37 Improved act (part 2)

"In the first place, the charge for the destruction of public property charge can't be placed because the ruined building wasn't public property – it was listed under the name Atwood and vacant ever since he went missing."

"Ah! That was the name of the undead in that destroyed basement!"

The leader of the adventurer's guild explained, making the young priest of death gasp and call out in realization.

"See? Mister Atwood was a bastard son of the noble family that moved out of Grand Herbal a couple months ago. Truth be told, the mayor of our city began to complain about the ruin being such a headache over a drink we often share. To cut off any connection to the bastard but also to make someone from the main family take the building away, the house was listed under only his name permanently. Meaning the thing could be removed or renovated and sold only if Atwood personally gave permission. Otherwise, it had to waste away eternally or until the kingdom's property law changed. If anything, this boy's actions saved our city a great deal of trouble!"

"Kazimir! That's not a laughing matter! He needs to be punished for it; how else should we stop his potential arsonist tendencies?! Not to mention that he had treated a named undead who was previously human just like any other monster and appeased it as it was incapacitated without even trying to hear him out and help resolve his resentment!"

The gray-haired man chuckled jovially, giving off a completely different mood than before, which visibly irked the red-haired woman.

"Now, now. Isn't the disappointment because of the Skill he got as a reward not enough? Wasted effort is enough of a punishment, in my opinion."

"I... I mean... when I found it, the remains didn't even look all that human to me..."

"...you...!"

Kazimir was clearly intent on laughing it all off, to which Zorey muttered -leaving Brigitta utterly lost for words over this blatant negligence.

"I've heard that you can't join my guild because you don't have the permission of your parental guardian or your master despite your wishes. With that in mind, I will not mention your real Class to my staff and let you take on some low-rank adventuring quests so you can afford that ring you mentioned."

"R-really...!?"

Kazimir leaned down and reassuringly patted Zorey's back, causing the black-haired boy to raise his head and look at him with teary eyes.

"I give my you my word. You don't have to worry about the ruin, I will talk with the mayor about it, and if anything, you will get a reward – not a punishment!"

"Th-thank you very much, my lord!"

*thunk*

The steel-gray-haired man promised, and the black-haired boy gasped, lowering his head so fast that he ended up hitting his forehead against the floor with a loud bang.

"Hmhmhm~! What a nice kid. Don't be too harsh on him, dear Brigittacellia."

"Don'y you DARE tell me how to act towards other priests, Kazimir! If you don't have any more business, then get out of my Temple!"

Kazimir chuckled to Birgitta as he was leaving, having her shout after him as he went.

As for the priest of life, Thiago, that led the man there – he was long gone, escaping the moment he realized how pissed off the red-haired woman would get.

*WHAM*

"HMPH!"

Brigitta slammed the door to Zorey's room behind Kazimir's back and scoffed, trembling from agitation.

"I can't believe it! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! And I thought you had so much potential! And all the bootlicking! Do you even know who that man really is?! Of course not! You just see him as the guildmaster of the adventurer's guild and can't imagine what he does in the shadows! I swear! I SWEAR that I will...!"

"Big sister, is he gone?"

The red-haired woman could not contain herself and began to shout while walking back and forth, shaking her head when the black-haired boy asked her without raising his head.

"For System's sake, I will...! eh...? What did you say...?"

Brigitta stopped in place and glared down at Zorey, squinting her eyes and asking in a tone that spelled trouble.

"That man has life detection Skill - he will know if I walk to the window to check on him, so could you please check out if he left the Temple...?"

"..."

The black-haired boy asked, making the red-haired woman close her mouth and stare at him in consternation.

After a few moments, she approached the window and took a peek through.

"...yeah, that stupidly large figure of his sticks out like a sore thumb from the crowd; what about it...?"

"Tehehe~!"

Brigitta confirmed and said in an annoyed voice, turning back to the young priest of death, who let out a hearty chuckle and rolled on the floor to spread out and lay down on his back.

"OI!"

Brigitta leaned back, gasping in a fury mixed with disbelief, about to give the boy a scolding he would not forget for the rest of his life when...

"Hey, you can come out."

"Scree...!"

Zorey looked to the side and called out, having something under his bed screech and rustle as it crawled out.

"What in the System's name?!"

"Scree!"

Brigitta flinched and backed off at the sight of an undead dwarf lesser rat that had its fur completely burnt off but was still able to move around as its body had no other wounds that screeched out rather lively.

"Sorry – after appeasing Mister Atwood, I tried out the gemstone creation skill and accidentally set fire to the house... the ashed of the other undead caught on fire, and everything got messed up – even this guy's malice got just as strong as Mister Atwood's was. Because of that, he declared that he would not return to the System until he witnessed me holding true to my end of the deal; he even warned me that the guards at the walls work with Kazimir and would report the fire to him – and here we are. Was my acting convincing? I'm usually really bad at lying."

"Scree!"

Zorey raised one hand and nodded his head lightly towards the stunned Brigitta, giving an extremely brief explanation and having the burnt undead raise on its hind paws and tap on his arm while screeching decisively.

"I know I have to give them to her! Don't act so high and mighty! I might have been stupid and set you on fire, but you were the one who freaked out and tried to run away through the hallway full of flammable dust! It's just as much your fault as it is mine!"

"..."

The black-haired boy rolled his eyes and scoffed at the crispy undead monster and rolled to all fours before diving under his bead to fetch something while the red-haired woman could only stare at the scene while blinking repeatedly.

Zorey emerged after a few moments, carrying a massive stack of crispy papers with various degrees of burnt – luckily mostly on the edges, and therefore still legible.

"Here. It's everything that mister Atwood managed to gather about Kazimir's wrongdoings together with instructions on how it can be legitimately proven, completed with his own relation of the events that lead to his death and corruption into a skeleton scribe."

"...eh...?"

Zorey stood up and pushed the stack of papers in Brigitta's hands, making the red-haired woman grab onto them out of reflex and gasp only after looking between them and the black-haired boy.

"EEEHHH?!"

She cried out, looking between the boy and the papers he gave her so fast and so many times she gave herself a headache.

"Mister Atwood believed that you were the right person to carry out his revenge, so I am leaving it in your hands, big sister!"

Zorey laid back down on the floor and grinned at the completely lost Brigitta.

"And there you have it. Think that you can return to the System now?"

"Scree!"

The young priest of death turned his head towards the scorched undead and asked, having the monster let out an approving screech.

"Appease undead."

"Haaa~"

*crack*

*whoosh*

Zorey smiled and used his Skill, and the undead's body cracked and crumbled to dust a few moments later as the appeasement spectacle was only visible to the people with his specific Class.

"..."

Brigitta shook her head and gulped down her saliva.

She balanced the stack of papers on one hand and picked up the first page, breaking off a charred piece from the side and tossing it to the side with a bitter expression.

"...!"

...but when she actually started reading through it all, her eyes widened...

"!!!"

And she breathed in exasperation, hardly able to contain herself.

"This! This is a real deal!"

She gasped and stormed out of Zorey's room, undoubtedly on her way to her own room where she could carefully study everything in peace.

"...haaaaa... I want to sleep, but Kaipo would be upset at me for disregarding my HP and the continous loss of it in my sleep because of the burns... Mend."

*CRACK*

"OWWWW...! Haa..."

Zorey also breathed out and mumbled to himself, activating his Skill and having a loud snapping crack jolt his body and cause him to let out a pained cry before rolling to the side and falling asleep with a sigh right where he was.

With a soft, comfortable bed just a few steps away, abandoned for the hard floor but pleasantly cool floor.