—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Boing, boing.”
I fiddled with the black wolf ears that had sprouted on my forehead, and Adriana nudged me with her elbow.
“If you keep touching them, the magic might become unstable and disappear.”
“They feel so soft, I can’t help but touch them.”
But what was I supposed to do when they felt so fuzzy and ticklish?
Adriana’s magic was surprisingly effective, and the ears were quite fun to play with.
I couldn’t move the tail that poked out from my backside, but I could make the ears twitch by focusing my mind.
“The witches’ magic is amazing.”
“It really is.”
Sen agreed quietly beside me.
She was also struggling to resist the urge to touch the small cat ears that had sprouted on her forehead.
It wasn’t just Sen and me.
Adriana had floppy dog ears, and Rin had perky rabbit ears.
We all had matching tails too.
This was Adriana’s solution for entering the beast-kin territory. She had proudly explained that she had used this spell on Eris and her companions before, allowing them to travel freely.
“But don’t be too conspicuous. Demi-humans, those who look more human than beast-kin, often face discrimination.”
Kurika was hiding his face completely under the hood of his robe. He was a full-fledged beast-kin, yet he was the one concealing his identity.
The girls had asked me why, but I just smiled bitterly and avoided answering.
Demi-humans.
They were those who were difficult to distinguish from humans at first glance. Like us, they had human faces, but they had animal ears, tails, or other distinguishing features.
Most of them were hybrids, born from human and beast-kin parents. But it wasn’t always so straightforward.
Sometimes, a child born from a human and a beast-kin would be a full-fledged beast-kin. And then, that child might marry another beast-kin and have a demi-human child.
In some cases, even if a family had been marrying only beast-kin for generations, a demi-human child might be born because of a distant ancestor who was a demi-human.
The kingdom had outlawed discrimination against demi-humans, acknowledging that anyone could potentially have a demi-human child in their family, but…
Subtle prejudice was still prevalent in society.
“It’s different from dragon-kin, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah.”
I agreed with Rin.
Dragon-kin all had human faces, but they had scales, horns, wings, tails, and other distinguishing features. They were similar to demi-humans in that regard, except their animal form was a dragon.
But they considered themselves sacred and noble.
When you looked at them closely, demi-humans, humans, and dragon-kin all looked similar…
“Inspection.”
“I guess security is tighter because of what happened last time.”
Kurika and Adriana pointed to the guards at the city entrance, who were carefully checking everyone’s identification.
Eris and her companions had been captured by the Tiger Clan and transported to the kingdom prison, so we had come straight to the capital, bypassing any other cities. This was our first encounter with an inspection.
“Hmm, this is a bit troublesome.”
Kurika was right.
We were disguised, and he was adamant about concealing his identity, so passing through the inspection wouldn’t be easy.
“We could slip through if you entered my shadow…”
Rin suggested that we use her shadow powers to bypass the inspection, but we rejected her offer.
I wasn’t comfortable with it, and Kurika, who had experienced being controlled by the Goddess of Death, was strongly against it.
But we had other options.
“It’s fine, let’s just go.”
I smiled and led the way.
The line wasn’t long. There were other entrances to the city, and beast-kin didn’t travel between cities as frequently as humans.
The beast-kin in front of us entered the city, and it was our turn.
My companions looked at me nervously, waiting for my instructions, but…
“Let’s go.”
The guards stood frozen, their bodies stiff. A few people behind us also froze in place.
“No need to stop everyone.”
I only needed to stop time for the guards and the people directly behind us.
“That’s a convenient power.”
“It really is.”
We entered the city, and when I released my power, a few people behind us gasped in surprise, but the guards urged them to move along.
They must have thought they had seen ghosts.
Anyway, we had successfully entered the city.
“Hmm.”
I had expected a rough, wild city, befitting the beast-kin. Even Yggdrasil was a village built under the shade of trees by elves.
But this city wasn’t much different from a human city. The human capital was more glamorous, with taller buildings, but…
The overall atmosphere was similar.
“I’m a bit disappointed.”
Sen, sharing my sentiment, looked around with a dejected expression, as if hoping to find something unique.
There were a few unusual objects and buildings.
A giant hamster wheel, scratching posts made of thick logs… things you wouldn’t find in a human city.
But other than that, it wasn’t much different.
The only noticeable difference was the amount of fur floating in the air.
But thanks to the numerous street cleaners, the streets were surprisingly clean. Cleaner than most human cities.
“Let’s avoid sightseeing and head straight to our destination. We’ll attract unwanted attention.”
Adriana, who had been here before, albeit as a prisoner, was right. We tried to blend in as we headed towards the Royal Palace, a grand structure that dominated the city skyline.
We probably wouldn’t be able to visit Eris officially, but…
I could stop time and sneak in alone, or we could use Rin’s powers to infiltrate the prison.
We had options.
‘Wow, we’re quite a formidable group.’
Me, with the power to stop time.
Rin, who could summon an army from the shadows.
Sen, the Chokugen Faction assassin.
Adriana, the potential Grand Witch.
And Kurika, who was considered unbeatable in a one-on-one fight by the Goddess of Time herself.
If we could quantify our power, we could probably start a war.
“Wow, check out that hottie.”
“I’m okay with demi-humans too.”
There were always guys like this, no matter where you went.
Like bees and butterflies drawn to beautiful flowers.
Or maybe ants and cockroaches drawn to a sweet treat.
Our female companions were exceptionally beautiful, so it was inevitable that they would attract unwanted attention.
And judging by the group of men lurking in the shadows, they were probably planning to prey on unsuspecting newcomers.
“What should we do?”
Sen stepped forward, ready to attack, but…
Thump.
The men collapsed, their bodies hitting the ground with a thud. People started to panic, wondering what had happened, but we quickly moved on.
“This power is really convenient.”
I wiggled my fingers, savoring the feeling of having punched those beast-kin while time was frozen.
I could understand why the Priestess of Time was so desperate to regain this power. It was addictive.
The others looked a bit bewildered, but they understood that I had taken care of the situation.
“Thanks for saving us some time.”
Adriana smiled and continued leading the way. We just had to follow the main road towards the obvious Royal Palace.
“Hmm, I wonder if beauty standards are the same for beast-kin.”
Rin asked a rather interesting question.
Did beast-kin have the same concept of beauty as humans?
I glanced at Kurika, but he just shrugged, claiming ignorance. He seemed anxious, constantly scanning the surroundings.
What was bothering him?
“Do beast-kin find human-like features attractive?”
“Do we have to act like them too?”
Rin and Sen were now engaged in a heated debate.
Then, Sen suddenly approached me, attempting to demonstrate what she thought a beautiful beast-kin would act like.
“Meow?”
She imitated a cat.
It was cute, but I kept a straight face.
Rin also stepped forward, ready to demonstrate, but she hesitated, her expression puzzled.
“How does a rabbit sound?”
Her rabbit ears drooped.
She gave up and hopped in front of me, smiling.
“Bunny, bunny!”
“……”
This was dangerous.
I considered stopping time to regain my composure, but I couldn’t use this power too often. I clenched my jaw, trying to control my expression.
“That’s not fair.”
Sen, sensing my struggle, punched me playfully in the side.
I had no comeback.
She needed to grow up a little.
“Hmm, there’s a park here.”
We entered the park, following Adriana’s lead. It was on our way to the palace anyway.
But when we reached the center of the park, we froze in shock.
“Haa…”
Kurika, his face hidden under his hood, covered his eyes with his hand and sighed. Now I understood why he had been so anxious.
“I knew his identity, but…”
I hadn’t expected this.
In the center of the park, surrounded by flowerbeds, stood a towering statue. It was so tall that you had to crane your neck to see its face.
It was a magnificent sculpture of a werewolf, a giant sword in his hand, pointing towards the sky. The face was unmistakably Kurika’s.
The girls read the inscription at the base of the statue and turned to Kurika.
Kurika’s true identity, his real name, had been revealed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Your Text Here]
