Romeru
no matter why he didn't get the souls i feel like hermes shouldn't get the souls of only those he kills,after all he is the guide of the souls so he should guide all souls.so the reason he didn't get the souls is either because the system is not at a high enough level so the range is still small or because these people for some reason don't have souls
The locals are monsters in the shape of humans, maybe a miMic breed that overtime forgot it wasnt human because of how longer the portal was opened for and maybe the circle took out the boss of the species to keep the portal active. Wild twist the old man could be that monster and that is the reason he is controlled by the circle