WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 476: You Fucking Racist

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Beastkin.

Humans who inherited the traits of beasts.

The beast whose traits each inherited varied, but it was common knowledge that most beastkin were of livestock kinds familiar to humans.

It was also common knowledge that the treatment beastkin received depended on what that livestock was used for.

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

There were many other kinds, but those five had formed societies in the human world. Their numbers were by no means small, and they had already taken deep root in society. They could not be uprooted by force. Trying to separate them would leave a grievous wound, like plucking hairs embedded deep beneath the skin.

...But.

"King of Humanity. There's something I want to ask before we go."

'I need to confirm this beforehand. My plans will change depending on how the King of Humanity treats beastkin.'

Faced with the issue at hand, the regressor briefly recalled the past.

A future yet to come. In that world remembered by the regressor alone, humans and beastkin had come into serious conflict. It was pointless to ask who started it. The differences that had existed since birth gradually drove a wedge between beastkin and humans.

Well, most conflicts could be suppressed through force. What did it matter if someone got hurt while being forcibly torn apart? As long as the injuries were not mine.

Humans dealt with it as they always did. They suppressed it with brute force. Blood flowed, and the cries of beasts gradually grew quieter.

The problem was that the King of Sin had begun to stir around that time.

'Combined with what happened to the Beast King, it became the trigger that made sin snowball. No matter which side you supported, you had no choice but to stain your blade with blood...'

The regressor ended her recollection with a tremble of her clenched fist, then asked me with crackling killing intent.

"Do you consider beastkin human too?"

"Huh? Shei, what are you talking about?"

I answered that question in the most sensible way possible.

"What do you mean, do I consider beastkin human? You're talking as though beastkin are something different from humans. Wow, I didn't know you were that kind of person."

"What?"

"Before we even get into whether they're hybrids or whatever, the 'in' in 'suin', the Korean word for beastkin, means 'person.' That settles it, doesn't it? You talk about saving the world and stopping the King of Sin, but you're a bigot yourself."

"No, I'm not! I think beastkin are humans equal to us!"

"I don't even think of it that way. I don't look at you and think, Wow, a ki practitioner who's neither beastkin, vampire, nor mage."

It was truly unfair, but the moment you became conscious of it, you lost. If you said there was a difference, you were a bigot. If you said they were equal, you were a hypocrite.

'So the Beast King considers beastkin the same as humans... Tsk. I thought he would be more ruthless because he was a savage, but he's more righteous than I expected. It would've been easier to handle him if he were savage...'

What did she take humans, no, beasts for? Beasts were simple. We only attacked those weaker than us, when we were hungry and circumstances allowed it. Unlike humans, who tore others apart just because they were a little different.

"Since you don't seem to understand, let me explain. What comes first is the modifier, and what comes after is the essence. Cow's milk and horse's milk may be different, but they're both milk in the end. Beastkin are the same. Cow beastkin and horse beastkin may differ, but they're both human."

"Why milk of all things?!"

"They're all animals that produce milk. Chickens and ducks are livestock too, so why do you think there are fewer of those beastkin?"

There was even a classification called mammals. It was an answer that faced reality, but the regressor looked displeased.

"Why are you asking that, anyway?"

"Because the place we're going is a city where humans and beastkin coexist while also opposing each other."

"Where is it?"

"The frontier of the Enger Plain. A city at the boundary between farmland and plains."

The Enger Plain lay at the heart of the continent, even farther west than the military state. It was historic land that had forged the Empire's hegemony.

Then the regressor named a city at the edge of civilization.

"We're going to Ende."

Ende, a city of the Enger Plain. The boundary between savagery and civilization. Above it, the Empire that had conquered the continent and its vassal states stood firm. Below it stretched savage lands untouched by civilization. That city on the front line between savagery and civilization was the perfect place for humans and beastkin to come into conflict.

"What exactly do we have to do there before you'll tell me the clue about the Demon God?"

"The details may change a little, but the basic outline is simple."

The regressor pointed at Azzy and me in turn.

"You and Azzy will gather hunters and mercenaries in Ende, then hunt the wolf pack roaming the Enger Plain. Of course, I'll help too."

Azzy and I tilted our heads at the same time.

A wolf pack? To an ordinary human like me, a wolf pack was certainly dangerous. But Azzy could probably wipe out wolves as part of her morning exercise. There was no need for the regressor to make such a grave announcement.

From what she had said, it was clearly...

"The King of Wolves."

"That's right. They're a beast pack powerful enough that, instead of worrying about subduing them, you should worry whether the city will be destroyed. It's fortunate that they're beasts. If they had organized themselves and attacked Ende, the city would have been destroyed long ago."

The city would be destroyed? The regressor said strange things sometimes, but she did not lie. Did that mean the King of Wolves possessed such overwhelming power? A mere beast?

Hmm. Had I promised to keep our agreement too hastily? As I considered it, a concern suddenly came to mind.

"Wait. If the wolf pack got organized and attacked Ende, the city would be destroyed?"

"Yes."

"And you want Azzy and me to go to Ende?"

"Yes."

Long ago, there had been a promise. If humans fought the big bad wolves alongside dogs, dogs would remain humanity's friends forever. It sounded like a matter between humans and dogs, but there was a third party in that promise.

Wolves. Ferocious, wicked beasts who always tormented dogs and humans. They were the villains, which was why they were essential to the promise.

Just as Azzy, the King of Dogs, had searched for the King of Humanity to uphold that promise, the King of Wolves was also searching for the King of Dogs.

To bite the traitorous sibling to death and break the promise.

"The King of Wolves will come for Azzy. Then... won't Ende be attacked by the wolf pack?"

"Maybe. But that would be better."

The regressor shrugged.

"Better than the beastkin starting a rebellion from within, then making the King of Wolves their king, isn't it?"

* * *

Where was the boundary between civilization and savagery? Philosophers might turn that question over in their minds as an entertaining topic for drinks, but other scholars would point to the Enger Plain.

More precisely, they would point to a single apex being south of the Enger Plain that civilization had never managed to surpass. They dared not mention it because of fear and shame.

Fear, because of that being.

Shame, because humanity's pride had been shattered time and again when it challenged that being.

A place no one had even dared give a separate name, simply called the Mountain Lord's mountain.

"Long, long ago, from the days when I used to smoke tobacco."

It was the dead of night. A mountain that should have been filled with the rustling of insects and small animals beneath the pitch-black darkness.

Yet not the smallest sound could be heard there.

Prey and hunters alike lowered their heads and trembled. Even thoughtless insects held their breath, and free birds bound their own bodies.

No one on that mountain could make a sound. No one could move even slightly. They could only hold their breath and wait for this moment to end.

It was the court of the Mountain Lord. The beasts of the mountain had to know fear.

"You wolves were humanity's lackeys, roar. You sniffed things out in place of dull-witted humans and barked loudly to draw attention, nothing but pests."

She wore a gat on her head and a loose, flowing robe over her body. Black stripes ran along her cheeks like whiskers. Her lush orange hair was crossed with dignified black stripes. Lying atop a rock, she possessed a voice that rumbled like thunder and forepaws that could shake the earth.

The Tiger King, the Mountain Lord.

The apex of the land.

Her ears, slightly folded in irritation, were pointed toward the unwelcome visitors before her.

"With what nerve are you making demands that I tear humans apart alongside you?"

Several figures in human form stood before the Mountain Lord with their heads held high.

The Mountain Lord was an object of both terror and worship for humans. It had been some time ago, but humans once called tigers the kings of the mountains and offered them rites. In the days when the southern barbarian nation, the Kingdom of Ten Thousand, still existed, the Mountain Lord's Rite had been a major event personally presided over by its king.

For humans to dare meet the Mountain Lord's gaze. She should have bitten their throats out immediately...

Yet because of the one being standing before them, the Mountain Lord treated them with reluctant courtesy.

The one facing her was a king too.

"Because you aren't ready to fight!"

The King of Wolves bared their teeth even before the tiger. Their bloodshot eyes and exposed fangs held no respect or fear. Filled with nothing but savagery, the King of Wolves pressed the Mountain Lord.

"Awooo! I am a wolf, not a dog! I'm different from that traitor, and I'm different from cowards like you!"

"Roar, coward? You call me a coward?!"

"Woof! You're looking for reasons not to fight!"

Even when faced with the tiger's wrath, the King of Wolves did not yield in the slightest.

"Tiger! Are you fear? Are you savagery? Or are you a cat that rolls over and bares its belly to humans? Is acting like the lord of a single mountain all there is for a tiger to do?!"

The tiger called the Mountain Lord was also a beast. Her task was to roam through valleys and peaks, reigning as the lord of the mountain.

No, she had never even considered that she might have something else to do. What else could the Mountain Lord possibly do besides rule the mountain? Baffled, the Mountain Lord roared.

"Grrr! Then what should I do besides rule?"

"Fight!"

Unlike her, the wolf shouted as though it were a noble calling.

"Bite! Tear! Rip! Eat! Your claws are meant for ripping, and your fangs are meant for tearing! Tiger! Humans are expanding their territory bit by bit. How long will you hide like a coward?!"

"I have never hidden! This mountain is my land! How is ruling the mountain the same as hiding?!"

"Awooo! That's why humans hunt you!"

Thunder rolled through the clear sky.

The furious Mountain Lord's roar shook the vegetation and made the earth tremble. Several beastkin struck head-on by it fainted where they stood. It would never be counted, but some poor creatures living on the mountain had probably died from hearing that roar alone.

But the wolf was beyond reason. With savagery that had devoured even fear, the King of Wolves glared straight at the tiger.

Wolves were strong, but not as strong as tigers. The King of Wolves was doing something close to suicide. The Mountain Lord breathed heavily and looked at the mad Beast King with pity.

"...Wolf. Are you trying to become savagery? Are you trying to become sharp claws and pointed fangs?"

Perhaps because the Mountain Lord's momentum had eased, the King of Wolves calmed down a little as well.

"Awooo. I don't know. But I have savagery. I have sharp claws and pointed fangs. And there is something I need to tear apart with them."

"Your other half?"

"My opposite."

Every beast possessed wisdom. Beasts also felt shame and vengeance. Depending on the circumstances, they had the sense to avoid even battles they could win, and the resolve to throw themselves into unavoidable fights.

The long-lived tiger possessed enough wisdom as well. She did not know exactly what problem the wolf before her faced, but she understood what had caused it.

"Roar. I don't know what humans did to you."

It was difficult to even feel anger toward someone missing something essential. The Mountain Lord chewed silvervine again and muttered.

"If I ever have cause to use savagery, I will leave it to you. It is a promise."

The Mountain Lord was undoubtedly an apex. Among those who stood upon the land, there was likely no individual stronger than her.

But she was not the strongest.

Humans were unquestionably the dominant species on land, while tigers only reigned as lords of their mountains. Tigers had killed far more humans than humans had hunted tigers, but that number was insignificant compared to humanity's population. Instead, tigers were being driven back by humans, gradually losing the ground beneath their feet.

The only beings tigers could call enemies were humans. The one existence they had to guard against.

That was why the tiger made a promise to the wolf.

If a time came to fight humans, she would stand with the wolves and fight alongside them.

With the promise made, there was nothing else to do. The King of Wolves immediately turned away.

"Awooo. That time will come soon."

That was the end of the farewell. The King of Wolves strode down from the Mountain Lord's court. Having achieved their goal, the wolf should have been pleased, but their tail was still curled upward.

Footnotes:

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