by Ennki Hakari
“Still, I’m quite impressed that you were able to put this together so quickly.”
“I already knew that multiple beastmen were lurking near the palace. I told the officials at the Etzat Market to come to me at the first sign of trouble.”
“How clever. And how fortuitous that the seeds of dissent we planted back in Houvan would produce such fruit here.” Prince Sekt’s handsome face twisted into a disturbed grin.
“Yes, that plan was used to great effect with Princess Yuriarna. I’ve already disposed of the person I made arrangements with.”
“I’ve known what Yuriarna was up to for some time now. However, between the monsters and losing half of our forces, I assumed the Houvan revolt would be delayed.”
“Considering those monsters created our current situation, I’d say we got lucky.”
“True. They also rid us of that annoying priest and his followers. Anyway, I just received Yuriarna’s heirloom necklace. Once everything else is settled, we can make it look like Dakares plotted her death.”
Sekt frowned. “All that’s left is Maldoira, then. I’m so sorry to have to ask this of you.”
Cetrion shook his head. “No, it would be foolish to leave the country to a man like my father. He’s committed to the hegemony in the east. I will honor my forefathers by resolving this before it gets any worse.”
“And the rest will go as planned?”
“Correct.”
The two exchanged a look, and with a nod from Prince Sekt, Cetrion once again drew his saber.
“Try not to go too deep, all right?”
Cetrion readied his blade. An instant later, he thrust it into the prince’s left arm.
“Nnngaaah!”
Sekt let out a howl, his face contorting in pain. Blood gushed from the wound, staining his shirt, making the injury look far more severe than it actually was.
Cetrion returned his saber to its sheath and offered it to the prince.
“Please proceed as planned and get treated, Your Highness. After that, you can report on what happened here.”
Prince Sekt took the sword and nodded, his brow soaked with sweat.
Cetrion hopped out of the carriage and ordered the driver to hurry to the temple. He stepped back as the crack of a whip broke the silence of the empty streets. A moment later, the lamps on the carriage flickered on as it took off at full speed, its wheels rattling along the cobblestones.
After seeing the carriage off, Cetrion turned to several knights standing nearby and pointed to a location off in the distance.
“Make your way to the Etzat Market, and hurry.”
The tone in the lieutenant general’s quiet voice sent a chill down the knights’ spines.
***
The Etzat Market—the largest slave-trading center in the entire capital—was located in Olav’s third district. It had been built near the wall leading to the second district, and it always boasted a large number of patrons.
The market traded in numerous types of slaves, including humans. The reasons for enslavement varied, but often included criminals, children put up as collateral for a debt, and people taken as war prizes.
In addition to humans, there were also the so-called beastmen—non-humans who’d been ripped from their homes and sold as if they were property. The market handled all of these sales.
These beastmen, who referred to themselves as the mountain people, were marked by their animal-like ears and tails and were feared for their superior physical abilities, which was why they’d been driven out from wherever humans lived. However, that same physical prowess made them highly desirable on the slave market. They could be put to use in coal mines and other harsh working conditions where humans didn’t want to venture.
The majority of beastmen captured in the central part of the Rhoden Kingdom ultimately ended up as slaves in the capital, where they were used for manual labor by nobles and the wealthy, leading to a massive concentration of slave houses in Olav.
The Etzat Market was the biggest of these, both in terms of the number of slaves sold and the sheer size of its massive building.
The imposing, four-story monstrosity was surrounded by high walls on all sides and sported a massive gate reinforced with iron rivets. It was nothing like the buildings surrounding it.
Down a nearby side street, several people peered out of the shadows at the sturdy-looking gate.
Ariane wore her charcoal cloak low over her head as she usually did, to cover her amethyst skin and pointy ears. Next to her, a large man dressed all in black crouched low, trying to conceal his massive frame.
I had seen this man before.
He was the man at the center of the scuffle Ariane and I had witnessed when we first came to the capital. He’d traded his turban for the same black, metal-reinforced headgear that Chiyome wore, which covered his head and mouth.
His upper body, however, was bare, revealing his bronze, muscular skin. He wore simple metal gauntlets on each arm.
I was hardly one to comment on appearance, considering how I looked, but he certainly struck an interesting figure.
Chiyome had brought him to assist us in attacking the Etzat Market. He was a beastman just like Chiyome, and his name was Goemon, another of the six elite members of the Jinshin clan.
Unlike Chiyome, however, his hair was silver and black, almost like a tabby cat’s. With his dark skin and massive frame, he reminded me more of a tiger than a house cat. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a fandom out there that would be interested in this brawny, cat-eared mountain of a man.
Between the darkness of the night and the lack of lamps, my vision was limited. However, I could just make out a vague, shadowy figure moving along the tops of the walls that surrounded the Etzat Market. The shadow effortlessly leaped to the ground and silently approached the alley where we were hiding.
It was Chiyome. She wore a crimson scarf wrapped around her neck, which waved about like a tail as she moved. She skidded to a stop in front of us and gave a report on the status of the other squads preparing to attack the market.
“The others are in place, so all we need to do is draw out as many guards as we can.”
She’d changed out of her earlier disguise and was now wearing ninja attire, allowing her to melt into the darkness. Even just watching the way she ran, I was convinced she truly was a ninja. And her night vision and nimble movements accentuated her cat-like qualities.
Chiyome gave me a satisfied grin, almost as if she could read my mind. “We are the mountain people, chosen by our great founder, Hanzo. And the cat people are the most gifted of all.”
My brain translated this as, “Furries are awesome! All praise the cat ears!”
Still, something about what she’d said caught my attention. “Was your great founder also a cat person?”
“No, Hanzo was a human. He’d been working as a spy for the Revlon Empire and started taking cat people under his wing to save them from their poor treatment. That was the start of the Jinshin clan.”
“Oh? So, you’re no longer associated with the empire?”
“That’s right. We were originally a spy organization under the control of the founder, but the more successful we became, the more they began to fear his power. Eventually, they began trying to assassinate him, but he dodged every attempt.”
Chiyome frowned.
Nobles always feared those who took power for themselves. What’s more, I imagined it didn’t help Hanzo’s reputation that he’d surrounded himself with cat people rather than humans.
“Soon after that, there was a battle over succession to the throne. The great founder worked behind the scenes to keep both sides fighting. He led the clan away from the empire amid the turmoil of a massive civil war.”
I wondered if this Hanzo had ultimately caused the empire to be split in two.
“Hey, shouldn’t we be getting started?” Ariane spoke up.
Goemon, who’d been silent this whole time, nodded.
Chiy
ome spoke to me. “All right, just like we planned, I’ll leave the main gate up to Goemon and Arc. Is that all right with you?”
I nodded. “Not a problem. Goemon and I will take care of anyone at the gate.”
Goemon shot me a grim smile.
Chiyome turned to Ariane. “We’ll head to the back of the market and enter through there. Follow me.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she was bounding down the road, running along the wall like a shadow. Ariane easily followed the young girl’s lead.
I turned toward Goemon. He seemed to read my thoughts and moved his hulking frame out of the alley and into the street. I followed him until we were both standing in front of the main gate.
“Let’s do this!”
On my mark, we began running toward the massive double doors, Goemon easily keeping pace with me. I could hear him chanting in a low voice as he braced himself.
“Muscle to stone, wall smasher!”
Light enveloped his body. A moment later, stone armor appeared across his massive shoulders.
Apparently, he could also use ninjutsu. Or maybe that was just normal magic here?
“Nnnngaaaaaaaaaaaw!”
“Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Our shouts echoed through the night, reverberating down the surrounding streets as the stone-encased Goemon and I ran headlong into the double doors. The iron-reinforced wood splintered under the impact of our bodies, showering the courtyard inside the walls.
Guards looked up in disbelief at the two intruders who’d just smashed their way in.
One of them tried to whisper to his comrade, his voice comically loud. “Is that a…ghost?”
I had tied a rope around my waist to keep my armor fully concealed under my cloak, making me look like a black phantom. I also wore the eerie festival mask that I’d bought earlier today, its hollow sneer and feathered adornments giving me an altogether unsettling appearance. “Ominous” was the word Ariane had used.
I probably did look like a ghost. I kind of liked it.
Several of the guards continued to stand there, frozen in fear. Goemon moved quickly—more quickly than someone of his size should have been able to—and sent them flying with a single punch.
“Invaders! We’re under attack!”
“It’s a beastman! Someone call for support!”
The remaining men came to their senses and started yelling. A few guards near the entrance raised their weapons and began advancing on us.
Right about now, Chiyome and Ariane should have been entering the building through the rear.
One of the dozen or so men surrounding us sneered at Goemon. “What’s a beast doing showing its face around a human city?! Are you trying to disrupt the operations of the Etzat Market?!”
The men tightened their circle, blocking our exit. Another one, a particularly sinister-looking man, edged even closer, smirking.
“You’ve really got it coming to ya now, you sons of—”
Without thinking, I punched him in the face, knocking him backward. The atmosphere immediately grew much tenser, the men hungry for blood.
A rugged man, possibly their leader, shouted above the others. “We’re gonna teach ’em a lesson they’ll never forget…even if it kills us!”
The men cried out in unison. One of them, dressed more like a mercenary than a guard, swung his blade at me. Glenys would have been incredibly disappointed with his technique. I easily dodged the blow and swung my arm into the man’s face. I heard a dull crunch as the man tumbled back into the wall, his nose and teeth shattered.
Another man lunged in. I caught his blade on my gauntlet and punched him in the ribs. He dropped to his knees, gasping for air.
Considering the caliber of men I’d be dealing with, I’d figured my sword and shield would be overkill, so I’d left them on my bed back at the inn. Even in only my armor, I was a weapon in my own right.
Two men in light armor thrust their spears at me in unison. I evaded their attacks and grabbed the spears, snapping the shafts. Then I delivered a punch to each of them.
“Gwaugh!”
“Urgh!”
The two men collapsed, eyes wide, their armor bearing fist-shaped indentations.
Goemon was also facing off against several men at once. Unlike me, however, he was much more skilled, and easily dispatched his foes. Despite his large frame, he was able to deftly dodge attacks with very little movement, allowing him to immediately counterattack with his massive fists. I watched with amazement as he took out opponent after opponent.
While my attention was on Goemon, I felt something strike my shoulder armor with an awful metal-on-metal scraping sound.
A brash voice spoke up from behind me.
“Hee hee! Forgot to watch yer back, huh?”
I turned. A man had thrust his sword right into my shoulder. However, all he’d managed to do was slice my cloak. The armor underneath had stopped the blade from going any farther.
I grabbed the tip of the sword between my fingers. The man tried to yank it away, but he was no match for my strength. He retreated, drawing a short sword from a sheath strapped to his lower back.
“You fool!”
I gripped the stolen sword with both hands—one on the hilt, the other on the tip—and started to bend. The sword snapped in half with an ear-splitting clang. I tossed both pieces unceremoniously at the man’s feet.
“Wh-wha?!”
While he stood there, stunned, I threw a face-deforming punch, sending him into several other men who’d been standing behind him. They all sprawled on the ground, unmoving.
In the span of only a few minutes, we’d cleared the entire courtyard in front of the gate. Goemon and I were the only ones left standing, surrounded by the sounds of groaning men.
More guards appeared, gathering around the gate, probably drawn by the commotion we’d caused.
A man who looked like he was in charge pointed his spear toward me and demanded our surrender in a commanding tone. “Just who in the hell do you think you are?! Stop what you’re doing and get on the ground at once!”
“More playthings?” I murmured to myself as I turned to face him.
“Wh-what is that thing?”
“Is that a beastman?!”
Even the commander who’d demanded our surrender was stunned into silence. I laughed, and the commander’s face turned a bright shade of red.
“Subdue the invaders!!!”
A dozen or so men with spears at the ready moved in to surround us, just as the mercenaries had done before. However, unlike the mercenaries, who’d attacked us one by one, we were now dealing with well-trained soldiers. They came at us in pairs, or in groups as large as six to eight men at once.
In an effort to keep them back, Goemon grabbed one of the fallen mercenaries and hurled the man’s body toward the soldiers.
The body crashed into the soldiers and knocked them to the ground. Now that their line was broken, Goemon moved in to attack, though he was immediately met with spears from the remaining guards. He easily jumped over their feeble thrusts, launching a series of kicks that threw the men back like scarecrows caught in the wind.
The few guards still standing saw their chance and lunged with their spears the moment he landed.
“Muscle to metal, arm bracer! Graaw!” Goemon’s deep voice echoed above the din as he assumed a pose reminiscent of a bodybuilder. His flexed muscles glimmered slightly, taking on the metallic finish of real bronze. The spears bent as they hit his body, unable to penetrate his skin.
“What’s his body made of?!”
Goemon took advantage of the soldiers’ confusion and delivered a series of blows that elicited screams of pain and terror.
He was almost finished with his group, apparently.
I turned my attention to the men advancing on me, only to find that every single one of them wore a look of apprehension.
To avoid being struck from behind again, I kept my body constantly moving, my arms outspread as I waited for one of th
em to make the first move. From their point of view, it probably looked like this man in the ominous mask was performing some sort of eerie dance. None of them moved.
“If you’re just going to stand there, I guess I’ll come to you instead!”
I rushed forward.
“Waugh! He’s coming!”
The guards formed ranks and thrust out their spears. However, the thin wooden shafts snapped easily against my Belenus Holy Armor.
“Gwaaaaugh!”
I crashed through the line of men, sending them tumbling about like bowling pins. Those left standing threw down their spears and reached for their swords, but I delivered a flurry of punches before any of them could draw.
“Damn! Fall back, fall back!!!”
Someone issued the order to retreat, and the soldiers scattered. I started to pursue them until I noticed several arrows flying past me from behind.
I batted the arrows away and turned my attention to the new group of guards now standing at the gate. This time, they’d mustered an even larger force. Their commander issued an order, and all of the archers drew their bows in unison.
“Goemon!”
“Hmm?”
My warning reached him just as the soldiers launched their second volley.
Goemon and I retreated, evading the volley, our backs nearly up against the building. Shield-bearers stepped in front of the archers, followed by a line of spear-wielding soldiers like before. They advanced slowly.
It looked like they planned to use an entire regiment to crush just the two of us.
I glanced at Goemon. He shot me another smile. I gave him a thumbs-up. He might not have understood exactly what it meant, but I think the meaning got across.
It was time to end this.
No matter how large this trading office might be, at the end of the day, they could only pack so many soldiers into the courtyard. Being crammed into a confined space, where their numbers counted less, was one of the greatest dangers a military force could face.
“Muscle to stone, rock spear strike!”
Goemon crossed his arms over his chest before punching them both straight into the ground. Spear-shaped rocks thrust up from the ground, one after another, slowly encircling us.
