Ch.225225. Races of the Empire

The Empire is home to countless races.

From humans who make up more than half the population, to various beast-kin with animal characteristics.

Dwarves, who claim the Great Father Grumhill as their ancestor, constitute the largest proportion.

There are also numerous orcs who have applied for immigration from the allied Soviet Holy Republic, and surprisingly, quite a few elves who have grown tired of traditional elven society have also migrated here.

Some goblins and hobgoblins who came to trade have settled down, and certain giant subspecies like city trolls and ogres live in the Dawn Empire where they receive good treatment.

Unlike other nations where specific races tend to become mainstream despite claims of openness, the Dawn Empire has an underlying attitude that anyone can become a citizen as long as they believe in multiple gods.

Explicit racial discrimination in public places is considered heresy, to the extent that immediate execution by heresy inquisitors would raise no issues whatsoever.

As a result, the Dawn Empire frequently attracts all kinds of minority races.

As explained earlier, there’s a significant influx of giant subspecies who are subtly rejected elsewhere, but even some pureblooded giants who have left their tribes join the Empire.

Their massive size of several meters and their innate ability to grow to intermediate rank are among the reasons they receive treatment befitting their capabilities in the Dawn Empire.

Furthermore, the Empire is the only nation that guarantees legal status to certain undead, which is hardly surprising considering the Imperial Regent and Acting Emperor is a vampire.

To be precise, such treatment is limited to undead who have passed several procedures, one condition being the existence of intelligence, which makes the undead population relatively small.

Many lack even a trace of self-awareness despite reaching intermediate rank, and some don’t possess rationality even at advanced rank, like zombie dragons.

However, while few in number, they boast an impressive average rank of 4-5, and notably, among the Empire’s undead, there are several who are friendly to humanity even if they aren’t vampires.

The most representative example is the Lich currently working as a Necromancy professor at the Imperial Magic University—that Lich who epitomizes the image of undead wizards with a minimum rank of 3.

After suffering from the emptiness and void that endlessly gnaws at the undead, this Lich came to the Empire essentially to die, having only heard rumors of its greatness…

Instead, after fulfilling certain conditions, the Lich was welcomed and allowed to settle.

Having lived for so long that they forgot their own name and having been rejected elsewhere, they were moved by the Empire’s warm welcome and decided to stay.

Based on their overwhelming knowledge of ancient magic, they became a professor at the Magic University and became famous for their excellent character, considered a kind neighbor.

Though, given their age, they do possess a somewhat stubborn and rigid personality.

Meanwhile, besides the undead, various races continue to immigrate, and naturally, many of these diverse races are rare species who were driven out or rejected from their homelands.

There are werewolf clans who can freely transform between human, wolf, and half-beast forms; hags who were driven out by witch hunts that once swept across the continent;

Birdmen who were treated as followers of “despair” and exiled because of their bird-like heads; and reptilian humans who escaped after being sold as slaves from the New Continent.

Among these races, one was so severely oppressed that the entire species migrated to the Empire—

This case was none other than the race known as “Insectoids.”

Classified as Vermin—a category for insect-type races—Insectoids were indeed large insect-like beings with humanoid forms and human intelligence.

Like anthropomorphized insects often depicted in animated films, Insectoids have bipedal forms with insect characteristics.

However… unlike other humanoid races with characteristics of different creatures, they are simply a type of giant insect that convergently evolved to resemble humans.

Therefore, they don’t resemble specific insects but have their own unique appearance, including four arms with only four fingers each.

They also possess both internal skeletons and external chitinous shells, and like ants or bees, they have an oviparous ecology where only the queen lays eggs.

Moreover, they have unique traits similar to other insect-type races, such as communicating through pheromones and maintaining weak mental connections between blood relatives…

Unfortunately, while their appearance isn’t quite as repulsive as cockroaches, their somewhat unsettling form accelerated the oppression against them.

As a result, driven from their original homeland in the western continent and wandering without destination, they barely managed to cross the Dawn Empire’s borders and settle down, putting down roots—

In the end, this proved to be the best choice for both sides.

Finally free from being treated as monsters and able to lead normal lives, these beings who originally had no gods were promised abundant food in exchange for adopting faith.

For Insectoids who once nearly faced extinction due to a Malthusian trap, the Pantheon Church and Dawn Empire, which provided them with plentiful food, were nothing short of saviors.

There were even more fortunate developments awaiting the Insectoids, as their ancestral queens ascended to become subordinate deities of the Pantheon after death.

Freed completely from the sorrow of having no deity to protect their race, they enthusiastically embraced the Empire’s culture and sought to assimilate.

While the Insectoids received these tremendous benefits, the Empire that accepted them also gained various tangible and intangible advantages.

Starting with the addition of another subordinate deity to the bloody Pantheon, the very ecology of these immigrating Insectoids was advantageous from a national perspective.

Insectoids inherit various knowledge through mental connections from birth, and in just 1-2 years, they go through larval and pupal stages to emerge as adults.

At this point, Insectoids already possess adult-like minds and can immediately work using the differently inherited knowledge based on how they were born.

Worker Insectoids are innately capable of performing basic tasks like mining, logging, and gathering, while soldier Insectoids naturally possess the skills of at least rank 8 warriors.

Of course, these characteristics unconsciously suppress the emergence of exceptional individuals, resulting in a lower probability of Insectoids reaching intermediate rank or higher.

Considering that the fundamental reason Insectoids were driven from their homeland was their lack of power, these traits prevent them from growing beyond a minor faction…

However, as members of a society living among other races, these characteristics actually serve to raise the average level of Insectoids.

Considering the cost of training a rank 8 soldier, being born with the strength of a rank 8 warrior was an enormous advantage for the military.

Moreover, Insectoids are instinctively wired to obey their superiors, and physically, they possess capabilities that could be considered mid-tier among humanoid races.

Whether as laborers or soldiers, one hardly needs to explain how employers would view these diligent workers who can be deployed for any kind of manual labor.

Additionally, they acknowledge that their appearance inevitably causes discomfort to people and have actively chosen to assimilate into the Dawn Empire’s society and culture.

They wear clothes they wouldn’t normally wear to reduce their alien appearance, and use hats or compound-eye corrective glasses to modify their looks.

Furthermore, they’ve broken away from their ant-like or bee-like social structure, with some Insectoids living completely independent lives.

Thanks to these efforts, Insectoids are no longer viewed as hideous monster insects but as proper members and pillars of Dawn Empire society, enjoying their lives in the Empire.

I, the Beholder, a fragment of the Vengeful Evil God, also believe without doubt that they are important members of the Empire.