CH 242

Country of a Beast King

In a small mountain located south of the center of the Devil Continent, where monsters run rampant, stood a fortress city-state surrounded by tall walls.

The mountain was steep and rocky, and the area where the city lay was a small plateau.

It’s a city normal people wouldn’t be able to reach, but that wasn’t an issue for almost anyone inhabiting it. The citizens living in this city-state were all from races with high physical capabilities, Beastkins.

The city-state 「Atropolis」.

A city-state governed by a Beast King with majority of the citizens being warriors is a country that possesses high battle potential characteristic to the harsh environments of the Devil Continent.

Thanks to wearing the Overcoat of Existence Concealment[1] and our Stealth skills, we infiltrated the city without anyone realizing and promptly roamed around to gather information.

My Human self and the Elf Sophia stand out among the Beastkin, so the hood of our coats were pulled low over our eyes. Marnie was a Rabbitkin so she hid her ears with her hood as well. Rabbitkin were a minority even in the Devil Continent, after all. As a race which was by all rights said to be unsuited to battle, they had no choice but to become harlots, dancers and the like, which meant they wouldn’t be caught sight of during the day.

Many of the Beastkins in this continent had strong external animal characteristics. There were races of Beastkin who possessed only ears and a tail similar to Laeva, Marnie, and Lulu-chan, but more than half of them were dressed and looked like bipedal animals.

In the corner of a bar, I listened to the surrounding voices with an ale in hand.

Compiling together what I’ve overheard at the city’s market and street stalls, the ruler was the 13th generation Beast King Ryvar. The battle prowess of the current Lionkin Beast King was apparently even more superior than the preceding generations of Beast Kings.

Surprisingly though, the title is not decided by bloodline, but rather by strength.

What a muscle-brained country.

「Still, it’s a country in an amazing place.」

「Yeah, it isn’t a problem for us because we’re high leveled, but it would be tough to climb that rocky mountain.」

「Master (Husband), not all Beastkin tribes have high physical prowess. I dare say that even though they are Beastkin, they don’t go outside unless they are warriors.」

No one noticed that I was talking with Sophia and Marnie in hushed voices. Not being noticed by the Beastkin who have sensitive sense of smell and hearing was testament to the combined effect of our coats and skills.

「Still, it’s like there’re more monsters recently. 」

「Monsters? Haven’t there been a lot since a while back?」

「No, it’s different. When we went hunting just recently, we got three times the amount of prey.」

「What is this, you boasting?」

「That ain’t it. We were about to die, ya know?」

We listened carefully to the conversation between the male Dogkin and Catkin drinking alcohol at a nearby table.

「Could the increase in monsters be related to the Evil Spirit?」

「Who knows. It would be great if Selene and Sylph find the Evil Spirit’s location though.」

Even the Great Spirits Sylph and Selene were unable to figure out the exact location of the Evil Spirits. According to Undine, it would seem the Evil Spirit specializes in such tricks. Because of that, we couldn’t just look for them so straightforwardly.

「Well, setting aside the reason for why the monsters increased, we have to go to the other countries too.」

「Indeed. There seems to be two other countries governed by Beastkin tribes.」

According to the information obtained from Atropolis, this continent has three Beastkin countries.

First, the Lionkin Beast King governed Atropolis.

Second, the Bearkin Beast King governed Varguard.

Third, the Tigerkin Beast King governed Rebinstan.

Three Beastkin-governed countries and three Mazoku-governed countries. Since there were only these six fortress city-states, the continent’s population isn’t that many.

「There’s no Adventurer Guild in this continent either, so it has been hard gathering information on these countries.」

「Indeed it has. Even so, there are slaves even in this continent.」

「Criminal slaves and debt slaves are the same in any country, aren’t they?」

It is naïve thinking that there wouldn’t be slaves because a country is a single-raced nation. Criminals exist everywhere, and if taxes exist in a country, then it wouldn’t be strange for there to be debt slaves either. That said, it doesn’t mean I’ve gotten used to it though.

The impression I got from browsing the city’s market and weapons shop was that the level of the blacksmiths in this country weren’t that high. Sword, axes, spears, clubs, and any other weapons were made roughly.

「High quality goods, and even armor, were all imported from Samandour Kingdom.」

「Yes. Though it is quite expensive because of the Mazoku country that had a port in the north, Accuros, standing in between.」

Accuros, the only nation with a port in the Devil Continent, is visited by the others in the continent to trade. We learned that the main products traded were arms and grains. On the other hand, the Devil Continent exports seasonings to Samandour Kingdom.

Rare merchandise from the Devil Continent such as pepper, spices, and coffee beans were popular.

「I’d like to buy a lot of spices to bring home.」

「Yes, though there is a need to exchange money in Accuros beforehand.」

「Oh right, there’s that.」

As the entrance of the Devil Continent, Accuros makes it possible for us to exchange the currency of our continent with the currency circulated in the Devil Continent. I regret it a little not going to Accuros first.