Chapter 21: The Gentle Poison

“Fall back!” Grunt ordered. “There are still too many of them for us to fend off.”

Leo and Grunt started to retreat but Lillin stayed behind.

Grunt noticed it and shouted, “Lillin! What are you doing? Fall back!”

“I’m not letting this village fall!” exclaimed Lillin. “Nature, please give me strength!”

Lillin charged up her rifle with all of her energy. The undead rushed towards her like a horde of wolves preying on a single sheep.

“Lillin, run! Your electric cannon will not work against them!” Grunt said while running towards Lillin to save her.

After completely charging up, Lillin fired her rifle. A strong gust of green cloud went out of the rifle which suffocated the undead. The raiders went down to their knees one by one, then died painfully and slowly. Only a handful in the rear survived the attack. Lillin collapsed due to exhaustion.

“Leo! Take care of her and make sure nobody comes near,” Grunt said. “I’ll kill all the remaining ones.”

Grunt easily defeated all the remaining undead then went back to see Lillin’s condition.

“Lillin is so strong! I never knew she had that ability!” Leo said with excitement.

Grunt nodded. “I was surprised myself. Perhaps, she is also one of the destined children.”

“Really? That’s great!!” Leo got even more excited.

“It’s still too early to say so, but at least we’re safe,” said Grunt. “Let’s go back to the woman’s house and let Lillin rest.”

Grunt carried Lillin and went back to the woman’s house together with Leo. He laid Lillin to a bed while Leo knocked on the floor where the small compartment is located. The lid opened slightly. When the mother saw that it was Leo, she slowly went outside and asked what happened.

“Are you sure?” asked the mother.

“Yes. The village is safe for now,” said Grunt. “The other villagers need not hide inside these small compartments at night and you can also ask the other villagers who left to return.”

The mother let out a sigh of relief and asked her children to go out of the compartment. “Thank you so much, adventurers! We will forever be grateful. You may come here anytime if you need anything.”

“Thank you so much, Madam. We will probably just rest here tonight and leave tomorrow once our comrade has recovered,” Grunt said politely.

Chapter 14: Lillin

Grunt and Lillin traversed the think forest of Campwood to go to the next town.

“Sorry for dragging you out with me instead of letting you stay with Chris,” Grunt said. “There are reasons why I brought you with me.”

“Don’t worry. I need not be there with him. I’m sure he can handle himself,” Lillin replied.

Grunt smiled. “Thank you for the understanding. You are very different from him.”

“Haha. You just don’t know him so much yet,” said Lillin. “He probably has a bad temper, but that’s because he grew up with so much hatred against the fire goblins and the Cyclops.”

“Because of what happened in Seren…” Grunt remarked.

“Yes. But don’t blame yourself,” Lillin assured. “I noticed that he’s starting to change after he learned the truth about the incident and after killing the fire goblin’s leader.”

Lillin continued, “Chris is a really nice guy. He looks tough on the outside, but he’s actually very kind towards his closest friends. The reason why I’m still alive is because of him.”

“What happened?” asked Grunt.

“I grew up without parents. I usually just wander from town to town and hope for some people to give me food or money,” Lillin narrated. “Then one day, I met a boy who treated me kindly. He was so fond of my horns and my nose. He would usually give me candies and food that he hid from his parents so that he could give them to me.”

“And that boy is Chris?” Grunt asked.

Lillin nodded. “We became close friends that’s why I stayed in their town. Finally, he introduced me to his surrogate parents, and they’ve decided to adopt me. That was the best day of my life.”

“I see. So that’s why you always talk about this debt whenever you save him from an enemy.”

“It’s more than just paying a debt,” Lillin smiled. “Chris became very close to me that I simply want to protect him so long as I’m alive.”

The two adventurers reached the end of the forest and saw that Steeltop, the village of the Gremlins, is being attacked.

“Just as expected, they are attacking the main villages of the Humans, Cyclops, Satyrs, and Gremlins!” Grunt exclaimed. “Lillin, your mission now is not just to protect Chris, but to protect everyone! Let us help the resistance until Chris finishes his training.”

“With nature’s providence! I will protect Chris, and all the things that he’s destined to protect!” Lillin said with confidence.

Exclusive Interview with Lillin (Satyr Race)

Calligraphy: Good day everyone! This is the last among our series of interviews, and I’m sure this will be the best one yet. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the kind and beautiful Ms. Lillin!

Lillin: Beautiful? Awww I wasn’t expecting that from a human. But thank you for the very nice introduction.

Calligraphy: Of course! A nice introduction should be given to such a fine specimen.

Lillin: You are not flirting with me, are you? Us, Satyrs, look very different from Humans.

Calligraphy: Not at all! I actually find your eyes and your horns to be quite charming.

Lillin: Stop it, Calli! Haha. This is supposed to be an interv—

Calligraphy: Oh my!! What happened to your legs and feet? I just noticed it now!

Lillin: Oh… that’s kind of rude… L But us, Satyrs, have these legs and feet… Like those you humans call goats.

Calligraphy: Oh I’m sorry. I was just surprised. Anyway, yeah I guess you’re right. Moving on with the interview, what’s the main role of Satyrs in Uld?

Lillin: <silence> oh yes? Sorry? The wind that just passed was so gentle, it sounds so refreshing! Could you repeat your question?

Calligraphy: Sure no problem. As I was saying, what’s the role of Satyrs in Uld?

Lillin: We are the oldest race in Uld. As such, we are very much connected with nature. In fact, we consider ourselves as guardians of Nature. It is nice to feel the gentleness of the wind as it slides through the strands of my hair.

Calligraphy: Such lovely words coming out from your lips…

Lillin: Hihi. Thank you! We are always like this. Humans say that we are so poetic.

Calligraphy: I see. So what else are the things that you usually do?

Lillin: We have a rather carefree attitude and we like to listen to music. We also value wisdom so we always take time to study nature magic and meditation.

Calligraphy: That sounds interesting! I would love to ask you a lot of things, but I’m afraid we don’t have enough time. Perhaps I’ll just ask more about you after this interview.

Lillin: Um… what do you mean?

Calligraphy: Uh sorry nevermind. Thank you for joining us, Lillin! And thank you all for staying with us. We hope that you all enjoyed these short interviews.