I'm sorry for making everyone wait for this chapter! It's been a little hectic between me and my dear friend TheBurningWorld, who proof read this chapter.
I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!
Avac Village
"Well... This could've been worse." Kenta remarked as the village was serrated by multiple trees from the Giant's rampage and the parasite's control. Many houses were destroyed, the roads had craters from the aftershock and there were injured people everywhere.
A low whine escaped the roaming giants mouth.
"Oh boo-hoo. You were controlled, so I can't really blame you. Nice way to completely destroy that spider though. Literally buried in the ground." He commented back to it.
"Werewolf! We need help!" Elizabeth ran with Andrew beside her.
"What now? Did you accidentally kill a villager or two?" He asked the giant, even though he didn't expect a reply.
"You need to come and help us! Some villagers are trapped with their children under a few impaled trees!" Elizabeth said while gasping for air, most likely from running around the village and helping in how she could.
Andrew wasn't faring well either.
"I'm surprised you guys haven't said anything about this big guy." He said while pointing towards the giant. They froze in place while looking at him.
"Hey! Stay near the village and protect it from any kind of monsters! You got that?" He ordered the giant, to which it complied right away, walking a few feet before standing still like a sentry.
"What? How? When?" Andrew was choking on his own questions, not knowing where to start asking.
"Don't think too much on it, big guy. Lead me to the villagers. I'll explain to you guys later about him." He said while chuckling under his breath at Andrew's reaction, which was priceless in his book.
As they ran, Kenta simply lightly jogged next to them without breaking a sweat, the village was partially destroyed. It wasn't a pretty sight for the faint of heart.
Dozens of villagers were being rescued with blood staining their clothes or being bandaged with rags to staunch the bleeding.
Still, his smile shone, light a beacon in the darkness. Not because he wanted to, heavens no. It became a coping mechanism for Kenta, in these situations.
"Chief Larson! He's here!" One of the villagers called out while pointing towards Kenta.
Before him, a few villagers were crying towards three corpses on the ground. A woman and a father that was impaled by the tree and a child that was crushed to death. Probably when the parents wanted to protect her.
"Is that... Little Sue?" He asked as he came closer to the child that petted his tail and scratched his ears like a godsend.
"We just rescued them from their destroyed home. At least half of dozen more villagers were killed as well." Chief Larson explained while holding off his own tears. "This is truly a sad day."
Kenta didn't speak a word while looking at their bodies. The parents did all that they could to save their kid, this innocent kid. Not only that, people that were trying to protect themselves or each other perished as well.
"Chief Larson. I'm going to propose something to you." Kenta said seriously. His smile has faded and only stood there with a sharp expression
"What is it, werewolf? Can you do something for these people?" He asked with some hope that the beast could help them.
"I can. For this whole village in fact, but only if you accept what I'm about to ask."
"What is it? We'll accept anything!" He asked desperate for all of them.
"I want this village." His words seemed to cut to the surrounding villagers.
"You bastard! I knew you wanted this village from the start!" Andrew was the first one to speak. Taking out a small knife from his pocket, he pointed at the beast. Yet he only lifted his claw at him.
"I know that I sound like those crazy Shapeshifters, but trust me. I don't want to kill any of you. All I ask is that you put the village in my care. You can still do everything you've been doing all along, but I'll be the owner." He explained to them while keeping his claw in front of Andrew.
"Yeah right! As if Chief Lars-"
"We accept." He was cut off as the chief accepted the offer.
"What!? Chief you can't be serious!"
"I agree with Andrew! You're taking his offer too fast!" One of the villagers added.
"If he can bring my daughter, her husband and my granddaughter back..." A few tears escaped from his eyes. "Then I won't back down! Please, werewolf! Bring them back to me!"
"... Bring everyone's corpses to the center of the village. I'll go ahead and remove all the trees." He said while quickly leaping from a rooftop and heading towards the debris that the giant created.
"Chief Larson. The rest of the villagers won't be pleased by this." Andrew said, a disapproving look set on his face.
"I accept full responsibility... Please help me to take them to the center. Please..." He asked as he took his granddaughter in his arms, They complied as they took the bodies. A messenger made their rounds and told everyone to bring all the corpses to the center of the village.
Kenta's P.O.V
Damn it! Why the hell did I say that? I know I have a stack of 60 of those wands to resurrect people, but they're Momonga's extra staffs that he had. He gave them to me in case something happened to any of the guild members.
But now... I'm sorry, man. I gotta use a few of them for these guys.
"Maybe... I can actually do something with them..." Hmm... I wonder... Can I actually make them into... Oh! Oh ho ho! I think I found myself a little hobby for a good month.
"Yeah... If they have the will to actually do what I plan, then this can be VERY interesting to watch. He he he! I just can't wait!"
Oh my god... Sometimes, I surprise even myself with my thinking! But for now, I need to take these trees out of the ground."
In less than half an hour, Kenta literally pulled out every single tree and threw them to the side of the village. With that much wood, they could do something productive with it.
The villagers gathered around the center with the bodies of the deceased, as he had asked beforehand. They were laid down on the ground, clothes bloodied and ragged.
Kenta appeared a few feet away from them, with no sweat on his body, but some dirt around him.
"Is every one here?" He asked, not smiling at all. He was deadly serious.
"Yes... All of the villagers that perished during the giant's attack are here, like you said. Now please... Bring them back to us." Chief Larson pleaded with a sorrowful look.
"Just don't forget your part of the deal, Chief." He reminded him, making a few of the villagers question on what he meant. "Let's begin."
Extending his hand, a wormhole emerged, making him reach into it and gathering a few staffs.
All of them have the same design. The wand is thirty centimeters in length. It is made from ivory, decorated with gold. With its grip engraved with runes that give off a divine aura. An item where it has a number of charges in itself to use on any target.
He came close to the first villager and hover the staff on top of him.
"By my words, rise once more. This isn't the time nor place for you to rest yet. There is still much more for you to live for, hence come forth once more, to the land of the living!"None of you understand on many times he had to practice this little phrase. It was at times like this he appreciated taking the time to go through the mind-numbing boredom of the memorization process.
A bright yellow light erupted under the corpse. It's shining brilliance was that of a blessing, the light held warmth and healed the wound that the body possessed. After the light dissipated, everything went silent, holding their breath to see if it had worked at all.
"...Uh..." It was a low grunt, but a sign of life nonetheless. Soon the body rose up, while scratching his head with no clue whatsoever of what happened. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?" He asked a little nervous.
"He lives!"
"The beast brought him back!"
"Amazing! This is a blessing!"
"Carlos!" A woman ran up to the man that was brought back from the spirit realm, crying with joy to the man. "I thought you were gone for good!"
"W-what? What's going on?" He said, clearly confused.
"You don't remember anything?" Kenta asked while still holding on the staff, it had two more charges left.
"The last thing that I remember was the giant in the distance... And then everything was black."The villager responded while the woman wept on his chest.
"Hmm... Maybe this is the penalty of the wand. The loss of EXP. EXP are experience points, learned from training, hunting and other activities, so if he got exp during the rampage, then a portion was lost due to the resurrection." He theorized on his head. It was far more plausible than 'I simply forgot when I died' situation.
"Don't worry, everyone! I'll bring all of them back!" He yelled to the people while hoisting his wand up in the air.
The villagers cheered as one by one, the people that died returned to normal.
"Mama... Papa..." Sue opened her eyes to see her mother and father cry in front of her with smiles.
"Sue!" Both of them cried her name out while hugging her. They were filled with joy to have their daughter back.
"Werewolf! Thank you! Thank you so very much!" The father thanked him animatedly, tears pouring form his eyes.
"Don't worry about it." He responded, while storing the drained wands inside his pocket dimension. No use for him at the moment. "Chief Larson, I think it's time to tell them."
"Yes... After everything you've done to us, it's the least I can repay you." He said with tears trying to escape his eyes from the revival of his family.
"What's he talking about?" One of the villagers asked confused.
"For this beast to bring them back to life, Chief Larson sold the village to him!" Andrew said with anger in his tone. Many of the villagers were taken by surprise.
"What!?"
"How could you do this, Larson!"
"Where should we go now!?"
"Easy!" Kenta yelled to the mob around him. "Jesus Christ on a bicycle... I asked to own the village, but I'm not kicking any of you out."
"Then what? Are we your slaves? Your toys to play with?" One of the villagers said with a snarl.
"Uh... No. Please, I still have my humanity." He clarified, with an annoyed look. "Though I wouldn't mind it if the ladies said yes." He said with a smirk on his face. The females on the other hand seemed disgusted.
"God damn it! Sorry! I didn't mean to say it! Damn you, Peroroncino! You corrupting bastard!" He cursed at the sky, for some reason, he could hear laughing, though it was all in his head.
"Then what are you going to do with us?" Elizabeth asked him with a serious look.
"Glad you asked." He responded while returning to his smiling face. "First of all, I won't change much around the village. All of you can continue to do your usual routine and whatnot. You've already have a guardian over there to protect the village."
Pointing towards the giant standing guard on the outskirts of the village, the villagers looked frightened with it still standing.
"Don't worry about the big guy. He's under my wing now. He'll stand on guard for the village for now on." He explained, though it only made them relax a little bit.
"You said you were going to change the village. What do you plan to do?" Chief Larson asked curiously.
"For starters, I'm going to help you guys repair your homes. Using the rocks of the nearby mountains and the trees that were thrown at the village it shouldn't take that long. After that, I'll be making my home, I need a place to sleep as any other being. Finally, with whatever wood is around, I'll make a wall to prevent any kind of raiders to invade, in case they slip away from the giant." He explained while once more entering his hand in his pocket inventory to bring out a large blacksmith hammer.
"Repairing the village will take some time. I'd say around a week if we all pinch in." Larson speculated.
"Not while I'm around. It'll be done in a day." He said while resting the wooden bar of the hammer on his shoulder.
"Surely you're kidding. Nothing is that fast to repair a full village in day." Andrew said while gripping his knife.
"...You just gave me a good reason to say it." Kenta said with a smile from ear to ear.
"Say wh-"
"Challenge accepted!" He cut him off and speeding like a crazy animal, he rushed to the houses and quickly cleared all of the debris from inside and cutting off wood with a hatchet which happened to be nearby.
The speed grand, the work being done in a flash. In twenty minutes, three houses that were destroyed were completely restored to their previously prestigious form.
"Holy mother of god..." Was the only comment that the villagers said as the beast made quick work.
"Ha! With how much he's doing, we won't even need to move a single finger!" Andrew laughed towards the hard working werewolf making swift movements around the each house.
"Hey! Don't be mean to mister fluffy!" Sue yelled angrily to him.
"Huh? Why are you defending him? I didn't say anything mean to the beast." He said, mildly perplexed by the girl's accusations.
"Those that are still capable, grab tools and start repairing the village." Larson said while grabbing a mallet from the ground.
"What!? Chief, you can't be serious on helping that demon! He can do all the work for us!" Andrew tried to talk him down. In his mind, when it becomes too tired to move, he would move for the kill.
"That is not how you should act to someone that saved everyone, especially those whom he wrenched from death's door." He scolded, making the young villager grunt. His point made, he soon began to clear out debris with the rest of the village.
"What are you all doing? He can do it himself, can't you see? Why waste energy helping a monster?!" Andrew growled at the villagers, only for them to not heed him in the slightest, moving instead to help with the relief effort.
Next morning - Dawn
The villagers were completely drained from working last night. They took refuge on the houses that Kenta was quick to repair. As the first rays of sunlight entered the room, Elizabeth woke up.
*Whack*Whack*
On the distance, she could hear someone hammering.
"Did someone wake up early to continue with the repairs?" She said lethargically, while moving outside. She was surprised to see that the houses around her were completely restored back to their old selves, maybe better than before.
She followed the hammering and saw none other that the smiling werewolf hammering away to the last house. He was sweating thoroughly, although looked no worse for wear, aside from some fatigue.
"Last nail..." He said to himself and he quickly nailed it down. "Challenge completed!" He announced as he did a back flip to the ground. "Hey! You're the girl from the river! Did you sleep well?"
"W-what are you doing awake? Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked while he looked at her somewhat indifferently. "Have you even slept since last night?"
"Nope." He responded, smiling all the while.
"Dear lord! You need some rest!" She said, clearly concerned.
"Hmm... I think I do." He said while yawning. "But I'm gonna need someone to be my pillow for a while." He said while looking at her with his wolfish grin.
On the surface she looked unimpressed, but inside she was debating the offer.
"He he he! I'm joking, I'm joking! That would be asking too much." He gave a small chuckle until he realized something. "Oh right... I don't have a bed to sleep on."
"That's right... You still haven't made your place, have you?" She asked, frowning slightly.
"Meh, I'll just sleep on the ground. Not like I have a choice in the matter." He replied back while sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.
"You could sleep at my home. I'm by myself there and my parents aren't... around anymore."
"Sorry to hear that, but..." Dirty thoughts were starting to form on his head. "Definitely not going there!" He put his hands around his lap, to hide what his corrupting master had caused him to imagine.
"Hey! Is my home not good enough for you?" She asked somewhat offended by the werewolf.
"Not in any shape or form I said that. It's just my old coot of a master has taught me some things that... Kinda make me say stuff I shouldn't. But still do nonetheless." He tried explaining as best as he could.
"What kind of things... Are we speaking about?" She said a bit apprehensive.
"With one word I'll describe it, in my case. Mating." He said it like a normal thing, but the girl's face started to become red.
"I think I understand what you were trying to say before." She looked to the side and coughed.
"Guess I'm not the only one to have these thoughts." He joked around.
"Quiet, you!" She said embarrassed.
"He he he..." His laugh turned lower and lower, until he fell asleep. The sun was on the other side of the building, hence it was pleasant for the shade of it to cool him down.
"Geez, you just had to leave it on an awkward note, didn't you." She said, sighing.
"But seriously, anything's better than the hard ground..."