Vol 1 Chapter 25 – Seen by a Normal Person (Probably)【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

A snow country enveloped in a world of silver stretched as far as the eye could see. The cityscape of Foxbeak, a town located in the southern part of the Beast Kingdom of Eugrasia, featured ingenuity unique to a frozen land.

The houses had steeply pitched roofs so snow would slide off easily, and many were built as raised wooden structures to prevent their entrances from being blocked. The number of residences was just under a thousand. The population was small, but the deer-kin, great bear-kin, and fox-kin worked together to survive this harsh territory where snow piled up year-round.

Five years ago, this was also the site of a fierce battle against the phantom-demon race led by one of the Evil Eye King’s confidants, the Eight Demon General 【Kukuruga of the Severed World】.

During the war, because the previous beast-kin World Knight had pathetically disappeared, Leonhardt, the disciple of the 【Obsidian Knight】, was appointed as the next World Knight. Leonhardt joined forces with her master and successfully subjugated the 【Severed World】.

The fame of the beast-kin hero skyrocketed to unparalleled heights within Eugrasia. Now, she was facing a crisis. The beast-kin were uniting as one, turning out in full force to protect their hero.

“The Holy Empire is at fault, not Leonhardt-sama! Many lives, including Allen-sama’s, were sacrificed by the Demon Lord’s army. To think the leading nation of humanity was cooperating with that Demon Lord…”

“We will absolutely never hand over Leonhardt-sama.”

“Don’t underestimate the snow country. As if the Empire’s soldiers could ever make it here.”

“Well, if they come, we’ll just beat them to a pulp!”

The beast-kin, walking around in fluffy fur coats, chatted about such things while shopping at the market. At this point, no one thought the Holy Empire would actually attack, and the local magistrate governing the town felt the same.

That was exactly why everyone was taken by surprise when a single beast-kin suddenly appeared in the sky above the town.

Amidst the freezing sky as the snow began to fall, a wolf-kin young man with shackles on his wrists and ankles floated in the air. He was jetting flames from the soles of his feet.

“This is the town of Foxbeak, right? I’m only gonna say this once, so listen up. My name is Acht. Second Artificial Hero Creation Project—possessing the Great Pyromancer Core and the Pyrocaster Core. I’ve been put in charge of this town.”

His voice broadcasted and echoed throughout the town via an item he held called a Sound Crystal, its center glowing a brilliant jade. No one could take their eyes off the eerie young man floating in the sky.

“The Holy Empire told me to slaughter the citizens indiscriminately until the Beast Kingdom hands over Leonhardt. But crushing trash no matter how many times is boring as hell. I want to try fighting Leonhardt. If Leonhardt doesn’t come to this town within the next five hours, I’m leveling this place to the ground.”

In an instant, a sun rose in the cloudy sky.

No, it was magic created by the young man—a sphere of hellfire. In the blink of an eye, the snow piled on the roofs of the houses melted away. In just a few dozen seconds, it evaporated completely into steam.

Among the five basic mana cores, the beast-kin were a race that fundamentally never manifested a Magician Core. The pure anomaly of him being able to use magic despite being a beast-kin drew their attention more than anything else.

The townspeople lost their words, trembling in overwhelming awe and fear.

“I’ll show you that I actually have the power to destroy this town. The power I was built with to surpass the real heroes. Consider it a special treat.”

Saying so, the man swung one hand down. A massive, ultra-thick heat ray fired from the sphere of hellfire. The heat ray pierced a mountain several kilometers away from the town, erasing it entirely.

After a beat, they must have finally processed the unbelievable reality before them. Screams flew through the air, and children wailed. While there were indeed some among the famously robust vigilante corps who glared up with hatred, clear terror resided in their eyes.

Looking down at their respective states, Acht spread his arms and shouted.

“Now, go tell the royal capital! Tell them everyone’s gonna be massacred at this rate. Call Leonhardt. Let’s see who’s the truly strongest beast-kin—the manufactured hero, or the real one!?”

“I’ll come back when the time is up,” Acht declared. Leaving those words behind, he vanished from the sky above the town.

Allen, who had departed from Log Village, was currently above the clouds. Riding on the back of a jet-black dragon flying at super high speeds, he hurried toward the Beast Kingdom of Eugrasia.

Above the clouds, they wouldn’t attract public attention. Even if they were somehow spotted, they would only look like a black dot floating in the sky.

Perhaps excited by his first flight in a long while, the black dragon Geofried did several barrel rolls. Every time he did, Asmodeus, who had returned to her humanoid form, would get thrown off Geofried’s back.

“Gwaaaaah! You idiot black lizaarrrrd?!”

Grrr.

Geofried laughed, as if to say, Hah, serves you right.

Mid-plummet toward the ground, Asmodeus turned into particles of light and returned to Allen’s hip in her sword form.

“…You should probably give up on being in your human form while we’re flying.”

“…That somehow feels like losing, and I hate it.”

Grab. The little girl clung tightly to Allen’s back.

Smiling a little wryly at her as she endured the wind pressure with a desperate look on her face, Allen gazed down at the scenery below. The landscape flowed by at incredible speeds through gaps in the clouds.

The Beast Kingdom was a snow country in the northern part of the continent. The changes in vegetation along the way were striking. After a few hours, the trees transitioned from broadleaf to coniferous. Then, from coniferous trees to an absence of trees—a tundra landscape consisting mostly of short grasses.

Snow began to flutter down, and eventually, the area became a world of silver. They had entered the Beast Kingdom’s territory.

(Leonhardt… Now that I’m going to see her for the first time in a while, I’m getting ridiculously nervous…)

Allen was overthinking it so much his stomach started to hurt.

The fact that a subjugation force had been dispatched meant that the army must have naturally invaded the Beast Kingdom’s territory. Leonhardt wouldn’t be defeated so easily, but Helmis, who was leading the subjugation force, was a hero harboring a Brave Core. It was a worrisome situation for Allen.

“Allen! Shouldn’t we touch down at a nearby town first to gather detailed information?!”

“Detailed information?”

“Information like what level of military force the Empire has and where they’re marching first. Do you really think that hot-blooded beast-girl would just stay cooped up hiding in the Beast King’s castle? She’s definitely out on the battlefield!”

Asmodeus was certainly right. Should he figure out Leonhardt’s whereabouts first?

Allen lightly kicked Geofried’s flank with his heel.

“Geo. Land if you spot a decent-looking town. Just don’t get too close to it.”

He gave that instruction because it would ruin everything if they were seen.

Grrr-rrr.

Understanding Allen’s intentions, Geofried slowed down and began a gentle descent. Breaking through the clouds, they found the weather was unfortunately a severe blizzard. It wasn’t an uncommon weather pattern in the Beast Kingdom.

An idyllic town composed mostly of houses with steep roofs faintly appeared in their vision. Allen and his companions landed on a snowy mountain a few kilometers away from that town.

Given the weather and the remote location, Allen didn’t think there would be anyone nearby. Which was exactly why—

“Wh-?! A black dragon?!”

Amidst the blizzard, Allen was startled by a voice coming from behind him. When he turned around, a young man was standing there against the backdrop of the snowy landscape.

There were traces of a camp nearby, but Allen hadn’t noticed them because his vision was obscured by the snow. Or rather, why was this guy in a place like this?

(No, more importantly, this is bad…!)

“There’s only one guy who uses an arrogant, misanthropic dragon spirit beast as a familiar…! Don’t tell me… Don’t tell me you’re the 【Obsidian—”

No, he could still make it in time.

In a split second, Allen communicated with Asmodeus through eye contact. Cladding his body in purple lightning, he closed in on the young man at the speed of thunder.

He slipped behind the wide-eyed young man and delivered a sharp chop to his neck, cleanly knocking him unconscious.

“…I got my identity busted the second we arrived in the Beast Kingdom. Should we just bury this guy? Destroy the evidence?”

“…Don’t be hasty, Allen. You’re supposed to be a hero, remember?”

“Right now I’m the mercenary Noir. Noir has walked a shady path in life. He’s killed a person or two. Let’s go with that backstory.”

“This isn’t the time to be escaping from reality.”

Allen pressed a hand against his mask and let out a sigh. It was so cold his breath felt like it would freeze instantly.

“…He’s a weirdo camping out in a place like this, but he’s probably from the town, right? He’s got beast-ears. Are the shackles on his wrists and ankles… a fashion statement?”

“…Who cares. So, are we delivering this guy to the town?”

“…Yeah. If he wakes up and asks about Geofried, we’ll just smoothly play dumb. Do you think the townspeople will believe us if we say he was stranded and collapsed, so we rescued him?”

Talk about a bad omen.

Allen hoisted the weird townsman who had been camping on the snowy mountain over his shoulder and headed straight for the town.