The content of Volume 15 of Xenon’s Biography was primarily related to the relationship between the various races and devils. It marks the starting point where Alvenheim falls under the occupation of devils, and humanity, feeling the impending crisis, begins planning to form a united alliance.
The elves, whose homeland has already been occupied, are on a vengeful path against the devils, much like the other races, as the devils have drastically altered their way of life. Humans and dwarves have also suffered greatly from the devils and are aware of the impending catastrophe, which is why they are contributing to the formation of the united alliance.
However, there is a variable in this situation, and that is the presence of the “beastmen” or “races of the wild.” Beastmen are perceived as hostile and barbaric, but this perception was outdated. Since the establishment of their own nation, they have engaged in diplomatic relations with many other countries. However, in the world of the novel, the beastmen, much like in reality, have a strained relationship with humans, and the two races were not on good terms. While some human nations have diplomatic relations with the beastmen, there was still a lot of mistrust, especially due to political manipulations by humans.
Above all, a political plot by humans has led to “Satan” becoming “Wrath” and defecting to the devil’s side. Naturally, this has made the beastmen even more distrustful of humans, believing that humans resorted to underhanded tricks.
In this situation, Xenon and his party request the support of the beastmen nation, Hikton, to aid in the formation of the united alliance. The beastmen are known for their formidable strength, comparable to elven warriors, and were considered essential for the alliance.
The result?
The chieftain of the beastmen makes it clear that they will not be part of the alliance, declaring that Xenon’s party, despite being representatives of the alliance, will never be associated with them. Despite their efforts to persuade the chieftain, Xenon’s party is outright ignored. Due to events related to Satan, the chieftain remains deeply distrustful of humans to the end.
The beastmen were indispensable to the alliance due to their exceptional warriors. However, at that moment the chieftain was particularly stubborn, and as Xenon and his group were about to give up.
Cain, the chieftain’s son and Satan’s half-brother, came to their aid.
Cain was inherently physically weak but could cleverly navigate through various crises using his extraordinary intellect. However, despite establishing a nation, the beastmen, who still had a strong survival-of-the-fittest culture, couldn’t help but look down on someone like Cain.
It was only because he was a prince that they left him alone, otherwise, they would have targeted him openly and aggressively.
Even in the face of such disdain, Cain persevered, using his ‘intelligence,’ which could be stronger than physical strength. His presence had a significant impact due to the beastmen’s aversion to politics.
With eloquent persuasion, he managed to sway the chieftain and presented a proposal that made Xenon’s group ponder deeply on the issue of founding the alliance. Ultimately, the hesitant Xenon and his group ended up staying in Hikton for a few days.
During those days, Satan led his army to attack and challenged the chieftain to a sacred duel. Through it, the chieftain suffered a humiliating defeat, and Satan decisively severed the head of his father and traitor chieftain before confidently returning to his base.
The story ends here, depicting the chaos that ensued in Hikton due to the leader’s absence.
[The chieftain, who disliked politics, was assassinated by his own son when he became a threat. The pinnacle of irony.]
[In the context of a nation, politics are absolutely necessary. However, it’s often talked about by those who only avoid it.]
[Who will Hikton choose as the leader? Someone with strong military power as tradition dictates? Or someone with exceptional political skills, like Cain?]
After the 15th volume of the story had concluded, the overall response was lukewarm. The story was generally interesting but because it was about beings who didn’t usually interact with humans, it was received as “just that” by many.
Elves had been actively engaging with humans since Arwen’s reign, so they knew a lot about each other, and the demons had left a strong impression just through Sakran’s story alone.
On the other hand, it wasn’t the same for the beastmen. Internally, there was no way to know exactly what was happening, so it was taken as a simple “Oh well.”
It wasn’t a complete failure in terms of popularity and reviews, but compared to before, it could be seen as a somewhat uneventful response.
[Is the reason Animers are quiet because the tribal chief suddenly received the sacred duel application like in the novel?]
[Animers are going through political turmoil. It’s possible that’s why they’re silent.]
Of course, it would be disappointing if speculations were left out of this. People were speculating that something similar had happened to Animers as the events in the novel unfolded.
It was all just speculation, but Animers had been so quiet until now that suspicion couldn’t be avoided.
Amidst these speculations, Animers remained silent until the end.
“So, how do you feel? It’s a completely different reaction than before.”
“I’m really happy, can’t you tell?”
I really liked these reactions. Whenever I released a new book, all sorts of unbelievable news used to erupt, giving me a headache. But this time, it was surprisingly peaceful.
People say that once you’ve tasted stimulation, you can’t quit, but that’s not true for me. Instead, every time I experienced stimulation, stress accumulated to the point of driving me crazy.
However, the speculation that I might be a prophet or a regressor still lingered, but it had definitely improved compared to before. Thanks to that, I was able to find some peace.
“It’s strange. Most people would be disappointed if the reactions were not great.”
Rina, who was sitting across from me, said with a surprised expression. From her perspective, she might think that way.
But just as when you crave water or milk when the spiciness is strong, I also felt a similar sentiment.
Lately, I had been seeking a milder taste, amidst all the stimulation. The reactions to the 15th volume were precisely that.
Sometimes, you need a stress-free and uneventful rest period.
“That could be true. But it was the same from the 11th to the 14th volume. I just want some peace of mind now.”
“And that’s why you killed Kyer?”
“… …”
Marie, sitting on my right, subtly applied the “fact-violence,” leaving me speechless. Honestly, that was an unavoidable part for the sake of the story development. Kyer had to die for Elisha to emotionally collapse, and then Mary, who witnessed it all, would confess to Xenon.
Thanks to that, an unprecedented social turmoil known as the mixed-race incident occurred, but it was managed well, so there’s no problem.
“Yeah, right. I can’t really believe it when the person who made the Sakran story says that.”
This time, Cecily, sitting on the left, said to me in her characteristic playful tone. Come to think of it, it has been spicy since the fifth volume. Back then, demons were so obscure that it was hard to even mention them, so it must have been provocative to the point of making one’s tongue tingle. Maybe I’m a specialist in spiciness.
Although it looked ordinary in my eyes, I must have appeared provocative in the eyes of the people in this world.
“…Well, let’s move on from that anyway. I want to enjoy the situation now. By the way, why hasn’t Animers said anything?”
“This is just my guess, but as it appeared in your book, they might be going through a political turmoil. It’s a bit strange that there hasn’t been any reaction until now.”
Rina expressed her opinion gracefully as she sipped her coffee. It was a story similar to what I had seen in the newspaper. After the end of the racial war, Hick personally founded the country. It began as a small village, but word spread, people gathered, formed a city, and eventually established a nation.
Now, 300 years have passed, and unlike Helium, which was forcibly isolated, Animers was thoroughly isolationist. Occasionally, they engaged in trade with neighboring countries, but it’s a small-scale operation. However, it’s not like they were telling humans not to go abroad. You can see beastmen on the streets of the Academy working as security guards.
Instead, most of them were second-generation, which means they were born in the human world. Unlike the demons, the humans born and raised in Animers didn’t often venture outside.
“So, we’re feeling something unusual on our end too, and we’re sending reinforcements. Politically, it could create chaos, which might be an opportunity for us. Alvenheim didn’t give us a chance because the queen handled things well, but Animers is a bit different.”
“What do you plan to do if there’s a situation?”
“Of course, we should exploit that opening. In the future, the enemy might not be elves or demons, but beastmen. We need to weaken them in advance.”
Rina spoke with a calm voice, but I couldn’t help but be impressed. I also had the same idea that if we considered beastmen as enemies, they might as well be humans with special abilities.
There is a historical record of beastmen massacring other races 300 years ago, and each individual among them consumes an insane amount of food. Even someone as agile as Leona could easily devour three T-bone steaks.
So, even if it’s due to food shortages, it won’t be long before beastmen come into conflict with the races. Coincidentally, they also have a birth rate similar to humans, so their population will increase to saturation levels soon.
‘I wonder what Leona is doing right now?’
I thought about Leona while listening to Rina’s words. I expected her to be reading Xenon’s Biography, and I’m curious about what she’s thinking after reading this volume.
I should probably meet her separately soon, perhaps using steak as an excuse, and ask all the questions that have been piling up.
“Well, I’ll stop the boring political talk here. By the way, Isaac, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
“News has it that Cardinal Kate is coming to the Minerva Empire.”
“Oh, if that’s the case, I’m aware of it too. Didn’t she mention visiting the Academy as well?”
When Mari heard the news for the first time and tilted her head, the person next to her spoke in a cheerful voice. It seemed she had also heard the rumors. I’m familiar with Kate as well.
She ascended to the position of cardinal at a young age and became a high inquisitor. She also made a pilgrimage to find me. I don’t know what she wants to do by finding me, but for now, I think she won’t do anything unnecessary since she’s a high inquisitor. Besides, she probably won’t find me anyway.
“Yeah, it’s better to be careful. If the Luminous Order discovers you, the situation could get really troublesome.”
“It’s fine. They probably won’t recognize me anyway.”
Instead, I planned to visit the temple this weekend. The reason was thanks to the two women sitting on either side of me. Marie, well, she’s been trying to restrain herself lately, but she’s still lively, and Cecily gives me a sense of exhaustion every time she does it.
I was improving her physical fitness day by day through exercise with Adelia, but even for me, it’s tough to go up against the two of them. The divine power of the Luminous was desperately needed in this situation.
“Still, be cautious. Luminous might have issued a divine order. Especially since your hair color is quite noticeable, it could be risky.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“But Isaac.”
“Yeah?”
I turned my head in response to Cecily’s call and faced her. Then, with a tone that hinted at something bothering her, she said to me.
“Have you felt like someone has been following or watching you recently?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, it happened earlier, and I’ve been feeling like someone’s been following me for a while. Any idea who it might be?”
“Hmm…”
I pondered her question carefully. Recently, I had also felt like someone was trailing behind me. It wasn’t just a simple mistake, and if Cecily was mentioning it, someone was definitely stalking us. The gaze was probably…
‘…Cherry. It has to be her.’
There was no one else but Cherry with her pink hair and prominent chest. She had been coming to Elena’s lab whenever she found the opportunity, even though she wasn’t even taking the same classes. She remained unswayed even when I scolded her.
‘But she’s a good kid in her own way…’
She had a difficult home environment, much like Adelia, and it had messed her up, but her core personality was decent. She seemed mentally fragile, to the point where she couldn’t even express herself properly, which is why I was gently trying to comfort her now.
Of course, stalking was still wrong. I planned to talk to her separately and tell her that such behavior was unacceptable.
“No, I don’t know.”
For now, I decided to pretend not to know.
******
Two days later.
[Animers. Finally, they make their stance clear! Currently, Animers have no issues at all.]
Animers, who had been keeping their mouths shut until now, have made their stance clear. At first glance, it seemed fine, but…
‘These guys really have a problem, don’t they.’
In reality, there was a clear political issue. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have hurriedly released a statement.
‘Not again, please.’
Please don’t do this again. Let me rest for a bit.
