Chapter 168 : Chapter 168

Chapter 168 : Beastkin Conference (4)

Once, Baden had been displeased with me even entering the High Dragon's Nest.

Even though he knew I would be coming to the High Dragon's Nest to receive my Heart Engraving, he had even set up a barrier at the entrance to prevent me from entering.

If Hike hadn't protected me then, it would have been difficult to even enter the nest, let alone receive the Heart Engraving.

But in that very High Dragon's Nest, Baden had acknowledged me as the King of the Beastkin.

And it wasn't just Baden.

“Polarin. Sir. You. Are the King. Of the Beastkin.”

“O King of the Beastkin.”

“……”

“From now on, I will serve you as my king.”

“Hail the King of the Beastkin!”

The Lizard King, the Tiger King, the Wolf King, the Rat King, and the other leaders of each race paid their respects to me.

The way they paid their respects to me differed.

Balua dug his claws into the ground, Urseca knelt, and the Wolf King placed both hands neatly on his chest.

It was probably because the Beastkin had never united as one.

But I thought that as king, there was no need to unify the different ways of the Beastkin.

Although they were grouped together as Beastkin, they had survived in different ways.

There was no need to kill the beastliness of the Beastkin by forcibly creating new rules.

I would just need to help the Beastkin freely use the claws and teeth they had honed in their own ways in Myeolji.

All the kings gathered at the conference agreed to appoint me as the King of the Beastkin.

Before stepping forward, I stared at Baden.

This was because his attitude did not seem like he was paying respects to me at all.

Of course, I hadn't had a shred of expectation that Baden would pay his respects, but…….

“Are you sure I can be the King of the Beastkin?”

“Go ahead, being the Dragon Lord is enough for me.”

Baden said nonchalantly.

But when I didn't take my eyes off him, he asked back in a cold voice.

“Are you hoping I'll kneel or something?”

Baden's vertically slit pupils narrowed considerably.

Something I had learned well while living with the Lizardfolk was that when reptiles narrow their pupils, bad things tend to happen.

For example, right before an attack…….

I shook my head at Baden and avoided his gaze.

And I spoke to the Beastkin kings.

“Thank you all for appointing me as the King of the Beastkin.”

Krrrrrr! Awoooo──!

The leaders of each race roared, each in their own voice.

“Just because I have become the King of the Beastkin, I will not reign over you and give you orders.”

Krrrrr─! Woooo──!

“Of course, I will try to provide infrastructure and such so that all Beastkin can develop further. There are those who will help with that.”

With me becoming the King of the Beastkin, Ims could now become the head of the Fremont Grand Consortium, beyond simply being the head of the 9th Autonomous Region.

I knew that she would provide support in every way possible.

“Now, the Beastkin will no longer be isolated on the outskirts of the continent.”

With every word I spoke, the sound of the roars grew louder and louder.

“And I have no intention of being satisfied with being the King of the Beastkin. I will go further and become the King of the Inoe.”

Now, the Beastkin chieftains no longer knelt or lowered their posture.

In response to my declaration, the Beastkin chieftains shouted as if to unleash every last bit of their strength.

The High Dragon's Nest thundered with the rampage of the Beastkin.

I was concerned that Baden, who disliked noise, might be displeased, so I looked at him, but Baden showed no sign of discomfort.

He just had a faint smile, as if telling me to do as I pleased.

I took that smile as Baden's support and continued my speech.

“And I will conquer Myeolji.”

The Beastkin chieftains were going wild.

I even wondered if they were still listening to me.

But their energy was transmitted to me in its entirety.

The roars that seemed to make my blood boil also gave me strength.

“I will not force anything upon you. But if you will go to Myeolji with me, I will tear the demons apart with you.”

Some were dancing, some were beating the cave walls, some were shouting until they fell over.

It was a scene of madness with no semblance of order.

Could this be the untamed nature of beasts?

No more words were needed.

I too jumped in among the rampaging crowd and shouted along with them.

“Kraaaaaaah!”

My roar was still awkward.

***

“Huh, what?”

Suddenly, the space changed.

We had returned from the High Dragon's Nest to the Lizardfolk's territory.

Baden was nowhere to be seen.

It seemed he had endured as much as he could and finally couldn't stand the noise, kicking everyone out of the nest.

The Beastkin, who had been letting out frenzied roars, were also flustered at being suddenly kicked out of the nest.

“Kraaaaaah!”

But they soon began to make a ruckus again.

It seemed that once their beastliness was unleashed, it was not easily settled.

It was night by then.

The soft moonlight faintly illuminated the Lizardfolk territory.

The moonlight seemed to awaken the beasts' madness even more.

They didn't stop even after roaring and making a mess of their surroundings for a long time.

And the procession of madness had now spread to all the Beastkin, unfolding a night of beasts even crazier than in the nest.

“……It's getting a little scary now.”

Keldric said, scratching his head.

I nodded in agreement.

I had also run wild with the Beastkin at the end, but…….

“Is the King of the Beastkin not participating anymore?”

“That's right. You were like a single wild beast, don't you need to join in?”

Bea's voice was full of playfulness.

Everchen also teased me in the same way.

“I've done my part.”

I felt a little awkward and said it bluntly.

Only then could I see the reactions of those who were not Beastkin.

Until a moment ago, I had spoken while meeting the eyes of each and every Beastkin chieftain, but I couldn't do the same with the humans or elves.

Everchen, Keldric, Bea, Pasion, Mumbel, and so on.

They would never be able to assimilate with the Beastkin.

But there was no need to force them to be friendly.

At least, there was no one here who would consider the Beastkin enemies or build a wall with a pointless pride battle.

‘If there were such people, they wouldn't have been able to come this far.’

I wanted to try and trust everyone here.

Rather than dividing them into categories like human or Inoe, I wanted to consider them as those who shared my will.

I didn't know how many of them would head to Myeolji with me, but I believed that if I treated them with sincerity, my sincerity would be conveyed.

Jeobeokjeobeok.

The sound of footsteps was heard among the still-roaring Beastkin.

I looked in the direction of the sound and saw Agamben and Nofen walking over.

Nofen waved his hand widely at me.

I also waved back in response and then greeted Agamben.

“It's been a while, Agamben.”

“It has been a while, Polarin. I hear you've even become the King of the Beastkin now?”

Agamben firmly shook my hand.

His hand was firm, and his eyes were smiling as if he was genuinely happy.

“Yes, it's all thanks to your plan, Agamben. And why are you using formal speech with me? You can speak as you usually do.”

“No. I cannot do that to the person who will soon become the King of the Inoe. My plan was one that could only be made because you were there, Polarin, and the one who achieved all those plans is you.”

Agamben's words didn't sound like empty flattery at all.

I could feel that he truly believed in me.

The pledge I had made while looking at the Beastkin and humans, the belief that if I treated everyone with sincerity, that sincerity would be returned, was also thanks to Agamben.

Agamben was the one who had once sent me to the front of Myeolji without telling me that I could die.

Of course, he had his reasons back then.

But now, Agamben and I had put our almost-broken past behind us and were genuinely looking out for each other.

I looked at Agamben and bowed my head in greeting.

“Thank you for everything, always. Still, I hope that my relationship with you, Agamben, doesn't change.”

“……Please do not bow your head to me. Polarin, you are now the King of the Beastkin and will soon become the King of the Inoe.”

Agamben had a stubborn side.

The way Agamben treated me could change.

But I would not change.

“No, it's alright with you, Agamben.”

“Haha, you don't have to do that……”

“It's not like I'll wear out from bowing my head. I will treat my other companions the same way. If I'm grateful, I'll bow my head, shake hands, and walk forward together.”

“Yes, I understand well that that is your way, Polarin.”

Agamben no longer tried to stop me. I asked Agamben about the main topic.

“What's the next plan?”

“It's time for you to truly become the King of the Inoe. In fact, most of the Inoe have been integrated.”

“Most of them?”

“The elves and fairies were already with you from the start, Polarin. Now that you've become the King of the Beastkin, the Beastkin are also on our side. The only ones left were the Eastern Barbarians and the Dwarves……”

“Aren't the Barbarians human?”

“They consider themselves different from humans.”

I thought about the Eastern Barbarians and I couldn't help but nod my head.

They were certainly human, but they also seemed like a different species from humans.

They were about 1.5 times the size of an average human, and they were so brawny that there was a rumor they were born with muscles from birth.

Their culture was also different from other humans.

Even their eating habits and the gods they believed in were different.

Looking at a Barbarian charging with terrifying combat tattoos all over their body, it was easy to consider them Inoe.

“For now, the Barbarians have expressed their intention to join. Instead, it seems you and the Barbarian chieftain will have to have a sparring match. Would that be possible?”

“Of course.”

“Your chances of victory, Polarin, are……”

“It's fine. Because I'll win.”

“Haha, yes, I believe so too.”

“By the way, how do we persuade the Dwarves?”

Actually, I had wanted to meet the Dwarves for a long time.

Even in Tune World, the Dwarves were a race that only appeared in name.

I had heard that they had hidden in the Underground Empire for some reason and never came up to the surface.

I was confident that there were almost no hidden routes in Tune World that I didn't know about, so I had considered the Dwarves' Underground Empire as a land that only existed in name and wasn't implemented.

Could I really visit it in this reality?

“There's no need to worry about the Dwarves either. The Dragon Lord has agreed to take care of that side.”

“Ah…… Lord Baden?”

I couldn't hide my disappointment.

Just when I thought I might get to visit the legendary Underground Empire.

“Yes, it seems the Dragon Lord has been in continuous contact with the Dwarves. Don't tell me…… you don't trust the Dragon Lord?”

“Ah, it's not that.”

What I was disappointed about was only that I couldn't go to the Underground Empire myself; it wasn't that I didn't trust Baden.

‘Or is it? Am I anxious because Baden might just wreck the place?’

I couldn't say I wasn't anxious, but for now, it seemed right to leave the Dwarves to Baden.

I could probably hear the location of the Underground Empire from Baden, but persuading such reclusive people would not be easy.

“There's only one thing left to prepare. And that's the coronation ceremony.”

“A coronation ceremony……”

“It is the moment the King of the Inoe, who existed only in legends, takes his first step into reality. Where would you like to hold that coronation ceremony, Polarin?”

I thought about it, but there was only one place that came to mind.

“I would like to hold the coronation ceremony in Kipaso. Would that be possible?”

The land where Maron, the God of Death, exists as the World Tree and the place where I first engraved my name into this world.

If I were to hold a coronation ceremony, Kipaso would be the perfect place.

“Of course. Let's start the preparations for the coronation ceremony right away.”

In Kipaso, I became the King of the Inoe.