Chapter 535: You Can Survive Even if Dragged into a Tiger’s Den, as Long as You Keep Your Wits
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 535: You Can Survive Even if Dragged into a Tiger’s Den, as Long as You Keep Your Wits
Healing through holy power is more akin to restoration. That's why it can treat external wounds with relative ease, but does little for internal injuries or diseases. It was the reason I was sick for days after Hilde healed me when I was taken down by a surprise attack in Claudia.
So what would it be like for the Regressor, whose bones and muscles had been completely crushed?
“…Ugh, khk…!”
The Regressor had sustained injuries that should have killed her on the spot. Azzy had healed her, but her twisted flow of Qi and massive internal injuries remained.
The one silver lining was that the Regressor had mastered the Gam Qi Art. By mastering this art, which infuses the body with Qi, she could use that Qi to hold herself together even if her bones were broken and muscles torn. Having somehow clung to life long enough for me to carry her back to the mansion on my back, the Regressor gathered her blood-and-dirt-caked body.
“To think the ever-so-healthy Shei-ssi would end up like this… Rest in peace.”
“I’m not… dead yet…!”
So she has enough energy to talk back. Her willpower is truly something else. She’d somehow managed to stay conscious even after being struck down by San'gun.
“…You received blood from Tyrkanzyaka. I… I thought you were going to die.”
“Strictly speaking, it’s a bit different, but that’s more or less the gist of it.”
“That’s a relief… that you didn’t die.”
Hearing such warm words from the weakly lying Regressor? So being sick and in pain makes her a little more honest and cute. I’m so moved…
‘Since Hughes is also a Beast King, he should be able to lead the conversation with San'gun well. He’ll figure things out while I rest for a bit.’
She always stops just one step short of being cute. Trying to give me more work already. Yes, that suits you better.
“I don’t mean to brag, but I didn’t even know I’d received her blood until I died today. In other words, I truly put my life on the line. Don’t you forget it.”
“I put my life on the line too…! Cough, hack!”
“It looks like your life—or at least your neck—is still hanging by a thread. You’re not going to die, are you?”
“I’m fine… I still have some Qi left. I learned Bloodcraft this time, too. As long as I stay focused and circulate my Qi, I won’t die…”
I used to be envious of people who learned Qi Arts. Now that I have an undying body, it would be deceitful to say I’m still envious, wouldn’t it?
“…However, if I lose consciousness, I don’t know what will happen. There’s a limit to how much Qi I can use unconsciously.”
“If you think you’re going to die, make sure your will leaves your entire inheritance to me. And just in case your Pocket closes, take everything out of it beforehand.”
“Forget it… If I die, it’s all over.”
Hmph. You think I’d let my money fall into someone else’s hands? Even if I die, I’m taking it all with me!
That’s what it sounded like, but there was no need to overthink it; she meant it literally. The moment she dies, she regresses, so everything ends.
The Regressor let out a faint laugh and said with a groan.
“So… for now, go listen to what San'gun has to say.”
“Shei-ssi, you look like you’re about to breathe your last. And you want me to go have a friendly chat with the tiger who put you in this state?”
“Since when were you so concerned about me…? Finding out what San'gun wants is the priority. Listening to that… will probably keep me from falling asleep…”
Just as the Regressor let out a faint groan, San'gun burst through the door.
“Didst thou summon me?”
Speak of the devil—or tiger, in this case—and he shall appear.
“Yeah. You said you had something to say, right?”
“To be precise, there is something thou must answer to me.”
“That’s still something to say. Alright. We have a patient here, so let’s talk on the sofa over there.”
“Grrr. Very well.”
It seemed to be what the Regressor wanted, too. I left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.
In that short time, San'gun had already leaped onto the sofa. Leaning his head on the armrest with his legs stretched out comfortably, he looked just like a freeloader. San'gun purred a few times, seemingly pleased with the sofa’s texture, then looked around.
“Where is the dog?”
“Azzy? She’s probably healing the injured person right now.”
“Hmph. I shall fetch her.”
San'gun leaped out the window and vanished. A moment later, he reappeared, vaulting over the wall like a thunderbolt with the scruff of Azzy’s neck in his mouth, and dropped her onto the lawn. Azzy looked around, completely bewildered, before spotting me and scurrying over.
“Kidnapping! The tiger, he bit me and carried me off!”
“He said he has something to say.”
“Just because he uses his mouth doesn’t make it talking! Woof! That’s violence!”
“Grrr. Dost thou truly wish to see my violence?”
Azzy fell silent in an instant. Lying leisurely on the sofa, San'gun looked down at me and the politely seated Azzy and began.
“Human, dog, and wolf. I have been observing you beasts. Humans tamed the iri and called them dogs, and the untamed iri they called wolves.”
San'gun swished his long tail back and forth. Azzy’s eyes were instinctively drawn to it. Her head moved in time with the tail’s swaying.
Is this really a summit with a Beast King? It’s making me realize he’s more beast than king. You really can’t hide your true nature.
“In truth, that is a common thing. A beast is generous when it is not hungry. I, too, am lenient with the boars and deer when my belly is full and my back is warm. The mountain beasts, ever wary of my mood, sometimes dare to appear before me and loiter about when I am pleased.”
“That’s true. No reason to hunt if you’re not hungry.”
“You humans graze on the plants of the earth. With little cause to go hungry, you could tame the iri year-round. Taming and using the pack-forming iri is a part of the ferocity inherent in you humans. There is no issue with that. However.”
San'gun bared his teeth slightly and glared at me.
“How did the wolf come to represent my ferocity?”
For a beast, that felt like a rather vague question. But a beast wouldn’t ask such a high-level question. As a conceptual being, a Beast King simply refers to concepts as if they were physical objects.
So San'gun’s question was meant literally. He was asking why the wolf, specifically, had to represent the ferocity of all other beasts, including his own.
“Tiger. First, let me make something clear. I am a human, but I was devoured and erased by humanity. The me of today doesn’t know everything, nor do I have the power to command all humans. So, what I know is closer to speculation than truth.”
“Grrr. To be devoured by your own kind. Useless.”
“Hey! There were circumstances, you know! Calling me useless is too harsh!”
…Well, he wasn’t wrong. I was pretty useless. If I were a proper King of Humans, I wouldn’t need to speculate. My words would be the voice of my species, and therefore the truth.
But I am no longer a conceptual being, and I cannot speak the truth. I can only offer a hypothesis with a high probability.
“To think I would ask a human and might receive a wrong answer. Hmph, it is unpleasant… but it is better to hear it from a human directly. Speak.”
Wolf, dog, ferocity, and gentleness. I recalled what I had learned and answered.
“Humans—that is, the other humans, not me—tried to divide wolves and dogs into ferocity and gentleness. To make them kings representing those very concepts.”
Wolves and dogs existed. They were both iri, the same species, but having been raised separately for so long, their Beast King also split.
The problem was that this change was orchestrated by human hands.
“Normally, ferocity and gentleness coexist in a beast. Like in you and me. But some humans tried to make Fenrir the king of ferocity and Azzy the king of gentleness. The wolf came to represent all ferocity, which is probably why even you, a tiger, had to entrust your ferocity to a mere wolf.”
“Hmph…”
“And Azzy, having become the king of gentleness, couldn’t bite or scratch humans. She couldn’t even resist when I poked her head like this.”
At that, Azzy lifted her head and chomped down on my hand.
“Woof woof! I can bite now! I can bite!”
“Hey! I was talking about the past! Let go! You don’t need to prove it!”
Why did her aggressive instincts return after she lost her crown? I was happy she got a little stronger, but now I have to walk on eggshells around a dog?
San'gun, who had been blankly licking his paw, asked.
“Then, what happened to the wolf?”
“Azzy gave him the crown. Told him to be king.”
“The wolf is a full iri now! Dogs and wolves are one! Bad and good!”
“Yep. Just as Azzy said, Fenrir is now an ordinary Beast King. Unrelated to the concept of ferocity.”
Like Nabi, the Cat King, he must have become a king who is ordinarily fierce and ordinarily kind. That’s how it should be. A beast that unconditionally attacks humans is the strange one.
San'gun? His problem is that he’s too strong, but he’s also an ordinary Beast King. Look at him, just lying there calmly licking his paw.
“Hrrrm. Humans do such useless things with what they cannot even eat.”
“I agree. So, anything else you’re curious about?”
“Not particularly. The remaining questions are for the humans and the dog to answer. Since the wolf no longer represents my ferocity, I shall now reclaim it as my own.”
This wasn’t necessarily a good thing. San'gun was the King of Tigers; if he got upset, he could devour dozens of people living here. He was a little agitated from the sight of blood, so I had to placate him for now.
“Should I get you some meat?”
“If you offer tribute, I shall gladly accept it.”
His words were arrogant, but the swishing of his tail quickened. He must be hungry. I should call my usual spot.
Leaving the yawning San'gun, I crossed the yard and opened the main gate. The mansion, built on the outskirts of Ende, was clean but located in a secluded area, quiet and deserted compared to the city center.
…But the people of Ende weren’t fools. They wouldn’t just leave a mansion containing San'gun, Azzy, me, and the Regressor unattended. I approached the nearest building and tapped on the wall.
“Excuse me.”
A window clattered open, and an Obelisk appeared from inside.
An Obelisk was a guardian of Ende and a noble who resided in Obeli, but this one, having been through so much, seemed more weary than arrogant. Tasked with watching over San'gun, the Obelisk asked me.
“What is it?”
“San'gun says he’s hungry. He’s going to need something to eat.”
“San'gun…! I’ll have it brought immediately! Hey, the fate of Ende is at stake! Prepare twenty servings of food at once! Mix in some raw meat on the bone!”
It seemed like an overreaction, but filling San'gun’s stomach was indeed that important. He was the type to eat people rather than go hungry.
“Is there anything else you require?”
“Not for now. Oh, could you also give us some cloth for bandages and a few changes of clothes?”
“I’ll have to contact the sheep beastkin clan… What about cleaning?”
“San'gun is sensitive about his territory, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Understood.”
The Obelisk gave his orders, and a pig beastkin and a horse beastkin rushed out to follow them. Watching their still-bustling figures, I returned to the mansion.