Chapter 487: To Rule, But Not to Reign
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 487: To Rule, But Not to Reign
Beastkin were born slaves to humans. Though the advent of the furred Saintess had abolished beastkin slavery, life couldn't change overnight. The practice continued, merely under a different name.
To be blunt, I’d benefited from it myself. The delivery system. I paid for it with money, of course, but using horse beastkin as couriers was a time-honored tradition.
In any case, while many things had changed over time, the most notable transformation was that of the dog beastkin.
Even in the age of slavery, dog beastkin had been popular. Loyal, friendly, useful, and cute. Any well-to-do household considered it standard to own at least one or two.
Even after slavery was abolished, the demand for dog beastkin remained high in various roles: butlers, guards, attendants, handymen, and so on. Though their titles and roles changed, they always remained closest to humans.
It seemed the same was true in Ende, the city of beastkin.
A neatly dressed human burst in, accompanied by a dog beastkin attendant. His appearance was clearly not a welcome one. Most of the beastkin elders present showed expressions of dismay.
“Lord Erectus. We are in the middle of a meeting. We sent official notice to all public figures in Obeli.”
“I don’t read that stuff. There are more important things, aren’t there? Does sending a notice give you the right to bark so loudly? In this solemn city of Obeli!”
Obeli was a city built by the first humans to settle this land. The descendants of those pioneers were also human, a ruling class that had inherited the region's interests for generations. Some had fled back to their vassal states in fear of the Wolf King, but others had remained, clinging to their power.
Lord Erectus was one of them. A ruler of this city, to whom even the head of the clan deferred.
“We have a guest from outside. For the sake of Obeli, I must ask you to maintain your decorum.”
Even the mention of a guest was met with arrogance from Lord Erectus.
“A guest? Is it someone I should know?”
“We do not know the details ourselves, but they are a benefactor of the Violet Merchant Guild and come with the recommendation of its leader.”
“The patron guild of a vassal state?”
Even he couldn't act completely out of line toward someone from beyond his own domain. Lord Erectus clicked his tongue, his face displeased. Instead, his eyes scanned the room and landed on something new.
“What’s this? I haven’t seen this beastkin before.”
“Woof?”
Lord Erectus’s attention was on Azzy. When their eyes met, Azzy offered him the same goodwill she showed everyone.
“Woof! Will you keep the promise, too?”
“You? Hah, does a dog beastkin know who I am….”
“You, human! I know!”
Even I found the canine way of speaking difficult to understand. Lord Erectus, filled to the brim with pride, surely couldn't comprehend it at all. He let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
“A real dog of a dog beastkin. I like her energy. Hmm, perhaps I’ll make her my attendant.”
The beastkin flinched at his words. He was unaware that Azzy was the Dog King, but declaring his intent to take one of the Beast Kings as a servant was a shocking statement nonetheless.
Of course, the dog beastkin who had followed him in as an attendant felt the same. He urgently tried to restrain his master’s outburst.
“Master, please wait! That person is…!”
“Welsh. Who told you to interrupt?” Erectus snapped, brandishing a whip. But the dog beastkin named Welsh, ever loyal, persisted with her plea.
“She is the Dog King. It seems she has come to fight the Wolf King, so she will not be able to serve you, Master.”
“The Dog King?”
Just how much of a tyrant was he in his daily life? The moment his servant’s counsel got through, a collective sigh of relief swept through the beastkin. The suggestion of making the Dog King his attendant must have been a bit much even for them.
But it was too early to be relieved. Lord Erectus, on the contrary, grew even more interested in Azzy.
“Oho. So she’s the Dog King, but she doesn’t look much different from any other dog beastkin. Welsh, is the Dog King strong?”
“Yes. She is a Beast King, after all.”
“Stronger than you?”
“I cannot possibly compare myself to her.”
“But she’s docile, isn’t she? Correct?”
“Yes. The Dog King will never, ever harm a human. No matter who that human is.”
“I like that. A shame she can’t harm my enemies, though.”
His interest piqued, Lord Erectus picked up the ball Azzy had been playing with and threw it. Azzy instinctively chased the ball, snatched it in her mouth, and quickly returned.
Lord Erectus showed great interest in this behavior, which was no different from that of an actual dog.
“Hmph. She’s just a dog in human form, isn’t she? This is much better than those beastkin who just have ears and a tail but talk back constantly.”
“My apologies, Master.”
“As long as you know. Good. I’ve decided. I’ll take her in at my mansion until she fights the Wolf King.”
Despite his servant’s efforts, he had gone off the rails. At the public figure’s declaration, the beastkin shot to their feet in protest.
“Wait, Lord Erectus! The King must be allowed to go where she pleases!”
“Why?”
“That is…!”
As the childlike question left them speechless, Lord Erectus picked his ear and retorted.
“She’ll just end up staying at some cheap inn, won’t she? My mansion is far better than that, don’t you think? There are dogs there, and plenty of beastkin. Most importantly, there are humans. And dogs like humans, don’t they?”
“The one who brought the King here is the one recommended by the Violet Merchant Guild!”
“What if she just wanders off and follows someone else? A dog, you see, must be raised with a firm hand on the leash.”
A leash for the Dog King. He calmly confessed before everyone an idea that even I had attempted and failed.
Tsk, tsk. What a rotten person. It would be one thing if he perceived Azzy as a complete dog, like I do. But that bastard… he might not think of Azzy as human, but he doesn't truly see her as a dog, either!
“If you all stay quiet, she’ll follow me. Now, Dog King. Come with me. If you want that promise, or whatever it is.”
“Woof? The promise?”
“Yes. In other words, if you don’t follow me, I can’t keep it.”
Unable to listen to his selfish pronouncements any longer, a dog beastkin approached. Even if their opponent was a public figure, the beastkin of Obeli were no pushovers. He stood before Lord Erectus, tail held stiff, and argued.
“Lord Erectus! That matter has already been decided!”
“A decision made in my absence.”
“Then you should have participated! Is it right to always stand on the sidelines only to throw a tantrum later?”
Normally, they wouldn't argue so fiercely, but this was a grave matter concerning the Wolf King and the Dog King. All the dog beastkin voiced their opposition to Lord Erectus.
The resistance was fierce. No matter how powerful Lord Erectus was, he alone could not overturn the will of so many. His temper flaring, Lord Erectus swung his whip with raw emotion. Not at the protestors, but at his own attendant, Welsh.
Crack. The sickening sound of the whip split the air. Welsh knew her master was striking her, yet she gritted her teeth and endured it.
“Won’t! You! Listen! To! What! I say!”
Crack, crack, crack. The whip fell relentlessly. Welsh silently bore the pain, but the sharp sounds made the other beastkin cringe.
Most importantly, Azzy grew anxious watching a dog beastkin suffer right before her eyes.
“Woof! Woof!”
“What is it? Are you concerned for another dog just because you’re the Dog King?”
Lord Erectus said, panting and drunk on his victory.
“That’s right! If you listen to me! I’ll stop the whip—.”
“What’s this? What’s going on in my absence?”
Just then, the Regressor leaped down from the sky, landing lightly on the ground. Having just arrived, she didn't know the details, but with a sensitivity greater than any beastkin, she smelled something foul.
Lord Erectus scowled at the Regressor who had suddenly dropped from the sky.
“Who’s this now? Why is Obeli so crowded today?”
“And you are? Explain what’s happening.”
“What… Ah. Are you the one? The one recommended by the Violet Merchant Guild?”
The Regressor didn't look wealthy, but she exuded an extraordinary aura. Lord Erectus held his head high and said.
“You’ve come at a good time. I’d like to take charge of the Dog King. You’ll be busy anyway, and since we have to fight together, it would be good to get in sync beforehand, no?”
“Azzy?”
“Is her name Azzy? Yes.”
The Regressor’s gaze shifted between the whip in his hand and the female beastkin covered in red welts. Her expression grew darker.
“What does that have to do with you whipping a beastkin?”
“Ah, don’t mind that. My servant was being insolent, so I was just teaching her a lesson.”
It was a good thing for Lord Erectus that he was human. A beastkin would have been cowering with their tail between their legs by now. But it seemed his ego had paralyzed his instincts; he couldn't even sense the Regressor’s killing intent.
“The likes of you?”
At the unexpected words, Lord Erectus couldn't believe his ears.
“What did you say? Did you just call me, a public figure, ‘the likes of you’?”
“Do you think being human will save your life?”
There are levels to reckless humans. The Regressor was a madwoman at the farthest extreme. Lord Erectus’s only mistake was not realizing it sooner.
‘Stirring up trouble, discriminating against beastkin, and now messing with Azzy? There’s no reason to keep him alive.’
Before another word could be said, the Regressor moved. She kicked Jizan into the air, caught it again over her shoulder, shrouded it in a current of air, and swung in a single motion. The warping space created a trajectory like a comet as it rushed toward Lord Erectus.
There was no need for words. The Regressor didn't bother with such considerations. She had simply judged the being before her as an ‘obstacle,’ and now she would remove it.
Jizan, wreathed in a storm, was lethal with a mere graze. Only with death upon him did Lord Erectus see his life flash before his eyes. Human or not, in the face of overwhelming power, a life was a trivial thing.
An attack that distinguished neither gender, race, nor power cleaved the supremacist apart.