Chapter 167: Chapter 166: The Root Of All Evil

It was something I had somewhat foreseen.

The decision to temporarily protect the beastmen was partly because of Francheska’s concern, but also to avoid unnecessary friction and reduce casualties.

Among them, the one to be most cautious of would be the Assault Leader, who had survived every frontline battle against the beastmen forces.

“You didn’t come to fight, did you?”

“That depends on the condition of my comrades behind you…”

As his words trailed off, the wind grew fiercer.

The chill that made my body shrink couldn’t be attributed to just the cold.

Even if I’m as strong as the Mississippi, by that measure, my opponent would be as formidable as the Amazon.

“Is that woman doing well?”

But unlike my tense self, his next words didn’t carry much hostility.

“…Woman?”

“I’m asking about the woman you tried to save.”

The woman I tried to save… Right. I remember meeting him once.

At that time, it seemed like he was attacking Merilyn, so I hugged her and immediately passed out. Given the circumstances, it wouldn’t have been surprising if I was torn apart by his hands.

But I survived thanks to Merilyn.

“Yes, she’s doing well.”

“…I see.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to harbor any hostility towards Merilyn either.

As I felt his attitude and gradually let down my guard, he also calmed the northern wind he generated and began to walk quietly.

“I want to check the condition of my comrades. Can you step aside?”

“…You’re surprisingly reasonable.”

“There’s no smell of blood mixed with the scent of my comrades. If you haven’t harmed them, there’s no need for us to be hostile.”

It was a convincing reasoning for a beastman sensitive to smells.

Alright, I was ready to end the conversation peacefully and step aside, but…

“…Wait a moment.”

Francheska quickly filled the spot I vacated.

“What will you do with those behind me?”

Phobia stopped in his tracks and began to glare at her with narrowed eyes.

“From the smell, you don’t seem human… Are you a doll?”

“Please answer my question first.”

The difference in their size alone was several times.

But unlike me, Francheska stood fearlessly, blocking his path confidently.

She seemed prepared for direct conflict depending on his response.

“Once they fall into beastification, there’s no turning back. You know that, don’t you?”

Phobia’s body flinched at the girl’s words.

Francheska glared at Phobia, pushing him with her questions.

“If what I know is true, there haven’t been many cases of beastmen going berserk and causing problems in the past half century. But it’s not easy for beastmen, who are unstable as humans, to live without falling into a berserk state.”

“You…”

“What do you do with those on the verge of beastification? And more importantly, if they’re on the verge without any external injuries, it means it’s self-induced…”

“How much do you know about us?”

Swoosh!

The fierce northern wind began to blow again.

As I reflexively prepared to draw my weapon, Francheska spoke calmly.

“Probably more than you think.”

Her attitude was unwavering.

Phobia, looking down at her silently, eventually closed his eyes and calmed his power.

Then, he moved his stopped steps quietly and said.

“Rest assured. If the line is crossed, there’s no choice, but if not, we’ll share our fate to the end.”

His voice was serious, with almost no emotional wavering.

Phobia, revealing himself without reservation, spoke quietly before entering the outpost.

“After checking their condition, follow me for a bit. It seems we have a lot to talk about.”

“…”

After checking on his stabilized comrades, Phobia had a private conversation with Francheska as planned.

Their conversation ended around dawn.

But Francheska returned to the outpost immediately after the conversation, and Phobia faced me instead.

“You’ve been guarding all night?”

“Well, I promised the gate residents I would.”

To reassure the people at the gate, I had to guard this place myself.

I was used to staying up all night, and I could catch up on sleep in the carriage once the expedition starts, so it wasn’t a problem.

“…On behalf of my group, I thank you.”

Phobia Homer expressed sincere apology and gratitude to me.

Despite his size, his gentle demeanor felt surprisingly approachable, not like a beast disguised as a human.

“No, I should be thanking you. Despite being hostile forces, you’ve given us the opportunity to talk face to face.”

Maybe it’s because I’ve been hurt by people so much? Or maybe it’s because I’ve found it easier to talk to other races than humans?

After safely getting through today, I even vaguely felt like I’d want to interact with them if given the chance.

“If the world wasn’t so chaotic, we might have been friends.”

“Do you really think so?”

Phobia reacted immediately to that sentiment.

He didn’t seem to find it amusing, indicating he might feel the same way.

“You’ve always been hostile with these humans, but people like me were dragged here from another world. As long as we can communicate, the perception isn’t as harsh.”

“From what you’re saying, you seem to have a grudge against the current humanity… So why are you playing the hero in front of them?”

“Because there are people I need to protect.”

The people I need to protect owe their lives to humanity.

If they leave humanity’s protection, they’ll be exposed to the harshness of the world.

“So, we’re in the same boat.”

Phobia quietly respected my stance.

Then he looked at me, as if pointing out something that bothered him.

“Now that I think about it, I can sense a spirit’s presence from you… Can you handle spirits?”

“You know about spirits?”

“Yes, the power I use is also borrowed from them.”

Swoosh.

The cold wind began to blow in response to his power.

Maintaining the intensity, he continued his explanation to me.

“And it’s also the power that people like me use to avoid crossing the ‘boundary’. The spirits’ fine control helps calm emotions.”

“By ‘boundary’, you mean beastification, right?”

“…Yes.”

Beastmen were naturally prone to losing their minds and going berserk.

Phobia, ending his answer with a short reply, turned his back on me and prepared to leave for the outpost.

“If you want to deepen your understanding of spirits, you should visit the Great Forest to the west.”

“The Great Forest?”

“In areas preserved in their natural state for a long time, sometimes clusters of spirits with personalities naturally form. It’s a rough place, but even briefly encountering them will make it easier to grasp how to handle spirits.”

“Ha, what’s this? Are you giving me advice?”

“It’s my way of thanking you for protecting my comrades. And…”

Phobia Homer turned to look at me.

The complexity on his face showed that he wasn’t entirely pleased with our meeting.

“I hope we don’t have to meet again. Even if we don’t have ill feelings towards each other, as long as we belong to different forces, we might have to draw swords against each other.”

“…”

“…Then, now that the day has dawned, let’s get going.”

With that, he returned to the outpost and began waking his stabilized comrades.

That’s how the brief meeting with the beastmen ended.

“May Friga’s favor be with you.”

Uttering the name of the god humanity worships.

Leaving a greeting unusual for a beastman.

Early morning. After the beastmen left, the expedition set out as planned.

The destination was already set. After stopping at the nearest gate, the plan was to hunt monsters and Aein species in the surrounding area.

And the one who made this plan was Francheska, who was riding in the carriage with me.

“…Flang.”

But throughout the explanation, her displayed gloom overshadowed the prideful attitude she had shown until now.

Anyone could see that she was deeply troubled.

“What did you talk about with Phobia?”

“…”

Francheska glanced around nervously at my words.

Then she put the papers she used to explain the plan on the table and started biting her lip.

Her answer came quite some time later.

“…About the group he originally belonged to.”

Her voice carried more weight than her appearance, and I cautiously shared my thoughts with her.

“By the group he originally belonged to… Were the beastmen originally on humanity’s side?”

“Not all of them. Some generations were born after transforming into beastmen and forming relationships.”

Right, beastmen reproduce too.

Calling it reproduction might be misleading since they’re human, but the important thing is that they also have ‘generational shifts’.

“The new generations born that way don’t know why their ancestors split from humanity… They just inherit the consequences.”

The Anti-Human Alliance is primarily composed of the descendants of those who split from humanity for some reason.

Inheriting only their ancestors’ grudges, they view themselves as the products of advanced humanity and thus have extreme tendencies.

I could understand that much.

Even if they started as humans, over generations they’ve inevitably become separate from humanity.

“Then at first…”

But the first beastmen, not their descendants…

People with the background to lead a group, like Phobia, can’t be seen as completely separate from humanity.

“Is the reason the beastmen were born because humanity betrayed them?”

It might be extreme, but that’s the thought that came to mind.

After talking with Phobia, she seemed to see herself as a sinner.

The sight of humans she protected antagonizing each other must be something she couldn’t overlook as a guardian.

“Did the Empire really…?”

The Empire she had always protected created the beastmen for some reason and then expelled them.

And now, they were being crushed by the disaster they created.

“Before I answer that, there’s something I’d like you to answer first.”

Francheska quietly countered my cautious question.

Her serious demeanor made me pause and prepare to listen.

“If the birth of the current beastmen is linked to ‘witches’…”

Something I couldn’t overlook as someone who only considered myself an outsider.

Words that could possibly threaten someone I deeply care about.

“And if the cause of the disasters in this world originates from witches…”

“Can you still see the people you cherish in the same way?”

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

Only the sound of horses’ hooves and the carriage wheels filled the silence.

In that weighty silence, I took time to quietly reflect on her words.

Why did the conversation about the beastmen suddenly shift to witches…?

It didn’t feel entirely out of the blue because I felt the things we encountered along the way were clues coming together.

‘Humanity, having won the war against the witches, found hope in the remnants they left behind when disaster struck. Do you know what humans did in their desire for hope?’

They grafted the witches’ power onto humans.

The Crown Prince said that was the source of his power. Before using tricks like summoning outsiders, humans in this world tried to graft witches’ power onto themselves.

And the beastmen were humans forcibly transformed by external factors, put into an unstable state where they could go mad at any time.

If their emergence was right after the disaster, it coincides with the time when humanity sought hope in the witches’ power to resist the disaster.

“…Teacher.”

If the beastmen were the byproducts of such attempts, they might be targeting the only witch the Empire possessed.

Furthermore, the guardian of humanity might be displeased with a witch causing a situation where humans fight each other.

“Can you continue to guide me?”

So if I want to protect her, I might face a future where I’m hostile to not only the beastmen I’ve met before but also the girl in front of me…

Or if the opposite happens, then what I must do now is clear.

“Guide you, you mean?”

“Yes, if you help me achieve what I want, I’ll help you achieve what you want.”

Even if I don’t know what will happen later, set aside questions about things that haven’t happened yet.

Maintain a cowardly silence and get through now, no matter what happens later.

And prepare the strength to deal with whatever choices I have to make.

“…Teach me how to fight as the weak.”

Believing that at least this will be allowed, Francheska suppressed her emotions and nodded.

Even if we can’t be sure of the future, maintaining our current relationship for our respective goals is the best course of action.

As her beloved partner foresaw him learning from his second teacher…

“Are you comfortable here?”

While staying in an annex of the palace, Airi had a visitor come to her room.

No, she should call him the owner.

The person who just entered the room could be considered the de facto ruler of this empire.

“…Yes, thanks to you.”

Despite the palace providing maximum convenience, Airi reflexively clutched her stomach in fear upon facing him.

It was inevitable. In his eyes, her child was a thorn in his side.

“Following me this far means you’re prepared for what’s to come. Isn’t the child in your belly a burden?”

Even as a fortune teller who predicts the future, she couldn’t be free from human values as long as she was human.

Since she was central to his plans, he might think the child in her belly could interfere with those plans.

“You agreed not to worry about this child… That was one of the conditions of our cooperation, wasn’t it?”

“…Yes. Until the appointed day comes.”

But as a human, he also had to consider his discontent towards her.

To avoid unnecessary antagonism, she needed to play along to some extent.

Realizing this, the Crown Prince turned his back to her and started walking somewhere.

“Follow me. I’ll introduce you to her as promised.”

Witch Vivian.

Indicating that the day had finally come to meet the key figure of the foretold future.