Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: A Story That's Not Particularly Tragic
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"My mom's a beastkin, my dad's human."
"...Hmm."
"Pretty unusual combo, right?"
"A little...?"
A beastkin and a human... getting together as a couple...
Given Ulpi's age, humans must have had intense hatred for beastkin back then.
And outside might be one thing... but where Ulpi lived was literal hell for beastkin...
"They didn't actually get married."
"...Ah, um."
A dog beastkin woman with an oddly high affinity for humans had two beastkin kids with a human man here.
But they weren't married. That's already making my head spin.
It's never good to speculate on someone else's family matters, but the images popping into my head aren't exactly wholesome.
No, was a positive scenario even possible to begin with?
Even if Ulpi's dad had no ill will toward beastkin... there's still plenty of room for things to go south.
And this is only my third time meeting Ulpi... but it's clear she doesn't live with her parents.
Is Ulpi old enough to have gone independent? She's not even an adult. It's iffy outside, let alone in this dangerous place?
Putting aside everything else, it doesn't make sense that she's responsible for an even younger sibling all by herself.
So... I braced myself a bit, preparing to control my expression.
Ready for whatever came out of Ulpi's mouth—no change in my face, no emotional reaction.
"Wh-what was it... Mom got Dad super drunk, I think."
"?"
"But he resisted, so she forced herself on him with brute strength."
"What?"
"Why?"
"What you're saying right now is completely off from what I was thinking..."
Straight to the point?
Yeah, that could happen. Refreshingly direct. I don't hate that type. I just need a moment to adjust to the sudden topic.
But even so, starting with the alcohol and forcing it... isn't that spoiling the climax right away?
And on top of that, the direction I imagined was dead wrong.
What? Even though I tried not to, did I still harbor prejudices against beastkin in my head?
I figured whatever a human might do to a beastkin, but didn't expect a beastkin doing it to a human?
"Did you maybe think our dad was the type to hit our mom or something?"
"...Yeah, sorry, but that thought did cross my mind."
"Aha."
"No bad intentions, really. I've seen how humans treat beastkin around here."
"Like when I got hit last time?"
"Yeah... that, and more."
"Yeah, I get it. But our parents weren't like that."
"Good for them."
"Even I'd hate humans if that happened."
"..."
I see. Ulpi would hate humans too if that were the case.
...But judging by what you've been through so far, it kinda seems like you do hate them a bit.
Whatever. If it turned out okay, that's what matters.
"Our dad... he wasn't a great person, but not a bad one either. At least way better than other humans."
"What... can you describe what he was like?"
"The humans here especially hate beastkin. ...Actually, less hate, more look down on and exploit us."
"Yeah."
The real hatred... honestly feels more like outside. Things have gotten better lately, thankfully.
The humans inside don't really seem to despise beastkin that much.
They're just true scumbags. Using poor impressions of beastkin to enslave them.
"But our dad wasn't like that. No idea about his circumstances, but he must've had a rough life. He hated humans more than beastkin."
"Ah."
"So maybe he had a decent view of beastkin because of that?"
"Makes sense. The people in here probably didn't just target beastkin. They must've exploited humans too when it suited them."
"Yeah. Whatever he did, his health was really bad."
"I could tell. ...Hey, wait a sec?"
"?"
Suddenly a thought popped into my head.
"Was he maybe not human, but an elf?"
Fits the tough world and poor health, right?
"Nah. Ears were short, and he wasn't that strikingly good-looking."
"Oh, okay... But is it okay to talk about him like that...?"
It's your dad, Ulpi.
Ulpi's face was nonchalant, like it was no big deal.
"Can't lie about it. Doesn't matter anyway. Me and Lapi take after Mom."
"Makes sense, since you're both beastkin."
Your mom was beastkin, right? Natural you'd inherit her looks as beastkin too.
Or maybe not, could be coincidence. No big deal, I don't know genetics anyway.
For reference, human-beastkin offspring have a 50% chance of being one or the other. No half-beastkin exist.
"And Mom had a tough life like other beastkin. Then she happened to meet Dad."
"Mm."
"Fell in love. So she got him drunk right away."
"? Wait, what about the stuff in between?"
"There was none?"
"??"
"She just fell in love instantly and went for it."
"Why? How? What's lovable about this place?"
Should I have played more romance visual novels? Would I get it then?
...No, even VNs would get flak from devs for lazy writing like that.
"Heard it was because he didn't hate beastkin."
"...Ah."
'You're the first to treat me like this.' Something like that, huh...
"But even if she fell in love, didn't she need some buildup...?"
"Dunno. Mom was like, 'I'm having him no matter what.'"
"Ooh..."
"Then in the morning, she told Dad that he came onto her while drunk."
"Uh, um..."
"Pretended to cry and demanded he take responsibility. Dad just went along with it."
"Is that how it really went...?"
"Why not? Mom told me herself. If she lied, I wouldn't know."
Ulpi puffed her cheeks a bit and gave me a prim look.
I had no intention of doubting Ulpi or scolding her.
But telling that to your kid... seriously messing with my head in all sorts of ways.
"More than that... isn't it kinda morally iffy?"
"Is it? But Dad didn't leave, so maybe it's fine?"
"No, is that all it takes...?"
"Yeah. He could've left no problem. Maybe that's why he stayed?"
"...Could be his heart wavered a bit. Either way, you shouldn't manipulate someone's feelings."
"Nah, Dad wasn't bad, and I like him, but he wasn't that great a guy."
"..."
Ulpi said it firmly again. One thing's clear: she doesn't have strong attachment to her parents.
Whatever... what the hell kind of neighborhood is this... My head's seriously spinning.
Ulpi let out a sigh before continuing.
Like she was gathering her breath for something important.
Her eyes deepened, shifting from the detached expression she'd had while recounting potentially awkward facts.
As if she had something crucial to say.
"And there wasn't much responsibility involved. Mom just asked him not to leave her side. And not to hate me, since I was on the way. That was it."
"Mm..."
"Dad had no money anyway, just debts. Seems like she just craved love."
"Kinda gets the situation now."
"Sadly, she never got it. Yeah..."
"..."
"I don't really like Mom much. She abandoned us and left."
"I see."
Ulpi's expression darkened a little.
Not wronged, exactly... more like hurt.
"They decided to live together anyway. Not married, so not officially a couple, but they were our parents."
Ulpi continued.
"I was born, and a few years later, despite their rocky relationship not being too bad, Lapi came along."
"..."
"Living together must've improved things a bit. She bragged they didn't need much alcohol this time."
Not really something to brag about, Ulpi grumbled.
"But she still never heard 'I love you' from him."
"..."
"Then... a few more years later... Dad passed away. Nothing special, just his health finally gave out."
"...That's rough."
"Yeah, sad stuff. But I have no real memories with Dad, so it didn't hit me as hard."
"That can happen. Nothing weird about it."
"Thanks for saying that."
Though your droopy tail says it affected you some.
"Lapi was too young to understand. She was just anxious. I was just watching Mom."
"..."
"Mom didn't cry, face wasn't mournful..."
"..."
"But her eyes... they were really scary..."
"..."
"Then... like I said earlier, she left us behind."
After that, those people came to us alone and demanded we pay back our parents' debts with a ton of money.
We ran around dodging them... but it was hopeless, so we settled here and did whatever they demanded.
"That's my story. Nothing special."
No tales of child abuse or anything tragic like that.
Neither of them... I don't know if they were good people, but they weren't bad to me.
No bad memories from back then, so I'm not hung up on negativity now.
Then Dad died, Mom left, and we got tormented by other humans.
That's when my sister started hating humans.
But yeah, we're dog beastkin. Puppies.
Makes it hard to truly resent or hate from the heart.
And me... honestly, I didn't even feel like hating.
Just that one thought. About Mom.
I resented her a bit for leaving, but more than that, I pitied her.
Mom spent her whole life craving love from Dad, but never heard it.
Made me wonder. What even is "I love you" that she'd crave it so?
What does human affection mean to a dog beastkin?
Or what does "I love you" mean from a woman to a man?
"Ulpi still doesn't know either."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. But it made me curious. That's why I don't hate humans much."
"Why?"
"Resenting's not easy, and more than that, I wanted to meet someone who wouldn't hate me, like Mom did someday."
"Aha."
"And for me, that's like big bro. What do you think?"
"...A bit different?"
"Does big bro hate Ulpi?"
"No. But affection's... more complicated than that."
"Hmm... tricky."
Anyway, I'd heard all of Ulpi's past.
So now it was time for me to get straight to the point for her sake, no beating around the bush.
"Huh? What to do about those people?"
"Yeah, I think your thoughts matter most."
"It depends on what Ulpi thinks?"
"Yeah, a lot."
"Oho."
The bulletin board was currently ablaze, people getting more extreme.
Consequently, the place that tormented Ulpi was on the verge of collapse.
Still, the person's own opinion matters most here.
"Hmm... well then."
"Yeah."
"Ulpi—"