The cafe owner told me to just kill time and leave, but I definitely had no intention of doing that.
If I were weak and in a situation where I had to just put up with it, that would be a different story. But that’s not the case, right? Contrary to how I look, I had some power and influence. Of course, if I used it improperly, I’d end up nailed to a church post, so I wasn’t using it at the moment. But at the very least, I wasn’t going to just sit back and watch those idiots causing a ruckus right in front of me.
When it comes to beastmen, if you think about it, their situation was the opposite of that of elves.
Elves, the more knowledge and power they had, the more they looked down on others. Ironically, the elves lower in the social hierarchy tended to have more ordinary thoughts and treated outsiders kindly.
However, beastmen seemed to have turned that upside down.
It’s common for those who haven’t received formal education to judge the world based on their limited information and thoughts, leading them to extreme views. I’ve seen that kind of thing happen often in the world I came from.
Honestly, I didn’t deeply understand beastman society. More accurately, I had never really taken an interest. Ever since I came here, I hadn’t had any reason to interact with beastmen. This was the first time I was actually face-to-face with them since coming to this world.
So I didn’t know exactly what the extreme ideas held by those in the slums were based on, but if I had to guess, I could come up with some ideas.
Five hundred years ago, those who crossed over from another world.
Just as the higher-ups among the elves created such a society while clinging to past glories, the beastmen in the slums might hold similar thoughts.
They might think that if they crossed back over there, they’d be able to live freely without starving, or that their poverty began when they came to this world.
Uh, isn’t that a bit dangerous?
Fortunately, the elves’ higher-ups believed that “we can never defeat the humans,” so they didn’t try to spread that ideology to other elves. But on the contrary, bottom-up ideologies tend to resonate and spread among people, gradually becoming more extreme.
And then people who want to take advantage of that appear, gain popularity, and win elections…
…I should probably verify that.
“Hey, ma’am,” I called out to the owner.
“…I’m still too young to be called ma’am,” she replied, pouting like a long-time bartender who was cleaning a towel.
“Didn’t you say you’ve been working here for twenty years?”
“But I’m still unmarried.”
What does her marital status have to do with her age?
Ah, maybe it does have a point. If she thinks she’s still in the prime of youth…
…But if she was twenty years old twenty years ago, she would be forty. No, since the bar turned into a cafe around twenty years ago, she might have been working for much longer…?
Hmm, thinking like that, she did look incredibly young.
Shaking off those random thoughts, I asked, “Do you know the people around here well?”
“Well, I’ve lived here my whole life. I have quite a few acquaintances.”
The owner put down the glass she was holding and leaned back against the bar with a grin. “Why, do you want to be introduced to someone?”
Seeing her wink, it seemed like she misunderstood, but if we’re being technical, it was somewhat like that, so I didn’t deny it.
“Well then, do you know any local government officials?”
The owner blinked a couple of times. Her large pupils dilated to maximize light intake, and her soft blue eyes made quite the impression. I thought maybe she wasn’t against marriage, but simply chose not to.
“Well, I know a thing or two.”
The owner nodded.
“Could you show me around a bit today? I’d like to meet some people.”
As I leaned slightly towards the bar, the owner chuckled and waved her hand dismissively while turning away.
“Huh? No way, of course not! It’s still way too early in the afternoon for that. If I don’t make sales, I won’t be able to make a living. To be honest, my income is tight enough that I can’t even afford to hire part-time workers.”
…There isn’t enough work to hire any part-timers, and yet…
That retort was bubbling up my throat, but I held it back and held up two fingers.
“200,000 credits.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll give it to you.”
The owner stared at my pointer and middle fingers, then exclaimed, “Wait outside! I’ll be right out!”
She bolted out of the bar before I could even respond.
“……”
“……”
Aurora and Linea, who had been watching our exchange, stared blankly at the retreating figure before shifting their gazes back to me.
“…Are you alright?”
“Thanks to the work we did catching the demons lurking at the coast, we received a subsidy. So money isn’t a big issue.”
It was indeed true. I wanted to applaud the church’s generous compensation system, which gave extra pay each time a problem arose.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
With a suppressed sigh, Linea shook her head slightly. Aurora shook her head even more vigorously.
…Why?
*
“So where should we go first? Anyone you want to be introduced to?”
“Let’s go to the local administrative office first.”
At my answer, the owner, who had just pulled down the shop shutters, turned back to me, squatting in her position. Her brows slightly furrowed, it seemed she really didn’t expect me to say that.
“…Are you going to complain about what happened today?”
Seeing her serious expression, I shook my head.
“No, I just have a lot of questions I want to ask.”
“Hmmm~”
The owner closed her eyes tightly, deep in thought. After a long sigh, she got up.
“Well, fine. If it’s just accompanying you, I can do that. But you have to talk directly to the official inside.”
“I intended to do that from the start.”
Nodding, the owner shrugged her shoulders and started walking ahead.
“Oh, but…”
I followed behind her and asked, “What’s your name?”
“Oh right, of course.”
Sticking her thumb in her jean pocket, the owner chuckled lightly.
“I’m Jane. Though those kids over there keep calling me ma’am or master. I really don’t know where they pick up those trendy terms.”
I thought it was probably because they saw the previous people calling her that and just followed suit.
“Oh, I think I called you that too when I came here as a kid. Father Matthew used to say ‘Master!’ in a choppy tone.”
Aurora chimed in nostalgically from the side.
So that’s where it started from.
But if I think about it, it does make sense, given the kind of person he is.
Honestly, if he were sitting at the bar, it wouldn’t be weird for him to casually say, “Master, a whiskey here,” or yell at some shabby bar in the market, “Bartender! One bottle of makgeolli and a plate of pancakes!”
Seeing how those completely contrasting images surprisingly matched made me realize he wasn’t an ordinary person after all.
Well, he wasn’t ordinary, which is probably why he’s a miracle investigator.
“Oh, that guy still drops by now and then. And I feel like he used to have a little kid with him a long time ago… Oh, that was you? That’s why you looked familiar. You’ve grown wonderfully!”
As she said this, she gave Aurora a lingering look from top to bottom, and Aurora flinched.
“I’m just joking; I’m straighter than I look.”
I didn’t think it was because of that comment that she flinched, though.
“…Um, Sister Clara.”
Linea, who had been walking next to me, leaned in.
“Why this person? Among the volunteers, there are people who are well-versed in the area or know government officials well…”
“Well, in places like this, having one local is a huge difference.”
There aren’t many humans in the beastman region. At most, there’s just a liaison with the central government in the local office. But the beastmen society isn’t as closed off as the Elven Society.
And while the outskirts of this area, like the slum, have poor security, the city center maintains a pretty decent level of safety. …Well, that’s what I gathered from my internet search before coming here.
However, on the flip side, humans rarely wander around alone, so if three humans, two nuns, and one saintess are roaming together, that would be quite eye-catching.
…Though thinking about the bulky guy who’s a few steps behind us, it doesn’t seem like there’ll be any trouble.
When I stole a glance back, our bulky guardian quickly looked down.
Though he has no ears like a beastman and his broad shoulders make him stand out to anyone, he didn’t seem to care, leading him to blend in… Well, that’s probably his area of expertise.
“And besides, we don’t know any beastman language at all.”
“Ah…”
Realizing this, Linea nodded her head in understanding.
It had been five hundred years since the beastmen and elves crossed over, but many beastmen still used their own language alongside the common language in daily life.
The common language used by humans today formed about 300 to 400 years ago, so it’s not strange for many beastmen’s native language to still exist.
Since beastmen didn’t have a concept of writing, they borrowed the alphabet for transcribing their language, but just because one could read it doesn’t mean they can interpret it. Moreover, some parts that are difficult to express with standard alphabet might still be noted with phonetic symbols, making it pretty hard to read unless you specialized.
In most cases, it’s accompanied by the common language, but in less important texts, it might just be in their native tongue, and in some local regions, only the beastman language is common… Anyway, since there could be any unforeseen issues, having a local guide is necessary.
Since I didn’t have time to search for reliable people through the office.
“You wanted to go to the local government, right? Then the subway is the fastest.”
Saying this, I followed Jane into what looked like a long-neglected, admittedly dirty dungeon of sorts, questioning if I truly made the right choice with her as my guide.
*
Still, surprisingly, we arrived without major incidents, considering the subway had been running for over a hundred years. Well, they must’ve maintained it properly for it to still be usable after so long.
…Although there were a few dirty stations that we could see from the train, overall, it wasn’t to the level of not wanting to use it at all.
After just a bit over 40 minutes of travel, we arrived in the city center.
Both in the 21st district where I live and in areas with large cities, when one thinks of a city center, they might imagine skyscrapers, but in the beastman region, the population is lower compared to other regions, and while there is a slight outflow of population, the city center didn’t have many buildings that could be called impressive.
Oh, that doesn’t mean there aren’t skyscrapers. There were clusters of around 30 to 40-story buildings in the city center, and the heights and density quickly dropped off as you move outward.
From a step back, one could argue it has much more character and beauty than the poorly developed city center of the 1st district. Because of the skyscrapers that were centralized and the lower buildings that spread outwards, the skyline was quite distinctive and beautiful.
Perhaps it wasn’t only outsiders like me who thought so; the emblem of the local government building reflected that skyline, indicating just how much the local people cherished their hometown.
“Oh dear, a distinguished guest has come, and we’re unprepared. You could’ve at least called ahead before your visit…”
At a glance, it sounded like a bitter or resentful remark, but seeing the middle-aged man sweating profusely and hurriedly wiping his bald head with a towel right after hearing my name made it seem more genuine.
By the way, it seems beastmen also have hair loss… or are they just really stressed out?
The fact that he didn’t lose all the hair on his head is a relief. If all the hair above a person’s head, especially the fur on their beast ears, fell out… Well, how should I put it, that’d be quite a sight to endure.
“I’m Corbin Brassner, in charge of health and welfare for the beastman region. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sister.”
Before I could even greet him, he bowed deeply and handed me his business card, which gave off the vibe of an old-school salaryman I’d seen in an anime film, rather than that of a Western-looking beastman.
“Ah, yes, I’m the saint, Clara Anderson. Nice to meet you…”
I found myself awkwardly accepting the business card, but I had nothing to give in return. Usually, just sharing names was enough for people to get a sense of what position someone held in the church. I was the only one wearing a Saint’s Robe throughout the entire church, and my name and face were obviously well-known, making a business card rather meaningless.
As I awkwardly returned the greeting, Brassner quickly scanned my surroundings with his eyes and whispered something to his young canine beastman staff… or was he a secretary? The canine beastman nodded and hurriedly walked away.
While I was in a daze watching this unfold, Brassner pointed towards the elevator and said, “Let’s not stand around here but find a comfortable place to sit and chat.”
“Ah, yes…”
Since I’d only encountered unusually abnormal reactions everywhere I went, being met with not being too overly welcoming or dismissive felt unfamiliar enough to be uncomfortable.
A glance back revealed that both Linea and Aurora looked a bit surprised. Well, it’s understandable since these two had likely only seen groups of deranged people advocating something akin to eugenics.
…Jane appeared completely disinterested in our conversation, glancing up at the tall ceiling of the government office building.
Wait a second.
I definitely asked to be guided to the local government ‘office’… not the actual ‘local government’ itself, but something smaller that dealt with specific areas…
Ah, I’ve chosen poorly.
Following the kind official leading us, I tried to think it over a bit.
*
“…I see.”
Anyway, following that official up to a reasonably spacious meeting room with a decent view, I directly relayed what I had seen and heard from the slums.
It felt a tad too trivial to share with someone working in a local government office, let alone someone handling health and welfare from the actual headquarters, but… when the opportunity arises, those are the things you should speak up about immediately. Isn’t it a bit foolish to hold back when you can speak directly to someone higher up?
“Yes, so, I really wanted to understand what those people are claiming, which is why I came here…”
I glanced at the official after saying that, and noticed he was now sweating even more profusely than before, like a waterfall, so I shut my mouth.
In fact, he was using one hand to wipe his forehead and subconsciously pulling at his hair with the other.
…Now I could see why his hair was thinning.
“Regarding that—”
Brassner opened his mouth, but just then, someone knocked at the meeting room’s door, and everyone’s eyes turned that way.
“Come in.”
Brassner spoke without a hint of surprise.
The door to the meeting room opened cautiously, revealing a canine beastman holding cups of coffee. This was the same one who dashed away after hearing Brassner’s earlier words. When I noticed he also looked just as sweaty, it was clear he had rushed back.
“I apologize for the lack of preparation. I got coffee for now.”
That wasn’t entirely wrong. It wasn’t that he ‘ordered’ it at a cafe; he ‘sent someone to get it’.
However, he sure did come back quickly. I could let the running aspect slide, but is coffee even something that can come out this quickly?
As I pondered this, I could overhear conversations between Brassner and his subordinate that didn’t reach me before, this time whispering clearly due to the quiet office.
“…I thought general coffee would take too long…”
“…You did well; make sure to keep the receipt… great, for now, go….”
Everything felt a bit too intertwined with work matters.
Would I sound like an old-timer if I said I had my share of such days too?
“Ahem, now, with the weather being like this, let’s enjoy coffee while we talk.”
The official handed each of us a cup of coffee.
We quietly thanked him and awkwardly sat with coffee in hand as he bowed deeply while still standing.
“Regarding that matter, I sincerely apologize.”
…Wow, I never thought I’d find someone in this world who would start a conversation right off the bat with an apology.
I couldn’t have imagined that.
Suddenly, the room fell silent. Aurora and I hadn’t even said a few words and were already receiving an apology. Linea was surprised to see that we had quieted down.
Meanwhile, Jane had an expression of ‘yikes, I think I stumbled into a really uncomfortable place’ without making a single sound.
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