Chapter 495: The Spring of Ende - 3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 495: The Spring of Ende - 3
The crowd of piggies marching with picket signs, shouting at the top of their lungs, bewildered the Regressor. First by their numbers, and second by their actions. After reading the words on their signs, she quickly returned to my side.
“What is that?!”
I replied nonchalantly.
“It’s a peaceful protest.”
“A peaceful protest?”
“Yes. They aren’t using any weapons, just holding signs and shouting as they march. How peaceful is that?”
“Woof!”
The people around us were also muttering in confusion or annoyance, but the situation didn’t seem to be escalating. With no fighting, Azzy also looked relaxed.
Only the Regressor wore a troubled expression.
“Why now, right when the Wolf King is about to attack?”
“Isn’t it because of the timing? It would be better for the city if there were no disturbances when it’s time to fight the Wolf King, right? Ende is in a tight spot, so now is the perfect time for them.”
“This is so unexpected, it’s baffling.”
From the Regressor’s perspective, it was indeed just that. Scowling, she scratched the back of her neck and muttered.
“Honestly, we can fight just fine without them. Besides Grul, pig beastkin aren’t very useful anyway.”
Still, it was always better to have more allies. Even if they weren’t immediately useful to us, it was better than them going over to the enemy.
“But it’ll be a problem if they stir the pot too much. If some accident happens, Grul and the other beastkin will be divided. If we handle this wrong and the pig beastkin side with the werewolves, things will get annoying. Let’s solve this.”
Having made her decision, the Regressor drew Jizan and Chun-aeng and took a resolute step forward. I hadn’t read her thoughts until the moment she acted, and I hurriedly grabbed her shoulder.
“You scared me! What?!”
“What do you mean, ‘what’?! How exactly do you plan on solving this?”
“I can just show them some force and tell them to back off.”
“You’re going to suppress them with force? A peaceful protest like this? That will only make the backlash even stronger!”
It wasn’t that the Regressor didn’t know that. She was just obsessed with the need to resolve the situation. She shot back.
“Then what do you suggest? We just let them cause a ruckus all day?”
“We should promise them concessions for now, placate them, and send them away, even if we plan to backstab them later!”
“…You want to backstab them?”
“Of course. It’s the easiest way to overcome this situation, isn’t it? Buy some time for now and think about the consequences later.”
Pretending to listen to their demands while stalling for time and postponing the problem was a basic political skill. The more urgent the situation, the more effective it was.
‘…How can you say something so cowardly right to my face?’
Cowardly? They’re the ones being cowardly! They know Ende is in a bind, so they’re taking it hostage and threatening us! Politics is a cowardly business!
‘But he’s right. Suppressing them by force will also cause problems.’
“Fine. What’s your plan?”
“Why are you asking me? The one who’ll be promising concessions is Obeli. Shei, you go to Obeli and bring back someone to negotiate.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Huh? Do I have to do something too?”
“Of course! Don’t act like this has nothing to do with you! Fighting the Wolf King is your and Azzy’s job!”
Azzy and I looked at each other and tilted our heads. That was true, but this was tricky. The city’s political situation moved regardless of my will, which made things ambiguous. Honestly, they weren’t fighting to help me and Azzy; they were fighting for themselves. Though it did help me.
Complicated, so complicated.
“Alright. I just need to stop this commotion, right?”
“Can you do it?”
“There are many ways. The problem is which one to choose.”
I adjusted my collar and pulled my robe down low over my face. In Ende, even suspicious attire was just a matter of personality. Walking toward the dense crowd, I waved at the Regressor.
“Shei, you go to Obeli and get the personnel. I’ll disperse the protestors here.”
“Huh, really? Is that possible?”
“One moment you’re telling me to do it, and the next you’re asking if it’s possible. Are you bipolar?”
‘I don’t trust him, but I am curious how he’ll handle this. Does the King of Humans have a way to solve this situation?’
It’s not because I’m the King of Humans. It’s because I’m curious, too. Whether this situation can be solved or not.
A march is a great current. And alongside that current, new channels form. The march of the Okma protestors was creating long walls of people on either side—walls made of Ende’s citizens, watching the beastkin protest with interest, though whether their feelings were positive or negative was unclear.
I slipped into one of those walls.
A march has a destination, and that destination is usually a high place. Naturally, the Okma protestors were headed for Obeli.
“It’s not a matter of livelihood! For a pig, our very existence is the problem!”
“Beastkin are people too!”
“Give us the right to live with dignity!”
As if to vent all their pent-up frustrations, the Okma piggies marched, screaming their lungs out. A wave of picket signs rippled through the crowd, displaying slogans that had been written over several times. The words, drawn in black and red, all proclaimed their grievances.
While there were many opinions on their claims, no one could deny that what was written was true. Having gained a certain legitimacy, they continued their march under the watchful eyes of Ende’s citizens.
“Chief, what should we do?”
“What do you think? Do they look like they’re going to stop?”
“Not at all!”
“Dammit. For now, fall back!”
The security forces confronting them retreated hesitantly in the face of their momentum. Ende’s security was little more than an errand service for mediating disputes. They had neither the power nor the authority to handle an incident of this magnitude.
“The Obelisks have to come! What happened to the guy we sent earlier?!”
“Well, most of the Obelisks are away!”
But with the Obelisk forces out to meet Grul and the Beast Faction, there was no one left to stop the Okma protestors.
As the security forces, pushed back to the foot of the hill leading to Obeli, were wondering what to do, a messenger brought welcome news.
“It’s a substitute, but someone from Obeli has arrived!”
“Who?”
“It is Lord Erectus, an Official!”
“Oh, really?”
The Security Chief’s face lit up.
An Official was a member of Obeli’s uppermost echelon, a powerful figure of noble origin from the vassal states. Lord Erectus, in particular, was the head of the Ministry of Flame and Heat, which supplied the city with charcoal, coal, and mana furnaces. A being who held the city’s interests in his hands.
He had the power to resolve this situation. The Security Chief, relieved by this fact alone, shouted.
“Bring the megaphone! You lot, escort Lord Erectus! And you, deliver a message to the piggies’ representative! Tell them an Official has come to hear them out!”
He cursed the powerful on a daily basis, but in a situation beyond his control, their presence couldn't be more welcome. The Security Chief hurriedly went to receive Lord Erectus.
“Not necessary.”
“Pardon?”
“I said it’s not necessary to call them. I’m not here to listen. I’m here to talk.”
However, the man, who was nothing more than Ende’s Security Chief, did not know.
He didn’t know what kind of man Lord Erectus was.
Snatching the megaphone, Lord Erectus didn’t even bother with an introduction. He didn’t try to get their attention.
He just spoke, annoyed.
“What the hell is your problem? What do you want from us?”
Accompanied by his Obelisk guards and retainers, he strode forward confidently, frowning as he read the signs. After seeing the phrases detailing the pig beastkin’s complaints and problems, he tilted his head.
“Well written. You all know your place. So what? You know it, but now you want to overstep your bounds?”
The Okma protestors also noticed the Official who had appeared before them. The protestors, who hadn’t paid the security forces any mind, paused for a moment before the Official.
He was a bigger fish than they’d expected, but they had anticipated someone would show up. The pig beastkin who had been leading the protest stepped forward and began to speak.
“Lord Erectus! We…”
“I am speaking! Do not interrupt!”
But Lord Erectus had not come for a dialogue. Cutting off the protestor, Lord Erectus used the power of the megaphone to shout so that all could hear.
“So what do you want us to do? Use you as delivery boys when you’re so slow? Should we entrust hairdressing to you, with your short, coarse fur? You have less strength and stamina than an ox, so what is it you’re asking for?!”
It seemed he had no intention of listening, but this was still a chance to convey the Okma’s will to Obeli. The pig beastkin leading the protest desperately tried to state his case during a pause in the megaphone’s blare.
“That’s not it! But we are being discriminated against in areas unrelated to that! If you look at Obeli, not a single pig beastkin has ever become the head of a clan!”
“If you were that great, at least one of you would have made it to Obeli! Someone like Grul would be invited even if we told him not to come! You’re not even at that level!”
Grul. He was mentioned again. The glory of the pig beastkin, often used to denigrate them. A few orcs, incensed by the rising sense of inferiority, spat out curses, but their uncoordinated voices scattered into meaningless noise.
Reading his opponent’s sense of defeat, Lord Erectus sneered and took another step forward.
“The other beastkin in Obeli at least have some redeeming qualities! Your only good quality is that you’re delicious!”
A silence fell over the once-raucous Ende.
It was as if the world had suddenly frozen. The passionate wind held its breath for a moment, and a chilling thought crept into the mind.
Ende was a city of beastkin. An uncomfortable truth that everyone knew, that everyone was a party to.
And for that very reason, a public taboo that should never have been spoken aloud had just flowed from an Official’s lips.
Lord Erectus paid no mind to the reaction and continued.
“Ah, but even that’s gone now, isn’t it? Because the Saintess took pity on you and took you in. You should be grateful that your one and only redeeming quality is gone. Not stand here whining!”
To make use of your only good quality, we would have had to kill and eat you. You should be grateful just to have escaped that fate.
Even the pig beastkin who had led the protest bristled with fury at that statement, his body trembling.
“You… cruel…”
“Cruel? You think saying the word makes it so. I am a certified human. I am different from you!”
Lord Erectus was crude and reckless in his speech and actions. But it was difficult to say he was impolite. When dealing with humans like the Regressor or Sapien, he listened to their opinions. He had the ability to lead the Ministry of Flame and Heat, and he was not foolish.
Yet, toward beastkin, he spewed verbal abuse.
Because, to him, beastkin were truly not human.
“‘Cruel’ is a word used for humans! You beasts, born from the womb of Muhu!”
*
Once upon a time. A long, long time ago.
The queen of Manguo, Muhu Agartha, fell into deep thought as she looked upon a pig.
Pigs grew quickly, ate anything, and above all, were delicious livestock. Their meat was tender and fatty, a delicacy no matter how it was cooked. Having personally tasted hundreds of recipes, Agartha smacked her lips in regret.
Pigs were delicious.
But they were useless.
The wasteland was already short on food and water. It might be a different story if they could cultivate the Enger Plains, but humanity had not yet prospered to that extent. To raise pigs in Agartha’s lands, humans would have to give up their own food.
They were difficult to handle, useless, and couldn’t even work properly. Compared to cows, sheep, horses, or dogs, they were far too inferior. Already, some priests were spreading the teaching that pigs should neither be raised nor eaten.
If only there were a beast that could work like a human and still produce delicious meat.
Suddenly, as she muttered to herself, an idea struck Agartha’s mind. It was an idea so pure it was demonic, a method that would commit dozens of sins at once.
There was only one misfortune.
That she possessed the power to do it.
Things might be different now, but at least, not when they were first created.
Beastkin were not human.
They were merely improved livestock.