WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 482: Rule but Not Reign

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From their earliest days, beastkin were slaves to humans. Beastkin slavery vanished after the Holy Maiden with fur appeared, but lives could not change overnight. The practice had endured under different names.

Exaggerating a little, I benefited from it too. The delivery system. I paid for the service, of course, but using horse beastkin as errand runners was a time-honored tradition.

Anyway, many things had changed over time, but dog beastkin had changed the most noticeably.

Dog beastkin had been popular even during the age of slavery. They were loyal, friendly, useful, and cute. Any household with some money considered it standard to keep one or two dog beastkin.

Even after slavery disappeared, dog beastkin remained in demand in many ways. Butlers, guards, attendants, general laborers, and so on. The names and forms had changed, but they still remained closer to humans than any other beastkin.

Apparently, Ende, the city of beastkin, was no exception.

A neatly dressed human barged in with a dog beastkin attendant in tow. It was clearly not a welcome appearance. Most of the elder beastkin gathered here looked dismayed.

"Duke Erectus. We were in the middle of a meeting. Official notices have already been sent to every public official in Oberli."

"I don't read that sort of thing. Isn't there something more important? Does sending out a notice mean you can bark as loudly as you please? In solemn Oberli, of all places!"

Oberli had been built by the first humans to settle this land. The descendants of those pioneers were human as well, and they were the ruling class who had inherited this land's interests for generations. Some had returned to the vassal state out of fear of the King of Wolves, but others had remained and held on to their power.

Duke Erectus was one of them. A ruler of this city whom even clan leaders deferred to.

"We have a guest from outside. Please preserve your dignity, if only for Oberli's sake."

Even the mention of a guest did not humble Duke Erectus.

"A guest? Are they someone I need to know?"

"We do not know the details ourselves, but they are said to be a benefactor of the Purple Merchant Guild and someone recommended by its guildmaster."

"The vassal state's patron merchant guild?"

Even Duke Erectus could not act recklessly toward someone beyond his own territory. Duke Erectus clicked his tongue in displeasure, then looked around and noticed something unusual.

"What is this? I haven't seen this beastkin before."

"Woof?"

Duke Erectus showed interest in Azzy. When their eyes met, Azzy offered him the same goodwill she offered everyone else.

"Woof! Will you keep the promise too?"

"You? Hah, does a dog beastkin even know who I am..."

"You, human! I know!"

Even I found dog speech hard to understand. Duke Erectus, filled with pride to the marrow of his bones, must not have understood it at all. He let out an incredulous laugh.

"What a doglike dog beastkin. I like how lively you are. Shall I make you my attendant?"

The beastkin flinched at that statement. Duke Erectus did not know Azzy was the King of Dogs, but declaring an intention to make a Beast King into an attendant was shocking regardless.

The dog beastkin who had come as his attendant felt the same. She hurriedly tried to restrain her master's rampage.

"Master, please wait! That person is..."

"Welshi. Who told you to interrupt?"

Duke Erectus snapped and swung his whip. Yet the dog beastkin called Welshi loyally continued her appeal.

"That person is the King of Dogs. She seems to have come to fight the King of Wolves, so she will not be able to serve you, Master."

"The King of Dogs?"

How much trouble did Duke Erectus usually cause? The moment the advice got through, I heard the beastkin let out heavy sighs of relief. It seemed saying he would make the King of Dogs an attendant had gone too far.

It was too early to relax, though. Duke Erectus only became more interested in Azzy.

"Oh. Even the King of Dogs is not much different from a dog beastkin. Welshi, is the King of Dogs strong?"

"Yes. She is a Beast King."

"Stronger than you?"

"I would not dare compare myself to her."

"But she must be docile, right?"

"Yes. The King of Dogs will never harm a human, no matter what kind of human they are."

"I like that. It is a pity she cannot harm my enemies, though."

Interested, Duke Erectus picked up the ball Azzy had been playing with earlier and threw it. Azzy instinctively chased it, clamped it in her mouth, and hurried back.

Duke Erectus showed great interest in behavior no different from that of an ordinary dog.

"Hmm. She's just a dog in human form, isn't she? This is much better than beastkin who merely have ears and tails but answer back at every little thing."

"I'm sorry, Master."

"As long as you understand. Fine. I've decided. She can stay at my estate until she fights the King of Wolves."

Despite Welshi's efforts, Duke Erectus had finally gone too far. At the declaration of a public official, the beastkin sprang to their feet in protest.

"Please wait, Duke Erectus! The King must go where she wishes to go!"

"Why?"

"That is..."

The childish question left them speechless. Duke Erectus picked at one ear and replied.

"She was going to stay in some cheap inn, wasn't she? My estate would be much better, wouldn't it? There are dogs and plenty of beastkin there. Above all, there are humans. Dogs like humans, don't they?"

"The one who brought the King here is the person recommended by the Purple Merchant Guild!"

"What if she just trots after someone else while you're standing around? Dogs should be raised with a firm grip on their leash."

A leash for the King of Dogs. Duke Erectus calmly confessed to an idea that even I had tried and failed at.

Tsk, tsk. What a rotten person. It would be one thing if he saw Azzy as completely a dog, like I did. That bastard didn't think Azzy was human, but he didn't see her as a dog either!

"If you all remain quiet, she will follow me. Come, King of Dogs. Follow me, if you want that promise or whatever it is."

"Woof? The promise?"

"Yes. Put another way, if you don't follow me, it can't be kept."

Having heard enough, a dog beastkin stepped forward. Their opponent was a public official, but Oberli's beastkin were not pushovers. The beastkin raised their tail stiffly even before Duke Erectus and argued.

"Duke Erectus! That has already been decided!"

"It was decided while I was absent."

"Then you should have attended! Can you always stand back, then make unreasonable demands afterward?"

Ordinarily, it would not have been worth arguing this much, but this was a serious matter involving the King of Wolves and the King of Dogs. Every dog beastkin opposed Duke Erectus.

The resistance was fierce. No matter how powerful Duke Erectus was, he could not overturn the will of so many people alone. His irritation rose to a boiling point, and he lashed out with his whip.

At Welshi, his own attendant.

Smack.

The sickening crack of the whip split the air. Welshi knew full well that her master was about to strike her, yet she gritted her teeth and endured it.

"No matter how loudly I speak! You won't listen!"

Smack, smack, smack. The whip cracked fiercely. Welshi silently endured the pain, but the sharp cracks made the beastkin recoil.

More than anything, Azzy grew anxious when she saw a dog beastkin suffering before her.

"Woof! Woof!"

"What? Do you care about dogs because you're the King of Dogs?"

Duke Erectus panted, drunk on his victory.

"That's right! If you listen to me, I'll stop hitting..."

"What is this? While I was away?"

At that moment, the regressor dropped from the sky and landed lightly on the ground. She had only just arrived and did not know the details, but her senses were even sharper than a beastkin's when it came to catching an unpleasant smell.

Duke Erectus frowned at the regressor, who had suddenly fallen from above.

"Who is this now? Why is Oberli so full of people today?"

"You first. Explain what's going on."

"What...? Ah. Are you the one recommended by the Purple Merchant Guild?"

The regressor did not look wealthy, but she carried an unusual air. Duke Erectus lifted his chin and spoke.

"You came at the right time. I would like to look after the King of Dogs. You will be busy too, and since we must fight together, it would be good to establish some coordination in advance, wouldn't it?"

"Azzy?"

"Is that her name? Yes."

The regressor looked back and forth between the whip in Duke Erectus's hand and the dog beastkin woman whose body was red all over. Her expression gradually darkened.

"What does that have to do with you whipping a beastkin?"

"Ah, don't concern yourself with it. My personal attendant was acting insolently, so I was teaching her a lesson."

It was fortunate Duke Erectus was human. If he had been a beastkin, he would have lowered his tail and lost the ability to speak by now. Perhaps his ego had numbed his instincts, because he could not even sense the regressor's bloodlust.

"You, of all people?"

Duke Erectus doubted his ears at the unexpected words.

"What did you say? You called a public official like me that?"

"Does the fact that you're human somehow save your life?"

There were degrees even among humans who acted outrageously. The regressor was a madwoman at the most extreme end of that scale. Duke Erectus's only mistake was failing to recognize that beforehand.

'Inciting trouble, discriminating against beastkin, and even messing with Azzy? There is no need to let him live.'

Before anyone could say a word, the regressor moved. She kicked Jizan into the air, caught it over her shoulder, wrapped it in a current of air, and swung in one motion. The warped space streaked toward Duke Erectus like a comet.

Words were unnecessary. The regressor did not waste time on such concerns. She had simply judged the existence before her to be an obstacle, and now she intended to remove it.

Jizan, wrapped in a storm, could inflict a fatal wound with a mere graze. Only with death before him did Duke Erectus see his life flash before his eyes. Human or otherwise, life was worthless before overwhelming power.

An attack that distinguished neither gender, race, nor status split the racist apart.

Footnotes:

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