Chapter 471: Beastkin Democracy(2)
Chapter 471: Beastkin Democracy(2)
CRASH!
"Where is that hyena?!"
The door to the Grand Chieftain’s office shattered and went flying, followed by a thunderous roar that filled the room.
It wasn't just a shout; it was the primal cry of a predator, the kind that made one's knees tremble.
Zinai and Balkan turned toward the source of the noise. Both looked startled, yet their expressions suggested they had expected this.
"Grrr...!"
A tiger bared its fierce fangs, its breath coming in ragged huffs. Zinai and Balkan stared at the beastkin who had just kicked his way in.
He had a face that looked as if a ferocious tiger had been grafted onto it and a massive frame standing two meters tall.
Unlike Zinai and Balkan, who at least wore clothes to maintain a semblance of civilization, his attire was closer to that of a barbarian.
He wore a necklace adorned with bones and armor that barely covered his vitals. To top it off, he wore short trunks.
To any observer, he looked like a savage, exuding the raw intensity of a rugged warrior.
"I figured you'd be the first to arrive. I suppose you wouldn't let something like this slide quietly. Have a seat over there for now."
Despite the incredibly rude intrusion, Zinai didn't lose her composure. On the contrary, she gestured toward a seat she had prepared in advance.
However, the tiger beastkin seemed even more infuriated by her brazen attitude, his face contorting further.
His tiger-like features were already intimidating enough, but now he looked truly demonic.
"Sit. That is an order from the Grand Chieftain."
When the tiger beastkin failed to sit despite Zinai's command, Balkan spoke up, his voice heavy and resonant.
At that, the tiger beastkin shifted his murderous glare toward Balkan.
Balkan met the gaze head-on, arms crossed, his face a mask of stoicism. Thus began a battle of wills between a lion and a tiger.
After a standoff that lasted about thirty seconds, it was the tiger beastkin who finally backed down.
"...Just how long do you intend to live as that woman's servant?"
He asked Balkan, his face full of utter incomprehension. Balkan replied in his characteristically deep voice.
"I simply wish to protect the nation our ancestors built."
"Hmph. Look at the great patriot."
With a biting sneer, the tiger beastkin slowly walked toward the seat Zinai had offered.
After sitting down, he glared at Zinai once more before snapping his head away, as if he couldn't stand the sight of her.
Regardless, Zinai curled her lips into a satisfied smirk and spoke in a taunting tone.
"Well, at least you showed up. I know you don't like me, but try to bear with it for a bit. Alright?"
"I'd like to take your head right this second. Would that be alright?"
"If you want to do that, go to the Northern Region above the Minerva Empire."
As everyone knew, the Northern Region of the Minerva Empire was where the Barbarians lived.
They were the tribes who had refused to join until the very end when the founding king, Hik, traveled the world to gather the scattered beastkin.
They had stayed behind under the pretext of preserving tradition, but now they were nothing more than savages.
However, being savages, they were faithful to the 'traditions' the tiger beastkin so preferred. That was why Zinai had said it.
"...I'll see how long you can keep that tongue wagging."
The tiger beastkin, Anuman Taigri, threatened Zinai in a chilling voice.
Even someone completely oblivious could tell just how much he loathed her.
"What's this? Why is the entrance like this? Was it always an open-concept office?"
"No doubt Anuman's handiwork."
"Hahaha. Just like the hot-blooded Taigri Clan."
Soon after, the other figures Zinai had invited began to gather one by one.
From bear beastkin, whose physical specs rivaled those of lions and tigers, to dogs, cats, rabbits, wolves, foxes, oxen, monkeys, and more.
The 'Chieftains' representing each clan gathered in the Grand Chieftain’s office according to Zinai's instructions.
"What? That stinking bastard came too?"
"A worthless insect who only knows how to talk actually showed up as a chieftain."
"What? You want to say that again?"
Naturally, the atmosphere was far from friendly. Scowling upon making eye contact was the baseline; some even traded threats.
There were those who shared mutual grudges, much like Anuman, who hated Zinai with a passion.
These were feuds that had lasted for generations, something even Zinai couldn't do much about. One could call it a tradition in its own right.
Regardless, once the chieftains she had invited were assembled, Zinai looked over them one by one.
Perhaps because Balkan—a figure of practical authority alongside the Grand Chieftain—was present, they didn't break out into open brawls, but an uncomfortable tension filled the air.
"I see all the familiar faces are here. You all know why I called you here, right?"
"If you're planning to introduce that ridiculous policy, I am absolutely against it."
As soon as Zinai spoke, Anuman, who had been wearing a look of pure discontent, cut in immediately.
Coming from a tiger beastkin—a race that had historically boasted power alongside lions and bears—his words drew everyone's attention.
His hostility toward Zinai was plain for all to see. His golden eyes flashed with an intensity that could make a normal person's knees buckle.
Yet Zinai didn't seem to care at all, replying with her signature sly expression.
"Could you tell me why? There must be a reason you're so blindly opposed to it."
"Do you even have to ask? Giving everyone the right to vote goes against the very principles of our nation's founding."
"Could you explain that in more detail? Why does giving everyone the right to vote, regardless of birth or status, contradict our founding principles?"
Perhaps irritated by her nonchalant tone, Anuman’s brow furrowed deeply. At the same time, a murderous aura began to creep out from him.
However, he couldn't show overt hostility. Balkan was standing guard right across from him.
Furthermore, unlike before, the other chieftains were present, making it difficult to raise his voice recklessly. Anuman suppressed his anger as much as possible before speaking.
"You should know how the Founding King established Animuz. King Hik gathered our scattered kin from all over to build this nation. But if he hadn't possessed strength, Animuz wouldn't even exist."
"And?"
"Strength was the decisive reason Animuz could be founded. Just as Hik established the state according to his own convictions, we too must act and move forward according to our own. To do that, strength is an absolute necessity."
"Then it'll be hard for the nation to develop, won't it?"
"But the individual—the beastkin race—can develop. The state may surround us, but our essence can never be hidden. Don't you know that as well? That the strength of each individual beastkin is our national power!"
If Isaac had heard this, he would have thought: Isn't that the exact ideology of the American 'Wild West' era?
In fact, if one looked closely at the history of Animuz's founding, it was remarkably similar to the United States on Earth.
Just as the US was born from immigrants gathering from Europe and all over the world, Animuz followed a similar process.
The only difference was that the US was originally a British colony. Also, Animuz was a country where a 'King' eventually emerged rather than a 'President.'
"Struggle! For us beastkin, struggle is inevitable. Hik defeated countless strong foes through struggle to found this nation. Even after Animuz was established, we beastkin never stopped struggling."
"And the result of that was the Holmgang incident with the former Grand Chieftain. The country was on the verge of splintering into pieces, and the Minerva Empire was just waiting for the chance to swallow us whole."
Zinai easily dismantled the logic of Anuman, who was more than just faithful to beastkin tradition—he was obsessed with it.
The incident involving the former Grand Chieftain, Holmgang, was a shocking catastrophe that had paralyzed all of Animuz.
It was an event that showed that the pillar that should never break could be uprooted, and that anyone could become 'King.'
The problem was that the process was based on 'martial force.' If you have the strength, anyone can become the king who rules the nation?
It was a crisis of unprecedented proportions where an other-world version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms almost broke out, only narrowly averted by Zinai's stabilization efforts.
"Isn't that actually better? War is the ultimate place for struggle. If the nation is founded once more as Hik did, we beastkin will be stronger than before. It's easy to see if you compare it to the past when we were helplessly slaughtered by humans during the Race War."
"..."
Zinai let out a short, incredulous laugh, seemingly at a loss for words. But what was even more absurd was that many beastkin were listening intently to Anuman's words.
In fact, there were quite a few who sympathized with his ideology. As he said, struggle was an inescapable part of a beastkin's life.
The reality was that even now, struggles were happening everywhere; they were simply confined within the massive cage called civilization.
"But if you give everyone the right to vote, they won't struggle. Why? Because they get it even if they do nothing. Then we will naturally grow weak and lose the ideology passed down from our ancestors. Is democracy a system worth having if we have to give all that up?"
"Do you only feel satisfied if you're fighting?"
"I am simply being faithful to the beastkin race. Struggle doesn't solve everything, but it is something that must never be lost."
The reason Anuman rejected democracy was very simple. It wasn't something earned through 'struggle'; the right to vote was given even if one did nothing.
It was a type of discrimination often mentioned by those skeptical of democracy. Is it truly fair to give a skilled mage and an ordinary person the same vote?
Beastkin, in particular, were beings with greater innate martial power than other races. The law of the jungle was deeply rooted and revered under the guise of culture and tradition.
"Chieftain Anuman is right. Why should we give the right to vote to those who just sit around?"
"There's nothing to give to those who do nothing."
"Even Caind from the Xenon Biography at least used his head well."
Because of this, the chieftains who sympathized with his ideology began to speak up one by one. Zinai waited patiently until they had all finished.
This was the problem with beastkin. They held onto ideologies that other races would consider barbaric deep in their hearts.
If it hadn't been for Hik, the beastkin might have been wiped out during the Race War or absorbed into other nations.
Or they would have continued living as savages until the end, like those in the northern regions of the Minerva Empire.
It's not that they're stupid; it's that they refuse to use their brains. It's driving me crazy.
Their bodies were so well-developed that they simply didn't use their heads. They found it bothersome to think about things that required only a little bit of reflection.
Just as Zinai was about to speak with a look of pathetic disappointment, one of the chieftains who had been silent until now spoke up quietly.
"I support the Grand Chieftain's system."
The voice wasn't heavy like Balkan's, nor was it loud like Anuman's, but it had a strange resonance.
The deep, cavernous bass echoed throughout the office. At the same time, the murmuring chieftains all turned their attention toward him.
The beastkin who had spoken in that cavernous voice was none other than a member of the Bear Clan. A bear beastkin.
His round bear face gave off a gentle impression, but his physique was overwhelmingly larger than the other beastkin, giving him a different kind of intimidating presence.
"You support democracy? What on earth are you thinking? I can't understand it, especially coming from you, a member of the Bear Clan."
Anuman sounded genuinely taken aback, his eyes wide with surprise.
In response, the bear beastkin, Canoe Bear Grylls, spoke in his deep, resonant voice.
"As Chieftain Anuman said, struggle is inseparable from us beastkin. Hik also unified the scattered beastkin through struggle to found Animuz."
"..."
"But that is a misconception. Hik certainly brought tribes in through Holmgang, but they were very few. He created a massive shield called a 'nation' so that other civilizations could never again oppress or massacre the beastkin. Even Hik used struggle as a means, meaning it is not a necessity. How long must we live as savages? Is there a safe future for our children in that?"
It was fine to insist on culture and tradition. But was there a safe future in it?
The beastkin carried an unhealable wound: the massacres committed by humans during the Race War.
It was a slaughter that had even been granted a sense of legitimacy because humans had suffered all sorts of atrocities, including looting, from the beastkin prior to their alliance.
It was a clear precedent showing that savagery cannot defeat civilization, and it was the decisive reason Hik had founded Animuz.
"I also agree with Chieftain Canoe. It's good to respect tradition and culture, but we must distance ourselves from savagery."
"It's a relief Grand Chieftain Zinai settled things, otherwise not just us, but our children would have been caught up in a war."
"Struggle should be a means, not a necessity. We can't keep determining superiority through strength alone forever."
"The election system might not be 'fair' in terms of merit, but it is 'equal' to everyone. On the other hand, the struggle Chieftain Anuman speaks of is neither fair nor equal."
The number of chieftains agreeing with Canoe was significant. While most of those following Anuman's words were merely following the crowd, Canoe's supporters were logical.
Of course, that didn't mean Anuman would back down easily. He continued to express his opinion in the name of culture and tradition.
"We have gained many things through this strength! I cannot understand giving that up!"
"Instead, we can gain more than what we get through strength. Look at the Grand Chieftain right now. She has a devious mind instead of strength, and look what happened when she used it for the country."
"Hey. Did you have to say 'devious'?"
Zinai was a bit miffed by the backhanded compliment, but she let it slide. Regardless, the debate continued back and forth.
However, the opinions siding with Canoe rather than Anuman began to grow in number.
As Zinai had said, it wasn't that they couldn't use their heads; many simply chose not to. Furthermore, those gathered here were chieftains.
It meant that at the very least, there were those among them who were enlightened. Thanks to that, accepting democracy itself wasn't difficult.
The problem was...
"Fine. That damn democracy. Let me ask one thing then."
"Ask anything."
"If someone you hate is elected as Grand Chieftain, can you keep your mouth shut?"
"..."
"And I'll ask the other chieftains as well."
Anuman looked at the other chieftains as he spoke. The chieftains, each with their distinct appearances, stared back at him.
"We beastkin have too many different races compared to others. And our cultures, traditions, and even our instincts are different."
It was a common strength and weakness shared with America.
"With so many different races gathered together, do you really think this can be solved with a vote?"
It was a melting pot of races.