Beastkin.
Humans who inherited the characteristics of beasts.
What kind of beast it is varies from individual to individual, but it is common knowledge that most beastkin are of livestock breeds familiar to humans.
And it is also common knowledge that the treatment of beastkin varies depending on the purpose of that livestock.
Dog beastkin. Sheep beastkin. Cow beastkin. Horse beastkin. Pig beastkin.
There are many other species of beastkin, but only those five have formed societies in the human world. Their numbers are by no means small, and they are already deeply embedded in society, making them impossible to uproot by force. Trying to forcefully separate them would leave a massive wound, like pulling out hair deeply rooted in the skin.
...However.
"King of Humans. There's something I want to ask before we go."
'I need to confirm this in advance. Depending on what attitude the King of Humans shows towards beastkin, my plan will change.'
Upon facing the problem, the regressor briefly recalled the past.
A future that has not yet come. In a world remembered only by the single regressor. Humans and beastkin created a massive conflict. It was meaningless to argue about who started it first; the differences that existed from birth gradually caused a rift between beastkin and humans.
Well, even with conflict, most of it can be suppressed by force. So what if you get a few scratches from forcibly tearing at it? As long as they aren't my scratches.
Humans dealt with it exactly as they always had. In other words, they oppressed them with brute force. Blood flowed, and the cries of beasts gradually died down.
The problem was that around that time, the King of Sin was born.
'With the addition of the deeds of the King of Beasts, it became the catalyst that snowballed sin. No matter which side you took, you couldn't help but get blood on your sword...'
Ending the recollection by trembling a clenched fist, the regressor emitted a chilling killing intent and asked me.
"Do you treat beastkin as humans too?"
"Huh? Shea. What on earth are you talking about?"
Towards such a question, I answered very sensibly.
"Treat beastkin as humans? You speak as if beastkin are different beings from humans? Wow, I didn't know you were that kind of person."
"What?"
"Before even talking about beastkin being mixed or whatever, the 'in' in beastkin means human. That settles it right there. You said you'd save the world and stop the King of Sin, but you yourself are a discriminator."
"No I'm not? I think beastkin are equal humans to us!"
"I don't even think like that. Just like I don't think of you as 'Wow, Shea, a qi master who is a non-beastkin, non-vampire, and non-magician~'."
It's truly an unreasonable situation, but the moment you become conscious of it, you lose. If you say there's a difference, you're a discriminator; if you say they're equal, you're a hypocrite.
'Anyway, so the King of Humans treats beastkin as equal humans too... Tch. I thought they'd be more merciless since they're a barbarian, but they're more righteous than I thought? It would have been easier to handle if they were barbaric...'
What exactly do they see humans—no, beasts as? Beasts are simple. They only attack those weaker than me, when I am hungry, and only when the conditions are right. They are different from humans who bite and tear recklessly just because something is a little different.
"Since you don't seem to know, I'll tell you. The front part is the modifier and the back part is the essence. Even if cow's milk and mare's milk are different, they are ultimately the same milk. It's the same for beastkin. Whether it's a cow beastkin or a horse beastkin, they are different but the same humans."
"Even as a metaphor, why milk of all things?!"
"They all have the common point of being milk-producing beasts. Chickens and ducks are also livestock, so why are there so few beastkin of them?"
There's even the classification of mammals. It was an answer that faced reality, but the regressor made a displeased, sullen expression.
"So why did you ask that?"
"Because the place we're going to from now on is a city where humans and beastkin coexist, and at the same time, clash."
"Where is it?"
"The border of the Enger Plains. A city at the boundary of farmland and plains."
If it's the Enger Plains, it's the center of the continent further west than the Military Nation. The historic land that created the hegemony of the empire.
Among them, the name of a city at the very edge of civilization came from the regressor's mouth.
"We're going to Ende."
The city of the Enger Plains, Ende. The border between barbarism and civilization. Above it, the empire and vassal states that have conquered the continent stand firm, and below it, the barbaric land untouched by the hand of civilization stretches out. That city, the frontline of barbarism and civilization, is a perfect place for humans and beastkin to cause conflict.
"Exactly what do we have to do there for you to give me the clue to the Demon God?"
"The details might change a little, but the basic outline is simple."
The regressor alternately pointed at me and Aji with her finger.
"You, and Aji. The two of you will gather hunters and mercenaries in Ende, and hunt the wolf pack roaming the Enger Plains. Of course, I'll help too."
Aji and I tilted our heads at the same time.
A wolf pack? To an ordinary human like me, a wolf pack is definitely a threatening enemy. But to Aji, repelling wolves is like a morning exercise. There's not even a need for the regressor to throw her weight around.
Considering what the regressor said, it was surely...
"The Wolf King."
"Exactly. It's a powerful pack of beasts, so much so that rather than subjugating them, we should worry about whether the city will be destroyed. It's a relief that wolves are beasts; if they had organized and attacked Ende, Ende would have been destroyed long ago."
The city will be destroyed? The regressor may say sudden things, but she doesn't spout lies. Then does that mean the Wolf King has such powerful strength? A mere beast?
Hmm. Did I agree to keep the promise too hastily? While pondering, a sudden worry crossed my mind.
"Wait a minute. You said if the wolf pack organizes and attacks Ende, Ende would be destroyed?"
"Yeah."
"But you're saying Aji and I are going to Ende?"
"Yeah."
Long, long ago, there was a promise that if we fought the bad wolves together, dogs would forever be human's friends. At first glance, it sounds like a problem between humans and dogs, but there is a third party involved in that promise.
The wolves. Fierce and wicked beasts that always torment dogs and humans. They are the villains, but precisely because of that, they are an essential existence for the promise.
Just as Aji, the Dog King, seeks out the King of Humans for the sake of the promise, the Wolf King also seeks out the Dog King. To bite and kill the betrayer brother and break the promise.
"The Wolf King will come to catch Aji. Then... won't Ende be attacked by the wolf pack?"
"Maybe. But that would be better."
The regressor shrugged and said.
"Isn't it better than the beastkin starting a rebellion from the inside and then setting up the Wolf King as their king?"
***
Where is the boundary between civilization and barbarism? Philosophers would think of it as an interesting tidbit and chew on it a few times in their heads, but other scholars would mention the Enger Plains.
To be exact, it's because of one peak in the south of the Enger Plains that civilization could never cross. The reason they dare not mention it is out of fear and shame.
Fear is because of that existence.
Shame is because of human pride, which has been broken after countless challenges to that existence.
A place that they couldn't even give a separate name to, and simply call the Mountain of the Mountain Lord.
"Once upon a time. Since the days when I used to smoke tobacco."
Dark night. A mountain in the middle of the night where insects and small beasts should be rustling in the pitch-black darkness.
But now, that place was quiet without even a small noise.
Whether prey or hunter, it didn't matter; they lower their heads and tremble. Even the clueless insects hold their breath, and the free birds bind themselves.
On this mountain right now, no one can make a sound. No one can move their body even a little. They just have to hold their breath and wait for this moment to end.
This is the Mountain Lord's royal presence. Wild beasts, know fear.
"Your wolf pack has been the vanguard of humans, roar. Sniffing smells for the dull humans, and barking noisily to distract their attention, you nuisances."
Wearing a hat on her head, she loosely draped a wide robe. Black spot patterns grew like whiskers on the sides of her cheeks. Her lush orange hair had majestic black stripes running horizontally. With a throat that rumbles thunder and front paws that cause earthquakes, she lay on a rock.
The Tiger King, Mountain Lord.
The pinnacle above the ground.
Her slightly folded ears, as if revealing her displeasure, were directed at the uninvited guest before her.
"Yet what nerve do you have to insist on biting humans together?"
In front of such a Mountain Lord, several figures in human form stood with their heads held high.
Speaking of the Mountain Lord, she is the object of human fear and worship. Although it was a bit in the past, there was a time when they called the tiger the King of the Mountain and held rituals for it. During the days when the Nation of Savages, Manguk (蠻國), remained in the south, the Mountain Lord Festival was a grand event presided over directly by the king of the nation.
How dare mere humans face the Mountain Lord. She should bite their necks off right away, but... because of a single existence standing in front of them, the Mountain Lord was displeased but maintained her etiquette.
Because the opponent was also a king like her.
"Because you are not ready to fight!"
The Wolf King bared his teeth even with the tiger in front of him. His bloodshot eyes and sharply exposed fangs showed neither respect nor fear. With only savagery, the Wolf King pressed the Mountain Lord.
"Awoooo! I am a wolf. Not a dog! I am different from that betrayer, and different from a coward like you!"
"Roar, a coward? Me, a coward!"
"Grr! You're looking for a reason not to fight!"
Even facing the tiger's wrath, the Wolf King shouted without backing down at all.
"Tiger! Are you fear? Are you savagery? Or are you a cat that shows its belly to humans? Is staying in a mere mountain and acting as the local boss all a tiger has to do?!"
The tiger called the Mountain Lord is also a beast. Roaming all over the valleys and peaks, and reigning as the boss of the mountain is her job.
No, she hadn't even thought of anything else she had to do besides that. What else is the Mountain Lord supposed to do besides reigning over the mountain? The Mountain Lord roared in bewilderment.
"Grr! Then, what more should I do besides reigning?"
"Fight!"
In contrast, the wolf shouted as if it were some noble mission.
"Bite! Tear! Rip! Eat! Your claws are for ripping, and your fangs are for tearing! Tiger! Humans are gradually expanding their territory, how long are you going to hide like a coward!"
"I have never hidden! This mountain is my land! How is reigning over the mountain hiding!"
"Awoooo! That's exactly why you just get hunted by humans!"
Thunder struck from a clear sky.
The enraged Mountain Lord's roar shook the vegetation and rang the earth. A few of the beastkin directly hit by the roar fainted on their feet. Although uncounted, some of the pitiful beasts living on the mountain must have died instantly just from hearing that cry.
But the wolf saw nothing else. With savagery that had even devoured fear, he glared straight at the tiger.
A wolf may be strong, but not as much as a tiger. Right now, the Wolf King was committing an act close to suicide. The Mountain Lord took a deep breath and cast a pitying glance toward the mad beast king.
"...Wolf. Are you trying to become savagery? Are you trying to become sharp claws and pointed fangs?"
Perhaps because the Mountain Lord's momentum softened, the Wolf King also calmed down a little and spoke.
"Awoo. I don't know. But I have savagery. I have sharp claws and pointed fangs. And there is something I must tear apart with them."
"Your other half?"
"My opposite."
All beasts have wisdom. Beasts also feel shame and a desire for revenge, and have the discernment to avoid fights they can't win depending on the situation, as well as the resolve to throw themselves into unavoidable fights.
The long-lived tiger also had enough wisdom. Even if she didn't know exactly what problem the wolf before her was experiencing, she knew what caused the problem.
"Roar. What humans did to you. I don't know that, but."
It's difficult to even feel anger toward an opponent lacking something. The Mountain Lord chewed on the silver vine again and muttered.
"If a time comes when I must use savagery, I will leave it to you. It is a 'promise'."
The Mountain Lord is clearly one pinnacle. Standing on the ground with her own feet, there probably wouldn't be a stronger individual on earth.
But she is not the strongest.
Humans are the de facto dominant species on earth, and the tiger only reigns as the boss of the mountain. The number of humans killed by tigers is much greater than the number of tigers hunted, but compared to the human population, that is a trivial number. Rather, tigers are being pushed back by humans and gradually losing their place to stand.
The only existence that can be called an 'enemy' to the tiger is humans. An existence that must be wary of.
Therefore, the tiger promised the wolf.
If a time comes to fight humans, she would stand on the wolf's side and fight together.
With the promise made, there was no more business. The Wolf King immediately turned his back and said.
"Awoooo. It will happen soon."
That was the end of the greeting. The Wolf King strode down from the Mountain Lord's presence. He should be happy since he achieved his goal, but the wolf's tail was still curled up.