EP.181 Fuzzy Day
Similar events occurred throughout the Military Nation.
The deep-rooted hatred for beastkin, passed down since the Kingdom era, continued even after the transition to the Military Nation. It was just that people no longer had the leisure to act on their hatred. The Military Nation exploited humans and beastkin alike.
Even the few who did have the leisure couldn't easily lay hands on the beastkin due to the existence of the Family. If they faced an organized counterattack, they wouldn't be able to handle it. In the past, there were knights, but now, if they dared to assault them, they'd nicely earn a one-way trip to the labor camps.
The discriminatory group JJJ, whose desires had been bottling up.
Upon hearing that the action captain in charge of the Family's military force had died by the Shadow's hand, JJJ sprang into action the moment they heard explosions from that district.
It was time to hunt.
Among the orphans, there were those who harbored deep-seated grievances against the Shelter.
A shelter where retired soldiers cared for children. The children there were accustomed to military-style drill training from a young age, standing out even from elementary citizen school.
What stands high is bound to cast a shadow. The children of ordinary orphanages grew up with an inferiority complex toward the Shelter. Graduating only from citizen school and living day by day doing hard labor, finding small comfort in occasionally gathering to vent their complaints, the temptation of the Shadow was incredibly sweet to them.
Still young, and therefore all the more dangerous, the children roamed the night of the Military Nation in packs.
It would be hard to claim they simply mistook the day of action; the situation had grown uncontrollably massive, to the point where not riding the wave would make them fools. Furthermore, the fireworks that started in District 13 were so uproarious that the information stating the day of action was tomorrow instead felt like a lie.
Chaos births chaos even without a partner. Frightened citizens reported to the police, but it was not a problem that could be solved by the police, who had become puppets under the military government.
Be it a snowball or a flame. If not suppressed at the beginning, it is bound to swell gradually. The current state of the Military Nation was exactly that.
Premature riots broke out everywhere across the Military Nation.
However, just because the Shadow had gathered a bunch of rabble didn't mean its core turned into a rabble group. A messenger who had been watching the situation from the darkness moved urgently, and all these facts were conveyed to the Shadow's side relatively quickly.
Upon receiving the report of an unexpected event, Wolfen summoned the Shadows.
The Shadows gathered in a darkness so deep that one could barely see the face of the person next to them. A pitch-black where it was impossible to discern exactly who was present or how many were together. In that place where only desperately suppressed breaths could be heard.
Wolfen's voice rode the shadows.
"...The plan has gone awry."
His voice sounded as if it were coming from right beside them, yet also echoing from far away like a reverberation. The Shadows shuddered at the eerie sensation of being unable to gauge the distance.
One thing was certain: Wolfen's voice was reaching everyone.
"However, it does not matter. Those who interfered with us do not know the true plan."
Swish.
Wolfen alighted on the podium bathed in faint moonlight, like smoke. Without even a trace of presence, it took quite a long time for all the Shadows to notice his appearance.
Six Half-Shadows appeared one by one beside Wolfen. Wrapped in black clothes and exuding an aura like sharp blades, they overwhelmed the assembly with their presence alone.
The leader who commanded the Shadows, and his executives. Each one was an assassin capable of killing even a general.
And if it were their leader, Wolfen, he might even be able to assassinate the Military Nation's proud Six Great Generals... That was what the Shadows believed.
For Wolfen's concealment arts and Qigong were that outstanding.
Wolfen opened his mouth.
"Our purpose is, after all, to scatter chaos, to sound the alarm to the Military Nation. And, to use their hands to clean up the trash."
That was right. There was no reason to be anxious just because the date was off by a day.
Those fighting outside right now were nothing more than underlings anyway. The gunpowder that was supposed to explode going off a day early wasn't that big of a problem.
"I don't know who it is, but it seems someone has schemed to disrupt our coordination... Very well. If someone forcefully pulls our hand, we will simply match their pace."
In the blink of an eye, Wolfen vanished. They thought they were surely watching him, but when they came to their senses, no one was where he should have been.
Concealment arts are useless once detected, and movement arts are just a way to leap far. However, Wolfen's movements, having mastered both to the pinnacle, were like watching a phantom.
The one who is everywhere and nowhere. The leader of the Shadows, Wolfen Penstein.
A voice came from him once again melted into the shadows.
"I, the Lord, hereby declare: we are moving up the day of action. Shadows, fuel the chaos. Half-Shadows, spread the poison. As of today, we shall reclaim the darkness."
In the pitch-black darkness, countless Shadows bowed their heads simultaneously.
***
Guilt and shame stem from the face. In other words, by simply covering the face, one gains the courage to fear no sin.
The beastkin-discriminating JJJ members, wearing black masks over their faces, walked boldly through the dark streets.
They usually lived with their shoulders slumped in powerlessness, but today was different. United with like-minded people, there was nothing to fear.
The target was the Black Cat Magazine.
A place full of dirty paparazzi who provided jobs and peace to beastkin, thief cats who blatantly called snooping behind others and making money a profession.
Normally, they wouldn't have dared to execute this due to the Family's retaliation or the Military Nation's surveillance, but today was different.
Hadn't the Shadow stirred things up for them?
A masked man wearing a pointed hat shouted.
"Run wild to your heart's content. No one will care about us tonight anyway. Even the Military Nation's proud security is powerless just for today."
The day the Shadows run rampant, when chaos sweeps through every corner of society.
It was the moment their heavily suppressed lives were liberated. Wearing masks, their dangerous nature crushed beneath military boots bared its fangs toward the beastkin.
"Let's liberate our suppressed hatred. Let's give a good beating to these beast bastards who can't even recognize their masters and dare to covet the place of humans. Wooh!"
"Wooh!"
The members chanted the slogan they had created and advanced down the street.
The Fifth Half-Shadow, watching them from a distance, surveyed the surroundings with cold, sunken eyes.
'...Hmm. I don't see any particularly suspicious figures. Did they really just fall for the fake intel?'
Aside from acting a day earlier than the day of action, JJJ was moving exactly as the Shadow had expected. The Fifth withdrew his suspicions.
If they encountered a beastkin on the way, they immediately pounced on them. A few succeeded in fleeing, but none had senses as sharp as theirs. Young, naive, or old beastkin were caught, severely beaten, and then dragged around as their prisoners, tied up with ropes.
Beastkin dragged along with the fur on their ears and tails singed by flames. The Fifth nodded with immense satisfaction at the sight.
'Hmph. Even with the Military Nation in power, the truth doesn't change. Trash like beast bastards deserve to wear collars.'
The Fifth was a beastkin-hater to the bone. His hatred was so deep that when the True Shadow appointed a beastkin as the Seventh Half-Shadow, he seriously considered leaving the organization.
No one would know how overjoyed he was when the Seventh died at Wolfen's hands.
'A race that has survived by constantly betraying and wagging their tails at others... You belong under the feet of humans.'
Because there weren't many opportunities to kill beastkin with his own hands.
'Now, try howling like the beasts you are.'
Beastkin may possess a feral nature, but it is not some divine power that makes the impossible possible.
It's just a death struggle exuded right before dying.
'There is no joy quite like driving a blade into the neck of a struggling beast...'
The ecstatic first kill. The moment he plunged a knife into the back of the neck of a rampaging beastkin, the Fifth was convinced that being an assassin was his calling.
The Fifth, who still hadn't forgotten the feel of the kill, was looking forward to the pleasure soon to come.
"Catch her!"
It seemed they had found another victim. The members dashed forward.
The figure of a person in the distance leapt to avoid them, but after relentless pursuit by the members, they were eventually cornered against a dead-end wall.
"Don't run!"
"Nya? Run? Did Nya say Nya was running?"
The beastkin turned around with a fierce scowl.
She was a strikingly beautiful beastkin girl. Well-groomed white and black hair flowed down to her waist, and a long tail swayed softly. Her physique was petite, but her cat ears and tail stood out prominently.
The beastkin girl, who seemed to have inherited a thick strain of beast blood, scowled in displeasure.
"Nya doesn't run, human. Nya only avoided you because you were annoying."
"Kekeke. All pride and no power... Should I make you like them?"
The masked member grinned through his exposed mouth. As he shifted his body, the sight of the beastkin prisoners tied with ropes was revealed. The beastkin, covered in blood and singed fur, sobbed as they looked at their comrade.
The girl frowned and retorted.
"Nya thought only dogs wore collars, but humans wear collars on each other too. As expected, humans and dogs are just the same..."
How would a discriminatory group feel being compared to dogs by a cat's mouth? It wouldn't be pleasant.
The masked group abruptly stopped laughing and exuded a vicious aura.
"How dare you compare us to dogs? Don't worry. You'll end up the same way."
When the masked man pulled the rope hard, the bloodied beastkin fell to the ground. Their skin scraped, dropping droplets of blood.
Ultimately, the humans made the mistake of shoving the smell of blood and ash into the girl's face.
The girl bristled the fur all over her body and growled low.
"Nyaaa... the smell of blood..."
"Haha. Do you get it now? It's your turn to look like this."
"Nyaa-. Nyaa--."
A pitiful yet bone-chilling cat's cry filled the alley, filled the district. It was an ominous wail that made one's fine hair stand on end just from hearing it.
The members, who momentarily froze, grew furious at the fact they had felt fear. A member holding a torch shouted.
"Catch her!"
With those words leading the way, the members approached the girl, tightly gripping their ropes....
The Fifth muttered to himself as he watched the scene.
'...Ominous.'
What was it? She looked like an ordinary girl on the outside.
Before his hatred for beastkin, a survival instinct boiling up from the very bottom warned him. The Fifth reached out to stop them, even knowing he wouldn't be heard.
"Kyahaaa-!"
It was too late. Those who had reached out holding ropes had their arms ripped into three pieces.
Vertically.
Blood driven out of the owners' bodies carved its trajectory onto the concrete wall. The sharp claws protruding from the girl's hands gleamed with a cold light.
Sharp claws and a pair of arms turned to rags.
Even a fool could deduce the cause and effect. The masked men screamed in agony.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
"M-Murder! Call the police!"
"W-What? What's going on?"
It was a crucible of chaos. A few foolish members who couldn't grasp the situation charged in, only to suffer a severe disability to a part of their bodies and be sent flying.
Those who had gained the upper hand by swarming in groups faced a true predator, and the situation was reversed.
After the blood shower fell a few times, the members grasped the opponent's caliber and backed away trembling in fear. The masked men holding the beastkin captives hastily threw away the ropes in their hands and ran away.
Another masked man, feeling like vomiting blood at the sight, shouted.
"You idiots! Take them hostage!"
"Oops!"
Whether they did or not.
Nabi was in a state full of stress, and before her eyes swarmed frightened beasts. Her vertically slit pupils narrowed even further.
Nabi, with her tail stiffly raised, was on the verge of slaughtering the humans before her right then and there. Suddenly, remembering something, Nabi suppressed her killing intent and fumbled through her pocket.
"Nya-. Instead of humans, an offering..."
The mana cigarette she had been given to use instead of suppressing her killing intent when she wanted to kill humans.
A chance to smoke a mana cigarette legally. The cunning Nabi didn't miss the opportunity and took out the mana cigarette, putting it in her mouth.
At that moment, Nabi's face completely relaxed.
A happy and refreshing scent covered the smell of blood and smoke, filling Nabi's nose. The humans before her eyes, the smell of blood and smoke. None of them tormented Nabi anymore.
Nabi was in bliss at this moment.
"Naha...!"
Feeling good, Nabi placed the tip of the mana cigarette in front of her and clicked her claws together. A spark flew, lighting the end of the mana cigarette.
That depraved scent obtained from burning the World Tree soon made the Cat King happy.
However, humans were always the trouble.
The groans of humans reached the ears of Nabi, who was savoring happiness with her eyes closed. Nabi, having her enjoyable time interrupted, scowled deeply.
"You're interrupting, nya!"
With a big leap, she headed to the rooftop of a building where no one would disturb her.
It was an absolutely absurd sight. Tearing people to shreds, then suddenly taking out a mana cigarette, smoking it, and running away without a care.
Capricious, and impossible to understand her intent. It was unclear why she even appeared.
But the Fifth didn't have the luxury to think about such things.
Because he had just bumped into Nabi, who had come up to the rooftop.
"Nya? There's a human here too, nya."
"Ugh...!"
What the Fifth felt upon facing a being more beastkin than anyone else was not disgust, but terror. It was because his disgust couldn't overcome his survival instinct.
The Fifth guarded against Nabi as if she had become a ferocious beast, and after making eye contact, he began to slowly, very slowly step back...
"If you're leaving, then hurry up and go, nya!"
However, Nabi's patience was shorter than the mana cigarette burning away by the second. Nabi lunged and 'disposed' of the Fifth with her front paw.
Without any time to block or dodge. Thwack, the Fifth's figure flew to the edge of the building.
When he barely managed to grasp his fading consciousness. His body was in mid-air, quite a distance from the rooftop.
"Keok!"
Just like that, the Fifth received the call of the Earth Mother Goddess and fell to the ground.