Mutagen

Day 76 - 10:39 AM - Cliff House Balcony, Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon

Now understanding the circumstances and their mistake, this group of small creatures was swallowed in self-pity. It was understandable. They were already struggling because of the changes that suddenly happened in the mortal world. And yet, because they were paranoid, they just caused the death of some of their tribesmen.

Then, Mark said those words that made them very confused.

They already did not understand what the video games that he spoke of were. Now, they could not understand what Mark clearly meant by asking them to work for him.

The concept of working for payment or salary surely did not exist among their kind.

To them, each individual had a duty to fulfill. An excellent example of this was the guards. They served as guards because of their loyalty to their leader. In exchange, it was the leader's duty to feed his people.

Another thing was that not all of these races follow the concept of money. Especially to small tribes, they barter for things they wanted.

As such, the real meaning of the word "work" did not register clearly in their minds.

Not understanding the meaning of Mark had said, they had to ask. Nevertheless, it was quite strange that the one who stood up was Felenia instead of Teremillio.

"Master of the Spirit Tree, can you please elaborate? What did you mean by use working for you? Do you want us to submit to you? You already said that you had no plans about something like that."

This made Mark feel strange as he looked at Amihan, who also looked a bit troubled.

"Master, the concept of work, like humans did. It doesn't exist to us."

Amihan already understood this concept as she spent more time with humans. As for those that lived in isolation, it was a very foreign concept. Thus, Mark really needed to elaborate.

"No, I don't need your submission," Mark said seriously. "What I meant that is something like you will do things for me and in exchange I will provide benefits."

Mark then looked at Kokoro, who flinched after receiving Mark's attention. She wanted to hide. As there was nowhere to take cover on the table, she could only cover herself with the large leaf she was carrying.

While thinking that she should already replace that tattered leaf she always carried, Mark spoke.

"Kokoro, right? Your race used to trade with the Ainu people before if I'm not mistaken."

Hearing that the Master of Spirit Tree knowing something about her race, she was obviously delighted for some reason. Despite being shy, she peeked out from behind the leaf and nodded while she spoke in a soft voice.

"Yes."

After that reply, Mark turned to the others.

"It's basically the same concept with Trading or Barter. The only difference is that you will follow my orders as long as you are capable of it in exchange for the benefits I can provide."

Then, Felenia fired another set of questions after understanding what Mark had said.

"I want to ask. What kinds of orders are you going to give us? Are those absolute? Also, what do you mean by benefits?"

Mark scratched his head. Felenia sure was an intelligent, cautious, and curious Duende. If she did not understand, she would ask. If she found a flaw, she would try to confirm it. However, that was not a bad trait at all. She was really suited to be the highest in the hierarchy of Teremillio's wives.

"As I said before. Follow my orders as long as you are capable of it. I want you all to work, not submit. I won't force any of you to do something that you can't do or against your will. Of course, not being able to do my orders things means fewer benefits. About the benefits that I mentioned before..."

Mark looked with a bit of a sly expression.

"One of the most valuable things is protection."

Hearing that very last word, the ears of these little creatures perked up. However, Mark was not finished yet.

"I can let your tribe live inside my base. You all will be protected by the dangers outside and will be able to freely roam without fear of any threat you can come across, even humans. Food and necessities will be provided plenty enough depending on the work you fulfill. More importantly, the benefits of my Spirit Tree."

With each of Mark's sentence, the group of small creatures could not help but gulp their saliva. Each of what he mentioned was too enticing for them to just pass by.

"C-can you please let us discuss this?"

Felenia said. Obviously, she already lost her composure.

"I don't mind, go on."

Mark replied. He was already satisfied with their reaction. Sure enough, the fishes were already circling around the hook.

Thus, with the unconcious pixie as an exception, the members of the group of little creatures gathered around whispering.

"You're being too sly, you know that?"

Pefile said with a low voice.

"But I'm not deceiving them."

Mark replied.

To those words, Pefile smiled.

"I know. Or else, I might have tried to stop you."

The Tamawo then moved. It was clear that he decided to leave.

"Leaving already?"

"I don't have any roles here, do I?"

Pefile said. And without waiting for a reply, he jumped off the balcony. He landed on a small tree below, vanishing from everyone's sight.

"That person is really mysterious."

Amihan remarked. Mei also nodded to her words.

"Just don't mind him, you two. He just had his own problems to deal with."

The discussion of the folklore creatures was taking a while. They were really discussing it hard as their decision would dictate the future of their tribe.

In the middle of their discussion, three little girls entered the balcony.

"Papa, Mama!"

Three cute voices mixed together called out to Mark and Mei.

The appearance of the three girls surely interrupted the discussion of the little group. The little girls were also amazed seeing the moving toy-sized creatures on the table. However, they were smart enough to be able to tell that those creatures on the table were not toys. After all, they spent time with Aephelia and Amihan every day.

"Sorry, Master. I told them that you have guests, but they would not listen."

Aephelias voice came in as she hurriedly chased after the three.

But then, an unexpected reaction was detected from the small group. No, it was just from one individual.

"Hiraya?"

Some called out to Aephelia. It was no other than the Sylph, Malaya.

"No," Malaya seemed to have realized something. "Who are you?! What are you doing with my sister's body?!"

That statement was both surprising and not at the same time. Not only Malaya recognized the body that Aephelia was using. The real owner of the body was actually her sister.

Without any warning, Malaya flew towards Aephelia. It was evident that she wanted to take her sister back.

That was when Amihan flew off from Mark's shoulder and embraced Malaya to restrain her.

"Amihan, let go of me! My sister, she-"

"You're sister is gone."

Mark's voice interrupted Malaya, making her look at him with shock.

"Don't tell me... You..."

Due to her emotions, Malaya immediately saw Mark as the only possible person that did this.

Amihan immediately refuted her.

"Master didn't do it!"

And Mark asked a question to Malaya.

"Remember what you're sister's duty is?"

Hearing that, Malaya froze.

She lost her strength as she was assisted by Amihan to slowly float down back to the table.

Seeing that, Teremillio and his other wives helped her up while Amihan returned to Mark's shoulder. The small creatures were also surprised at the appearance of another Sylph. However, they could tell that the aura around Aephlia was too weak for a Sylph and was more of a human.

Still, they were surprised. This was also the first time for Teremillio and the others to hear that Malaya had a sister.

It was no wonder, however. The duty of Malaya's sister was to guard the sealed Deity of Bloodshed. Such information could not be passed to others carelessly.

However, Malaya knew. If Mark mentioned Hiraya's duty, it was understandable as to how her body was still intact even if the soul was already dead.

To enforce this fact, Mark spoke.

"The Deity of Bloodshed managed to escape. Your sister is the first victim."

After hearing those words, Malaya's tears dropped on the table.

The situation was clear now. For Mark to even know that name, there was no doubt that what they said was true.

And her sister's death... Was her fault if that was the case.

About the sudden situation, Aephelia was really troubled. However, as Mark's servant, she had her convictions. Thus, she had to make things clear.

Aephelia flew towards Malaya and the others.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your sister. However, if you want her body back, I can't oblige to it. I can't serve Master without this body."

That was a harsh statement to Malaya. It made Teremillio and his wives quite uncomfortable.

Still, thinking logically, there was nothing they could say. Even Malaya knew that fact. If not for Aephelia using that dead body, there was no need to mention seeing her alive. They also would not have any possibility to find a strand of hair from her corpse.

It might be a lamenting fact, however, just seeing Hiraya's body intact was something Malaya should already be thankful about.

As for Mark, he sighed. He did not think that things would become complicated like this.

And thus, he decided.

"If you all are not ready yet for my offer, I'll give you more time."

However, it seemed that Mark was mistaken.

"We accept your offer."

Malaya said with a solemn expression.

In fact, they already decided that they would accept. It was just her actions after seeing Aephelia interrupted things.

"Are you sure about that? What about the others?"

Mark asked just to formally conclude things. After all, he already knew their decision.

Seeing Malaya's expression, Felenia nodded and formally replied to Mark.

"Yes, we agree. We just wish that you will fulfill everything you said to us."

Hearing that, Mark smiled.

"Don't worry, you have my word. I'll also make a written contract about this later if you all want to."

Then, Mark looked at Malaya.

"Still, I'm surprised you still want to agree. Is it about your sister's body?"

To that question, Malaya nodded.

"Maybe, even if I want to, I can't take my sister's body from you. But I need to make sure that you will not use my sister's body to do evil. Even if I have to turn to dust, I'll stop it."

That was quite a statement. It made Teremillio, and the others worried. Malaya was a lively Sylph who liked to play and joke around. This time, however, she was not joking at all.

On the other hand, Mark gave this sylph a plus. She was not afraid of him at all for her sister. Her conviction was something else.

And thus, Mark received a new group to reside in his base. Of course, he needed to assist them to move the rest of their tribe into his base. That could be said as one of the benefits they would get from him.

Furthermore, if he let them do that alone, it would be questionable as to how many would be left for him to utilize. That would be problematic.

These creatures had powers and abilities that could be useful to the base. Like how a Koropokkuru was known as good hunters and fishermen. They were also known to develop potteries and other tools.

The Duendes also had some uncanny abilities known by many people.

There might be things that he did not know about them. However, now that they were under him, it was not late to learn about those things. He also had to learn to properly utilize them for the base.

As for Angis, Mark had some ideas for her. After all, her race had a rather unique ability. Her mellow voice was the evidence of this.

It did not take long and lunchtime came. Mark decided to treat his new employees for lunch.

The Pixie, Reilynne, also woke up. And then...

"UWAAAAA!!! HUMAN!!!"

That was her reaction the moment her eyes landed on Mark, Mei, and the little girls. She even tried to fly away but as she was injured, she felt dizzy and fell on the table instead.

Somehow, Mark had a deja vu.