WVKWnovel Chapter 165: The Secrets Of Beastmen
Chapter 165: The Secrets Of Beastmen
Beastmen.
Their presence became prominent shortly after the series of calamities struck this world.
A mysterious race that seemed to be a fusion of humans and animals.
Upon their emergence, they claimed to be the new humanity and the epitome of progress, constantly displaying their ambition to dominate over humans.
Although the damage they caused was not as severe as that by the undead or the Demon King’s army, they were still a target for extermination as they were in a struggle for survival.
“Please help us!!!!”
But why was a group of these beastmen swarming the gate and pleading for help from the soldiers and residents?
“Our comrades are dying! Please provide us with a place to rest, even if it’s just for a little while!”
“We can’t rest properly outside because it’s crawling with monsters! Please, just a little... even a little bit would be enough, please!!”
The beastmen, who appeared to be in poor condition, were gasping for breath or trembling, hugging each other, and desperately pleading.
Despite their beastly appearance, their human traits showed that they were not just mere animals.
Yes, they certainly possessed a personality.
“Get lost!!! How dare you crawl in here?!”
“Come any closer, and I’ll blow your heads off!”
But the faces of the soldiers confronting them were filled with fear and hatred.
It was a natural reaction.
No matter how much they could communicate, unlike the demons or undead, letting them in was akin to bringing enemies into the camp during a war.
“Please, I beg you!”
Surely, the beastmen were aware of this.
Nevertheless, the fox beastman, presumed to be the leader, bowed her head to the ground, disregarding the arrows aimed at them.
“Even if it’s just for a moment. We’ll leave quietly once our comrades’ condition improves. Or at least until the main group that followed our scent arrives...”
“Danger!!!”
At that moment, the arrow was deflected by the swipe of the lion beastman next to her.
Amid the standoff, one of the soldiers, unable to bear the tension, had fired an arrow at them.
“Are you crazy!? Firing without orders, provoking them...”
“Shut up! What more do you need to see? They’re beastmen! Do you know how many villages have been destroyed by them?!”
“Yeah, if we could deal with anyone who could talk, we wouldn’t be at odds with the Demon King’s army or the undead!”
“How can we deal with them when they call themselves the Anti-Human Alliance? There’s nothing more to see. They’re enemies, enemies!!”
“Captain! Give us the order!”
The soldiers, starting with the first shot, began to rally.
The lion beastman snarled and glared at them menacingly in response to the hostile atmosphere.
“Grr, I didn’t think we could talk to humans anyway. We should just wipe them all out and take over...”
“No, we can’t do that!”
The fox beastman quickly restrained the lion beastman.
Even though an arrow almost hit her head, she tried to restrain the enraged lion beastman.
“You know our people aren’t in good condition right now! The reason they’re hostile to us is largely our responsibility...”
“Don’t talk about responsibility! If they hadn’t treated us like failures from the start, we wouldn’t be in this situation!”
“Even so...!”
Unlike the humans, who were united in hostility, the beastman representatives were divided on whether to fight or not.
Meanwhile, many of the beastmen behind them were either sick or looking worried and anxious.
The lion beastman was also wary of them and couldn’t just charge in emotionally.
Anyone could see that they weren’t pretending to attack this place.
“...Hero, what should we do?”
Lieutenant Sanson asked me, observing the situation objectively from the gate.
Unlike the soldiers at the gate, he was focused solely on me, waiting for my opinion.
“Can I make the decision?”
“The gate’s captain seems to be waiting for your opinion as well.”
The reason they hadn’t given the order to fire yet was because the captain hadn’t given his command.
Though he was in charge, they couldn’t ignore my influence as a hero, so their tense gazes were directed at me.
Alright, so my opinion is the most important here.
“Hero, give us the order!”
“We need to drive them away from here... No, we need to exterminate them all!”
Realizing this, the soldiers slowly turned their attention from the captain to me.
I turned away from them and briefly looked at the beastmen below the wall.
“Please...”
The desperate fox beastman and the lion beastman, who was ready to use force if necessary.
If we drive them away, conflict is inevitable, but letting them in also carries risks.
Whichever choice we make, we can’t expect it to go smoothly since they are an enemy force.
Objectively, it would be more sensible to block the danger from the outside rather than let it in.
“Ah, ah...”
However, there was one reason I couldn’t just draw my weapon and charge at them.
I wondered if she was knowledgeable about beastmen because she specialized in hunting them, and I asked Hororis for more information.
“They don’t seem to have any major external injuries. What happened?”
“They went into a frenzy during their activities.”
“Frenzy?”
“Yes, when they’re under mental stress, their rationality gets overwhelmed by their wild instincts...”
“That’s too much.”
Leon interrupted the explanation with a dismissive tone.
But Hororis couldn’t ignore his words and quickly closed her mouth, watching him warily.
“...Hey, human.”
Leon, behind Hororis’s gaze, spoke quietly to me.
“Thanks for helping us, but... don’t try to learn too much about our nature. It won’t be good for you to know too much.”
“...If that’s what you want.”
Quite rude for someone receiving help.
I wanted to say that, but I decided to keep quiet for now.
There would be other opportunities to learn about the beastmen’s nature.
Late at night, after the beastmen’s condition had somewhat improved.
Francheska, who had watched over their condition until late, finally explained their situation to me when I asked.
“Many of the beastmen who came here are on the verge of beastification.”
“...Beastification?”
“Beastmen are beings whose physical structures were forcibly transformed for external reasons.”
Francheska looked around the outpost where they were resting.
The complex emotions in her gaze and the way she placed her hand on her chest clearly expressed her inner turmoil.
“Since they weren’t born this way, their bodies are highly unstable. If that balance is disrupted by external shocks... they eventually lose their sanity completely and fall into an irreversible frenzy.”
“Irreversible... what do you mean?”
“Humanity has probably seen it many times. Beastmen going on a rampage, destroying settlements or massacring humans.”
One reason for their hostility towards humanity is the frenzy inherent in their race.
Normally, that would be the end of the story, but Francheska’s suddenly darkened expression presented a different level of dissonance from what I usually knew of her.
Isn’t it strange?
That someone who claims to be a companion of humanity would show such a reaction to a race hostile to humans like the orcs.
“...Wait.”
No, perhaps she was reacting this way because of such reasoning.
With that thought, I voiced my sudden question to her.
“Beastmen... were forcibly transformed?”
Beastmen started to rampage after the calamity, so they, like the Demon King’s army or the undead, were believed to have been born in the successive calamities.
But the one in front of me is a being that has shared history with the empire for a thousand years.
The reason she reacted so intensely was probably because she had encountered the existence of beastmen in that history.
“Then, the beastmen we know were originally...”
“Humans, perhaps.”
Francheska spoke before the hypothesis could even form in my mind.
As my heart sank at her words, Francheska began to raise her head.
“...If that’s true, what will you do?”
I realized.
Why her voice was so gentle when caring for the beastmen.
And why she turned pale when she first saw the beastmen.
“If, regardless of the reason, they were truly human... can you embrace those who are now classified as non-human?”
From the perspective of someone who had protected humanity for a thousand years, facing the sight of humans turning against each other.
Who could imagine how that heart could become twisted?
-Swoosh!
As if to reflect those feelings, a cold wind began to blow in front of the outpost.
No, it wasn’t just a normal change in the weather.
The cold and ferocity in that wind indicated that someone was creating it artificially.
“I have a question for the humans over there.”
At the sound of a deep voice amidst the frost in the wind, Francheska and I reflexively turned our gazes there.
A shadow approached, cutting through the snowstorm that had started to blow.
When the figure finally stood in the moonlit spot, it revealed a huge white fur cloak.
Seeing that figure, I immediately recalled a beastman from a wanted poster created by humans.
“I came here because I smelled my comrades...”
“Can you honestly tell me what state those behind you are in?”
Phobia Homer, Assault Team Leader of the Anti-Human Alliance.
Even I, as a hero, couldn’t guarantee a complete victory against him, the strongest warrior of the beastmen.