Chapter 505: Even a Village Dog Can Learn Qi Arts After Three Years
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 505: Even a Village Dog Can Learn Qi Arts After Three Years
The square of Obeli. A solemn silence had fallen over the place, which had been in an uproar ever since the Okma occupied it. This wasn't because the Okma had withdrawn, but because news had arrived that would silence even them.
Even Grul, who rarely made an appearance, was present, his posture heavy. The Regressor stepped forward and spoke.
“Wolves have appeared.”
The Regressor didn't like standing before people. Not because she was timid, but because it was a hassle. For her to be addressing the square so urgently meant something had happened that outweighed her annoyance.
“Everyone at the outpost was bitten to death by wolves. The news was delayed because the wolves dragged them away without leaving a single drop of blood. I heard that a few days ago, a shepherd sounded the alarm, saying wolves had appeared.”
The news that the guards at the southern outpost had been annihilated. The news that several shepherds had lost their lives. The news that half the sheep flocks had been devoured to fill the wolves' bellies, and that the appearance of the wolves was only noticed after they had attacked a settlement on the outskirts of Ende.
Having realized the enemy was at their doorstep, the Regressor glared sharply at everyone present.
“And yet, you didn't report a thing. Have anything to say for yourselves?”
The crowd’s gaze turned to Urukfang. Flustered by the sudden attention, Urukfang’s eyes darted around.
‘Why are they looking at me? I’m not Okma. I’m the leader of the Fang Mercenaries, who were in a cooperative relationship with the Okma. I mostly took on requests from the pig beastkin in Ende, and yes, I helped the Okma quite a bit. But stop acting like I'm the city's general! It's not like you're going to treat me as a real one!’
But a mercenary company lives and dies by its reputation. With both the Regressor and Grul watching, complaining now would do no good. Urukfang answered meekly.
“…The mercenary company did dispatch a unit when we heard wolves had appeared.”
“And?”
“There wasn’t so much as a strand of wolf fur, let alone a paw print. We tentatively concluded that the shepherd was mistaken.”
A heavier silence fell over the square. Those who had identified the problem glared at Urukfang, their eyes wide. Anticipating this reaction, Urukfang squeezed his eyes shut.
“Are you idiots?”
The Regressor began to berate them.
“Didn’t I tell you the Wolf King was coming? You said you would fight him. Shouldn’t you at least be paying attention to the wolves’ movements? How could you dismiss a sighting as a lie without a proper investigation?”
“We went, but there was nothing there…”
“Nothing there?! There was a report that wolves had appeared! If you didn’t know what to do, you should have at least told me or Grul!”
The Regressor wasn't the only one scolding him. Even fellow orcs were whispering amongst themselves, looking at Urukfang. They said it was too complacent, they wondered who would take responsibility. Feeling wronged by the unexpected level of criticism, Urukfang shifted the blame being heaped upon him onto others.
“So what was I supposed to do? My men and I have been worked to the bone every single day! We’re covering Obeli’s security, chasing Public Enemies all night, and now you want us to monitor the vast outskirts of Ende too? Do you think we have ten bodies each?”
“The Obelisk used to do that.”
“We’re a mere mercenary company, not the Obelisk! No, with the Watchdogs gone, the situation is even worse! In the first place, you’re the ones who imprisoned the Obelisk and drove out the Watchdogs!”
Oh, there’s the ‘you.’ Until now, it was ‘we.’ A crack was forming in the once-united Okma.
“‘You’? It’s thanks to the Okma that you’re in that position!”
“It’d be a position to brag about if I had the Watchdogs and the Obelisk under my command! What is this position now? My own gravesite? You’re working me like a dog!”
“That’s harsh, Urukfang! You have the freedom we fought for! It’s different from the old days of being exploited!”
“I’m the one being exploited right now!”
Their voices rose. Worried a clash was imminent, Poina shouted.
“Stop! This is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves!”
Poina, the chairperson of the Okma, didn't actually have any remarkable skills or experience. However, her loud, resonant voice could single-handedly quell the Okma’s clamor. With that alone, Poina, who had secured the positions of chairperson and spokesperson, was proving her worth.
“Urukfang, please be patient. We will gather the orcs of Ende as quickly as possible and organize a new guard unit.”
Urukfang, who seemed to have calmed down a little, took a deep breath and grumbled.
“Those guys will be useless right away. They’ll need to be trained and broken in for a long time.”
“It’s necessary. Our orcs never even had that chance. They need to learn and train enough to claim a place in Ende.”
“We don’t have the resources…”
I wasn’t sure why they were only recruiting orcs for security in the first place. Seeing no benefit in fighting further, Urukfang sat down, inwardly sighing in relief.
‘Phew. At least they won’t just blame me now. I guess that’s settled.’
He’s really become a politician.
After Urukfang took his seat, Poina spoke to the Regressor.
“Arguing about who’s to blame for past mistakes won’t solve anything. Let’s discuss countermeasures from now on.”
“I agree, but coming from you, it sounds rather shameless.”
“…Hmph. In any case, since the experts on stopping the Wolf King are here, we’d like to hear your esteemed opinions.”
Poina, under the guise of organizing the situation, had Urukfang sit down and subtly passed the ball to our court. It might not be as complex as human politics, but it was already excellent politics. The Okma were gradually learning, I suppose. The only problem was that they were adopting the worst parts of politics first.
“A hunt.”
Grul, who had been sitting, slowly rose to his feet.
A different kind of pressure from when Urukfang had stood up now pressed down on the square. The orcs who met his gaze instinctively flinched in fear.
Exuding a heavy aura, Grul spoke.
“Wolves are pack hunters. Each has a role. Scouting, threatening, herding, hunting. They harass their prey, circle it, slowly corner it, and in the final moment, bite its neck to sever its life.”
Even if the citizens of Ende were accustomed to wild animals, they couldn't compare to the Beast Faction, who lived in the wild.
“The ones that have arrived now are the scouting party. They’re the ones who sneak up from a distance, watch, and provoke their prey to see its reaction. Sometimes, if a herd is sick and its response is weak, they’ll move in and pick off a few like this. It seems the wolf pack has underestimated Ende.”
“But they said there were no wolf tracks even when the orc mercenaries went to look. If they’re not using Qi Arts, what on earth happened?”
“It is Qi Arts,” Grul stated flatly. The orcs who understood the meaning of his words began to murmur.
Qi Arts were a human power. Beasts, lacking intellect, could not wield it. That was common knowledge even to the pig beastkin, yet a denial of that fact had just come from Grul’s mouth.
“What? But beasts can’t use Qi Arts…”
“A spiritual energy comes to dwell in beasts that have lived a long time. You must know the stories of Lobo, the wolf lord who terrorized an entire fiefdom, or the Man-Eating Tiger of Banger, the lion of Neima that was said to have devoured an entire city.”
“But that’s just them getting a bit tougher from living a long time. It’s impossible for them to systematically handle Qi energy and use Qi Arts like humans, isn’t it?”
“Why do you think it’s impossible? I’ve seen many humans more foolish than wolves. Especially recently. There’s nothing strange about a wolf using Qi Arts.”
“But… how could a wolf possibly understand Sky Silk?” an orc who had a vague idea of what Qi Arts were asked.
Grul answered.
“Because the Beast King is there.”
“You mean the Wolf King? The Beast King in human form?”
“It seems you have a brain. That’s right. The Beast King is a bridge between humans and beasts. If the Wolf King passes on his own understanding of Qi Arts, they can learn at least a part of that enlightenment.”
“To think that’s possible. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Of course. I’m probably the first one to say it.”
“What?” the orc who had been listening intently let out a dumbfounded sound.
Regardless, Grul continued.
“My Beast Faction has been keenly feeling the changes in the beasts. They were always a threat, but after we started living together in groups, the damage was minimal. But from a certain point, we started losing tribe members, swayed by the wolves. We even found traces of our Qi-trained warriors being torn apart by claws and teeth.”
“Does that mean…?”
“Someone is training the wolves. That is my conclusion.”
Finishing his words, Grul scanned the Obeli square and issued a warning.
“It means that someone is using the wolves to attack Ende. Even we, for whom fighting beasts is a daily affair, have come here after hiding our tribe members in a safe place. With half-baked resolve, you will all be devoured.”
The other orcs might not have noticed, but perhaps the position makes the person. Poina sensed a deep discomfort in Grul’s words. She protested.
“W-We are prepared!”
“What preparations have you made to fight the wolves?”
“We have Trap Designer Kito setting traps. Using her Unique Magic, she can lay and maintain a great number of traps at no cost. The wolves will have to break through a field of traps before they can enter Ende!”
“…Hmph. I don’t know how useful that will be, but I’ll look forward to it.”
Grul didn't know the city's affairs. But the Regressor, who had seen Kito’s ability a few times, swallowed her words in frustration.
‘It’ll be completely useless. Kito’s Unique Magic, Rabbit Trap, is a trap in name only. Its essence is the maintenance of instability. The power to briefly keep a taut string in its pulled state. It might work in a complex city, but in a plain, it’s less effective than tying a knot with grass.’
She remembers trivial things so well, even if she forgets other things. But this was knowledge from a previous timeline, and the current Regressor had no connection to Kito. If she acted like she knew, she would arouse suspicion, and there was no need to rain on their parade when they were trying to set traps, so the Regressor kept her mouth shut and returned to her seat for now.
With neither Grul nor the Regressor saying anything more, Poina felt a sense of pride, as if she had solved a difficult problem. In reality, she had only postponed an unmanageable issue, but with each day being a struggle, she had no time to worry about that.
“Then, starting today, we will gather orcs from all over Ende and train them in how to deal with the Wolf King. Lord Grul, please take on the role of instructor.”
“It’s better to have no stragglers. They’ll just become wolf-fodder. Better to call the Watchdogs.”
“Gathering pig beastkin is better than dealing with disobedient Watchdogs. This is a necessary step for our people to stand on their own…”
“What you people need is to calm this chaos as quickly as possible and gather the strength of the other beastkin. Do not push your cleanup duties onto me.”
Grul drew a firm line.
Even Poina’s persuasiveness didn't reach him. He had attacked the Obelisk because various circumstances had aligned, not because he was inspired by the Okma. Even now, Grul occupied a section of Obeli with various types of beastkin, watching the increasingly outrageous behavior of the pig beastkin with displeasure.
“Then…”
“Call the Watchdogs and send them to me. Wolves must be fought with dogs. I will teach them how to fight wolves.”
“But they are… under confinement for aiding the escape of a Public Enemy.”
“Are you just going to keep the house dogs tied up?”
“That is…”
Poina’s voice trailed off.
The Okma’s power came from their occupation of Obeli. And the reason the citizens tacitly accepted the Okma’s rule was because of Grul, who had defeated the Obelisk. It was natural for the glory of a pig beastkin to empower other pig beastkin.
But the Okma themselves knew. Grul was not on their side; he was merely an ally for the purpose of dealing with the Wolf King.
And he was telling them to arm the Watchdogs and send them to him? What if the Watchdogs decided to return the city to its original owners in Ende before fighting the wolves?
“Do it.”
But Grul declared it as if he would never compromise. Poina had no choice but to nod.
The meeting was gradually coming to an end, but no problems had been substantially resolved. Instead, a pile of new problems had accumulated. Looking at the endlessly stacked issues, everyone here felt it. The Okma government had been established through a delicate balance, but it was not functioning properly.
The sweetness of victory was gradually fading, and the reality before them loomed heavy. A sense of anxiety—is this really okay?—began to bloom in the orcs’ chests.
And that anxiety soon became reality. An orc who had rushed over shouted without even taking a moment to breathe.
“Poina! This is terrible!”
“We are in a meeting. Unless it’s an urgent matter, please come back later.”
“The horse beastkin are scrambling to flee Ende!”