Discovering the corpses of human soldiers at the entrance of the slums again and again, it naturally even reached the point of the vigilante corps relying on the humans, entering and leaving, since those were bloody incidents, too.
And, the one, they had their eyes on, was Hifumi.
“Ho ho, aren’t you planning something quite interesting.” (Hifumi)
“H-Hifumi-san!?” (Gengu)
Due to Hifumi suddenly making an appearance at the old building, which is serving as headquarters of the vigilante corps, Gengu stood up in a hurry and brought the chair with the cleanest state.
“Ah, don’t mind me. Rather than that, something like establishing a vigilante corps, aren’t you passing your time in a wonderful way?” (Hifumi)
“No, not at all! It’s thanks to having received a hint from Reni-san ~ssu. As they are originally clumsy guys, who have no brains and are only good at fighting, this is a comfortable gathering of people.” (Gengu)
Once asked, there are around 20 guys working full-time and around 50 beastmen, who are treated as reserve corps helping on the patrols while doing other jobs.
Basically they are operating with the donations of beastmen stores, but there is also a part of donations coming from humans.
“At present we are somehow able to handle it. … But, we haven’t been able to find that beast murderer yet…” (Gengu)
Hifumi gently called out to Gengu, who lowered his voice and showed is fangs looking frustrated.
“Well, don’t give up. However, if you can’t even find him in these confined slums while using such a number of people, isn’t it likely that he’s not in the slums anymore?” (Hifumi)
“In other words, he left towards the wastelands, is what you are saying?” (Gengu)
“No, it’s something else.” (Hifumi)
Hifumi shakes his head.
“I heard it from other guys too, but that criminal spoke with hostility towards the slums’ people before, right? And, that guy freed several beastmen from the humans. Do you believe such fellow will sneakily return to the wastelands?” (Hifumi)
“Then, did he go to where the humans live?” (Gengu)
“You should consider that possibility too, right?” (Hifumi)
“Such a… Well, then we won’t be able to pursue him anymore, eh…” (Gengu)
Hifumi lightly hit the discouraged Gengu with his fist.
“You give up far too easily, idiot.” (Hifumi)
“Eh? Is there some… way?” (Gengu)
Hifumi, who dropped his fist on Gengu’s head, breathed out a “You moron.”
“Ponder about it with your group a bit. Putting that aside, it seems like you should prepare more seriously, I came to tell you that.” (Hifumi)
“Is there something going on ~ssu?” (Gengu)
Due to Gengu asking while rubbing his head, Hifumi folds his arms and continues to explain.
“Yea, for the last few days soldiers have frequently tried to enter the slums here during the night. “By accident” I happened to pass by and since the other side attacked me by drawing their swords, although I haven’t done anything, they rolled around on the road being beaten and killed every time, but…” (Hifumi)
“So Hifumi-san was the cause of those soldier’s corpses, huh…?” (Gengu)
Gengu, who tensed his mind with “Good gracious, it’s the bearman’s doing, eh?”, becomes bitter at himself. He believes that “by accident” or such to be a lie, however since he values his life, he doesn’t voice that out.
“It seems, as result of the soldiers not coming back, they will team up with a knight group and come to the slums.” (Hifumi)
“Such a thing! But, why do you know about that?” (Gengu)
“Touring down-town, I grasped the castle buying food up, the nobles employing weapon shops for maintenance and increasingly ordering new weapons. There are talks about the increase of requests regarding something like harness adjustment. Since the soldiers here don’t use horses, the ones moving are likely the knights. There are also rumours that the knight’s training increased. Because I’m unable to think of any other reason for the knights to expressly move at this point in time, I dare say that their aim is likely this place here.” (Hifumi)
“So, what will you do?” Hifumi asked, but Gengu wasn’t in a state of being able to answer due to the shock.
“I-It’s a disaster…” (Gengu)
“Calm down.” (Hifumi)
Receiving Hifumi’s poke in the forehead due to his nose running, Gengu drops to the floor, rolls over a few times and faints in agony.
“The way to deal with the knights is simple. First, humans are weak. Using horses, they barely manage to catch up with your beastmen feet. Using swords, they are somehow able to cause injuries to you guys.” (Hifumi)
“Eh? Then you are no human after all, are you, Hifumi-san…?” (Gengu)
Gengu had a fist lowered at him once again.
“Don’t change the subject. In other words, if you fight using your head and the same weapons, it will be a situation where you don’t have to be afraid of knight and their likes at all.” (Hifumi)
While Hifumi, who stood up, corrected the position of the katana at his waist, he looked down on Gengu, who has been showing his belly having fallen to the ground.
“Gather the guys, who have spare time. I will teach them the way of fighting.” (Hifumi)
☺☻☺
Salgu himself was aware of being in a state you couldn’t call sane anymore.
He looks at the beastmen, who are enslaved by humans, specifies the house, they are attached to, for later and waits for them to fall asleep to kill the family during that time.
And he saves the beastmen, who have become slaves, but…
“What do you want me to do by saving me here?”
The wolf beastman, who lost all its claws on both paws, doesn’t even get up from the corner of the stable.
“Even I hated the humans at the beginning. But you know, if you get to know that, rather than living in the wastelands, the way of being the human’s slave is quite safe, comfortable and that you are able to eat food, there’s nothing to return to in the wastelands except danger.”
“…Is, that so…?” (Salgu)
“Even if I lost my usefulness, I won’t be killed, you know. It seems I will be thrown into the slums, but since I will receive sufficient of the human’s leftovers there, it appears I will be able to survive with small* rationed portions.” (T/N: *chima chima*)
“Seeing that my masters died, I guess there’s nothing left for me but to go there too”, the grumbling wolf beastman laughed weakly.
The expression of Salgu, who looks down on him, can’t be seen by the wolf beastman under the cover of the dark night.
“Don’t you feel the wish to return to the wastelands?” (Salgu)
“Eh? The wastelands, I miss them, but…”
Laughing foolishly, the wolf beastman shakes its head. It seems that he is shaking off some unpleasant memory with that gesture.
“That place is a hell. You run from place to place like the rabbits and sheep or you have no choice but to continuously repeat a daily life of killing or being killed without even the time to sleep restfully. It’s not a place where you can sleep with a peace of mind like this place either. I don’t want to experience the sensation of hunger, which grows violent due to the hardships to look for food, anymore.”
“Is that so? Got it.” (Salgu)
Salgu brought down his fist, drove it into the face of the wolf beastman, who looked up at him, and sunk it it into flesh and blood with a soggy sound.
Staring at the fist, he extracted from the face with a wet sound, Salgu pondered.
There’s intense pain within his head, which has stirred up his thoughts like noise, but even so, he pondered.
“This city in itself has been a bad influence on the beastmen…” (Salgu)
The food, given by humans, the buildings, the livelihood, all of that caused
the beastmen to lose the spirit, they should originally have, is what Salgu concluded.
He repeatedly puzzles over countermeasure with his head hurting strongly.
He sits down besides the fallen corpse of the wolf beastman in the stable, which is filled with the smell of blood.
“Calm down. If I smash up the humans, everything should come to an end.” (Salgu)
Salgu’s eyes are looking at the face of the dead wolf beastman. It’s completely as if he’s talking to him.
“That’s right. If I’m able to crush the boss of the humans too, the human city will be finished as well.” (Salgu)
Standing up, Salgu reached the point of being able to believe that things have become extremely clear in his head.
He walks forth in order to accomplish the clear, simple, decided matter.
“The human’s boss, where is he…?” (Salgu)
An insane bearman walks through the city’s night.
Chapter 95: Arrogance
“The act of educating people is nothing arrogant.”
In the city of Fokalore, seen from the balcony of the Lord’s mansion, various men and women of all ages are going back and forth. For each person it’s one scene in their life; be it that they are laughing or crying; be it that they are spending their time together with someone or are by themselves.
While gazing at it from a distant place, Origa murmured that as if being by herself, however there is a single person listening to her. It’s Caim.
“Everyone is earnestly living the one life they have. Extending our hands to them and talking with them, we end up twisting their fates under the pretext of education. No one knows about the future, but everyone is living without knowing whether theirs is the correct way.” (Origa)
“… Madam seems to be thinking in some ways about education, but did you discover some problem?” (Caim)
“No.” (Origa)
Origa turns around with a whirl and smiles sweetly at Caim.
“There’s no mistake in what my husband… Hifumi-sama is doing. The training as well as the education carried out in this city are all things created by Hifumi-sama’s profound ideas. I thought it is our fortune to see the light ahead on the path of life, everyone must choose while hesitating over it.” (Origa)
Entering the room from the balcony, Origa quietly sat down on the office’s chair.
“So, are the preparations in order?” (Origa)
“There are no larger problems. All troubles have been concluded within our estimations and are resolved. It’s advancing as planned up until here.” (Caim)
“That’s excellent.” (Origa)
Origa, who’s looking through the documents, lets the pen fly quickly across the papers, signs them and hands them to Caim.
“Well then, in accordance with the first point of the plan, I will head to the capital a second time. Please prepare the escort since I will depart tomorrow morning.” (Origa)
“Certainly!” (Caim)
“Everything is for the sake of granting that gentleman’s desire…” (Origa)
Once she closes her eyes, Hifumi’s face floats up within her mind.
“I believe you are aware of it, but this is also the “homework” which was assigned to us by Hifumi-sama.” (Origa)
“I’m well aware. I’m convinced that I’m adequately comprehending the intentions of Lord-sama as well. Please, be at ease and leave the matters of Fokalore to us civil officials.” (Caim)
It’s words said in a flat tone without him changing his expression, however Origa understood that there was no lie in them.
“Fufu, it won’t do, if I don’t do my best, too.” (Origa)
Standing up, Origa once again shifted her attention to the hustle and bustle outside.
A large number of people walks at a quick pace in the city, dyed by the setting sun. There’s many people heading home, I guess.
“What Hifumi-sama is aiming for is on behalf of the world’s prosperity.” (Origa)
☺☻☺
What the knights and soldiers confronted wasn’t the beastmen only anymore.
The exchange with the beastmen of the reborn slums is depriving the commoners of Swordland from their reservations.
Although the vigilante corps, which patrols the slum’s city, has a grim appearance, they aren’t oppressive, like the soldiers patrolling the human’s city, at all. There were many occurrences of minor offences and lost property, they dealt with cordially, too.
Even Helen and Reni, who were set up as representatives of the slums little by little, learn from humans pro-actively. Helen ran around as representative of the shopping area and Reni became a reliable existence for many beastmen and humans as point of contact for the human’s side.
Seen from the viewpoint of the humans, the appearance of Reni, who was very different from the terrifying image of beastmen, gives a sense of security with her gentle character and triggers a desire to protect her. She gathered a feeling of respect as key person, who built up the beastmen’s city by quickly absorbing the human’s knowledge as beastgirl.
Such Reni naturally isn’t able to completely eliminate her evasive nature towards fighting and combat.
“It will result in a battle with the humans!?” (Reni)
Gengu solemnly nodded to Reni, whose eyes darted about in surprise.
Behind him Hifumi is watching the situation without interrupting the conversation while folding his arms.
“We are already preparing to fight for the sake of protecting this city with the volunteers of the vigilante corps ~ssu. To guard this city with Hifumi-san’s guidance.” (Gengu)
“… Aren’t we able to avoid the battle in some way?” (Reni)
“If it turns into a fight with the humans, the people, who became our friends at great pains, will also become mutual enemies”, Reni shed tears.
“I will keep at it, we got up to this point by everyone doing their best and yet…” (Reni)
“Reni-san… it will be alright. Even if it’s only the beastmen, we will somehow get through it ~ssu. It will be difficult for a while, if the people from the human’s city don’t come here, but they other guys have gotten quite skilled ~ssu.” (Gengu)
Due to Gengu lining up words after words in order to calm Reni, Hifumi says in a cold voice from behind,
“It won’t likely be that easy. You guys take the human stupidity far too lightly.” (Hifumi)
“S-Stupidity, you say… aren’t you a human, too, Hifumi-san.”
“Since I’m well aware of the things I’m not knowledgeable about myself, I’m still on the better side. If you compared it to the ugliness of fellows, who are living by clinging to such things as birth right or status in such dictatorship, it will be a lot better to kill people, who possess a fair amount of ability like me.” (Hifumi)
“Also, putting that aside, since I’m going to depart now, it would be better, if you prepared a large amount of rooms for the humans, who don’t want to be mixed up in the following mayhem”, leaving those words, Hifumi heads towards the room’s exit.
“Umm, where are you going, Hifumi-san?” (Reni)
Hifumi looked over his shoulder due to Reni’s question.
Summoned Slaughterer - Book 5 Page 21
