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Chapter 91
Sei, who had dashed outside as if he was running away, looked up at the sky and felt melancholic.
Although I ran away in the heat of the moment, now that I think back on it, what I did might have been quite insulting.
But... if I'd stayed there, I probably would've been caught in the flow of the situation or something and ended up getting engaged to that bear princess, so... even in hindsight, I don't know which one was the correct action to take.
Notwithstanding that Sei had left the yurt after using the excuse of providing the guardian deity with the elixir, the one who had the elixir in their possession was Kaineko and not Sei.
In other words, all his actions amounted to was running away in a literal sense and he currently had nothing that he could do.
Ah, yeah, I really messed up, huh - reaching this point, he was regretting his actions.
"Sei!"
As he was wasting time, Cruz, Virgo, Gants, Friedrich, and the others came out from the tent one after another.
When Cruz got close to Sei, he started shouting as if he was angry.
... Though... it was obvious from his tone that he was merely pretending to be angry and was not actually angry.
"It's no good, you know, to leave the room without permission when you're in the presence of the emperor. That bear emperor was just too frivolous... I mean, magnanimous, but in front of other kings, you might even end up in jail for being the rudest person possible. Especially if you had been in front of the Vampire Princess and did the same thing, it wouldn't be strange for you to have been executed."
"I'm, I'm sorry."
"Well yeah, we managed to get through it this time because of that, but.... anyways, next time, definitely don't do anything like that. Do I make myself clear?"
Due to the meritorious achievements they had accomplished for the country, this time the incident was forgotten. However, Sei's actions were originally something that should not have been done.
After being strictly reprimanded, Sei hung his head down.
Observing Sei's state, Cruz judged that he should leave it at that and lightly coughed. Rather than continuing with the reprimand, he decided to change the topic of the conversation.
"Now then, let us head towards the guardian deity. Even whilst we're delaying here, the guardian deity might be suffering, after all."
"Alright, I have no objection to that."
In response to Cruz's suggestion, Kaineko also agreed, subsequently leading the group from the front.
The guardian deity's location was this country's top secret. As such, amongst them, no one other than Kaineko knew of its location.
Notwithstanding this secrecy, perhaps it was determined that there was no reason to hide it as Sei was the hero who had saved this country.
Kaineko continued walking normally whilst being followed by Sei and his group, eventually stepping foot into the forest.
Sei remembered the location they had entered as it was, without a doubt, the forest where the dinosaur had come out from.
Once inside the forest, he could see the sunlight seeping in through the gaps in the branches and hear the cries of the birds singing.
Are the glittering lights mana?
Nature undisturbed by the hands of human was proportionately mystical and fantastic.
By further adding the glitter of mana on top of all of that, it was not strange for this area to be described as a space distinct from reality.
When Sei raised his head, he saw a butterfly the size of a human fluttering around and small birds which reached his stomach hopping around.
.... Oi, they're too big. Even though it started off looking like a fantastic place, now it's starting to look like a magical beast's hangout.
Nevertheless, what fascinated Sei the most was how Virgo had been in a great mood ever since they had entered the forest.
He noticed that she was looking around the forest joyfully and in a state where she might starting humming anytime.
"Virgo-san, do you like the forest?"
"It's fine if you just call me Virgo. It feels a bit weird to be called with -san at the end."
"Ah, okay, I get you. But yeah, you look like you're in a really good mood."
"Yeah. Ever since I could remember, I lived in the forest the whole time. Although I've heard that normal flugels like to live on the top of mountains, I personally prefer the forest."
Beastkin lived in the grasslands and flugels lived high up in the mountains.
Dwarves preferred caves and floresiensis were nomads who did not stay in one fixed location.
Humans created towns wherever they went and vampires resided in the darkness.
Lastly, elves stayed within the forest... this was common knowledge of the principal habitats of the seven races in Midgard.
As that knowledge made evident, flugels were originally residents of the mountains and not the forest.
Mountains - or rather, they simply preferred higher places. Even Ruphas was not an exception to this preference as the "castle" that she had once constructed was a tower that reached the heavens.
Considering all of this, Virgo might have been a fairly rare individual amongst the flugel race.
"Oh, that's quite rare. I believe flugels are supposed to dislike the forest which is overflowing with mana."
"I also hear that a lot, but it seems I don't really feel that way."
"Hmm, how fascinating. It might be possible that one of your parents was an individual who had absorbed a lot of mana."
"Is that how it is?"
Cruz raised his fingers and counted the number of exceptions amongst the flugels who did not dislike mana.
"Yeah, when the parents absorb a lot of mana, even amongst the flugel race, you see individuals who don't hate mana. Taking Ruphas Mafahl as an example, there's a record of her entering a location with such high mana density (Helheim) that even elves are reluctant to enter. And she did this without batting an eye."
"But Virgo's wings are pure white, you know?"
"It's not limited or determinative that the change will appear on the outside. Even the parents of that Ruphas Mafahl were said to have possessed normal white-coloured wings."
Hearing Cruz's explanation, what came to Sei's mind was Megrez's story.
If Sei recalled Megrez's story correctly, Megrez had hypothesised that even when Ruphas's distant ancestors had consumed the forbidden fruit, it was only Ruphas who showed it on the outside.
They believed Virgo was of the opposite pattern; her parents had absorbed a lot of mana, however, her changes did not appear on the outside and she maintained pure-white wings.
In this case, they became curious as to who Virgo's parents could be.
To have a daughter like Virgo who did not show any form of aversion towards mana to the extent of stating her love to be inside the forest, her parents must have been individuals who had absorbed an enormous amount of mana.
In other words, there was an extremely high possibility that Virgo's parents, or at the very least, one of her parents, were one of the heroes who had existed two hundred years ago.
"We've arrived. It's right in front of here."
It seemed that while they were having a conversation, they had arrived at their destination.
Kaineko, who was walking at the front, spoke up and stopped his steps.
Matching Kaineko, Sei and the group continued until they entered an open space before stopping.
Strangely, no trees sprouted in that place. Nature itself created a circular space as if it was making it easier for the dragon to live in.
It was a location where the soft grass covered the ground in abundance and would normally have appeared to be picturesque.
However, the first thing Sei and the group experienced was the feeling of fear and fright.
A humongous body, which would exceed fifty metres in length, was collapsed on the ground.
It was the appearance of a dragon straight out of a fantasy. Its blue scales would no doubt be ordinarily reflecting rays of light and shining brilliantly.
However, right now, that dragon was severely injured.
The dragon's scales were cracked and it was bleeding from all over its body. It was barely managing to breathe.
Was it a result of the illness? No, definitely not. Just the illness alone would not have rendered the dragon into this state.
As if to explain its state, Sei noticed that above the dragon stood the shadows of four silhouettes. 𝐟𝙧𝐞e𝔀e𝐛𝐧o𝚟𝑒l - 🅽🅽novel
"Look what we have here. How rare to see visitors inside the forest."
The first one to speak out was a strange-looking woman.
Although the top half of the silhouette was that of a human, her bottom half was lined with scales and resembled the body of a snake.
A lamia - it was one of the species within the magical beast category said to possess intelligence not inferior to that of a human's. [1]
Nevertheless, under the definitions arbitrated by the humanoids, they were categorised as magical beasts, thus they were one of the species which were subjected to oppression and persecution.
"Looks like they came to cure the guardian dragon's illness~. But it's impossible now~."
The one who spoke up next was a monster who possessed the head of a fish.
This one belonged to a species within the magical beast category called merfolk. The characteristics of this species were that the male mermen's upper bodies were that of a fish, whereas the female mermaids' lower bodies were that of a fish instead.
Although it had been said for many years that it was not impossible for them to live alongside humans, even to this date, they were still categorised as magical beasts. Due to the current state of affairs, they lived independently within the ocean and were believed to have their own cultures and traditions.
"Scram, young man. You guys are not our objective."
In reaction to the third thing who raised its voice, Sei almost screamed out loud.
Bug - it was a... bug!
Although the silhouette of the body was that of a human's, its head was that of a spider. Additionally, from its back spouted the numerous legs of a spider.
It was a species called [bugkin] within the magical beasts. Similar to the beastkin, they were originally bugs but were transformed to possess human appearances due to the influence of mana.
Alternatively, they were originally humans but ended up transforming after consuming too many insects which had absorbed mana.
Whichever their origin was, in this world, due to their hideous and repulsive appearances, they were subjected to being categorised as magical beasts, thus it was impossible for them to obtain the same rights and privileges as that of the other humanoids.
"Kyahahaha, they're scared, they're scared! That's why I said, the sergeant's out just from how you look!"
The last to speak out was a young girl with a flower on her head.
Similar to the previous individual, the appearance of her silhouette closely resembled that of a human's. However, grass and flowers grew from her limbs, revealing the fact that she was not human.
Looking even more carefully, her legs were like that of something that had already transformed into the roots of a plant and did not even have any muscle attached to it.
She was of a species which possessed the characteristics of a plant within the magical beast category called dryade - or sometimes known as dryads. This was a species with extremely similar traits to humans. [2]
Nevertheless, they were also subjected to the unfair categorisation and subsequently unjust persecution and oppression due to them being categorised as magical beasts.
In other words, in regards to the four individuals which were present here, all were from species which did not differ greatly from the rest of the humanoids. Notwithstanding, simply due to the arbitrary definitions of categorisation, they were treated as magical beasts.
These four were also victims of this world's system.
"You detestable magical beasts! Get away from the guardian dragon-sama right this instant!"
Kaineko shouted out in anger and drew his sword.
However, the four individuals on top of the dragon showed a greater hint of anger in response to those words.
The four individuals looked down at Kaineko with the eyes they might have shown looking at their parents' killer. Subsequently, the spiderkin responded as their representative.
"Magical beast... I guess you're right. In the current state of this world, we're magical beasts. We're forced into that category. But... between you and us, what exactly is the difference?"
"What!?"
"We're able to converse with each other. We're even able to understand one another. Aside from being different in appearance, you and I are completely the same. So then why, why is it that we have to be treated as magical beasts? Why do we have to be persecuted, oppressed, and driven away?"
After hearing the spiderkin's question, there was no one who could answer immediately.
What was the difference between them? - even if they were asked such a thing, they did not know. They could only answer, "You just look different."
At this moment, the lamia woman placed her hand on the shoulder of the spiderkin and calmed him down.
"Stop it. There's no point in asking them that. We've been trying to advocate for our rights for hundreds of years... We've been working hard so that we can understand each other and walk side by side... but even then, we've been getting ignored. That's why we ended up deciding this, wasn't it? Now that we've come this far, there's no point in talking to these people. Even if we did, nothing's going to change."
".... You're... right. You're exactly right."
"The only one who can save us is Leon-sama. We shouldn't depend on the humanoids anymore."
Hearing the lamia and the spiderkin talk with each other, Sei felt a sense of unrest like never before.
Different... they're different from all of the other magical beasts I've encountered until now.
They have reason, they have intelligence, and we're also able to talk things out with them.
They might look different, but we're able to walk alongside each other.
Sei was not well informed about how this world operated. He also did not know the details of how humanoids and magical beasts were distinguished from each other.
Nevertheless, he was able to somewhat understand how those four must have suffered and distressed before finally arriving at this point.
He understood because he was a resident from another world.
Those who had lived in this world from the beginning would not have been able to understand. They would only be able to see that the magical beasts were whining and complaining on their own.
All simply because it was programmed into their common sense.
"Shut up, magical beasts! After hurting the guardian dragon-sama that much, you talk about walking side by side? You make me laugh! The reason you're being treated as magical beasts? How stupid! The answer? The answer's right in front of me! Your mouth speaks about peace but you come storming in with a weapon in your hands! You guys are just absurd! Come, become a stain on my sword, you filthy magical beasts!"
Kaineko roared in anger and leapt towards them with the swiftness befitting that of a feline.
It seemed he was intending to first strike at the spiderkin at the front of the group.
However, the sword that Kaineko swung was easily repelled by one of the arms of the spiderkin and he ended up getting blown away after receiving a simple kick as a counter attack.
"Grrrrrrr!"
This time, after seeing Kaineko defeated, Friedrich howled in fury.
The sword saint, famed as the strongest humanoid, dashed up the guardian dragon and released an overwhelmingly powerful sword slash using his whole body.
Yet, the spiderkin took this attack head-on in the same fashion as Kaineko's attack and was able to completely stop the sword saint's attack after merely taking a step back.
In the end, the sword saint's defenseless back was hit by the dryad's whip-like arm and he ended up getting constricted in place.
"Gu, ooo..."
"Kyahaha, so weak, so weak! The strongest humanoid titled the sword saint can only do this much? For real, for real, the humanoids are so weak now. Just like Leon-sama said, hehe."
"Ku!"
This time, Virgo flew up and struck at the dryad.
The first strike cut the dryad's arm off and the second strike sliced through the leaf which was used as its defense, eventually creating a small fissure on its body.
Without a doubt, it was an injury which would have been fatal to any human. Nevertheless, although the dryad was a little surprised, it did not suffer significant damage.
"Oh, oh, what's this? Little girl, you're pretty good!"
The dryad stretched her plant-like arm, however, Virgo flew higher up and avoided all of the attacks.
Following her movements, the spiderkin and the merman jumped and clashed fiercely with her mid-air. [3]
With a speed so fast that Sei was unable to follow them with his naked eyes, the merman and the spiderkin attacked with their harpoon and arms respectively. Notwithstanding this, Virgo was somehow able to parry their attacks using swift sword skills.
In the next moment, the lamia released a cannonball-like magical attack. In response, Virgo quickly maneuvered through the sky at that moment and managed to avoid the magical attack.
However, in that momentary lapse, the merman jumped above Virgo and slammed his harpoon down on her.
Although Virgo managed to guard against the attack using her sword in the nick of time, she was unable to resist being pushed downwards. Notwithstanding that she was able to stop her momentum right before she hit the ground, during the time that she spent recovering on the spot, the dryad's plant-like arm came charging in from the side and blew her away.
Thanks to Sei running in to cushion Virgo right before she slammed into a tree, she was able to avoid suffering any major damage. However, the two's movement also became restricted when the spiderkin took this opportunity to spit out webs from his mouth.
"S - Shi... !?"
"What - I can't see in front of me because of the wings!?"
In a short period of time, Kaineko, Friedrich, Sei, and even Virgo were rendered powerless.
Whilst this reality set into Cruz and the others, the lamia looked at Virgo and sighed.
"I'm surprised. There's someone that's quite capable. But if you have that much power, you'll be our obstacle in the future. I'm sorry, but I'll have you die here."
"Wait. From the looks of it, she's just a young girl. There's no reason to go that far..."
"Sarge, ya're too soft. Just stay back, why don't ya?"
The lamia pointed her hand towards Virgo and transmuted a water spear.
However strong Virgo was, in the current state where she was unable to take any action, receiving this attack was likely to be fatal.
The spear was fired towards Virgo without any hesitation. But before the spear could land, Ricardo, Nick, and Shu stepped in to try and shield her.
The three of them individually tried to stop the spear by parrying the water spear with their weapons, however, it merely resulted in their weapons being broken the moment it clashed with the water spear.
Furthermore, the water spear pierced through even the three's armours, resulting in the three of them getting impaled through their flanks and legs as the spear continued to fly towards Virgo.
"—-!"
Virgo closed her eyes before it could reach her as Sei tried to somehow shift his position so that he would be in the way of the spear's trajectory.
But what happened at the end proved how unnecessary all of these actions were.
A spinning anchor came flying from further inside the forest, mowing down all of the trees in its path and repelled the water spear.
"Wh, who!?"
The lamia opened her eyes wide in surprise and looked at the anchor.
The anchor, which had stolen everyone's attention, flew around in an arc and circled back towards where its owner was at.
And then, a man appeared from inside the forest.
The young handsome man had golden hair and was wearing a white coat and an eyepatch on one eye. He held onto the giant anchor as if it was a light weapon and set his eyes on the four demi-humans as if he was intimidating them.
"Who am I... ? I'm really not anyone worth mentioning, really. I'm just a pitiful man who had a small accident and ended up falling nearby. But yeah, it looked like a situation where I couldn't just look elsewhere. I don't know the situation too well, but I decided to lend a hand just for a moment."
As his coat fluttered about, the man brandished the anchor.
If one were to look at him carefully, he was injured all throughout his body. Even his clothes were ripped here and there.
Notwithstanding that, the feeling of great strength could still be felt just by staring at him.
Sei was also able to sense the man's strength as his skin tingled ever so slightly. And at that moment, this was what he was thinking:
This man... is strong! And... to the point where's he's in a completely different league!
No one knew what he had gone through, however, it was evident that he had suffered some damage.
He was in a condition far from perfect.
Yet even in such a scenario, the man commanded a presence which could overwhelm the four demi-humans. At this moment, one half of the Twins, one of the pillars of the Tyrannical Ways 12 Heavenly Stars, the Fairy Princess's sword—Castor smiled fearlessly.
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