Bok Bok.
As I fiddled with the black wolf ears sprouting from my forehead, Adriana elbowed me in the side.
“If you touch too much, the magic might get unstable and disappear.”
“This feels way too good, and I can’t help it!”
But no matter what, it kept tickling. Maybe because Adriana’s magic was quite impressive—it had a peculiar charm to it.
The tail that popped out above my butt couldn’t move, but the ears could perk up a bit if I put some effort into it.
“Witches’ magic is amazing.”
“Yeah, right?”
Sen, who was quietly agreeing from the side, wanted to touch the little cat ears that were also on her forehead, her hands twitching a bit.
It wasn’t just me and Sen, either. Above Adriana’s head were droopy dog ears, and Rin had cute little bunny ears sticking up.
And each of us had matching tails poking out from our backsides too.
This was a device Adriana had set up so we could enter the land of the beastmen. She was proud that we could move around easily, thanks to the tricks she had done for us back when we visited with Eris.
“But don’t walk around too proudly. Semi-beastmen—people who look mostly human—face subtle discrimination.”
Kurika, completely covered by the hood of his robe, was perfectly a beastman yet hiding his identity for a very good reason.
The girls were subtly asking me why that was, but I just gave a wry smile and avoided answering.
Semi-beastmen.
That was the term used to describe individuals whose appearances didn’t clearly show if they were human or beastmen. Like us, they had human faces but could be identified by their tails or animal ears.
Usually, kids born from human and beastman parents might just look like normal beastmen. But if this child grew up and married another beastman, they could end up having a semi-beast child.
In more severe cases, even if several generations only married among beastmen, a semi-beast ancestor could cause a semi-beast child to appear.
In the end, since no one could predict when a semi-beastman would appear among their family, the country discouraged discrimination against them. Yet, the subtle discrimination they faced while living their lives couldn’t be avoided.
“Seeing this, they seem different from dragonkin.”
“Yeah, true.”
I agreed with Rin.
Dragonkin all had human-like faces, but it was their unique scales, horns, wings, and tails that made them distinct. When you think about it, semi-beastmen and dragonkin only have different animal traits, yet they considered themselves highly sacred and noble.
If you looked closely, they all looked pretty much alike—semi-beastmen, humans, and dragonkin.
“It’s a checkpoint.”
“Seems like our last little escapade has made the checkpoints a bit stricter.”
Kurika and Adriana pointed to the guards who were checking people one by one at the city entrance.
Since Eris’s group had been caught by the Ho family and transported to kingdom prison, and since we directly came to the capital without hearing about other places, this was our first checkpoint.
Huh, this is a bit tricky.
Just as Kurika had said. We were in disguise, and since Kurika was extremely reluctant to reveal his identity, it was tricky to get past the checkpoint.
“If I slip inside, we could just walk through…”
Rin cautiously suggested we could easily get in if she moved in darkness, but it was declined.
I was uncomfortable with it, and Kurika, who had been controlled by the Goddess of Death once, strongly opposed it.
Of course, that didn’t mean we had no other options.
“It’s fine, just go.”
I smiled and stepped forward.
The line wasn’t too long. It seemed like there were multiple entrances, and beastmen generally didn’t travel between cities much.
A beastman went in front of us, and it was soon our turn.
As my party’s gazes naturally fell on me with a hint of nervous expectation, I said, “Let’s go.”
The guards stood frozen, and a few people following behind us also maintained their stances.
“No need to stop a bunch of people.”
If I just paused the time for the guards in front of us and the semi-beastmen observing us behind, we could swiftly slip inside.
“What a cool ability.”
“This is actually super convenient.”
Once we got inside and I released my power, some of our party members behind me made tired sounds in surprise. However, the guards urged us to hurry along, leaving us no choice but to go with the flow.
They probably felt like they had just seen a ghost.
In any case, we managed to enter the city comfortably.
“Hmm.”
Honestly, I thought the beastmen’s city would be rough and wild. Just look at Yggdrasil; the elves built their villages under the shadows of trees.
But once I got here, it wasn’t much different from a human city. Having visited the royal capital, I thought our side was a bit fancier and had taller buildings.
There really wasn’t much difference.
“I was expecting more, but I’m disappointed.”
When I voiced my honest feelings, Sen seemed to feel the same, looking around with a deflated expression, wondering if there was anything special.
It was only then that a few unusual items and buildings caught my eye.
Like a communal wheel and scratchers made from thick posts. There were animal-only features that you wouldn’t find in human cities.
But other than that, not much was different.
If I had to nitpick, I’d say the city had more fur?
Yet, maybe because of that, the streets were clean, unlike in human cities. It was way tidier.
“Let’s just keep going without looking around too much. It’ll feel suspicious.”
Even though she had been transported here while bound, Adriana, who had previously visited, was right. We aimed for the royal area while trying to keep a natural demeanor.
We might not be able to meet anyone directly, but I could stop time and slip in briefly. Or Rin could use her ability to infiltrate us; there were plenty of options.
Wow, looking at this, it really is an insane combination.
Me, who can stop time.
Rin, who can summon many armies from the darkness.
Sen, the assassin from the Chokugen Faction.
Adriana, who has the potential of a Grand Witch.
And finally, Kurika, who the Goddess of Time said couldn’t be beaten in a one-on-one in the continent.
If I could quantify our powers, it felt like we could start a war any time.
“Whoa, look at those beauties!”
“I don’t mind semi-beastmen either.”
No matter where you go, there are always those kinds of people.
Just like how beautiful flowers attract bees and butterflies.
Or rather, it’s more correct to say that during these times, sweet treats attract ants and cockroaches.
With our group of stunning women, it’s no wonder that these guys were naturally drawn to us.
On top of that, trying to sniff out naive looking farm boys and easy targets at the city entrance were our waiting party members.
“What should we do?”
It seemed like Sen was one step forward, ready to jump out at any moment.
Flop.
But the guys had already collapsed and were rolling on the ground. People were making a commotion asking what was happening, but we casually slipped away from the scene.
“This ability is really convenient.”
I wiggled my fingers, relishing the feeling of just having paused time and whacked some semi-beastmen.
I could totally understand why the Priestess of Time wanted this power back desperately. Once you get a taste of this, it’s hard to let go.
The rest of the party looked a bit dazed, but they seemed to understand that I had handled it.
“Thanks to you, we didn’t waste unnecessary time.”
Adriana smiled slightly and resumed leading the way. After all, we just needed to head to the royal building that was openly visible.
“Hmm, from a beastman’s perspective, is appearance the same?”
Rin asked a rather unique question, and it piqued my interest as well.
Do beastmen also share the same standards of beauty when it comes to appearances?
I shot a glance at Kurika, but he shrugged, saying he didn’t know. Regardless of the question, he seemed overly anxious, scanning the surroundings.
Why is he acting like that?
“If you look like a beastman, does that mean you’re pretty?”
“Then do we have to act similarly?”
Rin and Sen dove into a heated debate about what it would mean to be beautiful from a beastman’s perspective, then suddenly approached me as if I’d know.
“Meow?”
Sen tried to mimic a cat. Honestly, it was cute, but I just brushed it off with a blank expression.
Rin stepped forward saying she’d do it too, raising her hand, but after a brief moment of contemplation, she made a strange face.
“How does a rabbit cry?”
With her droopy bunny ears.
In the end, giving up, Rin smiled and started hopping in front of me.
“Bunny bunny!”
“……”
This was a bit risky. I was actually contemplating freezing time to manage my expression, but since I couldn’t just go around misusing this power, I tightened my jaw.
“That’s cheating.”
However, sensing that I was quite shaken, Sen lightly punched me in the side.
I had nothing to say to that.
“Hey kid, grow up a bit.”
“Hmm, so there’s a park here.”
Following Adriana’s lead, we casually entered the park. It didn’t matter since it was just on the way.
In the center of the park, we had no choice but to freeze in awe.
Hah.
Kurika, hiding his face with the hood, covered his eyes with his hand and sighed. I finally understood why he had been so anxious all along.
“I mean, I did know his identity, but…”
I never expected it to be like this.
In the center of the park’s flowerbed stood a gigantic statue that you had to strain your neck to see its face.
A beastman raising a colossal sword pointing up to the sky in a bold pose. No matter where you looked, it was Kurika’s face.
Our women naturally turned their gazes to Kurika after reading the inscription below.
[In honor of the first king of beastmen, the great Emperor Calyus.]
In that moment, Kurika’s true identity was revealed to our group.
