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“Stay still and I won’t send you off in pain… That’s humans for you.”

“If you’re going to say that, at least don’t laugh.”

Those with such expressions tend to enjoy revenge, albeit with a twisted sense of it.

“So what are you trying to say? It won’t change the fact that you’ll die.”

As I spoke, the beastmen surrounding us brandished their spears. However, those spears couldn’t reach us.

“Crack…?!”

Before the spears hit us, the beastmen were the ones kneeling first.

A Manly Man.

It’s been a while since I’ve used this skill. Nowadays, no one bothers me, so I ended up keeping this S-Rank skill as if it were a forgotten driver’s license.

Just how strong can a mere soldier be? Besides S-Rank monsters, isn’t there no one stronger than me? I’ve already surpassed level 200, so how could a soldier dare challenge me?

“What…?!”

“That’s right. Your position is just that.”

I said as I slapped the face of the kneeling soldier before me in an annoyingly disrespectful manner.

“I don’t know what you did, but fight fair!”

“Seriously, what a funny guy.”

They were the ones intending to ambush us and gang up, yet they speak of fairness?

“Luna, are beastmen really all this dim-witted? Or is their brain just animalistic?”

“…It’s just these people who are strange.”

Well, Luna is sharp, so it must just mean these guys are dumb. I shot a grin at the soldier who was gritting his teeth in anger.

“Hey, how many times have you met the Beast King?”

“…What?”

How many opportunities does a lowly soldier have to meet a king? It would depend on the Beast King’s personality, but even considering that, it can’t be many.

“I’ll let you meet the king you respect for free.”

As a gift.

Crack!

“Graaaah!!”

“That’s right! Show more joy! Cheering louder!”

*

After defeating the flood of soldiers, we were able to enter the Beastman Kingdom safely. Inside, it was vastly different from humans, and there were beastmen with individual traits.

Some had the large build with bear ears and tails, some had small stature with rabbit ears and tails, while others had the fierce look of hyenas.

“That kid looks cute. I want to hug and pet them tightly.”

“Riche, that person may look small, but they’re a married woman over 50.”

“That rabbit—”

“Be careful with the rabbit beastmen, Yui.”

Look at these carefree folks. Anyone would think we came to travel. Much like us tourists entering a new country, the beastmen’s attention was drawn to us.

– Is that… a human…?

– Hey, isn’t that a guard behind there?!

But you see, I don’t like being the center of attention.

“What are you looking at, you bit^$/! Is it your first time seeing a human?!”

Normally, when someone threats like this, a human would shy away and leave, but the beastmen seemed confident in their skills and unleashed killing intent back at me.

“Luke, it seems that thing behind you is quite helpful…”

“This way, it can prevent them from acting recklessly.”

Currently, I was dragging around soldiers whose limbs were all bent and tied with rope.

Naturally, they weren’t alive. With their limbs folded, there’s no way they could be. The flesh was pierced by broken bones causing internal bleeding, and even if they miraculously survived, they could not move.

Since they’re dead, I could store them in my Inventory, but dragging them around like this serves to instill fear so they wouldn’t act recklessly.

From our perspective, we might just be travelers, but from the beastmen’s perspective, we were enemies.

In other words, we had plunged ourselves right into enemy territory. A fight was inevitable, so I used this method to minimize it as much as possible.

Just like how some lords use overwhelming force and primal fear to rule their people, I showed them the dead soldiers to instill terror and keep them from acting out.

“Hey.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean I won’t face trouble.

A beastman suddenly approached me and spoke in a growling voice.

With a physique entirely devoid of fat and muscular, black striations across his arms resembling a mane, snowy hair, and a cat-like long tail and tiger ears sprouting from its head.

Just by appearances alone, you could tell he was a tiger beastman.

– The Tiger King has come for revenge against the soldiers!

– Tiger King! Tear that human apart in the most brutal way!

– Don’t kill him, torture him! Let me have revenge for my child sold off!

From the commotion around, I could roughly gauge his status.

“Luna, what’s the Tiger King?”

“The beastmen elect a representative in their own way. For the tiger tribe, the strongest among them becomes the representative.”

“How’s that different from the Beast King?”

“The Beast King represents all beastmen while the Tiger King represents the tiger tribe.”

Since when did the title of king become so trivial?

“What a hollow title.”

At my words, the Tiger King’s eyebrows twitched. He must have taken pride in that title, despite its emptiness.

“Is the strategy meeting over already?”

Before I could answer, his fist flew towards my face.

“Te- Kai!”

“Gurk?!”

What power… But it’s no match for me. He probably aimed to flatten my face with that one punch.

But isn’t it common knowledge what happens when a person punches a wall? If that strong punch brings down the wall, then fine, but if it doesn’t, at least you’ll fracture your fingers.

Just like that, the Tiger King hit me, his fingers swollen and turning from blue to purple, twisted and bleeding, but he didn’t let out a shout of pain. He’s tougher than I expected.

“Graaaah!!”

However, the Tiger King didn’t pull back and continued to swing his fists even with broken fingers. His fingers were so swollen they almost looked purple and jagged, and despite bleeding, he didn’t stop.

“Why aren’t you dead?!”

“It’s the Iron Horn, rookie.”

Blood splattered wildly around me, but it wasn’t all mine. After a while, the Tiger King, breathing heavily, finally stopped swinging his fists. He looked exhausted.

It must be tough for him. He had thrown everything he had at me and believed he was the strongest among the tiger tribe, and now to see that his punches didn’t work against this scorned human.

But I wish he’d keep such frustrations to himself. We’ve wasted a lot of time just getting here.

“Alright, shake hands.”

I grabbed the stunned Tiger King’s hand and shattered it with my grip.

“…Kraaaah?!”

The Tiger King clenched my wrist, struggling to break free.

– No way… the Tiger King lost…!?

– It can’t be! This must be a trick! That human must have cheated!

The beastmen surrounding us also acknowledged the Tiger King’s defeat.

“Hey, since you lost, you guide us to the Beast King.”

“Ugh…”

“Guide us, you punk. What’s with this whining from someone called the Tiger King?”

“Graaaah…”

When he was charging in, he was so full of bravado, but now, he acts like a disabled person, it’s annoying.

Luna, even though she is a beastman, probably had a status lower than a lowly soldier in the past. Then, if someone needs to guide us to the Beast King, isn’t it convenient that someone who seems close to the king is stepping up? So I hoped he’d just stop whining and guide us quickly.

“What’s all this ruckus? I heard screams even from the castle.”

At that moment, a man emerged through the crowd.

– The Beast King has come!

From the surrounding murmurs, I gathered that this man, resembling a lion, was the Beast King we were looking for. Just as we needed guidance, the Beast King appeared on his own.

‘Thanks to that, I don’t have to go looking for him.’

– Beast King! Please take revenge for the Tiger King!

– Please retaliate for what we humans have done to us!

Those who were cowards and didn’t want to fight were shouting loudly. I wonder if we need to have a showdown here, but let’s see how the Beast King responds.

Hmph. The Beast King simply let out a loud breath, uninterested. And then,

“GRRRRROAAARRR!”

A lion-like roar erupted from the Beast King’s mouth, a massive sound that threatened his opponent. At that, the area fell silent in an instant.

“Everyone back off.”

I figured he’d get into a fight right away, but he surprisingly ordered the spectators to disperse.

“It seems you have business with me, but let’s change the venue. There are too many pesky spectators here.”

“Ah, before that. I also brought a gift for you.”

I tugged the tied soldier, folded to make a circle, and tossed him to the Beast King.

“What kind of reaction do you expect from me?”

However, he had no response. I wasn’t particularly expecting any. Just a gift. Like a simple pickup for fun.

“In a world of the survival of the fittest, it’s only natural for the defeated to die. They died because they were weak; what can I say about it?”

“Now that’s a reaction I like.”

He’s the most similar in temperament I’ve seen so far.

We followed the Beast King ahead. How confident must he be in his skills to roam without any guards?

Well, it might sound strange for a dog to stand guard over a lion, but the leading Beast King turned around without looking back and spoke.

“What a unique combination. A beastman and a human. It’s like watching a grand unification.”

What’s grand unification? Something akin to North-South reunification?

“Are you satisfied with your current life?”

“…Are you talking to me?”

“Who else would I be talking to, a human?”

“Uhm… Well… Yes, I’m satisfied.”

Hey, why am I stuttering?

You feed me, give me a place to sleep, and even provide sex. You’re fulfilling the three basic human desires of food, sleep, and sex. Where else could I find a better master than this?

“Is that so.”

After that, there was nothing more said. We had just met, so what personal conversation could there be? Especially since both Yui and I are introverts, we can hardly talk to strangers.

“We’ve arrived.”

Just as it was about to get awkward, we arrived.

But… the place we arrived at was neither a castle fit for a king nor a welcoming space for guests.

“Where is this?”

“It’s an arena. It would be a shame to just have a conversation with a powerful being visiting.”

Oh right. It’s just like him. Just when I thought the conversation might finally advance.

“We always have a place prepared for a match, so come and have a go.”

Damn it, why didn’t I expect him to say that?

 

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