Conditions of the Alliance
Climbing the mountain itself was simpler than I'd expected. There were plenty of gentle slopes, and even accounting for the winding path, the speed wasn't much different from sprinting across a plain. Which also meant we'd been moving way too slowly across the plains all this time.
It took a while, though.
"Ughhh…."
My body wasn't tired at all, but my face was twisting up anyway. The Deer Elder walking beside me didn't look much better.
And the reason we both had these sour expressions? One beastkin right in front of us.
"So I looked him straight in the eye and said, 'Ludwig, I propose an alliance.' And he was so impressed—"
Since coming down from the mountain, the Bear Elder hadn't shut up for a single second, repeating his negotiation tale over and over. He was belting it out in this booming voice I'd never heard before, like he was reciting some epic legend.
"Uwaaak! Please, just stop!"
Four hours of the same story was driving me to the brink of a nervous breakdown. And it was mutating subtly with each retelling. At first, he'd said the border lord proposed the alliance, but now it was all him. This was the seventh variation already. It had strayed so far from the original that it was basically fanfiction now. Next version, he'd probably claim they threw punches or something.
"Deer Elder. Please, do something. The Bear Elder's gone nuts, repeating this nonsense nonstop."
"Sorry, Ursa…. Just bear with it and listen. He did pull off something big, after all…."
Even the Deer Elder I trusted was throwing in the towel. In the end, I endured up to the Bear Elder's fifteenth variation as we crested the mountain.
As the elders had said, the mountaintop was a broad plateau. Not perfectly flat like the plains, but at this altitude, the terrain was astonishingly gentle.
"Whoa~ It's huge!"
How high had we climbed? Looking back down the path we'd taken, the ochre hills where we'd fought were a dizzying distance below. The hills that had loomed large up close now looked like mere pimples on the earth. Tribe members trickled up one by one, spreading out across the plateau. Everyone's faces were bright. Was this view new to them too?
"Ah…!"
A wolf beastkin looking around reddened at the eyes.
"This place… it looks just like home. I miss it…."
Home. That single word dyed the adults' faces with nostalgia in an instant. But the kids and young beastkin couldn't share it. We didn't know the old beastkin lands.
"Our old territory was a plateau like this too. Canyons and waterfalls, grasslands… Warriors raised overlooking it all were tough. Until the invaders came…."
I scanned the surroundings. Autumn clouds drifted close enough to touch under the sky, and peering down revealed every path we'd traveled. The plains stretched endlessly below. Maybe that's why they called it the West Mystery—sheer scale.
"Alright, everyone, snap out of it. Let's scout the area first. This place is our home from now on."
At the Deer Elder's command, people scattered. Seizing the gap, I bolted to the far opposite edge of the plateau.
Thud thud thud—
I swear it was the fastest I'd ever run in this life. With my innate beastkin leg strength, I crossed the vast expanse in one go.
"Hah… hah…."
I finally reached the plateau's edge after a long sprint. Glancing back, the tribe looked like scattered dots. I knew I'd get scolded for going too far alone, but there was something I had to see for myself. Catching my breath, I peered over.
"Ah…!"
A village—no, a city sprawled below. The first thing that caught my eye was the pristine white castle at the center. Even from afar, it exuded overwhelming presence, its multiple spires piercing the sky. For a mere border lord's castle, it was far too grand. I could've believed it was a royal palace.
Gray stone walls encircled it solidly, surrounded by dozens, hundreds of tightly packed houses. Orange-tiled roofs curved along the walls in a ring.
"That's… the Empire."
Undeniable civilization. Better than I'd hoped. When I first heard "Empire," I'd been thrilled, imagining all sorts. But as time passed and reason kicked in, I'd tempered expectations—probably medieval-level at best. Wrong. If the boonies looked like this, the capital was unimaginable.
I wanted to see it. Civilization in a world of magic, sorcery, magic stones. What lay at its peak? Wizards on broomsticks zipping through the city? Magic-stone boilers spinning turbines? Could humans craft spectacles transcending the plains' wonders?
The stone pendant at my throat trembled faintly. The one that had captured a star. If I drew out the star inside, could I wield magic too? If I became a mage, how would the Empire see me?
Lost in thought, I jolted at the voice behind me.
"You've come quite far."
I whipped around. The Bear Elder stood right there. When did he sneak up? No footsteps from that bulk.
"…When'd you get here?"
"What do you think of it?"
"…Hard to believe that's just the border."
The Bear Elder gazed down at the city too.
"Don't hold too many illusions. Even in the Empire, that's a special place. Not every territory's like that."
Then he scooped me up and tucked me under his arm.
"Now, let's head back."
"Eek! Don't treat me like a kid!"
"We've found a spot to settle. Better go before sunset."
A campsite was already forming where he pointed.
"It's a bit far. I'll walk. Put me down."
"Hold tight."
"No, Bear Elder, you're terrible at running. It'll be faster if I—"
"One step."
—Whoooosh.
A bizarre stretching sensation warped my vision. One blink later, we were at the campsite. He set down my slack-jawed self.
"Let's pitch tents and eat."
"Wait!!! What was that just now?!"
I grabbed his retreating hem and demanded answers.
"What? Just now? Teleport? H-how?!"
Thinking back, it didn't add up. We'd climbed at dawn, allied with the border lord before lunch? Distance-wise, impossible. His brazen bragging had blinded me to the holes. But teleportation made it feasible.
Holy crap. He could do this?!
"Not teleportation. Folding steps."
Folding steps? Closer to the Shrink Ground technique than instant travel, then. How?
"A simple principle. An old enlightenment let me do it."
"C-can I learn it too? Teach me!"
I pictured myself zipping between Empire and mountain in flashes. 'So damn cool.'
Too bad, it wasn't teachable.
"Enlightenment can't be taught. Everyone walks their own path, so find your principle on yours."
Bummer. But not impossible. Someday, maybe?
Deep in the forest at the base of a distant mountain from the plateau. In a shadowy spot untouched even by humans stood a ramshackle wooden hut. Inside, a dozen rough men gathered.
Bandits.
"That for real? Skinny, you drunk and seeing ghosts?"
"Boss, for real! Beastkin. Beastkin! Ones with tails!"
The man dubbed Skinny protested indignantly.
"Boss! Believe me. This is a huge score!"
The bandit boss rubbed his chin at Skinny's plea.
"Hundreds of beastkin, really?"
"Yes! They hauled wagons up the mountain in a group!"
Skinny's eyes burned with certainty. No booze on his breath—he seemed sober.
"…."
The boss pondered. Beastmen, vanished after the Empire's savage decree. Their rarity jacked slave prices on the black market. One catch could net hundreds of gold—too tempting to ignore.
"Fine, Skinny. I'll buy it."
"Yes! Thanks, boss!"
"Big bro. How we hunting?"
"Hm…."
He calculated. Were we the only ones who spotted them? If other bandit dens saw, it'd be a race. Then….
"Tubby."
"Yes, boss."
We couldn't take them all anyway. Infighting might let them all slip. Avoid the worst case.
"Contact the other dens."
"…All of them?"
"Yeah."
Beastkin strong? Still savages. Everyone here were once Empire big shots, fled this far. United, they'd fold. No escapes.
"We go all in. All in."
Nail this, and we ditch this savage hellhole for the underworld again. Beastkin, clueless we're here, climbing away. Helpless prey.
"Heh heh. Dumb beasts. Become slaves none the wiser."
—Muahaha.
Unpleasant laughter echoed through the bandit den.
"Bear Elder."
I asked him while he inspected weapons. Houses to build, tons ahead—why weapons?
"What is it?"
"We're allied with the Empire now, right?"
"Precisely, with the border lord."
Splitting hairs!
"Anyway, what were the terms?"
Alliances aren't one-sided. Something given, something taken. He wants something from us.
"A truly simple condition."
"What?"
He swung his sword. Air whistled.
"He said this mountain has humans who fled imperial crimes, besides us."
"Yeah."
"Kill them all."
"…Whoa."
Alliance for murder. Isn't that… inciting homicide?