Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1361 - 147 Leader

"Rattle, rattle," the iconic sound of skeletons rose from around, which of course, wasn’t the skeletons talking, but the sound of their footsteps. Hard bones clacked against the stone floor, a crisp series echoing through the night sky, seemingly straight out of a midnight horror tale, drawing one’s attention irresistibly. Soon, from every side street, ghosts kept drifting back, and behind the semi-transparent specters were naturally crowds of stark white skeletons. This was the first time the girls had witnessed such a large assembly of skeletons since they’d entered the Realm of the Dead. The ones they’d seen on the road before were more scattered, nothing like the concentrated gathering before their eyes.

It was only when the skeletons gathered together that the girls realized how different the skeletons of the undead world were from those outside. In the Yarran World, they had also seen skeletons groups a few times, but although there were slight differences in size among those skeletons, they were generally much alike. However, the skeletons here were different; they included humanoid creatures from three epochs, as well as various races from the Third Epoch, so there was a significant variance in their skeletal forms when assembled. They did not appear as orderly as the skeleton groups in the Yarran World, yet this disorder, if seen as a mark of a living creature, seemed to be brimming with the essence of life.

"I knew you’d definitely come, Saen," with the skeletons congregating, the leading ghost Shiela said, "This place is too small, do not all crowd over here, otherwise there’s no way it can hold all of you."

"Rattle, rattle." The skeleton known as Saen was exceptionally tall, his frame visibly thickset, marking him as a considerably bulky creature in life, one who must have stood out distinctly in a crowd. Even in death, he was strikingly prominent amidst the other skeletons, not only towering over them but his bones shone brighter and even seemed to gleam faintly, making his presence hard to ignore. What’s more intriguing was his head, unlike current humanoids, there was an extra hole in his forehead, the place for a third eye, so without asking, one would know that this Mr. Saen must have belonged to the Triclops from the First Epoch. Saen waved his hand behind him, his jawbone clacking, and soon the skeletons that had gathered around him dispersed with a rustling noise, taking positions on the rooftops, walls, and windows, observing from every conceivable angle.

"Rattle, rattle." Facing Shiela, Saen made the standard skeleton sound as if asking something.

"That’s fine, that’s good, we wouldn’t want to inconvenience the guests who’ve been invited," Shiela gestured and said, "Come over here, let me introduce you to these living visitors."

"Rattle?" Saen clearly hesitated at the description of being invited, his gaze roaming over the eight visitors. When he saw Pannis, the Soul Fire flickered as if showing a dawning realization, and he waved warmly at Pannis and the girls.

"Yes, they’ve been invited," Shiela seemed to understand what Saen was saying and nodded, "This is Mr. Pannis, a guest invited by our host, the other five ladies are his teammates, and these two little ones, this fellow of your race is called Little Deer, and the other of my race I haven’t had the chance to introduce. Little one, can you tell me your name?"

Even though the other was of her own kind, Little Annie still seemed very shy, hiding behind Pannis, she peeked out from over his shoulder timidly and said, "My name is Annie."

Another skull peered out from Mr. Pannis’s other shoulder, and Little Deer, shaking its head, similarly climbed onto his back, as if to stay close to Annie and cheer her on, crisply saying, "I’m called Little Deer."

"Hmm?" The talking little skeleton made the large group of Undead opposite them all pause, looking at each other. Shiela was the first to react, with some surprise she said, "So the one called Annie gave you the ability to speak, Little Deer?"

"That’s right." Annie cocked her head, not understanding what was strange about that, and asked in confusion, "What’s the matter, is there a problem?"

"No, nothing, just that you two seem to share a really good bond." Shiela shook her head, gave the little ones a meaningful look, then resumed her kind smile and continued, "Distinguished guests, the Undead by my side is one of the leaders of the city’s skeleton race, the Dark Knight Saen, and as for myself, I’ve already introduced to everyone earlier, I am one of the leaders of the Ghost race, the Death Banshee Shiela. Today, it just so happens that both of us were amusing ourselves in the same tavern in this district, which is quite fortunate. If we were a bit further away, perhaps we wouldn’t have been able to come over in time."

"Leaders? Tavern?" Catherine caught a few words she couldn’t ignore and followed up with, "Isn’t your capital city supposed to be managed by your king? Why are there leaders? And a tavern, does that mean your world has really developed taverns now?" freewebnσvel.cøm

"Oh, the king, well, he... hmm, basically doesn’t manage anything. No no, to be exact, he doesn’t concern himself with these minor city affairs, only occasionally issuing a few orders. So, the matters of the capital are left to the autonomous governance of each race." When mentioning the king of the Undead, Shiela’s attitude was obviously very similar to that of the earlier village chief, and facing such an irresponsible superior, one could only respond with a wry smile, "In order to maintain the city’s operation, various races have elected a few leaders to manage different areas of the city while coordinating potential conflicts between regions. The two of us are the leaders of this region. As for taverns, they appeared a few years ago. Otherwise, everyone would be so bored that someone might start causing mischief."

"Since that’s the case, it shouldn’t just be taverns then, other service establishments must have appeared as well," Lina interjected curiously, "It’s really surprising to see, given the villages and towns we saw earlier, we thought such places didn’t exist in this world."

"Yes, presumably those buildings we saw outside the city with signs hanging from them were these kinds of establishments," Catherine added, "They’re very different from the villages and towns we’ve seen before."

"Ah, indeed, shops are basically only found in cities, since there are more people there, of course. As for the many villages and small towns, they don’t have residents as idle as those in the city, so they don’t have much need for these services." Shiela, as if recalling something, slapped her forehead, "I’ve been so oblivious, how can I let our distinguished guests just stand here and talk? Come, let’s all go sit in the tavern together, I’ll treat you all to a drink."