"Great Oriyan?" Lucas tilted his head in confusion, never having heard this name before.
"En, Great Oriyans are considered bearers of good fortune. As for why that is, I'm not quite sure, but that is what the legends say," Farah explained, "Even seeing one is supposed to bring a person good luck."
"I see," Lucas nodded before smiling, "I normally don't believe such superstitions, but it's pretty hard to deny that this big guy's appearance here isn't a huge stroke of good luck."
"Indeed," Farah nodded, also smiling.
*Chirp!*
The loud cry from their guest caused both Farah and Lucas to cover their ears and wince slightly, before the latter turned and said, "I know! Food, soon."
Saying so, Lucas turned back to, again, see a crowd of dumbfounded people staring at him. He also took note that several people, like Eris, were standing closer to him now rather than further way.
Seeing this, the young boy felt incredibly grateful and made a mental note to both thank those who tried to help him, and to improve how he treated them in the long-term.
Lucas wasn't going to blame those people who fled or escaped, that was a natural reaction when faced with the possibility of death, but just because he understood that, didn't mean he had to appreciate it.
It was in times of crisis that one was able to see people's true natures, and understand just who stood by your side because they believed and trusted you, and who was there just because they needed a paycheck.
Lucas wasn't a saint, nor was he trying to become one, so naturally he would favour those who stood up for him in difficult times.
Setting aside these distracting thoughts, the boy did some estimations in his head before calling out, "Aunt Helen, please pull 150 kg of grain, 150 kg of fresh vegetables, and 150 kg of fruit from the storehouses for our big friend here. Big Sister Grace, please have 500 litres of fresh water drawn from the wells and put into the largest basin you can find."
Lucas spoke politely, like he always did, which was probably why no one moved even after he was done; instead, everyone just looked around at each other in confusion.
From what they could gather, Lucas had struck some kind of deal with the giant bird and was actually planning on feeding it, but that seemed like a crazy thing to do.
Why would he want to keep this fearsome creature around instead of trying to chase it away? None of them could understand.
"What are you all waiting for!?" Farah shouted, showing far less patience, "We can either get this guy food, or we can let him look for food himself! It's your choice!"
This pointed reminder jolted everyone out of their daze.
Because the big bird hadn't attacked anyone so far, and even seemed somewhat friendly, everyone had developed a false sense of security about it. They had momentarily forgotten that the Great Oriyan before them could still wipe them all out if it wanted to.
Immediately, Helen and Grace got to work, calling for several people to follow them as they moved to prepare food and water for their 'guest'.
As for those who weren't involved in this effort, they all did their best to get further away, not feeling comfortable being stared at by the giant beast.
*Wham!*
For the third time in less than 10 minutes, Lucas once again found himself knocked to the ground, this time from being bowled over by his big sister.
Eris, having been freed from Helen's grasp at last, made a bee-line for Lucas and didn't stop until she had tackled him, tears flowing from her eyes as she cried, "Lucas! I was so worried! Are you alright?"
In truth, Lucas was feeling quite sore right now from the repeated falls he had taken. On top of that, his head injuries from earlier in the evening were still throbbing quite a bit.
Overall, he felt pretty awful, but seeing the sobbing face lying on top of him, he didn't dare to say that out loud, so he grit his teeth and forced out a smile, "I'm fine, Big Sister Eris."
Reaching up, the young boy did his best to comfort the little girl, patting her head lightly as he tried to reassure her. Of course, the way Lucas was wincing and twitching completely gave away his real condition, causing Eris to sob even louder and hug him tighter, further worsening his condition.
It was a vicious cycle, but the boy knew he had to bear through it.
"Lucas!"
"Boss!"
Several others also arrived by Lucas' side in the next few seconds, all of them asking all at once if he was alright or if he was hurt.
Lucas felt overwhelmed, but also heartened to see so many people worried about his wellbeing. Unfortunately, Eris seemed to be inconsolable right now, so all of his attention was focused on calming her down, leaving him no time to deal with the others.
"Alright, alright, give Lucas some space," Farah intervened, seeing the boy get so flustered.
"Aunt Farah, thank you for saving Boss Lucas!" Laura called out, and was quickly followed by several others. They had all witnessed Farah rush in, weapon drawn, to rescue Lucas, so they were naturally grateful to her.
These youths might not understand just how strong Farah was, but they had eyes, so after the display she had just put on, none of them doubted the town's grumpy butcher was far more powerful than they had ever imagined.
Shaking her head, Farah dismissed their thanks casually, "Save your thanks. If anything, I just made things worse."
This wasn't Farah being modest, but her telling the truth.
Lucas had the situation pretty much handled before she arrived, so her storming in aggressively almost ruined everything. If the Great Oriyan had been even a bit more aggressive, things could have ended terribly.
*Chirp chirp.*
Speaking of the Great Oriyan, it had been waiting patiently to the side for the small monkeys to finish their gathering, but after a few minutes, it started growing a bit impatient and decided to remind them it was still there.
Hearing the complaint, Lucas, who had finally managed to pry Eris off of him, turned to the big bird and replied, "Sorry! Food, ready, soon!"
*Chirp!*
Seeing this conversation up close, the youths, who had mostly been focused on making sure Lucas was alright, couldn't help staring at their Boss in awe, wondering just how he was able to communicate with this fearsome creature.
Noticing their curiosity, Lucas scratched his head a bit awkwardly and turned to Farah for help as even he wasn't quite sure what he was doing. On top of that, the fact that he had opened his Soul Sea and could use his Soul Sense was supposed to be a secret, so he didn't know how to explain himself.
Farah understood Lucas' dilemma, so she promptly took over, "This big guy is no ordinary beast, he's a Spirit Beast known as a Great Oriyan."
"There isn't much difference between most Spirit Beasts and Wild Beasts in their Infant and Youth Stages. Just like Wild Beasts, Spirit Beasts grow rapidly in strength throughout their Infant Stage, then at a pace comparable to humans in their Youth Stage. During this period, they mainly rely on their natural instincts to survive, acting like any ordinary animal you would encounter."
"Once Spirit Beasts reach their Mature Stage, although the growth of their strength slows dramatically just like with Wild Beasts, they also experience a kind of evolution and become far more intelligent. Once fully mature, Spirit Beasts can be just as smart as humans, and are even capable of communicating with us with their Souls."
"Wooow… really?" Eris couldn't help turning an amazed look towards the towering Oriyan. Now that she knew it wasn't trying to hurt her precious little brother, she began marveling at both its immense size and strength.
The other youths also stared up at the giant Spirit Beast in awe.
This was the first time any of them had encountered such a powerful creature, so they were both curious and wary of it.
"En, I heard this big guy's voice in my head, like he was calling out to me, so I tried answering back, and somehow it all worked out," Lucas added, telling them most of the truth, only omitting the part where he was using his Soul Sense to convey his intent.
"So, Mr. Oriyan asked you for food, so you decided to feed him?" Eris asked innocently, a smile soon forming on her face, "You're so kind, Lucas! As expected from my Little Brother!"
"Uh, well, not exactly…" Lucas shifted his eyes evasively.
It was true that he felt a little bad for the giant Spirit Beast once he learned he could talk to it, but the reason Lucas was going out of his way to provide the Oriyan a meal wasn't purely selfless like his big sister was making it out to be.
Feeling a bunch of curious gazes landing on him, as well as one smirk coming from Farah, Lucas blushed slightly and lowered his head while mumbling, "This big guy is probably a Low Sixth Order Spirit Beast, so as long as he's in Redwood Town, I figured it would be unlikely any beasts below the Fifth Order would want to get close to us."
When Lucas made himself clear, understanding spread across all the gathered youths' faces, promptly followed by looks of admiration.
While all of them had been panicking, looking for a way to flee, the one who was in the most danger, Lucas, actually came up with such a clever idea!
For the price of a few sacks of grain and bushels of vegetables, Lucas had essentially hired an extremely powerful guard for Redwood Town!