Death... and me

"You... don't know?" Malo couldn't help but repeat those words.

Rean nodded right after, saying, "Of course, I don't know. All Roan and I did was provide you guys a good place where you can live and train. However, you guys are almost adults already, especially you, Malo. You should be turning 18 next month, right?" In response to Rean's question, Malo nodded absent-mindedly.

Rean then continued, "Then, there you have it. This is the Demon Beast Continent. Here, you can go anywhere you want as long as you have the strength to keep yourself alive. With that said, whether you wish to continue living in Fruzei Hills or not is your and everyone else's problem. Roan and I will stay here, but if you wish to leave, by all means, go ahead. Just so you know, none of you have ever been a prisoner, nor will you ever be while we're in charge."

Malo's group couldn't help but fall into deep thought. It's just that they got used to it already, so they didn't really know what they wanted to do. "I see...I will think about what I want to do."

It was then that Malo had an idea. "By the way, if we really decided to stay, what should we call our settlement? It always bothered me that we didn't have a name for the valley."

Rean shrugged his shoulders, saying, "This place was selected for you to live, so you can choose whatever name you like. This is the start of your independent life, so take the wheels. Go talk with everyone else and see what they have to say." It was then that Rean remembered something. "Oh, right! This is only valid for those that are at least fourteen years old. Anyone else will have to stay until they're old enough to take care of themselves."

Rean finally left them after that, not caring about hearing anything else.

Malo and the others looked at each other and nodded. After that, they ran a poll over the entire settlement, taking everyone's opinions. Even the kids weren't left out. Then again, that wasn't all. They also made sure to tell everyone what Rean said about age restriction. As for whether someone wanted to leave or not, only time will tell.

Eventually, Malo gathered everyone in the main field before announcing the results. "Well, we truly had a lot of names here. But in the end, the one everyone used the most was the Freedom Sect."

Malo couldn't help but sigh when he said that, continuing where he left off. "I do understand why you would use the name Freedom. After all, we were indeed locked up for most of our lives. At least the oldest members of our group were. However, we don't look like a sect at all. We don't have a sect leader. We don't have a proper distribution system. We don't even have missions with rewards. Simply put, we almost don't have anything that could characterize us as a sect."

Poliana touched Malo's shoulder as she smiled, saying, "Well, we at least have some ancestors, don't we? Rean, Roan, Kentucky, and Gola are truly strong. Can't we simply start from there?"

Malo then looked at Burio and the other adults. After all, they were the only ones that could be called 'higher-ups' somehow. That's because Rean left them in charge of taking care of all the kids those years ago. "Senior Burio, can't you say something?"

Burio scratched the back of his head in response, replying, "Well, we were first brought here because Rean and Roan needed someone to take care of all of you. You were just too young at that time. However, quite a few of you have already surpassed 15 years of age, so our help isn't that necessary anymore. With that said, we're just some low-talented humans in the middle of a huge number of real talents. I don't really think we have a say in your decision as to whether you should treat our group as a sect or not."

All the other adults nodded in agreement. If they were to enter a contest of strength, anyone above 15 years old there could definitely trash Burio's group. Their 'authority' was only there because Rean and Roan said so. Well, they all became important existences for Malo and everyone else. They would never do such a thing to Burio's group after all they've done for them.

Falas then raised her hand, suggesting, "Rean gave us a free choice to do whatever we want, didn't he? If so, then let's build this sect system! If we don't have a sect head, we can simply nominate one. If we don't have missions and a reward system in place, then we can create them. It's that simple. I'm sure everyone will put a lot more effort into it if they have an objective in mind."

Immediately, all the kids and teenagers below supported Falas's words.

"Agreed!"

"Rean said we can leave, but none of us want to."

"Roan said that there's no human sect in this world, so we're going to be the first!"

"We can't ask Rean and the others to help more than they did. Let's do it ourselves."

Seeing that everyone really wanted to bring that idea forward, Malo finally gave up. "Alright, alright! But don't think that it'll be easy. There will be a lot of hard and boring tasks to take care of, understood?"

"Yes!"

Burio then playfully smiled before saying, "Alright, everyone. Now, who's gonna be the sect leader? Forget about the other adults and me. The sect leader has to be someone with good future prospects. Our talents are far from being enough."

Glennie immediately pointed at Malo, saying, "If that's the case, then it has to be Malo."

Malo, on the other hand, felt a chill on his back as he replied, "Fuck you! I didn't even want to create this sect. Where the hell did you get this idea of having me as a sect leader? I don't wanna! It's too much work on top of the regime Roan already gives me."

Wataba shrugged her shoulders as she said, "But you're the strongest one between all of us, right?"

All the girls and the few and far between boys nodded. "Agreed!"

Malo's mouth twitched in response. "Just what is wrong with your heads? Look around! Our group is mostly women. If you exclude Burio's group, there are no more than 157 men here, while we have more than 3000 girls! Why would you put a man as the leader of a sect mainly filled with women? That makes no sense! Anyways, I recommend Poliana. Just forget about me."

Malo wasn't trying to sound gender-equal or anything like that. From the bottom of his heart, he truly didn't want to be this so-called sect leader. 'Are they crazy? It's already hard when Burio's group is in charge of most of the things. Who the hell would want to take care of so many women? How many PMS do you think I would need to deal with on a daily basis? Go to hell!'

Fortunately, Malo didn't say those words out loud. Otherwise, he would most likely receive an incessant beating.