WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 497

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Flip the Pyramid and

Revolution inverts the pyramid of class. The biggest losers, naturally, were the humans who had stood at its apex. Flip a soft pyramid upside down and the tip wears away under pressure, the humans, once lords of all they surveyed, now found themselves glancing over their shoulders just to get through the day.

But beneath that towering collapse, there were those whose cries went unheard by anyone.

The friends of humanity. The dog-kin, heirs to the nature of dogs.

"Hey. Orc! Why are we the ones being watched?"

"Hand over our weapons and insignia and wait at home? That's just firing us!"

The dog-kin guards vented their grievances at the Orcma mercenaries.

Most of Oberli's guards were dogs. That was partly because dog-kin possessed keen noses and hunting instincts, but of course that wasn't the only reason. The most important reason was that dog-kin got along with humans.

They were said to be the first beastkin the Warrior ever made. They were loyal to humans, warm toward them, and, crucially, they didn't bother hiding it. Affectionate and quick to charm, dog-kin had long served humans as slaves, as butlers, as friends, as companions.

That was why most of Oberli's guards were dog-kin. Dogs don't betray humans.

Only now, with Orcma ascendant, that same logic carried the exact opposite meaning.

"You've all spent years cosying up to humans and riding their coattails. Of course we're going to be suspicious. Relax, as long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll be fine."

"So we lose our jobs overnight and get watched on top of it? That's tyranny! You said all beastkin are equal!"

"That's right. All beastkin are equal."

Gulta, who had handled Orcma's logistics and troop placement, and in doing so had gotten his hands on Oberli's personnel authority, addressed the dog-kin who had come to argue.

"Which is exactly why those of you who've been benefiting from inequality need to be pulled down a notch. The position you hold came from clinging to humans, not from any ability you actually had."

"What did you just say?"

"Who do you think you're talking to!"

"We earned our place through ability!"

The pushback came hard, but Gulta kept that smirk on his face.

"Then let me ask. What do you have on us orcs?"

"That's..."

"What. Your precious senses? Orcs aren't that different. Our sense of smell is actually sharper, if anything. Your slightly pointier teeth? Please, you use weapons and energy just like everyone else and you're still going on about teeth. Your hunting instincts? Do you really need instinct just to chase down an enemy?"

Gulta let out the orc's signature snort, thick and wet at the back of the throat. What had once been mocked as pig-kin sniveling now read as confidence. The dog-kin stared up at the pig-kin looking down at them with easy certainty, and not one of them could find a word to say back.

"There's exactly one thing that sets you apart from every other beastkin. You're close to humans. And in an Ende that has become a beastkin city, that is no advantage at all."

"...Even so, we've served as guards for years! You can't just throw us out!"

"Put another way, the only reason you have for being in that position is that you've served as guards for years. You're still using your guard status to stay in contact with humans right now."

The dog-kin reacted as though they'd been poked with something sharp. One of them, tail dropping, pushed back.

"What? You're accusing us of that? Without any evidence?!"

"Evidence? Ha. When did we ever get thrown out because there was evidence? If something smelled off, people looked at the orcs first. When the ledgers came up short, the inspectors showed up in the pig-kin quarter with their noses wrinkled. You'll have to keep proving yourselves from now on. Same as we always had to."

The orcs surrounding the guards laughed and cheered Gulta on. The dog-kin ground their teeth and growled low.

After the revolution succeeded, the majority of Orcma had seized Oberli, and they were using those numbers as a weapon to throw their weight around. Oberli was a place where simply being present meant having sway over all of Ende. The orcs had taken close to half of it by sheer numbers alone, and they were squeezing even the dog-kin.

Backed by that power, Gulta made his announcement to the guards.

"Bring me Duke Erectus. That's the only way you'll prove you're capable guards who are loyal to Ende."

"How are we supposed to find a public official hiding somewhere in this whole city! The ones we call public officials are all blood relatives of the Duke's line! You may have taken Oberli, but you don't control all of Ende. The people of this city, however thin their sense of belonging might be, are citizens of a lord's domain! They won't turn in a public official!"

Ende sat at the far edge of even a vast domain. Because it bordered the wildlands, it had been granted a degree of autonomy, but the other way of saying that was that it was a city that could be abandoned at any time. If the home domain chose to assert its authority, this small ember would be stamped out in an instant.

Gulta knew that better than anyone. The truth was, part of the reason Orcma was trying to capture Duke Erectus in the first place was less about revenge and more about keeping the domain from interfering. Gulta spoke quickly.

"There's a squire who took Duke Erectus away. A dog-kin. She's one of your kind, why don't you try doing something about her."

"Welshi? Impossible! Before she's our kin, that girl is Duke Erectus's watchdog. She's a daughter of a watchdog family!"

"A watchdog family..."

Gulta let out a groan at a term he hadn't heard in some time.

Dogs cared about bloodlines. A dog with a distinguished lineage was treated almost like minor nobility, bred and gifted to the powerful across generations, treasured and adored. As hunting dogs, as companions, noble blood produced dogs who stood at the side of noble lords.

And all beastkin, before they were beastkin, had been treated as beasts. Dog-kin were no different.

Those in power had sifted and selected dog-kin until only the finest stock remained, then built family lines from them. Dog-kin were already loyal to humans by nature; put through something close to indoctrination on top of that, they grew up as butlers, maids, and bodyguards.

A watchdog family that protected a single house. The practice actually existed, and it had survived even past the appearance of the Holy Maiden with fur. Unlike orcs, dog-kin were the most docile, and that was exactly why this particular bad habit had lived so long.

"Welshi won't come if we call her! She'd bite us too!"

Gulta felt a crushing weight settle onto him. Beastkin made by humans, a whole system built to use them, what were orcs supposed to do inside a current they couldn't even see? His limited understanding gave him nothing to work with.

And yet, the fact that this revolution had happened at all within that current was already a miracle. Gulta steeled himself, resolve hardening around his wish to protect this small flame.

"Ha. Seems like there's a misunderstanding. We didn't bring you here to listen to your excuses. If you can't cut yourself free from humans no matter what, then that's all you are!"

"Before you brag about how strong your chains are, try thinking about throwing them off! Like the orcs here did!"

"Well said! Right, we orcs pulled it off, who are you?"

I'd been chiming in from beside Gulta. He had been working up to a triumphant shout when he spotted me, and his body lurched back like he might topple over. His face flooded with fear.

"The, the Magician!"

"Sorry, what?"

"No, the Magician. W-why are you here..."

That reaction was starting to make me sad, honestly. I'd spent a good amount of time thinking this through so I could step in and help when it counted, and this was what I got.

"What's your problem? Is it because I captured you and locked you in Oberli? You know the reason by now, the only way to take Oberli was to have someone on the inside in advance."

"Ugh, I know. I know, but."

"I'm not a tiger. There's no reason to shake every time you see me. Sigh. I genuinely helped Orcma. You don't think of me as an ally at all, do you."

He was still scared of me, but position shapes a person, they say. The orcs around him watched with eyes full of expectation. Those stares became a quiet pressure, pushing at Gulta's back. With the crowd behind him, he dug up some courage and spoke.

"W-well obviously. You're not an orc, you're a human! How do you expect us to trust some human who came out of nowhere!"

No. You said everyone was equal. You should be treating me equally too. You said to prove ability? What more do I have to prove?

Be honest. You just don't like me, and you're finding reasons. Same as you're doing to the dog-kin.

Ha. After everything I've done. Guess I've got more to do.

"I have to prove myself again even after the results I've already delivered? Fine. I'll find Duke Erectus."

"That's not, what? Duke Erectus? You can do that?"

"Of course. Finding one person is easier than bringing down a secret organization with thousands of members."

In terms of pure difficulty, it might actually be harder, if I'm being honest. A large group is easy to spot, but tracking down a single person means searching a barn for a needle.

But I don't make bets I can't win. There was a reason I stepped forward and declared I'd handle it.

'Come on. No way. There's absolutely no way he finds him. How's an outsider going to track down Duke Erectus hidden somewhere in the inner quarters?'

'The Magician? Who's that. Is he more impressive than a public official?'

I'd been reading the minds of the Oberli guards standing there in silence, watching the room.

There's a reason I talk so much, you know.

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