Bastet's Plan
Bastet's plan, to put it simply, could be summed up like this: twelve copies of "pathetic losers who got wrecked by a human." It sounded like a joke, but it was the truth.
To beastmen, humans were once enemies they had staked their entire species' fate against in war. But a hundred years later, they were nothing more than an endangered species to be protected and observed. To be dominated by such a human? And not just any human, but a slave? It would shatter their pride. Whether they died in the process or willingly put on a collar and dropped to their knees, the idea of being ruled by the very race they had driven to extinction would destroy them.
Their sense of self as beastmen would vanish. They would no longer be able to face their ancestors who had claimed victory over humanity. Instead, they would become nothing more than pets, panting and wagging their tails for their owners. Just like I had become for Bastet right now.
"First, let me give you a few warnings. I bought you to protect you, but to the other beastmen, I'm just the crazy Archmage who spent ten thousand gold on a slave for her experiments."
"I understand."
Bastet tugged on the choker around my neck, pulling the long wire-like leash attached to it.
"Then do you know how you should behave when other beastmen are around?"
"Other beastmen?"
"Yes. There will be times when I need to take you outside. In fact, if we're going to drag down the Twelve Kings, it'll be absolutely necessary. I have no intention of just leaving you locked up in the tower basement as a pure test subject."
So she wasn't planning to grind me to max level in the basement without anyone noticing and then unleash me on the world? I'd thought she was going to create some monster capable of tearing apart all Twelve Kings after years of training down here, but apparently not.
"That's why we need to get our story straight about how you'll act in front of other beastmen..."
"Should I kneel, bow my head, and kiss the tops of their feet?"
"...What?"
"Or should I lie on the floor, show my belly, and stick my arms and legs in the air?"
"...If you did that, they'd probably think you were insulting them and try to kill you."
"That's considered an insult?"
"Yes. Especially among beastmen who have lived over a hundred years. Their teeth may have fallen out and their claws grown dull, but their memories remain."
"Ah, I see."
The generation that had been oppressed by humans. Those who still carried the memories of being used as slaves deep in their bodies and souls. If they saw a human lying on the floor showing his belly, there were only two possible reactions. They would either laugh at him, or they would look into the eyes of the human doing it and project their own painful past onto him, becoming furious.
"You just need to stay still. I'll handle the rest in front of others. For now, let's start with the first practice."
Bastet pointed to the long empty space on the sofa beside her.
"Lie down here. And rest your head on my thigh."
"...Excuse me?"
"Then I'll stroke your head. Come on, hurry up."
"Understood."
At Bastet's urging, I obediently lay down and rested my head on her thigh. The view looking up was so overwhelmingly dominant that it was hard to speak, and I couldn't see Bastet's face.
"Guests don't usually come by, but if someone suddenly bursts in, we'll talk like this."
Bastet's hand kept stroking my head. It felt exactly like someone petting a dog or cat, so I couldn't exactly say it felt good.
Is this supposed to cancel out?
Even if the tactile sensation through my head took a hit to my human dignity, the visual and olfactory input were more than enough to blow away any discomfort.
"This might sound unpleasant, but to everyone else's eyes, you need to become the perfect pet human without a single shred of doubt. Can you do that?"
"I can, but how far should I go?"
"Hm?"
"I'm not an expert, but based on what I know about the temperament of human slaves, it would probably be one of three types."
I raised one hand and spread three fingers so Bastet could see.
"One. Resisting to the very end. Never acknowledging their owner as their owner and desperately struggling to regain their freedom no matter what."
"Wouldn't a slave like that end up covered in wounds?"
"It's just an example. I'm saying I have no intention of actually doing that."
I had zero desire to become a human covered in whip scars across my back.
"Two. Giving up completely and submitting. If someone pretends to stab you with a knife, you immediately play dead."
"That's not a bad idea, but there are probably people who would actually stab you for real if you did that."
"Understood. Then the third option."
Neither complete resistance nor complete submission would work. That left only one method.
"A human who pretends to submit on the surface while secretly plotting ways to rebel and resist. How about that?"
Outward compliance, inward defiance.
"That seems the most appropriate."
"...Heh."
Bastet grabbed my head and suddenly pulled my upper body upright.
"So that's what you've been thinking?"
"I'm saying I'll make the other beastmen think that's what I'm doing."
"And what about me?"
"I'm not the kind of ungrateful bastard who forgets kindness."
I looked Bastet in the eyes and placed her hand on my chest.
"Do I look like a human who would betray you in his heart?"
"...There's a saying. You can trace the veins of water flowing underground to their source, but you can never truly know the heart of a human."
I wanted to tell her that this heart wasn't lying, but it seemed she still didn't fully trust me.
"From the beginning, I never expected you to immediately cooperate with me to kill the Twelve Kings."
"I understand. The other human slaves... Ah."
I immediately noticed Bastet's eyes narrowing slightly.
"I'm not asking because I'm curious whether the other slaves are alive or what kind of environment they're in. I was just wondering how the others from my group would have acted if they were in my position."
"What do you think they would have done?"
"One of them would probably have done this."
I moved closer to Bastet, grabbed her shoulders, and pushed her backward onto the sofa.
Thud.
Bastet lay on the sofa without putting up any resistance. She simply looked up at me with an amused glint in her eyes.
"Like this."
I grabbed both of Bastet's wrists, leaned my upper body down, and then—
Lick.
I gently bit the white nape of her neck and ran my tongue across it.
Bastet's body twitched in surprise. I lifted my head and met her gaze.
"He would have repaid your kindness with enmity like this."
"By licking with your tongue?"
"More precisely, by biting with my teeth."
Humans don't call their teeth 'fangs.' But biting the benefactor who spent a fortune to buy you as a slave? That was the act of an animal.
"Let me ask you one thing. If one of the Twelve Kings is a female beastman, what kind of reaction do you think she'd have if someone did this to her?"
"......Hm?"
"And what if it went even further? What if I did something truly dangerous?"
I couldn't say it directly. But given our current position, Bastet wasn't dense enough to miss the implication.
"That would..."
Bastet closed her eyes for a moment in thought, then opened them again. Her eyes sparkled even brighter than before as she narrowed them and smiled.
"Wow... Just thinking about it makes my tail stand on end?"
Her eyes were flooded with dopamine. As if the mere fantasy of the Kings being pinned beneath their human slaves and reduced to nothing but females was thrilling, her breathing gradually grew heavier.
"To do something like that... you'd need to get stronger first, right?"
Slide.
The arms holding my wrists were forcibly lifted. Even as I tried to suppress her with force, the restraint broke in an instant—
Bang!
The moment I felt the world flip, our positions were instantly reversed.
"If you can't even defeat a single mage beastman who hasn't stolen any of the Twelve Kings' Symbols with raw power, how do you expect to defeat the Twelve Kings themselves by force? Don't you agree?"
"...Yes, that's true."
I had been overpowered by strength. As a male, if I said my pride wasn't hurt, I'd be lying. Which made it all the clearer.
I now knew exactly what I needed to do to the Twelve Kings who ruled this world.
"I'll learn and master anything. For your revenge. And for my own wish."
"Good. Oh, right. What is this wish of yours? If we succeed, I can grant you almost anything. Within reason, of course."
"To become strong enough that no one can kill me."
"...Not the restoration of humanity?"
"Even if humanity regains dominance over beastmen, it would only repeat the same history all over again."
If she thought my true wish was to 'make humanity great again,' she was sorely mistaken.
"Besides..."
"If I alone capture the Twelve Kings in a situation where other humans are completely useless, then it's my victory, not humanity's, right?"
"......."
It wouldn't be humanity's victory. It would be mine alone.
"And with your help, of course."
All of it made possible by Bastet's support.
"So what should I do?"
A short while later, following Bastet's guidance, I descended into a fairly spacious basement beneath her residence. It was like a small underground gymnasium. The space, roughly the size of a high school gym, was filled with all kinds of weapons.
"First, let me tell you one despairing piece of news. Your mana is absolutely terrible."
Bastet pointed at my heart and pulled something out from her pocket. I thought it was an item to increase my mana, but it turned out to be a pair of round glasses.
"That's why, starting today, you're going to continuously consume mana. Starting with water made from dissolved mana stones, you'll devour anything that contains mana."
"Will that increase the mana in my body?"
"To some extent. The efficiency will be terrible, though. If there's an elixir with 100 mana, getting even 10 of it to stay in your body would be considered a success."
It meant that to fight the Twelve Kings as a human, I would need far more mana than I had imagined.
"Mana is best accumulated from a young age. But your body... grew up in a place with almost no mana, so it's in bad shape."
"I see."
Those damn tribesmen. In a world where a cat beastman mage could overpower me with reinforcement magic without doing any strength training, how could they not know a single mana training method and just keep building muscle?
"But it's fine. If putting in 100 gets you 10, then putting in 1000 gets you 100, right?"
"......Pardon?"
"It's fine. I'm rich. Not rich enough to buy a castle, but if I keep earning, that is."
Bastet drew a circle with her finger.
"I'm not just a mage, I'm also an alchemist. The gold I used to buy you was earned from the magic workshop I run."
"So you're saying..."
"Yes. During the day I'll sell magic tools, and at night I'll help with your training."
She said it so casually, but spending ten thousand gold must have been an enormous financial burden, even if it wasn't her entire fortune.
"What exactly are these magic tools? Things like lamps that give off light?"
"Hm? Ah, just practical items."
"...I see."
Money would become my mana, and that mana would become my strength.
"Could I take a look at the magic tool shop sometime?"
"Of course. I was planning to use you as an employee anyway."
"Excuse me?"
"You."
Bastet pulled out an item.
"Just wear this."
"......."
It was a golden fleece.