CHAPTER 3: THE RULER OF THE ORPHANS

When I opened my eyes, the soft, calming ambiance of the Holy Palatial Gardens greeted me.

“Kuro…”

“!!!”

My eyes instinctively looked up, for I was still in my bed. And there, smiling so sweetly was my fiancé Madelaine Ann Rubinforth. The subtle rays of the light outside fell on her lovely form as her hands caressed my face. I just closed my eyes once again; I wanted to feel the softness and warmth of her lap.

“M-Maddie…” was all that I could mutter.

“I miss you Kuro!” she answered back, “Please, come back to me.”

Then, much to my surprise, I felt a wet sensation from my eyes. It seemed like I wasn’t able to prevent my emotions from spilling. The near-death experiences, the betrayals, and the fear I had in my heart about the uncertainty of my situation…every emotion I kept within me just kept on pouring out.

“Everything will be alright,” I heard her soothing voice once again, “You’re the man that I love, and will always be.”

This time, I looked at Maddie once again. Her beautiful silvery-blue eyes and hair, her lovely lips, and her calming presence…I wanted to take it all within me.

And then…

Able to read my thoughts, Maddie leaned closer to me, and our lips met.

“…”

How long since I last felt her loving kiss? I know this is just a dream, but dear God, please let us stay together, even for just a bit more…

“Yes…I will come back for you. Wait for me, even if it’s the last thing I’d do.”

----------

And then the dream ended.

“…”

Honestly, I felt worse, like a cat doused in cold water. I think this was that moment when one wakes up after a beautiful yet sad dream, leaving a poignant aftertaste that usually lasts for a day or two.

Ah, I guess I need to talk to Konka about that ‘crossing’.

Well, she did say she would help me cross back into Chersea. And I’d been helpful to her and this settlement even since I came here. I don’t think there’s any reason for that insect-woman to go back on her words.

I’m just kind of worried that her promise of helping me ‘cross’ is taking quite a while…

I pulled myself up and sat on the bed; the reality of my situation hit me. As much as I wanted to trust Konka, there’s this little feeling within my chest that persisted. What if that insect-woman is just playing around? What if she’s keeping me here on purpose since I have god-powers?

“…” I shook my head.

“G-Goodness! You surprised me!”

“Hm?” I turned around and saw Ursura standing beside my bed. She had a bowl in her hands, and her face was red. “What are you doing here? I told you to knock whenever you’d come in.”

“N-Nah, it’s not the Beastman way,” she chuckled, “We always barge in when we feel like it.”

“Fuck you.”

“Anyway, did you wake up because…uh…you feel something?”

“Feel what?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re being weird,” I laughed, “All I felt was that warm, yet lonely feeling when you’re having a good dream and then waking up to reality.”

“How sad…” Ursura’s voice was sarcastic.

“Oh yeah, and that kiss from my dream felt so real, the sensation on my lips is still there.”

“Haha…err, s-so wha-what was it you were d-dreaming? You’re…uhm…m-muttering something in your sleep, and I think you look stupid!” the bear-woman handed me the bowl and sat on the floor nearby.

“Why are you stammering? Did you kiss me while I’m sleeping?”

“Fuck you! I don’t even see you as a mate!”

I snickered, “It’s just a joke! You’re being guilty about it!”

“I’m not!” Ursura grabbed the collar of my shirt; her extremely red face was clear to me, “Will you stop your mouth, or I’ll shut it for you?”

“Fine! Fine! You win!”

“Hmph! I’m just asking what you’re dreaming about, asshole! Simple question, right?”

“Nothing…” I couldn’t help but smile because of the nostalgia, “I just…I saw Maddie in my dreams.”

“Maddie?”

“The girl I love.”

“Oh…”

“And I realized that Konka’s taking long in helping me,” I took a bite from the food that Ursura brought, “Well, I know little about magic, so I’m not one to talk.”

“If you’re that excited to cross back into Chersea, then tell that Insetus woman.”

“That’s my plan since waking up, you know? Do you think she’ll have the time to entertain my concerns?”

Ursura stared at me for a few moments and then stood up, “Honestly, I don’t know. And I have no intention to listen to a human babble about the love of his life for the entire time. Get a move on, lazy bum!”

We both laughed as she forcefully pulled my arm so that I could stand and get to my business for the ‘day’. And when I was already up, the bear-woman gave me a gentle kick—almost a push—from behind, patted my shoulders as she flashed the ‘finger’, and marched off from my hut.

What the heck’s her problem?

----------

So without further delay, I got my clothes and set off to find Konka. Around this time (after the long sleep), she would usually be in the front of her hut, judging some ‘village problems’ brought to her attention. And now must be a busy moment for her, because we finally caught the granary thieves.

Coming across the village center, I saw the culprits being kept inside the cages set up for them as a punishment for their deeds. I guess they’d been left there since yesterday so that the villagers could see and mock them.

Well, this place isn’t aware of prisoner’s rights just yet…

Some of my students were also playing around the cages, taunting the thieves, and were throwing rocks and rotten fruits at them. Those inside the cages had no choice but to make themselves small, to avoid the painful and stinking projectiles.

Man, though they did something bad, I don’t think this is the proper way.

“Hey, Hizzy, Ritz, and Groush!” I called out to my students, “Stop throwing those things at those guys!”

“Sir Kuro!” the rabbit-children were surprised to see me, “We’re punishing the bad people!”

“Yes, I know. But that isn’t the proper way of punishment!”

“Huh? But father says they stole our food, so we can freely throw rocks and rotten fruits at them.”

Ugh…this culture is so barbaric.

Anyway, I had to put a stop to this. “Hey, how about I teach you something cool for not throwing things at the thieves, deal?”

“And what would you teach us, Sir?” the children’s eyes were all sparkling; by now, they’d forgotten their projectiles and were now focused on me.

“Watch,” I picked up a stick and began spinning it on my left hand, “Can you do it without dropping, like me?”

The Beastmen children watched with utter interest in their eyes. Heh, being a teacher, it’s impossible not to know this simple trick; we always have to have a ballpen in our hands all the time.

“That’s simple Sir Kuro!” Ritz volunteered to emulate what I just did, but it’s no surprise that he failed on his first try.

“There’s a trick to that, and I’ll show it to you later,” I winked at him, “Now then, can I count on your word that you won’t do any punishment to the thieves?”

The Beastmen children were quick to give their approval to my condition and went away to play with something else.

“Hoh, you’re that human who’s able to catch us. Are you trying to gain our good side by sending those idiots away?” I heard someone say to me from the cage. “And here I thought Lady Konka’s all about Beastmen and Beastmen affairs only.”

I turned and saw a winged woman glaring back at me. She was the one who tried to decapitate me back at the construction site, and I could still feel her bloodlust oozing out.

“I only did that because I don’t think it’s right,” I replied, “But well, you’re free to interpret what I did; I don’t care.” I mean, come on. It’s not like I had anything else to do with them; I got my own problems to solve, right?

“Hey!”

“What?” I muttered.

“I don’t give a damn whatever you guys want to do to me, but at least, treat my friends well.”

“Your friends?” now that I got a good look at those who were inside the cage, I realized they were young as well. “They’re…kids?”

“Yes they are, and no one’s willing to take care of them, so I took them in,” she explained, “Sadly, I guess that Insetus woman would hang me later; I heard that the tribe elders were pushing her to do it.”

“H-Hang you?” I couldn’t believe what I just learned.

“That’s the usual punishment for thieves, human.”

I could not say something back to that statement of hers. Of course, this was Cherwind, the land of the Beastmen, and they had their own customs and rules to follow, different from us humans. And I guess, hanging thieves for what they did was a normal thing here…

I get really uncomfortable the more I talk to this beastwoman, “W-Why are you telling me this?”

“Heh, I’m not as stupid as the chickens,” the winged woman smirked, “I can tell that you’re not an ordinary human; Lady Konka’s attitude towards you is different from others of your race. If you’re just a normal human, you’d long be dead now.”

Well, there’s truth in her words…but I can still sense Konka’s prejudice towards humans with the way she treats me.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Take care of my ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’, human. See, we’re no bad people. But, we need to eat, and since we belong to no tribe, there’s no food allocation for us.”

“What? That’s…unfair.”

“Indeed. But this is the Beastman way; we orphans are often left to fend for ourselves.”

Good lord…I made another mistake, and this time, another life—or lives—were at stake. If I just let that issue be resolved on its own, this might not have happened. But there I go again, meddling in someone else’s affairs.

Damn it, Kuro, when will you ever learn?

“You alright, human? You look pale.”

“I…I-I’ll try to do s-something about your s-situation,” I gave her a quick bow and then headed straight to Konka’s hut.

----------

“Lord Kuro, don’t you think you’ve been involving yourself a lot with our own affairs?” a beastman elder asked me when I appealed for leniency towards the thieves, “Yes we know that you’ve been a big help to us after leading our forces against the monster hordes, but don’t you humans know how to respect our laws and traditions?”

“My apologies for being forceful, Chief Giyama, but I think I haven’t fully explained my reasons yet for asking for leniency.”

“And what are these reasons?”

“As I’ve said earlier, those youngsters were orphans and never belonged to a tribe. While you have laws and traditions dealing with such issues, I don’t think it’s the children’s fault that they lost their parents.”

“Yes, we know, Lord Kuro,” another elder joined the conversation, “And our laws state those children could be adapted by a tribe.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because they’re thieves! And children of bad character are only a thorn for a tribe!”

“They became like that because no one cared for them! It’s too early to judge that they’d become criminals in the future.”

“This is our society, Lord Kuro!”

“And this is why you’re being defeated by the humans!” I couldn’t help but raise my voice as I slammed my hand on a nearby table, “You’re too obstinate to change!”

“!!!”

At that point, every tribe leader rose from their seats with their hands going for their swords. It’s a good thing Banu was quick to intervene, and he asked for avoiding the bloodshed inside Konka’s hut.

But I won’t back down. I don’t give a freaking damn if they’d kill me for my words, but I stood by my statement. Those children were yet to learn the ways of hunting, and yet they were to be killed because they didn’t know how to earn a proper living! Fuck it, fuck those Beastmen rules; someone’s future shouldn’t be defined by the circumstances one was forced into.

“Alright, I’m not asking you to give leniency for free,” I took a deep breath, “See, if you give me the chance, I could help these children become the most useful members of this village.”

“What do you mean by that, Lord Kuro?”

“Let me adopt them as members of my own ‘tribe’.”

The council erupted in murmurs, “W-What? A human, having a tribe of his own?”

“This is unprecedented.”

“But our laws have no provisions for that!” the murmurs were growing louder, and the disagreements, fiercer.

Fortunately, someone among the elders said, “We need to ask Lady Konka’s opinion on this matter, then.”

The tribe council that was convened by Konka fell silent. The elders looked towards the insect-woman for her final decision.

Konka took a deep breath and stood up. Then, she brought out a parchment and began writing something on it. All of us inside the hut wondered and watched in tension as she handed it down to Banu.

It was the bear-man who read her decision, “Lady Konka wants to make known to all the members of this council that she approves of Lord Kuro’s proposal.”

“What?” some members of the tribe council couldn’t keep their disagreement from leaking out, “This violates our traditions and an affront to our ancestors!”

However, there were also a few who were supportive, “How about we give the Lord Kuro a chance?”

“We have said this before, but there’s nothing in our laws and traditions that a human would lead a Beastman tribe!”

“As you have raised, there’s nothing there that prohibits a human from having his own tribe, so we say that we let him do it!”

The argument went back and forth for a few moments. Sensing that this wouldn’t end, I offered my reason for the proposal, “Your Holiness, and to the Beastmen elders, I believe now is not the time to bicker about laws and traditions, for your people are at war against my people. We need every help we can get to turn the beastmen’s fortunes around. I ask of you to let me adopt them, and I’ll teach those children how to be exemplary beastfolk, just like the rest of you!”

“Yes,” this time, Konka had finally decided to break her silence, “While we do have our laws and traditions, my fellow kin, I agree with the Lord Kuro that now isn’t the time for us to be divided. Those are still Beastmen, and we need everyone to bolster our forces in our struggle for this land.”

“Yes, Your Holiness. As you decreed,” the elders were quick to back down from their challenge.

“However, Lord Kuro, here are my conditions,” the insect woman turned to me, “If one of them gets caught stealing again, they’ll be executed immediately.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

“And, you’ll be allotted one more sack of food for your ‘tribe’ for breakfast, lunch, and supper.”

“As you decreed,” I think the allotment was not enough for all of us to eat well, but then again, it’s better than nothing at all.

And with that, I became the ‘ruler’ of the orphans.

----------

Yep, easier said than done.

“…”

The hut that I was living in was small, maybe it could fit around two to three people, but surely it couldn’t provide a roof for eleven Beastmen kids. Of course, I am excluded in that count, so it’d be twelve people sharing one small hut.

“I knew you’re kind of stupid, Kuro, but I didn’t know you’re this hopeless,” Ursura commented the moment she saw my predicament.

“Well, at least they’re alive…” I chuckled, “Or my poor soul wouldn’t take it if they were executed.”

“They’re thieves, Kuro, they brought that upon themselves. They’re not worthy of your concern.”

“Ah, come on, I can teach them to be the most useful members of this place. Give them a chance.”

Ursura could only shake her head in dismay and amusement. The ‘thieves’ were a rowdy bunch; a few of them were tinkering on my things, some were fighting, and others were running around in circles. The only one who’s behaving properly was their leader, the winged woman.

“My name is Minahaba, and I’m from the Avinus Falcon tribe,” she bowed to me when we approached her, “You have my deepest respect and gratitude human. Not only did you save my brothers and sisters; you also provided us with a home.”

“Well, just to make things clear, uh, Minahaba, you guys won’t be sheltering under me for free.”

“Ah yes, of course,” and with that, Minahaba removed her pelt clothing.

“Wait, what the hell are you doing? Stop!” I was taken aback when she started doing that.

There was a genuine look of concern on Minahaba’s face; it’s as if she’s shocked to hear that from me. “Err…isn’t this what you want human?”

“Do you guys think human males are always horny and would jump mating with you when the opportunity comes?”

The falcon-girl nodded. Ursura burst out laughing in the background.

It will never hurt you if you’ll just try to help me a little, you stupid bear-woman!

“You need to cherish your bodies more!” I cried out, “I know that’s a human convention, but yeah, you always freely give your chastity away that my people would really think they can abuse you!”

“W-What? At least our hearts are not easily taken over! We’re faithful to our words, unlike your ‘human loyalty’!” Minahaba stubbornly defended her actions.

“Ugh…just…don’t raise that point whenever you deal with us,” I could only sigh, exasperated, “I, for one, would like to remain faithful to the woman I love while others…they could exploit that attitude of yours.”

Ursura then entered the conversation, “Yeah, that and Kuro is a weird human, but in a good way, you know?”

“Thank you for the damn compliment!” I was sarcastic, but the bear-woman didn’t mind it.

----------

In any case, I asked the falcon-girl about her companions.

“Alright guys, come over here!” she called out to them, and they hurried over to our spot. I think they respect Minahaba since she could gather them with only a sentence; usually, kids of those ages are naughty and would love to make a living hell out of an adult’s life.

“These are Senna, Gero, and Taro from the Rabbit tribe…”

“Hello Chief Kuro!” the three children bowed before me; I think if I’m to guess their age, they’d be around eight to twelve years on Earth.

“Kuro is fine!” I gave them head pats, which they happily received.

“Yufa and Rishnu are from the Insetus tribe,” Minahaba explained. I guess the Insetus tribe was a community of different insect-like people. See, Konka had wings of the dragonfly on her back. Yufa possessed beautiful butterfly wings, while Rishnu…she looked like a mantis—and that height too.

I’m mystified why she can still be considered a kid. Rishnu’s way too tall, even for Minahaba, who’s supposed to be their big sister.

Anyway, I also patted their heads. Though Rishnu had to bow low for me to do that…

“Chief, here are Colheen, Yufos, and Teviki from the Tiger tribe.”

“Hallo human chief!” Colheen greeted with a big smile on his face. Yufos, who seemed to be a shy child, just waved her hand a little at me. Meanwhile, Teviki…

“!!!”

“Oof!”

“Teviki!” Minahaba hit the little girl on the head, “I told you to stop doing that!”

“I love human chief’s smell! He’s delicious!” was Teviki’s reply.

“Don’t worry,” the falcon-girl had an awkward smirk, “Teviki may occasionally bite, but she has eaten no one…yet.”

“Huh?” I was bewildered when I heard that, even throwing a glance at Ursura. She quickly averted her eyes. “What do you mean ‘yet’?”

“Anyway, moving on!”

“You haven’t answered my quest—”

“These are Rumia and Luka from the Dog tribe.”

“Ah y-yes, I remember Luka,” I think they’re brother and sister? Well, I think Rumia likes meeting me. Her cute white tail was wagging excitedly. And, as for Luka, I don’t know if I’d pat his head; I’m the one who caught him earlier and almost had them all executed.

“Well, we are all orphans,” Minahaba continued, “And so I guess, we pledge our loyalty to you, Chief Kuro?”

“Just Kuro is fine.”

“Wait a minute…” it was Ursura; her face had a horrified expression, “You say that you are all orphans?”

“Yes…”

“Then that means…you’re a child as well!”

“Huh?” my eyes almost jumped from their sockets.

However, the falcon-girl only nodded.

“Err…” Honestly, I’m confused about what’s going on, “What does it mean?”

----------

It’s just so weird to have someone who’s almost a young adult being treated as a child. While we humans automatically treat someone as an adult once he/she reached a certain change of physical appearance, the Beastmen people follow rigid societal rules in distinguishing a child from an adult.

Take, for example, Minahaba. As she was an orphan, she had no parents where she could ‘reach their shoulder’, and thus, she couldn’t be classified as an adult. However…

“…”

No matter how many times I tried looking at her, Minahaba was a young adult already. Not to sound a pervert, but man…her hips were already wide, and her chest ‘well-nourished’. If she claimed that she’s not an adult, the closest age I’d put for her would be around 18-19 Earth years.

The next person whom she could ‘reach the shoulder’ should be their tribe’s elder; however, as she stated, no one in the refugee camps adopted her. That one was pretty understandable since I think everyone’s going through hardships, thus they’d only look out after their own.

But yeah, as to their beliefs about ‘reaching the shoulder’, I know it’s absurd but the Beastmen tribes believe in that.

Well, I compared Ursura to Minahaba’s situation. Ursura told me that her case was different, as she was banished from her tribe while her mother was alive; thus, she was considered an adult.

Anyway, why did I raise that issue up? You see, when someone adopts a Beastman child, that person would be in charge of teaching the youngster about hunting in the ways of their tribe to prepare for the child’s adult life.

So I guess I made another miscalculation. I’m a human. An ordinary, city-born guy whose main source of livelihood was to teach children academic stuff: mainly reading and language. I don’t know a thing about hunting, more so about hunting in the ways of my tribe.

“Heh, that’s why I’m utterly surprised you volunteered to adopt those orphans,” Ursura commented after explaining to me the implications of adopting the orphans, “For someone who’s a legend among the humans, you don’t use your head that much.”

“Says the one who’d attack headlong towards soldiers with demon weapons,” I countered. Our eyes watched the children from a distance, while they play around with their big sister Minahaba.

“Shut up! It’s my way of fighting, what can I do about it?” Ursura slapped my back, “Anyway, since you know nothing about hunting, why don’t you teach your orphans your fighting skills?”

“…”

“Okay, I get it,” the bear-woman shrugged, “It’s pretty stupid of me to suggest that.”

“No, no!” it finally dawned on me, “It could work!”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, I know nothing about hunting,” my lips drew a smirk, “But I could get them to learn the skills of a warrior. They could be trained into full-time soldiers; that way, they’d be useful to the village, and their reputation could be saved!”