While Allen's group were chasing after Bek, Shea told them various stories about him.
They were trying to see if Bek's personality and past actions could give them an idea as to why he had not shown himself yet.
Shea seemed to have a different opinion of Bek, compared to Prince Zew.
It was more like fear, instead of respect.
'My chance at becoming Beast King relies on Bek.'
That was the first thing Shea said when Allen asked about Bek, not quite the words someone would expect to hear about the person who organized a coup.
Shea still felt like the coup did not make much sense.
Shea remembered Bek as someone of excellence, someone she could only look up to from afar. It was almost like he had been primed to become Beast King.
He was nearly twice Shea's age, already in his thirties.
He was named crown prince fifteen years ago.
As to why only fifteen years ago, Albahar's laws indicated that only someone who had come of age could be named crown prince.
But Bek had shown such excellence that it was discussed whether to name him crown prince at an earlier age.
It was discussed, but never enacted.
That was in part because the current Beast King wanted to remain in power.
There was no point in rushing the titling of the next generation.
It did not take too long before that conclusion was reached.
Bek constantly surpassed everyone's expectations, entering the beastman Academy as the top student, and graduated as the top student, while also becoming old enough to become crown prince.
Following beastmen law, he then became an adventurer.
The beastmen's god, Garm, granted Talents under different conditions than Elmea, giving those of higher social positions Talents with more Stars.
Garm would always give beastmen princes a 3 Star Talent.
Only those with strength could rule over beastmen.
Once they became adults, the princes would not be allowed in the palace right away, but had to become adventurers and overcome their god's trials.
Bek became an adventurer when he turned 15, and at 18 he was an A Rank adventurer.
He became an A Rank adventurer when he was 18, and was given a spot in the beastmen's Martial Arts Display.
But this time, Albahar had much higher expectations from Bek.
Albahar's royal family was in a state of crisis at that time.
A year before Bek took part in the display, the winner of the event was Prince Gil, from the neighboring country of Brysen, gaining the title of [Beast King].
The event was divided into ten brackets, where a winner would emerge from each.
Then those ten would undergo a tournament, where a single winner would be decided.
The winner would then be known as the [Beast King] in the country where the event was held.
That was a title of absolute strength.
The continent where Albahar was located was known as Garresia, and was populated by various beastmen countries, and the Martial Arts Displays would be held in them each year.
The event had a rule that could potentially alter the shape of a country.
If the king from another country gained the title of [Beast King], the losing country had to surrender a portion of their land to the winner.
Prince Gil was just the crown prince, so Albahar did not have to surrender a portion of their land.
But if it had been a king who won, then Albahar would have been forced to surrender their territory to them.
Everyone was counting on Bek, who participated in the Claws and Knuckles bracket, winning it.
That meant he had qualified for the tournament to be called [Beast King].
As Bek fought in the event that year, he faced a setback for the first time in his life.
Bek could not match Gil's overwhelming power.
Gil took the title of [Beast King] that year once again, and Albahar realized that not even Bek could help them.
The next year, the event was held in Albahar once again.
They had no option but to host the event.
The Martial Arts Display was something all beastmen were proud about.
Bek fought once again, but was defeated by Gil, drawing a shaming display on the arena.
This marked the third consecutive year that another country took the title of [Beast King] from Albahar.
After his third victory, Prince Gil's strength was accepted in Brysen, becoming the next Beast King of Brysen.
During his speech after being named king, he said 'To commemorate this, I'll take part in Albahar's Martial Arts Display again next year.'
Everyone in Albahar felt like they had no hope left anymore.
The rules of the event also indicated that the king of the country hosting could not take part in it.
If they wanted to reclaim the land taken by another country, the king would need to go to their Martial Arts Display the next year, and win there to win back the rights.
Beast King Muza was strong, so there was a chance he would be able to reclaim Albahar's land.
But Muza was far older than Gil.
Eventually Muza would lose his strength to age, and Gil would reign supreme.
Albahar's future was looking rather bleak.
The next year came, and Albahar once again hosted its Martial Arts Display.
Bek confronted Gil again, shouldering the future of Albahar and its people.
The third time a miracle happened.
Bek was 20 years old now, and as he fought in the event against Gil for the third time, he was finally starting to get an advantage.
And eventually Bek took the annual title of [Beast King] for once.
At the time, Shea had been shouting and cheering for Bek, together with the rest of Albahar, watching him fight vigorously trying to protect Albahar.
She was still young at the time, but the memory of the audience cheering loudly once he won was still burned into her mind.
She understood what it meant to shoulder the country's future.
That also symbolized that Albahar was once again the strongest country.
Everyone in Albahar rejoiced at the birth of a new powerful Beast King.
But Shea also mentioned that it was that very fight that changed Bek forever.
At the end of that year's Martial Arts Display, Bek killed Gil.
The event was a fierce fight, and sometimes there would be fatalities.
Still, during that fight Bek seemed like he was possessed by something. Lud had been there as well, and he corroborated that account.
Bek retired from being an adventurer and started his political career, taking a sharp turn towards antagonizing humans and seeking vengeance from them.
He took many radical measures, and did not hesitate killing his fellow beastmen if they disagreed with his ideas.
One after another Bek's followers dwindled in numbers.
Even though Bek had been a hero, Zew, the kind next prince who had a dream for the kingdom, was given a task to fulfill.
According to Shea, that only happened because Bek changed.
Hearing all of that, Allen felt like Bek was hard to describe with just a word or two, he had a rather complicated personality.
This was a dark and moist cell, used to keep criminals tied down.
Splish splash
The walls seemed to be made of inorganic concrete, and drops fell from the ceiling.
"...Shea?"
A lone beastman stared at the falling drops, of which he had seen hundreds and thousands.
He seemed to be recalling something from a distant past.
He had not seen Shea in a long time, but he remembered her, calling his name amongst tears.
It was like a hallucination haunting him.
His body was mangled, all limbs cut off from their roots, and a chain wrapped around his neck.
Splash splash splash
An old person in a white robe walked up to the iron bars of the cell.
'Heeheehee. Bek, still alive in there?'
The old man snickered with an annoying voice, speaking into the cell.
"Why did you come back? Just kill me, Sinorom."
Bek spoke with a deep hatred, but keeping his emotions in check.
'Still alive, I see, still alive. That's good, very good.'
Sinorom was a demon wearing white robes and looking like an old man.
He nodded to himself after verifying that Bek was still alive.
Because of his white robe, it looked like he was taking all of this like some sort of experiment.
There was also a demon jailer next to the cell.
Sinorom had instructed the jailer to keep very attentive watch.
'Director of the monster soldier research center Sinorom, the Demon King is looking for you.'
It seemed Sinorom's visit was expected, as the jailer relayed a message to him.
'Again? Why does he have to be so impatient…I already gave him a report the other day.'
'So what are you going to do?'
'I'll have to go. I went through a lot of pain the last time I ignored him.'
Sinorom shook his head, cursing to himself, as he left the prison lined with cells.
He just went to the room straight ahead from where he exited.
There was a large magic circle drawn on the floor. He stood in the middle of it, mumbled some chant and vanished from there.
Sinorom reappeared in a room identical to the one he left, standing atop a magic circle.
'Giii!'
'Ohh! Hey little Gii, are you doing alright?'
A monster that looked like an eyeball taller than a human seemed to have been waiting for Sinorom.
As he got closer, the monster struck out tentacles which wrapped around Sinorom.
'Gii!!'
"I see, I see. You're good and healthy. Habghgh…that's…too tight?!"
Sinorom was being constricted, the tentacles holding him with too much affection.
He struggled to breathe as the eyeball monster leaned towards him even more.
It was almost like an old man being assaulted by an exceedingly affectionate large dog.
Eventually he freed himself and left that room, coming out to a corridor in the Demon King's palace.
'Oh look who it is, Sinorom. The Demon King was calling for you.'
'I know, I already know.'
He complained, since that was the reason why he went there in the first place, and he continued heading to the room where the Demon King was, followed by Gii.
After going through multiple corridors and halls, and going up a set of stairs, he finally arrived at the Demon King's throne room.
Kyubel was next to him, talking about something.
"You're late, director of the monster soldier research center Sinorom."
'I came as soon as I heard I was wanted here.'
"Really? You did keep us waiting though."
The Demon King frowned hearing that, and pressed the bridge of his nose.
Sinorom was extremely willful, and would even ignore the Demon King for his research.
His research had always borne fruit, so he was given a high post in the research center, but sometimes the Demon King would still wonder if that really was the best idea.
But thanks to his maddening desire for research, he could easily intermingle with humans.
His head was all sorts of messed up, but he possessed very high level and specialized skills.
People with intelligence and skills, even if they were messed up, was a trait seeked by royal families all over the human realm too.
'The Demon King wants to know what's happening with resurrecting the Evil God.'
Since the Demon King kept rubbing his temples, Kyubel asked for him.
'That's obviously proceeding as planned. I even have the sacrifice secured and ready. Everything is going well.'
They wanted to know how things were going, so he told them various things.
He had been visiting said sacrifice earlier, and it was still in a usable state.
"Hmmm."
The Demon King frowned again hearing that.
He was quite doubtful.
'Milord, I believe the theory and methods are sound as well.'
"Are you sure? Can a children's picture book really be trusted that much?"
Everything they were planning had been described in a merman picture book from centuries ago.
It was quite worrying to know it came from such an unreliable source.
'Yes. And we need the Evil God's power to kill Elmea. We need to reach him no matter what.'
"That's true, you have a point. Hm? You're back already?"
The Demon King was slowly being persuaded by Sinorom and Kyubel who insisted there was no problem, when three Demon Great Generals entered the room.
