His reaction was valid—I’d be confused too—especially if a cat was so sort of ruler. It sounded kinda silly. But it was true; I was the ruler of the naless village I didn’t even know I had until an hour ago. This was bizarre.
"Say, what’s your guys’ nas?"
All of them looked at in sync as the one holding the spear stepped forward smiling. He had short brown hair and iron armor.
"M-My na is Conndo, sir—uh—mam?!"
"Ma’am is fine!" I said, raising a paw. "What about you two?"
The girl whom I saved from the beast stepped forward. She had long blonde hair, wore leather armor, and a cape. She also carried so sort of magical staff with her. Must’ve been so sort of mage.
"I am Aristella! T-Thank you again for saving !"
"No problem!" I said, nodding my head.
Next up, the guy carrying a sword and a shield. He had dium-length black hair and wore leather and iron armor; a mix-and-match arsenal.
"I am Rowan, it is a pleasure to et you, little beast."
[Little beas- well, I guess I am little...]
"Feeling is mutual!" I said, nodding my head. "So, where are you guys from? This is my first ti eting humans, and you three seem pretty chill."
"We’re from Mundus!" Said Conndo. "It is far from here, but we ca here to-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Aristella elbowed him in the arm, causing him to flinch.
Huh, sothing was up with these three.
"Eh? It’s fine, you can tell . I’m a good kitty!"
They all looked at in suspicion as Conndo rubbed his arm in pain.
"I’m afraid we cannot. That information is top secret." Said Rowan.
[Top secret? Just what the hell are they hiding?]
"How top secret are we talking?" I asked, visibly curious.
"I-I’m sorry, but we cannot give out any more information!" Proclaid Aristella.
As much as I wanted to drop it, my curiosity got the best of .
"Oh cmon, I just saved one of your guys’ lives! At least fill in!"
Aristella perked up, widening her eyes at my comnt as she fiddled with her thumbs.
"W-We were sent here to gather information on S-Sasobek!"
"Aristella!" Shouted Rowan in disbelief.
Oh wow, this girl really folded under zero pressure. Okay—maybe I did pressure her—just a little bit. But still! To give away top secret information like that just because she felt bad was truly sothing else.
"Sasobek, huh?" I said, furrowing my feline brows, which seed to rile Rowan up.
"On guard!" He said, holding up his sword and shield. "This beast is prepared to attack!"
"Ehh??"
Hey, whoa whoa whoa, what was the big deal here?!
"Oi! What the hell are you talking about, yo?"
"Now that it’s aware of our motives, it will strike us down where we stand! Prepare your weapons!"
"Huh?" I shouted in disbelief. "No, no no! You got it all wrong! I’m just confused! Listen, I hate this Sasobek guy too!"
Rowan didn’t lower his guard even after what I said; his grip only tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"Hate Sasobek...?" He repeated skeptically. "How is that possible? You’re a beast, just like him!"
"Yeah, so what?!" I responded.
"That’s... not possible! All beasts by birth respect him."
"I don’t get what you’re saying!" I shouted.
"H-He possesses the King of Beasts title! It’s an absolute principle that makes all Beastkin follow him by nature! Only Beasts of divine nature can resist its influence."
[King of Beasts title? My mom told about that after she defeated Leapmouth and Vipermouth. Only three beasts across history obtained this title. How scary.]
"Well, I’m not affected! So no need to worry about betraying you."
"I-I don’t understand. Any other beast would be trying to kill us right now if we told you our objective." Muttered Rowan.
"Well, I’m not like those other beasts!"
[Okay, now I’m super confused. Spiritus, what’s going on and why am I not affected by the King of Beasts title? I rember my mom talking about this but I never asked.]
[[Why should I tell you]]
[Hey, what’s with the tone?!]
[[That is sothing for you to find out.]]
Sheesh, what a freaking jerk this Grand System was.
[Up yours!]
"I can’t believe it, a beast... unaffected by the principle of a title. How absurd!" Said Conndo in disbelief.
"I don’t see how that’s possible. All titles have principles; fundantal truths that the title itself establishes. If one is known as a Beast Slayer by title, they’d obtain certain skills that are associated with that title and the world will recognize them as such!" Said Aristella.
"The King of Beast title passively makes all beasts across the Axis Mundi follow Sasobek without exception." Muttered Rowan.
I didn’t have an answer to give these guys, only assumptions—maybe it has sothing to do with my mom being a Divine Beast and I have her blood. I don’t know.
"...Look!" I finally said, breaking the confusion. "I don’t have so sort of grand explanation or secret cheat code or whatever you’re expecting, I just know one thing!"
I tapped my chest with a paw.
"I don’t feel anything towards that guy- err, beast! There’s no pull or instinct telling to kneel, obey, or bite your heads off."
Rowan studied like I was a puzzle piece that absolutely refused to fit.
"That alone defies the Axis’ logic." He muttered. "Titles are absolute principles. They do not fail, unless you’re divine. But even then, so titles can affect the divine to so degree."
"Well, uhhh..." I looked up in thought. "I guess the principles got loopholes or sothing."
Conndo let out a nervous laugh.
"H-Haha... that’s not comforting at all!"
Aristella, on the other hand, looked at differently now. There wasn’t fear in her eyes; It was sothing closer to awe, maybe even hope.
"...Keiko." She said with a rise to her tone. "If what you’re saying is true, then you might be the only beast alive who can oppose Sasobek without being bound by his authority."
I blinked multiple tis before staring at her.
"...Wow, okay! No pressure or anything!!"
Before anyone could respond, my ears twitched.
"It is true." Said Rowan. "There was only one beast alive that could defeat him. She was a Divine Beast, Blessed by Bastet, but now it is assud that she is dead after the Prival War."
Oh, the prival war. I rember this too. My mom talked about it. It was a war that happened between the Inner Beasts and Outer Beasts—but little did they know—my mom was still alive.
At least, that’s what I hoped.
I don’t know what the heck happened over the course of this week, but I’m scared to find out.
"...Okay. This is officially way too much for a first human interaction! Like seriously."
All three of them widened their eyes and blinked at .
"Look, we’re standing in the middle of a forest where death beasts roam, and you guys are on so super secret mission involving the Beast King!" I sighed out loud, venting my frustration. "This feels like the worst possible place to talk about any of that."
Conndo audibly gulped.
"Y-Yeah... when you put it like that..."
I turned and pointed my finger—well, paw—back the way I ca.
"So! Why don’t we head to my village and talk there?"
Their reaction was imdiate.
"Your village? A-Are you sure?" Aristella asked.
Rowan stiffened up, still raising his sword and shield.
"Are you seriously inviting humans into beast territory?"
"Yep!" I said cheerfully. "Food, shelter, no murderous Skinwalkers, and most importantly, no Sasobek cultists. Hopefully!"
"That ’hopefully’ does not inspire confidence." Said said in suspicion.
"Hey, it’s better than here." I said right back at him. "Plus, I already saved your lives once today. You can trust at least that much, right?"
They exchanged worried looks.
Conndo leaned toward Rowan and whispered.
"I an... she did cleave that Skinwalker in half."
"Into thirds." I said, hearing them with my Keen Sense Skill.
Rowan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"...This mission keeps getting stranger."
Aristella looked at again, that sa hopeful expression returning like before.
"If your village truly exists, then we could gather information safely... and maybe rest!"
"See?" I said, nodding eagerly. "Aristella gets it! And what do you an by ’if my village exists’, I’m not a liar!"
Rowan hesitated for a mont longer, then finally lowered his sword.
"...Very well." He muttered. "But if this is a trap..."
"It’s not, it’s not!" I said imdiately. "If I wanted you dead, you’d already be very, very dead."
That... might’ve been a little too honest.
Even Conndo got shaken up by my comnt.
"S-So reassuring."
I turned around and started walking, waving my tail for them to follow.
"Alright, follow ! village isn’t far. Just, uh, try not to freak out, please?!"
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