The Blanket Is Finished
Lizardrin, the leader of the Lizardmen, had returned once more to the beastmen’s village.
She had come looking for the beastkin who would be willing to stand beside the Lizardmen and build a cooperative alliance against the beast of calamity.
Even though the beastmen had not attended the previous meeting, they were still a race that thought much like humans, just as the Lizardmen and the elves did.
Compared to those blockheaded orcs and those rude goblins, they were far easier to talk to, and so Lizardrin had pinned her hopes on the beastmen.
The current Gehenna Great Forest was full of anomalies.
The great forest management system the humans had installed for surveillance had collapsed, and ancient monsters sealed away by the ancestors of the beastkin had awakened.
The reason the Gehenna Great Forest, which had been peaceful for hundreds of years, had descended into such chaos could only have been the beast of calamity.
At least the Lizardmen haven’t suffered any major damage yet...
If they failed to respond properly, though, they’d be spilling blood before long.
Lizardrin wandered through the beastmen’s village, her long red hair streaming behind her.
Huh? Hm?
Just as she was about to head straight for Hanseong’s location, something caught Lizardrin’s eye.
"Mayor Drower says he doesn’t like the look of the right arm."
"Did he really say that? Well, now, that’s something. Never thought the beastmen would be the ones to file complaints against us."
"And they’d like the outer surface painted a little blacker, too."
The village had a central square.
In the middle of that square stood twenty dwarves, gathered around a colossal statue and carving it with their tools.
"B-Behemoth!?"
The statue depicted the beast of calamity, Behemoth.
It was smaller than the real thing, but the dwarves’ unique sense of beauty had captured Behemoth’s features with uncanny skill.
What on earth am I looking at...?
Lizardrin stared blankly at the scene.
The creature the beastmen revered most was a sacred beast called the Great Tiger.
Of course, they held annual offerings for it, but they didn’t build statues and plant them in the center of the village.
Why in the world were the beastmen suddenly putting up a statue of Behemoth in the village—and going so far as to ask dwarves to do it for them?
"Oh, Lizardrin! Fancy seeing you here! How have you been since the meeting?"
"Mayor Drower... what on earth is this statue, yo!?"
"It’s a statue carved in the likeness of the beast of calamity Behemoth."
"Why are the dwarves carving it, and why is it in a beastmen village, yo!?"
"Because the beastmen asked us to make it, and we’re good dwarves who help our friends when they ask!"
Drower let out a booming laugh.
Lizardrin was utterly dumbfounded.
Not elves who’d fallen head over heels for Behemoth, but the beastmen had asked them to make it?
"We can even make one for your city and bring it over..."
"We don’t need it, yo!"
An ominous future rose up in Lizardrin’s mind.
Th-there has to be some reason for this.
Denying what she was seeing, Lizardrin ran toward the chief’s office.
"Hanseong! What in the world do you think you’re doing, yo!"
She flung open the office door and started to confront Hanseong.
But Hanseong wasn’t there. Instead, sitting in his place was his daughter, Han-ah.
"Oh, Lady Lizardrin. Hello."
"Ah, hello. Where’s your father, yo?"
"Dad’s working with the dwarves at the Gold Mine right now, trying to save up money."
"Pardon?"
Outside of buying dwarf-made weapons, when had the beastmen ever spent money?
They were a race that tried to produce everything they needed, from food to everything else, by themselves.
"He’s busy at the moment, so I’m handling the village matters for him. If it’s urgent, you can tell me."
"What on earth is that statue in the middle of the village... and why do you suddenly need money, yo?"
Lizardrin barely managed to steady herself.
Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the table.
"We’re carving a statue of Lord Behemoth. The reason we need money is to pay the dwarves who are building it for their labor. And we’re also planning to publish a book, so we want to commission a human scholar as well..."
"I have no idea how any of that makes sense. Didn’t I already tell you last time, yo!? I said Behemoth was the beast of calamity! Back then, you all said you’d be careful, and that was why I didn’t take it personally when you didn’t come to the meeting... and now there’s a statue of Behemoth!?"
Everyone had completely lost their minds.
She could understand being careless.
Honestly, if some so-called beast of calamity suddenly appeared, she hadn’t expected the warm-blooded races to believe the Lizardmen’s prophecy so easily.
But why is everyone worshipping him instead...?
"Strange things have been happening all over the Gehenna Great Forest, yo. All of those events started after Behemoth awoke! I don’t know what kind of sweet-talking that monster used to boil the beastmen alive, but Behemoth hasn’t shown his true, sinister nature yet, yo! You all need to get your heads straight! If you don’t, everyone will die!"
"Lord Behemoth is not the beast of calamity!"
Han-ah sprang to her feet.
Han-ah, who had always treated her elders with utmost courtesy, raised her voice, and Lizardrin’s pupils widened in shock.
"Right now, Lady Lizardrin, you’re the one who’s mistaken. Lord Behemoth didn’t come here to harm us. He descended to this land to save us."
"What...?"
"Lord Behemoth possesses the power to destroy us whenever he wishes. He cut down the manticores in a single breath, something even our strongest beastman warriors couldn’t manage. The flames he breathes are hotter than volcanic lava, and his scales are the hardest in all the world..."
"No, I mean, you should be even more wary—"
Shouldn’t they...?
"What do you know about Lord Behemoth, Lady Lizardrin!"
"Huh...?"
Lizardrin lost the words she’d been about to say.
"If Lord Behemoth wanted to destroy the world, he could do it whenever he pleased. But he doesn’t. He has a gentleness and warmth no one else can match. He saved the beastmen from disaster without asking for anything in return. We beastmen will never forget that grace, not for generation after generation. We’re alive because of him."
"......"
"Please, Lady Lizardrin, try to set aside your stubbornness. It wasn’t just us. The elves were saved by Lord Behemoth too, and so were the goblins. The dwarves are able to work safely in the Gold Mine because of him as well."
If Behemoth truly was the beast of calamity, then why had he saved the beastkin from danger?
Lizardrin couldn’t answer Han-ah’s question properly.
If she spoke the words she was hiding inside—that he was merely luring them in with sweet lies—the beastmen would probably explode in rage, just as the Lizardmen had when their prophecy tablet had been dismissed.
"Fine. I understand. If your minds are made up like that, then we Lizardmen will make our own preparations for the calamity alone. Don’t come regretting it later."
Lizardrin let out a sigh and rose to her feet.
Somehow, this all feels... off.
The beastkin had never really been close with one another to begin with.
As one could tell from the meeting, their ways of living were simply too different.
"But you really have to admit the dwarves’ craftsmanship is something else."
"How do they make Lord Behemoth look so grand?"
"We saw Behemoth ourselves, you know."
"The way Lord Behemoth defeated the cyclops was truly magnificent. I wanted to capture that great image in my own work at least once."
"Don’t call him Behemoth. Call him Lord Behemoth."
Watching the dwarves and beastmen chat peacefully about Behemoth, Lizardrin’s expression grew complicated.
She had never once doubted the prophecy tablet.
The prophecy tablet had always spoken the truth, and it was because of that truth that the Lizardmen had been able to flee from a distant other world to this planet.
In a situation like this, I’m the one who has to stay clear-headed.
The teachings left by their ancestors had never been wrong.
Behemoth would, without fail, reveal his true nature.
Until the day that happened, she had to prepare herself.
Just as their ancestors had once built an ark in a distant other world.
"Ta-da! It’s finished!"
"Nyanyan!"
A giant, fluffy duvet floated in midair.
"I coated the surface with juice from the slickfruit, so dirt shouldn’t stick to it very well. Still, it’d be good to take it outside and shake it out once every morning."
"This is amazing. Thank you so much!"
From now on, a pleasant, cozy sleeping environment was guaranteed every night.
It would’ve been nice to have a soft bed too, but for now, let’s focus on the fact that the duvet had been completed.
"Hehe, it was nothing. I’m just glad I could help my friend."
Watching me smile in delight at the duvet, Lucy broke into a soft grin.
"I’m really glad I met Lucy..."
"Y-yes?"
"So far, you’re the only person I’ve been able to talk to. If it hadn’t been for you, I would’ve been lonely as hell in the Great Forest. Thank you, seriously."
"If you suddenly say something like that in front of me, without warning, I get a little embarrassed..."
People lived in the Great Forest too.
Aside from Lucy, everyone I’d met so far looked similar to humans, yet different.
Pointy ears, short little bodies, animal ears and tails, green skin—each of them had some unusual trait, and what they all had in common was that they spoke in a language I couldn’t understand.
According to Lucy’s explanation, they were another intelligent race called the beastkin.
The beastkin were afraid of me.
Well, if a monster with a body this huge were standing in front of me, I’d be scared too.
That was why, after saving the beastkin who had nearly been killed in front of that disgusting monster, I’d left without saying a word.
But what the hell did that monster even say?
Anyway, I was utterly unable to understand even a monster’s passionate speech, so Lucy’s existence was something I was deeply grateful for.
She was kind, she always helped when asked, and she was pretty, too, and then some... haah.
She was a goddess, plain and simple. Sniff sniff.
"Um, I have one favor to ask, friend..."
"Hmm?"
Lucy twisted her hair around her fingers, looking fidgety and uncertain.
"Th-that is, um..."
"What is it? You’ve got something you want to ask?"
"Th-th, th... ha... hand..."
"My hand?"
Lucy took a deep breath.
Then she straightened her back and shouted at me,
"Be careful with your hands!"
"Oh, uh, okay. I’ll be careful with my hands."
Why did she suddenly want me to be careful with my hands?
Soh o was looking at the two of us and shaking its head, but I had no idea why.
"Lucy, you be careful too..."
"Y-yes, huh?"
I reached out with my index finger and gently patted Lucy on the head.
Careful not to tangle her lovely hair.
"I’ll come again next time."
"Y-yes..."
When I turned to leave, Lucy’s expression somehow looked much more relaxed.
Her face even seemed faintly flushed, and I had the sudden thought that maybe she had forced herself to see me off even though she wasn’t feeling well.
In any case, leaving behind the sight of Lucy and Soh o waving goodbye, I carried the duvet back to the cave.