WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 491: Ende's Spring - 4

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Around the same time, on the outskirts of Ende.

Sapien stood with arms crossed, waiting for someone. At the sound of someone approaching, Sapien turned toward it. The cattle beastkin who had gone to find Gruel was returning after carrying out the task.

The Beast Faction warriors were rough, reacting sharply to the Obelisks watching them. Even the Obelisks, who had initially remained unresponsive, were gradually growing more on edge.

No matter how composed Sapien was, Sapien was still a duchy's noble and a recognized human. It took considerable patience not to take issue with the insults hurled by the Beast Faction's savage beastkin warriors.

Fortunately, Gruel returned before Sapien's patience ran out. Sapien greeted him.

"High Chieftain Gruel. Before I welcome you to Ende, I should say that disappearing without a word like that puts us in a difficult position."

Gruel swept his gaze over the scene, then replied indifferently.

"What's difficult about it? I arrived a little early and went for a walk."

"We make appointments to meet at the agreed time, not merely to promise that you'll show up then."

"Hmph. You civilized folk really do like talking in circles. You think we'll cause trouble, so you want to keep an eye on us, don't you?"

"If that's how you take it, I have nothing to say."

"Hmph."

Gruel snorted and strode forward. In that instant, he seemed to leap across space as though he had used a distance-shrinking art. With a single step, he came right up to Sapien's face and growled lowly.

"Be careful. We're savages. If you treat us like troublemakers, we'll make trouble for real. You called us because you needed our help, so don't make our fur stand on end."

Grasping the principles did not necessarily mean someone had attained a high realm in the energy arts. That depended entirely on talent and mental imagery, so an energy practitioner could grasp the principles and still lack something.

Gruel was not one of them.

Sapien had learned an advanced cultivation method from an exceptional master and trained the Heaven, Earth, and Water Qi Arts to their limits, yet even Sapien could find no flaw in Gruel's movements.

The gap between them was not unfathomable... but that was likely because Gruel had not revealed the principles. Feeling the faintest hint of inferiority toward the pig beastkin, Sapien replied.

"Please remember that we gathered here to help each other."

"That's what I should say. I hope you won't feed us pretty words, then leave only us to die."

The leaders had exchanged enough barbs that their subordinates found it relatively easy to suppress their emotions afterward. Sapien led Gruel onward.

All the while, Sapien felt relieved.

'Good. It doesn't look like Orcma, or whatever they're called, approached Gruel.'

Orcma was why Sapien had personally gone to meet Gruel and paid such close attention to his movements.

Sapien knew the pig beastkin had been causing trouble lately, but Sapien had not realized they were secretly organizing a group and operating in the shadows. It was not entirely Sapien's fault. Pig beastkin caused problems as casually as they ate. Asking someone to stay alert because pigs happened to be eating a little more than usual was too much.

'Whoever that magician is, I should thank them. If Orcma had joined hands with Gruel, the negotiations would have gone far worse.'

Sapien silently thanked someone who was not there and headed for Oberli with Gruel.

...Without knowing what disaster had occurred because Sapien was absent.

At nearly the same time, in a prison in Oberli.

Urukpaing, First Fang and captain of the orc mercenary band, was held with the other prisoners.

Through the magician's trickery, several key Orcma members had been arrested. First Fang Urukpaing, Elder Mother Halfana, locksmith Bonkrak, Gulta the cart-rich, and others. There were not many of them, but each had been an important link with a specific role.

Those imprisoned were not all of Orcma, but their arrests were one reason Orcma had chosen protest over resistance. Orcma's organized functions had been damaged, leaving them with no method other than the simple act of protesting.

...And that was why piggies like them had been locked up in Oberli's luxurious prison.

"This is awfully comfortable for a prison."

Urukpaing swung an arm in displeasure. The heavily chained manacle struck the wall and threw sparks. With all of Urukpaing's strength, the manacle could be broken, but Urukpaing's wrist would break as well. Then the Obelisks guarding the outside would crush Urukpaing's head and put the shackles back on.

It was a powerful restraint, but considering that Urukpaing was a practitioner of the Water Qi Art, even this was a consideration. The very possibility of attempting an escape was absurd.

Realizing that, Urukpaing grumbled.

"The beds are soft, and the food is good. Compared to wandering around outside, this is heaven. Ordinary orcs would want to be locked up for life."

"Tsk, tsk. Nonsense... If it weren't for that Gruel fellow, would they have locked us up in Oberli? They'd have thrown us into solitary cells beneath Ende."

Elder Mother Halfana, the oldest of the orcs, replied in a voice that was still strong. Locksmith Bonkrak grinned.

"Hmph, that's not necessarily true. I overheard it while they were transferring us. They were worried the Elder Mother might lose her mind if they locked her up carelessly. Do you really think they're treating us well because Lord Gruel is coming? To them, we're filthy, ugly piggies. Hehe. We've got the Elder Mother to thank for this."

Bonkrak was the security officer responsible for building the Pig Safe and repairing its locks. Once Bonkrak was arrested and the magician cracked the safes, the pig beastkin lost faith in them. They might have been kin, but their own money mattered more than their kin. As they steadily withdrew their funds from the safes, the pig beastkin's funds dried up.

All that damage fell on Gulta, Orcma's logistics officer. Gulta had been caught committing fraud to replenish those depleted funds, and Gulta poured out something close to hatred at the sight of Bonkrak laughing so comfortably.

"How can you laugh right now?! What's so good about being locked up?"

"Hehe. Still, my mind's at ease in here."

"You don't know what hardships our kin might be facing right now."

"That's true, but what could we have done outside? Whenever the magician shows up, everything blows apart in every direction."

At the mention of the magician, everyone present bristled.

They could not be called Orcma's core members, but these pig beastkin had each held an important role. They all had one thing in common.

They had been involved with the magician.

They had met him, provoked him, tried to capture him, or tried to avoid him.

Bonkrak had been one of those who tried to hide from the magician.

"That human... isn't someone you should ever deal with."

Bonkrak, a technician at the Pig Safe, had hidden from the magician when things started turning strange. Bonkrak rarely revealed any movements to begin with, but hiding was not enough. Bonkrak had guarded the hideout with dozens of locks.

The magician had laughed at that.

Having found the hideout at once, the magician walked toward Bonkrak without even concealing the sound of his footsteps, unlocking six iron doors and ninety locks one by one.

Click. Click.

Bonkrak had made those locks with every ounce of skill Bonkrak possessed as a capable locksmith. The magician bypassed them with skill alone, without borrowing the power of energy arts or magic. Each time the footsteps came closer, Bonkrak's heart was whittled away. His pride crumbled, and terror flooded through the cracks.

Bonkrak wished the magician would just smash down every door and charge in, seize Bonkrak at once, and crush Bonkrak.

Trembling with that wish...

By the time Bonkrak came to, Bonkrak had been arrested for illegally duplicating keys and was being transferred to Oberli.

Once dragged to Oberli, Bonkrak felt relieved as the manacles were put on. Something had broken inside Bonkrak, and Bonkrak smiled more brightly.

"At least the magician won't come in here."

Gulta wanted to rebuke Bonkrak, but Gulta could not blame Bonkrak. Gulta was another victim of the magician.

With its funds depleted, Orcma raided a horse beastkin clan so it could at least distribute food. The raid succeeded more easily than expected, and Gulta fled like mad with an accomplice riding beside Gulta. After reaching a safe place along the planned route, Gulta was about to share the joy of victory when an unfamiliar face appeared in the wavering light.

A human who introduced himself as the magician.

Gulta saw the magician's face but never had a chance to describe it. Gulta was knocked unconscious at once, and when Gulta came to, furious horse beastkin surrounded Gulta.

Remembering the magician's shameless face, Gulta muttered.

"...Right. Now that we've already been caught, the magician won't have any reason to care about us."

A murmur that could have been relief or self-mockery echoed through Oberli's prison.

Then a gust of wind blew through.

The pig beastkin were puzzled. No matter how luxurious Oberli's prison was, it was still a prison. It did not have windows large enough to let in wind. This was the sort of wind that blew in only when the prison door opened.

Someone should have appeared.

Yet strangely, they could not sense any presence. The door had opened by itself.

"What's going on? Who's there?"

Bonkrak peered through the bars, but there was no answer. Instead, a thin card drifted into the center of the corridor like a fallen leaf riding an autumn wind.

A small key was attached to the back of the card.

I had done nothing. I had not controlled anyone or made them move, nor had I killed or harmed anyone.

I had only made a slight change to the deployment.

"The pig beastkin hope for spring. They wish to escape the past when they were eaten, escape the days when they wandered in search of freedom, and reach a time when everyone recognizes them."

The wind had been within them from the beginning, already blowing fiercely enough to move something enormous. Even if I had not pushed them from behind, Orcma would have accomplished something.

Whether they succeeded or failed.

"Even the other beastkin pity them and agree with them."

The other beastkin were the same. They occupied a place because they were more useful than pigs, but memories of discrimination filled them to the bone. Even as they watched the pig beastkin cause a disturbance, they cheered them on instead of stopping them.

There was nothing in their way, then.

"Why not? With a wind that strong, wouldn't it be fine for them to succeed once? Some people mate with pigs and give birth to beastkin, so why couldn't pig beastkin become the masters of a city? Pig beastkin and humans are the same kind of beasts, after all."

Furious pig beastkin charged forward. The placards they had held up to show their words were now swung like weapons, and they rushed not toward their dreams, but toward their enemies.

The peaceful protest turned into a riot that threatened to swallow the city.

The security force retreated. Duke Erectus fled under the escort of the Obelisks. The frenzied pig beastkin chased after the fleeing recognized human and attacked Oberli.

"I'm more curious about what they'll do with the spring that has come than I am about their spring."

Oberli had high, sturdy walls and the Obelisks' powerful forces. It would not fall easily. The pig beastkin's impulsive protest would end as a riot, not a revolution.

Unless there were people inside who would answer their call, or powerful reinforcements.

A dry spring wind blew through Ende.

Footnotes:

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