Zarin returned to the platform and noticed that people didn't go anywhere close to the bodies even if the crowd was thinner. All five bodies were in town at the side, with their heads in a basket.
All except the head of Lady Emlyn, which the Count took with him. Her body was left behind, though.
Zarin looked around at the people to see if anyone looked willing to help him, but he could see fear in their eyes.
'That man's message is deep in their heart.'
Zarin understood that they were afraid that they would anger the person by helping to bury the bodies, even if the man didn't say they couldn't. The person had left, but he had learned about the death of the Dark Knight, which had happened just yesterday, so its sources seemed to be everywhere.
But Zarin was sure that the person who informed him was the Mayor, just he didn't know exactly why. It was clear that the Mayor didn't like that family, but Zarin did not know the reason.
He didn't think of it for long and started by carrying the lifeless body of Gele. It was awkward and disturbing to have a headless body, but Zarin could keep a straight face through it.
Zarin took the body back to the field. He decided it was an excellent place to bury them, as he wasn't aware if there was a burial ground in the village.
He placed the body of Gele at a place that he considered good to do the burial, and he returned to bring the rest.
He noticed that his action influenced the crowd when he returned to the platform. When some saw his bold action, they were impressed and moved to bring a cart to put the bodies on it. They helped Zarin pull the cart, but not all the way, just to make a good start.
Because of his [Exhaustion I] condition still being active, his action took more out of him than it should. Even if he didn't have the condition, he probably wouldn't be able to do it without a break. The distance to cover with the cart wasn't great, but he took two breaks before reaching where he left Gele's body.
Nobody had followed him, but as he passed some people, everyone turned to watch him, and some even teared up seeing the lifeless bodies on the cart.
As his destination was within sight, Zarin noticed Oriel was next to the body of Gele.
Zarin continued towards her with the cart but had his eyes on her and was ready to act if she did anything crazy.
She noticed him approaching, and she looked to be greatly displeased.
"What do you think you are doing," she said to him as Zarin finally reached her.
Zarin didn't respond and moved towards a nearby shaft. There were different tools used for the fields, including a shovel in the shaft.
Oriel followed him and got in the way to block him from entering the shovel.
"I asked you a question. Are you deaf or just stupid?" she said in an arrogant tone, as she clearly looked down at Zarin.
Zarin was sure now that she really didn't know what had happened the other day, or she would be more careful with her words.
He looked into her eyes and closed his fists, intense enough that his nails almost cut his palm. But he calmed himself and turned around.
He headed into the house and looked for something. It didn't take too long to find what he looked for as he exited the house with the two wooded swords of the boys. They didn't have them on their bodies, meaning they captured them before getting out to start their daily playtime/training.
"What do you think you…" she didn't have any chance to finish the sentence as Zarin made his move.
He used both swords to hit her legs, one sword for each leg. Since they were made of wood and weren't meant to stab someone, it was more like heavily poking her, but it still affected her by losing her balance. As she fell forward, Zarin took another swing with this right sword's blunt area and slammed her face with it.
Zarin gave as much power as he could muster on that hit, as he also filled it with his rage. He saw some teeth fly out of her mouth as Oriel fell.
Zarin continued entering the small building in front of him and ignored her from that point forward.
After getting rid of the shock she got from what had just happened, Oriel gathered her teeth and ran away before Zarin got out.
Zarin didn't care about her, as she wasn't somebody dangerous to his eyes. She may have been why the Dark Council's people came here, but that didn't mean she was in a good relationship with them. It was clear that she tried to make a relationship and failed to do so from the interactions with Count Hemmet.
He started digging the five graves for the family, which took him almost the whole day. He had earned [Exhaustion II] as he had finished the second hole, but it didn't make him stop.
——————————————
CONDITION GAINED
You just gained the EXHAUSTION II condition.
Effect : SP Consumption +150%, SP Regeneration -75%, Agility decreased by 50%
——————————————
He didn't like the effects of the condition, but he had decided to finish that task as soon as he could, and then he would rest.
Fortunately, the condition didn't increase to [Exhaustion III] when he had finished digging the graves, putting in the bodies, and filling them once more.
He gave a small inner prayer for the five individual's souls to find peace as he finished. Maybe he could ask Ais to look for them in the afterlife next time she meets her.
Zarin headed back to the house and noticed two guards at the entrance. This time, they were standard guards of the village.
"What are you guys do here?" he asked them as he approached.
"Lady Oriel is investigating the house. Therefore, nobody is allowed to enter," one guard answered without looking at Zarin.
"But I am living here."
"NOBODY is allowed," the guard said as he lowered his spear, bringing its blade closer to Zarin, but not fully aggressively.
Zarin didn't like what was happening here, especially since he could hear that Oriel inside was moving things. There were even some breaking wood or glasses sounds. He could quickly summon Kester to deal with the guards, but he decided against that.
Fortunately, he had kept the journal on him to be safe, so he didn't have to worry about losing it to Oriel. He turned and walked away, but he was uncertain where to go.
He didn't know anyone else in town and had no money to get a room. Of course, lady Emlyn didn't pay him for his services. They just provided a place to stay and meals after all.
'I only need to get rid of my Exhaustion conditions. After that, I can train my [Sword Mastery], and maybe I can leave this place.'
He still was relatively weak, and he didn't plan to go out in the forest until he was ready. However, he had heard some stories about the forest and its dangers and understood that it was a low-level danger area.
He only had 2 uses of his Kester die left, which wasn't enough to go through the forest as it was a very vast one. There was, of course, the main road, but there were potential dangers on them also, with the greatest being bandits.
Zarin walked around to find a comfortable enough spot to get at least some sleep.
"Hey pst… boy," a voice was heard from his left, trying to draw his attention.
"Over here," a man waved towards Zarin.
Zarin recognized the man right away since he could see his name over his head. He was Eddie, the milk deliverer guy.
Zarin approached him as he had great only good things about him from Lady Emlyn.
"You looking for a place to stay? I heard the Mayor occupied your place."
It didn't surprise him that he knew what happened as he got used to the fact that things went around this small place fast.
Zarin nodded as he trusted this person enough to get some help from him.
A wide pure smile appeared on Eddie's face as he signaled Zarin to follow him.
They moved for quite a few minutes until they reached a big wooden building with a big wooden slide door.
Zarin knew what this place was — the cow's house.