Chapter 496: The Spring of Ende - 4
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 496: The Spring of Ende - 4
Around the same time, on the outskirts of Ende.
Sapien, who had been waiting for someone with his arms crossed, turned his head at the sound of an approach. The ox beastkin he had sent to find Grul was returning, his duty fulfilled.
The warriors of the Beast Faction were coarse, and they reacted with hostility toward the Obelisks monitoring them. The Obelisks, who had initially ignored them, were also growing more and more on edge.
As composed as Sapien was, he was still a nobleman and a public figure of a vassal state. It took considerable patience for him not to take issue with the profanities spewed by the warriors of the Beast Faction, who were untamed wilders and beastkin.
Fortunately, Grul returned before his patience ran out. Sapien greeted him.
“Great Chieftain Grul. Welcome to Ende… but before that, I must tell you that it is problematic for you to disappear without a word like this.”
Grul glanced around, taking in the atmosphere, and replied indifferently.
“What’s so problematic? I just arrived a little early and was taking a walk.”
“We set an appointment time so that we can meet without being late, not just to show up at that exact moment.”
“Hmph. You civilized folk love to talk in circles. You just wanted to keep an eye on me because you think I’ll cause trouble, don’t you?”
“If that is how you hear it, then I have nothing more to say.”
“Hmph.”
Grul let out a loud snort and strode forward. In that instant, his body leaped across space as if he were using Earth Folding. With a single step, he was nose-to-nose with Sapien, growling low in his throat.
“Be careful. We’re savages. When we’re treated like troublemakers, we tend to actually cause trouble. If you called us because you need our help, don’t get our hackles up.”
Reaching the Axiom did not necessarily mean one’s mastery of Qi Arts was high. It was something that relied solely on talent and one’s Spiritual World, so it was possible for a Qi practitioner who had reached the Axiom to still be lacking somewhere.
However, Grul was not one of them. His movement was flawless, even to Sapien, who had studied under an exceptional master and polished the ultimate forms of Geon, Gon, and Gam Qi Arts.
The difference in their skill wasn't immense… but that was likely because Grul wasn't revealing his Axiom. Sapien felt a slight sense of inferiority toward the pig beastkin as he replied.
“Please do not forget that we have gathered here to help ‘each other.’”
“That’s my line. I hope you don’t feed us a bunch of sweet talk only to leave us to die.”
Although the leaders had engaged in a tense war of nerves, their subordinates managed to suppress their emotions with relative ease now that their bosses had it out. Sapien led Grul forward.
He was inwardly relieved.
‘Thank goodness. It seems that Okma group or whatever hasn’t approached Grul.’
In truth, the reason Sapien had come out to meet him personally and paid close attention to his whereabouts was because of Okma.
He knew the pig beastkin had been causing trouble lately, but he hadn’t known they were operating in the shadows, going so far as to form a secret organization. He couldn’t be blamed; the pig beastkin caused problems as often as they ate. It was asking too much to expect him to pay attention just because a pig was eating a bit more than usual.
‘I don’t know who it is, but I should thank that magician. If they had colluded with Grul, the negotiations would have been far more disadvantageous.’
Sapien offered a silent thanks to someone who wasn't there and headed for Obeli with Grul.
…All the while unaware of the disaster his absence had wrought.
*
Again, at a similar time. A prison in Obeli.
The leader of the Orc Mercenary Corps, Urukfang the First Fang, was with the other inmates.
Thanks to the magician’s scheme, several key figures of Okma had been arrested: Urukfang the First Fang, Great Mother Halpana, Bonkrak the Locksmith, Gulta the Cart Magnate, and others. It wasn't a large number, but each was an important link who played a specific role.
Those trapped in the prison were not the entirety of Okma, but their capture was one of the reasons Okma had chosen to protest instead of revolt. Okma’s organizational functions had been crippled, leaving them with no other option but the simple act of demonstrating.
…And this was also the reason why mere Piggies were being held in a luxurious prison in Obeli.
“For a prison, this is quite the luxury.”
Urukfang swung his arms in frustration. His tightly chained cuffs struck the wall, creating a shower of sparks. He could break them if he used all his strength, but his wrists would break along with them. And the Obelisks guarding the outside would then smash his head in and clap him in irons again.
The restraints were powerful, but considering Urukfang was a Qi practitioner who had grasped the basics, even this was a courtesy. The very idea that he could even attempt to escape was absurd.
Realizing this, Urukfang grumbled.
“The beds are soft, and the food is delicious. Compared to roughing it outside, this is heaven. Ordinary orcs would want to be locked up here for life.”
“Tsk, tsk, such nonsense… If it weren't for that Grul fellow, do you think they would have imprisoned us in Obeli? They would have thrown us into a lightless cell in Ende’s dungeons.”
Great Mother Halpana, the oldest of the orcs, retorted in a still-vigorous voice. At that, Bonkrak the Locksmith grinned and replied.
“Sniff, sniff. That ain't necessarily so. I heard 'em sayin' while I was bein' moved, they were worried the Great Mother might just snap if they locked you up wrong. Why, would they treat us so well just 'cause Lord Grul is comin'? To them, we're just dirty, ugly Piggies, ain't we? Hehe. We're benefitin' from the Great Mother, I tell ya.”
Bonkrak the Locksmith was the head of security, responsible for building the pig beastkin’s vaults and maintaining their locks. After he was captured and the magician ransacked the vaults, the pig beastkin lost all faith in them. As much as they were kin, their own money was more precious. As they slowly withdrew their funds from the vaults, the pig beastkins' capital dried up.
The fallout from that fell squarely on Gulta the Cart Magnate, Okma’s head of logistics. Gulta, who had been caught committing fraud to secure funds, glared at the carefree, smiling Bonkrak with something close to hatred.
“You can laugh right now?! What’s so great about being locked up?”
“Heehee. Still, my mind's at ease in here.”
“Even though you don’t know what hardships our people are facing?”
“That's true, but what good would it do if I was out there? Wherever that magician shows up, things just go to hell in a handbasket.”
At the mention of the magician’s name, everyone present felt their hackles rise.
They weren't the absolute core of Okma, but these pig beastkin all played major roles. And they all had one thing in common.
They were all connected to the magician.
They had met him, provoked him, tried to catch him, or tried to avoid him.
Bonkrak was one of those who had tried to hide from the magician.
“That human… he’s the kind you shouldn't never cross.”
Bonkrak, a technician for the pig beastkin vaults, had gone into hiding when things started to go sideways. Already a man who kept a low profile, he not only hid but also secured his hideout with dozens of locks.
But the magician had laughed at him. Finding his hideout in an instant, he had walked toward him without bothering to conceal his footsteps, disarming six iron doors and ninety locks one by one.
Click. Click. With nothing but skill, he bypassed the locks that Bonkrak, a talented locksmith in his own right, had crafted with all his might. With every approaching footstep, a piece of Bonkrak’s spirit was chipped away. His pride crumbled, and terror filled the cracks.
If only he had just smashed down the doors and charged in. If only he had seized him and crushed him in an instant. Bonkrak had trembled, wishing for it to be over… and when he came to his senses, he was being transported to Obeli, arrested on charges of illegal key duplication.
As he was being cuffed in Obeli, Bonkrak felt a sense of relief. He smiled, a little broken, but brighter than before.
“'Cause at least the magician ain't gettin' in here.”
Though he wanted to scold him, Gulta couldn't bring himself to blame Bonkrak. He, too, was one of the magician’s victims.
With its funds depleted, Okma had attacked a horse beastkin clan to secure food supplies. The raid was easier than expected, and with an accomplice beside him, he fled like a madman. After escaping to a safe location via a pre-planned route, he was about to share in the joy of their victory when he met an unfamiliar face in the flickering light.
A human who introduced himself as a magician.
He saw the magician’s face, but he never got the chance to describe it. He was knocked out immediately, and when he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by furious horse beastkin.
Gulta recalled the magician’s brazen face and muttered.
“…Right. Now that we’re caught, the magician won’t bother with us anymore.”
As the mutter, born of either relief or self-pity, echoed through the Obeli prison…
A gust of wind blew through.
The pig beastkin were puzzled. As luxurious as this prison in Obeli was, it was still a prison. The windows weren't large enough to let in a breeze like this. This was the kind of wind that would only blow if the prison door was open.
Someone should have appeared, but… strangely, there was no presence to be felt. The door had opened on its own.
“What's happenin'? Who's there?”
Bonkrak peered out through the bars and asked, but there was no answer. Instead, a single thin card fluttered down into the middle of the corridor like a leaf on an autumn breeze.
A small key was attached to the back of the card.
*
I did nothing. I didn't manipulate anyone, nor did I kill or harm them.
I merely made a small change to the deployment of personnel.
“The pig beastkin wish for spring to come. A time to escape the past where they were prey, to leave behind the days of wandering for freedom, and to be acknowledged by all.”
The wind was already within them, blowing fiercely enough to move something immense. Even if I hadn't given them a push, Okma would have accomplished something, whether it was success or failure.
“Even the other beastkin sympathize with them, agree with them.”
It’s the same for the other beastkin. They may have carved out a place for themselves by being more useful than the pigs, but the memory of discrimination is etched into their very bones. Seeing the pigs’ rampage, they cheer them on rather than try to stop them.
There’s nothing to get in their way.
“So, what of it? With a wind that strong, isn’t it alright for them to succeed just once? Someone procreates with a pig to give birth to a beastkin, so who’s to say a pig beastkin can’t become the master of a city? A pig beastkin or a human, we’re all the same kind of animal, anyway.”
The enraged pig beastkin charge. The signs they held up to display words are now wielded like weapons as they rush not toward their dreams, but toward their enemies. The once-peaceful protest now turns into a riot, threatening to swallow the city whole.
The security forces retreat. Lord Erectus flees under the protection of the Obelisks. The frenzied pig beastkin pursued the distant public figure and attacked Obeli.
“I’m less interested in their spring, and more curious about what they will do with the spring that has arrived.”
Obeli, with its high, sturdy walls and powerful force of Obelisks, would not fall so easily. The pig beastkins’ convulsive protest would end as a riot, not a revolution.
Unless, of course, there was someone inside to answer their call, or powerful reinforcements on the way.
A dry spring wind blew through Ende.