The sister Knights were surprised when I showed them the teleportation pads.

“So you even have a subordinate who can use ,” Claudia muttered, sounding irked for some reason.

“No?” I tilted my head.

Sylvia looked startled, “Then, that means you can use ? But you already have those lovely wings.”

I honestly didn’t know what they were talking about until I remembered how Humans created magic tools. They didn’t know how to make CSPs, so the only way they could enchant things was by engraving magic cores.

“No, no. This doesn’t use any magic cores. My sister, Fiara, is a skilled Magic Engineer, so we have other ways to Enchant things.”

Marilyn’s facial expression changed, for once, as an eyebrow lifted slightly, “And we were taught that Monsters only fake intelligence by copying descendants. That can’t be true if you possess a technology we don’t.”

Actually, we stole this from the ancient Indigos, so that statement almost seems true.

I smiled, quickly instructed them how to use the device, and stepped on ahead of them. Originally, I thought I would find teleportation disorienting, but I never felt that way even once. The girls, however, looked quite bewildered.

“Where are we?” Sylvia muttered before spotting the East wall. “Oh, this is still within the wall.”

“This is the east district,” I smiled. “This is where all the food is grown, and it’s also where the cold storage is. We keep meat and vegetables inside to preserve them longer.”

I started leading the way. Marilyn stared at the fields for a moment before following us. We finally reached the cold storage; it felt like it took a long time to get to this point, for some reason. The girls looked nervous once again, thanks to the cold, dark area. I gave them an encouraging smile and went to the little obelisk, manipulating the carts until Rudan’s corpse appeared. His body was still encased in the ice Fiara preserved it in way back then. It was a little slippery and hard to get a hold of, but I brought it out.

“The cold storage didn’t exist back when he died, so I had him encased in ice.” I looked at the girls seriously. “Should I start right away, or do you three need a little time?”

I heard the flow of air as three women took shaky breaths.

“Do it.”

I nodded to the silver-haired Knight. First I used to surround the ice with hot air. It quickly melted away, until only the body and a puddle of water remained. When I was preparing my Magic Power to cast on the body, Marilyn stopped me.

“Wait.” She glared at the body, then slowly moved her eyes to me, “Those wounds aren’t from a Demonic Beast.”

Indeed. The marks on Rudan were wounds from a sword, not the claws of an animal. Of course, a professional Knight would be able to tell the difference.

I smiled sweetly. “Yes, that’s right. Because he wasn’t killed by a Demonic Beast.”

The smallest sister rested a hand on her blade, but she didn’t draw it. “How did he die?”

I kept my eyes locked with hers, my expression turning wistful. “Your brother was among the first group of Humans to discover my village. I met him back before I even knew I was the Orc Lord. He was more than skeptical of us, at first, but he warmed up to my lead hunter, Durghan, and learned warrior techniques from him. Elianora was there as well, and she became good friends with my sister. There was a third person back then, a perverted guy with dark hair, but I never saw him after their group left.” The nostalgia brought a smile to my face, “I remember I had to lead another Human to us to take them away. Those strange people didn’t want to leave my dirty little village.”

My smile ebbed a bit, and I shook my head. “The second time I met Rudan, he was struggling with something personal. He said he needed to get stronger as quickly as possible, and he wanted Durghan to train him again.” I felt a touch of pride well up in my chest. “Durghan trained me when I was a child. He’s not the strongest Orc, but he is the most skilled. He makes for an excellent teacher. I would have agreed easily to Rudan’s request, but something interfered.”

There was no trace of impatience in Marilyn’s eyes, but Sylvia was pale and Claudia was holding back rage. It didn’t feel like it was directed at me, yet.

“What interfered?” Marilyn pushed, and I realized I’d been stalling.

I smiled bitterly. “Fomors. The War Orcs in the southeast part of the west forest regularly provoke them, but this time they lead an offensive. My older brother lived in one of the villages that were attacked. The enemy had six Small Baphomets with them, and the War Orcs needed reinforcements. When I got word, I prepared to take all of my combatants to fight.” Here, I sighed, “Your brother insisted on coming with me.”

Claudia’s eyes snapped into focus, filled with the sharp light of hatred. “And you let him come?! You brought a weakling who couldn’t even beat an Orc to fight Fomors?!”

I nodded. “Yes, I did.”

She clenched her fists, but at least her hands weren’t near her sword. “How could you do that?! Is there just pig meat in that head of yours?!”

Oh my. That was a good one. I like this girl.

I scowled and avoided eye contact. “You’re right. It was stupid. I was stupid. I was still so inexperienced, and my thoughts were shallow.”

“There’s a limit to how negligent a person can be!” Claudia slammed her fist into her own thigh. She was crying, though she still looked furious.

I made a wry smile, though there was still a thick layer of guilt over my expression. “You expect quite a lot of someone who was just born at the start of this summer. And I’m an Orc Lord, too. Nobody ever rejected one of my decisions.” I shook my head, “But in my defense, I thought he would be safe as long as he stayed with the Orcs in a group.”

“Then you’d never seen battle before,” Marilyn said plainly.

I wore a flat expression. “No. No I hadn’t. He did end up separating from the Orcs, and he was hit badly by a Fomor. I came running as quickly as I could, but--”

“By then it was already too late,” Marilyn removed her hand from her sword.

I shook my head and laughed bitterly. “Do you know the worst thing? I already knew the spell at that point, but I couldn’t use it because I’d run out of Magic Power. I spent all the time until his soul dispersed trying to bring him back through medical means, but I was unable to.” My eyelids lowered, and I saw my blood red lashes flutter.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

My greatest failure. There’s no telling how far back that set my relationship with Humanity.

“That was the first time since I was an infant that I felt so powerless. My people didn’t have a stable food source back then, but,” I looked down at Rudan’s body and sighed. “I would have sooner let them starve than give them this. He’s a reminder that I have to be better than I am, for the sake of those who depend on me.”

I looked back up at the girls, locking eyes with each of them in turn. “I won’t ask you to forgive me, but do you at least understand?”

Marilyn nodded, but Claudia growled. “One more thing. Elianora told me a very different story. Why is that?”

I laughed, but there was no joy in it. “That girl, Elianora, had practically worshipped me as the first Holy Monster. When I said I couldn’t save her friend, that it was already too late, she refused to accept it.” I lowered my head. “Someone who'd been my friend suddenly hated me. That was the first time I'd experienced something like that since I was born, and I couldn't handle it, so I changed her memory of what happened to some quick and clumsy lie. She went back to liking me again, and at the time, I was happy with that." I smiled self-deprecatingly, "Since then, my circumstances have forced me to mature more, and I regret what I did to her. The way was dangerous, so I told her not to come see me anymore, but if she ever does, I plan to restore her memories and rebuild our relationship the normal way." I raised an eyebrow, "So now you know my dark past. Does it answer your question?”

Claudia glared fiercely for another moment, then seemed to deflate. “Whatever. This whole thing is one big mess. I’ll forgive you as long as you bring him back.”

Good. Brainwashing was visible with , so it was better to confess my past before an enemy could try to use it to turn my Human allies. I'd be the leader of a nation someday if all went well, so I'd have to pick my secrets carefully and be honest about everything else. I knew from seeing so many politicians lose their careers in my old world that the appearance of honesty wasn't enough. If you were guarding too many secrets, they would all eventually come to light. In my case, the reputations of former Orc Lords preceded me, so I'd have to be extra careful.

Marilyn looked at the hollow Claudia, then at the pale Sylvia. Under that gaze, a few words spluttered out of the curvy woman’s mouth. “I, I fought him recently. He had definitely learned new skills as a Warrior. I, I believe… her story.” The woman turned her face away, clamping a hand over her mouth and shaking her head. Marilyn looked at me next. She was the only one who still looked pulled together.

“Please bring him back now, Orc Lord Vyra.”

I nodded and knelt down, proceeding to restore Rudan’s corpse to a state that could maintain life. I activated hesitantly, but none of the girls attacked me. Apparently, they weren’t my enemies. Looking back at Rudan, I activated , and gave his body new life, then I stepped out of the way. The boy’s chest started to gently rise and fall. His eyes fluttered open weakly, and he stared at the ceiling for a while.

“Where… am I?”

Marilyn stepped forward, her armor making small clicks, and knelt down beside her brother.

“Marilyn?” he said slowly.

A small smile touched the girl’s face. “So you remember me.” Her expression soon turned hard again. “I promise you, everything is going to be okay. We will make it through this together.”

He slowly tried to sit up. Marilyn helped by supporting his back. “What are you talking about? Is something happening?”

“Rudan!” a desperate cry burst out of Claudia’s throat, and she jumped at the boy, attacking him with her worry and love. “You idiot! You can’t do reckless things when you’re so weak! What was I supposed to do if… if,” she sniffled and buried her face in his chest, gripping his shirt with her fists and crying.

Distracted by one of his sisters, he felt another suddenly hug him from behind, judging from the bust size, it must have been, “Sister Sylvia?”

“Everything’s going to be okay, alright, Rudan? We’re all together now. Your sisters will take care of you.” Her face was still pale, but he couldn't see that when she was behind him. Her voice was carefully controlled to be warm and soothing for his sake.

Rudan looked around at the three of them, confusion evident on his face. “I don’t understand. What are you all so upset about?”

“Brother, what’s the last thing you remember?” Marilyn asked.

The boy paused in thought, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. “I was in the Black Mountain Forest, fighting a war against--I mean, subjugating some Kobolds!”

“You were fighting Fomors,” Marilyn corrected him. “We already know about it. Tell us how that fight ended.”

The boy looked guilty, then continued to think. “Let’s see. A group of them came at once, and Elianora and I got separated from the Orcs fighting with us. I exchanged a few blows with one of the things, and,” his brow furrowed. “After that, um,” the boy pressed his head and tried to think harder, then something clicked, and his face went pale. He looked down at his hands and started shaking.

Marilyn looked down at his hands and took them in hers.

“How,” he stammered, “how long was I…?”

“A few weeks,” Marilyn answered. “Today is the fifty-sixth day of the second month of summer.” She looked over her shoulder at me, and Rudan noticed me for the first time. His body visibly tensed, but all the girls did their best to soothe him.

Marilyn patted his hands to draw his attention back. “That person kept your body intact all this time and developed a new magic that could bring you back.”

Thanks for the good word.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” I smiled gently. “To think I was so torn up I couldn’t save you that I kept your body, invented a new field of magic, a new type of creature, and even led a bunch of Human Knights here so your family could receive you, and you don’t even recognize my face.” I grinned, “Of course, it was a different face when you last saw it.”

I took a few steps closer and squatted down.

“Chief Vyra?” he muttered unsurely.

“It’s Lord Vyra now,” I grinned. “It’s good to see you again, Rudan.”

He blinked, and his eyes went wide. “You’re huge!”

My smile went crooked. “That’s what you say to the woman who brought you back from oblivion? But yeah, I know.” I grinned. “I ended up going to war with those giant goats, and it’s partially your fault.” A bit of laughter bubbled out, “We won, though.”

He looked me over and frowned. “Your wings are gone. Did,” he looked worried, “did you lose them?”

I shook my head. “Not completely.”

Now that the reunions were over, there was some serious stuff I had to explain to him. So far, Living Dead hadn’t taken the news so well.

“Rudan, the power I used to bring you back isn’t perfect. I would have simply let my Magic Power recover and used on you, but the Soul leaves the body shortly after death, and can’t be used after that point. Thanks to that, I had to make a new method. Do you understand? Your body, right now, doesn’t contain a soul.”

“I,” he looked frightened, “I don’t have a soul?”

I shook my head. “It might already have been born into a new body by now. There was no way to recover it. Skills are stored in the soul, so those are all gone as well. You also have no way of communing with the spirits.” Before he could get too depressed, I smiled, “It isn’t all bad, though. Your body is healthy, and all of your memories remain. You can still accumulate Magic Power, so you can still become strong if you really want to.”

“Does that mean I can go back to being an Adventurer?” he asked.

I frowned and shook my head. “I wouldn’t advise it. If anybody saw your status, they would know you no longer have a soul. Right now, as I see it with , your type is listed as Soulless, and your Race is Living Dead. You’re not a monster, but it’s possible they’ll treat you like one.”

“Then, I,” he lowered his head and grimaced, not sure how to continue.

Claudia had stopped crying by now. She lifted her head up and put her face right in front of Rudan’s.

“Come home with us! Please!”

His eyes trembled, and he looked away. “But,” the whole room was quiet for a moment. “I dirtied our family’s reputation. It’s my fault that the rest of you had to deal with so much.” He looked at Marilyn. “You should have been one of the princes’ guardian Knight by now, but you’re still just in the King’s private army. I can’t go back. I don’t want to trouble you all anymore.”

“We’ve never thought of you that way,” Sylvia said, hugging him tighter. “We want you to be happy. If you were happy after leaving, we wouldn’t have much to say, but are you happy like this? Will you really say you didn’t enjoy the way things used to be?”

“I liked it, but…” Marilyn held Rudan’s hand tightly to quiet him.

“Vyra, you said you were blessed by one of the gods. Which one was it?”

I blinked and tilted my head. “It was Lord Ashtante. She gave me two titles as well.”

Marilyn wore a small smile and lowered her head. “That's even better.” She looked back up at her brother. “You were saved by someone favored by Lord Ashtante. Do you have anything else to worry about?”

Rudan’s eyes started to water, and Marilyn released his hands. He rubbed his eyes, but the tears kept falling. After several minutes, the boy stopped crying, and the girls moved aside so he could lay down. Sylvia gave him a lap pillow to rest on.

“I want to go home,” he said at last.