Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint - Chapter 499

WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Chapter 499: The Inverted Pyramid Crumbles Quickly

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This went beyond being evil or inconsiderate. Their world was simply different. Calling their common sense twisted did not feel right either, since quite a few people thought that way. At that point, it was not even a question of right or wrong.

They were simply different. A tower built from different blocks could maintain a precarious balance, but one slight touch would make it all come crashing down.

Just like now.

"Why is someone as superior as you doing this here?"

"Because beasts bit me. But this is the end of it. The principality may neglect Ende, but it will not overlook a rebellion. Once I inform them, they will show them the strength of humanity."

Well, the principality probably did not want to pour many resources into this thankless patch of land either. It had more important priorities.

"It will all be over if you can't inform them, won't it?"

"What?"

"If I, someone concerned about the rights of pig-kin, stopped you here and sold you to Orcma... then your human superiority and the principality's strength would both become useless."

I gave him an ambiguous smile, and Welshi flinched before stepping forward. Her ears and tail stood stiff with tension. Duke Erectus spoke as if he could not believe what he had heard.

"Y-you would sell me off? You would side with beasts?"

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. I'm simply curious. What exactly is this human superiority you speak of? Right now, you look more wretched than anyone."

"Me?"

"Of course. Even a recognized human who boasts of his own superiority is running around in filthy clothes. If not for the capable guard dog protecting you, you would have been caught long ago. Look at you. You're relying on Welshi even now."

He was clinging to Welshi's back like a son to his mother rather than a master to his attendant. If he had looked in a mirror, he would not have been able to argue with me, but Duke Erectus replied easily.

"Welshi is both my attendant and a beastkin. It's only natural for her to protect me."

"There's nothing natural in this world. Just as your rule, which seemed so natural, has come to an end."

"That was only possible because those pig bastards incited ignorant beastkin and ambushed us!"

"Are you human, yet you can't even incite people as well as they can? You were brought down by an unexpected ambush too? Can you call yourself great or noble with such a small gap between you? If you can't win with words, strength, or politics, what is left to you? Arrogance?"

"Urgh...!"

"I don't know whether humans are superior or not, but I know one thing. If that's true, then you, who lost to orcs, must be somewhere around the level of a beast. Looking at you now, that seems about right."

Duke Erectus pointed at me and shouted something, but I ignored him and returned to the point.

"Ah. I'm not very interested in you, Mr. Erectus. You're a little dull. I came because I was interested in Welshi."

Apparently, being told I had no interest in him irritated him even more. Welshi shoved her increasingly noisy master behind her and stepped forward.

"...If I satisfy that interest, will you let my master go?"

"What? I was never planning to catch him in the first place. Why would I?"

"You're on Orcma's side."

"No. I'm on humanity's side. And he's human too. Just as I help the orcs, I'll help him as well."

"Help him?"

"Yes. You may agree with this in your heart, but this is helping him. It's a valuable experience, isn't it?"

Welshi, a loyal attendant, could not bring herself to deny it. Yet she was not naive enough to take my words at face value. Still watching me and our surroundings, and trying hard to ignore Azzy panting nearby, she asked,

"What is this interest you have in me?"

"I understand why the pig-kin want to reclaim their rights. They have every reason to. It's only natural for a beastkin to believe all beastkin are equal. But what are you? Why are you protecting a recognized human while being beastkin yourself?"

"...Is that your question?"

"If your answer is, 'Because he's my master,' then that's not what I asked. I want to know what you expect from him."

She had been born to be an attendant and trained for it. Through conditioning close to brainwashing, Welshi had become an attendant willing to give her life for her master.

Yet Welshi was human too. She would not protect and follow him with nothing but blind faith. Of every race I knew, only the Sanctum had succeeded in that kind of brainwashing. Even it had done so with the enormous authority of precognition, and comparing Duke Erectus to it was insulting.

"There is no reason needed to follow one's master."

"I said I wasn't asking for a reason. I can tell at a glance. A foolish master like that isn't worth serving. Yet you still follow him because there's something you expect from him."

"You bastard! What did you just...!"

Perhaps Duke Erectus found it even harder to endure being excluded from the conversation. But he was powerless. He could neither stop me nor silence Welshi.

"It's true. I don't expect anything from my master."

"You know how futile it is to expect someone to change. Still, there must be something you want. Payment, gifts, rewards, praise."

"I don't... expect those things anymore."

Even if she did not expect them, there was something she wanted. The more impossible it was to attain, the wider that gap became. Welshi clenched her fist and spoke.

"My master is not a kind person. But even he has been gentle before."

"When?"

"A long time ago, when we were children. Children chosen to become attendants are educated by their master's side..."

Guard dog families remained beside their masters from birth. It was to make them recognize their master from childhood and cultivate loyalty. Raising a well-bred dog from a young age was better than taking in a grown dog that had already seen the outside world.

"He was mischievous even then. When I said I had learned energy arts and become stronger, he brought out a whip and beat me. When I dressed in clean clothes, he splashed mud all over me. He would laugh when he saw me standing there in shock. Master always chose to torment me."

Wow. He had been trash even as a child.

"But even so, there were times when he was kind. When I was exhausted and crying in a corner, he wiped my face with the handkerchief he used. When I lost a precious gift, he dug through the dirt and searched for it with me. Back then, I was truly happy..."

Remembering the time before that warped personality had hardened, when he had been younger and more innocent, Welshi lowered her eyes sadly.

"When I look back, there were only a few such times over all those years. But there were still good times... I don't expect him to be like that again. Still..."

She had lingering attachment.

It was classic gaslighting. She was exploited and mistreated, but because she had experienced it from such a young age, she accepted it as ordinary and placed too much weight on the occasional kindness. Like how one good deed stands out after a hundred evil ones.

Still, looking at it another way, even someone as unpleasant as him had once been innocent. Deep down, she must have wanted him to return to how he had been then.

What a sad wish. How was I supposed to grant it? I would have to turn that unpleasant human into a person. Changing someone was not something I could do.

Just as I was about to express my regret, Azzy suddenly popped up and barked.

"Same as me!"

"...Your Majesty?"

"Me too!"

Azzy smiled brightly and rubbed her face against Welshi.

"Humans fight each other. Make me bite humans. Don't keep promises."

She must have meant that the humans she liked fought one another, tried to use Azzy as a weapon to hurt humans, and did not even try to keep their promise to fight the King of Wolves.

Wow, that was awful. Who was it? For the record, it was not me. The King of Humanity, who had lost all his strength, had nothing to do with the average human.

As I severed my ties with humanity in my head, Azzy gave Welshi a bright smile.

"Woof! Someday, they keep promise! Promise!"

"Your Majesty..."

She was in the same position as Welshi. No, it was far greater in scale. Welshi felt that way only toward her master, while Azzy was fond of all humans.

People are social animals. Seeing Azzy, who was in a far worse situation than herself, Welshi found a small measure of comfort. Then, realizing she had taken comfort in her king's misfortune, she felt a brief pang of guilt and asked,

"What if they never keep it?"

"Keep it!"

"What if they don't? What if Your Majesty's friends change their minds, or something urgent happens and they can't fulfill it?"

"Wait!"

"How long?"

"When?"

Looking at Azzy tilting her head, I could see the cruelty of an open-ended promise. Even death did not end it. You began again and wandered the world until it was fulfilled.

It was impossible to even imagine the span of it. Perhaps only the Beast King could manage it. Welshi hugged Azzy tightly and whispered,

"...I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"Woof? Why?"

"No. It's nothing. I only wish I could help Your Majesty fight the wolves too..."

She had someone she had to protect before Azzy. Of course, Azzy was the same. Promises mattered, but Azzy protected humans regardless of them.

"It's okay! Protect humans!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Duke Erectus is my master, but you are my king."

The dog and dog beastkin briefly touched noses. Though they shared the same sorrowful situation, Welshi, who was relatively better off, felt more heartbroken than Azzy, who could not understand her own circumstances.

"How nice. I'd like an attendant like that too."

Duke Erectus was so startled by my approach that he nearly fell backward. I kindly caught him and said,

"She takes care of you so sincerely just because you were briefly kind to her long ago. That's loyalty you can't expect from Azzy. Azzy bares her teeth and growls if I don't give her a piece of meat."

"You command the King of Dogs too."

"Azzy? Command her? Hah, what a strange thing to say. Azzy and I are friends. Friends can ask favors of each other and help each other. But that doesn't change the fact that we're friends."

"Friends? With the King of Dogs?"

"What's strange about that?"

"The King of Dogs is a beast wearing a human form."

Oh. It had been a while since I had heard that perspective. Unlike the regressor, he treated Azzy as an unusual dog. Well, someone who did not even see beastkin as human would hardly see Azzy as human. I would give him that much. He was truly consistent.

"I'm the same kind of beast. Why can't we be friends?"

"..."

He might have argued a moment ago. But after listening to my conversation with Welshi, he seemed to have much more to think about.

"Even humans who are not beastkin are not equal. Like you and me. Yet even if we're unequal, we can still offer comfort and praise, can't we?"

"...So what do you want from me? Do you want me to consider beastkin equal to humans?"

What was he talking about? Why would I? I did not care what he thought. In any case, as the King of Humanity, I could read beastkin thoughts, so they fell within the category of humans for me. That applied only to me, of course, and if someone believed otherwise, that was their business.

"No. Why would I try to change your mind? I have no interest in what you think or what you want."

"What?"

"I said I don't. Your wish is so simple that I don't even want to hear it."

Duke Erectus was not especially evil or cruel.

To him, beastkin simply were not human. Since they were not equal to begin with, nothing they did held much meaning. After all, how could he be pleased if livestock or pets praised him?

Perhaps that was why Duke Erectus wanted more impressive achievements. Something other humans would acknowledge, such as raising the King of Dogs or defeating the King of Wolves.

Ah. He had probably given up on it now, but reclaiming Ende from the pig-kin could be added to that list.

Duke Erectus simply had the ordinary desire to be recognized, like anyone else. There were just no "humans" around him whom he considered qualified to recognize him.

Then what did he need? An achievement, or a human who would watch him and acknowledge him?

"There is someone who praises even the small kindness you showed as a child so deeply. But you're not someone who would be satisfied with that. Whether you have the ability for anything more is a separate issue."

Thinking about it differently, Duke Erectus already had both. A tiny good deed and an attendant who cherished it. They were simply an achievement too small for him to accept, and a beastkin he considered unqualified.

There was nothing I could do about someone who wanted a higher place instead of being satisfied with the present. All I could do was pray that he worked hard.

It was the orcs' job to catch them and block any message to the principality. I led Azzy, who was saying goodbye to Welshi, out through a dark back alley. I did not bother reading where those two were going. There was no need.

Before long, I ran into orcs restricting traffic. I saw Gulta at the front, building a wall out of carts, and approached casually.

"Have you not found them yet?"

"We're tracking them by scent now! We'll find them soon!"

Oh. They were using beastkin senses of smell to track them. Only now...?

I tilted my head and asked,

"What? Then what were you doing until now?"

"...We were looking for a way to do that!"

"Ah. I see. You should add it to the manual. Keep up the good work."

Had the entire response manual disappeared? Even with Mayor Triber helping, they were making mistakes in little things like this.

Just as I was about to pass them, Gulta called out to me urgently.

"Wait. Magician! Is there a way for you to find him?"

"You mean tell you where they are now? If it were me, I'd hire beastkin with a good sense of smell and have them track the scent."