Chapter 23: Departure
Leo came walking as he observed people leaving and going back to their houses. Ai stood near Leko's body along with a man who had a sad expression on his face.
This person was none other than Darion, the same man about whom it has been mentioned earlier.
He looked at Ai and asked, "Why were they here?"
He wasn't sure if the villagers had come to take something or inquire about something. Though, he knew this much that it was related to Leko's death.
'They probably came to mourn…', he thought.
Ai replied which confirmed his thoughts.
"And Leo, you don't need to visit the next village…"
"They…"
She explained how the funeral could be conducted. Yes, all the villagers agreed to make something or give something to express their gratitude for everything Leko had done to date. With the little contributions from everyone, the arrangements for the funeral were complete.
However, even after this, Leo had to go to the next village to sell the beast's body. The reason was simple, Leko would gather funds or bring funds somehow. He was the backbone who managed tasks. But now that he was gone, it was up to Leo to sell the beast's body and get some money with the help of which the orphanage could continue to run for some more time.
"But Auntie, I still have to go and sell it…", he said while pointing his index finger at the dead beast's body.
It was still lying on the ground and despite leaving it in the open, it gave no pungent smell or anything of such sort. It had been over three hours since it had been killed but there were no signs of any changes in its body.
It was certainly true that some ants did seem to be around the body, but they weren't many either – just countable.
"Why?", Ai asked.
Before Leo could explain, Darion said, "It's for the kids…"
Ai turned towards Darion when he said that and asked, "Kids…?"
"Yeah. Do you think you can last more than a week with the little food and money that you have?", Darion asked.
"This is an Lv.10 beast and it is, although not in the best condition, would still go for about 2 gold coins.", he said.
The currency system in this world:
1 gold coin = 10 silver coins.
1 silver coin = 10 bronze coins.
1 bronze coin = 10 copper coins.
1 copper coin = 10 large candies.
Yes, with 1 copper coin, all that a person could buy was 10 candies. This essentially meant that, with 1 copper coin, one could afford a meal for one time. Right now, there were no more than 3 bronze coins in the orphanage which was quite less.
3 bronze coins were equivalent to 30 copper coins. This meant that a single kid could eat normally for 10 days, that is, 3 times a day.
However, there were about 30 kids in the orphanage including young babies and those who were six to seven years old. They could, at max, last only a single day.
Moreover, with the stored foods and a small farm of their own, they could last for another six days, in total, seven days at max. Darion's prediction was on point!
After thinking about it, Ai had no choice but to let Leo go.
She nodded her head and said, "Alright, you may head to the next village. Darion will accompany you."
She had discussed this with Darion regarding this matter and considering that this was a request from Ai herself, he couldn't help but accept it.
"So when do we leave, Leo?", he asked.
Leo knew about Darion but all those were via rumors. All he knew was that he was a drunkard and a playboy. His reputation was bad so Leo doubted Ai's choice of calling Darion over to accompany him.
He wanted to reject his proposal, but Ai wouldn't let him go if not for Darion.
"Immediately…", he said as he entered the orphanage and then brought a small wooden cart.
They would often use this cart to go and sell the vegetables that would be grown in their small field.
The kids in the orphanage looked at what Leo was doing. Ai had already asked them to not disturb Leo when he is back.
She consoled them too and they were no longer crying, but a weird pain lingered in their hearts.
"Uncle, could you please lift the cat's body and place it on the cart?", Leo asked as he held the cart's handles.
One could arguably call it Trolley, but people here referred to it as a cart.
Regardless, Darion walked forward and lift the cat beast's body as if it was nothing. He then placed it on the cart slowly and steadily.
'How can he lift that heavy body so easily?', Leo asked himself.
Although he was the one who asked Darion to help, he was utterly surprised to see him do this so easily.
He could indeed lift the beast's body earlier however, it was not easy. It strained him a lot.
'Despite being a level 2 beast cultivator, it was quite hard for me to lift it…'
'Then how did a normal man, who has yet to awaken his beast soul, lift such a heavy thing?', these thoughts haunted him for a minute or so.
He was unaware of the fact that Darion was a cultivator too. Because of that, he was astonished right now.
"Alright, we will take our leave, Auntie. Bye. Bye everyone…", he bid Ai and the kids at the orphanage farewell.
It would take them about a day to go and return by the time of which, Leko's funeral would have been started.
'For now, my goal is clear…'
'Selling this beast is my top priority!', he said to himself as they kept going.
Darion, who followed Leo closely wondered, 'Interesting…'
'Level 2 beast cultivator, heh?'
'Sir Leko was indeed blessed with luck to have talents flocking around him.', he smirked as they walked.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone