LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 237
Chapter 237
“Huah…”
“Don’t squeeze out tears that aren’t even there.”
Leo scowled as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The strange man, dressed only in a cloak and completely nude underneath, was being coerced into guiding us by the tip of Leo’s blade.
“Lord Feisha won’t forgive—”
“Who is this Lord Feisha you keep mentioning?”
“Huh, how dare you call him ‘that guy’! How can you disrespect such a person?”
As we were halfway through the cave, the man turned around in outrage. Seeing his well-toned, snow-white body beneath the flowing cloak, I closed my eyes gently.
I desperately wished he wouldn’t do that.
“Lord Feisha is a great individual that people like you cannot even approach! He is the hero and leader of the wolf beastmen! The very symbol of the wolf beastman tribe!”
The man speaking fervently sounded like a fanatic praising his own god. As I listened to his long-winded tirade, a thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I raised my head.
“No way… Is the person who led the silver wolf beastmen here during the beastmen massacre over a hundred years ago really this Lord Feisha?”
“What! You know Lord Feisha?”
The man’s excitement surged, and he suddenly leaned in closer to my face. Startled by the sparkle in his violet eyes, he smiled broadly, like a fisherman who had just caught a fish.
“Yes! That’s him! He is the one who saved us from catastrophe! He united the silver wolf beastmen who were scattered in a panic during the beastmen massacre! So, I—”
Having known the man for less than an hour, I had already grown accustomed to tuning out his ramblings as mere background noise. I fell deep into thought.
‘So, that leader is still alive.’
I vaguely knew that beastmen lived longer than humans, so it wasn’t surprising.
Especially the silver wolf beastmen, recorded to have a maximum lifespan of 500 years, were a long-lived race. If that leader hadn’t been an old man during the massacre, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to still be alive today.
“Is he still your leader?”
“…So, Lord Feisha is…? Huh? Oh, of course! There is no one more suitable to lead than he!”
“Then we need to be taken to him.”
Before I knew it, we had exited the tunnel-like cave and stepped into the green meadow. The vast plains, gorgeous jungles, and dense forests combined formed a mystical landscape.
The houses, ambiguous in resembling either animal dens or human cabins, looked quite cozy. It was a pity that the beauty of the scene was obscured by the night.
“I have something to discuss with him. Please, I beg you.”
I didn’t want to spoil this peaceful scenery. I wanted it to end with just a conversation.
I knew it was humorous to ask after having issued threats, but still, I politely made a request to the man.
“Hmph. Did you really think I’d just tell you that?”
The man kept glancing back and forth between me and Leo.
Since entering the meadow, he had been twitching around like a dog needing to go outside. His white and well-defined face struggled to maintain its composure.
“And you probably didn’t know this!”
Thud.
Something snagged at my foot as I stepped forward.
Swoosh!
From a giant tree beside us, a net made of steel chains came tumbling down.
“Ha ha ha! Foolish humans! I lured you here on purpose! You didn’t think there would be a trap here…!”
Slap!
I quickly unleashed my aura and slashed my sword from above.
Swish.
The falling net was neatly split in two by my black aura, landing uselessly beside Leo and me. A moment of silence followed.
“…Should I have just let it happen?”
To be honest, the moment he directed us toward a corner instead of the straight path to the village, it was obvious something was off.
I had anticipated there would be a trap and responded immediately. However, seeing the man’s shocked expression as if the world had collapsed around him, I wondered if I should have at least pretended to struggle in the net.
“How…!”
“Doesn’t he know you’re a Sword Master?”
“S-Sword Master?”
Leo looked incredulously at the man, who seemed shocked that we hadn’t fallen for such rudimentary traps meant to catch a Sword Master and a Sword Expert.
The name ‘Mir’ is more than known throughout the continent. It wasn’t self-importance; it was objective information.
Most people could recognize just the aura of a sword, yet I had my doubts about the man, thinking there was no way he wouldn’t know. But his eyes widened in genuine surprise.
“Why is someone like you here…? Are you trying to wipe out our silver wolf beastmen?”
“What do you think I’ve been saying up until now?”
I chuckled softly and grimaced. It seemed the man didn’t believe us at all.
“We can’t just let dangerous people like you in!”
Rustle.
A leaf fluttered down from above. It was a common occurrence, probably due to the gentle breeze, but I let out a deep sigh.
“Surround us.”
Thud!
As the man yelled sharply, several figures dropped from the trees, surrounding Leo and me.
“Drop your weapons.”
A tall woman who landed in front of me thrust her long claws toward my throat with a speed I almost missed.
Looking to be in her middle age, she had a long scar on her face that caught my eye. With beast characteristics like ears and a tail, she had an exotic presence that hovered between human and beast.
Our eyes met. Despite her calm demeanor, there was a pressure that suppressed me.
As I was about to take a deep breath, a familiar scent wafted into my nostrils.
‘What to do?’
Leo rolled his eyes idly, sending me a message. I didn’t ponder too long.
“I have no intention of fighting.”
Clank.
As I spread my arms above my head, the sword I had been holding fell with a clear chime.
Though I had always treated the sword as part of my being and rarely let it go, we were currently in a position where we were the intruding ruffians. At the very least, I knew that abandoning our weapons would give us a chance to negotiate.
“I have something to convey on behalf of the Solarit Empire and the Atara Kingdom.”
The woman’s violet pupils widened slowly. Her gaze felt piercing, as if it could bore right through me.
“First, capture them.”
She chuckled softly and waved her hand casually.
Leo and I were escorted into the village of the beastmen. It seemed they knew tying us up would be pointless, as they didn’t even bother to pretend to bind us.
As we passed by the murmuring beast people, we arrived at the center of the village.
“Come in.”
The middle-aged woman nodded her head. In front of her was yet another cave.
I thought to myself that as a wolf, I quite liked caves.
Inside the cave was not damp or gloomy but rather neat. A large stone table sat in the middle, and overall it felt inviting, reminiscent of a meeting room that was simply friendly to nature.
“Sit down.”
The woman gestured towards two chairs in front of the stone table.
I was actually expecting to be imprisoned in some dungeon, yet the treatment was surprisingly generous. Leo and I complied and took our seats.
“Lennon.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The man who had guided us, still nude under his cloak, straightened up with a faint blush on his face as the woman spoke in a low voice. It seemed his name was Lennon.
“Go fetch the chief. Make sure he wears some clothes on the way.”
“Wha? B-but…”
Lennon’s violet eyes widened. Just as he was about to reply, the woman swiftly interrupted.
“I trust you understood that. Go fetch him.”
Lennon blinked rapidly, letting out a sigh before eagerly nodding his head.
“Yes! I will fetch the chief!”
He dashed off like a bullet, his cloak trailing behind him. For a moment, I decided to act as if I hadn’t seen his fair backside.
“So, you are the calamity with the sword.”
The woman leaned against the desk beside me, her arms crossed. Her tone was neither a question nor uncertain; it was already a conviction.
“The man called Lennon didn’t seem to know. But you recognized me right away.”
“I’ve lived my whole life in this forest, so I’m not very familiar with the outside world. I see no need to know. But us old-timers who’ve experienced the outside world generally keep an ear out for how things are going.”
She smiled, revealing sharp white teeth.
After the silver wolf beastmen fled here and severed ties with the outside world, information about them had dwindled, making everything I learned here feel new.
“It seems the silver wolf beastmen live quite seclusively.”
“We don’t need to associate with the monkeys who try to kill us.”
The woman replied sharply, with a sneer of disdain for humans underlying her words.
The beastmen I’d seen along the way had all eyed us with intense hostility. Given how they were forced into this place due to humans’ absurd actions, that was only natural.
Though she didn’t hold as much animosity toward us as they did, her attitude didn’t radiate kindness either. There was a mix of slight intrigue and instinctive contempt in her demeanor.
“And you are the king of the eastern kingdom.”
Her gaze shifted toward Leo. Leo, who had been absentmindedly playing with his feet, looked up. His fluorescent green eyes glimmered.
“I know that too. The black aura of Mir is famous enough that I recognized it immediately.”
“I’m one of the older folks with keen ears.”
The woman rubbed her chin as she switched her gaze between Leo and me, grinning mischievously.
“Looks like we have some esteemed guests.”
Her tone was ambiguous, neither mocking nor admiring.
“I’ve brought the chief!”
Just then, Lennon’s booming voice reverberated from behind us.
A towering figure loomed over us. As I turned around, I saw a man who was easily over two meters tall.
Thud, thud.
The man, striding closer, plopped down across from us. Two beastmen who appeared to be guards stood on either side of him. I stared blankly at the man.
He had a fine physique and an intimidating presence. The image of a tribal chief I would conjure in my mind immediately came to life.
“Why have you invaded our territory?”
His low and chilling voice echoed like a beast’s growl. I held back Leo, who seemed about to answer, and locked eyes directly with the man.
“Are you Lord Feisha?”
His fingertips twitched. My rosy pink eyes reflected in his violet pupils, shining brightly.
Bam! The man slammed his palm onto the table.
“If I am not Lord Feisha, then who is? I am the chief Feisha of the silver wolf beastmen!”
His booming voice echoed throughout the cave.
He was everything one might imagine about the great appearance of beastmen, yet I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Not everything is defined by reason. It’s something that can’t be understood by thought, yet felt deeply by the soul. It’s the kind of instinct people often call intuition, which happens to be my strongest gift.
“You are not Lord Feisha.”
This absurd certainty arose from within that place.
As I made my unshakable assertion, the man’s pupils flickered slightly. I lifted my eyes to glance to the side.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
My gaze met with the woman’s violet eyes that had been observing me with intent.
She grinned broadly.
“Indeed. Good intuition.”
With a nod from the woman, the man who had just claimed to be the chief politely bowed and stepped back.
The woman walked over to the spot he had occupied and sat down.
“Alright, shall we end the jesting here?”
As she extended her hand, a beastman standing beside her quickly handed her a pipe.
Though the act of receiving a flame from another seemed arrogant, it oddly suited her.
Even without her grand stature, threatening presence, or booming voice, she was already an imposing figure.
“That’s right, Mir.”
With the long pipe brought to her lips, she exhaled a long breath. The smoke that billowed contained a heavy odor of tobacco that wafted throughout the cave.
Her violet eyes sparkled mysteriously, reflecting the moonlight that seeped through the cave’s cracks.
“I am the chief Feisha of the silver wolf beastmen.”
Under the moonlight, Feisha smiled slyly at me.