Bears and Tigers (1)
“Another way…?”
The two beastkin looked at me with eyes full of bewilderment. Hm. The bear beastkin was just a beauty, so that was fine, but the tiger beastkin… she was pretty intimidating. Setting aside her suspicious face for now, I had to finish what I was saying.
“Yeah. Another way. If fighting for days on end won’t settle things, shouldn’t we try competing in a different manner?”
If no victor emerged between the two of them, we’d need other methods all the more. Of course, if we could just duke it out and decide a clear winner, that’d be the simplest, but still.
“What other method…?”
“But all I know is fighting…”
Their reactions weren’t great. Hm. For two who only knew brawling, deciding a winner some other way must feel awkward. But.
“It’s not that hard. In fact, they’ll be things you’re familiar with.”
So.
“For now, let’s head to your tribes and talk it over.”
Proposing it to these two didn’t guarantee the others would accept. If persuasion was needed, I’d have to convince everyone.
With that, Asterios and I led the two beastkin toward their tribes.
At the edge of the continent. On quiet lands bordering the eastern sea where the sun rises stands a colossal tree.
The Sacred Tree, or Tree of Blessing as it’s called—a massive tree so thick that hundreds of people holding hands couldn’t fully encircle its trunk, so tall that even climbing day and night for days wouldn’t reach the top. It was vast enough for the ten suns, children of the Heavenly Emperor, to rest while awaiting their turns.
Drawn by the auspicious sight of the Sacred Tree, humans gathered beneath it of their own accord. Those who assembled founded a nation, which people called the Quiet Morning Country.
P.S. Though the Sacred Tree is incomparably larger than other trees, it pales beside the World Tree revered by the elves as a god. Earlier editions failed to account for this and recorded it as larger than the World Tree, mixed with the editor’s personal views, but it has been corrected due to protests from the elves.
Leading the two beastkin, we arrived at a place where a gigantic tree towered.
“Ooh, a pretty big tree.”
“Pretty…? It’s this huge!”
Asterios tilted his head at my words. Hmm. It was big, but compared to Yggdrasil, it was small. Well, excluding Yggdrasil, it seemed the largest among other trees. Even in eras of massive things and rampaging dinosaurs, trees this size were exceedingly rare.
But… when I’d traveled the world with the hero long ago and passed nearby, I didn’t recall a tree like this here. Hmm. What’s this? A tree this size would’ve taken centuries to grow… Hm. Oh, right. Even just my hibernation times add up to over 300 years. My sense of time gets a bit off. In that span, if some special factor caused rapid growth over centuries… it could reach this size. Maybe something special in the soil nourished it, or the faith of gathered people deified and enlarged it. Something like that.
Hm. Yeah, roughly that. I turned to Asterios following behind.
Asterios, trapped in the labyrinth as a child, had never seen Yggdrasil, so he’d think this was the world’s largest just seeing it.
“The World Tree the elves revere, Yggdrasil—it’s even bigger than this. Haven’t you heard rumors of the World Tree, Asterios?”
“World Tree…? Hmm… Not really.”
Hm. He hadn’t heard. Minoa was a bit distant from the elves’ great forest, but rumors should spread. Maybe elves are oddly insular?
“Anyway, I know of an even bigger tree than this one. So it can’t claim to be the world’s largest.”
“A tree bigger than the god’s tree…?”
The tiger beastkin whipped around in shock at my words.
“Such a tree exists…?”
“Mm. Far away, there’s a tree vastly larger than this. Seeing it would show you how arrogant it is to call this the god’s tree.”
The true god of trees, that is. Yggdrasil.
After indulging in what wasn’t quite bragging about my “child,” I turned to the tiger beastkin.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t asked your names. Care to share?”
I couldn’t keep calling them “tiger beastkin” and “bear beastkin” forever. We should at least exchange names.
The tiger and bear beastkin glanced at each other, then at me and Asterios, and nodded.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Goma of the Snow Bear Tribe.”
The bear beastkin spoke with a shy smile. Goma. Her face looked a bit young, but her body was quite muscular, giving an unbalanced vibe.
“I, I’m… Hwan. Hwan of the Tiger Tribe.”
“People call her Hwan more like ‘plague’ though.”
Hwan? Like plague Hwan? I thought Hwan for plague used a different character… Did her father name his kid “worry”? Seems there are unfit parents here too.
Anyway, now that we had their names, Asterios and I should introduce ourselves.
“I’m using the name Tiamat now. This big guy is Asterios. We’re on a journey seeing the world.”
“Tiamat? Asterios? Western names are so strange.”
Well, Western-style and Eastern-style names feel different, naturally. Languages are unified, but names couldn’t be helped. No, languages and words are the same, so why do names and proper nouns differ? Baffling. It’s like someone’s guiding it that way. And Earth-like names popping up often…
Anyway, exchanging names, we walked toward the giant tree and soon faced a large village.
“The village built beneath the god’s tree is where our tribes merged. We used to live in separate villages, but we combined into this big one.”
I’d thought tribes meant small scale, but this had a huge population. Comparable to western city-states. A vast village walled by log palisades. Bronze-headed spears in hand, patrols roamed—humans, bear beastkin, tiger beastkin, and various others mingled.
“Not just bear and tiger beastkin, huh.”
“Ah, yes. The bear and tiger tribes are the biggest, but we absorbed the smaller ones while at it.”
“More precisely, the bear and tiger tribes competed to grow power by swallowing up the small ones.”
Hmm. Indeed. Population means troops. To overpower the rival, bolster numbers first. So the bear and tiger tribes, in fierce rivalry, absorbed others.
“First, we should talk to the chiefs. I’ll guide you to our Snow Bear Tribe chief.”
“No, our Tiger Tribe chief first.”
“Hmm?”
Goma and Hwan—Hwan glared, tension crackling. Pride clashing even over this trifle. Must be exhausting. But in such cases, a simple solution.
“You two go fetch your chiefs.”
No need to go; have them come. The thirsty dig the well; the urgent will hurry. Not that we’d favor the first, but tales of me subduing both powerhouses would make the chiefs rush over.
“U-us?”
“Yes, you two. Visiting one tribe first might rile the other. Easiest if you bring them.”
Hwan nodded, seeing the logic.
“Yeah, got it. Be right back.”
“W-wait! You can’t leave first!”
I watched Hwan dash lithely toward the village, Goma following with slower but weighty steps. Then, I casually sliced a nearby rock to make seats.
Asterios eyed me curiously.
“Tia. What’s your plan? Competing another way.”
“Another way, huh.”
I had two ideas ready. But for a fair contest, best-of-three to avoid gripes, so one more needed. And for true competition, neither side advantaged—choose fair events carefully.
Hm. What for the third? The other two were easy. Hmm… I’d think of it before Goma and Hwan returned.
