Chapter 481: You Fucking Racist
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 481: You Fucking Racist
Beastkin.
Humans who have inherited the traits of beasts.
The type of beast varies from person to person, but it is a well-known fact that most are of the livestock variety, those familiar to humans.
It is also a well-known fact that the treatment of these beastkin differs according to the purpose of said livestock.
Dog beastkin. Sheep beastkin. Cow beastkin. Horse beastkin. Pig beastkin.
While many other types exist, these five are the ones who have formed societies within the human world. Their numbers are by no means small, and they are already so deeply embedded in society that they cannot be uprooted by force. Trying to forcibly separate them would leave a great wound, like pulling out a hair embedded deep in the skin.
…However.
“King of Humans. There's something I want to ask before we go.”
I need to confirm this beforehand. My plans will change depending on the King of Humans' attitude toward beastkin.
Faced with the problem, the Regressor briefly recalled the past.
A future that had not yet come. In a world remembered by the Regressor alone, humans and beastkin were embroiled in a great conflict. It was meaningless to argue over who started it; the differences inherent from birth gradually created a rift between human and beastkin.
Of course, most conflicts can be suppressed by force. Who cares if you get a few scars from tearing something away? As long as they're not my scars.
Humans reacted as they always did. That is, they suppressed them with brute force. Blood flowed, and the cries of beasts gradually faded.
The problem was, the King of Sins began to stir around that time.
Combined with the matter of the Beast King, it was the catalyst that made the Sin snowball… A situation where you'd get blood on your blade no matter whose side you took…
Ending her recollection with a shudder of her clenched fist, the Regressor exuded a crackling killing intent as she asked me, “Do you treat beastkin as humans?”
“What? Shei, what on earth are you talking about?”
To that question, I gave a very common-sense answer.
“‘Treat beastkin as humans?’ You say that as if beastkin are something other than human. Wow, I never knew you were that kind of person.”
“What?”
“Before you even get into them being a mixed race or whatever, beastkin are still people. That says it all. And here you were, talking about saving the world and stopping the King of Sins, but you’re a racist yourself, Shei.”
“That's not true! I believe beastkin are humans, equal to us!”
“I don't even think about it. It's like how I don't look at you and think, ‘Wow, a non-beastkin, non-vampire, non-mage Qi Practitioner.’”
It's completely absurd, but the moment you become conscious of it, you lose. If you say there's a difference, you're a racist. If you say they're equal, you're a hypocrite.
So, the King of Humans treats beastkin as fellow humans… Tsk. I thought he'd be more ruthless, being a barbarian and all, but he's surprisingly just. It would've been easier to handle him if he were more savage…
What does she take humans for? No, what does she take beasts for? Beasts are simple. We only attack those weaker than us, when we're hungry, and when the conditions are right. We're not like humans, who bite and tear at each other just for being a little different.
“Since you don't seem to get it, let me explain. The word in front is the modifier; the word in back is the essence. Cow's milk and horse's milk might be different, but in the end, they're both milk. It's the same with beastkin. A cow beastkin and a horse beastkin might be different, but they're both human.”
“Of all the analogies, why did you have to pick milk?!”
“They have one thing in common: they're all animals that produce milk. Chickens and ducks are livestock too, so why do you think there are so few of their beastkin?”
There's even the classification of 'mammal'. It was a dose of reality, but the Regressor wore a sullen, displeased expression.
“So, why did you ask?”
“Because the place we're going to is a city where humans and beastkin coexist, and at the same time, clash.”
“Where is it?”
“The frontier of the Enger Plains. A city on the border between farmland and the wild plains.”
The Enger Plains were in the heart of the continent, even farther west than the Military State. A historic land that had forged an empire's supremacy.
From among its territories, the name of a city on the edge of civilization came from the Regressor's lips.
“We're going to Ende.”
Ende, a city in the Enger Plains. The border between savagery and civilization. Above it, the empire that conquered the continent and its vassal states stood firm; below it, the untamed lands untouched by civilization stretched out. As the frontline between savagery and civilization, it was the perfect place for conflict between humans and beastkin to erupt.
“What exactly do we have to do there for you to give us a clue about the Divine?”
“The details might change a little, but the basic gist is simple.”
The Regressor pointed a finger at me and then at Azzy.
“You, and Azzy. The two of you will gather hunters and mercenaries in Ende and hunt the wolf pack that roams the Enger Plains. I'll help too, of course.”
Azzy and I tilted our heads in unison.
A wolf pack? For an ordinary human like me, a wolf pack was certainly a threatening foe. But for Azzy, fending off wolves was like a morning workout. It wasn't something the Regressor needed to make a big deal about.
From the way she said it, it had to be…
“The Wolf King.”
“That's right. They're a pack of beasts so powerful that rather than trying to subjugate them, the city has to worry about its own survival. It's a good thing wolves are just beasts. If they got organized and attacked Ende, the city would have been destroyed long ago.”
The city would be destroyed? The Regressor didn't make empty boasts, no matter how outlandish her claims sounded. Did that mean the Wolf King possessed such immense power? A mere beast?
Hmm. Maybe I was too quick to promise I'd keep my word. As I pondered, a worry surfaced.
“Wait a minute. You're saying if the wolf pack got organized and attacked Ende, the city would be destroyed?”
“Yes.”
“And you want me and Azzy to go to Ende?”
“Yes.”
Long ago, a promise was made that if they fought the big bad wolf together, the dog would be man's friend for all time. At a glance, it sounds like a matter between humans and dogs, but there was a third party involved in that promise.
The wolf. The fierce, evil beast that always tormented dogs and humans. The villain, but a necessary one for the promise to exist.
Just as Azzy, the Dog King, sought the King of Humans to fulfill the promise, the Wolf King also sought the Dog King. To tear his traitorous sibling to shreds and break the promise.
“The Wolf King will come for Azzy. Doesn't that mean… Ende will be attacked by the wolf pack?”
“Perhaps. But that would be preferable.”
The Regressor shrugged.
“It's better than the beastkin starting a rebellion from within and crowning the Wolf King as their new ruler, isn't it?”
*
Where is the boundary between civilization and savagery? A philosopher might chew on it a few times as an interesting topic over drinks, but any other scholar would point to the Enger Plains.
To be precise, it's because of a single peak south of the Enger Plains that civilization has never been able to overcome. But fear and shame prevent them from daring to speak its name.
Fear, because of the being that resides there.
Shame, because of the human pride that was shattered after countless failed challenges against it.
A place they couldn't even name, simply calling it the Mountain of San'gun.
“Once upon a time. Since the days when We still smoked a pipe.”
A dark night. In the pitch-blackness that had descended upon the mountain, the chirping of insects and the rustling of small animals should have filled the air.
But now, the place was silent, without the slightest noise.
Prey and predator alike lowered their heads and trembled. Even the clueless insects held their breath, and the free-flying birds bound themselves.
On this mountain, at this moment, no one could make a sound. No one could move so much as an inch. They could only hold their breath and wait for this moment to pass.
This was the court of San'gun. Let the beasts of the mountain show their fear.
“Your wolf pack has always been the lackeys of humans, hmph. Sniffing out things for the dull humans, barking loudly to distract them.”
She wore a gat [traditional Korean hat] on her head and a loose, wide dopo [traditional overcoat]. Black stripes grew like whiskers next to her cheeks. Her voluminous orange fur was marked with majestic black stripes. With a voice that rumbled like thunder and paws that could shake the earth, she lay upon a great rock.
The King of Tigers, San'gun.
The apex of the terrestrial world.
Her ears, twitching slightly in a show of displeasure, were aimed at the uninvited guest before her.
“So with what gall do you come here, insisting we tear into the humans together?”
Before San'gun, several human-shaped figures stood with their heads held high.
San'gun was an object of both fear and worship to humans. Though it was some time ago, they once called the tiger the king of the mountains and performed rites in its honor. Back when the southern barbarian nation of Manguo still existed, the San'gun Rite was a grand event presided over by the king himself.
For a mere human to dare look San'gun in the eye. She should have torn his throat out on the spot… but because of the being standing before them, San'gun, though displeased, maintained her courtesy.
For the one before her was also a king.
“Because you are not prepared to fight!”
The Wolf King bared his teeth, even before the tiger. His bloodshot eyes and bared fangs showed neither respect nor fear. Possessing only savagery, the Wolf King pressed San'gun.
“Awooo! I am a wolf, not a dog! I am different from that traitor, and different from a coward like you!”
“Hmph, a coward? You call Us a coward?!”
“Grr! You're just looking for a reason not to fight!”
Even facing the tiger's fury, the Wolf King did not back down an inch as he shouted.
“Tiger! Are you fear? Are you savagery? Or are you just a cat that rolls over and shows its belly to humans? Is lording over a single mountain the extent of your duty as a tiger?!”
The tiger called San'gun was a beast as well. Her job was to roam the valleys and peaks, to reign as the master of the mountain.
No, she had never even considered doing anything else. What more could San'gun possibly do besides reign over the mountain? The baffled San'gun roared.
“Grrr! Then what more must We do, besides reign?”
“Fight!”
In contrast, the wolf shouted as if proclaiming a sacred mission.
“Bite! Tear! Rip! Devour! Your claws are for ripping, and your fangs are for tearing! Tiger! The humans are gradually expanding their territory! How long will you hide like a coward?!”
“We have never hidden! This mountain is Our land! How is reigning over it hiding?!”
“Awooo! That's why you end up being hunted by humans!”
Thunder cracked in the clear sky.
The enraged San'gun's roar shook the trees and rattled the earth. Several of the beastkin struck directly by the roar fainted where they stood. Though uncounted, some of the poor creatures living on the mountain likely died just from hearing that cry.
But the wolf saw nothing. With a savagery that had devoured even fear, he stared straight at the tiger.
A wolf may be strong, but not as strong as a tiger. The Wolf King was committing an act tantamount to suicide. San'gun took a deep breath and cast a pitying gaze upon the mad Beast King.
“…Wolf. Do you seek to become savagery itself? To become nothing but sharp claws and pointed fangs?”
Perhaps because San'gun's intensity had subsided, the Wolf King also calmed down a little and spoke.
“Awoo. I don't know. But I have savagery. I have sharp claws and pointed fangs. And I have something that must be torn apart with them.”
“Your other half?”
“My opposite.”
All beasts possess wisdom. Beasts, too, feel shame and vengeance; they have the discernment to avoid a fight they can win and the resolve to throw themselves into one they cannot.
The long-lived tiger also possessed sufficient wisdom. She didn't know the exact problem the wolf before her was facing, but she knew what had caused it.
“Hmph. We do not know what the humans did to you. But…”
It is difficult to feel anger toward one who is missing something. San'gun began chewing on a silver vine again and muttered.
“Should the day come when We must unleash Our savagery, We shall commit it to your cause. That is a ‘promise’.”
San'gun was undoubtedly an apex predator. On the ground where her feet stood, there was likely no individual stronger than her.
But she was not the strongest.
Humans were, by name and by right, the dominant species of the land, while the tiger merely reigned as the master of the mountain. Though the number of humans killed by tigers was far greater than the number of tigers hunted, it was a trivial figure compared to the total human population. In fact, tigers were being pushed back by humans, gradually losing their ground.
The only existence that could be called an 'enemy' to the tiger was the human. A being that must always be watched.
And so, the tiger promised the wolf.
If a fight with humans were to occur, she would stand on the wolf's side and fight with him.
With the promise made, their business was concluded. The Wolf King immediately turned his back and said, “Awooo. It will be soon.”
That was the end of their farewell. The Wolf King strode down from San'gun's court. He should have been pleased to have achieved his goal, but the wolf's tail remained curled high.