Chapter 110
At least an elder-level should be sent to gain trust, but the problem is the elders…
Briana, arms crossed, let out a groan.
“You, want to go as an envoy?”
“No.”
Winter, erasing his expression in an instant, answered sharply.
“I have a human allergy.”
“Of course.”
Due to the nature of beastmen educated from childhood that humans are very bad, few could converse with humans without discomfort.
It was then that Asil popped out from under the sofa.
“Ppiya!” (I’ll go!)
The baby dragon, covered in dust and turned gray, jumped up and down.
“Ppiiya!” (I’ll go and come back!)
“Asil?!”
Briana, startled by her daughter’s sudden appearance, opened her mouth wide.
Asil raised her hand high and actively appealed.
“Ppiyatppi ppiya! Ppiiya!” (I’m an excellent spy! I’ll go and talk to my husband!)
Boom!
The moment the word “husband” came out, half the study door flew off.
Snowa, the snow leopard with a rabbit on his head, burst through the door and shouted.
“No way!”
“Sss!” (Why!)
“Adolescent beastmen don’t go to humans! It’s dangerous!”
“Ppiyappiya!” (I went even when I was in infancy!)
“Still no! Black dragons especially no!”
“Sss! Ppiiya!” (Yes! I’m going!)
“No! If you go, go with me too!”
“Ppiya! Ppi ppiya!” (No! I’ll go alone!)
“Kids.”
A tone that was not normal sharply pierced their eardrums.
The two beastmen arguing flinched and looked up.
Briana was smiling while furious.
“You shouldn’t eavesdrop on mom and dad.”
Ah…
“Both of you go out and stand with hands raised. The rabbit too.”
“Kyuu?!”
The rabbit, who had done nothing, was suddenly punished the same and was horrified.
But regrettably, being a bystander was also a crime.
Soon, the two beastmen and one animal lined up in the hallway, standing with hands raised as punishment.
* * *
Around that time, the empire’s tent set up near the boundary of the beastmen’s forest.
Edenber was gazing blankly at the distant beastmen’s forest.
At the expression that didn’t suit a battlefield, as if missing someone, Dylan beside him cautiously asked.
“What are you thinking about?”
“…Nothing.”
Edenber shifted his gaze downward.
Because the emotion was contained so quickly, Dylan didn’t notice Edenber’s voice slightly trembling.
After a brief silence, Edenber murmured softly.
“I was pondering how to end this war.”
He knew well how forced it was to attack the beastmen because the grass the empress ate came from the beastmen’s forest.
Thus, he wanted to stop now.
He made all sorts of excuses not to bring the divine beast Raine, released all captured prisoners alive, and during battles tried to spare the opponents lives as much as possible.
However.
The accompanying Marquis Skya was different.
He wanted escalation to the entire beastmen’s forest.
Thus, not only beastmen encountered during conflict but also war prisoners were all killed.
Moreover, whenever possible, he provoked the beastmen like poking a beehive.
Since opinions in the empire on war with beastmen were split half and half, Edenber tried to prevent it.
But even if forced, there was no way until the empress, who started this incident, woke up.
After all, it was an incident where the imperial hostess collapsed.
He was only doing his best behind the scenes to prevent small-scale conflicts from leading to war.
Dylan, gazing at Edenber, opened his mouth.
“The beastmen must know the duke’s heart wants to end the war.”
“I wonder…”
There was no confidence in his voice. From their side, all humans probably look the same.
He had waited for long years for Asil, who left incomprehensible words about returning as a potato.
He didn’t know when, but he had the confidence to wait as long as she returned.
But now that he had directly stepped into war.
No matter how long he waited, he would never meet her smiling face again.
He’d be lucky if she didn’t look at him with hating eyes.
Recalling the coldly sunken pink eyes made his heart stab painfully.
Edenber only clenched his innocent fist tightly.
Meanwhile, there was someone looking at such Edenber pathetically.
“Tsk tsk…”
It was none other than Marquis Skya, Karon Skya.
He kept clicking his tongue while looking at Edenber.
“If you’ve come to the battlefield, you should think of annihilating the enemy to win, not cowardly holding back.”
Though Karon was the empress’s nephew, he hadn’t come this far out of worry for her.
He planned to use this war as an opportunity to revive his family that had fallen to the bottom and aim to reclaim the stolen dukedom.
‘A land no one conquered for 500 years was occupied by Marquis Skya without even a divine beast.’ What a splendid sentence.
Yet the Monlepe duke, who should be killing beastmen with him, was utterly lukewarm.
He never initiated attacks, didn’t pursue fleeing enemies, and only defended.
No matter how much the Monlepe duke opposed war with beastmen.
To come this far on imperial orders yet show such behavior.
“His life must be that precious?”
Karon thought Edenber was fleeing to spare his life, unaware he was avoiding escalation.
After all, beastmen were known to be extremely violent.
“Damn, there’s a limit to doing this alone…”
Karon narrowed his brow.
No matter how much the crown prince helped, he lacked troops and war experience.
Small-scale conflict was one thing, but starting a full war alone was impossible.
Requesting additional forces from the imperial family risked sharing the credit.
Then—
“If he won’t step into war, I’ll have no choice but to force him in.”
His eyes sank sinisterly as he thought of a sinister plan.
He soon called his aide and asked.
“What punishment is given now for poaching wild animals (hunting without permission)?”
In the empire, there was a culture of using magical tools on intelligent animals to make holy water.
Thus, they always suffered from poaching.
The more unusual the animal, the higher the price, and supply was always short compared to demand.
There were even cases where knights on expeditions focused on poaching instead of battle.
Thus, poaching wild animals during war was now prohibited by imperial law.
Of course, many evaded the law.
The aide answered.
“It varies by case, but capital punishment is possible. Since beastmen and animals are indistinguishable, it could pose great threat to allies.”
“I see. If it’s someone who should be an example to all, the crime would be even heavier?”
Karon murmured murderously.
His gaze reached Dylan, the Monlepe knight commander and the knight Edenber relied on most.
* * *
The plan to send an envoy to the Monlepe duke, who seemed friendly to beastmen, kept being postponed because no beastman wished to go.
‘I could just go myself.’
I could go and talk well with my husband and return.
‘Why can’t adolescent beastmen go!’
Asil walked near the beastmen’s forest barrier, puffing her cheeks discontentedly.
The barrier could only be crossed by adult beastmen.
Because it was dangerous during conflict, but in her own opinion, she was already an excellent adult dragon.
Asil was confident she could go out safely and return.
She was curious how Edenber had changed over 7 years.
Unlike beastmen who grow in stages, humans change every year, so thinking of her much-changed friend’s appearance made her heart flutter excitedly.
‘When we meet, I’ll brag that I studied hard, ate lots and lots of strawberries, and drank milk exactly three times a day!’
But since she couldn’t cross the barrier right in front of her…
“Ppiihyu.”
Asil let out a deep sigh toward the ground.
While trudging aimlessly to calm her upset feelings.
“Here, this is the last one?”
“Yes.”
Beastmen loading fruit baskets onto a simple carriage caught Asil’s eyes.
Wait, that carriage?
‘It’s the carriage that delivers food to wild animal friends living outside the barrier?’
Then it’s going outside the barrier?
Several exclamation marks appeared above Asil’s head.
Some time later.
A carriage carrying a baby dragon among the fruit baskets left the barrier.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
