, while also visiting a nearby dungeon when it was necessary to train and gain strength alongside items that could only be harvested there.
"That's… terrifying…" muttered Jason.
"It must have been hard," said Shade.
"Was your tribe coexisting with other monster tribes? What had happened to them? Do you know anything?" asked Veronica.
"There was also a small tribe of kobolds, who are dog-headed demi-human-type monsters… they often walk in packs but were also mostly peaceful with us… I haven't seen any of them yet, I wonder how they are doing…" wondered Pekorina.
Kobolds are humanoid lycanthropes with the head of dogs or wolves, often acting in large packs up to forty that were nomad in nature, hunting small monsters to sustain themselves, while gathering bugs, mushrooms, fruits, or herbs. Their base Rank was of 2 as well but could grow and develop furthermore into strong Kobold Warriors, Kobold Generals, or the rare Kobold King, which could be of Rank 5.
Ervas considered the idea that there could be a stronger monster lurking in the Devil Forest capable of manipulating other monsters. Perhaps something like Lizardman King, or an even greater and stronger monster race, such as High Lizardmen.
"Could it be that there is a strong 'High' monster subspecies roaming around?" he asked.
"A… 'High' species, peko?"
"That could be the case… but from where did it appear? Monsters in the Human Continent shouldn't be capable of becoming so strong… High species originate from the Demon Continents after all," said Veronica.
"Well, it could also not be just a demi-human. We should not limit ourselves to that… there are many monsters capable of dominating others through skills and sheer strength… Some monsters such as Gazers or Mind Flayers can dominate an army of monsters through their special abilities," said Ervas.
Jason, Shade, and Pekorina seemed rather lost in the conversation. Only Ervas and Veronica were as knowledgeable of monsters to such an extent, as they had studied many books and monster encyclopedias in their previous life as Anastacia.
"Ah, no one has a clue of what we are talking about…" said Veronica.
"Hm. There is no point in coming to many conclusions, we will need to investigate on our own while gathering clues… Pekorina, your wounds are healed," said Ervas, giving Pekorina a mild smile.
"Ah! I do not even feel any itch… how miraculous, peko! Thank you very much, Ervas!" said Pekorina, as she hugged the small Ervas with her arms. Ervas was small enough for her to carry him with her slim arms without many issues.
"No problem."
The party glanced at the happy Pekorina, and could not help but have their hearts a bit melted by her adorableness. Most of them were rather curious about her family and if they had survived, but none of them wanted to awaken such memories to her, who was finally grasping some happiness in her life after such a tragedy.
However, Shade was bold enough to ask her, as it was necessary to know this.
"Pekorina, what about your family? Are there any survivors from your village?" Shade asked.
After hearing Shade's question, Pekorina seemed to have lost some of the light in her emerald eyes.
"I-I don't know… I had many siblings, but when everything happened, my older brother told me to run as fast as possible without looking back, peko… my mother, and my father… and many of my siblings… I suspect that they all died or were captured by the Lizardman, peko… when I went back to the village a few days afterward, I only found our burned camps. I think I have been going in circles since then… most of my wounds were made because I am… quite clueless on my foot and fell over a cliff a few times, peko…" muttered Pekorina.
"I understand the pain of losing those beloveds to you very well, Pekorina. It hurts, isn't it?" said Veronica.
"It's indeed a wound in our hearts that might never fully heal. But rest assured. Perhaps we cannot heal those wounds quickly, as it is impossible to forget all of such people… but we can form new bonds with others, and work together through a path to a future where we can live happily," said Ervas.
"V-Veronica… E-Ervas…" muttered Pekorina, about to break into tears once again.
"Pekorina… we might have just met, but we will not abandon you until we find out what had happened to your family," said Veronica.
"That is right, Pekorina… I am not as strong as miss Veronica… but I will do my best," said Jason.
"Gubo!" said Aqua, extending one of her tentacles and patting Pekorina.
"Bubililili" said Cthulhu, joining the patting session.
After receiving the comfort of everyone, Pekorina broke down into tears again, letting out all of her bottled-up emotions.
"Uwaaah! My mommy and daddy, my siblings! I miss them so much, pekooo! It hurts, it hurts so much! Snif, snif"
Veronica gently hugged Pekorina with her cold phantasmagoric arms, although they were cold, they were not hard like her armor.
"There, there. Everything will be fine now, my child. You are not alone anymore. You were so strong for surviving on your own this whole time," said Veronica, although she was undead with a cold and eerie aura, she seemed warm and welcoming to Pekorina. Like a real mother, or a compassionate and experienced woman who had loved and taken care of many people throughout her life. She knew very well how to to comfort others.
Ervas floated above Pekorina and patted her head, but Pekorina grabbed him and hugged him tightly. Unlike Veronica, Ervas was very warm.
"Don??t worry, you got us now. We will make sure to protect you… this is what a true ruler does… We will not fail now, never again," said Ervas.
"Indeed, Pekorina. We will never fail the people that most need us ever again. This time, we will save as many as we can, and make sure to create a safe place for them to prosper." Said Veronica.
Both were the halves of the same soul and shared the same dreams and feelings.
Raised as rulers, they grew compassionate to their people, and because they were deemed useless, they experienced loneliness and the life of the weak. Seeing themselves in Pekorina when they were younger as Anastacia, and also by seeing in Pekorina all the demons they could not protect back in their previous life, their wills were filled with blazing determination.
"T-Thank you… Veronica… Ervas… everyone… Snif… I am truly lucky to have met you… and I apologize once again for trying to forcefully take your food, peko…" said Pekorina.
"No problem, that's already in the long past!" said Veronica.
"Indeed. No problem. Now, could you tell us some more about the other tribes of beastmen that you know about? Are there any demon tribes as well?" asked Ervas.
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