Healing using divine power is close to restoration. That's why external injuries can be treated relatively easily, but internal injuries or illnesses hardly recover. That was the reason I was bedridden for days even though Hilde healed me when I was taken down by a surprise attack in Claudia.
Given that, what about the regressor whose bones and muscles were completely shattered?
"...Ugh, keuk...!"
The regressor suffered injuries that wouldn't have been strange if she died right then. Aji healed her, but her twisted qi and blood and massive internal injuries remained.
The only fortunate thing is that the regressor has mastered Gamgigong. If you learn Gamgigong, which infuses qi pores into the body, you can reconnect bones and muscles with qi pores even if they're broken and torn. Somehow keeping her life, the regressor who returned to the mansion on my back pulled herself together, her body covered in blood and dirt.
"That healthy Shei acting so vainly... Please rest."
"I'm not, dead yet...!"
She seems to have the energy to answer. Her willpower is truly amazing. Even after being beaten down by Sangun, she somehow maintained consciousness.
"...You received blood from Tirkanjaka. I thought, you were dead."
"Strictly speaking it's different, but it's almost like that."
"I'm glad... that you didn't die."
To hear such warm words from the regressor lying weakly? She becomes a bit honest and cute when she's groaning in pain. I'm almost moved...
'Hughes is also the king of beasts, so he'll lead the conversation with Sangun well. While I rest for a bit, Hughes will find out.'
Always stopping just one step short of being cute. Trying to make me work again. Yeah, that suits you.
"I'm not trying to take credit, but I didn't even know I received blood until I almost died today. In other words, I really risked my life. Don't forget that."
"I risked my life too...! Cough, hack!"
"It seems something like a neck or a life is still dangling somewhere even now. You're not going to die, right?"
"It's fine... I still have energy. I learned Hyeoljosul this time too. If I come to my senses and circulate qi, I won't die..."
In the past, I used to envy people who learned Gamgigong, but it would be deception to say I'm still envious now that I have an immortal body, right?
"...However, I don't know what will happen if I lose consciousness. There are limits to unconsciously using qi pores."
"If it seems like you'll die, please leave all your inheritance to me in your will. Just in case the pocket might close, please take out everything inside that pocket too."
"Drop it...? If I die, everything ends."
Hmph. Do you think I'd watch my money fall into someone else's hands? Even if I die, I'll die holding onto everything!
That's how it sounds, but actually there's no need to think complicated - it's literal. The moment she dies, she regresses, so it means everything ends.
Smirking, the regressor groaned as she spoke.
"So... first, listen to what Sangun has to say."
"Shei looks like she's gasping for breath. You want me to have a jolly chat with the tiger that put Shei in this state?"
"When did you ever take care of me like that... Asking about Sangun's business is the top priority. If I listen to that, I don't think sleep will come..."
As the regressor groaned as if she would break, Sangun appeared, throwing the door wide open.
"Did you call me?"
Like a tiger, really appearing as soon as mentioned.
"Yeah. You said you had something to say?"
"To be precise, there is something you must answer to me."
"That's having something to say. Got it. There's a patient here, so let's sit on that sofa over there and talk."
"Grr. Very well."
The regressor seems to want that too. I left the room leaving the door slightly ajar.
Sangun had already jumped onto the sofa. Leaning her head against the armrest and stretching her legs comfortably, she looks just like a lazy beast. Whether she liked the texture of the sofa, Sangun grr'd a few times, then soon looked around.
"The dog?"
"If you mean Aji, she's probably treating injured people right now."
"Roar. I'll bring her."
Sangun leapt over the window and disappeared somewhere. After a while, she jumped over the wall like lightning with Aji's scruff in her mouth and dropped her in the yard. Aji looked around with a confused face, then saw me and came running.
"Kidnapping! The tiger bit me and took me!"
"She says she has something to say."
"Not everything done with the mouth is words! Woof! Violence!"
"Grrr. Do you truly wish to see my violence?"
Aji instantly went quiet. Sangun, lying leisurely on the sofa, looked down at me and Aji sitting politely and began to speak.
"Human, dog, and wolf. I have been watching you beasts. Humans tamed wolves and called them dogs, and called untamed wolves wolves."
Sangun swayed her long tail. Aji's eyes naturally followed Sangun's tail. Whenever the tail moved left and right, Aji's head moved too.
This is the bold statement of the king of beasts? It makes me realize she's closer to a beast than a king. Can't fake your true nature.
"Actually, that is a common thing. Beasts are generous when they are not starving. I too, when my belly is full and my back is warm, generously pass by wild boars and deer. The mountain beasts watching my mood dare to appear before me and act cheeky when I'm in a good mood."
"Right, well. If you're not hungry, why would you hunt?"
"You humans graze grass from the land. You, who rarely go hungry, could tame wolves all year round. Taming packs of wolves to use them is the brutality you humans possess. That is not a problem. However."
Sangun bared her teeth slightly and glared at me.
"How did the wolf come to bear my brutality in my stead?"
For a beast, it feels like a rather vague question. But a beast wouldn't ask such a high-dimensional question. The king of beasts, a conceptual existence, merely summons concepts themselves like objects.
So Sangun's words are a literal question. All beasts are brutal, but asking why the wolf is more brutal than all other beasts.
"Tiger. Let me say this first. I am human, but I was devoured and disappeared by humans. The current me doesn't know everything and doesn't have the power to rule over humans. So what I know is closer to conjecture than truth."
"Grr. Getting devoured by your own subjects. Useless."
"Hey! There must have been circumstances, saying useless is too much!"
...Well, I am useless. If I were a proper human king, there'd be no need to conjecture. My words would be the proxy of the species and the truth.
But I'm no longer a conceptual existence and can't speak the truth. I can only present hypotheses with higher probabilities.
"Asking a human yet they might give a wrong answer. Roar, it's displeasing but... still, it's better to hear directly from a human. Tell me."
Wolf, dog, brutality and gentleness. I answered while recalling what I had learned.
"Humans, meaning humans other than me, tried to divide wolves and dogs into brutality and gentleness. As the king who represents concepts themselves."
Wolves and dogs existed. They're the same wolves and the same species, but having been separated for so long, the king of beasts also separates.
The problem is that the change was touched by human hands.
"Originally, brutality and gentleness coexist in beasts. Like you and me. But some humans tried to make Fenrir the king of brutality and Aji the king of gentleness. Wolves came to represent all brutality, so probably even you, tiger, had to entrust your brutality to mere wolves."
"Hmm..."
"And Aji became the king of gentleness, so she couldn't bite or scratch humans. Even when I poked her head like this, she couldn't rebel."
Then Aji raised her head and bit my hand sharply.
"Woof woof! Now I bite! I can bite!"
"Hey! We're talking about the past! Let go first! No need to prove it!"
Why did her attack instincts return after losing the crown? I was happy when she got a bit stronger, but now I have to watch out for the dog too?
Sangun stared blankly while licking her front paw and asked.
"Then, what happened to the wolf?"
"Aji passed the crown. She said to be king."
"Wolf, completely a wolf! Dog and wolf are one! Bad and good!"
"Yeah. As Aji said, Fenrir is now a normal king of beasts. Unrelated to the concept of brutality."
Like Nabi the cat king, she probably became a king of beasts who is normally brutal and normally kind. Actually, this is normal, and a beast that unconditionally attacks humans is stranger.
Sangun? Sangun's problem is that she's too strong, but she's also a normal king of beasts. She's calmly lying down and licking her front paw even now.
"Roar. Humans do useless things with things they can't even eat."
"I agree. Well, is there anything else you're curious about?"
"Nothing in particular. The remaining questions will be the business of the human and the dog. Since the wolf no longer bears my brutality, I shall take my brutality as my own again."
This isn't something to be purely happy about. Sangun is the king of tigers; if things go wrong, she could eat dozens of people living here. It's a situation where she's seen blood and is a bit excited, so I should accommodate her.
"Should I get some meat?"
"If you offer tribute, I shall gladly accept."
Her words are arrogant but her tail's wagging rhythm has quickened. Is she hungry? I should contact the regular shop.
Leaving Sangun yawning widely, I crossed the yard and opened the gate. The mansion built in the outskirts of Ende was clean but in a remote area, so compared to the central district, there were no people and it was quiet.
...But Ende's people aren't fools. They can't just leave alone the mansion where Sangun, Aji, the regressor and I are. I approached the nearest building and tapped on the wall.
"Excuse me."
The window clanked open and an Obelisk appeared from inside.
An Obelisk is a guardian of Ende and a noble residing in Obeli, but having experienced too many things, fatigue was felt before arrogance. The Obelisk assigned to the Sangun surveillance team asked me.
"What is the matter?"
"Sangun is hungry. We'll need some food."
"Sangun...! We'll bring it immediately! Hey, this concerns the fate of Ende! Prepare 20 servings of food right away! Mix in raw meat with bones too!"
It might seem like overreaction, but filling Sangun's stomach is that important. She's the kind who would eat people rather than starve.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"For now. Ah, could you give us some cloth to use as bandages or a few changes of clothes?"
"I'll have to contact the Sheep Beastman Clan... How about cleaning?"
"Sangun is sensitive about territory, so I can't really recommend that."
"Understood."
The Obelisk gave orders, and the pig beastman and horse beastman ran out to follow them. Watching their still busy figures, I returned to the mansion.