506 – City Of The Free Merfolk
Ende is a city of free merfolk. And as befits a free city, the crime rate is also high. People cry out that they do not have the freedom to commit crimes, but strictly speaking, that is wrong. Everyone has the freedom to commit crimes. The important thing is whether they can be caught and punished.
Ende is a city where different merfolk live together. Clashes were frequent, and the methods of resolving them were primitive. The security forces intervened only after blood had been shed, and if they were overwhelmed, the Obelisk suppressed them with the authority of a public figure. After several epidemics, Ende formed clans by uniting by race or interest group and maintained its own balance.
However, crime always exists. It is only covered up by being resolved amicably, within the clan, or by the intervention of the security forces. There are always problems when people live together.
A healthy city does not mean that there are no problems, but that the problems that arise do not get worse. Just like our bodies.
“Thief! Thief! aaah!”
So, the fact that Ende is in a mess means that Ende is not healthy.
“Catch that guy! Security forces!”
“hehehe. What security forces. The Obelisk won’t come either?”
Horse merfolk are faster than other merfolk. There may be merfolk who think it is a good idea to use this advantage as a competitive advantage, get a job, work hard, and earn money. However, simply put, stealing someone else’s money and running away is the easiest way to make money.
Even more so now that the security has collapsed.
“Did the slow pig die and sit down there? There’s no way to catch us now that there are no guards or Obelisk guards! Freedom!”
The cow merfolk, who had his bag snatched by a pickpocket, fell down after chasing him. The horse merfolk, who had been running away while looking back, stopped on the spot as soon as he saw him fall.
“You bastard! Do you know that I’m from the Unicorn Clan? Do you think you can live in this Ende after doing that?!”
Despite falling in the name of the Unicorn Clan, the horse merfolk only grumbled.
“No. I’m not going to live here?”
“What?”
“Haven’t you heard the news yet? The Wolf King is attacking this place! If you stay in Ende, you’ll just become wolf food! The answer is to have a big party and leave Ende! hahahaha!”
The horse merfolk laughed at the other slowpokes and disappeared into an alley. Leaving behind the news of the Wolf King.
The Obelisk and Obeli guards are gone, and the security forces have lost their authority. The high public authority that had prevented the overflowing crime is now gone. No, now that the revolution has taken place, the people living in Ende are turning their hoods upside down to hide the fact that they have no ears or tails.
When the wall between Obeli and Ende collapsed, many things leaked out. Wealth, power, secrets, etc. Obeli, which had lost a lot of power, could not exercise any control over Ende.
“Urkpeng! The merfolk are looting the shopping district in groups!”
“What are you talking about? Stop them!”
“I can’t stop it… There are too many of them!”
“Damn it! Are they looting in the midst of all this? What kind of merfolk are they?”
“Mainly horse merfolk….”
“Of course! We have to break the ankles of those bastards!”
“…Many orcs are participating. When the horse merfolk loot, they gather around and steal one or two. More orcs are arrested than horse merfolk.”
“Oh!”
The orc mercenaries moved with the security forces, but there was no way they could match their hands and feet. In the first place, the security forces had no reason or intention to follow the orders of the less organized orcs. The two of them went out to similar places and evacuated similar places, and when the situation got out of hand, they simply gave up.
In the chaos created by the security vacuum, the citizens of Ende had no choice but to find ways to save themselves.
“The sheep and cow clans, unable to withstand the theft, have organized private soldiers and started building fences!”
Ende was torn into pieces by clan units. The clans built fences in their areas, blocked traffic, and ensured the safety of their clan members.From the clan’s perspective, it might be right. However, from the city’s perspective, it is something that should never be tolerated, like a proliferation of autonomous regions. Poina was shocked when she heard the news.
“The clan organized a private army? That’s illegal! Ende strictly restricts clans other than Obelisk from having private armies!”
“…What about us?”
“We are legitimate members of Obelisk!”
Okma, who had fire on his feet, belatedly reinstated the Obelisk guards, but in retrospect, it was the worst move at the worst possible time. The guards were pro-human, and they had actually colluded with the public, and they tried to drive out Okma, who had briefly taken away their jobs.
There were occasional reports of wolves attacking people outside, but they were buried in the noise inside Ende. The fight with the wolves was just around the corner, along with the words that preparations were ongoing.
“Aooooow….”
There was a commotion outside. Most of it was human screams, cries, and groans. It was hard to see inside the fence, but Aji’s ears and nose seemed to be picking up all sorts of noises.
I waved my hand at Aji, who was looking up at the sky and barking sadly.
“Aji. Don’t cry at the sky like that. Come inside and sleep.”
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“Woof. Again. Human, fighting again.”
“It happens all the time, so what’s the big deal?”
“Woof! But, wolves are coming! But humans are fighting each other!”
“So, you mean it’s ugly that humans are fighting each other and wasting their energy when there’s a rare chance to fight wolves?”
I can’t read a dog’s mind, so I tried to translate it as carefully as possible, but Aji shook his head and barked.
“Similar, different!”
“Similar but different? What’s different?”
“Wolves are bad. They kill sheep and attack humans. Really bad!”
“Yeah. They’re bad.”
“Wolves, bad! Humans, good! But humans, fighting!”
“Aha.”
Poisonous techniques don’t work, but the language Aji uses is very honest dog language. If I interpret it as it is, I get a rough idea.
“Why are good humans fighting each other when there are bad wolves right in front of them?”
“Woof!”
Aji nodded enthusiastically. What else can I say? It’s such an old question. I lay down again and answered.
“Damn. It’s a very obvious problem.”
“Woof?”
“Humans who are close to each other are worse to each other than wolves who are far away.”
When I answered as if it were obvious, Aji tilted his head and asked.
“Woof? Humans, good! Dogs, good!”
“I’ll have to hear the human side of things too. It’s true that humans like dogs and dogs like humans, but humans hate humans.”
“Woof woof? Why?”
“Because humans have the most of what humans need. It’s easier to take it away. Those who want to take it away are always on the lookout, and those who are being taken away hate those who are after them. So they have no choice but to fight each other.”
“Aw….”
In principle, Aji may be right. But reality is a cold law.
Aji drooped his ears and tail and barked into the air again. The sad cry was low but wide. I rubbed my ears and said to Aji.
“Don’t bark too much. Other dogs cry when they hear you.”
I’m not just saying that. In fact, right now, outside the door, a group of dogs were barking like crazy dogs.
“Wait! We’re just here to see the king!”
“We are dog people! You have no right to interfere with our audience!”
“Are you going to side with the pigs even after seeing the city’s appearance?”
The Obelisk guards who had come to see Aji protested vigorously, but the regressor didn’t even eat the seeds. The regressor muttered, lifting the celestial cherry.
“Get lost.”
Thud. The regressor knocked out the dog people in an instant. The regressor, who returned after throwing the dog people who had fallen to the ground far away, grabbed the back of his neck as if it were annoying.”This place has become notorious as well. Unwelcome guests will keep coming and causing trouble every day. I think it’s about time we moved.”
“Did you chase them away? You can at least tell me what happened?”
“It’s not like I can fight them. Azis isn’t just a shield. They’re after him too.”
The Regressor answered indifferently, his expression devoid of either anticipation or disappointment.
The Regressor’s emotions had now surpassed the level of annoyance. When things go wrong, they usually go wrong to a reasonable extent. This wasn’t just a minor setback; it had been a problem from the very beginning. The Regressor’s thoughts on dealing with the city affairs of Ende had naturally changed.
‘The discrimination against the pig-kin was a problem from the start. Before the regression, the pig-kin ended up siding with the forces of evil, which hastened their demise. But looking at this, I don’t know how to resolve the discrimination against the pig-kin anymore.’
If it was a problem that could be solved by killing one or two people, he would have done it. However, the Regressor knew that this was a problem that couldn’t be solved by a single individual picking on a few others.
At this point, it was a calamity on par with the Wolf King. Instead of getting agitated, the Regressor felt troubled.
“Haah. It’s completely ruined.”
“What do you mean? It’s not that ruined.”
He was being overly dramatic. It wasn’t that hopeless of a situation. I spoke nonchalantly to the somewhat dispirited Regressor.
“If push comes to shove, we can just have Shay, Azis, Grull, and I go out and kill the Wolf King. Even if Ende is incompetent, they can at least act as bait for the wolves, right?”
The era of gathering an army and clashing head-on was over. Now that martial arts and magic were widespread, the easiest way to mobilize forces was to send skilled martial artists or magicians with adequate support.
Ende’s troops were pig-kin who hadn’t trained much in martial arts. The best they could do was support Grull. That would be enough.
“We can’t just let them all die. The wolves are strong and numerous. The damage will be significant.”
“Then let them run away.”
“We should have evacuated them from the start, but it’s too late now. Only the horse-kin can escape the wolves on the vast and flat plains of Enger. Now, like it or not, we have no choice but to fight.”
“That’s what you wanted, right? Whether we live or die, whether we like it or not, we have to fight, so I’ll provide plenty of bait and support.”
As I spoke calmly, the Regressor glared at me.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Is it something I shouldn’t say? Shay wanted it too.”
If the goal was to save people, they would have evacuated them first. But they didn’t, did they?
No matter how strong one is, they can’t fight a large army without the support of the city. No, they could fight, but it would be strategically disadvantageous, so they wouldn’t do it. Both the Obelisk before the revolution and the Regressor chose to inform them as late as possible to prevent any deserters or defectors in the face of battle.
“You’re the one who helped the pig-kin, and now look what happened!”
“Shay liked them at first too.”
“I didn’t know it would turn out like this!”
“Me neither.”
Who could have known? I’m not a prophet. I can’t know what the future holds. It’s the same now.
“Everyone did what they wanted. This is just the result. The orcs will have to choose whether to give up the power they hold or fight to keep it.”
“You know they can’t do either. They’ll just flounder around and get eaten by the wolves.”
“But it’s important that they can. Without this chaos, they wouldn’t have had a choice at all.”
The Regressor kept saying it was ruined, but in reality, there wasn’t much difference. It wasn’t as ruined as he was making it out to be. I shrugged and said,
“Obelisk will have decided to fight to maintain his authority, and Ende’s pig-kin will be dragged out in a daze on the eve of the battle without knowing anything. The slow and tasty pig-kin will have died the most during that time. Now, their deaths will be seen as a necessary sacrifice to protect the city, and the pyramid will be further solidified with blood.”The ones who will actually defeat the Wolf King are the Regressor, Aji, and Grull. The bear is always the one who does the work, but someone else takes the money.
The bear who actually does the work is worried about whether the human is okay.
“It would be better if the human stayed in Obelia.”
“What do you mean better? You saw it just now. The guard dogs came looking for Aji. Who do you think is behind those public servants?”
Whether the Wolf King invades or not, the humans are also moving behind the scenes to regain power.
It’s all the same. It can’t be helped. They’re all humans.
My answer must have displeased him, because the Regressor’s expression gradually grew sullen. The Regressor narrowed his eyes, weighed his options, and then called my name.
“Hughes.”
“Yes? That’s my name, but why are you calling me by my name all of a sudden?”
Something about being called by my name made me nervous and my posture straightened. Why are you calling my name all of a sudden? It’s scary.