---

“Who are you?!”

The king, despite being drunk, reacted suddenly to my appearance.

His reaction, wielding a small wine cup at me, looked downright ridiculous.

Anyway, as I stared at the king, who was reeking of alcohol, I opened my mouth.

“Just think of me as a wandering traveler. I gathered you’re troubled by some conflict with your wife.”

“W-What do you mean…?”

“Let’s skip the boring part about how I know that. I have a suggestion to make.”

The king, with a face flushed from drink, merely scowled at me.

Well, it’s clear he couldn’t make sound judgments considering he’s facing a suspicious little girl who suddenly shows up without calling others.

But that works for me. It makes things run smoothly.

“Do you want to reconcile with your queen?”

Upon hearing my words, the king, unable to judge properly, looked at me with blurry eyes.

And then, he nodded weakly.

“I want to reconcile! With the queen! With the one I love! Why must we be torn apart like this?! Why must such a little human be born from the queen?! Why, oh why!!”

The king, seeming full of pent-up rage, unleashed his anger once again.

If the one I’m dealing with is this disheveled, it’s going to be easy to manipulate him.

“Alright. I’ll help resolve the issue created by the birth of a cow beastman from the queen, but there’s one condition.”

“A condition? What is it? Do you want riches? If so, I’ll gladly give it to you!!”

Ah, how regal of a king from a wealthy city-state.

But what I want is not that.

“I’ve heard there’s a beastman known as a monster in this city. If you hand him over to me, I’ll help you.”

“That monster? Why would you want him?”

“I have my reasons.”

After a moment of thought, the king nodded in agreement.

“Fine. I don’t know what you’ll do with that troublesome one, but I’m grateful you’ll take him away! Take him as you wish!”

Without a hint of hesitation, the king sold out his own child. What a heartless father.

But from the king’s perspective, it’s not his child, just someone else’s. It’s only natural he’d feel that way.

There are no modern genetic tests around, after all. He can’t really believe that the beastman known as a monster is his son.

So…

“Then first, let me take a strand of hair.”

“A hair? Why?”

“To solve the problem. If hair won’t do, a drop of blood will suffice. I just need a simple confirmation.”

“Is a single hair enough?”

Without hesitating, the king plucked a strand of his hair and offered it to me.

Was drawing a drop of blood that distasteful to him?

“Great. One strand of hair. I’ll make good use of it.”

“But can you really reconcile with my wife using that hair?”

“Of course.”

“How exactly?”

I simply smiled at the king.

Explaining to a drunken person is too much trouble.

“We just need to solve the source of the conflict.”

The queen doubted the paternity of the cow beastman born out of human parents. If I can prove that this beastman is indeed their legitimate child, won’t the conflict dissolve?

Sure, there might be more issues after that, but… that’s not my problem!

I just need to take the beastman!

“Now, it should wrap up quickly, so maybe take a short nap. When you wake up, everything will have been resolved.”

With that, I let the drunken king fall into slumber and slipped out of the room.

My next destination? Where the queen was.

Not as deep in the bottle as the king, but she sat there with a sorrowful look stroking a small outfit.

The queen, lost in tremendous grief, once a stunning beauty, now looked pale as she caressed the clothing.

“What sin does that child hold…”

The queen sighed deeply, over and over.

“If there’s a sin, it’s mine for not bringing him forth as a human. Why was that child thrown into the underground maze? It’s so cruel… Your Majesty…”

Hmm. Unlike the king, it seems the queen considers the so-called monster to be her own child.

Well then, this makes things easier.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“W-Who?!”

“Just a wandering traveler.”

Saying something that wouldn’t get me anywhere, I smiled softly.

“I came after hearing rumors about the beastman known as a monster, and it seems it’s your child.”

“Who are you?! Intruder?! An intruder!!!”

“Are we not in the middle of a conversation? That’s a pretty normal reaction though.”

The real problem lies with the king having a chitchat with someone who appears suddenly while intoxicated.

“No matter how much you yell, no one outside will hear you, so don’t waste your strength. By the way, that door won’t open either.”

The queen, possibly ignoring my words, struggled with the firmly closed door, but the barrier I set won’t budge.

I simply wanted to have a calm conversation. But I guess talking to an unexpected intruder is peculiar.

“Stop the unnecessary effort and let’s talk. Queen. Don’t you want to save your child?”

At that, the queen’s body froze, still trying to open the door. Her child. The child that’s called a monster.

“What did you just say…”

“Just what I said. Is he not in the underground maze? Don’t you feel sorry for him?”

Even if rumors spread about the child being a monster, for a mother, holding onto the clothing of such a small child—how mournful that must be.

That’s where I dig in.

“If I help, I can take that child out.”

I offer something different from the king. The king wants to reconcile with his queen. And the queen—wants to save her child from the underground maze.

If both desires are satisfied, then I’ll keep my promise to both.

So…

“How about it? Are you interested in hearing more?”

I smiled softly, and the queen let out a quiet sound, face tense.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Isn’t this too much, Your Majesty?!”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Even if the child was born a cow beastman! He’s still my child! I endured so much pain to give birth to him! Just because that child has cow horns, you can’t regard him as your own child!!”

“You’re not wrong. That is indeed too much.”

“Normally, you praise beastmen for being reliable and great! How can your attitude flip like a pancake? Isn’t it too much?!”

“True that! If we go back a couple of generations, it could turn out that a cow beastman is part of the royal bloodline! Your grandmother could have been a beastman!”

“Exactly! That’s it! The only man I’ve ever loved is you, Your Majesty!!! I never thought you’d suspect me like this!!! I didn’t know how petty you could be!!!”

“Men are like that. A mere hint of doubt and their attitude changes instantly. Or maybe he was like that all along, and you just got blindsided by love.”

“Right! Exactly! Especially now, you’re drowning in wine and ignoring your duties! It’s so harsh!”

“What can I do? I thought you were pure-hearted, but now I’m haunted with the suspicion that it might be NTR. To you, it’s all about pure love though.”

“Pure love? What is that?”

“Pure and sincere affection. Loving only one person without any interferences.”

“Oh my… that’s such a lovely phrase.”

“Right? Pure love is great! Pure love rules! You shout that pure love is the best!!!”

“Pure love is the best!!!”

Somehow, I ended up getting chummy with the queen.

Well, I didn’t plan on getting this close.

“Anyway, I’m doing all I can to bring your child back from the underground maze, so could you part with a strand of hair?”

“Hair? I can give you a handful! If it means saving him!”

The queen said that and then grabbed a handful of hair. No, I don’t need that much.

“Just a single strand. Don’t go overboard.”

And so, the queen pulled out one strand of hair and handed it to me.

“But how can you save that child with just hair?”

“It’s nothing complicated. I just want to prove the blood relation between the king and that child. If I can confirm the connection, the king won’t have any grounds to complain.”

“That’s true but… how would that be possible?”

I took out a strand of the king’s hair I had kept separately.

“Body parts hold information about that life. So, it can be proven.”

I can’t explain things like genetics in detail. This vague explanation should suffice.

 

---