Chapter 348
Chapter 348
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 348
Chapter Title: Side Story 32. Beasts (4)
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"What."
Baren's eyes widened.
More than a dozen beastkin were imprisoned inside iron cages.
Their haggard figures bore number tags like those used on livestock.
A foul stench permeated the filth-strewn enclosure.
'Even to me...!'
Upon closer inspection, he found shackles fastened on himself as well.
Crafted for beastkin, they were excessively large and heavy.
The werewolf elder who had spoken to Baren asked again.
"I thought you were one of us at first, but you're just a plump human. How did you end up captured?"
"...I don't remember well. I recall being ambushed, but... exactly where is this place?"
"We were brought here blindfolded too, so we don't know the location. But we do know our future is bleak. Ha... To think we'd be caught by the Northwind Brigade."
The elder sighed.
His snow-white beard drooped limply.
Baren tilted his head at the unfamiliar name.
"Northwind Brigade?"
"What, you're not from the north?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"Well, they've only started rampaging recently, so you might not know. They're one of the native groups in the northern wilds. They see beastkin not as people, but as beasts."
The elder continued his raspy explanation.
The Northwind Brigade, simply put, were vile racists.
Not only beastkin and other non-humans, but even humans from outside the north—they discriminated against them all, extreme zealots.
Long ago, their ancestors had lost a power struggle against beastkin and been pushed to the fringes.
"I don't fail to understand their hatred. Before the Empire's northern conquest, humans endured harsh days. But the ones who sinned were our distant forebears, not us."
The elder sighed again.
His eyes, bereft of hope, had long lost their light.
A hunter by trade, he had been chopping wood when he and his grandson were abducted.
Now, he awaited disposal alongside the other victims.
The Northwind Brigade's main business was kidnapping lone beastkin to use as livestock or sell into slavery.
"Even after Barka died over a decade ago..."
Baren lamented.
He hadn't imagined such atrocities still occurred.
To treat people like livestock just because of their race.
In the Empire, where racial integration policies were firmly established, and even in the north's great cities, discrimination was virtually nonexistent.
"Does the Empire do nothing?"
"They do. Why wouldn't they? But even sunlit land casts shadows. In places beyond the Emperor's reach, or even the Zai faction's blades."
"Zai faction... Ah!"
The name Zai faction flashed through his mind for an instant.
He had definitely discussed something similar just the other day.
A forgotten memory surfaced at once.
Baren gripped the bars, excitedly asking,
"R-right! Have you seen Professor Secret by any chance?! A werefox with silver fur!"
"Secret? That name rings a bell... You mean that curse scholar?"
"Yes! I was captured with her. We were definitely together during the abduction...!"
"Sorry, haven't seen her. Bad news for you, but someone that important was likely separated for special handling. Plenty of political value."
"No way... Isn't there some way? A moment to exploit a gap or... Ugh!"
Suddenly, a burning headache assaulted Baren.
He clutched his throbbing occiput and leaned against the bars.
The texture of human hair, grasped instead of a mane, still felt alien.
"You alright? Doesn't look like you should be worrying about others. That on your belly—isn't that a knife wound?"
"I'm fine... Ngh."
"A tough human, eh."
Baren waved it off.
He was freshly reminded of how frail the human body was.
To suffer such pain from just a few club blows.
As Baren shook off the headache and tried to say more—
Bang!
The door burst open roughly, and three men entered, led by a bald one.
"Shut it, you trash. What're you yapping about?"
"...!"
"Curl up and stay quiet before we stuff you. Won't be comfy for long anyway."
Silence fell.
Terrified beastkin tucked their tails.
They wore the same red coats as the kidnappers.
The keyring dangling from the bald man's belt marked him as the jailer.
Scanning the room, his gaze stopped on Baren.
"Ah, you're awake. Good thing you didn't croak pathetically. Looks like the treatment took."
"Treatment?"
"Yeah. Can't let the bastard who butchered one of ours go easy. You'll live to taste hell."
The bald man growled.
Hearing "murder," Baren recoiled in horror.
"W-wait. What do you mean? You saying I killed someone?"
"What's that? Totally insane, this one."
The jailer let out a hollow laugh.
He was too flabbergasted to speak.
He had witnessed Randolph's head being smashed front and back at the scene.
"At first, we thought you'd make a fine comrade. Figured a sturdy build like yours could hold its own against furballs. A monster who kills with one punch."
"One punch... No way..."
He remembered striking someone, but not killing them.
He had been half-unconscious.
Did he hit that hard?
"But we changed our minds. A worm who kills and forgets is no better than a beast. We're not merciful enough to take beasts as comrades."
The jailer glared with slit eyes.
Baren's recruitment to the Northwind Brigade was unanimously canceled.
Only a brutal fate awaited him now.
"You'll slave in the mines till you drop. Won't be locked up long, don't worry. Your furry coworkers'll eat you inside three days."
"The world... You run mines too?"
"Mines are just the start. Farms, salt pans... Places to work strong furries are endless. No wages needed—best business around."
"Horrible."
Baren sighed.
Running separate mines suggested the organization's scale was beyond imagination.
Makes sense, with gear like that net crossbow.
Who'd have thought a simple diet trip would lead to this.
Suddenly, the jailer drew his keys.
"Kek, you look shocked stiff. Alright, time to move."
"N-now? To the mines?"
"Yeah. Unlike that fox, you're useless."
The jailer cackled.
The lock clicked, and the cage door swung open.
Hearing "fox," Baren's eyes bulged.
"Fox... You mean Professor Secret is alive?!"
"Who said you could ask questions?! Wanna die here?!"
"S-sorry. Please tell me. She's very important to me."
Baren bowed low.
Seeing his forehead touch the floor, the jailer smirked satisfiedly.
Subjugating the weak was always a thrill.
"Where's that punch-killing swagger, coward? Eh, you're dead soon anyway—I'll tell you special."
"Please, have mercy...!"
"Fine, she's alive. Didn't realize at first, but she's way more capable than we thought. Showed her to the boss, and he loved it. Probably sees her as a political card."
The jailer said Secret had been taken to the boss.
Though her image differed from expectations, she was at least being "negotiated" with.
Baren's vision blurred.
He murmured in a voice thick with relief.
"Haa... Thank goodness. She's alive."
"No point killing useful beast trash. Curiosity sated? Out, worm."
But there was no time for relief.
The jailer flung the cage open and yanked Baren by the hair.
"Ugh!"
"Kahaha, off to hell!"
Baren groaned at the scalp-tearing pain.
The jailer's brute strength wasn't bought with coin.
His two comrades aimed crossbows from behind.
Turning to the beastkin, the jailer bellowed,
"You lot—all to the arena. After we off this pig, we'll send you. Get ready!"
"A-arena...!"
The beastkin's faces paled.
Only three days captured, but they knew the arena's infamy.
The cheers and screams echoing from beyond the walls came from there.
"D-don't do this! What did we do wrong?!"
"Send my daughter to the farm at least! I don't care if I go to the arena or get stuffed!"
"Waaah! Mommy!"
Chaos erupted in the once-silent enclosure.
The arena meant a death sentence.
Average survival: one week.
A horrific Northwind Brigade spectacle where they fought for entertainment until death.
The thugs savored the beastkin's despair with gleeful faces.
The moment the crossbow men's eyes fixed on the beastkin—
Baren, head down, sprang up.
"Hup!"
"Huh?"
Stealthily closing the gap while prone had worked.
Baren was now within striking range of the jailer.
The kill happened in a flash.
Baren swung his shackled hands upward.
Crack!!
The jailer soared from the direct jaw hit.
His body hit the ceiling and crashed down.
"Guhk. Gughh."
"W-what the!"
The comrades gasped.
By the time they turned, it was over.
The jailer's body, crushed top and bottom, was beyond saving.
Limbs twisted grotesquely.
His shattered philtrum revealed milk-white cervical vertebrae.
"You pig bastard!"
"Rip him!"
The men belatedly pulled triggers.
Baren shielded his face with shackles and charged.
Beastkin-sized, they were hefty.
Enough to easily block crossbow bolts.
Ting!
Both bolts merely scratched the shackles and ricocheted.
The men drew swords, but the distance was gone.
"Gaaah!"
The men in Baren's path screamed.
Like a boulder charging.
Too late to dodge.
Boom—!
Baren's belly slammed them into the wall.
Crushing sensations brought silence.
"..."
That was it.
Baren slowly peeled away.
His coat front soaked in blood.
Two corpses with shattered bones slid down the wall.
He exhaled in relief.
"Phew... They were right. I'll adapt with time."
Apart from headaches, his strength was returning.
He had realized upon hearing he sent a human flying with one punch unconsciously.
The faint aura flickering over Baren's shoulders faded.
The miraculously manifested trace of aura let him rampage despite beastkin shackles and cuffs.
A mere fragment of his original power, but enough to escape peril.
The beastkin were frozen.
The plump human leaped—and in seconds, three Northwind thugs were dead.
"Y-you... What was that power...?"
The werewolf elder recovered first.
Instead of answering, Baren snatched the keyring from the jailer's hand.
Unlocking the beastkin's cage, he said,
"Mind freeing my cuffs? Can't reach."
"Y-yeah. Come here."
The elder did so.
Shackles and cuffs thudded to the floor.
Baren wiped brain matter from his face and smiled.
"Thanks. I recommend escaping, but to be safe, stay here? Locking up should buy time."
"We'll do that... What about you?"
He was a different man now.
Baren's sharpened eyes gleamed gold.
"Who knows. I'd love to clear out all this trash, but..."
Baren trailed off.
If his body were normal, he'd have swept them before this mess, but now wasn't ideal.
Approaching the door, he continued,
"First, rescue Professor Secret."
Baren Phanasir.
Duke of Brinhills, the Empire's great magnate.
Once the poachers' nightmare.
His decades of "exploration" included countless villain purges and hostage rescues.
Grabbing the doorknob, Baren recited his usual line.
"Don't worry. It'll all be fine."
Hoping his flabby flesh wouldn't hinder his ankles.