ISGW 02

Chapter 2

Harin Goes Out into the Outside World (2)

“You don’t belong here!”

Asbel shouted fiercely.

This was supposed to be a solemn and sacred moment—the announcement of the special journey she and Franz would undertake in pursuit of the throne.

The thought that Harin, whom she had always regarded as an eyesore, had suddenly stepped in and ruined the atmosphere made Asbel’s face twist with anger.

Franz, on the other hand, had a different expression.

A human living in a beastfolk village?

Franz had occasionally accompanied his father outside the tribe, so humans were not an unfamiliar race to him. Still, he found Harin’s presence interesting. A human living in a beastfolk village was certainly out of place.

Asbel noticed Franz looking at Harin, and her expression became even more hostile.

“Know your place and get out! There’s no place for someone like you here! You’re a human!”

Asbel growled so fiercely that the golden fur on her head seemed to stand on end.

The other beastfolk also looked at Harin with displeasure. She had interrupted such an important occasion, after all.

Surrounded by their hostile gazes, Harin flinched. But she gathered what little courage she had and spoke to Asbel in a trembling voice.

“Asbel, I’ve never been to the human world, but I’ve read books written by humans. From what I know about them, I’m confident I can be more helpful than anyone here.”

“So what?!”

“And I’m human!”

Despite Asbel’s sharp response, Harin did not give up. She continued trying to convince her.

“You can tell whether someone is human or beastfolk just by looking at them. If we encounter humans who are hostile toward beastfolk, I might be able to help because I’m human too.”

Her words seemed to convince the other beastfolk as well, because no one raised their voice in protest.

Asbel also fell silent.

She could not deny that Harin’s presence might actually be useful. The thought that she might be able to use Harin as a useful tool was rather tempting.

Noticing that far fewer people seemed opposed to her joining them, Harin quietly spoke again.

“I’ll help with anything I can do. You know that… All I want is a chance to find my parents in the outside world. That’s all.”

“…If Franz has no objection regarding fairness…”

Asbel reluctantly turned away and spoke coldly, as though she had no choice.

It was practically an agreement.

Harin turned her gaze toward the heir of the Red Mane tribe, who was standing beside Asbel and looking at her.

His golden eyes held an amused, interested light.

“I have no objection.”

“Have a safe journey, Asbel!”

“The fate of the White Fang tribe is in your hands!”

“Make sure you succeed!”

Two days had passed since the delegation from the Red Mane tribe left the village.

Asbel, Leod, and Harin had finished preparing for their journey into the outside world and were now standing at the village entrance.

Almost the entire village had gathered to see Asbel off, cheering and wishing her well.

Flower petals drifted through the air, and the villagers wore bright, hopeful expressions.

Asbel responded to their cheers with a dignified expression, carrying the heavy sense of duty expected of a candidate for the throne.

Among the crowd, there were also a few beastfolk teasing the visibly depressed Leod.

“Hey~ Leod! Make sure you suffer a little out there!”

“Yeah! That’s how you become a real adult beastfolk!”

Even in response to the playful teasing from his peers, Leod continued to look completely miserable.

Not a single beastfolk offered Harin a friendly farewell.

In fact, quite a few looked as though they secretly hoped she would never come back, as if a troublesome tooth had finally been pulled.

They did not need to say anything. Their eyes said it all.

So Harin quietly stood a little apart from them and watched Asbel and Leod receive their farewells.

Rather than feeling hurt, she was filled with excitement about the new world waiting for her.

A large backpack filled with food and travel supplies was strapped to her back, along with a folding spear she had brought for self-defense.

It was quite heavy, but her heart felt as light as if she were about to fly.

Together with Asbel and Leod, Harin stepped into Rosentina Forest.

“We’re going to the human kingdom, right?”

They had been walking through the lush green forest for quite some time when Leod, who had been drowning in despair, finally broke the long silence.

“That’s right. All we know is that ‘Garcias’s Divine Relic’ was stolen by the Asura. Humans are the most numerous race and occupy the largest amount of land, so if we want to gather any information, we have no choice but to enter the human kingdom.”

At Asbel’s words, Leod sighed.

For someone who had spent his entire life in a beastfolk village, the thought of traveling to another race’s kingdom seemed to make him deeply uneasy.

“But… you said the Divine Relic was stolen by the Asura. The king is supposed to be the strongest being in the world, so can we really face the Asura who managed to take it from him?”

“You think they defeated the king and took it from him? They stole it like cowardly thieves! Besides, our job is to follow their trail, find out where the Divine Relic is, and report its location. That alone will be a tremendous achievement. Recovering it will come afterward, when the village elders and the Red Mane beastfolk join forces.”

Asbel’s expression darkened at the thought of such a sacred relic falling into the hands of those creatures.

“…Well, if I happen to find one I can handle.”

Asbel suddenly transformed one of her hands into its beastfolk form and swung it at a nearby tree trunk.

Her claws, sharpened like the powerful claws of a tiger, struck the trunk.

The thick tree split cleanly in two and crashed to the ground.

“If I can kill it myself and take the relic back, that would certainly make for a better story.”

Leod looked at the fallen tree in admiration.

“Well, Asbel is one of the best warriors in the village.”

At Leod’s words, Asbel wore a smug expression and walked ahead, leading the way through the forest.

“I guess they really don’t choose just anyone to become a candidate for king.”

Walking behind Leod at the very back of the group, Harin stared at the broken tree trunk for a long time.

The strength was something she could not even begin to imitate.

Yet, for some reason, something she had read in a book kept troubling her.

The Asura…

Historically, they were the enemies and objects of fear of every race except the Gremlins.

The books described them as mysterious monsters covered in black flames.

Unlike the other races, which had at least some detailed descriptions, there was almost no other information about them.

No one knew whether they lived in groups or how intelligent they were.

It was safe to assume that even the author of the book had no information about them.

But… while the Gremlins, who are also treated as enemies, are called the “abandoned by the gods,” the Asura are called the “enemies of the gods.” Maybe they…

Harin shook her head repeatedly, hoping that her worst assumption was not true.

Rosentina Forest was vast and wild.

The green forest was so untouched that there were no signs of people coming or going, and the enormous trees had grown so tall that even the sunlight could barely reach the ground.

For three days, Harin and the others walked straight south toward the nearest human kingdom.

During that time, they were attacked by beasts several times.

Most of them were wolves hiding among the thick grass and trees.

Usually, they would retreat in fear as soon as Asbel or Leod transformed into their beastfolk forms and acted threateningly.

Even when they attacked, they quickly realized the difference in strength and fled.

But there were still moments when the three of them were in real danger.

The most dangerous was their fight with a large bear.

The enormous bear, worthy of being called a predator of the forest, attacked them and gave them a difficult battle.

Fortunately, the bear was badly wounded by Asbel after she transformed and eventually fled.

After that, the attacks from other beasts quieted down for a while.

When Asbel had left the village, she had been filled with excitement about beginning her journey as a candidate for the throne.

But instead of the exciting adventure she had imagined, she had spent days walking through the same scenery and fighting beasts.

The accumulated fatigue gradually made her more and more irritable.

Whether he noticed Asbel’s deeply irritated expression or not, Leod seemed to care about only one thing—the fact that they would soon reach the human kingdom.

Since Harin was the only one among them with any knowledge of the outside world, he kept asking her questions.

“The human kingdom we’re going to… was it called Asirina?”

“Asyria. It’s a kingdom protected by Lady Shyene, the Goddess of Ice.”

“Right, Asyria. Once we search the whole place, do we just go to another kingdom?”

His words carried his desperate hope that the journey would end as quickly as possible.

“Wouldn’t searching the entire kingdom be difficult? Asyria is supposedly the third-largest of the four human kingdoms, tied with Zairen in size, but it has a population of around forty million people.”

“F-Forty million?!”

Leod shouted in shock.

“How many zeros is that? There aren’t even four thousand beastfolk in our village… Are you saying even a small human kingdom has more than ten thousand times our population?!”

Leod stared blankly, clearly unable to believe it.

“They’re still inferior humans.”

Asbel had been walking silently while listening to them.

At Leod’s shocked voice, the irritation she had been suppressing seemed to explode, and she snapped.

“Humans are inferior to us in both physical ability and martial strength. Whether there are a thousand times as many of them or ten thousand times as many, they’re no threat at all.”

Asbel glared directly at Harin as she spoke, openly looking down on not only Harin but all humans.

Harin felt anger rising inside her.

“There are also mages among humans. I’ve read that their abilities are so incredible that you can’t even imagine them. Comparing the two races so one-sidedly is—ugh!”

Harin could not finish.

Asbel’s sharpened claws pressed hard against her neck.

Her beastfolk hand forced Harin firmly against the trunk of a tree behind her.

“Really? If humans are so amazing, why don’t you try getting away from me right now?”

“Asbel…”

“You were an inferior human back then, and you’re still nothing more than an inferior human beneath us.”

Whoosh—

A cold wind swept through the bushes.

They were deep inside Rosentina Forest, with no one else around except the three of them.

There was no one Harin could call for help.

Leod could only nervously shuffle his feet beside them, watching Asbel’s expression. He could not even bring himself to intervene.

“Fine. Since we’ve already started this journey, I’ll make one thing clear right now. I’m the leader here. You’re nothing more than an inferior support attendant. If you become useless or slow us down, I’ll abandon you immediately. Whether you find your parents or do whatever pointless thing you want, remember that you can only accomplish any of it if you survive without being abandoned by us.”

Harin grimaced from the pain in her tightening throat.

Feelings of injustice and anger rose to her throat, but her desperate wish to find her parents—and to see them again—something she had longed for since childhood, forced her emotions back down.

“I… understand…”

When she obediently surrendered, Asbel gave a dismissive snort.

“Hmph!”

She shoved Harin away forcefully once before turning around and walking on.

“Cough!”

Harin grabbed her aching throat.

Only after Asbel had gone quite far ahead did Leod approach Harin, who had collapsed to the ground, and place a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay? I told you, you shouldn’t have gone against Asbel…”