Volume 8 Chapter 13: The Kermes Beast Kingdom’s Origins

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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“Everyone, please raise your heads. I just happen to be good at magic, which is why I was sent here in the first place.”

Cain was sure he would regret it if he hid his strength and the enemy invaded, so he had reinforced the fortress’ walls with magic.

Beastmen, however, couldn’t use any magic apart from body strengthening magic, and they had just witnessed Cain create towering fortress walls out of practically thin air.

To them, it was like an act of god.

“We’ll just get in the way here. Let’s go inside.”

Following the suggestion of one of the people who had accompanied him from Esfort, Cain headed inside, Jil and Mel following him silently.

Once in the reception room, Cain sat down on a sofa. Jil, however, knelt down in the doorway, bowing his head.

“Jil-san, please raise your head. We also still have to discuss what we’ll do from now on.”

“Uncle Jil…”

Mel also looked unsure what to do, but Jil stood up, bowed once more to Cain, and then sat down opposite him.

“Please allow me to give you my thanks once more. This place might actually stand a chance of holding, now. We do have the Apostle-sama’s protection now, after all.”

“Uncle Jil, who’s this Apostle-sama you keep mentioning…?”

“I suppose you haven’t been told yet, then, Mel? I guess you were going to be told once you were a bit older. You know how the Beast Kingdom of Kermes was founded a few centuries ago? Before that, each tribe had their own settlements. We beastmen had it much worse back then than we do now.”

Jil then launched into an explanation of how Kermes was founded.

Back in those days, the beastmen lived in just a collection of settlements, and though they were often invaded by other countries, they always managed to use their unique characteristics to recover.

But as time passed, the invaders grew in number, and used magic more and more often.

Gradually, the beastmen, who could only use body strengthening magic, came to be at a disadvantage.

Then, a group of three humans appeared out of nowhere.

The beastmen took up their weapons and surrounded the three; humans were, after all, hostile. The three humans, however, didn’t even bat an eyelid, and even procured large amounts of meat and alcohol from somewhere, which they offered to the beastmen.

The beastmen were cautious at first, but after they ascertained that the food wasn’t poisoned, they accepted it, and in the blink of an eye, everyone was eating and drinking together.

The next day, the three humans went around healing everyone, and even used magic to build an earthen wall where before only a wooden fence had stood, demarcating the beastman settlement.

Having caught wind of this, beastmen from other settlements began to gather there, and all of a sudden, the place suddenly became a bustling city.

And cities attract people, which is exactly what this one did.

It didn’t take long before a nation was founded there.

The three humans told them how to set up a government, and then went on their merry way without asking anything, stating they were off to stop other countries from threatening them.

“Just two years. In just two years, we beastmen went from living in separate settlements to being able to found our own country. Even after they left, people kept saying how they had to have been Apostles sent by the gods.”

“…Wow… They sound like really amazing people…”

Mel’s eyes had become quite wet as Jil’s story progressed.

The other people from Esfort looked similarly touched by the story.

The only one who wasn’t –– was Cain. A shiver went down his spine as he imagined just who those three could have been.

(They had to have been Yuuya-san, Mum, and Dad… they really liked animals, after all…)

Back when he’d still been called Kazuya, it had been an annual event for them to visit the local department store’s pet shop.

And, although his dad liked dogs and his mum liked cats, and despite the fact that they lived in a company house, meaning they couldn’t keep pets even if they wanted to, his parents had still loved to daydream about them.

“Do you know who they were…?”

Cain asked apprehensively, and Jil answered with a smile.

“There’s a stone monument erected in their honour next to the castle in the capital, didn’t you see it when you were there? Well, anyway, they were ‘Yuuya-sama’, ‘Seiya-sama’, and ‘Megumi-sama’.”

(So I was right––!)

“…Cain-sama, weren’t they… Esfort’s first king and…?”

“Yes, I think they were.”

Cain answered, nodding at his Esfortean companion.

(So that’s why Esfort is so tolerant towards beastmen and elves. Yuuya-san must’ve also…)

“Cain-sama, just like those three, you showed us your power, you healed the injured and rebuilt the fortress walls; your actions greatly resemble theirs. Anyone who knows the story of Kermes would be able to tell that. Even today, beastmen who come of age are taught about how our country came to be in front of that monument in the capital.”

“So, Cain’s just like those incredible people…? Okay then.”

Mel fell deep in thought, her arms crossed, then clapped her hands together as an idea seemed to hit her.

“In that case, I’ll just marry the Apostle-sama!”

She said loudly, making Cain’s face twitch.

“I’m going pretend I didn’t hear that,” he replied immediately.

Mel stared at him, dumbfounded.

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