Chapter 481: You Fucking Resist

Beastkin or beastmen.

Humans who inherited traits from beasts.

Which beast it is differs for each, but it is well known that most are of domesticated familiar to humans.

And, equally well known, the way beastkin are treated depends on the role of their animal.

Dog beastkin. Sheep beastkin. Cow beastkin. Horse beastkin. Pig beastkin.

There are many other kinds, but these five form the backbone of beastkin society among humans.

Their numbers are far from small, and they are already so deeply rooted in society that force cannot uproot them.

To try and separate them would be like ripping out hair grown deep in the flesh, and it would leave terrible scars.

…And yet.

“King of Human. Before I go, I want to ask you something.”

｢I must confirm this. My plan depends on how the King of Human regards beastkin.｣

Faced with the issue, the Regressor briefly recalled the past.

A future that had yet to come, remembered only by the Regressor.

There, humans and beastkin had clashed.

Who started it didn’t matter; the differences between both party gradually deepened the rift.

Even so, most conflicts could be suppressed by force.

If wounds were left behind from ripping too harshly, well, as long as they weren’t my wounds, what did it matter?

Humans acted as they always did, brutally, with strength.

Blood was spilled as beastly cries dwindled into silence.

The problem was that around that time, the King of Sin had emerged.

｢The Beast King’s struggle piled on top, swelling sin like a snowball. Whichever side you took, your hands would be bloodied….｣

Ending the memory with a trembling fist, the Regressor glared at me, her killing intent prickling in the air.

“Do you consider beastkin human?”

“…Excuse me, Ms. Shei? What are you even saying?”

To that strange question, I answered with simple common sense.

“Consider beastkin human? You say it as if they were something else. Wow, I didn’t know you were that kind of person.”

“What?”

“Beastkin or beastman. The word itself says it all, “man”. That’s all there is to it. And here you are, claiming to save the world and stop the King of Sin, yet you’re the one spouting discrimination.”

“N-No! I think beastkin are our equals!”

“And I don’t even think about it. Just like I don’t look at you and think, wow, a non-beastkin, non-vampire, non-mage qi practitioner~.”

It’s unfair, but the moment you become conscious of it, you lose.

Say they’re different, and you’re a bigot.

Say they’re equal, and you’re a hypocrite.

｢So the Beast King treats beastkin as fellow humans. Hmph. I thought he’d be harsher, since they’re “savages.” But he’s more righteous than expected. If only he were more brutal, he’d be easier to handle….｣

What does she think beasts are?

Beasts aren’t mindless.

They attack only the weak, only when hungry, only when conditions allow.

They don’t lash out indiscriminately like humans.

“Let me explain, since you clearly don’t know. The prefix is the description; the suffix is the essence. Cow milk, horse milk, do you see the different? But in the end, both are milk. Same with beastkin. Cow beastkin, horse beastkin, they’re all human.”

“…Did you really just compare them with milk?”

“Because that’s what they share. They’re all milk-bearing animals. Why do you think there aren’t many bird beastkin, even though chickens and ducks are livestock?”

They’re mammals.

It was a realistic answer, though the Regressor looked displeased.

“So why are you asking?”

“Because we’re heading to a city where humans and beastkin coexist, and clash.”

“…Where?”

“The frontier of the Enger Plains. A city straddling farmland and field.”

The Enger Plains, further west than even the Military State, the center of the continent.

The historic land that forged the Empire’s hegemony.

And among them, one city at the very edge of civilization.

The Regressor spoke its name.

“We’re going to Ende.”

The city of Ende, in the Enger Plains.

The border of savagery and civilization.

Above it stood the Empire and its vassal states; below it stretched the untamed wilds.

The front line between savagery and civilization, the perfect place for conflict between humans and beastkin.

“And what exactly must I do in Ende for you to give me the clue about the Divine?”

“The details may change, but the gist is simple.”

The Regressor pointed at me, then at Azzy.

“You two gather hunters and mercenaries in Ende, and hunt the wolf pack roaming the Enger Plains. I’ll help, of course.”

Azzy and I both tilted our heads.

A wolf pack?

For someone like me, an ordinary human, that would be a serious threat.

But for Azzy, driving off wolves was no more than morning exercise.

Hardly worth the Regressor’s posturing.

Given how he said it, it was clear.

“The Wolf.”

“Right. A pack so strong you’d worry more about Ende’s destruction than the hunt. Lucky for the city they’re only wolves, if they ever organized an attack, Ende would have fallen long ago.”

Ende destroyed?

The Regressor never spoke idly.

That meant the Wolf really was that powerful?

Just a single beast did that?

…Perhaps I’d agreed to this too hastily.

A thought struck me.

“Wait. You’re saying the wolf pack could destroy Ende if they organized an attack?”

“Yeah.”

“And yet you want me and Azzy to go there?”

“Yeah.”

Long ago, there had been a promise: if man fought alongside the dog against the big bad wolf, the dog would remain man’s friend forever.

It sounded like a pact between humans and dogs, but there was always a third party.

The wolf.

The ferocious, wicked beast who always tormented man and dog.

A villain, yes, but essential to the promise.

Just as the King of Dog searched for the King of Human to fulfill the pact, the Wolf searched for the King of Dog.

To kill their treacherous sibling and break the promise.

“The Wolf will come for Azzy. Then… doesn’t that mean Ende will be attacked by the wolf pack?”

“Maybe. But that’s still better.”

The Regressor shrugged.

“Better than the beastkin starting a rebellion from within, and then crowning the Wolf as their ruler.”

Where does civilization end, and savagery begin?

A philosopher might toy with it over wine, but other scholars would point to the Enger Plains.

More precisely, to its southern edge.

Civilization had never passed that summit.

Few dared speak of it, out of fear, and out of shame.

Fear, because of what dwelled there.

Shame, because of mankind’s countless failed attempts to challenge it.

It had no name, called only the Mountain of the Tiger King.

“Since the old days, back when I still smoked tobacco…”

The dark night.

In such black silence, the mountain should have echoed with the rustle of insects and small beasts.

But not now.

Not a sound.

Prey and hunters alike crouched low.

Even heedless crickets held their breath, even free birds shackled themselves.

Here, none dared make a sound, or even move.

They could only hold their breath, waiting for the moment to pass.

This was the King of Tiger’s court.

The beasts of the mountain, be filled with fear.

“You wolves were mankind’s lapdogs. Grrr. You sniffed for the dull-witted humans, barked loud to draw their eyes away.”

She wore a gat on her head and a loose robe draped over her body.

Black streaks striped her cheeks like whiskers.

Her orange mane was thick, crossed with bold black stripes.

Her thunderous voice and quake-making paws filled the air as she lay upon the rock.

The King of Tiger. San’gun.

The apex of the land.

Her ears, folded slightly in displeasure, pointed toward her unwelcome guests.

“And yet you dare come whining to me to join you in biting humans?”

Before her stood several in human form, heads held high.

The King of Tiger was terror and worship to mankind.

Not so long ago, they had even held the San’gun Rite, venerating tigers as kings of the mountain.

In the days of the southern barbarian kingdom, Manguo, the king himself had presided.

That mere humans would dare face the King of Tiger… unthinkable.

She should have ripped out their throats.

But one among them stayed her wrath.

For he, too, was a king.

“You’re not ready to fight!”

Even before the King of Tiger, the Wolf bared his fangs.

His bloodshot eyes and sharp teeth showed no reverence, no fear.

Only violence burned within him as he barked his challenge.

“Awoo! I am a wolf, not a dog! I am no traitor like her, no coward like you!”

“Coward? You call me, San’gun, a coward?”

“Woof! You’re looking for excuses not to fight!”

Even facing her fury, the Wolf did not flinch.

“Tiger! Do you fear? Or just a cat who shows her belly to men? Is your role as a tiger nothing more than squatting on a mountain, pretending to rule over this empty land?”

The King of Tiger was a beast too.

Her task was to prowl valleys and peaks, to rule the mountain.

But beyond that?

She had never thought to ask.

What more should a King of Tiger do?

She roared in disbelief.

“Then what more should I do than rule?”

“Fight!”

The wolf’s voice rang out as if proclaiming a sacred duty.

“Bite! Tear! Rip! Devour! Your claws were made to rend, your fangs to shred! Tiger! Mankind expands its dominion day by day, how long will you cower in hiding?”

“I never hid! This mountain is mine! How is ruling it hiding?”

“Awoo! Then why do you let humans hunt you?”

Thunder boomed from a clear sky.

Her roar shook the trees, shook the ground.

A few beastkin fainted on the spot; uncounted wild beasts surely died just from hearing it.

Yet the wolf’s eyes never wavered.

Fear itself had been devoured by his savagery.

He stared her down.

Wolves were strong, but not tigers.

He was courting death.

San’gun drew a deep breath and cast a pitying look at the mad Beast King before her.

“…Wolf. Do you mean to be violence itself? To be claws and fangs alone?”

Her force ebbing, the Wolf’s voice softened.

“Awoo… I don’t know. But I have violence. I have claws and fangs. And there is something I must tear with them.”

“Your other half?”

“My opposite.”

All beasts have wisdom.

They know shame, vengeance, prudence to avoid needless fights, resolve to leap into those they cannot avoid.

And San’gun has live long enough and wise enough to see it.

She didn’t know the wolf’s exact struggle, but she knew its cause.

“I don’t know what men did to you. But…”

Against one who lacks something vital, even anger wanes.

Chewing a branch of silvervine, San’gun murmured.

“If ever I must wield violence, I’ll leave it to you. That’s a promise.”

She was an apex, yes. None on land surpassed her strength.

But not the strongest.

For mankind was the true rulers of earth.

The tiger reigned only over the mountain.

Tigers had slain many men, but compared to men’s numbers, it was nothing.

Tigers, in truth, were being pushed back, losing their place.

Her only true enemy was man.

The one she must ever guard against.

And so the King of Tiger made a promise to the Wolf.

If mankind must be fought, she would join him.

With the promise made, there was nothing more.

The Wolf turned at once, saying.

“Awoo. The time will come soon.”

And that was the end of it.

He strode from her court, tail still curled tight despite his triumph.