She Who Became Immortal

"Wh-What in the world... How did it come to this!?"

As the commander slammed both palms onto the desk, venting his frustration with a voice filled with resentment, Regalo, appointed as the vice captain to the pursuing unit, watched with inner exasperation.

How did it come to this?

It's obvious it's all because of the incompetence right in front of me.

"Their village is under our control! The residents who lost their stronghold sneak into the woods and attack us in their own village! This is why beasts are!"

Thud, thud, thud! The commander continued to pound the desk with both palms, but of course, such actions wouldn't change the situation for the better.

How did it come to this—Regalo, a mage specializing in 'Explosive Pressue,' sighed to alleviate the frustration building in his stomach, contemplating.

It probably started with the sudden appearance of corpses at Spade Castle.

A noble-looking man's corpse, whose identity remained a mystery, suddenly appeared in the castle courtyard.

And then, before the identification of the corpse could even be completed, beastfolk swarmed the castle, claiming that their children had been abducted by humans.

The response from the Spade Territory was simple.

Reject and repel them.

The knights mobilized, and the beastfolk who stormed the castle scattered like flies. Then, the knights and mages gathered to assess the situation.

In other words—who in the world abducted the beastfolk children?

Certainly, within Spade Castle, there was no one who would claim, "This is just a false accusation by the beastfolk." It was an implicit understanding and premise of the discussions that someone, somewhere, had indeed abducted the beastfolk children.

The simple solution would have been to find and hand over the culprit or culprits to the beastfolk. Unfortunately, since the abducted children had most likely already been sold to 'buyers,' there was no choice but to give up.

Of course, that simple solution couldn't be implemented.

Because the culprits remained unknown.

Spade Territory bordered the beastfolk's territory.

This was not something new.

Thus, vigilance against such individuals as the so-called 'slave traders' was constant. Anyone who came from outside and caused trouble in the beastfolk's territory, regardless of their identity, was nothing but a nuisance. After all, dealing with the beastfolk ultimately fell to Spade Territory.

Yet, the 'culprits' couldn't be pinpointed.

While this was happening, the beastfolk who had scattered attacked the villages at the edge of the territory. Rather than looting or massacring, it seemed to be more of a vindictive act of destruction, but it left Spade Territory with no choice but to act.

Hence, a pursuit unit was formed, and, much to Regalo's dismay, he was chosen as the deputy commander of the unit, tasked with crossing the forest and invading the beastfolk's territory—but Regalo had doubts about this mission from the start.

It was understandable that they couldn't back down. There were matters of honor and obligations to the citizens. They couldn't just take hits without retaliating against the beastfolk who dared to mock them. That much was understandable.

But—what exactly were they supposed to do?

Regalo and his group attacked the nearest village to the west, pushing deep into the forest that separated Spade Territory from the beastfolk's territory.

By the time the pursuit unit departed, the beastfolk had already fled the villages in Spade Territory, and from the villagers' testimonies, it was apparent that they had moved into the forest.

Therefore, there was no choice but to pursue them, and ultimately, they ended up attacking the beastfolk's village as it unfolded.

Things seemed auspicious—at first glance.

Regalo himself thought so too.

First, they attacked the beastfolk's village with their forces, and when they killed some of the villagers, the rest fled, and the village fell into the hands of the pursuit unit quite easily.

The remaining beastfolk, caught as prisoners, and the unit's commander occupied the largest two-story building in the village and set it up as their headquarters.

Then, they planned to extract information from the prisoners, find out where the beastfolk who attacked the villages in Spade Territory were hiding, and crush them, thus ending the operation—or so it was supposed to go.

But it didn't turn out that way.

Because the dog-like beastfolk they captured as prisoners knew nothing about what happened in Spade Territory.

So what now?

If none of the prisoners had the information, perhaps it could be among those who had fled... the unit commander thought.

Selecting some members of the unit to pursue the fleeing beastfolk might have been the beginning of the mistake. No, perhaps they had been wrong long before Regalo realized it.

Anyway, the search party returned as corpses.

At the same time, the dog-like beastfolk began attacking their own village.

The pursuit unit found themselves in a strange situation of having to defend the village from the attacks of the beastfolk, which was halfway between inevitable and strange. Looking back now, it was another failure. They should have returned to the Spade territory as soon as the initial assault began.

But this incompetent unit commander...

"They are truly detestable creatures! This is why beastmen are so loathsome! Vice Captain Regalo, the next attack will be our chance! We no longer need to show mercy; hang their bodies throughout the village! Let the name of the Spade Territory Army be engraved in this land with fear!"

As the commander, perhaps feeling the ache in his palms, finally ceased pounding the desk, he spoke words that made little sense.

"Why hang their bodies in the village? Besides, they probably don't know our official language, and what's the point of spreading word about how we conducted a massacre?"

In the beastfolk's territory, there was no clear nation like the humans'. But the name of the 'Lion King Randall' resounded. It was a name Regalo learned shortly after joining the mage guild.

According to hearsay, the beastfolk were under the influence of the Lion King Randall, and regardless of the extent of his influence, it seemed the beastfolk recognized him as their king.

Unlike humans, who established kings, nobles, and subjects, under the king, countless beastfolk lived each in their own way. Without being directly under the king, they were hardly managed at all.