Chapter 214

Chapter 214: The Act

The man who introduced himself as Alec quite readily invited me into his nest.

“Sit here. I don’t have much to offer, but at least you can avoid their eyes.”

He guided me inside with slightly hurried steps, sat me down, then tried to take out salted meat and a knife from a box buried in the ground before flinching to a stop.

I waited without a word as he repeatedly picked up and put down various household items.

For someone who had moved so busily, he set down a rather humble cup of water and sat across from me.

“It didn’t seem as if mere gazes were the problem. Do you go through things like earlier often?”

Perhaps he had not expected me to suddenly speak about what had just happened, because Alec’s eyes widened slightly.

“Not...... often.”

Well, since everyone had different standards, I could leave that aside.

“Still, days when it ends as quickly as today don’t happen, do they? They seemed to enjoy tormenting you like that even if they couldn’t hurt you.”

Alec tightly gripped the cup of water with a troubled expression.

“It cannot be helped. That is the reason I am here.”

“You mean to suffer such petty torment?”

“Petty, is it...... yes. Petty torment. But Archie makes humans ”

The man smiled self-mockingly.

“Thanks to that petty torment, I keenly feel as if my blood is drying up.”

That the man’s words were not an exaggeration could be seen just from his haggard face.

There was no way Naria had starved him, and at the same time, one question arose.

If Archie or Naria had known about the torment happening inside, there was no way they would not have taken any measure.

Did this man really not think of that?

“If you cannot endure their torment, it may be better to consult Naria.”

“No, I cannot do that. Things are better as they are now.”

The man, who seemed timid, spoke firmly.

If he knew the solution but still endured the violence inflicted on him, then it had to be one of two things.

Either he was a pervert who enjoyed it, or he was using it as a refuge to escape from greater pain.

Or maybe both?

“Please do not tell Naria. I am truly fine.”

Perhaps uneasy at my silence, Alec asked me with an anxious face.

I had not particularly planned to say anything, but there was nothing bad about at least pretending to grant a request when he was asking like that.

“Then show me around somewhere else instead.”

Perhaps my request was sudden, because Alec, who had been solemnly asking me to keep my mouth shut, looked at me with a deflated face.

“A tour? Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

Before Mona returned, and before Adol returned.

“There is nowhere that could be called worth seeing. Besides, no matter where we go, Werewolves are watching, so humans do not go around that freely.”

“Let’s not waste time on lies that won’t work. I know you were planning to tell me after some time passed anyway.”

Alec, who avoided my eyes, tried to refuse indirectly, but I refused his refusal.

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Of course there would be one. A place where people secretly offer prayers, something like that.”

“How did you......?”

Because there was a scene in the original where Ratel was disgusted after seeing you people worshiping god even here.

Judging by Alec’s stammering expression, it seemed this part was not different from the original.

Even if I did not go over the contents of the original work, it was only natural if one thought about it.

This was a country where a Temple was built even in villages without schools or hospitals.

There was no way humans gathered together had not made at least one district to worship god.

They were not merely staying for a while. They were continuing their lives here.

“Why are you so surprised? Living in this country, isn’t it strange not to look for a substitute for a Temple?”

As if he could not find anything in particular to refute, Alec rolled his eyes.

“That is true. You are right. However......”

“Or what? Are you saying I look like someone who would betray god? I have never done anything that bad.”

Swallowing the later words, "Not yet,” I asked, and Alec, flustered instead, waved his hands.

“N-no, I did not see you as that kind of sinner.”

“Then guide me right now. Since I have also been captured by monsters, I think my heart will feel more at ease if I offer something like a prayer.”

It did not seem my act as a devout religious person had worked.

Because his face was still clearly filled with confusion.

Even so, perhaps making me a sinner made his heart more uncomfortable than distrusting me, because he hesitantly rose to his feet.

“Please wait a moment. We need preparations to go out.”

After briefly asking for my understanding, Alec went inside and brought out jerky wrapped in cloth, hard cheese, and a bottle of water.

I did not think it was far enough to need snacks prepared.

When I stared at the things held in his arms, Alec smiled.

“Ah, these are gifts. It is a place where one feels awkward going empty-handed.”

After finishing a simple explanation, he left the tent with a slightly tense face.

***

There is nothing more threatening to one’s existence than being frightened of an inferior being.

The way to overcome this is simple and difficult.

In truth, it is to accept that in this world, there are no perfectly superior or inferior beings.

The problem arises from the fact that the time needed to accept this differs for each person.

Some realize it at the same time they gain self-awareness, while others take so long to realize it that even their own lifespan is not enough.

Unfortunately, in the case of the Werewolves who attacked Ran, they were the latter.

What those who had suffered a rough humiliation from a weak and inferior human could do was name the faint fear sprouting in their hearts anger, and tremble with impatience because they could not get rid of it.

“Damn it. If it weren’t for Archie’s order, I would’ve torn a human like that apart and killed him.”

The Werewolf whose face had nearly been roasted whole after Ran grabbed him fiercely muttered while touching his face, which still seemed to burn with the illusion of heat.

“Just endure it a little. Mona said it too. Soon, we’ll kill Archie and the ones who follow him, and we’ll be able to kill humans as much as we want.”

“So when exactly is that? It’s annoying enough watching disgusting humans walk around, and now I even suffered such humiliation......”

A look of contempt passed through the eyes of the Werewolf looking at his companion, who was venting his irritation.

“Are you sure the reason you suffered humiliation was really because of Archie’s order? You were grabbed so easily by a human who looked weak. Does that make sense?”

At his point, flames rose in the eyes of the Werewolf who had been touching his face.

“What kind of bullshit is that!! Are you saying I’m weaker than a human?”

No one had said such a thing, but he ended up speaking aloud the thought that had been tormenting him.

It was twisted stubbornness, not wanting to admit that even if he had been off guard, he had not only been dragged around by a mere human grabbing him, but had also been frightened for an instant by that bastard’s bluff.

Without knowing that it only made him look more ridiculous.

In an instant, ridicule mixed into the gazes of his companions as they looked at him after he had raised his voice in anger.

“We cannot say you are not. You got dragged away without doing anything. Maybe you really are weaker than a human?”

“Shut your mouth.”

The Werewolves, having no intention of further picking a fight with their companion who bared his teeth and threatened them, obediently stopped provoking him.

But once a beast’s position, which should have been above humans, had been threatened, he became so busy trying to find his place again that he forgot something important.

The first was that he forgot Mona’s warning to watch his mouth at all times.

“The next one is our chance. On the day new companions come out of the cave, we’ll join them and kill Archie and all the humans. When the day comes when we can kill humans as much as we want like before, let’s see if you bastards can still run your mouths carelessly then.”

The second thing he forgot as he left with his companions who told him to watch his mouth was the fact that the moment a secret was spoken aloud, it was no longer a secret.

Because of that, he also did not know the important fact that the one who heard him could be human, or a Werewolf who liked humans, or someone who had no interest in humans but sided with a companion who lived close to humans.

***

Alec’s steps, if put nicely, were cautious, and if put honestly, were painfully slow.

Perhaps it only felt that way because I was walking a path I already knew from reading the original work.

If there was at least one advantage, it was that while following behind him, I could naturally observe the other humans living in the village.

Most were in a state similar to Alec’s.

They were not particularly injured, but their haggard faces were full of worry.

It also meant Archie was managing the humans more thoroughly than I had thought.

Whether this was really, as someone said, an intention to domesticate humans, or whether there was some other intention, I still could not know.

My thoughts stopped along with Alec’s steps slowly halting behind a tent located in a corner.

The ordinary structure, which looked no different from the other tents,

I quietly watched the door being pulled aside.

The one who appeared from inside was a woman with a haggard face, just like Alec.

The woman, whose eye level was similar to Alec’s, gave the impression of someone with dark circles under her eyes and sharp nerves.

“What is it?”

A voice as sharp as her gaze asked.

Considering it was full of wariness, the omitted subject of the question was clearly my identity, not the purpose of the visit.

“There is no need to be so wary. You already know from seeing him. This is Ran, who came in this time. I was showing him around.”

Alec introduced me in a light tone, undisturbed by the woman’s wariness.

“Ran, this is......”

“No, enough. We do not have time anyway. You brought that for me to eat, right? I will prepare it outside. As you can see, there is not a single tool here fit for cooking.”

The woman, who cut him off while waving her hand as if annoyed, snatched the gift from Alec’s arms.

Then she passed by Alec and me and went outside the tent.

“Ah, she is changing shifts. To give us a signal if the owner of this tent seems to return.”

After finishing the explanation in place of the woman who had left, Alec led me into the tent.

Unlike Naria’s nest, the interior had a bleak atmosphere.

It was probably because there was not a single thing that could be called furniture, and only one fur hide serving as a carpet lay there by itself.

Alec seemed not to find this empty space awkward, and crossed the tent familiarly before lifting the hide spread across the floor.

The secret of the floor, which had seemed nothing special, was revealed when Alec carefully lifted it.

To be exact, he lifted a thin stone slab disguised as the floor.

What was hidden beneath it was a small pit just large enough for one person to barely fit through.

“You can go down through here.”

Alec pointed with his hand into the dark pit as if telling me to go down first.

I stepped into the darkness without hesitation.

As I descended the narrow-spaced stairs that I felt at the tips of my feet, I sensed Alec coming down after me.

“I will close the door. It will become darker, so please watch your step.”

Alec’s warning voice echoed, and a moment later, the sound of the door closing with a thud followed.

When the light that had faintly brightened my vision vanished completely, all directions sank fully into darkness.

But I had no intention of changing my eyes into ones used to darkness.

Judging by my experiences so far, it did not seem like using power carelessly in a place like this would bring anything good.

After descending for a while, as soon as Alec safely arrived on flat ground, he familiarly groped with his hand and found a groove in the wall.

After Alec’s hand rustled with something, a small spark soon bloomed, and I realized that what he had taken from the wall was a small candle.

What I could tell from the small range lit by the little flame was, first of all, that this underground space had been made quite a long time ago.

That could be seen from the walls, which were crude but too sturdy to have been made by humans who found it difficult to obtain even a single usable tool.

“You did not dig this place yourselves.”

“No. We are only using what was here originally. The owner of this tent does not even know there is a space like this below.”

Alec passed by me and stepped forward as he whispered.

“Then you mean you do not know who made it, or when.”

“Yes. Only that it is a place passed down by the humans who were here before. It is certain that it existed at least before Archie became leader. Archie also seemed unaware of this cave’s existence.”

“If he had known, he would have done something.”

Alec muttered that and began walking down the narrow path.

I briefly followed the faint light moving away with Alec with my eyes.

I agreed with Alec’s words to some degree.

Right, if it were that bastard, he would have used some method.

Or perhaps he had already finished doing so long ago without the humans realizing it.