The Saint Enger Plains. A blessed land that has provided meals as the continent wrote its grand history. So vast that an Empire and two vassal states span across it, it is the grace of the earth that became both the object and stage of strife.
Even the Enger Plains, which seem to stretch to the ends of the earth, eventually reach an end. If you wander aimlessly further south, the land gradually dries up, and a dry wind carrying the scent of dust blows in. The sun climbs ever higher, watching over all creation, as the hot air rises to your chin, making it hard to breathe.
Ende lies on that border.
Legend has it that descending even further reveals an endless sea of trees, but to anyone other than adventurers, Ende is the final stretch of land. This was especially true now that the Jin and Wang nations had fallen, temporarily severing all contact.
"This is Ende."
The Regressor said, pointing to the city that sprawled wide horizontally.
The barrier, closer to a fence than a city wall, was built to keep out beasts, not humans. However, the city's interior was virtually no different from the wild.
The haphazardly built houses had wildly varying heights, looking like an uneven row of teeth, and every wall and rooftop was crammed with all sorts of household goods. The roads split off abruptly only to dead-end at random intersections, completely lawless. It seemed that when building the city, they had planned nothing except its potential.
The appearances of the passersby were just as chaotic as the buildings. While ordinary people are distinguished by hair color, length, height, or build, in Ende, ears and tails had to be added to the list. Round, pointed, long, folded, upright, fluffy, and so on. Modifiers that wouldn't apply to normal humans became the individuality of the beastkin, overwhelming the eyes and mind.
That wasn't all. It was a daily sight to see beastkin, feeling stifled by the crowded streets, leaping over rooftops, and the accidents caused by tails moving of their own accord were innumerable. Scenes of people navigating by nose rather than eyes and bumping into others were witnessed everywhere.
A city so chaotic that no one blending in would seem strange. That was Ende.
The Regressor led Azi and me to a large mansion in the outskirts of Ende.
"I figured we'd need a base, so I bought a mansion."
Speaking as lightly as if he had just returned from grocery shopping at the market, the Regressor opened the front gate. The mansion itself was quite the luxury item, but the items the Regressor brought out were even more valuable.
Elixirs, magical artifacts, alchemical gold. Each and every one was a treasure that would only fetch its true worth at auction. He casually handed over enough resources to cause inflation in the massive city of Ende.
"Here. I'm leaving the management of this mansion to you. I'll provide as much funds and supplies as you need. If you want, I can even introduce you to my network of contacts."
What the Regressor wanted in return for investing such enormous resources was surprisingly simple.
"Defeat the Wolf King."
"...You think big. We don't even know if it's possible or not."
"It's something that must be done, even if not by you. I just want to see what the King of Humans and the King of Dogs will do. I'll help you too, but I'll leave the means and methods entirely up to you."
Even with so many resources invested, it was unclear whether I, still only half-whole, could stop the Wolf King. Honestly, I lacked confidence. If possible, I wanted to put it off until I fully regained my power.
However, the Regressor dangled an offer I couldn't refuse.
"Then I'll show you every Demon God I know."
"Really?"
"Really."
'Just to see what results this attempt will lead to. If Hughes properly defeats the Wolf King as the King of Humans, one massive disaster will disappear, and I can just slot it in as a new routine in future regressions.'
If things go wrong, you just regress, right? Tch. I envy the Regressor who doesn't worry about things going awry.
'I don't mind showing him the Demon Gods. If I show him all the Demon Gods and he still degenerates into the King of Sin, I can just lie about showing them in the next cycle and not do it.'
Like I'd fall for that! Your inner thoughts are plain as day!
"Alright, then take your time preparing. I have things to do in Ende as well."
"What kind of things?"
"Investments and business, things like that."
'Let's see. Not long from now, the Evil Cult will rise with the Horseman of Plague, and the vassal states that locked their borders under the pretext of quarantine will clash with the Empire. It can't be stopped, but the fallout can be minimized. Coincidentally, the Purple Merchant Guild, which came to Ende to pioneer new markets, should be staying here. I need to tell them the preventive measures and the specific cure so they can secure the goods.'
Phew, he's busy. I guess not just anyone can be a Regressor. He really was saving the world.
'I forgot last time and failed to stop the massacre carried out under the guise of quarantine. I better not forget this time.'
Take that back, you bastard! If it's that important, remember it on time!
The Regressor tossed me a bundle of keys. The keyring, as heavy as the expectations placed upon me, landed in my hand.
"I leave it to you. Do as you please, King of Humans. And King of Dogs."
"Phew, the expectations are a bit heavy... but I'll give it a proper shot, at least for the sake of the promise."
"Woof."
Azi and I nodded with faces full of determination.
And one month passed.
The Regressor's furious shout echoed throughout the mansion.
"Get out!!!"
Before leaving the mansion to handle business, when he saw me recovering from travel fatigue, the Regressor had been completely unfazed.
'Right. It was about time to rest. Even if you run off with the money while I'm gone, it's just a story of lost money.'
Perhaps it was the luxury of the wealthy. The Regressor, harboring the ulterior motive of testing me, left the mansion in my care and went about his business.
However, the Regressor didn't know.
That a full beast does not hunt.
About half a month ago. The Regressor, having finished a task and returned, saw Azi and me sprawled out on the wooden floor and tilted his head in confusion.
'...? Still resting? No, they must be taking a break after working, right?'
Staying only briefly before leaving to do something else, it wasn't until the Regressor returned for about the third time and witnessed the exact same scene that he finally realized what Azi and I had been doing.
"You're not doing anything!"
The mansion hadn't changed much either. Only the money in the safe had decreased a bit. Azi and I ate well and slept soundly with that money. To the point that we recovered so much from travel fatigue that we grew pleasantly plump.
"What the hell are you two?!"
"Me? The King of Humans."
"Woof, I'm, puppy!"
"I didn't ask that, you gluttons! You said you were going to fight the Wolf King, so what the hell have you been doing?!"
Still sprawled on the floor, I answered with only a resolute expression on my face.
"Stockpiling for the fight."
"Woof~."
"Stockpiling what?!"
The Regressor stomped over and flipped the floorboards Azi and I were lying on. Having grown rotten with peace over the past month, the dog and the human flailed helplessly against the sudden attack. The Regressor looked down at the two kings crawling pathetically on the floor and roared.
"It would be one thing if you were at least training! You just stockpiled plump fat! What are you going to do?! Are you planning to gift the Wolf King an even tastier delicacy?!"
"No, it's just that we aren't ready to catch the Wolf King."
"Didn't I buy the mansion and give you money to make those preparations?! Weren't you going to find the Demon Gods? Don't you need help?"
Honestly, I figured I could just read his mind instead of bothersomely getting his help, so I felt at ease. I also had a little thought about just killing time and pretending to work until the Regressor returned.
Without even thinking of getting up, I squirmed and answered.
"But as I rested, it was so comfortable... I ended up resting reeeeaaally hard without even realizing it."
"You sound like a bum! And you call yourself the King of Humans?!"
"A bum is also human... The King of Humans is therefore the King of Bums..."
"Try acting like the King of Diligent People!"
'I thought you might run away, but I never imagined you wouldn't do anything at all! Does this guy not realize the gravity of the situation? Every second counts right now!'
Hmm. But think about it. You said the King of Sin will appear and destroy the world, right? Then as long as I'm alive, the King of Sin won't appear, so wouldn't it be fine to just live a long, long time with a full belly and a warm back?
YW9peUx5cktZYXhyU2hzY1VsMkQ0WEVMakQwTU5oeXJWQS9rYXRFNllYUWZpS1ZZMFJNcEwrbEdTYmhnaGVjZQ
"You weren't like this when you were in the Military Nation! How did it come to this?!"
"Well, when I was in the Military Nation, I lived a bit fiercely to avoid the Nation's grasp trying to exploit me."
I looked at the safe placed on one side of the room. The safe the Regressor had left in my care was filled to the brim with alchemical gold, so no matter how much I spent, it didn't even show. A veritable bottomless spring. Naturally, I wanted to spend it.
"In the free, wild city of Ende, having money means there's nothing you can't do. I was wandering around keeping tabs on Ende's trends and had such wonderful encounters. Because they did so many things for me, I suppose I grew a bit lazy."
The Regressor, his anger slightly subdued, spoke with a hint of expectation.
"It seems you met someone?"
"Yes. Since Ende has no strict rules and the residents have such strong individuality, people form clans with those similar to themselves and rely on each other, right? Especially since a large portion of Ende's residents are beastkin. The clans are largely divided depending on what kind of beastkin they are. I first made contact with them to get a feel for Ende's trends."
"Hmph. I guess you didn't just do nothing at all."
"How could I really live without doing a single thing? Anyway, as a result of spreading money around here and there to build connections with the clans..."
Right then. The sound of galloping hooves rushing over stopped in front of the mansion. At the same time, Azi's ears perked up. The visitor stood before the mansion and called out to me.
"Lord Hughes! Are you there!"
"Speak of the tiger and it appears. Just a moment."
You came at just the right time. I leisurely stood up and walked toward the door. The Regressor, who had been wearing a disgruntled expression, seemed somewhat relieved by the fact that there had at least been some interaction.
'An informant? I guess instead of going to them, he just summoned them to the mansion. Still, no matter what, he couldn't have really just been goofing off this whole time, right?'
Um, if you expect too much, the disappointment will be burdensome.
When I opened the door, the freckled horse beastkin girl who had been waiting flashed a refreshing smile and shouted energetically.
"Advance delivery! Beef soup and 3 servings of boiled meat, right?"
"With bones attached to the meat. Right?"
"Snort! Of course! You've ordered it so many times, there's no way I'd get it wrong!"
Clack, clack, clack. The horse beastkin took out the packaged food from her iron bag and set it down in front of us. Azi, who had come right to my feet, was already drooling, staring intently at the food.
Over the past month, Azi had learned something too. That when the sound of hooves stops at the door, food has arrived. The moment the horse beastkin set down the meat, Azi snatched it up in a flash and went to work deboning it.
Thank goodness there were bones. If not, he would have devoured it all in 3 seconds and coveted mine. This is exactly why you have to order meat on the bone.
"That'll be 40 alke in total! If you return the disposable alchemy containers, we'll give you 1.5 alke back!"
"Here. Keep the change. Such small change."
"As expected, you are so generous!"
The horse beastkin, shouldering her bag again, gave me a thumbs up.
"Enjoy your meal! Advance delivery, returning to base!"
The horse beastkin slung her significantly lighter bag over her shoulder and dashed away like an arrow. *Clack clack clack.* The horseshoe-like sounds rang out from the horseshoes attached to their shoes. A horse beastkin's leg strength is several times that of a normal person, so if they didn't wear horseshoes, their shoes would wear out in no time.
Horse beastkins really are the best for deliveries. I closed the door and returned with the food. The Regressor, who had watched my every move from beginning to end, was trembling all over, looking like he could explode at any second.
"...Like this. I got close with the clans running various service industries. To cooperate with them, you see."
"Cooperate my ass! You just found a way to be even lazier!"
Busted.