Chapter 190: Beastkin Village

Surprisingly, Demon King-nim and Master-nim were old acquaintances.

No, rather, it would be stranger if they weren’t.

That’s because Demon King-nim seems to have been serving as one of the Demon King’s Army’s Four Heavenly Kings during the time Master-nim was actively serving. The reason he said he hadn’t met them before when I asked was because he apparently couldn’t imagine that Esmeralda White, the Tower Lord of the Emerald Tower, and Baek Yeo-ok, the Mage of the Hero’s party, were the same person.

“Wow! You’ve grown so much! It feels like just yesterday you were struggling after getting beaten by me, and now you’re even the Demon King!”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Demon King-nim, who always maintained a dandy appearance, perhaps couldn’t endure having his embarrassing past exposed, and was desperately trying to let Master-nim’s words go in one ear and out the other with a dry laugh. Demon King-nim’s younger days… honestly speaking, I can’t really imagine it.

I whispered to Dorothea, a former Four Heavenly King. “What were Demon King-nim’s Four Heavenly Kings days like?”

Dorothea shrugged her shoulders and said, “It happened before I was even born, so I don’t know exactly. I just know he was called the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings, like Walter is now.”

“Like how you were called the weakest?”

“Wanna die?”

I quickly hid behind Camilla’s back, avoiding the indignant Dorothea. According to what I heard before, the title of Demon King itself is passed down to the strongest young Demon of that era, so Demon King-nim must have been incredibly strong during his time as a Four Heavenly King. Master-nim treating him like a piece of shit is the strange part.

“More importantly, you haven’t aged one bit. That was over 100 years ago, and I can’t believe you’re still maintaining such a young appearance.”

“Well, various things happened. It’s not like I became this way willingly.”

“Huhu, you say the most fortunate things. Even I, a Demon, couldn’t do anything about the passage of time.”

Although Demon King-nim wielded absolute power within the Demon King’s Castle, Master-nim was speaking to him casually with a nonchalant expression. Anyone who saw them would assume they were friends.

“Anyway, let’s stop this pointless conversation. Today isn’t the only day we have.”

Fortunately, Demon King-nim ended the conversation first, which seemed like it would go on endlessly. Perhaps agreeing with Demon King-nim’s opinion, Master-nim stepped aside without further comment, and thanks to that, the delegation’s departure preparations, which had been delayed for a moment, began to proceed again.

“Hey! Put this box in that empty spot!”

“Tie it more securely! It’ll be big trouble if it comes undone!”

Demon King’s Army soldiers were running around busily to load the food supplies, luggage, and gifts the delegation would take onto the wagons. Finally, after about 30 more minutes, all the final preparations were completed.

“Then, I’m heading out.”

As I said that and bowed, Demon King-nim patted my shoulder with a serious expression. “I’m entrusting this matter to you.”

“…You can’t hold me responsible if I mess it up?”

“If that’s the case, then it means I lacked judgment in people.”

It’s truly ironic. To receive a look of trust from the Demon King, the leader of the Demons who was once my enemy, a look I never received even once when working for Humans.

“Demon King-nim is truly a unique person.”

Saying that, I gave a wry smile and climbed onto the wagon waiting behind. Then, looking around, I shouted in a loud voice.

“Depart!”

Thus, the Demon King’s Army delegation, composed of nearly 100 people, began to advance towards Elven Wood, located beyond the Great Forest.

The Great Forest is a vast wilderness, comparable to the Amazon rainforest if you were to relate it to Earth’s nature. Due to the densely packed trees, sunlight barely penetrated throughout the year, there were swamps everywhere, and it was a world of survival of the fittest where all sorts of wild beasts ate and were eaten by each other. Therefore, the Beastkin who established their foothold and lived here had no choice but to become strong naturally. Otherwise, they would be eaten by the apex predators living in the forest.

“It’s good to see you after a long time, Patraash.”

The delegation, which departed from the Demon King’s Castle in the afternoon, arrived at the entrance of the Great Forest around dusk. And the one who came out to greet us personally was Walter Leonhart, the Demon King’s right-hand man and one of the Demon King’s Army’s Four Heavenly Kings.

“It’s good to see you after a long time, Walter-nim.”

Firstly, Walter was the second-ranked individual in the entire Demon King’s Army, and because he was a Demon from the previous generation, he was the strongest Demon after Demon King-nim. As a Lion Beastkin, he approached us with large strides, his lush mane fluttering whenever I saw him.

“I never even thought the representative of the delegation going to Elven Wood would be you. Since it’s late today, please stay at our village for a while. We’ve prepared food and lodging in advance because the delegation was coming.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“It’s nothing much. Rather, I’m worried the village youngsters might cause trouble since it’s been a while since we’ve welcomed guests.”

Saying that, Walter grinned and patted my lower back with his thick, paw-padded palm with a ‘Pang!’

“Then let’s go quickly. If we dawdle here, the food we prepared with such effort will get cold.”

“Ah, yes!”

Walter and the Beastkin led the way confidently. The other people, who had been watching from the wagons without getting out, realized they still had a long way to go and quietly went back inside. As the representative, I was the only one standing outside. Looking into the darkened sky and the forest where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, I truly felt that we had arrived in the Great Forest once again.

Originally, the Beastkin did not unite unless they were from the same tribe. Lion Beastkin with Lion Beastkin, Wolf Beastkin with Wolf Beastkin, Coyote Beastkin with Coyote Beastkin. However, that trend disappeared, and they began to live united in one place about a thousand years ago, due to the great eruption of Mount Phoebus. Originally, the Beastkin lived not in the Great Forest, but in a fertile land flowing with milk and honey. Due to the volcanic eruption, they lost their homes, wandered through the lands of other races like nomads, and finally took root in this very Great Forest. The environment of the Great Forest was too harsh to live divided by tribes as before, so the Beastkin eventually united with each other to create one village.

“This is indeed our Beastkin village.”

“Wow-“

I involuntarily admired the sight, which I was seeing for the first time in my life. A village literally ‘harmonized’ with nature. Just like the villages in the forest said to have been inhabited by ancient Elves, the Beastkin village was not artificial and utilized natural elements as they were. Houses made by hollowing out dead trees, houses made of branches on top of large trees, and houses made by digging underground tunnels-there were various types of houses, as numerous as the types of Beastkin. Usually, a lack of consistency like this should look chaotic, but the fact that it looked harmonious instead was the mystery of nature itself.

“Walter-nim! Who are these people?”

Beastkin kids, who had been running around the village, rushed over in a crowd and looked curiously at the members of the delegation. Then Walter crouched down and told the Beastkin kids in a gentle tone. “They are important guests from outside the village. Now, go on home so you don’t get scolded by the adults for causing trouble by hanging around.”

“”Yes!””

The Beastkin kids shouted in unison, nodded their heads, and then scattered to return to their respective homes. Walter, having stood up again, perhaps bothered by the strange gazes of our group, cleared his throat and said. “Grrr, then let’s go quickly. My house is in the center of the village.”

‘So Lion Beastkin make a ‘Grrr’ sound when they clear their throats.’

Having mentally noted this newly learned fact, I naturally changed the topic so as not to make him feel awkward. “More importantly, Walter-nim, may I ask one thing?”

“What is it?”

“If they receive the Demon King’s Army’s support, they could live even outside the Great Forest, so I was curious about the reason they still choose to live here.”

“Ah, you mean that.”

Walter scratched his cheek with his claw and said, “Honestly speaking, I just can’t really imagine leaving this place.”

“…You can’t imagine it?”

“Surely, according to the ancestors’ records, the land we lived in before must have been better than this. However, Beastkin who grew up in the Great Forest since birth are satisfied with life here. That includes me. If we leave the Great Forest, we might have a better life than now. But if our current unity disappears because of that, it would be a great loss for the entire Beastkin race in the long run. Ironically, the Beastkin, who always quarreled, only started cooperating for the first time after migrating to the Great Forest.”

“In other words, you’re enduring some inconvenience in order for the clan to unite?”

“You are correct.”

“…Thank you. My curiosity has been resolved thanks to you.”

“I’m glad if I could help.”

Walter shrugged his shoulders after saying that, then asked as if he had just remembered. “Is Ozma doing well?”

“She’s so healthy, it’s practically a problem.”

“Ozma is like a daughter to me. Please make her happy.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

After such a brief exchange, Walter finally stopped in front of a house. “It seems we’ve arrived at our destination.”

“Then let’s go inside.”

Following his suggestion, our group stepped inside the giant tree house.