WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 181

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Purge Day

Similar things were happening all across the military state.

The old hatred of beastkin, passed down since the kingdom era, continued even after the nation became a military state. People just no longer had the spare capacity to act on it. The military state exploited humans and beastkin alike.

Even the few with room to breathe still could not carelessly lay hands on beastkin because of Family. If organized retaliation came, they could not handle it. In the old days there had at least been knights, but now if they tried a raid, they would all end up in labor camps together.

The discriminatory group JJJ had been bottling up that urge.

When JJJ heard that Family's action squad captain had been killed by Shadow, then heard explosions from that district, they moved immediately.

It was hunting time.

Among the orphans, some carried deep resentment toward Shelter.

Shelter was where retired veterans raised children. Those kids were trained in military drill discipline from childhood, and they stood out from elementary civic school onward.

Anything that rises high casts a shadow. Kids from ordinary orphanages grew up feeling inferior to Shelter. They graduated civic school and lived day to day on labor alone, finding small comfort only in gathering now and then to vent complaints. To them, Shadow's temptation was irresistibly sweet.

Still young, and therefore even more dangerous, they moved in packs through the military state's night.

Calling it a mistaken operation date was too mild. The situation had grown so uncontrollable that anyone who did not ride the wave looked like a fool. On top of that, the fireworks that began in District 13 were so loud and chaotic that the information saying the real operation day was tomorrow almost sounded like the lie instead.

Chaos breeds chaos on its own. Alarmed citizens reported it to officers, but this was not something the police, now puppets under military rule, could solve.

A snowball or a wildfire, if not crushed early, only grows. The military state's current condition was exactly that.

Unscheduled riots broke out all over the military state.

But just because Shadow gathered a lot of riffraff did not mean Shadow itself became a riffraff group. A messenger who had been watching events from the dark moved quickly, and all of this reached Shadow's side relatively fast.

When he received the report that something unplanned had happened, Ulfen summoned the Shadows.

The Shadows gathered in darkness so deep you could barely make out the face beside you. Pitch-black gloom where no one could tell exactly who was there or how many stood together. In that place, where only tightly suppressed breathing could be heard.

Ulfen's voice traveled through the shadows.

"...The plan has gone off course."

His voice sounded as if it were right beside them, yet also like an echo from far away. The strange sensation, impossible to measure by distance, made the Shadows shiver.

One thing was certain: everyone could hear Ulfen.

"But it does not matter. The one who interfered with us does not know the true plan."

Srrr.

Under faint moonlight, Ulfen settled onto the platform like smoke. He gave off no presence at all, and it took quite a while before every Shadow even realized he was there.

Six Half-Shadows appeared beside Ulfen one by one. Wrapped in black clothes and radiating a blade-like aura, their mere presence overwhelmed everyone there.

The leader of Shadow and his executives. Assassins who could each kill even a general.

If it was Ulfen, that leader, he might even assassinate one of the Six Generals the military state boasted of... that was what the Shadows believed.

Ulfen's stealth technique and energy were that exceptional.

Ulfen spoke.

"Our goal remains the same: scatter chaos, ring an alarm for the military state, and use their own hands to clean out the trash."

Exactly. There was no reason to panic because the date had shifted by one day.

The ones fighting outside right now were only grunts anyway. Explosives going off a day early was not that serious.

"Whoever it was, they seem to have plotted to throw off our timing... fine. If someone forces our hand, then we will match their tempo."

In a blink, Ulfen vanished. They had been sure they were watching him, but when they came to their senses, the place he should have been was empty.

A stealth technique is useless once discovered, and movement arts are usually just a way to jump farther. But Ulfen, who had mastered both to the extreme, moved like a phantom.

One who was everywhere and nowhere, leader of Shadow, Ulfen Fenstein.

His voice came again from where he had melted back into shadow.

"I hereby declare this: we move the operation up. Shadows, stir confusion. Half-Shadows, spread poison. From this day onward, we reclaim the dark."

In that pitch-black darkness, countless Shadows bowed their heads at once.

***

Guilt and shame show on the face. Put another way, once people cover their faces, they gain the courage to stop fearing sin.

JJJ members, anti-beastkin extremists with black masks over their faces, strode confidently through the dark streets.

Normally they went around with drooping shoulders, but tonight was different. Gathered with people who shared their views, they had nothing to fear.

Their target was the Black Cat magazine office.

A filthy place full of paparazzi who gave beastkin jobs and peace, and alley cats who dug through other people's affairs for money while openly calling that theft a profession.

On a normal day, they would never have dared do this because of Family's retaliation or military-state surveillance, but tonight was different.

Shadow had already started the chaos for them.

A masked man in a pointed hat shouted.

"Run wild as much as you want. No one will care about us tonight anyway. Even the law and order the military state prides itself on is powerless tonight."

On a day when Shadow rampaged and confusion rolled through every corner of society.

This was the moment their long-suppressed lives felt unchained. Behind masks, the dangerous instincts crushed under military boots bared their teeth at beastkin.

"Let the hatred we've suppressed run free. We will strike those beasts who dare covet humanity's place without even recognizing their masters. Uum!"

"Uum!"

Chanting the slogan they had made for themselves, the members moved down the street.

The Fifth Half-Shadow, watching from afar, scanned the area with cold, sunken eyes.

"...Hmm. Nothing particularly suspicious. Did they really just fall for false information?"

Aside from moving a day earlier than the operation date, JJJ was acting exactly as Shadow expected. The Fifth dropped his suspicion.

As they walked, if they ran into beastkin, they attacked immediately. A few escaped, but not every beastkin had instincts that sharp. The young, the clumsy, and the elderly were caught, beaten badly, tied with rope, and dragged along as prisoners.

Beastkin were dragged forward with singed fur on their ears and tails. The Fifth saw it and nodded with deep satisfaction.

"Hmph. Even with the military state in power, truth does not change. Beasts look best in collars."

The Fifth hated beastkin to the bone. His hatred ran so deep that when the Prime Shadow appointed a beastkin as Seventh Half-Shadow, he had seriously considered leaving the organization.

No one knew how delighted he had been when the Seventh died by Ulfen's hand.

"You people, a race that survives by betraying and wagging tails at others... your place is beneath human feet."

That sticky hatred at the bottom of him was one reason he had volunteered to handle this district.

He did not often get chances to kill beastkin with his own hands.

"Now howl like beasts."

People said beastkin had a savage streak, but it was not some power that made the impossible possible.

It was just desperate thrashing right before death.

"There is no joy like driving a blade into the throat of a thrashing beast..."

His first kill had been ecstasy. The moment he drove a knife into the nape of a raging beastkin, the Fifth became certain being an assassin was his calling.

The Fifth still had not forgotten that feel in his hands, and he looked forward to the pleasure soon to come.

"Catch her!"

It seemed they had found another victim. The members charged without hesitation.

The shadow of a person in the distance leaped away to avoid them, but after relentless pursuit, she was finally cornered against a dead-end wall.

"Do not run!"

"Nya? Run? Who said nya was running, nya?"

The beastkin turned around with a hard scowl.

She was a strikingly beautiful beastkin girl. Well-groomed white and black hair fell to her waist, and a long tail swayed softly. Her build was small, but her cat ears and tail stood out sharply.

The girl, who looked as if she had inherited beast blood strongly, frowned in displeasure.

"Nya does not run, human. Nya only avoided you because you are annoying, nya."

"Heh heh. All pride, huh... want to end up like these too?"

A masked member grinned through his exposed mouth. As he stepped aside, the tied beastkin prisoners came into view. A beastkin covered in blood and singed fur sobbed while looking at their companion.

The girl frowned and shot back.

"Nya thought only dogs wore collars, but humans put collars on each other too, nya. As expected, humans and dogs are all the same, nya..."

How did a speciesist feel when a cat compared him to a dog? Not good.

The masked group cut off their laughter and gave off a vicious aura.

"You dare compare us to dogs? Do not worry. You will look the same soon."

A masked man yanked the rope hard, and the bloodied beastkin fell to the ground. Skin scraped, and drops of blood fell.

In the end, the humans made the mistake of shoving the smell of blood and ash right in front of the girl.

She bristled all over and growled low.

"Nyaaa... smell of blood..."

"Haha. Understand now? It is your turn to look like this."

"Nyaa-. Nyaa--."

A cat's cry, pitiful and chilling at once, filled the alley and the district. Just hearing it made the fine hairs on skin stand up, an ominous cry.

The members froze for a moment, then grew angry at themselves for feeling fear. One member holding a torch shouted.

"Get her!"

At that word, the members, gripping the ropes tightly, approached the girl...

Watching this, the Fifth muttered to himself.

"...Bad feeling."

What was it? On the surface she was only an ordinary girl.

Even before his hatred of beastkin, a survival instinct boiling up from his core was warning him. Though he knew they would not hear, the Fifth reached out to stop them.

"Kyahaaak-!"

Too late. The ones who reached out while holding ropes had their arms split into three strips.

Vertically.

Blood torn from their bodies drew arcs across the concrete wall. The sharp nails sprouting from the girl's hand flashed with a cold light.

Sharp nails, and an arm reduced to rags.

Even an idiot could infer the cause and effect. A masked man screamed in agony.

"Kyaaaaaaak!"

"M-murder! Call the police!"

"W-what? What happened?"

It became a boiling pot of confusion. A few stupid members who still had not grasped the situation rushed in, only to be flung away with deep, crippling injuries.

Those who had held the advantage by moving as a pack saw the situation reverse after meeting a true predator.

After blood sprayed a few times, the members understood the gap in level and stepped back in fear. One masked man holding a beastkin hurriedly threw down the rope and ran backward.

Seeing that, another masked man shouted like he was coughing up blood.

"You idiot! Take hostages!"

"Ah!"

Whether they did or not.

Nabi was full of stress, and frightened beasts swarmed in front of her. Her vertical pupils narrowed further.

Nabi raised her tail stiffly, about to slaughter the humans in front of her at once. Then, suddenly remembering something, she suppressed her killing intent and fumbled in her pocket.

"Nya-. Instead of humans, tribute...."

The mana herb she had been given to use instead of killing humans whenever she wanted to kill.

This was a legal chance to smoke mana herb. Cunning Nabi did not miss it. She pulled out the mana herb and put it in her mouth.

At that moment, Nabi's face relaxed completely.

A happy, refreshing scent covered the smells of blood and smoke and filled Nabi's nose. The humans in front of her, the smell of blood and smoke, none of it tormented her anymore.

Nabi was happy in this moment.

"Nyaha...!"

In a better mood, Nabi held up the end of the mana herb and clicked her nails together. A spark jumped, and the tip of the mana herb caught fire.

That forbidden scent, gained by burning the World Tree, quickly made the King of Cats happy.

But humans were always trouble.

As Nabi enjoyed her bliss with eyes closed, human groans reached her ears. Her pleasant time interrupted, Nabi frowned hard.

"Annoying, nya!"

Then she leaped away, heading for a rooftop where no one could disturb her.

It was absurd beyond words. She tore people apart, then suddenly pulled out mana herb, smoked it, and bolted.

Capricious and impossible to read. No one even knew why she had shown up.

But the Fifth had no time to think about that.

Because he came face to face with Nabi when she reached the rooftop.

"Nyaa? There is a human here too, nya."

"Tch...!"

What the Fifth felt on meeting a being more beastlike than anyone was not hatred, but fear. His disgust could not beat his survival instinct.

The Fifth guarded against Nabi as if facing a wild predator, met her eyes, and slowly, very slowly, began backing away...

"If you are leaving, leave faster, nya!"

But Nabi's patience was shorter than the mana herb burning down by the second. Nabi suddenly dashed in and "cleared away" the Fifth with one forepaw.

Without time to block or dodge. Thump, the Fifth's body flew to the edge of the building.

By the time he barely grabbed hold of his fading mind, his body was already far from the rooftop, hanging in midair.

"Khk!"

Just like that, the Fifth answered Mother Earth's call and fell to the ground.

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