1629 The Undead Shelter

With a bunch of men and women of varying ages, Varian sat across a bonfire under the dark night.

Undead need not eat or drink but they ate without hesitation and drank with joy.

They should not be able to feel emotions but maybe they were faking it so much that they're believing those emotions were real.

Varian could not tell. But he was happy to have some normal company despite their abnormal origins.

The group wasn't very welcoming at first. But unlike, other undead, they didn't show hostility.

Instead, they maintained their distance and seemed like they'd be happy just to send him away.

But under the urging of Klynster, Varian began to narrate stories about the outside world.

Like a magic spell was performed, one by one, the Undead began to gather around him, asking more things about the colorful, beautiful world outside this purgatory.

The children liked the new stories he told and played with him whenever they could.

And the adults kept asking him things and in return, they shared their stories.

Today was no different except that they were closer and more lively than yesterday.

"And you fooled him thrice?" A green orc slammed his wine jug and asked.

"Don't call it fooling. I repaid him back later, okay?" Varian said with a righteous expression.

The men and women laughed heartily at his shameless words, leaving Varian to shake his head as if he was a misunderstood noble soul.

"In my previous life, I used to be a scammer." A woman with pale pink skin in a snug dress spoke up.

Levyana, a strong low rank 1 divine, preferered to remain silent when Klynster introduced her to Varian.

Even when everyone was downing drinks specially prepared to numb the senses of an Undead, she took but a few sips and kept to herself.

No one and certainly not Varian expected her to speak up. So when she did, everyone, including him paid attention to the oddity that was unfolding in front.

"I didn't think it was wrong to steal the hardearned money." The woman brought the cup close to her mouth, as if trying to hide her face as she continued. "I don't know when I began to believe it.

But why should one way be more legitimate than other? The duchy I lived on was ruled by an idiot who taxed us to death.

My family didn't have good yields on our farm for a full decade thanks to a local powerhouse fighting there and screwing our land. We led very difficult lives."

The people seated nodded or pursed their lips, keeping their ears perked.

"To pay taxes, we couldn't even eat properly. Why is it legal for that duke to steal my family's hard work? And why does everyone not care?

So, I decided that day. If the big guy stealing from the small guy is fair, then so is the opposite.

I scammed people throughout my life. Young, old, men, women, the popular, the notorious. Everyone, just everyone."

The undead sitting next to her, a male with heavy burns clad in a black coat patted her shoulder.

Levyana raised her cup and said with misty eyes. "But now I know…my actions pained so many people. Poor people, young children, elders…they did not deserve that.

Just because I was hurt by the world doesn't mean I should hurt it back. Answering pain with pain won't decrease the suffering of this world.

So…if I get a chance, even a one in a billion chance, I want to make up for my mistakes.

I will apologize to each and every innocent person I harmed, even if it means bearing their insults, beatings and torture."

Varian looked at her watering eyes in surprise. He could feel the emotions pouring out of her soul. Such pure and deep emotions could only surface from the depth of her being.

'Do even Undeads feel like this?' He took a quick glance at the people sitting around the bonfire.

These people would not be treated normally anywhere in Genesis. The discrimination ran very, very deep.

Pala kingdom, despite not having a border with any Mors' kingdom, would send a batch of their army every year to kill the Undead infiltrators.

Even the legitimiate claims for refugee were never accepted, much less the ones who didn't have a very convincing argument.

A considerable percent of 'Undead' would try to return to Genesis everyday to check their 'past' life at least once.

It wasn't out of nostalgia but from a fanatic desire to destroy everything that beloned to the dirty past.

That's what Varian heard about these guys.

But looking at the ones in front…

"I wronged my teacher and didn't treat him nicely despite everything he had done for me. If I can meet him, I will kneel down and ask for forgiveness. Then, I'll devote him the wealth I hid away." A fat orc-like undead lowered his head and said with a depressed expression.

"Me! I want to see how my children are doing. They were just 6 when I ended up here. I wonder if they'll still remember me." A brown skinned woman with two gaping holes in her neck smiled wistfully.

"And I! I just want to visit my mom…" A young guy who looked no older than eleven years old spoke in a bright, cheerful voice.

He looked like a crossbreed between Vampire and Zombie.

"I ran away from home at 6 and kept myself hidden from dad even though he was searching for me. I thought I would make him regret it for punishing me for my stupid mistakes…but I ended up in a dark alley, got kidnapped by some adult men and then…"

The words of the by trailed off as he looked down at his small, frail body with a mocking smile that didn't fit his apparent age.

"Even though I can build a good body, I don't want to get rid of this self of mine." He said with a bright smile. "It's a big inconvenience for battles, but hey, it is what it is."

Varian who was listening intently couldn't help but ask. "But why?"

The fire crackled in the center and warmed up the air. As the cold breeze from outside and the warm breeze from the proximity hit his neck, the boy answered, his face hidden by the rising flames.

"I am afraid…I am afraid I will forget my life, my face and my body once I let go. I can no longer walk the way I used to or think like I did.

The mask of this child-like self…once I give it up, I think I'll soon forget how I looked, how I acted, how I thought.

I will lose myself.

And if I can't go back like that, my dad won't recognize me."

The words escaping his mouth, words that did not seem fit with his apparent age, caused a round of applause and excitememnt in the small crowd.

"Excellent! What we are most worried is not death like that of the living. We are worried about fogetting. Or breaking things up that can't be repaired. Of saying things that can't be taken back."

Klynster, the leader of the group, put down his mug and said with a nostalgic smile.

The woman next to him rested her hand on his shoulder and turned to Varian. "So, Konstant, what will you do if you can return outside?"

Varian didn't answer right away. What would he do? Of course, there was a list of things to be done.

"Eh, I know there's no chance for you or any of us to get out, but what if…"

She froze abruplty with a stiff expression and bit her lip. The people who were laughing and drinking heartily until now also fell silent.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air as they either stared at Varian or looked away avoiding him.

"…I'll work on the infection. Please continue." Varian stood up from the polished rock and walked into a small cave.

Even though his gait was steady, his eyes were shaking.

This was the third day since his meeting with Klynster. As he announced, the group went into a stealth and kept everyone, including him, safe.

Using the leisure, he worked on expelling the infesting energy and mostly succeeded. A few more hours of detox and he would be able to leave without problem.

Knock! Knock!

"Come in."

Klynster's ash-skinned face came into view. With an apologetic smile, he said."Don't take it personally, you blended in so well that we forgot you aren't an Undead."

Varian shrugged with a helpless expression.

Putting down a bunch of basket carved out of stone, he said. "These are some materials found only in Purgatory. Any celestials using death powers should be able to hit the pseudo divine ranks."

There were more than a dozen baskets like that in the cave.

"…I don't want to be more indebted." Varian said with a depressed expression. "I'll be leaving soon. And I might not come for a thousand more years."

Of course, he would return soon to conquer Purgatory. But in the story Varian spun to these people, he got here by accident and would leave soon.

"It doesn't matter. Consider it our parting gift." The Undead leader laughed.

"…Fine." Varian decided it was not worth the troubel to argue with this man. He was too stubborn for his own good.

Maybe that stubborness was the reason why he kept trying to get out of this prison even after failing hundreds of thousands of times.

"Alright, I'll repay you one one day."

"It's not a payment to repay. Everyone is just so happy to hear the stories of outside world. Other than you, we don't usually get living beings here. And the ones who rarely come are all very hostile.

They treat us as…nevermind. Finish up and get out of this place. Hahahaha!"

Waving his hand, Klynster walked to the exit of the cave and Varian closed his eyes to continue the meditation.

Boom!

The sky cracked like glass and a hundred tentacles descended onto the shelter