Chapter 8: A Place to Call Home

I started to follow the Beastmen to find out why they had come to TEOD Island, known as the most dangerous island...

While following them, Aries told me there were 571 total Beastmen who had arrived.

I followed them for a while. They were just walking straight, and I could clearly see fear in their eyes, yet they continued forward...

They were carrying bags, clothes, and wood with them.

As evening approached, they started to set up camp. Some of them were still heavily injured...

They lit fires and cooked fish—it seemed that was the only food they had. Some stood guard, while others went to sleep.

"I don't think they'll survive for long like this," I said.

[Yes, they will soon run out of food because their numbers are too large. Some of them will die from disease,] Aries replied.

"Why...?" I muttered while watching them.

"If they're struggling this much to survive, then why did they come to this death island...?"

Later one all of them went to sleep...

I couldn't sleep all night. I just kept watching over them. I don't know why, but I did.

The next morning, as they began waking up, an old man stood atop a rock and started to scream—

"Everyone, come and pray to the Great Heaven God!"

The Beastmen gathered in a circle, knelt down, joined their hands, and bowed their heads in prayer.

"What are they doing...?" I asked, watching them.

Then, three women came forward, carrying many fruits in their hands. They placed them in the center of the circle and joined the prayer.

I observed them quietly.

"They're eating those old fish and keeping the fresh fruits to offer in prayer..." I murmured.

But they don't know that praying won't work… in this world or any world.

Even back in my old life, I used to pray for a better life, but things only got worse…

As I was lost in thought—

ROOOOAAARRR!!

A loud roar echoed through the jungle.

"Wha—!" I flinched in shock.

The Beastmen panicked, fear overtaking them. Suddenly, Aries spoke.

[Notice: A strong magical energy is approaching—it's a monster.]

"A monster?!"

The sound of heavy footsteps approached. From the darkness, a massive brown bear emerged, its terrifying red eyes glowing, sharp teeth bared as it advanced towards the Beastmen.

[True Appraisal: Shadow Bear, SSS-rank.]

"What?! An SSS-rank monster?!"

[It looks like it has guts—it didn't run away from the island] Aries said

The Beastmen, trembling in fear, screamed. Some stepped forward, gripping their old, broken weapons.

"T-They're going to die...!"

The bear suddenly dashed towards them.

The old man screamed—

"Ohh, Great Heaven God! Please protect us!!"

"Tch! I have no choice!" I said

In an instant, I used wind magic, forming a massive wind ball and launched it at the bear.

BOOM!

The wind ball shot forward at extreme speed, slamming into the bear and sending it flying into a tree. The tree snapped in half from the impact.

The Beastmen were stunned, they looked back and stared at me as I slowly approached towards them.

The old man screamed again—

"I-It's the Great Heaven God!!"

I summoned five small fireballs around me and launched them toward the bear.

The bear quickly stood up and ran, dodging the fireballs.

But—

The fireballs followed the bear and struck it!

BOOM!

A powerful explosion erupted.

The bear was now badly burned yet still alive.

(I have to hold back my power. Otherwise, they might get caught in it too...)

Slowly, red lightning particles began to form around me.

A red lightning bolt shot straight toward the bear—

BOOOOM!!

A massive explosion shook the ground.

As the smoke cleared…

Not even bones were left of the bear

Silence.

The Beastmen stared at me, their faces frozen in shock.

I turned to them slowly—

And suddenly—

THUMP!

They all fell to their knees and bowed.

I stared at them not knowing what to do

The old man stood up and approached me.

"Oh, Great Heaven God! Please help us Beastmen! We were kicked out of our land, so we came here to stay in your land! Please accept us—we will do anything!!"

[They think you're the owner of this island,] Aries spoke.

"Owner...?" I muttered. "And... Huh? Kicked out? What does he mean…?" I asked

(It's so hard without the ability to speak... I can't talk to them because… I'm just a flower...)

[Why not write then?] Aries suggested.

"Oh, right!"

I extended my vines and wrote on the ground—

"What do you mean by 'kicked out' from your land?"

The old man looked at the writing, then started to speak—

"It's like this...

Before we came here, we lived in a land called Gleua. We were happy there. We had enough food and clothes to live and our work was decent but enough we didn't ask for more, we were happy how we were

Then, one day...

Some knights arrived in our village and said—

'You demi-humans are living in this area without permission. You must leave within a week, or face the consequences.'

I stepped forward and asked them—

'What are you saying? We have lived here for a long time. How can you tell us to leave our home?'

One of the knights looked at me and said—

'Who are you, old hag?'

I answered, 'I am the mayor of this village. You can't just force us to leave! This is our home—we take care of it..

The knight simply scoffed.

'Shut up and follow the order. If you don't leave in seven days, your entire race will be punished.'

And then they take their horses and they left.

But we refused to leave. This was our home.

Seven days later... in the middle of the night... they came again.

This time, they didn't say anything.

They rode their horses, used fire magic, and burned our homes.

They captured our men.

They killed them.

We tried to escape, but they rounded us up in one place.

Then, a knight in golden armor arrived.

'We already warned you to leave,' he said. 'You refused. The punishment for disobedience... is death.'

We were terrified. If we spoke, we knew we would be killed.

But then...he again spoke

'But I'll give you a Last Chance If you leave now, you won't be killed. Remember that.'

So we had no choice.

We took whatever we could carry and left our land.

We wandered, lost.

One day, we heard a rumor—

That the monsters of TEOD Island were leaving… because of a strong being protecting the island.

They called it—

'The Great Heaven God.'

So, we decided to come here.

We thought that if we worshipped the God…

He would let us stay.

And so, we traveled all the way here."

The old man finished his story.

After hearing everything, I was in shock.

Humans, huh…?

No matter what world I'm in… they're always the same.

Greedy. Lustful. Selfish.

They never think about how others feel.

They only care about their own gain…

Just like in my past life…

I thought for a moment, then made my decision.

I used my vines to write on the ground—

"You are allowed to live here."

The Beastmen read my words—

And then—

Tears of joy streamed down their faces.

They hugged each other, their faces glowing with happiness.

[Looks like their prayers weren't wasted after all,] Aries spoke.

"...I guess you're right...." I replied