Ch.256Self-Proclaimed Strongest, Enter

Among the natives living in Grantis, the Beast-folk—especially the Beast King tribe—had formed a macho society where men led in battle and hunting to protect women and children, despite both genders possessing excellent qualities as warriors.

This was partly because males had superior physical abilities when raised under the same conditions, but also due to the unique properties of their means of survival: the “Totem.”

The Totem was a special statue imbued with magical power. Beast-folk who entered its effective range had their black mana purified, accelerating the healing of wounds and diseases.

Creating a Totem required stone or minerals of sufficient quality, and had to be made from start to finish by a single person. Generally, the most magically talented individual in the tribe would be responsible for crafting Totems.

The problem was that the creation process involved absorbing the creator’s life force into the statue.

In most cases, male creators couldn’t survive until completion, no matter how robust their physique.

Women, on the other hand, had a success rate exceeding 90%, though they might suffer shortened lifespans or aftereffects. Thus, Beast-folk society naturally evolved with women creating Totems, tending fields, and raising children, while men protected them and handled hunting, combat, and construction work.

However, during the Riverside War twenty years ago, many Beast King men lost their lives. After relocating near West End Sevens, a sharp decline in male birth rates and epidemics left the remaining men unable to lead normal lives.

In the current Beast King village, “young men capable of fighting” were treated as precious, and it would have been natural for such a male to hold the position of tribal leader.

That is, if the son of the previous leader—the strongest warrior in the village—hadn’t awakened the “Berserker” skill.

“Berserker? Is that different from the Berserk ability?”

“Subtly different. Berserk is a unique constitution where physical abilities increase and aggression rises under certain conditions, but Berserker is a trance state where one doesn’t feel pain due to combat-induced adrenaline and becomes overly immersed in battle.”

“I’ve heard that those with the Berserker skill have no problems in daily life as long as no fighting breaks out. One of the previous Guardians of the Willow Sanctuary reportedly had this skill.”

“Hmm, but isn’t Berserker quite a powerful ability in combat? Why couldn’t someone with that become the Beast King tribe’s leader?”

“Being an excellent fighter and being a good leader are separate matters. You can’t make someone who gets excited during battle and rampages without distinguishing friend from foe the leader of a tribe.”

At Phyllis’s sharp observation, the female lion Beast King warrior—named Gashu—nodded and sighed deeply.

“Kaiser, son of Betem, the previous leader and war chief, grew up extremely arrogant and rude because he was pampered from childhood. Moreover, because of his Berserker skill, he wouldn’t retreat or even look around until all enemies were dead, so people around him frequently suffered serious injuries trying to keep him alive.”

“With such a person also holding the position of the leader’s son, it must have been quite a headache…”

“And that troublemaker is the leader of the hardliners who adamantly oppose reconciliation with the settlers.”

Kaiser was dissatisfied that Marinda, a woman, had succeeded to the leadership position instead of himself, the heir. When Marinda showed signs of reconciling with the settlers—their “mortal enemies”—he seized the opportunity to lead the hardliners in taking action.

If he were to engage in all-out war with the settlers now, the conflict between the Riverside War survivors and settlers would become a fight to the death. So the moderates had no choice but to stop Kaiser, even if it meant bringing in outsiders like us.

“But it’s surprising! I wouldn’t have guessed that you three, who immediately shot arrows at us with suspicion when we first met, were moderates like Marinda.”

“…Just to be clear, Maia and I were hardliners. Until that idiot Kaiser committed the atrocity of hitting Grand Mother Marinda and verbally abusing her.”

“He assaulted the current leader… Seems he considers her a traitor selling out the tribe to the settlers.”

“That’s not all. Grand Mother Marinda created the Totem for our current home, but he claims all the misfortunes befalling our tribe are her fault.”

“That’s absurd slander. To blame the Totem creator is unthinkable.”

“I’ve heard that Beast-folk Totems are made by female shamans sacrificing their own lifespan. To not only fail to show gratitude to someone who made such a sacrifice, but to denounce them as the source of misfortune—is that Kaiser man in his right mind?”

Seti, as a fellow Beast-folk, was outraged by Kaiser’s misdeeds as related by Gashu, while Phyllis sighed as a person of knowledge.

An arrogant and rude personality, leadership deficiencies due to the Berserker skill, and now assaulting and slandering a benefactor equivalent to a founding contributor… No wonder defectors were emerging even within his faction.

I was thinking that Kaiser’s character flaws might actually be the key to resolving this situation easily.

“Halt! You vile settler scum!”

As we were heading directly to the Beast King village under Gashu’s guidance, we encountered a group of Beast King folk who had set up camp outside the forest.

Blocking the path of our carriage with arms crossed majestically like a guardian statue was a Beast King male with a white tiger head.

Around him stood fifteen men and women holding weapons, including three who looked like mere children even to my human eyes.

Gashu, sitting beside me, leapt from the carriage as soon as she saw the girls and began confronting the white tiger Beast-folk.

“Kaiser! What are you doing? How could you bring children who are barely twelve years old?!”

“Silence, traitor! If you hadn’t tried to sell our people to those vile settlers, children wouldn’t need to step forward!”

“Sell? What are you—”

“The settlers are evil demons who not only take the lives of our Beast King folk but trample our dignity and enslave us! Marinda is pathetic for trying to join hands with them, but you, bringing them to our village, are the worst traitor of all!”

Kaiser, the hardliner leader, fiercely denounced Gashu who had brought us here.

As expected, the equation “settlers = absolute evil” seemed deeply engraved in his mind.

At this rate, not only us but also Gashu would be drawn into the fight, so I decided it was time to step in.

“Hey, are you the guy called Kaiser, leader of the hardliners?”

“That’s right! I am Betem ar Kaiser, the strongest warrior of Bekya! I will lead my brave comrades and raise the torch of vengeance!”

“Vengeance against the settlers… Your numbers seem a bit, no, very insufficient for that.”

“Yes, exactly! Attacking the settlers’ city with fewer than twenty people—you’ll all die before you even get close! Please come to your senses, Kaiser!”

“Hmph! I’ve studied how to counter the cowardly settlers’ weapons! Besides, even if we fail, our sacrifice will serve as a warning to Beast-folk living in Grantis, becoming the seed of a great fire that will drive the vile settlers from this land!”

In short, this guy not only believed he could handle settlers armed with guns, but also planned to use any Beast King casualties as propaganda for overthrowing the settlers.

That way, even the moderates including Grand Mother Marinda would no longer be able to advocate for reconciliation with the settlers, so there would be no need to persuade them.

It might be considered a decent strategy in some ways, but the problem was the reaction of the fifteen comrades gathered here.

“W-wait a minute. You never mentioned that.”

“Sure, if we’re killed by settlers, Grand Mother Marinda might change her mind, but…”

“Shouldn’t we at least have left the children behind? We brought them because you said we needed numbers to intimidate the settlers Gashu was bringing.”

The Beast King warriors began murmuring, as if Kaiser’s talk of fighting to the death was news to them.

But instead of convincing his comrades, Kaiser only let out an angry rebuke.

“Silence! We Beast Kings are a tribe of warriors! Once you take up arms and face the enemy, death is always at your side! Even if I lead the charge and sweep away the enemies, what kind of battle can we fight if those following me don’t have even minimal resolve!”

The fifteen warriors, though hesitant, readjusted their weapons after Kaiser’s scolding.

It seems these folks followed him more out of inability to defy Kaiser’s tyrannical nature than out of hatred for the settlers.

Meanwhile, the three youngest girls—only twelve years old according to Gashu—wore the bravest expressions, which was heartbreakingly pitiful.

“Now, settler scum! Prepare to fight! After defeating you in fair combat, I’ll mount your heads on spears and march on your city!”

“…Before that, let me ask one thing: did you perhaps not hear from the moderates about the composition of our party?”

“That’s none of my concern! Even if dozens were riding in that carriage, they would be no match for us!”

“My, what incredible confidence. In other words…”

With a loud creak, the door opened, and the women riding in the passenger compartment emerged one by one.

“A cat-folk master warrior with the Guide Feather,”

“A dwarf technician armed with bombs that can take down a mountain troll in one shot,”

“The captain of the Guardian unit protecting the elven sanctuary, a combat professional,”

“A priestess formerly of Elder rank, whom the dark elves treated like a princess,”

“And a high-level mage who inherited the great magic of the renowned ancient sage, Deidric Asmad—”

The Beast King warriors’ eyes widened as Seti, Mina, Phyllis, Iris, and Jessica descended from the carriage.

Finally, when Ancestor, transformed into human form, looked down at the Beast King folk with a dark expression, the blood began to drain from Kaiser’s previously confident face.

“You wanted a fair fight, right? OK. I like that spirit.”

“Ah… uh…”

Thud.

Starting with the sound of someone collapsing weakly, the Beast King warriors’ fighting spirit was completely broken.