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Khrx sat up and looked around. The room he was in was similar to Fiel’s temple, and a statue of a naked man with a beard and a sword towered over him. The man’s eyes glowed with a red light, glaring at Khrx. Khrx blinked and read the plaque hanging on the statue’s waist, blocking its crotch. “God Jax.” A screen popped up as he stepped off the altar.
[God Jax wishes to commune with you! Do you accept? Y/N]
“Nope,” Khrx said, pressing the red N. Why would he commune with the god who killed him via lightning? He’d probably say something wrong and die without knowing why. Khrx ignored the repeated screens that kept appearing and called Luke.
“Khrx? You’re finally answering? I’ll have you know, I haven’t fed Fufu since the day you stopped responding to me.”
A growl escaped from Khrx’s throat as he gritted his teeth. “If she gets mad, it’s your fault. Where are you?” He continued out of the temple, which consisted of only the altar room and a hallway. He stepped outside and shielded his eyes from the sun. “I think I’m at the guild place thingy.”
“You mean our guild’s city?” Luke asked. “It’s about damn time. As a senior officer, you have a duty towards the guild. Go to the training hall and check on the recruits. They’re a bunch of goblins, ogres, and trolls, but they’ve been disguised with magic before entering [Resolution].”
“I have no idea what any of those are,” Khrx said. “Including the training hall.”
“That’s fine,” Luke said. “Just forget it then. Do whatever you want, but don’t waste our resources. I’m fighting a god right now. I’ll call you back later.”
The call dropped before Khrx could respond. The screen disappeared, revealing an elderly woman waving her hand at him. She beckoned for him to come over once she noticed he saw her. What was he? A dog? Khrx snorted and looked the other way. What was the point of becoming a senior officer of a guild if any old lady could order him around? He was tired of being ordered around. His pride had been stifled for far too long! He was still miserably weak, but he wasn’t as miserable weak as when he first started the game thanks to all those blessings, read misfortunes, he had encountered in the underworld. Khrx nodded to himself while placing his hands on his hips.
“What an imbecile.”
“Poser.”
“Idiot.”
“With a senior officer like that, no wonder why they haven’t realized it yet.”
“Look at that suit. Does he think he’s a bird?”
“A big fat bird! He can’t even fly!”
“But his tail looks nice.”
“His ears too.”
“I like his eyes.”
“It’s a shame he’s so dumb.”
Khrx’s eye twitched as he turned towards the chattering. A group of crows were sitting in a tree, cawing at each other while pointing at Khrx.
“He’s staring at us.”
“Stare, stare. Let him stare. It’s not like it matters.”
“Two-legs are too stupid to understand our speech.”
“You know, we also only have two legs, right?”
“You’re an idiot too. That’s not what I meant.”
“He’s walking over here. And he looks really angry.”
“It’s because you’re so loud. Caw, caw, caw. Are you afraid of not being heard? No one will think you’re a mute if you don’t speak.”
“I’m the loud one? You shut your dirty face-hole, screamer.”
“Hey!” Khrx shouted at the top of the tree. “Who’re you calling an imbecile?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…Did he just…?”
“Caw, caw. We’re just regular old non-talking crows. Caw. It must’ve been that old lady over there. Caw.”
“That’s right. Caw, caw.”
Khrx’s expression darkened.
“Psst. I don’t think he’s falling for it.”
“But how’s that possible? Look at his stats. He’s an idiot.”
“I’ve never seen anyone with negative intelligence.”
“Wait! His skill. He can understand animals. So Fiel prefers blessing idiots?”
“I know how to make him less angry! Let’s give him a quest. Idiots love quests.”
“But what kind of quest?”
“We have to give him an easy one, or he’ll fail and get mad at us.”
“I got this! Leave this to me.”
A screen appeared in front of Khrx.
[Crows are wise. They can see through the status of people. Recently, in the city of Paradise, the crows have found an unusually large number of people with disguised hostility. The crows suspect they’re spies. Report this to the guild leader before something happens to the city and the crows lose their roost.]
[Rewards: 1 Achievement Point. Glossy Black Feather.]
[Glossy Black Feather]
[A token of friendship. Animals will automatically feel goodwill towards you if you wear this in your hair.]
“Eh!? You’re giving him a black feather?”
“We can’t trust him!”
“But…, but … look at how cute his ears are. A feather would be the perfect accessory!”
“You have a point, but…”
Khrx called Luke, ignoring the jabbering crows.
“Damnit, Khrx,” Luke said. “Didn’t I say I’d call you back? I almost died just now.”
“There’s some spies in the city,” Khrx said.
[Quest complete!]
[Good job! Aren’t you smart? You should feel proud. What a big boy.]
[Rewards: 1 Achievement Point. Glossy Black Feather.]
A feather appeared in Khrx’s hand, and he stuck it into his hair, propping it up with his ear. He dismissed the condescending screen with a swish of his hand.
“Spies?” Luke asked. “What do you mean spies?”
“Not sure,” Khrx said and shrugged even though Luke couldn’t see him. “That’s what the crows said. There’s some hostile spies in the city.”
“You’re talking to crows? Whatever, never mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if there really were spies. It’s probably those guys your crazy angel friend wiped out,” Luke said. “Tell Aaz’Tala. He’ll deal with it. He’s been wanting to meet you for a while now.”
The call ended before Khrx could ask who or where Aaz’Tala was.
“He did it!”
“Do you think he’s happy now?”
“A token of friendship works both ways! He’ll feel goodwill towards us too. I think.”
“Hey,” Khrx said towards the crows. “Where’s Aaz’Tala?”
“Look at his face; he’s totally pleased. Aren’t I a genius? I knew idiots loved quests.”
A crow flew down and landed on Khrx’s shoulder. It was a bit taller than his head. “I’ll take you to Aaz’Tala!” It pointed towards an alley. “He’s that way.” The crow’s eyes glistened as it stared at Khrx’s ears. It raised its wings and ruffled Khrx’s head. “So soft….”
Birds were descendants of dinosaurs, right? That’s what the zoo had said. And dinosaurs were distantly related to Khrx. So birds were vaguely related to him. Maybe he knew the ancestor of all birds and dinosaurs. His cousin Erif really liked mating with non-dragons, claiming to be a god of creation…. Khrx turned his head towards the crow, who was still entranced with his ears. For Erif’s sake, he’d let it do what it wished.